US2894582A - Rotary cutoff machine with radially movable cutters - Google Patents

Description

ROTARY CUTOFF MACHINE WITH RADIALLY MOVABLE CUTTERS Filed May 14, 1956 A. H. LONG July 14, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 m6 3% ZZ U w M A. H. LONG July 14, 1959 ROTARY CUTOFF MACHINE WITH RADIALLY MOVABLE CUTTERS Filed May 14. 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 mmvron. A e THUR H. L ONG H/Q A Train/Ev July 14, 1959 Y 'A.. H. LONG 2,894,582

ROTARY CUTOFF MACHINE WITH RADIALLY MOVABLE CUTTERS Filed May 14, 1956 s Shee ts-Sheet s INVENTOR. Aer/402 H. L 0N6 H15 A rroau: v-

United States Patent ROTARY CUTOFF MACHINE wrrn RADIALLY MOVABLE CUTTERS Y Arthur Long, Mount Lebanon, Pa., assign or to Wm.

K. Stamets Company, Pittsburgh, Pa a corporation ofsPennsylvania Application May 14, 1956, Serial No; 584,597 Claims. (Cl. 164-60) This invention relates generally to machine tools and more particularly to a machine for cutting off lengths of stock such as pipe.

. A machine comprising this invention is an improvement over that disclosed in my Patent No. 2,681,106

issued June 16, 1954. The cutoif machinecomprising this invention may. be operated automatically or manually in severing predetermined lengths of stock or measured varied lengths. This cutoff machine employs rotary cutting discs of which there are three or more rotatably mounted on tool shafts supported ,in

slides that move radially of the stock for feeding the toolsinto the work or retracting the same while work is performed on the stock such as cutting off the same.

In this type of cutoff machine the work is ordinarily held stationary while a plurality of cutters rotatev about the same. The problems in machines of this character reside in the-manner in which the tools are fed into and from the work which problems have been overcome by the present invention. In the previous structure the use of conical antifrictional bearings are keyed to the pumping action of the oil retained within the lubricant reserperforming work on stationary bodies without creating a pumping action on the oil in the reservoir and which also providesfor movement of the shafts and spindle due to expansion or contraction of the same under normal operating conditions.

Another object is the provision of a servomotor for operating the tool slide actuating sleeve which motor provides a balance of the forces to the annular sleeve thereby avoiding excessive wear at concentrated points which are present in yoke and trunnion feeder arrangements.

Another object is the provision of improved structural members making up an annular fluid motor that provides a balanced load transmission.

Other objects and advantages appear hereinafter in the following description and claims.

The accompanying drawings show for the purpose of exemplification, without limiting the invention and claims thereto, certain practical embodiments of the invention wherein:

Fig. 1 is a view in vertical section of a radially fed rotary tool and its actuating mechanism.

Fig. 2 is a transverse view of one' end of the fluid motor comprising this invention.

Fig. 3 is a view in vertical section'of a housing for a I 2,894,582 Patented July 14, 1959 2 q double-acting annular fluid motor made in three sections. 6

Fig.4 is an enlarged detail of the structure shown in Fig. '3 illustrating the manner of supplying fluid under pressure to one chamber of the fluid motor.

Fig. 5 isan enlarged detail of the structure shown in Fig. 3 illustrating the manner of supplying fluid under pressure to the other chamber of the fluid motor.

Fig. 6 is a schematic view illustrating the fluid supply to the double-acting annular fluid motor.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 6 the housing 1 of the cutoff machine is in the form of an annular base that would be mounted on a subbase structure interposed between coaxially aligned vice or clamping members along which the stock is fed. Since the substructure and vice or clamping means do not form a part of this invention, they are not disclosed herein.

The inner housing or base 1 provides an annular reservoir 2 which may be closed at its upper end by the plate member 3 that is bolted or otherwise secured to the housing. The upper portion of the housing forming the chamber 2 is enlarged as indicated at 4 and is provided with aligned bearings 5 and 6 for supporting the drive shaft 7. The outer end of the drive shaft 7 is provided with a key 8 to receive a drive pulley of any suitable character frorna prime mover such as an electric motor. Intermediate the bearings 5 and 6 the shaft 7 is provided with a key 10 that locks the gear 11 thereto as to rotation but permits the same to slide thereon. The gear 11 is a continuous tooth spiral herring bone gear.

1 The bearing 5 provides two opposed frusto conical is reduced in diameter as indicated at 14 and extends through the seal 15 and the bearing housing 16 that is secured to the housing 4. The reduced shaft 14 is provided with a bore to receive the shaft 17 of the positive displacement or gear pump 18 which is mounted outside of the housing 4, which gear pump supplies the fluid under pressure for actuating the circulating oil spray in the chamber 2 which forms a part of this invention.

The opposite antifriction bearing 6 is provided with an inner race 20 that is cupped to hold the rollers 21. However, the outer race 22 is cylindrical which permits the rollers to move with the inner race assembly across the cylindrical surface of the outer race 22 to allow for expansion and contraction movement of the shaft 7.

One side'of the housing 1 is provided with an annular bearing supporting ring 23 which carries on its inner facethe tight raced antifriction ball bearing 24. The outer race'25 of which has been split to permit the balls to be assembled on the inner race 26 and then reassembled and clamped together. An antifriction ball bearing of this character having inner and outer tight races is capable of supporting radial loads as well as dealing lateral thrusts. This bearing 24 is held on the ring 23 by the lock ring 27. The split race 25 permits clearance adjustment.

At the opposite'face of the housing 1 is the bearing 28 which is similar to the bearing 6 in that it is provided with a grooved inner race 30 and a smooth cylindrical outer race 31. However, the rollers 32 are smaller in diameter as, compared to the rollers 21 of the bearing 6. The inner race 26 of bearing 24 and inner race 30 of the bearing 28 are both mounted on the cylindrical surface 33 of the rotary spindle 34. Thus for all practical purposes, a single cylindrical surface 33 carries the bearings 24 and 28. The inner race 26 of the ball bearing 24 is shoved-against the shoulder at one end of the cylindrical surface 33 and the hub 37 of the gear 35 which is keyed to the spindle 34 by the key 36, engages the other side of the inner race 26 at one end and the inner side of the race 30 at its other end and this inner race assembly 3 30 is secured to the spindle 34 by the annular ring 38. The spindle 34 is provided with the head 41] which at its inner bore is secured to the guide tube 41 as indicated at 42. The front end of the guide tube 41 is provided with a guide bell 43.

The outer race 31 of the bearing 28 is held by the annular servo motor housing 44, the bore of which has a seat to receive the outer race 45 of the antifriction ball bearing 46 which is held in position by the annular retainer 47 that provides for an oil seal 43 between the retainer ring 47 which is stationary and the exterior of the guide tube 41 which rotates.

The antifriction ball bearing 46 is provided with an inner race 50 seated on the tool slide actuating sleeve 51 and held in place by the retainer ring 52. The tool slide actuating sleeve 51 has sliding engagement with the bore '53 of the spindle 34 and is keyed thereto by the key member 54 to prevent any relative rotary movement by the sleeve 51 and the spindle 34. The opposite end of the sleeve 51 is provided with a series of pins 55 to which is pivotally connected the links 56, the outer ends of which are pivotally connected by the pins 57 to the legs 58 of the bell crank levers 66 that are rotatably mounted on the shafts 61. The other legs 62 of the bell crank levers have ball members pivotally mounted in the sockets 64 of the slides 65. The slides 65 are provided with any suitable adjusting means such as the screws 66 that operate in the slide member and may be mechanically adjusted through the nonround end 67 to raise or lower the bearing 68 that houses the stub shaft 70, on the free end of which is journaled the rotary tool 71 which in this instance is provided with a cutting disc 72. The tool 71 is ordinarily provided with antifriction bearings so they may freely rotate on the stub shaft 70. Three or more of the slides 65 may be uniformly positioned about the head 46 of the spindle 34 and each tool 72 may be thanually adjusted to its proper position relative to the axis 73 of the machine. Aiter the tools have been set and a stock is fed through the guide tube which is locked in position, then the tooi slide actuating sleeve 51 is drawn to the right to swing the bell crank lever 6t) and thus feed the tools into the work.

It will be noted that an oil seal is placed between the spindle head 40 and the annular bearing ring 23 to prevent any escape of oil past the bearing 24. It will be also noted that a labyrinth groove 75 is placed on the spindle head 40 and a corresponding tongue is placed on the ring 3 so as to aid in sealing this end of the chamher or reservoir 2. However, the bearings 24 and 46 together with the gears 11 and 35 continually operate in oil. Oil is circulated through the bearings 28 and 46 and is sealed by the seal 48 between the retainer ring 47 and the guide tube 41. An seal 75 is positioned between the housing 44 and the bearing carrier ring 76 between which there is relating slidable movement. The bearing retainer ring 47 locks the outer race 45 of the bearing 46 on the bearing carrier ring 76 and the bearing carrier ring 76 is provided with a series of openings to receive the ends of the piston rod 77 which are bolted thereto and which pass through the sealing or packing means 78 in aligned openings in the housing 44 to permit the rod 77 to be connected to their respective pistons 80 that move in the bores 81 between the chambers 82 and 83. The ends of the bores 81 are closed by the removable plugs $4 in the end wall of the housing 4-4.

As shown in Fig. 2 the housing 44 has six piston rods 77 extending therefrom and each of these piston rods are packed by sealing means 78. The rim of the housing 44 is bolted to the machine casing 4 by means of the bolts 85. The two annular fluid chambers 82 and 83 are supplied by the lines 86 and 37 and line 86 is attached to the threaded bore 88 that extends directly into the chamber 82; whereas the line 87 passes through a bore in the housing 44 and through chamber 82 to the bore 90 between the annular chambers 82 and 83. The line '87 is Welded to seal the same as indicated at 91 and thus there is no fluid communication between the line 87 and the chamber 82. As illustrated in Fig. l the housing 44 is an integral unit being cored through the cylinder bores Referring to Figs. 3, 4 and 5 the housing 44 is made up of three separate castings. The outer casting 92 that is provided with openings 93 for receiving the bolts and the bores 94- in its end wall for receiving the packing 78 and the piston rods 77 which bores are aligned with the cylinder bores 81 in the cylinder housing ring 95. The other end of the housing 44 is enclosed by the cap member 96. Each of the three castings are stepped so as to provide a fluid type seal therebetween and form the two fluid chambers 82 and 83. The cap member 96 is likewise provided with openings 97 in its end wall to receive the removable plugs 84 in alignment with the cylinder bores 81. The three members are preferably welded along the abutting edges to secure the same togeth'er. The weld marks are indicated in Figs. 4 and 5 at 93.

Referring to Fig. 6 the casing or housing 99 is provided with a reservoir 100 to carry hydraulic liquid for the servom'otor. This hydraulic system is independent of the lubricant system and is provided with a motor 101 driving a pump 102 through a coupling 103. The pump 'is provided with an inlet 104 which extends down into the reservoir and is provided with a filter 105. The output of the pump is delivered to the pressure control valve 106 which has a manual adjusting member 107 to determine the pressure of the hydraulic liquid delivered to the output line 103. The excessive liquid is returned through the bypass line 109. In operation the manual control valve has a bleed off line 110 which delivers any excessive leakage from the other side of the manual control valve 107 to the one way valve 111 which permits the liquid accumulated to return to the reservoir through the pipe 112. The check valve 111 prevents any pressure that may be generated in the reservoir to be applied against the manual control valve 107.

The hydraulic oil under pressure is delivered by the pipe 108 to the valve 113 which is a four way solenoid operated valve and it selectively supplies oil under pressure to the lines 87 and 86 to supply liquid under pressure to either the annular chamber 83 or 82 respectively. When one annular chamber is supplied with hydraulic oil under pressure the other chamber is exhausted through the pipe 114 back to the reservoir 100. A second bypass 115 is provided to bleed off any hydraulic fluid on the opposite side of the valve operating mechanism as it is shifted from one position to the other.

Thus the hydraulic oil under pressure is supplied to either the annular chamber 82 or the annular chamber 83 and the opposite chamber is exhausted. Since the chambers 82 and 83 are exposed to the opposite sides of the pistons 80 in their respective cylindrical bores 81, the fluid is effective in moving the pistons in the direction of the annular chamber that is being exhausted and thus a pressure is simultaneously applied to all the pistons and their piston rods are simultaneously moved to travel the hearing carrier 76 to actuate the sleeve 51 and thus move the slides to feed the tools into the work or retract them from the work. The equal annular placement of the pistons 80 provide a uniform distribution of the pressures through the bearing carrier and through the tool slide actuating sleeve thus avoiding any wear or any unbalanced friction load on the machine.

The pump 18 being constantly driven With the shaft 7 draws the lubricant from the bottom of the chamber'Z and causes it to be sprayed into the top of the chamber 2 over the gears and the other elements to thoroughly lubricate the same and circulate from the sump at the bottom of the chamber 2. The pump 18 has the inlet 116 and an 'outlet 117 which terminates in the spray nozzle 118 on the inside of the chamber 2. Thus a goodly supply of oil is retained within the chamber 2 and the character of the bearings 24, 28 and 46 prevent the oil from being pumped out of the chamber 2 and it thus may be readily held by the seals 48, 74 and 75.

I claim:

1. A machine, including tool slide means and an actuating sleeve therefor, a servomotor with an annular housing having two end walls and enclosing two spaced annular chambers connected by a plurality of cylinder bores in uniform spaced relation to each other, a piston in each bore selectively operated by the fluid pressure in said annular chambers, a piston rod on each piston the end of which passes through one chamber and out through sealed openings in one end wall, a bearing carrier ring secured to the ends of all of said piston rods, an antifriction bearing having one race mounted in said bearing carrier ring and its other race mounted on the tool silde actuating sleeve to reciprocate the latter.

2. Ihe structure of claim 1 characterized in that said annular housing is made up of a head section, a cylinder housing section and a cap section all made from a single integral member.

3. The structure of claim 1 characterized in that said annular housing is in three annular members secured together, namely the annular cylinder head which is mounted on the cutoff machine and carries the piston rod sealed openings, the annular cylinder ring and the annular cap, said annular chambers being formed between said annular members.

4. The structure of claim 1 which also includes removable plugs in said other end wall opposite to said cylinder bores to close openings through which said pistons are passed for assembling.

5. The structure of claim 1 which also includes means defining aligned openings through said one end wall and between said chambers, and conduit means extending through the end wall opening and sealed therewith and having its inner end passing through one chamber and sealed with the opening between said chamber to supply fluid pressure to said other fluid chamber.

6. The structure of claim 1 characterized in that said antitrictional bearing is of the ball type having one race split to mount the balls in place and is thereafter secured together.

7. The structure of claim 1 which also includes a spindle keyed tosaid tool slide actuating sleeve permitting. reciprocating movement of the latter in the spindle, an antifriction ball bearing with one race split mounted in said cutoff machine to rotatably support one end of said spindle, and an antifrictional cylindrical roller bearing having one race surface with a coaxial cylindrical surface mounted in said cutoff machine to rotatably support the other end of said spindle to allow expansion and contraction of the spindle at that end only without affecting the adjustment of said tool slide actuating sleeve.

8. The structure of claim 1 characterized by a spindle having a tool slide head at one end, a bore in said spindle opening to the other end of said spindle to support said tool slide actuating sleeve for reciprocation, spaced antifn'ctional bearings supporting the opposite ends of said spindle in said cutofi machine, and a guide tube having one end fastened to the head end of said spindle and extending through said tool slide actuating sleeve.

9. The structure of claim 8 characterized in that said antifirictional bearings supporting said spindle are substantially the same diameter.

10. The structure of claim 8 characterized in that said head and sleeve bearings are tight raced ball bearings and said bearing at the plane end of said spindle has one free race to permit expansion and contraction of said spindle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,828,371 Hyde et a1 Oct. 20, 1931 1,930,295 Von Henke Oct. 10, 1933 2,168,853 Abbey Aug. 8, 1939 2,186,061 Berg et al Jan. 9, 1940 2,562,879 Abbey Aug. 7, 1951 2,636,350 Alcorn Apr. 28, 1953 2,681,106 Long June 15, 1954 2,744,576 Kriegh May 8, 1956 2,745,253 Towler et a1. May 15, 1956

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