US2579858A - Gasket winding machine - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 25, 1951 Filed Feb. 10. 1949 W. R. PRICE GASKET WINDING MACHINE 2 SHEETS-SHEET l Ihwentor MA; //MI ,6 Fae/45 Gttomeg Dec. 25, 1951 w. R. PRICE 2,579,858

GASKET WINDING MACHINE Filed Feb. 10'. 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 3nventor n zz/A/v B PIP/CE (Iitomeg Patented Dec. 25,. 1951 GASKET WINDING MACHINE William .R. Price, Wayne, Pa.,-assignor .to Elexi- I tallic Gasket Company, Camden, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey ApplicationFebruary 10, 1949, Seria'lNo. 75,581

1 Claim.

This invention relates "to an all metal spiral wound gasket and to a machine for winding the same.

Gaskets of this type are extensively used in all types of high pressure fluid systems, and comwprise a spirally Wound longitudinally beaded rmetal ribbon with a packing of a softer metal interposed between the successive convolutions 'of the metal ribbon.

.-In manufacturing these gaskets the metal ribbon and the metal packing are "wound together upon a rotating mandrel having aperipheral con- :tourcorresponding to the central opening through rthe gasket. One turn of the metal ribbon is wound upon the mandrel and spot-welded and then the "metal ribbon is wound upon itself for several (more turns and again spot-"welded. The metal packing strip, preformed to conform to the shape of the ribbon, is now app-liedand the two strips are spirally zwound together for the desired number of turns. At the end of the packing strip the abutting convolutions-or the metal ribbon are spot-welded together and .then the metal ribbon is Wound upon itself forseveral more-turns and the end-of the ribbon isspot-welded to the underlying turn.

As the gaskets are being-wound the convolutions are pressed tightly together between the mandrel and a cooperating guiding and ,forming member to which a predetermined pressure is radially applied. This pressure .is suflicient to cause the softer packing ,metal to new or deform and rcoinpletelyseal thespace between .the convolution of .themetal ribbon including the central bead an to extrude at the sides beyond the edges of the ribbon. This pressure must beacourately maintained without fluctuation throughout :the winding oi the gasket.

An object of my invention .is to .provide :an improved machine .for spirally winding composite gaskets of the above type.

Another objectcf my invention is .to providea composite, a1lrnetal, spiral woundgasketIha-ving improved characteristics.

Other objects of the invention .will beap parent Fig.3 is a section-taken on the line 3-3 of Fi .1; and

Fig. 4 is a detail view of a portion of the =completed gasket.

The present machineis of the typeshown inm-y copending application Serial No. 651,594, filed March '2, 1946, :now Patent No. 2,475,856, dated July 12, 1949, and only so much thereof is shown herein as is necessary to an understanding of the :present invention. The machine comprises in general a mandrel t9 upon which the gasket is wound. The mandrel I9 is rotated by a suitable source of powersuchas a motor (notshown). .The peripheral contour of the mandrel is the same as the central opening of the gasket.

A pressure member, generally indicated by the numeral 20, is rotatably supported in operative relation to "the mandrel 19 between two spaced parallel arms :23. The member 20 guides and compresses the :ribbons of gasket material as "they are wound upon the mandrel l9.

The arms 23 are :pivotally mounted at the rrearends thereof upon astud'24 which is secured to a-suitable support.

.A cylinder :33 is pivotally-supported at its lower end and carries a piston having a piston rod 31 which extends out through suitable packing in the upper end of the cylinder 33 and is pivotally connected to the armsZ-S by a clevis 38 and a pin .39. :Air under a predetermined pressure is constantly :admitted to the cylinder '33 beneath its piston during the operation of the machine. This air pressure, during the winding of the gasket on themandrel l9, lifts the forward ends of the arms 23, rocking them on the stud 24. The arms 23 in turn hold the member 20 tightly against the gasket as it is being Wound on the mandrel IS with a pressure which is determined by the pressureofthe airin thelcylinder 33. Means arealso provided to move the piston down in the cylinder 33 t0 withdrawithe pressure member 20 away from the finished gasket on the mandrel l9 and allow ittobe-stripped'therefrom.

During winding the metal ribbon is drawn froma reel by the mandrel l 9. From the reel the ribbonextends forwardly under the arms 23 and over a :roller 263 rotatably supported by the :pin 39 between the arm of the clevis 38. After leavingthe'roller'li3 the ribbonffifl passes between two forming rolls 64 and 65 and from there to the mandrel 19 where the end of the ribbon is securedin a notch 66 "in the periphery of the mandrel. As the ribbon is drawn between the forming rolls '64 and 65, a centrally disposed longitudinally extending bead or corrugation 6! is formed therein.

The forming roll 64 is -nl'oiuited on a shaft 89 fastened to the eccentricshaft 13, has one end I of a coiled spring. 14 secured thereto. The other end of the spring 14 is fastened to a lug on the adjacent arm 23. The spring 14 through the lever 12 urges the eccentric H in a counter-clock- Wise direction, as Viewed in Fig. 1 which yieldingly holds the forming roll 65 against the ribbon 6G with a predetermined pressure which is dependent upon the tension of the spring 14. With this construction the forming rolls 64 and 65 will automatically adjust themselves to any variation in the thickness of the ribbon, such as a welded joint. When inserting a new ribbon the operator moves the roll 65 away from the roll 64 by rotating the eccentric H in a clockwise direction (Fig. 3) with the lever I2.

A strip H) of packing material, such as iron, is fed from a reel (not shown) through the clevis 38 and over a roller II which is mounted on a shaft l2 for rotation between the arms 23. A bracket |3 comprising a pair of arms I 4 is pivoted around the shaft l2 to swing in a limited are about the end of the arms 23. A stop l5 limits the movement of the bracket toward the mandrel |9.- At its upper end the bracket 3 carries a pair of forming rolls I6 and I1 on shafts 25 and 25 respectively. The shaft 25 is mounted in eccentric bearings 21 arranged for adjustment of the spacing between the rolls I6 and H. A spring 29 engages a lever 28 attached to the shaft 25 to cause the rolls l6 and I! to exert forming pressure on the strip ID. The rolls l6 and I! are of a shape to form a longitudinal bead 30 on the strip I!) which conforms as nearly as possible to the shaped bead 61 on the ribbon 6|].

The . shafts 25 and 26 carry meshing gears 3| and 32 for driving the rolls l6 and H. A driving motor 34, mounted on a bracket 35 attached to the bracket l3, has a shaft 36 connected to drive the shaft 25 and gear 32. The motor 34 may be of the hydraulic type and is preferably adjusted to exert a force just insuiiicient to turn the rolls I6 and I! with the strip l0 therebetween. Hence the strip l0 feeds easily when a slight pull is applied thereto but does not feed when the pull is released. This avoids the necessity for start and stop controls for the motor In during'the'winding operations. A handle 40 on an arm I 4 provides a grip for manually retracting the bracket |3 about the shaft l2 for formin an extra length of strip l0 when desired.

This construction provides a bracket l3 which is shiftable about its pivot l2 away from said mandrel It for preforming a length of said strip Hi when said strip is stationary and prior to severing said strip from the wound gasket.

After the metallic ribbon 60 has been wound upon itself, on the mandrel IQ, for several convolutions, the end of the strip I0 is inserted.

The metal ribbon 60 and the strip H] of metallic packing material are then wound together in alternate convolutions until the gasket reaches the proper size. During this part of the winding the pressure roll as exerts sufficient pressureto edge 42 projecting beyond the ribbon 60 and shaped by the flanges 4|. The ribbon 6|] may be originally as wide or even slightly wider than the space at the base of the flanges 4| in which case it is contracted by the flanges 4|, the bead t? providing the necessary resilience. The winding pressure exerted by the cylinder 33 may force the metal of the packing material into the bead 6? under sufficient pressure to enlarge the side edges of the ribbon 60 away from the flanges 4| as indicated in Fig. 2. The relative positions of the side edges of the ribbon 60 and the packing depend upon the pressure and their original dimensions and the gasket may be wound with all edges in the same plane or with the edges of the packing extruded beyond the edges of the ribbon according to the uses to which the gasket is to be placed. For some uses a soft deformable sealing surface is desirable. For other uses the edges of the ribbon 60 should form the seal.

After the gasket reaches the desired diameter,

the strip H! is out between the rolls l6 and I1 and the mandrel I9. Just before cutting, however, the bracket I3 is retracted away from the mandrel ill by the handle 49 to form an additional length of strip ill for insertion in the next gasket. The metal ribbon 60 is then wound upon itself for several more convolutions and cut 'off and its end is spot-welded to the underlying ribbon. The finished gasket is stripped from the mandrel after the pressure roll 2|! has been moved out of the way. The machine is now ready to start winding the next gasket. It will be noted that the width of the gasket is shown greatly enlarged in Fig. 2 and that in the gaskets as produced the depth of the bead ST is so shallow with respect to the diameter of the gasket that the gasket may be readily stripped from the mandrel IS without injury thereto.

A drag 43 of any desired construction may be positioned to exert a controlled drag on the ribbon 60 during the winding operation. A heater 44 may be provided for heating the strip II] of packing material as it is fed to the mandrel. The heater may be of any desried type, an electric oven being shown for purposes of illustration, and is useful for softening certain types of packing, for example, a metal such as iron or a thermoplastic such as nylon or a cellulosic material.

The packing strip If! is preferably made of a softer metal than the ribbon filland may be somewhat thicker. For example, the ribbon 6|] may be made of stainless steel and the strip IU of other metals, such as aluminum, soft iron, aluminum-nickel alloys, copper, brass, zinc or lead. It must be non-corrosive to the materials with which it is to be used and selected according to the temperature to which it will be subjected. The metal packing has the advantage that liquids will not wick out and it remains firm at temperatures that would calcine asbestos to a powder. The packing may also be made of stainless steel in which case it may be heated to soften the strip for forming. For certain purposes a'plastic may be used.

Each flange 4| has a plane surface which is flared outwardly at an angle of'about 4. The

flanges 4| confine and form the gasket laterally,

as it is being wound. The flare or taper eliminates uncontrolled friction due to the lateral orside pressure" of the gasket as it is being wound under the substantial radial pressure exerted by the cylinder 33. It also shapes the gasket with a taper so that it gradually decreases in thickness from the inner periphery to the outer periphery.

Suitable electric welding apparatus for spotwelding the convolutions of the gasket together at the proper places is provided upon the machine, but since that apparatus forms no part of this invention it is not illustrated or described herein.

It is to be understood that I am not limited to the specific construction shown and described herein as various modifications can be made therein within the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A machine for winding a gasket composed of a spiral Wound ribbon and an interleaved spiral wound packing strip, comprising a rotatable mandrel on which the gasket is to be wound, a pressure roll mounted to exert radial pressure against the gasket on said mandrel during winding, a member carrying said roll for retraction as the diameter of the gasket on said mandrel increases, a pair of ribbon forming rolls carried by said member and positioned to preform the ribbon as it is fed to said mandrel for winding, a bracket pivoted to said member, and a second pair of forming rolls carried by said bracket and positioned to preform the packing strip as it is fed to said mandrel for winding between the convolutions of said ribbon, said bracket being shiftable about its pivot away from said mandrel for preforming a length of said strip When said strip is stationary.

' WILLIAM R, PRICE.

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

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 421,423 Nauman Feb. 18, 1890 1,627,604 Hittle May 10, 1927 2,122,477 Leonard July 5, 1938 2,176,719 Peyton Oct. 17, 1939 2,259,609 Boyd Oct. 21, 1941 2,263,815 Northrup et al Nov. 25, 1941 2,442,311 Price May 25, 1948 2,475,856 Price July 12, 1949 2,478,716 Shaw Aug. 9, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 308,320 Germany Oct. 11, 1918

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