In line rotary driling machine for producing uniform openings in continuous strip material

A machine for the drilling of holes of selected uniform size and selected uniform spacing in a moving continuous strip base material, which comprises:

• a frame means;
• a rotatable drum means adjustably mounted on said frame means, said drum means including a disk plate member having a first face, an opposite face and a peripheral edge, said drum means further including a hoop member releasably attached to said peripheral edge of said plate member, said hoop member provided with radial openings at positions along a peripheral surface corresponding to said spacing of said holes, said plate member provided with radial slots directed toward said openings in said hoop member;
• means for rotating said drum means at a selected angular speed around an axis to produce a selected linear speed of said peripheral surface of said hoop member;
• means for frictionally holding a surface of said strip base material against a selected portion of said peripheral surface of said hoop member including guide means and idler wheel means proximate said drum means, said strip base material passing along a surface of said idler wheel means, said idler wheel means being provided with pivotal biasing means to produce tension in said strip base material;
• a plurality of drill units mounted on said disk plate of said drum means, said drill units each associated with one of said slots in said disk plate, said drill units including a drill bit for said selected size hole oriented with selected of said radial openings in said hoop member, an air-driven motor for rotating said drill bit, and holder means for releasably holding said air-driven motor in a radial orientation with said opening;
• and
• means for moving said drill units in a selected sequence in a radial direction related to said axis whereby selected ones of said drill bits engage said strip base material in contact with said selected portion of said peripheral surface of said hoop member to drill said holes, and whereby other selected ones of said drill bits are withdrawn from said strip base material to permit withdrawal of said strip base material from said peripheral surface of said hoop member.

A machine for the drilling of holes of selected uniform size and selected uniform spacing in a moving continuous strip base material, which comprises:

• a frame means;
• a rotatable drum means mounted on said frame means, said drum means including a disk plate member having a first face, an opposite face and a peripheral edge, said drum means further including a hoop member releasably attached to said peripheral edge of said plate member, said hoop member provided with radial openings at positions along a peripheral surface corresponding to said spacing of said holes, said plate member provided with radial slots directed toward said openings in said hoop member;
• means for rotating said drum means about an axis at a selected angular speed, said means including a housing means, a shaft means rotatably mounted in said housing means, said disk plate member being attached to said shaft means to rotate therewith, said shaft means being provided with a hub means proximate said first face of said disk plate member, said housing means having means to select an angular relationship between said shaft means and said frame means, said shaft means further provided with an air passageway for conveying air to said hub means;
• means for frictionally holding a surface of said strip base material against a selected portion of said peripheral surface of said hoop member including guide means and idler wheel means mounted on said frame means proximate said drum means, said strip base material passing along a surface of said idler wheel means, said idler wheel means being provided with pivotal biasing means to produce tension in said strip base material, said pivotal biasing means including means for generating a signal to control rotational speed of said means for rotating said drum means;
• a plurality of drill units mounted on said first face of said disk plate member, said drill units including a drill bit for said selected size hole oriented with selected of said radial openings in said hoop member, an air-driven motor for rotating said drill bit, holder means for releasably holding said air-driven motor in a radial orientation with said opening, and a flexible tubing connecting said motor to said hub means to convey air from said hub means to said motor;
• and
• means for moving said drill units in a selected sequence in a radial direction related to said axis whereby selected ones of said drill bits engage said strip base material in contact with said selected portion of said peripheral surface of said hoop member to drill said holes, and whereby other selected ones of said drill bits are withdrawn from said strip base material to permit withdrawal of said strip base material from said peripheral surface of said hoop member, said means for moving said drill units including
• (a) a non-rotating cam plate means mounted from said housing means and spaced proximate said opposite face of said disk plate member, said cam plate means provided with a cam surface directed toward said opposite face, said cam surface selected to provide said sequential radial movement of said drilling units,
• (b) a plurality of arm members, one extending through each one of said slots in said disk plate member, one end of each of said arm members attached to one of said holders of said air-driven motors,
• (c) operator members positioned between said disk plate member and said cam plate means, one end of each of said operator members attached to one of said arm members, each of said operator members slidably attached to said opposite face of said disk plate member with a linear bearing means, and
• (d) a plurality of cam followers, one attached to each of said operator members for engagement with said cam surface for producing radial movement of said operator members and thereby said radial movement of said drilling units.