Patent GB-1016442-A (GB)
Title: Automatic in-line transfer machine
Inventor: HUBBARD KENNETH GEORGE
IPC: B23Q7/14
Filed: 1962-06-05
Abstract: 1,016,442. Transfer machines. RENAULT MACHINE TOOLS (U.K.) Ltd. June 4, 1963 [June 5, 1962], No. 17368/62. Heading B3B. [Also in Division F2] An in-line transfer machine comprises a series of platens 11 movable in a cycle between machining slides 12 movable to-and-from the platens, the movements of the slides and platens being controlled by a common shaft. 26, Fig. 8 (not shown). Some of the slides 12, Fig. 3 (not shown), may carry vertically movable slides 14. The platens move to the left in Fig. 1 (not shown). At the end of their travel they are re-loaded (or merely unloaded) and transferred by an angularly-movable means to a lower return line where they are washed by coolant from nozzles 14, Fig. 4 (not shown). Swarf passes down channels 15 to a screw conveyer 18. Each platen 19, Fig. 5 (not shown), has a hardened plate at one end and studs 22 at the other, together with a driving stud 23. The common shaft 26, Fig. 8, is rotated through worm gearing 27, by a motor 31. The shaft 26 carries cams 33 to control clamping of the platens and bevel gears 34 to drive slide feedcams giving fast approach and return. A platenindexing cam 45, Fig. 9 (not shown), freely mounted on the shaft 26, is driven through chain gearing by a motor 46 to cause reciprocation of a slide 38 carrying a pinion 39 engaging a rack 42 on the slide and a rack 41 on a rod 37. Oscillation of the pinion 39 causes the rod 37 to move a pawl 35 and feed the platen 11 which is at the right-hand end of the machine The platen 11 moves the other platens in engagement with one another and they are each located by a series of vertically-movable plungers operated through levers on a shaft 51, Fig. 11, (not shown), by a roller 53 engaging a face cam on the cam 45. If the plungers meet any obstruction, a frictionally held nut 59 moves axially and operates a stopping switch. The platens are clamped by plungers 73, Fig. 15 (not shown), moved upwardly against springs 76 to clamp the flanges 25 of a platen 11. The upward movement is produced by the cams 33 acting through levers. The clamping and locating plungers are mounted in sets of two clamps and four locators, half of which act on one platen and half on the adjacent platen. The platens are moved from the upper run to the lower run by a claw 87, Fig. 18 (not shown), which is periodically rotated by 180 degrees. For this purpose, the claw carries a doubletoothed ring 99, each tooth being spaced by 180 degrees and being engageable by a recessed lever 92 rotating with the shaft 26 and carrying a roller 93 engaging a cam 96. When the roller 93 moves outwardly as allowed by the cam 96, the recess 94, Fig. 2 (not shown, engages a tooth on the claw and rotates it 180 degrees where it is released by the roller being moved inwardly again. Spring-pressed plungers frictionally engage the platen while in the claw. The claw may be retained in its stationary positions by plungers. The lowered platens are moved to the opposite end of the machine by a pneumatically - operated piston operating through pivoted fingers. Provision may be made for resiliently holding a slide against a dead stop during feed. Back-lash may be taken up by spring-loading. A slide may move in ball guides and have an upper slide fed by a screw 118, Fig. 24, the slide being removed by rotating a square nut 125 until it registers with an opening in a slide lug 119, thus allowing a slide to be replaced without disturbing the setting of the screw 118. The tool drives may be operated by switches actuated by the slide movements.