Machine for intermittently feeding elongated articles

Claim 2

A machine for feeding an elongated article lengthwise along a preselected path through successive intermittent strokes, said machine comprising a support, a carriage mounted on said support and movable forwardly and rearwardly along said path through advance and return strokes, a clamping assembly movable with said carriage and operable to advance the article with the carriage during said advance stroke and to leave the carriage free to move relative to the article during said return stroke, said clamping assembly comprising first and second jaws located on opposite sides of said article and movable transversely of said path between clamped positions in pressing engagement with the article and released positions out of pressing engagement with the article, and means for moving said first jaw toward its clamped position and operable to move said second jaw toward its clamped position automatically in response to said first jaw moving into pressing engagement with the article whereby both jaws tightly clamp the article regardless of the transverse position of the article.

Claim 3

A machine as defined in claim 1 in which said means also move said first jaw toward its released position and are operable to move said second jaw toward its released position automatically in response to said first jaw reaching its released position.

Claim 4

A machine as defined in claim 1 in which said clamping assembly further includes a slide guided on said carriage for transverse movement in the same direction as said jaws, said second jaw being carried on said slide, said means comprising a fluid-operated actuator having a cylinder mounted on and movable transversely with said slide, a ram slidable within said cylinder and carrying said first jaw, and means for admitting pressure fluid into one end of said cylinder to first advance said ram outwardly of said cylinder to place said first jaw in pressing engagement with said article and thereafter to shift said cylinder reversely on said ram to move said slide and shift said second jaw to said clamped position.

Claim 5

A machine as defined in claim 3 further including means for admitting pressure fluid into the opposite end of said cylinder to retract said ram into the cylinder and shift said first jaw toward said released position, and coacting means on said ram and said carriage and engageable upon retraction of the ram through a predetermined distance to stop further retraction of the ram and to cause said cylinder to shift reversely on the ram in response to the continued admission of pressure fluid into the opposite end of the cylinder thereby to move said slide and shift said second jaw to said released position.

Claim 6

A machine as defined in claim 1 further including a base supporting said carriage and mounted on said support for movement in a second path extending transversely of said one path, and means for moving said base in one direction along said second path after movement of said jaws to said clamped positions and for moving the base in the opposite direction along said second path prior to movement of said jaws to said released positions.

Claim 7

A machine for feeding an elongated article lengthwise through successive intermittent strokes and across an underlying tool for performing a cutting operation on the article, said machine comprising a support, a carriage movable lengthwise of the article and horizontally toward and away from the tool through advance and return strokes, a slide mounted to move horizontally with and to move up and down on said carriage, a lower clamping Jaw carried on and movable with said slide, a fluid-operated actuator having a cylinder mounted on and movable upwardly and downwardly with said slide, a ram slidable upwardly and downwardly within said cylinder, an upper clamping jaw mounted on and movable with the lower end of said ram and positioned above said lower jaw, means for admitting pressure fluid into the upper end of said cylinder to advance said ram downwardly out of the cylinder and lower said upper jaw into clamping engagement with said article and thereafter to shift said cylinder upwardly on the ram to lift said slide and pull said lower jaw upwardly into clamping engagement with the article, means for admitting pressure fluid into the lower end of said cylinder to retract said ram upwardly into said cylinder and lift said upper jaw out of clamping engagement with the article, and coacting means on said ram and said carriage and engageable upon retraction of the ram through a predetermined distance to stop further retraction of the ram and to cause said cylinder to shift downwardly on the ram in response to the continued admission of pressure fluid into the lower end of the cylinder thereby to lower said slide and shaft said lower jaw downwardly out of clamping engagement with the article.

Claim 8

A machine for feeding an elongated article lengthwise through successive intermittent strokes and across an underlying tool for performing a cutting operation on the article, said machine comprising a support, a carriage movable lengthwise of the article and horizontally toward and away from the tool through advance and return strokes, a slide mounted to move horizontally with and to move up and down on said carriage, a lower clamping Jaw carried on and movable with said slide, a fluid-operated actuator having a cylinder mounted on and movable upwardly and downwardly with said slide, a ram slidable upwardly and downwardly within said cylinder, an upper clamping jaw mounted on and movable with the lower end of said ram and positioned above said lower jaw, means for admitting pressure fluid into the upper end of said cylinder to advance said ram downwardly out of the cylinder and lower said upper jaw into clamping engagement with said article and thereafter to shift said cylinder upwardly on the ram to lift said slide and pull said lower jaw upwardly into clamping engagement with the article, means for admitting pressure fluid into the lower end of said cylinder to retract said ram upwardly into said cylinder and lift said upper jaw out of clamping engagement with the article, and coacting means on said ram and said carriage and engageable upon retraction of the ram through a predetermined distance to stop further retraction of the ram and to cause said cylinder to shift downwardly on the ram in response to the continued admission of pressure fluid into the lower end of the cylinder thereby to lower said slide and shaft said lower jaw downwardly out of clamping engagement with the article.

Claim 9

A machine as defined in claim 6 further including a base supporting said carriage and mounted on said support for up and down movement, and means for raising said base upwardly after movement of said jaws into clamping engagement with the article thereby to keep the article lifted away from said tool during said advance stroke, and said means being operable to cause lowering of said base after movement of said jaws out of clamping engagement with the workpiece and prior to the return stroke of said carriage thereby to lower the article onto said tool and enable performance of said cutting operation during said return stroke.

Claim 10

A machine as defined in claim 7 further including a clamp located between said carriage and said cutting tool and movable upwardly and downwardly with said base, said clamp being operable to engage said article after completion of said advance stroke and to hold the article securely on the base during performance of said cutting operation.