Patent GB-541690-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to abrading machines and tools suitable for use therein
IPC: A43D95/08
Filed: 1940-06-05
Abstract: 541,690. Abrading sheet material. BRITISH UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CO., Ltd. (United Shoe Machinery Corporation). June 5, 1940, No. 9823. [Class 60] A machine for abrading sheet material particularly leather soles for footwear comprises a cylindrical abrading roll and rotary feed means arranged to press the work against the roll and to feed it in a path having a component parallel to the roll axis. The machine column carries a plate 14 fitted with integral flanges 16, and serving to support a roll carrying frame including vertical plates 30, 32 arranged at a angle of 5 degrees to the direction of movement of work pieces through the machine. The frame, which is vertically adjustable, carries a distorting roll shaft 50 driven by worm gearing 52 and belt 418. The shaft 50 carries a pair of concave rolls each consisting of a metal core 72 and an outer rubber cushion layer 74. The lower rolls co-act with complementary convex upper rolls 78, 80 which are of hollow metal construction and are mounted on ball bearings 82, 84. The upper rolls are mounted in a lever frame 90 pivoted on a fixed shaft 96, the rolls being urged downwardly by a spring 108 to a position determined by an adjusting screw 104. Two work pieces may be fed to the distorting rolls over a table which is fitted with a partition. On leaving the rolls the work pieces pass on to a second table 116 co-acting with an upper guide plate 118 and serving to direct work pieces to a feed roll 124 carrying a number of toothed wheels 126 separated by spacers and driven by gearing from the shaft 50. The feed roll feeds the work pieces to a buffing roll 140 mounted on a shaft 142 and driven at high speed by a pulley 156. Beneath the buffing roll are a series of 16 feed belts 214 each passing over idler pulleys 194 carried by a shaft mounted between side plates 184, 186, secured to parallel arms swingable about a rearward supporting shaft. The forward ends of the arms are normally urged upwardly by springs the movement being limited by a stop when no work is passing under the buffing roll. The idlers run on anti-friction material 193, Fig. 8, carried by discs 192 engaging part-spherical bosses 191 on the shaft 190. The pulleys are returned by wedge-shaped end-plates 195 whose faces are parallel to the plates 30, 32. The discs 192 and bearing rings are clamped into a rigid assembly. Below the idler pulley assembly the belts run on a multiple grooved pulley 210 driven by worm gearing. An adjustable guide plate 232 engages the upper surface of the work and co-acts with a work table 238 having side pieces 240 to direct the work to the buffing roll. After passing tangentially beneath the buffing roll the work is bent round the latter for further buffing action. For this purpose the work-pieces are fed side by side over a pair of inclined yieldingly-mounted deflector plates 284, 286 arranged at about 30 degrees to the horizontal and extending jointly over the full width of the buffing roll. The work-pieces then pass to a further feed roll comprising spaced toothed wheels 306. An auxiliary short feed roll 314, Fig. 9 is provided on account of the inclination of the deflector plates to the feed roll axes. Guide plates are provided to press the work down on to the feed rolls 314, 306. The work-pieces then pass to a brush 276 on a shaft 274 parallel to the shaft 50 and driven by a pulley 282. While the work is cleaned by the brush it is supported on a fourth table. After passing the brush the work-pieces engage a feed roll 350 against which they are pressed by guide plates 356. The feed rolls 306, 350 and 314 are all driven from a belt 361 passing round a pulley 362 on the shaft 352 which is connected by spur gearing to the other feed rolls. Finally the work-pieces drop into a box at the back of the machine. The machine is driven from a mainshaft 380. A pulley 386 on this shaft is connected by a belt 388 to the buffing roll. Another pulley 396 on the mainshaft drives the brush pulley 282 through a crossed belt 398. Another pulley 400 drives the feed belts through a belt 402 and pulley 228. The distorting rolls are driven from a pulley 408 on the mainshaft which is connected by a belt to a lay shaft 414 connected by a belt 418 to the pulley 62. The lay shaft is adjustable to maintain the belt tension. A dust-collecting hood 436 is arranged to remove dust from the buffing roll 140. In operation the work-pieces such as soles are fed manually in a direction perpendicular to the shaft 50 so that they have a component movement lengthwise of the buffing roll. The distorting rolls impart a transverse curvature and in some cases a lengthwise curvature also to the work. The upper work-piece surfaces are subsequently flattened by the plate 232 and local variations in the thickness are accommodated by the resilience of the feed belts.. If the work-pieces have skived edges the transverse curvature previously imparted tends to compensate for the smaller pressure exerted by the feed belts through the thinner marginal portions. The continued contact of the work with the buffing roll caused by the deflector plates causes the buffing to be continued under reduced pressure thus further improving the finish. The buffing roll, Fig. 14, includes a pair of flanged hubs 452, 458, carrying rim parts separated by the rim portion 468 of a short hub member 464. The members are clamped together by end plates 470, 472 connected by tie-rods. The peripheral surface of the roll is covered by a pair of arcuate sheets 482, 484 of sponge rubber carrying an outer cemented flannel layer 486 and an inner fabric re-inforcing sheet 487. The edges of the fabric sheet are carried to welting strips accommodated in bores 488 in the body adjacent a slot 478. At a diametrically opposed slot 480 the re-inforcing sheet is extended beyond the sponge rubber and is secured to canvas belting strips to form two tabs located between corrugated rolls 494 which may be rotated and then secured by set screws. The roll is covered by sand-paper 500 or like material the edges of which extend into the slot 478 between corrugated rolls 502, which may be turned to tension the sand-paper. In a modification, the feed belts are replaced by a rubber covered roll and the deflector plates are replaced by a presser member comprising plates adjustably secured together.