US2058329A - Automatic reel - Google Patents

Description

F. M. LITTELL AUTOMATIC REEL Filed March 12, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 N MN ocnzo, 1936.

AUTOMATIC REEL Filed March 12, 1934- 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 F. M. LITTELL 2,058,329 I Patented Oct. 20, 1936 UNITED STATES 2,058,329 AUTOMATIC REEL Frederick M. Littell, Chicago, Ill., assignor to F. J. Littell Machine Company, Chicago, 111., a

corporation of Illinois Application March 12,

10 Claims.

The invention relates to reels forsupporting coil stock and has reference more particularly to mechanism for driving said reels for feeding stock material to metal working machines such as punch presses and the like.

The several operative units which go to make up the feeding mechanism of said machines are usually mounted in longitudinal alignment upon an elongated press bed and actuated intermittently from the plunger or drive shaft of the machine which they serve. As shown in Patent No. 1,885,612 granted to Frederick J. Littell' November l, 1932, the drive for the stock supporting reels has incorporated some form of overrunning clutch in order to allow the coil to continue its rotation after the driving element has ceased operation. Especially is this necessary when the stock supporting reel is driven from the feeding mechanism of the metal working machine 29 since the weight of the coil must be isolated from the driving element or otherwise there would be a variable momentum depending upon the weight of the coil to be stopped by the same which would seriously afiect the accuracy of the feed to the machine. v

Power driven reels constructed as above have not been entirely satisfactory since the feed to the machine is generally intermittent and if the reel is driven continuously an excess of stock results, forming loose outer loops in the coil. These outer loops of excess stock also form when the drive to the reel is intermittent since the drive in this case must incorporate an overrunning clutch which allows the reel to rotate after the drive ceases, thus adding to the excess stock at each stopping of the drive.

The present invention has for its object to provide novel drive mechanism for rotating'stock supporting reels which will maintain the outside loop free of the coil and of the proper size to insure accurate and eflicient operation of the feeding mechanism to which the stock material is presented.

Another object of the invention is to provide supporting means for coil stock with a power drive which will operate to apply the power to the periphery of the coil and which will incorporate an overrunning clutch and novel auto- 1934, Serial No. 715,098

controlling comparatively large driving forces through the clutch and which will allow continued rotation of the coil after the application of power thereto.

With these and other objects in view, the invention may consist of certain novel features of construction and operation, as will be more fully described and particularly pointed out in the specification, drawings and claims appended hereto.

In the drawingswhich illustrate an embodiment of the device and wherein like reference characters are used to designate like parts- Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a peripheral type of reel embodying the improvements of the invention;

Figure v2 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in Figure 3;

Figure 3 is a detail elevational view of the control arm showing its various positions for connecting and disconnecting the drive to the reel;

Figure 41s an enlarged fragmentary plan view. parts being shown in section, of the clutches for driving the reel forwardly and rearwardly including the associated parts for actuating the clutches respectively;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary elevational view showing the mounting for the operating lever of the forward clutch;

Figure 6 is a front elevational view of the clutch control collar. 7 I

Figure '7 is a side elevational viewshowing a modification of the-invention for use when the coil stock is placed on the reel in reversed position; and

Figure 8 'is afragmentary top plan view showing. details of a reversing drive for the supporting rolls.

Figures 1 to 8 inclusive show the invention applied to a reel of the peripheral type comprising 0 a supporting base 60 of substantially rectangular shape having secured to one end thereofuprights 6| joined at'their top by an idler roller 62 which supports the stock material being unwound from the coil 63. The coil is supported for rotation on base 60 and driven by power means which will now be described.

As the stock material is supported for feeding to a metal working machine the drawings show for purposes of illustration a set of feed rolls for a punch press consisting of the rolls 64 suitably journalled in bearings ti mounted upon a press bed 66. Theshaft 61 carrying the lower feed roll is provided at its outer end with a sprocket wheel. 68 meshing with the endless chain 69 which con- 5 example, are intermittently driven, which means that the coil of stock is likewise intermittently driven and therefore the drive must include an overrunning clutch in order that the momentum of the rotating coil will not affect the feeding of the stock by the feed rolls.

The sprocket wheel I8 is mounted on shaft 1| to provide a friction clutch, being held in driving relation to the shaft by the heavy coil spring 13 confined between the friction disc engaging the sprocket wheel and the lock nut I4 which is threaded to the end of the shaft. The other end of the driving shaft is provided with a jaw clutch consisting of a clutch member 15, Figure 4, suitably keyed to driving shaft II and held to the shaft by the locking nut 16 and a companion clutch member in the form of a collar H, the member and collar having opposed clutch surfaces in the form of teeth 18. The clutch collar has an integral flange 88 provided with a face 8I concentric with the collar and which is interrupted at diametrically opposite points forming the openings 82, Figure 6, the openings and face 8I being connected by the sloping surfaces 83. Extending diagonally from face 8| and joining with the clutch collar 11 is'a bevelled face 84 which is concentric with the collar and uninterrupted throughout its extent.

The clutch collar 11 and gear 85 are suitably keyed to rotate with a sleeve 86 which is mounted on driving shaft "II for rotation independently thereof and provided at one end with a clutch face 81 forming one member of a reversing clutch to be presently described. The end of the drive shaft II is reduced in diameter to receive the sleeve 86 forming a shoulder 88, preventing axial movement of the sleeve toward the left, Figure 4, the other end of the sleeve fitting within recess 89 formed in clutch member 15 and being held against movement toward the right. The gear 85v is fixedly keyed to the sleeve 86 while the clutch collar 'II rotates with the sleeve but has movement axially thereof, being resiliently urged in a direction toward clutch member I by the coil springs 98 housed within openings 9I formed in the gear and engaging with flange 88 of the clutch collar. With the clutch collar free to move axially of the sleeve in a direction toward the right, Figure 4, it will be understood that the clutch teeth 18 of the members engage and the drive from shaft II takes place through member 15, collar 11 and gear 85 to pinion 92, suitably keyed to shaft 93 journalled in bearings 94 and meshing with said gear. Shaft 93 mounts one of the driving rolls 95 supporting the coil of stock, the other roll being mounted by shaft 96 also suitably journailed in bearings on base 68 in spaced relation with shaft 93. Shafts 93 and 96 are operatively connected by an endless chain 91. and therefore rotate in unison to rotate the coil 63.

With respect to the above form of drive the invention proposes to provide clutching and declutching mechanism having automatic operation in accordance with the size of the outermost loops of the coil representing the accumulation of excess stock. The clutch collar 'I'I is-cammed into and out of clutching engagement by a cam roller 98 carried by a lever I88 pivotally supported for substantially frictionless movement by bracket I8I. Pivotal movement of the lever I88 and therefore movement of the cam roller 98 with respect to faces 8] and 84, respectively, is efl'ected through means of the rod I82 pivotally connecting at one end with the lever, as at I83, and at its other end to the member I84. Bracket I85 journals the member, which carries an arm I86 adjustable with respect to the member by means of the arcuate slot I8! formed therein. To the upper end of arm I86 is pivotally secured a rod I88 carrying on its outer end the roller I88 adapted to contact the outermost loop of the coil. The pivotal mounting of rod I 88 on its supporting arm allows the operator to throw the roller out of engagement with the coil of stock when it is necessary to remove the coil for any reason or in the event a new coil is to be placed on the supporting structure. Pivotally secured to bracket I85 is a rod II8 which has operative engagement with arm I-II forming part of member I 84. The coil spring II2 confined betweem the end of rod H8 and the connection of arm III therewith yieldably urges the member I84 in a counter-clockwise direction, thereby maintaining roller I89 in contact with the outside loop of the coil of stock. As shown in Figure 3 arm I 86 has two extreme positions, the one shown in full line representing the clutching position and thus the transmission of power to the coil of stock, while the location of the lever in dotted lines is an extreme position where the clutch is disconnected. Between these two positions and more specifically within several degrees of the vertical position of the arm a variation in the movement of the arm to one side or the other will cause actuation of the clutch. However, movement of roller I89 from the extreme of one position to that of the other causes a very slight movement of the pivoted lever I88 and thus camming roller 98. This results from the following structure. The depending end of member I84 is operatively associated with shaft I82 and is held in operative relation therewith by the locking nuts I I4 threaded to the end of the shaft. Any movement of roller I89 in a counterclockwise direction therefore causes engagement of the depending end of member I84 with the locking nuts I I4 and movement of the shaft to the right. However, oscillation of the arm I86 by movement of roller I89 in a clockwise direction will cause movement of the shaft due to compression of the coil spring II5 confined between the stock H6 and the connection of the arm with said shaft.

With the arm I86 in the full line position of Figure 5 where the same is located to the left of .a--vertical plane passing through the pivot of said arm, it will be observed that shaft I82 has been shifted toward the right to rock lever I 88 and withdraw camming roller 98. This locates the roller in engagement with face 8| which face has interruptions in the form of openings 82 receiving the camming roller, permitting axial movement of the clutch collar 11 into clutching engagement with the clutch member I5, the collar being resiliently urged in this direction by coil springs 98. The driving shaft II is therefore connected to the rollers 95 through the clutch and connecting gears to cause rotation of the coil. The parts will remain in this position until an excess of stock accumulates, whichresults in an increase in the size of the outermost loop of the coil 63, forcing roller I89 outwardly, oscillating arm I86 to shift the shaft I82 toward the left. This results in pivotal movement of lever I88 and location of camming roller 88 in engagement with the bevel face 84, withdrawing clutch collar 'I'I from its clutching position. This actuation of the clutch disconnects the drive between driving shaft II and the supporting rollers and therefore the rotation of the coil ceases. As operation of the feeding mechanism continues, however, the excess stock is gradually used up, resulting in a decrease in the size of the outer most loop and in oscillation of arm I06 until the same is again positioned to cause engagement of the clutch elements and establishing the drive to the rollers.

It will be recalled that the endless chain 69 drives shaft II through the sprocket I constructed to provide a friction clutch. This is necessary to relieve the feed rolls of the impact and strain which would otherwise be placed thereon by engagement of the clutch elements I and H. The coil of stock'is relatively heavy and as a result "it is not easily caused to rotate from a position of rest nor can the heavy coil be immediately stopped after rotation has begun. The friction clutch therefore absorbs impact due to the engagement of the clutch elements and also allows .intermittent operation of the feed rolls. It will also be observed that the members I5 and I1 transmit rotation in one direction only and form a type of clutch known as a jaw clutch which has been selected for illustration for several reasons although other forms of clutches come within the scope of the invention. This clutch has the advantage of permitting the coil to overrun, that is, to continue rotation after the drive to the same has ceased and further incorporates a sensitive clutching and declutching arrangement, which however, is positive in operation. It is possible with this form of clutch to transmit comparatively large driving forces although for actuation of the clutch very little force is required, it being appreciated that the outside loop of the coilis comparatively weak and the amount of pressure available to actuate the clutch small.

It is sometimes necessary to reverse the feeding mechanism which of course requires transmission of. the reverse drive to the coil in order that the same will rewind the stock supplied by the feeding means. The invention provides a rewinding clutch comprising clutch members I0 and 01, the former member being integral with sleeve II6 keyed to the driving shaft II and journalled for rotation in bearing 12, while member 01 is integral with sleeve 86 previously described.. A

rod III extends above but substantially parallel with drive shaft II having one end mounted for axial movement within bearing 12 as shown in Figure 4 and carrying a yoke I I0 engaging within the notch I20 provided in sleeve H6. The other end of the rod H1 is suitably connected with rewind lever I2I adapted for actuationby th operator to locate rod III in neutral position as shown in Figure 4 where the same is held by the spring pressed ball detent I22 or into operative position to effect movement of the sleeve II6 to the right, Figure 4, causing engagement of the clutch members 19 and 81. The drive to the coil supporting rollers 95 now takes place through the clutch members I9 and 61, gear 65 and pinion 92.

Figure 2 shows the base 60 providedwith spaced thrust-plates I26 for centering the coil on the rollers 95 and also shows a brake I25 applied to the shaft 96 journalling one of the rollers for braking the rotation of the heavy coil of stock. By proper adjustment of the brake the momentum of the rotating coil can be checked to a considerable extent while the resistance to initial rotation will not be so great as to materially interfere with the emciency of the driving mechanism.

In Figure '7 the coil of stock is shown in reversed position on the peripheral type of reel'in order that the reverse side of the stock may be upwards when presented to the feeding rolls. Feeding of the stock to the feeding rolls with either surface thereof upward is'necessary as the stock has a finished surface and an unfinished surface, and certain blanking Operations require that the finished surface'be up" while for other erably located between the gear 85 and pinion 92.

For accommodating the intermediate gear mechanism the gear on the drive shaft I05 and the pinion I92 on the shaft 93 have a pitch diameter such that the gear and pinion fail to mesh with each other. To operatively connect the gear and pinion, however, so that'the latter rotates in a reverse direction from that of the gear, a plurality of idler pinions I93 are provided,'journalled for rotation on shafts supported by the bracket I94, Figure 8, and having meshing engagement with each other. For operatively connecting the gear and pinion so that the latter has the same direction of rotation a single idler pinion I95 is provided the same being journalled in bracket I94 and positioned to mesh with said gear and pinion when located in the same vertical plane. The bracket is adjustable by reason of the elongated slots I96 and accordingly the idler pinions I93 or the pinion I95 may be positioned in the vertical plane of pinion .I92 and gear I95 to secure the desired direction of rotation of the supporting rolls 95.

With the coil of stock supported on the reel as shown in Figure 9 the single pinion is adjusted for operation to drive the supporting rolls so that the stock is taken from the left hand side of the coil and the excess stock is represented by the surplus material existing between the coil and the feeding rolls. Automatic rotation of the roll in accordance with the quantity of excess stock unwound from the reel is secured through the provision of a second stock engaging arm 206 suitably pivoted at 201 andconnecting with arm I06 by means of the rod 200 so that outward movement of arm 206 will result in outward movement of the main arm I06. Actuation of the clutch mechanism through the resilient connections associated with the control-arm I06 takes place as the second arm 206 has movement in accordance with the quantity of excess stock. Irrespective of the direction the stock is taken from the coil the same is driven through clutch mechanism incorporating the overrunning feature and through the friction drive from the feeding mech- The structure of the invention is therefore adaptable to blanking operations of all kinds and delivery of the stock material to the feeding mechanism is in response to the quantity of excess stock unwound from the reel, the coil also being automatically freed from the drive to per- I mit overrun of the same,

limited by the exact embodiment of the device shown, which is merely by way of illustration and not limitation, as various and other forms of the device will of course be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. The combination with feeding mechanism of a metal working machine operating on stock material, of a reel for supporting a coil of said stock material, power means operatively connecting with the reel for rotating the same to unwind stock from the reel for presentation to the said feeding mechanism, the said connections between the power means and reel including a clutch for interrupting the drive to the reel, a member associated therewith for actuating the clutch, and an oscillating arm contact.- ing the outermost loop of said coil of stock and connecting with said member, wherebya variation in the size of said outermost loop will oscillate the arm to actuate the member and thus the clutch.

2. The combination with feeding mechanism, of a metal working machine operating on stock material, of a reel for supporting a coil of said stock material, power means operatively'connecting with the reel for rotating the same to unwind stock therefrom for presentation to said feeding mechanism, the said connections between the power means and reel including a clutch for interrupting the drive to the reel, a camming roller for actuating said clutch, connections between said camming rollerand an oscillating arm positioned for contact with the outermost loop of said coil of stock, whereby variation in the size of said loop actuates the camming roller to connect and disconnect the clutch, and resilient means biasing said arm into engagement with the outermost loop of the coil.

3. The combination with feeding mechanism, of a metal working machine operating on stock material, of a reel for supporting a coil of said stock material, power means operatively connecting with the reel for rotating the same to unwind stock therefrom for presentation to said feeding mechanism, said connections between the power means and reel including a clutch for interrupting the drive to the reel, a camming roller for actuating theclutch, a pivoted member supporting the roller for movement, an oscillating arm yieldingly held in contact with the outermost loop with the coil of stock, and connections between the arm and the pivoted member, whereby variations in the size of said outermost loop oscillates the arm to cause actuation of the clutch.

4. The combination with feeding mechanism,-

of a metal working machine operating on stock material, of a reel for supporting a coil of said stock material, power means operatively connecting with the reel for rotating the same to unwind stock therefrom for presentation to said feeding mechanism, the said connections between the power means and reel including a clutch for interrupting the drive to the reel, an oscillating arm connecting with the clutch for actuating the same, and resilient means biasing said arm into engagement with the outermost loop of the coil and causing actuation of the clutch to drive the reel when the outermost loop diminishes to a predetermined size.

' 5. The combination with feeding mechanism, of a metal working machine operating onstock quantity of excess stock unwound fromsaid reel,

said connections between the arm and the member including resilient means whereby movement of the arm in one direction is transmitted to th member through said resilient means.

6. A reel including, in combination, a plurality of spaced rollers mounted for rotation and adapted to support a coil of stock, a drive shaft mounted for rotation and operatively connecting with power means, a gear mounted on said drive shaft and having rotation independently thereof, said gear operatively connecting with one of said rollers, and connections between said gear and the drive shaft, said connections including a clutch comprising a pair of members having clutch engaging surfaces, and resilient means carried by said gear and forcing one of said members into clutching engagement with the other member.

7. A'reel including, in combination, a plurality of spaced rollers mounted for rotation and adapted to support a .coil of stock, a drive shaft mounted for rotation and operatively connecting with power means, a gear mounted on said drive shaft and having rotation independently thereof, said gear operatively connecting with one of said rollers, and connections between said gear and the drive shaft, said connections including a clutch comprising a pair of members having clutch engaging surfaces, one of said members being fixedly secured to the drive shaft and said other member forming a collar and having movement axially of the shaft, said clutch collar being connected to rotate with the gear'and being confined between the gear and said first mentioned clutch member, and resilient means carried by the gear and forcing the clutch collar into engagement with said first mentioned clutch member.

8. A reel including in combination a plurality of spaced rollers mounted for rotation and adapted to support a coil of stock, a drive shaft mounted for rotation and operatively connected with power means, and means operatively connecting said drive shaft with one of said spaced rollers including mechanism operative to cause the spaced roller to rotate in the same direction as that of the drive shaft.

9. A reel including in combination a plurality of spaced rollers mounted for rotation and adapted to support a coil of stock, a drive shaft mounted for rotation and operatively connecting with power means, a gear mounted on said drive shaft and having rotation independently thereof, connections between said gear and the drive shaft including a clutch, and means operatively connecting said gear with one of said spaced rollers, said connections being operative to drive said spaced rollers in the same direction as the gear or in a reverse direction with respect thereto.

10. A reel including, in combination, a plurality of spaced rollers mounted for rotation and adapted to support a coil of stock, a drive effective to transmit rotary movement of thedrive shaft in one direction only, and other manually actuated means for connecting said gear and drive shaft and operable to transmit rotary. movement of said shaft in an opposite direction. 7

' FREDERICK M. LI'I'I'EIL.

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