US3208684A

US3208684A - Machine for rolling up reinforcing mats and similar wire grids and nets

Info

Publication number: US3208684A
Application number: US212631A
Authority: US
Inventors: Ramstein Erich
Original assignee: HA Schlatter AG
Current assignee: HA Schlatter AG
Priority date: 1961-07-28
Filing date: 1962-07-26
Publication date: 1965-09-28
Anticipated expiration: 1982-09-28
Also published as: GB986854A; CH386801A; ES279508A1

Description

Sept. 28, 1965 E. RAMSTEIN MACHINE FOR ROLLING UP REINFORCING MATS AND SIMILAR WIRE GRIDS AND NETS '2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 26, 1962 Sept. 28, 1965 E. RAMSTEIN 3,208,634

MACHINE FOR ROLLING UP REINFORCING MATS AND SIMILAR WIRE GRIDS AND NETS 2 SheetsSheet 2 Filed July 26, 1962 United States Patent 3,208,684 MACHINE FOR ROLLING UP REINFORCING AND SIMILAR WIRE GRIDS AND T Erich Ramstein, Wettingen, Switzerland, assignor to H. A. Schlatter A.G., Zurich, Switzerland Filed July 26, 1962, Ser. No. 212,631 Claims priority, application Switzerland, July 28, 1961, 8,890/ 61 9 Claims. (Cl. 242-671) This invention relates to a machine for rolling up wire grids and nets and more particularly to a machine for rolling of sport-welded metal reinforcing mats.

Whenever the term mat is used in this specification it is to be understood as comprising wire grids, nets and similar metal structures as well. Machines for rolling up metal reinforcing mats are usually combined with machines for producing the spot-welded mats in order to be able to roll up each mat immediately after the longitudinal and transverse wires have been welded together, winding it into a roll so that it may be easily carried away.

The machines which are presently used for this purpose have a winding drum or mandrel which extends over the entire width of the mat. In order to pull off the mat from this drum, the strong frictional resistance between the innermost turn or coil of the mat and the drum must be overcome, which necessitates a correspondingly powerful and heavy extruding mechanism. If the mat is very wide such a machine requires a lot of wax space.

In the past a winding drum which is divided in the middle has been used in such machines. The mat is removed in that case by pulling both parts of the drum laterally out of the mat roll. But such a construction does not reduce the work necessary for separating the roll from the drum nor the room necessary for setting up and operating the machine.

The winding machine according to this invention comprises two cylindrical winding mandrels or cores which each receive and support one of the forward side edges of the mat or other flat metal object to be rolled up. The winding cores are arranged coaxially in spaced relationship, and each is rotatable by suitable means at the end remote from the opposite winding core. Driving means of conventional form, such as an electric motor are provided for at least one of the winding cores and a rotatable pressure roller is resiliently biased against the two winding cores. Two parallel support walls are mounted adjacent the driven end of each core and are adjustable to the width of the mat to be rolled. Each support wall has an opening which is adapted to the diameter of the winding cores and coaxial therewith. Means are also provided for moving the winding cores relative to each other in an axial direction.

According to a preferred embodiment of the machine of this invention each of the winding c'ores has a slot for receiving the forward side edge of the mat to be rolled up. A supporting table for the mat is adapted .to slide the mat forward and insert the front end into the slots of the winding cores. The pressure roller and the particular direction of rotation of the winding cores contribute in bending the front side portions which are received in the slots into sharply bent hooks. These hooks connect the mat securely to the winding cores so that it is carired along during rotation of the cores without requiring a fastening of the front end of the mat to the cores, eliminating thus also the need to release any such fastening means at the end of the winding operation. Because of the fact that only the edge portions of the mat are secured in the slots, the frictional force to be overcome in pulling the rolled mat ofi the cores at the end of the winding operation is increased only slightly. Moreover the machine is adapted to process mats of different widths as well as of different intervals between the longitudinal and transverse wires or bars.

It is therefore an object of the invention to construct a machine for rolling up metal mats in which the coil or roll formed of the mat may be removed in its rolled-up state in a simple manner by the application of a small force and in a relatively small area.

These and other objects and features of the invention will become apparent upon reading the specific description of the invention in connection with the accompanying drawing which forms part of the specification and which illustrates, my way of example only, an embodiment of the invention. In the drawing:

FIG. l is an elevation view of-a winding machine according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a section of the machine along line 11-11 of FIG. 1, showing a mat in position to be rolled up.

FIG. 3 is a detail view of FIG. 2 showing the mat dur ing the winding of the first turn or coil.-

Referring now particularly to the drawings, the machine illustrated has two cores or mandrels 1 and 1', arranged coaxially and spaced a predetermined distance from each other. Each core has an axial slot '11 for receiving the front portion of one of the longitudinal edges of the mat to be rolled up. Each

core

1, 1 is rotatably supported in a conventional manner in posts or stands 2, 2 respectively. These posts may be moved horizontally in the direction of the common axis of the cores 1, 1' by means of rollers 21, 21' secured to the base 3 of the machine or to the posts and may travel along rails 31, 31' of the base.

A spindle shaft 32 is arranged in the base 3 of the machine and its ends are provided with threaded

portions

321 and 321 respectively which are threaded in opposite directions. A lug 22 has an inner thread for receiving the threaded portion 321, and this lug 22 is connected to the post 2 of the machine. A corresponding lug 22 is provided for threaded portion 221 and is connected to post 2'.

Two walls 4 and 4' are releasably secured to the base 3 of the machine for movement axially of the Winding cores and strengthened by props 42, 42', and the distance between these walls is adjustable to the width of the mat to be rolled up. For example wall 4 is provided with a circular opening 41 through which core 1 extends. The diameter of the open-ing is chosen in such a manner that gap between core 1 and the edge of opening 41 is smaller than the thickness of the mat or the radial section of a turn thereof when wound on the core during rolling of the mat. The props may be secured to the base 'by suitable means such as by screw bolts 64 which extend into rails 65 set into the floor. This arrangement is suitable for a manual adjustment of the walls.

The mat winding machine has a carriage device 5 which advances the mat to be rolled up and presses it against the cores 1, 1', or against the partly wound mat roll. This carriage 5 comprises a feeding table 51 carried by support plates 52, 52', and a freely rotatable cylinder 53 mounted in plates 52 and 5-2 for pressing the mat against the cores 1, 1'. The axis of cores 1, 1' and the axis of cylinder 53 he in a common horizontal plane above the work-ing plane of the supporting table 51. The surface plane of table 51 coincides wit-h a tangential plane of pressure cylinder 53, and its distance from the axis of

cores

1, 1 is equal to the distance of the slots 11 from the axis, as best seen in FIG. 2.

The support plates 52, 52' may be moved horizontally by means of rollers 54, 54' travelling in

guide rails

55, 55. These plates are urged in the direction of the

cores

1, 1 by conventional resilient biasing means, for example by a hydraulically operated cylinder-piston unit 58. The

piston of the cylinder is connected to the push r-ods 56. The rails 55, 55' are supported by

upright columns

57, 57.

The two cores 1, 1' are rotated synchronously in the direction of arrow 12 by conventional driving means as by an electric motor 63 for each core in such a way that slots 1-1 of core 1 and the corresponding slot 11 of core 1' are parallel to each other at all times during the winding operation. Each motor is connected over a V belt 62 to a reduction gear 61 associated with one of the cores. Synchronism can be achieved in a known manner during winding either by employing for that purpose one of two synchronous motors (not shown) or by means of a shaft with two gears (not shown) mounted parallel to spindle 32, the gears being movable on the shaft and capable of driving cores 1 and 1' respectively. When the mat to be rolled is narrow and sufficiently rigid only one of the

cores

1, 1 need be driven while the other is allowed to idle.

It a flat, flexible metal member, such as a spot-welded mat 6 is to be rolled up, the slots 1-1 are put into a horizontal position as shown in FIG. 2 facing the mat by suitably turning the

cores

1, 1. The mat is advanced on table 51 and theforward portion of its side edge is inserted into the slot 11, on the right side, and in the same manner on the left side relative to the slot 11 in core 1' (see FIG. 2). Thereupon the driving means are actuated to rotate both cores 1, 1' in the direction of arrow 12. w

-As may be seen from FIG. 3, this produces a bend in the front part of the longitudinal edges forming thus a hooked portion located in the slots 11 and providing such a secure connection with the cores 1, 1' that it is able to transmit a pull on the mat 6 sufficient to roll it up. Each core member thus receives on its periphery a portion of the longitudinal edge of the mat. The roller 53 is essential first for producing the hooked portions, thereafter for urging the first turn against the cores 1, 1' and for supporting the part of the mat which extends between the

cores

1 and 1. It is essential that already in this phase of the operation the mat is bent around the roller 53 and is thereby made rigid so that it will not bend in between the cores. While the subsequent turns are wound, roller 53 pushes the mat 6 tightly against the previously formed coil.

In order to secure the for-ward side edges of the mat to the

cores

1, 1 so that they do not slide out during the winding of the mat, they must form a hook bent at an acute angle. Right angle hooks would be prone to pull out of the slots 11 under the stress of the longitudinal wires when the first coil is being rolled. Due to the stiffness of the longitudinal wires it has been found necessary to push the mat 6 against the cores 1, 1' while the hooks are being formed.

Such acute angle hooks which stay reliably in the slots 11 are produced by the above described arrangement of the

parts

1, 1', 11, 51, 53 in connection with the rotation of the cores in the direction of arrow 12. Another essential feature of the arrangement is the guiding of the mat between the cores 1, 1' and the roller 53 already from the start of the rotation, whereby it is prevented from pulling out of the slots 11 while the hooks are not yet completely formed.

If relatively narrow mats are to be rolled up it is sufiicient to drive only one of the two cores 1, 1' while the other may rotate freely. Due to its stiffness the roll itself is able to transmit the torque from the connected side to the freely rotatable core. To handle wide mats both cores are driven simultaneously in such a Way that the slots 11 of both cores are always lying in a common plane. The mat is not rolled up over its entire width on winding cores but only the lateral ends are held and suported by the cores 1, 1'. The stiffness of the mat and of its hooked front portion, the carrying capacity of the first coil and later of the partly formed mat roll are useful in forming the subsequent coils.

After the entire mat has been rolled up the posts 2 and 2' are moved away from each other by turning the spindle shaft 32. This causes the cores 1, 1' to be withdrawn from the mat roll, the walls 4, 4' retaining and stripping the mat roll off the cores. The friction is relatively small because each of the cores 1, 1' extends only over a portion of the roll formed from the rein forcing mat. The path over which the posts 2, 2' are moved during this operation corresponds to the width of the two side edge portions which are located on the core members. The space required for releasing the finished mat roll is correspondingly small. Accordingly the time required for taking the rolled mat from the cores is similarly shortened in the case of a machine of this invention compared to a machine in which the rolled-up mat must be pulled off a winding mandrel which extends over the entire width of the mat.

The length of the pressure roller 53 may be adapted to the size of the widest reinforcing mats to be rolled up. In the case of the widest mats the

walls

4, 4 are provided with slots through which the roller 53 may advance if the walls are adjusted to a smaller winding width. In that case the posts 2, 2' are to be so constructed that they do not project beyond the periphery of the winding

cores

1, 1, as seen in FIGURES 2 and 3.

As many apparently different embodiments of this invention may be made without departing from the scope and spirit thereof, it is to be understood that the inventionis not limited to the specific embodiments thereof except as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A machine for rolling up flat metal bodies comprising in combination a base,

a pair of spaced upright support members movably mounted on said base,

operating means connected to said base and engaging said upright support members for movement relative to each other on said base,

a pair of walls releasably secured to said base and extending adjacent the inner face of said upright support members,

a winding core rotatably mounted on each upright support member,

said winding cores having a slot for receiving a forward side portion of a flat metal body,

said walls having an opening for receiving said winding cores,

said opening having a diameter not greater than the combined diameter of said winding core and the flat metal body,

spaced elongate support means mounted at one side of said winding cores and movable relative to said winding cores,

support means for the flat metal body mounted on said elongate support means,

elongate pressure means arranged parallel to said winding cores and mounted on said elongate support means for engaging said winding cores,

and means for resiliently biasing said elongate pressure means against said winding cores.

2. In a machine for rolling up flat metal bodies,

the combination of spaced rotatable core means having a slot for receiving a forward side portion of a fiat metal body,

a pair of upright supports for said core means, at least one of said upright supports being movable axially of said core means,

wall means releasably secured to said base and extending upwardly above said code means adjacent the inner face of said upright supports,

wall means having an opening for said core means, said opening having a diameter not greater than the combined diameter of said winding core and the flat metal body,

support means for said flat metal body mounted movably relative to said core means on one side thereof for inserting said metal body into said slots,

elongate pressure means mounted on said support means parallel to said core means,

and means for resiliently biasing said elongate pressure means toward said core means,

said wall means retaining said rolled metal body during movement of said upright supports axially away from each other to strip said rolled metal body from said core means.

3. A machine according to claim 1 wherein said slots in said winding cores extend parallel to the axis of said winding cores.

4. A machine according to claim 1 wherein the surface plane of said support means for said metal body coincides with a tangential plane of said elongate pressure member and extends the same distance from the axis of said winding cores as the plane of said slots.

5. A machine according to claim 1 including motor means for rotating said winding cores in a direction to bend said forward side portions of said metal body at an acute angle.

6. A machine according to claim 1 wherein the axis of said winding cores and of said elongate pressure member extends above the surface plane of said support means for said metal body and wherein the direction of rotation of said winding cores relative to the contact line of said elongate pressure means is from the bottom upward.

7. A machine according to claim 1 wherein said winding cores are driven so that their slots remain in alignment during the rolling of said metal body.

8. A machine for rolling up flat metal bodies comprising a base, a pair of spaced upright supports movably mounted on said base, lugs having a threaded bore fixed to said upright supports, a spindle shaft mounted in said base and having two spaced threaded portions received in said threaded bores in said lugs, a pair of walls reelasably secured to said base and extending adjacent the inner face of said upright supports, a cylindrical winding core rotatably mounted on each upright support, each said winding cores having a slot extending parallel to its axis for receiving the forward side edge of a flat metal body, said walls having an opening for receiving said winding cores, said opening having a diameter less than the combined diameter of said cores and said metal body, support columns mounted adjacent said upright supports, on one side of said winding cores a pair of guide rails supported on said columns, spaced support plates mounted on said guide rails at said one side of said winding cores, rollers fixed to said support plates and movably mounted on said guide rails, a platform connected to said support plates and adapted to support said metal body, said platform providing a guide plane for the flat metal body extending the same distance from the axis of said winding cores as the plane of said slot in said winding cores and an elongate pressure roller rotatably mounted in said support plates, means biasing said support plates toward said winding cores whereby said pressure roller is resiliently urged against said winding cores, said walls retaining the rolled metal body to strip it off said cores during movement of said upright supports away from each other upon rotation of said spindle shaft in a predetermined direction.

9. A machine according to claim 8 wherein one of said threaded portions on said spindle shaft has a lefthand thread and the other has a right-hand thread whereby said upright supports are movable in opposite directions parallel to the axis of said winding cores upon rotation of said spindle shaft.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 8/54 Montgomery 24278.3 X 5/60 Hoeffgen et al. 24278.1 X

FOREIGN PATENTS 806,806 12/58 Great Britain.

Claims

1. A MACHINE FOR ROLLING UP FLAT METAL BODIES COMPRISING IN COMBINATION A BASE, A PAIR OF SPACED UPRIGHT SUPPORT MEMBERS MOVABLY MOUNTED ON SAID BASE, OPERATING MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID BASE AND ENGAGING SAID UPRIGHT SUPPORT MEMBERS FOR MOVEMENT RELATIVE TO EACH OTHER ON SAID BASE, A PAIR OF WALLS RELEASABLY SECURED TO SAID BASE AND EXTENDING ADJACENT THE INNER FACE OF SAID UPRIGHT SUPPORT MEMBERS, A WINDING CORE ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON EACH UPRIGHT SUPPORT MEMBER, SAID WINDING CORES HAVING A SLOT FOR RECEIVING A FORWARD SIDE PORTION OF A FLAT METAL BODY, SAID WALLS HAVING AN OPENING FOR RECEIVING SAID WINDING CORES, SAID OPENING HAVING A DIAMETER NOT GREATER THAN THE COMBINED DIAMETER OF SAID WINDING CORE AND THE FLAT METAL BODY, SPACED ELONGATE SUPPORT MEANS MOUNTED AT ONE SIDE OF SAID WINDING CORES AND MOVABLE RELATIVE TO SAID WINDING CORES, SUPPORT MEANS FOR THE FLAT BODY MOUNTED ON SAID ELONGATE SUPPORT MEANS, ELONGATE PRESSURE MEANS ARRANGED PARALLEL TO SAID WINDING CORES AND MOUNTED ON SAID ELONGATE SUPPORT MEANS FOR ENGAGING SAID WINDING CORES, AND MEANS FOR RESILIENTLY BIASING SAID ELONGATE PRESSURE MEANS AGAINST SAID WINDING CORES.