Machine for Manufacturing Nuts and the like.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 27th May, 1896-Accepted, 1st Aug., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Machine for Manufacturing Nuts and the like.
I, JAMES HERVEY STERNBERGH Manufacturer of Iron and Steel, a citizen of
the United States residing at Reading in the County of Berks, State of Penn-
sylvania U.S.A., 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 :-
My invention relates to an improved form of machine adapted particularly for
the manufacture of nuts, and belonging to that class of multiple-punching machines
in which are employed a series of plungers or slides operated from a single shaft
and set consecutively in advance of each other, so that they will be operated in
succession by each rotation of the shaft. The plungers are arranged to move
horizontally in parallel lines and are so connected to the shaft as to permit
any desired number to be readily operated independently of the others. The bars
of metal from which the nuts are formed are supported vertically in suitable guides
and fed onward automatically by gravity.
The invention is fully described in connection with the accompanying drawings,
and the novel features are specifically pointed out in the claims.
Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of the machine, four plungers or slideways
being shown, in one of which a plunger with punches and fixed dies is indicated in
position.
Fig. 2 is a cross-section of the operating shaft, indicating the arrangement of
the eccentrics.
Fig. 3 is a cross-section through x x of Fig. 1, showing the relative location of
the main parts.
Fig. 4 is a partial longitudinal section showing an end view of one of the plungers
in its slideway; and
Figs. 5 and 6 show side and plan views, respectively, of the plunger.
Fig. 7 shows in detail the arrangement of the guide-pin located between the
shearing and hole-forming punches.
Fig. 8 shows the bar guide bracket, which is fixed to the frame.
Fig. 9 illustrates the die-block, and Fig. 10 the reversible die.
Fig. 11 shows in detail the plunger-block upon which the eccentric-rod directly
operates, and Fig. 12 the removable distance-piece through which movement is
transmitted to the plunger.
Fig. 13 shows separately the bar-guide which is carried by the plunger.
Fig. 14 shows a die for forming washers.
The horizontal frame or bed-plate A is supported upon suitable legs. (Not shown.)
Mounted in bearings a, formed at intervals in this bed-plate, is the operating-
shaft B, extending lengthwise, to which rotary power is conveyed through the
gear-wheel bl. This shaft is formed with any convenient number of eccentrics bb,
the centers of which are arranged consecutively in advance of each other, as
indicated in Fig. 2. Eccentric-rods H are strapped upon these eccentrics in any
ordinary manner and are connected to slides or plungers D, which carry the
punches, &c. These plungers are guided in parallel slide-ways CC, formed in the
bed-plate, and are held therein by cap-plates D', bolted to the side walls e of
the slide-ways.
The free end of each eccentric-rod enters the jaw-shaped end of the plunger
and is connected therewith by means of a pin which fills the hole h' in the rod and
the projecting ends of which engage oblong holes d' in the plunger. The curved

page_text: outer surface of the rod end h bears against the concave surface of the block K,
provided with guide pieces and capable of sliding longitudinally in the plunger,
and the front k of this block having guide pieces i and a pin bolt J, presses upon a
distance-piece I, interposed between the block and the main portion of the plunger,
through which distance-piece the operating power from the shaft B is thus trans-
mitted to the plunger. The thickness of this distance-piece is made about equal
to the full throw of the eccentric, and it is so formed as to be conveniently removed
from its position during the return stroke of the plunger, thus permitting any one
of the latter to be readily thrown out of operation without affecting the others.
Furthermore this distance-piece is arranged to serve as a safety breaking piece,
being made hollow and sufficiently weak to collapse if undue strain is brought
upon it from any cause thus preventing damage to more important parts of the
machine.
The slideways CC for the plungers open into a dieway E, extending at right
angles to them for the whole length of the machine. Fitted to this way_and
removably secured therein directly opposite the plungers are die-blocks F of
rectangular form. Each of these blocks is provided with a square recess f to
receive a square die G, the thickness of which is preferably sufficient to make it
project slightly beyond the face of the die-block. This die is provided with a
central hole g' and with a series of four holes g2 equidistant from the central hole
and also equidistant from the four shearing edges gg of the die. The size of these
holes corresponds with those to be punched in the nuts, while the distance between
the central hole g' and each of the series g' is equal to the measurement over the
flat sides of the nuts to be formed, and the distance between the holes 9' and the
shearing edges is equal to half this measurement. A hole in the die-block
registers with the central hole g' in the die, and a passageway f¹ for the sheared-off
nuts extends entirely through the block underneath the die and opens, as does also
the hole, into a frame-passage e, through which both nuts and hole-punchings
are delivered into suitable receptacles, the partition q³ being provided to permit
their separate discharge.
The forward portion of the plunger D is formed with a rectangular recess d' for
the reception of the punching-tools. These include a shearing-tool, (marked 1,)
which is set to operate in connection with the shearing edge g of the die G, a
guide-pin, (marked 3,) which is preferably constructed as indicated in Fig. 7,
where it is shown mounted in the block 4 and backed by a spring 5, which presses
the pin outward to its normal position, but permits it to be forced back, and a hole
punch, (marked 2,) all of which are firmly held in place by means of a plate bolted
to the top surface of the plunger, which plate is formed to serve as a bar-guide L,
being provided with a flaring jaw-shaped portion 1, projecting forward of the
plunger and adapted to pass over the bar and to bring it to proper position to be
operated upon by the punches. The latter are arranged to correspond with the
die G, the punch 2 meeting the central hole g', the pin 3 one of the holes g², and
the tool 1 passing below the shearing edge g, as already described.
Stripper-plates P are secured in position between the plungers and the fixed die
by means of bolts pp. The shearing-tool 1 passes below this; but the punch 2
passes through an opening in it before puncturing the bar O, which is thus
positively stripped off of the punch as the latter is withdrawn.
The bars O are merely placed in vertical position by the operator in front of
each of each operating-plunger, being supported in vertical guides N on the face of
brackets M, secured to the frame. The bar fits loosely in these guides, which are
preferably provided with antifriction-rollers n, and may be further steadied at their
upper ends if desired.
Having been placed in position, the bar drops until its lower end is supported
upon a plate g of suitable thickness in the passage fle. In starting upon a new
bar in which there is no hole the advancing-punch 1 shears off the end of the bar,
the pin 3 coming in contact with the solid bar is merely forced back, and the punch 2
punches a hole in the bar. Upon the withdrawal of the punch the bar drops

page_text: automatically, and on the return stroke of the plunger the same operation is repeated,
except that the pointed pin 3 passes through the previously punched hole in the bar
into the hole g in the die before the punch reaches the bar, thus insuring, in
connection with the guide L, the placing of the bar in exactly proper position
before punching another hole. The sheared off nuts and punchings are forced out
through the frame-passage e, as already described.
The central hole g¹ of the die, upon which the greatest work is thrown, is
preferably bushed, so as to permit its being readily kept in good form without
renewing the die, and the latter is then capable of being used an indefinitely long
time, each of the four shearing edges 9 and of the four guide-pin holes g' being
equally adapted for service.
In punching washers the form of die illustrated in Fig. 14 is used, a punch equal
in diameter to the washer being substituted for the shearing-punch 1 and operating
in connection with the large hole of the die Q, while the punch 2 and guide-pin 3
enter the holes q' and q³, as before, and the punchings and washers are similarly
removed.
By means of my improved construction I am enabled to produce a machine which
is capable of performing a great amount of work with great rapidity and exactness,
with a minimum amount of attention, and with a very limited expenditure of power
at any particular instant of time, which is also readily accessible in all its parts and
in which each particular section is made independently operative or inoperative
with the greatest ease and advantage.
The form and arrangement of details as I have illustrated and described them are
evidently capable of considerable modification without departing from the spirit of
my invention, and I do not therefore desire to limit myself to the exact construction
herein set forth.
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 a machine for manufacturing nuts the combination with a die G of
punches 1 and 2 and intermediate pin 3 substantially as set forth.
2. In a machine for manufacturing nuts the combination with punches 1 and 2
and intermediate pin 3, of the square die G with central hole and circular series of
holes equally distant from said central hole, substantially as set forth.
3. In a machine for manufacturing nuts the combination with die G and
punches 1 and 2 and pin 3 of the stripper P all arranged and adapted to operate
substantially as set forth.
4. In a machine for manufacturing nuts the combination with the plunger D of
the eccentric-rod H, having a slotted connection therewith, plunger-block K, and
distance-piece I all arranged substantially as set forth.
5. In a machine for manufacturing nuts the combination with the plunger D of
the eccentric-rod H having a slotted connection therewith, plunger-block K and
hollow distance piece, all arranged substantially as set forth.
6. In a machine for making nuts the combination with the horizontal bed-plate,
the fixed die, and the punch plunger, of the bracket M with vertical guideway for
the nut bar, and the jaw-shaped bar-guide L carried by the plunger, all arranged
substantially as set forth.
7. In a machine for making nuts the combination with a fixed die and the
punches carried by the plunger, of the guide-pin 3 and bar guide L also carriel by
said plunger, said die being provided with a hole to receive the guide-pin and all
adapted to operate substantially as set forth.
Dated this 27th day of May 1896.
WHEATLEY & MACKENZIE,
40 Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agents.