Rolling-machine.

Application filed September 13,1917. Serial No. 191,101.

• To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Charles G. Grothes, a citizen of the United. States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of δ Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements’in Rolling-Machines, of which the following is a specification..

This invention relates to a machine for. forming tire rims or similar annular devices, .10 and the general object of the invention is to provide an improved machine which will facilitate the manufacture of such devices.

A further object, of the invention is to provide a machine which is comparatively 16 simple in construction and operation and at the same time is efficient and practical.

I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention in the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, in which Figure 10 1 is a side elevation of the machine with a completed rim in position therein. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view through the machine taken in the plane of line 2—2 of Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken 16 in the plane _of line 3—3 Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a front elevation. Fig. 5 is a fragmental detail view on a large scale showing a section of the completed rim between the shaping rolls. Fig. 6 is a fragmental view showing •0 _a detail of construction.

• Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the drawings.

The machine comprises a frame 1 ipounted upon a suitable base 2 and carrying a 16 shaping roll 3; a head 4 hinged to the frame and carrying a shaping roll 5; adjustable guide rolls 6 carried by said head; and a tensioning roll 7' movable by the head 4 to engage with die work at a point substan41 tially diametrically opposite that engaged by the shaping rolls. _ '

The frame 1 may be made in the form of a single casting having forward and rear sides 8 and 9 connected together by a top piece 10 45 having transverse ribs 10* on its underside. On each side, substantially centrally of the frame, is mounted a suitable journal bearing 11 in which is mounted a shaft 12 having fixed on its forward end the shaping roll 3.

The head 4 also is in the form of a rectangular frame having side bars 13 and 14 con^:' nected together by a central cross-piece 15 and a forward cross-rod 16. At their rear ends, said side-bars are each provided with 65 a depending arm 17 carrying retween them at their lower ends a shaft 18 having its op posite ends mounted in bearing brackets 19 secured on the sides 8 and 9 at the rear end of the frame.

On the underside of the side-bars 13 and 6 14 of the head 4 is secured, a pair of journal ' bearings 20 in which is mounted a shaft 21 having fixed on its forward end the shaping roll 5. Said shaft 21 is mounted on the head substantially centrally thereof so that the 61 roll 5 is adapted to be swung with the head into and out of operative engagement with the roll 3 mounted centrally of the frame.

The shaping rolls 3 and 5 may be rotated by any suitable means. Herein I have shown 7' a power pulley 22 mounted on a supporting shaft 23 in a bracket 24 on the rear side of the frame. The shaft 23 has fixed thereto a pinion 25 meshing with a.spur gear 26 fixed on the pear end of the shaft 18 upon which 7t the head 4 is mounted and which also constitutes a drive-shaft. The lower or stationary . shaping roll 3 is driven from said drive-shaft 18 by means of a spur gear 27 on the rear end of the roll shaft 12, meshing with a pin- 80 ion 28 fixed near the rear end of the driveshaft; and the upper or movable shaping roll 5 is driven by means Of a gear wheel 29 fixed on the roll shaft 21 and meshing with an idler pinion 30 which in turn meshes with 86 a pinion 31 fixed on the drive-shaft. The idler pinion 30 is carried by a short shaft 32 supported, in journal bearings 33 mounted on the under side of the head 4; and it will be evident that by rolling upon the pinion 31 9· on the drive-shaft the idler permits the head to he swung upon the drive-shaft withoutinterfering with the operation of the shaping rolls.

The means for raising and lowering the .96 head 4 to swing the shaping roll 5 into and out of operative engagement with the shaping. roll 3, preferably comprises a pair of crank arms 34, each having one end thereof fixed on one end of a shaft 35 and having 100 its other end connected to the front end of the head 4 by means of a connecting rod 36. Said crank shaft is supported in suitable journal bearings 37 mounted on the under-. side of a pair of outwardly extending arms 10? 38 at the front end of the frame; and the upper ends of the rods 36 are connected to the cross-rod 16 of the head.

The shaft 35 is adapted to be rotated to operate the crank arms 34 either manually 11' or by application of motive power. For manually rotating said shaft, I employ a

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1,354.033 hand, wheel 39 fixed on the forward end of a shaft 40 which is mounted. in bearings 41 and 42 at the forward ends of the arms 38 on the frame. Said shaft has fixed thereto 5‘a pinion 43 (Figs. 2, 3 and 4) which meshes with a spur gear 44 mounted on a shaft 4.5 journaled in the arms 38 below the shaft 40, and the shaft 45 has fixed thereto a pin! on 46 which meshes with a spur gear 47 fixed i'O on the crank shaft 35. By these means, it will be apparent that the rotation of the hand wheel will operate the crank arms 34 to raise or lower the head 4, the parts being so proportioned and arranged that, when 15 the head is in its lowermost position with its shaping roll 3 in operative engagement with the shaping roll 5, the crank arms will be‘in their lowermost position. Preferably the connecting rods 36 are made longitudi20 Hally adjustable as by forming them in sections secured together by a sleeve 48 having its periphery shaped for engagement by a wrench and screw-threaded to the rod sections, said sleeve being held against movers meat by means of lock nuts 49.

For operating the crank shafts 35 by mo-. tive power, a pulley 50 may be provided on the rear end of the shaft 40 which carries the hand wheel. Said pulley normally is 50 free to rotate upon the shaft 40 but is adapted to be slid into engagement with a conical clutch member 51 (Figs. 3 and 4) fixed on the shaft, by means of a lever 52. Said lever is pivoted to a bracket 58 mounted on the 35 rear arm-88 at the forward end of the frame and at its yoked upper end is suitably connected to the grooved hub of the pulley. The lower end of said lever is connected by means of a link 54 to an arm 55 formed in40 tegral with a treadle 56 pivoted to the base 2; and the. link may be mounted in’the flanged end of an arm 57 pivoted to the rear of the base. The lever and treadle are, normally held in inoperative position by means 45 of a^; compression spring 58 provided on the linksand bearing’ between the flanged end of the arm 55 and a collar. 59 secured, to the link. It will be seen that a depression of the treadle 56 will throw the driven pulley 50 50 into operative engagement with the clutch member 51 on the, shaft 40, which shaft, through the gear train above set forth, will operate the crank‘arms to raise .or lower the head.

The guide rolls 6 are mounted for movement with the head 4 upon the lower ends of a pair of slide blocks 60 adjustably mounted In supporting blocks 61. Said .supporting blocks are secured to the ’forward 60 side bar 13 of the head 4 and the slide blocks are adjustable therein by moans of screw spindles 62 whose lower ends are threaded into tlie slide blocks and whose upper ends operate in brackets 63 mounted on the sup65 porting blocks, and are provided with hand wheels 64. Said slide blocks may be movably m'ounted in the supporting blocks by means of plates 65 (Fig. 4) secured on the lower side of the supporting blocks to form T-shaped slots -therein adapted to receive 70 flanges formed on each, edge of the block,, and the lower ends of said slide blocks may be provided with yoked ends 66 for supporting the guide rolls 6, the supporting blocks being preferably secured in such po- 75 sition that the slide blocks may be adjusted in a plane substantially radially of the rim being rolled.

The tensioning roll 7 is provided with end flanges to receive and guide the rim blank SO being rolled and is mounted- on the free end •of a lever 67 pivotally mounted in a bearing 68 (Figs. 1 and 3) -mounted upon a bracket 68^a adjustably secured to the rear end of-the frame 1. (Fig. 6). A link 69 85 having its upper end slidably connected to the rear end of a bracket 70 which is fixed to tlie head 4, and its lower end to the rear end of the lever 67, serves to move the, tensioning roll as the head is raised and low- ₉₀ered to insert a blank or remove a completed rim. The upper end of the link 69 is adapted to slide between a pair of nuts 71. in apivot bearing 72 secured to the rear end of the bracket 70, the nuts 71 being adjusted to 95 : permit the free movement of tlie roll 7 when the head is in operative position so that the roll is merely held in operative'engagement with the work by the action of gravity. The lower end of the link also is adapted to .,00 be adjustably connected to the rear end of the lever in order that the proper amount of movement will be imparted to the roll by the movement of the head; and by reason of tlie fact that tlie bracket 68^a is adjustably i >35 secured to the frame, the. bearing 68 is adapted to be adjusted horizontally to position the roll 7 with its center in the same vertical plane as the central plane of the work between the rolls 3 and 5. The-ma- no chine thus is arranged to-be adjusted, for rolling work of varying diameter and width.

Referring to Figs. 3 and 4, 73 illustrates a laterally adjustable guide for the rim blank. Said guide consists of a pair of guide rolls 115 74 mounted uprightly in a pair of bearing blocks 75 slidably mounted on a bracket 76 secured to the forward side of the frame.. Said bearing blocks are arranged to be adjusted toward and away from each other 120 simultaneously by means of a screw spindle 77 having a hand wheel 78 on its forward end, said screw being provided near its opposite ends _wii.li right and left-hand threads engaging with tlie respective bearing blocks. 125 It will be apparent that by this construction lhe upright rollers are adapted to accurately position and guide rims of varying widths with reference to the shaping rolls.

In the operation of forming a tire rim or 130

1,884,083 the like, the head 4 is eleVated by an operation of the crank arms 34 either, manually or by motive power applied to the pulley 50. The blank from which the rim or other 5 article is to be made, and'which has been previously formed, is then placed in position upon the rapidly revolving shaping roll 3 and the head lowered by an operation of the crank arms. As the head is lowered, 10 the guide rolls 6 and the tensioning roll 7 having been properly adjusted in accordance with the diameter of the rim to be rolled, the shaping roll 5 and the guide rolls δ engage with the outer periphery of the 15 blank and. the tensioning roll 7 engages with the inner periphery thereof at a point substantially diametrically Opposite from that engaged by the shaping rolls; and a furtherdownward movement of the head gradually 20 forces the roll 5 toward the roll 3 and at the same time the guide rolls 6 and the tensioning roll 7 operate to hold the blank in its proper form and position. By the time the downward movement of the head has been 25, completed, the blank has been forced to assume the shape determined by the rolls, as . shown in Fig. 5, to form the completed rim a. : L

Preferably, in the rolling operation, the 30 crank arms 34 are operated by means of the hand wheel 39 to gradually lower the movable shaping roll into engagement with the work, but the elevation of the head, at the completion of the rolling operation, is pref35 erably accomplished, rapidly by motive ~ power applied to the pulley 50 which is thrown into operative engagement with the shaft 40 by the depression of the treadle 56.

It will be understood that the shaping 40 rolls may be of any desired form, those herein shown being shaped to form .the ordinary tire rim of automobile wheels.

Various features of this invention are ap. plicable to machines for bending a strip of 45 metal into the form of a hoop or ring. I would therefore have it understood that the invention is not limited to the construction and arrangement of parts herein shown.

It will also be understood that while I 50 have herein illustrated and described a crank arm on the shaft 35 for imparting a swinging movement to the head 4, any equivalent means such as a. cam or other eccentric element may be employed for this purpose.