US3129447A

US3129447A - Machines for operating on edge portions of workpieces

Info

Publication number: US3129447A
Application number: US191364A
Authority: US
Inventors: Ralphs George Trevor
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1962-04-30
Filing date: 1962-04-30
Publication date: 1964-04-21
Anticipated expiration: 1981-04-21

Description

April 21, 1964 e. T. RALPHS MACHINES FOR OPERATING ON EDGE PORTIONS 0F WORKPIECES 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 30, 1962 A ril 21, 1964 G. T. RALPHS 3,1 9, 7 MACHINES FOR OPERATING ON EDGE PORTIONS OF WORKPIECES Filed April 30, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet g April 21, 1964 G. T. RALPHS MACHINES FOR bPERATING 0N EDGE PORTIONS OF WORKPIECES 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 30, 1962 w C w April 21, 1964 RALPHS 3,129,447

MACHINES FOR OPERATING ON EDGE PORTIONS OF WORKPIE Filed April 30, 1962' CEIS 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 A ril 21, 1964 G. T. RALPHS MACHINES FOR OPERATING ON EDGE PORTIONS OF WORKPIECES Filed April 50, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 United States Patent 3,129,447 MAtlHiNES FER GPERATING 0N EDGE PGRTIGNS 0F WORKPIECES George Trevor Ralphs, Brooklands, The Fairway, Oadby, Leicestershire, England Filed Apr. 30, 1962, Ser. No. 191,364 16 tilaims. (Ci. 12-8665) This invention is for improvements in or relating to machines for operating on edge portions of workpieces and has for one of its objects to provide a machine by which edge treating operations can be performed conveniently and expeditiously in a uniform manner on a batch of similar workpieces. The invention is especially useful for the performance of edge treating operations on bottom components for shoes, the term shoe being used herein wherever the context so permits to comprise all forms of outer footwear.

In accordance with the invention there is provided a machine for operating on an edge portion of a workpiece comprising a mounting for a pattern or template and a mounting for a workpiece whereby the latter is supported in corresponding position to the template but offset therefrom along an axis at right angles to the plane of the template, a support carrying a follower and an operating tool, means whereby the follower can be caused to engage with the edge of the template and thereby control the extent and position of engagement of the tool with the workpiece, and means permitting relative movement between the mountings for the template and workpiece on the one hand and the support for the follower and tool on the other hand in such manner that the engagement of the follower with the template is caused to progress along the edge of the template and engagement between the tool and the workpiece is consequently caused to progress along a path corresponding in shape to the edge of the template. In a preferred arrangement the relative movement between the tool and the follower support and the mountings for the workpiece and template is arranged to occur in a general direction along one side of the template, one of the parts constituted respectively by said support and mountings being caused to move towards and away from the other to maintain the follower in engagement with the template. To complete an operation on the edge of the workpiece around substantially its whole circumference with this arrangement at least two strokes of movement are employed to cause a tracking movement between the follower and the template to occur first along one side of the template and then along the opposite side thereof. A third stroke or further strokes of movement may be employed if desired to perform the operation across one end or across both ends of the workpiece. The presentation of the workpiece for operations to be performed along opposite sides and if desired across an end or ends at different strokes of movement may be provided for by mounting the support for the template and workpiece for turning movement about an axis at right-angles to the planes of the template and workpiece. The support is adjusted about such axis and then clamped in different successive settings angularly displaced about said axis, for perform ance of the different strokes of movement.

The apparatus may conveniently be employed for performing edge treating, for example trimming, operations on a plurality of similar workpieces simultaneously, particularly in the case of relatively thin fiat workpieces such as components for outer footwear. In this case the sup port is preferably arranged to form a mounting for a plurality of superposed workpieces which may be clamped together on the support in a position corresponding to that of the template but ofiset therefrom as aforesaid. The tool will be arranged to engage simultaneously with the edges of all of the workpieces clamped together in this manner. Normally a rotary tool will be employed and it is of course necessary to ensure that the path of its periphery engagement with the workpiece will be caused to follow exactly the shape of the template. The follower may accordingly be formed by a sleeve or roller which may be freely mounted on the spindle of the rotary tool or mounted on a separate spindle so as to be freely rotatable on an axis in line with the tool spindle. The sleeve or roller has the same effective diameter as the cutting circle of the tool.

Other provisions of the invention will appear from the description which follows of a preferred form of machine in accordance with the invention which is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a machine for edge trimming of shoe soles in batches;

FIGURE 2 is a front elevation view of the machine as seen from the right of FIG. 1, certain of the parts being broken away, some omitted and others shown in cross section;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation view of the machine as viewed from the left of FIG. 2 with certain parts broken away, some omitted and others shown in cross section;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged detail elevation view showing the manner of clamping a batch of workpieces, and

FIGURE 5 is a diagram showing the circuit of pneumatic devices used in the machine.

The machine shown in the drawings is organised for operating on the edge portions of a stack of workpieces, in this case to perform an edge trimming operation, the operation being controlled by the aid of a pattern or template of a shape corresponding to the required shape of the shoe soles. A number of movable parts of the machine are actuated by piston and cylinder devices and for the sake of simplicity the piping for the operating medium for such cylinders has been omitted from the drawings so that other parts can be more clearly seen.

As shown in the drawings the machine comprises a framework having upper and lower frames 10 and 11 of channel section connected by corner uprights 12 and various cross frame members at its upper part on which the operating parts are supported. The principal operating parts comprise a carrier 13 on which is mounted at one end a spindle 14 for a rotary tool 15, the carrier 13 being pivoted at 16 to an offset bracket 17 on a cross head 18 which is slidable fore and aft of the machine on vertical spaced rods 19. The tool carrier 13 is thus so mounted that it can pivot about axis 16 to move the tool 15 laterally of the machine towards and away from the line of the work and can also move bodily fore and aft along the guide rods 19 to traverse the tool 15 along one side of the work. Pivotal movement of the carrier 13 is effected by means of a pneumatic cylinder 20 having one end anchored to the cross head 18 at 21 and having its piston anchored to the carrier 13 at 22. The sliding movement of the carrier with the cross head 18 is effected by means of a hydraulic cylinder 23 supported on the cross head 18 and having its piston rod 23a anchored to a fixed bracket 62. The opposite ends of the cylinder 23 are connected by flexible pipes respectively to

hydraulic reservoir cylinders

63 and 64 the flow from which is controlled pneumatically.

In addition to supporting the tool spindle 1-4 the carrier 13 has mounted on it an electric motor 24 for drivting the spindle 14. On the spindle of the motor 24 is a driving pulley 25 which is coupled by .a belt 26 to a driven pulley 27 on the spindle 14. It will be seen from FIG. 2 that the spindle 14 is mounted in an extended bearing boss 28 on the carrier 13 and that at the position of the spindle 1'4 the carrier has a downwardly extending arm 29 having an offset lower end 36 in which there is rotatably mounted in axial alignment with the spindle 14 a follower roller 31. The latter is arranged to engage with the periphery of a template 32 referred to later.

The work to be operated on, which in the example illustrated is a stack of shoe soles, is mounted between centres to permit it to be turned through rather more or less than 180 to enable first one side and then the other of the edges of the soles to be operated on by the tool. For the mounting of the work there is provided a subframe 33 having an upward overhanging part 34. On the right hand lower part of the frame 33, FIG. 2 there is mounted on a vertical rotatable spindle a lower spigot member 35 which is vertically aligned with an upper spigot member 36 rotatably mounted in a boss 37 carried on a laterally offset rod 38 slidable vertically (but restrained against turning) in a bearing aperture in the overhanging part 34 on frame 33. The spigot 36 can be raised and lowered by means of a lever 3h pivoted at 40 to the sub-frame 33 and having lugs 41 to engage recesses in the boss 37. The other end of lever 39 in anchored at 4 2 to a link 43 coupling it at 44- to a further lever 4-5 pivoted at 46 and operated from its opposite end by a link 47 connected to a treadle arm 48 pivoted at its rearward end at 49, FIG. 3, to the main frame and carrying a treadle 50 at its forward end. The link =43 is coupled by a lost motion connection at 51 to a piston rod 52 of a pneumatic cylinder 53 by means of which power clamping of the work ieces can be eifected. The lever 45 is fitted with a return spring 54.

The lower spigot member 35 is mounted on a spindle 58 carried in a fixed bearing FIG. 4, and having fixed to its lower end a chain sprocket 55, FIG. 1 engaged by a chain 56 which extends rearwardly of the machine and around the rearward sprocket corresponding to 55, the ends of the chain being coupled to piston rods 57a and 57b, FIG. 3, extending oppositely from a pneumatic cylinder 57. Thus by operating the piston in cylinder 57 the sprocket 55 can be operated to turn the spindle 58 through somewhat more or less than two right angles between two alternative settings. Work in the form of a stack of soles S stacked between end plates 66 and 61 is adapted to be held between the

spigot members

35 and 36 as seen in FIGS. 2 and 4, with aligning plates 35a and 36a interposed between the spigot members and the end plates and with the template 32 fitted between spigot member 35 and aligning plate 35a. Thus by means of the cylinder 57 the stack of soles S can be swung bodily about the axis of the spindle 58 through rather more or less than two right angles for the purpose already indicated. The

spigot members

35 and 36 have short spigots spaced outwardly on opposite sides of their turning axes to engage with appropriately positioned apertures in the end plates 60 and 61 and intervening parts, thus providing a positive grip on the plates for the turning movements of the stack of soles.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the machine provides for a stack of soles S to be mounted in a

holding means

35, 36 in appropriate position for operation thereon of the rotary tool 15 and that the latter is so mounted and its mounting so organised that relative movements between the tool and work can be caused to occur to urge the tool against the edges of the soles until the follower 31 engages the template 32 and to traverse the tool longitudinally of the work and back again. During traverse of the tool in one direction the sole mounting is held in one position so as to present one side of the soles to the tool and the mounting is then turned bodily to present the opposite sides of the soles towards the tool before the return traverse movement of the tool occurs. The tool may be one which operates with a grinding or cutting action and its path is controlled by the engagement of the follower 31 against the template 32. 'Iihe tool 15 is of sufficient length to extend across all of the soles in the stack so that they are all shaped simultaneously by the tool to the precise shape of the template.

The soles selected for the purpose of illustration are of the kind used for ladies fashion shoes and have their heelward ends terminating in heel flaps indicated at 65 in FIG. 1. It is convenient to form the edge trimming operation by movement of the tool from the heel flap end to the toe on each side of the soles and it is desirable to provide stops for engagement by the follower 31 at each end portion of the travel of the tool to provide firstly for a smooth passage of the follower 31 into engagement with the template 32 at the commencement of each stroke and secondly for a required movement of the tool at least partly across the toe end of the soles at the conclusion of each stroke of movement.

The stops just referred to are provided by a movable adjustable stop 66 which is positioned near one end of the traversing stroke of the tool and is arranged to swing in a direction away from the position of the work out of its initial operative position to provide clearance for the follower 3*} to move across the toe ends of the sides whilst completing its second traversing movement, and a fixed but adjustable stop 67 positioned near the opposite end of the traversing stroke of the tool. The stop 66 is carried on a bar 68 which is pivoted at 69 to an L-shaped lever 70 pivoted at 7-1 to a fixed part. The other arm of the L-shaped lever is engaged by an adjustable abutment screw 73 having an operating knob 74 so that the lever 71 can be turned to adjust the operative position of stop 66 towards and away from the line of traverse of the tool spindle 14. The bar 68 carries a pneumatic cylinder 72 having a piston rod 77 which bears against a fixed frame member so that when the piston rod 77 is extended from cylinder 72 the bar is rocked about pivot 69 to move the stop 66 away from its initial operative position. A spring 78 serves to bias the bar 68 and stop 66 towards the said operative setting. The fixed but adjustable stop 67 is carried on a bar 79 which is mounted on parallel levers 8t}, 81 pivoted to fixed parts at 82 and 83. The end of the bar 79 remote from stop 67 has an offset part 84 carrying an adjusting screw 85 which bears against a projecting end 86 of lever 81 to determine the setting of stop 6-7 towards and away from the line of traverse of the spindle 14. A tension spring 87 extending between a pin 88 on bar 79 and a fixed pin 89 urges the bar 79 in the direction to engage the adjusting screw "85 with the lever projection 86.

It is desirable to provide an aligning device to enable the

spigot members

35 and 36 to be correctly aligned before full clamping pressure is applied to the stack of soles S. The bottom spigot member 35 being fixed to its spindle 53 which is chain driven to turn it from one to the other of two positions determined by fixed stops, has its extreme positions precisely determined, but the upper spigot member 36 while retained in position frictionally is permitted to turn in its bearing to any required extent. As the spigot members have their spigots serving to locate the stack by engagement in apertures in the end plates 60 and 61 it is necessary to ensure initially that the upper spigot member 36 is correctly aligned with the lower member 35 as viewed in plan. This is provided for by the aligning device which comprises an arm 0 pivoted at 91 to a floating lever 2 pivoted to a fixed part at 93. The lever carries at its free end a block 94 extending over a height somewhat greater than the stack of soles S and formed with a V-groove 75 which is adapted to engage with tails 76 formed on the aligning plates 35a and 36a. The floating lever 92 has an arm 95 extending from it and biased by a spring 96 which tends to hold the parts in approximately the correct position whilst allowing some endwise movement of arm 90 by pivotal movement of the floating lever 92. The aligning lever 90 is arranged to be rocked about its pivot in a clockwise direction as seen in FIG. 1 so that its V-groove 75 will engage with the tails 76 of both of the aligning plates 35a and 36a. This will cause the aligning lever to adjust itself into line v.2 with the tail 76 of the bottom aligning plate and at the same time bring the tail of the top aligning plate into the same alignment. The aligning lever 90 is operated manually on depression of the treadle 50 through a link 97, FIG. 3, connected by an endwise yieldable spring coupling 9% to the treadle lever 48 at 99. The link 97 is connected at its opposite end to a bell crank lever 109 pivoted at 191 and having a nose 132 bearing against the aligning lever 99. The aligning lever is retracted when required by a pneumatic cylinder 103 carried by a lever 90 and having its piston rod 104 adapted to bear against an angularly positioned stop plate 105 carried by a fixed bracket 106.

The operation of the machine will now be described with reference to the pneumatic circuit diagram of FIG. 5, in which the reference 140 indicated at each place a main air pressure supply line and the reference 141 an exhaust to atmosphere. To trim a batch of soles a stack of blanks S of a size slightly larger than a template 32 of the size and shape for the particular soles required are assembled in a stack between end plates 60 and 61 which are slightly smaller in size than the template and the stack with its end plates is placed between the

spigot members

35 and 36 on the machine with the soles positioned in plan approximately as shown in FIG. 1. The treadle 50 is depressed to cause the

spigot members

35 and 36 to grip the stack of soles under manual pressure and at the same time to operate the aligning device to cause its notch 75 to engage the tails 76 on the aligning plates and ensure that the upper plate has its tail correctly aligned with that of the lower plate. Any adjustments needed to position the stack correctly can readily be made at this stage. When the operator is satisfied that the stack is correctly placed he actuates a manual trip indicated diagrammatically at 107 in FIG. 5. This operates a pneumatic valve 108 to admit air from air pressure line 140 so as to cause the work clamping cylinder 53 to be energised and to apply power clamping to the stack of soles, and at the same time to cause the pneumatic cylinder 103 to be energised so as to retract the aligning lever 90. The stop 66 at this stage in its initial operative position adjusted into alignment with the adjacent end of the template. At the completion of the retraction movement of the alignment device a trip 109 is operated on a pneumatic impulse valve 11% which through a control line 111 causes an air valve 112 to be switched over to connect the air supply line 140 to the left hand end of cylinder 20 and energise the latter so as to rock the carrier 13 and swing the tool towards the work until the follower 31 engages the stop 66. The valve 112 also connects line 114 to the air supply line 140 to trip an impulse valve 115 which through a line 116 actuates air valve 117 so as to connect the air supply line to the hydraulic reservoir 64 and connect the hydraulic reservoir 63 to exhaust at 141. The

reservoirs

63 and 64 contain oil which is forced respectively into opposite ends of the cylinder 23. Thus when air valve 117 is actuated as just described oil is forced into cylinder 23 to effect the forward traversing movement of the carrier 13 and tool 15. The follower 31 rides off the stop 66 on to the heelward end part of the template 32 and follows the contour of the exposed side of the template passing ultimately round the toe end of the template and up against the stop 67. This causes the soles to be trimmed along one side, and partly round the toe end, to the shape of the template.

At the conclusion of the forward traversing movement an abutment on the cross-head 18 trips a valve 113 to connect the air supply line 141 to lines 1.19, 123 and 121 thereby actuating air valves 122 and 123. The valve 122 when so actuated reverses the connections of the ends of cylinder 57 to air line 14% and exhaust 141 so as to elfect partial rotation of spindle 58 and turn the stack of soles S through rather more or less than two right angles. The simultaneous actuation of valve 123 operates cylinder 72 so as to swing the stop 66 away from its initial setting for the purpose aforementioned. As the turning movement of the soles and template is about to be completed to present their other sides to the tool 15 and follower 31 a valve 124 is tripped and causes air flow through line 125 to reverse the setting of traverse control valve 117. The return traversing stroke is thereby caused to occur during which the follower 321 rides off the stop 67 on to the second side of the template and eventually partly round the toe end of the template. When this state is reached an abutment on the cross head trips an impulse valve 126 to supply pressure through line 127 for returning valve 112 to its initial setting. This operates cylinder 20 to withdraw the tool 15 and follower 31 from the work and template, and on such withdrawal a further valve 128 is tripped by the action of cylinder 20. The tripping of valve 128 supplies air pressure through lines 129, 130 and 131 to reverse the settings of valves 122 and 123 so that the spindle 58, stack of soles S and template 32 are turned bodily back to their initial setting and stop 66 is reset to its initial position. Finally the return mo tion of air cylinder 57 which turns back the spindle 58, trips an impulse valve 132 to supply pressure through line 133 whereby valve 108 is reset to first position causing cylinder 53 to retract its piston and release the clamping of the stack of trimmed soles which can then be removed from the machine and replaced by a fresh stack of soles on which the sequence of operations can then be repeated.

It will be appreciated that the machine described herein is particularly suited for use in connection with the preparation of pre-finished soles for subsequent attachment to shoes, although it is also capable of being used to trim other workpieces accurately to a required shape provided by a template. It is advantageous to provide that the follower roller 31 is of the same diameter as the tool 15 as this ensures that the workpieces will be shaped exactly in conformity with the template for all practicable shapes thereof having outward or inward undulations which the follower is capable of sensing. When employing a tool which may require to be resharpened from time to time the follower roller may be made of tapered form and provision made for relative adjustment between it and the template axially of the follower to enable compensation to be made for changes in tool diameter after resharpening.

If preferred, the follower roller may be substituted by a sleeve of appropriate diameter and it may be mounted directly on the tool spindle without being fixed to the latter. In this case, the follower preferably engages with a retarder pad to prevent it from spinning with the spindle while permitting it to roll on the boundary of the template. Other modifications that may be made to the machine include provision for more than two alternative settings of the workpieces so that relative traversing movements between them and the tool can be performed across one or both of their ends as well as along their sides, and provision for mounting and moving the parts in any other way practicable to secure the same relative approach and traversing movements between the tool and work.

What I claim is:

1. In a machine for operating on the edge portion of a workpiece, the combination comprising a template mounting, workpiece mounting means in fixed relation to the template mounting whereby a workpiece may be supported in corresponding position to a template on the mounting but oifset along an axis at right angles to its plane, a follower for engagement with the edge of a template on the mounting, a rotary tool, means mounting said tool and follower together to co-operate respectively with a template on the template mounting and a workpiece on the workpiece mounting means, means for supporting said follower and operating tool on the one hand and said template mounting and workpiece mounting means on the other hand to provide for a relative traversing movement between them to progress the follower along the boundary of the template, stops for engagement with the follower in advance of and beyond the template to determinean extent of traversing movement between the template mounting and follower supporting means such as to extend both ways beyond the template, means for retaining the template and the work support against turning during the traversing movement, and means for causing a relative approach movement between the template mounting and workpiece mounting means on the one hand and the supporting means for the follower and operating tool on the other hand transversely of the direction of traversing movement.

2. A combination according to claim 1 wherein the workpiece mounting means comprises two co-axial spindles and workpiece clamping members carried on said spindles to receive the workpieces between them, means for urging one spindle towards the other to clamp the workpieces in fixed relation to a template on the tem plate mounting while being in correct registry with said template, and while permitting the workpieces to turn with the spindles, and means for locating the spindles in difierent settings offset angularly about their common axis.

3. A combination according to claim 1 having means for mounting at least one of said stops for adjustment in a direction transversely of the line of traversing movement.

4. A combination according to claim 2 wherein the said locating means acts on one only of said spindles and having aligning means for bringing the clamping member on the other of said spindles into appropriate registry with the clamping member on the first-mentioned spindle.

5. A combination according to claim 4 comprising corresponding offset tails on the respective clamping members, and aligning means including a member formed with a V notch for engagement with said tails to effect alignment thereof.

6. In a machine for operating on the edge portion of a workpiece, the combination comprising a template mounting, workpiece mounting means in fixed relation to the template mounting whereby a stack of workpieces may be supported in corresponding position to a template on the template mounting but ofiset along an axis at right angles to the plane of said template, power-operated means for holding workpieces on the workpiece mounting, a follower for engagement with the edge of a template on template mounting, a rotary tool, means mounting said follower and tool in suitably related positions to co-operate respectively with a template on the template mounting and workpieces on the workpiece mounting means, supporting means for said follower, operating tool, template mounting and workpiece mounting means permitting relative traversing movement between the follower and operating tool on the one hand and the template and workpiece mounting means on the other hand in a direction along a side of a template on the mounting, power-operated means for effecting said relative traversing movement, means for retaining the template and the work support against turning during the traversing movement, power-operated means for turning the workpiece and template mountings between forward and return relative traversing movements to present different edges of a template and of the workpieces to the follower and tool during said forward and return traversing move- 1.3 merits, and power-operated means for causing relative approach movement between the workpieces and template on the one hand and the tool and follower on the other hand to maintain yielding engagement between the follower and template.

7. A combination according to claim 6 having means for performing automatically in sequence clamping of a stack of workpieces on the workpiece supporting means, a forward traversing movement between the follower and template holder to cause the follower and tool to progress along one side of the template and workpieces, turning of the template mounting and workpiece mounting means to a second position, a return traversing movement to cause the follower and tool to progress along another side of the template and workpieces, separation of the tool from the workpieces and release of the workpieces.

8. A combination according to claim 6 comprising pneumatically operated means for effecting turning of the workpieces and template.

9. In a machine for operating on edge portions of shoe soles, the combination comprising a template mounting for mounting a sole template, mounting means for a stack of soles in fixed relation to the template mounting and adapted to support the soles in corresponding position to a sole template on the template mounting but offset along an axis at right angles to its plane, a follower for engagement with the edge of a template on the template mounting, a rotary tool, a spindle supporting said tool and follower at positions displaced from one another corresponding to the positions of a template and a stack of 'soles on the mounting therefor, means supporting said tool spindle for traversing movement along the length of the template mounting and for movement towards and away from the template mounting, means for retaining the template and mounting means against turning during the traversing movement, means for traversing said spindle to and fro alongside said template mounting and means for yieldably urging said spindle towards the template mounting so as to maintain the follower in contact with a template on the template mounting.

10. In a machine for operating on an edge portion of a workpiece, the combination comprising a template mounting, means for supporting a workpiece in fixed relation to the template mounting, a follower for engaging a template on the template mounting, an operating tool for engaging with the workpiece, a support carrying said follower and operating tool, means for supporting the template mounting and said support in such relation as to permit relative movement between them to efiect relative traversing movement between the follower and an edge of the template and between the tool and a corresponding edge of the workpiece, means for retaining the template and the work support against turning during the traversing movement, means for urging the follower into engagement with the edge of the template, and means supporting the template mounting and workpiece supporting means to permit them to turn together bodily about an axis at right angles to the plane of a template on the mounting whereby diiferent parts of the periphery of the workpiece may be presented to the tool.

Bertrand Dec. 6, 1938 Stacey Oct. 3, 1944

Claims

10. IN A MACHINE FOR OPERATING ON AN EDGE PORTION OF A WORKPIECE, THE COMBINATION COMPRISING A TEMPLATE MOUNTING, MEANS FOR SUPPORTING A WORKPIECE IN FIXED RELATION TO THE TEMPLATE MOUNTING, A FOLLOWER FOR ENGAGING A TEMPLATE ON THE TEMPLATE MOUNTING, AN OPERATING TOOL FOR ENGAGING WITH THE WORKPIECE, A SUPPORT CARRYING SAID FOLLOWER AND OPERATING TOOL, MEANS FOR SUPPORTING THE TEMPLATE MOUNTING AND SAID SUPPORT IN SUCH RELATION AS TO PERMIT RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN THEM TO EFFECT RELATIVE TRAVERSING MOVEMENT BETWEEN THE FOLLOWER AND AN EDGE OF THE TEMPLATE AND BETWEEN THE TOOL AND A CORRESPONDING EDGE OF THE WORKPIECE, MEANS FOR RETAINING THE TEMPLATE AND THE WORK SUPPORT AGAINST TURNING DURING THE TRAVERSING MOVEMENT, MEANS FOR URGING THE FOLLOWER INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH THE EDGE OF THE TEMPLATE, AND MEANS SUPPORTING THE TEMPLATE MOUNTING AND WORKPIECE SUPPORTING MEANS TO PERMIT THEM TO TURN TOGETHER BODILY ABOUT AN AXIS AT RIGHT ANGLES TO THE PLANE OF A TEMPLATE ON THE MOUNTING WHEREBY DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE PERIPHERY OF THE WORKPIECE MAY BE PRESENTED TO THE TOOL.