Patent ID: 6477878
Filing Date: 2002-11-12
Classification: B21D

Abstract:
A machine for producing a corrugated wheel spacer from an annular spacer blank comprising:(a) a skeletal frame, (b) a table fixed in said frame; (c) a first corrugated roller on said table for receiving an annular spacer blank; (d) a platen slidable in said frame above said table for vertical movement toward and away from said table; (e) a second corrugated roller suspended from said platen above said first roller for vertical movement with said platen; (f) a first fluid actuated cylinder on said frame for moving the platen and said second roller vertically between a first, elevated position above and spaced apart from said first roller permitting mounting of a spacer blank on the first roller, and a second, lower position in which the second roller is proximate the first roller for sandwiching a spacer blank between the first and second rollers, and wherein said platen and first cylinder press said second roller against a spacer blank; (g) a pair of stabilizers rotatable on said frame and connected to said platen for movement with the platen into engagement with opposite sides of a spacer blank when the platen is moved from said elevated to said lower position for centering a spacer blank on the first roller, and for releasing a finished spacer when the platen is returned to the first position; (h) teeth on each said first and second roller for meshing during rotation of said rollers to form corrugations on a spacer blank sandwiched therebetween; and (i) a drive for simultaneously counter-rotating said first and second rollers, whereby corrugations can be formed on a spacer blank sandwiched therebetween.