US2906316A

US2906316A - Bending machine wiper die supporting means

Info

Publication number: US2906316A
Application number: US677869A
Authority: US
Inventors: Stephen G Gerlach
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1957-08-13
Filing date: 1957-08-13
Publication date: 1959-09-29
Anticipated expiration: 1976-09-29

Description

Sept. 29, 1959 s. e. GERL ACH BENDING MACHINE WIPER DIE SUPPORTING MEANS Filed Aug. 13, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 i WM,

Jim I Sept. 29, 1959 s. G. GERLACH 2,906,316

BENDING MACHINE WIPER DIE SUPPORTING MEANS Filed Aug. 13, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

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United States Patent BENDING MACHINE WIPER DIE SUPPORTING MEANS Stephen G. Gerlach, Burbank, Calif.

Application August 13, 1957, Serial No. 677,869

Claims. (Cl. 153-40) This invention relates to machines for bending tubes and bars, commonly referred to astube bending machines, and more particularly to an adjustable mounting means for the wiper die component of the workpiece engaging elements of the machine. Machines of the above character employ different sets of dies for each diameter of tubing or bar to be bent therein and for each radius of bend in each size and cross sectional shape of the workpiece. These elements comprise a forming die mounted for rotation or oscillation and having a workpiece engaging surface engaging half of the perimeter of the workpiece and curved about the radius of the inner dimension of the bend to be formed and also including a straight portion disposed'tangentially to the curved portion and similarly shaped to engage the perimeter of the workpiece, a clamping die associated with the forming die and movable toward and away from the straight portion of the forming die to clamp and release the end of the workpiece beyond the point of the bend, a guiding die engaging the opposite portion of the perimeter of the workpiece and extending from a plane normal to the axis of the workpiece and intersecting the axis of rotation of the forming die toward the opposite end of the workpiece, and awiper die disposed on the opposite side of the workpiece from the guiding die and engaging the same half .of the workpiece perimeter as the forming die on one face thereof and on the opposite face thereof being shaped to closely-fit thework engaging curved surface of the forming die so shaped that when in alignment with the forming die the workpiece engaging surface thereof 'is disposed tangentially to the said curved surface of the forming die. In use, the guiding die and wiper die grip the workpiece sufficiently to hold the movement thereof in a straight line as the Work is pulled between them incident to rotation or oscillation of the forming die in making a bend. To make accurate bends, particularly in thin walled tubing, it is essential that the wiper die be extremely accurately positioned with respect to the forming die. As before stated each size of material to be bent and each radius of bend requires a separate set of these dies; At each set-up, the wiper die of a given set of dies must be accurately adjusted and heretofore such adjustment has been a matter of trial and error on each set up of the machine, such set-ups sometimes consuming hours.

With this problem in mind, the principal object of the invention is to provide a mounting means for the wiper dies of die sets used in bending machines which is adjustable vertically, horizontally laterally of the axis of the endwise movement of the workpiece, and rotatively about a vertical axis disposed at the work advancing side of the forming die axis.

Another object of the invention is to provide an adjustable mounting means for the wiper die of a bending machine die set which is adjustable as' above stated and which includes indicia means whereby the correct setting for each wiper die as initially determined by trial and error may be noted and recorded with resultant elimina- '2 is engaged by a pin 20 extending transversely of the tion of time in trial and error setting when the specific set of dies including the wiper die is again used.

With the foregoing objects in view, together with such additional objects and advantages as may subsequently appear, the invention resides in the parts, and in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts described, by way of example, in the following specification of a presently preferred embodiment of the invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings which form a part of said specification and in which drawings:

Fig. l is a fragmentary top plan view of a bending machine showing the wiper die mounting means of the present invention mounted thereon,

Fig. 2 is a front elevation view, a portion of the wiper" die being broken away to conserve space,

Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view taken on the line 3-3' of Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the right hand side of Fig. 2,

Fig. 5 is a medial sectional view taken on the lines 5-5 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 6 is a plan sectional view taken on the line 66 of Fig. 4, and

Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken on the line 7-7 of Fig. 5.

Referring to the drawings, the device is shown applied to a bending machine comprising a bed or frame member A on which a forming die B and a cooperating clamp member C are mounted for movement about an axis D.

A guiding die E is fixedly mounted on the bed A forengagement with the side of the workpiece comprising a lel bearing surfaces H provided with a series of spaced holes I to which the base plate 1 of the present invention is secured by bolts 2 in any selected position deter.- mined by the holes I.

The base 1 is a flat metal plate having a hole '3 in the center thereof in which the pilot plug 4 of the upwardly extending bracket 5 closely fits with only suflicient clearance to permit it to be turned therein without appreciable play. The bracket 5 includes a generally circular bottom portion 6 which rests on the top surface of the base 1, said bottom portion being provided with a series of radially spaced arcuate slots 7 generated about the axis of the pilot plug 4 and through which bolts 8 extend for threaded engagement with the base. plate l to secure the bracket 5 in rotative adjusted position. The top surface of the base 1 adjacent to the side of the bottom portion 6 of the bracket 5 is provided with graduations 9 extending on opposite sides of a central zero position and the bottom portion is provided with an index mark 10 movable along the graduations incident to the rotativeadjustment of the bracket 5 and from which the setting can be ascertained. i Y

At its upper end, the bracket carries means for adjustably supporting a laterally extending bracket armll lying generally parallel to the direction of travel ofthe workpiece and to which the wiping die I is secured bybolts 12, and other end of said arm being formed asan integral portion of a head 13 mounted for limited move-- arms of the yoke member carrya vertical stud element 17 having a threaded upper end 18 engaging the upper arm 14 and a smooth lower end journaled in the arm 15. Between the arms Hand 15 the stud extends through the head 13, and at the mid length of the hole in the head 13, the stud is provided with a peripheral groove 19 which head. Thus, as the stud 17 is rotated moving it upwardly or downwardly in the arms 14 and 15, the head 13 will be raised or lowered with it, the pin and groove engagement described allowing rotative movement of the stud and limited oscillatory movement of the head while'preventing relative endwise movement between the stud and head.

The upper end of the bracket is provided with a guiding and supporting means for the yoke 16' comprising. a side wall 21 and a rear wall 22 formed integrally with the bracket 5, anda side plate 23 secured to the free edge of the rear wall by screws 24 and extending forwardly therefrom parallel to the side wall and engaging the side thereof opposite the side wall 21; said side plate having a shallow recess 25 formed in the yoke engaging face thereof thereby holding the yoke against vertical. movement. A bolt 26 extending through the lower forward edge of the side plate 23 and threadedly engaging the corresponding portion of the side wall 21 serves to hold the plate 23 in parallelism with the side wall 21. The rear wall 22 is provided with a threaded bore 27 disposed at about the center of the rear face of the yoke 16 and the back of the yoke is provided with a bore 28 of lesser diameter than and in axial alignment with the bore 27. A threaded stud 29 is mounted in the bore 27 carrying an end portion 30 disposed in the bore 28 having a peripheral groove 31 thereon engaged by a cross pin 32 disposed in a transverse bore 33 in the yoke member 16. Rotation of the stud 29 will thus move the yoke 16 and the devices carried thereby forwardly and rearwardly in a line normal to the workpiece engaging surface of the wiper die. Preferably, the side wall 21 and the side plate 23 are provided with

bores

33 and 34, respectively, disposed opposite of and being of larger diameter than the bore 33 whereby access may be had to the pin 32 for removing and replacing it incident to maintenance of the device.

The adjusting means above described are effective to allow the bracket to be adjusted rotatively about the axis of the pilot plug 4, the yoke to be moved forwardly and rearwardly in a horizontal plane and the head 13 with the integrally formed bracket arm 11 which directly supports the wiper die to be adjusted vertically relative to the yoke. All of these adjustments allow the end of the wiper die which contacts the forming die surface to be exactly adjusted so that the workpiece engaging surface of the wiper die extends exactly tangentially to the curve of the forming die workpiece engaging surface and so that the rear or forming die engaging surface of 'the wiper die fits the form die surface with equal exactitude, both of such engagements being necessary to accurate bending operations.

The formation of this rear surface of wiper dies is diflicult and exacting and generally, even with seemingly identical dies, slightly different settings are required for. each to operate properly. To this end, in addition to the graduations 9 which indicate the-rotative position of the bracket 5, means is provided for indicating the vertical position of the head 13 and for the horizontal position of the .yoke. Thus, once a wiper die has been satisfactorily adjusted, the data obtained from the various means and stamped on the forming die or otherwise recorded. Thus, when the dies are again used together, the wiper die can be adjusted according to the data on the forming die with consequent saving of both time and material in setting up the bending machine.

The vertical position indicating means comprises a bell crank lever 35 disposed in a slot 36 extending downwardly from the upper surface of the yoke 16 and pivoted on a cross pin 37. The lever has one arm 38 extending forwardly beyond the front face of the back member of the yoke and engaging a horizontal slot 39 formed in the rear face of the'head 13. The lever includes a second arm 40 extending above the upper surface of the yoke 13 and terminating in a sharp edged pointer portion movable along a graduated scale 41 formed on a top plate 42 secured by screws 43 and extending across the top of the rear portion of the yoke 16 and having a slot in registry with the slot 36. Thus as the head 13 is raised or lowered by the screw 17, the pointer portion of the lever arm 40 will move along the scale and indicate the position of the head 13 above or below a zero point at the middle of the scale, the scale preferably indicating the position in thousandths of an inch plus or minus from the said zero position.

The top plate is further provided with a rearwardly extending tongue portion 44 slidable in a slot 45 formed in the top edge of the rear wall 22 and said tongue is provided with a reference mark 46 movable past a set of graduations 47 carried by the top face of the rear wall adjacent to the slot 45; said graduations extending to either side of a center zero mark whereby the forward or rearward position of the yoke may be observed and recorded together with the data obtained from the other position indicating means.

Although the recording of the data thus obtained from an initial setup is preferably recorded on the forming die, it may, of course, be preserved in any other manner deemed suitable. The advantage of the device is first that it permits the wiper die to be adjusted by precise increments and second, once the correct setting has been achieved, the settings may be recorded for use in subsequent setups of the same forming and wiper dies.

While the foregoing specification discloses by way of example a presently preferred embodiment of the invention, the invention is not to be deemed to be limited to the exact details thus disclosed, and it will be understood that the invention embraces all such modifications and changes in the parts, and in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts as shall come within the purview of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a supporting means for the wiper die component of a tube and bar bending machine, a horizontally extending bracket arm adapted for the attachment of a wiper die thereto, and adjustable means for supporting said bracket arm, said means including means for adjusting said bracket arm vertically, other means for adjusting said bracket arm horizontally toward and away from the path of travel of a workpiece past a wiper die mounted on said bracket arm, and separate means for adjusting said bracket arm rotatively about a vertical axis.

2. A wiper die supporting means as claimed in claim 1 in which said means for adjusting said bracket arm vertically is carried by the means for adjusting said bracket arm horizontally.

3. A wiper die supporting means as claimed in claim 1 in which said means for adjusting said bracket arm about a vertical axis carries both of said means for adjusting said bracket arm vertically and horizontally.

4. A wiper die supporting means as claimed in claim 1 in which each of said adjusting means includes a graduated scale and a reference line on adjacent relatively movable parts by which the extent of adjustment of each of said adjusting means can be ascertained.

5. A wiper die supporting means as claimed in claim 1 in which said vertical adjusting means includes means allowing limited oscillatory movement of said bracket arm about a vertical axis.

6. In a supporting means for the wiper die component of a tube and bar bending machine, a base, a bracket mounted on said base with capacity for adjustment about a vertical axis, a horizontally extending bracket arm mounted on said bracket having means affording attachment of a wiper die on said arm, and devices carried by said bracket and supporting said bracket arm including devices operable to adjust said bracket arm vertically and other devices operable to adjust said bracket arm horizontally in a direction normal to the workpiece engaging surface of the wiper die.

7. A wiper die supporting means as claimed in claim 6 in which said means for adjusting said bracket arm horizontally includes a yoke mounted for sliding movement on said bracket and screw threaded means extending between said yoke and said bracket operable to move said yoke relatively to said bracket in a horizontal line extending normal to the workpiece engaging surface of the wiper die.

8. A wiper die supporting means as claimed in claim 7 in which said bracket arm is vertically adjustably carried by said yoke.

9. A wiper die supporting means as claimed in claim 7 in which said bracket arm includes a head portion disposed between the arms of said yoke and in which a vertically disposed stud extends between said arms and through said head portion and threadedly engages one of said arms and slidingly and rotatively engages the other of said arms, said stud being freely rotatable in said head portion and being secured against relative endwise movement therein.

10. A wiper die supporting means as claimed in claim 9 in which said yoke carries a bell crank lever means having References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 356,709 Cross Jan. 25, 1887 878,604 Brinkman Feb. 11, 1908 1,024,254 Garrett Apr. 23, 1912 1,135,875 Brinkman Apr. 13, 1915 1,251,678 McIntyre a Jan. 1, 1918 2,455,138 Perkins Nov. 30, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS 446,833 Germany July 12, 1927 r 507,220 Germany Sept. 30, 1930 OTHER REFERENCES An article entitled Production Tools Bend Tubing Quickly, by H. M. Williams, reprinted from the American Machinist of July 24, 1950.