US2345369A - Hat crown pouncing machine construction - Google Patents

Description

March 28; 1944. B, D, WELLS 2,345,369

HAT CROWN POUNCING MACHINE CONSTRUCTION Filed May 7, 1943 s Sheets-Shea. 1

0 65 3/ uy 54 27 l-nnmg 55' 25 INVENTOR r v Gaza/v6 0 WELLS.

MMMWW ATTORNEY March 28, 1944. D. WELLS 2,345,369

HAT CROWN POUNCING MACHINE CONSTRUCTION Filed May '7. 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTOR Y March 28, 1944. a. D. WELLS HAT CROWN POUNCING MACHINE CONSTRUCTION s Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May '7, 1943 w w a m M E CON TEQL 557-427 a 570 Patented Mar. 28, 1944 HAT CROWN PoUNc IN'G MACHINE CONSTRUCTION Bur-ling D. Wells, Danbury, Gonn., assignor to The Mallory Hat Company, .IDanbui-y, Conn, a corporation of Connecticut Application May 7,, 1943, Serial'No. 485,987

Claims. (01. 223--20) This invention relates to apparatus for operating upon fur felt hat bodiesand more particularly to an apparatus for pouncing the crowns of hat bodies.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide an improved crown pouncing apparatus that will be capable of achieving reliable and more efllcient relative traverse between the rotating hat crown and the operating tool and that will do so with simple, positive and inexpensive mechanism. Another object is to provide in a hatworking machine an improved mechanism for efiecting and controlling the relative traverse between the hat crown and the operating tool'and, more particularly, where the tool is of substan tial dimension, such as a pouncing pad, to provide for the dependable control of the orientation of thetool relative to all of the successive portions of the h'at crown which it is to engage during relative traverse between it and the crown.

Another object is to improve the construction, operation and-performance of hat-working machines, such as crown pouncing machines, of the type in which the operating tool, such as a pouncing pad, is traversed from the band portion of the hat, then the side, then the square and finally to the tip of the hat, or vice versa, during rotation of the hat'crown about its own axis. More particularly, another object is to provide, in apparatus offth'e just-mentioned character, a simplified and dependable mechanism for ,efieciting' traverse of the tool and for positively orientin'g'the tool for proper engagement with whatever portion of the hat'crown that it happens to engage in the course of its traverse.

Other objects will be in part obvious or in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the fea-. tures of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangements of parts as will be exemplified in the structure to be hereinafter described and the scOpe ofthe application of which will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawings, which is shownone of the various possible embodiments of my invention, I

'Figure 1 is a front elevation of theapparatu's;

Figure 2 is a plan view;

Figure 3 is a side elevation as seen from the right in Figure l, certain parts being shown in central' vertical,section and certain otherparts beingindicate'd di'agranrimatically.

Simi1ar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the .draw,

ings.

As conducive to a clearer understanding of certain features of my invention, it may at this point be noted that crown pouncirig machines as heretofore produced and made'available, such as the type of pouncing machine described in Cass, U. .8. Patent No. 2,006,260, issued June 25, 1935, in which the oval-cross-sectioned hat crown is ro-. tated about a horizontal axis and in which the pouncing tool,.by 'its'elfof any suitable character or driven in any suitable way, is traversed from the band portion of the hat to the tip, or vice versa,.by causing its entire mounting to be swung aboutaivertical axis, various ,difiiculties in construction, operation and performance are encountered and among these a principal difliculty orobjectionis the'manner in which contact relationship between the pouncing pad and the hat body are attemptedto beeflected 'or maintained throughout the varying conditions met with throughout the path of traverse of the tool.

The hat crown can have various peculiarities of shape; thus its side portions are not always necessarilyparallel to the axis and more frequently (though oval in cross-section) are frusto-conical. These merge into the top of the hat in a region called the square which is usually a. curve, but the 'radiusof curvature is widely variable. Sometimes it is of small radius and sometimes it is of large radius.

The top of the hat, called the tip, likewise is not necessarily always flat or plane, but can'be outwardly convex and this can be further .complicated'by the fact that the top is not circular in area, but is usually oval.

.The fact that the hat crown is oval can be counteracted or compensated for by any suitable or known form .of mechanism which acts, during the rotation of the hat block to which the .hat crown issnugly fitted to shift the actual axis of the hat crown so that the portions of the crown along the line or path of traverse of the tool and which are thus presented to the tool to be operated uponare always at the same radial distance from the actual axis of rotation .of the hat body, and by such means also substantial uniformity of pressure of) engagement of the tools against the hat crown can be maintainedduring the operation. Also various expedients may beemployed to achieve substantial uniformity of surface speed'of I rotary 'novem'entof, the hat crown.

In spite of such compensating, factors, the various expedients heretofore employed in the endeavor to maintain "flatness or 'tan gency of engagement of the traversing pouncing tool with all portionsot the hat crown with which it moves.

into engagement during its traverse, still do not result in uniformity of action or in dependability and uniformity of engagement and the detrimental character of these and the above-mentioned difficulties can be judged when it is considered that the pouncing tool is an abrasive tool and frequently operates .at high, velocity and, therefore, can, cut'relatively deeply yand fast if its operative area is not oriented properly to the peculiar shape of the hat crown.

Various expedients have heretofore been ator cushion-like element l1, made of a material like relatively soft rubber for example, and over the face of the element I! extends a sheet I8 of suitable pouncing material, such as the usual or well known fine grade of sandpaper. For convenience of reference, the tool is designated by the reference character P and willhereafter be so referred to. r

The hat body 20 mounted upon the block l4, illustratively oval as appears from Figure 1, may

have a brim B and for convenience of reference tempted to achieve such orientation. In" their into the tip T by way of the square S. With the above-mentioned Cass patent, a complicated train of driving mechanism isprovided'in the endeavor to maintain orientation of the tool relative to the hat body, but the path which it enforces upon the traversing pad is essentially in the form of a square with curved corners and curvilinear convex sides as shown in Figure 2 of the patent, whereas the shape of the hat crown is essentially that of a frustrum of a cone with a rounded top and oblate, with the result that, particularly in the band portions of the hat crown, that is, where the crown joins the brim, thepad has one vertical edge portion thereof forced against the hat body with greater pressure than other portions of the pad. Other expedients have included spring action with or without a floating type of mounting for the pad in the effort to obtain 'somedegree of self orientation; 7

pm of the dominant aims of this invention is to avoid suchfdeflciencies, complications and shortcomings as here inherent in prior expedients and to provide dependability and positiveness of both actuation of relative traversing movement and- 'orientationof the pad or tool throughout thevarying conditions, angularities, curvatures and other shapes met with during the relative traversingmovement between tool and hat crown.

(Referring first toFigure 3, the apparatus may comprise", a box-like base l0 having upstanding therefrom at one end a hollow standard II in the uppe'r end of which is supported for rotation about a generally horizontal axis "a chuck I2; controllable as by handles 13, for releasablyengaging and supporting a hat block i 4 upon which thejcrown 'of the hat body issnugly fitted. Any suitable'jmeananot shown, may be employed to rotate the "chuck and hat block at the desired relatively lowv rate of speed. 7, .Where the hat crown and hence the hat block areoval in cross-section, the mounting: and driving'mechanism for the chuck l2 may comprise any suitablemechanism like that earlier above mentioned for shifting the actual axis of the oval hatblock during its rotary movement and, if desired, also forvarying the rate of drive during each revolution to. achieve substantial constancy of surface speed of the portions of'the oval hat body with which the tool engages duringflits traverse.

its crown C has a side portion E which merges tool suitably actuated or driven and the hat body slowly rotated, a relative traversing -1 movement between tool P and crown C is to be effected and insofar as the features of my insquare S to the center of the tip 'I, then reverse through the square S and cover the side E to the brim B.

In the illustrative embodiment, the tool P and the chuck l2 are mounted and related to each i other to provide an axis at right angles to the Any such mounting 'anddriving means for the chuck I2 is conveniently mounted and housed within the upper endoffthe standard I I j and since 'itis well knownit is not descrlbedor shown in detail and, by" way of illustration, it may comprise mechanism or the kind'or'type disclosed'in the above-mentioned Cass patent.

axis of rotation of the chuck and preferably intersecting that axis and about which this relative traversing movement may take place. Thus, in the top plate H! of the base portion 10, I provide an aperture 22 of suitable size into which is set a cylindrical casing 23 having a cylindrical side Wall 24 flanged as at 25 to rest upon the top wall It] of the base I0 and by Which it is rigidly secured tothe base In many suitable way as by screws or bolts not shown. The upper and inside faces of the cylindrical wall 24 are machined to provide a bearing for a circular carrier plate 21. having a depending annular flange 28 that fits into the upper end of the cylindrical wall 24, thus giving the carrier plate 21 a good mounting for rotary movement about a vertical axis, somewhat in the manner of a turntable; Any suitable means may be used to hold the carrier 21 rotatably assembled to the casing 23, such as a stud bolt 29 suitably shouldered and provided with a nut 29 at its lower end to mount it securely in the bottom wall 23*" of the casing 23 and suitably shouldered and provided with a nut 29 at its other end to permit thecarrie'r 21 to rotate about the stud bolt 29 whose axis of course is coincident with'the center of the. carrierfZ'l.

The axis of rotatable carrier 21, indicated at Y, is vertical and intersects the horiaontalfaxis X of the chuck [2 preferably at a point substantially midway between the tip T andithe brim B of the hat body and upon the carrierfZl there is provided a mounting and drive for the tool? so constructed that the tool P may pivot about a vertical axis radially displaced from'the axis of rotary carrier 21.

A convenient form of such mounting anddrlve may comprise a frame 30 having'a suitable base 3| that rests upon the carrier 21 and pivots, as later described, about a vertical axis radially displaced from the axis of carrier 21. Upstanding from the base 3| are two spaced arms 33-34 in.

the ends of which are suitable bearings aligned along a horizontal axis to receive 'trunnions 3-5 and 36, respectively, of a tool carrier frame generally indicated by the reference character 31. i ool carrier frame 31 comprises a lower housing portion 31 to the right-hand end of which, as seen in Figure 3, issecured the frame of an electric-motor 38 whose horizontal shaft extends into the housing portion '31 where it' is p ide with, or drives, a crank or eccentric-indicated-at 39 that is connected with a preferably lightweight or tubular rod that extends upwardly through an upward hollow extension 31* of the housing and that carries at its end-the tool P.

With the motor 38 driven at a suitable speed, preferably relatively high, the tool P is thus rap idly reciprocated and by providing a universally mounted sliding bearing 4| in" the upper end of the housing part 31 for the drive rod, the pad P, during its general reciprocation and-for each complete cycle, is given a movement in a closed curved path. Details of this drive and mounting for the pad P may follow the construction described in the'above-mentioned Cass patent- The tool P is biased clockwise in Figure 3 and hence toward and againstthe'rotating hat body by any suitable means, preferably bythe unbalance brought about principally bythe location of the motor 38 with respect to the horizontal axis of the trunnions 3535 and'variation orchange in the pressure with which the tool P is pressed against the hat crown may be effected in any suitable way as, for example, by a shiftable counterweight 43 slidably carried on a rod 44 project-'- ing from the housing 31 to the other side of the horizontal axis of trunnions 35-36. Any suitable -m'eans may be employed'to connect the frame 30 to the carrier 21 so that it may pivot about a vertical axis radially displaced from the vertical axis of rotationofcarrier 21 and, by way of illustration, carrier 21 mayhave projecting upwardly from it and rigidly securedto it, as by aforce' fit, a stud bolt '48 that extends through a suitable hole 31 in the base 31 of frame 30, a suitable washer and nut 49 threaded onto a lesser-diametered end portion of the stud" 48 serving to hold the frame 3| and carrier; 21

assembled while permitting freedom of pivoting of the frame 30 relative to thecarrier 21. .Stud

48 thus forms the vertical. axis, indicated at Z,

of pivoting for the tool P and this axis is i'n'substantial alignment with the central vertical axis of the casing part3! and hence is substantially in the plane. of the operative face of the pad P, when the latter assumes a substantially vertical position relative to the horizontalaxis of the trunnions 3536. The radial displacement of the vertical axis Z of the stud 48 from the'vertical axis Y of the carrier 21 is on the order of about the horizontal distance from the axis Y of. carrier 21 to the tip T of the hat body held on the block in the chuck l2, these relationships.

order of. those wardly from arm'50 and into the am slot 54 (Figure 2) of ahorizontal cam plate 55 that-is secured to the base H] of theap-paratus as by a screw 56' and a bracket 51. a

The general relationship of the camslot 54 78" 'theaxis Z. I V W When the carrier '27 is reversed in its rotary and of the arm'fill to the several axes X, Y and Z above described is substantially like that better shown in Figure 2 in which the tool P is shown engaging the side portion E of the crown C adjacent the brim B, being at substantially the:

beginning of its two-stroke cycle of movement. At this point, the positive relationship mechanically between the parts insures that the frame 30 is so positioned about axis Z that the relatively fiat face of'th'e tool P, while tangent to the frusto-conical surface of the hat body, engages the latter in coincidence with the geometrical element the rotation of which generates the side E of the hatbody and thus insures that the expanse of the tool P, during its reciprocation 'or its movement in a closed path, engages the hat body with uniform pressure throughout.

This is the point at which the tool P is brought into engagement with the hat body or is disengaged therefrom, at the respective start and stop-- ping of the operation, as by corresponding control of. the tool carrier frame 31, manually or otherwise, albout the horizontal axis of the trunnions 35'-36. J

Beginning at that point, carrier 2'! rotates clockwise as'viewed in Figure 2, by any suitable drive an illustration of which is set forth hereinafter, and rotating 'slowly'about its axis Y, the frame sfi-with the tool carrier frame 31 partakes of motion oftranslation in clockwise direction along an are indicated at R in Figure 2. This arcuate path of travel is in general such as to move the tool P from the side E- of the I crown C, over the square S, and to the tip T, and

as this movement takes place, cam following roller 5'2 traverses along the cam slot 54 and by the shape of the latter causes the frame 30 and hence the tool P to pivot about axis Z in a manner always to keep theopei'ative face of the tool P fiat against or tangent to, as the'case might be, the just-mentioned successive portions of the hat crown. This takes place totlie accompaniment of actual motion of translation of the axis Z along the are R and hence the cam slot 54 has the somewhat peculiar shape indicated in FigureZ, being of considerable length as compared to the axial length of the hat crown which the tool P itself traverses;

By the time tool P reaches the tip T of the crown, at which position, shown in Figures 1 and 3, the plane of its operative face is substantially at rightangles to the axis x of the hat body, the tool carrier frame has been moved 'along the are R by an amount on the order of and cam roller 52 is at the upper left-hand end of cam slot 5-4 (Figure 2), thus fixing the swinging of the tool P about axis Z so'that its operative face is at substantially 90 to the hat crown axis X.

It will 'be noted-that in this clockwise movement of translation along the are R of the tool carrier frames and hence of the tool P, the positive'cam controlof the angle of the plane of the tool P to the crown axis of rotation-X takes place' with ease and certainty, the arm 50 that carries the cam roller'52 'beingdisposed at an angle to the plane of the tool P such that the cam roller 5|] is in effect pulled along the cam slot 54, the long leverage of the arm 50 making for greater;

easeof shift ofthe tool carrier frames about movement, thus to traverse the tool P fromthe tip 'I 'over': thesquare S and over the side E up tothe bri'm B, the cammin'gactionis reversed, the cam roller 52 being pushed in advance of the tool carrier frames (instead of trailing, as during the first stroke), and this action takes place with nicety, smoothness and positiveness, the long leverage insuring ease of shift of .the parts about the axis Z and hence ease of following movement of the cam roller 52 in the cam slot.

Reaching the end of this reverse stroke, the pad P again finds itself properly and uniformly aligned with and'engagingthe side of the crown. and hence removal of the tool P from the hat body takes place without detrimental action.

With such cam control, any simple and suitable form of drive for the rotary carrier 21 to swing it slowly about its vertical axis may be employed, and her I may use simple gearing. Thus, for example, I may provide the inner face of cylindrical wall 24 of the casing 23 with teeth to form an internal gear 59 with which meshes a spur gear 60 rotatably, carried by the stud 48 that is fixedly secured in depending relation to the carrier 21 as above described. Meshing with gear 60 is a gear 6| which is mounted co-axially, with the internal gear 59 and the carrier 21, conveniently upon the above-mentioned stud-like bolt 29 which holds carrier 21 rotatably assembled to the casing 23.

Gear 6| is, in turn, driven by a gear 62 provided with suitable driving connections to a main drive shaft 63 accommodated within thehollow standard I l and provided with'suitable start and. stop and reversing mechanism and controls therefor, the details of which can take any suitable form such as described in the Cass patent and hence these are diagrammatically indicated at. 64.

Accordingly, with main drive shaft 53 driven and controlled as just described, th carrier 21. is given rotary movement about axis Ythrough just about 90 to move frame 30 along are R and to an extent to traverse the pad P from the tip T to, the brim B or from the brim B to the tip T, the controls being preferably such that, as above indicated, the tool P is given two strokes of movement, namely, from the brim B, over the side portion E, the square S, the tip T (that being one stroke) and then from the tip T over the square S and over the side portion E to the brim B (this being the other stroke and being preferably a reversal of the first one) r If desired, speed-varying mechanism may be included in this drive to vary the rate of mo tion of translation along the are R of Figure 2 and hence to alter the rate of tool traverserelae tive to the hatcrown according to th portions of the crown that are engaged by the tool P. Thus it may be desirable to speed up the traversing movement of the tool P during its pas-. sage over the square S. Such speed-varying, mechanism may take any suitable form and may, for example, be interposed betweenthe main drive shaft 63 (Figure 3) and the gear;62, and it may,

take theform of mechanisms so interposed in this drive in the above-mentioned Cass patent. Thus main drive shaft Gamay have a driving 7 gear 65 todrive a gear 66 rotatably mounted of gear 66 and of shaft 68 are eccentric, the

speed variation being achieved by a pin, roller, or stud '10 carried by the gear 66 and riding in;

a slot H of an arm 12 secured to the shaft 68 with the gear 66 driven at a uniform speed, the

speed of drive of shaft 68 andhenceof gear 62 becomes non-uniform and varied because the eccentric relationship of the parts effects change in angularvelocity of, shaft 68 as the radial distance of the pinor stud 10 changes during each revolution relative to-the axis of shaft 68. The other gears 'areproportioned so that the swin of carrier 2,! about its axis Y to give the tool? one stroke of traversing movement corresponds to a single revolutlonof the gear 66, r

Other features'of control, such as change in speed of reciprocating drive of the pad P, change in the pressure of the pad P against the hat body, and the like, may also be embodied in the apparatus and thecorresponding mechanism may take forms such as those described in the Cass patent. V Referring again'to Figure .2, it may be noted thatthe cam plate 55 with its cam slot 54 can suffice for a substantialrange of change of sizes and general configuration or shapes of hat crown C tobe operated-upon by the apparatus, the capacity of the tool P to pivot about the horizontal axis of the trunnions 35-36 giving it wide adaptability of self-accommodation or adjustment in directions toward oraway from the hat crown at anypoint in its stroke of traversing movement. Risk of marring or damaging the hat body, present in heretofore known constructions'a above noted, is minimized and for that matter, no matter at which point in the stroke of the relative traverse between tool and hat body that the two are separated or brought together, disengagement and engagement alwaysfinds the angular relationship between the face of the tool P and the a axis of rotation -of;,the.crown C dependably determined so thatcutting of the hatbody by an edge of the tool is guarded against.

It will thus be seen that there has been pro-. vided in this invention an apparatus in which the various objects above mentioned together with manythoroughlypractical advantages are successfully' achieved. V

As many possible embodiments may be made of the mechanical features of the above invention rotatablecarrier having means mounting it for rotary movement about a vertical axis, a frame having means for supporting said tool and'for biasing it toward and against thecrown of the hat body; means mounting said frame on said carrier for pivotal movement relative thereto about a vertical'axis displaced from the axis of said car-'1 rier, cam and cam follower means for pivoting said frame and hence said tool about said second vertical axis and operating in response to rotary movement of said carrier about said first verticalaxis to change the .planeflof the tool as the-lattertraverses the side, square, and tip of the crown,

between said cam and cam-follower means.

2. ,An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which said cam and cam follower means comprises a.

relatively-fixed cam, plate having a cam groove of and driving means for said carrier to effect motion of translation of said frame and to effect coaction' substantial length as compared with the length of the actual path of traverse of said tool relative to the hat crown, and an arm extending from said frame and carrying the cam follower, said follower riding in said cam groove.

3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the driving means for said carrier is reversible to effect traversing movement of the tool relative to the hat crown in successive strokes with a reversal of direction of movement at the end of each stroke, said cam and cam follower means comprising a relatively fixed cam having a cam groove that is relatively long compared to the length of the traverse stroke of the tool, said frame having an arm of substantial length and supporting the cam follower at its end at a point such that a vertical plane extending through the cam follower and the midpoint of the face of the pad makes an acute angle with the pad face.

4. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which said cam and cam follower means comprises a relatively stationary cam, and means mounting the cam follower onto said frame at a point such that a vertical plane passing through the cam follower and said second vertical axis makes an acute angle with the plane of the face of the tool.

5. In an apparatus for operating upon the crown of a hat body, the combination which comprises a mounting for rotating and supporting the hat body, a tool presenting a substantially flat operative face for operating upon the crown and having a mounting therefor and means for biasing it against and toward the crown of the hat body, and means for effecting relative traversing movement between the tool and the rotating hat body so that the tool operates upon the side, the square, and the tip of the crown, said means comprising a carrier for one of said mountings, said carrier having means supporting it to swing about an axis at right angles to the axis of the hat crown, means pivotally supporting said one mounting upon said carrier to swing about an axis parallel to said carrier axis, means for driving said carrier in successively reversed rotary strokes to effect relative traverse from the brim over the square to the tip of the crown or vice .versa, and cam and cam follower means responsive to the motion of translation of said one mounting caused by the rotary strokes of said carrier and operating throughout the range of said motion of translation to shift said one mounting about the axis of its support upon said carrier and thereby change the angle between the face of said tool and the axis of said hat crown, said cam having a configuration that is a function of the shape of said crown and a function of the spacing between said two parallel axes.

BURLING D. WELLS.

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