초록 ▼

Open-ended cylindrical shells, such as might become beverage cans or containers, are necked (and/or may be flanged) at the open end by tooling including a cooperating internal mandrel and external forming roller; at the opposite end of the shell there is a chuck to clamp and spin the shell. The chuc

Open-ended cylindrical shells, such as might become beverage cans or containers, are necked (and/or may be flanged) at the open end by tooling including a cooperating internal mandrel and external forming roller; at the opposite end of the shell there is a chuck to clamp and spin the shell. The chuck spins the shell while the forming roller forces the rim portion at the open end of the shell progressively into contact with the opposed mandrel to form the neck and/or the flange. The tooling is repeated in sets at regular spaced intervals between and about a pair of rotating wheels, there being a shell supported between the tools at each tool position so that continuous production is achieved within a production loop or orbit which occupies limited space. Variations in shell thickness or metallurgy can be complied with by employing a variable speed drive both for the chuck and a rotatable collar which fits the open end of the shell. Gears are part of the variable speed drive. These gears are employed in the variable speed drive and by arranging the gears to be driven counter to the wheels, a gear ratio results by which the shells may be rotated rapidly so the forming operation may be performed quickly.

대표청구항 ▼

A cyclically operable machine for imparting a predetermined necked-in configuration to the open ends of thin cylindrical metal shells while spinning the shells about their axes and rolling the configuration, said machine having: spaced coaxial tools for spinning a shell and configuring its open end

A cyclically operable machine for imparting a predetermined necked-in configuration to the open ends of thin cylindrical metal shells while spinning the shells about their axes and rolling the configuration, said machine having: spaced coaxial tools for spinning a shell and configuring its open end respectively including a rotatable spindle-mounted chuck for clamping the end of the shell opposite said open end to spin the shell and, for said open end, a rotatable mandrel eccentrically carried on a radially oscillatable mandrel shaft and positionable inside the shell in opposition to an external die forming roller provided to cooperate with the mandrel to impart said configuration, said die forming roller being capable of radial movement mechanically independent from movement of the corresponding mandrel; a shell support to locate a shell thereon between the tools, with the tooling repeated in identical sets are regular intervals about and supported between a pair of rotatable wheels synchronized for rotation about a common axis; a first substantially annular cam track presented by a first stationary cam drum, said first cam track being substantially centered on the axis of the wheels, said chuck and its spindle of each set of tooling being carried by a corresponding slide for lateral movement toward and away from the mandrel of the corresponding set of tooling, and said slide having a cam follower engaged with said first cam track to induce such lateral movement to present said open end of a shell in encompassing relation to the mandrel and afterwards to withdraw the shell from the mandrel; a second substantially annular cam track presented by a second stationary cam drum, said second cam track being substantially centered on the axis of the wheels, each set of tooling further including support means supporting the corresponding external die forming roller for said radial movement toward and away from the open end of a shell, said die roller support means of each set of tooling including a second cam follower coupled with said second cam track to induce such movement of said support means for the corresponding die roller; said first and second cam tracks being oriented wherein, as the wheels revolve a set of tooling about said common axis of the wheels and first and second cam tracks to cause the corresponding first and second cam followers to follow the associated cam tracks, the first cam track causes the corresponding slide and supported shell to laterally advance toward the corresponding mandrel until the mandrel is inside the open end of the shell, the second cam track then causes the corresponding die forming roller to advance toward and engage the outside of the shell and thereby cooperate with the mandrel to impart the predetermined necked-in configuration to said open end of the shell while it is spinning, and the first cam track finally causes the slide and shell to retract laterally away from the mandrel, sequentially; means to oscillate the shaft on which the internal mandrel is eccentrically mounted thereby to orbit the internal mandrel into contact with the inside of the shell at said open end thereof at least as of the time the forming roller is to become engaged with the shell, and to radially orbit said mandrel out of contact after said predetermined necked-in configuration has been imparted and prior to the retraction of the slide and shell laterally away from the mandrel; and means to spin the chuck to spin the shell.