US3502319A - Vise parallel means - Google Patents

Description

March 24, 1970 W. P. KAZO LIAS VISE PARALLEL MEANS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 13, 1967 March 24, 1970 W.-P. KAZOLIAS 3,502,319

VISE PARALLEL MEANS Filed March 13, 1967 3 SheetsSheet 2 March 24, 1970 w. KAZOLIAS 3,502,319

VISE PARALLEL MEANS Filed March 13. 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 United States Patent 3,502,319 VISE PARALLEL MEANS William P. Kazolias, 80 Palmer St., Adams Shore, Quincy, Mass. 02150 Filed Mar. 13, 1967, Ser. No. 622,686 Int. Cl. B25b 1/24, /16

US. Cl. 269-280 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE From the foregoing abstract it will be seen that the invention relates to holding means for securing a workpiece in a position to be machined to a desired size or shape and, more particularly, the invention is concerned 2 with an improved vise grip and parallel assembly by means of which a workpiece may be more conveniently and accurately positioned in a desired working position so that it may be engaged by a machine tool as, for example, a milling cutter or the like.

In a great many machine operations, it is frequently necessary to deal with a range of workpiece sizes and shapes and these workpieces must be supported on a horizontally extending parallel surface in a true parallel position. For this purpose standard vise parallels are ordinarily employed in the bottom of the vise. In such case the width of the workpiece must obviously be greater than the width of the parallel in order for the movable jaw to engage a vertical surface of the workpiece. This may necessitate the selection and positioning of a number of parallels for different workpiece thicknesses and a range of sizes of parallels may be required to be kept on hand.

A further even more important consideration is the need for locating the workpiece on the horizontal parallel surface in a solidly based position. This is usually made certain by means of feeler gauges and the operator customarily taps or drives the workpiece lightly down onto the parallel surface to eliminate any space which the feeler gauge detects. Here a problem arises with many relatively narrow workpieces where the workpiece is of a Width less than the width of standard feeler gauges. In such case there may be insuflicient room to insert the feeler gauge while the movable jaw is engaging the workpiece.

The present invention seeks to deal with the problems indicated and to provide means for positioning and holding workpieces more conveniently and quickly. A specific object is to devise a vise parallel arrangement by means of which a feeler gauge may always be readily inserted for a range of relatively narrow workpiece thicknesses.

Another object of the invention is the combination with a vise of a standard vise parallel and compensating parallel means capable of being instantly engaged over a movable vise jaw in vertically spaced relationship to the standard vise parallel. With this arrangement rapid holding may be accomplished for any one of the wide range of workpiece sizes and shapes.

A further objective of the invention is to devise a vise parallel which may have a range of angularly formed surfaces and shapes to deal with clamping requirements for many different shapes and forms of workpieces.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a compensating parallel for use with vise jaws in a position to allow a cutter such as a milling cutter to form a cut of a depth which may approach and extend below the level of the top surfaces of the vise jaws.

With the foregoing considerations and objectives in mind, I have conceived of an improved compensating parallel holding principle which is one preferred embodiment comprises a compensating parallel structure formed along one side with vise jaw engaging means for overlying and conveniently engaging an upper surface of a movable vise aw.

The compensating parallel by means of the engaging part may be superimposed on the movable jaw and easily held by an operator while he advances the movable jaw into a clamping position with a workpiece to be machined. An important feature of this compensating parallel is that it may be utilized for a wide range of work piece thicknesses.

By reason of the depending relationship of this compensating parallel between the vise jaws, the bottom of the compensating parallel may be located in spaced relation to either the bottom of the vise or an upper surface of a standard parallel located in the bottom of the vise. Therefore, it will be readily seen that room or space may in all cases be maintained for inserting a feeler gauge between the bottom of the workpiece and its supporting surface. When used with a standard parallel the depending parallel functions to provide a compensating means for holding the movable jaw against workpieces of various thicknesses and shapes.

The nature of the invention and its other objects and novel features will be more fully understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention selected for purposes of illustration and disclosed in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view illustrating a vise structure of the class employed in machine tools such as milling machines and the like;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the structure shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a detail perspective view of the compensating parallel of the invention;

FIGURES 4, 5 and 6 are perspective views illustrating different forms of compensating parallels;

FIGURE 7 is a side elevational view partly in cross section illustrating a vise mounted in a milling machine and equipped with both a standard vise parallel and the compensating parallel of the invention;

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the vise assembly of FIGURE 7 further illustrating the use of the compensating vise parallel of the invention in one operative position;

FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary elevational view of a vise and parallel assembly in which a pair of compensating parallels are combined with a standard parallel; and

FIGURE 10 is another elevational view of a vise and compensating parallel used independently of a standard parallel.

Considering the structure shown in the drawings in greater detail, FIGURE 1 illustrates a conventional travelling vise structure of the type used in milling machines and the like. The vise structure includes a base .1, a fixed vise jaw part 2 and an adjustable jaw part 4. The jaw part 4 is actuated by a screw 6 rotatably mounted at one end in a bearing 8. The vise jaw 4 is thus adjustable over a horizontal bottom surface 10 formed in the base 1. The vise structure described, as further shown in FIG URE 8, is formed with clamping lugs 12 and 14 which receive bolts 16 engageable in a slide member 18 which is in turn guided by guide posts 20 in ways as 22.

As further illustrated in FIGURE 7, the slide 18 is travelled in the well-known manner beneath a stationary milling head 24 in which is rotatably supported a milling cutter 26. Also shown in FIGURE 7 are a base or stand 28 and a supporting table section 30.

In accordance with the invention, I provide a work holding compensating parallel which may be constructed in any one of several different forms and which may be utilized with the vise and milling cutter arrangement above described.

In one preferred form the compensating parallel of the invention may be constructed as shown in FIGURES l to 3 inclusive and FIGURES 7 and 8. As shown therein this preferred embodiment of compensating parallel is denoted generally by the numeral 40 and may be used in combination With a standard parallel 42.

As is well known the standard type of parallel as 42 usually comprises an elongated bar member of generally rectangular cross section and this bar member is formed with true parallel top and bottom surfaces 42a and 42b so that when the bottom surface 42b is solidly based on the vise bottom 10, the top surface 42a will lie in a true horizontal plane on which surface a bottom side of a workpiece may be supported in a correct parallel relationship.

The compensating parallel member 40 is also constructed as a solid elongated bar of rectangular cross section and of a length generally corresponding to and slightly less than the length of the vice jaws 2 and 4. Along one side the compensating parallel is formed with a raised jaw engaging part 44 which is constructed with a relieved undersurface 46. The surface 46 is made parallel with and adapted to overlie a top surface 48 (FIG- URE 8) of movable vise jaw 4. The compensating parallel 40 is also constructed with vertically disposed parallel surfaces 48 and 50 of which surface 50 is a work engaging surface for engaging a workpiece W as shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 and of which surface 48 is a movable jaw engaging surface.

As will be readily understood from an inspection of FIGURE 2, the compensating parallel is conveniently made of a thickness which exceeds the thickness of the standard parallel 42 appreciably.

Thus it will be apparent that a relatively narrow workpiece W substantially less in thickness than the standard parallel 42 may be solidly based on parallel 42 and readily clamped and held by engaging the compensating parallel 40 and jaw 4 against one side of the workpiece. Therefore, a range of workpiece thicknesses may be conveniently accommodated without changing the standard parallel.

It is also pointed out that the compensating parallel of the invention is made with a bottom surface 54 and a top surface 52 which is so constructed as to be at a level below the level of the top surfaces 46 and 47 of jaws 4 and 2 respectively. In addition the vertical depth of the compensating parallel as measured between the surfaces 52 and 54 is chosen of a dimension such that the bottom surface 54 may occur with any desired spacing relative to a standard parallel top surface. This dimensional relationship provides several other novel features of a desirable and important nature. Thus in the case of a vertical dimension providing for the compensating parallel being spaced from the top of the standard parallel, there is achieved adequate clearance for a thin feeler gauge of relatively narrow standard width to be readily inserted into a space resulting from the entire bottom surface of workpiece W not being fully in contact with the bottom parallel 42, and the narrow feeler gauge may be inserted into such a clearance without obstruction by jaw 4 or parallel 40.

Therefore, the workpiece may be more quickly driven down into a solidly based parallel position if a feeler gauge detects a slight clearance. In the case of the recessed relationship of surface 52 relative to jaw top surface 47, several advantages may be realized. First, the compensating parallel may be used with standard parallel of a number of thicknesses. Secondly, the arrangement of the surface 52 at a level below the top 47 of jaw 2 provides for a cutting tool being worked to remove an upper section of workpiece W down to and below the level of jaw surface 47 without danger of contacting the top of hardened steel jaw 47 and thus impairing the cutting edges of the tool 26.

I may also wish to utilize two compensating parallels with a standard bottom parallel where it may be desired to maintain both vise jaws out of contact with the workpiece, as well as the bottom standard parallel. FIGURE 9 illustrates the combination of two compensating parallels 7t) and 72 having jaw engaging parts 43 and 45 which are engaged over vise jaws 2 and 4 to hold a workpiece W on a standard parallel 42 in position to be engaged by a cutter 26.

In this case the recessed relation of the surfaces 74 and 76 provide clearance space for the relatively large diameter tool 26' to remove a section of metal from the workpiece W well below the tops 46' and 47 of the vise jaws 2' and 4'. This arrangement provides still further versatility in that the machine operator may readily apply a feeler gauge between the standard parallel 42 and the bottom of the workpiece W from either side of the vise.

I may also desire to employ the parallel member of the invention in some instances independently of a standard parallel and one such arrangement has been illustrated in FIGURE 10. As noted therein the parallel member 80 is p ovided with a jaw engaging part 82 and is made of a vertical depth such that it may extend well down into the vise in the manner indicated and in this case the bottom 86 of the vise 88 is used as a reference surface to properly support the workpiece W2.

FIGURE 10 also illustrates the use of other holding means incorporated in the parallel for attachment to a vise jaw. For example, numeral 87 denotes a magnet insert recessed in the parallel in a position to engage against and lock with the ferrous metal surface 90 of the jaw 92. Various other holding means may be employed for any of the forms of parallels disclosed in this invention.

In connection with using a compensating parallel either combined with or independently of a standard parallel there may occur certain types of tool working operations involving irregularly or angularly shaped surfaces and in such case I may provide the compensating parallel of the invention with angular holding surfaces as shown in FIGURES 5 and 6.

Numeral .100 denotes a parallel with jaw engaging part 102 and angular holding surfaces 104 and 106 which extend in vertical planes. FIGURE 5 indicates a parallel with jaw engaging part 112 having angular surfaces 114 and 116 which extend horizontally. These surfaces are adapted to engage and hold workpieces of the irregular, round or angled shape. FIGURE 4 illustrates a parallel 120 having a jaw engaging part 122 and in an angularly recessed surface .124.

Various other modifications may be resorted to in keeping with the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for holding a work piece which is to be machined, and which has a vertical surface, said appartus including a machine vise for use on a machine tool having a vise supporting surface which lies in a horizontal plane, said machine vise being formed with a fixed vise jaw having a fixed vertical work engaging surface, a base surface which extends at right angles to the fixed vise jaw in a plane parallel to the said vise supporting surface and an adjustable vise jaw movable along the said base surface and having a vertical work engag ing surface which is parallel to the said fixed vise jaw, a bottom vise parallel mounted on the said base surface in a position to support the workpiece in a raised position above the jaws and a compensating vise parallel suspended from the adjustable jaw in spaced relationship above the bottom vise parallel and movable with the adjustable jaw to engage and hold the vertical surface of the workpiece against the fixed vertical work-engaging surface of the said fixed jaw while supported on the bottom vise parallel in right angular relationship to the said vise supporting surface of the machine tool.

2. A structure according to claim 1 in which the compensating vise parallel comprises an elongated member formed at one side with a vertical jaw engaging parallel surface and at the opposite side with a second vertical surface parallel to the jaw engaging surface and a jaw engaging part which extends outwardly from the top of one of the vertical surfaces at right angles thereto.

3. A structure according to claim 2 in which the elongated member is formed with a top surface which occurs at a level below the level of the top of the said fixed jaw.

4. An apparatus for holding a workpiece to be machined said apparatus including a machine vise for use on a machine tool having a vise supporting surface which lies in a horizontal plane, said machine vise being formed with a fixed vise jaw having a vertical work engaging surface, a horizontal base surface which extends at right angles to the work engaging face of the fixed vise jaw in a plane parallel to the said vise supporting surface of the machine tool and an adjustable vise jaw adjustable along the base surface and having vertical work engaging surface which is parallel to the work engaging surface of the fixed vise jaw, a bottom vise parallel located on the said base surface for receiving the said workpiece, said bottom vise parallel having a vertical dimension which provides for supporting a workpiece in a raised position above the said jaws a desired distance, and said bottom vise parallel having a width which exceeds the thickness of the said workpiece, and a compensating parallel supported on the movable vise jaw in spaced relation to the bottom vise parallel and movable into engagement with the workpiece and said compensating parallel being of a width greater than the width of the bottom parallel.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 789,405 5/1905 Ascher 269271 1,071,289 8/1913 Bader.

2,606,470 8/1952 Kinney 269281 X 3,173,676 3/1965 Chenette 269240 FOREIGN PATENTS 937,346 3/ 1948 France.

OTHER REFERENCES American Machinist, Dec. 14, 1959, Drillpress Vise Needs No Parallels (Koslow), page 146.

LESTER M. SWINGLE, Primary Examiner L. GILDEN, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 269315

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