Key cutter

Claim 2

Key cutting apparatus for cutting longitudinally spaced notches in the bit of a key blank, said apparatus comprising: a frame; a main carriage movably mounted on said frame; a sub-carriage movably mounted on said carriage; a key blank supporting carriage movably mounted on said sub-carriage; a movable cutter on said frame; means for transversely moving a key blank into and out of engagement with said cutter comprising: means mounting one of said carriages for longitudinal movement and the other two of said carriages for transverse movement toward and away from said cutter; and means for presetting, before the key blank is moved into engagement with said cutter, the relative longitudinal and transverse positions of said carriages and said cutter comprising: indexible means for longitudinally indexing said one carriage a predetermined distance before cutting commences; additional indexible means for transversely indexing a first carriage of said two carriages before cutting commences; and means, including micrometer means on said carriages and said indexible means, for gauging the relative linear movement of said one and said first carriages for presetting before the cutting operation commences, the longitudinal position of said key blank and cutter and the depth of cut to be made when said key blank engages said cutter; means for transversely moving the other of said two transversely movable carriages to operative cutting position; and stop means for interrupting the transverse movement of said other of said two transversely movable carriages in the same operative position regardless of the depth of cut to be made in said key blank.

Claim 3

Key cutting apparatus for cutting a series of longitudinally spaced notches in the bit of a key blank comprising: a frame; key blank supporting means for supporting a key blank; key blank cutting means for cutting a key blank on said supporting means; means mounting said cutting means and supporting means on said frame for relative longitudinal and transverse movement such that one of said cutting means and said supporting means is movable relative to the other of said cutting means and supporting means between a removed, inoperative position and key cutting position in which the key blank and cutting means are engaged at a key cutting station including: carriage means movable in a transverse to-and-fro path of travel between a removed position and an operative position adjacent said key blank cutting station; sub-carriage means, mounting one of said key blank cutting means and said key blank supporting means, supported by said carriage means for longitudinal and transverse movement thereon; depth and longitudinal position control means for transversely and longitudinally adjusting the relative positions of said cutting means and said key blank supporting means including means for longitudinally and transversely adjusting the position of said sub-carriage means on said carriage means to preset, before the key blank and the cutting means are moved into cutting engagement and while said carriage means is in said removed position, the relative longitudinal and transverse positions of said key blank and said support means to predetermine the relative longitudinal position of said key blank and said cutting means and the depth of cut to be made in said key blank when said carriage means is moved to said operative position and said cutting means and said key blank are moved into cutting engagement; means for transversely moving said carriage means between said removed position and said operatIve position to move said one of said supporting means and said cutting means in a cutting path of travel; stop means in the path of said carriage means for interrupting the movement of said carriage means in the same operative position regardless of the depth of cut to be made in said key blank; and means, including micrometer means, for gauging the relative transverse and longitudinal positions of said sub-carriage means and said carriage means to serve as a guide in presetting the relative positions of said key blank and said cutting means and to gauge the depth of cut to be made in the key blank so that the depth of cut can be accurately controlled.

Claim 4

Key cutting apparatus for cutting a series of longitudinally spaced notches in the bit of a key blank comprising: a frame; key blank supporting means for supporting a key blank; key blank cutting means for cutting a key blank on said supporting means; means mounting said cutting means and supporting means on said frame for relative longitudinal and transverse movement such that one of said cutting means and said supporting means is movable relative to the other of said cutting means and supporting means between a removed, inoperative position and key cutting position in which the key blank and cutting means are engaged at a key cutting station including: carriage means movable in a transverse to-and-fro path of travel between a removed position and an operative position adjacent said key blank cutting station; sub-carriage means, mounting one of said key blank cutting means and said key blank supporting means, supported by said carriage means for longitudinal and transverse movement thereon; depth and longitudinal position control means for transversely and longitudinally adjusting the relative positions of said cutting means and said key blank supporting means including means for longitudinally and transversely adjusting the position of said sub-carriage means on said carriage means to preset, before the key blank and the cutting means are moved into cutting engagement and while said carriage means is in said removed position, the relative longitudinal and transverse positions of said key blank and said support means to predetermine the relative longitudinal position of said key blank and said cutting means and the depth of cut to be made in said key blank when said carriage means is moved to said operative position and said cutting means and said key blank are moved into cutting engagement; means for transversely moving said carriage means between said removed position and said operatIve position to move said one of said supporting means and said cutting means in a cutting path of travel; stop means in the path of said carriage means for interrupting the movement of said carriage means in the same operative position regardless of the depth of cut to be made in said key blank; and means, including micrometer means, for gauging the relative transverse and longitudinal positions of said sub-carriage means and said carriage means to serve as a guide in presetting the relative positions of said key blank and said cutting means and to gauge the depth of cut to be made in the key blank so that the depth of cut can be accurately controlled.

Claim 5

The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said sub-carriage means includes a first carriage transversely movable on said carriage means and a second blank supporting carriage longitudinally movable on said first carriage; said position control means comprises rotatable means including a first rotary member reactable between said carriage means and said first carriage for relatively transversely moving said first carriage, and said carriage means, and a second rotary member reactable between said first and second carriages for relatively longitudinally moving said first and second carriages.

Claim 6

The apparatus set forth in claim 3 including rotatable spacing control means longitudinally adjustable on said first carriage and mounted for rotation about its axis to any selected one of a plurality of circumferentially spaced positions, said spacing means including a plurality of rows of longitudinally spaced graduations, the graduations of each row being spaced at intervals different from the spacings between the graduations of the other rows, said second carriage including means cooperating with the graduations of the selected row to gauge the distance said second carriage is moved between cuttings.

Claim 7

The apparatus of claim 4 including screw means reactable between said first carriage and said spacing means to longitudinally move said spacing means relative to said second carriage.

Claim 8

The apparatus of claim 4 including non-rotatable graduation means cooperating with said base and said first carriage for serving as a guide in presetting said first carriage.

Claim 9

The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said base is mounted for transverse movement on said frame, and said means for relatively moving said cutting means and said base comprises means for moving said base transversely toward and away from said cutting station to move a blank supported thereon into and out of engagement with said cutting means.

Claim 10

Key cutting apparatus for cutting a series of notches according to a predetermined code designating depths of cut at longitudinally spaced intervals along the bit of a key blank, said apparatus comprising: a frame; a cutting station; movable cutting means for cutting notches in a key blank moved to said cutting station; carriage means mounted on said frame for movement transversely toward and away from said cutting means; key blank support means for supporting a key blank longitudinally translatable on said carriage means to preset, before the key blank is moved into engagement with the cutting means, the longitudinal position of said key blank on said carriage means; endless spacing means including a plurality of spaced graduated scales for measuring the linear distance said support means moves longitudinally on said carriage means and being movable in an endless path to dispose a selected one of said scales in measuring relation with said carriage means, the distance between the graduations on any scale being different from the distances between the graduations on the remaining scales; and means for presetting, before the key blank is moved into engagement with the cutting means, the longitudinal position of the support means and key blank, and successively longitudinally indexing the support means a distance equal to the distance between the graduations on said selectEd scale.

Claim 11

Key cutting apparatus for cutting a series of notches according to a predetermined code designating depths of cut at longitudinally spaced intervals along the bit of a key blank, said apparatus comprising: a frame; a cutting station; movable cutting means for cutting notches in a key blank moved to said cutting station; carriage means mounted on said frame for movement transversely toward and away from said cutting means; key blank support means for supporting a key blank longitudinally translatable on said carriage means to preset, before the key blank is moved into engagement with the cutting means, the longitudinal position of said key blank on said carriage means; endless spacing means including a plurality of spaced graduated scales for measuring the linear distance said support means moves longitudinally on said carriage means and being movable in an endless path to dispose a selected one of said scales in measuring relation with said carriage means, the distance between the graduations on any scale being different from the distances between the graduations on the remaining scales; and means for presetting, before the key blank is moved into engagement with the cutting means, the longitudinal position of the support means and key blank, and successively longitudinally indexing the support means a distance equal to the distance between the graduations on said selectEd scale.

Claim 12

The key cutting apparatus of claim 8 wherein said key support means includes a pointer; said endless means being longitudinally translatably mounted on said carriage means; and rotatable means for translating said endless spacing means longitudinally relative to said key support means to align said key support pointer with one of the graduations of one of said scales.

Claim 13

Key cutting apparatus for cutting longitudinally spaced notches in the bit of a key blank, said apparatus comprising: a frame; a movable cutter on said frame; means for transversely moving a key blank into and out of engagement with said cutter comprising: a main carriage mounted on said frame for transverse movement toward and away from said cutter between a removed position and an operative position; a sub-carriage supported on said main carriage for transverse movement relative thereto; a key blank supporting carriage mounted on said sub-carriage for longitudinal movement relative thereto; indexible means reactable between said main carriage and said sub-carriage for indexing said sub-carriage transversely on said main carriage a pre-determined distance; graduated means on said main carriage and said indexible means for gauging the relative linear movement of said main and sub-carriage for presetting, before said main slide reaches said operative position and before the cutting operation commences, the depth of cut to be made when said key blank engages said cutter; and additional indexible means reactable between said sub-carriage and said blank supporting carriage for relatively longitudinally moving said sub-carriage and said blank supporting carriage to preset the relative longitudinal position of said cutter and said key blank.

Claim 14

Key cutting apparatus for cutting longitudinally spaced notches in the bit of a key blank, said apparatus comprising: a frame; a movable cutter on said frame; means for transversely moving a key blank into and out of engagement with said cutter comprising: a main carriage mounted on said frame for transverse movement toward and away from said cutter between a removed position and an operative position; a sub-carriage supported on said main carriage for transverse movement relative thereto; a key blank supporting carriage mounted on said sub-carriage for longitudinal movement relative thereto; indexible means reactable between said main carriage and said sub-carriage for indexing said sub-carriage transversely on said main carriage a pre-determined distance; graduated means on said main carriage and said indexible means for gauging the relative linear movement of said main and sub-carriage for presetting, before said main slide reaches said operative position and before the cutting operation commences, the depth of cut to be made when said key blank engages said cutter; and additional indexible means reactable between said sub-carriage and said blank supporting carriage for relatively longitudinally moving said sub-carriage and said blank supporting carriage to preset the relative longitudinal position of said cutter and said key blank.

Claim 15

The apparatus set forth in claim 10 further including additional graduated means mounted on said sub-carriage for longitudinal movement, and being rotatable about its own axis to a plurality of circumferentially spaced positions relative to said axis, said additional graduated means including circumferentially spaced rows of uniformly spaced graduations, the graduations of each row being spaced a distance different from the spacing of the graduation in every other row.

Claim 16

The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said additional graduated means comprises a spacing block longitudinally movable to a position in which said blank supporting carriage is aligned with one of the graduations in one of the rows, said additional indexible means being operable to move said blank supporting carriage a distance equal to the distance between graduations of any selected row after each notch is cut.