US3401929A - Bearing member for sheet material roller feed - Google Patents

Description

A. STOCK Sept. 17, 1968 BEARING MEMBER FOR SHEET MATERIAL ROLLER FEED Original Filed July 29, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. A UG'UST STOCK i a I F A r romws rs Sept. 17, 1968 A. STOCK 3,401,929

BEARING MEMBER FOR SHEET MATERIAL ROLLER FEED Original Filed July 29, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR, A was r 5 706K ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,401,929 BEARING MEMBER FOR SHEET MATERIAL ROLLER FEED August Stock, Alsfeld, Hesse, Germany, assignor to Moore Dry Kiln Company, Jacksonville, Fla., a

corporation of Fiorida Original application July 29, 1964, Ser. No. 385,883, now Patent No. 3,324,571. Divided and this application Mar. 24, 1967, Ser. No. 632,491

3 Claims. (Cl. 271-50) ABSTRAT THE DISCLOSURE A self-aligning bearing member for feed rolls of a sheet material dryer, the block having exterior grooves and channels cooperating with mounting knobs and guides of the dryer frame. The block is interchangeable between lower supporting feed rolls and upper floating rolls.

This application is a division of my copending application Ser. No. 385,883, filed July 29, 1964, entitled, Dryer for Sheet Material, now U.S. Patent No. 3,324,571.

This invention pertains to sheet material dryers, and particularly to dryers of the jet tube type.

The invention is particularly adapted to the drying of wood veneer.

A general object of the invention is to provide an improved sheet material dryer, and particularly to improve the feed roll bearing arrangement thereof.

A specific object of this invention is to provide an improved bearing member for feed rolls and mounting means therefore, and particularly a bearing member which may be used interchangeably for upper floating rolls and lower supporting rolls.

The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of this invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a portion of a sheet material dryer including portions broken away and in section;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale taken generally along line 22 of FIG. 1 showing details of the rollers, and bearings and drive for the rollers;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 33 of FIG. 2 showing details of the bearing and mount for an upper floating roller;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2 but on a further enlarged scale showing details of the bearing and mount for a lower driven roller;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the bearing taken along line 55 of FIG. 4, the roller shaft being omitted;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the bearing and mount for the lower driven roller taken along line 66 of FIG. 4, the roller shaft being omitted.

A sheet material dryer embodying varying arrangements of the type herein disclosed is described in detail in my above Patent No. 3,324,571. As therein more fully described, the dryer 1 as shown in FIG. 1 hereof, comprises dryer sections 4 and 5 separated by a partition 93 having a slot 94 for passing sheets, such as sheet 86, from section 4 to section 5 along the path indicated by arrow 65. Veneer sheets enter at end 7 of the dryer which is closed by housing end wall 22.

The heating chamber 34 is provided with a gas burner 35, and a fan 36 disposed in opening 71 in partition 72. The fan blows gaseous mixture into pressure chamber 3,481,929 Patented Sept. 17, 1968 69 in which burner 35 is located, a portion of the mixture being deflected by vane 73 out through vent stack 38.

Heated gaseous mixture from the pressure chamber enters the jet tubes, including tubes 14, 44, 45, 99, 100, 108 and 125, through the ends thereof remote from the viewer of FIG. 5 to escape through slots directed toward the sheet material paths.

The dryer comprises upright supporting channel members, including member 57, between adjacent ones of which the horizontal support members 56 extend, and these upright members foot on a rigid foundation, including a sill 74 and concrete pad 75. The full support for the jet tubes at the rearward side of the dryer is provided through the upright members, such as member 57. Each of these upright members is connected, as by a bolt 76 to an upper frame member 77 which extends only for the length of the section and which terminates at upright 78, to which it is joined by a bolt 79 passing through longitudinal slot 80 in member 77. Member 77 may, accordingly, expand and contract longitudinally without causing any movement of member 78, and the horizontal frame member 81 of section 5, which is also attached to member 78 by bolt 79 through a slot in member 81, is similarly unaffected by expansion and contraction of member 77. Throughout the length of the dryer, at least one end of each horizontal frame member is provided with a slip joint or expansion joint connection to the similar frame members of the next occurring sections. While a slot 80 is shown in member 77 at post or support 78, such slot may not be necessary if end wall 22 is permitted to bow slightly inwardly and outwardly with expansion and contraction of member 77, and if a slip joint is arranged at at least one end of member 81. It is to be noted that there is no rigid direct connection between the outer housing and the inner section frame elements which would, due to thermal expansion and contraction, interfere with the alignment of the jet tubes 14 and drive rollers. The tubes and rollers of each section are supported by the uprights, such as members 30 and 57, directly from the foundation, and once properly adjusted in height to feed material, such as the veneer sheet 86, in a straight path represented by an arrow at 65 from one end to the other of the dryer, this adjustment is substantially unaffected by temperature changes, except for very small changes in height above the foundation due to change in length of the upright members, which changes take place substantially uniformly and are not objectionable. Twisting effects on the section frames are, accordingly, minimized. Such expansion and contraction of members extending from front' to back of each section as may occur result in no appreciable twisting or straining of the roller deck, jet tube and frame construction. Since the outer housing is not rigidly connected to the section frame, the outer housing, which may include large sheets of metal, may twist and buckle from temperature changes without interference with the roll and tube alignment.

The upright frame members, such as upright 57, support not only the adjacent jet tube ends through support rods 54 and 55 and cross members such as member 56, but also support the weight of driven feed rolls, such as rolls 82 and 83, the weight of driving chains for the driven rolls, including chains 17 and 18, and, since the weight of floating rolls 84 and 85 is supported by the underlying driven rolls, both when a veneer sheet 86 is interposed therebetween and when there happens to be no sheet between the rolls, the uprights also carry the weight of the floating rolls, plus the slight weight of the veneer sheet.

Each driven roll is provided with a chain sprocket, such as sprockets "87 and 132, cooperative with a drive chain, such as chain 18. A plurality of supports 88, 89 are at- 3 tached to the frame uprights to support the return flight of each chain, such as flight of chain 17.

Each of the jet tubes has a closed end 91'which may be provided with a cleanout opening closed by a moveable vane or door 92.

Section 4 is seen to be separated from section 5 by a partition 93 which has a slot therethrough at each veneer path, such as slot 94 for path 65, through which the veneer passes from section to section and from zone to zone. The slot edges, such as shown at 103, incline in the direction of travel of the sheet material. Since sections 4 and 5 are included in the same green end zone, partition 93 terminates at horizontal partition 33, and no partition separates heating chamber 34 of section 4 from heating chamber 95 of section 5.

Referring now to FIG. 2, roller 127 is mounted on shafts 128 and 129 which extend from the ends of the roller and which are journalled in bearing blocks or sleeves 130 and 131, respectively. Means, such as collar 130a, may be provided to prevent the blocks such as block 130 from sliding along shaft 128. Shaft 129 carries sprocket 132 in driven engagement with chain 17. Shaft 128 carries star gear 96 in driving engagement with gear 97, which, in turn, is carried by shaft 133 of the floating roller 134 whereby the rollers rotate together to advance the sheet material 135 being treated. At the drive side, roller 134 includes a shaft 136 journalled in bearing block 137, while shaft 133 at the pressure side is journalled in bearing block 138. Bearing blocks 130, 131, 137 and 138 are identical and interchangeable, but blocks 130 and 131 are mounted to stanchions 31 and 30 at fixed elevation, while blocks 138 and 137 are arranged to float up and down to permit roller 134 to rest upon roller 127 when no material 135 is therebetween and to adjust freely to the thickness of the material 135 and to ride thereon when such material is being fed by the rollers. It will be noted that a vertical clearance slot 139 is provided in the Web 140 of stanchion 31 to provide clearance as shaft 132 works up and down. The star gears 96, 97 are of a type to provide efficient operation with variable spacing between the shafts 128 and 133.

As seen in the top sectional detail view of FIG. 3, each flange of channel member stanchion 31, such as flange 141, carries an inwardly directed vertical guide member, such as member 142, which may be in the form of a halfround rib, and which fits loosely in a respective vertical channel 143 of block 138. The block is thus caged between the flanges of stanchion 31 free to ride up and down. The fit of the block between the guides is sufliciently loose that the block can adjust to any slight departure from precise alignment of the roller, such as may result from slight warping of a stanchion, or from the presence of a veneer sheet near one end and no veneer sheet at the other end of the roller. The guides terminate a short distance above and below the normal block position, and, when gear 97 is removed from shaft 133, the shaft may he raised sufliciently to disengage the block from between its guides, whereupon it may he slipped from the shaft. With block 138 removed suflicient movement of the roller 134 is permitted to free shaft 136 from block 137, whereby it may be removed. Block 130 is removable from shaft 128 when collar 130a and gear 96 are removed, and block 131 is removable when sprocket 132 is detached.

Block 131 is mounted as seen in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 between the flanges 144, 145 of stanchion 30. A respective knob or stud 146, 147 extends inwardly from each of the flanges 144, 145' and supportingly engages in a respective open ended groove 148, 149 formed in the block 131. The grooves 148 and 149 open at one face 150 of the block, they extend parallel to the bearing axis, or longitudinally of the block, through slightly more than one-half of the length of the block, terminating short of the opposite block face 151, and they are, as shown, diametrically oppositely disposed. The block, as mounted on studs 146 and 147, is free to tilt on the horizontal stud axis which is at right angles to the shaft 129. While the mounting maintains block 131 at a fixed elevation, the fit of the studs into the grooves is sufficiently loose to permit the bearing, as with bearings 137, 138, to be self aligning on the respective roller shaft. Block 130 is mounted between the flanges of stanchion 31 in the same manner in which block 131 is mounted on stanchion 30.

The lateral diametrically oppositely disposed channels 152 and 153 which extend at right angles to the bearing axis of block 131, and which correspond to the similar channels, including channel 143, of block 138, permit interchangeability of the bearing blocks. Since blocks 130 and 131 must carry the weight of both rollers 127 and 134, these bearings wear more rapidly than the bearing surfaces of blocks 137, 138 which merely serve as aligning or guide bearings. Since the service requirements of bearings in dryers tend to be severe due to elevated temperatures' and often corrosive atmospheres, a substantial saving in bearing cost may be gained by interchanging the bearing blocks used for the driven rollers with those used for the floating rollers after a period of service.

The bearing blocks each comprise a solid cast iron, or the like shell or block portion 154 formed to receive coaxially a cylindrical sleeve liner 15S pressed therein and which is of bronze or other suitable sleeve bearing material.

While only certain preferred embodiments of this invention have been shown and described by way of illustration, many modifications will occur to those skilled in the art and it is, therefore, desired that it be understood that it is intended in the appended claims to cover all such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

What is claimed as new and what it is desired to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a sheet material dryer comprising a material advancing roller and an overlying cooperating floating roller and pair of upright supporting frame elements, each of said rollers having a shaft extending between said elements, a respective inwardly disposed vertical guide on each said element at the approximate level of said shaft of said floating roller, a respective inwardly directed knob on each said element at the level of said shaft of said material advancing roller, said shafts having substantially equal diameters, a bearing block having opposite faces and a cylindrical bearing bore extending between said faces, said shaft of said material advancing roller being journalled in said bore, said block being provided with a diametrically opposite pair of side grooves both opening through one said face and extending parallel to the axis of said bore and each receiving a respective sa'id knob removably mounting said block at fixed elevation, said block having two other opposite sides between said first mentioned sides and each said other side being provided with a respective channel extending at right angles to said axis and said channels being parallel, a second bearing block identical to said first block journalling said shaft of said floating roller and disposed with the channels thereof vertical and receiving said vertical guides respectively thereinto and caged in vertically floating position thereby, said second block being removable from its said guides and said blocks being substitutable and changeable each for the other.

2. In a sheet material roller feed arrangement comprising a material advancing roller, an overlying cooperaing floating roller and pair of upright supporting frame elements, said rollers having equal diameter shafts and disposed with said shafts extending between said elements, the combination of: a respective inwardly directed knob on each said element at the level of said shaft of said material advancing roller, a respective inwardly disposed vertical guide on each said element extending above the respective said knob, a plurality of identical bearing blocks each having a pair of opposite end faces and a cylindrical bearing bore extending through the block between its said faces, each said block being provided with a diametrically opposite pair of said grooves both opening through a predetermined one of said end faces and extending from said one face along the respective sides of the block in directions parallel to the axis of said bore, said side grooves being adapted each to receive a respective said knob mounting such block at fixed elevation and said block being adapted supportingly to receive the shaft of a material advancing roller in its bore, each said block being further provided with two diametrically opposite side channels located between said end faces and parallel thereto and to each other and at right angles to said axis and said side channels being displaced around the block from and disposed between the side grooves thereof, said blocks being adapted to be caged by said vertical guides engaging respectively in said channels and each block when so caged being adapted to receive the shaft of a floating roller in its bore thereby floatingly to position such roller above a corresponding material advancing roller, whereby said blocks are self aligning when used for supporting said material advancing roller and may be substituted one for the other to prolong the useful lives thereof.

3. A bearing member comprising a rigid block having opposite faces and a cylindrical bearing opening extending through the block between said respective faces, said block having a pair of exposed parallel channels formed on respectively opposite sides of said block and extending at right angles to the axis of said cylindrical bearing opening, and said bloc-k being provided with two exposed grooves disposed between said channels on other respectively opposite sides of the block, both said grooves opening through one of said faces and extending from said face parallel to said axis for a distance equal to more than one half of the length dimension of said block between said faces and said grooves terminating short of the other of said faces.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 296,551 1884 Frost 226l87 X EDWARD A. SROKA, Primary Examiner.

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