US2538807A - Feed mechanism for induction heating apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 23, 1951 H. A. STRICKLAND, JR 7 FEED MECHANISM FOR INDUCTION HEATiNG APPARATUS Filed Jan. 22, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 \u III-III. l

ATTORNEY Jan. 23, 1951 H. A. STRICKLAND, JR 2,533,807

FEED MECHANISM FOR INDUCTION HEATING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 22, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet .2

INVENTOR ORNEY Harold HScrLcHandJr.

Patented Jan. 23, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT orr es 2,538,807 FEED MECHANISM FOR INDUCTION HEATING APPARATUS HaroldA. Strickland, J r., Detroit, Mich, assignor, liy mesneassignments, tcThe Ohio'Crankshaft' Company; Cleveland, Ohio, a. corporation of- Ohio AppIicati-onzJanuary ZZ, 19.4.6; Serial-No. 642,694:

Thisinvention. relates-toinduction heating ap- ;g azatus of. the.- type having progressive feeding mechanism, withspecialv reference to the-mode oii'actuationof. an inductor headf-orming a: part or the. apparatus.

An important object of the invention is to provide a. teedmechanism for. inductor units which may be. moved-rapidly into heating positionvand then relatively slowly moved: in relation tothe workpiece: to. secure progressive heating thereof.

.Another obiect of .the invention-dates provideiin conjunction withthedinear movement of. the ineductor a rotational movement simultaneously therewith.

An associated object is to-provide reciprocation and. rotation. in an; inductor headwhich may, be carried on either simultaneously or insequenaa.

Still. another objectof theinventiom is toprovide vsimplifiedmeansofassociation with apower source of an inductor support susceptible to both.

linear and rotational movement and slow and fast linear movementwithout-disturbance. of the connecting means to-thepower-source.

An objectalsois-the provision-ofmeans forpreventing. transmission of reverse power-to-the mae terial from. the movable inductor unit.

A general object-of the invention. isto provide simplified means: for transmissionrofi power from the power sourceto theinductor head which will include variationscinrectilinear motion.

In the. drawing:

Figure. l is an elevation,,.partly in. section, .illustrat'ing. the. relative position of the-inductor unit to the power mechanism;

Figure. 2..is. anelevational view. takenalonglines 2I''2 of Figure 1';

Eigure 3. isaplanview. insection-of the apparatus taken alonglinesfl-totFigure 1-;

Figure. 4 is an. enlarged detail. showing. the

.transmission:mechanism-and clutches employed in Ithisapparatus and Eigure 5.-is aiwiringdiagram..

The inductor unit is. mounted upon abase. I fromwhich extendsupwardly a casing. 2. adapted to contain the power mechanism and arbor for support of the inductor unit. Arecessfi-is pro..-

vided. in; the 1 casings adjacent the. base: and at a median point alongflone. edg-eof the same for reception of a workpiece, suchas-the tubular workpiece. 4. as showninEigure 1; The. arbor. 5 sup.- porting the inductor. head. 6. is. positioned directly above the. recess and isadaptedfor reciprocat'ion to. bring the head 6 within the space. of the recess, and. within the. workpiece for. heating thereon. The arbor '5. is provided. with a lower guide 1 mounted on =.an..intermediate partition support plate. 8'. inthe casing. and upper. supporting. means fixedly. attached to .aframe. 9. which. is adapted for movement. on the guide rods ill and Ifthrough the. edge tubing. [2 and I314 Integral with. this. frame .isabracket MI for. support of. an electricmotor. I15. Thismotoris provided for rotation-of. thezarber iiiby means of. pulleys IE and I1 and pulley belt l8.

Reciprecation oi the. frame; 9 accomplished bymeans, of. fluid, motors. [9i and. 26 which take the form. of. extended tubular casings 2i and 22 within. which. pistonshaving rods 23a and: 24 have movementlthrough. the base ends of. the casings. Fluid. power issuppliedthrough the various ports in. thesev casings. as. indicated. by the numeral 25. Inoperation, on supply, of ressure to the upper ports the .pistonsiare imoved outwardly and. downwardly. a-nd throughdirect. connection by. means of. the. piston- rods 23 and 24 to. the-frame tubing 12am. 1 3. bymeans of. thelugs 2s. and. 2!- the frameis carried downwardly carrying with it the arbor 5. with rtheeattacheddnductor head 6...

The actionof the reciprocating. motors isprimarily to.produce-aedownwardmovement of the frame. whichis. relatively rapid so that the inductor head 6 may bequickly broughtinto the lowermost position adjacent the workpiece in preparation-for arelatively slow upward movement-withheatenergization. The upward movementis.accomplished-bymeansof the motor 36, shownatthe lei-tor.- Figure 1, within the casing and mounted onrthetransverse support plate-8. In the preferred method of operationthere-is utilizedin conjunction withsthismotor a variable speed reductiondrive3-lwhich, as indicated, may be placeddirectly beneath-themotor as an intermediate support thereof'. Any desiredispeeds may beused; values found desirable being approxi- .mately- 180.0 Rs-P': M. for the-motor and 0 to 1000 for thespeed reduction drive. The power transmission between these two unit is bymeans of the pulley belttz operatively engaging'pulleys 33 and- 34 attached respectively to the shafts of the motor andthereduction drive unit.

Thereisprovidedonione face of theirame 9 two. projectinglugs. 35. and- 36 which form the attachmentmeans for a drive sprocket chain 31. One. end of this chainis fixedto the lug 35 and the other end islyielda'bly attached to. the lug 36 by means of a spring 38. enclosing a rod. movable throughan openingin the lug. The chain passes over a guide sprocketwheel 39. attached to the top of'the casing, 2.. approximately. directly above the 111,935. and in juxtapositionto the. guide rods 49 iii freely rotatable upon its support; the sprocket.

wheel 40 is mounted on a shaft projecting from a worm wheel within the gear speed reducer M. The worm wheel has connection to a worm shaft which extends from within the speed reducer externally thereof to and in alignment with the mating shaft of the variable speed drive unit 3i.

Connection between these mating shaft units is obtained by means of the coupler unit 42, as shown in enlarged form in Figure 4. This coupler includes friction elements 43 normally coacting under pressure and an actuating device 44 including the fixed pivot arm 45, the pivoted lever arm 45, and the clutch element 41, to which the arm 46 is attached. Power is applied to the end of the operating lever 46 opposite from the pivot point by means of a fluid motor 49, with its associated piston movable on pressure supplied through the conduit 48 to relieve pressure on the clutch 43. The motor 49 is preferably pivotally mounted on a support attached to the base of the speed reducer unit.

It is apparent that by the interposition of the worm gear speed reducer, which may have a ratio, for example, of 40 to 1, power may be transmitted in one direction only between the motor and the arbor support frame 9, and consequently although the motor may operate to elevate the frame desired, on cessation of motor effort the weight of the frame will not bring about a reverse movement of the driving connection and motor.

Energy supply for the inductor unit 6 is secured from external sources of alternating current properly transformed and led through bus bars 55 with parallel connection to the capacitor unit 55, as indicated in Figures 3 and 5, leading to an electrical distributing unit (not shown) and to the inductor arbor and head 6. In Figure 5 the main details of the circuit are indicated, current being supplied from a source 51 to a transformer 58 through a contactor control or timer unit 59.

The fluid pressure for clutch motor 49 and frame motors 2| and 22 is preferably common so that on movement of the frame the clutch is forced to open position. Release of pressure results in closure of the clutch by spring or similar mechanism.

In the operation of the apparatus, assuming the frame 8 with its supported arbor and inductor head at the upper limit of possible movement within the casing 2, the workpiece is placed within the recess 3 upon the base I in position to receive the inductor head. The operator then supplies fluid pressure to the fluid motors l9 and 2D bringing about a rapid downward movement of the inductor head within the workpiece to the lowermost point at which heat is to be applied. Quenching flow is then released at the base of the head and the circuit with the power source completed to the inductorhead and. the motor 45. Pressure on the fluid motors l9 and is then released accompanied by release of pressure in the fluid motor 49. While these two motor units are connected to the same source of fluid pressure so that the action of the two may be simultaneous, it is understood that activation in sequence may be utilized. The release of pressure in the motor 49 permits the spring mechanism in the clutch to bring about a frictional engagement of the same as between the worm gear speed reducer 4| and the variable speed drive 3|, and since the motor 38 is constantly in operation power is immediately applied to the sprocket wheel 40 of the reducer 41 to cause movement of the chain 31 and a relatively slow upward movement of the frame with its attached inductor head 5. This movement with its accompanying heating and quenching of the workpiece continues until the inductor head clears the workpiece as controlled by a timer previously set for the operation,' at which time pressure is supplied the fluid motor 49 to bring about release of the clutch. Pressure is simultaneously applied to the fluid motors 2| and 22 to lift the inductor rapidly above the workpiece in position for insertion of a new unit. The workpiece may then be removed and a new workpiece substituted for a single heat treatment.

From the above it appears that the action of the apparatus is to move the inductor head rapidly in position with reference to the workpiece and then to move the head slowly while the heat treatment proceeds until the treatment is com pleted, while simultaneously rotating the inductor by means of the auxiliary motor 15.

The apparatus lends itself to application both as to the mechanism for initiating power movement and for the transmitting elements, and hence no restriction is intended by the specific showing, the scope of the invention being determined by the claims hereto appended.

What is claimed is:

1. In heat treating apparatus comprising two elements having relative axial movement with respect to each other and out of physical contact with each other, the one carrying a heating device and the other carrying a workpiece to be heated, the improvement which comprises a first motive means for moving one of said elements rapidly for a full length stroke in one direction and for a part of the length of the stroke in the other direction, the part stroke at high speed being that part where the heating device is clear of the workpiece, and a second motive means for moving one of said elements slowly and at a more closely controllable speed for that part of the other stroke in which the heating device is moving along the length of the workpiece.

2. In heat treating apparatus comprising two elements having relative axial movement with respect to each other and out of physical contact with each other, the one carrying a heating device and the other carrying a workpiece to be heated, the improvement which comprises a first motive means for moving one of said elements rapidly for a full length stroke in one direction and for a part of the length of the stroke in the other direction, the part stroke at high speed being that part where the heating device is clear of the workpiece, and a second motive means of more accurately controllable speed characteristics than the first motive device for moving one of said elements slowly for that part of the other stroke in which the heating device is moving along the length of the workpiece.

3. In heat treating apparatus comprising two elements having relative axial movement with respect to each other and out of physical contact with each other, the one carrying a heating device and the other carrying a workpiece to be heated, the improvement which comprises a first motive means for moving one of said elements rapidly for a full length stroke in one direction and fora.

part of the length of the stroke in the other di'- rection, the part stroke at high speed being that part where the heating device is clear of the workpiece, and a second motive means of more accurately controllable speed characteristics than the first motive device for moving one of said elements slowly for that part of the other stroke in which the heating device is moving along the length of the workpiece, said second motive means being operated continuously and including means for placing it in operable control of the moving element during the time in which the heating element and fworkpiece have slow movement relative to each other.

HAROLD A. STRICKLAND, JR.

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

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Deneen et al Feb. 6, 1945

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