Patent GB-724802-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to electric lamp making machinery
IPC: H01J5/24
Filed: 1953-02-24
Abstract: 724,802. Making tubular electric lamps. WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC INTERNATIONAL CO. Feb. 24, 1953 [March 28, 1952], No. 5107/53. Class 39 (2). In a rotary indexing machine for sealing mounts to the ends of tubular. lamp envelopes by heating the mounts and lower ends of the tubes at stations to which they are indexed, a series of spring-biased clamps which hold the bulbs vertically around the conveyer, and are cam-controlled for loading and unloading, are arranged to release a tube at a particular station to allow it to be elevated above sealing position by means provided for that purpose, the exhausting tube forming part of the mount being thereby lifted directly out of the mount holder into which it was initially inserted, thus reducing risk of breakage during the subsequent removal of the lamp. In the example, a rotary turret 48 is provided with thirty-two work holders associated with duplicated sealing apparatus at opposite sides of the turret so that after sealing a mount to one end of a tube the tube can be removed, turned into reverse position and re-inserted into the clamp of a work holder for the. sealing of a mount at the other end. Stations 1-3 serve for unloading tubes that have been through the machine and had a mount sealed at each end, and also for loading tubulated mounts 50 into mount holders 58 and inserting tubes 81 into clamps above the mount holders; at stations 4-13 are burners for sealing the mounts to the tubes, and an upward movement is imparted to the mount at stations 6-8 to press it upon the lower end of the tube; at station 14 the seal is annealed. The tube is next raised automatically at station 15 to remove the exhausting tube 155 from the mount holder, after which the leading-in wires 153, 154 depending from the mount are spread away from the exhausting tube while at station 16. At stations 17-19 the lamp tubes may be unloaded by hand and reversed in position on the machine to enable mounts without an exhausting tube to be sealed to the other end at-stations 20-32 inclusive. The lamp holding clamp 59, Figs. 2 and 10, of each work holder, is carried upon a single vertical rod 63 and held in adjusted position by a set screw 62 or other means through the clamp body 61. A mounting member 71 bolted on the clamp body provides a journal for two vertical shafts 72, 73, the upper and lower ends of the shaft 72 having jaw members 74, 75 fixed thereto while shaft 73 carries a single jaw member 79 intermediate its ends to co-operate with the jaws 74, 75 for gripping a lamp tube. The jaw 79 extends from a hub 82 secured on the shaft 73 by a set screw and in lateral alignment with a block 76 secured intermediate the ends of the shaft 72, the hub 82 and block 76 being provided with ball-ended studs 87, 86 representively which are both engaged by the bifurcated upper ends 88, 89 of an idler lever 91 mounted on a horizontal pivot pin 92. A coiled tension spring 85 tends to hold the jaws in a closed position, their opening being effected by a crank 93 extending from the hub of jaw 75 and carrying a roller 94 which engages cam surfaces 95, 96, Fig. 1, on the machine frame, whereby the.shaft 72 is rotated in one direction and, through the ball-connections the shaft 73 is rotated in the opposite direction. The shape of the cams 95 and 96 is such that a tube 81 held by the jaws is partly released to allow it to be elevated at stations 15 and 31 and then gripped again, whereas the jaws are fully opened when at the loading and unloading stations. A further holder or clamp provided on the upper end of the rod 63 comprises a fixed jaw 101 and a co-operating spring-biased pivoted jaw shaped to facilitate the manual insertion and withdrawal of a lamp tube and to hold the top of a tube frictionally while permitting sliding movement of the tube, these members being mounted on an adjustable hub 98. A plate 111 provided with a guide notch which engages the well of a tube is mounted. on a hub 108 secured lower down on the rod 63 by a set screw. The means for raising the lamp tubes with attached stem is arranged at station 15 and comprises a horizontal base 146 at the upper end of a rod 151 which is slidable within a vertical sleeve 152, whilst a baseplate 126 which is slidable within guides on the base 146 supports and guides a further slidable plate 125 which can be moved towards the vertical tube under the action of a quadrant 123 linked to a cam-operated rod 119 and in engagement with rack teeth 124 on the underside of plate 125. The end of plate 126 towards the lamp tube carries a pair of jaws 131, 132, Fig. 7, mounted on hinge pins 136, 137 and normally held open by a spring 143, and at the other end of plate 126 a pair of long screws 128 couple that plate slidably to plate 125 by extending through a depending end plate 129 on the latter, each screw 128 being surrounded by a compression spring 127. The action is such that when the quadrant is turned anti-clockwise the plates 125, 126 are first moved together so that the jaws 131, 132 are brought to opposite sides of the lamp tube, and the plate 126 is halted by a stop screw 144. Further turning of the quadrant moves the plate 125 forwardly against the pressure of the springs 127, whereupon wedge members 141, 142 on the slide 125 engage between rollers 138, 139 on the rear arms 134, 135 of the jaws and close the jaws upon the lamp tube. The whole base 146, together with the plates 125, 126 and gear segments 123 are next raised bodily to the position shown in broken lines under the action of a cam and lever system operating a pinion which engages a rack 149 on the supporting rod 151, and the bulb, thus elevated, is held in that position by the lower jaws 74, 75, 79 and upper jaws 101, 103, the lifting jaws 131, 132 meanwhile being first opened and then retracted to their lower position. The tube is next indexed to station 16 where the leading-in wires 153, 154 are separated from one another by means mounted on a slidable plate 177, Fig. 11, connected by a spring 174, to a plate 172 which is slidable within a fixed base member under the action of a rocking lever 165 formed with a bifurcated upper end to engage a pin 171 on the underside of plate 172. The plate 177 carries a hollow vertical column 185 within which is located a slidable rod 184 carrying a bifurcated head 186, Fig. 14, with slotted limbs to receive rearward extensions of bell-crank levers 192, 193 secured to the. column 185 by pivot pins 194, 195. In operation the lever 165 is swung counter-clockwise, whereupon both plates 172, 177 are moved to the left until plate 177 is halted by a stop 179, the column 185 being then in the position indicated in broken lines in Fig. 11. Lever 165 continues to move thereby swinging a bell-crank lever 196 about its fixed pivot 197 and bringing the end 199 against the bottom end of the rod 184, causing the latter to lift and effecting an outward swinging of the normally vertical arms of the bell-crank levers 192, 193, Fig. 15. Prongs or fingers 182, 183 on the bell-crank levers are thus caused to bend the leading-in wires outwardly, Fig. 15 (not shown). The lever 165 is connected by links 162, 163 to cam-actuating mechanism, and by a horizontal link 201 to gear segments 206, 207 which operate the devices for bending the leading-in wires of a lamp tube at the other side of the turret.