Patent GB-175804-A (GB)
Title: Needle straightening machines
IPC: B21G1/00
Filed: 1920-12-06
Abstract: 175,804. Thompson, W. P., (Torrington Co.). Dec. 6, 1920. Straightening; power hatttmeT's.-A machine for straightening sewing-machine needles after tempering comprises means whereby a number of needles are e. simultaneously straightened by a succession of blows, the face of each blow being determined by crook-detecting devices in contact with the needles. The needles are fed from a hopper into grooves 9 in a carrier 3, Fig. 44a, by means of a roller 300 having longitudinal grooves 307 and a transverse groove 306 into which projects the pointed end 313 of a finger 303, the roller being rotated by pins on the carrier engaging a slotted wheel on the roller shaft. The hopper is provided with a spring- pressed follower, which may be withdrawn for refilling the hopper by means of a rod adapted to be lifted and swung to one side. During the feeding of needles to be straightened, a batch of straightened needles is discharged through a shoot into a collecting-tray which is periodically reciprocated to distribute the needles. After being rotated for the needle feed and discharge, the carrier is locked against rotation, and moved axially against the action of a spring 23, Fig. 4, to cause the needles to be moved into position between hammers 105 and crook-detecting fingers 225 with their shanks in close proximity to the hammers. The carrier is then returned to its former axial position, the hammers 105 being operated to straighten the needles during the return, and the needles being rotated on their axes by a driven band 270. The mechanism for operating the carrier comprises a toothed wheel 18 adapted to be driven alternately in opposite directions by the engagement of a clutch member 42, Fig. 8, with clutch members 40, 41. When the wheel 18 is rotated in one direction, the carrier 3 is rotated by means of pawls 25 on the carrier which then engage members on the wheel. During the rotation in the opposite direction, the carrier is locked by means of a spring-pressed catch 70 engaging a recess in the carrier and its axial movements are imparted to it by means of rollers 20 on the wheel 18, cam-surfaces on the carrier and the spring 23. The hub of the wheel 18 is provided with adjustable stops 65, 66 for engaging a lever 61 connected with a lever 47 for operating the clutch member 42, and the position of the catch 70 is regulated by means connected with the lever 61 and by a tripping-lever and pawl on the catch co-operating with a pin on the carrier. The hammers 105 are mounted on arms 106 adjustably fixed to hammer levers 107 acted on by springs 143 and operated from a wheel 110 through intermediate levers 108. The levers 107 are pivoted to slides 116 which are adjustable by pin-and-slot connections with rods 124, the lower ends of which engage with a groove in an adjusting-disc 128, thus providing for the simultaneous. adjustment of the upper positions of the hammers. The springs 143 may be simultaneously adjusted through screwed sleeves 133 driven through worm gearing from a hand-operated shaft. Block members 262 are carried by rods 260 engaging a groove in an adjusting-disc 266. The wheel 110 is keyed to a shaft 4 driven by a worm-wheel 160 and worm 161, Fig. 7, on a shaft having a clutch 165, which is operated by a clutch lever 173 connected to a lever 168. The lever 168 is provided near its upper end with interconnected levers co-operating with tripping latches 200, 210 on the gear-wheel 18. The pivoted crook-detecting fingers 225 are acted on by springs 253, Fig. 3, and are each connected to a shaft 241 provided with an adjustable counterweight 254 and a block 246 provided with a series of stepped projections 248, the position of the block determining the extent of movement of a block 249 carried by the hammer lever 107. In a modification illustrated in Fig. 50, the blocks 262 are dispensed with, and the fingers 225 are provided with a yieldingly pivoted end 401 cooperating with a stepped block 498. In other forms, the finger 225 acts through link connections to adjust the position of a bulged blow-receiving member 507, Fig. 53. or the crook-detecting finger adjusts a ball 508, Fig. 54, in grooves in a fixed member 512 and a member 511 carried by the hammer-operating lever 514.