US1918316A - Method of expanding metal lath - Google Patents

Description

July 18, 1933.

H. K. BAKER METHOD OF EXPANDING METAL LATH 10 Sheets-Shet 1 Filed April 24, 1929 INVEN OR 2 ATTdRNEYs July 18, 1933. H. K. BAKER METHOD OF EXPANDING METAL LATH Filed April 24, 1929 10 Sheets-Sheet 2 O O wwo 0 0-. 2o :0 o .o. 0, o

INVENTOR ATTORNEY- July 18, 1933- H. K. BAKER METHOD OF EXPANDING METAL LATH Filed April 24, 1929 10 Sheets-Sheet 3 ATTORNEYS July 18, 1933. H. K. BAKER METHOD OF EXPANDING METAL LATH Filed April 24, 1929 10 Sheets-Sheet 4 X24 4 ATTORNEYS INVENTO y 1933- H. K. BAKER METHOD OF EXPANDING METAL LATH Filed April 24, 1929 10 Sheets-Sheet 5 AT-roRNEYs July 18, 1933. H. K. BAKER 1 METHOD OF EXPANDING METAL LATH Filed April 24, 1929 10 Sheets-Sheet 6 ATTORNEYS July 18, 1933. BAKER 1,918,316

METHOD OF EXPANDING METAL LATH Filed April 24, 1929 10 Sheets-Sheet 7 BY Z Z a, 0'1! I ATTdRNEYfi July 18, 1933.

H. K. BAKER METHOD OF EXPANDING METAL LATH 10 Sheets-Sheet 8 Filed April 24, 1929 w. m M

Y u m,

INVENTOR 10 sheets -sheet 9 ATTORNEY 5 July 18, 1933. H. K. BAKER METHOD OF EXPANDING MET1\L LATE Filed April 24, 1929 Patented July 18, 1933 PAT? 035 EARXERSBURG,

T VIRGINIA, [-i CGBPORATIGN {BF IvIASSACHUSETTS METHOD 1F EXPANDING IEETAL LATI-I Application filed April 24,

This invention relates to a method of expanding metal lath and has particular reterence to the type of expansion involving the use of diverging expander arms or guides.

Genera ly considered the objects of the -vention include increased rate of producion, simplification of he construction and operation of the apparatus employed and production of lath with the lea t possible strains to the mesh work, which tend to result in a weal: and easily broken finished product.

More specifically, l contemplate the employment of a pro-opening operation in order to facilitate the subsequent and complete expansion of the mesh work.

It is also an object of the invention to reduce the an le of divergence of the expandor guides in order that the blanks may not be subjected to any sudden tearing strains during expansion and in order to simplify the driving mechanism for the rollers which feed the blanks through the diverging expander guides.

lso contemplate making the cooperating elements of the guides in such a manner and of such materials as to give them very great operating life and render them inexpensively and read'ly renewable.

How the foregoing objects and advanare obtained together with others which are incident thereto, will be clear from a consideration of the following description taken with the accompanying drawings which illustrate the Jreterred embod non; of the invention in which l igs. la and 1b constitute a top plan view of apparatus suitable for complisl the preopening and expanding the present in vention;

= 's. and so talen together form a side tonal view of the a paratus shown in 1a and ll hr certain parts of the pro-opening incoh- .i..ism suostantially as indicated by the line 2o;

. at is an enlarged longitudinal section 1929. Serial N0. 357,643.

thru the pro-opening mechanism taken as indicated by the line 4L-i of Fig. 1a;

Figs. 5 to 8 inclusive are somewhat diagrammaticviews (taken as described here inatter) of details of the preopening mechanism including sectional showings of certain of the guides with a blank therebetween;

F gs. 9 and 10 are sectional views of the expander guides taken as indicated by the lines 9-9 and 1 -10 of Figs. 1a and 1?) respectively Fig. 11 is a sectional. View thru the delivery end of the apparatus of the present in vention taken substantially as indicated by the line 11-11 of Fig. 15;

Figs. 12 and 13 are face and sectional views, respectively, of a slitted and ribbed blank adapted to be expanded by the apparatus and according to the method of the present invention; and

Figs. 14 and 15 are face and sectional views, respectively, of a portion of a completely expanded sheet of lath.

Before describing in detail he method and apparatus herein disclosed, it should be understood that the invention is particularly concerned with the completion of what is now well known in the art as high rib lath the same having relatively high ribs or 8 grooves formed in the unslitt-ed strips extending longitudinally of the sheets between mesh work sections, in contradistinction to what is commonly called flat rib lath which is usually provided with very shallow beads extending longitudinally thru the unslitted strips of a sheet. It might also be observed that the relatively deep grooves of the former type of lath are provided primarily for the purpose of giving the sheet strength and rigidity while the very shallow beads or the latter type are commonly employed in order to provide means whereby the blanks may be guided thru and expandin mechanism.

In order that the method of the present invention may be more readily understood, reference should first be made to Figs. 12 to 15 inclusive, Nos. 12 and 13 of which illustrate the condition of the blank just prior to the time of entering the mechanism of the present inventlon and Nos. 1d and of which illustrate the lat-h after it has been delivered from the mechanism of the present invention in a completely expanded form. A method and apparatus for producing blanks of the type illustrated in Figs. 12 and 13 is disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 356,331 filed April 19th, 1929.

It will be observed from the figures just above noted that the blanks are provided with pairs of longitudinally extended slitted areas, the slits being arranged to provide strands S which are arranged in staggered formation and which are interconnected by connecting bridges Z. The strands S are inclined longitudinally of the blank and the strands of adjacent areas or strips are oppositely inclined. Between the pairs of slitted areas are unslitted strips X which are relatively wide anc thru which extend the relatively shallow beads B. The beads B are adapted to be engaged and folded up i '0 the relatively high ribs indicated at B in Figs. 14 and 15 by means of the apparatus to be described hereinafter.

is also to be noted at this point that angled grooves G extend longitudinally of the blank between the slitted areas of each pair,

the l g-bs of the grooves G preferably extending substantially at right angles to each other and ov y taking Porticn Oi t f the slit' ed areas on either side. Note also hat the beads 13 and the grooves G are arranged in alternate formation transversely the sheet and that all of the grooves project to one side or face of the sheet while tne beads l3 project toward the other.

From inspection of the drawings, partic- Figs. 144, 1. 0. 2a, 27), 3 and d, it will that the form of apparatus for carout the process is mounted on be-c re 16 which is suitably supported standards 17. ille apparatus for accomplishing the preoening of the lath (see Figs. 1a, 2a, 3 and in hides the upper and lower cooperating s of feeding rollers 18 and 19 respectively ch are adapted to engage the relatively shallow beads B to start the blanks 'thru tus and which are suitably mountd on shafts 20 and 21, the latter being jourin supporting members 22 secured to ing upwardly from the bed plate rlote hat the lower shaft 21 is jourled' directly in the members 22 and that tne upper shaft 20 is journalled therein indirectly. so to speak, by means of bearing VOL).

blocks 23 mounted for vertical movement between jaws opening from the top edges of members 22. Bracket members 24 bridge the aws and are provided with adjusting bolts 25 for securing the blocks 23 in position to bring the working surfaces of the upper and lower cooperating rollers 18 and 19 into position for gripping and feeding the blanks as they are fed into the apparatus. The manner in which the blanl s are gand fed by the rollers 18 and 19, just described as well as by hose be tlQSCllbGL hereinafter, is clearly illustrated in Figs. 5 to 8 inclusive.

Extending forwardly from the working surfaces of the rollers 18 and 19, I have provided cooperating pairs of upper and lower guides for engaging the beads B and guiding the blanks forwardly until they are ed by other rollers which perform the up operation. These guides are ine-d by the reference characters 26 and in Figs. la, 3. l and (3 and it should be .at these guides extend forwardly in ally parallel relation to the bed the same being supported on the by means f the upper and lower 8 and 29 {see l).

e' are the hla ks pass out of the guides k .6 and 2'? their angled grooves G are onby the upper and lower rollers 30 and 31 which have similarly angled working surfaces. However, these rollers 30 and 31 are arranged to e 'icnd tie legs of the grooves m j l F to. e in an adcitional strip 0..

either sidthereof. The

rolle s 30 and 31 ar mounted on the shafts 32 1c 33 the same being journalled in the unri. hts 22 sim rarly to the shafts 20 and 21, inclu. a direct bearing for the shaft 33 arl nearing blocks M for the shaft 32 iounted between jaws which are closed or ridged by the members 35 and bolts 36 for Whtening the rollers in their gripping posiding forwardly from the working of the rollers 30 and 31, I have arthe cooperating 37 and 33 gripping surfaces which gradually ice or taper from their entrance ends to delivery ends in such inanff to gradually release or uncover the por one of the slitted areas which are included in the legs of the angled grooves G of the blanks which they 'llr is, they taper from a configur subs ally the same that a5. 3 coves delivered from the rollers 30 and 31 to a conliq'u substantially as in ated in 8. .1 rs. '4" and 3 clearly indie .ie this change but it should oe observed tl these figures are no ken at extreme ends of the guides. but i section at points intermedi to t eir ends, e. of the figured to grip substantially the entire unslitted areas X of the blanks and fold them i into grooves whose legs extend at substantially rightangles to each other. Stated in ano her way the rollers 39 and d0 deepen enlarge the r latively shallow beads B t :ing in the unslitte-c areas on each side The rollers 39 and are mounted ll and the same being jourthe members 22 in exactly the same mann r as the shafts 32 and 33 hereinbefore described.

- ond set so of rib forming rollers 43 and are ositioned and mounted on shafts and 46, the said shafts also being mounted in the manner hereinbefore described. These rollers, as will be seen from inspection of Fig. have working surfaces which fold up the right angled ribs into substan- 0 tia y ii -shaped configuration. Short coopcrating guides 47 and 1 8 (see Figs. la and i) serve to direct the ribs of the blanks as they pass thru the apparatus from the rib forming rollers 39 and $0 to those numbered 43 and 4 Supporting brackets 49 and 50 p -oned between the sets of rollers 39, s0 and d3, e', the same serving to support the gui nos 4-? and 48 as well as those numbered 8'? and 38.

shafts for the lower sets of rollers, se numbered 21, 33, 412 and 46 are rein the main drive shaft 51 thru S lOCliQ' 'J and chain con- 54, with the shaft 46, connected therev ith 3 and 56 mounted on lves and the idlers 58 and therew th. From inspec- I it be seen that this gear ngement provides a synchronized for all of the upper and lower roller e apparatus for EICCODlPhShlLQ the era LC mg is also mounted on the ta le 10 and in general consists of number of pairs of diverging guides and rollers for feeding the blanks therethrough. The receiving ends of sets of upper and lower guides 60 i e positioned adjacent to the work- 50 ing sui aces of the rollers 48 and 4.4 and a e ac apteo to receive and engage the ll-sha d ribs of the blanks as they are delivered from he rollers. At this point the cooperating upper and lower guides are supported by means of the supports or brackets 62 and 68 respectively, the same extending transversely of the appa tus between the up of he preopening apparatus (see The ot--.er ends of th in each other in a h ported by means the latter being ca 9 secured to the Figs. la and 2a).

ing rollers are arranged at the delivery ends of tl pairs of guides 60, 61, the same being indicated by the reference characters 66 and A shaft 68 serves to support and drive all of the upper rollers 66, the said shaft being journalled at its ends in the standards 69 by means of bearing blocks 70 mounted for vertical movement in the jaws which are formed at the top of the members 69 and which are indicated in Fig. 2a at 71. The upwardly opening jaws 71 are closed by the bridge members 72 and adjusting bolts 73 are provided therein. This journal construction is similar to that described in connection with the shafts 20, 82, ll and 45 with the exception that the adjusting bolts 73 react thru the intermediation of springs 74 instead of directly against the blocks 70. The lower rollers of the cooperating pairs new under consideration are mounted on the shaft 75 which is journalled directly in the members 69.

Extending forwardly from the delivery side of these rollers are other pairs of diverging guides 60, 61 which are similar in a l respects to those already described. At their receiving ends they are spaced and supported in a suitable manner by means of the transverse bracket members 76 and 77 While their ier ends they are engaged and supported by members 64: and 65 constructed and supported in the same manner as those previously referred to, provision being made, however, for engagement of the guides 60, 61 at intervals which are farther apart than those at the delivery ends of the first described pairs of guides 60, 61. Feeding rollers and supports are provided at the delivery ends of the second mentioned set of that this contruction including 68 and 75 and supporting members 64, 65 and 76, 77, is identical with that already described with the exception that the rollers 36 and 67 are more widely spaced and that the guide arranged to deliver and re ccive the blanks at the spaced intervals occurring between the rollers.

A third construction of this character is positioned and supported on the table 16 beyond those already referred to and it should be noted that these constructions are spaced longitudinally of the table at substantially equal intervals.

At this point it might be observed that the cross sectional configuration of the guides 60, 61 and the rollers 66, 67 are adapted to engage and maintain the formation of the ribs of the blanks during the eX- panding operation. Note also that the guides 60, 61 of special construction in order to reduce weand facilitate reolacements. According to this construction the main bodies of the guides 60, 61 are formed of cast metal, the lower guides 61 having grooves adapted to embrace or engage ribs and the upper guides being provir ed with renewable strips or knives 78 (see 9 to 11 inclusive). These knives 78 received in suitable longitudinally extending slots in the guides 60 and are secured in position by means of the pins 79, the same preferably being of wedgelike formation in order to ensure tight gripping contact in the openings provided therefor in the guide members 60 and 78. The knives 78 tend into and thus maintain the formathe ribs during the ex nd 1 operz and it should be observed at he knives 78 are preferably made of steel.

The metals here employed, i. e. cast iron and steel, make for the strongest and longest lived guide construction pow knives employed must be relative therefore. would not be of sufficient 2 if made of cast iron, because such me is well known in the art, is el b I. have constructed these k of steel in order that they may strength, and have con. bodies of the guides 60 or cast iron in order to reduce the cost of production of the parts. The lower guides 61 may be cons tirely of cast iron in view of the no relatively thin knives or parts sary in a guide of grooved form thermore, the cast iron employed the lower members wears very slowly. This construction therefore, results in in-erzpcn sive manufacture as well as longer lif I the guide members than was possible heretofore.

Mounted on the table 16 at the ends of the last pairs of diverging 60, 61, are supporting I members or 80 (see Figs. 1b, 2b, and 11) and so. in these members 80 I have prov fourth set of upper and lower fcedi crs G0 and 67 mounted on upper and lower shafts 68 and in the same ma hereinbefore described. The lower si -aft (5 in this case is direct y gournaled 11] the mbers while the upper shaft 68 is provided with bearing blocks 7 O which mounted for vertical movement between the jaws 81, the latter being bridged in this instance by means of the members iusting bolts 7 3 and springs 74 are 82, also provided in this instance.

The delivery ends of the guides 60, 1 the last set are supported by inians of the transversely extending supporting members 83 and 84c in UOSlillOll to deliver -l i the ribs or the blanks to the cooperating tongue and groove working surfaces of the rollers 66 and 67. This last or delivering crs feeds the blanks to the s guides and rollers located immedi: therebeyond. The straightening guides constructed similarly to those already c.-

scribed and from inspection of Figs. 1b and 11, it will be seen that they are again mounted or supported by transversely extending members 85 and 86.

Beyond the guides 87 and 88 in the direction of feed to the apparatus are arranged two upper and three lower straightening roller shafts 89 and 90 respectively, the three lower ones 90 being directly mounted in the uprights 80 and the two upper ones 89 being arranged in staggered relation to the lower ones and being carried by the journal boxes 91 between jaws 92, the latte being closed by means of the binder or bridging member 82. The mechanisms indicated by the reference character 98 serve to adjust the vertical position of the blocks 91.

The upper shafts 89 are provided with straightening rollers 94 having circumferential tongues on'their working edges for engaging the interior of the ribs of the expanded sheets while the lower shafts 90 are provided will rollers 95 having circumferential grooves at heir working edges for engagi the outside of the ribs.

Each pair of shafts 68 and 75 for the feeding rollers 66, 67 are interconnected by means of gears 96 and 97 (see Figs. 1a, 1?), and 8) and all of the lower shafts 75 are connected to the main drive shaft 51 by means of the chain connections indicated in 10;, 1b, 2a, and 2?) by the reference numerals 98, 99, 100 and 101, each succeeding connection sprockets 102 keyed to the shafts 7 5 and 51.

The drivin mechanism for the deliver ing or straightening rollers includes a chain connection 108 between the last of the lower shafts 7 5 and the first of the straightening roller shafts 90, each of said shafts being provided with a cooperating sprocket wh el 102 (see Figs. 17) and All of the lower shafts 90 have gears 10% which are interconnected by means of the i ler gears 105 all positioned at the side of the apparatus djacent to the chain driving mechanism.

At the other side of the apparatus the upper roller shafts 89 are provided with gears 100 which mesh with a gear 107 keyed to the central lower shaft 90 at the same side of the apparatus. It will be seen, therefore, that the forming rollers 18, 19, 30, 31, d9, 10, 43, 14 and the feeding rollers 66, 67, as well as the straightening rollers 9%: and 95 are all driven in timed relation from a single driving shaft, i. e. the shaft 51 which, as shown in Fig. 1a is provided with sprocket wheels 108 for coupling with any suitable source of power.

In considering the operation of the apparatus and also the advantages incident thereto, reference should first be made to the drawings illustrating the pie-opening parts of the mechanism, particularly Figs. 5 to 8 inclusive. When a blank of the character hereinbetore described (see Figs. 12 and 13) is fed into the front end of the machine, its relatively shallow beads B are first en- 5 aged by the initial pairs of'teeding rollers 8 and 19, the said rollers having working faces of into itial bead and groove i feed the beads B of the blank and thus serve as guides therefor (see F is the blank is fed forward ly by l and 19, the beads B as well as the uns.-. d areas on each side thereof are engaged by the cooperating guides 26 and 27. About midway of the guides 26 15 and 27, the angled grooves G in the center as engaged by the rollers h, as already observed, e):-

the grooves G and take in al port-ion of the sit'ed areas.

ed that this is accomthe legs 1 e centers configuration whicr e sheet.

one of the angl d grooves G are held (by means of the rollers and 31) in one same plane in which the guides 26 and 2. iold the unslitted areas 1 their beads B. This operation sli; y inclines l talien by the rollers 30 and 31, the ination, wil be seen from inspection ig. 6, being downwardly from the guides 7 toward the lower extremity of the he angled grooves G and it might .so be noted that this operation very slighthes OEDGBS the strands which are n l y the rollers 30 and 31. Upon tnrn the rollers 80 and 31 the blank forwardly thru the guides 37 and 38 I as already pointed out, are of a cross- -.al conlig ration similar to that of the 0 and 3-1. These guides, as will be 'oin inspection of Fig. guide the grooves of the blank forwardly until .i is delivered to the guides and e expander proper. Two sets of rib and forming rollers 39, l0 and 43, .rraxred at successive points along and. 38. The first set 39, 4O )artially fold up the unslitted ositioned along the guides ointbeyond that at which the p rtion of the additional sli 'ch taken in by the rollers 1e elease is, of course, gradual nds the uides 37 and reas which are ends, the same being acshcd by the tapered formation of the 1111s operation will be clear from and as will b section of the tinction to an opening pull in a direction in or laterally of the plane of the brldges.

Stated in another way, each strand is bent or swung from one end through an are which lies in a plane substantially at right angles to the connecting bridges Z and, of course, to the legs 01 the rooves G. The type of opening accomplis ed by the present apparatus subjects the strands and bridges to the least possible strains and therefore is advan ageous in providing a stronger finished product. Note still turther in connection with Fig. 7 the strands S adjacent the unslitted strips are bent or opened with respect to the said unslitted strips in the same manner as the intermediate strands are bent or opened up with respect to their connecting bridges Z. This is accomplished by the partial tolding up of the unslitted strips, i. e. to a position in which the slitted areas as a Whole extend at substantially right angles ti 61 3 from.

The second set of forming rollers 43, A is positioned approximately at the ends of the guides 37 and 38 and in view of the fact that the guides progressively en age and less of the slitted areas at the sides of the angled grooves G, additional strands S are released. These additional strands S are slightly opened up in the manner already described by the additional folding up of the unslitted areas X into the rentively high ribs the same accomplished by means of the rollers a3 and la (see Fig. 8). It should also be observed here again that the centers of the relatively high ribs and of the grooves G are still maintained (by the rollers and guides) in substantially the same plane.

The foregoing pie-expansion or pro-open ing operation, it might be noted, should not be confused with the expanding operation proper, i. e. that accomplished bv the diverging sets of guides. Tnis preopeuing operation prepares the blanks, so to speak, for the subsequent expanding operation by slightly forming or bending the strands in a manner which subjects t em to the least possible strains, and according to which the subsequent expansion or bending of the strands will continue along the same lines as shown in Figs. 9 and 10. It is also worthy of note that heretofore in this art great difficulty has been experienced in producing lath by means of apparatus employingdiverging guides without subjecting the strands of the mesh work to strains which at times even caused breakage during expansion and very frequently resulted in a weak finished article. The underlying cause of this difiiculty is the fact that the diverging guides of an expander of the type in question tend to open the strands edgewise in the general plane of the sheet and thus subject the connecting bridges to very great tearing strains. My invention, however, prepares the blanks, for expansion by diverging guides, in such a manner that the bending or opening up of the strands will be carried out with a mininum of tearing strains to the bridges. Thus the apparatus of the present invention permits the use of an expander of the diverging guide type with its incident advanta e of high speed production without sacrificing strength in the finished lath. V

In continuing the discussion of the operation of the apparatus, it should be observed that the last set of rib forming rollers 4:23, ll, deliver the lath blanks directly to the first set of diverging guides 60, 61, the same being configured to engage and maintain the formation of the relative high ribs. hen

he forward edge of a blank has passed thru the first set of diverging guides, its ribs are engaged by the feeding rollers 66, 67 and as the blank advances thru the second set of diverging guides, it is engaged by the second set of feeding rollers and so on progressively to the third and last sets, being borne in mind, of course, that all of the feeding rollers 66 and 67 are driven in synchronism. At this point, several advantages of the particular type of expanding mechanism herein disclosed should be noted.

Firstly, the total length of the expander proper is much greater than that commonly provided, i. e. substantially greater than the length of the blanks commonly used and substantially greater than the length ofexpanders commonly employed in producing a fully expanded lath of a given width. This, of course, enables the guides to be positioned at a very small angle of divergence with the result that the strains to the strands are still further reduced. The small angle of divergence of the guides also permits the use of feeding rollers mounted as shown and described herein, i. e. on shafts or axes of rotation which extend transversely of the guiding mechanism as a whole. Heretofore, wnen feeding rollers were employed in connection with diverging guides the angle of divergence of the guides was such that the rollers had, of necessity, to be mounted individually on axes extending at right angles to the particular guides with which the pairs were associated. Stated in another Way, as heretofore constructed, each pair of feeding rollers was mounted and arranged so that their gripping surfaces moved in the (li ction of feed of the blanks thru the particular guides with which the pair was associated. The complication in providing driving connections for feeding rollers mounted in this manner is obviously very great.

I have completely obviated the d fiiculties just noted by reducing the angle of divergence of the guides to a point which permits the use of sets of feeding rollers mounted for rotation on coinciding or parallel axes the same extending transversely of the expander guides as a whole. All of the upper or lower rollers in a rib engaging set may, therefore, be mounted on a single shaft. The driving connections necessary are, thereby, greatly simplified as is, also, the mounting of the rollers.

Still another advantage of the decreased gle of divergence of the expander guides the decreased wear and tear to the guides feeding rollers in general. it is ohthatthe feeding rollers must engage lanks with a much greater pressure in panders having a relatively great angle ivergence than in expanders in which angle is diminished. lt is also obvious a greater angle of divergence subjects he guides to proportionately increased lateral wear.

The difiiculties which have been noted just above have been particularly troublesome in the manufacture of the so-called high rib lath by the diverging guide type of expander in view of the fact that the relatively high ribs must be almost constantly engaged either by guides or rollers throughout the entire length of the expanding mechnism in order to prevent the ribs from opening out or spreading during the expansion process and where the guides have a relatively great angle of divergence the necessary continuous contact of the guides and rollers with the ribs of the blanks resulted in an amount of frictional resistance which was very detrimental to the efficient operation of the mechanism. This c ii'liculty is considerably ameliorated according to the present invention by lengthening out and thus reducing the angle of divergence of the expander guides.

In addition to the advantages already pointed out in connection with the construction of the guide members themselves it should be observed that the provision of renewable tongue or knife member of each of the upper guides is advantageous as such knives may be replaced, when necessary on account of the wear, without renewing the entire guide member. This, of course, makes for economy in the maintenance of the apthe l stock by cutting the same into suitabl lengths and machining the blank aging edge and ends. Still further an e resides in the fact that the renewves are the parts of the guides Which are subject to the greatest Wear. This will be apparent from inspection of Figure 9 or Figure 10 from Which it Will be seen that the contact and, therefore, the wear on the grooves of the lower guide members 61 is distributed not only on each side or the grooves but also throughout a relatively large area on each of the said sides, Whereas practically all oi the Wear to the upper guides will occur at the bottom edges of the knives 78. The construction, therefore, makes provision for the renewal or replace-- ment of the parts which Wear most rapidl The advantages incident to the use of steel and cast iron in making one knives and the guide bodies have already been noted.

The operation of the delivery mechanism including the guides 87 and 88 one the roll ers 9i and 95 is quite obvious, the said guides and rollers merel serving to straighten and even up the ribs as they are delivered from the last set of feeding rollers 66 and 67 and to d liver the blanks from the apparatus. A portion of a completed blank is illustrated in Figs. 14 and 15 from which it will be observed that the mesh Work takes the form is k1 of a. plurality of inclined diamond-shaped meshes on either side of relatively narrow nslit-ted strips, the latter originally constituting the central portion of the angled grooves G (see Figs. 12 and 13). It Will also be noted that the diamonds are inclined in opposite directions on each side of the said relatively narrow unslitted strips and that the strengthening ribs B1 are in terposed between each pair of mesh Work se tions. 45 b in conclusion attention should again be directed to the simplicity of the driving mechanism for the various forming, feeding and deivery rollers, the same not requiring the use of any flexible or universal connections whatsoever.

The appzuatus herein disclosed is described and claimed in my copending application Serial No. 619,186, filed June 25th,

- less.

claim l e method of pro-opening blanks havlongitudinally extending unslitted and longitudinally extending slitted a groove therein, which includes 1e l 1 its groove, gradually .oianx at portions of the slitted area included in the groove, and slightly opening said portions, as released, by folding up the unslitted area into a relatively deeo rib.

2. The herein described method of preopening blanks having a longitudinally ex tend ig'slitted area With a groove therein,

maintainin the original Width otthe blank,

and slightly opening the strands of the slittod area included in the legs of the groove.

3. The herein described method of preopening blanks having a longitudinally extending slitted area With a groove therein, which includes extending the legs of the groove to include additional portions of the slittcd area on each side thereof While still maintaining the original Width of the blank, and slightly opening the strands of the slitted area included in the legs of the groove, said last mentioned step being card on progressively beginning With the ads at the extremities of the groove legs. 4. The method of pro-opening blanks hava longitudinally extending slitted area l a groove in the slitted area, the legs of which extend substantially at right angles to each other, Which includes extending the i of the groove to slightly open the of the slitted area not included i fire-in, and slightly opening the strands included in the groove the last mentioned step being carried on progressively beginning with the strands at the extremities of the groove legs.

0. The method of pro-opening blanks having a longitudinally extending slitted area which includes forming a groove in the tted area, the legs of Which extend subitially at right angles to each other, ghtly opening the strands of the slitted area included in the legs of the groove, the opening operation being carried on progressively beginning withthe strands at the extremities of the said legs.

6. The method of pro-opening blanks having a longitudinally extending slitted area which includes forming a groove in the s itt d area the legs of which extend subs ally at right angles to each other,

ly opening the strands of the slitted ncluded in the legs of the groove by v'inging the same from one end through an are which lies in a plane substantially at right angles to the legs of the groove in which they are include 7. The method of pro-opening blanks having a longitudinally extending slitted area WllClI includes forming a groove in the slitted area, the slitted area included in the legs of the groove by swin ing the same from one end through an are which lies in a plane substantially at right angles to the legs of the slightly opening the strands of.

tending slitted areas and longitudinally extending unslitted areas, the steps oi folding up the unslitted areas into ribs substantially desired in of the depth and configuration the completed product, and utiliz folding up operation to accomp h a preopening of the strands of the shtted areas, and subsequently subjecting the blanks to an opening pull subst in the general plane thereof to con L e the :pansion.

10. In the herein described method of panding blan rs having 1 tending slitted areas and long -uL extending unslitted areas with grooves in the former, the steps of 1 ing up the unslitted areas into ribs and utilizing the said folding up operation to accomplish a pre opening of the strands included in the legs of the grooves in the sliued areas.

11. In the herein described method of expanding blanks having longitudinally ex tending slitted areas and longitudinally extending unslitted areas with grooves in the former, the steps of folding up the unslitted areas into ribs the bottoms of which lie substantially in the plane of the bottoms of the grooves and the legs of 'ch extend oppositely to the legs 01' the grooves, and slightly opening the strands included in the legs of the grooves in t is slitted areas as the folding up operation is carried on.

12. In the herein described method 01" expanding blanks having longitudinally extending slitted areas and longitudinally er;-

tending unslitted areas with grooves in the former, the steps ot progressively tolding up the unslitted areas into ribs the bottoms of which lie substantially in the plane or the bottoms of the grooves and the legs of which extend oppositely to the legs of the grooves, and progressively slightly opening the strands included in the of the grooves in the slitted areas as the "folding up operation is carried on.

18. In the herein described method of expanding blanks having longitudinally extending slitted areas and longitudina ly extending unslitted areas with grooves in the former, the steps of progressively folding up the unslitted areas into ribs the bottoms of which lie substantially in the plane or the bottoms of the grooves and the legs of which extend oppositely to the legs of the grooves,

and progressively slightly opening the strands included in the legs of the grooves in the slitted areas as the folding up operation is carried on, the last mentioned operation being carried on successively beginning with the strands farthest from the center of the grooves.

14. In the herein described method of expanding blanks having longitudinally extending slit-ted areas and longitudinally extending unslitted areas with grooves in the former, the step of folding up the unslitted areas into ribs the bottoms of which lie substantially in the plane of the bottoms of the grooves and the legs of which are substantially parallel to the nearest groove legs to slightly open the strands between the ribs and grooves.

In the herein described method of expanding blanks having longitudinally extending slit-ted areas and longitudinally extending unslitted areas with grooves in the former, the step of folding up the u slitted areas Into ribs the bottoms which lie substant- Ly in the plane of the bottoms of the grooves and the legs of which extend oppositely to the groove legs and are substantially parallel to the nearest groove legs to 16. The herein described method of making expanded metal ineshwork from a metallic blank having strands and connecting bridges which includes slightly bending the stran ls flatwise and longitudinall with respect to the connecting bridges to partially expand the meshwork, and subsequently completing expansion by subjecting the blank to an opening pull in the general plane thereof.

17. In the herein described method of making expanded meal iieshwork from a blank which has been slitted to pro uce strands and strand interconnecting bridges, the steps of gripping a portion of the strands and bridges, gradually releasing said portion and bending the strands, as they are released, flatwise and longitudinally with respect to the connecting bridges to partially expand the ineshwork, and subsequently subjecting the blank to an opening pull in a direction laterally oi the plane thereof to complete expansion.

18. The method of expanding a blank having a longitudinally extending slitted area with a groove therein, which includes gripping the blank in an area including groove, gradually releasing portions of the slitted area included in the g pped portion, slightly opening said portions, as releas d, by bending the strands to extend (lengthwise) at an angle to the general plane of the blank, and subsequently subjecting the blank to an opening pull in a direction laterally of the plane thereof to complete expansion.

19. The herein described process of expanding the meshwork of a slitted metallic blank having strands and strand intercon necting bridges which lie in planes at least parallel to the general plane of the blank, which includes the steps of slightly opening the meshwork by bending the strands thereof with respect to the connecting bridges so that their longitudinal extension is at an angle to the general plane of the blank so as partially to expand the meshwork, and subsequently subjecting the meshwork to an opening pull substantially within the said general plane of the blank, whereby the second mentioned step completes the expansion of the meshwork by additionally bending the strands in a manner similar to that set forth in the first step, even though the strands and connecting bridges were originally disposed in planes at least adjacent to the general plane of the blank.

20. The herein described method of opening expanded metal meshwork in two general operations, which includes, as the first operation, swinging or bending the strands of the meshwork so that the longitudinal axes of the individual strands extend at an angle to the general plane of the original blank, and, as the second operation, completing the expansion of the meshwork by subjecting it to an opening pull in the general plane of the blanl 21. The herein described method of expanding a blank having strands and connecting bridges which consists in subjecting the strands to an opening pull in a direction transverse the plane of the blank to partially separate the strands and then in subjecting the strands to an opening pull in a direction laterally or" the plane of the blank to complete expansion.

HERBERT K. BAKER.

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