US759886A - Head for marble or granite polishing machines. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTED MAY 17, 1904.

H. J. HIGGINS. HEAD FOR MARBLE 0R GRANITE POLISHING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 9, 1904.

N0 MODEL.

NiTsn STATES Patented May 17, 1904..

HARRY J. ITIGGINS, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

HEAD FOR MARBLE OR GRANITE POLISHING MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 759,886, dated May 17', 1904.

Application filed January 9, 1904. Serial No. 188,347- (No model.)

To all 1071 0171, it TIMI/Z] concern:

Be it known that I, HARRYJ. HIGGINS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Denver, in the county of Denver and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Heads for Marble or Granite Polishing Machines, of which the following is a speciiication.

My invention relates to improvements in heads used on machines for polishing the surface of granite or marble slabs.

The machines referred to generally consist of a frame fastened to the wall or other suitable support andcomposed of a set of brackets supporting a vertical shaft and a stationary arm to which is pivoted the extremity of a swinging frame. The other extremity of the latter is provided with a short vertical spindle which rotates by means of a belt passing over pulleys on said spindle and on the vertical shaft. The polishing-head is secured to the lower end of the spindle and is brought in contact with the-surface of the piece of marble or granite to be polished, the polishing being accomplished by the swift rotary motion of the disk which previously has been provided with some suitable abrasive and smoothing agent. The swinging frame has a handle by means of which the workmen can raise or lower the revolving disk and conduct it to any desired point. The marble or granite after having been sawed into slabs and coped up into sizes is rubbed on a rubbingband with water and sand. After this operation, which squares the edges and gives the stone an even surface, has been performed the slabs are placed under the head, which, as heretofore explained, imparts to the marble a smooth surface by being swiftly rotated over the same. i

The objects of my invention are, first, to

produce a head for marble and granite polishing machines by the use of which a slab of marble or granite may be polished to the highest finish in the minimum of time; second, to produce a head for polishingmachines in which water or any other necessary fluid may be constantly fed to the points of friction between the abrasive agents on the head and the surface of the stone under treatment.

Other advantages of the peculiar construction of my device are set forth in the following description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents a side elevation of the device attached to the spindle of a polishingmachine and resting on a block of stone, the water-reservoir 19 being shown in section; Fig. 2, an underneath View of the device; Fig. 3, a section taken along the line 3 3, Fig. 1, looking downward; Fig. 4:, a plan view of one of the pivoted frames used on my device; Fig. 5, an enlarged section taken along the line 5 5, Fig. 2; and Fig. 6, a section taken along the line 6 6, Fig. 4.

Similar reference-numerals refer to similar parts throughout the various views.

The apparatus will now be described in detail, and it must be understood that details of construction, as described in the specification and illustrated in the drawings, may be varied without departing from the spirit of the invention.

My device consists of a disk 5, made of iron or other suitable material and provided with lugs 5, by means of which it may be secured to the spindle 6 of the polishing-machine.

In variance with the usual mode of attaching the heads to the spindle, which allows the head to tilt in any direction, 1 secure my disk rigidly to the lower extremity of spindle 6, which to this end is provided with downwardly-extended lugs 6*. Lugs 5 on the disk are provided with channels out in their outer faces and adapted to receive the correspondingly-located lugs on the spindle, and a bolt 7, inserted through corresponding holes in the four lugs and held in place by a nut 7, prevents further up or downward movement of the disk on the spindle and aids in firmly securing the one to the other. Disk 5 is pro vided on its under surface with four sets of integral lugs 8, to which the extremities of swinging frames 9, which support the polishing-blocks 10, are pivotedly secured by means of bolts 26. Frames 9 are composed of two parallel arms 9 and 9, rigidly secured to-. gether by two straps 12 and 11, the former one of which is stationary, while .the latter is adjustable and may be moved toward and from the other strap, the two straps forming the jaws of a clamp by which the polishingblocks are secured to the pivoted frames. The stationary strap 12 is located at a point in between the extremities of arms 9, its ends being bent at right angles to its main body and secured to the arms by means of bolts 12*. Arms 9 are at their free extremities provided with short extensions 9, which, being round and threaded, project through correspond ingly-located holes in the adjustable strap 11. Nuts 9, screwed onto the extensions 9 after strap 11 is put into place, will hold the latter in position against the part of the polishingblock it is desired to clamp in between the two straps. The pivoted extremities of arms 9" extend beyond the pivoting-point and limit the downward movement of the lower ends of the frames by engaging the under side of the disk.

To limit the upward movement of the frames, and thus prevent them from striking thedisk if thrown upward by irregularities in the granite or marble over which the disk rotates, 1 have provided a rubber bumper 25 for each frame, said bumpers being secured to the disk in such a manner that the arms ofthe frame will engage them when forced upward. The yielding pressure of cushions 25 will allow the polishing-blocks to move over the uneven places on the surface of the slab, at the same time allowing enough friction between the blocks and these places to smoothand ultimately remove them.

Polishing-blocks 10, which are preferably made of sandstone or carborundum, aresecured, by means of bolts 14:,to a plate 13, extending along its upper surface, whileas an additional safeguard some suitable adhesive substance may be placed between the adjoining surfaces of the stone and the plate.

To operate my device in as economical a manner as possible, it is desirable that the entire polishing-blocks be utilized up to where they are joined to the metal plates 13, and it is for this reason essential that the bolts which attach the blocks to the plates do not project below the lower surface of the latter. With this end in view I have provided the polishing-blocks with upwardly-extending projections 10, preferably of cylindrical form, which extend into corresponding holes 13 in plate 13. I

Stud-bolts 14: screwed into the projections extend above the surface of the plate, while nutsv 15 screwed onto the bolts and against said surface secure the plate to the polishingblocks.

It will be understood that in constructing the above-described parts care should be taken that the height of the projections does not exceed the thickness of the plate and that the outside diameter of nuts 15 be larger than that of holes 13 in plate 13, through which the cylindrical projections extend. Plate 13 is provided at its upper surface with an integral receptacle or box 13, which in practice contains the fluid it is desired to feed between the engaging surfaces of blocks 10 and the stone to be polished. Boxes 13 are covered by means of a detachable plate 16, held in place by a bolt 17 which extends through a hole in said cover and is screwed into an upwardly-projecting boss 18, which forms part of the bottom of the receptacle. Said bottom is furthermore provided with one or more openings 19, which communicate with a slot 13 in plate 13, said slot in its turn communicating with a correspondingly-shaped opening 10 in the polishing-block which extends from its upper to its lower surface.

To attach the polishing-blocks to the pivoted arms 9, boxes 13, which for this purpose are preferably made rectangular, are placed in between the straps 12 and 11, the arms 9 resting on top of plate 13. The adjustable strap 11 is now moved against the side of the box and firmly secured by means of nuts 9, which are screwed onto the extensions 9 of the arms.

Although not essential it is preferable that the length of the boxes should be equal to the distance between arms 9", so as to make them fit snugly in the rectangular space between said arms and straps 11 and 12.

During the operation of the device the receptacles '13 are constantly supplied with water or whatever fluid it is desired to use from a reservoir 19,'secured on top of disk 5 and which communicates with the various receptacles on the polishing-blocks by means of small pipes 20, extending from said reservoir downwardly through openings in the disk and through apertures 16 in the covers 16 of the boxes 13, in which they terminate.

Although reservoir 19 may be of any desired form I prefer to make it in the shape of an annular trough concentric to the disk and surrounding lugs 5.

Trough 19 is closed on all sides with the exception of a slot 19, which extends through its upper surface and which allows the introduction of a feed-pipe from any other suitably located reservoir without interfering with the movement of the device.

The position on the disk of lugs 8, of which there are two for each swinging frame, is such that when the polishing-blocks are in place in said frames their inmost ends will point toward a 'common center vertically below the center of the disk, while the upper surfaces of oppositely-located blocks will extend along a straight line passing through said center.

The head in practice rotates in the direction of arrow A, Fig. 1, and the rigidly-connected head and spindle are constantly lowered to compensate for the amount worn off the blocks.

7 hen the blocks are completely worn away, new ones may be readily attached to the plates and the operation continued as before.

Disk 5 when the machine is in operation rotates at a high rate of speed, and the parts of the polishing-blocks located near the outside of the disk will during each revolution of the latter travel a longer distance than the points nearer the center of the disk. These conditions create a tendency toward the uneven wearing of the contacting surfaces of the polishing-stones, which, as will be understood, is detrimental to the production of the desired high finish on the granite or marble. To overcome this deficiency I vary the amount of polishing-surface in ratio to the distance the various points of the blocks travel during each revolution, by making the polishingblocks wedge-shaped ,their broadest extremity being located near the outside of the disk, while their width decreases as they approach the center. Another advantage derived from tapering the polishing-blocks is that it enables me to extend them close to each other and to the center of the disk, thus providing more polishing-surface, while it furthermore allows me to use my device on small and narrow slabs of marble or granite, which if the blocks were of equal width along their entire extent, and consequently farther away from the center, would be apt to result in one or more of the blocks falling below the surface of the slab.

Although four stones have been shown in the drawings, it will be understood that their number may be increased or diminished to suit circumstances.

The surface of the blocks engaging the upper surface of the stone to be polished has been shown in the drawings as being perfectly flat.

in practice by raising or lowering the disk while it revolves one of the edges of the pol ishing-blocks may be brought in contact with the surface of the stone, which if continued for some time will eventually result in the production of a rounding edge, which greatly aids in rapidly polishing or gritting the stone under treatment.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. A head for machines of the class named comprising a plate, frames pivoted to the under side of said plate, polishing-blocks secured to said frames and channeled lugs located on the upper side of said plate and adapted to receive and be secured to lugs on a spindle of said machine, substantially as described.

2. A head for machines of the class named comprising a plate, having means for securing it to a spindle of the machine, arms pivoted to the lower surface of said plate, polishing-blocks secured to said arms, fluid-receptacles secured to the arms and suitable means for conducting the fluid from said receptacle to the under side of said blocks, substantially as described.

3. A head for machines of the class named comprising a plate having means for securing it to a spindle of the machine, arms pivoted to the lower surface of said plate, polishing-blocks secured to said arms, fluid-receptacles mounted on said arms and communicating with suitably-located apertures in said polishing-blocks, substantially as described.

4:. A head for machines of the class named comprising a plate having means for securing it to a spindle of the machine, frames pivoted to the under side of said plate, flanged fluid-receptacles secured to said frames and polishing-blocks secured to the flanges on said receptacles, substantially as described.

5. A head for machines of the class named comprising a plate having means for securing it to a spindle of the machine, frames pivoted to the under side of said plate, fluid-receptacles secured to said frames and provided with plates on their under side, polishing-blocks having projections extending through holes in said plates, stud-bolts secured in said extensions and provided with nuts which engage the surface of said plates, substantially as de scribed.

6. A head for machines of the class named comprising a disk having means for securing it to a spindle of the machine, frames pivoted to the under side of said disk, plates clamped in said frames and polishing-blocks detachably secured to said plates, substantially as described.

7. A head for machines of the class named comprising a disk having means for securing it to a spindle of the machine, frames pivoted to the under side of said disk, plates secured to said frames, polishing-blocks having projections extending through holes in said plates, stud-bolts secured in said projections and provided with nuts which engage the surface of said plates, substantially as described.

8. A head for machines of the class named comprising a plate having means for securing it to a spindle of the device, arms pivoted to the lower surface of said plate, polishingblocks secured to said arms, fluid-receptacles mounted on said arms and communicating with slots in said blocks, a fluid-receptacle mounted on said plate and communicating with said first-named receptacles,substantially as described. I

9. A head for machines of the class named comprising a plate having means for securing it to a spindle of the device, arms pivoted to the lower surface of said plate, polishingblocks secured to said arms, fluid-receptacles .mounted on said arms and communicating with slots in said blocks, covers secured to said receptacles, a fluid-receptacle mounted on said plate, pipes leading from said receptacle into the first-named receptacles and means for feeding fluid into the second-named receptacle, during the operation of the device, substantially as described.

10. A head for machines of the class named comprising a plate having means for securing it to a spindle of the device, arms pivoted to the lower surface of said plate, polishingblocks secured to said arms, fluid-receptacles mounted on said arms and communicating with slots in said blocks, an annular fluid-receptacle mounted on said disk and having a circular slot in one of its sides and pipes leading from said receptacle into the first-named receptacles, substantially as described.

11. Ahead for machines of the class named comprising a plate having means for securing it to a spindle of the device, frames pivoted to the under side of said plate, fluid-receptacles clamped in said frames and provided With plates on their under sides, apertures in said receptacles communicating With slots in said plates, polishing-blocks secured to said plates and slots in said blocks communicating With the slots in said plates, substantially as described.

13. In a head for machines of the class 3 named, the combination With a disk having means for securing it to a spindle of the machine and frames pivoted to the under side of said plate, of polishing-blocks, the amount of polishing-surface on Which varies in ratio to the distance its various points travel, secured to said frames, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

HARRY J. HIGGINS.

Witnesses:

K. M. STUMP, G. J. ROLLANDET.

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