US1779318A - Method of and apparatus for producing steel wool or the like - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 21, 1930. F" JEANNIN 1,779,318

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING STEEL WOOL OR THE LIKE Filed Feb. 12, 1927 3 SheetsSheet 1 P (r INVENTOR fiTNtSQ-QS J1. kfaizru'm.

- I BY 9% br v; 7 E W ATTORNEY Oct. 21, 1930' J. F. JEANNIN METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING STEEL WOOL OR THE LIKE Filed Feb. 12 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 WH'NESSES INVENTOR ATTORNEY Oct. 21, 1930. 'J. F. JEANNINV 1,779,318

- METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING STEEL WOOL OR THE LIKE Filed Feb/12, 1927 s Sheets-Sheet a Ill/[17A FIC1.S.

nun",

ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 21, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JOHN F. JEANNIN, F TOLEDO, OHIO METHOD OF AND APPARATUS IFOIlEtv PRODUCING STEEL WOOL OR THE LIKE Application filed February 12, 1927. Serial. No. 167,746.

The present invention is concerned with a. novel-method of, and apparatus for effecting the production ofinetallic shavings, such as are commonly known in the art as steel wool.

Present methods of steel wool production, and the machines which are now used, require the attendance of skilled workmen inasmuch as the matter of gauging the knives to assure a proper cut is now left largely to the judgment of the operator.

In accordance with the present invention, I have devised a machine which will be substantially automatic in operation and fully automatic in so far as the adjustment or feed of the knives is concerned. Preferably the work, usually in the nature of a, wire, 1s not drawn over the knives, but is wound on a rotating work carrier and the feed of the knives is automatically synchronized with the movement of the work carrier to move them closer to the hub of the carrier at each revolution of the latter, so thatsubstantially umform thicknesses of wool will be shaved from the work at each revolution, and the machine will act automatically to produce continuous steel wool shavings of a thickness predetermined by the setting of the machine.

In so far as the method is concerned I have made a radical departure from all previous 0 methods; in the first place by using wire of non-circular cross section, preferably square wire from which to cut the wool, thereby eliminating a tremendous amount of waste in the stock which is operated on by the knives. In

the second place as suggested above, I adjustably mount a battery of knives adjacent a rotating work carrier and feed them toward the center of the carrier as the latter revolves,

1 and successive layers of shavings are stripped from the cylindrical surface of the stock.

I More general objects of the invention are to provide a machine of simple practical construction, which will be rugged, durable and efficient in use,-and well suited to the require- 4 ments of economical manufacture.

More specific objects are toprovide a work carrier upon which a coil. of wire may be readily wound and which is so constructed that no slack can occur in the coil. To provide a battery of knives capable of convenient simultaneous automatic adjustment and inde pendent manual adjustment, and so mounted that they may be readily removed, sharpened, and replaced; and to provide knife feeding mechanism of extremely simple construction well suited for accurately gauging the thickness of the metal shavings, which are pr0- duced.

With the above noted and other objects in View, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations and arrangements of arts, as will be more fully hereinafter set orth and pointed out in the claims. The invention may be more fully understood from the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein- Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a machine embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation thereof.

Fig. 3 is a view in end elevation thereof.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken approximately on the line 44 .of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary trans" verse sectional View through the feed nut and associated mechanism which controls the knife feed, this view being taken approximately on the line 55 of Fig. 6.

Figs. 6 and? are transverse sectional views on the lines 6,6"and 77 of Fig. 5 respectively. n

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of one of the knives.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary front elevational v detail of the knife holder, showing the means for clamping the knives in place and for manually independently adjusting them.

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view on the line 1010 of Fig. 9.

I have shown the machine as including a bed 10 from which rise a pair of standards 11 providing bearings 12 at their upper ends for a horizontally disposed shaft 13, one end of which projects beyond the bearin s and is screw-threaded as at 14 to control t e knife feeding mechanism in a manner which will be later described. A substantially U-shaped yoke disposed in approximately horizontal osition is int g at its nds with the stand.-

ard 12 and has its arms 15 integrally connected to the standard by strengthening Webs 16. Mounted upon or integral with the spaced arms 15 of the yoke are a pair of parallel tracks 17 serving to guide the movement of the knife carriage 18. The intermediate portion 19 of the yoke mounts a track 20 in which a cam 21 is dovetailed for sliding The work holder The work as suggested above, is preferably in the nature of a wire 24 of square cross section. For the sake of clarity of illustration, the size of the wire has been somewhat exaggerated. This wire is spirally wound in a series of contiguous convolutions over the outer surface'of a revolving drum mounted on the shaft 13 between the standards 11. The drum or work carrier is formed of a series of sections, one end section 25 having its hub 26 keyed to the shaft 13 as at27. Two generally similar drum sections 28 have their hubs 29 rotating freely on the shaft 13, these hubs being lined with suitable bearing material 30. A fourth drum section 31 also turning freely on the shaft 13 is provided with a laterally enlarged hub portion 32 and the outer surfaces of all of the drums being arranged in lateral juxtaposition provide a cylindrical surface upon which the wire 24 may be wound. Obviously, more'or less sections might be used in the formation of the work carrying drum.

One end of the wire 24 is passed through a notch 23 in the periphery of the outer drum 25 entered into a slot 34 in a flange 35 on the drum and anchored by a set screw 36 mounted in the flange. The drum is then rotated to wrap the wire thereabout, the wire lying in a series of contiguous convolutions and 001m pletely covering the periphery of the drum. When the surface of the drum has been covered with wire, the other end of the wire is inserted through a notch 37 in the drum section 31 and anchored to a disc 38 by a set screw 39. The disc 38 is mounted for free turning movement on the enlarged hub 32 of the drum section 31, and is retained against axial movement by a retaining ring 40 screwed on to the hub.

Brake bands 41 and 42 are associated with the disc 38 and the hub 32 respectively, these brake bands being operated by levers 43 and 44 pivotally connected as at 45 and 46 to an arm 47 which constitutes an extension of one of the bearings 12.

The purpose of the two brakes 41 and 42 is to insure the original tight wrapping of the wire stock about the drum, and to prevent any slack occurring either at this time or during the subsequent rotation of the drum while the steel Wool is being shaved.

Having anchored the tWo ends of the wire, and while the drum is in motion, I apply first the brake band 41 and then the brake band 40, retarding first the disc 38 and then the drum section 31 to drag on the wire and take up any slack which may have occurred while winding the same.

It will be understood that the tension of the brake bands exerts only enough drag to I revent the formation of slack, and that the rake bands do not interfere with the proper rotation of the drum sections as a unit after the wire hasbeen tightly wound about them. Knife carriage As suggested above the knife carriage 18 bridges the space between the two arms 15 of the yoke, and at its opposite ends is formed with extensions 50 keyed to slide in the tracks 17. The carriage 18 has removably mounted thereon a holder block 51 for a battery of knives 52. As best seen in Fig. 10, this block 51 is grooved at 51 to seat on a rail 53 of the carriage 18, and may be removably secured to the carriage as by bolts 54. The inclined face of the block 51 affords a substantial backing for the knives 52, one of which is shown in perspective in Fig. 9. The shanks 52 of these knives are retained beneath the edges of clam ing plates 55 adjustable toward or away rom the face of the block 51 by screws 56. The clamping plates 5'5exert the necessary pressure on the shanks of the knives to hold the latter against axial movement. Such axial adjustment of the knives as may be necessary to properly align all of their cutting edges may be had by adpusting screws 57 working through a flange 58 of the knife carrying block 51 and bearing against the ends of the shanks 52 Screws 57 backing the knives, retain them against axial movement, while the clamping ,1

plates 55 assist in this connection and also firmly retain the knives against any lateral giovlgment relatively to their supporting K 'm'fe carriage feeding mechanism shaft 13, this collar being lined as at 61 with a bearing sleeve so that the shaft end 14 is free to rotate within the collar. The collar is formed with a pair of leg portions 62 havoutwardly in the grooves 63. This separat ing means, best seen in Fig; 7, is in the nature of a disc 70 having cam grooves 71 therein.

which receive studs 72 rojecting from the two sections of the nut. he disc is provided with a handle 73 for rotating the same in either direction to effect disengagement of the sections 65from the shaft end 14, or to move them into mesh therewith. It will be apparent that if the sleeve is held against rotation,'and the feed nut 65, is engaged with the shaft, this nut will be fed along the shaft as the latter rotates.

I use this -movement of the nut to control the operation of the knife feedin cam 21' in a manner which I shall now descri e. A yoke 80 straddling the collar 60 is secured to oppositesides of the collar by screws orstuds 81. providing a pivotal connection between the yoke and the collar. The yoke is also pivotally connected as by pins 82 to the two furcations 83 of the bifurcated end 84 of a lever;

85 swinging in a horizontal plane about a fulcrum formed b the reduced upper end- 86 of a post 86 rislng from the bed 10 of the machine. The opposite end of the lever 85 is connected bya link 87 to the cam 21. Ohserving Fig. 1 of the drawings, it will be seen that as the feed nut is carried to the left upon rotation of the shaft 13, the lever 85 will be swung in a counter-clockwise direction about its fulcrum 86, drawing the link 87 to the right and causing the cam 21 to feed the knife carriage 18 inwardly toward the center of the drum.

When the stock on the drum hasbeen completely reduced to steel wool, the feed nut 65, 65 may be reset by simply swinging the lever 7 3 in a counter-clockwise direction to disengage the two sections of the nut from the threaded end 14 of the shaft at which time the feed nut may be manually returned to its original position. It will be understood that the feed nut is disengaged while winding the stock on the drum. Obviously, different length levers might be substituted for the lever 85 to vary the speed of travel of the knife-carriage, and to consequently vary the thickness of the wool which is shaved from the wire stock.

Operation It is believed that the operation of the machine will be fully understood from the foregoing description, but it may be briefly summarized as follows. With the feed nut disknives into engagement with the work. In-

asmuch as the feed of the knife carriage is constant, the thickness of the steel wool which is cut on successive revolutions of the stockcarrying drum will be uniform. The brake mechanism exerts a sufficient drag on the drum at all times to prevent slack occurring in the wire coil which might interfere with proper operation of the machine. By using wire of rectangular or other polygonal cross section, substantially all of the wire may be reduced to steel wool, leaving very little stock which must be scrapped.

I have already described the manner in which the shaving knives may be adjusted and may be conveniently removed for sharpening purposes. I

This machine may be operated by an unskilled operator and a material economy may be effected in the production of steel wool due to the savings effected in the cost of stock, labor and machinery.

Obviously, various changes and alterations might be made in the general form and arrangement of the parts described without "departing from the invention. Hence I do not wish to limit myself to the details set forth, but shall consider myself at liberty to make such changes and alterations as fairly fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. a

I claim:

1. Ida machine for making steel Wool, a frame, a shaft journalled in the frame, a drum on the shaft about which the stock is Wound, a knife carriage mounted on the frame adj acent the drum, a knife mounted thereon in operative relation to the stock, and means actuated from the drum shaft for feeding the knife carriage toward the drum as the drum revolves, said means including a feed nut engaged with a threaded extension of the drum shaft and operative connections between the feed nut and the knife carriage including a lever train controlled by the movement of the feed nut along the shaft and a knife carriage feeding cam controlled by the lever train.

2. In a machine for making steel wool, a frame, a shaft journalled in the frame. a drum on the shaft about which the stock is wound, a knife carriage mounted on the frame adjacent the drum, a knife mounted thereon in operative relation to the stock, said drum including a series of independent,

sections, one of which is fixed to the shaft and others of which are freely turnable thereon.

3. In a machine for making steel wool, a frame. a shaft journalled in the frame, a drum on the shaft about which the stock is wound, a knife carriage mounted on the frame adjacent the drum, a knife mounted thereon in operative relation to the stock, said drum including a series of independent ections, one of which is fixed to the shaft and thers of which are freely turnable thereon, and means for anchoring the ends of wire stock to the first mentioned drum section and one of the freely turning sections.

4. In a machine for making steel wool, a frame, a shaft journalled in the frame, a drum on the shaft about which the stock is wound including a drum section fixed to the shaft and a plurality of freely turning drum sections, a knife carriage mounted on the frame adjacent the drum, a knife mounted thereon in o erative relation to the stock, means actuate from the drum shaft for feeding the knife carriage toward the drum as the drum revolves, means for anchoring the ends of wire stock to the first mentioned drum section and one of the freely turning sections, and brake mechanism exerting a drag on said last mentioned drum section to take up slack in the wire.

5. A steel wool machine including a threaded rotating shaft and a stock carrier, a knife carria e, and knife carriage feeding means contro led by said shaft including a splitfeed nut on the shaft, a collar in which the shaft turns freely actuated by said feed nut, a lever train preventing rotation of the collar and operatively connecting the collar to'the knife carriage.

6, A steel wool machine including a threaded rotating shaft and a stock carrier, a knife carria e, and knife carriage feeding means contro led by said shaft including a split feed nut on the shaft, a collar in which the shaft turns freely actuated by said feed nut, a lever train preventing rotation of the collar and 0peratively connecting the collar to the knife carriage, and means selectively manually operable to spread the sections of the feed nut to permit said nut to he slid along the shaft said spreading means including a cam disc operatively connected to the nut sections.

7. In a work holder for steel wool producing machines, a shaft, a plurality of drum sections received on the shaft and one of which being fixed thereto and the others being loose on the shaft, means for anchoring the ends of stock wound upon the drum to the fixed drum section and one of the loose drum sections, and means for retarding the rotation of said loosely mounted drum sections so that upon rotation of the shaft, the stock will be placed under tension.

8. In combination a support, a shaft mounted thereon, a plurality of drum sections received on the shaft and one of which being fixed thereto and the others loose on the shaft, means for anchoring the ends or stock wound upon the drum to the fixed drum section and one of the loose drum sections, and means for retarding the rotation of said loose drum section whereby the stock will be tensioned upon rotation of the shaft.

9. In a work holder for steel wool producing machines, a shaft, a drum mounted thereon including a drum section fixed to the shaft and a plurality of loose drum sections, means for anchoring the ends of stock wound about the drum to the fixed drum section and the end-most loose drum section, and a brake mechanism associated with said loose drum section whereby to retard the rotation of the latter so that the stock will be tensioned.

JOHN F. JEANNIN.

Images