Improvements in Machines for use in Making Metal Screws.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Nov., 1893-Accepted, 16th Dec., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for use in Making Metal Screws.
I, ORLANDO PHILANDER BRIGGS, 227 S. Clinton Street, Chicago, Illinois,
United States of America, Mechanical 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 automatic machinery for shaping articles upon their
opposite ends, such for example as metal screws, and in which such articles are
twice chucked in being formed or finished and are reversed, end for end, in being
carried from one chuck of the machine to the other. A primary object of the
invention is to provide an improved reversing work carrier by which the article or
piece being formed is transferred from one chuck to the other and is simultaneously
reversed. The improvements relating to this part of the invention concern the
form of the carrying device, its movements and the devices for controlling it.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved arrangement of the
chucks and correlated parts in such a machine for the purpose of giving greater
compactness and efficiency. The improvements relating to this branch of the
invention involve the arrangement of the chucks one above the other, the vertical
position and direction of movement of the reversing work carrier, and the provision
of a double tool-holder or turret-head upon a vertical axis, one tool of the turret
working upon one end of a piece in the lower chuck, while another tool is finishing
a similar piece in the upper chuck. Other objects of the invention have reference
to simplicity and effectiveness in the various parts, and to a general improvement in
the details of the machine.
In machines of this class at least two chucks are necessary, one for holding the
blank or piece while being first acted upon by a suitable tool or succession of tools
to form one end or part thereof, and the other holding the article after it has been
transferred from the first mentioned chuck to be acted upon by another tool or set
of tools to form its opposite end or part. The partially finished article is taken
from the first of these chucks to the other and is reversed or turned end for end in
the transfer of what I call a "reversing work carrier," and the articles in both
chucks are simultaneously operated upon by suitable tools for giving to them their
desired form or finish. Rotation is given the chucks by suitable means, and when
the first chuck is of the "hollow-spindle" class through which a rod may be fed to
supply the material from which a series of articles are to be made, a side cutter
will be employed to sever the partially finished article from the rod to permit its
removal to the other chuck by the reversing work carrier. The forming tools,
whether in series and carried by a turret or turrets, or single and carried by a plain
tool-holder, require to be moved towards and from the chucks, the advancing and
receding movements of the tool supports being primarily produced by cams or
equivalent devices. The actuating cams, mounted upon a driving or countershaft,
operate through the medium of levers or similar contrivances to give the special
form of movement required in each of the several parts.
The nature of my improvements will be best understood from the following
description of the accompanying drawings, in which,
Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved machine with the belt shifter broken
away.
Figure 2 is a rear end elevation.
Figure 3 is a front elevation, enlarged, of the mechanisms seen by taking a
transverse vertical section in line 3-3 of Figure 1 and looking in the direction of

page_text: E represents a work-carrier mechanism for transferring a blank or piece that
has been partly finished in the lower chuck to the upper chuck and for reversing
said piece, end for end, in so transferring it. Said mechanism embraces, for its
primary element, a vertically sliding and half rotating bar E', provided with a
gripping device F, composed of a pair of spring jaws, at its lower end. As here
constructed said bar E¹ is given its half rotation in one direction in the course of
its upward movement, and in the other direction in the course of its downward
movement, by means of a lengthwise groove e therein, which groove, at its middle
portion, is given a spiral course from one side to the other of the bar, said groove
being engaged by a roller pin e' that protrudes into the orifice of the hub E' in
which the bar is fitted to reciprocate vertically. The hub E' is here shown as
being mounted upon a horizontal slide Es by which a lateral, bodily movement is
also given to the carrier bar. Such lateral movement is, however, not in all cases
necessary.
In addition to the gripper F the carrier bar is also provided with a tucker Fl
for thrusting the piece of work from the gripper jaws into the upper chuck D'.
The details of the tucker, as preferably constructed, are best shown in Figure 10,
wherein it is composed of a tubular body having a side lug by which it is
pivoted to the carrier bar, and a finger proper ƒ which is longitudinally movable
in the body. To provide for such lengthwise movement of the finger fit is
shown as having a shank which passes through the upper closed end of the body
and has fitted thereon an external nut, said shank being surrounded within the
body by an expanding coiled spring f³. The finger of the tucker F is vibrated
outwardly and normally held in its outer position by a spring presser f arranged
in the carrier bar and acting upon a projection f³ at the inner end of the lug f.
Said tucker finger is vibrated inwardly towards the chuck to push the partly
finished piece from the grippers into the latter, by means of an arm or arms F
arranged to strike against a lateral projection or projections f on the tucker
above its pivot. In the construction shown, in which the carrier bar is given a
lateral movement towards the chuck D', said arm or arms F2 are stationary or
fixed, but in the absence of an appropriate sidewise movement of the carrier-bar
the arm or arms F' or their equivalent may themselves be given a suitable move-
ment to give the desired tucking action to the tucker,
Vertical movement is given the carrier-bar E by the grooved wheel cam C,
acting through the media of a lever E, connecting bar e, lazy-tongs E³, sliding
rod E and connecting arm e³. The wheel C has the cam groove e¹ in its side face
formed and timed appropriately to give the motions and rests desired, and into
said groove projects a pine from the lever E. Said lever is connected by the
bar e with an intermediate joint of the lazy-tongs, the lower joint of the latter
being fixed to the machine frame (as seen at e, Figure 1) and its upper joint
connected with the lower end of the sliding rod E. The connecting bar e³, as will
be seen from Figures 3, 11 and 114, has a slot e therein, fitted to the cylindric
neck on the work-carrier bar E', said slot being arranged lengthwise of the
slide E which gives lateral motion to the carrier-bar. To facilitate the lifting
of the carrier-bar through the medium of the cam and lazy-tongs, the counter-
weighted lever E8 is fulcrumed on the frame and connected with sliding bar E.
The advantage of the lazy-tongs is obviously to give a desirably long movement
of the carrier-bar by a cam of small diameter. The slide E³ is reciprocated by
the peripheral wheel-cam C' through the medium of the lever E7, Figures 1
and 4.
As the movements of the carrier-bar may be varied, so may the details of the
cams C and C be correspondingly varied. As the machine is herein shown the
lower chuck D is made to project farther forward than the upper chuck to favor
a somewhat simpler order of movements on the part of the work carrier, and, in
the present instance, the movements and rests of said carrier are as follows, making
reference, in describing them, to Figures 3, 4, 5 and 9. In Figures 3 and 4 the
work-carrier is seen to be so far elevated as to bring the work-bolding point of

page_text: the gripper F exactly opposite the orifice in the upper chuck D', and is also seen
to have been moved back laterally into proximity with the chuck. In this lateral
movement of the carrier, the fixed arms F have tilted the tucker F' and the
latter has forced the piece of metal, S, out of the gripper F and into the chuck.
From this point the carrier-bar rises vertically to a point high enough above the
chuck to allow the operating tool or tools to work upon the protruding end of the
piece S, as shown in Figure 5, and it remains in this more elevated position till
said tools have finished the article and have been retracted therefrom. Thence
the carrier-bar is moved horizontally in the opposite direction or forwardly and
away from the chuck by action of the slide E³ and it then descends vertically and
forces the gripper jaws over the partly finished end of the rod protruding from the
lower chuck, as shown in Figure 9, said rod being still unsevered. In such
descent the carrier-bar has been rotated half a turn, bringing the tucker between
the bar and the chuck and over the protruding rod. Striking upon the latter,
the tucker finger f is forced upwardly into the tube f against the resistance
of the spring, as also shown in Figure 9. Here the carrier remains at rest while
a side cutter severs the piece held by the gripper from the rod, and, this done, the
carrier commences its ascent toward the upper chuck. In this ascending move-
ment, the tucker finger resumes its proper extension and presents its end opposite
the end of the piece within the gripper. In this ascent, also, the carrier-bar is
half rotated, bringing the finished end of the piece S inward towards the chucks.
When the said piece S arrives at a point opposite the orifice of the chuck D' the
carrier ceases to rise and it makes its horizontal movement towards the chuck, the
tucker, in the course of this movement, striking the arms F' and pushing the piece
clear of the gripper jaws and to a proper distance into the chuck D¹.
As already stated, the exact movements here contemplated need not in all cases
be given the work-carrier, and in some instances it will be necessary to vary them,
as, for example, when the pieces transferred are of considerable length. In that
case both an outward and an upward movement of the carrier may be required, on
leaving the lower chuck, in order to obtain room to reverse the piece and insert
it into the upper chuck.
As the cam wheel C is shown in the drawings (Figures 11 and 12) it causes
two double reciprocations of the carrier in each rotation of the wheel. Each of
the concentric parts 9 of the groove, most remote from the wheel center, give the
rest of the carrier at its lowermost position or while opposite the lower chuck; the
part g' gives the ascent of the carrier to the level of the upper chuck; the short,
concentric part 9 retains the carrier at this elevation while the work is being
inserted into said upper chuck; the succeeding inwardly directed part causes
the final ascending movement of the carrier, and the longer concentric part g
retains the carrier at this elevation while the operating tools are at work.
Finally the part g³ of the groove produces the descent of the work-carrier to the
level of the lower chuck.
In order to enable the throw of the cam to bring the gripper exactly opposite
the axes of both chucks, the portions g of the groove are formed in radially
adjustable blocks c c. The adjusting devices for these blocks may be of any
preferred form, such devices, as shown, consisting of radial screws c' fixed in the
body of the wheel and provided each with two nuts c³ set in a recess of the block
which it adjusts.
H is a transverse slide, carrying one or more adjustable tool posts H', for side
cutting tools employed either in severing a partly finished piece from a rod, or in
doing the whole or a part of the work upon one end of said piece. The slide H
is reciprocated by the cam C operating through levers H or similar media, in a
manner obvious from inspection of Figure 3.
The rotative turret B is mounted on a slide B' arranged in the plane of the
chucks and giving movement to the turret towards and from the chucks by
engagement of a roller pin depending from said slide with cams b on the periphery

page_text: of the wheel C'. The partial rotations of the turret are made upon its retraction
by familiar ratchet and pawl devices, not shown.
The turret is provided with two sets of tool holders B and B³ arranged
respectively in the horizontal planes of the chucks D and D₁ so that work is
simultaneously done upon pieces or articles in both said chucks.
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 combination with two parallel chucks, a reversing carrier consisting of a
bar provided with means for grasping the article being formed and arranged in
the plane of the chucks and mechanism whereby said bar is given a simultaneous
length wise and half rotative movement in the passage of its grasping device from
a point in front of one chuck to a point in front of the other.
2. In combination with two parallel chucks arranged one above the other, a
reversing work-carrier consisting of a bar provided at its lower end with a gripper
for grasping the article being formed, said bar being arranged in the plane of the
chucks and mechanism for imparting to said bar the following movements, to-wit:
a downward and half rotative movement carrying its gripper from above the
upper chuck to a point opposite the lower chuck, to take the partially made
article ; an upward and half rotative movement to bring the article in its reversed
position opposite the upper chuck; and a further and separate upward movement
to carry the gripper out of the way of the forming tools, substantially as described.
3. The combination with two chucks, of a reversing work-carrier, a tucker
mounted on the work-carrier, and means for operating the tucker.
4. In combination with two parallel chucks, a reversing work-carrier con-
sisting essentially of a lengthwise sliding bar provided with a gripper and having
a suitably engaged spiral by which the bar is half rotated in its lengthwise sliding
movement.
5. In combination with two parallel chucks, a slide having movement parallel
with the axes of the chucks, and a reversing work-carrier mounted in said slide in
the plane of the chucks, and mechanism whereby said work-carrier is given both a
lengthwise and a half rotative movement in said slide; and a bodily lateral
movement with the slide, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
6. In combination with two parallel chucks, a reversing work-carrier having a
lengthwise and half rotative movement in carrying the work from one of the
chucks to the other, a slide carrying the work-carrier and moving parallel with
the axes of the chucks, a tucking lever pivoted to the work-carrier, a spring
normally holding the tucking end of the lever retracted and a part engaging the
tucking lever and tilting it as the work-carrier moves with the slide towards the
adjacent chuck.
7. The combination of two parallel chucks arranged one above the other, a
double tool holder movable towards and from the chucks in the plane of said
chucks, a reversing work-carrier consisting of a vertically sliding and half
rotating bar provided with a gripper for grasping the article being formed, and a
tucker on the work-carrier for thrusting the article from the carrier into the
uppermost chuck.
8. The combination of two parallel chucks arranged one above the other, a
reversing work-carrier for transferring an article from the lower to the upper
chuck, and a turret tool-holder having a vertical axis of rotation and horizontal
bodily movement towards and from the chucks, said turret being provided with
two sets of tool-holding devices of which one set is in the plane of the upper
chuck, and the other is in the plane of the lower chuck, substantially as described.
9. In an automatic screw machine, the combination with two parallel chucks
placed one in advance of the other, of a reversing work-carrier for transferring a
partly finished piece from the advanced chuck to the other of said chucks, said

page_text: work-carrier being capable of two movements, the one parallel and the other
perpendicular to the axes of said chucks, substantially as described.
10. In combination with a hollow, through-feed chuck, and a second chuck
arranged parallel therewith, both said chucks being provided with interior,
longitudinal, movable, jaw-carrying parts, devices for relaxing the jaws and levers
and lever-actuating conical slides for closing the jaws, substantially as shown, a
movable part or slide engaged with both said conical slides, whereby the jaws of
both chucks are simultaneously opened and closed.
11. In combination with the two chucks and the reversing work-carrier, a tucker
pivoted to the carrier and consisting of the spring-connected parts ff', a spring
arranged to retract the tucker, and means for advancing the tucker opposite the
upper chuck.
12. In combination with the chucks and the reciprocatory and semi-rotary work-
carrying bar, a rotary cam, and mechanism intermediate to the cam and carrier
bar, comprising a lazy-tongs, whereby a relatively long movement is given the
carrier bar from a relatively short throw of the cam.
13. In an automatic screw machine, the combination of two parallel chucks
arranged one above the other, a reversing work-carrier having a vertical movement
in the plane of the chucks, a transverse tool-carrying slide arranged below the
lower chuck, a tool turret having a vertical axis in the plane of the chucks and
provided with tool-holders opposite both chucks, a horizontal slide carrying the
turret and movable in the plane of the chucks, a shaft beneath these mechanisms
provided with cams and suitable intermediate devices whereby the cams impart the
desired movements in their proper order to the said mechanisms.
14. In a screw machine, the combination with a pair of chucks occupying
parallel positions, of a work-carrier adapted to travel from one of said chucks to
the other, a cam adapted to impart motion to said work-carrier and lazy-tongs
interposed between said cam and said work-carrier, whereby the throw of said cam
may be less than the movement of said work-carrier: substantially as described.
Dated this 14th day of November 1893.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.