US3020949A

US3020949A - Machine for making ornamental iron work

Info

Publication number: US3020949A
Application number: US848329A
Authority: US
Inventors: Garcia Cecilio
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1959-10-23
Filing date: 1959-10-23
Publication date: 1962-02-13
Anticipated expiration: 1979-02-13

Description

Feb. 13, 1962 c. GARCIA 3,020,949

MACHINE FOR MAKING ORNAMENTAL IRON WORK Filed Oct. 25, 1959 IN V EN TOR.

CECILIO GARCIA ATTORN EY United States Patent Ofifice 3,020,949 Patented Feb. 13, 1962 3,020,949 MACHINE FOR MAKING ORNAMENTAL IRON WORK Cecilio Garcia, 1455 Silver Ave., San Francisco 24, Calif. Filed Oct. 23, 1959, Ser. No. 848,329 2 Claims. (Cl. 153-40) This invention relates to a machine for bending straps of iron or other iron bars into the form of a scroll for ornamental iron work.

Heretofore, in making this kind of decorative iron work, difficulty has been encountered in getting the curvature at the extreme tip end of the strap to be such that the scroll shape continues to the very end of the bar. This is particularly true when the bending is done by machines as heretofore constructed, due in part to the fact that a section at the end of the strap of iron must be used for holding the bar in the machine, which has meant that the curvature has begun beyond the end section which is held in the machine. This leaves a more or less straight section at the end of the bar where the scroll curvature begins. In some instances, even when the scroll is formed of relatively light straps of iron, this straight section has been as much as one-half inch in length. With larger and heavier bars such non-scrollconforming end sections are longer. They lessen materially the decorative eflfect of the scroll as a whole. In an effort to remedy this situation, resort is often had to forging or other hand working of the end section of the bar into the curvature of the desired scroll, after which the bending of the remainder of the bar may, if desired, be done by machine. But the working of the end section into the scroll curvature by hand is timeconsuming and costly.

It is an object of this invention to provide a machine by which the end section of a bar of iron, substantially all the way out to the very tip end of the bar, may be readily bent into the scroll curvature whereby the scroll form of the main portion of the iron work continues throughout the extreme end section of the iron bar.

It is another object to provide a machine whereby the strap or other iron bar, after the end has been formed into the desired scroll shape, may be readily and quickly removed from the machine and a new piece inserted for bending, thus speeding up the production when several pieces of iron are to be bent.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the ensuing description and appended claims.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings and is described in detail hereinafter. The particular constructions shown and described are to be construed as illustrative only, and not as limiting the invention.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the machine.

FIGURE 2 is an end elevation view of the machine shown in FIGURE 1.

Referring to the drawings, a rotatable shaft 10, adapted to be rotatably mounted in any suitable bearing mechanism, not shown, has fixed to one end thereof, by welding or other suitable means, in a plane perpendicular to said shaft, a plate 11, preferably, though not necessarily, of circular disc-like form, the said plate 11 being thereby adapted to turn with the said shaft, as the latter is rotated. If desired, the end of the shaft to which the plate 11 is secured may be of enlarged cross section, as shown in FIGURE 1. Secured to the forward or outer face of plate 11, by any suitable means such as by welding, and extending forwardly and axially therefrom so as to be rotatable about the extended axis of shaft 10, is a scroll-forming member 12 whose radially outermost surface 13, when said member 12 is seen in end view as in FIGURE 2, or as would be seen in any sectional view taken in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation of said member, is in the form of a scroll. This scroll-shaped surface begins at line 14, which is at or near the said axis of rotation, and extends outwardly and spirally about said axis to a line which is parallel to said axis and in proximity to a position diametrically opposite the starting point of said scroll. Thus the radially outermost surface 13 of member 12 extends as a scroll from a line which lies approximate the axis of rotation of said member and which constitutes the radially innermost axially extending edge 14 of said scroll surface, to a line 15 which constitutes its outermost axially extending edge, also parallel to said axis of rotation, which lies approximately diametrically opposite the line or beginning edge 14 of the scroll surface of member 12. The length of the member 12 in an axial direction from the plate 11 is such that the edge 14 thereof is equal to or somewhat in excess of the width of the widest straps of iron to be bent in the machine. The radially innermost surface 16 of the scroll-forming member 12 need not be scrollshaped, as in the case of the radially outermost surface 13, and may be of any convenient form, desirably that which gives an increasing thickness to the member 12 as it extends outwardly from the starting edge 14.

A pin 17 is pivotally mounted in the plate 11 and extends axially forward or outwardly from said plate so as to pivot about an axis parallel to the axis of rotation of said plate. Secured to and carried by said pin is a block 18 provided with a rectangular-shaped bore extending therethrough in a direction at a right angle to the axis of said pin. In this bore there is slidably fitted a locking blade 19 which tapers to a dull knife edge at its lower or radially outermost (with respect to the axis of pin 17) end. The pin 17 is so positioned in the plate 11 that the knife edge of locking blade 19 may be extended downwardly to a position toward the starting edge 14 of the scroll surface 13 and which is removed from said starting edge by a distance equal to or slightly less than the thickness of the iron bar 21, the end of which is inserted in the machine between the starting edge 14 of the scroll and the said knife edge. Set screws 20 are provided in the block 18 for securing the locking blade 19 in various positions as said member is adjusted inwardly toward or outwardly from the edge 14 of the scroll-shaped surface 13 in accordance with different thicknesses of iron bar 21 which is inserted into the machine. If desired, the end of the strap iron 21 may be tapered to enhance the ornamentation of the iron work when the strap is bent into its final scroll shape.

A set screw 22 is provided in the member 12 (operable at the surface of said member) and is adjustable to different distances from the side of the locking blade 19 so as to act as a stop for the swing of the said looking blade toward the scroll-forming member 12 when the end of the strap iron piece 21 is inserted into the machine against the said locking blade.

A stop 23 is secured to the outer or forward face of plate 11 and is so positioned as to stop the outward movement of the locking blade 19, after the knife edge thereof has become secure against the face of the strap iron 21, upon any outward pulling movement that may be exerted upon the said strap iron bar 21.

In the operation of the machine the locking blade 19 is adjusted, by means of set screws 20, so that when it is pivoted to a position wherein its knife edge will be directly above or in close proximity to the starting edge 14 of the scroll-forming member 12, the space between said starting edge of the scroll and the said knife edge is substantially equal to the thickness of the iron bar 21 at a point only a slight distance from the tapered end of said bar. This distance may vary depending upon how nearly the operator desires that the bend in the iron at the extreme tip end of the bar shall conform to the desired scroll curvature. The screw 22 is also adjusted so that the locking blade 19 will be stopped against it when the blade has been pivoted to bring its knife edge inwardly a slight distance from the said starting edge 14 of the scroll-forming member 12. The end of the bar 21 is placed on the starting edge 14 of the scrollforming member 12 and moved inwardly until the knife edge of the locking blade 19 is in contact with the upper surface of the tapered portion of said bar. The bar is then pulled outwardly, and, if desired, the body portion of the bar is simultaneously moved slightly downward so as to fulcrum the bar about the said starting edge 14. This brings the locking blade 19 into contact with stop 23 to stop its being pivoted outwardly any further, whereupon the knife edge of said blade bites into the iron bar sufficiently to hold the bar from slipping back out of the machine. Upon rotation of the shaft in appropriate direction the bar while still being held by the operator; is bent around the scroll-forming member 12, the relative position of the bar 21 with respect to the scrollforming member when this has taken place being indicated by the dotted line position 24 of the said bar as shown in FIGURE 2. The bar, thus bent into a scroll form, is easily and readily removed from the machine by pivoting the locking blade 19 back to its starting position to release its bite or hold upon the iron bar 21, and then moving the bent bar in an axially outward direction with reference to the disc plate 11, i.e., simply by slipping the bent bar off over the outer end of the scroll-forming member 12. If desired, the end section of iron bar 21 may be heated before being inserted into the machine, to facilitate the bending.

My invention thus provides a machine for forming the entire end section of a strap of iron or other iron bar into the curvature of the scroll to which the main body of the bar is to be conformed, thereby eliminating the necessity for having a section at the end of the bar remain more or less straight or otherwise in non-conformity to the scroll curvature into which the main part of the bar is to be formed, as has been the practice with prior scroll-forming machines. My invention thus does away with the necessity of the slow and laborious hand working the end section of the bar in order to form it into the desired scroll curvature, thereby greatly speeding up production, especially when a number of iron bars is to be processed.

In the foregoing description, and in the appended claims, such terms as axially and in an axial direction mean parallel to the axis in question, such as the axis of shaft 10, and not coincident, i.e,, coaxially therewith.

While I have illustrated and described my invention in detail, it is understood that various modifications may be made therein by those skilled in the alt without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as described in the appending claims.

I claim:

1. A device for use in bending the end of a metal bar into a scroll form, comprising: a rotatable shaft; a plate secured to the end of said shaft in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation of said shaft; a scroll-forming member secured to the outer face of said plate and extending axially therefrom; said member having its radially outermost surface scroll-shaped; said scroll-shaped surface beginning in a line which is parallel to and lies in close proximity to the axis of rotation of said plate; a first block, pivotally mounted on said plate to swing on an axis parallel to the axis of rotation of said plate; a locking blade slidably mounted to said block to extend therefrom to said beginning surface of said scroll-shaped member; said locking blade terminating in a knife edge which is parallel to the said line in which said beginning surface lies; means associated with said block to secure said locking blade in selectively fixed positions with reference thereto to provide spaces of selective widths between said knife edge and said beginning surface of said scrollshaped member to permit said knife edge to bite into the upper surface near the end of a metal bar that is inserted endwise between said knife edge and said beginning surface of said scroll-shaped member; and a second block, secured to the outer face of said plate and extending outwardly therefrom; said second block being positioned in the path in which said locking blade swings outwardly and at a point to block the outward swing of said blade when said blade has bitten into said metal bar and the said bar is pulled outwardly from its said inserted position.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 with the addition of a set screw positioned through said scroll-forming member with its inner end protruding toward said locking blade; said screw being of length such that it can be set to stop the inward swing of said locking blade at selected positions when said blade is pushed inwardly upon the said insertion of said metal bar into the device.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 99,638 Coleman Feb. 8, 1870 240,288 Wagner Apr. 19, 1881 287,448 Logan Oct. 30, 1883 533,513 Weed Feb. 5, 1895 560,239 Stewart May 19, 1896 805,231 Pembroke Nov. 21, 1905 2,649,887 Lehman Aug. 25, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 709,091 France Aug. 3, 1931