Improvements in Apparatus for Separating the Sheets of Metal Packs.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Apr., 1896-Accepted, 25th July. 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Separating the Sheets of
Metal Packs.
I. FRANK MCCARTY, of Martins Ferry, in the County of Belmont, and State
of Ohio, United States of America, Blacksmith, 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 :-
In the manufacture of sheet metal packs after the several sheets have been heated,
rolled, reheated, bent upon themselves and sheared or cut up into the proper
lengths and widths, the several sheets are separated by hand, such separating
operation being usually effected by first bending one edge of the laminated pack
over to cause a partial separation of the sheets sufficient to enable the operator to
pull the several sheets apart.
This operation is very slow, expensive and under certain conditions of the pack
very unsatisfactory and wasteful, inasmuch as very often the several sheets forming
the pack at certain points owing either to a poor quality or grade of metal, or an
incomplete or too much heating action when in the furnace are so pressed or stuck
together that it is impossible to pull them apart by hand, and in some instances
when such defective sheets are separated they have their faces roughened or
scaled or broken to such an extent as to render then of a very poor quality and
frequently useless.
In the manufacture of such tin or sheet iron plates the said plates after being
separated are also treated to a pickling process or bath, to remove the scales.
The main object is to provide an apparatus whereby the said sheets can be
quickly and positively separated in a uniform manner, irrespective of the condition
of irregular adhesiveness of the sheets, and with the bulk of the scales removed, so
as to reduce the cost of separating and cleaning the sheets or plates to a minimum
and make it possible to do mechanically and in a greatly reduced amount of time
practically without waste what is now accomplished slowly with great waste and
cost by hand.
My invention also has for its object to provide an apparatus of a simple and
inexpensive but powerful construction to which the laminated pack is fed in the
condition it leaves the last heating operation and after being cut to size and from
which the said pack will be discharged with the laminæ completely separated and
with the maximum amount of scale removed, so as to require but a very little
pickling treatment.
With other minor objects in view which will hereinafter fully appear iny
invention consists in the apparatus hereinafter first described in detail and then
specifically pointed out in the claims, reference being had to the accompanying
drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a side elevation of my apparatus or machine for separating the sheets
composing the laminated pack.
Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section thereof. Figure 3 is a top plan view
of the same.
and
Figures 4 and 5 are diagrammatic views hereinafter specifically referred to.
Figure 6 is a view of the pack before it is separated by my improved apparatus,
Figure 7 shows the sheets which formed such pack separated.
The apparatus I employ to separate the said laminated packs involves

page_text: practically two operations: 1st, the corrugations or bending the pack transversely,
and at the same time subjecting the upper ani lower faces to a drawing or pulling
action in opposite directions that is, drawing on the upper face in an upward
direction and upon the lower face in a downward direction so as to impart as it
were a longitudinal pulling action in reverse directions, which will cause the
several sheets to separate; the other operation being to subject the pack after it
has been thus treated and corrugated to a sufficient pressure to bring the plates or
sheets back to their normal o. flat condition but not stuck or adhering.
While the above operations may be accomplished in various mechanical ways
I prefer to employ an apparatus such as shown in the accompanying drawings
which shall now proceed to describe in detail it being understood that while my
apparatus is more especially used for separating laminated packs for tin plate the
same construction but of greater strength and size can be used for separating heavy
sheet iron packs.
In the necompanying drawings A indicates a main frame having at one end a
receiving table or platform B; at the inner end of this table is disposed a pair of
rollers Cene above the other which have longitudinal corrugations C2 C2
which are held to intermesh as clearly shown, the upper roller having a limited
adjustment by means of the adjustable boxing D and adjusting screw D. While
I have found that the best results are attained by corrugating the rollers CC' in
the manner shown, such roller may be provided with irregular longitudinal
protuberances or depressions and still serve to separate the pack sheets in the
manner hereinafter referred to. The lower roller C has at one end a cog-wheel E
which meshes with a drive cog F on the drive shaft G provided at one end with a
band wheel G' as most clearly shown in Fig. 2.
At the discharge end of the machine is journaled a pair of smooth compression
or straightening rolls J J one above the other, which are of a diameter equal to
that of the major diameter of the rollers CC said diameter passing through
diametrically opposite ribs of said rollers, that is, the axes of the rollers C and J
and C and J are in the same plane and the diameters of the said rollers CC₁
and JJ such, that their meeting or engaging faces will be in a horizontal plane
in line with the feed table B as is clearly shown in Fig. 2.
The roller also has a limited adjustment the same as roller C by means of a
box D and screw D¹ and to cause the rollers J and J to revolve at a uniform speed
and at a speed equal that of the rollers CC thereby to provide for a continuous
and uniform feed for the pack such rollers J J have cog-wheels jj' of a diameter
the same as wheel E; the wheel j also meshes with the drive cog as shown.
B' indicates the discharge end of the table which has an adjustable hinged
member B2 which can be set at any angle to lead the separated sheets to points
desired, and B3 indicates a table or hed portion held intermediate the corrugating
and straightening rolls.
So far as described the operation of my machine is best explained as follows:
Referring more particularly to Figs. 2, 4, and 5, it will be seen that the rolls C
and C and J and J are so adjusted as to just barely admit the pack which as will
be noticed at X consists of eight sheets (such number being the usual oue) held
compressed or closely adhered to each other. At this point it should be stated
that the object in providing a non-yielding bearing for the rolls C and Jis to
keep such rolls to a uniform position especially so in regard to the upward play.
This is found necessary for the reason that in many instances the packs vary in
quality and in the degree of the adhesiveness of the several sheets comprising same.
Thus in some instances the sheets will separate easy without any tearing action,
while in others they at points stick so fast that a very strong pulling action is
necessary to separate same.
It will thus be readily seen that by having a fixed adjustment for the roll C
which in practice is just that of the thickness of the packs to be run through, that
no matter how the pack sheets may stick the action of the rolls C and C will be
the same as on a pack in which the sheets separate easily.

page_text: It will be readily seen that were the upper roll C made yielding and the spring
bearing set for a normal resistance of the packs that as soon as a pack entered
between same having an unusual resistance or non-separating set of sheets the
upper roll C would give and allow the pack to pass through without being
sufficiently corrugated or crimped to separate the sheets.
By referring now to Fig. 4 it will be observed that as the pack enters and is fed
between the rolls C C' it will be subjected to a similar pull or draw strain on both
the upper and lower faces, but in view of the corrugations the said draw actions
will not be on directly opposite sides but at different points the lower one slightly
in advance, of the other."
This operation effects an irregular longitudinal draw action on the upper and
lower faces of the pack and in consequence at the points between the points where
the two rolls C and C' grip the pack causes the sheets to separate and bulge up
from each other as indicated at Z, it being manifest that as the pack passes to the
front of the rolls C and C', the sheet will be entirely separated; that is, pulled
apart from each other, and to more or less extent held spaced apart.
By reference to Fig. 2, it will be noticed that the pack after being crimped is
fed direct to the smooth compression or straightening rolls J, J', which are so
arranged as to apply a pressure sufficient to press out the corrugations or crimps
and leave the sheets in a perfectly flat and uniform condition.
It will also be observed that while the said rolls press out the said crimps they
also serve to add a creeping action to the sheets and thereby materially assist in
causing them to separate, such action being produced as the rolls engage the
corrugations, as the first impact of the rollers on the corrugations will tend
to shove the upper part of the pack backward as the lower part is pulled
forward.
After the pack has passed between the rollers C and C₁ the laminæ are
completely separated and by passing said corrugated laminæ through the
compression rollers all of said crimps or corrugations will be flattened out and the
separation completed inasmuch as it will be impossible for the sheets to adhere
as at first because said sheets are cool and secondly there is not sufficient
pressure.
It will also be noted that the corrugated portion is being flattened while the pack
is being corrugated, the object of such operation being to make the compression
rollers exert a pull upon the leaves and the corrugating rolls also act to tightly
hold the leaves and feed the same to the rolls as it would be almost an impossibility
to feed a separated corrugated pack to the compression rollers.
As tin or sheet iron packs are cut in different lengths and widths and as it is
customary in opening and separating to make long runs of a certain size, I
provide the feed table B B with adjustable guides b, b, which can be shifted
laterally.
Thus should the packs be fed into the rolls C, C at the end during one part of
the day, the said guides can be shifted to feed the packs the remaining part of
the day at the other end of the said rolls and thereby equalize the wear on
such rolls.
From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying
drawings, it is thought the advantages and complete operation of my invention
will be readily understood by those skilled in the art to which my invention
apertains. It will be seen the capacity of my machine is only limited by the
speed at which the packs can be fed to the machine and drawn therethrough.
By my method of opening and separating the packs there will be practically no
waste of material.
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 an apparatus for separating a laminated pack, a pair of crimping or

page_text: corrugating rollers, and a pair of compression or straightening rollers operating in
conjunction with the crimping rollers whereby the lamina are first bent transversely
and then pulled or drawn longitudinally substantially as shown and described.
2. In an apparatus for separating a laminated pack, a pair of crimping or
corrugating rollers, for bending the lamina transversely and a pair of compression
or straightening rollers arranged in close proximity to the corrugating rollers
whereby one end of a pack is subjected to a straightening and pulling operation
while the other is being bent transversely substantially as shown and described.
3. In an apparatus for separating laminated packs, the combination with the
main frame, of the corrugated crimping roller, the smooth straightening rollers, the
feed and delivery table between the bending and straightening rollers all arranged
substantially as shown and described.
4. In an apparatus for separating laminated packs, the combination with the
main frame, of the corrugating rollers, the straightening rollers, the feed table, the
intermediate table between the rollers and the adjustable delivery table, all arranged
and operated substantially as shown and described.
5. In an apparatus for separating a laminated pack, the combination with a
main frame, of a pair of corrugated crimping rollers adjusted to pass or admit a
laminated pack therebetween, and a pair of straightening rollers adjusted similar
to the crimping rollers and arranged in close proximity thereto, and the feed
delivery and intermediate tables, all arranged substantially as shown and
described.
Dated this 14th day of April 1896.
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.