Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Nov., 1888
Specification Accepted 8th Jan., 1889
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement :-
This invention relates to Spacing Machines and consists in certain improvements in
the construction and operation thereof, as will be hereinafter fully set forth and
pointed out in the claims.
The invention hereinafter described may be applied to many types of Spacing
Machines.
The machine here illustrated is intended for use in boiler shops and like places, as
a plate carriage or feed table, for a punching machine.
The object of the application of my invention to such a machine is to so feed a plate
of iron to the punching machine that any given number of holes may be made in any
given distance, and all the holes be the same distance apart, without any previous
spacing or marking of the plate.
The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention, the punching machine not
being shown.
Figure 1, is a side elevation.
Figure 2, is a plan or top view.
Figure 3, is a transverse section on the lines, a, a, in Figures 1 and 2.
Figure 4, is a section view taken on the lines,, in Figure 2.
Figure 5, is a section on the line Y: Y, in Figure 4; and
Figure 6, is an elevation of the operating gearing at the left of Figures 1 and 2.
A, is the bed frame; B, is the carriage; a, a, a, are rollers on which the carriage
moves; b, b, are tracks of the carriage which run upon the rollers, a; B', is that
part of the carriage on which are placed parts of the adjusting devices, and which is
not occupied by the plate to be punched; c, is a screw by which the carriage is
moved; A, and, A2, indicate that part of the frame-work which supports the pro-
pelling screw c³, c, c³, are the gearing for operating the screw; E, is the nut on the
screw, c;-D, is a radius bar carrying the nut, E.

page_text: Other letters of reference will be referred to in place in the description.
As my invention relates only to the feeding mechanism, and as the construction of
the carriage may be greatly varied and is entirely immaterial, no description hereof
will be given.
The propelling screw, c, is set at an angle to the traverse of the carriage and it
is adapted to be revolved by the gearing, c, c³, c³, of which the gears, c', and, c², are
made interchangeable with others of varying size, so that the amount of movement
of the screw from one revolution of the hand wheel, 3, may be varied at will. In
fact, several sets of gears, c', c², will be provided with each machine, as is common
in the feed mechanism of many kinds of machines.
On the hand wheel, e³, there is a stop-pin, 5, and on the frame work, A¹, there is
a stop lever, e, the operator can turn the hand wheel one or more revolutions and
stop it by the stop lever always at the same place.
The nut, E, is swiveled in a block, E', which is adapted to slide in a way in the
radius bar, D.
The radius bar, D, is pivoted at, d, and at its free end it has a clamping device con-
sisting of the hand nut, d', and screw, de, by which it can be clamped to the table, 11,
at any point. The screw, 2, is the stem of a yoke, ³, which embraces a nut, d³,
which is on a screw, d, which has an operating hand wheel, d.
By turning the
screw, d, the clamp, d', da, being loosened, the radius bar, D, can be moved to any
point in its arc of movement desired. On the bar, D, there is a pointer, I, and on the
table, B¹, there is a graduated scale, 1. By this device the operator can set the radius
bar at any determined angle to the screw, c.
The screw, c, being at an oblique angle to the traverse of the carriage, the block, E',
carrying the nut, will move along the radius bar, D, as the nut moves along the
screw, c.
It will be seen that when the radius bar is adjusted at a certain angle to the
screw, c, as for instance, at the point, 1, a revolution of the screw will move the
carriage farther than when the bar, D, is adjusted at any other point, and that when
adjusted at the point, 2, the travel will be considerably lessened.
The object of this movable radius bar, D, and the means for its adjustment is to
provide for such minute divisions as can not be effected by changing the gears, c', e²,
and also to avoid the necessity of having so many different sets of these gears, as
would be required if they alone were depended upon to change the feed of the
screw,
C.
As now built by me the index of the machine will read for a variation of co of
the distance traversed by the table, and if necessary could, by means of finer divisions,
be increased to 1000 of the distance so that in spacing a plate of ordinary length,
say twenty feet, the index selected for the work to be done would not not vary from
absolutely perfect pitch more than one half of this, or 20 feet divided by 24,000, which
would equal 01 of an inch total variation between extreme holes.
As a matter of practice, however, it is perfectly practicable to use such total lengths
of plate as will give a perfect multiple of a predetermined pitch.
To facilitate the work a chart exhibiting in decimals the correct pitch obtained by
each gear at each sub-division of the index accompanies each machine, and the
operator knowing the distance between his extreme holes and the number of holes, by
simple division, ascertains the pitch required, and by reference to this chart sees at a
glance the gears and index number which will give him that pitch, or one so closely
approximate thereto that the variation, as explained above, is practically of no account
in actual work of boiler making. The plate being held firmly to the table, the spacing
must be accurate, far more so than if the sheet were spaced off by dividers, then
prick-punched, and the heavy sheet guided by hand under the punch while the
operators sight the punch to the prick marks.
The operation of my device is as follows:-
The operator has upon the bed, or carriage, B, a plate to be punched, having a
given distance between the first and last holes, and he desires to punch a given
number of holes between the first and last holes and have all the holes evenly spaced.

page_text: He selects and puts on a set of gears, c', c", which will give to the screw such a move-
ment that one, two or more revolutions of the hand wheel, e³, will, with the bar, D,
at the point, 1, which I call the normal point, give to the carriage a movement nearest
approximating the length of space required between the holes. He then sets the
bar, D, so as to give the exact movement desired. This being determined, one hole is
punched in the starting corner at the proper distance from the end of the sheet, the
hand wheel is brought to its starting point and the sheet clamped down. The
punching is then done, one operator controlling the action of the punch, the other
turning the hand-wheel one or more complete revolutions to the starting and stopping
point where it is detained by the spring lever, c, during the periods that the punch is
passing through the plate.
It will be noted that the operation of this table and spacing mechanism is operative
equally well in either direction; that a plate may be punched starting from either
end, and the necessity of returning the carriage to a definite starting point in its travel
is obviated.
This is of special service in punching for double lines of riveting. The plate may
be punched with one row of holes, then moved so that the punch starts correctly for
the second row of holes, and then by turning the wheel, c³, backwards it will run in
the reverse direction and punch the second row of holes.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1st. In a spacing machine the combination substantially as set forth, of a movable.
carriage, a screw for moving said carriage which lies diagonal to the track of said
carriage, an adjustable radius bar carrying a sliding block, and a nut on said screw
which is pivoted to said sliding block.
2nd. In a spacing machine, the combination substantially as set forth, of a movable
carriage, a screw for moving said carriage, which lies diagonal to the track of said
carriage, a radius bar, D, on said carriage pivoted at, d, and provided at its free end
with means for adjusting the same at varying angles to the said screw, and a nut, E,
on said screw which is swiveled to a block, E', which slides upon said bar, D.
3rd. In a spacing,machine, the combination substantially as set forth, of a movable
carriage, a screw for moving said carriage, which lies diagonal to the track of said
carriage, a hand wheel and gearing for operating said screw, an adjustable radius bar
on said carriage which lies transverse to the said screw, a screw for adjusting said
radius bar, an index and scale for regulating the adjustment of said bar, a block
sliding lengthwise of said bar, and a nut on said carriage actuating screw, which
is swiveled in said sliding block.