GB1125763A - Improvements in cutting heads for cropping machines - Google Patents

Abstract

1,125,763. Cutting by fusion. BRITISH OXYGEN CO. Ltd. 15 Sept., 1965 [24 Sept., 1964], No.39012/64. Heading B3V. A cutting head for a cropping machine includes a carriage on which a support is mounted for free movement about two axes at right angles, the support carrying a burner and a work contacting probe, the movement serving to protect the burner from damage due to contact with a workpieoe. The work contacting probe 20 for a flame or plasma torch cropping machine is mounted in collars 74 and 76 forfree vertical movement and is supported about an axis 82 extending transversely to the longitudinal axis of a workpiece W. A cutting burner 18 is mounted beside the probe and is pivotable about a separate transverse axis 60. Both the burner and probe assemblies project from a fixed support 10, Fig. 2, by way of a pivot 22 and adjusting screw 24. Relative rotation of the parts 16a and 16b due to contact between the probe and workpiece, as the probe approaches the workpiece and pivots anti-clockwise (Fig. 1), causes contacts 90 and 92 to be closed to increase the speed of travel of the burner to its normal value. Such contact between the probe and a workpiece causes the probe to pivot anti-clockwise, as seen in Fig. 2, about the axis 82 to cause a supporting arm 80 and bracket 84 to turn about an axis 85. This causes a rod 40 to be pulled to the left to actuate a control switch 46 which can initiate a starting sequence for the burner. Tilting of the sector 42 caused by contact of its surface 58 by an oversize workpiece can be used to initiate a warning signal, if desired. Clockwise pivotal movement of the probe can freely occur without operating the switch. Pivotal connections between the supporting arm 80 and bracket 84, and between the parts 16a and 16b of the switch assembly prevent accidental damage if the apparatus is inadvertently struck by a workpiece. The burner 18 is similarly protected from impact with a workpiece by a counterbalanced sector 42 attached to the burner for movement about the axis 60. The sector will be struck first and will rotate the burner out of the path of the work.