Improvements in Machinery for Straightening, Flattening, and Cutting into Lengths Wire and Rods.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Feb., 1894
'Complete Specification Left, 19th Dec., 1394-Accepted, 9th Feb., 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machinery for Straightening, Flattening, and
Cutting into Lengths Wire and Rods.
I, MARTIN FENN ROBERTS, of Madgehill, Hanwell, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to improvements in machines for straightening, flattening
in places or continuously and cutting into lengths wire and rods, such improved
machinery being particularly adapted for making the form of binder used for
securing copper telegraph wires to the insulating supports fixed on telegraph
poles etc.
In constructing my improved machine I employ a pair of rollers both (or one)
of which are usually in places ground down on their periphery or otherwise
reduced in diameter. The wire or rod to be dealt with is placed on a reel or
swift free to rotate on its axis and from this the wire or rod passes through
straightening apparatus and then between the pair of rollers. The rollers are
supported in adjustable bearings and are set and maintained in their respective
positions by adjusting screws and locknuts by which means the distance apart
of the rollers can be varied. For the purpose of rolling tapering wire or rods
the rollers can also be fixed eccentrically on their shafts. The rollers are geared
together and driven by any convenient arrangement of mechanism.
The
straightening apparatus and a knife edge tool for cutting off the lengths of
wire are carried by two sliding tables coupled together in guides or slideways
and connected by rods and levers to a cam or equivalent part on the axle of
one of the revolving rollers so that the tables receive a reciprocating movement.
The length of travel of the tables as well as their position is capable of being
varied and regulated by means of bolts fixed in slots in the levers or connections
conveying motion from the cam to the tables and also by a slot in the table to
which a connecting rod is bolted. The cam or equivalent part and its connections
are so arranged that the table with the straightening apparatus is stationary
whilst the rollers are flattening the wire or rod, which at this time is drawn
through the stationary apparatus by the rotation of the rollers and all bends and
sinuosities are thereby removed. The wire or rod gripped by the straightening
apparatus is, when the tables travel rapidly forward, carried through the space
formed by the flattened portion of the rollers or when the rollers are mounted
eccentrically through the space between them at one part of their revolution,
without flattening that portion of the wire or rod which is to remain round or
be unaltered in section, and by varying and adjusting the travel any required
length (within certain limits) of unflattened wire between the flattened portions
can be obtained. It is important that the cutting apparatus should be very
rapid in its action and to this end the cutter is mounted in a vertically sliding
tool holder fitted in guides carried by its reciprocating table and by means of
a series of levers and an adjustable stop or trip lever the cutter receives a rapid
lownward or cutting stroke into a die at each forward movement but remains
inoperative at each backward movement of the reciprocating table. By fixing
the adjustable stop or trip lever or employing two, set in opposite directions,

page_text: the cutter can be actuated to cut off lengths of wire or rod both on the back-
ward as well as the forward travel of the table, and by having two or more
adjustable stops or trip levers one in advance of the other any required number
of cutting strokes can be obtained for each forward or backward travel of the
table and by adjusting the positions of such stops or trip levers the point of cut-
off can be varied
Dated this 19th day of February 1894.
H. B. BARLOW & GILLETT,
Agents for Applicant.
Improvements in Machinery for Straightening, Flattening, and
Cutting into Lengths Wire and Rods.
1, MARTIN FENN ROBERTS, formerly of Madgehill, Hanwell, in the County of
Middlesex, but now of 5 Christchurch Avenue, Brondesbury, in the said county,
Engineer, 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 improvements in machines for straightening, flattening
in places or continuously and cutting into lengths wire and rods, such improved
machinery being particularly adapted for making the form of binder used for
securing copper telegraph wires to the insulating supports fixed on telegraph
poles etc.
And in order that my invention may be fully understood and readily carried into
effect I will describe the accompanying two sheets of drawings reference being had
to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved machine for straightening, flattening
and cutting into lengths wire and rods.
Fig. 2 is an end view of the cutting off mechanism,
Fig. 3 is a plan view of the straightening rollers.
Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section of the machine,
Fig. 5 is a transverse section taken on the line A B, Fig. 4.
In constructing my improved machine I employ a pair of flattening rollers 2, 3,
the axles 4, 5, of which are supported in standards 6 bolted upon the frame 7 of
the machine.
In the drawings the roller 3 is shown ground down or otherwise reduced in
diameter for a certain distance on its periphery. The axles 4, 5 of the rollers 2, 3
are geared together by the pinions 8, 9 and the bottom roller 3 is driven by the
spur wheel 10 and pinion 11 from the driving shaft 12 which receives its motion by
a belt, not shown, and a pair of speed pulleys 13, 14.
The top roller 2 is capable of being adjusted to or from the bottom roller 3 by
means of adjusting screws 15 secured to the slide blocks, which support the roller
axle 4 and are fitted in slots in the standards 6, and when adjusted the slide blocks
are set and maintained in their respective positions by means of lockuuts 16 on the
adjusting screws 15.
The apparatus for straightening the wire consists of two nests of rollers 17 and 18
of which the rollers 17 are mounted horizontally and the rollers 18 are mounted
perpendicularly both nests of rollers 17, 18 being carried by a sliding table 19
supported on guides 20 on the frame 7.
The cutting off mechanism hereinafter described is carried on a similar sliding
table 21 supported on guides 22 on the frame 7 and the two tables 19, 21 are coupled
together adjustably by a connecting rod or bar 23 and are caused to slide to and fro

page_text: together by means of a hollow cain 24 fixed on the roller axle 5. In the path
of this cam 24 lies a bowl 25 carried by a lever 26 which is fulcrumed at 27 to the
foot of one of the standards 6. The other end of this lever 26 is slotted and in this
slot is pivoted one end of a rod 28 which is similarly connected at the other end to
one arm of a slotted elbow lever 29 fulcruined at 30 to the frame 7 and connected
at the extremity of its other arm by a link 31 to a projection 32 which is bolted
and secured adjustably in a slot in the table 21.
It is important that the cutting apparatus should be very rapid in its action and
to this end the knife edge tool or cutter 33 is mounted in a vertically sliding tool
holder 34 fitted in guides 35 on a standard 36 fixed on the sliding table 21. To
the tool holder 34 is jointed one end of a lever 37 which is fulcrumed at 38 on the
standard 36 and is connected at the other end by a link 39 to a lever 40 which is
fulcrumed at 41 to the base of the standard 36. The lever 40 carries a roller 42
which at each backward movement of the table 21, that is to say, whenever it is
sliding towards the rollers 2, 3 passes over a trip lever 43 without actuating the
cutter 33. This trip lever 43 has a short arm with an inclined surface 44 and a
long arm which is supported by a stud 45 secured to the frame 7 and it is fulcrumed
at 48 in an adjustable bracket 49 bolted to the frame 7. At each forward move-
ment of the sliding table 21 away from the rollers 2, 3 the roller 42 mounts the
inclined surface 44 of the trip lever 43 which is held rigidly by the stud 45 and
thereby the lever 40 on which the said roller is mounted is raised, and by its
connections 39, 37 actuates the sliding tool holder 34 and cutter 33 and so causeз
the latter to cut off a length from the wire lying below it on a horizontal table
formed on the standard 36.
In operation the wire or rod (hereinafter referred to as the wire) to be dealt with
is placed on a revoluble reel or swift, not shown, and from this the wire passes
through the two nests of straightening rollers 17, 18, then between the pair of
flattening rollers 2, 3 and then through a guide 50 secured to the standard 36 under
the cutter 33. The wire is drawn through the straightening rollers 17, 18 by the
rotation of the rollers 2, 3 and all bends and sinuosities are thereby removed whilst
the portion passing through the nip of the rollers 2, 3 is being flattened, and the
tables 19, 21 are sliding the former away from and the latter towards the said rollers.
Then at the moment when the recessed part of the roller 3 comes under the wire
the movement of the sliding tables is reversed and as they move rapidly forward the
wire gripped by the straightening rollers 17, 18 is carried through the space formed
by the recessed portion of the roller 3 without flattening that portion of the wire
which is to remain round or be unaltered in section and as the roller 42 travels up
the inclined surface 44 of the trip lever 43 the cutter 33 is actuated as described to
cut off a piece of the previously Hattened wire and by varying and adjusting the
travel so as to regulate the feed through the rollers 2, 3 any required length
(within certain limits) of unflattened wire between the flattened portions can be
obtained.
By fixing the trip lever or by employing two trip levers set in opposite directions
the cutter 33 can be actuated to cut off lengths of wire both on the backward as
well as the forward travel of the table 21, and by having two or more trip levers
one in advance of the other any required number of cutting strokes can be obtained
for each forward or backward travel of the table and by adjusting the positions of
such trip levers the point of cut off can be varied.
In place of having only one roller ground down or otherwise reduced I may have
both rollers recessed on their peripheries and for the purpose of rolling tapering
wire the rollers can be fixed eccentrically on their axles. Again, instead of the
hollow cam 24 and connections shown and described I may employ any other
suitable mechanism for imparting a reciprocating motion to the sliding tables 19, 21;
also instead of the trip lever 43 I might employ an adjustable stop or other
convenient means for raising the lever 40 and actuating the cutter.
The driving and the gearing also might be differently arranged or varied without
departing from the nature of my invention as herein set forth.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed 1 declare that what I
claim is
1. The improved machine consisting in its essential features of a straightening
apparatus, flattening rollers, and cutting off mechanism all combined arranged and
operating substantially in the manner herein set forth and for the purposes
specified.
2. The combination with the pair of flattening rollers, of the straightening
apparatus on the feeding side and the cutting off apparatus on the delivery side of
said rollers the straightening and cutting off apparatus being both mounted on
sliding tables and arranged to travel to and from the rollers substantially as and
for the purposes herein described with reference to the drawings annexed."
3. A machine for making the form of binder used for securing copper telegraph
wire to the insulated support, and for the like purposes, said machine containing a
pair of rolls one or both of which is ground down or reduced in diameter in one
part of its periphery in the direction of and parallel with its axis.
4. A machine for making the form of binder used for securing copper telegraph
wire to the insulated support, and for the like purposes, said machine containing a
pair of rolls one or both of which is fixed eccentrically on its axle.
5. The combination and general arrangements of parts embodying my improve-
ments in machinery for straightening, flattening and cutting into lengths wire and
rods in one continuous operation substantially as herein described and as illustrated
by the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 18th day of December 1894.
H. B. BARLOW & GILLETT,
17, St. Ann's Square, Manchester, Agents for Applicant.