US3783665A - Spinning machine - Google Patents

Abstract

In a spinning machine for shaping a blank into a product of a desired configuration without using a metal mold, there are provided a rotary shaft, a push rod, the rotary shaft and push rod cooperating to clamp therebetween a flat plate shaped blank for rotating the same, a back-up roller having a peripheral contour conforming to a portion of the inside contour of a spinned product, means to urge the back-up roller against one side of the blank, means to move the back-up roller along a predetermined path conforming to the inside contour of the product, a work roll having a working edge of smaller radius of curvature than said back-up roller, means to urge the work roll against the opposite side of the blank with a predtermined definite axial spacing between the work roll and the back-up roller and means for moving the work roll to follow the movement of the back-up roller while maintaining the definite axial spacing with respect to the back-up roller.

Description

Ashizawa 1 Jan. 8, 1974 1 i SPINNING MACHINE [75] Inventor: YoshimiAshizawa,Kanagawa,

Japan [73] Assignee: Toshiba KikaiKabushiltiKaisha;

Tokyo, Japan [22] Filed: July 31, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 276,797

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Aug. 11. 1971 Japan 46/6076 8 52 us. C1. 72/81 [51] Int. Cl B211d 22/18 [58] Field of Search 72/80, 81, 84, 85,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS $543,622 12/1970 Willard 72/81 3,168,919 2/1965 Shutt 72/84 3,372,567 3/1968 Jensen et al. .1 72/80 3,427,846 2/1969 Viltschek et al... 72/81 426235 4/1890 Browning 72/81 2.069198 2/1937 Cushwa 72/81 3,580,025 5/1971 Hayashi M 72/84 Primary ExaminerRichard J. Herbst Att0rneyE. F. Wenderoth et a1.

[57] ABSTRACT In a spinning machine for shaping a blank into a product of a desired configuration without using a metal mold, there are provided a rotary shaft, a push rod, the rotary shaft and push rod cooperating to clamp therebetween a flat plate shaped blank for rotating the same, a back-up roller having a peripheral contour conforming to a portion of the inside contour of a spinned product, means to urge the back-up roller against one side of the blank, means to move the back-up roller along a predetermined path conforming to the inside contour of the product, a work roll having a working edge of smaller radius of curvature than said back-up roller, means to urge the work roll against the opposite side of the blank with a predtermined definite axial spacing between the work roll and the back-up roller and means for moving the work roll to follow the movement of the back-up roller while maintaining the definite axial spacing with respect to the back-up roller.

3 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures Pmmmm 819R mmsss EMU 1 UP 3 FIG. I

PRIOR ART K FIG. 2 \r V SPINNING MACHINE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a spinning machine, more particularly a shear spinning machine wherein a blank in the form of a metal plate is shaped into a product of the desired configuration by a shear spinning process while the blank is clamped between a work roll and a back-up roll.

As diagrammatically shown in FIG. 1, according to the shear spinning process, a blank 1 in the form of a flat metal plate is clamped between a rotary mother mold 2 which is mounted on a headstock of a lath, not shown, and a push rod 3 which is mounted on the tailstock of the lath, not shown, so as to rotate the blank and the push rod 3 as the rotary mold is rotated. While rotating the blank 1 in this manner, a work roll 4 is moved from the center toward the periphery of the blank along the inclined surface of the mother mold, which in this case takes the form of a frustum of a'cone,

thereby forming a product as shown by dotted lines in FIG. 1. At an intermediate point of the spinning operation, the work roll assumes a position indicated by 4a and the blank assumes a configuration as shown by 1a.

According to the shear spinning process, the work roll 4 is controlled such that the thickness ta of the product in the axial direction of the product or the lath will be equal to the thickness t, of the blank 1. With this process, the material of the blank 1 is moved in parallel in the direction of the thickness of the blank by the shearing force so that the outer diameter of the product is equal to the diameter Do of'the blank. Furthermore, during the oblique movement of the work roll 4, stress is applied only in the direction of the thickness of the blank and no stress creates in the circumferential and radial directions.

However, since this method of spinning requires a mother mold having the same diameter as the product, the cost of the metal mold increases with the diameter of the product. Where it is necessary to harden the surface of the metal mold, the cost thereof is increased further. Provision of a number of molds of different type and size require a large space and expense.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION tion at any point which is equal to the thickness of the blank.

According to this invention there is provided a spinning machine comprising a rotary shaft, a push rod, the rotary shaft and push rod cooperating to clamp therebetween a flat plate shaped blank for rotating the same, a back-up roller having a peripheral contour conforming to a portion of the inside contour of a spinned product, means to urge the back-up roller against one side of the blank, means to move the back-up roller along a predetermined path conforming to the inside contour of the product, a work roll having a working edge of smaller radius of curvature than said back-up roller,

means to urge the work roll against the opposite side of the blank with a predetermined definite spacing which is equal to the thickness of the blank as measured in the axial direction of the spinning machine between the work roll and the back-up roller and means for moving the work roll to follow the movement of the back-up roller while maintaining the definite spacing with respect to the back-up roller.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawing:

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the principle of the construction and operation of the prior art spinning machine;

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the principle of the construction and operation of a spinning machine adapted to manufacture a frusto conical product;

FIG. 3 is a diagram similar to FIG. 2 where a bowl shaped product is to be manufactured;

Flg. 4 is a plan view showing the detail of the construction of the spinning machine shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the detail of the construction of the spinning machine shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 6 is a side elevation of a mechanism for moving the backup roller along a predetermined curved path.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 2 shows the principle of the construction and operation of the novel spinning machine adapted to shape a metal blank 1 into a frusto-conical product. The central portion of the blank I haying a thickness of t is clamped between a push rod 3 mounted on a tailstock and a rotary shaft 6 mounted on a headstock of a lath as will be described later with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6, whereby the blank 1 is rotated together with a rotary shaft 6. On the inner side of the blank 1 there is provided a freely rotatable back-up roller 5 which is moved along the inner contour of the product by a mechanism to be described later. The work roll 4 is moved to follow the movement of the back-up roller 5 while maintaining a definite axial spacing therebetween. As clearly shown in the figures the work roll 4 has a working edge of smaller radius of curvature than the back-up roller 5. The positions of the work roll 4 and the back-up roller 5 at an intermediate point of the working are shown by 4a and 5a, respectively. As before, the axial thickness of the product la is indicated by t,,.

In order to shape the blank 1 into the product lla by the shear spinning method the back-up roller 5 is positioned such that its generating surface assumes a straight line which is positioned at an angle 6 from the axis of rotation (angle 0 is equal to one half of the apex angle of a cone), the back-up roller 5 is moved while keeping angle 0, and the work roll 4 is moved to follow the movement of the back-up roller 5 while maintaining the constant axial spacing therebetween which is equal to the original thickness to of the blank.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a modified embodiment of the invention in which a flat metal bank 1 is shaped into a product of a bowl or hemispherical shape. In this case, the surface generating of the backup roller is made to extend along an are having a radious R, and the backup roller 5 is moved along this are. On the other hand, the work roll 4 is moved to follow the arcuate movement of the back-up roller such that the axial spacing equal to the thickness to of the blank is always maintained between the work roll 4 and the follow-up roller 5 during the spinning operation. Thus, the blank 1 clamped between the rotary shaft 6 and the push rod 3 is worked into a bowl with an inner surface having a radius of curvature of R.

As above described, the invention provides a novel spinning machine which can shape a blank into a product of a desired configuration without using any expensive metal mould by only one pass of-short time and of very simple operation, thus saving the time and cost of manufacturing.

FIG. 4 shows a plan view of a spinning machine for carrying out the spinning operation outlined in connection with FIG. 2. As shown, the push rod 3 is mounted on a tailstock 13 of a lath and the rotary shaft 6 is mounted on a headstock l4 rotated by an electric motor 15. Work roll 4 and back-up roller 5 are mounted on cross-slides l1 and 11a, respectively, through supports 7 and 7a and clamps 8 and 8a. The slides 11 and 11a are operated by piston-cylinder assemblies 12 and 120, respectively, and are secured to saddles 9 and 9a which are slidably mounted on a common bed 10 which in turn is adjustable along guide grooves 25.

In operation, bed 10 is set to the position shown in FIG. 4. This can be readily accomplished by laterally moving the bed 10 along guide grooves 25 and by rotating a base plate (not shown) which supports the entire assembly of bed 10, saddles 9, 9a and guide grooves 25 about a pivot shaft 30. The piston-cylinder assemblies 12 and 120 are operated to bring work roll 4 and backup roller 5 on the opposite sides of the blank 1. Then, cross-slides 11 and 11a are fixed to the saddles 9 and 9a to maintain work roll 4 and backup roller 5 at a given spacing equal to the thickness of the blank. Thereafter, driving motor 15 is energized to rotate the blank 1, and saddles 9 and 9a are concurrently moved on bed 10 causing the work roll and back-up roller to travel toward the periphery of the workpiece thereby spinning the blank 1 into a frusto-conical product. Since work-roll 4 and back-up roller 5 are maintained at a definite axial spacing during the spinning operation the axial thickness of the product at any point thereof is equal to the original thickness of the blank. In other words, the blank is subjected to a shear spinning operation so that any stress will not be created in the product in the circumferential and radial directions.

In the modified embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, saddles 9 and 9a which support cross slides 11 and 11a and piston cylinder-assemblies 12 and 120 are slidably mounted on bed 10 in the same manner as in the previous embodiment. The back-up roller 5 is mounted on a bracket 16 which is guided to move along a curved guide groove 24 ofa guide block by means of rollers 17 (only one of them is seen in FIG. 6) mounted on the underside of bracket 16 to be received in groove 24. Guide block 20 is supported by a pedestal 19 as shown in FIG. 6. The groove 24 and the peripheral surface of back-up roller 5 are shaped to have the same radius of curvature R as the inner wall of the product. The piston-cylinder assembly 120 is connected to bracket 16 through pins 22 and 23 and links 21 and 7a so that when saddle 9a is moved in the longitudinal direction of bed 10, the bracket 16 and hence back-up roller 5 are moved along curved groove 24. As above described, to carry out the shear spinning operation it is necessary to maintain the work roll and the back-up roller always at a constant axial spacing which is equal to the original thickness of the blank. In other words, as the back-up roller 5 is moved always along a predetermined curved path, that is guide groove 24, it is necessary to cause the work roll 4 to follow the movement of the back-up roller while maintaining the constant axial spacing. For the purpose of simplifying the drawing, although the work roll 4 is shown as directly mounted on the outer end of support 7, it should be understood that, a mechanism including a guide groove and a bracket identical to those described above is also provided for work roll 4 so as to cause it to move along a curved path. The curvatures of the work roll 4 and back-up roller 5 are the same as that of guide groove 24.

To manufacture a bowl shaped product, bed 10, saddles 9 and 9a and cross-slides l1 and 11a are brought to the positions shown in FIG. 5, thereby bringing work roll 4 and back-up roller 5 to their initial positions. Then, the saddles 9 and 9a are moved downwardly to move work roll 4 and the back-up roller 5 toward the periphery of the workpiece, along a predetermined curved path conforming to the contour of the product.

Although in the foregoing description, the work roll and backup roller are moved along a predetermined curved path by using a guide block having a curved guide groove it will be clear that such movement along a predetermined path can be provided by a well known profile control, digital control or program control. For example a program representing the predetermined path is stored in an electronic computor to generate command signals for moving the work roll and back-up roll along the predetermined path. Alternatively, instead of providing independent mechanisms including guide block 20, bracket 16, etc. for both work roll and back-up roller, these work roll and back-up roller may be moved in unison by means of a single mechanism.

Although the invention has been shown and described in terms of certain preferred embodiments thereof it will be clear that many changes and modifications may be made without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A spinning machine comprising a rotary shaft, a push rod, said rotary shaft and said push rod cooperating to clamp therebetween a flap plate shaped blank for i rotating the same, a back-up roller having a peripheral contour conforming to a portion of the inside contour of a spinned product, means to urge said back-up roller against one side of said blank, means to move said back-up roller along a predetermined path conforming to the inside contour of said product, a work roll having a working edge of smaller radius of curvature than said back-up roller, means to urge said work roll against the opposite side of said blank, means for maintaining a predetermined definite spacing between said work roll and said back-up roller while they are moved from the center of said blank to the outer edge thereof, said spacing being equal to the thickness of said blank as measured in the axial direction of said spinning machine, and means for moving said work roll to follow the movement of said back-up roller while maintaining said definite spacing said respect to said back-up roller, thereby shaping said blank into the product of the final tion substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of said cross-slides.

3. The spinning machine according to claim 1 wherein said means for moving said back-up roller along a predetermined path includes a stationary block having a curved groove of the shape conforming to the inside contour of the shaped product and means guided by said curved groove to move said back-up roller.

Claims (3)

1. A spinning machine comprising a rotary shaft, a push rod, said rotary shaft and said push rod cooperating to clamp therebetween a flap plate shaped blank for rotating the same, a back-up roller having a peripheral contour conforming to a portion of the inside contour of a spinned product, means to urge said back-up roller against one side of said blank, means to move said back-up roller along a predetermined path conforming to the inside contour of said product, a work roll having a working edge of smaller radius of curvature than said back-up roller, means to urge said work roll against the opposite side of said blank, means for maintaining a predetermined definite spacing between said work roll and said back-up roller while they are moved from the center of said blank to the outer edge thereof, said spacing being equal to the thickness of said blank as measured in the axial direction of said spinning machine, and means for moving said work roll to follow the movement of said back-up roller while maintaining said definite spacing said respect to said back-up roller, thereby shaping said blank into the product of the final configuration by shear spinning performed by a single pass.

2. The spinning machine according to claim 1 wherein said rotary shaft is mounted on a headstock of a lath, said push rod is mounted on a tailstock of said lath, said work roll and said back-up roller are mounted on cross-slides operated by piston-cylinder assemblies, said cross-slides are mounted on saddles which are mounted on a common bed to be movable in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of said cross-slides.

3. The spinning machine according to claim 1 wherein said means for moving said back-up roller along a predetermined path includes a stationary block having a curved groove of the shape conforming to the inside contour of thE shaped product and means guided by said curved groove to move said back-up roller.

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