US3071904A

US3071904A - Strip sharpening method

Info

Publication number: US3071904A
Application number: US822163A
Authority: US
Inventors: Delafontaine Charles
Original assignee: Bank of America National Trust and Savings Association
Current assignee: Bank of America Corp
Priority date: 1959-06-22
Filing date: 1959-06-22
Publication date: 1963-01-08
Anticipated expiration: 1980-01-08

Description

vOriginal Filed March 12, 195] Jan. 8, 1963 c. DELAFONTAINE 3,071,904

' STRIP SHARPENINGl METHOD 3 sheets-sheet 1 IN VEN TOR.

Y c.Dr-:LAF0NTA1NE 3,071,904 STRIP SHARPENING METHOD Original Filed March 12, 195] Jan. s, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 ed@ v.5 @auf 6mm. mugs 0.1M. mg mv.

Jan. 8, "19463 c. DELAFoN-rAl'NE STRIP smRPENING mon Original Filed March 12,*'1951 s shets-sneet s 4 INVENroR. 'arle Mafvzzaz'zze y #free/'JEVS' m mv m# m. Y N N mvum num mom @o W mmv omv G m 0mm- Q @mV/y LEEEII ....i mhh |l|| :I Y v :wth N @if 2n non mv|` f L IHIIIIIJ/h o o r um r EN Is h mov mm* i v E mi 3v hvmmv y Q |.mm ov \1l .v Nv 5mm e GNNW Patented Jan. 8, 1963 3,071,904 STRIP SHARPENING METHOD Charles Delafontaine, North Hollywood, Calif., asslgnor to Bank of America National Trust and Savings Association, Los Angeles, Calif., a national banking corporation of the United States of America Application May 2, 1955, Ser. No. 505,343, now Patent No. 2,911,762, dated Nov. 10, 1959, which is a division of application Ser. No. 215,127, Mar. 12, 1951, now Patent No. 2,709,874, dated June 7, 1955. Divided and this application June 22, 1959, Ser. No. 822,163

2 Claims. (Cl. 51-281) This invention relates to a method for sharpening the edges of strips of metal, alud has particular reference to a method for continuously grinding, honing and stropping metal strips to be used for safety razor blades.

This application is a division of my copending application, Serial No. 505,343, led May 2, 1955, now Patent No. 2,911,762, dated November 10, 1959, which in turn was a division of my copending application Serial No. 215,127, filed in the United States Patent Office on March 12, 1951, now Patent No. 2,709,874, dated lune 7, 1955.

One of the principal objects of my invention is to provide a novel method for continuously sharpening an edge or edges of thin metal strips to a high degree of iineness.

In United States Letters Patent No. 2,492,292 and No. 2,492,293, issued December 27, 1949, to George Douglas Jones et al. and to George Douglas Jones, respectively, are disclosed various forms of razors employing a ribbontype blade, that is, a blade of considerable length which is unspooled from a magazine to present successive unused portions as desired. This .so-called ribbon blade presents sharpening problems unique in the industry. Accordingly,` it is an important object of my invention to provide a method for sharpening strips of metal to b used as ribbon-type razor blades.

One of the diiculties encountered in the production of ribbon-type razor blades is the inspection of the steel strips after sharpening. In the production of conventional safety razor blades, inspection of the sharpened blades is relatively simple, since the strip, after sharpening, is cut into the individual blades which may then be inspected individually without interference with the sharpening operation, and the faulty blades discarded. Finished ribbon-type blades of the character described are approximately forty inches in length, as opposed to the approximate one and one-half inch length of the conventional razor blades, and to reserve the inspection of these long blades until they have been cut to the desired length would require the rejection of an entire blade where perhaps only a very short length of the same is defective. When the relatively high cost of the special steel required for these blades is considered, it will be understood that inspection in the manner described would be a wasteful and expensive process. Another object of my invention is, then, to provide a novel method for selective inspection of the strip as it is being sharpened. `Other objects and advantages of this invention it is believed will be apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

In the drawings:

FIGURES la, 1b and 1c are top plan views of a sharpening machine embodying my invention.

Referring now to the drawings, the general arrangement of a machine used to carry out the method, as shown in FIGURES la, 1b and 1c will be briey described. A coil of thin strip steel 30 is mounted on a supply reel 31 and the strip is fed through a grinding station generally indicated 32, a rough hone station 33, a finish hone station 34, thence through a cleaner unit 35, and then through the stropping station 36. The strip 30 is then led through the pull-out station generally indicated 37, from whence it is formed into a loop 38 and led through the final inspection station 39. The strip passes through intermittent drive unit 40, is formed into a second loop 41, and then led through constant drive unit 42 where the finished sharpened strip is coiled on a take-up reel 43.

The various units forming the respective stations are mounted on a base generally indicated 44 which includes a pair of tubular rail members 45 extending substantially the entire length of the machine. The reel 31, which may include `a circular steel plate 46 having a central hub 46a, is journaled on a shaft 47 which is in turn supported on an arm 48 mounted on the base 44. Mounted adjacent the reel 31 on the arm 48 is a center guide member 49 through which the strip 30 is passed, the guide member serving to align the strip centrally of the machine. The gui-de member 49 may be pivotally connected to the arm 48 as =at 50 to provide for adjustment thereof.

The grinding station 32 includes a pair of opposed

parallel grinding rolls

51 and 52 each having

stub shafts

53 and 54 respectively at either end journaled in

bearing blocks

55 and 56. The

bearing blocks

55 and 56 are secured to the

blocks

58 and 59 which are4 in turn slidably supported at an angle on the base members 60 for adjustment of the grinding members with respect to the strip by manipulation 'of the wheels 61 and 62. This adjustment mounting is substantially identical with that provided for the honing stations and will be described with more particularity below. The

grinding rolls

51 and 52 each includes a plurality of grinding wheels of conventional design, the wheels on one of the grinding members being staggered with respect to and interlocked with the wheels on the other member. The grinding rolls rotate downwardly with respect to the vertical strip 30 to grind the upper edge `thereof and are driven by means of V-belt drives 65 `and 66 from a motor 67 and a motor (not shown). The strip 30 as it passes between the grinding wheels 63 and 64 is maintained in the proper vertical position by means of hold-down rolls 69, one pair of rolls being on either side of the grinding rolls.

The prim-ary punpose of the 4grinding station 32 is to remove excess stock from the strip 30 and to bring the vertical dimension, or width of the strip, within the desired limits. Accordingly, means are provided for measuring the width of the `strip las it leaves-the grinding station, and as shown in the drawings, particularly FIG- URE la. These means may include the gauge 84 which is of conventional design. The gauge 84 is secured to a transverse base member 88 which in turn is carried on the rails 45.

The ground strip proceed-s from the above described measuring station to the rou-gh hone station 33 which includes xa pair of opposed parallel honing rolls 93 and 94 disposed longitudinally in the direction of fthe strip. These rolls are of lt-he helical or worm type and rotate downwardly `against the upper edge of the strip 30 so that their operating surfaces advance towards the ground edge of the strip. The rolls 93 and '94 are carried on shafts 95 and 96 respectively which are journaled in suitable bearings on the

arms

97 and 98. These arms are secured to block members 99 `and 100 which lare slidably i mounted on base members 1021 `and 102. The base members are secured to a frame which is mounted on the rails 45. v

Control means :are provided for the block member 99, and as shown in the drawings, these means `may include a control shaft .110 provided with hand wheel 111. Drive means `are provided for the honing rolls 93 and 94, and as shown in the drawings these Vmeans may include a motor (not shown), the 4shattit of which is connected by means of the V-belts 126 to a pulley 127 carried on honing roll shaft 96. Since the honing rolls are of the worm type and operate in mesh, the rotation of the respe-ctive rolls must be in synchronism. The shaft 95, therefore, is connected to the shaft 95 by suitable transmission gearing 128 to drive the same. This gearing is further arranged so that one or both of the honing rolls may be moved outwardly and out of mesh without disengagement of the transmission gears, thus preserving the synchronous relationship between the two honing rolls.

The strip 30 moves from the rough hone Vstation to the optical sizer or comparator generally indicated 200 where the width of the blade is checked to determine if the honing rolls 93 and 94 are properly set. It will be understood that at this stage of the operation it is essential that the partially sharpened edge of the strip not be contacted by any part of the apparatus, and hence the width of the strip cannot be measured wi-th a ygauge similar to the gauge 84. Accordingly, the optical sizer 200 is provided which includes a |base member 201 mounted on the rails 45.

From the optical sizer the strip 30 proceeds to the nish hone station 34. This station is substantially identical withthe rough hone station previously described with the exception that the honing rolls are ner than those used at the rough hone station. As shown, the grinding rolls and transmission gears are provided with cover members 213 and 219 respectively.

The strip is continuously pulled yfrom the tinish hone station to the cleaner unit 35 where coolant which adheres to the strip is removed from the sharpened strip. The cleaner unit includes `a base 2,20 mounted on the rails 45 and a cleaner block assembly 222.

The cleaned blade is given a nal polish at the stropping station 36 which is generally similiar to the grinding station previously described, with the exception that the stropping rolls 245 and 246 are of a material such as leather and rotate in the opposite direction. That is, the rolls rotate upwardly with respect to the strip. This upward force against ithe sharpened edge of the strip tends to lift the strip from `a Carboloy insert base, and hence means are provided to firmly hold Ithe strip down ag-ainst the base. As shown in the drawings, these means may include the-pairs of hold-down rolls 69a, 69b and 69.

The pull-out station 37 is provided with rolls for continuously pulling the stri-p through the respective stations described above. As shown in FIGURE 1c, this station includes a base member 295 secured to the rails 45 and carrying a support frame. Mounted on the frame is `a pair of pull-out

rolls

297 and 298 cooperating with a central pull-out roll 299 which is secured to a shaft journialed in bearings in the yframe. The shaft is connected to a variable speed motor (not shown). The motor is mounted on auxiliary rails 305 secured to the base 44 `at one end and supported iat the other end by a jack member 306.

As shown, the strip 30 is passed through the bite between rolls 297 land 299 and then around the roll 299 and through the bite between the

rolls

299 and 298. A semicircular guide plate 310 is mounted on the -frame and directs the strip around the roll 298 and forwardly therefrom to form the loop 38.

The

rolls

297 and 298 are pivotally mounted with respect to the frame.

As pointed out above, as the strip 30 proceeds from the pull-out station it is formed into a loop 38. The loop is supported by `a table 330. The pair of hold-down rolls 69d act as friction brake means in maintaining the loop in the proper position. The loop functions as a supply medium for the intermittent drive unit 40 (described more fully below) which serves to present successive portions of the strip to the final inspection station 39. By means of this loop it will be understood that the portion of the stripbetween the lsupply reel 311 and the pull-out station 37 may be continuously in motion while that portion of the strip'between the pull-out station 37 and the intermittent drive unit 40fmay move intermittently with `a dwell of suihcient length of time to permit the sharpened edge of a portion of the strip to be inspected at the inspection station 39.

The inspection station 39 consists of two identical visual inspection units 335 and 336, one on each side of the strip, and therefore only one will be described in detail. The units 335 and 336 `are secured to a base member 337 mounted on the rails 45.

The inspection unit 335 includes a microscope 353 mounted at an angle from the horizontal as shown, and has .an upwardly inclined eye piece 358.

The intermittent drive unit 40 includes a driving roll 375 and a driven roll 376 mounted on shafts 377 and 78 respectively. The shaft 377 is journaled in suitable bearings on the frame 380.

The driven roll 376 is pivotally mounted with respect to the frame much in the same manner as the pull-out rolls 397 and 298, being provided with an `arm 405 pivotally connected to the frame at one end and having an adjusting link 406 pivotally connected to the other end, which link has an adjusting screw 407 engageable with a tab 408 on the frame. The sharpened and inspected strip is pushed from the intermittent drive rolls into a small loop 41 which leads to the constant drive rolls 42.

This unit 42 includes -a driving roll 416 and a driven roll 417 which are generally similar to the intermittent driverolls previously described. Here, however, the driven roll, which is mounted on drive shaft 418, is driven at a constant speed by a stub shaft (not shown). It will be understood that by means of this drive connection the constant speed rolls are driven at exactly the same speed as are driven the pull-out rolls 297 and 298i. Therefore, with the `above-described arrangement `of constant speed pull-out

rolls

297 and 298, loop 38, intermittent drive rolls 375 and 376, loop 41 and constant drive rolls 416 and 417, I have provided means for feeding a strip continuously into one end of the machine and out of the other end of the machine at the same speed, while causing the strip to intermittently dwell -at a point intermediate the two ends.

Mounted below the take-up reel 43 is a pulley 433 for a belt 434 which is connected to a pulley (not shown) mounted beneath the driven roll 417 for driving the takeup reel in synchronism with the constant speed rolls.

The take-up reel includes a circular plate 435 keyed to the reel shaft about which the coil 437 of sharpened strip is wound. Means are provided for holding the coil on the take-up reel, and las shown in the drawings these means may include the plurality of permanent magnets 438 set into the plate.

A switch box 450 is mounted on the base 44 from which the conduit 451 leads to the various electrical motors previously described. The box is provided with switch buttons 452 for controlling the operation of the various elements of the machine.

Having fully described my invention, it is to be unders'tood that I do not wish to be limited to the details herein set forth, but my inven-tion is of the full scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A method of sharpening the edge of a strip material which includes the steps of continuously moving a strip and during said movement sharpening an edge thereof, forming the strip into a loop, pulling the strip intermittently from said loop, inspecting successive stationary portions of the sharpened strip, and controlling said sharpening step in accordance with the information conveyed by said inspecting step.

2. A method of sharpening the edge of a strip material` which includes the steps of continuously moving References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Edison Jan. 6, Tarbox Mar. 1, Bodkin Apr. 25, Mueller et al. Feb. 28, Lowe Mar. 25,