US3359781A - Die holder - Google Patents

Description

A. GILBERT DIE HOLDER Dec. 26, 1967 Filed Sept. 2:5, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. Alex Gilbert /-//s A TTORNEYS Madman m Dec. 26, 1967 A. GILBERT 3,359,781

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HIS A TTOR/VEYS United States Patent 3,359,781 DIE HOLDER Alex Gilbert, Horseshoe Drive, RD. 3, Latrobe, Pa. 15650 Filed Sept. 23, 1965, Ser. No. 489,629 14 Claims. (Cl. 72-462) This application relates to a die holder and particularly to a die holder for positioning a pair of dies to hold a workpiece during a forging operation.

During forging, it is conventional practice to hold the workpiece to be shaped in forging dies. The typical forging die is comprised of two complementary dies: at lower die adapted to rest on the die block or table of a forging press and to support the workpiece, and an upper die located above the lower die and in contact with the workpiece in position to be struck or pressed by the hammer of the forging press.

In most forging operations, it is necessary to reposition the workpiece within the dies between hammer strokes. To do this, the dies are disengaged from the workpiece, usually by raising the upper die vertically from the piece, rotating or moving the workpiece on the bottom die, and replacing the upper die on the workpiece. Upon completion of the forging operation, the upper die is lifted from the workpiece and the dies are rotated, thereby upsetting the workpiece from between the dies.

Conventionally, a long handle or rod extends outwardly from the side of each die. By grasping the handle, the die may be lifted and moved to its proper position in the press. Usually two men are needed to move a die in this manner.

When heavy or bulky dies are to be moved, it is common practice to mount a traveling crane on a track above the press. A chain extending from the overhead crane is wrapped around the handle of the upper die, the die is raised on the chain and the crane moves to position the die.

Small workpieces are generally positioned and turned within the dies by hand, while larger ones ofter require the use of a machine known as a manipulator or high lift machine.

Using my die holder, one man can position and locate a workpiece within the dies quickly and accurately. The die holder can be used in conjunction with a manipulator or high lift machine available around most presses, to position even the largest dies. On completion of a forging operation, my entire holder may be rotated easily by a-manipulator to upset the finished workpiece from between the dies.

Basically, my preferred die holder comprises a pair of elongated parallel ar-ms spaced from each other, one arm adapted to engage a handle which extends outwardly from each die. The upper arm, which includes a grip for raising the arm, is spaced from and joined to the lower arm by means of struts and guides which prevent relative lateral and horizontal movement between the arms. By raising the grip, the entire die holder can be lifted onto and removed from the table of the press, the lower arm hanging vertically on the struts beneath the upper arm. Upon separation or closing of the arms, the dies are opened or closed around the piece to be forged, the movement of the dies corresponding to the movement of the arms. At all times during operation of the die holder, the arms remain vertically aligned and parallel to each other.

My invention further includes novel means for attaching and disengaging different types of forging dies, such as swage dies or drop forge dies, to the arms of the die holder. Ordinarily, several die changes are required each day to accommodate the different types of forgings to be 3,359,781 Patented Dec. 26, 1967 made. For two men to manually change the dies takes almost one-half hour, thus, it is evident that four changeovers would deprive the average shop of nearly one-fourth of its productive day. By using my die holder, the same die changes can be made in minutes.

Each arm of my die holder includes a locking die mount having a socket into which the handles of the dies fit and are secured; the die handles, therefore, act as extensions of the die holder arms and operate in response to movement of the arms. To change the dies, an operator can, with minimum effort, disengage the handle from the socket, remove a die and replace it with a different one. In a short six-step operation, one man can accomplish a changeover in less than one-half the time presently required by two. In addition, the space saved around the press results in a more efficient and safer work environment.

My die holder is simple and inexpensive to fabricate, since it can be made from readily available stock on conventional metal-working machines. It requires little maintenance, even when used in a corrosive environment such as that around a press or furnace, since it has but few moving parts.

In the accompanying drawings, I have illustrated certain presently preferred embodiments of my invention in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of my die holder with the alternate open position of the holder shown in broken lines;

FIGURE 2 is a partial section of the upper arm taken along the line III'I of FIGURE 1, showing the strut arrangement of my die holder;

FIGURE 3 is a partial section of the front of the upper arm taken along the line III-III of FIGURE 1, showing the socket in my die mount with the die handle re moved;

FIGURE 4 is a partial section of my die mount taken along line IVIV of FIGURE 3, showing the slide or bottom of the socket;

FIGURE 5 is a partial section of my die mount taken along line VV of FIGURE 3, showing the top of the socket;

FIGURE 6 is a partial section of my die mount along line VI-VI of FIGURE 3, showing a side view of the socket;

FIGURE 7 is a plan view on a smaller scale of a die and my die handle construction; and

FIGURE 8 is a side elevation on a smaller scale of the die and my die handle construction.

Referring to FIGURE 1, dies 10 and 12 have handles 14 and 16 for securing the dies to two parallel U-shaped elongated horizontal arms 18 and 20 of my die holder. Arms 18 and 20 are vertically spaced from one another and joined together by a plurality of diagonal scissorstype supporting means or struts 22 and 24. The legs 26 and 28 of the U-shaped arms lie in parallel vertical planes, with the edges of the legs facing each other. The ends of struts 22 and 24 are pivotally secured between the legs 26 and 28 of the U-shaped arms 18 and 20 by laterally extending rods 30 and 32 at the ends of the arms away from the dies. The rods 30 and 32 slide in longitudinal slots 34 and 36 in opposite legs 26 and 28 of the U- shaped arms. At the end of the arms nearest the dies, the struts 22 and 24- are held by pins 38 and 40 which extend through openings 44 and 46 in the legs 26 and 28 of the U-shaped arms, thence through longitudinal slots 48 and 50 of slides 52 and 54, hereinafter described. The lower portions of the legs 26 and 28 of the U-shaped arms, at the end of the arms nearest the dies, are cut away to accommodate the slides when the slides are in the closed position.

Sleeves 56 are mounted rigidly to the outside of legs 26 of the lower U-shaped arm 18 perpendicular to arms 18 and 20 to provide a passage through which tubular guides 58 slide. Guides 58, which are rigidly attached to the outside of the legs 28 of the upper U-shaped arm 20, prevent lateral or longitudinal displacement of the arm 20 when it is raised or lowered in conjunction with the opening or closing of the dies and 12 or subjected to the force of a hammer blow. While guides 58 sliding in guide sleeves 56, that is, the guide means, alone do not maintain the parallel relationship between arms 18 and 20, the guides, together with the struts, do provide stability to the holder structure and minimize the possibility of damage to the supporting struts.

The end of the upper arm 20 away from the die has a grip 60 which is grasped by hand or by a mechanical manipulator to vertically separate the upper arm 20 from the lower arm 18, thus opening the dies, and to move the holder onto and away from the table of a forging press. The grip 60 has a diamond-shaped cross-section, providing a large surface area to be held to operate the die holder.

The struts 22 and 24 are joined by a bolt 62 midway in their lengths to prevent twisting of the struts under the weight of the upper arm 20 and the die 12 attached thereto, and to provide a more stable holder platform. To provide clearance between the arms, so that the dies may be easily engaged and disengaged, a stop plate 64 may be attached to the end of lower arm 18 to extend vertically upward therefrom to contact the bottom of grip 60 on upper arm 20, as shown in solid lines in FIGURE 1.

During the forging operation, the base 66 of U-shaped lower arm 18 may be seated on a table or other support (not shown) and lower die 10 is rested on the table or die block of a forging press (also not shown). To position the workpiece within the die, grip 60 on arm 20 is lifted causing the ends of struts 22 and 24 held by rods 34 and 36 to translate in the direction of the dies and resulting in arms 18 and 20 separating a distance sufiicient to open dies 10 and 12 to admit a workpiece; after a piece is properly placed on the bottom die, the upper arm is then lowered, moving the upper die onto the workpiece. During the entire operation, from the fully closed position of the dies, as shown in solid lines in FIGURE 1, to the open position, as shown in alternate dashed lines on the same figure, the arms 18 and 20 remain vertically aligned and parallel to each other.

FIGURE 2 illustrates the relative positions of the struts to each other. The struts 22 and 24, joining the arms 18 and 20, form a scissors-type support and adjustable guide mechanism. The diagonally opposed struts 22 and 24 are pivoted on the pins 38 and 40 at their ends nearest the dies so that the struts can rotate, upon separation of the arms, in opposite directions about the pins. The opposite ends of the struts are joined to rods 30 and 32 for sliding rotation about the rods, and, when the arms are separated, the rods move longitudinally toward the dies in the slots 34 and 36 in the legs 26 and 28 of the U-shaped arms.

Each of the arms 18 and 20 has a die mount for securing the die handles to the arms. Since the mounts are identical, only one is shown in FIGURES 2 to 6, inclusive.

The die mount includes a rectangular pivot block 68 mounted on the base 70 of the U-shaped arm 20. A pair of hasps 72 are longitudinally aligned and secured to the top of the block 68. Pivot bolt 74 secures latch bolt 76 between the hasps. Vertical grooves 80 are located in each side of the block 68 and have a cross-section greater than the diameter of the latch bolt 76. Grooves 80 permit the latch bolt 76 to rotate around the pivot bolt 74 and to extend vertically downward along each side of the block 68. Lock or thumb screw 82 threaded to the depending end of the latch bolt 76 locks the mount when assembled.

I have shown, in FIGURE 4, the slide 54 rotated and depending from the pins 40. The slide 54 is pivotally and slidably mounted to close against the legs 28 to secure a die handle to the upper arm 20. The slide 54 comprises a U-shaped member having legs 84 and a base 86; the ends of the legs 84 are rotatably secured to pins 40. A rectangular plate 88 is mounted centrally on and parallel to the base 86.

Groove 92 is cut normally into each leg 84 so that when the slide is closed groove 92 is aligned vertically with groove in the block 68. Groove 92 is also of sufficient cross-section to include the diameter of latch bolt 76, so that the bolt 76 may be vertically depended to lock the mount.

A lateral open-end slot 94 is located at the end of each leg 84 and is spaced from the base 86. Slot 94 is adapted to engage pin 96 extending outwardly from the leg 28 of the U-shaped arm 20 to prevent rotation of the slide 54 about the pin 40 while the operator is locking the mount.

As shown in FIGURE 5, a rectangular cross-member 102 is mounted on the base 70 between the legs 28 of the arm 20. Cross-member 102 is positioned to engage a complementary portion of the end of die handle 16.

The rotatable slide 54 and the front end of the U- shaped arm 20 between the legs 28 broadly make up a socket 104 which, when closed by forcing the slide 54 against the edges of the legs, as by locking it with the thumb screw 82, embraces and holds securely the end of the die handle 16.

As shown in FIGURE 7, the width of handle 16 approximates the distance between opposed legs of a U- shaped arm into which handle 16 extends when assembled. The end of handle 16, as is clearly shown in FIGURE 8, includes a groove 106 on the top of handle 16 spaced from the end of the handle. A raised portion 108 at the end of handle 16 defines a shoulder 110 on the bottom of the handle spaced from the end of handle 16.

When the U-shape in the upper arm of my die holder is closed by the slide 54, that is, when the edges of the opposed legs 28 of the arm 20 are contacted by the base 86 of the slide 54, it is apparent, as shown in FIGURE 6, that the plate 88 and the member 102 directly oppose each other. Further, when the socket is formed, plate 88 and member 102 are spaced from each other a distance only slightly greater than the thickness of the die handle 16 less the depth of groove 106 running the lateral width of the handle. Cross member 102 and plate 88 are slightly greater in length than the Width of handle 16, and member 102 is just slightly less in'section than the crosssection of groove 106 in which it tightly rests.

To lock the die handle within the socket, the member 102 is disposed in groove 106 and the slide 54 is rotated to close against the edges of the legs 28 of the arm; the shoulder of plate 88 abuts against shoulder 110 of handle 16, thus preventing longitudinal motion between the handle and the socket 104. Lateral movement of the handle 16 is precluded by upstanding legs 28 of the arm 20, between which handle 16 is secured.

It is obvious that a complete change of dies in my holder is easy and economical, taking but one man a few minutes compared to the twenty to thirty minutes used by two men in present practice. To release the dies from their mounts, the slides are mounted horizontally toward the dies to disengage the slots from the retaining pins and permit the slide legs to be rotated around the pivot pins journaled in the slots in the slide arms.

It is apparent that in order to disengage the lower die the slide, one unlocked, must be moved toward the dies and rotated in a vertical direction toward the upper the socket of the die mount of the lower arm. If it is desired to insert a new set of dies in the die holder, the operation used in removing the old set is reversed.

From the foregoing description of my invention, it can be seen that the shape or weight of the workpiece to be forged, or of the dies, is immaterial to the effectiveness of my die holder. All that is required is that the holder be constructed of materials sufficient to support the dies and that the means to open and close the dies, whether manual or power-operated, is of sufficient strength to lift the upper arm. I

My die holder provides an efiicient and accurate way to manipulate the dies for proper positioning in a forging press while eliminating wasted changeover time during forging operations. Where the work area about a press is limited, my die holder will replace present equipment which occupies substantially more space. Finally, my die holder is safe and easy to install, to operate, and to remove with a minimum of manpower in a minimum of time.

While I have shown and described preferred embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that it may be otherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A die holder for positioning a pair of upper and lower dies in a foregoing press, each of said dies having a handle extending outwardly therefrom, said press having a table for seating the lower die, said holder comprising (A) a lower arm having means on an end for detachably securing the handle of the lower die to said arm;

(B) an upper arm vertically aligned with and spaced parallel to said lower arm and having (1) means on an end for detachably securing the handle of the upper die to said arm and being aligned vertically with the means on said lower arm;

(2) means on the opposite end for raising the upper arm vertically from the lower arm; and

(C) means joining said arms for vertically aligning said arms parallel to each other and for adjustably supporting said lower arm vertically beneath said upper arm when said lower die is removed from the table whereby the dies may be vertically separated a distance corresponding to the separation of the arms to position a workpiece therebetween.

2. A die holder as described in claim 1 in which the means for detachably securing each of the die handles to an arm is a die mount adjacent each die, said mount having (A) a cross member mounted on the arm to engage a handle;

(B) A slide having a plate secured thereto and being pivotally mounted to swing toward and away from the the cross member, said plate being adapted to engage the handle to hold the handle in the mount between said cross member and said plate when the slide is closed against the arm.

3. A die holder as described in claim 2 and in which the top of said handle has a groove to receive said cross member and the bottom of said handle has a shoulder to abut against said plate thereby preventing longitudinal movement between said handle and said mount.

4. A die holder as described in claim 1 wherein the means for raising the upper arm is a grip shaped to be grasped by a manipulator for moving said upper arm vertically to separate said dies.

5. A die holder as described in claim 4 and having stop means rigidly attached to said lower arm and extending vertically upward therefrom for contacting said grip to space said lower arm from said upper arm.

6. A die holder as described in claim 1 in which the means joining said arms comprises at least two diagonally opposed struts, opposite ends of each strut being pivotally joined to diagonally opposite portions of said arms.

7. A die holder as described in claim 1 and having guide means joined to said arms for vertically aligning said arms.

8. A die holder as described in claim 7 wherein the guide means comprises guides rigidly attached perpendicular to said upper arm and sleeves attached to said lower arm, whereby said guides slide in said sleeves upon vertical separation of said arms.

9. A holder for manipulating an upper and a lower die in a forging press, said upper die being vertically aligned with and complementary to said lower die, each of said dies having a handle extending horizontally outward therefrom to engage said holder, said holder comprising (A) a lower elongated arm having means on an end for engaging the handle of the lower die;

(B) an upper elongated arm being parallel to and vertically aligned with said lower arm and having (1) means on an end for engaging the handle of the upper die and being aligned vertically with the means on said lower arm; (2) a grip secured to said upper arm at the opposite end to be grasped to separate the arms; and

(C) means between the arms for supporting said upper arm above said lower arm in vertical alignment thereto when said lower die is seated in the press and for supporting said lower arm below and in vertical alignment with said upper arm when said lower die is removed from the press and the holder is raised by said grip, said means being adjustable for varying the distance between said arms to open and close said dies.

10. A holder as described in claim 9 in which the means between said arms for supporting said arms in vertical alignment is at least one pair of diagonally opposed scissors-type struts, each strut having an end vertically aligned with an end of the opposed strut, each of said vertically aligned ends being joined to one of said arms, each of said arms having a longitudinal slot therein at the end thereof nearest the grip on said upper arm, said slots being vertically aligned with each other, a lateral rod being journaled in each of said slots, each vertically aligned end of the opposing struts being joined to a rod for rotation and translation, a pin being journaled in each arm spaced from and parallel to said rod, each end of said struts opposite said vertically aligned ends being rotatably secured to a pin, whereby an end of each strut rotates on a pin journaled in one arm and the opposite end of said strut being joined to a rod journaled in a slot in the other arm moves toward the dies to adjust said struts when the upper arm is separated from the lower arm by raising said grip.

11. A holder as described in claim 9 and having guide means mounted on the arms and being perpendicular to the lengths of the arms for maintaining the arms in vertical alignment.

12. A holder as described in claim 11 in which the guide means comprises a guide rigidly attached to one arm and a sleeve rigidly attached to the other arm, the central axis of said sleeve being vertically aligned with the central axis of said guide, whereby said guide is adapted to shift vertically within said sleeve upon movement of the arms to and away from each other.

13. A mount for a holder for a die, said die having a handle extending horizontally outward therefrom to engage said mount, said handle having an outer end, a lateral groove on the top of said handle and spaced from said outer end, a lateral shoulder on the bottom of said handle and spaced from said outer end, said holder having a U-shaped arm having a base and a pair of parallel legs upstanding from the base and an end to receive said handle, said mount comprising (A) a lateral cross member mounted on said base between said legs to engage said groove;

(B) a slide pivotally secured to said legs to close against the edges of said legs and having a plate to claim 13 in which the latching means comprises a pair of 10 latch bolts pivotally secured to the top of said block and laterally spaced one from the other, said bolts extending along said slide, said slide having vertical grooves therein aligned with the bolts, said grooves being of sufiicient cross-section to receive said bolts, and locking means on said bolts for forcing said slide toward said block to lock said handle in said mount.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 328,435 10/1885 Simpson 72-420 CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner. G. P. CROSBY, Assistant Examiner. A

Claims (1)

1. A DIE HOLDER FOR POSITIONING A PAIR OF UPPER AND LOWER DIES IN A FOREGOING PRESS, EACH OF SAID DIES HAVING A HANDLE EXTENDING OUTWARDLY THEREFOM, SAID PRESS HAVING A TABLE FOR SEATING THE LOWER DIE, SAID HOLDER COMPRISING (A) A LOWER ARM HAVING MEANS ON AN END FOR DETACHABLY SECURING THE HANDLE OF THE LOWER DIE TO SAID ARM; (B) AN UPPER ARM VERTICALLY ALIGNED WITH AND SPACED PARALLEL TO SAID LOWER ARM AND HAVING (1) MEANS ON AN END FOR DETACHABLY SECURING THE HANDLE OF THE UPPER DIE TO SAID ARM AND BEING ALIGNED VERTICALLY WITH THE MEANS ON SAID LOWER ARM; (2) MEANS ON THE OPPOSITE END FOR RAISING THE UPPER ARM VERTICALLY FROM THE LOWER ARM; AND

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