US2652579A

US2652579A - Machine for cleaning and polishing space bands and the like

Info

Publication number: US2652579A
Application number: US173599A
Authority: US
Inventors: George P Hartzell
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1950-07-13
Filing date: 1950-07-13
Publication date: 1953-09-22
Anticipated expiration: 1970-09-22

Description

Sept. 22, 1953 G. P. HARTZELL 2,652,579

MACHINE FOR CLEANING AND POLISHING SPACE BANDS AND THE LIKE Filed July 13, 1950 8 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR geo yeff i am} 1 Q;

' TTORN EYS Se t. 22, 1953 G. P. HARTZELL MACHINE FOR CLEANING AND POLISHING SPACE BANDS AND THE LIKE 8 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 15, 1950 1 v a I 4 1 H Sept. 22, 1953 s. P. HARTZELL 2,652,579

MACHINE FOR CLEANING AND POLISHING SPACE BANDS AND THE LIKE Filed July 15, 1950 8 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR ZZ e0 1 Maize v a? (a l am. as). Q;

S P 1953 G. P. HARTZELL 2,652,579

MACHINE FOR CLEANING AND POLISHING SPACE BANDS AND THE LIKE Filed July 15, 1950 a Sheets-Sheet 4 /04 2 1 2/ N mag/23 9141/ L8 m4 4 34 M9/ 3 I "say a5 INVENTOR Sept. 22, 1953 5, P, HARTZELL 2,652,579

MACHINE FOR CLEANING AND POLISHING SPACE BANDS AND THE LIKE Filed July 1;, 1950 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR Sept. 22, 1953. p HARTZELL 2,652,579

MACHINE FOR CLEANING AND POLISNING SPACE BANDS AND THELIKE Filed July 13, 1950 8 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTOR BY em! l v Sept. 22, 1953 a. P. HARTZELL MACHINE FOR CLEANING AND POLISHING SPACE BANDS AND THE LIKE 8 Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed July 13, 1950 Se t. 22, 1953 e. P. HARTZELL 2,652,579

MACHINE FOR CLEANING AND POLISHING SPACE BANDS AND THE LIKE Filed July 13, 1950 s sheets-sheet s "UIIIIIHIIHIlHIHIHHIHIIIIIHIHIIIIIIHIIHIHIIHHHIIIlIIIIIIHIIIIIHHHHIII Patented Sept. 22, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,652,579 mourns roa CLEANING mp rousiimo SPACE BANDS AND THE LIKE George P. Hartzell, Chester, Pa. Application July 13, 1950, Serial No.- 17315239 Claims.

The present invention relates to cleaning and polishing machines especially suited for space bands employed in printing.

7 The purpose of the invention is to obtain more thorough cleaning and polishing of space bands and other articles and particularly cleaning and polishing of the portion of the body of a space band which is beneath the sleeve when the sleeve is at the remote end.

A further purpose is to provide for relative movement of the sleeve andbody of the space band when the space band is being progressed between polishing elements.

A further purpose is to scrape one side of a space band, and particularly one side of the sleeve, by a knife which is raised and then brought down in registry with the space band.

A further purpose is to confine the polishing medium by ribs on either side of the polishing bed and to move the space bands by lugs on a chain which extends up over the ribs and then down inside the ribs.

A further purpose is to interpose individual spacers between polishing blocks to prevent displacement of the blocks and avoid accumulation of longitudinal pushing action on the forwardmost block.

A further purpose is to agitate the medium by an agitating rod manipulated by the space bands as they move forward.-

A further purpose is to feed the space bands to the chain conveyor by a pusher which raises the forward'most space band by one of the lugs until it is able to drop over an abutment that formerly retained it.

A further purpose is to engage the forwardmost space band in the feeder by a detent to prevent the improper feeding of a second space band at the same time.

A further purpose is to place a retainer behind the feeder equipped with a slot or recess beneath the retainer through which the space band lugs can pass.

Further purposes appear in the specification and in the claims.

In the drawings 1 have chosen to illustrate one only of the numerous embodiments in which my invention may appear, selecting the forms shown from the standpoints of convenience in illustration, satisfactory operation and clear demon-straof' the principles involved.

Figure 1 is a perspective of the cleaning and polishing device of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevation to enlarged scale showing the feeding hopper mechanism, the knife manipulating mechanism, the'pusher" mechanism and the funnel and tube for feeding the polishing medium, with the side walls partially broken away to show the agitating rod.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary top plan view of the rear end of the machine showing the subject matter ofFigure 2.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary section of Figure 2 on the line 4-4, the section being taken through the'driving shaft.

Figure 5 is a section of Figure 2 on the line 5--5.

t Figure 6 is a fragmentary rear end elevation of the machine of the invention.

Figure '7 is a fragmentary enlarged perspective of the feeding hopper, knife and first polishing blocks.

Figure 8 is a bottom plan view of one of the polishing blocks.

FigurefQ is a fragmentary central longitudinal section through the first three polishing blocks.

Figure 10 is a detailed perspective of the guide for the feeder which supports the detent and one of the abutinents of the hopper.

Figure 11 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective of the upper end of the feeder.

Figure 12 is an enlarged section through the detent on the line l2l2 of Figure 10.

Figure 13 is a fragmentary end elevation of the feeder showing the engagement with one of the lugs of the sleeve of the space band. The space band is shown in dot-and-dash lines.

Figure 14 is a section through the space band on the line 14-14 of Figure '7.

Figure 15 is a fragmentary side elevation of the forward end of the machine.

Figure 16 is a fragmentary top plan view of the forward end of the machine as shown in Figlire 15.

Describing in illustration but not in limitation and referring to the drawings:

Space bands as used in the printing trades accumulate foreign material, especially ink and grease, and frequently require cleaning and polishing. Romyns U. S. Patent 2,231,196 granted February 11, 1941, is an example of a prior art machine designed to accomplish this cleaning and polishing.

Difiiculty has been encountered in the prior art in cleaning space bands at points beneath the sleeves, which are slidable with respect to the bodies. In accordance with the present invention the sleeve and body of the space band are relatively moved and polishing is accomplished on the body beneath the sleeve during the polishing operation.

Much of the foreign matter on the space bands is very adherent, particularly to the outer edge of the sleeves, and in accordance with the present invention the polishing is supplemented by a scraping action with a knife, the knife being manipulated and brought down onthe space band when the space band is in position beneath the knife.

In prior art machines of this character, the polishing medium, such as graphite with or without oil, has been difficult to confine and retain and has contaminated the chains. In accordance with the present invention the olish ing medium is confined at the sides of the polishing bed by ribs and the space bands are moved forward by lugs which extend over the ribs and then down between the ribs.

Provision is made in the first polishing block in the present invention to allow the body of the space band to move comparatively freely through that block, while on the neXt polishing block a rib is provided which retards or momentarily prevents the forward motion of the sleeve while at the same time the body is pushed rapidly forward. In this way the body of the space band can be polished beneath the sleeve.

Each of the individual polishing blocks is separately held against longitudinal motion by a spacer so that the block cannot push forward and accumulate forward pressure on the forwardmost block or become displaced.

An agitating rod is provided in the chamber for p01ishing medium and this rod is manipulated by the drive of the space bands which engage the lower end of the rod.

The feeding of the space bands is greatly improved by moving them one at a time from a hopper by a feeder which carries the forwardmost space band, held by one lug, up over a retainer which had previously restrained the other lug. The inadvertent feeding of a second space band at the same time is prevented by a detent which engages the side of the space band being fed. A second retainer behind the feeder has a recess beneath the second retainer through which the lugs of the space band can pass, and the second retainer prevents other space bands behind the first space band from rising with the feeder.

While the invention will, it is believed, find its widest application in cleaning and polishing space bands, it can be used for cleaning and polishing other types of equipment.

The space band cleaning and polishing machine of the present invention comprises a supporting frame 20, a housing 2|, a feed hopper assembly 22, a scraper knife assembly 23, a drive 24, a pusher arm 25, a polishing block assembly and a discharge hopper assembly 2'1.

The frame 20 comprises a rear leg 28 having a handle 30 (Figure 1), a front leg 3| carrying spaced rollers 32 and cross braces 33.

The housing 2| comprises side elements 34 running the length of the housing, a bottom plate 35 connecting the side elements, a rear end plate 36 (Figure 6) and a forward end plate 3'. (Figures 1 and 14).

The rear end of the housing carries at the top a plate 38 (Figures 2 and 6) which supports spaced side walls 39 of a feed hopper 40 which supports and feeds the space bands which are being cleaned.

The side walls 39 of the hopper have diagonal inclined forward surfaces 4|, and behind the forward surfaces 4| are diagonally slotted at 42 to receive the shoulders 43 of the sleeves 44 of the space bands. As well known, the sleeves slide in dovetail slots 45 in the space band body 46 (Figure 14). Outward lugs 41 on the space band sleeve initially slide on the inclined forward surfaces M of the hopper.

The various space bands are inclined in the hopper as shown in Figure 'l, the lower ends being displaced rearwardly. The lug 41, at one side of the forward space band slides under an inwardly projecting upper surface 48 (Figure '7) of a retainer 50 which is mounted on the outside of one of the sides 39 of the hopper. The retainer 50 is desirably integral with a guide 5| (Figure 10) secured to the outside of the hopper and having a guiding surface 52 (Figures 2 and 10) which retains and guides a sliding feeder 53. The feeder 53 has an inwardly projected dog 54 extending over the lower forward end of retainer 48, and the feeder and the dog have a feeding notch 55 at the upper rear edge (Figure 11) which has a depth less than the thickness of the thinnest space band. The feeder operates in a path below the retainer 48, and closely adjacent to a lower forward inclined edge 56 of the retainer 48, which carries a suitable ball detent 51 held in the retainer (Figure 12) which is urged toward the feeder by compression spring 58.

Positioned opposite to the feeder and in position to engage the opposite lug 4! of the forwardmost space band from the lug engaged by the feeder is a retainer 60 of L-shape, having a lug 5| which engages the cooperating lug on the forwardmost space band.

Thus to discharge the forwardmost space band, which is held behind retainer lug 6| at one side, and by notch 55 at the other side, feeder 53 moves upwardly, raising the forwardmost space band by the lug engaged in feeding notch 55, pushing the space band lug past detent 51, which prevents the raising of any other space band except the forwardmost space band. The forwardmost space band is then lifted up to a position in which it can ride over retainer 60, and when feeder 53 moves down again to its lower position the space band falls over retainer 60 and over the top of feeder 53 and drops forward into horizontal position on the bottom of the hopper (Figure 7).

The drive 24 comprises a crank 62 operated by handle 63 to turn a shaft 64 on bearings 65 in the housing. The shaft carries a feed cam 66 (Figures 2, 3 and 4) at an intermediate point and the feed cam engages one end of a feed rocker 61 extending through a slot in the horizontal wall 38 of the housing. The rocker is pivoted at 68 in the housing and at the remote end from the cam engages the lower end of feeder 53 (Figure 2). The feeder is urged downwardly against the rocker by tension spring 10 operating between a suitable abutment on the housing and a suitable abutment on the feeder.

The knife assembly 23 comprises a suitably adjustable knife holder II pivotally mounted on shaft 12 journalling in bearings 13 on the housing (Figures 2, 3, 4 and 6). A knife 14 (Figures 3 and 7) is gripped in the knife holder and downwardly and rearwardly disposed in position to scrape the upper portion of the sleeve 44 of the space band.

In order that the knife may not impede forward motion of the space band and in order that its contact with the space band may be limited to contact with the sleeve, a knife manipulating cam 15 on one end of shaft 64 is engaged by cam follower 16 on cam arm 11 pivoted on knife shaft 12. The cam arm is downwardly urged by tension spring 18 operating between the arm and a suitable abutment on the housing.

Shaft 64 carries chain sprockets which support and turn two spaced cooperating feed chains 8| which at the forward end of the housing are carried over sprockets 82 (Figures 13 and 14). At intervals along the chains and in aligned positions on the two chains, lugs 83 are carried, the lugs desirably being of U shape and extending upwardly and inwardly over ribs 84 which extend longitudinally on either side of the center assure and tend to confine the graphite or other polishing medium. thus keeping the graphite on the polishing blocks.

Shaft. 6.4. carries. a gear 85 (Figures 2, 3, 4 and 6) which intermeshes with a gear 86 on stub shaft H, which in turn intermeshes. with av gear 88- on a. shaft. 90 iournalled at. 90' on the frame (Figures 2-, 5 and 6:). Shaftv Q carries a pusher arm M which moves through slots 93 in the bottom ofthe housing and is adapted to travel at a speed substantially greater than the speed of progression of the chains, suitably three times the speed or chain travel. The pusher is adapted to engage and forwardly move the body 46 of the. space. band with respect to the sleeve, so that abrasive, cleaning takes. place under the sleeve. The engagement desirably occurs at a rearward central recess 02 (Figure. 7) in the body of the space band.

The slots 93- through which the pusher 9I moves are best, seen, in. Figure 5... The slots 9.3 are cartiedup through the bottom of a frame partition .4: which runs the full length of the. housing from a position adjoining the knife to a position adjoining. the discharge hopper at the center and is. secured: to the housing sides 341. A polishing bed 9.4. on top of the frame partition 94 and secured: thereto, runs the full length of the machine at the middle of the discharge end and is also slotted: at 03. to. pass. the pusher.

At the top the housing is closed by angles 96 which; extend upwardly on either. side of the center; and; are: closed at the top by a cap 91.. 7 Between. and, guided in motion by upright arms of the. angles. and beneath the cap are positioned a plurality of? cleaning blocks 9.0)., arranged one after another in aseries longitudinally and held against motion longitudinally by separators I00 onthebottom of the cap, which hold each block in its. proper position and. insuretha-t it will act individually; The blocks. 98; are downwardly urged by compression. springs IOI- which engage underthe cap 9:1 and seat in recesses I021atthe tops of the blocks; As best seen in Figures 8 and 9, the bottom surfaces of: the polishing blocks are provided'with. transverseextending ribs I03 separatedjbygroovesor notches I04.

The first of the blocks 98. is desirably longirtudinallyslotted at IMtore'ceive the pusherancl slotted at I04. at the lower face for thc'width. of

the body 461 of the space band, so that; the body will"; not be retarded when the pusher seeks to move, it forward. The; outer edge I carries abrading;ribs- I06: extending transversely, which engage; the lug portionsof the sleeve of=the space hendrs nara ed va's oove I0 Thenext block 9.0?is provided with anopening In]: through which a suitable cleaning medium such as graphite-is introduced as through a. funnel; IIIBand feedingtube IIO. A feeding rod I II is providedin the funnel and feeding tube, and this is contactedat. its lower ball head I I2 by the spaceband and vibrates to aid inthe feeding of the medium from the funnel.

The hou ing at: its: forward end is provided with a downwardly projecting bar II 3 above a hopper I I4. The bar receives the, spacetbands after they have been cleaned. The bar passes through a slot I :I 5'. in the end plate 3! and carries ears I I3 which engage on either side-of the mated?! and-ho d. hebar. at itsunwardlvdirected @81 1 Thedischarge hopper is; removably'fasned to the housing by bayonetjoints I- I 0. Take up on thechain sprockets 02 is providedby, screws Mi lb.

In operation, the. funnel is filled with graphite or other suitable medium and space bands are arranged with their lugs uppermost and their sleeves rearwardly in the direction of progression in the hopper. The crank is turned in the direction to move the pusher forward. causing the feeder cam to manipulate feed rocker 61 andmove the feeder up and down. The forwardmost space band is engaged in the feed notch 5i and raised above retainer 60, sliding against ball. detent 51 to prevent the removal of two space bands at 01166..

The space band, after raising above retainer 60 and detent 51,, slides downwardly over the feeder and over retainer 60 when the feeder is lowered, and, drops into horizontal position on the polishing bed at. the bottom with lugs. H in position to be engaged by the lugs. 83 on the chain. The space band is now dragged forwardly and the. lugs 41: pass under the raised: knife due to the fact that. the knife cam 151s inhigh position when the lugs reach the knife. Immediately after the space band lugs pass under the knife. the; knife drops under the action of the knife cam 1-5 and spring I8 and the knife. cleans the top. of the space band sleeve as the space band; moves. forward. Theknife: then immediately' raises under the action of the knife cam. As the. space band moves forward, the rearward end, of the body is engaged at 92. by the rapidly forward driving pusher 5L, while the front lugs 41 on the sleeve are about opposite cross rib I06 of block 98'. The pusher carries'theentire space band forward until thelugs on the space band sleeve engages.- cross rib; IIlIi on block 98 which retains the sleeve while the space band continues to; move forward and thus polishes the space band under the sleeve. It will benoted: that. the space band. sleeve 44; retarded by ribs I08 and I06. while the body moves forward, but when rib I06 is encountered. the sleevestays still held by rib I06 while the body is pushed forward underthe rib I00 to be polished by that rib beneath the sleeve. No rib exists between I06 (which engages. only thelugs, 41-) sothat the spaceband moves forward relatively freely until it encounters rib I063.

As soon as the pusher arm 9I- ceases to act, the. chain continues to. carry forward the. sleeve by the lugs 41 and; the body 46- again moves; to the rearward position withrespect to thesleeve. As the body moves rearwardly. relativ to the sleeve, the body is againpolished under thersleeve. As; thespace band movesunder each one of the polishing blocks it. is polished: bythe relative movement in the presence. of: the. graphite; the graphite being carriedalong byv the, space: bands from. a position. near the funnel.

When thespace. bands arrive at. the forwardmost position they dropland'areimpaled on-.upwardly extending bar H3; while any excess graphite collects in. discharge: hopper I14.

It: will be: evident that improved cleaning. and polishing are obtained by the present invention, especially inspacebands beneath the sleeve and also due. tothea scraping; action of the knife.

It will 1 further: be evident: that. the mechanism has been simplified and rendered much a more reliable by the improvements of" the invention.v

In view of my invention and disclosure variations and modificationsto meet individualwhim or; particular need will doubtless become evident to others skilledv in the art; to obtain all or part of the-benefits of myinvention without copying the. structureshown, andI, therefore, claim all such insofar as'they fall within the reasonable spirit and scope of my claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a machine for cleaning and polishing space bands and the like, means for forwardly progressing space bands having bodies and relatively slidable sleeves, means for sliding the bodies along the space bands relatively to the sleeves at one position in the progression and means for polishing the bodies of the space bands under the sleeves as they are moved relatively.

2. In a machine for polishing space bands and the like, a polishing bed, polishing blocks 00- operating with and urged against the bed, the space bands having sleeves and relatively slidable bodies, chain means engaging the sleeves and moving the space bands forwardly between the bed and the blocks and a pusher engaging the bodies of the space bands and pushing them forward at a rate relatively greater than the rate of progression of the sleeves while the sleeves are relatively retarded in forward progression, thereby changing the position of the sleeve with respect to the body during the polishing period.

3. In a machine for polishing space bands and the like having bodies and relatively slidable sleeves, forwardly moving chains engaging the sleeves and thereby progressing the space bands forwardly, cooperating polishing elements resiliently urged together along the path of forward movement of the space bands and including a rib engaging and retarding the successive sleeves and a pusher moving the body in excess of the chain and engaging the body of the space band to move it forward through the polishing elements while the sleeve is retarded by the rib, thereby changing the position of the sleeve with respect to the body during the polishing period.

4. In a machine for cleaning and polishing space bands and the like, a polishing bed, a chain for progressing the space bands forwardly over the bed, the space bands including slidable sleeves, a first polishing block cooperating with the bed and relieved at the center to avoid pressure contact with the body while having engaging surfaces at the edges to make pressure contact with the sleeve, a second polishing block having a rib extending clear across the path of the sleeve and body and cooperating with the bed, resilient means for urging the polishing blocks against the bed and a pusher moving at a rate in excess of the chain, engaging the body of the space band at a position at which the space band is beneath the first polishing block and advancing the space band at least in part bodily until th sleeve engages the rib of the second polishing block and then advancing the body with respect to the sleeve.

5. In a polishing machine, walls forming a chamber for polishing medium, an agitating rod extending through the chamber, a polishing bed engaged by the lower end of the agitating rod, polishing blocks resiliently urged down on the bed, one of which has an opening through which the agitating rod extends to the bed, and means for progressing work to be polished along the bed beneath the blocks in position to contact and manipulate the agitating rod.

6. In a machine for polishing space bands or the like having outwardly extending lugs at one end, hopper side walls, and abutment engaging one of the lugs of the forwardmost space band at the upper forward end, and a feeder having a.

feeder notch reciprocating from a position beneath the other lug to a position above the space band, from which position the space band can drop over the abutment when the feeder is withdrawn.

7. In a polishing machine for space bands and the like having outwardly extending lugs, side hopper walls having forwardly and downwardly extending edges, a retainer extending inwardly from one of the walls and adapted to engage a lug at one side of the forwardmost space band, a feeder having a feeder notch adapted to engage the lug at the other side of the forwardmost space band, and means for reciprocating the feeder from the lower rearward position to an upper forward position and thereby raising the opposite lug of the forwardmost space band to a position from which it can drop over the retainer when the feeder is retracted.

8. In a polishing machine for space bands and the like having outwardly extending lugs, side hopper walls having forwardly and downwardly extending edges, a retainer extending inwardly from one of the walls and adapted to engage a lug at one side of the forwardmost space band, a feeder having a feeder notch adapted to engage the lug at the other side of the forwardmost space band, and a detent engaging one of the lugs during the upward motion of the feeder to prevent simultaneous raising of two space bands.

9. In a polishing machine for space bands and the like having outwardly extending lugs, side hopper walls having forwardly and downwardly extending edges, a retainer extending inwardly from one of the walls and adapted to engage a lug at one side of the forwardmost space band. a feeder having a feeder notch adapted to engage the lug at the other side of the forwardmost space band, and a retainer extending over one of the side walls at the forwardly and downwardly sloping edge and having a path beneath the retainer through which the lug on a space band can slide while holding the space bands against rising while under the retainer.

10. In a polishing machine for space bands and the like having outwardly extending lugs, side hopper walls having forwardly and downwardly extending edges, a retainer extending inwardly from one of the walls and adapted to engage a lug at one side of the forwardmost space band, a feeder having a feeder notch adapted to engage the lug at the other side of the forwardmost space band, a retainer extending over one of the side walls at the forwardly and downwardly sloping edge and having a path beneath the retainer through which the lug on a space band can slide while holding the space bands against rising while under the retainer and a detent at the forward edge of the retainer engaging the lug on the space band or bands which are raised by the feeder and preventing simultaneous raising of more than one space band.

GEORGE P. HARTZEIL.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,371,221 Burke Mar. 15, 1921 2,231,196 Romyns Feb. 11, 1941 2,288,944 Fuller July 7, 1942 2,307,984 Brand Jan. 12, 1943 2,358,283 Walters Sept. 12, 1944