US2720061A

US2720061A - Contact roll for abrasive belt polishing machines

Info

Publication number: US2720061A
Application number: US452145A
Authority: US
Inventors: Eugene L Anderson
Original assignee: Rockwell Spring and Axle Co
Current assignee: Rockwell Spring and Axle Co
Priority date: 1954-08-25
Filing date: 1954-08-25
Publication date: 1955-10-11
Anticipated expiration: 1972-10-11

Description

Oct. 11, 1955 CONTACT ROLL E. L- ANDERSON 2,720,061

FOR ABRASIVE BELT POLISHING MACHINES Filed Aug. 25, 1954 INVENTOR. Eugene L. Anderson HIS TTORNE Y8 United States Patent CONTACT RoLLFoRABRASIVE BELT r POLISHlNG MACHINES Eugene L. Anderson, Coraopolis, Pa., assignor to Rockwell Spring and Axle Company, Coraopolis, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application August 25, 1954, Serial No. 452,145

4 Claims. (Cl. 51-141) This invention relates to abrasive belt grinding and polishing machines and, more particularly, to an improved type of contact roll for such machines. Abrasive belt polishing machines include a contact roll, a second roll spaced therefrom, an endless abrasive belt passing around said rolls and means for driving one of them. The Work to be polished is pressed against the abrasive coated surface of the belt at a portion of the belt which is backed by the contact roll. Thus, the contact roll does not actually come into contact with the work to be polished but supports and resists the pressure of the work against the abrasive belt.

Various types of contact rolls have been used in the past. Some of them consisted of fabric disks such as canvas disks made up of plies of fabric stitched together, the disks being mounted on a hub. Rubber disks also have been employed as contact rolls. Contact rolls have been made comprising a soft rubber core and a hard rubber facing and the facing has been grooved or serrated.

The present invention provides an improved form of contact roll which has been found to considerably increase the life of the abrasive belts. After such belts have been used for a time, the abrasive coating becomes glazed or otherwise unfit for further use and the belt must be replaced with a new belt. My contact roll considerably increases the life of the belt as contrasted with belts used in combination with any of the types of contact rolls known heretofore.

In the accompanying drawing which illustrates, in a somewhat diagrammatic manner, a preferred embodiment of the invention,

Figure 1 is an end elevation of the essential parts of an abrasive belt polishing machine;

Figure 2 is a front elevation and partial section; and

Figure 3 is an end elevation of a modified abrasive belt polishing machine.

Referring more particularly to the accompanying drawing and for the present to the embodiment shown in Figures 1 and 2, an endless abrasive belt 2 passes around an upper idler roll 3 having a supporting shaft 4 and around a lower contact roll 5.1 The workpiece 6 to be polished, such as a sheet of steel, is pressed against the abrasive belt at the portion of the belt which is backed by the contact roll 5. Pressure is exerted against the workpiece by a pressure roll 7 by means not shown. The contact roll is driven by any suitable means such as a motor and gearing not shown.

The contact roll 5 comprises a hub 8 to which the inner ends 9 of wires 10 of spring steel or other suitable resilient material are secured. The wires may be secured to the hub by means of a layer or core 11 of rubber, the ends of the wires being inserted in the rubber before vulcanization and the rubber thereafter vulcanized. Any other suitable means for securing the ends of the Wires to the hub may be employed. The wires are closely packed together and in eflfect form a wire brush Wheel in which the outer ends 12 support the inner surface of the abrasive belt 2, thus providing a resilient support for the belt; Jhub 8 by nuts 14 andact to compress the wires 10 mo- .gether and prevent them from bending excessively when 2,720,061 Patented Oct. @1 1, r

End retaining; plates 13 .are secured to the pressure is applied to the'contact roll.

, :In the use. of the polishinguapparatus, the pressure against the contact roll causes the wires to bend slightly, thus conforming to any irregularities in the surface of the workpiece and providing a resilient backing for the abrasive belt. That portion of the belt in contact with the contact roll is in effect supported by a multitude of wires which tend to resist the force applied to the contact roll.

This type of support causes the abrasive grain opposite the wire to be held against the work at an angle dependent upon the location of the pressure at the base of the grain while those grains not supported are permitted to recede from the work. On the next revolution of the belt some of those grains that receded from the work on the previous revolution will be presented to the work and some of those which contacted the work on the previous revolution will be presented at a different angle thus presenting unworn and unburnt cutting edges to the work more often than with any other type of contact roll known to me. The presenting of the grain at a different angle also has a tendency to remove burnt metal and burnt grain from the tips of the grain thus cleaning or dressing a cutting point for a following revolution of the belt. This multitude of small supporting areas presents a differential of pressure resulting in the orientation of these small hard areas on the surface of the contact roll, thus providing an improved contact roll.

Referring to the embodiment shown in Figure 3, the machine comprises an abrasive belt 16 passing around an idler roll 17 and a driven contact roll 18 which is of the same construction as described in connection with Figures 1 and 2. In this embodiment, the workpiece 19 is pressed manually against the portion of the belt which is supported by the contact roll 18 instead of employing a pressure roll such as the pressure roll 7 shown in Figures 1 and 2.

In either of the embodiments shown, the

contact roll

5 or 18 can be an idler roll and the other rolls 3 or 17 can be driven. Furthermore, the two rolls can be arranged horizontally or in any other angular position with respect to each other, the essential feature of the invention being the use as a contact roll for an abrasive belt polishing machine of a roll of the type described which is in the nature of a wire brush wheel.

The invention is not limited to the preferred embodiment but may be otherwise embodied or practiced within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. An abrasive belt polishing machine: including a contact roll, a second roll spaced therefrom, an endless abrasive belt passing around said rolls, and means for driving one of said rolls, wherein work to be polished is pressed against the abrasive belt at a portion of the belt backed by the contact roll, the improved contact roll comprising a wire brush wheel including wires having their outer ends engaging said belt.

2. A polishing machine including a contact roll, a second roll spaced from said contact roll, means for driving one of said rolls, and an endless abrasive belt looped around and supported by said rolls, the improved contact roll comprising a wire brush wheel having a multiplicity of radial wires which at their outer ends engage and support the inner surface of the belt.

3. A polishing machine including a contact roll, a second roll spaced from said contact roll, means for driving one of said rolls, and an endless abrasive belt looped around and supported by said rolls, the improved contact roll comprising a wire brush wheel, said wire brush wheel including a hub and radially extending, closely packed, resilient steel wires secured to the hub.

4. A polishing machine including a contact roll, a

second roll spaced from said contact roll, means'for a driving one of said rolls,- and an endless abrasive belt looped around and supported by said rolls, the improved UNITED STATES PATENTS Ross Apr. 9, 1887 Sheridan Aug. 13, 1907 Galvin May 13, 1924 Rasmesen June 21, 1927 Losey June 19, 1945 Hcrchenrider Aug. 2, 1949 Kimball Oct. 31, 1950