Patent GB-176895-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to machines for grading sheet stock
IPC: A43D1/08
Filed: 1920-12-15
Abstract: 176,895. British United Shoe Machinery Co., Ltd., (Lacene Manufacturing Co.). Dec. 15, 1920. Splitting leather &c.-Relates to machines of the type described in Specification 17808/09 for grading sheet stock, such as boot sole blanks, and comprises modifications of the work guides, of the work-feeling roller mechanism, of the mechanism for opening and closing the gate which controls the presentation of work to the feeling mechanism, and of the means for operating the working mechanism. The invention is described with reference to a grading and marking machine but is applicable also to machines with evening means, or with an indicator only. The work guides 12, Fig. 2, are pivoted to blocks 139 adjustable by a right and left handed screw 141, and are formed with arms 143 held by springs 145 against adjustable eccentrics 147 which limit the inward movement of the guides 12. Stops 153 limit the outward movement of the guides. By suitable adjustment one guide may be locked while the other remains free to yield. A face plate or block may be secured to either of the guides 12 so as to alter the relative position of its guiding face. The lower feeling roller 3, Fig. 4, is centrally hollowed at 103 and formed with ribs having flattened summits 105. The bearings of the roll 3 are fixed to a yoke 107 yieldingly upheld by levers 109 the lower arms of which are connected by an adjustable spring 111. Adjustable stops 113 determine the normal position of the lower roll. The yoke 107 is connected by bolts 117 and washers 119 to the primary lever 121 of the usual grading mechanism, contact being maintained by a spring 123. The gate 10, Figs. 1 and 3, is formed with a central depending portion 11 and is operated independently of the feeler rolls or of the rolls of the splitting mechanism, by means engaged by the work piece between the feeling and the marking mechanism. The gate is normally held open by means of a link 21 connected, by a pin 25 engaging a slot 23, to a lever 24 pivoted at 26 and carrying, at the end remote from the gate, a roller 30 engaged by an arm 32 secured on a rock shaft 33. The ,shaft 33 carries also an arm 34 to which is adjustably secured a shoe 44 having curved feet 45 straddling the usual presser 40 and extending into a recess 20 in the bed of the machine. Contact of the work piece with the shoe 44 raises the arm 34, rocks the shaft 33 and arm 32, and allows the lever 24 to rock so as to allow the gate 10 to drop by gravity on to the surface of the sole blank, as usual in machines of the type this raising of the shoe 44 is communicated also to a pawl 54, Fig. 1, to cause this to prevent clockwise rotation of a wheel 50 so that only increasing degrees of thinness are transmitted to the marking wheel 55, and final closing of the gate when it drops off the rear end of the advancing sole blank locks the wheel 50 and marker 55 against movement in either direction until after the blank has been marked. The gate is opened by the lever 24 when a second shoe 60, also mounted on the arm 34, drops off the end of the sole blank. The shoe 60 may be adjusted along the arm 34 so that the gate is opened immediately the marking operation is complete but before the blank has left the machine. The operation of the marking wheel 55 after it has been set by the feeler rolls is controlled by depression of the upturned ends 87 of levers 85 by the leading edge of the advancing sole blank. Movement of the levers 85 is transmitted through a short arm 83, Fig. 1, pivoted member 74, latch 76 on a lever 75, and wedge 97 to allow a pin 66 to move and the usual clutch to close. As a result a train of gear wheels 92, 94, 95, 92* is set in operation to allow the marking wheel slide 70 to fall under the influence of the spring 71, and then to raise the marker and cause a pin 96 to rock a lever 97* to operate the latch 76 and allow the clutch to open. The use of interchangeable or telescopic members 85 permits variation of the position on the sole blank at which the grade mark is stamped. An indicating-pointer 133 working over a curved scale 135 is interconnected with the mechanism for setting the marking-wheel and serves to indicate the grade of the sole blank when the stamping mechanism is rendered inactive. The construction described may form part of a machine as described in Specification 17808/09 so that the work may be both marked and split (evened). When both operations are to be performed the link 21 and arm 24 are disconnected and the opening of the gate is controlled in the usual manner by the exit of the work from the knife rolls. To allow the gate to close the usual rod 126 may be moved laterally out of engagement with the arm 128 by means of a lever 10*, Fig. 1, pivoted on the frame of the machine and formed, at the end remote from the rod 126, with a lug 234 resting on the upper surface of an arm 233 on the shaft 33 which controls the pawl 54. When marking only is to be done the link 21 and arm 24 are connected and the arm 128, the splitting knife, and the wedges on the rack bar 129, which control the splitting operation, are removed.