US2186448A - Control mechanism - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 9, 1940. E. c. BUNNELL CONTROL MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 4, 1938 TOR 65 n V F 2 1/ Q ATTORNEYS.

Jan. 9, 1940. E. c. BUNNELL CONTROL MECHANISM Filed June 4, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 0F 77L N6 LEVER ATTORN EYS.

Patented Jan. 9, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE The Baird Machine Company,

Conn, a corporation Bridgeport, of Connecticut Application June 4, 1938, Serial No. 211,964

13 Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in control mechanisms, and has particular relation to a control for the circuit of an electric motor used in the swinging of a device about an axis, such for example as raising and lowering of a mechanism, as a tumbling barrel, swinging of a gate or the like to automatically stop and locate the device at a predetermined position.

An object of the invention is to provide in connection with a tumbling barrel or other devices manually adjustable means for starting a tilting movement of the barrel or other device and automatic means for stopping such movement at a predetermined point, which predetermined point is determined by the extent of the adjustment of said adjustable means.

Another object is to provide a control means including a part in the nature of a pointer or handle to be manually shifted and which controls a power source for moving a tumbling barrel, gate orthe like into a predetermined relation to such pointer or handle.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein 'a satisfactory embodiment of the invention is shown by way of example as applied to a tumbling barrel. However, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the details disclosed or to use on tumbling barrels but includes all such variations and modifications as fall within the scope of the invention and of the appended claims, and it may be used on other devices which are swung about an axis.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view showing a tumbling barrel equipped with the mechanism of the present invention;

,Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the mechanism of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view on an enlarged scale and showing particularly the control mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view on an of the control mechanism; and

Fig. 5 is the wiring diagram of a control system which may be employed.

Referring in detail to the drawings, at In and H are shown frame members connected as by bars I2 and a bracket l3. Bracket l3 carries bearings I4 and I5 for a short shaft l6 to one end of which is secured a relatively large gear I! meshing with a small gear [8 driven by an electric enlarged scale motor I9. In alignment with the bearing M the bracket carries a bearing for a relatively short stud or shaft 2|, and the inner end of shaft I6 together with the inner end of shaft 2! serves to mount the tumbling barrel cannon piece 22 since the bifurcated end portions 23 of the cannon are mounted on and rotatable about the inner or opposed ends of such shafts.

Cannon piece 22 forms a bearing for the shaft 24 of a large beveled gear 25, the hub 26 of which enters between the cannon portions 23. On its forward side gear is provided with a series of bosses 28 used in mounting a tumbling barrel 2!! of any desired construction, on the gear. Shaft l6 carries a small beveled pinion 30 meshing with the gear 25, and it will be apparent that on motor l9 being energized it will through the gears l8, ll, 30 and 25 cause rotation of the barrel 29. The cannon 22 being rotatableon the inner end portions of the shafts l6 and 2! it will be apparent that it, together with the barrel 28, may be rocked or tilted upwardly and downwardly in the usual manner.

A pivot means 3| secures to the under side of the cannon, adjacent the outer end thereof, the upper end portion of an arcuate or curved rack 32, the teeth of which mesh with those of a relatively small gear pinion 33 secured to a shaft 34 turnable in the frame members Ill and II. On the shaft 34 serving to drive it is a larger gear 35 meshing with and driven from a smaller gear 36. Gear 36 is rotated by an electric motor 3! through any desired reduction train in the housing 38. For the present purposes motor 3'! is a reversing motor and it will be understood that as it rotates in one direction the feed of the rack 32 will be upwardly so as to tilt the barrel 29 downwardly for dumping or the like, and that as the motor 31 rotates in the opposite direction, it will feed the rack 32 downwardly tilting the barrel 29 upwardly.

0n the outer end portion of the shaft 2| is mounted a lever 39 to which is rigidly connected a tubular handle or pointer 40. Secured to the lever 39 as by screws 4| is a plate-like member or cam 42 having an arcuate outer edge 43. Also turnable on the shaft 2| is a sleeve 44 carrying a radially extending arm 45 provided with a relatively long head-like portion 46 to the outer side of which are secured normally open limit switches 41 and 48 including triggers or arms 49 and 50 respectively. For the purposes of the present invention, the triggers or controls 49 and 50 of the switches must move with the cannon 22. To insure such movement an arm 5| is secured to the cannon at one end by screws 52 and at its other end to the arm 45 by a screw 53. The switches 41 and 48' are standard limit switches which can be purchased on the market and are so constructed that as long as their triggers or levers 49 and 59 are held in a given position, in the present case outwardly, the switch is closed to close the circuit controlled thereby, but as soon as the trigger or lever is released the switch moves immediately to the on? position to open the circuit.'

Switch 4! is connected with the motor 31 in such manner that on closing of said switch the motor 3! will operate in a direction to feed the v direction to feed the rack 32 downwardly and tilt the barrel 29 upwardly. The member 42 is adapted to be manually adjusted by turning move ment of the lever 39 on the shaft2l so as to bring the arcuate surface 49 of said member into engagement with one of the switch triggers. When the surfaoe43 is against a switch trigger, as where in Fig. 3 the switch trigger 49 is engaged with surface 49, that trigger is being held in its outer position and in such position that its switch is closed.

In Fig. 3 switch trigger 49 being engaged with the arcuate surface 43, the switch 41 is closed and the motor 3! is operated in a direction to feed the rack 32 upwardly whereby the cannon 22 is being tilted upwardly about the shafts l6 and 2! and the barrel 29 is being tilted down wardly. As long as the switch trigger 49 remains in'engagement with the surface 43 the motor will continue to operate as described. However, it will be understood that the arm 45 is being carried upwardly with the cannon 22 so that the switch trigger 49 is being fed along the surface 43 toward the upperend thereof. When the trigger moves off the upper end of surface 43 as suggested by the dotted lines at the top of Fig. 3, limit switch 4? automatically opens (the trigger orl'ever 49 being moved inwardly by a suitable spring provided in the switch) breaking the circult to the motor 31.

The distance between the triggers 49 and 59 is slightly greater than the length of the arcuate surface 43 of member 42 so that with plate 42 in the intermediate position both triggers 49 and 59 are off the are 43, both switches are open and motor 31 stationary, and there is no tilting mo- 5 it engage either'the trigger 49 orthe trigger 59 whereby to close the circuit through either the switch 41 or the switch 48. That is, the direction of adjustment of the member 42 determines the direction in which the barrel 29 will be tilted and the extent to which the member 42 is adjusted determines the extent of movement which will be imparted to the barrel.

If the barrel is horizontal as in Fig. l and stationary the handle 49 will be in the dotted line horizontal position of that figure and the switch triggers 49 and 59 will be at the upper and lower edges of the member 42. Now if it is desired that the barrel be tilted downwardly the operator pushes the handle 40 downwardly to the position he wishes the barrel to be tilted, such for example, as to the full-line position of Fig. 1. This brings surface 43 of member 42 under the trigger 49 whereby motor 3'! is energized and operated in a direction to tilt the barrel 29 outwardly.

The relation of the parts is such that the angle of the handle 49 determines the angle into which the barrel 29 will be moved. Therefore the operator simply positions the handle at about the angle he wishes the barrel to assume and then he may proceed with other work, knowing that when the barrel has been tilted to the desired angle either the switch trigger 49 or the switch trigger 59 will move off the surface 43 breaking the circuit to the motor 31.

The lever 99 is prevented from moving off the end of shaft 2! by means of a cross bar 54 secured to the end of the shaft by screws 55 and this bar threaded into the outer end of extension 62.

At its inner end rod63 bears against a coil spring 64, and such spring in turn bears against a plug 65. Rod 63 may be adjusted inwardly or outwardly to vary the pressure of spring 94 against plug 65 and the spring maintains the plug against the shaft 2| creating a friction whereby the sleeve 39 and parts carried thereon will be frictionally maintainedin any desired position of adjustment. A look nut 99 on the rod 53 serves to secure it in any desired adjusted position. 7

At its outer end handle 49 carries a switch including push buttons 6'! and 68, and the leads (not shown) from such switch are preferably carried in this rod and connect with the starting and" stopping mechanism 'for the motor l9, so that this switch controls its connectionwith a suitable source of power. With this arrangement the operator'may from a position at one side of the barrel 29 controltilting movement and also rotary movement of the. barrel. Forexample the operator may set the lever or handle 49 in any position desired and at the same time may open or close the switch 69 controlled by the push buttons 9'! and 98 to have the motor l9 rotate the 1 barrel or have it. remain stationary as desired.

In Fig. 5 the switch box for the motor I9 is shown at W and the switch boxes for the motor 3'! are shown at 10 and II. I

Having thus set forth the nature of my invention, what I claim is:

1. In combination, a shaft, a member on and tiltable I about said shaft, a reversible electric motor for tilting said member, a pair of normally openswitches controlling the direction of rotation ofsaid motor, a trigger for each of said switches, means on and manually shiftable about said shaft andselectively engageable with said triggers to selectively close said switches and determine the direction of rotation of said motor, and said triggers being mounted to move with A counterbalancing rod 63, to counterbalance the weight of handle 40, is

said' member and arranged as they are moved therewith out of engagement withsaid manually shiftable means to again open the circuit of said motor. 1

2. In combination with a tumbling barrel including a reversing motor formoving the barrel up and down about a pivotal mounting, a pair of normally open switches controlling the direction of rotation of said motor and thus thedirection of movement of the barrel relative to its pivotal mounting, a trigger controlling each of said switches, means manually adjustable about said pivotal mounting into selective engagement with said switch triggers to operate the same and close the switch thereof and while in engagement with such trigger maintain the switch closed, and said switch triggers being movable about said pivotal mounting with the barrel whereby an engaged trigger will be carried off said means at the end of a predetermined movement of the barrel and will return to normal position opening the circuit of said motor.

3. In combination wit-h a shaft and a member pivoted on the shaft, a reversing motor connected to move said member about the shaft in a direction depending on the direction of rotation of the motor, a pair of normally open switches controlling the direction of rotation of said motor, a a switch trigger connected with each of said switches, a member manually adjustable about the'shaft' and including an arcuate surface adapted to be brought into engagement with a selected one of said switch triggers to operate it to close one of said switches and have said motor move said first member in a selected direction about the shaft, and said switch triggers connected to and movable with said first member whereby to be carried out of engagement with said arcuate surface in any adjusted position of the latter to open the circuit to and stop said motor at the end of a movement of said first member the limit of which movement is determined by the adjustment of said member.

4. In combination with a tumbling barrel including a reversing motor for moving the barrel up and down about a pivotal mounting, a pair of normally open switches controlling the direction of rotation of said motor and thus the direction of movement of the barrelrelative to its pivotal mounting, a trigger controlling each of said switches, means manually adjustable about said pivotal mounting into selective engagement with said switch triggers to operate the same and close the switch thereof and while in engagement with such trigger maintain the switch closed, said switch triggers movable about said pivotal mounting with the barrel whereby an engaged trigger will be carried off said means at the end of a predetermined movement of the barrel and will return to normal position opening the circuit of said motor, and positive stop means limiting the extent of movement of said adjustable means about said pivotal mounting.

5. In a tumbling barrel, 2. stand, a shaft supported by said stand, a member supported on and turnable about said shaft and extending from one side thereof, a shaft turnable in said member, a gear supported on said second shaft, a barrel secured to said gear at the side of the first shaft opposite said member, an electric motor geared to said gear for driving the same and thereby rotating said barrel, means adjustable about said first shaft, a reversible motor connected for rocking said member and barrel about the first shaft in a direction depending on the direction of roeach of said switches and movable therewith and with which said means may be selectively engaged and which while in engagement with themeans will close the said switches, means frictionally mounted on said first shaft and carrying the first means, a handle secured to the second mentioned means and extending radially therefrom, said sec-- nd mentioned means operable to shift the first mentioned means into engagement with one of said triggers and to have it remain in engagement therewith until movement of said barrel and member carries the trigger out of engagement with said first mentioned means.

6. In combination, a member mounted for movement about an axis, a motor for moving said member in either direction about said axis, a manually operable means mounted to be shifted to different positions, control means for the motor movable with said member, and means .movable with said manual means cooperating with the control means to start the motor on shifting of the manual means and to stop the motor after a predetermined movement of the member.

'7. In combination, a mechanism mounted for movement about an axis, a motor for moving said mechanism in either direction about said axis, a control member movable about said axis to different predetermined positions and having a curved surface, a pair of spaced control means for said motor one of which when in contact with the curved surface causes the motor to shift the mechanism in one direction and the other when in contact with said surface causes the motor to shift the mechanism in the opposite direction, said control means being movable with the mech anism about said axis and being spaced from each other a. distance slightly greater than the length of the curved surface so that when they are both out of contact with said surface the motor is stationary, and means for shifting the first control member to different positions.

8. In combination, a member mounted for movement about an axis, a motor for moving said member in either direction about said axis, a

I control member movable about said axis to different predetermined positions and having a curved surface, a pair of control switches for said motor to control its operation in opposite directions and including triggers to engage said surface to close their respective switches, said switches being movable with said first member about said axis and arranged with their triggers spaced a distance somewhat greater than the length of said curved surface, and means for shifting said control member to different positions.

9. In combination, a member mounted for movement about an axis, a reversing motor for moving said member in either direction about said axis, manually shiftable means for starting operation of said motor to move said member in the selected direction and arranged to cause movement of the member in the desired direction by movement of .the said means in the same direction, and said means including means for automatically stopping said motor at the end of a predetermined movement of said member about said axis.

10. In combination with a tumbling barrel including a reversing motor for moving the barrel up and down about a pivotal mounting and a motor for rotating the barrel, manually shiftable means for starting and automatically stopping rotation of the first mentioned motor in the selected direction, said means including a handle extending at the side of the barrel for convenient manipulation of the shiftable means, said shiftable means arranged to cause movement of the barrel in a direction determined by the direction of shifting of the handle and an amount proportional to the amount of shifting of the handle, and switch means on said handle and controlling starting and stopping of the second mentioned motor.

11. In combination with a tumbling barrel including a reversing motor for moving the barrel up and down about a pivotal mounting, a handle at the side of said barrel, means movable various amounts by shifting of said handle proportional amounts, and said meanscontrolling the direction of movement of the barrelabout said pivotal mounting by the motor according to the direction of shifting of the handle'and also controlling the extent of said movement proportional to the amount of shifting of the handle.

12., In combination, a member mounted for movement in either of opposite directions, a motor for moving said member in either direction, a control member movable to different predetermined positions and having a control surface, a pair of spaced control means for said motor one i of which when in contact with the control surface causes the motor to shift the first member in one direction andthe other when in contact with'said surface causes the motor to shift saidgreater than the length of the control surface so that when they are both out of contact with said surface the motor is stationary, and means for shifting the first control member to different positions, H

13. In combination, a member mounted for movement in either of opposite directions, a'mo-i tor for moving said member in either direction, a control member having a control surface, a pair of spaced control means for said motor one of which when in contact with the control surface causesthe motor to shift the first member in one directionand the other when in contactwith said surface causes the motor to shift said member in the opposite direction, o-ne'of said control members and saidcontrol, means being movable to different predetermined positions; means for shifting said movable control member or control means to different positions, the other. of said control member and said control means being movable with the first member, and said pair of control means being spaced from each other a distance slightly greater than the length of the control surface so that when they are both out of contact with said surface the motor is stationary.

. EARL C. BUNNELL.

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