US1146554A - Metal-working machine. - Google Patents

Description

N. E. CLARK.

METAL WORKING MACH|NE.

APPLICATION FILEI DEC.2Z, l9l4.

Patented July 13, 1915.

O IN

IH F11 NOR/RIS ELMORE CLARK, OIF PLAINVILLE, CONNECTICUT.

METAL-WORKING- MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Judy T3, T915,

Continuation in part of application Serial No. 741,376, filed January 11,1913. This application filed December 22, 1914. Serial No.878,604.

To all 'whom it 77mg/ concern Be it known that I, NoRRIs ELMORE CLARK, a citizen of the United States of America, and residing at Plainville, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented new and -useful Improvements in Metal-VVorking Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates particularly to the step of slitting inthe manufacture of what is commonly termed expanded metal.

The main object is to provide simple mechanism for slitting regularly and accurately as set forth in my Patent #$79,130.

Another object is to provide mechanism which is adapted to form strands of difterent widths.

Another object is to provide mechanism which can be used for slitting sections of a sheet and leaving unslitted strips of greater or less width as desired.

Another object is to provide means for punching the unslitted sections of the sheet if desired. l

Another object is to provide mechanism' which can be cheaply made and readily set up and taken down and in which the up keep is smallj The invention contemplates the use of a minimum number of rigid cutters rigidly held so as to avoid chattering, uneven work and consequent wear on the cutters. ln the preferred form of the invention the cutting edges are formed on wedge-shaped blocks and are so arranged that as the material to be cut is fed longitudinally step by step successive series of oppositely inclined rows of short slits in staggered arrangement are produced. These cutter blocks are reversible and interchangeable both in the movable and in the stationary dies.

Figure l, is a vertical longitudinal section of the preferred form of cutting tools adapted to be mounted in an ordinary reciprocating press preferably of high speed, with short stroke and double roll feed. Fig. 2, is an end view and partial transverse vertical section of the cutting tools. Fig. 8, is a plan view of part of the lower die cutters, strippers and lifter plates. Fig. 4, is a bottom view of a. part of the upper inc vable dies. Fig. 5, isa perspective view showing one of the cutters and the dogs for anchoring the ends of the cutter' to the holder. Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view of a fragment of the upper reciprocating holder with a punch for perforating between the slitted sections.

rl'he stock is preferably fed into and out of the machine by suitable rolls (not shown) operating intermittently. .The stationary die cutters are carried by a bed holder 5l and the vertically movable tools or cutters are carried by the vertically reciprocating gate holder 50. The gate (not shown) is reciprocated in the usual manner common for presses of this type.

The cutters 52, 52 in the preferred arrangement are laid out so as to slit a series of expansible sections such as 20, leaving the edge 2l and the connecting strips 22 unslitted. Each slitted section is made up of a series of rows of strands such as 23, Qi and 25, 2G inclined toward each other. The adjacent strands of the series 23, 24 are connected together at a plurality of points such as 2T and QS and the strands of the other series are similarly connected to each other in staggered arrangement so that the sections are extensible. AThe edges 21 and intermediate strips Q2 obviously may be bent on edge or corrugated if desired. Where the slits of the two converging series of a section do not meet in the center but leave a strip such as 32 as shown. these central strips may also be longitudinally grooved or corrugated if desired either before or after slitting.

The slitting or cutting tools proper are carried by a gate holder 50 and a bed holder 5l and in the preferred form consist of a series of movable and stationary cutter blocks which are all alike and similarly supported. As these tools are subjected to pcculiar stresses in operation and tend to work loose and become distorted, it is necessary to construct them so that they can be accurately adjusted and rigidly supported so as to avoid undue wear and consequent loss of time and material and expense in repair and adjustment, ctc. Each cutter 52 is constructed as illustrated by the perspective view of Fig. 5 of wedge-shape, flat on the top and bottom and inclined on the sides to the point The sides are each provided with a series of grooves 5l which thus interrupt the cutting edges 55 and 56 and afford a series of short cutting edges to cory respond with the number of slits to be formed in each row of slits, in this case four. The cross grooves 54 intersect the vertical grooves 54 so as to effect the cutting without tearing the metal.

The upper and lower holders each consists of a solid block with a number of wedgeshape recesses 57 for receiving the cutters. Each cutter is held in place by two dogs. The toe dog 58 is cylindrical and fits in a cylindrically drilled hole 58 in the holder and is held down by a screw such as 59 which passes freely through the dog and screws into a tapped hole 59 in the holder. This toe dog has a lug 60 which fits into a transverse slot 6l in. the toe of the cutter.

dog 62 which has a flange 63 which fits in a slot 64: in the heel of the cutter. This dog is forced down toward the end of the cutter so as to force the cutter into its recess in the fholder by means of Ia clamp bolt 65 which passes through the flange 66 of the holder. A locking nut or clamping nut 67 is provided on this bolt. The dog 62 is clamped to the holder by a screw such as 68. This construction insures a proper centering and clamping of the cutter and prevents it from working loose or being twisted out of place.

Between each two of the lower stationary die cutters may be arranged a lifting plate 70 supported on pins 71 which rest on buttons 72 each pressed upward by a spring 73 and screw 7 4. The tops of these lifter plates are normally on a level with or slightly above the tops ofthe stationary cutters.

The movable cutters are mounted eX- actly like the lower cutters and are arranged over the lifter plates to fit between the lower cutters, and their vertical cutting edges coact, the grooves 54 of the upper and lower cutters being in alinement. A stripper plate 75 has a series of fingers 76 which are arranged somewhat above the tops of the lower die cutters.

The stock should be guided between the upper and lower dies for instance, by guides such as 77 on each side. The lifter plates 70 force the metal stock upward after each stroke and free it from the lower die cutters while the stripper fingers 76 strip the material from the upper dies in case it adheres to them in thelr retracting movement. The slitting of course slightly displaces parts of the strands from their original plane but the lifters can be adjusted to substantially flatten the stock after each stroke.

A zig-zag row of short slits is formed at each stroke of the press. It will be noted i that the strands are formed by the rear edges of the upper cutters slicing past the front edges of the lower cutters. The stock is therefore free to be fed forward even if the cut strands are not lifted above the edges of the lower cutters after the cutting stroke. This also avoids wear on the cutters.

The length of the slits and consequently the length of the bonds between them depends upon the size of the grooves 54 and 54 and may be varied by varying the width of the ends of the groove. By altering the length of the feed of the stock between slitting strokes, the width of the strands can be readily varied. By leaving out some of the upper slitting cutterssuch as the one at the edge of the gate holder and the alternate interior ones, broad unslitted strips will be left in the stock suitable for deep grooving or folding to form deep ribs or beams. These broad unslitted strips may be perforated The heel of each cutter is held by a heel (for improving the bonding effect in the plaster or concrete) by means of punches such as 80 and dies such as 81 arranged in line with the position of the upper slitter which is omitted (see Figs. 3 and Ll). The stripper plate 75 may be perforated at 82 to admit the punch 80 and the die holder 51 may have a flaring discharge opening 83 for the punchings.

It will be noted that each slitting cutter except the marginal lower cutters coperates with two other cutters to form two oppositely .inclined rows of slits. In case alternate upper cutters are omitted, however, then each remaining upper cutter coperates with two of the lower cutters to form the inclined rows of slits in a section to be slitted and unslitted strips will be left where the upper cutters are omitted. In case only the marginal lower slitting cutter is omitted an unslitted strip will be left whose width will equal the width of the strip 21 plus one-half the width of the slitted section 20.

It will be obvious that different lengths of slits may be produced by simply substituting different `slitting blocks with the appropriate edge grooves. Theangle between the inclined rows of strands of course depends upon the angle of the cutting faces of the slitting blocks. The width of the end 53 of each upper cutter determines the width of the unslitted strip 32. So also the width of the corresponding end of each lower cutter determines the width of the unslitted strip 22.

It should be understood that this process of'slitting is equally well adapted to the slitting of plain, flat sheets orv sheets provided with ribs between the portions to be slitted. It should also be understood that the slitted product of these tools is flat or substantially fiat without any material openings, and is intended to be expanded or opened out in a subsequent step either in the same or in a separate machine.

This application is a continuation of my application #741,376 filed January 11, 1913 as to all matter herein shown and claimed except as to the punches 80 and dies 8:2 for perforating the non-expansive portions of the stock.

lhat I claim is 1. In a metal Working machine, a cutter holder having a series of V-shaped recesses, wedge-shaped cutters located in said recesses and having interrupted cutting edges and slots in their front and rear edges respectively, a toe dog having a lug engaging in the slot in the toe of each cutter and a heel dog having a flange engaging in the slot in the rear of each cutter.

2. In a metal Working machine, a cutter holder having a series of V-shaped recesses, wedge-shaped cutters located in said recesses and having interrupted cutting edges and slots in their front and rear edges respectively, a toe dog having a lug engaging in the slot in the toe of each cutter and a heel dog having a flange engaging in the slot in the rear of each cutter and means for forcing said heel dog against said cutter.

3. In a metal Working machine, a cutter holder having a series of V-shaped recesses with cylindrical recesses intersecting the apices of the Vs and a transverse recess at the base of the Vs, Wedge-shaped cutter blocks located in said V-shaped recesses, cylindrical toe dogs in said cylindrical recesses for holding the toes of said blocks and heel dogs in said transverse recess Jfor holding the heels of said blocks.

l. In a metal' working machine, a cutter holder having a series of V-shaped recesses with verticalrecesses intersecting the apices of the Vs and a transverse recess at the base of the Vs, wedge-shaped cutter blocks located in said V-shapedl recesses, toe dogs in said vertical recesses for holdingvthe toes ot' said blocks, heel dogs in said transverse recess tor holding the heels of said blocks and screws for clamping said dogs to said holder.

In a metal working machine, a cutter holder having a series of V-shaped recesses with recesses intersecting the apices of the.

V`s and a transverse recess at the base of the Vs, wedge-shaped cutter blocks located in said V-shaped recesses, toe dogs in said intersecting recesses for holding the toes of said blocks, heel dogs in said transverse recess for holding the heels of said blocks, screws for clamping said dogs to said holder and means for forcing said heel dogs toward said cutter blocks.

6. In a metal working machine, a cutter holder having a series of V-shaped recesses with recesses intersecting the apices of the Vs and atransverse recess at the base vof the Vs, wedge-shaped cutter blocks located in said V-shaped recesses, toe dogs in said intersecting recesses for holding the toes of said blocks, heel dogs in said transverse recess for holding the heels of said blocks and spring pressed lifter plates arranged between said cutter blocks.

7. In a metal working machine, a cutter holder having a series of V-shaped recesses with recesses intersecting the apices of the Vs and a transverse recess at the base of the Vs,- Wedge-shaped cutter blocks located in said V-shaped recesses, toe dogs in said intersecting recesses for holding the toes of said blocks, heel dogs in said transverse recess for holding the heels of said blocks, spring pressed lifter plat-es arranged between said cutter blocks and a stripper plate having ngers projecting over said cutter blocks.

8. Inra metal slitting machine, a holder, a. set of wedge-shaped cutters carried thereby and having oppositely inclined cutting edges, a movable holder and a set of wedgeshaped cutters carried thereby and having oppositely inclined cutting edges, the cutting edges of one of said sets being interrupted for producing short slits in staggered arrangement.

9. In a metal slitting machine, a stationary holder, a plurality of cutters secured thereto and each having a plurality of short straight cutting edges in alinement, adjacent cutters having their cutting edges inclined in opposite directions to the line of feed, a movable holder, and cutters carried thereby coacting and interchangeable with the stationary cutters.

l0. In a metal slitting machine, a solid cutter block ofinaterially greater width at one end than at the other and having a series of relatively short cutting edges along opposite edges of the block in a common plane.

l1. As an article of manufacture, a cutter for a slitting machine, said cutter comprising a solid block wider at one end than at the other and with sides inclined toward each other forming oppositely inclined cutting edges on one face, said sides being grooved and one face having grooves intersecting the side grooves.

12. As an article of manufacture, a cutter for a slitting machine, said cutter comprising a solid block wider at one end than at the other and with sides inclined toward each other forming oppositely inclined cutting edges on one face, said 'sides being grooved.

13. In a metal slitting mechanism, a set of stationary cutters with oppositely inclined, substantially straight slitting edges arranged in zig-zag outline across the direction of feed at the front of said cutters, and a movable set of cutters with oppositely inclined substantially straight slitting edges leaving nnslitted strips at the margins and arranged 1n similar Zig-Zag outllne at the along mter1or portions of the sheet.

rear of said movable cutters vthe edfres of T l, 1 f the cutters of one of said sets of cnttenrs be- BORRlS ELMORL CLARK ing interrupted and arranged to eoact with Witnesses:

the other set to forni Zig-zag rows of short R. W. RYDER,

slits inclined to the direction of feed ard MARSHALL P RYDER.

Images