[1]Patented Jan. 14 19M 2 t l O S @ 6 3 7 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE APPARATITS FOR ABRADING STRAND INATERLAL Charles T. Davis, Beverly EMIS, CaM. AppHcation Jun@ 29, 1935, Serial No. 29,151 7 Cbjms. (CL 51-112). My present liivention relates to a method of and machine for abrading, gauging, bufflng and Polishing strand material such as strings made from homogenized animal tendon fibers and socalled "catgut" strings or the like, although the method and machine are well adapted for use upon metal strands, such as wire made from steel, copper, brass and alloys of different metals. An object of the Invention is @ to provide a 110 simple and effective methgd of and ihachine for operating upon strand iiiaterial, that will be au-.' tomatic and.continuous in operation and which wul Insure accurate gauging, abrading and polishing of the material at a relatively low cost., 15 As to the method, the invention consists In advancing the strand material to be acted ulion, Imparting an axial twist or twirl to the, inat'erial while it Is so advanced and In simultaneously abrading, grinding, sand@apering, bufdng and 29- polisbing the strand. In the preferred embodiment of the Invention I employ a plurality of successively and alternaiely acting abrading and buffing or pcdishing operations as the strand material Is being ad25 vanced under appropriate tension, as this has .proved tG be very successful In comrnerciii operation, although I do. not wish to be understood as limiting myself to this specific method, except as I may be limited by the terms of the ap30 pended claims. As for the machine, the Invention comprises means for advancing a strand and associated means for axially twisting or twirling the strand during such advance, and means for abrading, 35 grinding, sand-papering or buffing the strand Ps It Is advanoed. In the preferred type of machine I provide a plurality of pairs of combined strand engaging, twfsting or t*irling and abrading elements ar40 ranged in spaced relation and In a comtnon plane tG provide a rectilinegr strandpath between each Pair of said elements, and I @ also provide 9, plurality of strand grinding, buffing or polishirig members arranged between the said twistiiig and 45 abrading elements to operate alternately with relation thereto, so that the advancing strand will be successively and alternately abraded and buffed or polished while it Is being twisted cir twirled, and while It is traveling in a rectilinear 50 path. In order to enable others skilled in the ait to y said lnventioi , undei-stand, construct.and use m I wfll n6w proceed to describe the same In detail, reference being had to the aceonipanying draw55 ings, wherein@ - Mg. 1 is a plan vid* of the@machine; Fig. 2 is 9, froy@t el'evation; Mgs. -3, 4':ind 5 are side elevation& taken on the line of Mg. 1, 6f the combined abra:ding 60 and twisting. elements@ showing one 'Gype of mech anism for imparting complemental reciprocating move ments thereto, the several views showing the different relative positions the elements assume during the operation of the machine; Mg. 6 is a transverse sectional view of one of 5 the buffing anci polishing members; Mg. 7 Is a tiansverse sectional view taken on the line 7-7 of Mg. 2, of one of the combined strand abrad ing and axially twisting elements showi ng- how the elements'ar-e mounted and sup- 10 ported for relative adjustment to accommodate @trari ds of different diameter and to vary the gauge thereof, and illso showing the bearing blocks for the shafts upon which the abrading eleme nts are mounted; Mg. 8 is a plan view. partly In section, showing the mounting for the take-up drum or reel. By referring to Mgs. 1 and 2 of the accompanyin g drawjngs, which is Illustrative of a preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be 9Q seen that the various elements of the machine are mounted upon an elevated table or platfnrm 1, the combiiied strand-abrading and axially twistin g or twirling elements being lndidated generally by the letters A , B and C, whfle the grlnd- 2,5 Ing, bufflng or polishing members are Indicated gener ally by the letters D, E, P, (3 and H. In the machine illustrated I have shown three combi ned strand gripping abrading and twisting or twirling elements which are artanged In 30 space d relation and In a common plane to provide between them a rectilinear strand path a@pn g which the strand 2 travels. Obviously I may employ a greater or lesser number of the said comb ned strand-abrading and twisting ele- a5 ments. The buffing, grinding or polishing members, of which flve are employed In the illustrated embodiment of the Invention, are arranged altern ately with relation to the abrading and twistin g. elements, and are positioned tD inter- 40 sect the travel path of the strand so thit the latter will be subjected to successive abriding, gaugin g and bufilng or polishing as well as twlsting. Whi le I have shown five such grinding, buffing 45 and polishing members It is obvious that I may emplo y a greater or lesser number, depending upon the character of the strand material being operat ed upon. The strand 2 is usually delivered to the ma- 50 chine wound upon a drum or reel 3, which is remova bly mounted upon a spindle 4, and after passin g through the machine, the-strand is wound upon a take-up drum or reel 5, which Is removably mounted upon a shaft 6, an automatic lay- 55 ing device being preferably employed to accuratel.,@ lay the strand upon the drum so that the several convol utions of the strand as it is bein g wound about the drum or reel will be separated from each other. This ar angement v hile de -bl or 0 sir- e f 6
[2]certain types of strand material, may not be at all necessary with other kinds of strand material, as for instance metallic strands, where a simple reel would preferably be employed so that the convolutions of the strand would be built up thereon. The s4iaft 6, of the take-u@ or receiving drum or reel 5, is driven by any suitable form of gearing, such as the sprocket gearing sbown, from a motor 8 through a reduction gearing 9. Obviously any 10 suitable mechanism may be employed for driving the drum or reel 0, depending upon the speed of travel of the strarid material through the machine. In its passage to the machine from the druni ar irD reel 8, the strand 2 Is preferably passed about suitable tension rollers 10 and 12, which are offset relative to each other, so that the strand will be maintained at a suitable tension as it Is drawn through the machine and in association with the 20 abrading, @auging axially twisting and buffing or polishing mechanisihs. As all of the combined abrading and axially twisting mechanisms, as well as the buffing mechanisms are identical In construction and opera25 tion, a detailed description bf one of each such mechanism will suffice for all. As more clearly shown in Plgs. 3, 4, 5 and 7, eaeb combined strand engaging and twlsting or twirling mechanism consists of a pair of op30 posed blocks 93, one of which is mounted above the other for relative reciprocatory movements. Each block Is mounted upon a shaft 14, passing through a companion bearing member 15, and which shaft 14 is connected by means of a link 35 1 6, to a crank 17, mounted upbn. a shaft IO, Mg. 1, which shaft is common of all the cranks of the severgl abrading.and twisting mechanisms. The shaft 18 is driven from the motor 8 through the gearing 19. By the arrangement described 40 as more clearly illustrated in Mgs. 3, 4 and 5, it will be seen that there is a separate link 16 and a separate crank 17 for each of the shafts 14 and their companion bearing blocks 13, and the arxangement is such that -the blocks have a rela45 tive reciprocating motion imparted thereto, all of the lower blocks IS of the series, as well as all of the upper blocks 13 of the series, moving in unison,-that is to say, while the lower blocks 13 are moving outward, the upper blocks 13 alre go moving inward, and vice-versa. The strand 2 to be acted upon, travels in a rectilinear path between the several pairs of blocks and the blocks are. provided on their confronting faces with removable and replaceable strips or 55 sheets of strand engaging material 20, preferably ofsandpaper, the ends of the strips being folded up against the (>Pposite ends of the biocks and attached thereto by means- of removable thumb pins 2 1. 60 By preference the confronting faces of the blocks 13 are each provided with a strip of backing material 22, composed of cork, felt or the like, as more clearly sfiown in Mg. 7, in order to afford a yielding support for the strips or sheets of 65 abrading material 20, which abrading material may consist:of relatively flne sandoaper or the like. Each of the upper blocks 13 is preferabiy adjustably mounted toward and from its companion lower block 13, and one means of accom70 plishing this adjustment Is through the medium of a hand-operated screw 23, having a handle 24, which passes into a threaded plate 23' in the bearing block IS, suitable guide rods 2 5 being employed to prevent rotation of the upper bearing 75 15 while it is beirig adjusted toward and from its lower bearing block 15. The guide rods 26, are flxed to the lower block and extend upward through openings in the upper bearing block I 3, the upper ends of the rods being connected by a diagonally arranged connecting plate 24', in which 5 the hand-operated screw 23, is journalled for i,oiation, all as more clearly shown in Fig. 7. By reason of the adjusting means described, it will be obvious that the space between the abrading members IS may be adjusted to accommodate 10 strand material of different diameters and by va.-ying t'.Iie space between the several abrading members A, B and C, so that the space between the several members decreases from the entrance to the delivery e-zid of the machine, the strand 15 material may be ground away and further gauged as to diameter as ;.t passes through the machine. In addition to the abrading action of the blocks, they operate to impart an axial twist or twirl to the strand as it is advanced through 50 the machine. TMs axial twist or twirl is imparted to the strand because the strand is gripped by the abrading material and thus as the blccks 13 are reciprocated the strand is twisted or twirled, the twist or twirl extending throughout the area of 25 the several abrading or gripping members, and obviously since the strand is advancing while It is gripppd by the abrading material, it is likewise abraded or ground away. Thus it will be seen that the strand is simultaneously twisted or 30 twirled and abraded during its passage through the machine. In other words it may be said that the reciprocat3ng blocks cause the strand to be twirled, because by their reciprocating action upon the strand, the strand is ra@pidly and reversibly 35 rotated on its longitudinal axis. The additional grinding, buffing or polislling members consist of a pair of.confronting, grinding, buffing or polishing discs 26, removably mounted upon a shaft 27, and each disc is backed 40 :by a cushioning disc 28, composed of cork, felt or other yielding material so that.as the strand 2 travels between the grinding, buffing or polishing discs 26, it will be ground, smoothed and polished. The cushioning discs 28 are further backed by 45 other discs 29, composed of leather or other sWtable flexible material, and each of the discs 28 and 29 are secured by means of headed pins 30 to a nut 31, screwed upon the tbreaded end 32 of the shaft 27. 50 A hand-operated lock nut 33 is threaded upon -the outer end of the screw 32 and operates to lgck the outermost discs 28 and 29 to a properly adjusted position relative to its opposite companion disc, so that by the means described the 55 space between the confronting faces of the two discs may be adjusted to suit the dia-meter of the strand being acted upon. Because of the fact that the several blocks 13 of the combined abrading and axial strand twist- 60 ing mechanisms and the several buffing and polishing discs may be independently positiored or adjusted relative to each other, it will be obvious that by varying the distance, through adjustment, of these several elements, the strand being 65 acted upon may be abraded, buffed and l@olisbed to a variable extent in order to change the diameter or gauge thereof, and in this way strands of different gauge may be produced. 70 The grinding, bufilng or polishing discs D, E and F, for example, may be faced with suitably graded sandpaper in order that they will have an abrading or grinding action upon the strand, whereas the discs G and H may be faced witb a 75
[3]2,105,687 3 material having a lesser abrading action or a Polishing or smoothing actilon. , The shafts 27 upon which the bufflng and pollshing discs are mounted, may be rotated,in any suitable manner, as by the independent motors .34, although it is clear that they may be otherwise rotated and the direction of rotation Is preferably, but necessarily, anti-clockwise, or in a direction opposite to the direction of movement 10 of the strand 2, and preferably the buffing and Polishing discs may be rotated at a greater speed than the linear spee_d of travel of the strand 2, In which case they may be rotated In a clockwise diree 15 " In order to thoroughly brush and clean the strand after It has passed through the abrading, buffing and poushing elements, I prefer to pass the same through a rotary brush 35, located at the delivery end of the machine, which'brush 20 may be rotated by a motor 36, or by any other suitable mechanism. It will be obvious from the construction described, that the abradinik sheets 20, as well as the abrading and polishing discs 26, may be read25 lly renewed as they wear away, and because the discs 26 are secured to the yieldable backing discs 28, the action upon the strand wiD be a more or less yielding one. As will be seen by referring to Fig. 8, the hub 51 of the drum or reel 5, is removably mounted upon the shaft 6, and Is securely held to the shaft by meins of a iiut @61, so that the drum or reel will rotate with the shaft, but mgy be readily@ removed therefrom after the strand has been wound thereon, and a new drnm or. reel substituted. Any suitable means may.be employed for gradually laying the convoluti6ns of the strand upon the drum or reel wherer such means Is desirable, 40 although it will be understood that in all cases It may not be nece@sary. This mewis in -the instance shown, consists of an arm 42, having a strand-guiding pulley 36 at its outer end, such arm having a threaded nut or block 37 at its 45 other end which is in threaded engagement with a threaded shaft 38, which will operate -to cause the nut oi block 37 and Its Arm 35, to travel along the shaft 38, as thb latter is rotated by means of the sprocket chain 39, passing over 50 the sprocket 40, said chain also meshing with a sprocket 41, mounted upon the shaft 6, upon which the drum or reel 5 is removably mounted. The arm 42, has a downward extension 37', below tbe. threaded nut 37, which extension is forked at its lower end to pirtly, embrace a guide rod 37", which extends parallbl to the threaded rod 38. Thus the arm 42, is daused to be guided In its back and forth movements. The nut or block 37 Is an ordinary sput threaded nut. When the 60 arm 42 has reached the end of Its travel In each direction: this nut is opened up and pushed back manua-Ily to the starting @oint on the threaded shaft 38. The outer end of the spindle 4, upon which the 65 drum 3 is removably mounted, is threaded at its outer end like the spindle 6 shown In Mg. 8, and a nut sirnilar to the nut 6', Mg. 8, is employed not only to hold the drum or reel 31 - on its spindle 4, but to exert a frictional retarding action 70 against, free rototion of the drum 3 to regu'late the tension of the strand as it passes from the drum or r6el 3 through the machine to the takeup druni or reel S. The operation of the machine will be clear from the foregoing description, and without,further explanation, suffice it to say that It wiU be apparent that as the strand material passes through the machine, it wiU be subjected to a successi on of alternate abrading and buffing or 5 @omhin g.operations and will be axially twisted as it is advanced. It has been found that a strand so acted upon wiH be delivered from the machine in a highly polished condition and of a uniform diameter , which diameter may be varied depend- 10 Ing upon the adjustment of the abrading and pollshing elements in order to regulate the gauge of the strand. What I claim and desire to secure by
