Patent Application
20050016348
The present invention relates generally to a cutting device for spring manufacturing machines and, more particularly, to a cutting device including an actuator connecting a slider and a blade mounted on the slider to perform either a linear direction or an oval trace cutting in coil spring winding machines.
It is well-known a spring, such as a coil winding spring, is wildly used as an absorber in cars, toys, appliances, switches and etc. As the spring elements are necessitated for various mechanical and electronic devices, the spring manufacturing machines keep continually to enhance the quality and yield rate of the spring production. For example, the U.S. Pat. No. 6,178,862 discloses a cutting tool assembly in coil spring winding machines, as shown in
However, this conventional cutting tool assembly has the drawbacks as follows.
1. To do the cutting in the progressive tilt direction, the guiding seat 40a has to be dismantled from the assembly and replace the sliding seat 30a. It always needs a precise adjustment of the machine after the assembly is changed. Also it takes time and needs a technician to complete the dismantlement and replacement. Therefore, under a highly changing frequency of the sliding and guiding seats 30a, 40a in the coil spring winding machines, the producing efficiency may be reduced. Besides, the sliding and guiding seats 30a, 40a may be easy to get worn in such changes.
2. The sliding seat 30a is connected to the tool track 10a by several screws 31a fixed therein. Nevertheless, this kind of screw fixation cannot provide a precise connection. Furthermore, the slider of the tool track 10a is suspended and a dynamic loading due to the movement of the slider of the sliding seat 30a is also endured by the screws 31a. Therefore, it may be easy to get broken in the connection. Next, in order to adjust the cutting point of the blade, the screws 31a have to be unscrewed first, and a retaining nut 111a is used to relocate the position of the slider of the tool track 10a. Therefore, it may be not so convenient for the adjustment.
Therefore, there exist inconvenience and drawbacks for practically application of the above conventional cutting tool assembly in coil spring winding machines. There is thus a substantial need to provide an improved cutting device for spring manufacturing machines that resolves the above drawbacks and can be used more conveniently and practically.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved cutting device for spring manufacturing machines to perform either a linear direction or an oval trace cutting operation by simply using a switching pin.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved cutting device for spring manufacturing machines with an easy assembly and precise structure to reduce the producing and maintaining cost and increase the efficiency and yield rate of spring manufacturing machines.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved cutting device for spring manufacturing machines to exactly adjust a cutting point of a blade by simply turning a knob.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned objects, the cutting device for spring manufacturing machines includes an actuator, a transmission mechanism and a sliding mechanism. The actuator includes a base with a shaft opening, and a connecting rod with a pin hole and a pivot hole fixedly mounted to the base. The transmission mechanism includes a driving shaft furnished in the shaft opening to drive the actuator in an eccentric revolving movement. The sliding mechanism includes a track, a positioning shaft, a blade adjusting block, a slider, a switching pin, a connecting pivot and a blade. The positioning shaft and the blade adjusting block are fixed on the track. The slider including a first and a second axial holes linearly moves back and forth in the track. The connecting pivot is inserted through the first axial hole and the pivot hole to connect the slider and the connecting rod. The blade is connected to the slider. Thereby when the switching pin is inserted through the second axial hole of the slider and the pin hole of the connecting rod, the track will swing with respect to the positioning shaft so that the blade will perform an oval trace cutting operation under the linear movement of the slider and the swing of the track, and when the switching pin is removed, the track is fixed so that the blade will perform an linear direction cutting operation.
These, as well as other features of the present invention, will become more apparent upon reference to the drawings wherein:
Referring to
As shown in
Furthermore, another threaded holes 104 and 142 are formed in two sides of the base 10 and the fixing seat 14, respectively. The fixing plate 15 is then fixed on two sides of the base 10 and the fixing seat 14 to further secure the connecting rod 13.
As shown in
The machine plate 4 includes a first and a second shaft holes 40 and 41. The driving shaft 20 is pivotably furnished through the first shaft hole 40, and the position shaft 31 is pivotably furnished in the second shaft hole 41. A blade adjusting seat 42, including a recess 421 in the bottom thereof and two bolts 422 on two opposite sides, is mounted on the machine plate 4 between two shaft holes 40, 41. The top portion of the blade adjusting block 32 is received in the recess 421 after the sliding mechanism 3 is mounted on the machine plate 4 by the position shaft 31. Meanwhile, the connecting rod 13 is located in the recess 333 and pivotably connected to the slider 33 by the connecting pivot 331.
A first cutting operation of the present invention is shown in
Refer to
A third cutting operation of the present invention is shown in
Other embodiments of the invention will appear to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples to be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims.
