IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR ROLLING CRIMPING TACKS, AWLS, AND OTHER ARTICLES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR ROLLING CRIMPING TACKS, AWLS, AND OTHER
ARTICLES." -A communication from abroad by Henry Alexis ·
Williams, of West Medway, in the County of Norfolk and State of
Massachusetts, United States of America.
ealed the 5th November 1875, and dateḍ the 15th September 1875.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Alexander Melville Clark
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
and Declaration, on the 15th September 1875, pursuant to the 9th
Section of the Patent Law. Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Ohancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for " IMPROVED
MACHINERY FOR ROLLING CRIMPING TACKS, AWLS, AND OTHER ARTICLES," and
have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, adminis-

page_text: trators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the samc, anu navo
made solemn Declaration that it has been communicated to me from
abroad by Henry Alexis Williams, of West Medway, in the County of
Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, United States of America.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and
seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon', that is to say :—
This Invention relates to roller die machinery for shaping shoemakers'
awls, crimping tacks, and other articles, and it consists,―
First. Of notches in the surface of the rollers surrounding the dies,
and between the dies and the cavities outside of the dies for clearance,
the object being to utilize the holding back tendency of the notches on
the metal expelled from the sides in the form of pins to counteract the
longitudinal strain which the metal is subject to by the drawing action
of the rollers.
Second. The Invention consists of feed mechanism in combination
with die rollers contrived to automatically feed a long rod or wire forward
between the die rollers, hold it until the dies grip it, and after the-blank
is formed draw the rod back to the cutters, and then leave it and slide
back to take hold for feeding again.
Third. It consists of grippers contrived to seize the rod as soon as the
dies have performed their office, and hold it while the carrier continues
to go back for a new hold and while the cutters detach the rolled piece.
And, Fourth. It consists of the rollers contrived for shifting laterally
along the feed mechanism, and provided with mechanism for so shifting
them to utilize one feed for all the different dies of a set of rolls having
different sizes or forms for different articles.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.

page_text: .
Figure 5 is a plan of one of the roller dies projected on a plane; and
Figure 6 is a plan of a blank for a crimping tack as it comes from the
machine.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.
A and B represent a pair of die rolls of ordinary form, having dies C, D,
for shaping tacks of different sizes; also dies E for shoemakers' awls, in
advance of which dies the rollers have the large grooves F in which to
present the rods preparatory to their being gripped by the dies when
they meet by the revolution of the rolls; G represents the grooves for
clearance of the excess of metal, to be removed by the dies; and H
represents the notched roller faces surrounding the dics; and forcing off
the excess of metal in pins I, to be subsequently. trimmed off in another
machine.
I have found in practice that the longitudinal strain on the blank
caused by the rolling of these faces together frequently parts.the metal,
particularly when rolling an article of the form of a tack, which is
consequence of the large head required must have a good deal of metal
removed by these faces H; this strain is concentrated on the blank at
the apex of the angle formed by the faces of the two rolls where the
blank is the weakest. By having the notches in the faces the metal is
pressed into them throughout the whole length of their contact with the
metal, and thus the strain is distributed in like extent, and so reduced
upon any one point that breakage from that cause is wholly avoided.
J represents the steel or iron wire rod from which the articles are to
be made; it is presented to the rollers through the guide K by the
carrier L and lever M, the carrier being arranged to slide along the
ways N, and the lever being worked for so sliding it by the cam O. The
cam is contrived to throw the rod forward into the rollers just the length
required for the blank, and the circumferential flange R holds the lever
at rest after cam O passes it until the dies grip the rod, also while they
are pushing it back.
There is also a cam s in connection with the cam O, which lifts the
lever M by stud pin T just before cam O throws it, and presses washer S
down so as to grip the rod on the carrier with sufficient pressure to feed
it. The cam releases the lever at the same time that cam O passes it,
leaving the rod free for a short time to be moved back in the feeder by

page_text: 7th. The roller housings mounted on ways, and provided with an
adjusting screw in combination with automatic feed mechanism, sub-
stantially as specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.