US2171388A - Method and means for binding fibrous building material - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 29, 1939. BERGER 2,171,388

METHOD AND MEANS FOR BINDING FIBROUS BUILDING MATERIAL Filed June 22, 1937 IWIII/IIIII' null/I111 Patented Aug. 29, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD AND MEANS FOR BINDING FIBROUS BUILDING MATERIAL Ludwig Berger, Knittelfeld, Styria, Austria 2 Claims.

The present invention relates to a method of applying transverse binding wires to slabs of fibrous material and to apparatus for cutting the Wire so as to form the binding ties.

It is known to manufacture slabs from reed, straw or similar fibrous building material by compressing and binding the same with wire. During this process the reed or straw is compacted between a plurality of upper and lower strands of wire and these strands of wire are arranged across the fibers of the reed and tensioned so that two opposite strands may be tied together by a transversely extending wire or wire hook.

The present invention pertains particularly to mechanical means for feeding and cutting the transverse wires in connection with the manufacture of pressed reed or straw slabs.

It has been found that the end of the transverse fastening wire during the manufacturing processes previously employed does not advance at right angles to the tensioning wire because of the curvature it possesses when moved from the supply reel. Thus the wire tends to bend upon being pushed forward and an ineffective bond often results because the bent portion of the wire prevents the looping device from engaging the free ends of the transverse wire.

In carrying out the present invention a conveyor is arranged to grasp the wire at the outlet of a distributor nozzle so as to cause the wire to advance in the desired direction. When the wire is moved forward to the desired extent which varies according to the thickness of the slab, it is held in position against the longitudinal tensioned strands by a suitable holding device and the end portion of the transverse wire is then cut and the free ends thereof are looped or wrapped around the longitudinal strands. Such an ar rangement provides a satisfactory method of binding slabs even if the fastening wire is supplied from a reel of small diameter.

The method of carrying out the binding operation will be apparent from the following description and the cutting device will be readily understood from a consideration of the following description and the appended drawing wherein an exemplary embodiment of the invention is disclosed.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of the cutting device illustrating the manner in which the binding wire is fed to a position adjacent the slab.

Fig. 2 is a View similar to Fig. 1 illustrating the manner in which the end portion of the wire is severed.

Fig. 3 is a view partly in section and elevation taken at right angles with respect to Fig. 1 illustrating the manner in which the conveyor device grasps the end of the transverse wire.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 illustrating the 5 manner in which the end portion of the wire is held in place after it has been severed.

Referring particularly to Fig. 1 the transverse fastening wire A is stored on a supply reel 6 from which the wire is drawn by the feeding roller R 10 and guided into the distributing nozzle 01 by means of the roller r. The wire A passes through the distributor nozzle down to the building slab which consists of reed or straws held between longitudinally arranged tension wires 1) and the slab is bound by the previously aflixed transverse wires a.

In order that the wire A will project from the lower end of the nozzle without moving laterally a tubular type conveyor h. is arranged to move 20 upwardly and grasp the wire as it moves from the lower end of the nozzle. In other words when the mouth of the conveyor it reaches the mouth of the outlet the wire is moved forward and the conveyor returns to a position below the lower 25 surface of the slab. After the end portion of the wire has been thus advanced for the required length the wire is held in position against the longitudinal wires b by means of the fork-like holder f as shown in Fig. 4. When the wire is in 30 such a position the end portion is severed by rotation of the distributing nozzle 11 which is hereinafter described in detail.

The means for holding the severed portion a of the transverse wire in position so as to pre- 35 vent it from falling away from the longitudinal strands b prior to the looping operation is shown in Fig. 4. The transverse wire A having advanced to the required extent is held against the tensioning strands b by means of the fork-like hold- 40 ing member 1. The two free ends of the severed wire a" are then looped around the tensioning wires b by means of a looping mechanism (not shown) or this bending operation may be accomplished manually so that the end portions of 45 the severed wire take the position illustrated in the dotted lines of Fig. 4 to provide a binding tie for the longitudinal wires b.

The device for cutting the wire A so as to form the binding ties a includes the distributor nozzle 50 d which is rotatably mounted in a fixed part i of the machine. The distributor nozzle is provided with a slanting feed channel and the inlet e thereof is arranged in alignment with the longitudinal axis of the nozzle and the outlet 0 55 is radially displaced with respect to the axis as illustrated in Fig. 1. The nozzle may be rotated by a lever arm 10 which engages the nozzle proper in any suitable manner so as to rotate the same upon movement of the lever arm 2). Thus when the wire A projects below the outlet 0 rotation of the nozzle will cause the wire to engage the sharp edge of the knife m and cut the wire. The knife m. is rigidly fixed adjacent the outlet end of the nozzle and the operation of the cutting device will be apparent from a consideration of Figures 1 and 2 of the drawing.

After the binding ties a have been applied in the manner above described an additional layer of reed or straw may be moved into the space in between the longitudinal Wires 1) and another transverse binding wire may be applied thereto by following the method hereinabove described.

While the invention has been described by reference to the particular steps necessary for applying the transverse binding ties and a reference to a particular cutting device it is apparent that modifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art. Such modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In apparatus for binding slabs formed of fibrous material and having wire along two opposite surfaces thereof, a rotatable nozzle arranged adjacent one surface of the slab, means for feeding a wire into the nozzle, said nozzle having an inlet opening arranged on the axis of the nozzle and an outlet opening radially displaced with respect to the axis of the nozzle, and cutting means mounted in a fixed relation with respect to the outlet end of the nozzle whereby the wire may be cut into transverse binding pieces upon rotation of the nozzle.

2. A method of applying transverse binding ties to a slab formed of fibrous building material having wires extending along two opposite surfaces thereof which comprises, feeding a continuous wire to a position with an end thereof adjacent one face of the slab, guiding the end of the wire to the opposite surface of the fibrous material, cutting the wire adjacent the first mentioned surface and thereafter looping the ends of the severed wire respectively around the surface Wires.

LUDWIG BERGER.

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