Stock depletion sensor

A stock depletion sensor for a bar fed machine having at least one rotary work spindle with:

• a chuck and a reciprocating feed tube assembly having a feed tube with feed fingers adapted to grip stock in said tube and move said stock through said chuck when said chuck is open;
• and to slide over said stock when said chuck is closed;
• and
• a connecting member projecting laterally from said feed tube assembly;
• wherein said stock depletion sensor comprises:
• a body mounted on a stock feed member and adapted to press against said connecting member to move said feed tube away from said chuck;
• a contact member biased to extend from said body and contact said connecting member, with a biasing force greater than a force required to move said feed tube away from said chuck when there is no stock in said feed tube, but less than a force required to move said feed tube away from said chuck when stock is gripped by said fingers and engaged by said chuck;
• and
• means for detecting a position of said contact member.

A bar loader for a bar fed machine having:

• a plurality of work spindles mounted on an indexing head, each of said spindles having a chuck and a feed tube assembly comprising a reciprocating feed tube with feed fingers adapted to grip stock in said tube and move said stock through said chuck when said chuck is open, and to slide over said stock when said chuck is closed;
• and a connecting member linked to said feed tube;
• and
• a stock feeding mechanism that presses said connecting member away from said chuck;
• wherein said bar loader comprises:
• a rotary carriage adapted for rotation with said rotary indexing head, said cartridge having a plurality of stock holders;
• and
• a stock depletion sensor comprising:
• a body mounted on said stock feeding mechanism and adapted to move said connecting member away from said chuck;
• a contact member biased to extend from said body and contact said connecting member with a biasing force greater than a force required to move said a feed tube away from said chuck when there is no stock in said feed tube, but less than a force required to move said feed tube away from said chuck when stock is gripped by said fingers and engaged by said chuck;
• and
• means for detecting the position of said contact member.