US850932A - Clamp for tentering-machines. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTED APR. 23, 1907.

' H. W. HONEYMAN.

CLAMP FOR TENTERING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.26, 1903.

Witnesses nu: Manna PEYIRS 60., WISHINKIION, A c.

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HENRY W. HON EYMAN, OF PAWTUCKET, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR TO THE TEXTILE-FINISHING MACHINERY COMPANY, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, A CORPORATION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 23, 1907.

Application filed January 26,1903. Serial No. 140.4:83.

To all 'LUII/OTVI/ it 71mg concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY W. HONEY- MAN, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Pawtucket, county of Providence, and State of Rhode Island, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Cloth Clamps for Tentering Machines, of which the following, with the accompanying drawings, is a description.

My invention more partlcularly relates to automatic cloth-clamps used in cloth-tentering machines which are so arranged that after the cloth is fed into the clamp a finger or controller will rest upon the cloth, and thereby hold the upper or gripping jaw of the clamp out of contact with the cloth until the latter is withdrawn from under the controller, when the upper or gripping jaw will be permitted to fall and grip the cloth upon or near its selvage.

My present invention consists of making the arm which supports the gripping-j aw of resilient metal, preferably of somewhat heavy sheet-steel, for the purpose hereinafter set forth, and in a rounded raised bead upon edge of the table of the lower jaw, which is intended, preferably, to act in combination with the resilient arm forming the other portion of my invention, but which may in many cases be advantageously used with the old style of arm.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of my clamp. Fig. 2 is a front elevation; and Fig. 3 is a side elevation, largely in section, upon line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

As is well known by those acquainted with the art, cloth-clamps are composed of a base constituting one of the links of an endless chain, as A in the drawings, which links are afterward united together by means of pins passed through the holes shown in Fig. 1. Upon this base and attached rigidly to it is generally a brass plate B, (best seen in Fig. 3,) which as herein constructed is bent down over the front edge of the base proper. The plate B has a slot through it, into which the finger or controller C may fall when the cloth is withdrawn from under it in the manpivot at its upper edge and has a rearward projection E, with a hook upon it to engage the hook upon the controller or finger O to art, and as my present invention does not depend upon them or any particular combination of them I will not further describethem ortheir action.

My invention consists principally in substituting for the two arms heretofore used to support the gripping-j aw a single curved upper arm F, (see particularly Fig. 3,) preferably made of rather heavy sheet-steel or some other resilient metal curved into substantially the shape shown. The lower portion of this arm is made to rest upon and be rigidly attached to the base-link under the brass plate B, and its upper portion after being curved forward, as shown in Fig. 3, to constitute the supporting-arm for the gripping-j aw D is curved back upon itself to inclose the rod G, forming the pivot for that jaw. The arm F, made of sheet-steel, as described, will permit its having a resilient action after the gripping-j aw D has been permitted to fall and grip the cloth, and the strain of the clothpulls the jaw D farther forward. It will be observed that the gripping-j aw D when it has fallen and come into contact-with the lower jaw or plate B stands at a slightly-oblique angle to the plate B, and any strain from the cloth then has a strong tendency to spring the upper arm F upward. This has proved to be a serious defect in the clamps heretofore constructed, because the arms supporting the gripping-j aw have been made of cast or malleable iron integral with the link-base and without any resilient action, and when the strain upon the cloth, acting through the wedge action of the gripping-jaw, had once sprung the supportingarms out of their natural position they would not return, the fine adjustment required in the gripping-j aw would be destroyed, and frequently the clamp would be thereby rendered useless. The resilience of my arm F has the advantage ofpermitting a slight outward movement to the foot of the gripping-j aw if the strain upon the cloth becomes great without injuring the adjustment of the clamp. Much of the advantage of my invention could be obtained by making the arms heretofore used of resilient metal but I prefer to substitute for them a single arm F, made of steel about an eighth of an inch thick, so as to not permit too much elasticity to the arm. I do not limit myself, however, to any particular thickness of metal, nor necessarily to steel, as many other well-known resilient metals or alloys would answer as well.

The lower portion of the arm F as I have used it has a slot cut in it, through which the controller may fall, and a second slot at the rear, through which the controller enters from its pivot H, preferably carried in lugs cast upon the base or link A, although other means of supporting the pivot of the controller C could be readily substituted. It may also be advantageous at times to out still another slot in the middle of the upper portion of the arm to permit the projecting arm E or a portion of the controller C to pass through it in order to permit the clamp to be opened wider by pushing the gripping-j aw D farther back, and thereby furnish greater space for the insertion of the'fabric, and I have indicated. such a slot in the drawings; but such a slot is not always essential or even preferable. It is evident that with such a resilient arm some means of preventing the gripping-jaw from being pulled too far forward by the strain exerted by the cloth is essential. This can be accomplished by making the metal of the arm F sufliciently heavy to withstand any strain which the cloth would stand; but by doing so the arm would lose much of its elasticity and. much of the advantage to be gained from that elasticity. I have therefore added to the outer edge of the plate B, forming the lower aw of the clamp, the raised rounded edge or bead 1), against which the gripping-j aw may bring up when the cloth pulls it forward against it that is, the gripping-jaw D is arranged. when it falls to normally reach the plate B a little way back of the rounded bead, and then it may be pulled forward by the cloth until it reaches that bead, the end of the arm F at the same time being forced upward. The head b need be only small to absolutely prevent the aw D from being pulled over it. In fact, I have found that the bead 1) adds so much to the gripping power of the jaw D that it is probably capable of being used with the cast or malleable iron arms commonly used heretofore to support the gripping-jaw to offset a considerable amount of the distortion of those arms heretofore spoken of. I do not, therefore, consider that the usefulness of the bead b is limited to a combination of it with the arm F, constructed of resilient metal.

I claim as my invention 1. A tentering-machine clamp composed of a plate or lower jaw, an upper or gripping jaw, and an arm constructed of resilient metal and supporting the gripping-j aw.

2. A cloth-clamp composed of a plate or lower aw, an arm constructed of resilient metal, and a gripping-j aw pivoted to said arm.

3. A cloth-clamp composed of a plate or lower aw, an arm over the lower jaw constructed of resilient sheet metal, a grippingjaw pivoted to the end of the arm, and means for controlling the action of the gripping-j aw to cause it to grip the cloth upon or near its selvage.

4. A cloth-clamp composed of a plate or lower jaw, an arm over the lower jaw constructed of resilient sheet metal, a grippingjaw pivoted to the end of the arm, means for controlling the action of the gripping-j aw to cause it to grip the cloth upon or near its selvage, and means for preventing the grippingjaw from being pulled too far forward by the strain of the cloth.

5. A cloth-clamp composed of a plate or lower jaw, an arm over the lower jaw constructed of resilient sheet metal, a grippingjaw pivoted to the end of the arm, means for controlling the action of the gripping-jaw to cause it to grip the cloth upon or near its selvage, and a rounded edge or bead upon the lower jaw to prevent the gripping-j aw from being pulled too far forward by the strain of the cloth.

6. A cloth-clamp composed of a plate or lower jaw, an arm extending over the lower jaw, a gripping-j aw pivoted to the end of the arm, means for controlling the action of the gripping-j aw to cause it to grip the cloth upon or near its selvage, and an edge or head upon the lower jaw to assist the gripping-j aw in holding the cloth.

, HENRY WV. HONEYMAN.

Witnesses EDWARD G. CARR,- VVM. R. TILLINGT-IAST.

IOD

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