US2570302A - Machine for grinding chain links and like articles - Google Patents

Description

Q 1951 w. G. ANDERSON MACHINE FOR GRINDING CHAIN LINKS AND LIKE ARTICLES Filed Aug. 27, 1948 INVENTOR. W6. ANDERSON A rams rs Patented Oct. 9, 1951 OFFICE MACHINE Fen GRINDING. LINKS-- AND, LIKE Anthems William-G; Anderson; Geneseo, Ill".

pplicationAu u-strfl, 9.48; eria11No. 46,4 2

(Chi fil -'14 1 Claim.

This invention relates -to.a machine fonfinishring or grinding chain links, and like. articles; although, as will hereinafterappear, theprinciples of the invention will, beapplicabletothe performance of other operations, on other articles.

In the manufacture of chainlinks of the type in which adjacent links, are articulately interconnected by hooking each link .tdits neighbour, a casting process is employed in which several individual links are cast in the same moldfieach link beingconnected by a gate to a common sprue. When the links are removed fromthemold, they are, of course, united by the metal inthe gates and sprue. It is conventional practice to break the individual links from thesprue metal, the gate metal being readily fracturable. Thisresults in leaving on each link, a projection ,or burr which must be removed, Conventional practice is to remove the burr bygrinding.

Various machines have beencdevelopedji the prior art for handling the, chain .linkswdurin this finishing or grindingloperationbut, none of these machines, in so far as I am, awara have proven entirely satisfactory from the, standpoints of simplicity, economy and efiici'ency- It is therefore one of the principal objects of.,the, present invention to provide ,an-attachment for a, ma.- chine of the class ,describedthat can, be simply and inexpensively constructed and. that, will operate with the highest degreeqof. eificiency consistent with production requirements.

Stated briefly, the inventionresides in the provision of attachment means forthefeeding of chain links, or similar articles downanr inclined of the chute.

Other objects of the invention aretotprovide: A simply constructed attachment -havinghrelartively few parts; a track or chute means that may be readily attached to grinding wheels of existing: types; means for adjusting the track or chuteitowardor away fromzthegrindingwheel tovary the amount ofmetal .thati'will be removed during the finishing operation; and meansjor adjusting the angular-ity of the -chuteuwithrrespect to the wheel.

The foregoing and other important objects and desirable features inherent in and encompassed by the. invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred form of the invention as illustratedinthe ac,- companying sheet of drawings inwhich:

Figure 1 isa front View of the machine;

Figure 2 is an end View of the machine;

Figure 3 is a .plan view of the machine; and

Figure 4 .is an enlarged end view of the track on chute as seen from the discharge end thereof, showing a chain link imposition thereon.

As stated above-theinvention is intended primarily. for usein. machines and operations of the-'typedescribed above; however, the principles of, the invention will, be readily applicable to otheroperations and machines and it is therefore intended that thepresent disclosure be taken as illustrative and, not limiting.

Theparticular typeof machine chosenfojr the purposesof illustration comprises a main base .orvpedestal It! ,at the upper portion of which is journaledna horizontal shaft II. This shaft may be, of course, appropriatelycarried inany suitable bearing,- the details of which are not important here, and may be driven by'any suit; able meanshsuch asan electric motor or the like, as, represented at I2 .by dotted lines in Fig ure-"3. In the present illustration, the shaft H carries-for -rotation therewith a grinding wheel [3 which constitutes means for grinding or treating-ar-ticles such as chain links delivered or fed being to the other side of the wheel and at a level below, saide horizontal axis. The angle of the chuteissuch that it passes through the general "verticallplane in which,the wheel [3 rotates and thedirectionof rotation of thewheel l3 (as indicated byarrows in the drawings) is downwardly past the chute 14'. Aswill hereinafter appear, other meanscould be substituted for the wheel 1 3 inana-obvious manner, since it is important only that :whatever cutting or other treating elements'that are moved past, the chute travel, with -respect to the chute andthe articles carried thereby, downwardly ast the chutei andsuch articles. I

The mounting of the chute I4 on the pedestal III is accomplished by means including a short aamsoa I 3 tubular pivot member I! which has a flange or bracket I8 secured, as by cap screws I9, to a fiat portion of the pedestal. An upright member is bifurcated at its lower end to provide a clamp 2| which fits around the tubular member II. The clamp is provided with a pair of bolts 22 which may be loosened and tightened to efiect adjustment of the member 20 about the axis of the tube II. The upper end of the member 20 is provided with a pair of upstanding cars 23 which receive therebetween an apertured ear 24 provided on the chute I4. One of the ears 23 may be apertured and the other may be bored and tapped to receive a cap screw 25 which constitutes adjustable securing means for mounting the chute I4 on the member 20. The upper or receiving end I5 of the chute is shown as resting on a table T on which may be carried a quantity of chain links to be fed down the chute I4. The

angle of the chute may be adjusted with respect .to the wheel, if desired, about the cap screw 25. Adjustment of the member 20 about the tubular support I! is provided for in the present case by means of an adjusting screw 26 which passes through an apertured lug 21 rigid on the member 20 and which is threaded into a lug 28 provided on the support I0. Collars 29 are pinned to the adjusting screw 26, one at each side of the lug 21 so that the adjusting screw is rotatably carried in the lug 21 but is held against axial shifting with respect to the lug.

The type of links shown in the drawings is that found primarily in chains used on agricul- ;tural implements, each link being substantially rectangular and having at one end a hook which articulately interconnects with the bar portion of the neighbouring link. In the drawings, a pair .of links in rough or unfinished form. are designated at LR and a finished link is designated in :the same figure at LF. An unfinished link appears in section and on a larger scale in Figure 4. It will be noted that each of the unfinished .links LR has a burr or projection B thereon which results from breaking of the individual link from the sprue metal.

The chute I4 is formed as a guide or slide down :operator of the machine merely laying the links :in place in the track or chute at the-upper or :receiving end I5. accommodate the particular type of link to be finished; although, it will be obvious that the track may bereadily modified for adapting the same to the handling of other articles. In the present case, the upper portion of the track is generally U-shaped in cross section (Figure 4) and includes inner and outer sides 30 and 3I which between them define a channel 32 and a pair of slide portions 33 and 34. At the receiving end I5 of the chute, the outer wall 3I is cut down to the level of the proximate track or slide portion 34, as at 35, so that links may be more readily placed in the chute. Adjacent the discharge end I6 of the chute, the inner wall 30 is cut out at 36 (Figure 2) so that the track or chute is recessed in alignment with the wheel I3. In other words,

' the periphery of the wheel I3 travels through the recessed track at a point coincident with the desired finished edge on the link LF, such edge being designated in Figure 3 by the letter F.

The track or chute I4 has been shown in Figures 1 and 4 as having a cover 31 normally held in place as by screws 38 (Figure 4) threaded in tapped bores 39 in the chute (Figure 3). The

The track is constructed to 4 cover has been omitted from Figure 3 in order that the entire track may be exposed in this figure.

In operation, links LR are placed in the channel 32 of the track I4 and allowed to slide down the inclined chute and past the wheel I3, the burr being ground off as it is engaged by the wheel. The track may be adjusted toward and away from the wheel I3 by the clamp 2!, so that the operator can control the amount of metal being ground off. The wheel I3 rotates in the direction indicated at a substantially high speed.

As a link is engaged and ground by the rapidly rotating wheel, the burr B is removed and the action of the wheel propels the finished link LF rapidly outwardly at the discharge end It of the grinding wheel I3, which would necessarily be used in any machine to accomplish the grinding operation. In practice, an operator can pass more links through a machine of the type illustrated than through any prior art machine of which I am aware. The task of placing individual chains LR in the chute I4 is a relatively simple one, and the arrangement of the track or chute with respect to the wheel eliminates all guesswork and tedium.

What is claimed is:

For use with a grinder having a supporting pedestal on which a grinding wheel is carried for rotation on a horizontal axis, a, flat face on the pedestal below the grinding wheel and normal to the axis of the grinding wheel, an attachment fixture, comprising: a bracket having apertured flange means for fixed mounting on the flat face of the pedestal and a pivot member rigidly carried by and projecting outwardly from the flange means and positionable below and on an axis parallel to the grinding wheel axis; an upright member having an upper end and a bifurcated lower end, said lower end embracing the pivot member for mountin the upright member for angular adjustment of its upper end toward and away from the front of the grinding whee]; clamp means cooperative with the furcations at the lower end of the upright member for securing said upright member to the pivot member in any an axis normal to the axis of the pivot member;

and means for securing the chute to the upright member in any one of a plurality of adjusted positions.

WILLIAM G. ANDERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 568,545 Phillippi Sept. 29, 1896 642,452 Hull Jan. 30, 1900 1,106,803 Grant Q. Aug. 11, 1914 1,912,552

Vandevort June 6, 1943

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