US2638982A

US2638982A - Battery grid trimming machine

Info

Publication number: US2638982A
Application number: US297607A
Authority: US
Inventors: Herbert C Winkel
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1952-07-08
Filing date: 1952-07-08
Publication date: 1953-05-19
Anticipated expiration: 1970-05-19

Description

H. C. WINKEL BATTERY GRID TRIMMING MACHINE May 19, 1953 Original Filed June 24, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 y 1953 H. c. WINKEL BATTERY GRID TRIMMING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed June 24, 1946 jmw wzzwz May 19, 1953 H. c. WINKEL BATTERY GRID TRIMMING MACHINE Original Filed June 24, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 f/yaf 7 llllllllllllllllll lllllllllllllllll "quantit es in It 'por'ti'bn of th; molten Patented May 19, 1953 parat'us whic h a,

whi h t wer I x which means mizz mwqm mnprimmqzm 1946,, This 'a mition ""July *8, 1952.

PW id. ldin nl t mm ma h- 1 p m r e grisi-m din appar ty .3. iwi! of 1 d. ti e re i cab'le mql smrw q al n 19' anfi l1 yer an ax at sl eflkqn w ich m wi yor a to which the trimmer 1 deliver h..-gri,d..

, ?he. t imiii .1 mbr siem PE ii-Qi t i Ei55 humming. edges 9 arm, 1!, one in; t e ixorgbangl Of peciprocating shearing; blads JL ang: '12 m n ed o .a. h b ahwd. 1. th .m'w-

"tiq r blades! 16 .1 r 't el he mm:

xner hg s; a grid supportipg faqe. {4 inqlinqd downwardly and awayfrom the'qeli'very ejndiuf the endless 'GDIV6YOI1'II 5,- along which 'fa'ce th i d t0 trimming msi i'm.

fih'e gridfs are f d, tp thg trimmer 'in timed 'r'lation with respect, to the, opgr'atipn 61 the tifiimmer. by grid stop plat f5 mdunted 0h leader pims.v I 5b cajg'sedwp xebiprocldte in tign'ed relation to th trimmer head l3. Whim th efitbp mane is inv-stpp positi'n; faSvShOWiI in "Gotham linefs in Fig. 2, it willb'e engaged by thqlug's ast on the front edge of the grid being fed. Ibrwafr'jdly b means of the endless fionveydn 5. This will hbid the grid against furthei' mpvfajwidely spaced supports for the grid while being trimmed.

As soon as the trimmer head has trimmed the edges of the plate and the reciprocable shearing blades H and [2 have lifted clear of the stationary shearing blades 9 and II), the further upward movement of the trimmer head will lift the pivoted retaining bar l1 and allow the trimmed grid 6 to fall down onto the guide 18 leading to the endless conveyor 8. This endless conveyor 8 is driven at such a rate that it will advance about one inch for each plate'trimmed and de' livered to it. This will cause the plates to be arranged in :a shingle formation on'the endless conveyor 8. This shingle-like arrangement facilitates the later handling of the grids as they can be pushed together by taking hold of two widely-separated grid castings with two hands and moving them together to cause the plates to slide into a stacked formation.

In order to deliver measured quantities of molten metal periodically to the overflow receptacle IQ for the'molten metal, a piston and cylinder pump 20 is pr'ovided, driven in timed relation to the opening and closing of the grid mold 3 so as to deliver the molten material to the receptacle It at a time when the grid mold 3 is closed. As will be described later, the receptacle is left almost full of molten metal after each discharge stroke of the piston 2 I. On the next discharge stroke of the piston 2 I, the molten metal will be delivered to the receptacle I9 and will soon flow over the weir 22 into the flaring entrance 23 to the mold cavity. I

In order to prevent accidental slopping over of the receptacle when the grid'mold is open, means are provided for withdrawing a small portion of the molten metal from the receptacle during the first part ofthe charging stroke of the piston 2|. For this purpose, the actuating lever 24 for the piston 2i is provided with a laterally-extending arm25 which engages a collar 26 secured to the discharge valve stem 21 which will prevent the discharge valve 28 from closing against its seat until the piston 2| has moved upwardly on its charging stroke sufiiciently to lift the laterallyextending arm 25 clear of the valve stem collar 26. During this charging stroke of the piston, some of the molten metal in the overflow receptacle l9 will be drawn back into the cylinder 29 through the discharge port 30. The apparatus 'may be so designed and adjusted that the discharge valve 28 will remain open to enable just the desired amount of molten metal to be withclosing springs 36 are provided secured to the upper ends of the valve stems 21 and 31. The high specific gravity of the molten lead also aids in-closing the valves.

In order to catch any drip from the overflow weir 22 at a time when the grid molds 2 and 3 are separated, a drip catcher 38 is provided pivotally mounted at 39 and operated in timed relation to the movement of the grid mold 3 so thatwhen the grid mold is closed and the pump piston 2 I. is v about to start on itsdischarge stroke, the rip 4 catcher 38 will be moved to the dotted-line position shown, in which it will be out of the way of flow of molten metal over the discharge weir 22. Just before the-grid mold begins to separate, the drip catcher 38 will be moved to the full-line position in which it will prevent any molten metal which may slop over theweir 22, from falling 'down over'the face ofthe open grid mold 2.

Operating transmissions,'The opening and closing of the mold sections 2 and 3, the opening and closing of the drip catcher 38, the operation of'the pump '28, horizontal conveyor 5, trimmer l, and discharge conveyor 8 are all eflfected from a motor-driven shaft 48, rotatable in the direction of the arrow A in Fig. 2.

The movable I nold section 3 is reciprocably mounted on a pair of leader pins 4| extending forwardly from the fixed mold section 2. The transmission from the drive shaft 40 to the movable mold section 3 comprises a cam member 41a secured to rotate with the drive shaft 40, a rock lever 42 secured to a rock shaft 4.3 and having a follower 44 at the end of its downwardly-extending arm for engaging the cam 41a and having a lost motion pivotal connection at the upper end of the upwardly-extending arm 45 with a con necting-rod 4B-secured to the cross-head 41 from which ayoke-shaped'operating bar 48 extends into engagement with the notches 49 on the posts 50 secured to the movable mold section. The pivotal and sliding engagement of the upper end of-the rock arm 45 with the connecting rod 46 is-effected by means of a trunnion block 5| slidably mounted on the connecting rod 46 and having its trunnions 52 j-ournalled in the forked end of the-rock'arm 45. Theconnecting rod is provided with a shoulder at 53- to limit the sliding movementrof the trunnion block 5| on theconnecting rod 46. In order-to provide some capability for lost motion of the trunnion block on the connecting rod, a coil compression spring 54 is provided surrounding the connecting rod having one end bearing on the trunnion block and the other .endbearing on a washer 55 secured to the connecting rod. This lost motion is necessary to enable the desired movement of the drip catcher as described hereinafter. I Y The transmission from the rotatable shaft 40 to the drip catcher 38 comprises a rock arm 56 secured to rotate with the cam-controlled rock shaft 43, and a, connecting rod 51 having a lost motion connection with the upper end of this rock arm and having .a pivotal connection v58 at its other end with the rockable drip catcher.-

As the cam Ma rotates in the direction of the arrow A from a position in which the low portion of the cam is in engagement with the follower 41 to a position in which the high point of the cam is in engagement with the follower, the rock shaft 43 will be rocked clockwise, as seen in Fig. 2, to close the mold. During this closing movement of the mold, the upper end of the rock arm will move from the full-line position shown to the dotted-line positionshown in Fig. 5, at which time it is in engagement with the collar 59 on the drip catcher connecting rod 51. The final camcontrolled movement of the rock shaft 43 after the mold cavity has been closed will compress the lost motion spring 54 and move the. drip catcher connecting rod 51 to theright, as seen in Fig. 2, to move the drip catcher 38 out of the way of the flowover the discharge weir 22.

This final movement will also bring the pump cam 60 to a position where it will'causethe discharge stroke of the pump, forcing molten metal into the receptacle l8 and causing the receptacle aces-goestoo'vernow the-weir 22 and deliver molten metal to theiiaringentrance 2 3' to-t'he mold cavity in a sumcient amount tonll the cavity. Asthepump controllingcam it moves to a position in which the pump 2'0 beginsits charging stroke, "a relatively-small amountof molten metal will be with drawn from the receptacle 1'9. back into thepump cylinder '29,- the amount withdrawn being surfici'ent to prevent the receptacle It irom slop ping overdue to jarring, or the like, when later on the mold: is moved to open position.

The transmission from the rotatable drive shaft 40 to the pump piston rod 61' comprises the cam GU secured to rotate with the shaft, a bell crank lever 61a having a follower 52 p its downwardly-extending arm controlled by the cam 6ft, aconnecting rod 63'pivot'a1l'y connected at {is the other arm of the bell crank lever 61 and the rock lever 24 pivotally mounted at 85 and having one end secured at 66 to the upper end of the connecting rod 63 and its other end secured to the upper end of the pump piston rod 6|. The discharge stroke and charging stroke of'thepump are efiected during a relatively small angular movement of the rotatable shaft by means of the cam plate 60 secured so as to extend beyond the circular dwell portion 61 of the cam. The entire discharge and charging movement of't'he pump are effected from the time the cam plate 60 first engages the follower at 65 to the time at which the cam plate disengages the follower at -68. l

The reciprocable shearing head I3 is mounted on a pair ofleader pins 10' extending upwardly from the base of the shearing apparatus. The reciprocable movement of the shearing head from the rotatable shaft 40 is effected by means of a sprocket H secured to the rotatable shaft 40, a sprocket chain 12 running over this sprocket TI, a sprocket 13 secured to rotate with the crankshaft M, a crank arm I5 secured to rotate with this crankshaft M, and a connecting rod 16 pivotally secured at I1 to the crank arm and pivotal-1y connected at 1a with the 'crosshe'ad or shearing head IS. A similar crank arm and connecting rod (not shown) may be provided at the other end of the crosshead.

The horizontal feed conveyor 6' is supported on pairs of spaced sprockets 19 and till. The

sprocket 80 is secured to rotate with the shaft 8|. This sprocket 8! is driven from the shaft 14 by means of a sprocket -82 mounted on a shaft, and a sprocket chain 83 running over this sprocket 82 andover the sprocket 80 on the shaft B l.

The horizontal delivery conveyor 8 is mounted to run over a sprocket 86 secured to rotate with the shaft 85. This conveyor is driven from the shaft M by means of a sprocket '86 secured to rotate with the shaft, a sprocket chain 81 running over this sprocket, and a sprocket 88 over which this chain 81 runs secured to rotate with the shaft 85.

The untrimmed grid 6 is shown in Fig. 6. It is provided with the usual lugs 89 which, when assembled in a battery, form the terminal post for the battery. In casting these battery grids, a flash of fin 90 forms on the lower edge of the rid, due to the impossibility of securing sufficiently accurate engagement of the adjacent mold sections at the bottom of the mold. In order to provide a grid casting which will engage properly with the grid-retaining feed bar It and the grid-retaining discharge bar H, I cast on the advance edge of the grid casting a air of posthoning-lugs- 15aby use ct themethod and appas ratus disclosed. my application Serial No. 569 71-5 ,filed-Deoember26, 19445, new Patent No. 2367,246 These lugs are cast sufficiently long so: as toextend in advance of the most advanced portions of the overflow fin. or flash. This enablesthe' lugs [5w to engage the positioning bars of the: trimming machine to position accurately the grid casting as itis being trimmed. The advance bladertrims along the line A-B of Fig. 6 to trim. off the flash: or overflow and lugs Him and: the" rear blade trims along the line (I -Dot Fig. 6* to trim off'the' upper edge of the overflow above the line C--D; With: the grid thus. trimmed it is a simple matter to break the two grid sections apart by hand, the fracture taking place at the two points E and F which arethe: only points of connection of the trimmed grid sections. As indicated in Figs. 1, 2, and 6, the stopbar H is. in advance of the shearing plane of the: blades Hi and I2 a distance equal to the distance from the trim line A-B to the front edges of. the lugs 15a.

In order to facilitate the entry of the grid casting; intcr the trimmer, a transversely-extending roller: 91 may be mounted between the dis.-

oharge end? of the" conveyor and the entrance edge of the trimmer.

In order" to lift the locating bar i! from its grid-holding position,- a lifting. hook 92 is provided pivotal-lygmounted on the trimmer head [3 at 9'3 and spring-pressed toward the bar I! by means of a coil tension spring 94. As the trimmer head moves. down, the sloping edge 95 of the hook will engage the bar I! and the hook will slide down past the lower edge of the bar and will: then snap into: position underneath the bar. After the trimmer head has effected it's trimming operation and has movedupwai'dly sufficiently to disengagethe shearing. blade from the grid being trimmed; the shoulder 96 on the hook will engage the lower edge of the 'bar' 11 and lift the bar upwardly to release the grid to enable it to slide underneath the bar onto the guide I8 and conve'yor' 8, As the shearing head i3 continues to move upwardly, the relative paths-of movement of the retaining bar I! and hook 92 will be such that the hook. will disengage the bar, allowing it to drop downwardly into position to intercept the advance edge of the succeeding grid delivered to the grid trimmer.

Forthermodifioations will be apparent to those skilled in the art and it is desired, therefore, that the invention be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desireto secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A grid trimming machine for trimming cast grids aving laterally spaced finless stop-engag- 111g lugs on the. lower forward edges on opposite sides ofthe center of gravity of the grids comprising a grid trimining apparatus, and means for delivering the grids one at a time to the trimming apparatus, said trimming apparatus comprising an inclined grid-supporting. face, positicning stop means at the forward delivery edge of the grid-supporting face for normally engaging the fili'lc'ss stop=engaging lugs on the grid casting, relatively reciproeable transversely extending cooperating shear blades spaced rearwardly of said step means a distance equal to the length of said lugs for shearing off th overflow and lugs along the transverselyextending forward edge of the grid, and means operated in timed relation to said shear blades-for disengaging said step 7 means from thestop-engaging lugs of the grid casting after the shearing operation.

2. A grid trimming machine for trimming cast grids having laterally spaced finless stop-engaging lugs on the lower forward edges on opposite sides of the center of gravity of the grids comprising a grid-trimming apparatus, and means for delivering the rids one at a time to the trimming apparatus, said trimming apparatus comprising an inclined grid-supporting face, psitioning stop means at the forward delivery edge of the grid-supporting face for normally engaging the finless stop-engaging lugs on the grid casting and relatively reciprocable transversely extending cooperating shear blades spaced rearwardly of said stop means a distance equal to the length of said lugs for shearing off the overflow and lugs along the transversely extending forward edge of the grid, and means operated in timed relation to said shear blades for disengaging said stop means from the stop-engaging lugs of the grid casting after the shearing operation, said trimming apparatus comprising also transversely extending shear blades, operated in synchronism with said first shear blades, adjacent the upper rear edge of said grid-supporting face for trimming off the gate portion at the upper edge of the casting.

3. A grid trimming machine/for trimming cast grids having laterally spaced finless stop-engaging lugs on the lower forward edges on opposite sides of the center of gravity of the grids comprising a grid-trimming apparatus, and means for delivering the grids one at a time to the trim ming apparatus, said trimming apparatus comprising an inclined grid-supporting face, positioning stop means at the forward delivery edge of the grid-supporting face for normally engaging the finless stop-engaging lugs on the grid casting and relatively reciprocable transversely extending cooperating shear blades spaced rearwardly of said stop means a distance equal to the length of said lugs for shearing off the overflow and lugs along the transversely extending forward edge of the grid, and means operated in timed relation'to said shear blades for disengaging said stop means from the stop-engagin lugs of the grid casting after the shearing operation, said grid delivering means comprising second positioning stop means adjacent the upper rear edge of said face for engaging the finless stop-engaging lugs and means operated in timed relation to said shear means for disengaging said second stop means from the stop-engaging lugs of the grid to deliver the grid to the trimming apparatus.

4. A grid trimming machine for trimming cast grids having laterally spaced finless stop-engaging lugs on the lower forward edges on opposite sides of the center of gravity of the grids comprising a grid-trimming apparatus, and means for delivering the grids one at a time to the trimming apparatus, said trimming apparatus comprising an inclined grid-supporting face, positioning stop means at the forward delivery edge of the grid-supporting face for normally engaging the finless stop-engaging lugs on the grid casting and relatively reciprocable transversely extending cooperating shear blades spaced rearwardly of said stop means a distance equal to the length of said lugs for shearing off the overflow and lugs along the transversely extending forward edge of the grid, and means operated in timed relation to said shear blades for disengaging said stop means from the stop-engaging lugs of the grid casting after the shearing operation,

said trimming apparatus comprising also trans versely extending shear blades, operated in synchronism with said first shear blades, adjacent the upper rear edge of said grid-supporting face for trimming off the gate portion at the upper edge of the casting, said grid delivering means comprising second positioning sto means adjacent the upper rear edge of said face for engaging the finless stop-engaging lugs and means operated in timed relation to said shear means for disengaging said second stop means from the stop-engaging lugs of the grid to deliver the grid to the trimming apparatus.

5. A grid trimming machine for trimming cast grids having laterally spaced finless stop-engaging lugs on the lower forward edges on opposite sides of the center of gravity of the grids comprising a grid-trimming apparatus, and means for delivering the grids one at a time to the trimming apparatus, said trimming apparatus comprising an inclined grid-supporting face, positioning stop means at the forward delivery edge of the grid-supporting face for normally engaging the finless stop-engaging lugs on the grid casting and relatively reciprocable transversely extending cooperating shear blades spaced rearwardly of said stop means a distance equal to the length of said lugs for shearing off the overflow and lugs along the transversely extending forward edge of the grid, and means operated in timed relation to said shear blades for disengaging said stop means from the stop-engaging lugs of the grid casting after the shearing operation, said trimming apparatus comprising also transversely extending shear blades, operatedin synchronism with said first shear blades, adjacent the upper rear edge of said grid-supporting face for trimming off the gate portion at the upper edge of the casting, said grid delivering means comprising second positioning stop means adjacent the upper rear edge of said face for engaging the finless stop-engaging lugs and means operated in timed relation to said shear means for disengaging said'second stop means from the stop-engaging lugs of the grid to deliver the grid to the trimming apparatus, said grid trimming machine comprising also a continuously drivable endless conveyor in front of said second stop means for frictionally feeding the grids, one at a time, into engagement with said second stop means.

6. A grid trimming machine for trimming grid castings having lugs extending laterally from the side edges of the castings, overflow gate fin portions at the upper edges of the castings and laterally spaced stop-engaging portions on the lower forward edges on opposite sides of the center of gravity of the grids, comprising a grid-trimming apparatus, and means for delivering the grid castings, one at a time, to the trimming apparatus, said trimming apparatus comprising an inclined grid-supporting face, positioning stop and release means at the lower forward delivery edge of the grid-supporting face having laterally spaced portions for engaging the stop-engaging portions on the grid casting, relatively reciprocable transversely extending cooperating shear blades for shearing off the gate fin adjacent its lower edge, spaced rearwardly of said stop and release means a distance substantially equal to the distance between said top-engaging portions and said lower gate edge for shearing off the gate fin along the transversely extending upper edge ofwthe grid, and means operated in timed rela tion to said shear blades for disengaging said stop and release means from the stop-engaging portions of the grid casting after the shearing operation.

7. A grid trimming machine for trimming grid castings having lugs extending laterally from the side edges of the castings, overflow gate fin portions at the upper edges of the castings and laterally spaced stop-engaging portions on the lower forward edges on opposite sides of the center of gravity of the grids, comprising a gridtrimming apparatus, and means for delivering the grid castings, one at a time, to the trimming apparatus, said trimming apparatus comprising an inclined grid-supporting face, positioning stop and release means at the lower forward delivery edge of the grid-supporting face having laterally spaced portions for engaging the stop-engaging portions on the grid casting, relatively reciprocable transversely extending cooperating shear blades for shearing oii the gate fin adjacent its lower edge, spaced rearwardly of said stop and release means a distance substantially equal to the distance between said stop-engaging portions and said lower gate edge for shearing off the References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,021,068 Peterson Mar. 26, 1912 1,182,416 Overbury May 9, 1916 2,028,790 Lund Jan. 28, 1936 2,156,379 Donath May 2, 1939 2,253,280 Lormor Aug. 19, 1941 2,322,351 Feldtkeller June 22, 1943 2,358,283 Walter Sept. 12, 194