US1226949A - Machine for treating sheet-rubber. - Google Patents

Description

M. H. CLARK.

MACHINE FOR TREATING SHEET RUBBER.

Patented May 22, 1917.

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APPLICATION FILED DEC.24| 1914.

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M. H. CLARK.

-MACHINE FOR TREATING SHEET. RUBBER. j APPLICATION FILED DEC- 24. I914.

' Patented May 22,1917.

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MYRON H. CLARK, OF HASTINGS-UPON-HUDSON, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE GOOD- YEARS METALLIC RUBBER SHOE COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

MACHINE FOR TREATING SHEET-RUBBER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 24, 1914. Serial N 0. $78 ,936.

' To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, MYRoN H. CLARK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hastings-upon-Hudson, county of VVestchester, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Treating Sheet-Rubber, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates -to a calendering machine, and more particularly to such a machine primarily adapted for forming sheets forrubber articles. In the preparait is customary to subject the stock to a calendering operation, this stock being first run through separate rolls into a mass of four or five hundred pounds weight, then after having been divided into smaller pieces is transferred by hand to a calendering machine where it is fed in by hand. It is there rolled into a sheet of desired thickness, and of suitable width for the articles to be made therefrom,

- and in the case of soles for shoes and other articles having special surface designs, is also subjected to the operation of an engraving roll, to form the corrugations or other indentations and projections and it is then conducted away from the calendering machine and cut into any necessary individual pieces. Some kinds of rubber stock being extremely tough, sticky, heavy and difiicult to handle, the rolling and calendering machines designed to operate thereon are of very heavy construction and a number of workmen are required to operate the separ' te feeding rolls to have plenty of material constantly, in advance of the calendering machines so that the latter may be run continuously without. interruption. Further difiiculties with rubber stock are that, during the transfer from the primary or feeding rollers, which are heated, to the calendering machine, the stock coo-ls off and therefore successive batches vary considerably in mg rolls. Also atmospheric conditions, va-

rying degrees of humidity and different temperatures have great effect upon rubber stock. as is well known and the necessary result of running different batches of stock through separate feeding rolls, conveying them to the calender, where they stand exposed to the air for a considerable time, and then feeding such batches into the calendering machine with each batch varying in temperature and texture, tends to produce a non-uniform product.

My invent-ion contemplates the provision of automatic means which will enable the stock to be fed directly to the calendering machine from a pair of primary or feeding rolls continuously and without interruption, without manual handling and Without variation in the time required for such handling from the feeding rolls to the calendering machine and without variation in the degrees of temperature of successive portions of the stock. Thus my invention contemplates automatic apparatus, having provision to receive a supply of untreatedstock, such as scrap or fresh batches, in large or small amounts, as is usually piled into the feeding rolls. Then to take the stock so formed and conduct it without material loss of heat or subjecting it to any substantial atmospheric contact and feeding such stock directly into a calendering machine. 1 This feature of continuous feeding, eliminating all manual transportation and also the manual .labor required to divide into small batches is of very decided importance.

Heretofore calendering machines have usually comprised a series of adjacent rolls Patented May 22, 1917.

around which the stock was conducted.

action of the central roll, both as to operation. speed and temperature. It is often desirable, in operating upon certain kinds of rubber stock, to actuate the successive rolls through which the stock passes at vary-' ing speeds, to control better the feeding of such stock and the calendering operation thereon. It will be readily appreciated when a sheet is led through a calendering machine, having only three rolls, each outside roll operating adjacent to the central roll, that variations in the speed of the outer rolls, owing to different thicknesses of stock, will not receive any corresponding variation in the speed of rotation of the center roll, all three rolls being necessarily run substantially at a uniform rate of surface speed. It is also desirable to control the temperatures of the rolls in a calender= ing machine, such rolls being made hollow and subjected to a flow of steam or of water to heat or cool the same, as desired.

Special features of the invention, novel combinations of parts, and details of construction will be hereinafter more fully pointed out and claimed.

Referring to the drawings, wherein a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated,

Figure 1 is a view of a pair of feeding rolls, shown partly in section, together with an automatic conveying and folding mechanism coiiperating with my improved calendering machine, the rolls of the latter being indicated in cross-section;

Fig. 2 is a detail view of the stock folding device;

. Fig. 3 is a front View of the multiple roll calendering machine; and

Fig. 4 is an end view of the machine.

I have indicated in conventional'manner in Fig. 1 the floor 1, roof beams 2 and a supporting stanchion 3 of a building for convenience in showing my invention. The feeding portion of the apparatus may be of usual type, comprising a supporting standard 4, framework 5, hopper 6, and a pair of hollow feedingrolls 7 and 8 which are secured for adju tment toward and from each other to determine the thickness of stock fed therethrough. These rolls are usually formed hollow to permit of heating or cooling by a supply of steam or water in the usual manner. Batches of rubber' stock, scraps of rubber, etc., are piled into the hopper 6 and are fed downwardly between the rolls 7 and 8 to constitute a sheet. The batches piled into the hopper 6 may have been rolled before, or not, as desired, and as above stated, if previously rolled in another or similar feeding machine, it may be automatically fed into the hopper 6 by an automatic conveying device similar to that hereinafter described. I arrange on the frame 5 in suitable journal bearmgs, therefore, a plurality of rolls 9, 10 and 11, over which the conveying belts 12 and 13 are passed, together with a roller 14 in position under the feed rolls 7 and 8, as shown in I Fig. 1, around which the sheet 15, indicated in broken lines, is led from the rolls 7 and 8 to the conveying belt 13, which is arranged to pass adjacent to the roller 14.

Mounted upon suitable brackets or supports 16 and 17 are the rolls 18, 19, 20 and 21, around which the belts 12 and 13 are led,

preferably as indicated in Fig. 1, the belt 12 being led around the rolls 9 and 19, and the sheet 15 being conveyed from the roll 14 to the roll 9, where it is gripped between the inner contacting portions of the belts 12 and 13, upwardly to the roll 21, and thence around the roll 18 where it is led downwardly. Either of the rolls 10 or 11 may be connected with a suitable source of power the sheet 15 is positively gripped betweenthe adjacent and similarly moving portions of the belts 12 and 13 between the rolls 9 and 21.

These belts 12 and 13 are of slightly greater width than the width of the sheet 15, thus substantially inclosing the sheet and enabling it to retain approximately the same degree of temperature as that imparted to it upon leaving the rolls 7 and 8, as well as preventing atmospheric contact therewith which might vary the consistency of the stock in the sheet 15. In order to fold said sheet 15 into smaller and narrower width as well as to increase its toughness and texture when. run through the calender rolls, I provide a folding roller 22 mounted between a pair of arms, one being shown at 23 which is secured by a depending framework having supports 24 and 25 carried by the bracket or support 17. A pair of idle folding rollers 26- and 27 through which the sheet is conducted to a guide roller 28 are also provided, and suitably journaled in 'supports or brackets carried by the depending supports 24 and 25, as indicated at 29 and 30,-Fig. 1.

While many features of my present invention may be carried out in a calender-ing machine of ordinary type which would be mounted adjacent the feeder and conveying apparatus above described, I preferably employ an improved form of multiple roll calendering machine, as has been above briefly explained. My improved type of calendering machine will now be described. Mounted in a suitable pair of standards 31 and 32 are a plurality of coiiperating pairs of calendering rolls. Each pair ed in journal bearings carried in suitable recesses therefor in each of the standards 31 and 32. These journal bearings are indicated at 33 and 35 in dotted lines in Fig. 4, the rear journal box being there shown at 35 in the upper pair.

Each pair of rolls is similarly mounted and a description of the upper pair will, therefore, serve to explain the manner of mounting all the rolls. The end journal box for the outer roll is adjust-ably held relatively with its cooperating inner roll byadjusting screws 36 and 37 threaded through straps 38 and 39 (see Fig. 4), which straps are bolted tothe sides 31 and 32' by a plurality of threaded bolts 40. When a pair of rolls is positioned and the inclosing caps 38 and 39 are fitted on to the frame and they bolts 40 tightened, adjustments of the adjusting screws 36 and 37 control the moveof rolls is mountment of the outer calendering roll toward heavy a type of machlne as that necessary the inner calendering roll, and provide for the thickness of the material fed between the pairs of rolls as will be readily understood. Furthermore in a machine of this type, it is desirable to have the pair of cocperating rolls adjusted at a slightly different longitudinal relation, so that the stock fed therethrough may be thicker at one side of the sheet than at the other. This is especially desirable where the sheet is of a width equal to the length of the article to be made therefrom, and it is desired to have a thicker stock at the heel portion of the sole than around the forepart.

In the calendering roll herein illustrated, I use three pairs of rolls, although a larger number may be employed if found desirable, the machine herein shown comprising successive pairs of rolls 41 and42, 43 and 44, 45 and 46. The roll 45 may and preferably would be an engraved roll to form the corrugations on the outer surface of the stock which is to constitute a rubber sole. It will be appreciated that the construction just explained provides a successive pair of calendering rolls with each pair of rolls independent of the succeeding pair, as far as their cooperating action upon the stock fed therethrough is concerned. It is also evident that each pair of rolls may be separately adjusted for the thickness of stock fed therethrough, and are capable of separate removal and replacement without disturbing the adjustmentsof the adjacent pairs. This latter feature isof great importance in as for operating upon rubber stock. It will also be appreciated that 1 am enabled to control the temperature of each pair of rolls separately andindependently from that of the adjacent pair. as well as to control the speed of rotation of each cotiperating pair of rolls entirely independently and separatelyfrom the rotative speed of the adjacent pair. F urthermore, each pair of rolls act evenly and uniformly on each side of the stock being fed therethrough without any dragging action on the stock which necessarily resulted in the old style of three-roll calendering machine where a different speed of the rolls wasv attempted.

In order to control the temperature ofthe pairs of calendering rolls, which rolls are hollow, I provide suitable pipes 47 and 48 in the customary manner. to conduct steam or water therethrough from any suitable source of supply, the pipes into each pair of rolls being, of course, capable of supplying any desired degree of temperature to the respective rolls.

In order to rotate the different pairs of rolls at separate speeds, when desired, I may simply affix different gears to the driving end of the roll, or I may utilize a chain drive, and may therefore secure variation in shown, since it enables the entire mechanism to be automatically stopped, should an obstruction occur, without breaking the rolls or gears, by arranging one link of the main driving sprocket chain of sufiicient strength to break at a. predetermined tension, which link would thus break before damage could be occasioned to the rolls, or to the other parts or mechanism, thereby acting in the nature of a safety device.

Any suitable means. of actuating the successive pairs of rolls may be employed, that herein shown comprising a main gear or sprocket wheel 49 keyed to' the shaft 50 of the roll 44, on one side of the calendering machine, ment from any suitable source of power, and which may conveniently be employed to drive all the rolls on one side of the machine, by having sprocket wheels 51 and 52 on the other end of the shaft 50, the wheel 51 being connected with a corresponding sprocket wheel 53 on the roll 41 by means of a sprocket chain 54 and the wheel 52 being connected to a corresponding wheel 55 on the roll 46 by a sprocket chain 56. As shown in Fig. 4, the sprocket Wheels 51, 53 and 55 may be of varying diameters, thereby imparting varying rates of speed to the corresponding rolls, which they actuate respectively. A similar arrangement is provided to actuate the front rolls 41, 43 and 45 of each pair, such rolls being 0 course, rotated in the reverse direction from that of the rear set of rolls. To accomplish this, the shaft 50 is provided with a second sprocket wheel 57 adjacent the main driving wheel 49, and idle wheels 58 and 59 are arranged around which a. sprocket chain indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 4, is led to the gear wheel 61 on the shaft 62 of the top front roll 41. At the opposite end of the shaft 62 is a sprocket wheel 63 which, from the arrangement of the sprocket chain 61 just described, will be actuated in a reverse direcwhich receives its rotative move-' tion from that of the driving wheel 57 on the shaft 50, as will be understood. A

sprocket chain 64 from. the wheel 63 to a corresponding wheel 65 on the shaft operat- 'ing the roll 43 will drive this roll in the same direction, and a second wheel 66 on the said shaft will drive the lower wheel 67 to actuate the roll 45 by means of a-sprocket chain 68. It will be desirable to provide idlers 69,70 and 71, as illustrated in Fig. 4,

' The stock is also folded to provide erably provided with a roll 72 in its upper part which may be adjustably mounted on brackets 73 to facilitate the guiding of the sheet 15 into the first pair offeed rolls 11 and 42. I preferably arrange between each successive pair of feed rolls, idler guide rollers 74 and 75 over which the sheet 15 is led, in order to produce a yielding tension on the stock as it is fed from one pair of rolls to the succeeding pair, as well as to control the side on which the bank of stock is formed at the feeding in of the stock between each respective pair of rolls. These idlers 74: and 75 may be yieldingly mounted in any suitable manner, but as herein illustrated, eachend of these idlers is carried by a slide 76, which slide is actuated by springs 77, substantially as shown in Fig. 1, so that a yielding tension is constantly exerted upon the sheet 15, as it is conducted through the calendering machine. By applying a suitable gage, scale, or the like to either of the pair of slides carrying the idlers 74, 75, the tension on the stock being fed through the machine may be automatically indicated, such an indicator being shown at TS in the form of a spring scale, which is connected by a wire or rod 79 to one of the slides. As the stock 15 is folded and fed downwardly through the calendering machine, it 1s preferably led around the lower engraved roll 45, and up to a carrying belt 80, which belt is conducted around a roller 81 adjacent to the engraved roll 45 by means of which belt the calendered, engraved and finished sheet is automatically conveyed away from the calendering roll to another part of the factory where the sheet is cut into sole strips for use.

The calendering machine has its sides 31 and 32 secured together by suitable bolts 82, and may be permanently secured to the floor 1 by bolts 83, it beingjentirely unnecessary to remove the sides 31 and.32 when removing or replacing any of the pairs of rolls. In former "calendering machines, it was ex tremely difficult to replace any of the calendering rolls, and a great deal of time and expense was involved when such replacing was necessary; in my present calendering machine the facility with which rolls may be replaced is of great importance from a practical standpoint.

It will thus be seen that I have provided automatic mechanism for conveying rubber stock from feeding rolls directly to a calendering machine without manual handling, and without exposing the stock so conveyed to any considerable atmospheric conditions. Its degree of temperature is also preserved so that the stock is supplied to the calendering machine at a uniform temperature. a better texture and tougher condition.

One important feature of my invention is that I can utilize very wide feeding rolls and conduct the stock therefrom to a calen dering machine having considerably less width than that of the feeding rolls. I accomplish this feature by automatically narrowing the sheet of stock formed by the feeding rolls while it is being transferred from the feeding roll to the calendering roll. I therefore prefer to double the sheet on itself and deliver it to the calendering machine with a width one-half of that which was formed by the feeding rolls.v If desirable, the sheet could be again folded and a further advantage of this folding results in an additional mixing or working of the stock and toughening of the sheet produced and in greater homogeneity.

In my improved calendering machine I employ a pair of separate rolls for each of the successive rolling operations, each pair being independent of the adjacent pair, in speed, in degrees of temperature, and in the extent to which they may be adjusted for the thickness of the stock, as may be desired. So far as I am aware, this provision in a heavy calendering roll, such as is necessary to operate upon rubber stock for the soles of footwear, of separate and independent rolls, is a distinct novelty and has resulted in numerous advantages in actual practice. By having a plurality of pairs of rolls I am enabled to run each successive pair in the line of feed at slightly increased speed, if necessary, as well as to have each successive pair of a different temperature and also have an even, uniform, calendering operation by having the two rollers of each pair between surfaces of adjacent rollers which were run at different speeds. I find that my improved calendering machine, with its capability of separate and independent adjustments, progressive speeds, and capacity for just the right degrees of temperature of each successive pair of rolls, enables a satisfactory product to be produced from relatively inferior stock and thus to utilize rubber stock, which would otherwise be discarded.

A further important feature of the invention resulting from having the separate pairs of calendering rolls, is that I am enabled to lead the sheet from one pair to the adjacent pair so that the bank formed in the sheet at the feeding entrance between each pair of rolls may be always on the same side of the sheet, or may be alternately on one side and then on the other, as I can conduct the sheet over idlers slightly eccentric to the line of feed of the calendering rolls. In the old style calendering machine employing adjacent rolls, it was, of course, impossible-to. vary the side of the sheet on which the bank would form. Still further advantages in the cale'ndering machine having separate pairs of rolls, consists in the ease and capability of changing a roll of one pair without affecting the bearings ,or adjustments of an adjacent pair; in enabling each pair of rolls to be driven at a speed independent of the speed of rotation of adjacent rolls; and in utilizing a sprocket chain drive in place of the former gear wheels used on the old style calendering machines. In such heavy machines as those of the kind herein shown, the gears were apt to be stripped from the calendering rolls, necessitating the removal. of such wheel and substitution of an entirely new one, whereas with a sprocket drive, should one link break, it may be quickly repaired by the application of a single new link, such link being preferably .of sufficient strength so that it will break before any of the rest of the mechanism, and thus act in the nature of a safety fuse, automatically stopping the rotation of the rolls, should they meet with an obstruction. I

An additional feature of the invention is that in the novel calendering machine as herein shown, Iam enabled to apply a yielding. tension upon the stock or sheet as the same is led from between one pair of calendering rolls to the succeeding pair, and thereby enable a more satisfactory feeding and calendering operation, thestock being held under a substantially uniform and constant pressure and therefore being acted upon more evenly, than in prior calendering machines. This feature is of speciaLimpon tance in calendering rubber stock, as in the former types of three-roll calendering machines the sheet wasled around the middle roll' and might often fall away from. the roll or tend to hug the same too tightly for the best results. By meansof the calendering roll of my invention, ho\vever,the natural variations in resiliency of the sheet are automatically taken up by a spring actuated roll or idler'between the successive pairs of calenderingrolls and a more uniform product. is insured.

It will be readily appreciated that it is within the principle of my invention to provide a plurality of automatic feeding-rollers and conveyers from one roll to the succeed, mg roll, and from the last pair of feeding rolls to the calendering machine, should such a. construction be desirable, and also to .fold the stock during its conveyance from one pair of feeding rolls to the succeeding pair,'as well as from the last pair of feed rolls to the calendering machine, if such a multiplicity of folding and consequent working ofthe, rubber stock should be de- 'in combination, "'a calender,

sirable. So far as I am aware it is a distinct novelty in this art to provide such automatic mechanism, as well as to convey the stock from one rubber working machine toa succeeding oneby automatic conveyer-s which prevent the stock from material change in its temperature or from material contact with the air, and I wish to claim the same broadly. It is also a distinct novelty to provide a calendering machine with successive pairs of rolls, as well as to provide a machine with yielding tensioning devices acting on the stock between the successive rolling operations, and these features I wish to claim broadly. In actual practice I find that the apparatus herein described enables me to secure a much 'more uniform and better sole stock than has heretofore been possible, as well as to utilize inferior stock and render it suitable for rubber soles.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to have protected by Let= ters Patent is:

1. In a machine for treating sheet rubber, in combination, a calender, feed means to prepare and convey stock to saidcalender, and means to inclose said stock during its, passage from said feed means to said calender.

2. Ina machine for treating sheet rubber, in combination, a calender, feed means for preparing stock for said calender, comprising a conveyer including a plurality of belts having their surfaces spaced apart a distance equal approximately to the thickness of the material supplied by said feed means and adapted to receive said material therebetween.

3. In a machine for treating sheet rubber,

and feed mechanism for supplying stock thereto, comprising a device for forming a sheet of stock, and a device for decreasing the width of "the sheet without cutting the same.

4. In a machine for treating sheet rubber, in combination, a calender, and feed mechanism for sup-plying stock thereto comprising a device for forming a sheet of stock and a device for decreasing the width of the sheet including a mechanism for superposing one part of the sheet onanother part thereof. i

5. In amachine for treating sheet rubber, in combination, a calender, and feed mechanism for supplying stock thereto comprising a device for formin a sheet of stock and a device for folding the so-formed sheet.

6. In a machine for treating sheet rubber, in combination, a calender, and feed mechanism for supplying stock thereto, comprising a device for forming a sheet of stock, and a device for folding the so-formed sheet including a pair of folding rollers and guide rollers coacting with said sheet.

7. In an apparatus of the kind described,

, and placed a calendering machine adapted to receive stock of one width, feeding rolls to prepare the stock for said calendering machine, adapted to form the stock of a ditferent width, and automatic conveying mechanism comprising means to receive the stock from said feeding rolls of one width and feed said stock to the calendering machine suited in width for the latter, said means being adapted to alter the width of said stock without cutting the same.

8. In a machine for treating sheet rubber, in combination, a plurality of spaced sets of horizontal rolls, each set consisting of two rolls, the rolls of one set being independent of the rolls of an adjacent set, and means to feed rubber to said sets of rolls to cause its passage therethrough successively. Y

9. In a machine for treating sheet rubber, in combination, a plurality of sets of horizontal rolls, each set consisting of two rolls, said sets being spaced from one another one above the other, the rolls of one set being independent of the rolls of an adjacent set. l j

10. In a machine for treating sheet rubber, in combination, a plurality of spaced sets of horizontal rolls, each set consisting of two rolls, the rolls of one set being independent of the rolls of an adjacent set, means to feed rubber to said sets of rolls successively, and means to deflect the rubber in passing from one set of rolls to the next adjacent set.

11. In a machine for treating sheet rubber, in combination, a plurality-of sets of horizontal rolls, each set consisting of two rolls, said sets being spaced from one another and placed one above the other, and rollers positioned in the spaces between said sets of rolls and offset from the plane passing through the lines of contact of said rolls and adapted to deflect the rubber passing between said rolls. 7

12. A calendering machine, having means to operate upon stock at a plurality of points progressively, and means to indicate the tension upon the stock between the successive calendering operations.

13. A calendering machine having a plurality of spaced sets of rolls, means to deflect stock passing from one set of rolls to the next adjacent set, and means comprising a resilient member adapted to indicate the tension on the stock between successive sets of rolls.

Signed at New York, county and State of New York, this 23rd day of December,

MYRON H. CLARK.

Witnesses:

FRANCIS BOYLE,

MAUDE PFA'FFMANN.

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