US2407016A - Ball loading machine - Google Patents

Description

' Sept; 1946- F. B. 'KALISTER ET AL 2,407, 016

BALL LOADING MACHINE Filed April $0, 1945 I s Sheets-Sheet 1 FkA/vK B. KALISTER JAMES O. STAFFORD BY FRANK J. KONYVKA 5 ATTORNEY 3 Sheets-She et 2 INVENTORS FRANK B. KALJSTfER f JAMES Q STAFFORD FRANK J. KONYVKA Sept. 3, 1946. 4 F. a. KA LI5TER Er'm.

' BALLLOADING MACHINE Filed A ri1-'so,.1945

p 3946- F, B. KALISTER ET AL BALL LOADING MACHINE Fileri April 50, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS FRANK B. KALISTER JAMES 0. STAFFORD FRANK J. KONYVKA Arron Y Patented Sept. 3, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BALL LOADING MACHINE Frank B. Kalister, Cleveland, James O. Stafford, Painesville, and Frank J. Konyvka, Maple Heights, Ohio, assignors, by mesne assignments, to Jack & Heintz Precision Industries, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Application April 30, 1945, Serial No. 591,132

. Claims. 1

This invention relates to a novel machine for inserting balls in ball bearing races. The object of the invention, in general, is to produce a hopper fed machine for automatically inserting a proper number of balls in the races of ball bearing assemblies with a minimum of handling and attention required by an operator to achieve greater speed in production than is possible by hand assembly, and to facilitate cleanliness by keeping the highly polished balls in a closed hopper until they are assembled with their associated bearing races.

Other objects and advantages become apparent as the specification proceeds in connection with a preferred embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional view through the machine of the present invention taken approximately on the line I, l of Figure 2;

Figure 2 is a plan View of the machine;

Figure 3 is a sectional view through the ball hopper;

Figure 4 is a sectional view approximately at right angles to Figure 1, taken on the line 4, 4 of Figure 2, and showing the parts in a different position than Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken approximately along lines 5, 5 of Figure 2; and

Figure 6 is a top plan view of the vertical ram.

The parts of the present machine extend above and below a table or bench top I, carrying a shelf 2, provided with an incline slide 3 for feeding ball races by gravity. The slide 3 is preferably covered by a transparent panel 4 to exclude dust from the ball races as they are fed into the machine. Supported upon the table I is a ball hopper 5, having a cover 6, carrying a hand operated agitator or stirring element 1. The bottom of the hopper is provided with a number of openings 8 equal tothe number of balls to be inserted in each bearing assembly, and transparent tubes 9 are provided in the manner shown to carry the balls down to a loading chamber Ill.

The loading chamber l0 comprises a vertical cylindrical bore in a supporting block ll beneath theball hopper, a piston I2 is slidably received within the bore and loading chamber [0 so as to occupy a lower position as shown in Figure 1 to normallyretain the balls in thetubes 9 and preventtheir admission into the loading chamber until ,the proper time. The piston l2 carries anagitating rod 13 extending inwardly into the bottom of the ball hopper 5, the piston audacitator being urged to their lowermost position by a spring H. A groove [5 in one side of the piston receives the end of a set screw IE to prevent rotation of the piston and to provide limits for its motion in reciprocation.

The loading chamber I 0 is provided with rounded corners I! at its lower end and terminates at a distance above the table slightly greater than the thickness of the ball races to be loaded. Directly beneath the loading chamber I0 is a circular opening IS in the table I, receiving a verticle ram l9 having a disc-like cam follower 20 adapted to be constantly rotated and intermittently raised and lowered by a cam 2| on a power driven shaft 22. The upperend of the ram I9 is provided with a hemispherical ball center 23 and a plurality of sharp radial projections 2-4 for purposes to be presently described. A spring 25 resiliently urges the ram l9 into constant driving engagement with the cam 2|. A gear 26, on the shaft 22, drives a gear 2! which in turn meshes with a gear 28 carrying a finger 29 positioned to impart a step-by-step movement to a star Wheel 30. The purpose of the star wheel 30 is to drive the intermittent feed disc 3! which receives ball races from the lower end of the slide 3 and transfers them one at a time into position between the ram I9 and the loading chamber [0. A curved guide rail 32 cooperates with the intermittent feed disc 3| in obtaining the proper alignment of the ball races as they arrive under the loading chamber 10. In order to prevent any coasting action of disc 3| and to assist the latter in the proper positioning of the ball race a leaf spring 44 is secured at 45 to overlap the disc and provide a predetermined resilient braking action on the latter. For convenience in cleaning or removing a jammed part, a clamp 46 is provided to hold the ball loader, as a unit, secure. Dowel pins 41 and 48 are used to hold the ball loader as a unit in direct alignment with feed disc 3|. This provides a quick and easy means for repair and maintenance of the machine.

The above described mechanism is driven by an electric motor 33 to a reduction gearing 34 and an overload release clutch 35 so that if any part of the feeding mechanism should jam, the clutch 35 would over-ride to prevent damage to the parts.

The present embodiment of the invention is designedfor loading six balls into an annular cage 40 associated with an outer race 4| of the type shown. In the present instance the cage .40 is made of non-metallic material having ball apertures 42 in the form of sockets having an inside of the revolving ram #8.

clined slightly downwardly and spaced radially at 60 intervals around the loading chamber. Since the cages ii] are not indexed in rotation as they are raised into the loading chamber-the ball apertures 42 did not necessarily register with the bores d3 without some amount of rotation. For this purpose the cam 2! is provided with a high portion having an annular extension sufficient to impart rotation to the cage M3, at least equal to.

the angular spacing of the ball apertures. This annular rotation may exceed the spacing of the balls and may be arranged to provide passage of each ball aperture into registry with at least two successive bores 43 if desired.

' As previously stated, two of the primary objects of the present machine are to achieve a rapid assembly for production line operation with little manual attention, and the exclusion of dust and foreign particles which would render the bearing assemblies unsuitable for delicate precision instruments. The present machine accomplishes these primary objects by providing a feeding and loading mechanism capable of rather rapid operation and by obviating handling of the parts and prolonged exposure to atmospheric dust and other sources of contamination.

In operating the machine an operator has merely to load the ball-hopper from time to tim which does not involve contact of the highly polished balls with the skin or perspiration of the operator, and the feeding of the races from the shelf 2 into the slide 3, which may also be accomplished without requiring actual contact with the operators hands. In their passage down the slide, the assemblie are protected from dust by the transparent cover' and an additional transparent cover may be provided over the short feed path associated with'the feeding disc 3| so as to practically exclude the possibility of contamina-, tion throughout the whole feeding and loading operation.

In feeding the machine, the cages -68, having an external diameter slightly less than the smallest opening in the external race, are placed within the race, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, and the parts are delivered in this relationship to a rest position immediately over the ram i9 and beneath the loading chamber Ill. The cam 2| is timed with respect to the feed disc 3| so that when an assembly has been placed in position as shown in Figure l, the ram l9 will begin to elevate with a rotary motion to carry the cage up into the loading chamber with ball apertures 42 on a level with the loading bores 43. The rounded corners l1 facilitate entry of the cages into the loading chambenthe centering action being associated by the twist imparted to the cage by a plurality of sharp projections 2 on the upper end Any slight misalignment of the assembly between feed disc 3| is corrected by the ball projection -23 which automatiure -1 so that the ram l9 will pass freely through the middle of the race 4!. If'the ball apertures 4-2 are not in registry with the loading bores -43 4 when the cage arrives in loading position they will be rotated past one or more of the ball loading bores 43 before the cage descends so as to insure certain loading of all the apertures. As the ram l9 descends, the loaded cage follows it into the race and then the loaded assembly is ejected by the movement of the next assembly into position over the loading ram.

In the various views the balls have been omitted in certain instances to more clearly show the op eration of the mechanism in the various positions of its parts, it being understood that the slide 3 is to be'constantly'filled with assemblies as shown in Figure 2 and that the hopper 5 is to be kept supplied with balls, during the operation of the machine.

Thelpresentmachine may obviously be adapted to various assemblies of different types and having a diiferent number or so of balls, it being understood that the present preferred embodiment is shown and described merely for the purpose "of illustrating the purpose of the invention.

All changes and modifications falling within the scope o'f the appended claims are included in the invention.

'We claim:

1. A ball loading machine comprising a ball loading chamber, a hopper feed for supplying balls to said chamber in radial directions therearou'nd, means for feeding ball cage and bearing race sub-assemblies one'at 'a time to a station adjacent said loading chamber, and means for moving said cages out of-said bearing races-into said loading chamber with a longitudinal and rotarymotion so as to bring'said c'a'ges'into proper registry with said ball feedingmea'ns,

2. A ball loading machine comprising 'a ball loading chamber, a'plu'rality of ball feeding means entering said chamber radially at angles corresponding to the ball positions 'in the ball cageto be loaded, means for feeding cage and bearing race assemblies b intermittent motion to a s'tation adja'c'ent said loading chamber, and means geare'dto 'saidfeeding means for moving a cage out of its associated bearing race and into said loading chamber with a longitudinal and rotary motion and s'ubse'quentlyreplacing said ca'ge when loaded within said bearing race' in' assembledrelation therewith.

3. A ball loading machine comprising a loading chamber, a plurality of ball feeding tubes entering said chamber radially at angles corresponding to the arrangement of balls in the cage to be loaded, gravity feed means 'for delivering cage and bearing race sub-assemblies one at a time on a supporting surface, intermittent feed mechanismfor feedin'g said sub-assemblies 'to a station adjacent said loading chamber, an'dintermittent- 1y reciprocating means for moving a cage out of its associated bearing race and into said loading chamber in alignment with said ball feeding means with a longitudinal and rotary motion, and to returnsaid cage whenloa'd'e'd 't'o said'bearing race in assembled relation therewith, and over-riding clutch means for disconnecting a sourc of power in the event of jamming of any part of the-mechanism.

4 A ball loading machine comprising a vertical' cylindrical ball loading chamber, -a plurality of ball feeding'tubes-"entering said chamber radially, means to feed cage and bearing race assemblies to a station in alignment beneath said chamber, a vertical ram beneathsa'id station in align- 4 merit with said-chamber, and means to 'raise'and rotate said ram to cause saidram'topass through 5 said bearing race carrying said cage into said loading chamber with a rotary mation to cause ball apertures therein to register with said ball feeding means and to thereupon return to starting position to assemble the loaded cage within said bearing race.

5. A ball loading machin comprising a vertical cylindrical loading chamber, a plurality of ball feeding tubes entering said chamber in radial directions therearound, a piston within said chamber adapted to cover the ends of said ball feeding tubes to prevent the admission of balls into said chamber, intermittent feeding mechanism for depositing bearing cage and race assemblies at a station vertically beneath said loading chambers, a vertical ram beneath said station and aligned with said chamber, and means to raise and rotate said ram in intermittent motion to cause said ram to pass through said race to elevate said cage and said piston and to rotate said cage as it is brought into ball loading position.

FRANK B. KALISTER. JAMES O. STAFFORD. FRANK J. KONYVKA.

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