US3368437A

US3368437A - Adjustable feed assembly

Info

Publication number: US3368437A
Authority: US
Inventors: Arthur M Bennet
Original assignee: ERDLE PERFORATING CO
Current assignee: ERDLE PERFORATING CO
Priority date: 1965-11-15
Filing date: 1965-11-15
Publication date: 1968-02-13
Anticipated expiration: 1985-02-13

Description

Feb. 13, 1968 A. M. BENNE 3,368,437

ADJUSTABLE FEED ASSEMBLY Filed Nov. 15, 1965 s Shets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. ARTHUR M. BENNET 0 MAM ATTORNEYS Feb. 13, 1968 A. M. BENNET 3,368,437

ADJUSTABLE FEED ASSEMBLY Filed Nov. 15, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. ARTHUR M. BENNET %MJZW ATTORNEYS Feb. 13, 1968 A. M. BENNET 3,

ADJUSTABLE FEED ASSEMBLY Filed Nov. 15, 1965 s Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG. 3

INVENTOR. ARTHUR M. BENNET ATTORNEYS United States Patent O" 3,368,437 ADJUSTABLE FEED ASSEMBLY Arthur M. Bennet, Pittsford, N.Y., assignor to Erdle Perforating Company, Rochester, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Nov. 15, 1965, Ser. No. 507,767 2 Claims. (Cl. 83-244) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE I provide an attachment for a punch press whereby the feed of the stock or sheet metal to be punched may be varied by a simple adjustment without interrupting the operation of the machine.

This invention relates to punch presses and more particularly to an attachment for a punch press whereby the feed of the stock or sheet metal to be punched may be varied without interrupting the operation of the machine.

Punch presses are conventionally equipped with a bed over which the work is fed and a reciprocating ram or head which carries the punching elements. The punches are usually removably fitted in the head in accordance with the desired pattern of punchings desired in the sheet metal. The head is driven from a shaft by eccentrics which are in turn driven from a motor, the shaft carrying a flywheel for storing up energy between successive punches. Usually the driving motor is of the variable speed type so that the speed of reciprocation of the punching head may be varied and coordinated with the speed at which the work is fed to and through the machine.

In punch presses of the type with which my invention is concerned, the shaft which drives or reciprocates the head carries a circular member or disc to which a pitman is eccentrically connected. The other end of the pitman is operatively connected to the feed rolls which feed the work or sheet metal over the bed.

It is, of course, necessary in order to reproduce a desired pattern of punchings in the work, that the speed of the press head be coordinated with the feed of the stock. In all machines with which I am familiar, a change in the feed of the stock requires a shut down of the machine to vary the speed of feeding the stock through the machine. Gftentimes the work which a particular machine may produce is limited due to the fact that more time would be lost in shutting down the machine to increase the feed than is lost by using a slower speed of feed than could be used. This is particularly true on short runs. Usually, in the machines with which I am familiar, it is necesssary to change the location of the pitman with respect to the drive shaft, that is, change its eccentricity which must be done by adjustment of nut and bolt connections between the end of the pitman and the drive shaft.

As will be appreciated from the above, while in the machines of the prior art it has been possible to change the feed, it was necessary to shut down the machine to adjust the feed. his, of course, necessary to coordinate the speed of the ram with the feed of the work, and in the case of small runs, usually it was less costly in time to leave the head reciprocating at a lesser speed than the potential speed rather than to adjust the feed to produce the maximum number of punched sheets during a given period of time.

An object of my invention is to provide an attachment for punch presses whereby feed of the sheet metal or stock to be punched may be varied by a simple adjustment while the machine is in operation.

Another object of my invention is to provide an adjustable feed for a punch press whereby the speed of reciproice cation of the punches may be set for maxim-um production with the particular thickness or character of stock being manufacture and which may be readily adjusted so as to adjust the feed of the stock to the machine without shut ting down the machine.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be particularly set forth in the claims and will be apparent from the following description, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a conventional punch press with the novel feed changing attachment or assembly of my invention mounted thereon;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view on an enlargedscale taken substantially on the line 22 of FIG. 1 in the direction indicated by the arrows; and

FIG. '3 is a sectional view taken on the line 33 of FIG. 1 in the direction indicated by the arrows.

The punch press to which the feeding attachment of my invention may be applied is conventional in most respects and comprises a frame 11 on which a work bed is mounted over which the material to be punched, indented, or otherwise cut, is fed. At 12 I have shown work being fed over the bed between two pairs of feed rolls 13. Similar feed rolls are located on the other side of the machine. v

The head or ram of the press (not shown) carries a series of punches which are arranged in a predetermined pattern in the head as determined by the pattern of punchings or other deformations of the material desired. The head is driven by a variable speed motor 14 mounted at the top of the machine which through a pulley 16 and V-belt 17 drives a large pulley 18. The large pulley 18 may take the form of a fiy-wheel for the purpose of storing up energy between successive punches.

The pulley 18 drives a shaft, the contourof which is shown at 19 to which the head of the press is eccentrically connected so as to reciprocate the head, together with the punches, to produce a successive series of punchings in the sheet metal. By suitable means the motor speed may be varied to increase or decrease the speed of op eration of the head to conform to the thickness of the work and the particular metal being punched. In general, various metals and thickness thereof may be punched at certain maximum speeds. The setting of the speed of the motor is usually such as to obtain a maximum work output.

Mounted on the end of the shaft is a plate or disc 21. In the conventional punch press, a pitman or connecting rod is connected from the disc 21 to gearing which drives the feed rolls. This connection is by means of a-roller 22 eccentrically mounted on the disc 21 which receives a forked end on the pitman. Suitable bolts (not shown) clamp the forked end of the pitman with respect to the roller. When it was necessary to make an adjustment in the speed of the feed rolls, it was necessary to stop the machine, loosen the aforementioned bolts, and reconnect the pitman to the roller 22 in a manner such as to decrease or increase the effective length of the pitman. Not only was it necessary to shut down the machine to vary the feed, but also insofar as I am aware, determination of the exact feed speed was a cut and try method.

In the machine of my invention, the roller 22 carried by the disc 21 is connected to a pitman 23 of relatively Patented Feb. 13, 1968 3 short length. The lower end of the pitman 23 is fixed, as indicated at 24 (FIG. 2), to a bearing element 26. A stub shaft 31 having overhanging ends is oscillatable in the bearing 26. The outer overhanging end 32 has a collar 33 held in position by a sew screw 34.

The inner overhanging end 36 of the stub shaft 31 carries a block 37 which while it oscillates with the assembly, as will presently appear, is fixed against any other movement. The block 37 is provided with ways 38 (see FIG. 3) which extend from one end of the block to the other, as indicated by the dotted line 39 (FIG. 2). A second bearing 41 is fixed to a stanchion 27 and carries a pin or stub shaft 42. The stanchion is mounted on a plate 28 carried by supports or gussets 3L welded to the frame.

Fixed to one projecting end of the stub shaft 42 is a collar 43 held in position by a set screw 44. The other end of the stub shaft 42 projects beyond the end of the bearing 41 as shown at 46 and is loosely received in the block 37. The projecting end of the stub shaft 46 constitutes a pivot about which the block may oscillate as the pitman reciprocates and rotates around the roller 22. However, in the particular arrangement shown, the pin or stub shaft 42 is fixed to the block and the block and pin or stub shaft 42 oscillate in the bearing 41.

A slide 47 is movable in ways 38 and carries a slide member 51 having bifurcated ends 52. The bifurcated ends 52 straddle a bearing element 53. The bearing element 53 rotatably receives a stub shaft 54. One end 56 of the stub shaft 54 extends into a bushing opening in the slide 47 and the other end of the stub shaft 54 extends through the arms 52 of the slide member 51 and through the bearing 53. Fixed to the bearing 53 (FIG. 3) is a second pitman 48 Which is connected eccentrically by means including a roller 49 to a gear which connects through a gear train 50 shown in dotted lines in FIG. 1 to the feed rolls 13.

The slide member 51 has a bushinged bore 56 for the reception of a pivot pin 57. As will be apparent, slide member 51 is adapted to oscillate about the pivot pin 57. Thus, the entire assembly is adapted to oscillate about the

pivots

42 and 57 which it will be noted are in axial alignment. One end of the pivot pin 57 projects beyond the slide member 51 and is fixed, as shown at 58, in a bore in a second slide 59. The slide 59 has a threaded bore 61 for the reception of a feed screw or spindle 62, the screw passing through a bore in the pivot pin 57.

Fixed to the plate 28 by means of screws 63 is a support 64 having ways 66 for the reception of the slide 59. The feed screw 62 extends through the slide through an opening in a cap 70 secured to the support 64 by screws, into an opening formed in a crank 68 having a handpiece 69. A collar 71 on the crank 68 is adapted to receive a set screw 72 to fix the crank with respect to the feed screw 62.

' Mounted on the other side of the fixed support 64 is a second cap 76 held in position by screws 77. The end of the feed screw projects from the fixed support through the cap 76 and is threaded to receive nuts 78 and a washer. Upon loosening the nuts 78 the feed screw may be rotated by means of the crank 68-69. In general, as viewed in FIG. 2, rotation of the crank in a direction such as to move the feed screws to the left decreases the amplitude of feed. As will be understood from the preceding description, movement of the feed screw to the left, as viewed in FIG. 2, carries with it the entire assembly be- 4 tween the pin or stub shaft 42 and the fixed support 64. This assembly can also rock about the aligned pins 42 and 57 as the pitmans are actuated.

For the purpose of accurate setting, the fixed support 64 may be provided with a scale 81 along which a pointer 82 fixed to the slide 59 moves as the crank 68-69 is rotated to enable the operator to. set the machine for a given spacing between punchings. After the machine has been set, a clamp 83 fixed in a bore in the fixed support 64 may be threaded into engagement with the slide to lock the slide with respect to the fixed support.

While I have shown and described the preferred form of mechanism of my invention it will be apparent that various modifications and changes may be made therein particularly in the form and relation of parts, without departing from the spirit of my invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A punch press wherein a bed carries the sheet metal to be punched and punching elements are carried by a punch press head driven by a suitable prime mover and means including a shaft are provided for feeding the sheet metal over the bed, a variable feed for the sheet metal comprising the combination of:

(a) an element connected to the shaft so as to rotate therewith;

(b) a pitman having one end eccentrically pivoted to said member;

(c) a block having ways fixed with respect to said pitman;

(d) a pivot about which said block oscillates as said pitman is actuated;

(e) a slide movable in said ways and oscillating with said block;

(f) a second pitman having one end eccentrically connected to the feeding means for the sheet metal and other end pivoted to said slide and oscillating therewith;

(g) a second slide carrying the pivot between the first slide and the second pitman;

(h) a member fixed to the machine having ways for the reception of said second slide;

(i) a pivot connection between said second slide and said fixed member so that said second slide is free to oscillate; and

(j) means including a hand operated member for shifting said second slide while the press is in operation to vary the feed of the sheet metal.

2. A punch press in accordance with claim 1 in which said last mentioned means includes threading means between said second slide and said fixed member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 488,324 12/1892 Rodecker 83-245 X 601,398 3/1898 Long et al. 83-244 1,336,605 4/1920 Becker 83-245 1,591,418 7/1926 Ferguson 226-142 1,935,780 11/1933 McChesney et al. 226-142 2,514,261 7/1950 Schelfey 226-142 JAMES M. MEISTER, Primary Examiner.