US2928164A

US2928164A - Method and apparatus for descaling a rod

Info

Publication number: US2928164A
Application number: US565670A
Authority: US
Inventors: John J Span
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1956-02-15
Filing date: 1956-02-15
Publication date: 1960-03-15
Anticipated expiration: 1977-03-15

Description

March 15, 1960 J. J. SPAN METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DESCALING A ROD 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 15, 1956 I/I/ I Ill/III INVENTOR. John J. Span Fig.5

Fig.4

March 15, 1960 J. J. SPAN 2,928,164

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DESCALING A ROD Filed Feb. 15, 1956 3 Sheets sheet 2 I) 2 1* Z I g F I g. 2 e L I 26 I6 m 4444 I l2 l E //////////////mm\\\\ I8 2834 L R) .1.

I I l INVENTOR.

John J. Span HIS ATTORNEY$ March 15, 1960 J. J. SPAN 2,928,164

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DESCALING A ROD Filed Feb. 15, 1956 s Sheets-Sheet s F i g.

IN VEN TOR.

John .1 Span BY 1 1! HIS ATTORNEYS METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DESCALING A ROD John J. Span, Donora, Pa.

Application February 15, 1956, Serial No. 565,670

6 Claims. (Cl. 29-81) This application is a continuation-in-part of application No. 387,713, filed October 22, 1953, now abandoned.

This invention relates to descaling a rod and similar articles and particularly to a method and apparatus which allow the rod to be drawn into wire and like products immediately after the descaling.

As present the process of descaling a rod and then drawing it to form wire, nails, and the like is a discontinuous one. A rod is first descaled by pulling it through a series of bends or through a pickling bath or through both of such steps usually in the order named. If the rod is pickled, a'tirne-consuming and expensive step of drying the rod in an oven necessarily follows. In any event, the descaled rod is collected as on a take-up drum, eventually carried to another station, and then again processed by being advanced through a lubricant and then through a drawing die. The descaling and drawing operations have not heretofore been coupled to provide a continuous process because an inherent tension is imparted to the rod by pulling it through the described descaling steps, while on the contrary it is highly desirable that the rod advance loosely and freely to a drawing die. In its taut state the tensioned rod collects little or no lubricant and therefore quickly ruins a drawing die. In some cases the tensioned rod merely cuts an oversized hole in a lubricant such as grease and thereafter quickly becomes dry, burning out the die.

In addition to the foregoing faults, the prior technique of descaling and drawing a rod is subject to other objections. Passing the rod through a series of bends, sometimes four or five, tends to introduce fatigue failure and breakage of the rod when passing through the die, particularly at the welds where one rod is joined to a succeeding one, all of which results in loss of product and production time.

The present invention eliminates the described faults by passing the rod through a single loop under such conditions that the rod aids in descaling itself and leaves the loop free of tension. For example, in one form the rod passes through a peripheral groove of a wheel. The sides of the groove are adapted to urge the rod toward the center of the groove and radially inwardly whereby a part of the rod being received in the groove rubs against a part previously received to remove scale. By reason of this frictional contact the parts also remain in contact throughout a portion of the groove so that the previously received part leaves the groove in a whipping action free of longitudinal tension.

The accompanying drawings illustrate a presently preferred embodiment wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the present descaling apparatus in conjunction with lubricating and drawing means; a

Figures 2 and 3,, are plan and side elevations, respectively, of an enlarged view of the descaling apparatus of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a view of a striking arm taken on the plane of the line-IV-IV of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4 showing another position of the striking arm;

Figure 6 is an enlarged side view of a disc shown in previous figures (with parts removed for clarity);

Figure 7 is a plan view of the disc showing the incoming rod in an overriding position on the outgoing rod;

Figure 8 is a front elevation view of the disc;

Figure 9 is a view of the rod and disc taken on the plane of line IX-IX of Figure 6;

Figure l0 is a view of the rod and disc taken on the plane of line X-X of Figure 6; and j Figure 11 is a view of the rod and disc taken on the plane of line XI-XI of Figure 6.

Referring to the drawings, the descaling apparatus shown generally at 10 may be directly used with a wire drawingmachine 11 which includes a box 12 containing a lubricant, a conventional drawing die 13, and a power driven block 14 around which the wire is wound after the first draft, Additional drafts by other dies may follow in accordance with standard practice.

The descaling apparatus includes a standard 15 having a pinion gear .16. This gear may be stationary, but in the preferred embodiment it is mounted for idle rotation. A disc 17 fixed to a side of the gear 16 has a peripheral groove 18, the sides of which form a V or similar shaped transverse cross section. Preferably, a weight 19 is fixed on the side of the disc 17 opposite to the side to which gear 16 is affixed. The weight is spaced from the axis of rotation to provide a flywheel effect. On one side of the disc 17, a ledge 20. supports a die block 21 in which an oversize die 22, oversized with respect to the. rod, is secured by the set screw 23. An inverted U-shaped guide 24.and a roller 25 pivotally carried by the bar 26 direct a rod R from the die 22 toward the disc 17.

A second pinion gear 27 is also mounted for idle rotation on .the standard 15 and engages the gear 1 6. A second ledge 28 integrally carries or supports bearings 30 in which a shaft 29 is rotatively mounted. A stub arm 31 and a striking arm 32 are fixed to the shaft 29:. A pitman 33 eccentrically mounted on the face of the gear 27 pivotally joins thestub arm 31, while the striking arm 32 which tapers longitudinally carries out-turned flanges 3-4 between which a roller 35 isjournalled for rotation.

In operation, the power driven block 14 pulls the rod R through the descaling apparatus. The oversized die 22, guide 24, and roller 25 serve to direct the rod R to the groove 18 of the disc 17 with a minimum of side movement and preferably introduce the rod onto the disc tangentially at a point on the adjacent half of the disc to provide a relatively long contact of the rod with itself as hereafter described. As shown in Figure 2, preferably, the rod is not introduced perpendicular to the axis of disc 17, but rather at a slight angle such that the over-. riding effect of the incoming rod is accentuated. As the rod passes through a loop defined by the groove, actually three distinct descaling actions take place, namely, chipping, crushing, and abrading. .During the single full loop bend to which the rod is subjected on the disc 17, the scale onthe top of the rod with respect to its position in the groove chips off as a result of the bend, while the scale on thebottom of the rod is crushed in the valley of the V or similar shaped groove and eventually drops out as that portion of the rod leaves the groove. At the same time, the scale on the sides of the rod becomes loosened. As a part of the rod being received in the groove rubs against a part previously received, the scale on the contacting sides is removed. The rod does not twist substantially in navigating the bend, therefore the side of the incomingrod which is scraped by the outgoing rod is not the same side of the outgoing rod which is doing the scraping. In other words, one side of the incoming rod is scraped by the opposite side of the outgoing rod. Simultaneously, the sides of the groove and the slight pulling tension on the rod urge the rod toward the center of the groove and radially inwardly of the disc 17, thereby, wedging the rod together and introducing additional abrading action as well. This action also descales the sides of the rods which frictionally engage the sides of the groove. The incoming rod overrides the outgoing rod, as shown in Figures 6-9, to descale the top and bottom of the rod. Initially, the incoming rod rides on top of the outgoing rod (Figure 9 to remove scale on the top and bottom of the rod until the position is reached where the incoming rod moves to the side of the outgoing rod (Figure 10) and eventually, the sides of the rods are abraded (Figure 11). The bottom of theincoming rod will be abraded by the top of the outgoingrod; however, since there is substantially no twist in the rod during the bend, the top of .the outgoing rod, which is abraded, is the opposite side from thebottomof the incoming rod. Thus, all the major descaling is done in this single full loop bend. g Y

A further unique feature of the present invention is that the parts of the rod which become so engaged. remain substantially locked in frictional engagement throughout a portion of the loop through which the rod passes on the disc 17. This results in a delayed release of the rod from the groove. As shown in Figure 3, instead of leaving the disc 17 in a substantially tangential line 36, the rod is carried 'past that tangential line and leaves in the form of a rod 37. A flywheel effect as imparted by the weight 19, for example, has been found to aid a delayed release. However, it is apparent that the weight is not necessary to give this flywheel efiect. If the disc 17 were made of suffici'ent size such that the moment of inertia was large, the disc would have the same tendency to drag and impart a delayed releaseto the outgoing rod 37 rather than following. line 36. The. Wedging and interlocking tendencies of the rods in the groove also contribute to this result. Thus, it is seen that the rod is discharged from the disc in relaxed condition, as shown at 37. a

It will now be apparent that the present invention provides a novel method and apparatus for descaling a rod and like articles and particularly a new combination including drawing apparatus and descaling. apparatus adapted to feed a rod directly to the former.

Since dust and very fine scale sometimes remain on the rod and tend to collect in the lubricant, it is desirable to knock such extraneous matter from the red as by the knocking arm 32. When the rod travels through the groove 18,. the disc 17 rotates andgear 16 thereby rotates gear 27. By means of the eccentricmounting on gear 27, the arm 32. is automatically and. repeatedly'pivoted at its lower end through a zone which crosses, the path of the rod R. In this manner, the arm 32 periodical.- ly strikes the rod during itsv movement to the lubricating box and die and removes any extraneous matter still adhering to the rod. The striking arm may be motivated in any desirable manner and need not necessarily operate in any timed relationship with the descaler. The striking apparatus shown is merely a convenient and preferred embodiment.

One important result is that the rod is free of tension because of the delayedrelease and can be directly ad vancedinto the drawing die 13. Another important result is that although the rod leaves the disc free of longitudinal tension, it is released with a whipping or snap action. Accordingly, the rod enters the box 12 in a wave like form and actually stirs and mixes the lubricant in the box. This insures complete lubrication at al-ltimes since the rod never fails to collect some lubricant and carry it to, the die 13. The rod R. thus enters. the: dienot' only free of tension but well lubricatedby its own: action. The whipping, action also tends to force lubricants into the die along with the rod. Additionally, the action of the groove 18 tends to iron out all kinks and bends in the rod and prevent its breakage at the' die;

When the driven block 14 is actuated to pull the rod, position 36 (Figure 3) is momentarily assumed by the rod R. The tension on the rod at this time is not substantial and is only sufiicient to actuate the disc 17 into rotary motion. However, it is apparent that the tension in rod R at the time of this pull will vary somewhat with regard to the mass of disc 17.. Since the tension on the outgoing rod is very small, it may be stated that the rod is continuously removed from the disc 17 in a substantially untensioned condition. In the past, the rods were removed from the descaling apparatus under substantial tension at times approaching the value necessary to move the rod through the reducing die. The present invention allows the rod to be advanced to thediein a continuous untensioned condition which has the advantages explained above.

The present apparatus may also be operated in the horizontal position. That is, the disc 17 could be mounted to rotate in a horizontal plane rather than in a vertical plane. For this innovation, it would be necessary to reorient the disc 17 and units 2225. Additional feed rollers would be necessary to align the incoming rodwith the groove.

It is further apparent that the present invention encompasses initially feeding the rod to the underside of the disc 17 and also removing it from the opposite underside position. This would amount to turning the illustrated apparatus upside down. As described above, the feed apparatus can be moved out of direct alignment with the groove of disc'17. Thus if the rod is fedat an angular tangential relationship to the groove, the overriding of the incoming rod over the outgoing red (as explained above) is insured and accentuated. Thus the" rod can be fed at a skew or slight angle to the axis ofrotation of disc 17. It isonly necessary to offset the feed units a small amount to insure the override relationship; however, itis necessary that they be offset in a direction to accentuate the relationship. Thus it is apparent that the feed rod could be moved in a direction to separate the rods in the groove rather than bring themtogetherjbut this isnot the intended purpose of the offset. Normally, the incoming rod will override the outgoing rod' without any offset.

The size of rod which can be processed by this apparatus is dependent atleast in part upon the durability of the apparatus. A 4%" (inside groove diameter) disc adequately descales an 0;207 /2" (No. 5)rod'. This size disc can handle a larger rod if of suificiently durable construction to withstand thestrains';

The shape of the groove is not limited except that it should have opposite sides which force" the two rods therein toward each other. Preferably" the sides of the groove are sloping to insure this action. The bottom of the groove may be fiat or concave but should be of a width less than the sum of the two smallest diameters of the rod being processed to insure the overriding relationship described above. A V-shaped groove is preferred to insure a proper untensioned' delivery of the outgoing rod;

The die 22, guide 24, and roller 25 maybe. modified in form or eliminated by the substitution of any similar apparatus which will adequately feed thero'd in an un'- tensioned condition. The feeding of the incoming rod in untensioned condition allows it to override the outgoing rod without seeking the bottom of the groove in the disc. However, when the incoming rod is subjected to a slight tension, due to the pull by block 14, it becomes an out.- going portion of the rod and then seeks the bottom of the groove prior to being overridden byanother incoming portion of the rod. Thus, feeding the rod in untensibned condition and removingthe rod in substantially untensioned condition assists in maintaining the overriding re lationship of the two portions of the rod.

The mixing of the lubricant in the box 12' by the whipping action of the rod' is described above. This mixing is even more accentuated when the apparatus is operated in a horizontal position since the rod then has a 7 the result that lubricantis forced into the close proximity,

and at times, into the portion of the die'which actually draws the rod.

The present preferred embodiment of the invention produces a rod, free of scale, which has not been'subjected to twisting or pulling strains. However, it is within the scope of this invention to twist the rod while it is moving around the disc if scale is more easily removedin this manner and the twisting strains are not objectionable.

While I have described a present preferred embodiment of my invention, it is understood that it may be otherwise 7 embodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim: 7

1. A method of descaling a rod prior to drawing the rod, including passing the rod in a single closed looped path to descale the rod, simultaneously forcing the looped portion together circumferentially and radially inwardly of the loop so that a part of the rod joining the loop overlaps, overrid'es and rubs against a part just completing the loop and the sides, top and bottom of the rod are descaled, imparting a fly-wheel effect to the travel of the loop so that said parts remain in contact throughout an arc of the loop and the part just completing the loop at the time of the contact undergoes a delayed release from the loop and leaves the loop ina whipping action.

2. Apparatus for continuously descalinga rod and immediately thereafter drawing it including in combination: a gear mounted for idle rotation having a disc in fixed relation thereto, said disc having a peripheral groove the sides of which are adapted to urge a rod received therein .toward the center of the groove and radially inwardly, a

weight secured to the side of the disc andspaced from the axis of rotation, a second rotatably mounted gear engaging the first, a shaft having a striking arm fixed thereto, connecting means eccentrically mounted on the second.

gear and pivotally joined to the striking arm such that rotation of the second gear reciprocates the striking arm through a zone wherein the striking arm engages the rod, and means to pull the rod in succession through the groove and the zone, such that a part of the rod-received in the groove rubs against a part previously received to cause descaling of the rod and said previously receivedpart undergoes a delayed release from the groove and leaves therefrom free of a longitudinal tension sufficient to elongate the rod, and whereby the striking arm removes extraneous matter remaining on the rod.

3. A method of descaling a rod including passing'the rod in a single closed looped path, simultaneously forcing the beginning and end of the looped rodtogether circumferentially of the loop such that said beginning and said end of the rod rub together, override and remain in contact with each other throughout an arc of the loop, removing the rod from said path free of suflicient tension to elongate the rod, and imparting a flywheel effect to the travel of the loop.

4. Apparatus for descaling a continuous rod prior to drawing the rod, including an undriven, freely rotatable disc mounted for rotation and having a peripheral groove in which is received a continuous single loop of said rod, the sides of the groove being adapted to urge a rod received thereintoward the center of thegroove' and radially inward toward the bottom of the groove, the smallest axial dimension of the bottom of the groove being less than twice the diameter of s aid rod, and feed means to 5 direct the rod into the groove in a direction skew to the axis of rotation of the disc such that part of the rod being received in the groove overrides a part of the rod previously received in the groove and means to remove the rod from the groove.

5. A method of descaling a rod including continuously moving a rod in a single closed looped path of greater than 360 and less than 720 around a freely rotatable sheave; feeding a portion of the rod into said path such that it rubs, overlies and overrides a portion of the rod leaving the path; and rotating the sheave by pulling a portion of the rod from the sheave with a force only sufficient to rotate the sheave; said rod leaving the sheave substantially free of tension sufficient to elongate the rod.

6. A method of treating a continuous metal rod including passing the rod in a single-looped path, simultaneously forcing the beginning and end of the looped rod together circumferentially of the loop such that said beginning and said end of the rod rub together, override and remain in contact with each other throughout an arc of the loop, intermittently pulling a portion of the rod from the loop, imparting a flywheel effect to the travel of the loop and simultaneously subjecting saidportion of the rod to a delayed release from the loop so that the rod leaves the loop in a wavelike motion, and moving the rod through a lubricant in said wavelike motion to insure adequate lubrication of all areas of the rod.

References Cited in the file of this patent Great Britain Mar. 8, 1938