US1272663A - Tenter-clip. - Google Patents

Description

J. J. HOEY.

TENTER CUP.

APPLICATION FILED IULY26. 1915.

1,272,663 Patented July 16, 1918.

' o v nsual 'to provide the lower-='jaw' J with'an TED STATES PATENT e JOHN J. HOEY, 0F PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

RENTER-CLIP.

. To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, JOHN J, HonY, a citiobject of my improvement is to provide means for preventing wear on the jaws of the clam caused by the vibration and chattering o the upper jaw-member against the lower one after the cloth has been released therefrom.

The invention is fully described in the following specification, illustrated by the accompanying drawings, inwhichlike letters of reference designate like parts.

In the drawings} 7 Figure 1 is a plan View of a usual type of cloth-clamp, which constitutes one link of the conveyer-chain employed for feeding the cloth'through the machine, and illustrating my improvement applied thereto;

F ig.'2 is aside elevation of the same showing the j aw-members in'engagement with the cloth; i

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the upper jaw withheld from engagement with the lower one throughthe' operation of my new device. 1 H

7 Referring to the drawings, I have here illustrated a type of cloth-clamp C which is now well knownand"generally'used in the art,- but it is to be understood that my improvement-is equally well adapted to other forms of clamps and can be applied thereto with but slight modification in its structure.

The clamp C here shown comprises the main frame c'formed with a base portion '6 having a lower, projecting jaw-member J and two overhanging arms a, a. Extending through the end of the arms a, a is a shaft orpin'pon which ispivotedthe upper jaw-J. This is made in theform of a gatelike member having two outer bearings i mounted on the ends of the pin Sp, at the outside of the arms a; a, and a central bearing 3" positioned" .betweenthetwoarms. The depending bladeportion j of the jaw Jis formed somewhat like a hoe and hasa relatively sharp,;clothholding edge. 3'?" which 'normally bears against the'upper surfaceiof-thelower-jaw J It is Specification of Letters Patent.

I Patented July 1c, 1918.

Application filed July 26, 1915. Serial No. 41,817.

upper face-plate j which, as here illustrated,

is bent down over the front edge of the jaw and" fastened thereto by any suitable means, not here shown. The selvage of the cloth to rests on the plate j? and the lower edge of the jaw J impinges thereupon to bind it in the clamp, see Fig. 2. The jaw J hangs at an angle to the perpendicular when its lower edge is hearing on the cloth aand consequently the pull of the fabric serves to effect a firm bite between the two j aw-members to grip the cloth between them in the usual manner familiar to those versed in the art.

A feeler-device or controller 03 is pivoted on a leg j of the upper jaw J and serves as a means for determining the point of engagement of the jaw J with the cloth relatively to the edge of the latter. As the operation of this device is well known, however, aid as it forms no part of the present invention, it will not be further described.

Extending upwardly from the central bearing j of the jaw J is a releasing-lever or arm j. The purpose of this is to provide a means for tilting the jaw J to allow the cloth to enter between it and the lower jaw J and also to provide for releasing the upper jaw from engagement with the cloth to allow it to be freed from the clamp. The) arm j is operated upon by a member called the opener fixedly mounted at each end of the rails in proper position to wipe across its rearmost side which is rounded off at jT, see Fig. 1. At either side of the mainframe 0 are ears 0, 0, etc., which serve as a connecting-means for linking the clamps together. As before explained, each clamp constitutes a link in the endless conveyorchain, one of which traverses each side-rail of the tentering-framc or machine. The

side-rails carry sprocket-wheels at both ends direction on the inside of the rails and upon reaching the end-'ofjthe frame release the cloth and travel back in the opposite direction" to again engage with another length of fthe material. In this way the fabric is kept continuously in motion through the ma chine andas it passes from one end' of the frame to the other it is stretchedacross its breadth, smoothed out and otherwise treated to imp'artthe desired finish toits surface. It is usual in machines of this class to proor reciprocating movement of theside-rails so that the cloth is stretched with a crisscross jerking action which tends to smooth out the wrinkles and open up the texture.

This movement of the side-rails causes more or less thumping and pounding in the va? rious parts of the machine and sets up considerable vibration in the cloth-clamps as they 'passalong theoutsideof the rails after beinglfreedfrom the fabric. Afterthe upper jaw J hasbeen oncetilted backtorelease the cloth it swings down again under theaction of gravity until .its lower edge meets the upper face of the-plate 3' Now, .as the clamp jumps. and chatters, A due to :the vibration of the; side-rails, this sets upzaivibration ofrthe'j aw J and its lower-edgejtwill chat-v terupand downgagainsttheplate j. This undue movementof the jaw J soon acts to wear. a groove in the plate 9' and, after the latter becomes uneven, :theclamp will not grip the cloth properly. As :the-jaws J must be made relatively stanch and heavy, to resistgthe strain imposed uponthem by strongmaterials, the force of itslower edge striking against the plate j is considerable and'the surfaceot the plate will beeome very badly worn within a comparatively short time. After the platehas become worn and grooved to such :an extent that it does not hold the cloth firmly it must either befiled down to a smooth surfaeeorelse replaced bya new one. Each conveyer-chain is'gener-ally composed of several hundred links or clamps and these must betakenapart inorder to repair them. It :will therefore be seen that it is a very consiiderabletask to re place and refit the jaw-plates onthe chains of onemachine and calls for the expenditure of a great deal of tin1e and.--money. It is the purpose ofthe present invention to entirely obviate this unnecessary wear of the upperjaw upon the lower one and I accom- .plish this resultin-the following manner:

' Referring to Fig. 3, my improvement consists essentially in providing a detent-means to'holcl themovable jaw "J inits raised position after it has been released from the cloth. As here shownI employ a leverjD which engages suitabledetents on ,theijaw after the latter hasbeen opened. The lever D is preferablyaformed of sheet+metal with two ears cl, d bent downwardly at right- .angles tojits main ,p or tion and j adapted to receive thepivot ins d (Z which aredriven into the sides of tie-armsa, a. T herear end i of theelever JD carries a downwardly-extending pin ,cl which is engaged 1 by the; end of a coiled-spring :The opposite end-10f the spr ng-E bears against a portion I) t of -.the;base1-.b;.of, the clamp and is; held ign position'by a i-pi-n e dr iven-;ii;1;to. tl1e;base.-; Tho'i e f erdpart of h lever Di e zbifiircated form having two legs (1 d which straddle the arm j of the jaw J. The ends of the legs d 'are-preferablybent or curved over in .thearcuate portions cl having their under, concave faces adapted to engage the rounded edges ofthe lugs j j which projeetfrom bothsideso'f the arm j. With the' jaw J in .rltS closed position, as illustrated in Fig. 2,

the legs 03 rest on the upper faces of the lugs j and have atendencytoanaintain'fthe jaw J. from undue .movement .While its lower.edgeisibearing onthe cloth w; When the jaw J :is tilted into thejposition illustratedin 'Eig."3, the:ends of the legs dtride over the upper faces-.ofthe lugs {fiend engage =tl1e sides :thereof .to 'h01d the ij aw in its raised position. It will be noted that :the

endofeach of-the legsd is roundediofia the two.si.de-rails of the tenteringrmaehine with their jaws J, J grippingythe.selvage of the cloth $:{ts.lllll.-Stl'tt6d:l11 Fig. 2. As each clamp reaches the. endof the rail thea m. j ofiitsnp er, jaw J is engaged by the fixed: opener and "the jaw ;=is raised or Opened to :the'position illustrated .in Fig. :3 to release; the cloth. During 'the:etiltirigg, of thezja'w J, as:,abovei.deseribed, the. ends of the legs d of the detent-lever D ride across the upper -edges 10f the lugs 5]? ;on the 5 arm 7'. and the cactiongoflthe .springgE. on the opposite. end. of :said; lever causes-them to;.slide down into engagement with the sides of the lugs. This lengagementfacts ;to {retain thej aw: J in: itsretraeted position, as illustrated inllig. z3,.=and preventsiitsl blade-portion j from droppingbackinto position-to bear. on the jaw J. .lmth-isway r thersharp edge .j of the ajawi-J is :prevented g'fI'OIl'l jumping up and-down .andrvibrating agains the plate 7", ;and consequently, all unnecessary -.wear. on; the surface; of the; plate is v0b- .viatecl. Theclamps, as athey; become a'freed from the. eloth at}. one end of the machine,

to.- raise; the-ends of its legs- {0Z f-rom the lugs '7 'l.,hro.ugh thlsaactlendthe jaw sJaisgre- =leased. to allow ititoaswing down into ,ipQSltiOm iiOe l'gage; withtheieloth e -as ShdWI zi m 7 .travel aalong the nutside J oft-he i rails :to the 'OpDOSItG end where they lturn on 2 the chain- Fig. 2, and this engagement is efiected as soon as the clamp comes around into place on the inside of the rail. The jaw J now remains in this position until the clamp reaches the opposite end of the machine when it is again releasedby the opener.

It will be seen that my improvement provides a simple and efiective means for restraining the upper, movable jaw of the clamp from undue vibration, after it has been released from the cloth, and for holding its edge out of engagement with the lower-j aw of the clamp so that all unnecessary wear on these parts is eliminated.- For this reason both the jaw J itself and the lower face-plate j are rendered more durable and hence a considerable saving is made in the cost of repairs. Besides this, the usual opener, provided for opening the jaw before the clamp comes into engagement with the cloth, can be dispensed with and, therefore, about half the wear on the opener-arm j is eliminated. It is also called to attention that my new detent-means can be applied to clamps already in use at a very slight expense; and when so applied will greatly increase the durability of the parts thereof.

Various modifications might be made in the form and structure of my new device without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention; therefore, without limiting myself to the exact construction shown and described, what I claim is 1. In a cloth-clamp for tenterin or like machines, the combination with the main frame thereof having a base providing a lower fixed jaw and arms overhangingthe top of said base, of an upper movable jaw pivoted to the arms on the frame to adapt its lower end to swing into engagement with the fixed jaw, detent-lugs projecting vertically upwardly from the pivot of the movable jaw, a detent-lever pivoted on the top of the arms of the frame and formed with curved ends adapted to normally ride 011 the ends of the lugs 0n the movable jaw, and a spring to operate the detent-lever when the movable jaw is swung into open position to cause the ends of the lever to engage the sides of the lugs to hold the jaw from closing.

2. In a cloth-clamp for tentering-machines, the combination with a main frame having a relatively flat base forming a lower jaw and arms overhanging the top of the base, of a rod extending through bearings in the arms on the frame, an upper movable jaw pivoted on said rod and formed with its depending portion adapted to engage with the lower jaw of the frame, detent-lugs having rounded ends extending upwardly from the pivot of the movable jaw, a detent-lever having ears pivoted to the sides of the arms on the frame and legs extending longitudinally of said arms to bear against the lugs on the movable jaw, and a spring acting against the rear end of the detent-lever to cause its forward end to engage the sides of the lugs on the movable jaw when the latter is rocked to swing its lower end away from the fixed jaw.

3. In a cloth-clamp for tentering-machines, the combination with a frame having a relatively flat base forming a lower fixed jaw and arms overhanging said base, of a movable j aw-member having hubs pivoted to the arms on the frame to adapt its lower edge to cooperate with the fixed jaw on the frame and also formed with an arm extending upwardly between the frame-arms, verticallyextending lugs on the sides of the central arm of the lower jaw, a relatively flat detent-lever having ears pivoted to the sides of the arms on the frame and formed with two legs straddling the central arm on the movable jaw with their ends adapted to bear against the upper ends of the lugs thereon, and a spring operating on the opposite end of said lever to cause the arms to ride down against the sides of the lugs when the movable jaw is tilted to withdraw its lower end from engagement with the fixed jaw.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN J. HOEY.

Witnesses:

HERBERT K. ALLARD, GEORGE A. WHITE, Jr.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. V

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