US1824153A - Height gauge - Google Patents

Description

HEIGHT GAUGE Filed Dec. 23, 1929 gwvento'a yam/9% j yacoid.

Patented Sept. 22, 1931 i i- UNITED STA E Josm'n n. .TAcoBs, F. RocHEs'rERQNEw x031:

Application filed December" ea Q1939 s ria 'no; 416,073.

This invention relates to improvements" in height gauges of the type employed for laying out work in machineshopsfl It is an object of this invention 'toproduce a height gauge of such construction that it can be very quickly adjusted to approximately the desired height and which can then be moved by means of a micrometer screw adjustment to the exact positnin'desired the gauge being provided with a'vernier forfob taining the exact readin'gj H j I The above and other objects thatmay'appear as the description proceeds are attained by means of a construction which, briefly'de} l5 scribed, is as follows: j f f The gauge is providedwith a base to one side of which is secured a blade. This blade has one edge calibrated or graduated. A jaw isslidably connected with the blade and pro vided with a set screw by means of which it can be clamped in adjustedposition. A projection extends laterally from the upper end of the blade and a screw has one end journaled in a bearing'in the base and the other in the lateral projection. The jawhas an opening through which the screw extends. The jaw is also provided with anotchf or opening in which is located a nut thathas' a threaded engagement with the screw; and

when this nut is rotated relative to. the screw the jaw will be moved longitudinally with respect to the blade. The nut is made in'two or more parts and is held in engagementwith the screw by means of springs or other suitable means and meansis provided foropening the nut so as to move the. parts "thereof out of engagement with the screw, whereby the jaw can be moved longitudinally so as to efi'ectarough adjustmentr Having thus briefly described thei'nVention, the same will now be des'cribedin detail, and for this purpose reference "will be had to the accompanying drawings in which the preferred embodiment of 'the'invention has been illustrated, and in which: I

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my improved height gauge, parts being broken away to better disclose the construction;

Fig. 2 is a section taken on line so 242; Fig.

1, and'shows one'means leasing the split'nut; v '-'Fig.3' is a section taken on line 38, Fig. 2, and shows the spring means for holding the parts of the nut in operative position;

for opening or re- Flg; 1 1s a section simllar to that shown 1n 5 F'g; 7 a'sectiontaken on line 7 7, Fig. 5

=' --Fig. Sis a section taken on line 88,'Fig. 1. Inth'e drawings reference numeral l represents thebase of the gauge and'2 the blade. The lower end of this blade is secured to the base inany suitable mannerand is provided :ononeside with graduations' 3. These graduations may be in inches and decimals of inches,ior it n1ay he graduated in the metric 'syste'rmas may be desired. Secured to the u per end of the scale is a member 4: that exlaterally from the scale and which will be refer-red to hereinafter as the laterally extending member." The base is provided with Fig; 5 is a modification showing another anopeningo'which serves as a bearing for the 'lowerend of screw 6. The laterally projecting mem'br'is also provided with an opening-7 in which the upper end of the screw is journaled. Screw 6 is provided with collars 8 at its upper-andlower end and these collars preventlongitudinal"movement of the screw. Akn'urledhead 9 is secured to the upper end of screw'16andconstitutes the means by which the"screw may be rotated. Head 9 is provided with a plurality of openings 10 for the 'reception of a latching pin 11, which serves 'tohol d thehead'and the screw against rotary novehienti' Pin 11 extends into an opening in the laterally 'proj ecting member in the manner shown'i'n Fig.1 1.

Slidabl connected with the scale is a aw, 'whichhas', b'een de signated in its entirety by reference numeral 12. This jaw has a projecting 'arm 13 which extends outwardly at the bottom of the jaw and ashorter arm 14 at the 't op ofthe jaw. The space between of a diametrical plane that purge these two arms forms a notch within which is located a split nut 15. The arms 13 and 14.- are each provided with an opening 16 in which is located wedge members or expanders 17. The lower ends of openings 16 are enlarged so as to form recesses 18 in which is located the heads 19 of the expanders. The outer ends of heads 19 are conical as indicated by reference numerals 20. Each of the expanders has an outwardly extending flange 21 that can be engagedbyflie Saga-simmoving them inwardly against the force exerted by springs 22. The nut 15 is made in'two parts in the manner shown in 3, and is provided with a central openin-g'23 that is threaded so as to cooperate with the thnmds on screw 6. Each of the two pitta of (b all; are provided with an opening on each side 11 dicular to the adjacent surfaces of the at. These holes or openings extend in the direction of chords and each hole is formed from two portions of different ="-r.. in manner shown in Figs. 3 and 4. In each hole is located a spring 25 and a pin 96 through the two aligned springs ineaci pair of openings. These pins as provided with heads 27 and hold the springs sion, thereby producing a force. tendiig to close the nut and hold it in engagement with I the threads on the screw 6. The ends of the .imately the position desired. when nut are rovided withchamfemd enmgs 28 as showii in Fig. 2. When the 17 are moved inwardly the conical surfaces :23 will engage the corresponding conimi surfaces 28 and move the *two parts of the amt outwardly to such anextent that the nut will be released irom the screw. After the 1nd: has been moved to irmperative posting, the jaw can be moved long' somto effect a rapid adjustmentoftbe iaw'towr; rough adjustment has been made, the 123- panding means is mleaseiso that the nut will cooperate with the threads of the screw, after whichthe fineadjnstmenisazemde bymenas of the nut. After the jaw has been adjusted, it may be clamped in .a a! sition, by means of a set The means for controlling the split nut and which has just been described is illustrative of means afar this purposecan be replaced by other equivalent and as :an example of such I have shownin Fig. 4 a modified construction in the expanding members 17 have been upland by means of radial wedges QQ-that-coo ate with the inclined walls of the wedge-s ed openings '30. These wedges have tions 31 that extend outwardly beyond mater surface of the nut and when assume is exerted on parts 31, the two parts of the nut are moved outwardly in a manner quite apparent fromthe drawings. 7 In Fig. 7 I have shown another construction which can be substituted for the one shown in Fig. 2. In this modified form of nut, the springs 25a are under compression and the pins 26a merely serve to hold the parts from becoming separated. In Fig. 5 I have shown a longitudinal section of the nut which is shown in transverse section in Fig. 7 and from Fig. 5 it will be seen that one end of the nut is provided with an annular recess 32,'extending inwardly from one end thereof. The g 16 in arm 14 is threaded and instead of the expander 17 in Fig. 2, a contracting device is employed. This contracting device has a central tubular portion 33 whose outer surface is threaded for engagement with the threaded opening 16. The lower end is provided with'a downwardly extending cylindrical flange 3% whose inner lower edge is chamiered as indicated by numeral 35. The upper end of tubular member33 has secured to it a which forms a knurled flange by means of which the contracting member can be rotated Since springs 25 are under compression they tend to move the two parts of the nut into inoperative position with res ect to the screwl The inside diameter of t e cylindrical flange 14, above the chamfeted .surfaoe isi'isbf the same diameter as the inner surface of recess 32 and therefore .95

when the parts are in the 1 osition shown in Fig. 5, the nut will be hel in operative position, but if member 33 is rotated so as to move upwardly to the dotted line position, the two parts of the nut will be released and will move outwardly to dotted line position through the action of the springs. It will be seen that with the construction shown in 5 and 7, the nut is held in operative position byfpositive means, whereas, in the embodiment shown in Figs. '2 and 4, the nut is held in operative osit'ion by the action of .springs and it is t erefore possible that the parts of the nut will move away from "each other due to the fact that'the threads are of the triangular type and a possible error may thus be introduced although highlyintigrobable that any errors wcu result from is construction as the nut is requireiy to exert very little force and is merely used to position the j aw.

in this construction the gmduations on flm'blade have been shown located on the side from that of arm 13 and the Vernier is also located on this side. By so locating the Vernier, it is possible :to bring the screw 8 closer to the edge of the blade :3: if the mic! were located on the other For the purpose of securing a marker or scriber to the outer end of arm '13, .I have provided a screw 38 which has an axial dianetriealslot 39 of sufiioient size to receive the outer end of arm 13.. This screw is provided at its lower end with an outwardly extending flange 40 and has a nut 41 that cooperates with the screw. In Fig. 8 I have shown a marker 42, which is well adapted for use with this type of gauge and which consists of a steel plate having one end rounded and ground to a sharp edge as indicated by reference numeral 4:3 and provided at its other end with a notch or opening 44 that is adapted to receive the clamping screw 38. The other end of this marker is also provided with a sharp edge as indicated by reference numeral 45. Although this particular marker has been found to be very satisfactory it can be replaced by any other suitable marker as this is immaterial so far as my invention is concerned.

From the above description it will be apparent that I have produced a height gauge of such construction that the jaw can be readily adjusted longitudinally of the blade with a very small expenditure of time, and therefore adjustments can be more quickly made than with the ordinary type. In addition to the saving of time that can be effected by means of this tool, it is also less liable to move accidentally than the ordinary tools of this type which depend entirely upon a set screw for holding them in adjusted position. In my construction the screw is always connected with the nut 15 except during the times when the j aw is moved and therefore there is no danger of accidental movement. The set screw shown in Fig. 1 is not absolutely necessary with my construction, but is provided as it is sometimes convenient to lock the jaw as rigidly as possible to the blade. The jaw can be moved either by rotating 15 or by rotating the screw and when the latter is to be rotated, the pin 11 is removed and the screw is rotated by applying the fingers to the knurled head 9 and holding nut 15 against rotation.

Having described the invention what is claimed as new is:

1. A height gauge comprising, in combination, a base, a blade having one end secured to the base, the other end of the blade having a lateral projection, a screw having one end journaled in the base and the other end journaled in the lateral projection, means for holding the screw against longitudinal movement, a jaw slidably connected with the blade, the jaw having an opening for the screw, a split nut rotatably connected with the jaw and with the screw, means for normally holding the nut in engagement with the screw, and means for spreading the nut so as to release it from engagement with the screw whereby the jaw can be moved in the direction of the length of the screw.

2. A height gauge comprising, in combination, a base, a blade having one end secured to the base, the other end of the blade having a lateral projection, a screw having one end journaled in a bearing in the base and the other end journaled in a bearing in the lateral projection, means for holding the screw against movement in the direction of its axis, a jaw slidably connected with the blade, the jaw having an opening through which the screwextends, the jaw having also an opening for the reception of a nut, a split nut in the opening and mounted for rotation therein, resilient means for holding the nut normally in operative engagement with the screw, and means for spreading the nut so as to release it from the screw whereby the jaw can be moved along the screw.

3. A height gauge comprising, in combination, abase, a blade having one end secured to the base, the other end of the blade having a lateral projection, a screw having one end j ournaled in the base and the other end journaled in the lateral projection, means for holdingthe screw against movement in the direction of its length, means secured to one end of the screw for rotating it about its axis, a jaw member slidably connected with the blade and movable along the latter, the jaw having an opening through which the screw extends and another opening for the reception of a nut, a split nut located in the last named opening and operatively mounted for rotation therein, the nut being associated with the screw whereby when the nut and the screw are rotated relative to each other the jaw will be moved along the blade, and means for releasing the nut from the screw whereby the jaw can be moved along the blade so as to effect a rough adjustment.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

JOSEPH H. JACOBS.

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