US2500087A - Connecting rod aligning and supporting fixture - Google Patents

Description

March 7, 1950 w. MITCHELL 2,500,087

CONNECTING ROD ALIGNING AND SUPPORTING FIXTURE Filed Sept. 8, 1947 INVENTOR.

Patented Mar. 7, 1950 CONNECTINGBOD ALIGNING AND SUPPORTING FIXTURE "Wallace F. Mitchell, Chicago, 111., assignor sto AmmcoTools, Inc.,"N,orth Chicago, Il1.,;:a corporationv of Illinois Application] September 8, 1947,fSerialNo.772,649

50laims.

1 This invention relates porting fixture for a honing machine and it has to do particularly with a fixture adapted to support and align a connecting rod in honingpo5igenerally to a work-suption on a honing machine of the character, for ,5

operation, thereby insuring true'honing of the bearing even though it is done by a-careless or unskilled workman.

A further object is to provide a fixture of the foregoing character which is self-adjusting to accommodate connecting rods of various lengths J which may beencountered in the ordinary servicing operations.

Still anotherobject of the'invention' is to reduce the cost of servicing connecting rod bearings by reducing the time required for the servicing operation and by obtaining the desiredresults Without the necessity of using highly skilled workmen. Additional objects are to provide a connecting rodhsupport for a honing machine by which the combined honing and connecting rod aligning operationsare materially speeded up; to eliminate the necessity of aligning operations subsequent to the honing operation; and to provide means whereby the aligning and honing of connecting rod bearings may be carried out with. greatly increased efficiency at a lower cost.

The invention comprises other and further'features hereinafter set forth and more particularly defined in the appended claims-and illustrated in the drawings wherein Figure 1 is a front elevational viewof one, form of fixture embodying'the invention mounted one honing machine-and illustrating a connecting rod in broken linesupported onthe'fixturein the honing position;

Fig. 2is-a side elevational View of the structure of Fig. 1. witha portion of the honing machine omitted; and

'- Fig-3 is asectional viewofthe"fixtureshown in the previous figuresand as-viewed on lines 3-3 of Fig.2;

A fixture embodying my inventionisedapted for-use with any suitable honing machineyhowever, it'is particularly W611 adapted for-use with a honing machine l0 of thetype disclosed in my aforesaid pendingapplication Serial No; 632,908. Tornount the fixtureofmyinvention on the horn ing machine ill, I'plOVide an accurately machined surface ll at the front of the honing machine casing, which surface is disposedat anangle oi 90 with respect to the horizontal and vertical axial planes of the hone tool I 2. The hone i2 projectsoutwardly from the front of themachine Iii where it is readily accessible to the operators, and, while any suitablehone may be usedl prefer the hone shown and described in my pending application, Serial -No.6l5,I65, filed September 8,1945, which matured asPatent No. 2,445,277,

dated July 13, 1948.

A preferred form of my invention is illustrated in "Fig. l. The structure there shown comprises a rectangul ar bar l3, the right end of which is removably and rigidly secured to the surface ll of the machine lfiby bolts 1 3 or other suitable fastening means, so that the body of bar I3 is disposed in a plane parallel tothesurface I l. The bar l'3-projects laterally and its free end is provided with an opening l4 adapted to receive the reduced threaded end of a rod I5. The rod i5 is, fixed to the bar 13 by anut l6 and it extends perpendicularly:andforwardly fromthe bar 13 in parallelrelation-to theaxis of 'the hone l2. The rod t5, which is of circular cross-section and of uniform diameter throughout its length, has a smooth surface'finish to minimize frictional resistance therewith. The rod l'5 slidably and rotatably supports a worksupportingmember t1 Whichwill now be described.

Specifically tl1e 'member l'l comprises a body 20 having bearing elements It and ill at each end thereof. Thebody 20 intermediate the'bear ings l8 and ta ls cut-awayto give it a semicircular cross-sectional shape,: which portion has an internal diameter greater-than the outside diameter-of the rod 15' to providea clearance-,2! with the rod. In thismanner, the" frictional contact between the ,I'Od. andthe work-supporting member is "restricted to the bearing elements 18 and I9 and the Weight of the structureis preduced. Each of'the bearing-elements it, 19 is provided with means such as bolts T22,"f01 adjusting and clamping "such bearings for a fixed radial clearancexwithithe rod which preferably: is onlyzan amount :sufflcient :to permit the member I! to be moved freely both axially and circumferentially on the rod IS. The purpose of the slidable and rotatable movement of the member I! will be described presently.

The outer end or bearing IQ of the body 26 integrally carries vertically disposed arm 24 which in turn supports a work-supporting plate 23. The front face of the plate 23 is accurately machined to a smooth finish and is so carried by arm M as to lie in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rod [5 and parallel to the plane of the mounting surface H on machine iii. In other words, the face of plate 23 is disposed at right angles to the axes of the hone l2 and rod it and parallel to the plane of surface H. The work-supporting member ii and its plate are so slidably and rotatably positioned on the rod that the face of the plate 23 retains the relation stated in any selected position of the supporting member IT. A work-supporting pin, such as a fillister-head screw 25, is secured to the front of the plate 23 for the purpose of supporting a connecting rod 28 as will be explained hereinafter.

A rod 26 is secured to the bearing i9 diametrically opposite the arm M by screw threads or other suitable fastening means. The free end of the rod 26 supports a counter-balance weight 21 secured thereto by set screw 2% a sufiicient distance from the axis of the rod Hi to maintain or return the member ii and its plate 23 to a posivtion approximately 90 above the horizontal axial plane of the rod l5 when nowork is supported on the said plate. It follows that if the member ll and the plate 23 are rotated either clockwise or counterclockwise to an acute angular position and then released, the plate 23 automatically will return to its uppermost or starting position.

In operation, assuming that a new piston pin bearing has been inserted in the bearing holding portion of the connecting rod 23, the workman is required to hone to size and surface finish the bearing to fit a selected piston pin. According to my invention, as an incident to the sizing and finishing operation, the piston pin bearing will simultaneously be aligned with the crankshaft bearing. Inasmuch as the bearing surface of the crankshaft bearing is always disposed at an exact angle of 90 with respect to the end of the said bearing, an end of such bearing is used to locate or position the connecting rod in my fixture. For purpose ofillustration, the connecting rod iii is shown in broken lines in Figure 1. It will be noted that the supporting pin 25, which is disposed at right angle to the face of plate 23, projects into the crankshaft bearing to support a portion of the weight of the connecting rod and at the same time to locate the end of such bearing on the plate 23. The operator holds the end of the crankshaft bearing against the surface of plate with his left hand and rotates the plate 23 and its supporting structure H on the rod it: until the opening in the piston pin bearing aligns with the hone it. With this arrangement my fixture will accommodate connecting rods having variable center distances between their two bearings, and connecting rods with varying bearing spacings are handled equally satisfactorily simply by moving the plate 23 clockwise or counterclockwise until the piston pin bearing aligns with the hone l2.

The foregoing manipulation is followed by the operator moving the connecting rod 28 rearwardly so that the piston pin bearing receives the hone l2, whereupon the hone I2 is properly adjusted to the bearing and the honing machine ll! 4 operated to rotate the hone. The connecting rod 28 is then moved forwardly and rearwardly upon the hone with the operator holding the connecting red as above explained. As this is done, the piston pin bearing reciprocates axially on the hone i2 in parallel relationship with the axis of the crankshaft bearing because of the guiding and aligning action provided by the work-supporting plate 23 sliding longitudinally on the rod '1 5. With the connecting rod limited to the above parallel motion during the reciprocating honing operation, bell-mouthing of the bearing is eliminated.

If, for any reason, the piston pin bearing is not in proper alignment with the crankshaft bearing at the start of the operation, the hone will automatically remove suflicient stock from the proper walls of the piston pin bearing until such walls are brought into parallel relationship with each other and with the walls of the crankshaft bearing. When the operator is satisfied that the bearing has been honed to the proper size no further operations are required. The bearings are in perfect alignment without the necessity of twisting or bending the rod and performing repeated testing operations on expensive test fixtures or gauges. In actual practice, the use of my fixture has reduced the time previously required for honing and aligning the piston pin bearing between 40% and 45% as well as e iminating the necessity of employing highly skilled workmen to perform these operations. When the connecting rod is removed from the work-supporting plate, the plate automatically rotates to its uppermost position because of the counterbalance weight 21 and it is in position to receive the next connecting rod.

My fixture may be used by the ordinary mechanic and excellent results are obtained without a high degree of skill. Its simple and sturdy construction as well as its adaptabil ty to the ordinary bench type honing machine provides an inexpensive fixture capable of producing results that were heretofore unobtainable except with elaborate and expensive machines designed for production work and not found in the or inary service establishment because of their prohibitive cost. It is understood that the cons ruct on shown is for the purpose of illustration only and that variations may be made in it without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a honing machine having a rotatable hone, a connecting rod ali ning and su porting fixture for a connecting rod having a crankshaft bearing and a piston pin bearing, said fixture comprising a fixed supporting shaft ada ted to be mounted on the honing machine with its axis parallel with the axis of the hone, a connecting rod supporting member having a part mounted on said shaft for simultaneous axial slide and rotational movements, an alignment plate mounted on said part and having a face disposed at right angles to the axes of said shaft and the hone and adapted to receive and support one end of the crankshaft bearing of the connecting rod, said plate being rotatable through said part toward and from the hone to accommodate connecting rods of varying length with the piston pin bearing thereof receiving the hone, and means for suspending the crankshaft bearing portion of the connecting rod on said plate.

2. In combination with a honing machine havmg a bone supporting spindle, a movable member having a vertically disposed plane surface adapted to support the material to be honed, the movable member being radially removed from the hone supporting spindle, a removable sup-port means secured to the honing machine for supporting the movable member with the said vertically disposed plane surface lying in a plane disposed at an angle of 90 with the axis of the hone supporting spindle, the movable member being movable on the removable support means both axially and rotatably simultaneously relative to the hone supporting spindle.

3. In combination with a honing machine having a hone supporting spindle, a removable support means comprising a bar having one end secured to the honing machine, and a rod supported by said bar adjacent its other end in parallel relationship with the hone supporting spindle, a member movable circumferentially and axially on the said rod and having a vertically disposed plane surface lying in a plane disposed at an angle of 90 with the axis of the hone supporting spindle, said plane surface being movable axially and rotatably simultaneously relative to the hone supporting spindle, and support means projecting from said plane surface for supporting the material to be honed, whereby the material to be honed may be positioned and supported on the plane surface and may be reciprocated in parallel relationship with the hone supporting spindle.

4. In a machine having a rotatable tool for sizing bores, a fixture adapted to support and align a work piece having spaced and bored bearing elements disposed with their axes in parallel alignment, said fixture comprising a supporting shaft disposed laterally of the rotatable tool with its axis parallel with the axis of the rotatable tool, a work piece supporting member having a portion mounted on said shaft for simultaneous axial shift and rotary movement therealong, and an alignment plate mounted on said portion and having a face disposed at right angles to the axes of said shaft and the rotatable tool and adapted to receive and support one end of one of the bearing elements of the work piece with another bearing element of the work piece engaged with the rotatable tool.

5. A fixture adapted to support and align a work piece and comprising a bar, a rod, said rod being circular in cross-section and secured to and adjacent one end of the bar, a member having spaced bearing elements slidably and rotatably mounting said member on said rod, said member having an alignment plate for aligning the work piece and for movement of the work piece with said member on said rod, and means on said plate for supporting the work piece radially removed from said rod.

WALLACE F. MITCHELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Wilhide July 84, 1941

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