Control means for a bar holder and feeder coupled to an automatic machine tool

Claim 1

In combination, control means for an elongated bar holder and a bar feeder for an automatic machine tool to hold bars for and feed bars to the machine tool: (a) said elongated bar holder being aligned with the machine tool, which bar holder can be opened to allow bar to be loaded thereinto; (b) loading means to load bar into a loaded position in the bar holder; (c) said bar feeder being positioned between the elongated bar holder and the machine tool, through an open collet of which machine tool bar is to be fed from the bar holder; (d) said bar feeder comprising a sleeve engageable over a bar to be fed at a position externally of the machine tool and feed means to cause axial movement of the sleeve; (e) the sleeve having internal biased gripping means which permit the sleeve to be moved by the feed means over the bar in a direction away from the machine tool but prevent the sleeve being moved by the feed means over the bar in a direction towards the machine tool; (f) whereby a reciprocating of the sleeve by the feed means causes the bar to be fed to the machine tool; and (g) means to prevent movement of the bar from the loaded position in a direction away from the machine tool to enable the sleeve initially to be pressed over the end of the bar nearer the machine tool, (h) said control means comprising counting means settable to a determined number; trip means effective when in a set position to trip said counting means once for each workpiece machined; trigger means to move said trip means to said set position when a new length of a bar is fed into said bar holder; and means coupling said counting means to means controlling machining operation of said machine tool; (i) said determined number being settable so that, after a number of workpieces equal to said determined number have been machined from a length of bar preceding said new length of bar, such that the remnant of said length of bar is not of sufficient length safely to permit machining of a further workpiece therefrom, said counting means stop operation of said machine tool and cause said feed means of said bar holder and feeder to eject said remnant through said collet of said machine tool, by feeding the forward end of said new length of bar through said collet, and (j) means to release said trip means from said set position upon ejection of said remnant from said bar holder.