Improvements in Machines for Straightening and Polishing Metal Bars, Shafting, Tubes, and other Articles
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Jan., 1891-Accepted, 14th Mar., 1891
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Straightening and Polishing Metal
Bars, Shafting, Tubes, and other Articles.
I, WILLIAM ALLEN MCCOOL, of Beaver Falls, in the State of Pennsylvania,
United States of America, Machinist, 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 :-
more
My invention relates to machines for straightening and polishing metal bars
shafting-tubes and other metal articles of cylindrical form, to fit them for the
purposes for which they are intended, and my said improvements are
particularly designed to simplify the construction and to increase the efficiency of
the machines described in the Specification of Letters Patent No. 12380 dated
August 28 1888.
In this improved machine I provide a vertically adjustable concave guide support
for the article which co-operates with the supporting rolls to give the proper
bearing for the article to be straightened whereby the said guide support takes the
place of a pair of supporting rolls to lessen the wearing surfaces of the machine and
to afford an easy adjustment of the article vertically in relation to the rotary
supports and to compensate for the wear of their surfaces.
Provision is also made in my improved machine for adjusting the angle of a
pressure roll in relation to the axis of the article being straightened so that the
periphery of said pressure roll shall press upon the article at a point above and
between the supports for the same at an angle or pitch to the axis of the same
and thereby cause a uniform travel or progression of such article and, by the
adjustment of said roll to a greater or less degree of pitch, to effect thereby a
quicker or slower travel through the machine as may be desired and to suit the
crooks and bends of the article.
Referring to the accompanying drawings.
Figure 1 is an end elevation of a machine embodying my invention.
Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of the same.
Figure 3 is a vertical section of the bearing brace and the adjustable guide
support for the article taken on the line x of Figure 2.
Figure 4 is a horizontal section taken through the housing hub of the pressure
roll to illustrate the means of adjusting the pitch of said roll in relation to the line
of the feed of the article.
Figure 5 is a vertical section of the same.
Figure 6 shows in side elevation my invention as applied to a lathe, and Figure 7
a sectional end elevation of the same.
The frame u may be fitted to the "ways or "shears" of a lathe and for this
purpose it is cast open in the form shown, although it may be of any suitable
construction and mounted upon legs. Within the bed there is cast or other-wise
made fast, three transverse bearing braces b, c, d the middle one c of which is about
in the middle of the bed, and with the brace d next to the inner side of the bed are
fitted to receive and confine the journals of two parallel shafts e and f upon each of
which is keyed a roll g in co-incident positions preferably next to the middle
bearing-brace. These rolls are of equal diameter and are so placed that their
peripheries nearly meet and form a support between them for the article
to be operated on, as seen in Figure 1. Upon these roll shafts between the rolls
and the brace d are keyed the pullies h, h, which are of equal diameter and placed
in coincident positions to receive a belt i which passes in the direction of its travel
over one pulley, then over an idle pulley and back over the second pulley to a
band-wheel below, so that the rotation of both the supporting rolls shall be in the
same direction, and thus cause the article to be revolved thereon.

page_text: The third bearing-brace is placed a short distance from the middle brace and
has within it a block which has a concave groove in its upper surface which
receives, supports and serves to guide the article and for this purpose the said
groove, has its axis co-incident with the axis of the article to be straightened and
the arc described by said groove should be coincident with the circumference of
said article. This concave block is of rectangular form and fits into a rectangular
seat m in the brace so that it cannot turn within its seat and rests therein upon the
upper end of a hand-wheel screw n which is threaded in an opening in the brace, and by
which the block may be adjusted vertically so that the article may be supported in
a horizontal line. I prefer to socket the lower end of the concave block and to fit
the non-threaded portion of the screw therein the better to hold the block firmly in
its seat.
7"
A suitable housing, is mounted upon the frame-bed within which a depending
yoke-head is secured by a guide stem » fitted in a bore formed in said housing and
carrying at its lower end a pressure-roll s acting in a direction toward and upon the
article so as to bend it down toward a point between its points of support. The
guide-stem is cylindrical and is bored out from its upper end and threaded in said
hore for the reception of a powerful screw t having an operating hand-wheel 1, "
and secured to a hub in such manner as to allow said screw to be rotated for
setting the yoke-stem to give the desired pressure upon the article at the point
stated. In this adjustment the yoke-stem is raised and lowered within the bore of
the housing.
The bore of the housing has a recess at one side (see Figure 4.) of segmental
form within which is fitted a segmental plate but not of a size to fill the recess
so that the plate can be moved around horizontally within the latter. This plate
has a groove 2 on its side which joins the stem and the latter has a feather 3
which fits said groove and permits the stem to be adjusted vertically as stated.
To one edge of the segmental plate 1 connect a hand-wheel screw 4 which is
threaded in a bore of the hub at a right angle with the axis of the stem and at
one side of the latter so that the action of the screw will move the segmental
plate horizontally in its recess and by means of its connection with the stem cause
the latter to partially rotate within the hub and thereby change the relative pitch
or angle of the pressure-roll in relation to the axis of the article and in this way to
cause a forward feed of the article through the machine without other force.
This provision for automatically moving the article forward also gives the
advantage of regulating the speed of the feed or travel by increasing or diminishing
the pitch or angle of the pressure roll. This automatic feeding action of the
pressure-roll, by reason of its oblique angle in relation to the article, gives also a
polishing action, in connection with the action of the rotating and fixed supports to
the surface of the article and it will be understood, that the supporting rolls,
revolving in the same direction as each other, causes the article to be revolved, in
the opposite direction, and the pressure-roll to be revolved in the same direction
as the supporting rolls, and, by reason of its oblique relation to the article, and its
pressure thereon at the point stated, cause it to move forward under a straightening
and polishing pressure and action. The connection of the stem of the screw 4
with the segmental plate as shown, is made by a ball and socket joint, in which
the socket is larger than the ball on the end of the screw to give a free move-
ment of the latter in a straight line while the path of the segmental plate is circular,
but any suitable loose connection of the screw and segmental plate may be used
that will permit the adjustment of the segmental plate within its segmental recess
as stated.
The feed of the article may be reversed by a reversal of the angle of the pressure-
roll in its relation to the article being operated on. When it is desired to apply my
invention to a lathe I fit the bed to the ways or slides of the lathe so that it forms a
carriage in the lathe, and in such case, the article is rotated independently of its
roll supports, and acts as a feed screw under the pressure of the top roll, and the

page_text: straightening device is fed forward and backward upon the article until the desired
results are obtained, as shown in Figures 6 and 7.
In the organization of such a machine the wear of the supporting-rolls is com-
pensated for by a quick vertical adjustment of the concave supporting block.
Moreover, this supporting block acts as a fixed polisher for the article which is both
rotated and slid upon it under the action of the supporting and of the pressure-rolls,
so that the article is made straight between fixed and rotating surfaces and polished
by their combined rolling and rubbing action.
It is evident that articles which need no straightening may be polished in this
machine and in such case the pressure-roll is set to give the fastest feed to the
article.
I prefer to make the acting surfaces of the supporting and pressure-rolls straight;
and to make the non-moving concave bearing surface considerably longer than the
width of the supporting rolls so as to obtain the best polishing effect and to
aid in the straightening action of the pressure roll and the true guiding of the
article through the machine.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
First. In a machine for straightening and polishing metal articles of cylindrical
form, the combination of the supporting rolls, a vertically adjustable support having
a concave groove co-incident with the circumference of the article, a pressure-roll
arranged to act upon the article at a point between its rotating and fixed supports,
substantially as described.
Second. In a machine for straightening and polishing metal articles of cylindrical
form, the combination of the supporting rolls, an angular supporting block having
a concave groove co-incident with the circumference of the article, an angular
socket-seat for said block, an adjusting device for raising and lowering said concave
supporting block and the pressure-roll acting between the rigid grooved support
and the supporting rolls, for the purpose stated.
Third. In a machine for straightening and polishing metal article of cylindrical
form, the combination of the supporting rolls, the vertically adjustable concave
supporting block having a concave bearing surface of greater length than the width
of the supporting-rolls, and the vertically adjustable pressure-roll arranged and
operating as described.
Fourth. In a machine for strengthening and polishing metal articles of cylindrical
form, the combination of the supporting rolls, the vertically adjustable concave
supporting block having a concave bearing-surface co-incident with the circum-
ference of the article, the pressure-roll, and a device for adjusting its angle or pitch
in relation to the axis of the article, substantially as described.
Fifth. In a machine for straightening and polishing metal articles of cylindrical
form, the combination of the supporting rolls, the vertically adjustable concave
supporting block having a concave bearing surface co-incident with the circumference
of the article, the vertically adjustable pressure-roll, its supporting yoke-head,
having a cylindrical stem provided with a vertical feather, a housing having a bore
for said yoke-head, and provided with a segmental recess, a segmental plate within
said recess having a face groove to receive said feather, and a screw connected
with said segmental plate, whereby to adjust the pitch or angle of the pressure-roll
in relation to the axis of the article, for the purpose stated.
Sixth. In a machine for straightening and polishing metal articles of cylindrical
form, the combination of the supporting rolls, the angular concave block k, its
annular guide-seat m and the adjusting screw n, the pressure-roll, its yoke-head
having a threaded bore and a vertical feather, the hand-screw for vertically adjust-
ing said pressure-roll, a suitable housing for said screw, and means for adjusting
the pressure-roli laterally, consisting of the segmental plate 2, having a groove

page_text: connection with said feather and the screw 4 connected with said segmental plate and
the said housing, substantially as described.
Seventh. In a machine for straightening and polishing metal articles of cylindrical
form, wherein the article is supported upon rotating rolls, and a concave bearing
surface, a pressure roll above and between said moving and non-moving supports,
having its axis at an angle with the axis of the article, and rolling upon the latter
at a pitch or angle, for the purpose stated.
Dated this 14th day of January 1891
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.