US275558A - wills - Google Patents

Description

(No Mod'e1.) 3 Sheets--Sheet 1.

H. 'ILAWILLSKE J. D. KI1\IGSLA\.I\ID.v AUTOMATIC FEEDER EOE EoEsEgs'EoE NAIL BLANK EINISEING MACHINES.

No.. 275,558. Patented Apr.1o,188s.

ii IIIIIIIIHII N. PETERS. Plwllimugnpher. Walhington, DA C.'

' (No Modell) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.. H. A. WILLS xv J. D. KINGSLAND. AUTOMATIC FEEDER FOR HORSESHOE NAIL BLANK PINISHING MACHINES.

Patented Apr. 10,1883.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY A. WILLS AND JACOB D. KINGSLAND, OF CHICAGO, ILL., ASSIGNORS TO THE NORTHWESTERN HORSE NAIL-COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

AUTOMATIC FEEDER FOR HORSESHOE-NAIL-BLANK-FINISHING MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 275,558, dated April 10, 1883.

Application filed Jnne26,1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HARRY A. WILLs and JACOB D. KINGSLAND, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and uset'ul Improvements in Automatic Feeders for Horseshoe-Nail-Blank- Finishing Machines, which are fully described in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,iu which- Figure l v represents a plan view of a machine embodying our improvements Fig. 2, a detailed section on an enlarged scale, taken on the line o o, Fig. l; Fig. 3, a detailed section on an enlarged scale, taken through the ringcarrier just in front of the nail-guide; Fig. 4, al

detailed plan, on an enlarged scale, of the lower ends of the feed-rollers and adjacent parts; Fig. 5, a detailed section onV enlarged scale, taken on the line a: Fig. 4; Fig. 6, a front side elevation ofthe machine on the same scale l as Fig.1 Fig. 7, a transverse section of the same, taken on the line y y, Fig. l; Fig. 8, a transverse section of the same, taken on the line z z, Fig. 1 Fig. 9,`a plan of the feed-cylinder; and Fig. 10, a vertical section of the same, taken on the line w w, Fig. 9.

Our invention relates to feeding mechanism for automatically feeding the blanks to horsenail-finishing machines, being especially adapted for use in connection with that class of machines provided with a ring-carrier, of which the machine shown in several patents heretofore granted to Harry A. Wills are examples. Heretofore the carrier of these finishing-machines has been fed by boys, who placed the blanks in the notches of the carrier. This makes the work ot the finishing-machine dependent upon the attendant, and also involves a constant expense in the payment of wages to this attendant.

Our invention is intended to provide a me: chanical or automatic feeder for the ring-carrier, so that after the blanks are dumped into a hopper or feed-cylinder they will be taken care ot' by mechanical devices, which properly deliver them into the notches of the ring-carrier of the iinishing-machine, and thus the attendant feeders are dispensed with and the capacity of the machine somewhat increased. We will proceed to describe in detail one l way in which we have carried out our invention in practical form, and will then point out definitely in the claims the special improvements which we believe to be new and desire to protect by Letters Patent.

ing-machine is now well known, and hence we have shown in the drawings only such parts as are necessary to illustrate our present invenf tion, and in the description reference will be made to such parts only of the finishing-machine as are necessary for the same purpose. A

In the drawings, A represents the main or supporting frame ot' the finisher, on which is suitably mounted a ring-carrier, B, provided with side peripheral notches, b, for the reception of the nail -blanks and crown ratchet notches b', by which the carrier is moved in the usual way. A ring, B', surrounds the carrier,

of the-carrier. The usual intermittentmotion is given to the carrier by means of a pawl, C, attached to the upper end of a lever, o, the lower end of which is vibrated by means ot a the bedplate ot' the frame. Apawl, C', is also provided to engage with the ratchet-teeth for the purpose ofholdingthe carrieragainst backward motion. any suitable way, and atits end, on the front side of the machine, is provided with a beveled pinion, d, the purpose of which will be presently described. In the drawings this shaftis shown provided at the opposite end with a bandwheel, d', by which it is driven.

Two tapering rollers, E and F, are arranged in an inclined position, extending out at one Asideot' the machine, and mounted at their lower ends in suitable bearings on the main frame and at their upper ends in similar bearings on a supplementary supporting-frame, A', standing at one side ot' thev frame A. These rollers are for the purpose ot' feeding the blanks to the carrier. rIlle surface of one of them, E, is plain the entire length, except a short distance at the lower or smaller end, on which is cut a spiral thread, e, the depth of which gradually increases toward the point, as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings. The thread does not run entirely to the end of the roller; but a short head,

serving to ret-.tin the blanks within the notches l cam, c', on the main shaft l), mounted below.

The main shaft D is driven in` The construction and operation of the finish b c', at the extreme ciidis let't entire. Thisroller ings these lianges are shown t'our iu number,

is arranged with reference to the ring-carrier, so that at each revolution ot' the roller, when the end ofthe thread is on the side next to the carrier, it will come directly opposite one ot the notches in the carrier, which is then at rest, and holds a notch at the side otl the roller. This arrangement will be seen and readily understood from Fig. of the drawings. The roller F is plain-surfaced throughout its entire length, and is arranged on the inside next to the carrier. At its lower end it is cut away on one side, so as to provide a. short eccentric pin,f, at this extremity. The movement ot' the rollers is so timed that this pin will move away from the other roller about the time the end of the spiral groove is brought opposite the notch of the carrier, so as to leave an opening to permit the blank to enter the notch, as shown in Fig. l ot' the drawings, while during another portion ot' its revolution the pin is brought 4in next to the roller E and prevents the irregular delivery ofa blank it' accidentally one should become misplaced. rlhe lower end ofthe roller F is set a little higher than the roller E, as the latter is arranged about opposite the edge of the ring-carrier. Thisis the preferable arrangement ot' the extremities of these rollers for securing the accurate delivery of the blanks,l butit is notabsolutelynecessary, as there may be some change in their relation and yet averyfairoperation obtained. The rollers are set so that a slight opening will appear between them sutlcient to accommodate the blanks which are delivered upon the rollers. At their lower ends, however, they are brought nearly together, so that the space between the spiral groove and the opposite roller will only accommodate the blank, and not permit it to fall through. At their upper ends the rollers are provided with pinions c2 and f', which en- 'gage with each other, and outside of thelatter is a second and smaller' pinion,f2, with which a large gear-wlieel, G, mounted on the supplementary trame, is arranged to engage, the latter being driven by a pinion, r/, on a shaft, H, which is mounted in suitable bearings at the side ot' the machine, and at its lower end is provided with a beveled pinion, h, engaging with the similar pinion on the driveshatt, and so receiving motion from the latter. Through this mechanism it will be seen that a rotary movement will be communicated to the feedrollers. lThis movement is outward from each other, and is timed so as to move the rollers in relation to the carrier as described above.

Itwillolcoursebeunderstoodthatthe blanks are delivered to the ieedrollers at their upper ends; but itis necessary to provide some means for delivering them with comparative regularity; otherwise the operation ofthe feed-rollers will be impaired by choking. For this purpose we employ a cylinder, l. which is provided with a series of spiral wings or flanges, i, arranged around the inside ot' the cylinder, a-nd running from top to bottom, as shown in Figs. l and l() of thedrawings. In the drawwhich is the number we have found producing the most satisfactory result, though a variation may be made in this respect. The cylinder is mounted outside ot' theiupper end of the rollers, being arranged atan inclination thereto, as shown in Fig. 8 ofthe drawings. At its lower end it is provided with a band-pulley, i', and near its upper end with a collar, i, which rests on small rollers I', mounted on ysuitable diverging brackets on the supplementary frame. The upper end ot' the cylinder is arranged so as to deliver the blanks just over the edge and into a hopper. J, and arranged just above the rollers. It desired, it may be provided with a lid,j, which, however, must be cnt away at the upper end, as shown in Fig. 1. ofthe drawings, to permit the blanks falling from the cylinder to enter the hopper. A band-pulley, K, is mounted ou the shaft ot the wheel G, and from this pulley a band, lr, is run to the like pulley on` the cylinder, passing underneath suitable guide-pulleys, l", below the cylinder, and by this means a suitable rotary motion is communicated to the feed-cylinder. rlhe latter is also provided with means for adjusting the angle of its inclination, whereby the feed may be regulated, for obviously the nearer the cylinder is brought to the horizontal position the more rapidly will the blanks be delivered to the feed-rolls. This adjustment. may be effected by making either the upper or lower bearings ol' the cylinder adjustable in any ordinary way, or by any other device whichl is suitable for this purpose. I

The blanks are placed in the cylinder in quantity, when, obviously, by the rotation of' the latter, a portion of the blanks will be brought up by each spiral section, and finally delivered at the upper end into the hopper ot' the feed-rollers, in this operation the blanks slipping down the incline ot' the iiange into the hopper as the iiange is turning away from the latter, and therefore the uumberot' blanks falling into the hopper will depend upon the angle at which the ilange stands. Some ofthe blanks will fall back into the cylinder, and the number ot' these will depend upon the inclination of the latter, heilig increased as the axis of the cylinder approaches a perpendicular. The blanks falling upon the feed-rolls will be carried down gradually, in the meantime slipping in between the rollers point downward and held by their heads, the space between the rollers not being large enough to permit the heads to pass through. 'lhis space is only a little greater than the thickness of the blanks, so that the latter will always hang in the rollers with their wider faces next the surfaces ofthe former. In this position they are carried down gradually by the rotation of the feed-rollers, reaching successively the spiral groove at the lower end ot' the outer one. Each blank, asit reaches this groove, is crowded into it by the contraction of the space between the rollers, 'so that the blanks are car- IOO IOS

IIO

IIS

ried down at a regular rate at this end of the l will be deliveredin this position into the rollers, and -are brought regularly' one after another at the lower end of the spiral groove, directly opposite the respective notches of the feed-carrier. The carrier is standing at rest at this moment, and the continued rotation of the threaded roller willj of course crowdi the blank into the notch opposite, into whichk it drops by the action of the unthreadedsection at the extremity of the roller, the eccentric pin on the opposite roller movingjn proper time to permitthis action. Sometimes the blanks willbefed down too rapidly, oriu such quantity as'not to all of them drop down'hetween the rollers; and to prevent the action of the feed being impeded in this way, we provide a wire brush, L, which consists o f a'hubandradiallyarranged pieces of wire, l, and is mounted on a shaft, Z', standing at right angles to the feed-y rollers,. a short distance above the spiral. This brush stands so that the ends of its wires will just enter the space between the rollers. On the other end of its shaft is a band-pulley, l2, over which a bandi, M, runs to a similar pulley, m, on the shaft H, a guide-pulley, m', being arranged to direct thevband properly'to these pulleys, which stand at about right angles to each other. a i.

It will be seen that arotary motion is thus communicated to the brush This movement is backward, and therefore any blanks which are fed-down irregularly by the rollers willbe pushed back by the wires of the brush, and

. kept back uiitil they finally come down in proper position. lJust below they brush is a short guide, N, arranged just above the opening between the rollers under which the heads' of the blanks must pass, and which serves, in connection with the brush, to fix the blanks in proper position as they are brought to the Spiral groovejust below. This guide is shown in the drawings as a loose piece, which is held Y in position by a spring, n.

At the lowerend of therollers is another guide, n', which is mounted on the stationary ring and projects ,back over the end of the roller E a short distance, as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings, and serves as a further deviceto insure the proper position of the blanks as they come down to the point of`delivery.

Now, it will be seen from the above description that the blanks will bel brought d owny regularly4 by the feed-rollers and c lelivered one after the otherin propersuccession into thenotches of the ring-carrier butthle'blanks of horseshoe-nails are curved, and in the ringcarrier, as they Vare brought to the several devices for finishing, they must stand with their curves all one way, preferably with their convex surfacesoutward,iwhich is the arrange-v Vment in the Wills finisher referred'to above.

vIt is obvious that no provision, is 4made in the operation ofthe feed-rolls to insure the delivery of the blankslo the carrier inuniform position. in this particular; but they will come down through the feed-rollswiththeir.convex sides some one `way and some the other, and

notchesof the carrier. This irregularity must be corrected or the blanks will not all be prop,

erly finished by the machine. `We have devised mechanism to accomplish this result, which we will now proceed to describe.

It will be readily understood by-those familiar with the shape of horseshvoe-ualsthat as the blanks hang in the carrier the points of vthose having-their convex sides outward will be turned inward, while the points of the others will be turned outward. Below the ring-carrier is a guideor'switch, O, mounted on a post, .0, and extending forward, so as to catch the blanks soon after they commence their travel around with the ring. Theforward end of this guide is, bent outward slightlyand is placed being bent downward where it comes in contact with a ca ni, q, on the shaft H, to which it is held by a suitable spring, q', the end of the lever being also providedwith a roller, q2, to relieve friction, if desired. Thisnlifter is underneath onen of the notches of the ring- .carrierwhenever the latter stops, buta littley outside thereof, yso that it will be about underneath the outwardly-swinging point ot' a mis- ,placed blank, which may be held in the notch lifter rests upon the inner end of a lever, Q, pivoted to the main frame, and extending outward at the side of the machine, its outer end IOO above. Immediately above this notch in the i carrier is a a short vertical shaft, R, mounted in a post, vR. Atthe lower end of this shaft is a head, @with a notch,r,cnt across it, and at the upperl end of the shaft is a pinion, r2, which engages with a segmental rack, S, mounted on a post, s, so that it may be oscillated back and forth.

The oscillation of the rack isfaccomplished .by means of a lever, T, pivoted to the outside of the main frame, and connected at its upper Aend by a pitmamt, to the rack, while at` its `properly regulated to secure just the required movement of the shaft, which will obviously be rotated back and forth by the oscillation of the rack.V i i The upper end of theslidin g lifter is recessed slightly, as shown in Fig.2 of the drawings, so

as to securecertainty of action, and the opera tion of this mechanism is as follows: The parts are all timed,so that assoon as the ring-carrier stops the lifter is raised, and if a misplaced blank hangs aboveit, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, it will of course be lifted up. The notch in the head of the shaft above, when at rest, stands lengthwise over the notch in the carrier iu the line of progression of the latter,

as lshown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, so that the head ofthe blank will be carried into this notch by the operation of the lifter just described, and as soon as this is accomplished the rack begins to move, thereby turning the pinion with which it engages half-way Iaround, and so turning the blank halfway around, which brings it into proper position, with its point turning inward. The lifter is at once withdrawn, when the blank drops back in its notch in the carrier in the proper position for further operation, and the turning head is moved back into its former position by the oscillation of the rack in the opposite direction. It will be seed, therefore, that all the blanks are brought into proper position in the carrier before they are passed to the finishing mechanism ordinarily used in machines of this kind.

'Ihe operation of the feeding mechanism has been fully set forth in connection with the description above, and'need not be repeated, except to say that it must ofcourse be understood that all the parts are timed so as to operate relatively to each other in a manner to accomplish the successive results which have been specified.

We also have shown in the drawings a short guide, U, arranged underneath the lower end ot' the threaded feeding-roller, being fastened to the outside but stationary ring of the tinisher, with its inner end just outside of the notches of the ring carrier at this point and with its outer end bent considerably outward from this line, thereby guiding all the points of the blanks in toward the carrier and assisting in securing the certain delivery of a blank at its proper point into the notch ofthe carrier in readiness to receive it. By this mechanism we are enabled to successfully feed the blanks to the finisher automatically, and so dispense with the attendant who has heretofore been necessary for this purpose at each machine. One person can look after several machines provided with these attachments.

Ve do not wish to be understood as limiting ourselves to the specific devices and specific construction and arrangement of devices as specified above, for many changes may be made in these particulars without atfectiugthe essential principles and operation of our invention. Even the construction of the feed-rollers may be changed, and yet the same result secured, as it is only necessary that these rollers shall be so constructed as to bring the blanks successively into proper position in front of the respective notches of the carrier, and then in some way deliver them into the notches.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a horseshoe-nail-tinishing machine, the combination of a carrier in which the blanks are suspended by their heads with a. pair of tapering feed-rollers constructed and operating to deliver the blanks into the carrier, substantially as described.

2. In a horseshoe-nail-nishing machine, the notched ring-carrier, in combination with the tapering feedrollers E and F, the former being provided with a spiral groove at its lower end, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. In a horseshoe-nail-tinishing machine, the notched ring-carrier, in combination with the tapering feed-rollers E and F, the former provided with a spiral groove at its lower end, running not quite to the extremity of the roller, and the latter with an eccentric pin at its eX- tremity. substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

4. In a horseshoe-nail-finishing machine, a carrier in which the blanks are suspended by their heads, in combination with a pair of tapering feed-rollers by which the blanks are fed into the carrier, and mechanism whereby the blanks are automatically and regularly delivered to the feed-rollers, substantially as described.

5. The tapering feed-rollers, in combination with the inclined feed-cylinder provided with spiral flanges around the inside thereof, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

6. The feed-rollers, in combination with the inclined feed-cylinder provided with inside spiral anges, and adjusting mechanism whereby the inclination ofthe cylinder may be changed, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

7. The tapering feed-rollers E F, in combination with the revolving brush, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

S. rIhe notched ring-carrier, in combination with the feed-rollers E F and the guides above and below the lower end of the roller E, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

i). In a horseshoe-nail-finishing machine, a carrier in which the blanks are suspended by their heads, in combination with a pair of ta- IOO pering feed-rollers which deliver the blanks earn t', and notched ring-carrier, substantially the wheel G, inclined feedcylinder, band-pulas described. ley K on the shaft; of the wheel G, band 7c, 14. The feed-rollers E F, in combination with and bend-pulley on the cylinder, substantially the revolving regulating-brush L and the guide as described.

5 N, substantially as described.

15. The feed-rollersE F,in combination with HARRY A' WILLS the brush L, mounted on the shaftv l', the band- JACOB D' Km GSLAND' pulley m on the shaft H, andV the band M, subvWitnesses: stantially as described. J No. C. MAGGREGOR,

ro 16. The feed-rollers E F,in combination with G. E. FAULKNER.

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