US2335123A - Clay spreader - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 23, 1943. F. M. KINNARD ,3

- CLAY SPREADER 7 Filed Aug 56. 1941 2 Street s-Sheet 1 NOV- 23, 1943. K N 2,335,123

CLAY SPREADER Filed Aug. 30, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 23, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CLAY SPREADER Frank M. Kinnard, Sebring, Ohio Application August 30, 1941, Serial No. 408,977

5 Claims.

The invention relates to clay working machinery and particularly to the type of machines known as spreaders for batting out balls or lumps of clay into flat disks, known in the potteries as bats, preparatory to placing the same on a mold where they may be jiggered or otherwise shaped, as in usual practice.

Clay spreaders of the general character referred to are shown in my prior Letters Patent No. 1,430,309 dated September 26, 1922; No. 1,481,913 dated January 29, 1924; No. 1,778,324 dated October 14, 1930 and No. 2,167,386 dated July 25, 1939, and the present application is more especially concerned with certain improvements upon the particular type of clay spreader disclosed in my prior Letters Patent No. 1,513,602 dated October 28, 1924.

One of the greatest difiiculties encountered in the manufacture of plates, dishes and similar chinaware is what is known in the trade as drop bottoms. This is a downward curvature of the bottom of a plate or similar article, occurring during the drying and firing of the Ware, making it necessary to provide a foot in the form of an annular rib of considerable depth upon the bottom of the plate, to hold the dished central portion of the bottom out of contact with the table, so that the plate will rest flat upon the table.

There are a great many spreaders, made under my above mentioned patents, in use in various potteries throughout the country, and while these machines have overcome this objection to some extent they have not entirely eliminated the drop bottoms in ware. the patented Spreaders is provided with a two or four blade spreading tool, and I have found this difiiculty may be completely overcome by providing a spreading tool having at least six blades located within a limited angular range.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a clay spreader having a tool provided with at least six angular blades.

Another object is to provide such a tool in which the blades are located at not les than fifteen degrees and not more than twenty degrees to the normal plane of the tool.

A further object is to provide a tool of this character having at least six blades located between fifteen and twenty degrees to the normal plane of the tool.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a novel-Water spray valve for automatically spraying water upon the clay as the tool is moved into contact therewith.

It will be noted that each of 4 Another object is the provision of a tool of the character referred to having removable and replaceable blades.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a spreader having means for adjusting the tool for the desired thickness of clay bat during the operation of the machine.

The above objects together with others which will be apparent from the drawings and following description, or which may be later referred to, may be attained by constructing the improved clay spreader in the manner illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved clay spreader, showing the same in the normal or nomoperating position, with the guard plate tilted back to show the tool;

Fig. 2, a front elevation of the clay spreader in the same position as shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3, a vertical, longitudinal section through the clay spreader in the same position as shown in Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4, a view similar to Fig. 3, showing the hinged block moved into operating position relative to the spreader tool;

Fig. 5, a top plan view of the improved clay spreader in the non-operating position as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3;

Fig. 6, a detail sectional view showing the novel adjusting means for the spreader tool;

Fig. 7, a transverse sectional View through one of the wings and blades of the spreader tool, taken as on the line 1---!, Fig. 6; and

Fig. 8, a longitudinal sectional view through the automatic water spray valve.

Similar numerals refer to similar throughout the drawings.

The machine is mounted upon a base comprising the side frames 10, connected together at their front and rear upper corners as by the angle irons II and 12 respectively, and provided at their lower ends with the inturned flanges l3, forming a support for the motor [4, carried upon a bracket l5 mounted upon the bars 16 which are connected to the flanges l 3.

A housing I! may normally enclose the motor to protect it from particles of clay which may drop from the machine during the operation thereof. For the purpose of illustration this housing is removed from the motor in Figs. 2, 3 and 4.

A bed plate I8 is mounted upon the top of the side frames l0, and provided with the spaced uprights 19 and 20, upon the upper ends of which are located the aligned bearings 2| and 22 respectively.

parts Bushings 23 may be located in the bearings 2| and 22, the shaft 24 being journaled through said bushings and having its ends extending beyond said bearings, as best shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings.

A pulley. 25 is mounted upon the shaft 24 between the bearings 2| and 22, the pulley being preferably slidably keyed upon the shaft so as to permit longitudinal movement of the shaft relative to the pulley. This may be accomplished by means of a key 26 fixed within the hub of the pulley and slidable within the longitudinal groove 21 in the shaft.

The pulley 25 is operatively connected to the;

pulley 28 of the motor by means of the belt or belts 29. For the purpose of protecting the operator of the machine a guard 30 may enclose the pulley 25.

The spreader tool forming an important part of the invention includes a hub 31 fixed upon the forward end of the shaft 24- and a plurality of radial wings 32, formed of wood, metal or other suitable material.

The tools shown in the above mentioned patents are provided with two or four wings, but I have found that the best results are obtained by using a tool provided with at least six wings. I prefer to use either six or eight wings upon each tool, and for the purpose of illustration I.

have: shown the tool in the accompanying drawings, provided with six wings, since this is the smallest number ofwings which will give the desired result of completely eliminating drop bottoms. in the ware.

This-beneficial result; is probably largely due to the additional working of the clay by the larger number of wings on the tool causing the clay to be compacted more, firmly than was possible-with the older forms of spreader tools.

As evidence of this, it has been found that plates and; similar ware formed from clay bats made with the improved six or eight wing tool may be of lighter weight and at the same time considerably straighter than ordinary ware, making it possible to reduce the depth of the "foot on the bottom of the plate ninety per cent, thus not only. improving the quality and appearance of the ware, but also increasing the capacity of the kiln in which the ware is fired.

In case the wings are formed of wood, or the like, as shown in Fig. 7 of the drawings, a metal plate 33- may be detachably connected to the rear side of eachrwing, as by screws-34.

. The under side ofeach wing 32-may be bevelled as shown at 35 to receive the metal blade 3%, which is detachably connected to the wing as by the screws 3'1, whereby the blades may be quickly and easily removed and renewed whenever thesame is n ces ary- As shown inFig. 7, the upper or leading edge of each, blade may extendbeyond the-forward side of, the wing. The best results are obtained with this spreader tool by laterally locating each blade 36 thereof at an angle of from 15 to 20 to the I normal plane of the tool. For the purpose of ilbore 39 through which is located an adjusting screw 48 having a jam nut il for holding the screw in adjusted position.

The end of the adjusting screw contacts the center of the disk 42 which may be removably mounted upon the rear end of the shaft 24 as by the screw 23. A coil spring 44, located around the shaft 24 between the cup 45 and the disk 42 normally urges the shaft rearward, holding the disk 42 in contact with the adjusting screw.

This permits longitudinal adjustment of the shaft 24, carrying the spreader tool, while the same is rotating, the pulley 25 remaining in the same position between the bearings 2i and 22 as the key 26 thereon is slidably received in the groove 21 in the shaft.

T bat, is mounted upon a bracket 41, hinged at its forward edge, as at 58, to the base, and is provided with the handle 49 for manually swinging the block from the non-operating position as shown in Fig. 3, to the operating position shown in Fig. 4, moving the ball of clay into engagement with the rotating spreader tool which spreads the clay into a flat disk such as the bat shown at B in Fig. l.

For the purpose of balancing the bracket t1 and block it, a pair of pulleys 5i! may be journaled upon the side plates El, mounted upon the base members it, chains or other flexible members 52 being connected to the hinged bracket 51 and located over the pulleys 5E2, counterweig ts 53 being suspended from the chains. 7

When the machine is in the non-operating position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the hinged bracket ll will rest upon the stop member 54, which may be mounted upon the angle iron H.

In order to moisten the ball of clay just prior to the spreading of the same by the tool, an automatic water spray valveis provided, as shown in detail in Fig. 8. This valve includes the valve casing 55, located in axial alignment with the hinge pin 48 of the hinged block bracket 4'? and rigidly supported by the bracket arm 56 mounted upon the base of the machine.

A cap 51 is threaded into the outer end of the casing and carries a coupling 58 to which is connected a hose 59 leading from a suitable source of water. The valve stem til is rotatably mounted within the central bore 61- of the valve casing and has one end fixed to the adjacent end of the hinge pin 48.

This connection of the valve stem to the hinge pin is preferably adjustable inorder to regulate the time at which the water will be sprayed upon the clay. For this purpose the outer end of the valve stem is threaded into the end of the hinge pin, as indicated at 62, a jam nut 63 being provided for holding the stem in adjusted position,

and an angular pin 64 may be fixed to the valve stem for turning the same.

The valve casing is provided with a longitudinal port 65, communicating with the outlet (36, to which is connected a spray pipe 6!, as by the coupling 68. The valve member Ed is slidably keyed upon the stem GlLas shown at it, and provided with a port I I adapted to register with the port 65 when the valve stem is rotated to the proper position. A coil spring 12 is interposed between the cap 5'5 and the valve member in order to urge said valve member into contact with the end wall 13 of the valve chamber it.

For the purpose of protecting the operator of: the machine from accidental contact with the rapidly rotating blades of the spreader tool. a

substantially semi-cylindric guard plate 15 may be detachably connected to the upper ends of the side plates 51, thus effectively enclosing the tool and the same time leaving the forward side thereof accessible to the clay upon the hinged block 45.

In the operation of the machine, the spreader tool may rotate continuously, and the hinged bracket carrying the block 45 may normally rest in the lowered position, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 5. A ball of clay, as shown at A in Fig. 2, is placedupon the block 46, and by means of the handle 69 the bracket 41 is swung upward, moving the block 6-6 to vertical position as shown in Fig. 4, bringing the ball of clay into engagement with the rotating spreader tool which rapidly forms the clay into a flat, smooth bat as shown at B in Fig. 4.

The counterweights will hold the block in this position until the operator moves the same manually back to the lowered position, when the clay bat may be removed and placed on the mold as in usual practice.

It will be apparent that when the block 46 is being raised the valve stem Gil will be rotated within the valve casing 55 and as the valve member 69 is turned to the position where the port 1 I therein registers with the port 65, in the casing, water will be sprayed through the pipe 61 upon the clay, moistening the same just prior to the time it is brought into contact with, the sprreader tool.

I claim:

1. A clay spreader including a base, a bearing supported above the base, a horizontal shaft journaled in the bearing and longitudinally movable therein, a spreader tool fixed upon one end of the shaft, means for rotating the shaft, a block hinged upon the base and arranged to be moved into vertical position adjacent to the spreader tool, and means at the other end of the shaft for adjusting the shaft longitudinally in the bearing while the shaft is rotating, so that the spreader tool may be adjusted relative to the vertical position of the block during operation of the tool.

2. A clay spreader including a base, a bearing supported above the base, a horizontal shaft journaled in the bearing and longitudinally movable therein, a spreader tool fixed upon one end of the shaft, means for rotating the shaft, a block hinged upon the base and arranged to be moved into vertical position adjacent to the spreader tool, an adjusting screw contacting the other end of the shaft for adjusting the shaft longitudinally in the bearing while the shaft is rotating, so that the spreader tool may be adjusted relative to the vertical position of the block during ation of the tool, and spring means for holding the shaft in contact with the adjusting screw.

3. A clay spreader including a base, a pair of spaced, axially aligned bearings supported above the base, a horizontal shaft journaled in the bearings and longitudinally movable therein, a pulley slidably keyed upon the shaft between said bearings, driving means operatively connected to the pulley, a spreader tool operatively connected to one end of the shaft, means for rotating the shaft, a block hinged upon the base and arranged to be moved into vertical position adjacent to the spreader tool, and means at the other end of the shaft for adjusting the shaft longitudinally in the bearings while the shaft is rotating, so that the spreader tool may be adjusted relative to the vertical position of the block during operation of the tool, while the pulley continues to ro- 20 tate in the same lateral position.

4. A clay spreader including a base, a pair of spaced, axially aligned bearings supported above the base, a horizontal shaft journaled in the bearings and longitudinally movable therein, a

25 pulley slidably keyed upon the shaft between said bearings, driving means operatively connected to the pulley, a spreader tool operatively connected to one end of the shaft, a block hinged upon the base and arranged to be moved into vertical posi- 0 tion adjacent to the spreader tool, an adjusting screw contacting the other end of the shaft for adjusting the shaft longitudinally in the bearings while the shaft is rotating, so that the spreader tool may be adjusted relative to the vertical posi- 5 tion of the block during operation of the tool while the pulley continues to rotate in the same lateral position, and spring means for holding the shaft in contact with the adjusting screw.

5. A clay spreader including a base, a rotating spreader tool mounted upon a horizontal axis above the base, a block hinged upon the base and arranged to be moved into vertical position adjacent to the spreader tool, a hinge pin movable with the block for connecting the block to the base, a valve casing rigidly supported upon the base in axial alignment with the hinge pin, a water supply pipe connected to the valve casing, a valve stem adjustably connected to the end of the hinge pin and rotatable within the valve 50 casing, a spray pipe connected to the valve casing and a valve member upon the stem within the casing and having a port arranged to formcommunication between the water supply pipe and the spray pipe at one position of the hinged block.

FRANK M. KINNARD.

Images