US 4,942,796 AGranted

Stock feed apparatus for forging machines and the like

AssigneeThe National Machinery Company

InventorsHarry A. Dom, John A. Maistros

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Abstract

A stock feed and cutter system for forging machines and the like in which stationary grippers and linearly movable grippers alternately grip rod or wire stock. The movable grippers reciprocate toward and away from the stationary grippers and operate to feed the stock without slippage a precise distance into a cutter. A stock gage is therefore not required and an optimum cutter structure can be provided even for very short workpieces. After each feed operation, the cutter shears a workpiece from the end of the stock, which is subsequently formed to a desired shape. A running adjustment is provided for the reciprocating grippers so that the machine operator can adjust the length of the workpiece produced while the machine is running. A short blank detector independently measures the length of stock being fed and is connected to cause rejection of such short blank. The grippers operate without slippage and, in cooperation with the cutter, produce very uniform workpieces.

Claims18

Dependent claims

A cyclically operable stock feed apparatus for forging machines and the like which intermittely feeds predetermined lengths of elongated stock to a cutter for shearing workpieces having said predetermined length from said stock, comprising a frame, a fixed gripper on said frame, a movable gripper on said frame movable with straight-line movement through a stroke one end of which provides a gripping position and the other end of which provides a release position, and cam drive means operating to cycle said movable gripper between said positions and to open and close said grippers in timed relationship, said cam drive means including:

(a) a firs cam drive moving said movable gripper through said stroke back and forth between said gripping and release positions;
(b) a second cam drive for controlling said movable gripper so that it is released while said movable gripper moves from said release position to said gripping position;
(c) a third cam drive for controlling said fixed gripper so that it is released while said movable gripper is moving from said gripping position to said release position for feeding stock;
(d) said cam drives operating in timed relationship and being timed so that at least one of said grippers is closed to grip said stock during the entire time of each cycle to maintain complete control of the positions of said stock;
and
(e) measuring means operating to independently measure the length of stock fed during each cycle of said stock feed apparatus.

3 more elements

A forgoing machine having means to produce separate workpieces from elongated stock comprising a frame, a stationary gripper on said frame for intermittently gripping stock, a carriage on said frame reciprocable toward and away from said stationary grippers through a stroke having a length equal to the length of said workpieces, movable grippers on said carriage movable therewith toward and away from said stationary grippers operable to intermittently grip said stock, and cam-operated drives operable to:

(a) move said carriage through a predetermined distance from a gripping position to a release position;
(b) operate said stationary grippers to grip stock while said carriage is in said positions and while said carriage moves from said release position to said gripping position;
(c) operate said movable grippers to grip stock while said carriage is in said positions and while said carriage moves from said gripping position to said release position, and a cutter operable to cut said workpieces from the end of said stock while said stationary grippers grip said stock;
and
(d) three cams mounted on a single camshaft to corotate in timed relationship, a first of said cams operating to move said carriage, a second of said cams operating said stationary grippers, and a third of said cams operating said movable grippers.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.