A NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD OF FEEDING SCREWS, BLANKS, SHANKS, PINS, AND OTHER SUCH LIKE
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Lowe, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED
METHOD OF FEEDING SCREWS, BLANKS, SHANKS, PINS, AND OTHER SUCH LIKE
Sealed the 23rd April 1858, and dated the 31st October 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Lowe at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 31st
October 1857.
I, THOMAS LOWE, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manu-:
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW OR
IMPROVED METHOD OF FEEDING SCREWS, BLANKS, SHANKS, PINS, AND OTHER SUCH,
LIKE ARTICLES TO TURNING, NICKING, AND WORMING LATHES OR MACHINES," to
be as follows:-
My, said Invention consists of new or improved machinery for placing
screws, blanks, or other articles in the clamps or chucks of machines or lathes.
for turning, nicking, and worming. The said machinery places the said blanks
or other articles in the clamps or chucks while the said clamps or chucks are in.
motion, and without the assistance of hand labour. The said placing or feed-

page_text: ing is effected by means of two needles, skewers, or fingers, which, alternately
advancing and retiring, allow the blanks or articles to drop or force them one
by one into a pair of plyers. The said plyers close upon the blank or other
article, and by a horizontal sliding motion carry the blank or other article into
the clamp or chuck, in which it is held while being operated upon. The
motion of the needles, skewers, or fingers, as well as that of the plyers, is
effected by cams-and-other mechanical-agents, which I do not think it necessary
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patents, filed
by the said Thomas Lowe in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 29th
April 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE-PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
Lowe, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer, send
greeting
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent; bearing date the Thirty-first day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight-hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give, and grant unto me, the.
said Thomas Lowe, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas Lowe, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas
Lowe, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during.
the term therein expressed,. should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED
METHOD OF FEEDING SCREWS, BLANKS, SHANKS, PINS, AND OTHER SUCH LIKE
ARTICLES TO TURNING, NICKING, AND WORMING. LATHES OR MACHINES,".-upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Lowe, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of
their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner. the same was to be performed; and
cause the same' to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calender
months next and immediately after the date of, the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Lowe, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-

page_text: formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
4:
My Invention consists of the new or improved machinery herein-after par-
ticularly described, and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, for feeding
screws, blanks, shanks, pins, and other such like articles to turning, nicking,
and worming lathes or machines.
t
One method of carrying my Invention into effect is illustrated inside
elevation, in Figure 1; in plan, in Figure 2; in end elevation; in Figure 3;
and in transverse section, in Figure 4 of the accompanying Drawing. "The
machinery places the blanks or other articles in the clamps or chucks, while
the said clamps or chucks are performing a rotatory motion, the said machinery
acting without the assistance of hand labour.
The blanks or other articles placed in the box or receptacle a fall through
the hole 6 in the said box on to the incline c. The said incline c'is indicated
in plan in dotted lines in Figure 2. The blanks or other articles in sliding
down the incline c, assume the positions represented in Figure 1. The said
blanks are allowed to fall one at a time into the plyers d'in the following
manner:-Two fingers or bars e, f, (see Figure 4) which said fingers or bars
are also shown separately in Figure 5, are situated with respect to the incline è
in the position which will be understood by reference to Figures 1, 2, and 4.
The fingers or bars e, f, are jointed to the bar'g, on the axish of which bar is
an arm or lever i. The cam k on the shaft acting upon the lever'i in con-
junction with the spring m, which produces the return motion of the said lever
, gives an alternating advancing and retiring motion to the fingers or bars e, f
When the finger or bar e is withdrawn from under the blank 'n, the said blank
n falls, and is received upon the finger f, which advances as the finger e retires.
When the finger fretires, the blank which was supported upon it falls, and is
received in the plyers d. By the motion described the said fingers or bars e, f,
allow the blanks to fall from the incline c one at a time."The blank or other
article, after falling from the finger f, drops into the position marked n, in
Figure 2, that is to say, the head of the blank is situated between the two
arms of the plyers d. The said plyers d close upon the blank, and afterwards
carry it to the clamps o in the following manner :-The plyers & slide
upon the
table p, the advancing motion of the plyers being produced, as herein-after
explained, by the lever q, and the return motion by the spring r. After the
blank has fallen into the position shown at n in Figure 2, the rise-s of the cam
t, acting upon the lever q, causes the wedge u to advance between the short
arms of the plyers d, and closes the long arms of the said plyers upon the

page_text: blank n. The said blank n is thus securely held by the plyers d. The
rise v of the cam t next acting upon the lever q, causes the plyers d and
wedge u to slide upon the table p, the blank n being thereby. carried into
the position : The clamps or chucks o seize the blank n' and communicate
to it, a rotatory motion. The rise v of the cam t having passed from under the
lever q, the plyers d are withdrawn by the spring r. The pulling back of the
plyers d by the spring r liberates the blank n' from the said plyers, the pressure
of the ends of the plyers against the head of the blank opening them suf-
ficiently to allow the head to pass out. When the lever q does not act upon the
wedge, the spring w opens the plyers d.
I do not think it necessary to describe or represent the machinery by which
the blank n¹ is turned, or the operation of the clamps o, as my Invention only
relates to the feeding of blanks or other articles to the machines in which they
are operated upon. Instead of allowing the blanks to drop into the plyers, by
which they are carried to the turning lathes or other machines, I sometimes
force the said blanks or other articles into a pair of plyers, in the way illus-
trated in Figures 6, 7, and 8 of the Drawing; Figure 6 representing a side
elevation of this modification of my Invention, Figure 7 representing. an end
elevation of a portion of the same, and Figure 8 representing an end elevation
of another portion of the same.
The blanks or other articles are delivered from a box upon an incline, as
described and represented with respect to Figure 1, the lowest blank of the
series resting in a horizontal position upon the table or slide x, situated imme-
diately under the bottom of the incline.y. By means of a cam z on the shaft
1, and an arm or lever 2, on which the cam z acts, motion is communicated
through the connecting rod 3 to the slide x, the said slide being made to assume
the position a¹, when the cam z is in full action on the lever 2. A pair of
plyers 4, the jaws of which are made to close by an india-rubber band-5, is
fixed on the upper end of the arm or lever 6, and the said arm or lever 6 is
acted upon by a cam 7 on the shaft 1.
the part 8 of the cam 7 acts on the lever 6, and depresses the plyers 4 so far
upon the blank at a¹, that the said blank forces open the ends of the depressed
plyers 4, and becomes secured in the said plyers, the part 8 of the cam 7
ceasing to act on the arms 6, the plyers 4 rise again slightly, carrying the blank
with them, the slide x retires from the position a¹, and the part 10 of the cam
7 now acting upon the lever 6, depresses the plyers 4 so far that the blank held
in them-is brought into the axis of the revolving, clamps 11. While held in
this position the said blank is pushed horizontally until its. end enters the
When the slide x is in the position a¹,

page_text: clamps 11, when it is seized by the closing of the clamps 11, and the return
motion of the lever 6 raising the plyers 4, the said plyers are ready to take
hold of and supply another blank. The return motion of the lever 6 is pro-
duced by a spring. The horizontal motion by which the blank is pushed while
held by the plyers 4 into the clamps 11, consists of a cam 12 on the shaft 1,
which said cam acts through the lever 13 upon the sliding pin or rod 14,
which said pin or rod 14 is in a line with the axis of the clamp 11. It must
be borne in mind that the axis marked 1 in Figure 8 is the same axis as that
marked 1 in Figure 7, and that the parts described with reference to Figure 8
stand in front of the parts represented in Figure 7.
For convenience of description and representation I have represented
different portions of the machinery in separate Figures. The relative positions
of the parts will perhaps be better understood if Figure 8 be supposed to be
laid upon Figure 7 in such a position that the axis 1 in Figure 8 coincides
with the axis 1 in Figure 7, the horizontal or base lines of the said Figures
also coinciding.
Although I have only represented in the Drawing the application of both
modifications of my Invention to the feeding of blanks to turning lathes, yet
I wish it to be clearly understood that my said Invention may be adapted to
any other machine to which it may be necessary or desirable to feed screws,
blanks, shanks, pins, or other such like articles; but I believe the nature
of my Invention will be sufficiently understood by the application of it to
turning lathes, as herein described and represented, and I therefore do not
think it necessary to describe or represent the application of my Invention
to other machines.
The first-described modification of my Invention is particularly applicable
to the feeding of small blanks, and the second modification to the feeding of
large blanks, and other such like articles, to turning lathes or other machines.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described and represented, as the same
may be varied without departing from the nature of my Invention; but I claim
as my Invention,-
Firstly, the method, herein-before described, and illustrated in the accom-
panying Drawing, of feeding screws, blanks, shanks, pins, and other such like
articles to turning, nicking, and worming lathes or machines, that is to say,
by means of plyers constructed and actuated as herein-before described, and
marked d in the accompanying Drawing, the said plyers sliding upon a table

page_text: or frame, and working in conjunction with the fingers or bars marked e. and f
in the accompanying Drawing.
Secondly, the method herein-before described, and illustrated in Figures 6, 7,
and 8 of the accompanying Drawing, of feeding screws, blanks, shanks, pins,
and other such like articles to turning, nicking, and worming lathes or
machines.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Lowe, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
THOMAS LOWE. (L.S.)
E