Patent GB-544010-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to machines adapted for folding margins of leather or like material
IPC: A43D8/40
Filed: 1940-09-21
Abstract: 544,010. Folding edges of sheet material. BRITISH UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CO., Ltd. (United Shoe Machinery Corporation). Sept. 21, 1940, No. 14427. [Class 42 (i)] In a machine for folding the margins of leather or like material 'having means for feeding the workpiece over a work-supporting surface part a folding finger that co-operates with a creaser foot, the creaser foot is mounted for movement away from the work-supporting surface about a pivot angularly disposed to the line in which the work is fed; it can be mounted for movement away from the work-supporting surface in a path that is substantially parallel to that in which the folding finger moves, or by a ribbed guide for adjustment in a direction parallel to the work-supporting surface in the line in which the work is fed. The position assumed by the feeding means at the beginning of the feeding movement may be adjustable to vary the path in which the work is fed and the hammer may be operated through a yielding device which may be adjusted from the exterior of the machine. As shown, the creaser foot 32, Fig. 1, is carried by a dovetail slide 206 vertically slidable in a carrier 208 and urged downwards by a spring 222 arranged in a bore in the upper end of the slide and controlled by a screw 220 threaded into a bracket 214 secured to the carrier which is adjustable on an arm 240, Fig. 6, in the direction in which the work is fed and is fixed in its adjusted position by a screw 244; the arm 240 extends within a hanger 204 depending from the portion 200 of the machine cover 20 and is pivoted therein, on a line located at an angle to the direction in which the work is fed by conical screws 248, the hanger, and consequently the creaser foot being adjustable transversely to this direction by screws 205 engaging slots 207 in the cover portion 200. A lug 250 projecting from the pivoted part of the arm 240 is engaged by a spring-pressed plunger 252 mounted in the hanger and controlled by a screw 254, the plunger moving the arm and creaser foot towards the work-supporting surface 18 and such movement being limited by a screw 260 adjustable in the arm and engaging the under surface of the hanger; the creaser foot may be moved away from the surface 18, to facilitate the introduction of a workpiece, by pressure on a thumbpiece 262 extending from the arm 240, such upward movement being limited by an adjustable bush 256 engaging the end of the plunger and by reason of the foot being mounted on an inclined axis it moves in a plane parallel to the adjacent face of the hammer and does not foul it. The creaser foot carrier 208 may be mounted in an inclined position on the arm 204 so that the foot moves in a direction parallel to the movement of the folding finger. The folding finger 30 is carried by a slide 63 movable in guides 64 and reciprocated from a crank 76 on the main driving shaft 42 through an oscillating member 70, 74, arm 68 and link 66. The anvil 38 is carried by a bent arm 82 adjustably clamped to a hollow shaft 80 and having a bifurcated portion on which is journalled a shaft 90 carrying an arm 96 upon which the hammer 36 is mounted so that, as the shaft 80 is oscillated through toggle connections 164, 166 from an eccentric 152 on the shaft 42, the hammer and anvil are moved together along the line of feed and the hammer is moved into engagement with the folded margin of the work on the anvil by connections from a shaft 102 disposed on the shaft 80 and reciprocated in timed relationship with the folding finger from an eccentric on the shaft 42. The arm 164 of the toggle connection is connected to a shaft 174 which may be rotated to vary the shape of the toggle and so the extent of oscillation of the shaft 80, thus also varying the extent of the feeding movement of the hammer and anvil; the shaft 174 is connected to a treadle and the movement of the shaft is limited by adjustable stops. The end of the shaft 102 is connected to a pin 100 in a lug 94 rotatably mounted on the shaft 90 while a projection 104 on the lug is connected by screws 106, 116 and a spring 110 to a block 114 fixed to the shaft 90 so that the hammer is actuated through, and is cushioned by, the spring 110; the cushioning of the hammer is adjusted by the screw 106 and the proximity with which the hammer approaches the anvil is determined and adjusted in accordance with the thickness of the material being folded, by a screw 120 threaded in the block 114 and engaging a stop 122 on the lug 94 and the path in which the work is fed by the hammer and anvil and the point at which the work is gripped thereby relatively to the folding finger is varied by adjusting the arm 82 on the shaft 80. The hammer and anvil are cushioned in their reciprocating movements by a spring-pressed plunger engaging a flat on the lower end of the arm 82. The margin of the material is turned up by a block 24 having a rising surface 26, the extent of the turning being regulated by a guide finger 28 which is adjustably mounted on a stud 272 by a screw 270 and normally held down on to the upper surface of the lower portion of the creaser foot by a spring; the finger is raised, when the work is to be introduced, by a thumb piece 282. The margin of the work may be snipped, when a sharp incurved portion is to be folded, by a knife 40 adjustably mounted in the lower end of a lever 300 pivoted in the hanger 204 and connected by a reciprocable rod 314, adjustable by a turnbuckle 322 and pivoted to a lever 336 pivoted on a shaft 338 and having spaced arms 340 carrying a pivoted latch pressed by a spring to enter the space between a pair of spaced lugs extending laterally from an arm 348 journalled on a stud and oscillated thereon from an eccentric on the shaft 42 so that the lever 336 is oscillated to actuate the snipping knife. The latch is disposed above a pivoted lever 360 which is forced bv a spring-pressed plunger 368 against a stop 370 to move the latch out of engagement with the spaced lugs on the arm 348 until the snipping knife is to be actuated when the lever is moved out of engagement with the latch by a rod 372 connected to a treadle. The rod 314 is controlled by a spring 332 to hold 'the knife in its uppermost position. The mechanisms for actuating the shafts 80. 102 are enclosed between the base 12 of the machine, the cover 20 and a partition 320, the casing so formed being filled with oil to lubricate the parts; the rod 314 passes through a seal 324 in the partition 320 to prevent escape of oil from the casing, any oil that may escape draining back through a hole 328. All the adjusting means are located so as to be accessible from the exterior of the casing. Specifications 208,217 and 208,498, [both in Class 42 (i)], are referred to.