US2283331A

US2283331A - Bung forming apparatus

Info

Publication number: US2283331A
Application number: US219816A
Authority: US
Inventors: George W Lawton
Original assignee: US BUNG Manufacturing Co
Current assignee: UNITED STATES BUNG MANUFACTURING Co; US BUNG Manufacturing Co
Priority date: 1938-07-18
Filing date: 1938-07-18
Publication date: 1942-05-19
Anticipated expiration: 1959-05-19

Description

May 19, 1942- G. w. LAwToN 2,283,331

BUNG FORMING APPARATUS Filed July 18, 1938 .IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Paf wu||||||||||||iimmllllnm /Tu Jl-BY i WMA WMATTORNEYS.

Patented May 19, 1.942

The United States Bung Manufacturing Com-V pany, CincnnatLrOhio, Aa corporation of New York Appiicaunjmy 1s, 1938, serial No. '219,816 Y 2 Claims. (cuni-284) This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for making compressed, tapering wood bungs for barrels, drums, and the like.

The bung is formed by compressing a cylindrical wood blank between the curved surface of a stationary die and the periphery of a revolving roll concentric with'the die surface,

whereby the frictional contact of the blank with the periphery of the roll and the opposing die surface imparts a rolling motion to the blank, which motion compresses the blank equally on all points of its periphery as it advances from an inlet to a discharge end. p

In the present apparatus the blankis traversed through a plurality of differently gaugeddie and roller units interconnected for advancing or transferring the blank from one unit to a second to progressively compress the blank from its original blank diameter to its final gauge measurement and taper. Each unit compresses the blank a determined degree which is constant but progressive as the blank advances from oneunit to another until, upon final discharge from the terminal unit, the blank has attained the exact degree of taper desired. f

It has been an object of thepresent inventor to provide an apparatus for rapidly and efflciently making Wooden bungs, which apparatus continuously passes the bungs through a series of compressing operations, each of which operations accentuates the degree of taper provided by the previous operation until at the conclusion of the nal operation, the bung hasja degreeof taper predeterminedvat the outset. j Y I p It has been anotherobject of the present inventor to provide an apparatus for compressing a cylindrical bung blank by a series of gradual and progressive operations in order to avoid the inaccurate and oftimes injurious results attending the substantially universal practice of providing the taper by the single operation of ramming the Vcylindrical bung blank into a cup-shaped diev under great pressure.

It has been a still further object of the presentv inventor to apply a taper to a cylindrical bung blank through an apparatus providing a series of compression operations, each of which applies the pressure directly and uniformly to the sides of the blank, the degree of taper being increased in each succeeding operation.

The method disclosed and described here is claimed in a copending divisional application iiled March 20, 1941, and bearing Serial No. 384,390.

Various other advantages' and features of the invention will be more fully set forth in the description of the accompanying drawing-in which.'

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the bung forming rapparatus with a hinge closure for the raceway of two-of the compressing units, of a three unit assembly, in open position. y

Figure 2 is an end view of the apparatus. y Figure 3 Iis a section oni line 3-3 of Figure l. Heretofore compressed taper bungs for barrels generally have been made by, turning or cutting out a cylindrical blank from a board material and pressing the blank into a hollow cup-shapeddie. Another method of giving a bung a tapering form has been by rolling the bung blank between bevel bottomed .grooves or having beveled Opposing walls either straight or curved longitudinally andl converging both longitudinally and transversely with the degree of convergence increasing from one end to the other. The first method isv a very harsh one which has a tendency to split the blanks and, at the best, results in an inaccuraterbung,while the second method has a tendency to compress the cylindrical blankunevenly and` to providel a bung in which the inner end is slightly oval in cross section and which, accordingly, does not make an efficient seal for av cir cular opening. A i

Referring to the drawing, Figure l discloses Vari/assembly of three units of similarconstruction in superimposed arrangement and adapted to transport or transfer the 'bung from voneunit to another by gravity, each unit effecting a relatively different degree of compression of the bung as itis transformed from its original cylindrical blank form,`to a finished bung having a predetermined degree of taper. `Each unit includes a Y sufficient length of raceway to permitrepeated revolutions of the blank under a uniform degree of compression for the full length of the way, so that as the blank leaves the raceway,4the degree vrof compression will be substantially .uniform at allpoints cn the periphery. The number of units orstages is optional, depending upon the degree of compression required to reduce the same from its original diameter to its finished diameter, or

degree of taper, and depending also on the hard- Y.

' y a circular recess with its wall 2 tapered or beveled to constitute a concave stationary die which cooperates with the tapered periphery of a rotatable roll 3 spaced from the wall 2 and provides a raceway for receiving and compressing a cylindrical blank or disk by the rotation of the roll and impetus of the disk caused by its frictional contact with the periphery of the rotating roll, thereby rotating the diskV and advancing the same through the raceway. The opposing disk compressing walls of the raceway are uniformly' spaced for approximately the entire length of the raceway. The raceway is of Aa length suffy cient to permitone or several complete revolutions of the disk to insure a uniform compression.

As illustrated, the length of the raceway may be approximately one-half of the circumference of the roll 3 so that the entrance and exit ends are diametrically disposed vertically, with Vthe entrance 4 at the top and the exit 5 at the botf tom. This Varrangement permits the disk to be assisted by gravity in its passage through the raceway to the discharge end of one unit which, in the case of all units but the last, coincides with the entrance to the raceway of the next unit.

The path of the raceway deects tangentially at the entrance and-exit points and is defined at these points by filler blocks 66, fixed within the way and rigidly secured to the plate I. As shown, each filler block completely fills the gap between the stationary die wall 2 and the periphery of the roll 3.

The front or face side of the way is sealed by a closure ring 1 hingedly mounted upon the front side of the plate I so that it can be swung to an is fixed upon the shaft I intermediate of the front and rear plates and preferably is of a diameter to permit its teeth to mesh with a corresponding gear of a second unit to entrain the gears of a series of units, the end gear of the train being in mesh with a driving-gear I4 driven from any suitable source.

By this method of gear train transmission, the

gear I3 of one unit rotates in an alternate direc.

tion from that of its next adjoining unit or units which permits the relative positioning of the several units so that the blanks follow a serpentine course as they pass from one vunit to another, and no sharp corners which might obstruct their passage are presented at any point in the course.

The entrance end of the assembly may be provided with any suitable conductor means for transporting the disks to the raceway opening, and corresponding receiving means may be provided at the discharge end.

Upon placing a bung blank of cylindrical form into the raceway atv the top of the apparatus, transformation of its shape is commenced as soon as it comes into cooperation with the roll 4 and stationary die surface l2 of the face unit. As it is advanced by the rotation of the roll, it will be subjected to a relatively uniform pressure during its passage through the raceway and, as it leaves, will have been tapered to a degree corresponding to the taper of the raceway walls.

In the'preferred operation of the apparatus, `the width of the raceway at each stage of the operation coincides almost exactly with the width of the bung blank as it reaches this stage.

o convex) than the degree of taper of the bung blankjso that in the preferred operation of the apparatus the bung blank will not pass through the raceway solely by means of gravity, but will require the impetus imparted to it by the rotation of the roll. In the commercial operation of the apparatus it is preferable to provide a width of raceway which will permitthe bung blanks to move smoothly and evenlyldown the course, but still, yto sufficiently conne the -blanks so that a determined degree Aof compression will be applied to them by the revolution of the roll.

Further advantages of the invention reside in the fact that the compression is imparted entirely to the sides of the blanks insteadfof partially to one end,.as is the case with bungs which are forced into a cup shaped-die. Also, the application of pressure in stages tends to provide avmuch more accurate degree of taper, as when the taper is applied in a single operation, the wood will have a tendency to spring back and resume its normal position after the loperation has been completed. It has been found in'practice that in the case of bungs tapered-'in accordance with the present invention the wood will tend to spring back only about one-third as much as bungs which have been tapered 'by the cup shaped die method.

By the method and apparatus of the invention,

a large number of blankscan be operated uponat the same time, as the blanks may be continuously fed into the apparatus. The completed bungs will be found to have a high degree of uniformity of taper :while the culls `are kept to a Vminimum because the degree of compression obtained by any single operation is seldom suiiicient to crack or split the blanks.

The ller blocks AI--S define a passageway between the successive lforming passageways. This passageway is of a width slightly greater than the greatest width of the forming passageway from which the blanks are discharged. Referring rto the drawing, it will be observed that'the space between the related Aller blocks S-' is slightly greater thanthespacebetween the lines I5-I5 representing the widest portion of the forming passageway in each instance. Since the machine stands in vertical position (see the ground line indicated -in Figures land 2), the bung'blanks will roll by-gravity between the filler plates and will lthere be relieved of compressive force vprior to being engaged by and passed through the forming-die inthe nextcompressing stage. 1 e

Having described my invention, I claim:

l. Apparatus for -compressing the sides of a cylindrical bung blank in a series of distinct units Iiri'spaced relationship, each unit comprising a base plate, a revolving roll journalled in the base plate, a curved die surface projecting from the base plate exterior of the roll and spaced therefrom and removable means positioned over the space between the outer periphery of the roll and the inner edge of the die surface to form therewith a completely enclosed passageway, the passageway being of uniform width throughout any single unit but progressively narrower in succeeding units, the passageway in each unit being connected to the passageway in the preceding unit by an extension portion of not less width than the passageway in the preceding unit, said extension portion being formed from separate surfaces between which the bungs are adapted to pass by gravity, said separate surfaces being spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the widest portion of the preceding completely enclosed passageway so as to permit the bungs to pass freely by gravity from one completely enclosed passageway to the next, whereby a distinct compressing action is applied to the bung in each individual unit but the compression is relieved as the bung passes from unit to unit.

2. Apparatus for compressing the sides of a cylindrical bung blank in a series of distinct stages, said apparatus comprising a plurality of units in spaced relationship, each unit comprising a base plate, a revolving roll journalledin the base plate, a curved die surface projecting from the base plate exterior of the roll and spaced therefrom and removable means positioned overk the space between the outer periphery of the roll and the inner edge of the die surface to form therewith a completely enclosed passageway, the passageway being of uniform width throughout any single unit but progressively narrower in succeedingunits, the periphery of the roll and the die surface of each unit providing a passageway of constant taper throughout, each succeeding passageway being of slightly greater taper,.the passageway in each unit being connected to the passageway in the preceding unit by an extension portion, said extension portion being formed from separate surfaces between which the bungs are adapted to pass by gravity, said separate spaces being spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the widest portion of the preceding completely enclosed passageway so as to permit the bungs to pass freely by gravity from one completely enclosed passageway to the next, whereby a distinct compressing action is applied to the bung in each individual unit but the compression is relieved as the bung passes from unit to unit.

GEORGE W. LAWTON.