American Can Company

Vance B Gold

Edward F Kubacki

Harold C Lemke

Harold J Jessogne

Thomas Krewenka

Frederick G Kudert

Walter J Sieverin

Bengt S Backe

Robert P Vandlik

Thomas L Phalin

George Alan Schmidt

Tan K Dao

William D Timmins

This disclosure relates to a product, the process for making same from precoated metal and the tool used for making the product. The product is a concurrently drawn and ironed sanitary food can wherein the side wall thickness of the container is relatively uniform and approximately 0.001' thinner than the thickness of the starting material. The process is a concurrent multiple drawing and ironing operation wherein the diameter and the wall thickness are reduced in each of a plurality of operations. Finally, the tools used for each drawing and ironing operation have particular configurations designed to permit this concurrent forming of both the diameter and the side wall thickness.

Tool for making container

A signal emitted from a transducer responsive to the relative power applied during a welding process is enhanced electronically and mathematically to be of use in controlling welder operating parameters and/or in rejecting defective welds. Electronically the signal refined to minimize unnecessary noise in the signal and mathematically the signal is modified and analyzed against a standard. In a high speed welding operation automatic means are necessary to assure weld quality and control welder operation since the rapidity with which the welding takes place is too fast for manual readjustment.

Closed loop control of continuous seam resistance heated forge welding

To measure the relative power during a welding process, a position sensitive transducer is attached to a welding electrode to submit a signal in response to electrode motion. An accelerometer, carried on an axle of an electrode roll for a Soudronics pulse type resistance welder, will emit a signal indicative of the quality of the weld. The accelerometer measures the forging taking place during welding by means of its position sensitivity and the amount of forging has been found to be a function of the characteristics of the weld.

Monitoring weld quality via forging assembly dynamics

A synchronous oscillator demodulator for linear variable differential transformers and synchronous resolvers having electronic circuitry designed to digitally construct a preferred waveform of a predetermined frequency and to establish precisely the preset point at which the amplitude of the waveform is to be measured at the secondary winding of the transformer. This synchronous oscillator demodulator permits the use of linear variable differential transformers and synchronous resolvers for high frequency applications and under conditions of noise and vibration while still maintaining a high degree of accuracy and repeatability. A system and apparatus to enhance the signal from a given linear variable differential transformer and tune sane in relation to the signals of other similar but not identical transformers is disclosed.

Signal enhancement circuit

A thickness gauge is shown for measurement with each stroke of a metal blanking and cupping press. The gauge is adapted to be carried with the press ram adjacent to the blanking die. The gauge includes a thickness feeler plunger and reference support for carrying contact pins. The feeler and the support for the pins are mounted for relative motion with respect to the moving part of the press and for limited relative motion with respect to each other whereby the gauge can accommodate press overstroke and varying thicknesses of stock.

Thickness gauge

Work pieces, particularly thin-walled shells of can dimension, are transferred from a magazine at a supply station to another station by a reciprocal shuttle having a pocket for receiving the shells in ready position at the supply station; at the other station, a reciprocal loader transfers the shell laterally from the shuttle to a work station where the work product is produced. The shuttle incorporates a second pocket to receive the work product and includes a surface for gating the supply magazine as an incident to shuttle travel. By locating the path of the shuttle above the path of the loader, it is possible to coordinate shuttle and loader movement for maximum utilization of time. Shells fed to the magazine are constantly aligned inside the magazine to assure effective bottom feed from the magazine to the shuttle.

Shuttle transfer mechanism

Elongated closed bottom shells (cans) are produced in the preferred manner by a double-acting punch body arranged on a horizontal axis and reciprocated between opposed die stations at a substantially constant velocity by a hydraulic force alternately applied to opposite sides of a ram on the punch body; blanks (of cup form) are fed to the die stations at times when the punch body dwells at the end of a stroke. Preferably the applied force is such that punch body attains peak (maximum) velocity before the punch encounters a cup centered at the die station; cup feed, cup positioning, punch body travel and formation of a shell of correct length are monitored (sensed) and in the event a programmed condition of machine function or production criterion is sensed as not satisfied, the machine is stopped. During the return stroke of the punch body, after a shell is formed at one station, fluid under pressure is applied by a unique porting arrangement to a separable part of the punch, which thereby serves as a stripper to hold the completed shell stationary at the die station while the remainder of the punch body is retracted from the shell; concurrently, air under pressure is ported in a unique fashion to break any vacuum inside of the shell. After the shell is stripped, the stripper is retracted at an accelerated rate to re-couple with the punch body as it moves toward the other die station. The main cylinder is so supported that thermal effects will not disturb the alignment of the punch body relative to the dies.

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Lombard, IL, United States of America

Vance B Gold