Patent GB-480758-A (GB)
Title: Improvements for shaping and dividing wooden slats and the like
IPC: B27M3/28
Filed: 1936-08-29
Abstract: 480,758. Forming rods from wood slats. SMITH, M. Aug. 29, 1936, No. 23710. [Class 145 (i)] In a machine for forming pencils, penholders, dowels, skewers, and other rod-like parts from wood slats, of the type in which the slats are traversed past a rotary cutter which forms a series of grooves in them, and are positioned in relation , to the cutter by locating means, such means locate the strips by means of their longitudinal edges. Generally the slots are divided by grooves cut in each face in separate traverses past the cutter, the grooves extending half way through the slats and meeting one another. In the machine shown, slats 26 from which pencils are to be formed are carried from the bottom of a hopper by projections 42 ot epicyclic tooth form on a feed-chain 33, which pushes them one behind another into a top guide plate 24, Fig. 4, arranged above a rotary cutter 18. Each slat consists of two bevel-edged slats, provided with mating grooves for the pencil leads, and glued together. The plate 24 is of shallow inverted trough form, the side walls being inclined to engage the corresponding edges of the upper half of the slats, which are thus suspended in the guide plate. The cutter is formed with semicircular grooves to profile the underside of the slat with a number of semicircular ribs. After passing the cutter, the slats fall from the guide plate into a hopper 52, from which they are fed by a second feedchain 53 back to the cutter, beneath which they are guided by a lower guide plate 16, the upper face of which is profiled to mate with the profile which has been given by the cutter to the underside of the slats. During their passage beneath the cutter, the slats are profiled on their upper faces, and are thereby divided into rods which are discharged into a bin. The hopper for receiving the slats to be treated comprises four vertical angle-iron members, 31<1>, 31<11>, adjustable to and from each other in accordance with the width and length of the slats to be stacked between them. The hopper 52 is similarly adjustable for slats of different sizes. The feed-chain 33 is driven from a main shaft 41 through a combination of skew gear 36, chain drive, toothed reduction gears, and belt drive, together with a clutch which is operated by a handle 37<1> and yields in the case of a jam in the feed. The feed-chain 53 is similarly driven, and may be rendered inoperative by the clutch handle 54<1> until the hopper 25 is full. The base-plates 60, 61 of the hoppers, together with the chain sprockets and skew gears, are carried by blocks which are adjustable vertically by screws 56, 57 to accommodate slats of different thicknesses. The top and bottom guide plates 24, 16 are adjustable laterally by screws 27, 28, Fig. 4, and are replaceable by others of different size or form. The slats are pressed upwardly against the guide plate 24 by spring plates 43, 44, Fig. 5, the ends of which may be divided into fingers. The plates are mounted on shafts 45, 46 carrying fingers 48, 49 on which bear adjusting screws 50, 51 by which the pressure of the plates on the work may be varied. Similar plates 43<1>, 44' press the work against the lower guide plate 16, and form with the plates 43, 44 a chamber which prevents chips from flying out, and to which an extractor may be connected. The cutter 18 is belt-driven from a motor 23, and may be replaced by a cutter, such as that shown in Figs. 6, 7, for forming the lead-receiving grooves in the slats, and for shaping their edges, before they are glued together in pairs, the slats being fed below the cutter from the hopper 52. One arcuate blade 70 of the cutter forms the grooves, and the other 71 trims the edges. During this operation, the slats are carried on a guide bed which is substituted for the plate Ili and has an upstanding side to engage one edge of the slats, against which they are pressed by spring-biassed members engaging their opposite edges. The machine framework is mainly built up from circular section members clamped together by split brackets, as described in Specification 469,261.