US3237829A - Roll-fed rod severing machine - Google Patents

Description

March 1, 1966 F Q MUNTWYLER 3,237,829

ROLL-FED ROD SEVERING MACHINE Filed April 29, 1964 3 Sheets Sheet l March 1, 1966 F. c. MUNTWYLER 3,237,829

ROLL-FED ROD SEVERIN@ MACHINE Filed April 29, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN-roa FREDRIC C NuN'rwYLER AT1-Ys.

March 1, 1966 F. c. MUNTWYLER 3,237,829

ROLL-FED ROD SEVERING MACHINE Filed April 29, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 -7| 2 /J/-64 1/ //y /x i E 45 ,09 r11- Elm i. i 106 Q 1 43 O 4 4I INvsN-roe Fecomc C. Mufvrwnsa ATTYS.

United States Patent O 3,237,829 ROLL-FED ROD SEVERING MACHINE Fredi-ic C. Muntwyler, Palos Park, Ill., assignor to Wire Machinery, Incorporated, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed Apr. 29, 1964, Ser. No. 363,511 3 Claims. (Cl. 22S- 103) The present invention relates to a machine for straightening, measuring and cutting metal rod or wire fed from a bulk roll and more particularly to a iying shear arrangement for use in a machine of this type.

In the warehousing of steel it has been customary for the distributor to stock metal rod in a large number of standard lengths and diameters. The desirability has been recognized of iilling orders on a custom basis using stock fed from a roil and with the stock being straightened, measured and cut to desired length automatically, but machines for accomplishing this have been expensive and have suffered from a number of diiiiculties preventing widespread usage.

It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide a rod straightening and cutting machine including a novel ying shear capable of cutting continuously moving, straightened stock into predetermined lengths on a custom basis. It is a related object of the present invention to provide a straightening and cutting arrangement for rods or the like which is capable of operating at a rate of speed equal to or higher than prior machines but which is nevertheless accurate and consistent so that an entire order of several hundreds, or thousands, of pieces may be cut to the same length automatically within close tolerances.

Finally, it is an object to provide a straightening and cutting machine having a tlying shear mechanism in which the mechanical movements are precisely coordinated and which cannot get out of phase adjustment even over extended periods of use, which is inherently strong and durable, which is relatively simple and inexpensive, and which avoids the drive complications of more conventional cutters of the flying shear type.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the attached detailed description and upon reference to the drawings in which:

FIGURE l is a front elevation, with the right hand portion thereof foreshortened, of a straightening and cutting machine utilizing the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section taken through the shear portion of the machine of FIG. l.

FIG. 3 is a transverse section taken along the line 3 3 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the flying shear looking along the line 4 4 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view taken along the line 5--5 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the elliptical path of the cutter and the relation thereof to the rod being cut.

While the invention has been described in connection with a preferred embodiment, it will be understood that the invention is not necessarily limited to the embodiment shown but, on the contrary, it is intended to cover the various alternative and equivalent constructions included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Turning to FIG. 1, there is shown a straightening and cutting machine 10 constructed in accordance with the invention capable of acting upon a rod W fed from a bulk supply roll. It will be understood that the stock received from the mill, while held within close diameter tolerance, is nevertheless irregularly bent, requiring precise straightening before being sold in the form or" rods or bars. The incoming stock thus passes through a guide 11 into a 3,237,829 Patented Mar. 1, 1966 ice pre-straightener 12 having a plurality of grooved rollers 13 which overlap to define a sinuous path. The partially straightened rod then passes through a drive unit 14 having feed rolls 15 which propel the rod into a spinnertype straightener 16. The latter, which is shown only diagrammatically, includes a set of straightening rollers similar to those shown in 13 but with the roller assembly being rotatable about the rod axis to effect straightening in all planes. The rod then passes into a pair of drive mechanisms 17 having feed rollers 18. The nowstraightened rod is fed to a iiying shear indicated at S and through which the rod is fed onto a runout table 20 having an upper or measuring rack 21 and a lower or storage rack 22. Adjustably positioned along the measuring rack 21 is a limit switch 23 which, upon engagement by the advancing rod, triggers the operation of the iiying shear. As will become apparent as the discussion proceeds, upon completion of the cutting stroke the ying shear serves to trigger a release mechanism indicated at 25 so that the severed rod is promptly deposited in the storage rack 22. For the purpose of powering the feed -mechanisms 1447, a constant speed drive is provided including a motor 30, with the drive connections being indicated diagrammatically at 31.

With the overall construction of the straightening and cutting machine in mind, attention may be given to the flying shear S and its associated mechanism as illustrated in the remainder of the iigures. The flying shear mechanism is mounted on a frame having a top surface or table 41 and side walls 42 forming a rigid box-like enclosure. Supported on the surface 41 is a mounting plate 43 mounting a pair of way members 44, 45 in which the ying shear head is horizontally movable. The shear head, indicated at 50, is in the form of a casting or forging having a front surface 51, bottom or way surfaces 52, triangularly shaped reinforcing walls 53, and a depending clevis connection 54. For leading in the rod and for holding it against the action of the cutter is a cutoff or guide bushing having a mouth 56 which tapers down to a discharge orifice 57 which corresponds to the diameter of the rod and which serves as a cutting anvil. The bushing is removably secured by a clamp 58.

Mounted in the shear head Si) for vertical sliding movement is a cutter Slide, or yoke, 60 slidable in vertical ways 61, 62 (see FIG. 4) having a lower end 63 in the form of a clevis and having a central opening 64. Mounted in the cutter slide 60 is a cutter or cutoff knife 70 having a semi-circular shearing edge 71 at its lower end and adjustably mounted in a recess 72 formed in the back surface of the slide. To hold the cutter in place a clamping bolt 73 is provided which extends through a clearance slot 74 permitting adjustment of the depth of cut. As will be apparent from the discussion which follows, the cutter edge need not pass through the entire cross section of the rod. Depending upon the hardness of the rod a penetration of 50% or less will normally sufce.

In accordance with the present invention, cranks are provided side by side on the same crankshaft for simultaneously reciprocating the head 50 of the shear in the horizontal direction while reciprocating the cutter slide in the vertical direction so that the cutting edge describes a iiattened elliptical path and with the cutter being so mounted with respect to the guide which conducts the rod that the rod is engaged, for synchronous movement, only during the central portion of the lower segment of the ellipse. Thus, referring to FIG. 3, I provide a crankshaft having stationary bearings 81, 82, 83 anda central crank of limited throw flanked by cranks S6, 87 of greater throw. Cooperating with the crank 35 is a connecting rod 90 having a sleeve coupling 91 and threaded length adjustment 92. The upper end of the connecting rod is pivotally connected to the clevis at the lower end of the cutter slide by means of a wrist pin 93. T o produce the coordinated horizontal movement of the head, the cranks 86, 87 are connected to laterally extending connecting rods, the outer ends of which are guided for generally horizontal movement and which are, in turn, coupled to a link which extends generally horizontally, in a folded back relation, for driving engagement with the head. In the present instance I employ connecting rods 101, 102 having sleeve couplings 103, 104 encircling the cranks 86, 87 respectively. The connecting rods are connected at their alined outer ends to a pin 105 supported by a drop or guide link 106. The latter is made up of a pair of spaced arms 107 which are rigidly secured to a hinge member 108 mounted on a horizontally extending hinge pin 109, the pin being secured, as shown, to the underside of the top member 41 of the frame.

For the purpose of coupling together the connecting rods 101, 102 and the shear head, a link 110 is provided having an end member 111 which is positioned between the two arms 107 of the drop link and which carries a pin 113 at its forward end to provide a pivoted connection with the clevis 54 on the underside of the shear head. A threaded connection 115 permits adjustment of the effective length of the link 110.

In practicing the invention the throw of the crank 85 may be, as shown at 85a in FIG. 2, on the order of 1%, and the throw of the cranks 86, 87 may be, as indicated at 86a, 87a, on the order of 3". The direction of throw, i.e., the phasing of the cranks is such as to produce movement of the cutter along the locus of a horizontally elongated ellipse. This is accomplished in the present construction by making the throws of the cranks substantially in phase with one another, causing the cutting edge to follow the elliptical path E.

Prior to discussing the significance of the elliptical path and its relation to the diameter and feed rate of' the rod being measured and cut, reference may be made to the mechanism employed for driving the crankshaft 80. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, a drive motor 120 is provided having a drive sheave 121 engaging a plurality of V belts 122 which are trained about a flywheel 123. The ywheel is mounted for rotation about the shaft 80 on bearings 124 and a single revolution clutch 125 is provided for coupling the flywheel to the end of the shaft. The single revolution clutch does not per se form a part of the present invention and it will suice to say that the clutch is of the type commonly employed in punch presses or the like to produce a single revolution or stroke of movement. An example of such a single revolution clutch is that produced by the Wichita Clutch Company, Inc., of Vlichita Falls, Texas, Model ATD-214. I=t will be apparent that with the clutch serving to lock the flywheel to the shaft during one revolution, the energy stored in the flywheel is effectively added to the energy from the drive motor to augment the torque which is applied to the crankshaft. For the purpose of bringing the crankshaft to a stop at the end of the single revolution, a brake is provided consisting of a brake drum 126, shoes 127 and a suitable actuator 128. The brake is also of the type conventionally employed in power presses and it may, for example, be of the type manufactured by Johnson Machine and Press Corp., of South Bend, Indiana, Model 282-150. The clutch and brake are related in the usual way, i.e., when the clutch is engaged the brake is olf and vice Versa.

In accordance with one of the aspects of the present invention, the motor which drives the crankshaft is separate from the motor 30 which drives the feed rolls in order to permit minor variations in the speed of the cutter head and cutter with respect to the peripheral speed of the feed rolls. To this end I provide for the drive motor 120 a speed control generally indicated at 130 having a setting knob 131 and of the type in which the speed,

once set, is maintained within close limits. The reason that this has been found desirable is that the feed of the rod may vary depending upon rod diameter and other factors for a given nominal speed of the feed rolls and the separate control enables the speed of the head with respect to the feed rolls to be optimized for a given set of operating conditions.

The advantages of the above construction will be apparent upon considering a typical cycle of operation and particularly upon reference to FIG. 6 which shows the relation between the ellipitical path E of the cutter edge and the rod W, a rod of about midway in the diameter range of the machine, being taken by way of example. It will be assumed, at the outset, that the connecting rods are at the region of maximum right hand throw corresponding to a reference position 141 of the edge of the cutter. Thus the shear head 50 is in its extreme right hand position and the cutter is at approximately the middle of its downward stroke but well clear of the rod W. Upon rotation of the crankshaft in the clockwise direction as Viewed in FIG. 2, the cutter is moved downwardly toward the rod and, simultaneously, the head is accelerated to the feed rate of the rod. The cutter is so adjusted with respect to the rod guide 55, by means of clamping bolt 73, that engagement between the cutter and the rod occurs only during the central portion of the lower segment of the ellipse, i.e., after the head has accelerated to the speed of the rod, and with disengagement taking place prior to the time that deceleration of the head occurs at the end of the stroke. Thus the cutter enters the rod at a point 142. Because of the horizontally elongated locus of the ellipse E, the penetration P forms only a small fraction of the total distance of cutting travel indicated at D. It follows from this that the horizontal component of velocity of the cutter is substantially constant over the cutting distance D and substantially equal to the velocity of the cutter along the lower segment of its elliptical path. The cutter is Vthus moved along with the advancing rod in precise synchronism with it, tending neither to impede the rod or to rush ahead if it. Not only does this produce a clean cutting stroke fully the equivalent of that which would occur if the cutter and rod were horizontally stationary, but it insures that the act of cutting does not affect the accuracy of automatic measurement of rod length. As the cutter approaches the point 143 of maximum penetration severing is completed and the severed end of the rod is temporarily supported on the upper rack 21 of the runout table.

The cutter continues to move horizontally with the incoming rod until it clears the rod at point 144. Deceleration of the head occurs between the point 144 and the point of extreme forward movement of the head 145. As the head approaches the maximum forward position a cam C thereon serves to trigger a cam follower OF thereby to trigger releasing movement of the mechanism 25 for depositing of the severed rod upon the storage rack 22.

After the head reaches its forward extreme, continued rotation of the camshaft causes the head to be retraoted and the cut-ter edge to fbe withdrawn upwardly, producing a resultant cutter movement along the upper segment 146 of the ellipse. Means responsive to the phase position of the crankshaft and forming a part of the conventional clutch control are provided for applying the brake and for disengaging the clutch so that the mechanism comes .to rest with the cutter edge in the starting position 141 in readiness Afor a successive cutting cycle. Such a cutting cycle is initiated by the engagement of the leading edge of fthe rod with the limit switch 23 resulting in the severing of another section of rod of desired length. The machine is thus capable of running automatically with little care or attention on the part of the operator until the desired number of pieces have been deposited in the storage rack.

While the means for guiding the ends of the connecting rod 101, 102 is, in the present construction, in the form of a drop link, which for-ms the preferred construction, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that a cross head or slide may be substituted without departing from the present invention. l-t Will also be apparent to one skilled in the art tha-t the use of a double connecting rod '101, 102 reduces the concentration of stress in the crankshaft enabling a crankshaft of lighter construction to be used than would otherwise be possible and enabling the reaction force to be applied immediately adjacent to, and divided between, the stationary bearings 82, S3.

Most important of all, however, is the fact that the horizontal and vertical components of movement of the cutting edge are precisely coordinated so that there is no possibility of the components departing from their precise phase relation. Thus even though a slight amount of slowing down in the crankshaft may occur during the cutting stroke by reason of subtracting some of the energy from the ywvheel, such deceleration occurs proportionately in the two components of cutter movement so that the elliptical path remains precisely the same at all shaft speeds and independently of the rod size or degree of loading interposed upon the cutter. Moreover, since the speed of the drive motor 120 is automatically controlled, any tendency for the crankshaft to decelerate is immediately compensated by a momentary increase of power input to the motor so that the head does not slow down to an appreciable exten-t, i.e., enough to have any substantial accelerating or decelerating effect upon the rod itself. It is found in practice using the above scheme that a smaller rated drive motor may be employed than is required for iiying shears of equivalent capacity but of conventional design. A practical bene-lit inherent in the present design is that the construction, in spite of its operating advantages, is simple and inexpensive and consequently may be manufactured and sold at reduced cost. The device may be used for straightening and cutting rod of non-circular cross section if the guide 55 is replaced with one having an opening of matching cross section and if the spinning device 16 is omitted. Moreover, the limit switch 23 may be replaced with a mechanical type trip capable of operating the main drive clutch if desired and without departing lfrom the invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a flying shear for cutting a rod in forward motion the combination comprising a frame, means for feeding a rod at predetermined speed, a shear head having a cutter vertically movable therein and a cooperating guide serving as an anvil, means on said frame for mounting the shear head for horizontal movement, a first crank having a vertically arranged connecting -rod and pivotally connected at its upper end to the cutter for reciprocating the same, a second crank having a laterally eX- tending connecting rod together with means for guiding the end of the rod for horizontal reciprocating movement, a generally horizontal link coupled at one end to the end of the laterally extending connecting rod and at the opposite end to the shear head for horizontally reciprocating the latter, a crankshaft having driving means including a flywheel and single-revolution clutch, said cranks being arranged side by side on the crankshaft and substantially in phase with one another so that the cutter follows the locus of an horizontally elongated ellipse with the guide being so spaced with respect to the cutter that the cutter is engaged with the rod only 6 during the central portion of the lower segment of the ellipse.

2. lIn a flying shear for cutting a rod in forward 4m0- tion the combination comprising a frame of hollow construction having a supporting surface, a shear head guided for horizontal movement along the surface, a horizontal rod guide in the head, means for feeding a rod at predetermined transport speed into the guide, a cutter guided for vertical movement in the head for shearing the rod at the end of the guide, said cutter and said head each having a drive connection extending through the supporting surface, a crankshaft journaled in `the frame and extending transversely there-in, said crankshaft having a first crank and vertically extending connecting rod connected to the drive connection on said cutter, a second crank on the crankshaft located immediately adjacent the first crank and having a laterally extending connecting rod together with means for guiding the end of the rod for horizontal reciprocating movement, a generally horizontal link coupled at one end to rthe end of the laterally extending connecting rod Iand at the opposite end to the drive connection of the shear head for horizontally reciprocating the latter, said oran-k- =shaft having a drive motor land single revolution clutch for coupling the motor to the shaft, the throw of the first crank being substantially less than the throw of the second crank so that the cutter follows the path of an horizontally elongated ellipse and ywith the guide being so spaced with respect to the cutter that the cutter is engaged with the rod only during the central portion of the lower segment of the ellipse.

3. `In a rod straightening, measuring and cutting machine, the combina-tion comprising a frame, a set of vfeed rollers on said frame having means for rotating the saine at constant vspeed for constant speed advancement of the rod, a shear head, means for guiding the head for longitudinal movement on the frame and having a drive connection on the underside thereof, said shear head having a cutter vertically movable therein and having a cut-ter drive connection at the lower end thereof, said shear head having a guide for the rod serving to position the rod for the act-ion of the cutter, a crankshaft journaled in .the frame having a l'irst crank thereon, a vertically arranged connecting rod for connecting the first crank to the cutter drive connection, said cran-kshaft having a second crank located immediately adjacent to the first crank, a guide link on the frame laterally spaced from the sec-ond crank, a laterally extending connecting rod for connecting the second crank and the guide link, a generally horizontal drive link connected between the guide l-ink and the drive connection on the shear head for horizontally reciprocating the latter, said crankshaft having driving means including an adjustable speed motor flywheel and single revolution clutch, the first crank having a throw and phasing so rel-ated to that of the second crank that the edge of the cutter is constrained to follow the locus of an horizontally elongated ellipse with the guide being so spaced with respect to the cutter that the cut-ter is enga-ged with the rod only during the central portion of the lower segment of the ellipse.

References Cited by the Examiner FOREIGN PATENTS 7/ 1954 Netherlands.

ANDREW R. J'UHASZ, Primary Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. IN A FLYING SHEAR FOR CUTTING A ROD IN FORWARD MOTION THE COMBINATION COMPRISING A FRAME, MEANS FOR FEEDING A ROD AT PREDETERMINED SPEED, A SHEAR HEAD HAVING A CUTTER VERTICALLY MOVABLE THEREIN AND A COOPERATING GUIDE SERVING AS AN ANVIL, MEANS ON SAID FRAME FOR MOUNTING THE SHEAR HEAD FOR HORIZONTALLY MOVEMENT, A FIRST CRANK HAVING A VERTICALLY ARRANGED CONNECTING ROD AND PIVOTALLY CONNECTED AT ITS UPPER END TO THE CUTTER FOR RECIPROCATING THE SAME, A SECOND CRANK HAVING LATERALLY EXTENDING CONNECTING ROD TOGETHER WITH MEANS FOR GUIDING THE END OF THE ROD FOR HORIZONTALLY RECIPRCATING MOVEMENT, A GENERALLY HORIZONTAL LINK COUPLED AT ONE END TO THE END OF THE LATERALLY EXTENDING CONNECTING ROD AND AT THE OPPOSITE END TO THE SHEAR FOR HORIZONTALLY RE-

Images