US1556783A - Brush-making machine - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 13, 1925- v 1.555.783

1 c. c. GRAY sausn MAKING MACHINE Filed June 21, 1923 6 Sheets-Sheet 2- IIIIIIIIIIIIII Ill ll 7117111110 n 1; filing); hwllllllll. ITIIIIIIIIIIIIIA V, (01 6. Gray 3 We wf Oct- 13, 1925- 1,556,783 c. c. GRAY BRUSH MAKING mcmufi Filed June 21, 1923 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 I Oct- 13,

1,556,783 c. c. GRAY BRUSH MAKING MACHINE Filed June 21 1923 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 .l l l 47 t zs T Q :I 1/ I I I I I a V II v.

. 28/ (01d 6'- Gray Oct. 13, 192 1,556,783

'c. c. GRAY BRUSH MAKING MACHINE Filed June 21, 5 s sheets-sheet 5 Jizmub Patented Oct. 13, 1925.

UNIT ED STATES 1,556,783 PATENT 'FFIGE.

can; ,0. early, or nrmaro-nls, 'nInNEso'rA, AssIe-NoR roeornna nnxrsn coM- raw, or mnnnroms, 'MInNEso'r-n, a ooaroanrron or ana e; i

BRUSH-MAKING nnonm-n.

Application filed June 21, 19,23. Serial are. 46,323.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CARL -C, G Y, a citizenof the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State I 15 of Minnesota, .have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Brush-Making Machines; and I do'herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as Will enable 1 others skilled in .the art to Which :it apperz'tains .to .make .and use the same. i

"My invention relates to the broom or brush-making art and provides an improved apparatus whereby high grade :brooms or floor brushes .may be rapidly made on a large commercial scale andat 10W manufacturing cost.

So far as the present "invention is concerned, the brush material'may be of any suitable character, but my improved machine Will be found especially serviceable for properly assemblingi-broomor brush materi'alsuch' as T ampico, African bass, bassine, and the like, withinza trough-like sheet metal head.

When floor brushes are "provided with handles projecting in the planeofthe brush material, ,they are frequently called brooms, but all such devices are, broadly speaking,

" brushes and, hence, for the purposes iofatliis case, I shall hereinafter speak rofwthe :floorbrushing device as a brush.

While the present improved machine is not limited to use for the making .of any specific typeof floor brush, it is, nevertheless, especially well adapted {for use in making floor brushes of the type disclosed and claimed in my pending application Serial No. 615,006, 'filedJanuary 6, i923, and .entitled 'Floor bru-sh. The floor brush of said application comprises a quite thin, preferably stamped metal, trough-like or channel-shaped head within which the brush material, folded at its central portion, is securely tucked and firmly clamped by the inserted clamping'bar and cooperatin-gdevices, such as nut equipped boltsa-nd ce1n entitious substance," such as gilsonite, itar pitch, or the like. I I

Until very recently,'=litt' le progress has, for many years, been made in the art of making brushes andbrooms, fbut the introduction of brush or broommaterial such as :Tam'p'ico, African bass, and the like, "has made possible revolutionary changes both in ,the or broom structures themselves an 1 the a t of ak ng he same. Haw 111g first designed :and produced a satisfacter-y ,floor brush or broom in any application above identified, I then designed and .have produced a highly efficient commercial JIIaQhI-IIB whereby the brush foizming ,ele-

ments may bequickly assembled in the most satisfactory. manner, and this commercial mach ne 1s gi -llustrated in the accompanying d wmgs, wherein lik characters indicate llke parts throughout the several ,views.

' Refer nghe d awi gs:

R g. :1 11s a perspective showing the improved machine; v

F g. 21s a fragmentary horizontal section .on the ,line '2 2 of Fig. 1;

F 1g. 3 is a perspective showing :the upper :PQlitilOHf-Qif themachine opened up; Y z F g. f4 .1s adetaijl in perspective showing one of ,the end tuft :holders; I

Fig. 5;1sa view partly in frontielevation .and partly n vertical section, showingelevmerits of the ;brush and elements ;of b ush-assemb ng mechanis "o h ma- ;clrinle, it;he said ,parts being vertically sepa- Fig. 6 is a bottom plan viewof theruppen most element of vFig. :5, towit: the i-tucker .blade and showing also a fragment oflthe clamplng :bar of the ibrush structure, some .parts'being broken away;

Fug. :7 :is a front elevation" showinglthe upper portion of the machine, some parts be'1ng.; sectioned and. some parts ibeingibroken nwa.

Fig. :8 is an enlarged transverse section on rtherline:8e.8:of=Fig. 7; v a 7 Figs. 9 and 10 areqviews corresponding to F1g.;8,;but illustrating different stepscin the operation and different adjustments of the parts of the machine.

- :Fig. 11' is a fragmentarysection on Jthe dine111-lof Fig;x6;

ig.'12is a :fragmentaryview correspond- ;ing, mum .positionsof the .parts of the .machine, rto the illustration of Fig. 10:; I

:Fig; l3sisia perspective showing the completed floor brush; the handle ibei-n'g removed therefrom but 'i'ini position :for application thereto; r i

:Fig. 14 is an and elevation o'rfstheibrush before .it: E has been vtrimmed Fi-g.*i15 'is a section taken substantially :on the line 1515 of Fig. 14;

Fig. 16 is a fragmentary side elevation illustrating a modified form of the machine;

Fig. 17 is a fragmentary front elevation with some parts sectioned on the line 1717 of Fig. 16; and

Fig. 18 is a vertical section taken approximately on the line 18-18 of Fig. 17.

Before describing the machine, I will first briefly note the elements of the floor brush, the parts of which are, for illustrative purposes, assumed to be assembled by the use of myimproved machine. The trough-like pressed metal brush head or back is indicated by the character a, the brush-forming material or fibre by the character I), the clamping bar by the character 0, and the gilsonite or similar cementitious material by the character d. The clamping bar 0 is connected to the head a by small bolts f equipped with nuts 9. Through the central portion of the back of the head a are passed short bolts or screws 70, which, as will hereinafter be noted, are used to clamp the brush head to prongs of a ferrule m secured on the ends of brush handle n.

To afford a support for the broom material in the initial assembling operation, I provide a work table 20, which may be conveniently formed from two quite heavy boards rounded at their inner edges and spaced to form an assembling channel 21. lhese planks are shown as rigidly secured to brackets 22, which, in turn, are riveted or otherwise rigidly secured to parallel normally upright supplemental frame bars 23. These bars 23 are rigidly connected but properly spaced by rivets 24 and spacing sleeves 25, with the opposing faces of the cooperating bar spaced to align with the sides of the assembling channel of the table.

The transversely opposite front bars 23 are rigidly connected by a cross channel bar 26 and at their lower ends, by means of rivets or bolts 27, are pivoted to the upper ends of frame pedestals 28. Here it will be noted that the bolts or rivets 27 afford pivots (see particularly Figs. 8 and 9), on which the table 20 may be turned from the horizontal position shown in Figs. 8 and 9 into the vertical position shown in Fig. 10. The pedestals 28 are rigidly connected, as shown, by truss bars 29.

The assemblingchannel 21 is provided with a yielding or floating bottom in the form of a flat metal strip or bar 30 that normally occupies substantially the position shown in Fig. 8. Downward movement of the bottom strip 30 is limited by step brackets 31 rigidly secured on the tie-bar 26, (see particularly Fig. 7, 8, 9 and 10).

Upward movements of said bottom strip 30 are limited by guide bolts 32 rigidly secured thereto at their upper ends and working'through guide brackets 33 on the bar 26 with their headed lower ends normally held against said brackets by coiled springs 34 that aiford the yielding support for said bottom strip 30.

The upper portions of the laterally spaced pairs of supplemental bars 23 afford suitable guides for an approximately horizontal cross-head bar 35, the ends of which project outward of said guides, as best shown in Fig. 7. Near one end, the bar 35 is provided with a pivot pin or bolt 36 passed through vertical slots 37 formed in the flanges of the right-hand bars 23.

Rigidly secured to and depending from the central portion of the cross-head bar 35 is a tucker blade or bar 38. Tucker blades or bars 38 of appropriate length and design for brushes of different length or design will be provided and, hence, they are made detachable. As shown, the blade 38 is detachably secured to the bar 35 by nut-equipped bolts 39. On its under edge, the blade 38 is provided with longitudinally spaced pairs of cooperating spring clips or clamps 40 that are adapted to embrace and frictionally hold the clamping bar 0 of the brush when the latter is pressed up to position against the lower edge of said blade 38. The blade 38 has depending dowel pins 41 that are engageable with dowel pin seats 42 in the back of the clamping bar 0 to properly position the same. Also, the blade 38 is formed with nut-receiving pockets 43, which, for square nuts, will be rectangular, as best shown in Fig. 6, so that they will receive and hold the nuts 9.

It will be noted by reference particularly to Fig. 5, that the trough-like broom head a is provided with bolt passages f for the bolts f, and these passages. are arranged to align with larger passages 30 in the channel bottom strip 30. The bolts 7c are passed through closely fitting portions in the channel bottom strip 30 and position the broom head (I with the bolt passages f aligned with the threaded perforations of the nuts 9 held in the nut-receiving pockets 43 of the tucker blade 38.

For holding the cross head bar 35 and tucker blade 38 down, as shown in Figs. 1,

9 and 10, there is provided a two-armed lever in the form of a bail 44, the prongs of which are pivoted each to one of the supplemental bars 23 and extend across the ends of said bar 35. This bail is adapted to be locked in its downturned position by latch bars. 45, the ends of which are adapted to be readily sprung into and out of engage ment with the prongs of said bail.

For forcing the bar 35 and its tucker blade 38 from its normally raised into its lowered operative position, I preferably provide a pair of laterally spaced grab hooks 46 in the form of metal strips provided with overturn-ed lug or hook-forming upper ends 47 and with intermediate 0b lique or cam surfaces 48, which latter work through perforated guide lugs or keepers 49 secured on the pedestals 28. At their lowerpends, the grab hooks46 are pivoted tojtheisideprongs of a treadle-acting footoperated bail 50 that is pivoted at 51 to the pedestals 28., One of the prongs of the bail 50 is extended beyond. its. pivot and is connected to the base of, the-adjacent pedestal by a coiled spring 52, which has sufficient tension normallyto hold the grab hooks-46- supplemental frame bars 23 in extreme positions of the table and afford stopstherefor., Fig. 2 shows one of two releasing cams 45, which, when the latch bars 45 are moved into vertical positions, spread the same, so that the bail 44 will move pivotally,.'free from said latchbars.

s Operation.

As an initial step in the assemblingof .the partsof the brush, the trough-like brush head a: is placed in the assembling channel 21 and upon the receding or depressiblebottom strip .=30.- To prevent fiuid adhesive materialfrom running through the bolt holes 7, a strip of thin paper 79 is then placedon the bottom of said head and then the adhesive or cementitious material d, such as gilsonite or tar pitch, is poured into the said head, about half filling the same, asshown in Fig. 8. p

Next, the tufts ofbrus-l-l'material for forming the main bodyof the brush are laid cross-wise of the assembling channel and,

upon the upper edge of the brush heada, as-best shown in Fig. 3. In the preferred manner of assembling this brush material, end tufts shown at 12 Fig. 3, are laid in the 'plane of the assembling channel, and when this is done,the ends of said tufts b are placed inthe ends of the brush; head, resting on the bows of the tuft holders' 53, and; thebody-formin'g tufts are laid over the lower ends of these end tufts. Sometimes it will be advisable to; pour a streak (i of the gilsonite or adhesive material on turned normal position, shown by. dotted 'linesin Fig. l and by full linesin Fig. 3,

the nutsg are placed in the nut-receiving pockets 43-;0f the tucke'r blade 38 and then the-clamping bar; cis pressed betweenthe spring prongs 40 with dowel pins 41 projecting through'th'e perforations42. -The next step in the operation. is to turn the. bar 35 down into its horizontal position shown in Figs. 7 and. 8. Here it should'be noted that the pivot pin 36of the bar 35, working in the vertical slots 37, permits. said bar 35 and tucker blade 38 to be moved vertically downward from the position shown inFigs'Zand 8.

, The operator will now step on the treadleacting bail. 50-, thereby moving the, grab hooks 46 downward. Under initial downward movements of the grab, hooks, their cam surfaces 48 pass through the keeper 1 brackets 49, thereby forcing the hook or .lug-equippedupper ends thereof into engagementf with the projecting ends of the bar 35, so that under continiuad downward pressure and movement of the bail 50 and 1 the hooks 46, thebail 35 will bepositively pressed downward, thereby causing. the tucker blade 38 to force the'ciampi-ng bar 0 against the tufts I), so that thisact o-f forcing the clamping bar 0 into thetrough-like brushj head a buckles the brush-forming tufts b andbends the endtufts b intosubstantially vertical positions, (see particularly Figs..;1 and 9). TO' then hold the bar 35 and-the other parts just noted in their doWn-pressed positions, the bail 44 is turned down onto saidbar 355'and the latch ,bars 45 are applied to v the bail, as best, shown in Figs, 1-and9. A 1 Y By reference to; Fig. 9,;i't will be noted that when the'brush elements ;a re pressed dwn as there showmby' the operation just described, the yieldingbottom; strip sewer beforced down until it is engaged with the stop brackets 31 and then affords an unyielding-base of reaction, which causesthe clamp: ing bar a to be forced tothe limitinto the brush'head a, Itwi-ll befurther noted-that whenthe brush elements, are thus forced downward, the sides of the assembling channel 2 1'hold the brush-forming tufts by in upturned positions, The receding bottom. 30 Of'zthQ assembling channel 21 holds the brush .head'a normally with its upper edge level withlthe top-of. the table'20, so that the tufts, when laid out, flat, will -co ntact therewith; and under initial downward movement. of theiucker blade, the tuftswillf be pressed at least partway downinto the; brush head. Under the above described downward pressing and buckling actionproduced by-the clampingpbar 0 under the actionlf, the

' tucker blade 38, the brush-,form-ingftufts will not only be positionediwi-th-in theiheadiand securely held by the clamping bar,;but will be forced into the adhesive (Z and thereby very securely anchored. As soon as the bail 44 has been secured by the latch dogs 45 in the position shown in Fig. 1, the operators foot may be removed from the bail 50, thereby permitting the spring 52 to throw the grab hooks upward and back to their normal positions,'in which positions the hooks will, by the cam surfaces 48, be spread or forced outward so that they will be out of the path of movement of the cross head bar 35.

While in this position, the brush-clamping screws fmay be freely passed through perforations 30 in the receding bottom 30 and inserted through the perforations f of the clamping head a and through perforations 42 of the clamping bar 0 and screwed into the nuts 9, which, it will be remembered, are then held properly positioned within the pockets 42 of the tucker blade 38. In Fig. 12, this operation is illustrated as being accomplished by a screw driver A. The screws 73, it will be understood, were applied to the brush head a at the time or before the brush head was applied in the assembling channel 21 and upon the receding bottom 30. When the screws 7 have been properly tightened, the brush will be ready for removal from the machine. Toaccomplish this, the table will preferably be first again turned back into its horizontal position, Fig. 9; and then the latch dogs 45 will be released from the bail 44 and said bail will be turned back and over into its dotted line position shown in Fig. 1. This releases the cross head bar 35 so that it, with its tucker blade 88, may be turned upward and outward into its inoperative position shown by dotted lines in said Fig. 1. When the brush is thus released from pressure, the springs 34 will force the yielding bottom 30 upward to its normal position, thereby ejecting all of that part of the brush except the head at out of the assembling channel 21, thereby making it a very simple matter tolift the brush out of said channel.

The brush formed as just described will appear substantially as shown in Fig. 14, but it should be cut off on the line marked g on said View, and this may be readily done by a suitable trimming or shearing device. The brush is then completed, except for the brush handle n and ferrule m, and these latter may be quickly and easily attached to the head by first inserting the perforated ends of the ferrule over the projecting ends of the bolts and applying suitable nuts, not shown, to the ends of said bolts.

Brushes of the general character above outlined may be very rapidly assembled or made by the use of this improved machine. In fact, the use of this improved machine has made possible the production of very high grade floor brushes and the like at very low cost.

In the modified construction of the machine illustrated in Figs. 16, 1,7 and 18, the pedestals 28 are employed, but in this instance, the supplemental bars 23, which correspond to the bars 23, in some respects, instead of being pivotally connected to the pedestals, are rigidly connected thereto and extend upward therefrom and are spaced apart to afford suitable guides for the ends of the cross head bar 35, which latter is provided with the blade 38 of the construction previously described. In this form of the machine, the table 20 is made up of a pair of leaves pivotally connected to the sup plemental bars 23 and spaced to afford the assembling channel for the elements of the brush and adapted to directly hold the brush head a.

The table-forming leaves 20 are secured to rock shafts 53, which, at one end, have overlapping curved crank arms 54, the upper ends of which are subject to the laterally bent end 55 of a depressible actuating rod 56 arranged to slide through a keeper 57 on one of the pedestals 28. When the rod 56 is drawn downward, the leaves 20 will be turned up, as shown in Fig. 18, but when the said rod is released, said leaves will drop, by gravity, into horizontal positions shown in Fig. 16.

In this modified arrangement, the brush head a is adapted to be forced down against a bottom strip 58 that is fixed to the supplemental frame bars 23; and a cross-head bar 35, at its free end, is provided with a depressing hook 59. The hook 59 is made from a short rod bent horizontally at its lower end to form a finger 60 that projects between the crank arms 54 and, at its upper end, it is bent at 61 to form a combined stop and finger piece immediately above the bar 35. The vertical portion of the hook 59 works through a perforation 62 in the lower flange and through an open notch 63 in the upper flange of the bar 35 and is yieldingly held in the position shown in Fig. 17 by a light spring 64 attached to the lower 'fiange of said bar. WVith this arrangement, when the rod 56 is drawn'downward to cause the table-forming leaves 20 to be turned upward, the bar 35 will also be drawn downward.

For convenience of expression, the term floor brush will be used in the introductory clauses of the claims, but it will be understood that this term is used in a broad and liberal sense and is intended to include, generally, brushes, brooms and the like.

WVhat I claim is:

1. A machine for assembling the elements of floor brushes, comprising a table having an assembling channel adapted to receive a channel-like brush head, the table itself adapted to support brush material laid crosswise of said head, and means for pressing a strip. 1

2. A-machine for assembling the elements of floor brushes, comprising a table having an assembling channel adapted to receive a channel-like brush head, the table itself rdapted' to support brush material laid cross wise of said head, and means for pressing a clamping bar against the brush material and for buckling and forcing the same into said head, said assembling channelhaving an upwardly spring-pressed yielding bottom strip, a

and means for limiting the downward movement of said bottom strip.

3. A machine for assembling the elements of floor brushes, comprising a table having an assembling channel adapted to receive a channel-like brush head, the table itself adapted to support brush material laid crosswise of said head and means for pressing a clamping bar against the brush material and for buckling and forcing the same into said head,,said assembling channel having in its bottom openings through which bolts may be inserted to connect the brush elements while held in said channel.

4:. The structure defined in claim 1 in which the bottom strip of said channel has openings through which bolts may be inserted to connect the brush elements while held in said channel.

5. A machine for assembling the elements of floor brushes, comprising a table having an assembling channel adapted to receive a channel-like brush head, the table itself adapted to support brush material laid crosswise of said head, and means for pressing a clamping bar against the brush material and for buckling and forcing the same into said head, the said table being mounted to move from substantially horizontal into substantially verticalpositions, and conversely.

6. The structure defined in claim 1 in which said table is mounted to move from substantially horizontal into substantially vertical positions, and conversely.

7. The structure defined in claim 1 in which said table is mounted to move from substantially horizontal into substantially vertical positions, and conversely, and in further combination with lockable clamping means movable with said table and operative to hold the brush elements assembled within said channel while they are being connected together when said table is in an approximately vertical position.

8. A machine for assembling the elements of floor brushes, comprising a'table having an assembling channel adapted to receive a channel-like brush head, the table itself adapted to support brush material laid transversely of said head, a vertically movable crosshead bar extended above said channel, a tucker bladecarried by said cross-head bar and having means for detachably holding the clamping bar element ofthe brush, and means for depressing said cross-head bar to thereby press! the clamping bar against the brush material and to buckle the latter and force the same into the brush head.

9. A machine for assembling the elements of floor brushes, comprisinga table having an assembling channel adapted to receive a channel-like brush head, the table itself adapted to support brush material laid able cross-head bar extended above said transversely of said head, a vertically mov channel and having frictional means for detachably holding the clamping bar element of a brush, and means for depressing said cross-head bar to press the clampingbar against the brush material and thereby buckle the latter and force the same into the brush head. Y

10. The structure defined in claim 8 in which said table is mounted for movements from substantially vertical to substantially horizontal positions, and conversely, andis provided with guides that cause said crosshead bar to move with said table. U

"11. The structure defined in claim 8 in which said table is mounted for movements from substantiallyyertical to substantially horizontal position, and conversely, and is provided with guides that cause said crosshead bar to move with said table, and in which said bar-depressing means includes foot-operated hook bars arranged to be detachably interlocked to the ends of said cross-head bar, when said table is in horithe "eletransversely of said head, a vertically movable cross 'h ead Ebar extended above said channel, a tucker blade carried by said crosshead bar and having means for detachably holding the clamping bar element of the brush, foot-operated hook bars engageable with the ends of said cross-head bar when depressed, and means independent of said hook bars for locking said cross-head barin a depressed position.

13. A machine for assembling the elements of floor brushes, comprising a table having an assembling channel adapted to receive a channel-like brush head, the table itself adapted to support brush material laid transversely of said head, a vertically movable cross-head bar extended above said channel, a tucker'blade carried by said crosshead bar and having means for detachably holding the clamping bar element of the having an assembling channel adapted to rebrush, foot-operated hook bars engageable with the ends of said cross-head bar when depressed, and means independent of said hook bars for locking said cross-head bar in a depressed position, said means comprising a hand-operated bale and laterally spaced bale-engaging latches.

14:. A machine for assembling the ele ments of floor brushes, comprising a table ceive a channel-like brush head, the table itself adapted to support brush material laid transversely of said head, a vertically movable cross-head bar extended above said channel, a tucker blade carried by said crosshead bar and having means for detachably holding the clamping bar element of the brush, foot-operated hook bars engageable with the ends of said cross-head bar when depressed, and means independent of said hook bars for locking said cross-head bar in a depressed position, said means comprising a hand-operated bale and laterally spaced bale-engaging latches, said table being mounted for pivotal movements from horizontal to vertical positions, and conversely, and said bale, bale latches and cross head barbeing arranged to partake of the pivotal movements of said table.

15. A machine for assembling the elements of floor brushes, comprising fixed pedestals, normally upright supplemental frame bars pivoted to said pedestals, a normally horizontal table secured to said supplemental frame bars and having an assembling channel, a cross-head bar working over said channel and guided by said supplemental frame bars, a tucker bar depending from said cross head bar and having spring-clamping members, for detachably holding the clamping bar of a brush, the head of which is placed in said assembling channel, the bottom of said channel having openings through which bolts may be inserted to connect the brush elements, footactuated hook bars mounted on said pedestals and automatically engageable and disengag'eable with the ends of said cross-head bar to depress the latter when the table is in horizontal position, and means associated with said table and movable therewith for locking said cross-head bar in a depressed position independently of the action of said hook bars.

16. A machine for assembling the elements of floor brushes, comprising fixed pedestals, normally upright supplemental frame bars pivoted to said pedestals, a normally horizontal table secured to said supplemental frame bars and having an assembling channel, a cross-head bar working over said chanel and guided by said supplemental frame bars, a tucker blade depending from said cross-head bar having nut-receiving recesses and spring-clamping members, the latter to detach-ably hold the clamping bar of a brush, the head of which is placed in said assembling channel, the bottom of said channel having openings through which bolts may be inserted to connect the brush elements, foot-actuated hook bars mounted on said pedestals and automatically engageable and disengageable with the ends of said cross-head bar to depress the latter when the table is in horizontal position, and means associated with said table and movable therewith for locking said cross-head bar in a depressed position independently of the action of said hook bars.

17. The structure defined in claim 15 in which said cross-head bar is pivotally hinged at one end so that it may be turned up ward and away from the table.

18. The structure defined in claim 8 in which said cross-head bar is hinged at one end so that it may be turned upward away from the table, for the purposes specified.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

CARL C. GRAY.

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