US971999A - Cartridge-shell-feeding machine. - Google Patents

Description

H. D. HODGE. QARTRIDGE SHELL FEEDING MACHINE.

- APPLICATION FILED we. a, 1907.

Patented Oct. 4, 1910.

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W/TNESSES Lg /NVENTOH I VWQ; JI gwflw H. D. HODGE.

CARTRIDGE SHELL FEEDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 6, 1907 Wmw Patented Oct. 4, 1910.

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WITNESSES our (N43,, (KM WWW H. D. HODGE.

' CARTRIDGE SHELL FEEDING MACHINE. APPLIOATION PILEDAUG. 6. 1907.

91,99; "Patented Oct. 4, 1910.

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$1 g a v W/7 WESSES lNVENTOR the dial and its supporting base. Fig. 4-

and State of Connecticut, have invented cerwith the mouth ofthe shell always and insar HOWARD D. HOIJGE,

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F BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO NQBIELS EXPLOSIVES COMPANY, LIMITED, 01? GLASGOW; SCOTLAND.

CARTRIDGE-SHELL-FEEDING MACHINE.

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Application filed August 6,

To all whom it may concern:

r 7 Be it known that I, HOWARD 1). Homes, a citizen of the United States, and a resident .of Bridgeport, in the county of Fairlield tain new and useful Improvements in Cartridge-Shell-Feeding Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in automatic cartridge shell feeding machines, and it consists in certain details of construction to be more fully set forth in the following specification and such features believed to be new and novel to be particularly pointed out in the claims.

To enable others to understand my inventiQm'reference is bad to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1.* represents an upper plan view of the machine. Fig. 2 a side elevation and broken sectional view of the floor. Fig. 3 is an enlarged central sectional view of is anenlarged broken sectional View of the shell feeding tube.

The machlne is adapted for automatically taking shells from. a hopper and feeding them to a loading machine situated on a lower plane. Machines of this character are usually located in a room or story above the story where the loading machine is situated.

The object of the present improvement is to feed the shells to the loading machine variably uppermost. To this end, the construction and operation of the machine are as follows:

.1 is the hopper for holding the shells in bulk.

2- is an endless carrier or band provided on its exterior with the buckets between which the shells are located while being carried from the hop er to the machine. 8 is a horizontal shaft carrying the feed band pulley -5, and -G is an upper feed band pulley mountedon the short shaft 7"tournale in the bracket 8, and 9 is an idler on the short shaft-10*, which shaft is also journaled in said bracket. 11-? is an open chute through which the feed band runs from the hopper, and -l2- isan idler for said band'journaled in the chute.

$pecification of Letters Patent.

13- is the dial journaled on a projection v Patented (Pete, into.

1907. Serial No. 387,827.

of the stationary support -14 and is held in a rotatable osition thereonby the cap -15. This ial is caused to rotate ata. slow, rate of speed through the medium of the following mechanism, viz: 1G is a. vertical driving shaft journaled in the brackets -l7 and 18- of the frame 19- and carries the grooved pulley -20 and belt 21-, which belt runs in the grooved edge of the dial. 22 is a bevel gear on this shaft meshing with the bevel geiu' -22- mounted on one end of the short horizontal shaft 23- j ournaled in thebracket 18. 24 isanother bevel gear on the opposite end of this short shaft meshing with the bevel "gear 24ton the end of the long horizontal shaft *3.

25- is an outer guard secured to the dial support 1& and it projects above the dial a distance greater than the diameter of a shell.

26 is an inner guard secured to the outer guard by the bridges 27 so that, the space between theseguards form a channel way for the shells for the purpose presently to be more fully described. The outer edge of the dial l3 projects into this channel and is allowed to rotate under the inner guard 26.

The upper surface of the dial is made preferably crowning or slightly cone shaped so that the shells a,-, whenthey fall from the endless carrier upon the dial, will naturally roll toward the outer edge and against the inner guard 2(3-, in which position it is easily maintained by the outer beveled edge li:l-* of the dial. The length of this beveled edge, from its commencement on the face of the dial to the inner face of the guard 26-, being less than the diameter of a shell will prevent two shells riding abreast of one another on this beveled edge.

As before mentioned, the purpose of the two guards 25 and 26 is to form a channel way for the shells to enter and be conveyed to a discharging point presently to be described. This channel way is of circular construction beginning atthe point -b-, Fig. 1- and terminating atabout the point -0. Between these two points the channel way will be designated as (Z-, and from the point cthis channel way continued straight with a downward pitch or inclination and is designated as--e. While the sides. or guards, of this channel Elli way -eare but a continuation of the guards and 26 they will, to avoid confusion, be designated as -25 and -26.

As the shells are dropped upon the dial from the endless carrier, they gravitate, as before mentioned, against the inner guard 26 and, while some will lie on the mcline .13 of the dial, others will lie against the shells thus located in the true path of rotation so that, when the point c, Fig. l' is passed, and there being no inner uard until the point b is reached, the ful width of the outer incline -13 of the dial is exposed so that two shells can ride abreast. To prevent two shells entering the channel wa at the point b, the brushes 28 an -29 'see also Fig. 3, which brushes are mounted on the short vertical shaft 30 journaled in the bracket -3lattached to the inner guard 26-. This shaft is rotated through the medium of the pulley 32 on said shaft; pulley -33 on the vertical shaft -16 and the belt 34.. Asthe shells reach these brushes, the lower brush will throw back the outer shell of the two riding abreast,-

while the upper brush will remove the mp per one of two shells that may be riding on top on another so that, onl one shell at atime is permitted to enter t e mouthof the channel May *d'- at the point -b As the shells are carried through this channel way while restin on the Juter edge of the dial, they are maintained in a recumbent or horizontal position by means of the wire ,35strung throng the bridges 27 leave the main channel -dthey will fal by gravity down the in cline channel -e, one at a time, upon the platform 36 Figs. 1.and 4 where the shell so located 1s pushed off into the opening 37 as follows: 38 is a-slide mountand when thely ed in the block -39 and 4;0 is a lever Should, however,

not dropped entirel out of the channel, and

pivotally supported on the pin 41'-. One

to avoid its being ruised by the slide, the

spring will present a flexible resistance and check the further forward movement of the slide which will remain in its halted position until the throw of the cam 4 3 has returned said slide, when, before its next 4.-5 is a.

forward movement, the shell willhave been ejected from the channel byanother shell falling against it and, as the platform is' only wide enough to accommodate one shell at a time, there can be nothin to prevent the shell being pushed off the p atform once it is fairly seated thereon.

. As it is imperative that the shells be de-' livered head foremost to the loading machinenot shown-in the room below, they will be properly turned by means of the -wedge shaped bridge 47 Figs. 1+ and 4, WhlCh bridge spans the opening 37 and is located just below the platform 36+ and is central with said opening. Now, when a shell drops into the o ening it strikes the upper narrow edge 0 the bridge and, the head being the heaviest, will naturally tilt downward and drop in that position into the receivin tube -4=8- whence it will be delivere into the conveyer bar of the loading machine-not shown-in the story below.

To avoid bruising the shells by a long drop from the upper end of the delivery tube-48- to the machine on the floor below, this tube is filled with shell on first starting the machine and,iasthe shell feeding machine is driven from the loading machine-not shown', through the medium of the shaft -l6-, it is quite evident that the two machines will be so timed that the delivery tube will always remain full, therefore, when a shell is deposited onto the conveyer bar of the loading machine, another shell will enter the upper end of said tube,

from the shell feeding machine. The side walls 49 Fig. 1- are made laterally adjustable so as to accommodate shells of different lengths when said shells are resting on the platform 3 6. Any tendency to overfeeding shells on the dial is counteracted by the central hole -50, communicating with the inclined chute -5l, whereby the excess or overflow is returned to the hopper 1. r

From the foregoing description it will on the dial in any position either recumbent onerect and many quantity until a certain point 1s reached when they are made to as- .readily be seen that shells may be delivered same a recumbent position" and are con" tinuously delivered head foremost through a tube to a loading machine or machine of like character.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a cartridge shell feeding machine a rotatable dial having an incline face and v a beveled edge of greater pitch or inclination than such face, an inner and an outer stationary guard spaced to form a channelway through which the shells are carried by the dial and delivered outside thereof,

said inner guard made shorter than the 1 adapted to feed the shells in a path at right outer guard so as to form a mouth for the channel-way, means to prevent the entrance of more than one shell at a time therein, and means to prevent the shells assuming an upright position while in said channelwav.

2 In a cartridge shell feeding machine, a shell receiving tube having a narrow bridge spanning the same and central therewith and located below the mouth of the tube, combined with shell feeding mechanism angles to the axis of the tube so that when the shell contacts or falls on said bridge, it 15 will be tilted by gravity and fall head fore- Y most into the tube.

Signed at Bridgeport in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut this 5th day of Aug. A. D. 1907.

HOWARD D. HODGE.

Witnesses: m

Geo. D. PHILLIPS, ;JOHN B. CLAPP.

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