Year: 1888

page_text: other similar Articles.
We, JACOB RUSSELL and JOHN COOPER, of No. 315, East 28th Street, in the City
and State of New York, United States of America, Iron Manufacturers, 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, as herein illustrated and embodied, to a machine for making
that class of devices used in building an I known as building anchors, and designed for
bracing and strengthening walls and tying them to the floor timbers. As usually
constructed by hand, and as made by this machine, the anchor is composed of a flat
bar of wrought iron, one end of which is bent around and firmly clasps a cross-bar
(usually of round iron) at its middle. This latter bar is commonly called the "spear."
The flat bar is twisted a quarter way round just behind the spear, and at the end
opposite the spear the bar is bent laterally to form an L-shaped claw or lip.
The object of this invention is to provide a machine that will, by successive opera-
tions on the two plain bars or elements of the anchor and without handling, join the
said elements together, twist the body, form the L-shaped claw, and discharge the
anchor completed and ready for use.
The invention will be hereinafter fully described and its novel features defined in
the claims.
In the drawings which serve to illustrate the invention, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of
the machine taken from the feeding side; the bed being partly broken away to better
illustrate some of the mechanism. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the machine taken
on the line 22 in Fig. 1, looking towards the right in the latter figure. Figure 3 is
a similar transverse section, taken in the same plane as Fig. 2, but looking in the
opposite direction. Fig. 4 is a detached view of the twister; Fig. 5 is a detached
view of the cam-device for discharging the finished anchor, and Fig. 6 is a detached
view of the cam for feeding the spears from the hopper into the machine. Fig. 7 is a
detached and enlarged view of the closing die. Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the
anchor, the product of the machine.

page_text: We will premise the description of the machine by saying that it is designed to
complete an anchor at each revolution of the main shaft, when the machine will be
automatically stopped by a shifter; it will be set in motion again by the operator as
soon as he has placed a bar for the next anchor. We have not deemed it necessary
to show this automatic stopping device, as such devices are in common use on many
machines, and it forms no essential part of our invention.
A is the bed of the machine. This bed is shown broken away at the left in Fig. 1,
as it may be of any length desired, and the left hand end may be constructed in the
same way as the right hand end seen in this Figure. Bis the main shaft, rotatively
mounted in bearings at a a¹ a² in brackets on the several frames C C C² on the bed A.
The shaft B drives a vertical shaft B', through bevel-gears b. The shaft B₁ drives a
horizontal transverse shaft B², through gears ; and the shaft. B2, through gears ²,
drives a longitudinal horizontal shaft B3 beneath the bed. The main shaft B also
drives, through gears 63, a cross-shaft B, mounted in the frame C; and, through
gears 6, a cross-shaft B³ mounted in the frame C2. All the gears
are, by
preference, of the same size, so that all of the various shafts will be driven at the
same speed. D is a wheel on the main shaft B, by which or through which power is
applied to the said shaft. The shafts B2 B3 B B are all distinctively cam-shafts; the
shaft B merely connects the mains shaft with the shafts below the bed of the
machine.
In the several figures, a represents the body of the anchor made by the machine,
or the bar from which it is to be formed, and y represents the "spear" or cross-bar,
usually of round iron. Fig. 1 shows the bar a in place in the machine and the work
on it partly completed. Its right hand end, where the spear is to be attached, is seen
resting on a fixed die c, on the machine-frame, and its left hand end is seen resting on
a die or anvil c¹, also secured to the machine-frame. The first presser-foot, d, is rest-
ing on the bar at the right and holding it firmly down upon the die c, and the second
pressor-foot d, is resting on the bar at the left and holding that end of it down firmly
on the anvil c. The end-bender e, which forms the L-shaped bend on the end of the
bar, is seen at the left in Fig. 1 at the end of its down stroke and ready to rise, and
the plunger die, which forms the primary half of the eye in the end of the bar, for
the reception of the spear, is seen at the right in Fig. 1 at the end of its downstroke,
the metal of the bar having been bent down into the semicircular hollow in the
die c.
The several vertically moving parts are secured to sliding plates and are moved up
and down by properly shaped cams. These parts will be best understood by reference
to Figs. 2 and 3. The foot d is carried by a sliding plate g (see Fig. 2) mounted to
play in guides in the frame C; and is moved upwards by a cam, on the shaft B*,
and downwards by a cam i on the same shaft. The plunger-die f carried by a
sliding plate j, also mounted in guides in the frame C, and is moved upwards by a
cam, and downwards by a cam l. These cams are also on the shaft B.
Reference to Fig. will make clear the means employed for operating the foot d¹, and
the bender e. The foot d is carried by a sliding plate m, which plays in guides in
the frame C, and the said foot is moved upwards by a cam n on the shaft B, and
downwards by a cam o on the same shaft. The bender e is carried by a sliding
plate which plays in guides on the frame C², and is moved upwards by a cam 7 on
the shaft B and downwards by a cam r on the same shaft. The several sliding plates
are provided with suitable rollers to bear on the cams. The cams actuating the two
presser-feet, the plunger-dic, and the bender, have the proper forms to impart the
proper extent of movement up and down, and are so set that these movements take
place at the proper times; that is to say, the two feet da descend first (after a bar a
is placed) and then the plunger-die and bender descend simultaneously; do their work,
and immediately rise. The foot d', adjacent to the bender e, also rises, but the foot d
remains in place. The next operation is the placing of the spear y in the partially
formed eye produced by the plunger-dief, and we will now describe the means. we
employ for effecting this step. E is a hopper to receive the spears. This hopper,
which may be of sheet metal, is set at an inclination on the machine-bed, - and is

page_text: provided at its ends with inturned folds ss (Fig. 2) to form keepers, and a semi-
tubular, trough-like receiver s at its lower edge. The spears are introduced at the
top, sidewise, until the hopper is full; the lower spear always resting in the trough s'.
This hopper is kept filled by an attendant. The troughs is aligned with the partly
formed eye in the end of the bar x, which rests in the die e, and the bottom spear,
lying in the said trough, is pushed out longitudinally into place in the said eye,
by a pusher t, suitably guided in bearings, and adapted to work in the said trough.
This pusher is actuated by a lever F, pivotted at u on the side of the bed, and
coupled at its lower end to a slide-rod v, the other end of which bears a stud or
roller w engaging with the groove in the cam G on the shaft B³. This cam and
the rod are shown detached in Fig. 6, in which view the observer sees the cam
from the opposite direction to that from which it is seen in Fig. 2. When the spear
has been pushed into place, the eye in the bar x is closed, and the metal is made to
embrace the spear by means of a closing die e¹ on the end of a lever H, the latter
being pivotted in the bed at f, and having a roller in the end of its tail or longer
arm which bears on the cam I on the cross-shaft B³. The parts are so arranged as to
enable the closing die to be driven forwards and downwards in a slightly curved
path, whereby the hot metal of the bar is caused to tightly embrace the spear. The
cam then allows the die to recede.
Simultaneously with this closing of the eye around the spear, the body of the
anchor is twisted as seen at a in Fig. 8. The mechanism that accomplishes this will
now be described with especial reference to Figs. 1, 2 and 4. In a bracket J, under
the bed A, are mounted in suitable guides, so that they may play vertically, two
slides K and K. These slides are provided at their upper ends with jaws g¹ g²,
respectively, which effect the twisting. This is accomplished in the following
manner :- -The jaws gg stand, during the primary operations of the machine, in
the positions seen in Fig. 2; the former above the bar, and the latter below it. At
the proper moment, the jaw.g is drawn downwards and simultaneously the jaw g'is
pushed upwards. The bar a being in their paths, they strike and twist it. Fig. 4
shows the position of the jaws when they have come in contact, during their move-
ment, with the opposite faces of the bar. When the jaws arrive opposite each other,
the bar stands between them and on edge. The slides and jaws thereupon instantly
return to their first position. Motion is imparted to each of the slides by two cams
on the shaft B³. The cam raises the slide K and the cam 2 draws it down-
wards. The cam i¹ raises the slide K¹ and the cam draws it downwards. The
cams and may be alike and the cams ² and may be alike. These cams
bear on laterally projecting rollers on their respective slides. In Fig. 4, the forms of
the cams for actuating the slide K are shown in their proper relative positions. The
twister having completed its work, the presser-foot d rises, and the finished anchor is
pushed off the dies c c', and falls on some suitable carrier arranged beneath the
machine, but not illustrated in the present drawings.
We will now describe the device employed for pushing off the finished anchor. On
the shaft 13 and adjacent to the cam G is a cam L, seen detached in Fig. 5. This
cam actuates a lever M, having at one extremity a roller or stud which engages in
the groove of the cam L. The lever M is pivotted at k, and normally its longer
arm extends upwards just behind the anchor whilst in the machine. When the
cam L acts on the lever, the upper end of the latter is thrown suddenly forward,
and strikes the anchor and pushes or knocks it sidewise from its resting place on the
dies. The lever then returns to its normal position. In practice, we prefer to employ
a lever L with two upright arms l', at some distance apart, so that the blow may be
applied at two points on the body of the anchor simultaneously. This effects a better
result, especially when the anchor is long.
In order that anchors of different lengths may be made on one machine, we prefer
to provide means for setting the frame C³, which carries the end-bender e, the foot d',
and their operating mechanisms, at any desired point on the bed A, so that it
set at the proper distance from the die c. To effect this, we mount the frame C³ to
slide longitudinally along the bed, preferably in guides to keep it properly aligned,
may be

page_text: and we mount a pinion m¹ on the base of the said frame, which pinion gears with a
suitable rack n' on the bed A. By the rotation of this pinion, the frame C³ is moved
to and fro lengthwise of the bed A. When set at the proper point on the bed, the
frame C is securely clamped by bolts and nuts o¹, the bolts working along slots in the
bed when the frame is moved.
In order to keep the bevel-gears in proper gear, the gear-wheel on the main shaft B
is held in place by a key fitted in a key-way cut in the shaft and wheel, and by
loosening this key, the wheel may be moved into gear with its fellow on the shaft B³,
and then again keyed fast.
In order to limit the movement of the spear y when it is pushed into place by the
pusher t, we mount on some part of the frame Ca stop p¹, seen in Figs. 1 and 2,
which stands in the path of the said spear. The spear is pushed up to this stop.
The attendant takes the hot bar c and places it in the machine from the side,―the
right hand side as seen in Fig. 2-placing the end that is to receive the spear on the
nose of the closing die el and against an end-stop g, seen in Fig. 1. The machine is
then set in motion, and the operations as hereinbefore described consecutively
performed.
In order to avoid the danger of seriously damaging the machine in case it is set in
motion at the wrong time, or while a spear or other obstacle lies in the hollow of the
die e, we prefer to forni a hollow in the slide j, as seen at in Fig. 1, behind the point
where the plunger-die is attached thereto. This reduces so much the strength of the
metal to which the said plunger-die is attached that, should the die strike an obstacle,
the metal will yield and break before the machine suffers injury.
In order to avoid prolixity, we have herein referred to the feet, die and bender as
attached to their respective sliding plates. In practice, however, they are usually
attached to the said plates through intermediate pieces. This will be understood by
anyone skilled in the art. In some anchors, the L-shaped bend is not required, in
which case the bender e will, of course, not be employed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is
'
First A machine for making building anchors constructed and operating sub-
stantially as described, whereby the eye is formed in the hot metal bar, the spear
inserted therein, the eye closed, the bar twisted, and the finished anchor, thus completed
by consecutive operations, discharged from the machine.
Secondly-The twisting device constructed and operating substantially as herein
described.
Thirdly The device for forming the eye in the bar and closing it around the spear,
constructed and operating substantially as herein described.
Dated this 14th day of Auril 1SSS
G. G. M. HARDINGHAM,
191, Fleet Street, London, E.C.,
Agent for the Applicants.