Material Feed Device

Abstract

A material feeder apparatus for feeding stock material to a machining device is provided. The material feeder apparatus includes a drive motor, a drive wheel, a guide wheel and a positioning mechanism. The drive wheel is operably coupled for rotation to the drive motor. The guide wheel is spaced apart from the at least one drive wheel defining a stock material slot therebetween. The positioning mechanism is to at least on of the drive wheel and the guide wheel for adjusting the stock material slot defined by the spacing between the at least one guide wheel and the at least one drive wheel. The material feeder apparatus may include both a drive and slave stock material feeder that are daisy chained together for being simultaneously driven by a single drive motor.

1 . A material feeder apparatus comprising:
 a drive motor;   at least one drive wheel operably mounted for rotation and operably coupled to the drive motor, such that the drive motor drives the at least one drive wheel;   at least one guide wheel spaced apart from the at least one drive wheel defining a stock material slot therebetween, the at least one drive wheel and at least one guide wheel having axes of rotation that are parallel; and   a positioning mechanism coupled to at least one of the drive wheels and at least one of the guide wheels for adjusting the spacing between the at least one guide wheel and the at least one drive wheel.   
   
   
       2 . The material feeder apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the positioning mechanism includes a guide rail and a pair of carriages mounted for linear motion about the guide rail, the drive motor and the at least one drive wheel forming a drive unit mounted to a first one of the carriages such that movement of the first one of the carriages also moves the drive motor, the at least one guide wheel forming a slave unit mounted to a second one of the carriages. 
   
   
       3 . The material feeder apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the positioning mechanism includes a drive shaft operably coupled to pair of carriages such that rotation of the drive shaft in a first direction causes the carriages to move away from one another along the guide rail and rotation of the drive shaft in a second direction, opposite the first direction, causes the carriages to move toward one another along the guide rail. 
   
   
       4 . The material feeder apparatus of  claim 2 , further including an auxiliary feeder unit including an auxiliary drive unit and an auxiliary slave unit, the drive unit including a first coupling gear and the auxiliary drive unit including a second coupling gear, the first and second coupling gears operably coupled such that actuation of the drive unit by the drive motor simultaneously drives a drive wheel of the auxiliary drive unit and the drive wheel of the drive unit, the auxiliary drive unit being free of an independent source of power for driving the drive wheel of the auxiliary drive unit independent from the drive motor mounted to the drive unit. 
   
   
       5 . The material feeder apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the positioning mechanism includes a drive shaft operably coupled to pair of carriages such that rotation of the drive shaft in a first direction causes the carriages to move away from one another along the guide rail and rotation of the drive shaft in a second direction, opposite the first direction, causes the carriages to move toward one another along the guide rail. 
   
   
       6 . The material feeder apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the drive shaft includes a first portion that is right hand threaded and a second portion that is left hand threaded. 
   
   
       7 . The material feeder apparatus of  claim 6 , further including support pads upon which material slides as it is being fed by the material feeder through the stock material slot, wherein at least one support pad is removably mounted to each of the carriages proximate a corresponding guide wheel or drive wheel, wherein the support pads are positioned, at least in part, laterally inward from the corresponding drive wheel or guide wheel, the top surface of the support pads being substantially perpendicular to the axes of rotation of the guide and drive wheels define a vertical support for the stock material slot. 
   
   
       8 . The material feeder apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the first and second coupling gears include slip clutches between the drive wheels permitting rotation of the coupling gears without requiring rotation of the drive wheels when a load greater than a predetermined amount opposes movement of one or more of the drive wheels. 
   
   
       9 . The material feeder apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the at least one drive wheel and the at least one guide wheel are formed from a rubber material, and the radially outer surfaces of the at least one guide wheel and at least one drive wheel are contoured. 
   
   
       10 . The material feeder apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the contours are concave V-shapes, wherein the V-shapes are truncated and include a flat bottom and two skewed sidewall extending from the flat bottom. 
   
   
       11 . The material feeder apparatus of  claim 2 , further including support pads upon which material being fed by the material feeder slides as it is driven through the material feeder, top surfaces of the support pads defining a vertical support for the stock material slot, the top surfaces being orthogonal to the axes of rotation for the guide wheels and drive wheels. 
   
   
       12 . The material feeder apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein at least one support pad is removably mounted to each of the carriages, wherein the support pads are positioned, at least in part, laterally inward from the corresponding drive wheel or guide wheel. 
   
   
       13 . The material feeder apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the first and second coupling gears include slip clutches between the drive wheels permitting rotation of the coupling gears without requiring rotation of the drive wheels when a load greater than a predetermined amount opposes movement of one or more of the drive wheels. 
   
   
       14 . A method of feeding material to a machining device including the steps of:
 engaging a first side of a piece of material at a first location with a first drive wheel and driving the material along a feed axis at that location with the first drive wheel;   simultaneously engaging the first side of the piece of material at a second location with a second drive wheel, remote from the first location, and simultaneously driving the piece of material along the feed axis at that second location with the second drive wheel;   laterally supporting the piece of material on an second side, opposite the first side, with a first guide wheel laterally spaced from the first drive wheel and forming material feed slot therebetween, the first guide wheel being positioned at the first location along the feed axis; and   simultaneously supporting the piece of material on the second side with a second guide wheel at the second location long the feed axis, the second guide wheel being laterally spaced from the second drive wheel a same distance as the first drive wheel and guide wheel are laterally spaced.   
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 14  further comprising the step of simultaneously driving the first and second drive wheels with a single motor located proximate the first location. 
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 15  further comprising adjusting the distance between the first guide wheel and first drive wheel to adjust the material feed slot by simultaneously moving a first pair of carriages supporting the first drive wheel and first guide wheel laterally relative to one another in a direction perpendicular to the feed axis; and further comprising adjusting the distance between the second guide wheel and second drive wheel to adjust the material feed slot by simultaneously moving a second pair of carriages supporting the second drive wheel and second guide wheel laterally relative to one another in a direction perpendicular to the feed axis.