US2168340A - Method of and apparatus for grooving wire - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 8, 1939. c. K. HILL METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR GROOVING WIRE Filed Dec. 24, 1956 2 vSheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

ATTORNE .5:

Aug. 8, 1939. c. K. HILL METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR enoovms WIRE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 24, 1956 INVENTOR. 6710/4/66 A. Half ATTORNIK'g Patented Aug. 8, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR GROOVING WIRE Application December 24, 1936, Serial No. 117,496

8 Claims.

This invention relates, as indicated, to methods of and apparatus for grooving wire, but has reference more particularly to the grooving of wire for the purpose of providing stock from which spiral-groove nails may be formed.

It has heretofore been proposed to manufacture nails having spiral grooves and ribs, as a result of which the nail, after being driven into the parts to be secured together, could not be withdrawn by a direct longitudinal pull, but could only be withdrawn by a turning movement of the nail during the pulling thereof.

The principal difl'iculty attending the manufacture of such nails was that of imparting to the wire from which the nails were formed grooves and ribs of uniform pitch. Furthermore, due to the method by which such nails were manufactured, they could be produced in limited quantities only andat a cost which made the general use thereof prohibitive.

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a novel method and apparatus where by nails having spiral grooves and ribs of uniform pitch can be manufactured in commercial quantities and at a cost not appreciably in excess of the cost of ordinary nails made from wire of the same size.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method of forming grooves-and ribs in Wire 30 for use in making nails of the aforesaid character, which method is continuous and requires a minimum of attention on the part of the operator.

A further object of the invention is toprovide apparatus for practicing the aforesaid method which is positive in operation and adapted for the grooving or ribbing of wire of various diam eters and for the production of grooves and ribs of various pitches. 40 To the accomplishment of the foregoingand related ends, said invention, then, consists of the means hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the annexed drawings and the following description setting forth in detail certain means and one mode of carrying out the invention, such disclosed means and mode illustrating, however, but one of various ways in which the principle of the invention may be used.

In said annexed drawings- Fig. 1 is a plan view of the apparatus for grooving wire for use in manufacturing nails in accordance with the invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal cross sectional (Cl. -10) I View, taken on 'theline 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4.1: a w

front elevation of the wire grooving device, with the cover removed to more clearly show the arrangement of the grooving disks; Fig.5 is an enlarged view of a nail made from wire grooved in accordance with the invention; and Fig. 6 is a further enlarged transverse cross-sectional view of the nail, taken on the line 66 of Fig.- 5.

Referring first to Figs. 5 and 6,,a nail manufactured in accordance with the present invention consists, as shown, of a head I and shank 2. The shank 2 has formed therein a plurality of spiral grooves 3, 4, 5 and 6, extending longitudinally of the nail and arranged a quarter turn apart. grooves, a grooving disk is employed which displaces metal laterally to form at one edge of the groove a rib extending outwardly from the surface of the nail, such rib terminating in a fairly sharp edge. The ribs are designated by reference numerals l, 8, 9 and it. As the nail is driven, the spiral ribs engage the wood and produce a rotary movement of the nail as it is forced into the wood, the portion of the wood compressed'by the ribs being forced into the grooves and thereby forming, when the nail is driven, complete keys precluding longitudinal movement of the nail. V

Nails, as thus described, are manufactured by the usual heading, pointing and cutting operations fromlong coils of Wire which have previously been spirally'grooved and ribbed by a continuous method and by means of apparatus which will now be described. The apparatus for grooving and ribbing the wire is best shown in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, there is illustrated a table II having supporting legs l2. Mounted on the table at suitably spaced points are bearings l3, l4 and [5, in which is journalled a shaft consisting of sections Iii and H rigidly secured to each other and respectively provided with aligned axial passages l8 and I9.

Threadedly secured to the forward end of the shaft section [6 is a hub plate 2G,,which is locked in position on such shaft section by means of a lock nut 2i. Secured to this hub plate, as by means of cap screws 22, is a chuck 23 having an annular flange portion 24 of slightly reduced external diameter extending from the front face thereof, and which is interrupted to provide a plurality of radially extending passages 25. In the present embodiment of the invention, four such passages are provided, although as will presently become apparent, a larger or smaller In the formation of each of these number of passages may be provided, depending on the number of grooves and ribs which it is desired to simultaneously form in the wire.

Mounted in each of the passages 25 for slidable movement radially of the flange 24 is a disk holder 26. Each disk holder is in the form of a hollow block having a wall 21, the radially outward surface 23 of which tapers slightly from front to rear but is arcuately curved in a direction transverse to the front to rear direction, as clearly shown in Fig. 4. The radially inner end of the disk holder is provided with spaced trunnion portions 30 having seats for the reception of a pin or shaft 3|, the axis of which is inclined with respect to the general plane of the chuck 23. The pin 3| has rigidly secured thereto a grooving disk 32, which is freely revoluble in its holder, and the peripheral edge of which is of V-shaped cross-section.

For the purpose of maintaining the holders 26 in their radially outermost position, the chuck 23 is provided with pins 33 which serve as seats for springs 34, which bear against the walls 21 of the holders. The radially outward movement of the holders is limited by an annular band 35 which is threadedly secured to the chuck 23, and engages the surfaces 28 of the holders. The inner surface 36 of this band is tapered from front to rear to correspond with the taper of the surfaces 28 of the holders, so that upon rotation of the band, the holders will be simultaneously adjusted. This adjustment is permitted by reason of a clearance space 29, which is provided between the radially outward surface of the flange 24 and the inner surface 36 of the band 35. It will be apparent from the foregoing that radial adjustment of the grooving disks for the purpose of grooving wire of various diameters may be easily accomplished by the simple expedient of rotating the band 35 towards or away from the chuck 23. To facilitate such rotation, the band is provided in its outer peripheral surface with sockets 31 for the reception of a wrench or other tool.

Secured to the flange 24 of the chuck is a cover plate 38, to which in turn is threadedly secured a spider 39, the hub of which has secured therein a guide 40 for passage of the wire W to be grooved and ribbed.

The chuck 23 and associated elements are positively rotated by mechanism comprising an electric motor 4|, pinion 42, gear 43 and shaft l6 IT. The speed of the chuck may be varied, for which purpose an extra gear 44 is provided.

In addition to the grooving apparatus. proper, which has been described, there is mounted on the table II a take-up reel or drum 45 for the grooved wire, which drum is mounted for rotation about a vertical axis and driven in synchronism with the grooving apparatus by mechanism comprising a worm 46 which is keyed to the shaft section II, worm gear 41, bevel gears 48 and 49, shaft 50, bevel gears 5| and 52, vertical shaft 53, and clutch section 54. The drum is of standard construction and need not be further described.

The operation of the apparatus will now be described:

The wire W, which is to be grooved and which is in the form of a coil, is mounted on a feed reel or drum (not shown) and is passed through the guide 40 and passages 18 and IS in the shaft sections I 6 and H, the leading end of the wire being then secured to the take-up drum 45. The motor 4| is then started, causing the chuck 23 and associated parts to be positively rotated, and at the same time, the take-up drum 45 is positively rotated to pull the wire through the grooving head and receive the convolutions of such wire. As the wire travels through the space between the grooving disks 32, the disks being free ly rotatable about their axes, rotate about the wire, the peripheral edges of the disks being forced into the wire, thereby forming the spiral grooves 3, 4, 5 and 5, and incidentally to the formation of such grooves, the spiral ribs 1, 8, 9 and I0, respectively adjacent thereto. The takeup drum rotates at a speed sufiicient to maintain tautness in the wire, and the linear speed of the wire is maintained constant by virtue of the fact that the grooved wire always contacts first with the lower or widest portion of the drum. This is possible because the preceding coils of wire continually slip upward and away from the lower portion of the drum and onto the narrower portions, since the drum is tapered for this purpose. Consequently, instead of winding the Wire in layers one over the other with a constantly increasing winding diameter which would increase the speed with which the wire is drawn through the apparatus, the wire is always wound on a surface of the same diameter and is pulled through the apparatus at the same linear speed. In this way, it is not necessary to change the speed of rotation of the drum to compensate for an increasing diameter of bundle, but the drum can be rotated at a constant peripheral speed while pulling the wire through the apparatus at a constant linear speed.

For a given angular setting of the grooving disks, that is, for a given pitch of the grooves and ribs, a definite and predetermined ratio between the speed of the take-up drum and the speed of the grooving head is maintained. The speeds of the drum and head may, however, be increased when it is desired to increase the production of grooved wire. In order to vary the pitch of the grooves and ribs, it is necessary to substitute for the holders 26 other holders having grooving disks set at a different angle to the general plane of the chuck than that shown, in which event, a different ratio between the speeds of the grooving head and take-up drum must be established, depending on the new angle. In order to establish a different ratio between the speeds of the grooving head and take-up drum, the bevel gears 48 and 49 are replaced by other gears.

Due to the constant linear speed of the wire and the positive rotation of the grooving head, a coil of wire is formed in which the pitch of the spiral grooves and ribs is absolutely uniform and unvarying from one end of the coil to the other. The coil of wire, thus formed, is then used to manufacture nails by the usual heading, pointing and cutting operations, the finished nail being shown in Fig. 5.

During the grooving operations, a certain amount of heat is generated within the grooving head, and for the purpose of dissipating this heat and ventilating the head, the spider 33 may be provided with fan blades 55. i

After the entire, coil of wire has been thus Other modes of applying the principle of my invention may be employed instead of the one explained, change being made as regards the means herein disclosed, provided those stated by any of the following claims or their equivalent be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention 1. A method of preparing stock for spiralgrooved nails which comprises continuously unwinding wire from a roll, imparting to said wire throughout its length a spiral groove, and winding the grooved wire on a drum having a tapered surface.

2. A method of preparing stock for spiralgrooved nails which comprises continuously unwinding wire from a. coil, pressing wire-grooving means against the surface of the unwound wire, and winding the grooved wire on a drum having a tapered surface, whereby a spiral groove of uniform pitch is formed in the surface of said wire substantially throughout the length thereof.

3. A method of preparing stock which comprises continuously unwinding wire from a coil, rotating a wire agrooving disk about the unwound wire, with the disk engaging the wire, and wind ing the grooved wire on a drum having a tapered surface, whereby a spiral groove of uniform pitch formed in the surface of said wire substantially throughout the length thereof.

4. Apparatus for grooving wire which comprises means for positively moving said wire at a constant linear speed, said means including a take up drum having a tapered surface, means rotatable about said wire for grooving the same.

as it is thus 'moved, and power-driven means for rotating said last-named means.

5. Apparatus for grooving and ribbing wire which comprises means for positively moving said wire at a constant linear speed, said means including a take up drum having a tapered surface, grooving disks rotatable about said wire and operative to simultaneously impart to the surface of said wire spiral ribs, and power-driven means for positively rotating said grooving disks.

6. Apparatus for forming spiral grooves of uniform pitch in the surface of wire of circular cross section, comprising means for exerting a pull on said Wire including a take up drum having a tapered surface, means for grooving the wire so pulled, said means comprising a chuck having more than two grooving disks therein, and means for positively rotating said wire-grooving means about the wire as it is pulled by'said first-named means.

'7. Apparatus for grooving wire, comprising a chuck having radially extending passages therein, holders slidably mounted in said passages, groov ing disks journalled in said holders, spring means normally biasing said holders in a radially outward direction, and means for moving said holders against the pressure of said springs in a radially inward direction, said lastnamed means comprising an annular band in threaded engagement with said chuck and having its inner pe ripheral surface tapered relatively to the axis of the band, whereby when the band is rotated relatively to said chuck, said holders will simultaneously be forced radially inwardly.

8. Apparatus for grooving wire, comprising a chuck, a plurality of holders slidably mounted in said chuck, grooving disks journalled in said holders, means for rotating said chuck about the wire, and a guide for passage of the wire to be grooved, said guide removably secured to said chuck.

CHARLES K. HILL.

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