Improved Method of and Apparatus for Surfacing and Trueing Spheres in Metal.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Dec., 1890-Accepted, 24th Jan., 1891
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Method of and Apparatus for Surfacing and Trueing
Spheres in Metal.
J
I, HENRY GARDNER, of 166 Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent Agent,
lo hereby declare the nature of this invention, which has been communicated to me
from abroad by Friedrich Fischer, of Schweinfurt on the Main, Germany, Engineer,
and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and
scertained in and by the following statement :-
Heretofore spheres or balls made of steel were first roughened to a certain extent
and then thoroughly formed round by a suitable cutting machine consisting of two
discs moving in opposite directions upon a shaft and carrying near their edge and
upon opposite surfaces a hard tempered steel ring furnished with cutting edges or
serrations after the manner of a file, the sphere or ball being placed between these two
surfaces. The serrated portions of this ring were usually formed of segments
consumes, owing to its being furnished with cutting edges of curved section, an
enormous amount of time, and is very costly while moreover such rings could not be
used for working upon spheres of different diameters.
These defects are now fully obviated by the machine forming the object of this
invention, the machine consisting in providing angular faces to the ring or cutting
edges instead of curved faces.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 is a vertical section of a machine or apparatus provided with the new
arrangement.
a and b are the two discs, each furnished with a cutting groove near its edge. These
cutting grooves or edges are formed in the following manner. Each disc a or b carries
upon the surface opposite to that of the other disc two sots of concentric rings, which
are arranged one within the other and may be formed of segments.
Each steel ring is fixed to another ring e which is firmly screwed upon the corre
sponding disc. The two free edges of the two rings d of each disc are cut obliquely in
such a manner as to form together a cutting groove of angular or tapering cross section.
The two grooves thus formed are placed one opposite the other and delineate a hollow
space, in which are placed the balls requiring to be treated as clearly shown in
Figure 1.
The working faces of the ring d are furnished with teeth which can be easily
sharpened in each ring by means of the grinding disc or wheel f, Figure 2, of a
sharpening machine. For this purpose one of the rings d is first removed with its
supporting ring from one of the discs, such as a, for instance, the other ring d being
subsequently brought on the grinding machine and sharpened, then this ring dis
removed from a, and the first ring d is connected to a, taken-to-the-sharpening machine
and ground.
To ensure full use of the steel ring d, the supporting rings are of less height, so that
the steel rings may be used as far as practicable. The cutting faces or furrows above
described have the advantage that balls of different diameters may be cut round
between them as clearly shown in Figures 3, 4, and 5 and the same cutting faces may
be used after they have become blunt through sharpening balls of larger diameters
for cutting, without being sharpened afresh, balls of smaller diameters, as the two
cutting faces come, owing to their peculiar shape, into contact with the balls at four
points only and these points adjust to the diameter of the balls being cut, situated more
or less outwardly or inwardly.
Finally it may be further mentioned that one set of the cutting faces may be
replaced by a simple ring having a straight or slightly curved toothed cutting face, as
shown in Figure 6, in order to operate upon balls of various diameters.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A sphere or ball surfacing and finishing machine in which two angular cutting
faces are arranged opposite one another and consists of the two toothed edges inclined
one towards another, so as to form a double angle to each other for the purpose of
operating on balls of different diameters, as described and substantially as shown by
the drawings.
4
2. A sphere or ball cutting machine of the kind above claimed in, which only one
of the two cutting angled surfaces, one opposite the other is formed as described in
claim 1, the second cutting faces being on the contrary replaced by a simple ring with
flat or a curved toothed cutting edge, substantially as described.
Dated this 24th day of December 1890.
H. GARDNER.