US663214A - Automatic spool-machine. - Google Patents

Description

Patented Dec. 4,' I900.

NIL 663,214.

E. P. BROWNELL. AUTOMATIC SPOOL MACHINE.

(Application filed Aug. 9, 1899.)

4 Sheets-Sheet I.

(No Model.)

4. 0 I. a If 6 p ir-I I o 0 J G 0. W 0 t a 1 m .0 II m" .o I I P a f i m m I I 8 2 l muur 8 o L m. n l I F1 o A l... M 6 w 2 1 Atwr ney. I

Wk 3 a Witnesses.-

Jmrwonms PEIERS co. PhOTO-LlTNO. wnsnmcron, n. c.

N0. 663,2l4. Patented Dec. 4,1900.

7 E. P. BROWNELL.

AUTOMATIC SPOOL MACHINE.

(Application filed 'Au 9. 1899.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

no Modal.)

a- E- T i 4 TITH' W'itnasses III/yew g U71. \7 i c I V Attorney.

Patented Dec. 4, I900.

E. P. BRUWNELL.

AUTOMATIC SPOOL MACHINE.

(Application fiid Aug. 9, 1899.)

4 Sheets$heat 3.

(No Model.)

no: ss3,2|4. Patented Dec. 4,1900.

E. P. BROWNELL.

AUTOMATIC SPOOL MACHINE.

(Application filed Aug. 9, 1899.)

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Shoat 4.

Q:- Y Witnesses Inventor M 'W By- Attorney 1 m: Noam: PsTsns co PHOTO-LIYNO. wnswmu'mu. n c

UNITED STATEs PATENT EMERSON P. BROWNELL, on BARTON, VERMONT.

AUTOMATIC SPOOL-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent in. 663,214, dated. December 4, 189.

Application filed August 9, 1899. Serial No. 726,655. (No model.)

To aZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EMERSON P. BROWNELL, a citizen of Great Britain, residing at Barton, in the county of Orleans and State of Vermont, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Spool-Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to automatic spoolmaking machines-4'. e., a machine which makes the spools from rough blanks previously cut the proper length, allowing for the stock wasted in finishing or facing off the ends.

The object of the invention is to simplify both the construction and operation of such machines without in any way affecting their efficiency, and other advantages will be mentioned in detail in the following specification.

The nature of my improvements will also be found fully set forth in the following specification and claims and clearly illustrated in the drawings accompanying and forming a part of the same, of which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved machine, Fig. 2 being an enlarged cross-sec tional elevation of certain centrally-located portions. Fig. 3 is a sectional view showing the conductor for spoolblanks, its support, and other details. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a frame upon which the transverselymovable tool or cutter carriage is mounted. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the head or tail stocks of my improved automatic lathe orspool-machine. Fig. 6 isaperspective view of the support for the spool-blank conductor shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 7 isone of a pair of adjustable frames which attach at either side of the support shown in Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is an elevation of the transversely-movable knife or cutter carriage. Fig. 9 is an end view of the same. Fig. 10 is alongitudinal sectional elevation of the same. Fig. 11 is an end elevation of one of the supports or head-stocks for the boring and turning head spindles. Fig. 12 is a side elevation of the same. Figs. 13, 14, and 15 are respectively a side elevation, a plan, and asectional elevation of my improved antifriction connection for the boring and turning spindles and their driving-cams. Fig. 16 is a plan view of one of the drivingcams. Fig. 17 is a side elevation of one of my improved spool boring and facing heads, showing a portion of a bit in position. Fig. 18 is an end view of the same. Fig. 19 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of the same. Figs. 20, 21, 22, and 23 are various views of an improved stop-block or rest for arresting the forward motion of the boring spindles after they have forced a drill or reainer into a spool-blank and while they are facing off the ends of the same, Fig. 24 being a detail in end elevation. Fig. 25 represents details of my invention in section. Fig. 26 is a plan view of the machine embodying myinvention, a portion of the cams at each end being broken away. Fig. 27 is a perspective of the two guides.

Similar reference-letters designate corresponding parts throughout the various views.

The spool-blanks are sawed the proper or desired length by an operator who stands at' the back of the machine, the stick from which he saws them being held upon and near one end of an inclined spool-blank conductor, at one side of which is mounted a suitable saw, the operator having simply to slide one end of the stick until it comes in contact with either a gage or one side of the conductor and then to push the stick against the saw, the blank thus taken from the stick moving by gravity down the inclined conductor, from which it drops within a clamping device, which holds said blank while it is being bored and faced. This arrangement for cutting the spool-blanks is not only very convenient, but it also serves to greatly decrease the expense of producing the spools by saving the labor which would otherwise be expended in cutting the -blanks on aseparate machine and conveying and feeding them to the spool-machine, and by means of this arrangement for cutting the blanks I am enabled to efiect a great saving of stock, for if a knot or other imperfection appears in the stick the operator simply slides the stick in front of the saw far enough to cut ofi the imperfect portion only, which he removes, when hecan then slide the stick far enough to out a blank, having lost only the short imperfect portion, instead of throwing away a fulllength blank.

Referring to the drawings by letters, A represents the main bed of my machine, which is supported upon suitable legs a, and to this bed are attached a pair of frames B by means of screws, as shown, and in these frames are carried a pair of arbors D D and a pair of arbors E E, the former being in exact alinement and the latter also being in alinement and parallel with the arbors D D, but on ,a lower plane and a little to one side, instead of on a vertical line therewith.

Brackets a are provided at each end of the machine, having bearings for a vertical shaft F, said bearings being provided with caps (1 as seen in Fig. 1. These shafts carry each a cam GH for driving, respectively, the arbors D E, suitable connections, respectively I J, being carried in the head-stocks O for this purpose. A driving-shaft K is mounted in bearings a formed in the legs a of the machine, and this transmits power to the end shafts F by means of bevel-gearsf k,

' as shown.

In order to use as light a shaft K as possible, suitable bracket-bearings may be provided for the center portion of said shaft, such as shown at a, in Fig. 1, between which may be mounted upon said shaft the necessary cams for operating the various mechanisms by which the spool-blanks are manipulated while being bored, reamed, faced off, and turned, as will be hereinafter described.

It is of course immaterial by what means the shaft K is driven; but in Fig. 1 I show a large spur-gear is mounted upon said shaft, and this meshes with a spur-pinion at the farther side of said gear and mounted on a counter-shaft k which may carry an ordinary tight and loose pulley, the shifter for which may be attached to and operated by a frame which is loosely connected to the bed A of the lathe or spool-machine, as seen in Figs. 1 and 2.

The knife-carriage L is adapted to move toward and away from a spooland is mounted in a suitable frame Z, secured to the bed A. The carriage is provided with an inclined socket, in which the knives Z may be secured by set-screws Z and said carriage may be moved at the proper time by means of a lever Z to which it is adjustably connected at l said lever being operated by a cam Z on the shaft K.

M is a casting which is bolted to the central portion of the bed A, and this supports one end of the inclined spool-blank conductor N, together with other portions of my improved machine not yet described.

0 is a circular saw; 0, the arbor on which it is mounted; o, the bracket-bearings bolted to the bed A and supporting said arbor 0, and o a belt-pulley mounted on said arbor, and which same may be driven by a belt.

I is a frame carried in the ways m of the support My One end of this frarn eis arched, so that it may pass above and not interfere with the motion of the cutter-heads 'd, carried on the boring-spindles D,with which said frame would otherwise be in line, and on this same end of said frame is secured the clamping-block 10, having a concaved face 19 for contact with a spool-blank, as seen in Fig. 2. In' this view is also shown a separatortongue p which may be formed upon or secured to the top surface of said clampingblock 19 for holding back the spool-blanks, which would otherwise crowd upon said clamping-block and possibly fall through without being turned into spools. The frame P may be actuated by a lever 19 to which it is adjustably connected at 19 said lever being pivoted to the projecting arm m of the support M (clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 6) and operated by a cam p mounted on shaft K.

m is a rest carried by the support M and against which a blank is held by the clamping-block p, and Q is a movable tongue or support for thespool-blanks, and upon which they will drop successively and be supported until the clamping-block 10 has secured a spool-blank between itself and the rest m when the support Q will move from under said blank and permit it to drop upon the spring-supported tongue R, which passes loosely through the supportM and is adjustably connected at r to the knife-carriage L or to a projection therefrom, said tongue B being adapted to carry a spool-blank to the proper position to be grasped by the ordinary turning-heads carried on the spindles E,when the supporting-tongue R will be removed from under the spool-blank (the spring r permit: ting said tongue R to drop sufficiently for the purpose) by the forward motion of the knifecarriage, which then moves toward the spoolblank for the purpose of turning the same.

The sliding support Q is carried above the tongue R and within the casting M and is attached by the connection q to the lever q, said lever being pivoted in the arm m of the casting M and operated at its lower end by the cam g mounted upon the shaft K.

In order to properly feed the spool-blanks to and upon the tongue R after they have been bored and faced, some suitable arrangement must be provided at each end for guiding them, and such guides must be got out of the way as soon as they have performed their function, so as to ofierno obstruction to the ready approach of the turning-heads e, which are to hold said blanks while they are turned to the desired shape by the cutters or knives Z. For this purpose I show in the drawings a pair of movable guides S, which slide in a groove 8 provided in the brackets s, which are mounted one at each side of the support M upon angle-plates m bolted to said support, a convenient means for operating said movable guides S being to connect them at their tops, by means of pivoted bars or links 3 with a crossbar s, to one end of which bar is attached a lever 8 one end of said lever being pivoted at a fixed point and the other end to one end of a rod 5 extending downward and operated by a cam 3 mounted upon the shaft K.

The heads 6 at the ends of the spindles E maybe of any construction common for their purpose, their face being either serrated or provided with a few prongs and with a central conical point similarto the center point of any lathe; but the heads (1 of the boring- .arbors D are necessarily different from an ordinary lathe-chuck for carrying a drill, and the construction of these heads is clearly illustrated in Figs. 17, 18, and 19. The head dis longitudinally perforated, one end of said perforation being large enough for threading to an arbor D,the remainder being smaller and adapted to receive a drill d or a reamer, if desired, and the bit or reamer socket may be hushed, as at d for the accommodation of small bits. The face of each head 01 is chan neled on one side at an angle for the reception of a suitable cutter d and again channeled at d for carrying 01f the shavings, and the said face is also grooved, as at 01 to re-. duce friction and prevent overheating. The cutter d is retained in place by a clamp d", and a counterbalance d is secured to the opposite sideof said head d, as shown. These heads may be fitted each with a bit and the cams which move their arbors D back and forth be so set or timed as to cause one to move forward a little ahead of the other and each to bore a little more than half-way through a spool-blank, thereby forming a clean hole through said blank without interference one with the other, or the heads may be fitted one with a bit and the other with a reamer slightly larger than the bit and the cams G so set as to carry each tool clear through the spool-blank, the bit first passing through at one end and the reamer following in at the opposite end while the bit is being withdrawn. Either of these methods will be certain to correct any inaccuracy and produce a good clean hole through a spool. As these arbors move at such a high rate of speed, much trouble might be experienced by the heating of a collar or any other stop with which they may be provided to rest against their bearings for limiting their length of stroke.

In the drawings I show a sort of cone-pulley D, which is rigidly secured to each arbor for driving the same, and one end of these pulleys serves the purpose of a stop; and to guard against the danger of heating when facing offthe ends of spools I provide a stopcollar or stop-plate with a ball-bearing adapted to take the end thrust of the pulley or pulleys D. This maybe made in the end of each frame B which is adjacent to the pulleys D and surrounding the bearing for the arbor D, or it may be formed in an attachable disk or plate T, as shown best in Figs. 20 and 21, said disk being perforated, as at t, for the loose passage of the arbor D and provided with a lateral extension 25', having elongated openings 25 for the admission of screws by which it may be adj ust-ably attached to the frame B, so as to render it capable of being set at a point to limit the longitudinal motion of the boring-arbor for a given length of spool or to take up all wear or any unnecessary end thrust of said arbors. The balls 15 are arranged in a circle around the perforation t and are retained therein in a manner to bear against the pulleys D by the rings t ,,and a set-screw t is provided in the stop T at a point opposite to the extension t, so as to steady that side of the stop-plate, said screw being adjusted to bear against the frame B after the extension 15' shall have been made fast to said frame. Still other means for taking up the wear which would cause slack in the end motion of the boring-arbors D and also the turning-arbors E is provided in the device for connecting the outer end of each of said arbors with the cams G H, by which they are made to move longitudinally as and when required, and these connections, I J, I will now describe, or rather, as all four of them are alike, I will describe one of the connections I. The rectangular bars I J are carried, one of each, in each head or tail stock 0, as shown in Fig. 1. The rectangular bars I have a central longitudinal perforation t', a portion of which at one end is of increased diameter, as at 1;, and provided with a cap i secured thereto by screws, as seen in Fig. 2a. The perforation icontains a spindle U, having at one end a disk u, provided in its outer face with an annular groove u, this disk being a loose'fit for and contained within the chamber t", which also contains two other independent disks to "a and is grooved in one or both sides, as seen, respectively, at of it to correspond with that of the disk u. The disks to u, are separated by balls resting in their grooves, and between the disks u n rests the flange -v of the stud V, and said stud passes through the disk of and may connect by thread with the arbor D. The grooves of the disks to to contain balls which bear against opposite sides of the flange 4) of the stud V, and the farther end of the spindle U is slotted to receive one edge of a tapered keyu passing through an elongated opening ti'formed for the purpose in the part'I and by means of which any slack occurring between the stud V and the spindle U may be readily taken up. That end of the part I which is adjacent to the cam G is provided with an elongated opening a for the reception of an adjustable block W, the projecting stud w of which rests within the groove 9 of said cam G, as seen in 1 and 16. The top of said block W is threaded with a nut to for holding said block in place, and for the better illustration of said block the said nut is removed in Fig. 14:. The block W is provided with a threaded perforation through which passes the threaded portion of a stud 102, the smooth portion of which passes through the metal at the outer end of the elongated opening 1%, and rotating said stud the said block W may be adjusted to any position within said opening which may be desired for either taking up wear, taking up slack motion, or for facing off spools of various lengths.

The operation of my improved machine is as follows: The operator has only to saw off the spool-blanks from a stick which he passes alonga guide N, the blanks thus cut off passing down the inclined spool-blank conductor N and dropping one at a time upon the tongue Q between the guides S at its ends and the clamp 19 and stop m at opposite sides. Said clamp then moves toward the blank and presses it tightly against the stop 777?. The guides S rise out of the way of the boring and facing-off heads don the arbors D, which then move toward each other, boring, reaming, and squaring off the blank, which is then ready to be turned. The bit-heads then draw out or away from a blank, the guides S fall to position seen in Fig. 2, the clamp 19 releases its grip, the tongue Q moves away, and the blank drops to the spring-supported tongue R,which is attached to and moves with the knife-carriage L, which at such time is in the position seen in Fig. 2. The lower spindles E then come up, grip the spool-blank, and start it revolving. The knife-carriage then moves toward the back of the machine, the knives l turning the spool, after which the knife-carriage returns to former position, the spindles E separate, and the finished spool drops through the knife-carriage, when the operation is repeated upon other spool-blanks.

Having described rny improved machine, what I claim is- 1. In an automatic spool-machine, a pair of endwise-moving shafts, or arbors, arranged in an alinement and provided on their adjacent ends with cutter-heads adapted to face off the ends of a spool, and cams for moving the shafts orarbors endwise, combined with stop-plates provided with ball-bearings and which are applied to the shafts or arbors for preventing heating of the parts when facing off the ends of spools.

2. In an automatic spool-machine, a reciprocating arm for supporting a spool-blank, an endwise-moving clamp for holding the spoolblank, endwise-moving shafts carrying boring and facing heads, cams for moving said shafts and heads endwise, and means for revolving the cams, combined with two automatically-acting end guides for conducting said blank from the boring to the turning device, a spring-supported tongue connected with the clamp, and upon which the spoolblank rests until grasped by the turningheads, two endwise-moving shafts provided on their inner ends with turning-heads, a reciprocating carriage carrying suitable knives ing-block having a concaved face for contact with the spool, and a separator-tongue p and means for reciprocating the frame P, combined with the support M upon which the frame P is mounted, means .for moving said support, the rest M carried by the support M, and against which the blank is held by the clamp 10, and the movable tongue Q for supporting the spool-blanks, and upon which they will successively drop, the spring-supported tongue R, and theknife-carriage to which the tongue is looselyconnected.

5. In an automatic spool-machine, endwisemoving shafts provided with boring and facing heads upon their inner ends, turning heads or spindles, and means for reciprocating them,the support M, means for reciproeating it at right angles to the shafts which carry the boring and facing heads, the frame P provided with a clamping-block, the movable tongue Q, and the spring-supported tongue R which passes loosely through the support M, combined with a knife-carrier to which the tongue is loosely connected.

6. In an automatic spool-machine, the main frame provided with the brackets a at its ends, the vertical shafts mounted in said brackets, and which are provided with means at their lower ends for receiving power, and at their upper ends with the two drivingcams, the two sets of endwise-moving shafts or arbors carrying suitable boring and facing and clamping tools at their inner ends, and the head-stops 0, combined with suitable connections I, J, by means of which the two shafts are movedendwise at the same time they are made to revolve by suitable means, and suitable adjustable means connected with the connections I, J, for connecting them with the cams, and taking up the slack in the end motion.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EMERSON P. BROWNELL.

Witnesses:

J. B. THURSTON, L. M. HUBBARD.

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