US2120304A - Inching machine - Google Patents

Description

' June 14, 1938. H. T. WHEELER INCHING MACHINE Original Filed Jl lly 1 8, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 m K m 1 Z 78 2 w H w M r w w 1 4 3 V- my 1 umu 7 W BY ATTORNEYS.

June 14, 1938. T. WHEELER v 2,120,304

7 INCHING MAQHI-NE Original Filed July 18, 1932 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 A TTORMEYS.

Patented June 14, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1935. Divided and this application- June 29, 1935, Serial No. 29,130

12 Claims.

My invention relates to a-device for acting'upon strips of flexible packing material so as to distort the same from a straight strip to a coiled strip.

This application is a divisional application of my copending application Serial No. 623,301, filed July 18, 1932 now Patent-No. 2,006,377, dated July 2, 1935.

It is difficult particularly with packing made up of strips of fabric or other pliable material which is folded into layers or pleats to then stretch or deform this packing so that it will assume a circular or coiled formation.

It is the object of this invention to provide a device whereby astripof packing material may be stretched or deformed in passingthrough the device so that one edge is made longer than the other and the strip is forced to assumea curved or circular shape.

I desire toprovide a device which will hold the unstretched portion of the strip while a short section adjacent thereto may be stretched more strongly along. one edge into a triangular shape, this operation being repeated on successive sections of the strip until the entire strip has been thus treated.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a device of this kind'which may be easily operated by themanipulation of a single lever.

Itis another object of the invention to provide a holding device for the strip to be'treated which will automatically grip and release the strip-as the successive stretching operations are performed by the device.

The invention lies in the particular construction and arrangement of the parts making up the complete machine, the structure of which will be more clearly understood by reference to the.

drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of my device, some parts being broken away for greater clearness.

Fig. 1a is a broken detail showing a section of packing and the gripping jaws.

Fig. 2'is a top plan view of the device shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the plane 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a similar section taken on the plane 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section taken on the plane 55' of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of a strip of flexible material which has been folded to form a plurality of pleats or folds therein, said'strip being formed to be acted upon by my machine:

Fig. 7' is a view of a" folded strip of material after it has been transformed in passing through the device.

In the drawings I have shown my device as mounted upona base I which is approximately rectangular in shape and. elongated laterally. Upon this base are mounted upright posts or supports 2 and 31 The post 2' has, at the upper end thereof a bearing 4 for a horizontally arranged shaft 5. A similar bearing 6 but somewhat more elongated is formed at the upper end of the post 3;

The'sha'ft 5 which is supported in the bearings 4 and 6 is slidable' longitudinally in said bearings. Mounted upon the shaft at a point spaced from the post 2 isa cam member I. Said camis circular in shape and has on the side toward the post 2 a plurality of cam faces 8; which, when the shaft is moved toward the post 2, will engage with a rack bar 9, fixed upon the upper 1 end of the post 2 by screws ID. The forward end. of said rack bar is beveled at H, as seen in Fig. 2, so thatwhen it engages with any of the cam faces8-it will tend to cause a rotative movement of the shaft 5.

At the oppositeend of the shaft are formed a plurality of similar cam faces I2, said cam facesengagingwith a rack bar 13 mounted upon the-upwardly extending arm M of a bracket I5 securedto the outer face ofthe post 3.

Mounted upon theba'se Iisa sub-base or block l6 which serves as a mounting forthe jaws which serve to grip the packing strip. Immediately upon the upper surface of the block I6 is a channel or trough-shapedstationary jaw H, the upper face of which has opposed cam faces [8 which areflared upwardly toengage with a wedging fit with the packing engaging jaws which cooperate therewith.

At. opposite sides of the stationary jaws I! are laterallyiextending.bosses I 9, which have openings therein toreceivelateral trunni'ons or pivot members 2fl-upon the movable jaws 2|. This will be seen particularly from-Fig. 4. The said jaws 2| are spacedapart and on the side extending away from said pivot-2ll the jaws interfit with the downwardly inclined-Walls I8 as seen in dottedlines in Fig. 4'. The jaws-2l are spaced apart to include between the same the strip of packing 22. I provide removable facing members or removable jaws 23 upon the inner sides of the jaws 21, which may be of different thicknesses -to accommodate. packing witha different number of 1 fold-s therein, as will be obvious. These-removable.facing members 23 are adapted to frictionally engage the packing and hold it firmly between the jaws when said jaws are forced together.

Extending upwardly from the jaws 2| are the arms 24 which arms are connected at their upper ends to a handle 25. A coiled spring 26 between the arms 24 tends to force the arms and jaws apart so as to allow the inserting between the jaws of the packing material.

Between the arms 24 adjacent the upper end is a block 21 slidable longitudinally of the arms but movable laterally therewith and which has an inner recess to fit about a ball-shaped member 28 upon the shaft 5 forming a ball and socket connection with said shaft and permitting the sliding of said shaft through the swinging of said lever. It will be noted that the pivot 20 for jaws 2| is offset away from the stationary jaws I'I so that when the jaws 2| are rocked on the pivot 20 by the swinging of the lever to the right in the direction of the arrow, the sides of the jaws 2| will wedge between the inclined walls l8 of the stationary jaw and be clamped tightly together as soon as this rocking movement is initiated. Thus the two jaws will be immediately clamped upon the strip of packing material when the lever is operated.

Adjacent the movable jaws 2| are a somewhat similar pair of holding jaws 29. Said jaws are tapered at their lower ends, as shown at 30 in Fig. 3, to cooperate with the cam faces of the stationary jaws and it will be seen that when the holding jaws are moved downwardly relative to the stationary jaws the holding jaws will be forced together in clamping position. I provide removable gripping faces 3| upon the holding jaws, said faces being similar to those employed with the movable jaws.

Mounted upon each of the ends of the jaws 29 is an upright arm 32 which, as seen in Fig. 3, is engaged at its upper end with an axle or trunnion 33 upon a roller 34. Said roller is formed with a curved annular recess 35 therein to fit against the lower side of the shaft 5. The two arms 32 are slidable within a guide member 36 projecting from the side post 3.

There is a coil spring 31 between the arms 32, which tends to force them resiliently apart and because of the engagement of the lower ends of the jaws against the cam faces of the stationary jaws, the said holding jaws together with the arms thereon tend to be moved upwardly due to this wedging effect under the action of the spring 31. This action holds the upper roller 34 firmly against the lower side of the shaft 5. To allow the holding jaws to move upwardly I form a plurality of recesses 39 upon the shaft 5 into which the roller 34 may be moved when the said recess is translated to a position above said roller. As will be seen from Fig. 5, the inner removable facing members 3| upon the holding jaws are provided with laterally extending flanges 40, which overlap the edges of the jaws 29 to a slight extent. The ends of these flanges contact with upright guide posts 4|, between which the packing strip 22 is inserted.

The operation of my device will now be clear. When the packing strip 22 has been inserted into position between the holding jaws and the movable jaws the movement of the lever 25 in the direction of the arrow will engage the jaws 2| between the cam faces of the stationary jaws I! and cause them to grip the packing strip. As the jaws 2| are rocked on the pivot 20 they will move through the arc of the circle approximately into the dotted line position shown in the drawings. The strip of material 22 shown in Fig. 1a will thus be stretched along its outer margin but at the other margin it will remain practically undistorted. As the outer margin is stretched beyond its elastic limit it will not return to its original form and I thus change the shape of a shortsection of the packing from a shape with parallel sides to one having approximately a triangular shape, as will be noted in the drawings.

It will be seen that as the shaft approaches the end of its right hand movement, the holding jaws will be released momentarily before the shaft is rotated to move the recess 39 away from the roller 34. This first movement of the lever 25 will cause the jaws 2| to act on the packing. The roller will then engage in the recess 39 and release the packing holding jaws 29 so that the packing may move slightly. This movement will then bring the cam faces 8 of the cam member 7 in contact with the stationary bar 9 and rotate the shaft to a position with the recess 39 therein presented away from the roller 34. When the lever is then moved to the left to release the jaws 2| the jaws 29 will still hold the strip of material. At the end of the lefthand movement the cam |2 will engage the bar l3 and rotate the shaft to present the recess 39 downwardly. The jaws 29 are held closed during the righthand movement of the lever until the recess 39 registers with the roller 34 which allows release of the said jaws. When the handle is moved. back again toward the left the movable jaws will release the packing also and assume an open position ready to obtain a new grip on the strip.

It will be obvious that this system of operations can be rapidly performed and at each complete cycle of operations a short section of the packing strip will be acted upon so as to stretch the upper margin thereof but leave the inner margin practically unaffected. This will, however, bring the packing thus acted upon into the curved shape shown in Figs. 1 and 7. I am thus enabled to take a folded strip of material such as seen in Fig. 6, wherein there are a plurality of pleats or folds of material and stretch the same along one margin relative to the opposite margin. Considerable force is necessary to do this but with the arrangement shown in my device I am enabled to do this rapidly and effectively. Strips of material lying in straight folds can be curved to lie in the arc of a circle, thus making up a coil or ring of material adapted to fit within the ordinary stuffing box. The advantages of this construction will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

What is claimed as new is:

l. A device of the character described comprising a base, spaced stationary jaws on said base, upwardly flaring cam faces on said jaws, a pair of holding jaws, downwardly tapered faces thereon to engage between said stationaryjaws, means to move said holding jaws toward said stationary jaws to gripping position, spring means to move said holding jaws to releasing position, movable jaws adjacent said holding jaws pivoted to swing toward or away from said holding jaws, means on said movable jaws to engage said stationary jaws to close said movable jaws as the latter are swung away from said holding jaws and a lever to swing said movable jaws.

2. A device of the character described comprising a base, spaced stationary jaws on said base, upwardly flaring cam faces on said jaws, a pair of holding jaws, downwardly tapered faces thereon to engage between said stationary jaws, means to move said holding jaws toward said stationary jaws to gripping position, spring means to move said holding jaws to releasing position, movable jaws adjacent said holding jaws pivoted to swing toward or away from said holding jaws, means on said movable jaws to engage said stationary jaws to close said movable jaws as the latter are swung away from said holding jaws and a lever to swing said movable jaws, said lever serving to actuate the means for moving said holding jaws.

3. A device of the character described comprising a base, spaced upwardly flaring stationary jaws thereon, cam faces on said jaws, holding jaws having tapered ends to engage between said stationary jaws and be forced together thereby, a pair of movable jaws adjacent said holding jaws, said movable jaws being pivoted to rock toward and away from said holding jaws, beveled lower ends on said movable jaws engaging between said stationary jaws to force said movable jaws together when they are rocked, and a lever to move both said holding jaws and said movable jaws to closed position between said stationary jaws.

4. A device of the character described comprising a base, spaced upwardly flaring stationary jaws thereon, cam faces on said jaws, holding jaws having tapered ends to engage between said stationary jaws and be forced together thereby, a pair of movable jaws adjacent said holding jaws, said movable jaws being pivoted to rock towardand away from said holding jaws, beveled lower ends on said movable jaws engaging between said stationary jaws to force said movable jaws together when they are rocked, springs between said holding jaws and between said movable jaws to urge said jaws apart, and a lever to move both said holding jaws and said movable jaws to closed position between said stationary jaws.

5. A device for stretching packing strips including a base, a trough shaped member having opposed flaring cam jaws fixed to said base, a set of holding jaws movable toward and away from said cam jaws, a spring tending to move said holding jaws apart, a shaft to move said holding jaws toward and between said cam jaws and close the same, movable jaws adjacent said holding jaws, means to move said movable jaws toward and away from said holding jaws and to stretch a, strip of packing held by said holding Jaws.

6. A device for stretching packing strips including a base, a trough shaped member having opposed flaring cam jaws fixed to said base, a set of holding jaws movable toward and. away from said cam jaws, a spring tending to move said holding jaws apart, a shaft to move said holding jaws toward and between said cam jaws and close the same, movable jaws adjacent said holding jaws, means to move said movable j ws.

toward and away from said holding jaws and to stretch a strip 'of packing held by said holding jaws, said means acting also to move said shaft to operate said holding jaws.

7. A device for stretching packing strips including a base, a trough shaped member having opposed flaring cam jaws fixed to said base, a set of holding jaws movable toward and away from said cam jaws, a spring tending to move said holding jaws apart, a shaft to move said holding jaws toward and between said cam jaws, and close the same, said spring tending to force said holding jaws away from said cam jaws, and means adjacent said holding jaws to grip a strip of packing held by said holding jaws and stretch one edge thereof.

8. In combination, a pair of packing strip holding jaws, a pair of movable jaws pivoted adjacent said holding jaws, and means to rock said movable jaws to engage and stretch one edge of saidpacking strip to a greater extent than the opposite edge.

9. In combination, a pair of packing strip holding jaws, means to move said jaws together to grip said strip, a pair of movable jaws pivoted adjacent said holding jaws, and means to rock said movable jaws to engage and stretch one edge of said packing strip to a greater extent than the opposite edge.

10. A packing forming device including a pair of packing holding jaws, a pair of stretching jaws pivoted to rock toward and away from said holding jaws, a pair of spaced cam members adapted to be engaged by said jaws to force said jaws together to grip said strip, a lever to move said stretching jaws and means actuated by said lever to hold said holding jaws in packing gripping position.

11. A packing forming device including a base, stationary jaws thereon, holding jaws mountedto move toward and away from said stationary jaws, movable jaws pivoted to swing relative to said stationary jaws, a lever to swing said movable jaws to engagement between said stationary jaws, a shaft slidable by said lever, means to move said holding jaws to- 1 ward said shaft, and recesses in said shaft to mit movement of said holding jaws to open position, and means responsive to the said shaft to rotate the same.

HARLEY T. WHEELER- sliding of

Images