Patent GB-190512338-A (GB)
Title: An Improved Can-body Forming Machine.
Inventor: GARDNER GEORGE
Filed: 1905-06-14
Granted: 1906-06-14
Abstract: 12,338. Gardner, G. June 14. Making cans. - Sheet-metal blanks for can bodies are bent up at their edges and round a mandrel, the edges are engaged and the seam is pressed, and the can body is passed through fluxing, soldering, sweating, and finishing apparatus. A blank cut to size is fed under guide-plates 3, 4, 5, Fig. 2, to the edge-bending apparatus 6, Fig. 4, by a slide having spring dogs which feed the blank step by step from one apparatus to another at each reciprocation. The edges of the plate are clamped at 22, Fig. 8, and the ends are bent down by bars 51 mounted on levers 37, and are closed against bevelled edges on the clamps by the bars engaging notches in links 49. The lower clamps are hinged to the frame and are supported by a bar 25 connected to a reciprocating slide 27, so that When the bar is lowered to release the blank the clamps fall slightly inward and complete the release. Springs 130 take the weight of the slide and connected parts when in the lowered position. At the next step, the blank is passed on to a mandrel 55 bolted to the slide 27, is clamped against an anvil 59, Fig. 12, and is bent to shape by levers 60. The levers 60 are timed so that one closes before the other to cause the ends of the blank to overlap, and on the return of the levers the mandrel expands and causes the edges to be hooked together ready for closing into the groove 76 by the tool 75. The central section 66 of the mandrel contains a rock-shaft having a mutilated pinion 73 and a double-cam end engaging studs on the outer sections 67 pivoted at 68. The tool 75 and a rack to engage the pinion 73 are mounted on a reciprocating slide 17, and a coiled spring returns the rockshaft till the pinion teeth engage a stop 132. The. sections 67 collapse by their own weight. Ejectorrods 77 attached to the feed-slide'work in grooves in the mandrel, and when the latter is lowered at the completion of the seam they contact with the edge of the can and deliver it to the detachable soldering-apparatus or eject it whena soldered seam is not required. Fig. 18 shows a plan of the soldering-apparatus, the work-support, which extends the whole length, being removed. The support comprises four angle-irons connected at intervals by distance-pieces. At the end adjoining the bending-apparatus, vertical ribs 82, Fig. 21, secured to the angle-irons slide in grooves formed in a connecting-piece 84 bolted to the mandrel 55. The support is thus prevented from rotational and end movement, and is not affected by the rise and fall of the mandrel. Spring dogs 97 on reciprocating feed-bars advance the bodies step by step in conjunction with similar dogs on the distance-pieces of the work-support, which prevent retrograde movement. Flux is applied by a feltcovered roller 95, frictionally driven by the can body and resting on a roller mounted in spring- borne links in a bath beneath. Solder is applied by a number of hollow metal rollers 106 buoyed against the seam by a bath of molten solder. The seam then passes along a gas-heated bar 110 which thoroughly sweats the solder into the joint, and above a brush 113 driven by a pulley 114 to remove superfluous solder. Finally the finished bodies are ejected from the machine. The work-support is mounted at each end of a pair of inclined rollers 85. The various reciprocating movements are derived from a crank-shaft 18, Figs. 2 and 4, by links and box-cams. All the working parts of the machine are made adjustable to enable can bodies of various sizes to be produced. The recessed boss 118 of the driving-pulley 103, Figs. 1 and 2, is provided with a lug 117 to engage a spring pin 115 seated in a recess in a collar 116 on the shaft. A two-armed lever pivoted at 119 and provided with a toe-clip 122 can be moved to depress the pin and free the pulley. In so doing, the lever has moved over an inclined stop 123 on a spring-controlled treadle 124, which then rises to prevent accidental re-engagement of the clutch.