US2321707A - Material working apparatus - Google Patents

Description

June 15, 1943.

C. SHANNON MATERIAL WORKING APPARATUS Filed May 28, 1940 V/lvW/zw' l C.$HA ON A TTORNEY Patented June 15, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT DFFKIE MATERIAL WORKING APPARATUS Carlisle Shannon, East Orange, N. J., assignor to Western ElectricCompany, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application May 28, 1940, Serial No. 337,618

s claims.

This invention relates tomaterial working apparatus, and more particularly to apparatus for cutting and heading wire or like materials.

' Certain material working machines of the type used in forming heads on lengths of wire are known commercially as headers. In such'ma chines the wire is usually fed intermittently from a supply through a cut-off die and between a air of heading dies to a stop, the distance of the stop from the cut-off die determining the length of the Wire cut from the supply. During the feeding ofthe wire the heading dies are spaced for the free movement of the wire therebetween but when this has beenaccomplishe-d the heading dies are'closed to grip the wire and are then moved. relative to the cut-off die cooperating therewith to cut the length of wire fromthe stock and locate the exposed end of the wire, to be headed, in alignment'with a headinglpunch. The

heading dies, therefore, serve important functions and must be accurately finished. Commercially known headin dies are square in crosssection and are grooved and finished accurately on the four sides for wires of different gages, or of the same gage; but of identical lengths. heading dies, and the other tools necessary in mounting the dies in the machine, ate found satisfactory if the demand forpartsmade thereby warrant the cost thereof. However, in the first instance, if there were a demand for only one of the four gages and.- the demand for that one' were low, the expense of such heading dies would not be justified. Furthermore, in the second instance, if the demand for the one gage were low, the expense of a pair of heading dieswith 'four sets of grooves, three of which may never be used,

With thisand other objects in view; the invention comprises a material working apparatus for receiving a universal tool including a desirednumber of die holders and filler blocks of selected lengths variable depending upon the length of heading dies selected, and a cut-01f die and die holder with packing plates of desired thickness depending upon the length of the heading dies. Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying. drawing, wherein Such Fig. 1 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional .view of a material working apparatus illustrating the invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective View, shown partially in' section, of a selected group of tools forming a part of the apparatus to condition the apparatus to form one type of article; a i

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of a pair of heading dies and die holders, and

Figs. 4 and 5 are front elevational views of other sizes of heading dies which may be used with selected die holders.

Referring now to the drawing, attention is first directed to Fig. 1, which illustrates a portion of the apparatus illustrating the invention. The form of apparatus selected is an open die header having a housing 8* in which a tubular guide 9 is disposed for guiding material I0 such as wire to the working parts of the apparatus, where: definite predetermined lengths will be cut therefrom and heads of desired shapes formed on the exposed lower ends'of the lengths.

The housing 8 has a tool receiving cavity or recess ll of asuitable depth and extending be tween parallel surfaces I2 and i3 to receive a desired assembly of tools selected from groups of various sizes to condition the apparatus to form articles of any desired type. Positioned in the cavity II adjacent the surface l3 are packing plates l4 and i5 of'ditferent sizes selected from a group (not shown) of packing plates varying in size in order to position a holder l6 of a cut-' on die I! a desired distance from the surface I3. Each'packing plate has a passageway l8 therein for the passage of the wire I0 therethrough to the cut-off die 11. The cut-off die I! isformed'of' suitable hard .metal or other material of suitable hardness, having a central passageway for the wire and embedded in its holder [5 so that the lower surface of'the die and the holder lie in the same plane. The packing plates Hi and I5 as, well as the die holder l6 are rigidly yet removably mounted in the recess H by any suitable means (not shown). 1

Heading dies l9 selected from a-group some of which are illustrated in Figs. 1', 2, 4 and 5, areprovided in pairs with matched longitudinal grooves ZOfor the different gages of wire to be used in forming the desired articles and also of the'various lengths desired. These dies are in expensive tomanufacture, in that only one sur-' face 'need be finished and grooved for the desired gage of wire and may thus; be made smaller, requiring a smaller amount of the hard metal necessary for the heading dies themselves than would be necessary if they were provided with four sides finished and grooved for different gages of wire. These dies are made in pairs with the cross-sectional contour illustrated in Fig. 3 including the finished engaging surfaces grooved for the desired gage of wire, two other surfaces being disposed at right angles with respect to each other while the remaining surface of each die is tapered for locking engagement in the die holders 2| by the aid of set screws 22. The die holders 2| shown in Figs. 1 and 2 are equal in all dimensions except length and the provision of pairs of the die holders in various lengths enables an operator to select a pair of heading dies l9 of any desired length and provide a pair of or a plurality of pairs of die holders the combined lengths of which equal the length of the heading dies, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. Each die holder is provided with two set screws 22 as shown in Fig. 2, which extend through threaded apertures opening into a groove 23 of a contour to receive any of the heading dies (Fig. 3).

In a similar manner filler blocks 24 and 25 may be selected from groups including filler blocks of various lengths to build up combinations identical in length to the groups of die holders selected for the particular heading dies as illustrated in Fig. 2. In the present instance the filler blocks 25 are notched at their lower left hand corners as indicated at 26, so that they may be mounted in the recess H. In order to quickly and accurately assemble the sets of filler blocks and condition them as a solid filler block of the selected length, the filler blocks are proportion conditioned to be disposed between adjacent filler blocks and space them definite and like distances apart while reduced pin-like portions project axially in opposite directions from the central portion into the apertures 28 of their respective filler blocks. The filler blocks are, therefore, made in lengths similar to the lengths of the die holders 2i, certain of the blocks, however, being shorter in length to compensate for the thickness of the central portions of the spacers 30.

Each set of die holders 2| with their respective heading dies l9 and filler blocks 24 are mounted in the recess H in engagement with the surface l2 as illustrated in Fig. l, and extend to the die holder I6 and cut-off die l'l. These separate units, namely the separate heading dies and their respective die holders and filler blocks, are mounted for movement relative to each other, in opening and closing the heading dies, and for movement with each other, in cooperation with the cut-off die I! to cut lengths from the wire. For example, the right hand assembly may be mounted for lateral movement in a definite path and normally urged to the left by spring means (not shown) a definite distance limited by a stop (not shown). The left hand portion of this assembly is removably secured to a member supported by reciprocable rods'36 which are slidably disposed in bearing portions 3!v of the housing 8 and operativelyconnected to suitable means (not shown) to impart lateral movement at predetermined intervals to the portion of the assembly associated therewith.

A stop member 40 mounted on the shaft 4| is operatively connected to suitable means (not shown) to move the stop into alignment with the wire during the feeding of the Wire and Wh le the ,f vided with longitudinally extending apertures 28 to receive spacers 3|]. The spacers 30 as illustrated in Fig. 2, each consist of a central annular heading dies l9 are in general alignment with the passageway l8 and the cut-off die IT. The stop 40 determines the length of wire to be severed from the supply and may be moved out of position after the length of wire has been severed, to allow for the movement of a heading punch 43 into its forming position. The heading punch may be any desired structure to form a head of any desired contour of the exposed lower end of the length of wire shown in Fig. 1.

.A reciprocable support 44 is provided for the punch 43, the former being slidably mounted in guideways 45 and operatively connected to suitable means to move the punch into forming position when the length of wire has been severed from the supply and moved into alignment therewith.

In conditioning the apparatus for operation, a pair of heading dies is selected for the gage of wire to be employed in forming the desired article. The length of the selected heading dies is determined by the length of the article desired to be produced. Therefore, when the proper heading dies have been selected the operator may select from the pairs of die holders any desired groups whose combined lengths will equal that of the heading dies. When this has been accomplished the heading dies may be mounted in the selected groups of die holders. When the die holders have been selected it is simple to select the proper filler blocks 24 and 25 to be associated therewith. The lengths of the heading dies determine the distance from the severing or cut-off ends of these dies to the surface l3 when mounted with their die holders and filler blocks in the recess H with their other or forming ends adjacent the surface I2. Therefore, regardless of the length of the die assemblies, determined by the selected length of the heading dies, the forming ends are always disposed adjacent the surface l2 and variations in the lengths of the heading die assemblies will thus vary the distance from these assemblies to the surface l3. This variation, therefore, may be taken care of to po- I sition the cut-off die I! adjacent the severing end of the heading die assemblies by selecting packing plates from a group including packing plates I4 and I5 of desired thicknesses to equal the distance between the die holder 16 and the surface l3. When these various parts are posisuitable means (not shown) through the guide 9, the apertures H3 in the packing plates, through the cut-off die I1 and betweenthe grooves 20 in the heading dies l9, at which time the grooves of the heading dies will be positioned in general alignment with the aforementioned passageways to allow the wire to be advanced to the stop 40 which will be in position to perform its function in limiting the length of wire being fed, the stop having been adjusted to allow a portion of desired length of wire to extend beyond the lower ends of the heading dies. The'stop remains in this position until the reciprocable rods 36 are moved to the right, first closing the heading dies l9, to firmly grip the portion of the wire positioned therebetween, and then cooperate with the cut-off die H to cut the gripped portion of the wire from the supply and finally position this portion, While still firmly held by the heading dies, in alignment with the heading punch 43. While in this position the'headin punch is moved to perform its operation in forming the exposed portion of the wire into a head of a desired contour, after which the punch is retracted and the reciprocable rods 36 moved to the left. The movement of the reciprocable rods 36 to the left will move the heading die associated therewith to a receiving position in general alignment with the wire and allow the other heading die to follow through the force of its urging means until it is stopped short of engagement with its associated heading die, allowing ejection of the formed article therefrom and free movement of the wire therebetween. It will, therefore, be observed that the provision of die holders and filler blocks of various lengths, die assemblies for heading dies of various lengths may be formed and further by the aid of packing plates, selected from the group including packing plates l4 and H), a tool assembly may be formed for a multiplicity of articles requiring materials of various sizes and various lengths.

The embodiment of the invention herein disclosed is illustrative only and may be modified and departed from in various ways without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as pointed out in and limited solely by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a material working apparatus having a locating surface and an abutting surface, a pair of material working dies selected from a plurality of pairs of dies varying in length disposed adjacent the locating surface and spaced from the abutting surface a distance variable dependent upon the length of the selected dies, a cut-olf die disposed adjacent the material working dies, and packing members selected from a plurality of packing members varying in size disposed between the cut-01f die and the abutting surface.

2. In a material working apparatus having a locating surface and an abutting surface, a pair of material working dies selected from a plurality of pairs of dies varying in length disposed adjacent the locating surface and spaced from the abutting surface a distance variable dependent upon the length of the selected dies, a cut-off die disposed adjacent the material working dies, and packing members, selected from a plurality of packing members varying in size, positioned to fill a space between the cutoff die and the abutting surface.

3. In a material working apparatus, a pair of heading dies selected from a plurality of pairs of heading dies varying in length, die holders of combined lengths equalling the length of each of the selected dies, supporting means, and filler blocks of combined lengths equalling the length of each selected die disposed between their respective die holders and supporting means.

4. In a material working apparatus, a pair of heading dies selected from a plurality of pairs of heading dies varying in length, die holders of combined lengths equalling the length of each of the selected dies, supporting means, and filler blocks of combined lengths equalling the length of each selected die and selected from a group of filler blocks varying in lengths disposed between their respective die holders and supporting means.

5. In a material working apparatus, a material working die selected from a plurality of dies varying in length, die holders of combined lengths equalling the length of the selected die, a supporting means, filler blocks having aligned apertures therein disposed between the die holders and supporting means, and connecting members disposed between the filler blocks and having projections receivable in the said apertures to hold the filler blocks in assembly.

6. In a material working apparatus, a material working die selected from a plurality of dies varying in length, die holders of combined lengths equalling the length of the selected die, actuating means, filler blocks of combined lengths equalling the length of the selected die disposed between the die holders and the actuating means, and means to interconnect the filler blocks.

7. In a material working apparatus, a pair of cooperating heading dies selected from a plurality of heading dies varying in length, a plurality of grooved die holders, for each die, of varying lengths combined to equal the length of their respective die, and means for each die holder to secure their respective die in the groove thereof.

8. In a material Working apparatus, a pair of cooperating heading dies selected from a plurality of heading dies varying in length and having companion longitudinal work receiving groove in adjacent faces thereof, a plurality of grooved die holders, for each die, of varying lengths combined to equal the length of their respective die, and means for each die holder to secure their respective die in the groove thereof.

CARLISLE SHANNON.

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