Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Apr., 1899-Accepted, 10th June, 1899
Cutting
to some extent the wellknown wood screw-cutting machines working with a sliding
tool shaped to template. In order to afford a clear idea as to the mode of action
of this machine and to illustrate more fully the improvements of individual parts
it is indispensable to illustrate known parts also.
In the annexed drawings;
Fig. 1 shows a vertical elevation of the machine,
Fig. 2 is a plan,
Figs. 3 and 4 are vertical sections along the lines A-A and B-B in Figure 2.
Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the machine,
Figs. 6 to 9 are details.
Figs. 10 and 11 show the tool-holder, while Figs. 12 to 14 show details in con-
nection therewith.
The machine is driven by a pulley 1 which is attached to the clamp 2. At
one end of the clamp 2 there is a little wheel 3 which gears into a cog-wheel 5,
arranged on box 4. The box 4 is provided with fillets 6 to prevent it from being
shifted in the direction of the centre-line. The box 4 has fixed into it a spindle 7
which projects from the box 4 at both sides and bears at one end an endless screw 8
and at the other end a cog-wheel 9. The latter, by means of an intermediate
wheel 10, fitted on the pin 11 of lever 12, drives the cog-wheel 13, rigidly joined
to wheel 14 which revolves on pin 15 and transmits its motion to wheel 16, fixed
on spindle 17. Spindle 17 is fitted with a cog-wheel 18 which gears into a cog-
wheel 19 fixed to spindle 20. Spindle 20 is fitted at one end with the cog-wheel 21,
which drives cog-wheel 22. The latter is cast in one piece with drum 29,
(Fig. 2) revolving loosely on spindle 17. Lever 12 pivots on the pin 15 which
bears wheels 13 and 14; the other end is provided with a curved slot 23, and the
lever can be fixed in any position by means of the screw 24 which rests in a
projection 25 of the machine frame. Thanks to this arrangement wheel 10 can easily
be replaced by one of a lesser or larger size, thus reducing or increasing respec-
tively, the speed of slide-rest 26 and hence of the cutter 27. Rigidly connected
with drum 29 is a box 30 which carries a bevel-wheel 31 gearing into another
bevel-wheel 32, the latter drives a vertical spindle 33 which is borne by an arm 34,
rigidly connected with the machine frame. At the upper end of the vertical
shaft 33 there is a plate or tray 35 which receives the screw blanks to be wormed.

page_text: These are fed into the rotary clamp 2 by a feeding arrangement which consists of
a channel or slide 36 carrying at its upper end a fork 37 which is alternately raised
and lowered. When in its lowest position the fork will always clutch a few
screw blanks, and on the fork being raised these will slide through the channel,
thus reaching the clutch 38 (Fig. 1 and 6). The channel 36 is fitted with 2
regulating screws 39 which are set exactly to the diameter of the screw blank
to be wormed and which prevent screw blanks of larger diameter from getting
into the machine. The raising and lowering of the fork 37 as well as the oscil-
lating movement of the clutch 38 is caused in a known manner and the arrange-
ments serving to produce this motion are therefore not drawn or described. To
prevent screw blanks of larger length than intended from getting into the clamp
a regulating screw 40 is fitted to the clutch 38; screw blanks of greater length
than intended cannot lodge in the channel (a) of the clutch 38 Fig. 6, but will
rest with their end on the regulating screw 40, thus preventing the movement of
the clutch. The screw blanks are taken from the clutch by a gripper and
delivered into the clamp. Both the delivery and the opening and closing of the
clamp is effected in a known manner.
To prevent the screw blanks from being bent while being operated upon by
the cutting tool they are made to rest on a support 41, Fig. 3.
The cutting of the worm is effected by a rotary cutter 27 (Figs. 1, 2, 10 & 12)
which revolves in an oblique plane and the upper teeth of which form a series of
cutting edges; it resembles a section taken through a many-threaded screw. The
screw blank is set in rotation by the clamp and the cutter 27 likewise revolves,
but with such a speed as to advance, at each revolution of the blank, to the
extent of one more tooth. Apart from the rotary motion the cutter is moved to
and fro' in the longitudinal direction of the blank, and in an arc line towards the
blank, the centre of this are being the pivots 44, Fig. 10. The revolution of the
cutter 27 round its own axis causes a screw worm to be cut by the cutting edges,
while the motion of the cutter in a curve towards the blank renders it possible to
shift the cutter nearer to or farther away from the centre-line of the screw blank
so that the screw produced can be pointed, or given any desired taper. In form-
ing the point of the screw the cutter makes a somewhat deeper cut than during the
remaining part of the work so that during this time the advancing motion of the
cutter 27 along the screw must necessarily be slower than when the advancing
motion of the cutter is taking place parallel to the centre-line of the screw.
These various motions of the cutter are executed as follows:--
The cutter 27 is fixed on a vertical spindle 45 Fig. 10 which carries a worm-
wheel 46 gearing into the endless screw 8 of spindle 7, Fig. and 2. The rotation
of the cutter round its own axis is therefore caused by the pulley 1, the clamp 2,
the wheels 3 and 5, the box 4, the spindle 7, the endless screw 8, the worm-
wheel 46 and the spindle 45. The spindle 45 and the worm-wheel 46 are borne in
a box 47, Fig. 10, which can oscillate in a vertical direction round lateral
pivots 44, which oscillate in bearings 48, Fig. 1, and 2 on the slide rest 26. The
box 47 is provided with an arm 49, Figs. 2 and 3, which at its end is provided
with a regulating screw 50 which bears against a bolt 51. The latter is borne
in a box 52 of the slide rest 26 and secured against any rotation. The regulating
screw 50 is held in contact with bolt 51 by a spring 42. By lowering or raising
the bolt 51 the cutter is moved away from or towards the screw blank by means of
the arm 49 of box 47. For this purpose a cross beam 53, Fig. 3 is arranged in the
upper part of the machine frame and in it rests a guide pin 54 which is flattened
towards the lower part and serves as a guide to bolt 51. The surface 55, (Fig. 8)
of the pin is intended to impart to the wormed portion of the screw the desired
conicity and general shape, as bolt 51, sliding on this surface will shift the
cutter 27 towards or away from the screw blank, according to the shape of
surface 55.
The slide-rest 26, Fig. 1, 2, 3, which carries the oscillating box 47 with the

page_text: screw 61.
cutter 27, its spindle 45, and the worm-wheel 46, rests on round bars 57 which
are guided in bearings 58 on the machine frame. The slide-rest 26 is provided
with an
arm 59, (Fig. 3), which has at its end a socket or box 60
in which latter the horizontal bar 62 is fixed adjustably by means of the
According to this arrangement the slide-rest 26, and with it the
cutter 27, can be easily and accurately adjusted according to the length of
the blank to be wormed. The bar 62 is borne in a cylindrical box 63, which is
open at the side turned towards the drum 29. On the drum, Fig. 2, a flange 64
is fixed, one side of which has a helical form with various pitches. The roller 65,
Figs. 4 and 7 which is fitted to the bar 62, and with it the slide-rest 26, are
advanced horizontally by this inclined plane" of flange 64, and will therefore
carry the cutter 27 along the screw blank to be wormed. The higher the pitch
of this side the more rapid will be the motion of the roller, and its action on
the slide-rest 26, and vice versa, the lower the pitch the slower the motion of the
slide-rest. Hence, it appears that while the revolution of drum 29 is uniform
the motion imparted to the roller may nevertheless be varied at will by altering
the pitch of this surface. Fig. 7 is an evolution of the flange 64.
In the drawing, the side 66 is placed at such an angle to the axis of the drum
as to cause the roller 65 to move forward, together with the parts set in motion
by it, and carry the cutter 27 against the end of the screw being wormed, at a
very rapid rate; the surface 67 will then cause the advance of the cutter to be
retarded while the point of the screw is being formed; surface 68 will again cause
an accelerated motion while the actual screw part is being cut. Surface 69 of the
cam-ring 70 of the drum 29 will shift the roller 65 rapidly back to its initial
position, after the screw has been wormed. While this is taking place the worm-
wheel 46 will run on the endless screw 8 like a cog-wheel running on a rack and
the cutter 27 will run on the screw in the same way.
In order to be able to cut screws with a somewhat shorter worm on one and
the same machine, a regulating appliance is arranged at the end of surface 68.
This arrangement consists in the moveable leg 71 which is pivoted on a pin 72
and can be moved in a curve by means of the regulating screw 73 after being
correctly adjusted the leg 71 is fixed by the screw 74 which is fitted into the
drum 29.
During the return motion of the cutter 27 it must not be brought into contact
again with the finished point of the screw because this latter is no longer suffi-
ciently supported by the support 41; and may therefore be easily damaged by the
cutter; to prevent this the guide pin 54, and with it the surface 55 which deter-
mines the shape of the point is moved to the left. This is effected by means of
rod 75, Fig. 2 which is guided in the frame and provided at one end with a
roller 78 which is moved by the tappet 79, Fig. 7, of the flange 64. At the other
end of the rod an arm 80 is fixed, which carries a regulating screw 81 provided
with 2 fillets 77. The guide pin 54 is made thicker at one end and provided
with two projections forming a slot opened towards the top and in which the regu-
lating screw rests. This arrangement permits a convenient releasing of the guide
pin 54. After the cutter has got out of reach of the screw the guide pin 54 is
drawn back by a spring to its initial position. In order to insure steady gliding,
free from jerks, of the bolt 51, (Fig. 8) on the inclined plane 55 of the guide
pin 54 the latter has but a slight pitch. In order to avoid giving to the pointed
end of the screw an equally slender shape the guide pin is shifted axially while
the point is being cut; this motion being caused by the surface 82 of the flange 64,
(Fig. 7) acting on the roller 78.
A second arrangement for avoiding any contact of the cutter 27 with the finished
point of the screw during the return motion consists in causing the guide pin 54,
instead of shifting it axially, to be raised together with the cross-beam, 53,
Fig. 9; for this purpose the cross-beam 53, is rigidly connected with the
spindle 84 by an arm 83; the other end of this spindle is fitted with a lever 85,

page_text: carrying a roller 86 which bears against the drum 29. The latter is provided with
a recess 87; as soon as the roller in passing over the drum enters this recess the
cross-beam will be raised and the cutter will be shifted away from the point of
the screw.
In order to avoid any injurious strain on the cutter or worm-wheel while the
cutter, during its return motion, is running back over the finished screw, the
cutter is arranged so that it can slide on its spindle, thus adapting itself to the
worm of the screw. Consequently, the cutter 27 is fixed loosely on its spindle
and is forced into its seat by a friction ring 88. The friction ring is compressed
by means of the disc 89, the pin 90 which passes through the bore of the spindle 45,
and the spiral spring 91, which latter is adjustable by means of a nut and check-
nut 92. For cutting short screws with a strong taper, the construction may be
simplified, the cutter being rigidly connected with the pin 45 by a nut acting on
a cone, Fig. 11.
The mechanism which removes the finished screws from the machine has not
been shown in the drawing as it is well-known; it is set in motion by the cam 96
on the cog-wheel 22, by means of a rod 93 borne in the machine frame (Fig. 2)
with cross-bar 94 which at one end carries a roller 95. The other end of the
cross-bar is provided with a box 98 which loosely surrounds the spindle 7 and can
be shifted on it in an axial line.
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:
-
1) The construction and arrangement of an automatic machine for worming
wood screws from wire nails or screw blanks substantially as herein described and
delineated.
2) In a machine for worming wood screws the arrangement and use of a rotary
cutter (27) which revolving in an oblique plane provides the rotating screw blank
with thread in one reciprocating movement in such a manner that the horizontal
movement during the cutting operation of the point of the screw blank is carried
out slowlier than during the cutting operation of the other part of the blank.
3) In a machine for worming wood screws the arrangement and use of a
carrier 47 pivotally secured to a carriage 26 which is guided in the machine frame
by bars 57 said carriage having an arm 59 adapted to receive a rod 62 fitted with
a roller 65 upon which actuates a drum 29 having a flange 64 with different
pitches by which the carriage is driven periodically with different speed
and a guide pin 54 acting upon the carrier 47 by means of a bolt 51 in such
a manner that the carrier is moved towards and from the screw blank allowing the
cutter to worm the blank more or less and to form a corresponding taper the
guide pin 54 being on the returning movement of the cutter brought out of
contact with the carrier either by removing it sideways or by lifting it.
4) In a machine for worming wood screws the arrangement and use of a
drum 29 having a flange 64 fitted with different pitches said flange being provided
with a regulating appliance for worming a more or less long piece of the screw
blank.
5) In a machine for worming wood screws the arrangement to move the guide
pin 54 in its axial direction during the cutting operation of the point of the
screw blank by the cam drum 29.
6) In a machine for worming wood screws the arrangement and use of a regulat-
ing lever 12 carrying the cog-wheels 10, 14 in order to allow a convenient change
of cog-wheel 10 by a wheel of a lesser or larger size and vary the speed of
carriage 26.
7) In a machine for worming wood screws the improved feeding device for the
screw blanks consisting in the arrangement of a pair of set screws 39 in channel 36
in order to prevent the slipping through of a thicker blank than intended and a

page_text: set screw 40 arranged in the clutch in order to prevent the insertion of a longer
blank in the clamp than intended.
8) A contrivance consisting of a rod 93 provided with a cross bar 94 which is
shifted lengthways by a cam 96 of drum 29 serving for the motion of the screw
collector.
Dated this 15th day of April in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and ninety-nine
ROBERT DICKE.
By A. Daumas,
Agent for Applicant.