US95918A - Improved machine tor making wire ferrules - Google Patents

Description

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HENRY o. LoTHnoR-or YMILFonD, MASSACHUSETTS.

Letters Patent No. 95,918, dated ctober 19, 1869.

IMPROVED .MACHINE FOR MAKING WIRE FERR'ULES.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters'Patent and making part of the same To all to whom these presents'shall come and Figure 5, a vertical and transverse section of a machine embodying one portion of my invention'.

Figure 6 is a representation of a ferrule embodying the. latter portion of my invent-ion.

The inventions which constitute the subject-matter of this patent, relatel First, to an improved manumcture of coiled-wire tubing for feirules, by forming an offset in each coil, in such manner that each end of the individual ferrule, when cnt from the cylinder, shall present a Hush or evenly-finished flat face.

Secondly, the invention relates to the construction of a machine, whereby the cylinder, provided with the oset, as described, shall be made up from the wire, and the united layers of wire soldered together, as well as to means for cutting from suc'h cylinder a series of ferrules of equal length, the whole being in manner as hereinafter explained.

The machine I have contrived as one means of forming the above-described wire cylinder, and as illustrated in the presentinstance, is composed of a rotary arbor, supported in suitable bearings, and provided with a driving-pulley very much after the manner of the head-stock of a common lathe, suoli arbor being provided with a tapering mandrel, upon which the wire is coiled,.and the cylinder made up, a beater or bunter being disposed loosely about the mandrel, and

lhaving intermittent longitudinal movements imparted to it upon such mandreh'at short intervals, a sliding cutter being arranged immediately in front of the mandrel, and operated-in such manner, by instrumentalities to'be described, as to eut each in regular succession fronl the cylinder formed upon such mandrel, as to project beyond thefree end of the same, a number of-sections or ferrules of asuitable length to suitthe particular purpose for which they are intended.

In the drawings, before mentioned as accompanying this specification, and which illustrate my. invention,

A 'denotes a flat tablet or table, supported by suitable standards, B l.

Vlongitudinal' and Upon the upper surface of snch table A, I erect two supports, C C', provided at their upper part with a suitable bearing, D or D, for supportinga rotary arbor, E, such arbor having mounted upon it a drivingpulley, F, disposed aboutmidway between the supports C 0'; the arbor being still further provided with a face-plate or disk, lGr, fixed to it immediately in rear of its supports (l, the outer face of such disk having a wiper-cam, H, formed upon it, as delineated.

The outer end of the arbor E is provided with a .tapering mandrel, I, secured to it in manner asmll readily manifest itself to mechanics, this mandrel beingof such taper as to accommodate itself to the gradual lessening of the diameter f the cylinder, con-- sequent upon the reduction of.its temperature, as it accumulates upon the mandrel, it being first introduced 'to such mandrel in a heated state.

Were it not for this gradual lessening of the diam-f eter of the mandrel, to -correspond with that of the.

cylinder, the latter would contract so tightly about the mandrel as to adhere firmly to it, and render abortive the operation ofthe machine.

A tubular sleeve, a, loosely encompasses a portion of the mandrel im mediately tbrward of the support C, such sleeve being supported about the mandrel, and prevented lfrom revolving with it by means of a shipper, b, which surrounds it,.,and is pivoted to its opposite sides, the upper extremity ofthe shipper beingr pivoted to the upper part or box ofthe arbor-support C, while the lower end of such shipper is given a rear-l ward horizontal'bend, c, which passes through the' supports C, and impinges against the outer face of thedisk G, or its wiper H, before mentioned, asapplied to the disk G, the shipper being maintained in contact with the disk by a spring, d, suitably applied to it.

It will be observed, by referring to the accompany ing drawings, that the mandrel l has a longitudinal. andvaxial groove., e, formed in its face, and from end to end thereof, and it will also be observed that the periphex-y'ofsuch mandrel is scored with a series of parallel teeth, ff, Sac., such teeth being of about uniform depth until they approach the outer extremity of the mandrel, where they terminate at a short `inclination, leaving the periphery` of the mandrel at this point intact.

The teeth ff are formed in the shape of saw-teeth, the longer face of' such teeth receding in a `direction reverse to that of the rotation of such mandrel, and they perform an important` olice, to be 4hereinafter explained; my purpose in leaving the extreme outer portion of the periphery of the mandrel intact, being to form an even and smooth bed for the operation of the cutter, as it severs the cylinder at this point.

The revolution of the disk G, by means of its wipery H, imparts short and quick intermittent movements to the appearance of the ferrule,

of the sleeve c, which I term the ubeater, its purpose being to beat up the coils of wire into a compact body, as they accumulate about the mandrel.

The. forward movement of thebeater, in beating up the coils, also rserves to advance the accumulated coils along the mandrel, while its -retreat leaves room for the introduction of a fresh portion of wire.

By referring to igpl of the drawings, the reader will see that the outer end of the beater a is formed with a slight oset or projection, g, the purpose of which is to cause a corresponding offset in each concentric coil of the cylinder, in order that when any one-coil is cut by the cutter of the machine, at the termination of this offset, it shall leave the section thus cut with a uniformly level face, as shown in tig. 6 of the drawings, thus not only adding very much but-being advantageous in other respects.

The wire of which the cylinder is composed, is first to be passed through a receptacle containing a suitable soldering-flux, 4and from 'thence' conducted into and through a vessel of melted solder, the latterbeing situated immediately contiguous to the mandrel, in order that the soldertaken up and conveyed by it shall remain ina hot and fluid state until the wire'eomes in contact with the last preceding coil about the mandrel, by this means producing a compact and solid cylinder.

In expeiimenting with my invention, I have experienced much difliculty in devising a means of insuring against slipping of the cylinder about the mandrel.

rIhe purpose of the saw-teeth will be apparent when I state that the .lessening of the diameter of the cylinder, as it contractsv in cooling, forces the edges of such teeth slightly into the inner surface of the cylinder, and while permittingof its longitudinal movements upon the mandrel, prevents any rotation upon the same.

I would here call the readeiis attention to the fact that the extremity ofthe wire, in commencing operations with the machine, is to be bent, and inseited within the groove je of the mandrel, by which means the wire is caused to adhere and accumulate about the mandrel until the soldered portions of such wire are brought in contact with the teeth of the mandrel.

The wire, as it is wound upon the mandrel, is necessarily in a state of tension, and, as the cooling takes place at once, it contracts so as to hug closely the tapering mandrel, thus offering all the resistance required in order to enable the beater to strike up the offset, for which I may say very llittle force is needed.

The cutter for severing the ferrules from the cylinder, at proper anddetermined intervals, consists of a sliding cross-head, h, carrying a suitable knife, t', sharp upon its lower edge, the cross-head being supported, and its vertical movements guided by means of perpendicular guides or ways, jy', the cutting-edge ofthe knife, when at its highest position, being disposed above the mandrel, and init's descent reaching a point below such mandrel.

The knife is actuated by a horiz'ontal-oscillati'nglever, K, fulcrumed at about its centre, as shown at I, to the upper part of a support, m, erected upon the table A, and surmounting the arbor and face-plate, and between such face-plate and the driving-pulley f, the forward extremityof the said lever being pivoted to thecross-head h, while its rear extremity is connected, by means of a rod, a, with a second horizontal lever, o, disposed at the lower part of the machineframe, and from end to end thereof, the forward and longer arm, 1), of this lever being pivoted to a crossbar, q, making part of the standard I, while the .rear and shorter arm, 'r, of such lever, extends a short distance in rear of the standard B', as shown in the drawings.

f are provided,

sizes in its place,

The rear extremity ofthe arbor E is disposed above that of the lever o, and is provided with acrank-wheel, s, such wheel being connected with the shorter arm fr of the lever o by a connecting-rode, t, in such manner that a revolution of the wheel s, by means hereafter stated, shall cause an elevation of the free end of the said lever o, and of the inlrer end of the upper lever Kf'with a corresponding depression of the outer end of such lever, and of the knife fi.

The movements'of the knife i are to be so regulated or controlled as to descend and sever the ferrules after a succession of coils of wire has accumulated upon the mandrel; consequently such mandrel must complete a number of revolutions to one of the crankwheel which actuates the knife, the intermediate mechanism connecting the arbor with such crankwheel being susceptible of change or adjustment, in

order to vary the relative number of movements of the knife and mandrel, according to the length of the ferrule to be cut by such knife.

To accomplish the last-mentioned purpose, I mount the crank-wheel s loosely upon the arbor, and between .said crank-wheel and the rear support C' of the headstock, I apply a grooved disk or shipping-pulley, u, such pilley'being disposed loosely, and sliding upon the arbor, but compelled to rotate with it, by means of `an ordinary spline-and-groove connection.

Both the shipper-pulley u and the crank-wheel s upon their contiguous faces, with clutches or stops, c c, and so that upon a close approach to each other, they shall he locked together, auddescribe a revolution iny company; wheel, thus'produced, effecting, of course, one cuttingstroke of the knife, and severinga ferrule from the cylinder upon the mandrel.

The necessary sliding movements of the shipper u are effected by mechanism composed as follows:

A bent and horizontal lever or shipper, w, is pivoted at its bend `to the top of a post, rising from the table of the machine, and to one side of the standard or support C', before mentioned, one end of such shipper extending into the groove of the pulley u, while its opposite end extends through made in a lateral upright or frame, z, erectedupon the table of the machine, and t t one side of the driving-pulley'of the arbrya spring, a',`being applied to such upright, andpiessing upon theinner side of such shipper, and serving to force it against a wiper or cam-grade, b', fixed'to the periphery of a spur-gear, c', suitably applied to the outer extremity of the upright, as shown in fig. 5 of the accompanying drawings.

The gear c' meshes into a second gear, d', the pivot e', of which is supported within an oblique slot, f', made in the upright z, and below .the .orifice y, before mentioned, the last-mentioned gear, in turn, meshing into a pinion, g', supported also upon the upright z, asI represented, the said pinion being aixed to or making part of a third gear, h', which meshes into a fourth gear, i', fixed to the arbor E of the machine, and in close proximity to its driving-pulley. i

The object in supporting the gear d', of the abovementioned train, in an adjustable manner, as explained, is to allow of the introduction of gears of different for the purpose of varying the relative movements-of the knife and mandrel, as before premised. v

A revolution of the arbor E, in the direction of its arrow, causes, of course, a corresponding revolution of the gear t', and a reverse rotation 'of the gear h', which, by means of its piniong, effects a counter-revolution of the gear d in' a direction similar to the driving-gear '11', the said gear d', as will be evident, imparting a rotation to the gear c in the direction of its arrow. l

The train of differential gears, as above described, effects seven revolutions of the cam-gear c to one the revolution of the crank-y a slot or guide, y, v

- normal position,

revolution of the mandrel; consequently, when seven coils have projected beyond the end of the mandrel, the cutter will descend and sever them.

In practice,it will probably be found desirable to increase lthe number of the coils to twenty or thereabouts, in forming ferrules for paint-brushes, the principal object of my present invention being to produce ferrules for this purpose.

The operation ofthe train of gears upon the crankwheel is as follows, premising, as a starting-point, the fact that the wiper b has just reached the free end of the shipper w The revolution of the driving-gear i, from this point, forces the wiper b', ofthe gear c', in contact with the free end of. the shipper u', and, by moving such shipper upon its fulermn, e'ects a rearward movement of its opposite end, by this means ibrcing the clutch of the pulley lu in contact with that of the crank-wheel, and imparting a'revolution of t-he latter in consonance with that of the arbor E, the length of the periphery of the wiper bvbeing such as to maintain theunion of the pulley u 'and the wheel s until the latter has completed a' revolution, and lowered the knife for the purpose of severing a ferrule from the coiled tube, when theewiper abruptly terminates, and allows the shipper to be returned (by means of its spring,r a!) to its thus breaking the 'connect-ion of the pulley and wheel, and allow the latter to revolve independently upon the arbor, the lever o, before mentioned, thus being allowed to fall, by its own gravity, and return the knife to its highest position.

As heretofore constructed, wire ferrules have been manufactured by being rst coiled about a mandrel, then removed therefrom and held in the hands of a workman While being soldered.

The time consumed in this way adds vastly to the Jams s) expense of production ot' such articles, and in the end does not produce so desirable an article as can he produced by means of my invention.

Another considerable item of expense by the olli method, is finishing the ends of the coil of wireA at each endof the ferrule.. The offset, before mentioned, as constituting one feature'of my invention, economizes much labor, and produces a result which cannot, by any means, b'e produced by the old process of manufacturing wire ferrules.

(L'lcw'm-s'.

I claim as my iuvention,and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States of America, as follows:

1. The 'conlbinauon of instrumentalities herein described, for making a soldered-wire ferrule, all substantially as set forth.

2. ln coiling mandrels, the combi-nation of a tapering form and grooves fj, with a groove e, all arranged and operating together, in the manner described.

3. The combination and arrangement of mechanism by which the'arbor and knife are respectively operated at the time and in the manner set forth 4. In'combination with the mandrel I, the beater a, formed as described, actuated in any suitable. manner, and operating as explained.

5. As a new manufacture, a ferrule made of coiled and soldered wire, having each fold of the coil formed with an offset, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

` HENRY O. LOTHROP.

I lVitxxesses:

FRED. GURTIS, E. GRIFFITH.

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