US2024769A - Wire-drawing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

1 1935- c. D. JOHNSON 2,024,769

WIRE DRAWING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 8, 1935 \nvenTor Chofles Ddohnson Patented Dec. 17, 1935 UNITED STATES WIRE-DRAWING APPARATUS Charles D. Johnson, Worcester, Mass., assignor to Johnson Steel 4; Wire Company, Inc., Worcester, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application February 8, 1935, Serial No. 5,559

'1 Claims.

This invention relates to wire-drawing apparatus of the type in which the wire is drawn in a dry state and in which a. dry lubricant is applied to the wire to lubricate its passage through the drawing die.

A continuous wire-drawing apparatus of this type is shown in my Patent No. 1,948,664, February 2'7, 1934 and also in my co-pending application Serial No. 743,212, filed September 8. 1934. In the devices shown in both said patent and said application the drawing drum is provided with a dry lubricant-supporting flange on which the dry lubricant is placed and means are provided for applying such dry lubricant to the wire as it is being wound on the drum and to the surface of the drum at the point where the wire is received thereby.

While an apparatus having this construction is effective so far as applying lubricant to the wire is concerned, yet if the speed of rotation of the drawing drum is increased above a certain point there is danger that the dry lubricant will be thrown off from the flange by centrifugal force.

The present invention has for its object to provide an improved manner of and construction for applying the dry lubricant to the wire which is not effected by any high speed operation of the drawing drum, but which will be just as effective for lubricating the wire at speeds of the drawing drum above that at which the lubricant would be thrown off from the flange of the drawing drum shown in my above-mentioned patent as at a speed below this point.

The present invention is especially applicable to a wire-drawing apparatus having a plurality of drums around which the wire passes successively and which is provided with an-idle direction pulley between the drums to guide the wire from one drum to the other. One way of carrying out my invention is to provide such idle direction pulley with a housing adapted to contain the dry lubricant so that in passing around the direction pulley the wire will pass through the dry lubricant and thus become properly lubricated. The housing serves to retain the lubricant in place and prevent it from being scattered or thrown into the air by any rapid rotation of the pulley.

In order to give an understanding of my invention I have illustrated in the drawing a selected embodiment thereof which will now be described after which the novel features will be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing;

Fig. 1 is a side view of a portion of a wiredrawing apparatus embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view on the line 2-2 Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the direction pulley and the lubricant containing housing therefor with the cover removed and with a part broken out.

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 shows a different embodiment of the invention.

While my invention is applicable to a variety of different wire-drawing apparatus I have herein chosen to show it as it might be applied to a wire-drawing apparatus such as shown in my said co-pending application Serial No. 743,212,10 filed September 8, 1934, but I wish it understood that the invention is in no ways limited in its application to a wire-drawing apparatus of this type. In Fig. 1, I indicates the wire being drawn and 2 is a drawing die through which the wire is 15 drawn for reducing its diameter. 3 indicates a drawing drum which is fast on a power driven shaft 4 and which operates to draw the wire through the drawing die 2. If the wire-drawing apparatus is of the continuous type then the wire 20 will make several turns about the drawing drum 3 as shown at 5 and will then be led to another die and to another drawing drum.

In the device shown in Fig. 1 a freely rotatable wire-cooling drum 6 such as is shown in my copending application, Serial. No. 743,212 is employed about which the wire I passes in its travel from the die 2 to the drawing drum 3. This wire-cooling drum is carried by the spindle 4 and is freely rotatable thereon. The wire-receiving surface of this wire-cooling drum 6 is cooled by means of a jet of wawr directed against the interior of the drum by means of a delivery jet I as illustrated in the application. Situated between the wire-cooling drum 6 and the wiredrawing drum 3 is an idle direction pulley 8 around which the wire passes and which directs it from the cooling drum 6 to the drawing drum 3.

This direction pulley 8 may be mounted in any suitable way and is herein shown as rotatably mounted on a stud 9 carried by a horizontal flange portion III of an upright standard I I.

In accordance with my invention I provide means associated with the direction pulley 8 to apply to the wire the dry lubricant so that the 5 lubricant is thus applied to the wire while passing around the pulley 8. To accomplish this I have provided a lubricant-containing housing I2 in which the pulley 8 is received, the said housing being stationarily carried by the stand or support 50 II. For this purpose the stand is shown as having an angle shape bracket I3 on which the housing rests and to which it is secured, and said housing is also formed with a supporting arm I4 which is attached at its outer end to the under side of the housing and at its inner end to the stud 9. The bottom l5 of the housing is shown as having the opening I6 therein through which the upper end of the stand I l extends.

The direction pulley 8 has a disk or flange I1 secured-thereto which extends nearly to the periphery of the housing and which forms the bottom of the lubricant-containing chamber ll of the housing in which the lubricant II is received. The periphery of this disk I I is upturned as shown at 23 to form an annular curb and the housing has on its interior a ring 2| having a l-har shape. the depending skirt portion 22 of which ring overlaps the curb 20 and is situated inside of the latter. This skirt portion has a ring 23 of felt or other packing material secured thereto, which ring engages the curb 20. Since the disk I1 is fastened to the pulley 3 it rotates with the pulley, the packing 23 serving to fill the space between the curb 23 and the skirt and thereby prevent escape of the dry lubricant is.

The sidewall ofthe housing is provided with an inlet opening 24 through which the wire I extends in order to pass around the pulley 3. A piece 25 of felt will preferably be employed at this point through which the wire .passes and which prevents escape of the powdered lubricant through said opening 24. The side wall of the housing also is formed with a discharge opening 23 through which the wire passes after it leaves the pulley 3 and a second piece of felt may be associated with this opening 28 to prevent the escape of the lubricant therefrom.

28 indicates a spring-pressed finger which is pivoted at 29 to the ring 2| and the free end of which engages the wire Just as it is laid in the groove 33 of the pulley II. This arm 28 is acted on by a suitable spring 3i which yieldingly holds it in its operative position. The rotation of the pulley 8 and the disk 1 tends to give the lubricant a rotating motion within the housing. It will be noted that the body of the arm 28 is relatively wide and said arm thus acts as a deflector to deflect the lubricant which may be rotating with the pulley toward the latter and the wire.

32 indicates a removable cover for closing the housing i2 and which may be removed for the purpose of threading the wire around the pulley when the machine is being started up and for filling the housing with the lubricant 19. When the device is in use the cover 32 will be in place closing the upper end of the lubricant-containing chamber l8.

With this construction the wire passes through the body of dry lubricant while it is passing around the direction pulley 8, and during its passage through the housing the wire picks up and carries with it a sufllcient amount of lubricant not only to furnish proper lubrication between the wire and the surface of the drawing drum 3, but also to provide sufllcient lubrication for the wire as it enters and passes through the next suc ceeding drawing die. Since the lubricant is conflned in the housing l2 and is applied while the wire is passing around the direction pulley 8, it is possible to increase the speed of operation of the wire-drawing apparatus without danger of scattering the lubricant or throwing it into the air as would be the case if the device shown in my above-mentioned patent were operated at an excessive speed.

In Fig. 5 I have shown an embodiment of my invention in which the housing l2 has a tubular extension 33 extending therefrom at the discharge opening and through which the wire passes in traveling from the direction pulley 8 to the winding drum 3. This tubular extension 33 may have communication with the chamber l3 and be filled with a lubricant so that the wire will not only have lubricant applied thereto while passing around the direction pulley 3 but also while passing through the tubular extension 33.

I claim: 1. A wire-drawing apparatus comprising a drawing die, a drawing drum for drawing wire through the die, an idler pulley rotating about a vertical axis and about which the wire passes in its travel from the die to the drawing drum and a housing surrounding said idler pulley and provided with a chamber in which the pulley operates and adapted tocontain dry lubricant.

2. A wire-drawing apparatus comprising a drawing die, two drums about which the wire passes successively after leaving the die,- a direction pulley rotating about a vertical axis and around which the wire passes in'its travel from one drum to the other, a housing surrounding the direction pulley and having a lubricant-containing chamber in which the pulley operates where- 20 by dry lubricant placed in said chamber will pro- ,vide lubrication for the wire.

3. A wire-drawing apparatus comprising a drawing die, a drawing drum for drawing the wire through the die, a cooling drum around which the wire passes in its travel from the die to the drawing drum, a direction pulley between the cooling drum and the drawing drum and around which the wire passes, ahousing surrounding the direction pulley and provided with the wire passes as it travels around said idler I pulley.

5. A wire-drawing apparatus comprising a drawing die, a drawing drum for drawing wire through the die, a direction pulley around which the wire passes in its travel from the die to the drawing drum, said pulley having a flange extending from its periphery and provided at its edge with an upstanding curb, a housing enclosing the pulley and forming with the flange a chamber to receive dry lubricant, said housing having an annular skirt portion which overlaps the curb.

6. A wire-drawing apparatus comprising a drawing die, a drawing drum for drawing wire through the die, a direction pulley rotating about a vertical axis and around which the wire passes, said pulley having a flange extending from its periphery, a housing enclosing the pulley and forming with said flange a chamber to contain dry lubricant through which the wire passes as it travels around the direction pulley.

7. A wire-drawing apparatus comprising a drawing die, a drawing drum for drawing wire through the die, a direction pulley rotating about a vertical axis and around which the wire passes,

'means providing a chamber for containing dry lubricant and in which the direction pulley rotates, the bottom of said chamber being rigid with the rotating pulley and the sides and top of said chamber being stationary.

CHARLES D. JOHNSON.

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