US1961852A - Metal grille fabric - Google Patents

Description

June 5, 1934. B. GREEN METAL GRILLE FABRIC Filed Oct. 2a, 1935 ZSheets-Sheet l v June 5, 1934. GREEN 1,961,852

METAL GRILLE FABRIC Patented June 5, 1934 UNITED STATES METAL GRILLE FABRIC Lee B. Green,

- land, Ohio, a

17 Claims.

My invention relates to louver-type grilles fabricated from sheet metal, in which the louver blades are of a rearwardly open U-section and are connected to one another by cross-members fastened to all of the blades, such grilles being now widely used on passenger automobiles where each such grille is disposed across the frontal airadmitting opening of the housing for the engine to guard against having gravel or the like tossed through this opening against the radiator core in front of engine, and also to reduce the visibility of the radiator core.

In a grille designed for this purpose, each blade is usually formed by bending a sheet metal strip of uniform width about its transversely medial portion. To secure an adequate total area of theair-admitting passages between the blades, the

spread of each blade usually is much smaller than the spacing between the consecutive (gen- 0 erally parallel) blades; and to reduce the number of blade-connecting cross-bars, portions of which are visible between the blades, these cross-bars are usually spaced from each other by distances enormously greater than the spread of each blade-as for example from 50 to 100 times as great.

Owing to this relatively great spacing of the cross-bars, the part of each blade which extends between two consecutive cross-bars is left free to flex laterally, and such flexing is all the more likely to occur when the blades are formed of quite thin metal so as to reduce the weight and cost of the grille. And, since U-sectioned blades-particularly when of a spread which is a minor fraction of the depth (or blade-web width) of the blade-are commonly made of metal of low resiliency, an undue lateral flexing of such a blade may easily lead to a permanent set of the bend, thereby greatly marring the appearance of the grille and also reducing its guarding efficiency.

Moreover, the relatively small total spread of the two webs of such a blade, particularly in proportion to the horizontal depth of the blade, affords such a limited basal anchorage-spread at the connection of each blade to a cross-arm, that a side strain applied to the forward portion of a blade at a considerable distance from any crossbar may tend to rock the blade about the crossbars to an extent which the ordinary fastening of the blade to the cross-bar is hardly able to resist.

Furthermore, the narrow spread of the blades in proportion to their free spacing leaves the major portion of the length of each cross-bar visible (from the front of the car) between the blades,

Lakewood, Ohio, Globe Machine & Stamping assignor to The Company, Clevecorporation of Ohio Application October 28,

1933, Serial No. 695,634 (Cl. 189-82) and since such bars are usually of a cheap black bars or other cross-members are usually also too narrow to aiiord as firm an anchorage for the blades as would be advisable for resistance to abnormal strains.

My present invention aims to overcome the above recited objections by providing a generally Usectioned blade which will afford an anchorage spread at each cross-arm of much greater spread than that of the blade parts between the crossarms; which will permit the anchored portions of the numerous blades of the grille to conceal the cross-arms entirely, even when these cross-arms are widened to enhance the rigidity of the anchoring of the blades to them; and which blade also will have suitably positioned portions thereof formed so as to be engaged by an adjacent blade to limit the lateral flexing of blades.

Furthermore, my invention aims to dispose the just mentioned flex-limiting portions so that they will form pattern lines which will impress any one viewing the grille so as to detract from his clearly seeing portions of a radiator core (or other object) behind the grille, thereby enabling the grille to afford its intended ornamenting purposes more adequately.

In addition, my invention aims to provide novel means for anchoring such grille blades to cross-members, and an expeditious method of effecting this anchoring. And in that aspect, my invention aims to provide a grille in which the adjacent web portions of each two consecutive blades are fastened conjointly to each crossarm and engage each other fiatwise to brace the consecutive blades against each other.

Illustrative of the manner in which I accomplish the just recited objects, Fig. 1 is a fragmentary front elevation of a grille embodying my invention.

Fig; 2 is an enlarged rear elevation of the grille part A of Fig. 1, with portions of the blades broken away.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged and fragmentary side elevation, taken from the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective View of the grille portion A of Fig. 1, with portions of the blades broken away.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective View of one of the cross-bars, drawn on a scale intermediate that of Figs. 1 and 3.

Fig. 6 is a section taken along the line 66 of Fig. 2, showing also a portion of a tool with which web portions of the blades were deformed to their illustrated shapes.

Fig. '7 is a section allied to Fig. 6, but with the tool portion omitted, showing the blade webs as they appear when first inserted in the slots of the cross-bar.

Fig. 8 is an elevation of a larger portion of the grille fabric shown in Fig. 1, drawn on a smaller scale.

Figs. 9, 10 and 11 are elevations showing fragments of other grille fabrics embodying my invention and for which the anchoring arrangement of Figs. 2 and 6 is suitable.

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary perspective view of an embodiment of my grille in which the anchored portions of adjacent blades are not contiguous to each other, and Fig. 13 is a perspective view of a portion of a cross-bar suitably slotted for this purpose.

Fig. 14 is an enlarged rear elevation showing an alternative deforming of the portions of a blade which anchor a blade of Fig. 12 to the cross-bar.

In constructing upright grilles with upright blades as shown in Fig. 1 and Figs. 8 to 11 inclusive, I first form grille blades of the customary simple U-section by correspondingly bending sheet metal strips, so that each blade in its preliminary form is of a uniform channel or U- section such as that shown at the upper ends of the three blades in Fig. 4; whereby each blade presents two parallel webs l and has the outer faces of these webs spaced by a width W (Fig.

4) considerably less than the desired spacing S between the medial longitudinal planes P of consecutive blades.

Then, by easily performed punch-press operations, I widen the U-section of each blade in relatively short portions N of the blade, with the transverse center lines L of these widened portions spaced (longitudinally of the blade) by distances D corresponding to the consecutive spacings of the center lines of the cross-bars C to which the blades are to be fastened, as shown in Fig. 8. Each such widened blade portion N is preferably of somewhat greater interior length H (Fig. 2) than the exterior width 3 of the cross-bar which is to be opposite it, and of an extreme spread S (Fig. 4), corresponding to the said spacing S of the longitudinal mid-planes P of consecutive blades in the proposed grille.

Then I provide channel-sectioned cross-bars with slots 8 each of which extends rearwardly through the (forwardly facing) channel-back C and beyond this channel-back for a uniform distance, which distance desirably is a minor fraction of the depth 5 (Fig. 5) of the channel webs of the cross-bar, these slots having their longitudinal mid-planes spaced consecutively by the aforesaid distance S. Moreover, the width of each slot is double the thickness of the steel from which the blades are formed, so that rearward parts of each side web 4 of such a widened blade portion N can extend through a slot 8 in the cross-bar conjointly with a side web 4 of the widened portion N of an adjacent blade.

In assembling a grille from such blades and cross-bars, I desirably first support the suitably spaced cross-bars with their channel-backs upward, and then slide the webs e of the widened blade portions into the cross-bar slots 8 until the free edges of these webs engage the slot bottoms. When the said slots are of such a width that each thereof snugly fits the oppositely directed faces of the contiguous side webs a of widened parts of two consecutive blades, these webs will then be frictionally held in the slots so that the resulting temporary assembly can readily be inverted to support it on a horizontal plate B (as shown in Fig. '7) while the blade portions between the channel webs 6 of each crossbar are deformed to clinch the blades to the cross-bar.

For this clinching operation, I desirably employ a bar 9, suitably supported. so as to be disposed parallel to the channel-back C of the crossbar and carrying depending pins 10 as shown in Fig. 6, which pins have their axes spaced consecutively from each other by a distance 11 which is double the spread of a widened blade portion N. Each of these pins has an approximately hemispherical lower end and has this end spaced somewhat upwardly from the inward (or normally rearward) face of the channel-back of the cross-bar.

The pin-carrying bar 9 is then slid forcibly toward the right, so that each pin simultaneously distends the parts of two contiguous web portions (such as la and 4 in Fig. 7) which are between the channel webs of the cross-arm, so as to form these web parts to the shape of a segment of a cup, and also to distend the free edges of these web parts to an arcuate shape of greater length than the spacing between the said channel webs. When th pin-carrying bar 9 is then slid forcibly and to a similar extent in the opposite direction, each pin 10 similarly distends and deforms the overlapping blade-web portions at the other side of the pin, thereby likewise deforming these into overlapping cup-segment portions (as shown in Figs. 2 and 6) and anchoring blades both against retraction from the slots through which they extend and against sliding transversely of the cross-bars.

The depth of each of the cross-arm slots 8 also desirably is considerably shorter than the interior width 12 (Figs. 3 and 7) of the side webs of the widened blade portions, which webs become narrower than the main blade web parts 1 during the operation of forming the widened blade portions. As the result of this proportioning, each widened blade front portion N opposite a crossarm is spaced forwardly from the channel-back C of the cross-arm, as shown in Figs. 6 and '7, so that the widened parts of adjacent blades present portions (such as 4 and a in Fig. 6) of considerable area in flat-wise engagement with each other. Since these contiguous portions can extend substantially to the front face of the grille, this interengagement braces each blade against the next one at every cross-arm, thereby not only adding rigidity to the grille but also stiffening the cross-arm so that the latter can also be formed of light steel. Moreover, each row of the widened blade portions adjacent to a cross-arm entirely conceals the cross-arm.

In practice, relatively few cross-arms, spaced by distances which may be at least fifty times the total spread of the main web portions 1 of each blade (as in Fig. 1) suffice in grilles of this general class, and when the blades are formed of thin sheet metal, the lengths of the blade parts between consecutive cross-arms might be such as to permit a sidewise impact against a blade (at a point considerably spaced from the cross-arms) to flex the impacted portion of the blade unduly. To avoid this, I desirably also form auxiliary widened portions A on at least every alternate blade at points intermediate of the aforesaid relatively contacting widened portions N.

Since these auxiliary widened blade portions A do not come opposite any cross-arms, they can be considerably shorter than the portions N, and by varying the number and location of the said auxiliary portions I can also produce highly artistic variations in the appearance of my here disclosed grilles, andin every case can enhance the resistance of the blades to strains tending to flex a blade toward an adjacent one.

Illustrative of such variations, Fig. 10 shows a fragment of a grille in which every alternate blade has the entire portion 1 between two consecutive cross-arms C of conventional uniform U-section, while each intermediate blade has a single widened portion A midway between the consecutive cross-arms. With a thus constructed grille, each illustrated blade part will engage an adjacent one as soon as it is flexed tothe relatively short distance 13, whereupon the blade engaged by it will receive some of the flexing strain to prevent the flexed blade from being curved to an extent exceeding the resiliency of the metal.

Moreover, if the blades provided with the auxiliary widened portions A are counterparts of each other, these portions of the alternate blades will aline along center-1ines 14 parallel to the centerlines 15 of the widened blade portions N of all blades, so as to present interrupted lines which cooperate with the continuous stripe effects of the portions N to give the grille a much more ornamental appearance than it would have if constructed with blades which are all of a conventional uniform U-section.

Instead of providing only every alternate crossarm-spanning blade part with an auxiliary widened portion A and disposing 'all of the portions A between two adjacent cross-arms along a single line 14, as in Fig. 10, I may provide each such blade part with a widened auxiliary portion A ,and relatively invert the alternate (identically formed) blades.

By doing this and spacing each of the said widened portions A from one of the adjacent crossarms C by about one-third the distance between the cross-arms, I produce the considerable different appearing grille of Fig. 8. In this grille of which Fig. 1 shows an enlarged fragment it will be obvious that each blade, if unduly flexed laterally, will either have its narrow portion 1 engage an auxiliary portion A on the next adjacent blade, or have widened portion A on the first named blade engage a narrow portion of the said adjacent blade; so that I enhance the cooperation of the blades in resisting lateral flexing.

This cooperative action is also enhanced if the auxiliary widened portions are provided on all blades and in alinement with each other transversely of the blades, thereby further varying the ornamental appearance also. Thus, Fig. 11 shows a part of a metal grille fabric in which the blades are all counterparts of each other, and in which the part of each blade between two consecutive cross-arm engaging portion N is provided with two spaced auxiliary widened portions A. In this figure, the spacing between the two portions A of each blade is considerably less than that of either portion A from the adjacent cross-arm engaging portion N thereby producing an appearance considerably different fro-m that shown in Fig. 9 where each auxiliary portion A is equally spaced from another portion A and from one of the crossarm engaging portions N.

And in both Fig. 11 and Fig. 9 it will be obvious that each auxiliary blade portion A is spaced from a similar portion of the next consecutive blade by a distance which is a quite small fraction of the free spacing 16 between unwidened parts of these blades, so that the said auxiliary widened blade portions will permit only a quite limited lateral flexing of any blade.

In carrying out my invention, the number of auxiliary widened portions and their spacing in the part of each blade between two cross-bars may be varied, both according to the spacing of the cross-bars and according to the desired ornamental appearance.

For example, in Fig. 9 each blade has two such auxiliary widened portions A disposed between two consecutive (and still more widened) portions N, and the consecutive center-to-center spacing of all widened portions is uniform in all of the blades. As the result, all the auxiliary widened portions A are disposed in rows transverse of the blades, and these portions A in each row are consecutively spaced by distances considerably shorter than the width of any one such portion and disposed for interengaging when any blade is laterally flexed to a quite small extent. Consequently, this grille fabric will permit only an exceedingly limited extent, even if the length of the fabric were doubled or trebled (in proportion to its width) with the same number of cross-bars and widened blade portions. And this will also be true when each of the two portions A is nearer to the companion one than to the adjacent anchored portion N, as in Fig. 11.

In Fig. 8, each blade has only a single auxiliary or secondary widened portion between two consecutive portions N of the major widened form, these auxiliary widened portions in consecutive blades being in relatively staggered disposition, so that each thereof is disposed for engaging an unwidened blade portion 1. This, as will be evident by a comparison with Fig. 9, increases the total area of the air passages between the blades, and the staggering of the auxiliary widened portions also gives the fabric a difierent ornamental appearance.

However, with only a single such auxiliary (or stop-forming widened portion A between each two consecutive portions N, each such portion A might be midway between the two portions N and these auxiliary portions A may be provided only on the alternate blades, as shown in Fig. 10.

Moreover, while I have heretofore described my invention in connection with embodiments including a series of highly desirable details of construction and arrangement, I do not wish to be limited in these respects, since many changes might be made without departing either from the spirit of my invention or from the appended claims. Nor do I wish to be limited to the conjoint use of the various novel features of my invention, or to the particular assembly method described in connection with Fig. 6.

For example, since the expeditious simultaneous fastening of parts of contiguous blades does not depend on the providing of widened flex-stop portions on the blades, it will be obvious without separate picturing that this bladeanchoring could be used advantageously in a grille fabric in which all blades are like the one of which a section is shown by the left-hand blade in Fig. 10.

Likewise, since the side-bracing eifect secured by the contacting of adjacent wide blade portions N (as in Fig. 4) operates independently of the flex-limiting action of the less widened portions A,'these latter portions might also be used advantageously with blades which are spaced apart even at their fastenings to the cross-arms, as shown in Fig. 12; in which case the cross-arm would be provided (as in Fig. 13) with a separate pair of slots 8 for receiving the webs of each blade.

Furthermore, while my metal grille fabric is particularly suitable for automobile radiator grilles, I do not wish to be limited as to its uses.

I claim as my invention:

1. A metal grille fabric comprising parallel blades of rearwardly open U-section, the spread of each blade being wider in relatively short blade portions thereof, spaced longitudinally of the blade, than in the major parts of the blades; and cross-bars connecting the said blades; the said short blade portions of consecutive blades being disposed in rows extending ransversely of the blades; and cross-bars each fastened to the said short portions constituting one of the said rows.

2. A metal grille fabric as per claim 1, in which each cross-bar is of less width than the length of the short blade portions to which the crossbar, and in which the cross-bar extends behind frontal parts of the short blade portions so that these portions conceal the cross-bar.

3. A grille fabric as per claim 1, in which the adjacent webs of widened portions of consecu tivc blades laterally engage each other.

4. A grill fabric as per claim 1., in which the adjacent webs of widened portions of consecutive blades contact flatwise with each other; and cross-members connecting the blades, each crossmember being fastened conjointly to the flatwise contacting webs of widened portions of two consecutive blades.

5. A metal grille fabric comprising parallel blades each of a rearwardly open U-scction presenting parallel webs, and cross-bars connecting the blades; the said U-section in the major portions of each blade being uniform and less than half the spacing between the medial longitudinal planes of consecutive blades, and cross-bars extending transversely of and secured to the rearward portions of both webs of each blade; longitudinally spaced and relatively short portions of each blade having their U sections wider than those of the said major portions of the blades so as to reduce the spacing between the said short portions of consecutive blades, the widened portions in the several blades of the grille alining with each other in rows extending transversely of the blades.

6. A grille fabric as per claim 5, in which each cross-bar is of a rearwardly open channel section and has transverse slots extending rearwardly into it to a greater depth than the thickness of the channel-back of the cross-bar, and in which the adjacent webs of widened portions of consecutive blades extend conjointly through such slots.

7. A grille fabric as per claim 5, in which each cross-bar is of a rearwardly open channel section and has transverse slots extending rearwardly into it to a greater depth than the thickness of the channel-back of the cross-bar, and in which the adjacent webs of widened portions of consecutive blades extend conjointly through such slots, the parts of each such two adjacent webs which are disposed behind the channel-back and between the two channel-webs of a cross-bar being conjointly deformed to clinch them conjointly against the rear face of the said channel-back.

8. An upright metal grille fabric comprising parallel blades each of a rearwardly open U- section presenting parallel webs; each blade comprising longitudinally spaced main portions of a uniform spread considerably less than the spacing between the medial longitudinal planes of consecutive blades, and relatively shorter blade portions interposed between consecutive main portions; each of the said shorter blade portions being of wider spread than the said main portions, the shorter blade portions of different blades of the grille alining with each other in rows transverse of the blades; and blade-connecting members extending transversely of the blades and rearward of the frontal portions of the blades and fastened only to web parts of widened blade portions.

9. A metal grille fabric comprising parallel blades presenting their frontal portions in a common frontal surface, and spaced cross-members extending transversely of the blades rearwardly of the said common surface and rigidly connecting the blades; the portions of the blades which extend in front of each cross-member being of such a width as to contact laterally with each other in consecutive blades, and the blade parts between such laterally contacting portions of consecutive blades being narrower than the said portions and freely spaced from each other.

10. A grille as per claim 9, in which each of the said laterally contacting blade portions has its length a minor fraction of the spacing between the cross-member behind that blade and the next adjacent blade.

11. A grille as per claim 9, in which at least every alternate blade also has secondary portions thereof, spaced from the said cross-bars, of a width less than that of one of the said contacting portions but greater than that of the major portion of the blade between two consecutive contacting portions.

12. An upright metal grille fabric comprising upright parallel blades each of a rearwardly open U-section presenting parallel webs, and spaced. cross-members extending transversely of and fastened to all of the blades, the lateral spread of each blade in the major portions of the blade being uniform and being considerably less than the spacing between the medial longitudinal planes of consecutive blades so as to space the major portions of consecutive blades from each other by a considerable distance; relatively shorter portions of each blade, disposed between and spaced from consecutive cross-members, being of a lateral spread greater than that of the said major blade portions so as to reduce the lateral spacing between each such shorter blade portion and each of the two adjacent blades, whereby each of the said shorter blade portions is disposed for engaging an adjacent blade to limit the flexing toward each other of the parts of the blades disposed between consecutive cross-members.

13. A grille fabric as per claim 12, in which the said shorter blade portions in consecutive blades aline with each other transversely of the blades.

14. A grille fabric as per claim 12, in which the said shorter blade portions in alternate blades aline with each other transversely of the blades, and in which the part of the blade between such alined portions of alternate blades is of the said uniform spread of the major portions of the blades.

15. A louver-type metal grille fabric comprising parallel blades presenting their frontal portions in a common frontal surface, the consecutive blades having their medial longitudinal planes spaced by uniform spacings; and spaced cross-bars extending transversely of the blades and rearwardly of the said common surface and connecting the blades; the frontal portion of each part of a blade which extends in front of a crossbar being of a width corresponding to the said spacing, so that these parts of consecutive blades contact with and laterally brace each other, and the remaining portions of the blades being narrower than the said spacing.

16. A louver element for a metal grille fabric comprising a U-sectional blade of generally uniform spread having the spread of its U-section widened in blade portions spaced longitudinally of the blade, and also having the U-section widened to a lesser extent in secondary blade

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