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US 5,178,232 AGranted
Cutting machine having lubricant reservoir within the housing
AssigneeEastman Machine Company
InventorsLester C. Bennett, Robert J. Pieroni
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
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AssigneeEastman Machine Company
InventorsLester C. Bennett, Robert J. Pieroni
Estimating the term…
A lubrication system for a cutting machine such as a cloth cutting machine. The lubricant reservoir is provided within a housing portion so as to protect it from damage when the machine is laid on its side. An easily removable wicking module is provided with an end adjacent a reservoir outlet so that only a short feeder wick need be provided for transmission of lubricant into the module.
A cutting machine comprising a housing member comprising a body having an outer surface and having an inner surface, motor means, a crosshead, a pair of spaced crosshead guide mens within said housing member for supporting said crosshead for reciprocatory movement, link means coupled to said motor means, wrist pin means coupled between said link means and said crosshead, knife means coupled to said crosshead for reciprocatory movement of said knife means, and means for lubricating said crosshead guide means and said wrist pin means, said lubricating means comprising a chamber formed in said body of said housing member between said inner and outer surfaces for defining a lubricant reservoir within said housing member and located above said wrist pin means and said crosshead for supplying lubricant thereto by gravity, bore means in said housing member inner surface and in flow communication with said lubricant reservoir, an elongate module positioned above said crosshead and removably attachable to said housing member and having a bottom wall, a top wall, a pair of side walls one of which engages said housing member for attachment therto, and a pair of end walls one of which has an aperture means extending therethrough and is adjacent said bore means when said module is attached to said housing member, lubricating wick means partly in said module and extending out said bottom wall of said module for conducting lubricant to said crosshead guide means and said wrist pin means, and a feeder wick one end portion of which extends through said one module end wall aperture means and the other end portion of which extends into said bore means for conducting lubricant to said lubricating wick means in said module.
A cutting machine comprising a housing member comprising a body having an outer surface and having an inner surface, motor means, a crosshead, a pair of spaced crosshead guide means within said housing member for supporting said crosshead for reciprocating movement, link means coupled to said motor means, wrist pin means coupled between said link means and said crosshead, knife means coupled to said crosshead for reciprocatory movement of said knife means, and means for lubricating said crosshead guide means and said wrist pin means, said lubricating means comprising a chamber formed in said body of said housing member between said inner and outer surfaces for defining a lubricant reservoir within said housing member and having an outer side wall and located above said wrist pin means and said crosshead for supplying lubricant thereto by gravity, a module positioned above said crosshead and attached to said housing member and having a bottom wall, lubricating wick means disposed partly in said module and extending out said bottom wall for conducting lubricant to said crosshead guide means and said wrist pin means, means for transmitting lubricant from said reservoir means to said lubricating wick means, and lubricant level sight means comprising aperture means in said outer side wall, a see-through member in said aperture means, and means including an O-ring means for sealingly attaching said see-through member in said aperture means.
A cutting machine comprising a housing member comprising a body having an outer surface and having an inner surface, motor means, a crosshead, a pair of spaced crosshead guide means within said housing member for supporting said crosshead for reciprocatory movement, link means coupled to said motor means, wrist pin means coupled between said link means and said crosshead, knife means coupled to said crosshead for reciprocatory movement of said knife means, and means for lubricating said crosshead guide means and said wrist pin means, said lubricating means comprising a chamber formed in said body of said housing member between said inner and outer surfaces for defining a lubricant reservoir within said housing member and located above said wrist pin means and said crosshead for supplying lubricant thereto by gravity, bore means in said housing member inner surface and in flow communication with said lubricant reservoir means, an elongate module positioned above said crosshead and having a bottom wall, a removable top wall, a pair of sidewalls one of which engages said housing member for attachment thereto, and a pair of end walls one of which has an aperture means therein and is adjacent said housing member inner wall when said module is attached to said housing member, first and second aperture means which extend through said bottom wall and which are disposed adjacent said one end wall and the other of said end walls respectively, a third aperture means which extends through said bottom wall and which is disposed between said first and second aperture means, a first wick having a central portion lying within said module between said first and third aperture means and a pair of end portions which extend through said first and third aperture means respectively for conducting lubricant to one of said crosshead guide means and said wrist pin means respectively, a second wick having a first portion which extends through said second aperture means for conducting lubricant to the other of said crosshead guide means and a second portion which extends between said second aperture means and said one end wall within said module and is looped back upon itself to cram the space within said module between said first and second aperture means whereby pooling of lubricant within said module may be prevented, and a feeder wick one end portion of which extends through said module end wall aperture means and the other end of which extends into said bore means for conducting lubricant to said first and second wicks in said module.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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No related US applications are recorded in the indexed filing history.
Wherein the tool head is moved in a plane parallel to the work in a coordinate system fixed with respect to the work: wherein the cutting member…
Means for treating work or cutting member to facilitate cutting: by cleaning or lubricating
Arrangements for supplying oil or unspecified lubricant from a stationary reservoir or the equivalent in or on the machine or member to be…
Perforating
Term ended 31 May 2011 (estimated)
USPTO file history isn’t available for this patent, so only indexed dates are shown.
The present invention relates generally to cutting machines such as for cutting cloth, as exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 3,960,244 to Clark, U.S. Pat. No. 3,775,913 to Clark, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,714,742 to Clark, which patents are assigned to the assignee of the present invention and which are incorporated herein by reference. More particularly, the present invention relates to cutting machines having wick lubricators.
In a cloth cutting machine having a reciprocatory knife, it is necessary to convert the rotary motion of an electric motor to the reciprocating motion of the knife. To accomplish this, a crosshead is provided which is driven in a reciprocatory manner through a crank, and the crosshead is guided in its reciprocatory movement by a pair of guides. As discussed in the '244 patent, lubrication of the crosshead-crosshead guide area and the wrist pin on the crosshead has been effected through a lubricant reservoir positioned above the crosshead and through wick means in the lubricant reservoir for conducting lubricant to various points. Thus, as shown in FIG. 1 of the '244 patent, the oil reservoir protrudes outside of the machine housing, i.e., the oil cup is located outside the housing and delivers oil to a pair of wicks in a block of metal which overlies the parts to be lubricated, and the wicks transmit the oil from the oil cup thereto. One arrangement of the wicks is shown in FIG. 3 of the '244 patent. Various other arrangements of the wicks in the wicking block of such a machine have been tried to eliminate void spaces within the block which might cause lubricant pooling.
The use of a cloth cutting machine is illustrated in the '913 patent. The machine includes a base having rollers which roll on a table top supporting the lay of material to be cut. As the machine is thus moved over the table top and guided for cutting of the cloth by an operator who grasps the machine by a handle for such movement, a knife is reciprocated for cutting of the cloth.
FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view, with parts removed, of certain portions of the drive mechanism of a cloth cutting machine having a lubrication system which embodies the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken along lines 2--2 of FIG. 1 and showing certain details of the lubrication system.
FIG. 3 is a view similar to that of FIG. 2 taken along lines 3--3 of FIG. 2 and showing further details of the lubrication system.
Referring to the drawings, there is shown generally at 1 a cloth cutting machine which is generally of the type shown in the aforesaid patents to Clark. The machine 1 includes a front bearing housing 4 mounting a suitable electric motor (not shown) which drives crank pin 2 on which the upper end of link or connecting rod 3 is suitably journalled. The lower end of the link 3 is journalled on one portion of wrist pin 12. Crosshead 19 is also journalled on another portion of wrist pin 12 for reciprocatory movement in the pair of crosshead guides 15 which are secured to the housing portion 4 by means of guide washers 13 and hold-down screws 14. A suitable lock bolt 17 and lock washer 18 secure knife blade 20 to a lower portion or tab forming the lower most portion of crosshead 19. Through this linkage, knife 20 is caused to reciprocate in a guide defined by a knife slide 22 within a knife standard 21 which is attached to and extends downwardly from the housing portion 4.
In order to insure proper lubrication of the crosshead 19 and wrist pin 12 as knife 20 is caused to reciprocate, the lubrication system of the present invention has been developed. In this connection, an oiler tube or wicking block 23 is mounted to the housing portion 4 to be positioned directly above the guides 15 and from which wicks extend downwardly, as will be described in greater detail hereinafter, for conveying lubricant to the various parts of the crosshead 19 and the crosshead guides 15.
As best seen in FIG. 6, the housing portion 4 has an outer surface 32 which may be described as generally tapered from front to back. Advantage is taken of this taper to provide an unobtrusive protruding portion 33 of the housing member 4 which is integral therewith and which lies generally within the silhouette of the machine 1. Generally intermediate the height of and within the protruding portion 33 is provided a lubricant reservoir chamber 34 which communicates with bore 35 in the outer surface of the protruding portion for purposes which will be described hereinafter. The protruding portion 33 has a generally horizontal upper surface 36 and a generally vertical outer surface 37. Upper surface 36 lies between the housing surface 32 and the outer surface 37. A bore 38 extends from the reservoir 34 generally upwardly to and provides an opening through the upper surface 36 which opening is closed by a suitable spring cap 5 which serves as an oil hole cover and through which the reservoir 34 is replenished with oil, illustrated at 16. The oil level is illustrated at 71. Thus, the reservoir 34 is built internally of the housing 4 so as to be protected from damage as the machine 1 is laid on its side. The spring cap 5 is, as best seen in FIG. 6, set inwardly from the floor engaging surface 37 so that it is protected from damage by being positioned so as not to contact the floor when the machine 1 is laid on its side.