Improvements in Machines for Manufacturing Open or Reticulated Metal Work.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Feb., 1896-Accepted, 18th Apr., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Manufacturing Open or Reticulated
Metal Work.
I, JOHN FRENCH GOLDING, of No. 400 Twenty Sixth Street, Chicago, Illinois
United States of America, Engineer, 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 improvements in machines for the manufacture of
open or reticulated metal work of the kind described in the Specification of a
prior Patent No. 14146 granted to me on the 23rd July 1894. This material is
commonly known as expanded sheet metal or metallic trellis-work.
According to my present invention the improved machine is so constructed that
the meshes of the expanded sheet metal are produced by cutting a series or row of
slits, and, simultaneously with such cutting operation, opening the slits mainly by
stretching the strips or strands of metal in contiguity to the aforesaid slits; this
stretching being effected by forcing the strips or strands downward in a direction
approximately at right angles to the plane of the sheet.
It is an essential feature in my present machine that the meshes of the
expanded sheet metal are produced by stretching instead of by simply bending
the aforesaid strips or strands as heretofore.
In carrying my invention into practice I cut the series of slits in a straight
line parallel to the edge of the metal sheet by means of knives, one of which is
stationary and has a plain cutting edge, while the other is capable of vertical
reciprocation and has a cutting edge of sinuous form. The reciprocating knife
may be shifted laterally after each operation and the metal sheet at the same time
fed forward the proper distance to receive a fresh series of slits opposite the
portions unsevered at the previous operation; or the said sheet may itself be shifted
laterally instead of the knife.
In order that my invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into
effect I will proceed to describe the same more fully with reference to the
accompanying drawings.
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a metal sheet a portion of which has been
expanded or formed into trellis-work by my machine.
Figure 2 is a front elevation of the machine;
Figure 3 is a rear elevation thereof;
Figure 4 is a horizontal section of the machine taken on the line 1. 1. of
Figure 3;
Figure 5 is an end view of the machine as seen from the right of Figure 2;
Figure 6 is a transverse section taken on the line 2. 2. of Figure 3 and as seen
from the left; and
Figure 7 is a similar section but shews the parts in another position.
Figures 8, 9 and 10 illustrate details which will be hereinafter more fully
described.
Figures 5 to 10 are drawn on an enlarged scale in order that the parts may be
more clearly seen.
Referring first to Figure 1, a is a metal sheet from which the meshes a have
been produced by the improved machine. a² a² are the slits or incisions which
are cut in a straight line near the front edge of the metal sheet, and a³ ³ are
the strips or strands of metal as they appear after being stretched by the

page_text: pressure of the sinuous edge of the upper or reciprocating knife acting thereon
during its downward stroke. The act of stretching the series of strips or strands a
in this way produces a row of triangular meshes or semi-ineshes adjacent to the edge of
the metal sheet. After the formation of these semi-meshes the metal sheet is
shifted laterally for a distance equal to the space between the vertical lines a, a,
that is to say a distance equal to half a mesh. The metal sheet is then also fed
forward a distance equal to the width of the strips or strands a. The reciprocating
knife then again descends and produces a second row of semi-meshes immediately
above the row produced at the previous operation. A row of complete meshes of
lozenge shape, is thus formed. The metal sheet is then again shifted laterally but
in the opposite direction to its former lateral movement and is also again fed
forward. The metal sheet is then ready to be once more acted upon by the knives
in forming another row of semi-meshes above the previous row in the manner
already stated.
Referring now to Figures 2 to 10:
AA are end standards rigidly connected together near their lower ends by a
strong frame B the upper portion of which serves as a support to receive a
laterally reciprocating table C for the metal sheet or blank a. D is the plain
edged knife which is secured to the front portion of the frame B by screws D'.
E is the sinuous edged knife which is composed of a number of separate cutters
having spaces between them. These cutters are carried by a reciprocating head F
which receives a rectilinear up and down movement from eccentrics G G mounted
on a shaft G that is driven from a counter-shaft H by means of suitable toothed
wheels . 1 is a clutch which can be operated from a treadle i for throwing
the said shaft G into or out of gear with the aforesaid toothed wheels 2. g is a
toothed pinion which is keyed to one end of the shaft G and gears with a toothed
wheel mounted on a stud 2 projecting from the outer face of the end frame
of the machine. This wheel 'g' is provided with two eam-pieces gg which are
so ahaped that when the machine is working they give a lateral movement to the
before mentioned table C first in one direction and then in the other, with a pause
between each movement, by acting on a roller e carried by a pin projecting
upwardly from one end of the table. On the underside of the said table is a
fillet e' which works in a gooove in the frame B and guides the table during its
movements. The surface of the table is provided with a series of transverse
bars cupon which the underside of the metal sheet a rests, and the two outer-
most of these bars are formed with grooves c³ into which the end edges of the
sheet enter and by which the said sheet is guided as it is fed from rear to front of
the machine.
The feeding of the sheet is effected by a frame or flap J which is pivotally
connected at J to the end stardards A of the machine and is provided with a
roller J at each end. These rollers are so situated that they can be acted upon
by inclines J³ formed on brackets J₁ bolted to the underside of the head F. As
this head descends to bring its knives E onto the metal sheet the aforesaid
inclines J come against the rollers J and by acting thereon cause the frame J to
turn inwardly about its pivots, and its upper edge to enter recesses formed therefor
in the stationary knife D (see Figure 6). J are springs which act to return the
frame to its outward position when the head F and its inclines J rise. The said
frame thus receives an oscillatory movement during the rise and fall of the head F,
and each time it performs a forward stroke it presses against the meshes a' of the
expanded sheet metal in front of it and thereby causes the sheet to advance a
certain distance ready to be acted upon at the next down stroke of the upper
knives E.
In order to limit the extent of this forward stroke of the said frame and thereby
regulate the feeding of the metal sheet through the machine, I provide a rocking
shaft K which is furnished at one end with a lever K¹ whose outer end is pivotally
connected to a movable bar K2 having a series of notches K³ in its lower edge
(Figure 8). This notched bar K is situated within easy reach of the machine

page_text: attendant so that he can shift the said bar in either direction and retain it in such
shifted position by bringing one or other of its notches into engagement with the
bracket K' in which the said bar slides. Secured to the aforesaid rocking shaft K
by set-screws are sleeves k₁ having lugs to which are pivotally connected
arms k³, having bent outer ends or fingers k which normally lie in a stationary
position in advance of the front edge of the metal sheet a. These fingers serve to
limit the extent to which the said sheet can move forward when acted upon by the
before mentioned frame J. By shifting the notched bar K2 the rocking shaft K
and, therefore the arms k³ can likewise be shifted to bring the aforesaid fingers k
nearer to or further from the edge of the metal sheet under operation.. For the
purpose of effecting a fine adjustment of the position of the said fingers relatively
to the front edge of the metal sheet, the rocking shaft K is formed with inclined
recesses into which the inner ends of the set-screws & enter and bear upon the
metal portion k existing between the bottoms of these recesses (see Figure 8).
The said sleeves are also formed with segmental slots for the reception of
feathers A on the rocking shaft. By turning the set-screws in one or other direction
the position of the aforesaid fingers on the arms k³ can be adjusted independently
of the rocking shaft K.
The means herein before described for controlling the feed of the metal sheet also
enable any required width of the expanded metal to be severed from the said sheet.
This is effected by merely drawing the notched bar K2 outward a sufficient distance
to cause the fingers k to move inwardly and restore the metal sheet to the position
it occupied prior to its preceding feeding movement. This retraction of the metal
sheet does not however interfere with its lateral movement, consequently when the
upper knives E next descend they act upon the metal existing between and in
alignment with the previous line of incisions, thereby completely severing the
expanded metal from the sheet a. The notched bar K2 is then returned to its
original position and the machine will continue working as before.
Mounted loosely on the beforementioned rocking shaft K so as not to turn there-
with, is an arm L which is situated approximately midway between the sleeves kl.
The free end of this arm rests by its own weight upon the metal sheet that is being
operated upon in the machine. Situated above the said arm L is a rocking shaft M
having thereon levers or lugs M' and M', which project in opposite directions.
The lugs M' are pivotally connected by links m' to the aforesaid arms and the
lug M2 is pivotally connected to the arm L by links m2 (see Figures 4 and 8). So
long as the free end of the arm L rests upon the metal sheet passing through the
machine, the parts just above mentioned remain in the position represented by the
full lines in Figure 8, but when the rear edge of the metal sheet has advanced far
enough forward to escape from beneath the free end of the said arm L, the latter
is no longer supported by the metal sheet, and therefore falls by the action of
gravity into the position indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 8. Simultaneously
with the fall of the arm L, the arms are raised by the partial rotation of the
shaft M and the resulting movement of the lugs M1 M² in opposite directions.
The fingers k' on the arms k are thus raised out of the path of the metal sheet and
no longer act to retard its forward movement. The metal sheet is therefore
liberated and is free to be ejected from the machine when the frame J next
performs its forward stroke. The arm L is preferably made in two pieces which
are connected together by bolts I passing through slots 1, so that the length of the
arm can be varied. In this manner I can readily regulate the periods at which
the expanded sheet is ejected from the machine and consequently the width of the
plain marginal portion a (Figure 8) with which the expanded sheet metal is
sometimes provided.
For the purpose of firmly holding the metal sheet whilst the knives are acting
thereon, I employ a presser-bar N (Figures 6 and 7) which is situated at the back
of the head F and works in guideways formed in the end standards A of
the machine. This presser-bar is formed with apertures n' in its lower edge to

page_text: permit of free upward movement of the fingers when the arms are raised or
shifted as herein before stated. The said presser-bar is also formed with vertical
slots n² at intervals for the reception of lugs or projections n³ standing out from
the back of the head F. These slots and lugs are so situated relatively to each
other that as the head F ascends, and just before completing its upward movement,
the lugs come against the upper ends of the slots and thereby lift the said
presser-bar N out of contact with the metal sheet so as not to impede the forward
and lateral movements of the latter at the required times. When the head F
again descends the presser-bar comes into contact with the metal sheet before the
knives E reach it and therefore the said presser-bar holds it firmly against
the lower knife D ready to receive the cutting and stretching operation.
presser-bar remains in this position until again lifted by the lugs n³ after they
reach the upper ends of the slots n² at the next ascent of the head F. A com-
paratively long pause in the movement of the presser-bar thus takes place so that
the metal sheet is firmly held during the whole time that it is being acted upon by
the knives and until the cutting edges of the upper knives have ascended beyond the
upper surface of the metal sheet.
The
To enable the upper knives E to be readily adjusted in the head F and to permit
of their being conveniently detached therefrom and replaced by others I connect
them to the said head F in the manner shewn at Figures 9 and 10. Each of the
knives E is bolted to a block E2 by means of two bolts E3 and the said
blocks E2 are formed with slots E through which vertical screws Es pass, for
retaining the said blocks to the head F. These slots enable the knives to be
shifted in a horizoutal direction towards or away from the lower knife D. The
underside of the head F has a flange F1 carrying horizontal adjusting screws E
whose inner ends bear upon the aforesaid blocks E. By loosening the screws E³
and turning the screws E, the cutting edges of the knives E can be caused to
approach nearer to or further from the edge of the stationary knife D. Moreover
the aforesaid knives E can if desired be readily detached from the head F and be
replaced by others of a different size for producing meshes of larger or smaller
dimensions.
One or other of the hereinbefore mentioned grooves c³ in the outermost bars e
of the table C may be provided with a spring which is adapted to bear with some
force against one edge of the metal sheet and hold it tightly in position when the
said sheet is inserted into the grooves. By this means I am able to conveniently
compensate for sheets of slightly varying dimensions, whereas without the above
compensating device it would be necessary to trim the edges of the sheets or
otherwise treat them in order that the sheets should rest properly on the table C,
otherwise unsatisfactory results would be obtained when producing expanded
metal having small meshes.
The working of the machine is as follows:-The metal sheet a is adjusted in the
machine by the attendant who, for this purpose stands at the back of the machine
and places the end edges of the sheet in the grooves c in the table C. He then
pushes forward the sheet as far as it will go, that is to say until its front edge
comes against the fingers 4, these fingers having assumed their lowered position
during the advance of the sheet owing to its front edge coming against and raising
the arm L.
At this time the head F and its knives E are in their fully raised position, as
also is the presser-bar N; and the frame J is in its forward position.
The machine is now set in motion by actuating the treadle . The head F and
presser-bar N then descend together until the said presser-bar, which projects
somewhat beyond the knives, bears upon the metal sheet a. The presser-bar now
remains stationary whilst the head F continues to descend, the lugs n³ and slots n²
permitting of this movement. As the head F descends its inclines J act upon the
rollers J2 of the frame J thereby causing the latter to move inwardly (Figure 7)
and the upper end of the apron to be housed in the recesses in the lower knife D.

page_text: "The knives then simultaneously form the series of slits or incisions in the sheet a
and stretch the strands of metal a' (Figure 1) as already described, the lowest part
of the stretched strands now lying in front of the frame J. The head F next
commences to rise and as soon as it ascends high enough to bring its lugs n³
against the upper ends of the slots n, it also lifts the presser-bar N. "The
inclines J3 are also at this time removed from the rollers J and, were it not for
the fact that the fingers are still in front of the metal a" (Figure 1) connecting
the meshes a¹ to the sheet a the latter would be fed forward by the outward stroke
of the frame J acting under the influence of its springs J. It is now however
that the cam piece 93 on the wheel à arrives in contiguity to the roller c on the
table C and, by acting upon the said roller, shifts the table laterally for such a
distance that the new slits which will be made at the next descent of the knives E
will be formed, opposite the portions of metal ax that were unsevered at the
previous operation. The table C in performing its lateral movement and shifting
the metal sheet in the above manner, removes the portion of metal a* connecting
the meshes to the sheet, so that the fingers lie opposite the space in the meshes.
These fingers therefore now no longer offer any impediment to the feeding forward
of the metal sheet and consequently the frame J rocks forward about its pivots
under the action of its springs and feeds the metal sheet forward against the
fingers. The extent of this movement is equal to the width of the strand that
has been previously cut and stretched. The head F and its knives E, together
with the presser-bar N, then again descend and the metal is once more slit and
stretched in the manner already described. After this the head F re-ascends and
the table C is shifted laterally in the opposite direction to its former movement,
by the cam piece g acting on the opposite side of the roller c. The sheet is then
aguin fed forward by the frame J as already explained and is ready for a fresh
slitting and stretching operation to he performed. These operations continue
until the rear edge of the sheet or blank passes beyond the free end of the arm L.
This arm then descends and raises the fingers as hereinbefore described, so that
the complete expanded sheet is delivered from the machine by the increased
forward stroke of the frame J as the latter is turned outwardly by its springs.
A fresh sheet is then inserted in place on the table C and the machine performs
a similar cycle of operatious as before.
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 :-
1. In a machine for producing expanded sheet metal, a feeding device which
acts upon the expanded portion of the sheet and carries the latter forward after
each cutting operation substantially as described.
2. In a machine for producing expanded sheet metal, a feeding device consisting
of a hinged or pivoted spring-controlled frame and inclines carried by the
reciprocating head of the machine, the said inclines acting upon the binged or
pivoted frame substantially as described and for the purposes specified.
3. In a machine for producing expanded sheet metal, a device for regulating
the feed and for enabling any desired width of the expanded metal to be severed
from the metal sheet, substantially as described.
4. The combination with the aforesaid feed regulating device of the means for
regulating the position of the fingers, substantially as described.
5. In a machine for producing expanded sheet metal, the means for enabling the
expanded sheet to be automatically delivered from the machine, substantially as
described.
6. In a machine for producing expanded sheet metal, a movable table by which
the metal sheet is shifted laterally hest in oue direction and then in the opposite
direction at each upstroke of the knives substantially as described and for the
purposes specified.
7. A machine for producing expanded sheet metal, having its parts constructed

page_text: arranged and combined to operate substantially as described with reference to the
accompanying drawings.
Dated this 18th day of February 1896.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.