US3092151A - Machine for manufacturing hair combs from metal wire - Google Patents

Description

June 4, 1963 SABURO TSURUMOTO 3,092,151

MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING HAIR COMBS FROM METAL WIRE Filed Feb. 23, 1960 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 7 SABURO Ts UR UMOTO 28 INVENTOR.

BY h/MM, M

ATTDRNE rs June 4, 1963 SABURO TSURUMOTO 3,092,151

MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING HAIR-COMBS FROM METAL WIRE Filed Feb. 25, 1960 '7 Sheets-Sheet 2 .a* o H. 3 J2? w o 5 6 Q 14 0 1 SABURO 1 w o BuRuMoTo .INVENTOR. BYWm,mu/M

,47ToRwEvs MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING HAIR COMES FROM METAL WIRE Filed Feb. 25, 1960 SABURO TSURU MOTO June 4, 1963 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 SABURO TsuRumoro INVENTOR. BY h/MM, M ii Arm/vars June 4, 1963 SABURO TSURUMOTO 3,09

MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING HAIR COMBS FROM METAL WIRE Filed Feb. 23, 1960 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 5A BURO Ts URUMOTO IN VEN TOR.

ATTORNEYS June 4, 1963 SABURO TSURUMOTO 3,

MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING HAIR COMBS FROM METAL WIRE Filed Feb. 23, 1960 '7 Sheets-Sheet 5 E a. Z!

SABURU TSURUMOTO I N VEN TOR.

BY WWW ,4 TTORNE ys J1me 1963 SABURO TSURUMOTO 3,

MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING HAIR COMBS FROM METAL WIRE Filed Feb. 23, 1960 '7 Sheets-Sheet 6 SABURO TsuRuMoTo INVENTOR.

BY M,MJM

Arm/vars June 4, 1963 SABURO TSURUMOTO 3,092,151

MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING HAIR COMBS FROM METAL WIRE Filed Feb. 25, 1960 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 Fig. 17

SABURO Ts URUMOTO INVENTOR.

yh/[ M ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,092,151 MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING HAIR COMES FROM METAL WIRE Saburo Tsurumoto, 232 Kashima-cho,

Higashiyodogawa-ku, Osaka City, Japan Filed Feb. 23, 1960, Ser. No. 10,421 Claims priority, application Japan Oct. 10, 1959 6 Claims. (Cl. 140-71) This invention relates to a machine for manufacturing hair combs from metal wire, in which a comb is formed by repeatedly bending a long metal wire at a definite interval into the teeth of a comb, each one of the teeth comprising an oval-shaped head and a foot composed of two closely spaced parallel wires. This kind of comb is principally used as a accessory and the like. Since this type of comb is elaborate in its shape, requiring a complicated bending process, they have been manufactured for the most part by a manual operation and the labor cost bears a high ratio to the total cost of the merchandised combs. It is thereiore an important o ject to the present invention to manufacture the said metal wire combs automatically and at high speed.

Namely, the machine of this invention consists of an apparatus for bending a long material wire into the desired form, and the apparatus for shaping the said bent wire into a comb. This latter shaping apparatus consists of a work table on which shaping pins and supporting pins are provided in proper positions respectively, and on one side of the work table, a head shaping pincer supporting member is positioned close to the said table, and on the other side of the work table, a foot shaping pincer supporting member is installed. Either of these two supporting members or the work table are constructed so as to move forwards and backwards. On the head shaping pincer supporting member and the foot shaping pincer supporting member are parallel shaping pincers, Which shape the raw material wire into the heads and feet of comb teeth. These'shaping pincers are Provided with a device which can push out the shaping pincers so that they can "advance toward the work table at the required moment. These shaping pincers are designed to close their pincers and pinch the metal wire into the form of heads and feet of combs. In this manner, the shaping pincers are made to advance forwards toward the work table, and shape the zigzaged raw material wire into the head and foot, so as to automatically manufacture metal wire combs of a regular shape. In the machine of the present invention, pins for said shaping and supporting can either be fixed-1y mounted on the surface of work table or freely slidable so as to be extensible out of or retractable into the said surfiace depending upon the elastic limit of the wire material. That is to say, when the elastic limit is sufiiciently high, the pins will not have to be retracted below the table, but when the elastic limit is insufiicient, since it is impossible to obtain a comb with the teeth closely adjacent and Parallel for a definite length of the comb, the pins are required to be retracted.

. For a more completeunders-t-anding or this invention reference may be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, of which FIGS. 1 to 4 show various hair combs manufactured by the present invention.

FIG. 5 shows a raw material wire to be used in this invention.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the machine of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an elevation view of the shaping pin and shows a flange on said shaping pin.

FIG. 8 is a view of a practical embodiment of an ap paratus according to the invention in which the work table is built in a cylindrical form.

FIG. 9 is a side elevation of FIG. 8 as viewed from the direction of the arrow A.

FIG. 10 is a side elevation of the inside of the work table of FIG. 8.

FIG. 11 is a side elevation of FIG. 8 as viewed from the direction of the arrow B.

FIG. 12 is a plan of FIG. 11.

FIG. 13 is a side elevation of FIG. 11 as viewed from the direction of the arrow A.

FIG. 14 is a view on an enlarged scale of a part of FIG. 13.

FIG. 15 is a side view of the part of the feed mechanism of the raw material wire for an apparatus with a cylindrical work table.

FIG. 16 is a side elevation of the mechanism for shaping the raw material wire in the form as shown in FIG. 5

FIG. 17 is a plan of FIG. 16.

Referring in detail to the drawings, 27 indicates the heads of the comb teeth and 23 is the feet of the comb teeth. 29 is the intermediate parts between said heads and feet. A raw material wire 30 (see FIG. 5) is formed into the various combs shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 by the operation of this invention.

FIG. 6 shows an example of an embodiment of this invention in which a flat work table is used. In this case, on both sides of the fiat work table 1, a fiat foot shaping pincer supporting member in the form of a board 2 and a head shaping pincer supporting member in the form of a board 3 are arranged in close proximity to the said table. The work table 1 and the boards 2 and 3 are relatively movable in the direction of their lengths, that is either the work table 1 is advanced in the direction of its length, or the foot shaping board 2 land the head shaping board 3 are both made to advance and return in the direction of their length. On the work table 1, the shaping pins 4, 4, and the supporting pins 5, 5, are arranged in the longitudinal direction with an adequate space between the pins and they are also mounted that they can freely extend out of or retract into the table, or be fixed relative to the table. When they' are so designed that they can freely extend out of or retract into the table, they are engaged with a cam and a thrust lever (not shown), and the movement is produced by making the cam work at the proper time interval so as to cause the shaping pins and the supporting pins to extend and retract. On the surface of the Work table, the raw material wire 30 is wound around the shaping and supporting pins as shown in FIG. 6. On foot shaping board 2 and the head shaping board 3, the shaping pincers 7, 8, 9, 10 are mounted and spaced from each other. These shaping pincers are almost identical in their construction. These pincers are supported on the supports 31 so that they are relatively movable transversely of said work table 1, that is they advance and retract toward and away from the work table. In addition the tip ends of the pincers are activated so as to be normally kept open, and be closed by the action of the pinching devices 15,

15, which act on the sides of pincers 71ti at the proper time. At the back end of the shaping pincers, pincer actuating devices such as the earns 11, 12-, 13, 14 are provided. By the moveenint of these actuating devices, the shaping pincers are pushed forwards onto the work table, and then caused to retract. The shaping pin 4 and the supporting pins are made to retract below the surface of the work table in the last stage of the process, and thereafter, the head shaping pins 6 are moved, for example from above table 1, into the position of withdrawn pin 4 to shape the wire previously shaped by shaping pins 4 into an oval. The head shaping pin 6 is positioned inside the shaping pincers 8, so as to shape the head 27. By this head shaping pin 6 the head of the steel wire tooth already shaped into a circle by the preceding process is shaped into an oval equal to the shape of circumference of the head shaping pin 6 by applying a pinching pressure of the shaping pincers 8 around the head shaping pin 6 to which the steel wire is already wound. Thus the head 27 of the comb is formed as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4. Then a pair of legs 20 of a fork cause the legs to move together so as to be closely spaced. By this movement the intervals between the legs of the zigzag wire are drawn together, and after the completion of the shaping process, the shaping and the supporting pins are retracted below the surface of work table 1, and due to the elasticity of the steel wire, the comb shrinks lengthwise by itself.

In this embodiment of the invention, the operation of which will now be described, the work table 1 advances in the direction of the arrow, whereas foot shaping board 2 and head shaping board 3 remain stationary.

The Zigzag-shaped raw material wire 30 is wound around the shaping pins 4 which extend above the surface of work table 1, while the supporting pins 5 are positioned between two legs of the raw material wire 30 which is already bent. As work table 1 advances, the first shaping pincers 7 comes forwards (the drawing shows the state in which the pincers is in an advanced position), and pinches the shaping pins 4, around which the raw material wire 3t, is already wound, imparting a strong pressure thereupon, whereby the wire 30 is formed into a circular head. The second shaping pincers 9 on the foot shaping board 2 also advances in the same manner and pinches the wire 30 where it is supported by supporting pins 5, whereby a foot for a comb is partially formed. As the work table 1 further advances, the foot having a finished shape is formed by the third shaping pincers 10, and then the fourth shaping pincers 8 which can be designed to close its tip in the same manner as the first, second and third shaping pincers 7, 9, 10, instead of being as shown, advances on the work table 1 so as to apply a strong pressure to the wire already formed into a circle around the head shaping pin 6 which extends above the surface of work table 1 at the same position of the shaping pin 4 after retraction of said pin 4. Then, by the action of the legs 20 two adjacent wires of the comb are drawn together to reduce the interval between the legs of the comb, and then the pins 6 and the supporting pins 5 are retracted below the surface of the work table 1, and due to the elasticity of the steel wire itself, the comb shrinks by itself, whereby a completed comb is produced. The shaping pin 4 may be shaped in a pointed cone, or as shown in FIG. 7, the neck 4b may 'be provided in the part where the Wire touches, and with a taper 4c at the end part.

In FIGS. 8 and 15, another embodiment of the present invention is shown. These drawings illustrate an embodiment of the invention in which the work table 1, the head shaping board 3 and the foot shaping board 2 are arranged in the shape of a drum. Through the drum in which the head shaping board 3, the foot shaping board 2 and the work table 1 are shaped is inserted a driving shaft 33 which is connected by ratchet 34a to a driving means (not shown), so that the work table 1 is driven intermittently. Around the circumference of the work table 1, the shaping pins 4 and the supporting pins 5 are mounted so as to extend radially towards the drum center in such a manner that they can freely extend out of and retract below the surface of work table 1. In order to support these shaping pins 4 and the supporting pins 5, the cam 14 is provided inside the drum. The cam 14 is provided with a high surface 14a so as to support the shaping pins 4 and the supporting pins 5 in an extended position, and a low surface 14b to support the shaping pins 4 and the supporting pins 5 in a retracted position. On the driving shaft 33, the cam 34b is fixed. The cam 34b thrusts the pushing lever 35 at each movement of the ratchet 34a, and causes the shaping pins 4 and the supporting pins 5 to protrude from the surface of work table 1. The shaping pins 4 and the supporting pins 5 are provided with the flanges 4a, so that these pins can remain stationary in their extended or retracted positions. The lower end of the shaping pins 4 and the supporting pins 5 as pushed up by the thrust lever 35, are supported by the high surface 14a of the cam 14 in a protruded position (at this time, the shaping pins 4 and the supporting pins 5 are in a state as shown in the part marked X of FIG. 10). After the pins 4, 5 advance while being supported by the high surface 14a, and go past the high surface 14a, the shaping pins 4 and the supporting pins 5 are pushed down by the plate 26, until the lower ends of said pins touch the low surface 14b of the cam 14. At this time, the shaping pins 4 and the supporting pins 5 are in a position as shown by the remainder of FIG. 10. The shaping pincers 7, 9, 10 each have a slide roller 11a on the end thereof as shown in FIG. 8 and are supported on the fulcrum 36. The tips of the pincers 7, 9, 10 are held in an open position by the action of the spring 40. The pushing devices 11 are mounted on the reciprocating rods 37, 38. The reciprocating rods 37, 38 have pins thereon fitted into the cam grooves 38a cut on driving shaft 33. By the said reciproeating motion of the reciprocating rods 37, 38, the pushing devices 11 are advanced and spread the slide rollers 11a of shaping pincers 7, 9, 10 so as to close their tips, and the tips of the pincers pinch the wire wound around the shaping and supporting pins 4, 5. The pushing devices are retracted by spring 39 between the machine frame M and pushing devices 11 (FIG. 9) which are stronger than the spring 40b supporting lever 23 is fitted so as to swing vertically with respect to table 1 around the shaft 2 1. The end of lever 23 is lowered by the reciprocating rod 38 at the proper time and the thrust pin 41 provided at the end of lever 23 causes the supporting pin 5 to sink, so as to release the hold on the foot of comb. At the same time, the thrust pin 6 fitted on the top end of lever 23 also moves down, and said thrust pin 6 pushes the shaping pins 4 down (see FIG. 11). Simultaneously, the end So of rod 8 is pushed by the reciprocating rod 38, by which action the top of rod 8 penetrates into the space between two legs 20 of the fork, whereby the two heads of the comb held in the legs 20 are caused to drop (see FIGS. 11, l3, 14). The legs 20 come down in concert with the thrust pins 41 and 6 so as to pinch the two heads of the comb for narrowing the interval between the comb teeth in the same manner as legs 20 in FIG. 6. By the above-mentioned movements a comb of the desired form is completed. FIG. 10 shows the apparatus of FIG. 8 from the end, and illustrates the whole process from the feeding of the raw material wire 30 into the machine of the present invention of the completion of a comb. The raw material wire 30 passes through the clearance 65 between the wire guide 25 and the work table 1, and reaches the lower edge of the plate 26 diagonally mounted above the drum, where the shaping pins 4 and the supporting pins 5 are pushed down, and at the position 40, the comb is completed. Other parts of the system and their actions are entirely similar to those shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 8. FIG. 15 shows the means for feeding the raw material wire 30, and corresponds to the part marked with the arrow D on the left side of FIG. 10. Rotation of the cam 48 fitted on the shaft 33 causes the lever 49 fixed on the shaft 50 to swing, and by the swinging movement of this lever 49, the claw 46 urged toward the drum by the spring 47 is reciprocated to feed the material wire '30 to the lower surface of wire guide 25 for one pitch of the wire for each reciprocation. Guide 45 feeds the material wire 30 in its correct position. It consists of a flat-shaped casing. In front of this guide 45, the apparatus which is to shape the steel wire into a zigzag form- (namely the material wire 30) is installed; As illustrated in FIGS. 16 and 17, the end of the straight wire material 55 is wound around a pin 56 of revolving disk 52. (FIG. 16 shows the case of 5 pins studded on revolving disk 52.) As the operating lever 57 is moved to a vertical position and returned by the drive therefor (not shown), the claws 58a and 581) on the lever 57 cause the revolving disks 52, 5-3 to alternately turn clockwise and counterclockwise respectively around shafts 62 and 63. As the operating lever 57 is lifted upwards and the claw 58a pushes on one of five teeth 72 on the revolving disk 52, the ball 60 which was engaged in a recess 59 on the revolving disk 52 by the action of spring 61 moves along in the shallow groove 59a cut in the revolving disk 52 while the revolving disk 52 is rotating and then, the ball 60 is again pressed by the spring 61 into another recess 59 when the revolving disk 52 has rotated 72 degrees and the next recess 59* coincides with the position of said ball 60. The ball 60 thus keeps the revolving disk 52 stationary under the pressure of the spring 61. One pin 56 on the revolving disk 52 moves 72 degrees and reaches the position of the center shaft 63 of the other revolving disk 53, during each movement of disk 52. Next, when the operating lever 57 is lowered, the claw 58b pushes on one of five teeth 73 on the revolving disk 53 and claw 58a slides along the edge of disk 52 to retreat until the said claw 58a drops behind one of the teeth 72. A ball 60 and spring 61 act on disk 53 in the same manner as on the revolving disk 52, and make the revolving disk 53 stop, after said revolving disk 53 turns 72 degrees. Accordingly, one of the five bending pins 64 on the disk 53 moves together with the steel wire 55, until it reaches the position corresponding to the center 62 of the revolving disk 52. Thus every pin advances in sequence and at the position 62, the first bend of metal wire is completed by the pins on revolving disk 53. In this manner, by the alternate revolution of both revolving disks 52 and 53, the succeeding pins on both disks 52 and 53 form the left and right bends in succession. In this manner, by Working the operating lever 57 alternately upwards and downwards in succession, the revolving disks 52 and 53 revolve alternately, and the pins on both revolving disks form right and left bends at the centers 62 and 63. Thus the bent wire material 30 is sent onwards swinging to the right (FIG. 16) when the pin of the revolving disk 52 acts on wire 55 and to the left when the pin of the revolving disk 53 works on the wire. As abovementioned, in the said raw material shaping mechanism, two revolving disks with equal radius are mounted so that their centers are positioned on the circumference of the other revolving disk, leaving a clearance between two revolving disks for the wire to pass, and the pins for bending movement are positioned at equal intervals on the opposing faces of both disks, whereby they alternately move towards the center of the other revolving disks. Therefore, the bending pin always moves along the circumference of the radius of the curvature at which the pins are positioned, and bends are theoretically made at equal intervals. Thus, by continuously rotating both revolving disks alternately, respective pins advance through the required angle (for instance, 72 degrees) each time, whereby the straight steel wire material is bent and shaped, and is continuously sent out in the required shape of a zigzag to the device for comb-shaping.

This invention has, thus, the advantage of producing type of combs on an industrial scale at a low cost, eliminating the need of manual labor.

I claim: I

1. A machine for manufacturing hair combs from metal wire, comprising a pair of parallel circular discs mounted for rotation around their respective centers and each having a plurality of pins equidistantly spaced around the respective discs and projecting toward the other disc, the center of one disc being offset from the'center of the other a distance equal to the radial distance of said pins from the centers of said discs, means for intermittently driving said discs for rotating said discs through a part of a rotation equal to the spacing of said pins around said discs and with a pin on one disc always being positioned opposite the center of the other disc at the end of the rotation, whereby wire fed between the discs and engaged by said pins will be bent into a zigzag shape having a series of oval-shaped heads and feet, -a work table having a plurality of shaping and supporting pins therealong for receiving the zigzag wire from between said discs, a head shaping pincer supporting member on one side of said table having at least one pair of head shaping pincers thereon for engagement around the pins on said table which are closer to the head shaping pincer supporting member, a foot shaping pincer supporting member on the other side of said table having at least one pair of foot shaping pincers thereon for engagement around the pins on said table which are closer to the foot shaping pincer supporting member, at least said shaping pincers and said table being relatively movable transversely of the direction in which the pins extend along said table, said shaping pincer supporting members having means thereon engaging with said pair of pincers for closing said pincers around the pins when relative transverse movement of the shaping pincers and said table toward each other takes place, said table and said shaping pincer supporting members also being relatively movable in the direction in which the pins extend along said table for causing pairs of pincers to act on successive bends of wire, means engageable with the wire for closing the interval between pitches of the wire, and means associated with said table for removing wire from said pins after the pincers have shaped the wire.

2. A machine for forming a bent wire hair comb from a wire bent into a zigzag shape having a series of ovalshaped heads and (feet, comprising a work table having a plurality of shaping and supporting pins therealong for receiving a zigzag wire therearound, a head shaping pincer supporting member on one side of said table having at least one pair of head shaping pincers thereon for engagement around the pins on said table which are closer to the head shaping pincer supporting member, a foot shaping pincer supporting member on the other side of said table having at least one pair of foot shaping pincers thereon for engagement around the pins on said table which are closer to the foot shaping pincer supporting member, at least, said shaping pincers and said table being relatively movable transversely of the direction in which the pins extend along said table, said shaping pincer supporting members having means thereon engaging with said pair of pincers for closing said pincers around the pins when relative transverse movement of the shaping pincers and said table toward each other takes place, said table and said shaping pincer supporting members also being relatively movable in the direction in which the pins extend along said table for causing pairs of pincers to act on successive bends of wire, means engageable with the wire for closing the interval between pitches of the wire, and means associated with said table for removing wire from said pins after the pincers have shaped the wire.

3. A machine as claimed in claim 2 in which said shaping pincer supporting members are movable only transversely toward and away from said work table, and said work table is movable only longitudinally of its length betweensaid shaping pincer supporting members.

4. A machine as claimed in claim 3 in which said table and shaping pincer supporting members are fiat.

5. A machine as claimed in claim 3 in which said table and shaping pincer supporting members are bent in the direction of their length into cylindrical drums, said work table being rotatable for producing longitudinal movement thereof relative to said shaping pincer supporting members, .and said shaping pincer supporting members being movable axially ofsaid drums to produce movement toward and away from the work table.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Sundback May 10, 1932 Jacobs Oct. 26, 1937 Jacobs Aug. 15, 1939 Bank et a1 Oct. 12, 1943

Claims (1)

1. 2. A MACHINE FOR FORMING A BENT WORE HAIR COMB FROM A WIRE BENT INTO A ZIGZAG SHAPE HAVING A SERIES OF OVALSHAPED HEADS AND FEET, COMPRISING A WORK TABLE HAVING A PLURALITY OF SHAPING AND SUPPORTING PINS THEREALONG FOR RECEIVING A ZIGZAG WIRE THEREAROUND, A HEAD SHAPING PINCER SUPPORTING MEMBER ON ONE SIDE OF SAID TABLE HAVING AT LEAST ONE PAIR OF HEAD SHAPING PINCERS THEREON FOR ENGAGEMENT AROUND THE PINS ON SAID TABLE WHICH ARE CLOSER TO THE HEAD SHAPING PINCER SUPPORTING MEMBER, A FOOT SHAPING PINCER SUPPORTING MEMBER ON THE OTHER SIDE OF SAID TABLE HAVING AT LEAST ONE PAIR OF FOOT SHAPING PINCERS THEREON FOR ENGAGEMENT AROUND THE PINS ON SAID TABLE WHICH ARE CLOSER TO THE FOOT SHAPING PINCER SUPPORTING MEMBER, AT LEAST, SAID SHAPING PINCERS AND SAID TABLE BEING RELATIVELY MOVABLE TRANSVERSELY OF THE DIRECTION IN WHICH THE PINS EXTEND ALONG SAID TABLE, SAID SHAPING PINCER SUPPORTING MEMBERS HAVING MEANS THEREON ENGAGING WITH SAID PAIR OF PINCERS FOR CLOSING SAID PINCERS AROUND THE PINS WHEN RELATIVE TRANSVERSE MOVEMENT OF THE SHAPING PINCERS AND SAID TABLE TOWARD EACH OTHER TAKES PLACE, SAID TABLE AND SAID SHAPING PINCER SUPPORTING MEMBERS ALSO BEING RELATIVELY MOVABLE IN THE DIRECTION IN WHICH THE PINS EXTEND ALONG SAID TABLE FOR CAUSING PAIRS OF PINCERS TO ACT ON SUCCESSIVE BENDS OF WIRE, MEANS ENGAGEABLE WITH THE WIRE FOR CLOSING THE INTERVAL BETWEEN PITCHES OF THE WIRE, AND MEANS ASSOCIATED WITH SAID TABLE FOR REMOVING WIRE FROM SAID PINS AFTER THE PINCERS HAVE SHAPED THE WIRE.

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