Lathes for Turning Blanks for Pinion Shafts, Studs, and the like.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd July, 1990-Accepted. 18th Oct., 1890
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Lathes for Turning Blanks for Pinion Shafts, Studs, and the like.
I, DUANE HERBERT CHURCH, of Waltham, in the County of Middlesex, in the
State of Massachusetts, United States of America, Gentleman, do hereby declare the
nature of my invention for LATHES FOR TURNING BLANKS FOR PINION SHAFTS
STUDS AND THE LIKE, 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 machines adapted to receive metal blanks, such as arbors,
staffs, pinions, of watches, clocks and other mechanisms, and reduce said blanks by a
turning operation in which the blanks are fed to the machine one at a time and cach
positively rotated while a turning tool is presented to, and moved along, its periphery,
the blank being supported at its ends by dead centres, one or both of said centres
being movable longitudinally, so that the blank can be admitted between the centres
while the latter are separated to their maximum extent, and engaged with the
centres after its admission there between by an inward end wise movement of either
or both centres.
Heretofore it has been customary to clamp or secure a dog to each blank by hand
before inserting it in the machine, the dog being formed to be engaged with a
rotating part of the machine after the blank has been engaged with the centres, and
to impart rotary movement from such part of the machine to the blank. Heretofore
the dog employed has been a separate part, requiring to be applied to and removed
from each blank by hand, and constructed to serve as an arm projecting from the
blank to which it is attached into the path of a projection on a rotating driver, said
projection by its contact with the dog imparting a rotary motion to the blank.
My invention has for its object to render the operations of supplying the blanks to
the machine and of dogging or rotatively engaging them with the machine entirely
automatic, and to this end it consists in a machine of the class above mentioned,
having a dog or chuck forming a part of said machine and supported by the frame
thereof, said dog being arranged to grasp a blank at a point between the centres, so
that the dog may be automatically engaged with a blank after its insertion between
the centres, as I will now proceed to describe and claim.
Of the accompanying drawings forming a part of this Specification,
I
Figure represents a top plan view of a machine technically called a staff lathe,
constructed in accordance with my invention.
Fig. 2 represents a front elevation of the same.
Fig. 3 represents a transverse section on line 3, 3, Fig. 2, looking toward the
right, parts of the machine shown in Fig. 2 being omitted in Fig. 3.
Fig. 4 represents an enlarged section on line 4, 4, Fig. 1.
Fig. 5 represents a section on line 5, 5, Fig. 4.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all of the figures.
In carrying out my invention I provide a machine of any suitable construction,
having a slide rest or carriage a for a turning tool a', which is given a progressive
movement lengthwise of the blank by mechanism provided for that purpose, and
centres c c arranged to engage and support the ends of the blank and permit the
rotation of the latter in the proper axial position. The centres c and e' are affixed to
spindles d and p which are movable end wise in guides or bearings e e¹ and q g' on the
frame of the machine, and are movable toward and away from each other to engage
and release the blank. The means here shown for moving the centre c are cams
on a shaft y which is rotated by the power of the machine, a rock shaft / having at one
end an arm i bearing on the cam f, and at the other end an arm j bearing on a
collar m on the spindled and a spring k on the spindle interposed between the collar m
and the bearing e, the cam facting through the rock shaft and its arm retracts the
f

page_text: centre c to release a blank after action thereon, and the spring & forces the contre c
forward when permitted by the cam and causes it to engage one end of the lowest
blank in a chute o which presents the blanks to the machine, and move said blank endwise
until its other end is engaged with the other centre e¹. The latter centre is here
shown as attached to a spindle p which is movable end wise in guides or bearings 9 7',
and is adapted to yield by the movement of said spindle in its bearings, the rod being
provided with a collar which receives the pressure of a spring we interposed between
said collar and the bearing 9.
The springs on the spindles d and are arranged to act in opposition to each
other, and the spring on spindle p must be sufficiently less in tension than the one
on spindle d to allow the latter to control the action when connected by the blank
between the centres. It is necessary that the endwise movement of the spindles
should be stopped in some positive way, after the blank has been carried into the
chuck, in order to present each successive blank to the turning tool in the same
position. This is accomplished by means of the screw s passing through the guide t
on the spindle d, said screw coming in contact with end of bearing e. The same
result may be produced by means of a cam f2 on shaft g, an arm bearing on said
cam and attached to the lower end of a vertical rock shaft, and an arm on the upper
end of said rock shaft and bearing on a collar k² on the spindle p. Either of these
devices may be used accordingly as it is desired to positively arrest one centre or the
other. When the screws is used the cam f2 and arms are made inoperative by
adjusting said cam so that it will not act on the arm, said cam being detachably
secured to the shaft g. When the cam f and the accompanying devices are used,
the screws is retracted until it is inoperative.
The chute o passes through a socket or enlargement a formed on a study which
is mounted to rotate in a bearing in a fixed post or standard attached to the frame
of the machine. Said stud serves as a centre on which the chute may oscillate, so
that its lower end, which delivers the blanks to the centres, may be swung into and
out of the line of said centre. The chute is provided with a guideway or channel o',
Fig. 1, formed to conduct the blanks to the lower end of the chute, where a suitable
device is provided to arrest the lowest blank and prevent it from falling out by its
own weight, or from being pressed out by the weight of the superincumbent column
of blanks in the chute. The chute is moved forward to bring the lowest blank into
line with the centres cc' by automatic means, a suitable embodiment of which is
shown in Figures 2 and 3, in which A is a cam on the shaft g, B a rock shaft on
which is a lever U, one arm of which bears on the cam A and the other arm against
the lower portion of the chute o. The cam A is formed to impart an oscillatory
the
movement to the lever C, thereby causing said lever to oscillate the chute o,
described mechanism being timed to swing the lower end of the chute into line with
the centres just before the forward movement of the centre c, so that said centre
comes in contact with one end of the lowest blank in the chute and forces said blank
endwise until its opposite end is engaged with the centre c', the latter yielding more
or less as may be required by the length of the blank, and the extent of the forward
movement of the centre c.
D represents a dog or chuck which is here shown as composed of a tube, having at
one end a flange 2 which is affixed by screws to a whirl E mounted to rotate loosely
on a fixed sleeve which is attached to the bearing g', as clearly shown in Fig. 4.
The outer end of the tube is contracted to form jaws 5, 5, which are separated from
each other by longitudinal slits or cuts made in the tubular body of the dog. This
dog is formed in Fig. 4 to enclose the centre c', the opening 6 surrounded by the outer
ends of the jaws 5 being in close proximity to, and coinciding with, the blank-receiving
end of the centre c', so that each blank when moved endwise by the centre c, as abov
described, passes through the opening between the ends of the jaws of the dog or chuck
and is surrounded by said jaws when it is engaged with the centre c¹. H represents a
ring which encloses the dog D and is adapted, when moved in the direction indicated
by the arrow in Fig. 4, to bear upon the outer surfaces of the jaws of the dog and com
press said jaws upon the blank, the outer surfaces of the jaws being tapered so tha

page_text: the tubular portion on which said jaws are formed increases in diameter from the
flange 2 outwardly, to such an extent that the described movement of the ring H
will compress the jaws in the manner described. The ring H has a peripheral
groove 7 which receives studs 8, 8 projecting inwardly from bifurcations on an arm [
which is rigidly attached to a rod J adapted to move endwise in bearings in the
frame of the machine. One end of the rod J is connected with the swinging end of
the lever K, the other end of which is pivoted at L to a fixed ear or bracket on the
frame of the machine. The lever K is provided with an arm or extension K³, having
a trundle roll which enters a space between two cams M M which are attached to
the shaft 9. The cams M M are formed to give an endwise motion to the rod J
through the lever K, first in one direction and then in the opposite direction, one of
said movements causing the ring H to move in the direction indicated by the arrow
in Fig. 4 and thus close the jaws of the dog D upon the blank, while the other move-
ment causes said ring to release the jaws and permit them to spring open and release
the blank.
The whirl E is connected by belt, or otherwise, to a driving shaft from which it
derives rotary motion, and must be fitted loosely enough on its bearing to permit the
dog or chuck to follow the blank without strain on the points which are engaged with
the centres e and c'. It is also probable that for very small diameters of work it
would be preferable to separate the dog or chuck from the pulley, rotating the dog
or chuck by means of a pin and slot, and thus release the chuck from the vibration
of the belt.
It will be seen therefore that when the ring H is moved to compress the jaws of
the dog or chuck upon the blank, the latter will be rotatively engaged with the whirl E
and will be rotated thereby.
When the ring H is moved in the direction opposite to that indicated by the arrow
in Fig. 4, the blank is, of course, released by the dog and the centre c is immediately
after retracted, so that the blank, no longer supported by the centres, drops and passes
out of the machine through a suitable spout P, see Fig. 3.
During the action of the turning tool on the blank it is necessary that the spindles d
and p be held firmly, so that the blank cannot become loosened between the centres
by endwise yielding movements of the centres. The means here shown for effecting
this holding action (technically known as "binding") are a cam u² on the shaft g, a
lever bearing on said cam, a rock shaft w³ journalled in the supporting frame and
having a recess on which are formed shoulders which bear on the head of a
study, one end of which is attached to a collar which surrounds the bearing F
and has a screw 23 which bears on a tongue z formed by cutting into said bearing.
When the rock shaft to is turned to cause its shoulders to depress the stud y² and
collar, the screw forces the tongue downwardly on the spindle p and thereby
binds or clamps the spindle p. Similar devices may be employed to bind or clamp
the spindle d.
It will be seen that by dogging the work after its insertion between the centres, I
am enabled to make the entire operation of the machine automatic, thus greatly
increasing the rapidity of its operation and decreasing the expense thereof.
My invention is not limited to the construction of the dogging devices here shown,
and I may variously modify the same without departing from the nature of my
invention.
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 organized machine for turning blanks, a dog or chuck forming a part of
said machine and arranged to grasp a blank at a point between the centres on which
the blank is rotated, whereby the blank may be automatically dogged after its insertion
between said centres, as set forth.
2. The combination with centres adapted to support a blank in suitable relation to
a turning tool, of a whirl rotatable independently of said centre, a dog or chuck

page_text: rotatively engaged with said whirl, and means for engaging the dog with the blank
engaged with said centres, as set forth.
3. The combination of a movable chute or reservoir adapted to contain a series of
blanks, centres arranged to receive the lowest blank in said chute when the latter is in
its delivering position, an independent rotatable whirl, a dog or chuck permanently
connected with said whirl, and means for compressing said dog upon the blank
engaged with said centres, as set forth.
4. The combination with centres adapted to engage the ends of a pinion blank, of
an independently rotatable whirl, a dog or chuck attached to said whirl and having
jaws arranged to act on a blank at a point between said centres, and means for
compressing and releasing said jaws to alternately hold and release a blank, as set
forth.
5. The combination of the centres adapted to engage the ends of a blank, an
independently rotatable whirl, a dog or chuck attached to said whirl and having jaws
arranged to act on a blank at a point between said centres, a ring surrounding said
dog or chuck, and automatic means for moving said ring alternately in opposito
directions to alternately grasp and release the blank, as set forth.
A 13 1000
H. B. BARLOW,
Agent for Duane Herbert Church.