US2609107A - Bar feeder - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 2, 1952 B. GRAY -ErAL BAR FEEDER '5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 17, 4194.9

.mmm

Sept. 2, 1952 v B. GRAY ErAL BAR FEEDER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 17, 1949 Sept. 2, 1952 B. GRAY nu.. 2,609,107

BAR FEEDER Filed Nov. 17, 1949 Z5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Hes/vnf Patented Sept. 2, 1952Y BAR FEEDER Basil Gray and George Shewan--Cleghorm Shef' field, England, assignors to'vEnglish'Steel Corporation Limited, Vickers Works, Sheffield, England, a British company Application November 17, 1949, Seral'No. 127,970A 1 In Great Britain NovemberZZ, 1948 v This invention relates to bar reeling machines and is concerned with the provision of improved feeding means for such machines.

In existing reeling machines, it is the usual practice toplace a bar to be reeled in C brackets which are normally provided inline with the mouth of .the machine, and then to feed the bar forward into the rolls of the reeling machine by hand. If the leading end of the bar is distorted in any way the rolls may not grip it immediately and the operator then has to give the bar a partial twist or rotation by hand. Immediately the rolls grip the bar, it oscllates and thrashes violently and this leads to numerous and serious accidents to the operators of such machines.

A main object of the present invention is to facilitate the feeding operation in a manner which obviates the necessity of the above-mentioned dangerous hand feeding.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided feeding means for a bar reeling machine, said means including a yeldable buffer device which is provided for the transmission of pressure therethrough to the trailing end of a, bar when the latterv is located in the feeding position with its leading or forward end close to the nip between the first rolls of the machine, and which is adapted, on yieldingr during the application of said pressure, to impart a twist to the bar, the arrangement being such that, if the leading end of the bar cannot readily enter. the nip from said feeding position, the buifer device yields and in so doing rotates the bar about its vlongitudinal axis until the said leading end is brought to a position in which it can readily enter the nip.

According to a more limited aspect of the invention, a buffer or rammer is resiliently carried by a mounting which latter is displaceable for the purpose of applying axial pressure, through said buffer or rammer, to the trailingl end of a bar when the latter is located in the feeding position with its leading or forward` end within or close to the mouth of the machine, said buffer Figure 1 is aside elevation, partially broken Claims.

away, showing the bar feeding meansof thet iii-j v vention together with two C brackets,

`wardly directed channel-section tracks I are mounted on a raised supporting structure 2 which is arranged to extend in line with the mouth of the bar reeling machine (not shown) and which also carries the normal C brackets 3 towards the end nearer the said mouth. The feeding means proper is carried on a frame 4 mounted on wheels 5 which are arranged to engage Vand run in the aforesaid tracks I. Clamps 6 (Figure 5) are providedto lock the wheeled frame 4 in any desired position along the tracks I according to the length of the work-pieces to be fed tothe reeling machine. V y

The frame 4 carries a pair of spaced parallel runways or rails 'I which extend parallel to the tracks 'I and which have wheel guards 8 -bolted thereon as shown clearly in Figures 3 and 4. The wheels '9 of a carriage IU are arranged to runv on the aforesaid runways or rails 1, the aforesaid wheels 9 being enclosed on their outer faces by the wheel guards 8. A part of the carriage II] is in the form of a cylindrical casing II which isA disposed horizontally so that its longitudinal axis will be substantially in line'with the longitudinal axis of a bar to be fed into the machine when the bar is supported in the feeding position 'in the C brackets 3. The end'of the cylindrical casing II remote from the C brackets is'closed by an end plate I2 having a central aperture therethrough. A hollow cylindrical-buffer or rammer I 3 having an open inner end, is arranged to operate partially within the cylindrical casing II and is guided therein by means of an axially extending rod I4 the forward end of vwhich is attached to the outer'or forward end of the buffer and the rear end of which extends through and is guided by the aperture in the rear plate I2.

A coil spring I5 is arranged to surround the rod I4 within the casing andbu'ffer and tends to urge the vbuffer outwardly from the casing. The end of the spring I5 towards the rearof thecas-L ing surrounds and is guided by a sleeve-member IIa which projects from the inner face ofthe rear plate I2. The inner end of the buffer or rammer is provided with an outwardly extending annular rim I6 which is arranged to abut against an inwardly extending annular rim I'I on the forward end of the casing II so as to limit the outward stroke of the buffer. At the outer end of the buffer I3 there is mounted a head I8 in the form of a hardened steel plate the outer face of which is dished or formed with a shallow conical depression having radial teeth I9 therearound. It should, of course, be appreciated that this head may take various alternative forms other than that shown in the drawings. A roller 20 extends radially from the periphery of the buffer I3 adjacent the rear end thereof and, when the buffer is in its forward position as shown in Figure 1, is arranged to engage in the forward end of a helical slot 2| formed in the periphery of the cylindrical casing.

An air cylinder 22 is bolted on the frame 4 so that its longitudinal axis extends parallelto the tracks I and a pistonv23 attached to a piston rod 24 is arranged to work within the said cylinder. Attached to the outer end of the piston rod 24 is a cross-head 25 the lower surface of which is shaped to engage a slide 2G which latter is bolted to the frame i as shown in Figure 4. Extending transversely through the cross-head 25 is a stub axle 2'I which rotatably carries a pinion wheel 28 at each end. The pinions 28 are respectively arranged to engage and run on a pair of bottom racks 29 which are bolted to the frame 4. The

racks 29 extend, as shown in Figure l, forwardly from the pinions 28.

Secured to the under-surface of the carriage II) are a further pair of racks 30 with which the pinions 28 also engage and whichpextend rearwardly from the pinions 28 when the carriage Illis in the retracted position as shown in Figure 1. These racks 3B are L-shaped in crosssection and are each respectively positioned in the same vertical plane as the corresponding bottom rack 29. On each side of the cross-head 25 near the top thereof` are mounted two, rollers 3| which are arranged to run on the upper surfaces of the horizontal arm portions of the racks 30.

Pivotally mounted at the forward end of the cross-head 25 is a transverse plate 32 carrying a bar support roller33 at its upper end. The plate 32 can pivot forward to move the support roller 33 out of the way of a thrashing bar end during a feeding operation, and is returned to the upright position by slotted link means 32a when the carriage returns to its position of rest. Secured to the forward end of the wheel guards 8 and in front of the C brackets 3 is a V-shaped bar support 34 which also serves as a front stop. A rear stop 35 for the carriage is also provided across the opposite ends of the wheel guards 8 as-shown.

Compressed air can lbe supplied to the cylinder 22 on either side ofthe piston 23 in known manner, the -supply being normally controlled by hand-operated levers (not shown).

The C brackets 3 are preferably mounted on pivots 3a, as shown, s0 that they can be swung aside out of the path of the frame 4 when no*` required for use.

In operation, the position of the fra-me 4 is first adjusted along the tracks I according to the length of bar to be fed into the reeling machine. Then, assuming that the bars are of sufficient length to require the use of C brackets to provide additionalk support, a bar is placed in these brackets sothat therearend of the bar rests on the support roller 33 and V-support 34 whilst the forward or leading end of the bar enters the mouth of the machine (not shown) up to the nip of the first rolls in the machine. To this end, the machine mouth may be provided with a conical leadin tube having its outer end cut-away on a bevel to facilitate the entry of the bar. The pneumatic piston and cylinder arrangement is then operated so that the cross-head 25 moves along its slide 26 to the right as seen in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, that is towards the mouth of the machine. YThis movement of the cross-head causes the pinions 28 to move along the bottom racks '29 and, the latter being iixed, the top racks 30 together with the carriage are thereby caused to move forward at twice the speed of the crosshead. The buffer or rammer I3 is thus brought up against the rear end of the bar so as to exert axial pressure thereon in the feed direction. The conical or dish-shaped buffer head tends to cause the trailing end of the barto move into the centre of the head. If the bar is gripped between the nip of the rolls as soon as pressure is applied to the trailing end thereof, it will be rapidly drawn away from the carriage and'buifer and the pneumatic mechanism can then be operated to reverse the carriage. If, on the other hand, the rolls do not immediately grip the bar, due possibly to some slight distortion, the resistance to feed during the forward movement of the carriage will cause the buffer I3 to setback and compress the coil spring whilst increasing the end load on the bar. When the buffer is thus set-back, the roller 20 travels along the helical slot 2l so that the buffer is turned about its longitudinal axis simultaneously with tlie setback. During this turning motion, the teeth on the buffer head tend to bite into the trailing end of the bar so as to apply a torque or twist thereto. This causes the bar to rotate about its longitudinal axis until the leading end moves into a position in which it can readily pass between the nip of the rolls. Once in this position the rolls operate to draw the bar rapidly away from the carriage which can then be reversed by operating the pneumatic means as aforesaid.

As will be appreciated, the operation of the carriage is not limited to pneumatic means as described and it may obviously alternatively be operated or traversed by hand, mechanical or any lother means. Likewise the main spring of the buffer device could be replaced by a piston acting against a cushion of compressed air within the casing or by some other suitable arrangement. The carriage could also, for example, be traversed by a system of chains and'pulleys operated by an air cylinder and piston assembly.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for feeding a bar reeling machine comprising means for supporting a bar to be i'eeled with its leading end close to the mouth of said machine, a displaceably mounted yieldable buffer device arranged, on displacement, to apply axial pressure to the trailing end of said bar, means for displacing said buffer device to apply said pressure, and means associated with said buffer device for operation on set-back of the buier during said pressure application to twist said bar about its longitudinal axis. y

2. Apparatus for feeding a bar between cooperating rollers of a bar reeling machine comprising means for supporting said bar in a position substantially in line with the nip between said rollers and with its leading end close to the said nip, a yieldable buffer device movable along a track to apply pressure to the trailing end of said bar, and means for moving said buffer device to apply said pressure, said buifer device being arranged to yield if, on the application of said pressure, the bar cannot readily enter said nip and, on yielding, being adapted to apply positive torque to the trailing end of said bar to twist the latter into a position in which it can readily enter said nip.

3. Apparatus for feeding a bar reeling machine comprising means for supporting a bar to be reeled with its leading end very close to the nip between the first rolls of said machine, a track extending parallel to the feed path of said bar, a butler resiliently carried by a buffer cylinder mounted on said track for displacement therealong to apply axial pressure, through said buffer, to the trailing end of said bar, means for displacing said louder cylinder along said track, means for rotating said buffer in its cylinder if the buffer is caused to set-back during the application of said pressure, and means for transmitting said rotary movement of the buffer to the trailing end of said bar to twist the latter about its longitudinal axis.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3 in which said track is-in the form of a pair of horizontal rails and said buier and buier cylinder form part of a wheeled carriage arranged to run on said rails.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim /lfurther comprising a main supporting structure for said apparatus, tracks carried by said structure, a wheeled frame arranged to run on said tracks and carrying said rails on which said wheeled carriage is mounted and clamping means for securing said wheeled frame in any predetermined position along said main structure tracks depending upon the length of bars to be fed into the machine.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 further comprising C brackets carried on said main structure and positioned in the direct feed path between said frame and the mouth of the reeling machine to provide additional support for a bar to be reeled.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6 further comprising pneumatic means for displacing said buffer and cylinder carriage along said rails.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7 in which said pneumatic means is in the form of an air cylinder and piston arrangement having one part fixed on the said frame and the other part movable relatively thereto and including a pinion and rack arrangement for connecting said relatively movable part to said carriage whereby the latter can be caused to move at twice the speed of said relatively movable part of the pneumatic assembly.

9. Apparatus for feeding a bar reeling machine as claimed in claim 3 further comprising a coil spring arranged within said buffer cylinder to urge said buffer outwardly from the cylinder, a roller extending radially from the periphery of said buier and engaging in a helical slot in the wall or" said cylinder so as to travel along said helical slot on set-back of the buffer and cause the latter to rotate, and a shallow dished head on the buier having teeth thereon for gripping the trailing end o-I said bar.

l0. Apparatus for feeding a bar reeling machine comprising means for supporting a bar to be reeled with its leading end close to the mouth of the machine, a displaceably mounted yieldable buffer and cylinder device arranged, on displacement, to apply, through said buier, axial pressure to the trailing end of said bar, means for displacing said buier and cylinder device to apply said axial pressure, co-acting means provided respectively on said buffer and cylinder to cause the buier to rotate in the cylinder on set-back and gripping means on the operative face of said butler arranged to grip said trailing end of the bar so that, if the buiier sets back during the application of said pressure, the bar is simultaneously twisted about its longitudinal axis.

BASIL GRAY. GEORGE SHEWAN CLEJGHORN.

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

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 515,376 Taft Feb. 27, 1894 2,519,837 Lampard Aug. 22, 1950

Images