US2911029A - Apparatus for forming necks on headers and indexing means to align punch and matrix with work area of header - Google Patents

Description

' Nov. 3, 1959 A. HUET 2,911,029

APPARATUS FOR FORMING NECKS ON HEADERS AND INDEXING MEANS TO ALIGN PUNCH AND MATRIX WITH WORK AREA OF HEADER Filed Jan. 18, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 fl/VDRE H05 7' IN VEN TOR.

/? T TO/P/VEY A. HUET APPARATUS FOR FORMING NECKS 0N HEADERS AND INDEXING MEANS TO ALIGN PUNCH AND MATRIX WITH WORK AREA OF HEADER Nov. 3, 195

Filed Jan. 18, 1955 s sheets-sheep:

ll/VDRE 1/05 7' IN VEN TOR.

fl TTOfA/EY APPARATUS FOR FORMING NECKS N HEADERS AND INDEXING MEANS T0 ALIGN PUNCH AND MATRIX wrrn WORK AREAoF HEADER Andr Huet, Paris, France, assignor to Combustion Engineering, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Application January 18, 1955, Serial No. 482,635 4 Claims. (Cl. 153-2) The present invention relates to a machine for manufacturing tube nipples or necks on pipes of large diameter or on headers by means of a punch arranged in the interior of-the pipe to pierce the wall to form the neck,

while a matrix is applied from the outside around the neck. The machine is destined for the manufacture of a manufacture, and are not altogether rectilinear or may not have a perfectly circular cross section. Consequently, it is necessary to provide means to center the header exactly in the cradle of the machine which supports it during the operation so that the wall of the header is exactly perpendicular to the axis of the punch during the operation.

United States Patent C An object of the present invention isthe provision of an improved machine of this type destined to produce necks and, embodies centering means with which to obtain perfect necks in the desired area of the header.

The characteristic features of the machine embodying the invention are: first, a cradle which supports that part of the header which is to be worked upon and which has a semi-circular or approximately semi-circular supporting surface conforming to the contour of the header; second, there are provided arc-shaped pressure shanks which are applied against the surface of the header opposite the cradle in locations at both sides of the area to be treated. Thisway the header must be applied perfectly against the cradle of the machine, whatever the manufacturing defects may be, and centered on the axis of said cradle and present during the forging a wall which is perfectly perpendicular to the axis of the punch. Secondly, the

punch-matrix unit being in place on the header, in the area where it is desired to produce the neck, the hydraulic operating jack which is arranged in the interiorof the header must be operated'so as to carry the punch so that the axis of said punch remains also perfectly perpendicular to the wall during the punching operation. To this end it has previously been suggested to make this jack integral with bed plates which are applied on the inner wall of the header but these plates are hard to put in place particularly when the header is long. According to the present invention the correct position of the punch and jack during the forging is obtained by means of a guide stud which is in a fixed position relatively to the matrix placed at the outside of the header and which, passing 7 preferably through one of the necks already formed in the header, engages a piece which in turn is ,in fixed position relatively to the body of the jack and .jpunchjnside the header, thus maintaining it inthe proper location and position and also preventing any swinging or any other displacement of this jack during the manufacture of the neck.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a machine em- Patented Nov. 3, 1959 stop and immobilize the punch-matrix unit in the area where the neck is to be produced as seen in a partial section transverse to the header.

The machine embodying the invention comprises a carriage 10 provided with wheels to travel on rails 12 and whose length is at least equal to that of a header a to be worked on. At one end .of the carriage 10 there is mounted on a bed or base 14 a cradle assembly 16 destined to sustain the header. Base 14 also serves as the basic support for a matrix 18 which is applied externally against the header. On the other end of the carriage 10 a bar 20 is supported by a pedestal 11 and extends into the interior of the header a. The rod 20 terminates in a pair of spaced finger-like bars 22, 24 (Fighydraulic jack 26 which actuates a punch 28 located in the interior of the header.

The cradle 16 that forms a support in which rests the the lower part of the header a opposite the area where the neck is to be formed consists as seen in Figures 1 and 2 of three supports 30, 32, 34 having semi-circular cut-outs to receive the header a. These supports 30, 32, 34 are mounted on a plate 36 connected with the bed 14 through the intermediary of a screw 38 oppositely threaded at its ends. This arrangement permits lifting the supports 30, 32, 34 so that they can be applied under the header a opposite the point where the neck is to be formed.

In the interior of the header a the bottom 40 of the jack 26 is so designed that 'it fits against the interior wall of the header which constitutes a base on which the jack bears during the forging operation.

At both sides of the header a the base 14 is provided with vertical guides or tracks 42, 44 on columns 70 (Figure 3) on which is mounted a slidable cross piece 46 which constitutes a mount for the matrix 18 that is applied against the outer and upper face of the header before and during the punching. According to the invention, the cross piece 46 is integral with a supporting plate 48 which extends in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the header (Figure 2) and from .which depend two vertically slidable arc-shaped pressure pieces or clamps 50, 52; these clamps can be held in position on their slides by means of the keys 54, 56 (Figure 1). When the cross- 'piece 46 is caused to descend to apply the matrix 18 on the surface of the header, the clamps 50, 52 are also applied on the header a opposite the cradle parts 30, 32, 34 and axially spaced at both sides of the latter. The header which is thus locked between the shanks 50, 52 and the cradle parts 30, 32, 34 is thus straightened out in spite of the inequalities and is centered exactly in the axis of said cradle (as seen in Figure 2).

To insure the immobilization of the inner jack 26 and prevent it from swinging about the longitudinal axis of the header during the punching operation there is provided a pin or stud 60 (Figure 3) mounted on a plate 62 which can slide axially of the header in a guide under the plate piece 48 and held by clamp screw 63 (Fig. 1). When the matrix 18 is lowered, the stud 60 penetrates into Finally, to ensure that the punch-matrix assembly is automatically put in place on the header a at the point where the neck is to be formed, a metal band 6 8 is mounted in a bracket 71 so that its end projects over the header a. The band 68 carries at its end for example a e s 72 p to slide along he upper en rat x o the header a. In order to form the necks in the tlfifill'td area, it is of advantage to initially drill small holes or to provide small depressions in the header a at the points where the necks are to be formed. When the teeler 72 strikes against a hole or recess, it stops there and closes for example an electric contact 74 which ignites a pilot lamp 76 thus indicating that the correct position has been attained. By means of the lever 80, blocks 82 are lowered On the wheels of the carriage 10 which immobilize the punch-matrix assembly in the correct position. The machine may be so designed that control and operating mechanism for l g the l s and stopp ng t e s r- ,riage 10 can be actuated u a cal y by t e e ec ic ontact 74 which is actuated by the feeler 72. When the carriage 10 is stopped in correct position, uncoupling of the band 68 from brack t 71 n lumn 70 is e ected y means of a lever 84 that holds the band 68 and it is then moved to the remote position, as represented in Figure 4 by the dot-dashed line, where it cannot interfere with the course of the operation.

In general the machine operates as follows:

A header 1 which preferably is provided with index holes or recesses in the areas along the generatrix where necks are to be formed is held in position so that its upper generatrix is that along which the necks are to be formed. The jack 26 is then introduced into the interior of the header through one end and carriage assembly 10 is slid along the rails 12 until the feeler 72 (Figure 4) strikes against the first index hole or recess; this signals for the carriage to stop or eifects stoppage if appropriate automatic mechanisms are provided. The cradle 30, 32, 34 is then raised on the support 14 by turning the screw 38 so that the header rests in the cradle. After the region where the neck is to be formed is heated to the desired temperature, the sliding cross-piece 46 is lowered. Hydraulic jacks or other suitable operating mechanisms having thrust rods articulated at 90, 92 (Figures 1 and 2) on ears 94 forming part of the cross piece 46 are then caused to operate so that the arc- shaped clamps 50, 52 are pressed against the outer surface of the header along lines axially spaced from the ends of the cradle 16. At the same time, the matrix 18 is applied as seen in Figure 2 against the surface of the header opposite to the punch 28. After one neck has been formed the same motion would cause the guide stud 60 to be introduced through the neck into the hole in the top of the slide 64 which forms part of the jack 26 so that longitudinal or rotary displacement of the jack in the interior of the header is prevented during the for ing operation. The stud 60 and member 64 cooperate to function 'as indexing devices to insure that the subsequently formed necks are alined with the first on the same generatrix and are in uniformly spaced relation as determined by the set position axially of the header of stud 60 with respect to matrix 18 and of punch 28 with respect to member 64.

It is then suiiicient to direct the pressure in the interior of the jack 26 so that the punch 28 pierces the surface of the header a and forms a neck, such as 96, in the desired area, by piercing through the wall of the header and upsetting the metal in the interval between the working faces of the punch-matrix 28- 18.

The clamps 50, 52 insure a perfectly perpendicular position of the upper wall with respect to the axis of the punch 28 and, on the other hand, the punch is centered exactly perpendicular to this wall during ,the punching operation, due to the guide stud 60.

When a number of necks are to be formed along the uppergeneratrix of the header ,at generallyequal intervals, the distance between the slide 6f} within the header and the axis of the punch 28 is fixed at the interval desired between two successive necks and the slide 64 is located in set position by meanso f the screw '66. Similarly the stud 60 on slide 62 is set at the same distance from the axis of the matrix .18 and the guide stud 60 is then located in this relation by the intermediary of the screw 63 (Figure 1). 4

In this way, after having formed an initial neck, such as 96, in the vicinity of one end of'the pipe it is sufficient to pass the guide stud 60 into the already formed neck 96 to insure that the axis of the matrix 18 and that of the punch 28 are automatically adjusted in place at the desired distance from neck 96 to form the second neck and so forth.

It goes without saying that minor changes can be applied to the embodiment of this invention without departing from the spirit of the invention. i

What I claim is:

In. apparatus o fo min ecks one ow h a havin a Punch pos tio ab e Wi in he h e f r 9 p ra iq w a ma x age-abl w t the e or wal surface of the header; a cradle having surfaces conform.-

. o t e ontou o t e heade and n w i the latte st or uppor t lo a o b en. t en a mo t i m ix e in pos t on a e y to nd b ve said cradle; indexing means fixed in position in a member extending into a headercarried by the cradle for positioning the punch in a location above the cradle; a s i e in x me e ca e by aid m mbe and mayable axially of said header; and a slidable indexing menaber carried by said matrix mount and adjustable on said mount with respect to said matrix in directions along the axis of said header, one of said indexing members being adjustable along the axis of the header to a predetermined position with respect to the location for formation of a neck by said matrix and punch and cooperating with the other index member to aline the work area on the header with said punch and matrix.

2. Apparatus as recited in claim 1 characterized in that one of said indexing members comprises an element projectable through a neck formed on the header for cooperation with the other index member within the header for alining the punch and matrix with a work area on the header that is in predetermined spaced relation to said neck. 3. Apparatus as recited in claim 2 characterized in that the index member associated with said matrix comprises a stud projectable through a neck formed on the header for cooperative engagement with the index member associated with the punch. l l H" 4. Apparatus as recited in claim 1 characterized in .that said indexing means associated with the punchcomprises a vertically disposed member located within the header and formed .on its top end with a recess alignable with an aperturedneck on the header and the indexing ,means associated with said matrix comprises'a stud projectable into said neck for engagement in the said recess of said first mentioned indexing member for holding said punch against rotary movement about the axis of the header so as to maintain said punch perpendicular to the wall of e e References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 877,855 Murray Jan. 28, 1908 1,432,073 Lowy Oct. 17, 1922 1,574,900 Kellogg Mar. -2, 1926 1,795,517 Sharp Mar. 10, 1931 2,280,255 Parker Apr. 21, 1942 2,670,795 .Griep Mar. 2, 1954 FOR IGN AT 473,407 Germany Mar. 15, 1 929

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