US2689409A

US2689409A - Gauging mechanism

Info

Publication number: US2689409A
Application number: US354496A
Authority: US
Inventors: William L Fry; Kazimer A Strzala
Original assignee: Owens Illinois Glass Co
Current assignee: OI Glass Inc
Priority date: 1953-05-12
Filing date: 1953-05-12
Publication date: 1954-09-21
Anticipated expiration: 1971-09-21

Description

l 1954 w. 1.. FRY ETAL GAUGING MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 12 1953 awe/whoa. 1AM LI'RY WILL KAZIHBR A.5IRZALA Patented Sept. 21 1954 William L. Fry, Lafayett Walnut Greek,

e, and Kazimer A. Strzala, Calif., assignors to flwenselllinois Glass Compan a corporation of Ohio Application May .12, 1953, "SerialNo; 354,496 3 Claims; (Cl. 33178) (Jur invention relates to apparatus for gauging various articles or surfaces for determining whether they *come within predeterminedmaximum and minimum limits. The invention may be used in gauging the diameters .of round articles and for gauging various other dimensions. As 'lierein shown, the invention comprises certainimprovements on the gauging machine disclosed in the patent to lli'edorchak 2,327,629, August. 24;. 1 943, Gauging Machine.

' The invention comprises a .pairof outer electric contact elements spaced apart with an intermediate icontact element normally spaced from saidouterelements. During the gauging operation therrelative positions .ofthe contact elements -is determined :by the dimensions of the articlebeing gauged. The intermediate element is brought into contact with one of the' outer elements if the dimension of the articleis above the prescribed maximum-and into contact with the other element ifsuch dimension is below the prescribed minimum. An electrical contact thus made by either element operates to establisha circuit for electroresponsive means such as a signal lamp .or other signalling device or for mechanism for segregating the defective articles from those which pass the test.

The invention provides improved means for maintaining. adjustment of parts for accurately gauging articles and maintaining precise maximum and minimum tolerances throughout continuous operation and for extended periods. Various other features of novelty and utility will be apparent from the following detailed description.

Referring to the accompanying drawings:

. Fig. 1 is an elevation of .a portion of a gauging machine equ pped with gauging mechanism comprising. our invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same;

Fig.3 is a sectional view at the line 3--3 on Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation at the line 4-4 on Fig. ,2 on a somewhat larger scale;

Fig. 5 is a section at the line' 5-5 on Fig. 1; and

Fig. '6 is a wiring diagram.

The gauging apparatus is mounted on a pair of-vertical'-'standards l and II. A bracket l2, mounted ior :up and down sliding movement on the standards, carries a work holder or pad I 3 which provides a support for articles M while they are being gauged. The pad I3 is journalled in the bracket ior continuous rotation by means of a :drive shaft 15 operably connected to the pad through gearing IS. The shaft I is motor mentioned Fedorchak form 18 .tothe underside of Which-is attached a.

frusto-conical' downwardly tapered: centering plug (9. The article to lbegauged, here shown as a jar, is placed on the :pad 13 while theilatter is in its lowered position; Aswthe pad isumoved upward: the. article is brought .to gauging position and centered by the centering plug it! 9xwhich enters: the open mouth of. the jar. .A pair of gauging rolls .20 are carried on gauginglarms: 2:1 pivoted to the platform 18' by pivot pins-22. A plate 24 attached :to the undersurface act the platform I8 is recessed to receive the gauging; levers .21 :and the centering plug t9. A tensihn coil spring 215 is connected through. lugs 26 to. the-free ends of the gaugin levers 2| for holding? the gauging rails .20 in contact with the :rim of the jar 14 during thegauging operation.

Means for holding the gauging rolls spread apart while the jar is being "lifted into gauging position includes a pair of bell crank levers 21 mounted to swing :aboutpivot pins .28 attached to the platform .48. The bell crank levers are actuated by a slide bar 311 which is mounted for horizontal reciprocating movement in a slideway formed in platform It, the slide bar carrying a pin .31 in the bell crank levers. The latter include arms extending rorwardly between the gauging, arms 2|. when the slide bar 30 is moved forward it operates through the bell cranks and arms. 24 to spread the gauging rolls 20 apart so that the jar It can move freely upward to gauging posi-. tion comingin contact with the gauging rolls. When the slide bar 30 is retracted it swings the bell crank levers out of contact with the gauging arms 2 l Mean-s for moving slide bar 3!! forward includes .a vertical rock shaft 35 to which. is at tached a rock arm 36 carrying .a roll 31 which bears against ,the slide bar .30. The rock shaft 3 5 is rotated in one direction by a coil spring, and in the opposite direction by a rock arm 39 (Fig. 2) which :may be actuated by a cam.

The gauging mechanismcomprises a horizontalrod 4!], herein referred to as a slide rod, having operative connections with the gauging levers 21 through a pair of connecting pins or studs M and 42.. These pins are connected at their slow-er end to the levers 2| by screws 43. The slide rod 40 is mounted in holders 44 and extending through elongated. slots 43d;

' in contact with the block 44,

tube 41. The tube 48, also mounted to slide on the slide rod 40, has attached thereto or formed integrally therewith, an electrical contact in the form of a disk 50. The tube 48 is yieldingly held as shown in Fig. 4, by a coil spring (Figs. 2 and 4). A pair of electrical contacts, in the form of

contact screws

52 and 53, referred to respectively as maximum and minimum contact screws, are adjustably mounted in an insulating holder 54 of nylon or other suitable material. The holder 54 is mounted in fixed position on the tube 41 and has undersized tapped threads for the contact screws which serve as looking devices for the screws while permitting rapid and accurate adjustment of the screws within the holder. The slide bar 30 has mounted thereon a contact screw 55 which closes a microswitch 65 when the slide bar is retracted.

. The operation is as follows:

While the rotating pad I3 is in its lowered position, a jar I4 is placed thereon. The bracket I2 is then moved upward and brings the jar to gauging position (Fig. 1) in which the jar is centered by the centering block l9. At this time the slide bar 30 is in its forward position so thatv it holds the gauging rolls 2!] spaced apart sufiiciently to permit the jar to reach its gauging position without coming into contact with said rolls. When the jar is in gauging position, shaft 35 is rocked to withdraw the roll 31 and permit the slide bar 30 to be moved to its retracted position by the spring 3ll (Fig. 1)v thereby closing the switch 65 and also swinging the bell crank levers away from the gauging arms 2| so that the gauging rolls are brought into contact with the rim of the rotating jar l4. This contact is maintained during a complete rotation of the jar or for a sufficient length of time to permit the entire circumference of the jar to be gauged.

If the diameter of the jar is within the prescribed limits the contact disk 50 (Figs. 4 and 6) is maintained out of contact with the maximum and minimum contact screws 52 and 53. If the diameter of the jar rim or surface being tested is above the maximum prescribed limit, the gauging arm2| carrying the connecting pin 42, will move the holder 45, tube 41 and. holder 54 to the right (Fig. 4) and bring the maximum contact screw 52 into contact with the disk 50. This establishes a circuit (Fig. 6) through the coil 60 of a relay 6|, said coil being in circuit with the secondary of a transformer 62 receiving current from the mains a and b. This circuit can be traced from the transformer through coil 60, contact screw 52, disk 50 and switch 65. When the circuit for the relay magnet coil 60 is thus closed the relay moves its contacts 56 and 651 to closed position. The contact 66 completes a circuit for a signal lamp 68 which is thereby lighted and indicates that the jar under test is above the maximum permissible diameter. The contact bar 61 closes a shunt circuit through wire 13 around the

contacts

52 and 50 so that the signal lamp remains lighted until the slide bar 30 again moves forward and opens the switch 65. It will be noted that the slide tubes -41 and 48 and the holder 54 with the contact screws have a floating mounting permitting these parts to move as a unit carried on the gauging arms 2| so that the parts accommodate themselves to the position of the article under test. During the test these floating parts will be moved bodily to the right (Fig. 4) after the contact screw 52 engages the disk 50, when the surface under test is greater than the maximum permissible diameter, the parts being moved against the pull of the spring 5|.

If the surface under test is less than the minimum permissible diameter, the tube 41 and holder 54 will be moved to the left a sufficient distance to bring the minimum contact screw 53 into contact with the disk 5|] when the slide bar 30 has been withdrawn. This completes a circuit for the coil 10 of a relay 1|, said coil being connected in circuit with the transformer 62 through the contact screw 53 and the disk. The relay 1| operates to complete a circuit for a second signal lamp 12 and also completes a holding circuit for the coil 10 through the wire 13. The signal lamp 12, which is preferably of a different color than the signal lamp 68 indicates that the jar under test is below the minimum permissible diameter. Although the gauging means (as shown) is used to light signal lamps, it will be understood that any other electroresponsive signalling means might be substituted for the lamps as for example, ejecting means for rejecting or segregating articles which are below or above prescribed limits from those that pass the test, when the apparatus is used for testing a multiplicity of articles in succession as is common in this art. Examples of such segregating and ejecting means are found in the patent to Owens, 2,481,863, September 13, 1949 and patent to Fedorchak et al., 2,352,091, June 20, 1944.

Modifications may be resorted to within the spirit and scopeof our invention.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for gauging the circumferential surface of a round article, said apparatus comprising a pair of horizontally spaced gauging arms, a horizontal platform on which said arms are pivotally mounted for horizontal swinging movement toward and from each other, gauging rolls carried by said arms, means for positioning the article'with said surface'between the said rolls, spring means connected to said arms for holding the rolls in contact with said surface, a slide rod, a holder carrying said rod, means connecting said holder with one gauging arm for bodily movernent of the holder and slide rod with the gauging arm, the slide rod extending lengthwise in its direction of movement, a tube mounted on the slide rod for sliding movement lengthwise there of, a holder connecting said tube with the other gauging arm, an insulating holding device carried by said tube, electrical contact screws mounted on said holding device and adjustable toward and from each other, an electrical contact disk mounted for sliding movement on the slide rod and positioned between the contact screws, means for yieldingly holding the contact disk in a predetermined position relative to said firstmentioned holder for movement therewith and With said slide rod, said contact disk being in spaced relation to both said contact screws when the diameter of the surface under test is within prescribed limits and movable into engagement with the contact screws respectively when the diameter of said surface is above or below the prescribed limits, and electroresponsive signalling means comprising electrical control circuits including the said contact screws.

2. The apparatus defined in claim 1 and in combination therewith, means for spreading the gauging arms and holding the contact rolls out of the path of the article to be gauged while the latter is being moved to gauging position, and automatic means for maintaining the control circuits open during the movement of the article into gauging position.

3. The apparatus defined in claim 1 and in combination therewith, means for spreading the gauging arms to permit movement of the article into gauging position, said spreading means com- 15 prising a pair of bell crank levers having arms extending between the gauging arms, a slide bar mounted for lengthwise sliding movement and operably connected to the bell crank levers, a switch in circuit with said control circuits, and means carried. by the slide bar for actuating the switch and preventing operation of the signalling devices while the gauging aims are held spread by the said spreading means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Numner Name Date 2,338,868 Owens Jan. 11, 1944 2,350,862 Ayers June 6, 1944 2,355,719 Fedorchak Aug. 15, 1944