U.S. patent number 3,847,000 [Application Number 05/353,595] was granted by the patent office on 1974-11-12 for ball sprue swage method and means.
Invention is credited to Gilbert B. Teague.
United States Patent |
3,847,000 |
Teague |
November 12, 1974 |
BALL SPRUE SWAGE METHOD AND MEANS
Abstract
A ball sprue swage device for use in combination with a flat
substantially rigid surface and comprising a cylindrical shaped
body having a flat face portion, a sleeve member carried by the
said body and extending around the outer periphery of the said body
to form a wall around the outer periphery of the flat surface, the
depth of said wall being substantially equal to the diameter of the
ball to be swaged. A separate ball retainer ring having a thickness
less than the depth of the said wall, and having an outer diameter
less than the inner diameter of the sleeve member is provided
whereby the balls having sprues thereon are placed within the
retaining ring on the rigid surface, the body and sleeve member
being placed over the retaining ring and balls and the body and
sleeve member being then moved in a revolving circular motion
thereby causing the balls to be rounded and the sprues thereon to
be removed.
Inventors: |
Teague; Gilbert B. (Tulsa,
OK) |
Family
ID: |
23389792 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/353,595 |
Filed: |
April 23, 1973 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
72/89;
451/50 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B21H
1/14 (20130101); B22D 31/00 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B21H
1/00 (20060101); B21H 1/14 (20060101); B22D
31/00 (20060101); B21h 001/14 () |
Field of
Search: |
;72/89 ;29/148.4B,148.5B
;51/289S |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Mehr; Milton S.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Dorman; William S.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A ball sprue swage device for use in combination with a flat
substantially rigid surface and comprising a cylindrical body
having a flat face at one end thereof, a sleeve member carried by
the said body and extending around the outer periphery of the said
body to form a wall around the outer periphery of the flat face,
the depth of said wall being substantially equal to the diameter of
the ball to be swaged, a ball retainer ring having a thickness less
than the depth of the wall of the sleeve member and having an outer
diameter less than the inner diameter of the sleeve member whereby
the balls having sprues thereon may be placed within the retainer
ring on the rigid surface, the body and sleeve member being placed
over the retainer ring and balls, the said device being moved in a
revolving circular pattern thereby causing the said balls to be
rounded and the sprues thereon removed.
2. A ball sprue swage device as set forth in claim 1 wherein the
said body member is provided with a plurality of external threads
around the outer periphery thereof adjacent to the flat face
thereof and the sleeve member is provided with a plurality of
internal threads around the inner periphery thereof, the said
sleeve member being threadedly disposed on the body member for
varying the depth of the wall with respect to the flat face of the
body in accordance with the various sized balls to be swaged
thereby.
3. A ball sprue swage device as set forth in claim 2 wherein a
substantially annular shaped locking nut having a plurality of
internal threads therein is threadedly disposed on the body member
adjacent to the sleeve member for locking the said sleeve member
into position at the desired wall depth.
4. A ball sprue swage device as set forth in claim 1 wherein handle
means is secured to the body member on the opposite side thereof
from the flat face.
5. A ball sprue swage device as set forth in claim 4 wherein the
said handle means comprises a centrally disposed outwardly
extending stud member.
6. A ball sprue swage device as set forth in claim 5 wherein the
said stud member is provided with a plurality of external threads
adjacent to the body member, and a handle grip member having a
threaded bore therein for threadedly receiving the stud member
therein.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improvements in ball swage devices and
particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a ball sprue swage
for removing sprues for musket balls and the like and for improving
the roundness thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Muzzle loading firearms, both rifles and pistols, are becoming very
popular today with sportsmen, and part of the enjoyment of using
such muzzle loading firearms lies in the sportsman being able to
make their own bullets therefor. The most common method of making
such bullets is by pouring molten lead into a form which is the
general shape of a ball having a diameter commensurate with the
caliber of the firearm. However, since the molten lead must be
poured through a small hole in the mold, when the ball is removed
therefrom, it is left with a waste piece or deformity called a
sprue which constitutes an out of roundness of the ball. Unless
this sprue is removed from the ball before loading it into the gun,
it can cause some damage to the barrel of the gun and will
invariably cause the ball upon firing to travel in an undesirable
path and thereby lessen the accuracy of the firearm.
The rounding of metallic balls has always been a problem,
especially in the construction of hollow metal balls wherein two
halves are molded and then welded together, the swaging thereof
being required to remove or smooth the weld bead therearound. One
such device is taught in the patent to Niles, Serial Number
2,963,772 issued in 1960, and entitled "Method of Making Balls"
wherein the said balls are placed in an annular shaped groove and a
block having a similar annular shaped groove is placed on top of
the balls and rotated in an attempt to eliminate or smooth the weld
joint therearound. Another solution to the problem is taught by the
patent to Hathorn, No. 598,510 issued in 1898 and entitled "Ball
Grinding Machine" wherein drums are mounted on a shaft, steel balls
being placed in the drums in a grinding solution, the said drums
rotated thereby tending to grind the balls into a spherical
shape.
The Niles device has a particular disadvantage of providing pure
mechanical rotational motion which can cause the balls being swaged
therein to take on an out-of-round shape or pear shape whereas
balls being ground in the Hathorn ball grinding machine have the
entire surface thereof abraded thereby reducing the size of the
ball.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention contemplates a novel ball sprue swage which
is designed and constructed for overcoming the above disadvantages
and for providing a simple and efficient swaging tool which is
economically feasible for most sportsmen who wish to make their own
musket balls for use with musket loading firearms.
The present device is provided with a simple cylindrical shaped
body member having a flat surface at one end thereof, a sleeve
member secured around the body member and extending beyond the flat
surface to form a wall around the said flat surface, the depth of
the said wall being adjustable to be commensurate with the diameter
or desired diameter of the ball to be swaged therein. A separate
retainer ring is provided which has an outer diameter substantially
equal to or less than the diameter of the sleeve member so that the
said retainer ring may be received within the sleeve member. The
balls having sprues thereon or other defects thereon may then be
placed within the retainer ring of a flat surface such as a table
saw top, Formica surface, wooden desk, table or the like and the
cylindrical shaped body having the sleeve therearound pressed down
against the upper surface of the ball. The entire body, sleeve
member, retainer ring and balls therein may then be moved or
revolved in a circular motion which causes the balls to rub against
each other and the flat surface thereby causing the sprues thereon
to be eliminated and the imperfections within the ball to be
removed.
It has been found that the swaging operation is greatly enhanced by
the use of a lubricant such as spray graphite which may be sprayed
on the balls prior to being swaged in the device. This device is
particularly applicable to the swaging of lead balls since the lead
is sufficiently soft so that it may be shaped by a moderate amount
of pressure between the swaging device and the table top. Another
advantage in the present system lies in the fact that a grinding
solution is not required to remove the spur from a lead ball or the
like which allows the molding of the said ball to substantially the
exact desired diameter before the swaging operation. Still another
advantage lies in the fact that the random type movement of the
swaging device tends to cancel out mechanical type errors thereby
resulting in a ball which is more round than that produced with
purely mechanical movement.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Other and further advantageous features of the present invention
will hereinafter more fully appear in connection with a detailed
description of the drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a bottom view of a ball sprue swage device embodying the
present invention.
FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the swage device of FIG. 1 taken
along the broken lines 2--2 of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is an elevational sectional view of a fixed sized swage
device and
FIG. 4 depicts three typical musket ball castings having a spur
left on one side thereof.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to the drawings in detail, reference character 10
generally indicates a ball sprue swage device having a
substantially cylindrical body member 12, said body member 12
having a flat surface 14 on one side thereof and a centrally
disposed upwardly extending stud member 16 on the opposite side of
the face 14. The swage device 10 also comprises an annular sleeve
member 18 which is secured around the outer periphery of the body
12, the sides of the sleeve member 18 extending outwardly beyond
the face 14 of the body member 12 to thereby form a wall member 20
around the outer periphery of the face 14. An annular shaped
retainer ring 22, having an outside diameter less than the inside
diameter of the wall 20, and a depth or thickness which is less
than the depth of the wall 20 with respect to the face 14.
The body member 10 is provided with a plurality of threads 24
around the outer periphery thereof adjacent to the face 14 whereas
the sleeve member 18 is provided with a plurality of threads 26
around the inner periphery thereof, the said threads 26 of the
sleeve member 18 being complementary with the threads 24 of the
body member 12. The opposite end of the body member 12 is provided
with an outwardly extending flange member 28 which may be used as a
stop in adjusting the depth of the sleeve member 18. An annular
shaped retainer nut 30 having the inner periphery thereof threaded
to be compatable with the threads 24 of the body member 12 is
threadedly attached to the body member 12 adjacent to the sleeve
member 18 so that the said sleeve member 18 may be set at a desired
depth and locked into place by the retainer nut 30.
The stud member 16 is provided with a plurality of threads 32
adjacent to the base thereof, the upper end of the stud member 16
constituting a shank for attaching a hand drill or the like thereto
for a purpose that will be hereinafter set forth. A cylindrical
handle member 34 having a centrally disposed bore 36 therin is also
provided with a plurality of threads 38 which are compatable with
the threads 32 of the stud member 16 so that the said handle member
34 may be threadedly attached to the stud 16 for hand operation of
the device.
Referring now to FIG. 4, reference character 40 generally indicates
a metallic or lead ball which has been formed in a mold and having
a flat portion 42 on one side thereof which is slightly exaggerated
for purposes of clarity and which is caused by cutting a sprue off
the ball 40 at a point which cuts into the actual ball. Reference
character 44 represents a ball which has been molded having a sprue
46 which slightly cuts into the radius of the ball and leaves a rim
around the periphery thereof, and reference character 48 depicts a
ball having an outwardly extending sprue 50 thereon. These sprues
are always present when an ordinary mold is used to form the lead
ball.
In operation, the sleeve member 18 is adjusted to provide a wall 20
depth substantially equal to the desired diameter of the ball to be
swaged. The retainer nut 30 is then tightened against the upper end
of the sleeve member 18 to lock the said sleeve member 18 into
place with respect to the body 12. A plurality of unfinished lead
balls 52 are then placed within the retainer ring 22 on a flat
table top or surface 54, the said surface 54 being of wood, metal
or any suitable flat rigid surface. A lubricant (not shown)
preferably of the spray graphite type is then sprayed on the balls
52 for ease of operation of the swaging device 10. The handle
member 34 may then be attached to the stud member 16 and and the
entire assembly moved to and fro and with a circular motion around
the table top 54 thereby causing the said balls 52 to rub together
thereby eliminating the sprues thereabout. It has been found by
experiment that when the sprue has actually cut out a portion of
the ball as shown in FIGS. 4a and 4b this rubbing operation will
cause some lead particles to fill in the cavity or flat portion
whereas the outwardly extending sprue deformities as shown in FIGS.
4b and 4c are eliminated and smoothed into the balls to form a
smooth spherical ball.
It is also noted that instead of using the handle member 34 an
electric drill or the like (not shown) may be attached to the stud
member 16 by simply chucking the stud member 16 into the drill.
Said drill may then be turned on to rotate the body member 12 while
moving the said assembly 10 to and fro on the table top 54.
Referring now to FIG. 3, reference character 56 generally indicates
a ball sprue swage device which is similar to the swage device 10
hereinbefore described except that the sleeve member 58 thereof is
set at a fixed height thereby limiting the use of the device 56 to
the swaging of a single size of ball. The retainer ring 60 of the
swaging device 56 is substantially identical to the retainer ring
22 of the swaging device 10. The upwardly extending stud member 62
and associated removable handle 64 are substantially identical to
the stud member 16 and the handle member 34 on the swage device
10.
From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the present invention
provides a ball sprue swage device particularly designed and
constructed for removing the sprue from molded musket ball and the
like and for smoothing the outer surface thereof. The novel sprue
swage device is economical and durable in construction and simple
and efficient in operation.
Whereas the present invention has been described in particular
relation to the drawings attached hereto, it should be understood
that other and further modifications apart from those shown or
suggested herein may be made within the spirit and scope of this
invention. For example, a suitable micrometer type indicia may be
provided on the device 10 for facilitating the determination of
exactly what size or depth is provided for the wall 20 of the
sleeve 18, thus assuring that the depth of the wall 6 is
substantially equal to the diameter of the bullets to be swaged
thereby.
* * * * *