US2090463A - Apparatus for rolling sheet metal - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 17, 1937.

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, 1935 13 Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug. 17; 1937. c. STEELE APPARATUS FOR ROLLING SHEET METAL Filed Feb. 8, 1955 15 Sheets-Sheet 3 Aug. 17, 1937. L. c. sTEELE APPARATUS FOR ROLLING SHEET METAL l3 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Feb. 8, 1935 v Ma Ma h Aug. 17, 1937. L. c. STEELE APPARATUS FOR ROLLING SHEET METAL Filed Feb. 8, 1935 m 7 m 3 3 9 1 3 7 3 U 1 a Flilln m m I m flliiivrtrll M M W "Fl 9 m a 1 M. O 1 y 4 w l m I .1 \2 1, V? V 5 3 1 1 k 7 m 8 A Z 1 W 7 9 6 w 1 w mm m :4 1 1 I i 3 w H 1 0 W W (Ittorneg.

Aug. 17, 1937. c, STEELE APPARATUS FOR ROLLING SHEET METAL Filed Feb. 8 1935 13 Sheets-Sheet 6 I llllllllllll r||| 'llllllu r o t n e v n 3 Aug. 17, 1937. L. c. STEELE APPARATUS FOR ROLLING SHEET METAL 1:5 Sheets-Sheet 7 ,Filed' Feb. 8, 1955 MM W1 5 FURL Q0 t E 1 i 1 attorney Aug. 17, 1937. L. c. STEELE APPARATUS FOR ROLLING SHEET METAL Filed Feb. 8, 1935 13 Sheets-Sheet 8 L. c. STEELE 2,090,463

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Snnentor (Ittornc;

L. C. STEELE APPARATUS FOR ROLLING SHEET METAL Filed F' eb. 8, 1935 13 Sheets-Sheet l0 7 Aug. 17, 1937. c. STEELE APPARATUS FOR ROLLING SHEET METAL 1935 1S Sheets-Sheet 11 Filed Feb. 8,

M QM MGM EM QQN Aug, 17, 19370 L Q STEELE ZJUQQfifiB APPARATUS FOR ROLLING SHEET METAL Filed Feb. 8, 1935. 13 Sheets-Sheet l2 Ennentor diam/*6. m

(Ittomeg L. C. STEELE APPARATUS FOR ROLLING SHEET METAL Aug. 17, 1937.

Filed Feb. 8, 1935 13 Sheets-Sheet 1s (Itiorneg,

Patented Aug. 17, 1937 UNlTED OFFICE 25. claims.

, This invention relates to the art of rolling metal and especially to the art of rolling sheets, sheet bars, tin plate and the like. More particularly, the invention relates to a means and method for passing metal in the form of sheet bars, sheet packs, sheets and the like, through, around and about the rolls of a roll stand with such speed, accuracy and certainty that the rate of production, the eificiency of the rolls and the quality of the product will all be greatly enhanced, while at the same time the cost of the rolling operations will be greatly reduced as compared to present practices.

The general object of my invention is the provision of a machine and a method for feeding metal to the rolls of a roll stand rapidly, accurately and positively. I

Another object is the provision of a machine and method whereby the metal may be passed between the rolls, caught on the other side of the rolls, and fed again between'the rolls with such rapidity that a great number of passes of the metal can be made without reheating being required.

Another object is to provide a method and machine whereby'a greater weight of metal can be fed'to the rolls for each pass, so that a smaller number of passes per ton of finished product will be required, thereby resulting in a longer tonnage life of the rolls and greater accuracy of 30 the finished product, as well as substantial savings in heat, power and lubricants.

Another object is to provide a machine in which the metal is accurately aligned before being, fed to the rolls, thereby insuring accuracy of the finished product and minimizing the amount of scrap.

Another object is the provision of a substantially fool-proof machine having automatic pro- 40 tective devices whereby the machine is self-protected and cannot be injured.

Another object is the provision of a machine adapted automatically to match and align bars, sheets or other material and feed them to the rolls 5 in the form of packs.

Another object is the provision of a machine which is'adapted to. handle simultaneously pairs of bars, packs or sheets, and to feed such pairs through'the rolls in rapid succession whereby the rolls are utilized a large percentage of the time.

Another object is the provision of a feeder and a catcher coordinated therewith in such manner that the catcher will always be ready to receive sheets delivered from the roll stand and the feeder (on. 80-47) y will always be ready to receive sheets fed by the catcher back to the feeder.

Various other objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent from the following description in which I describe a preferred form of my method and machine, reference being made to the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the following detailed description is not to be construed as limiting my patent in any way, but is only given by way of an example both with respect to the machine and to the method. The scope and essential characteristics of my invention are defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of an illustrative layout of heating furnace, conveyor, rolls, feeder and catcher and the like; Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly in section, illustrating the relative positions of the feeder, catcher and roll stand; Fig. 3! is a side elevational view of the feeder positioned in front of the rolls; Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the feeder taken adjacent to the center dog chain, as indicated by the line IV--IV of Fig. 5; Fig. 5 is a vertical transverse section through the feeder; Fig. .6 is a plan view partly in section, illustrating the conveyors and pushers of the feeder; Figs. 7 and 8 are side and end elevational views, respectively, of the side matching mechanism, the conveyer chains being indicated diagrammatically in Fig. 8; Fig. 9 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of the center dog chain and supporting guideway, taken on the line IX-IX of Fig. 6; Fig. 10 is a similar sectional view of the pushers, taken on theline X-X of Fig. 6; Fig. 11 is a detail side elevation illustrating a sheet-retarding mechanism; Fig. 12 is a side elevational view of the feeder driving mechanism; Fig. 13 is a vertical sectional view of the driving mechanism taken along the line XIIIXHI of Fig. 12; Fig. 14 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line fiV-XEV of Fig. 12; Fig. 15 is a. transverse section on the line XV-XV of Fig. 6, showing the drive shaft.

for conveyor chains and center dog chains; Fig. 16 is an enlarged side elevational view of the catcher, in position in back of the roll stand; Fig. 16A is'a plan view of the catcher, partially in section; Figs. 1'7 and 18 are detailed side and end elevations, respectively, of an auxiliary feeding mechanism provided to insure the proper delivery of the sheets, packs or bars into the rolis, and Fig. 19 is a more or less diagrammatic elevation illustrating the manual control system.

Referring to the drawings, in Fig. 1, I have diagrammatically illustrated a layout of the several elements of a rolling mill in which I prefer to practice and carry out my invention. Such a layout or arrangement is well adapted to rolling tin plate for example. If tin plate were to be rolled from the usual 8" sheet bars, a number of such bars would be fed through the bar furnace at the left of the figure and when properly heated; would be conveyed preferably in pairs to the feeder in front of the roll stand.

According to my method, the bars, sheets, or other materlalso delivered to the feeder are squared up and. spaced from each other and successively passed through the rolls to the catcher and returned to the feeder for succeeding passes; one unit of material being passed through the rolls while the other unit is being returned to the front of the rolls for a succeeding pass.

The feeder and catcher handle the material so rapidly and effectively that the bars are quickly transformed into sheets, are matched in the feeder and passed thereafter as a pack through the rolls as many times as desired and thereafter delivered by the catcher to the platform marked Hinged platform", Opening platform" at the rear of the catcher. I prefer that the platform sheets being so delivered onto the platform may if further reduction in gauge is desired, the

be doubled in the"Doubler" and if necessary trimmed in the Shear, preferably located with relation to the platform as shown.

At this point in the manufacture of tin plate, forexample, thetwo original sheet bars will have been transformed into a four-ply doubled pack which may then be conveyed from the platform on the conveyor to the rear of the furnace where the doubled pack is sent through the pack furnace for reheating to rolling temperature. While I have indicated diagrammatically two furnaces, Icontemplate that a single furnace, which may be provided with parallel conveyors, one for handling packs and another for handling sheet bars, may advantageously be employed. Of course, the particular type of furnace forms no part of this invention.

As noted above, my feeder and catcher can handle a pair of sheet bars simultaneously to effect the rapid succession of passes of such bars.

The same is true of the ability of the feeder and catcher to handle packs and. sheets. Thus to continue with the illustrative description of .the manufacture of tin plate, a pair .01v doubled fourply packs can be conveyedYrom the pack furnace tothe feeder, and as will hereinafter more fully 2, lifting the rolled material into contact with the conveyor chains ll which, by their coaction pack through the rolls. In this manner, the two packs are quickly elongated by rapidly succeeding passes and may then be matched in the feeder for as many more passes as are found desirable.

- Thereupon, the catcher will deliver the pair of matched, doubled packs to'the platform where,

matched packthen comprising the substance offour sheet bars and being an eight-ply pack may bedoubled'into a sixteen-ply pack, sheared and Such a pack'along with a similar pack can againbepassedthroughtherollsbythefoederand -case, I prefer to handle the bars, sheets or packs in pairs substantially throughout the rolling operation in order to minimize the idle time, of the rolls andspeed up the rolling operations. The packs having thus been reduced to tin plate gauge may be removed, sheared, and opened or separated in the usual manner.

While'the foregoing has dealt largely with the manufacture of tin plate by way of example, it will be seen that the above layout is adaptableto the manufacture of sheets of various sizes and descriptions. However, in the following description, I shall refer particularly to the manufacture of tin plate, because such manufacture presents extraordinary problems and'is suitable to illustrate the distinct advantages of my invention.

In Fig. 2 of the drawings, I have somewhat diagrammatically illustrated a preferred embodiment of my apparatus insofar as the coaction be- ,tween the feeder, the rolls, and the catcher,. and

the general construction of the feeder and the ported in the usual manner on the roll stand 4. At the rear of the mill (to the right in the drawing) I illustrate the catcher 5 which may follow in a general way the teachings of my prior Patent No. 1487,819.

The feeder and the catcher will both be described in detail in later pages of this specification. For the present it will 'sufflce to say that the feeder l is preferably constructed as a movable unit which may be advanced on suitable rails toward or away from the roll stand, both for the sake of adjustment andfor repair or replacement ofv the rolls and the like. Sheets, packs, bars, or bars'for breakdowns, or any other suitable material (which will hereinafter be collectively referred to as "material") from the furnace are delivered'to the conveyor chains 1 and by means of mechanisms to be hereinafter described, are properly spaced, centered, squared up. and fed into the biteof the rolls.

The rolled'metal leaving the rolls as indicate by the arrow rocks the flag 0 of the catcher mg of the flag 8 to the position shown in Fig. 2,

establishes an electrical circuit which causes the carrier ill of the catcher to rotate a'half revolu-' tion in a clockwise direction asviewed in Fig.1

with the carrier conveyor chains l2 deliver the material to the additional conveyor chains Ila and II which lie over the top of the roll I and convey the material .to the left or from back to carrier arms ll.

. The material in its movement from the catcher to the feeder contacts with the dog or flag l5, raising it 'up as the material passes there benea I and permitting it to drop as the trailing e e of the material is ejected from the conveying chains of the catcher. This movement of the flag or dog II mechanically controls retarding devices indicated generally at ll (Figs. 8 and 11) which are provided to prevent the material from traveling too far on the arms 14,

the feeder to redeliver the sheet through the rolls back to the catcher. It will further be seen that the reception by the catcher of the material from the feeder via the mill rolls initiates the operation of the catcher to deliver the material back to the feeder; the three major elements of this combination, to-wit, feeder, catcher and rolls all being interdependent upon each other for the continued rolling and re-rolling of the sheets. Furthermore, as the feeder is provided with two sets of arms I4, one piece of material may be delivered to the conveyor and thence to the rolls, while another is being received from the catcher, thus making it possible to carry out my method by handling material, whether breakdowns, bars, sheets or packs, in pairs through-' out substantially the entire rolling operation.

In addition to the automatic controls mentioned above, various manual controls are provided and the mechanisms are provided with slip clutches, interlocking controls and other safety devices to prevent damage to the machine or to the material. Also, the catcher is provided with means, controllable either automatically or manually, for delivering material to the platform to the right of the catcher.

Conveying mechanism Referring now to the feeder perse and to Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings, it will be seen that the body of the feeder preferably comprises a base 20 provided with suitable upright supporting elements 2| all carried by car wheels 22 operating on the tracks 6. A motor 23, along with suitable reduction gearing and driving mechanisms. all indicated generally at 24 and illustrated in greater detail in Figs. -12 to 14, inclusive, may be mounted on suitable castings 25 carried on the base of the feeder.

The various mechanisms for horizontally con-' veying, centering and aligning the sheets, and for feeding them into the bite of the rolls are all driven by the longitudinally extending shaft 26, which in turn is driven by the motor 23 through suitable worm reduction gearing 21, a shaft 28, bevel gearing 29, the downwardly-e20 tending shaft 30 (see Figs. 12, 13 and 14), an bevel gearing 31 (see Figs. 3 and 6). I 1

The shaft 32, which drives the main conveyor chains, is journalled in suitable bearings in the frame base 20, as at 33, and has mounted on it apair of sprockets 34, a centrally located sprocket 35 and a bevel gear 36 at one end, as indicated in Fig.45, which meshes with a bevel gear 31, on

sprockets 34 and driven thereby are the main endless conveyor chains 1 which also pass over a pair of sprockets 39 carried by studs 40 (Fig. 6) which are elevated above and longitudinally ofisetfrom the shaft 32.

The chains 1 in passing over the sprockets '39 are elevated thereby, and from ,that point are inclined downwardly toward the mill rolls at an angle preferably less than that at which gravity will cause the material conveyed thereon to slip with relation thereto. Adjacent the mill rolls the conveyor chains 1 pass over a pair of sprockets 6! carried by the shaft 42 which in turn is suitably journaled and supported by the extension frame 43 of the feeder. As shown in Fig. 4, means are provided for taking up the slack in the conveyor chains 1 by suitable adjusting mechanism 44. a)

The main conveyor chains 1 convey new material from the forward end of the feeder through the feeder to a point adjacent the mill rolls, where sheets of sumcient length will be fed directly into the rolls by these conveyor chains. Pieces of insufficient length will be aided in their movement toward the mill rolls by other means to be presently described. Since the conveyor chains 1 can only force the material into the rolls up to the limit of the static friction between the chains and the sheets or plates, other means to be presently described are provided for mak-.

ing certain that the material is fed between the rolls. In normal operation of the feeder, I prefer that the conveyor chains 1 be driven somewhat faster than the surface speed of the mill rolls. Means are provided, however, for independently varying the speeds of the feeder, rolls, and catcher in order to operate properly under different conditions.

Turning now to the means hereinbefore referred to for aiding the movement of the material to the rolls and for supplementing the action of the main conveyor chains, I provide two independently operable means; the first comprising a pair of pushers 56 lying on opposite sides of the median plane of the feeder and between the conveyor chains 1 (see Fig. 6) and each pusher having a pair .of longitudinally-spaced movable dogs 5| (see Figs. 4 and 10), each pivotally supported as at 52 (see Fig. 10) and so balanced that a square surface .53 is presented to such sheets or materials as lie to the right of the pusher dogs as shown in Fig. 4, but which are depressible by the weight of a sheet should the sheet overrun the pusher dogs or be placed on top of them.

Each pusher is moved longitudinally of the feeder in a reciprocating motion through links 54 which are pivotally connected to rock arms 55 carried by rock shaft' 56 extending transverse gear drive 63, fromth longitudinally extendingshaft 26. The rotary motion of the crank arm 59 is transferred into reciprocating motion of the pushers through the linkage described, the crank I arm being driven through a one-revolution clutch 6| of any suitable well-known construction, which is preferably actuated in timed relationship with the movement of the feeder mechanism by means of the cam 62 and cam follower 63 (Fig. 4), link 64, bell crank 65 and links 66 and 61. by mechanism to be hereinafter described.

The pushers, being laterally spaced from each The clutch may also be engaged manually These pushers are particularly intended for upmovirig relatively short sheets or sheet bars into the roll pass inasmuch as sheet bars, for example, may be of such little longitudinal dimension that they might otherwise come to rest after having gone beyond .the end of the main conveyor chains 1.

Since the pusher dogs are depressible by sheets or bars which tend to overrun them when being carried by the main-conveyor chains or other advancing mechanism at a higher speed than the pushers, their slower movement makes them available to urge material into the rolls, and also provides that'the pushers never interfere with any other function of the feeder.

- Referring particularly to Fig.v 10, each of the pushers 50 slides upon a slotted guide 88 along the surface 69, and eachpusher has a depending part III lying inthe slot of the guide 'with an enlarged head 'II which keeps the pushers from locking with relation tothe guide. Each guide is attached to a part of the main base 28 of the .frame structure by suitable means, such as a cap screw 12 as shown. Referring to Fig. 4, the pushing faces 58 are seen spaced from each other in their extreme position of travel towards the mill rolls.' It is to benoted that the length of the stroke of the pusher is preferably greater than the longitudinal distance between the pushing' faces 53 of the respective pushers so that it would be impossible for a sheet bar, for exam- 49 pie, to overlie the leading pushers, and not be pushed by one pusher or the other in the course of succeeding strokes.

The linkage for reciprocating the pushers is such that a modified simple harmonic motion I will result so that the pushers obtain a maximum speed in about mid-stroke and zero speed, of course, at the ends of the strokes. To make my feeder particularly adaptable for feeding sheet bars in rolling tin plate, I preferably so arrange 50 the stroke of the pusher with relation to the pass between the rolls that the sheet bar would be advanced rapidly towards the'rolls during the middle of thepusher stroke, but would be slowed down to substantially roll surface speed as the bar entered the bite of the rolls.

By such an arrangement, it will also be seen that the sheet bar would encounter the resistance of the rolls only at about the end of the pusher stroke so that slippage of the friction clutch 88 ,co in the pusher driving connection will be kept at a minimum.

' The'third means for advancing material into the rolls comprises a centrally positioned dog chain 18 (see Figs. 4 and 6) driven by the sprocket 85 on the main conveyor drive shaft 82 and driven through the friction slip clutch 48 (see Fig. 15) This sprocket, I prefer to make slightly smaller than the sprockets 34 which drive the main conveyor chains I, so that the dog chain 18 will move a little less rapidly than the main conveyor chains. The centrally disposed dog chain 13, as may be seen in Fig. 4, passes over sprockets l4 and 15, and positioned so that the path of .the dog chain in between the sprockets I4 and I5 is substantially parallel to the path of the main conveyor chain 1, alb'eit the dog chain itself is somewhat-lower than the: exposed surface of the main chains]. After passing the sprocket 15, the chain is directed downwardly around a forwardly-disposed sprocket l6, thence back to the driving sprocket 85. The forward sprocket I6 is carried on a small sub-frame 11 illustrated in Fig. 4, which is secured to ,the main frame 20 of the feeder. The sprocket I6 is slidably arranged on the-sub-frame and movable forwardly by the adjusting screw I8 to adjust the tension in the chain.

At spaced intervals along the dog chain," are pivotally connected dogs 19 (see also Eigril),

' H and 15 on an inverted T-shaped track 8| having a flanged base 82, the flanges of which are engaged bythe trailing edges of the dogs. -After the'dogs progress beyond the idling sprocket 14, the shape of the track is altered so that the dogs may attain a more upright position, presenting a face disposed at substantially right angles to the chain. The faces 88 of the several dogs taking the position shown between the sprockets I4 and 15 are adapted to engage the trailingedges I of the sheets, bars and the like, and aid them in their progress toward the mill rolls. Since the dog chain travels at a slower, speed than the conveyor chains 1, it is not to be expected that the dogs would engage the material unless it is delayed inits progress toward the rolls as, for example, by operation of' the side matching mechanism or by other means yet to be described. By reason of the downward deflection of the dog chain after it passes the sprocket 15, the dogs are gradually removed from the path of the material so that there is no danger of the dogs catching on and bending the rear edges of the sheets or bars. The'dog chain may be stopped without damaging the material by reason of the slip clutch l5.

In order to insure that the front edges of the sheets, packs, bars, or other material are properly fed into the bite of the rolls, I have provided a mechanism particularly shown in Figs. 4, 17 and 1-8, which is adapted to engage material having forward edges which have curled upwardly away from the conveyor chains.

This mechanism comprises a pair of spaced chains which travel in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 18 and thus are adapted to properly guide the material downwardly into engagement with the conveyor chains and the toe plate 88, and thence into the bite of the rolls. The chains are preferably supported on sprockets 8I and 88 carried by transversely-extending shafts 88 and suitably iournaled in the feeder frame. The shaft 89 is driven from the shaft 82 which supports the forwarcl main conveyor chain sprockets ll through gears and 82 and chain 88, shaft 88 and chain 88 having the necessary sprockets associated therewith.

The conveying mechanism is alsoprovided with guides comprising bars 88 which are adapted to engage the end of any material overhanging the outer ends of the rotary supports ll so as to urge any such m'aterial onto the arms II as they are moved downwardly to insure proper posiaccuses tioning of the material onthe conveyor, the forward end of the material always being deposited on the main conveyor chains behind or to the left as shown in the drawings, of the guiding chains 85 and the bars 96.

Side matching plates In order to align or match a plurality of sheets with respect to each other as well as to align or center a single sheet or several sheets with respect to the mill rolls, I have'provided side 'matching or aligning mechanism, a preferred form of which is illustrated particularly in Figs. 3, 7 and 8. This mechanism may comprise a pair of oppositely-disposed side plates 9i secured to depending arms Qt which are pivotally suspended as at 99 from brackets w ll which may be suitably supported from the feeder super-structure.

When sheets or other material indicated diagrammatically at S are deposited on the conveyor chains l, (the chains being indicated diagrammatically in Fig. 8) the matching plates 9? are moved inwardly from opposite sides of the feeder and caused to engage sharply the lateral edges of the sheet or sheets to align or match them.

In order to actuate the side matching plates, the depending arms 98 are each provided with bell crank arms lill to which are connected cables W2 and We. The cable (Hi2 is connected directly to the pulley or sheave iild, while the cable 183 is also connected thereto but is passed over intermediate sheaves its and tilt. Rotation of the pulley lilo will cause the cables to pull down on the arms Hill and thus swing the matching plates into engagement with the sheets on the conveyor, as shown in dotted lines in- Fig. 8. In order to adjust the action of the matching plates, turnbuckles it? are provided for changing the lengths of the cables M92 and its. The pulley MM is rotated for a fraction of a revolution bythe shait through suitable reduction gearing it, (Figs. 3 and 6), shaft 26", and an intermittently engageable friction clutch The clutch is automatically engaged in timed relationship with the carrier mechanism by means of ,a cam which raises and lowers a lever Hit, which in turn. is connected to the clutch actuating mechanism by means oi the rod iii and the bell crank lever M2 (see 3). A cable M3 is also secured to the hell crank M2 and is extended to the right for connection to a manual control, to he described, and the rod M l is provided with a lost motion connection 3 M in order to allow the manual control device to be actuated at any time.

The cam surface is designed so that during every complete revolution oi the cam or every half revolution of the carrier mechanism, the clutch will be engaged to rotate the pulley iiid momentarily in the direction indicated hy the arrow on Fig. 8 and quickly pull the matching plates toward each other; and, as will he seen from the size and shape of the cam, the clutch is thereafter released and the plates are permitted to move apart to release the sheets whose edges have been engagedand thus to permit continued movement of the sheets toward the mill rolls. The arms 98 and the plates 97! are balanced so that the plates normally hang away from the edges of the sheets.

Spacing and aligning mechanism As previously pointed out, the feeder is adapted to handle material in pairs. and in order to insure that the separate pieces of material will be properly spaced from each other as well as to properly align and match the material in.

a longitudinal direction, I have provided an automatically and manually controlled spacing and aligning mechanism, illustrated particularly in Figs. 4 and. 19.

This mechanism preferably comprises two pairs of hooks H5 and H6 disposed at the rear and front ends respectively of the main conveyor chains i. These hooks are supported on rock shafts ill! and lit, respectively, and rocking movement of the shafts moves the hooks out of and into the path of the material carried by the conveying chains, as indicated by the dotted line positions of the hooks as shown in the drawings. The rock shafts ill and l l or are both operated through a longitudinally-extending rod H9 and suitable bell crank levers H20 and 629.

A spring 122 in engagement with the rod and the frame of the machine constantly urges the hooks to their upper position where they are'disposedin the path of movement of material on the conveyor chains. The rod is also provided with a dog lit which is engageable by a latch 82 so that the hooks may be retained in their lower position,

ment of the hooks by engagement with the cam follower t3 which is connected to the downwardly-extending tension member to which functions through hell crank lever 02s and lost-motion connection lit to move the rod M9 to the left as shown in the drawings, thus depressing the hooks.

As previously described, this linkage, except-tor rod Mil, controls the engagement of the pusher clutch iii (Fig. a). so that the pushers are actu= ated immediately after the hooks are depressed. spring it? (Fig. 19) is employed to maintain the cam i'ollower always in engagement with the cam.

The hooks are released from their depressed position Toy the action of thecarn on the cam follower which, through asultable system of levers and rods, as shown in the drawings, is adapted to downwardly on the end or the latch 12 i beyond the pivot lit, thus causing the latch to he relemed from its engagement with the dog H23 and allowing the hooks to be raised into the path oi the material by the option-oi the H22. l The hooks M and lit and the latch .625, may be manually controlled either from the end of the feeder through the pedals [18d and l respectively (see Figs. ii and i9) and suitable. linkage tilt and till, respectively, or by the pedals E32 and W3, respectively, which are mounted in the floor of the control pulpit P adjacent to the roll stand, through suitable bell crank levers and cables i332 and i333, respectively. The pedals tilt and i352 also operate the pusher clutch ti through the interconnections above described, and through the levers cc, to and or, while the side matching plates may be actuated bypedal ltd, through hell crank i3 5 and cable ll3,-as shown in Fig. 19.

In operation, the hooks are employed'to space properly the pairs of sheets, bars, or packs in their travel through the rolls, and, as the hooks are laterally spaced, they function to assist in obtaining proper augment oi material with respect to the axis of the rolls. Furthermdre,-the

hooks and particularly the hooks I I5 may be employed in matching plates, bars or packs on the conveyor, forthe hooks may engage the forward 6 edges of all the layers of material in a pack while the rear edges are being engaged by the dogs of the dog chain, thus accurately aligning the various plies of material in'the pack with respect tb each other. I

Rotary carrier mechanism As stated above, I preferably provide the rotary carrier mechanism, indicated generally at I8, for receiving the material delivered from the catcher 15 over the top of the rolls and for transferring such material to the conveying and feeding mechanism just described.

As shown particularly in Figs. 3, 4 and 5, the material delivered from the catcher to the feeder 2 is deposited on the carrier arms I4 and by downarms I4 and I4 extend substantially tangential to the are described by the webs I35. It will be noted that considerable space is left between the 35 shaft (I38 and the upper surface of the arms I4, as

shown in.Fig. 4, so that long sheets being delivered from the catcher to the arms I4 may lie thereon and extend through the space between.

the arms and the shaft and beyond theends of .40 the arms or to the left, as illustrated in the drawings. In order to support such long sheets, I have I provided a guide member comprising a series of plates I" which slope downwardly at an angle toward the conveyor and rolls, and which are spaced to allow the passage of the arms I4 be tween them. These plates form an adequate supdle sheets or other materials which are materially I i 50 longer than the over-all length of the'arms I4.

The main carrier shaft I, is journalled at its ends (see Figs. 4 and 5) in upstanding portions of the frame structure, and is driven by the main driving motor through the gear trains and 55 clutches illustrated in-Fig s. 12 to 14, inclusive, to which detailed reference will hereinafter be made;

7 -When a sheet is depositedbnone of the pair of h the conveyor chains as close as possible to "the arms I4 and I4 and when'its trailing edge has 00 leftgthe catcher and allowed the flag or ,dog I5 to drop (see Figs. 2 and 3), an electrical circuit is established which rotates the carrier IB in a clockwise direction, and provision is made, as will hereinafter appear, that the carrier rotate 05 exactly 180 so that the arms..I4' assume the.

positionfrom'which the arms I4 have just departed. The arms in their downward rotary motion follow the arc I39 in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 4, and pass within the lateral 70 confines of the main conveyor chains I (see Fig.

'5), and through appropriate slots in the main base 20, and in their passing laterally encompass the'pushers 50 and the dogchain.

-, As-I propose-to effect a rotation of 180' of the 75 carrier II in a very short time,.the accel ration The carrier arms and deceleration of the carrier must necessarily be great. In order to reduce the shocks and jars .and resulting wear and tear on the mechanism to a minimum and further to deposit the sheets from the arms I 4,onto the conveyor chains in 5 such a manner as to avoid bouncing of the sheets, I have provided the hydraulic check mechanism illustrated particularly in Figs. 4 and 6. This mechanism may comprise ,a double-acting hydraulic cylinder I40 and having a piston I which is connected to a pair of cams or dogs I42 *1 and I43 through a rack and pinion mechanism indicated at I44 and arranged so that movement of the dog I42 in one direction causes the piston to move in the same direction and the dog I 43 to 16 move in the opposite direction. Movement of the piston is resisted by the flow of fluid from one end of the cylinder I40 to the other, through the conduit I45. The amount of resistance may be varied by adjusting valve I46.

The cams or dogs I42,and I43 are laterally spaced apart and are engaged by correspondingly spaced cams I41 and I48 carried on the periphery of .one of the webs I 35. As shown in Fig. 4, the cam I41 has just engaged and passed the cam I42 to check the motion of the rotary carrier as the arm I4 approached position for receiving material from the catcher. This action has moved the cam I42 to the left, as shown in the drawings and caused the cam I43 to move to the right into the position shown, where it is ready to be engaged by the cam I48 to slow down the movement of the carrier as the arm I4 swings downwardly and approaches position for delivering the material to the conveyor chains. Thus, the hydraulic' check and shock absorber mechanism assists in stopping the carrier in position to recelve material from the catcher and momentarily retards the carrier as the material is being delivered onto the conveyor chains. Similar dogs are provided-on the opposite side of one of the webs I35 to similarly retard the carrier as the arms I4 approach corresponding positions.

Sheet retarding mechanism As the sheets, packs, bars'or other material are delivered with considerable velocity from the conveyor chains II and II of the catcher onto the rotatable arms I4, I have found it preferable to provide a mechanism for preventing themate- 50 rial from'sliding too far onto the arms or to the left as shown in the drawings. r

This mechanism which is illustrated particu o larly in Figs. 3, 4 and 11 is especially useful in conjunction with sheet bars such as the sheet bar 8 g illustrated in Fig. 3, as it functions to stop the motion of the bars adjacent to, the outer ends of the arms I4, and thus the bars are delivered to rolls thereby eliminating excessive travel and so speeding up the operation of the machine.

As illustrated in the drawings, the mechanism comprises a series of pairs of depending levers I'I pivoted at their upper ends as at I50,- and-balahead so as to hang in the path of the material delivered from the conveyor to the arms I 4. In

' the position shown inFlgs. 3 and 4, the bars are to the left as shown in the drawings. The locking action of the segmental members is controlled by means of the flag I5 through the rod I55, the pivoted lever I56, link I51, bell crank I58 and link I59 so that when the dog or flag I5 is raised by the passage of material from the catcher to the feeder the link I59 will be moved to the right, thus rotating the segmental members in a clockwise material is passing under the dog I5 thus holding it in raised position, the depending levers I1 are free to swing out of the path of the material and merely exert a frictional retarding action thereon. However, as soon as the rear end of the material has passed the dog I5 it will drop, thus allowing the segmental members to swing downwardly into locking position and positively locking those levers I1 which have not already been raised by the passage of the'material. A lost-motion connection is provided between the link I59 and the segmental members by means of the pins I68 secured to the link and the slots I6I in the segmental members so that link I59 may be moved to the left, and any lever I1 which has not been deflected by the passage of material therebeneath may be locked even if members to the right of it have been raised by'the passage of the material as shown in Fig. 11.

By this arrangement, the retarding mechanism may merely have a frictional effect on long sheetswhich slide onto the arms I l and perhaps onto the supporting bars I38 while shorter bars, packs or sheets will be stopped as soon as their rear edges have passed beyond the flag I5. However, the trailing edges of the material will always lie on the arms I I, for the flag I5 overlies the ends of the arms I4, as shown in Fig. 3.

Thus, all of the material .will be deposited on the arms I4 with its outer end closely adjacent the ends of the arms It and the material, regardless ,of its length, will be deposited on the conveyor chains at substantially uniform" distances from the rolls. This eliminates lost motion in feeding the material to the rolls and makes possible rapid and uniform action of the feeder regardless of the length of the material being fed to the rolls.

In order to prevent material from being delivered from the catcher when the arms I i are not in position to receive it, I have provided the hook member I62 which is pivoted on the frame of the catcher as at I63 (see Fig. 2). The hook is balanced so that the end portion I64 will be positioned in the path of material being delivered by the chains II and I3, except when it is depressed by engagement with the cam surfaces I65 on the ends of the arms I4 and It (see Fig. 3). Thus there is no possibility of material being discharged from the catcher except when the feeder is ready to receive it.

Driving. mechanism As previously pointed out and as shown partic- Q ularly in Figs. 12 to 14, inclusive, motor 23 drives also driven by the motor 23 through the worm reduction gearing, shaft 28 and pinion I61 which meshes with gear I68 mounted on sleeve I69 through a friction slip clutch I10, of any ordinary type. The sleeve I69 in turn drives a concentric shaft I1I through a jaw clutch I 12,.'and the main shaft I36 of the rotary carrier mechanism is driven by pinion I13 keyed to shaft HI and meshing with gear I14 keyed to the shaft I36.

The starting and stopping of the rotary carrier mechanism is controlled by the jaw clutch I12 which is engaged by the action of the solenoid I15. When the solenoid I15 is energized, the link I16 is raised, thus swingingthe lever I11 about its pivot and pulling the pins I18 and I19 downwardly out of engagement with the notch I88 and the cam groove I8 I, respectively, in the periphery of the clutch member I12. 9

The disengagement of the pins I18 and I19 allows the clutch member I12 to be moved to the right, as shown in Fig. 13, by the spring I 83, thus permitting engagement of the respective driving jaws J of the clutch. As soon as the shaft I'II starts to rotate, the solenoid I15 is de-energized by reason of the actuation of the switch I9I from the cam I69 through the bell crank lever III] and the link I92 (see Fig. 3). This action allows the pins to move upwardly so that the end of the pin I18 rests on the periphery I84 of the clutch member I12, being held thereagainst by the spring I85. In thisposition, the roller I86 on the end of the pin I19 lies partly within the groove I8I, and when the shaft I'II makes a complete revolution the cam surface I81 engages the roller I86 and thus causes the clutch member I12 to be moved to the left, as shown in the drawings, against the action of the spring I83, thus disengaging the clutch. At the time the clutch is disengaged the pin I18 is forced upwardly into the notch I86, thus stopping the shaft in a definite position. In order to reduce the shocks incident to stopping the shaft and the rotary carrier mechanism and in addition to the hydraulic check mechanism, previously described, the pins I18 and I19 are pivotally mounted on a shaft I88 and are held against rotation by means of a link I89 which is connected to the spring shock absorbing mechanism I96.

In the embodiment shown, the shaft I1I makes two revolutions for each revolution of the rotary carrier I8, and thus each time the solenoid I15 is energized the mechanism just described will permit one complete revolution of the shaft III and therefore a one-half revolution of the rotary carrier mechanism.

The solenoid I15 may be energized to start the operation of the ferris wheelby means of manu ally controlled switches, not shown, disposed at the rear end of the machine and also on the pulpit. The automatic operation of the solenoid is controlled by the flag I5 (Fig. 3), through the link I55 and lever I56 which actuates the switch 93.

The flag, as previously described, is actuated by Catcher mechanism Referring to Figs. 16 and 16A, it will be seen that the catcher comprises a suitable wheeled base adapted to run on track rails, so that the catcher maybe readily moved into and out of operative position relative to the rolls 2and 3. Upright supporting housings or casings 266 and NI, enclosing driving mechanism, are mounted on the base at the sides thereof, and a horizontal cross shaft 262 is suitably journalled in the eas-

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