US1651058A - Rotary machine for expanding metal sheets - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 29, 1927.

J. A. HALLS ROTARY MACHINE FOR EXPANDING METAL SHEETS Filed Nov. 11, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet l Nov. 29, 1927. 1,651,058

J. A. HALLS ROTARY MACHINE F OR EXPANDING METAL SHEETS Filed Nov. 11, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Nov. 29, 1927. 1,651,058

umrrn STATES PATENT orrlca.

Il'OSIEIPIlI-A. HALLS, OF YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO, ASSIGNOB TO THE TBUSCON STEEL G!- I rm, OF YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO, A. CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN.

ROTARY MACHINE FOB EXPANDING METAL SHEETS.

Application filed November 11, 1925. Serial 1%. 68,440.

This invention relates to a machine of the Figure 6 is a detail top plan view of the rotary type for expanding pre-slitted metal end portion of the machine shown in Figs. sheets, and has particular reference to cer- 4 and 5. tain novel improvements in the type of ma- Figure 7 is an elevation of the power end 56 6 chine covered by the U. S. Patent of Melvin of the machine giving anv example of the S. Groh, No. 1,527.403, dated February 24, preferable way of intermittently operating 1925, and the U. S. application of Melvin the expanding drum.

S. Groh and Joseph A. Halls, Serial No. Figure 8 is a detail nplan view of a re- 731,634, filed August 12,1924. slitted herringbonebla indicatin by ot- 60 10 A primary ob ect of the invention is to ted lines its first position with re atlon to so construct a rotary machine of the type the expanding roll of the machine. referred to as .to increase its utility, and Figure 9 is a plan view of the herringto widen its use, more particularly adapting bone sheet partly ope s I it for opening and expanding a metal sheet The machine includes in its general organ- 66 which has been previously slitted in a manization a machine frame or stand designated ner to form the well known herringbone generally b the letter A provided at the type of metal lath. To that end the inventop thereo 'with a horizontal feed table tion contemplates asociating with the ribbed B having at its inner edge an angular morexpanding drum a novel means of holding tise b forming a receiving recess for the 7 and feeding a slitted sheet of the herringstationary die block 0, and above this die bone type whereby the herringbone mesh block is arranged a pressure bar D mountwill be opened evenly and without buckling ed between the angular upstanding supand without imposing excessive strains on porting brackets E surmounting and mountthe individual strands at the sides of the ed upon the frame at the ends thereof and l slits. Also, in that connection the improve over the feed table portion B. At one side ments are so designed and correlated as to of and adjacent the stationary die or die permit the sheet to vibrate longitudinally block C is mounted for rotation a rib of the expanding drum to adapt itself to the or shouldered expanding drum designated swinging of the strands as they are pulled generally by the reference letter F. 80

open to the diagonal positions which they In carrying forward the present invenoccupy in the finished herringbone lath. tion the rotary expanding jdrum F is pref- While the invention is necessarily suserably providedwlth a tool steel. or equivceptibl'e of structural modification without alent peripheral shell 1 in which are cut departing from the principle or scope therethe longitudinally extending die ribs 2. 86

of a preferred and practical working em- These die ribs are cut sufliciently deep, and bodiment thereof is shown in the accompanyare spaced at suflieient distance apart, so as ing drawings, in which: to be adapted particularly for engaging and Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a opening a slitted sheet of the herringbone rotary expanding machine embodying the type. and a necessary and important feature 00 40 improvements constituting the present inin the construction of the drum is that the vention. die ribs thereof extend continuously in Figure 2 is an-enlarged detail sectional straight lines longitudinally of the drum view of the sheet holding and feeding unit. body, and from end to end thereof, that Figure 3 is a top plan view of the said each individual rib of the drum will re- 06 46 unit in its relation to the feed table of the sent a substantially continuous flat sho der machine. that engages throughout the successive un- Figure 4 is a detail view of an end porcut stri s or vertebra between the rows of tion of the machine to show more clearly the diagonal slits in the herringbone blank, thus end mounting of the pivotal pressure bar. providing for opening an entire row of said 100 Figure 5 is an elevation o the end porslits at once, producing the herringbone eftion of the machine shown in Fig. 4. feet in the mesh of the product.

position, to receive the inner edge of the preslitted blank as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 8 of the drawings thereby to position the uncut edge strip of the blank for engagement by the first rib of the expanding drum when the rotation of the latter is started.

Any suitable gearing appliances may be employed for intermittently rotating the expanding roll, one revolution at a time, that is, providing for its continuous rotation through one revolution to expand a slitted metal sheet of a given length and width, the automatic stopping of its motion when thus revolved one revolution, and then starting the same to take up the expansion of the second sheet. However, for illustrative purposes there is shown in the drawings one way of doing that. In such illustration the ex panding drum shaft is shown fitted with the spur gear 4 meshing with an intermediate gear unit 5, interposed between the same and a driving pinion 6 on the drive shaft 7 which carries the belt or power pulleys 8. Associated with these instrumentalities is a clutch-device 9 having a trip lever 10 carrying a trip element 11 adapted to be engaged by a trip detent m on the spur gear 4. The

' said detent, at the completion of one revolution of the expanding drum engages the trip element 11 ofthe lever 10, causing the latter to move in a direction to disengage the clutch, thereby automatically stopping the rotation of the drum. When another slitted sheet is inserted, and its inside edge entered into the land 3 of the expandingdrum, the machine is again started by manipulating the starting lever 12 having an operating connection 13 with the clutch 9 so as to pro-. vide for re-engaging the clutch. This operation is repeated while the machine is at work. a 7

An important and distinguishing feature of the present invention is a sheet holding and feeding unit shown in detail in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings. This unit includes a sliding feeding bar 14 mounted for movement on top of the feed table B and preferably consisting of an angle plate having a parallel motion toward. and from the rotary expanding drum F. This feeding bar preferably consists of an angle plate or iron and its parallel motion may conveniently be derived from a plurality of swingin carrier links 15 arran ed in suitable space parallel relation and plvotallv connected at one end as at 16 to thelower horizontal flange of the angle plate 14, and at the other end portions pivoted as at 17 to the table top. When the links 15 swing they carry with it the feeding bar 14 but always maintain 'said bar in parallel relation to the slitted sheet/being fed .and to the expanding roll which operates upon the slitted sheet. A convenient way of operating the feeding bar is to provide one of the carrier links 15 with a handle extension 18 which may be operated by one hand of the operator.

The sliding feeding bar.14 has fitted thereto and carries therewith a work holding gauge 19 preferably consisting of a sheet steel or equivalent plate and having an inclined web portion 20 formed at its lower ed e with a horizontal slide flange 21 which slidably rests upon the table top, and at its upper end formed with an an ular bracket portion 22 having a terminal depending attaching flange 23 which is screwed, riveted, or otherwise securely fastened to the vertical flange of the feeding bar 14. At the juncture of the inclined web portion 20 of the plate 19, withits angular bracket portion 22, there is formed an abutment seat or groove 23 in which is' seated the back edge of the slitted sheet S when placed in position for feeding to the ribbed or toothed expanding drum.

Another feature of practical importance in the present invention is the mounting of the pressure bar E between the upstanding end frame brackets D of the machine. That is to say, it is the purpose of the present invention to pivotally mount the pressure bar D so that it may be pushed by the operator to an out of the way position as indi cated in Fig. 4 when the slitted sheet is inserted thereunder for engagement with the first tooth of the expanding drum. It is then allowed to drop to its vertical position shown in 'Fig. 1 immediately over the die block C and place a slight frictional holding pressure upon the slitted sheet while not interfering with its longitudinal reciprocations or vibrations as the diagonal strands are pulled to the open position shown in Fig. 9 of the drawings. Any convenient way of pivotally mounting the pressure bar D may be employed but as shown in the drawing a practical way of accomplishing that is to have se'cured'tb each end of the pressure bar (as shown in Fig. 5) a pivot plate 22 provided with a pivot stud 23 pivotally engaging a bearing socket 24 \provided at the inbends down the slitted sheet over the edge of the stationary die block C.

As already indicated, the improvements herein described are especially adapted to accommodate a herringbone type of shtted metal sheet as shown in Fig. 8 of the drawings, and in order effectually to properly open the meshes of such a sheet the said holding and feeding unit is provided to hold the sheet S at an inclination as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, and also to feed it at that angle, by the operation of the feeding bar 14 and the actuating means therefor, to the teeth of the drum. In Fig. 8 of the drawings is shown the pre-slitted sheet S having the usual arrangement of the diagonal slits for the herringbone lath and this sheet is fed in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 over the table and the stationary die blockso as to bring the inside edge of the sheet into theland of the expanding drum. At this point itwill again be noted that the die ribs are substantially continuous throughout the length of the drum, and the points of every two ribs are spaced apart a distance approximately the distance between the uncut strips or ribs of the herringbone sheet when in its expanded condition.

en the sheet is fed between the pressure bar and the die block C it is to be understood that the frictional resistance offered to the feed of the sheet between the said bar and die block is greater than the force exerted to expand or; open the sheet, but not sufficient to interfere with a part of the sheet reciprocating longitudinally of the drum to adapt itself to the swing of the strands as they are pulled open to the diagonal position shown in Fig. 8' which they occupy in the herringbone mesh.

From the foregoing it is thought that .the

construction and advantages of the improvements herein described will be understood without further description and that changes in the form, proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the principle or'sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

I claim 1. The herein described method of expand ing a pre-sl-itted metal sheet of the herring bone type which consists in operating a rotary toothed expanding member against the successive uncut strips of the sheet between the slitted sections thereof, and simultaneousl causing the sheet to be fed to the expan g member in a manner to permit it to reciprocate or vibrate longitudinally.

2. An expanding machine for pre-slitted metal sheets including a frame having a table top and a die member, an expanding drum having substantially continuous longitudinal non-cutting shoulders and arranged to rotate in proximity tosuch die member and to engage an 3. An expanding machine for-pre-slitted metal sheets including a frame having a table top and a die member, an expanding drum having'substantially continuous longitudinal' non-cutting shoulders and arranged to rotate in proximity to said die member and to engage longitudinal uncut portions of the sheet parallel to its edge, and a sheet holding and feeding unit arranged to operate over the table top and having means for holding the sheet in an inclined position.

4. An expanding machine for pre-slitted metal sheets including a frame having a. table top and a stationary die member, an expanding drum having substantially continuous longitudinally disposed non-cutting shoulders arranged to rotate in proximity to said die member, and adapted to engage longitudinal uncut portions of the sheet parallel to its edge, a pivotal pressure bar mounted over the stationary die member, and a sheet holding and feeding unit arranged to operate over the table top at one side of said pressure bar.

5. An expanding machine for pre-slitted metal sheets including a frame having a table top and a stationary die member at one edge thereof, an expanding drum having substantially continuous longitudinally disposed non-cutting shoulders and arranged to rotate in proximity to said stationary die member thereby to engage longitudinal uncut portions of the sheet parallel to its edge, brackets arranged at the ends of the table top and provided with bearings and stop elements, a pressure bar carrying at its ends pivot projections adapted to engage in said bearings, said bar being adapted to engage said stop elements, and a sheet holding and feeding unit operating on the top of the table top at one end of the pressure bar.

6. An expanding machine for pre-slitted metal sheets including a frame having a table top and a stationary die at one edge thereof. a ribbed expanding drum arranged, to rotate in proximity to said die, a pressure bar supported over the die, and a sheet holding and feeding unit operating from the table top and comprising a. suitably operated sliding feed bar and a work holding gauge carried by said bar and provided with aninclined portion and an abutment seat or groove at the upper part of said inclined portion to receive an edge of the blank being fed and to hold it in an inclined position.

7. An expanding machine for pre-slitted metal sheets including a frame, a table with a die member, a pressure bar located over the die member, a ribbed expanding drum arranged to rotate in proximity to such die member, and means for feeding a slitted sheet against the expanding drum at right angles to its axis. 7

8. An expandin machine for pre-slitted metal sheets inclu ing a frame, a table with a die member at its edge, a pressure bar located over the die member, a ribbed expanding drum arranged to rotate in proximity to such die member, and means for feeding a --slitted sheet to the expanding drum at right angles to its axis, said means being so arranged as to permit longitudinal reciprocating motion of the sheet.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature.

' J OSEP H A. HALLS.

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