IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF SCREWS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin William Rogers, of Tipton, in the
County of Stafford, Machinist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF SCREWS."
Sealed the 2nd April 1874, and dated the 8th November 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin William
Rogers at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 8th November 1873.
I, BENJAMIN WILLIAM ROGERS, of Tipton, in the County of Stafford,
Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Iж-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF SCREWS," to be as
follows:-
My Invention has reference to that part of the said machinery
which has for its object the feeding of the screw blank or partially
formed screw into the various machines, by which the manufacture
of the screw is effected and the supporting of the body or stem of the
screw during the operations of the machines upon the said screw blank
or partially formed screw,

page_text: In screw machinery, as ordinarily constructed, the said blanks after
passing down the feeding rail are received by carriers, by which they
are carried to that part of the machine in which they are operated
upon.
By my Invention the said carriers are dispensed with and the screw
blank or partially formed screw is fed into the machine and supported
in the required position with very great accuracy.
While the blank or partially formed screw is being operated upon it
is supported by a die, which in machines of the ordinary construction
retires after the blank has been operated upon to make room for the
forceps to feed another blank into the clamps, when the said die again
approaches to support the blank.
According to my Invention I make the said die turn upon a centre,
the acting face of the die oscillating between the feeding rail and
clamps; the said acting face having a curve struck from the centre
upon which the die turns. The said curved working face is provided
with the ordinary horizontal semi-cylindrical depression, by which the
screw blank or partially made screw is supported while being operated
upon. By the motion of this moveable die upon its centre the said
depression supporting the screw blank is raised or lowered. The said
curved face of the die works against the bottom curved end of the
feeding rail, and when the said die is in its highest position the semi-
cylindrical depression in it is opposite the lowest screw blank in the
said rail, which blank falls into the said depression. The said die
descending carries the screw blank with it below the feeding rail, a
spring clip or finger pressing upon and holding the blank in the said
depression. The said spring clip or finger is stationary during the
first motion of the die, but as soon as the said die has brought the
blank underneath the said spring clip or finger the said blank is held
between the said die and clip, the said clip travelling with the die in
its further descending motion. When the said die is at its lowest
position the blank carried by it is in an exact line with the clamps or
holding tools, by which it is held and rotated while being operated
upon. Besides the motion of the die upon its centre it has a longitudinal
motion, that is, a sliding motion on its axis, by which sliding motion the
blank held by it is brought to the clamps or holding tools. The spring
clip or finger, while having a rotating motion independent of the die,

page_text: partakes of the sliding motion of the die, and has no sliding motion
apart from that of the die.
After the dic and finger holding the blank between them have
reached their lowest position the said die and finger, by the sliding
motion referred to, carry the blank to the clamps, which closing upon
the end of the shank of the blank, sieze it, and give a rotatory motion
to the said blank. The spring finger then descends and leaves the
rotating blank supported by the die. After the blank has been operated
upon the clamps open, the die retires by a sliding motion, and the
partly made screw falls from the machine, and the operations described
are repeated.
The motions of the several parts are taken from a principal shaft,
cams on which act upon levers to give the required motions to the die
and spring clip or finger; while the sliding motion of the die upon
its axis is effected by a lever working horizontally and operated by a
cam on the said shaft. The return motions are effected by springs.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Benjamin William Rogers in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 20th April 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BENJAMIN
WILLIAM ROGERS, of Tipton, in the County of Stafford, Machinist,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Benjamin William Rogers, Her special
license that I, the said Benjamin William Rogers, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Benjamin William
Rogers, 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

page_text: Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF SCREWS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Benjamin William Rogers,
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 calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Benjamin William Rogers, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention has reference to that part of the said machinery
which has for its object the feeding of the screw blank or partially
formed screw into the various machines, by which the manufacture
of the screw is effected and the supporting of the body or stem of the
screw during the operations of the machines upon the said screw blank
or partially formed screw.
In screw machinery, as ordinarily constructed, the said blanks after
passing down the feeding rail are received by carriers, by which they
are carried to that part of the machine in which they are operated
upon.
By my Invention the said carriers are dispensed with and the screw
blank or partially formed screw is fed into the machine and supported
in the required position with very great accuracy.
While the blank or partially formed screw is being operated upon
it is supported by a die, which in machines of the ordinary construction
retires after the blank has been operated upon to make room for the
forceps to feed another blank into the clamps, when the said die again
approaches to support the blank.
According to my Invention I make the said die turn upon a centre,
the acting face of the die oscillating between the feeding rail and
clamps; the said acting face having a curve struck from the centre
upon which the die turns. The said curved working face is provided
with the ordinary horizontal semi-cylindrical depression, by which the

page_text: screw blank or partially made screw is supported while being operated
upon. By the motion of the moveable die upon its centre the said
depression supporting the screw blank is raised or lowered. The said
curved face of the die works against the bottom curved end of the
feeding rail, and when the said die is in its highest position the semi-
cylindrical depression in it is opposite the lowest screw blank in the said
rail, which blank falls into the said depression. The said die descending
carries the screw blank with it below the feeding rail, a spring clip or
finger pressing upon and holding the blank in the said depression.
The said spring clip or finger is stationary during the first descending
motion of the die, but as soon as the said die has brought the blank
underneath the said spring clip or finger the said blank is held between
the said die and clip; the said clip travelling with the die in its
further descending motion. When the said die is at its lowest position
the blank carried by it is in an exact line with the clamps or holding
tools, by which it is held and rotated while being operated upon.
Besides the motion of the die upon its centre it has a longitudinal
. motion, that is, a sliding motion on its axis, by which sliding motion
the blank held by it is brought to the clamps or holding tools. The
spring clip or finger, while having a rotating motion independent of
the die, partakes of the sliding motion of the die, and has no sliding
motion apart from that of the die.
After the die and finger holding the blank between them have
reached their lowest position the said dic and finger by the sliding
motion referred to carry the blank to the clamps, which closing upon
the end of the shank of the blank seize it, and give a rotatory motion
to the said blank. The spring finger then descends and leaves the
rotating blank supported by the die. After the blank has been
operated upon the clamps open, the die retires by a sliding motion,
and the partly made screw falls from the machine, and the operations
described are repeated.
The motions of the several parts are taken from a principal shaft,
cams on a parallel shaft acting upon levers to give the required motions
to the die and spring clip or finger, while the sliding motion of the die
upon its axis is effected by a lever working horizontally and operated
by a cam on the said shaft. The return motions are effected by
springs.

page_text: I will now proceed to describe, with reference to the accompanying
Drawing, the manner in which my Invention is carried into effect.
Figure 1 represents in side elevation, and Figure 2 in plan, a machine
for turning and nicking screws or screw blanks containing feeding
mechanism, constructed, arranged, and worked according to my
Invention.
Figures 3 and 4 are end elevations of the feeding mechanism (the
framing being in section); and Figure 5 is a plan of the same.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several
Figures of the Drawing.
a is the die, by which the blank is removed from the feeding rail c
and carried to the clamps d, and by which the blank is supported
while its head is being turned and nicked. The said die a turns upon
the axis 6, the range of motion of the said dio a being from the rail c
to the clamps d. The two extreme positions of the die a are represented
in Figure 4, one of the said positions being indicated in dotted lines.
The die a is provided with the usual horizontal semi-cylindrical
depression a³, by which the blank or partially made screw e is
supported. When the die a is at its highest position the lowest screw
blank in the rail c falls into its depression a³, and as the die a descends
it carries with it the blank e, which blank immediately it escapes from
the rail c is supported in the die a by the spring clip or finger f, the
said clip or fingerf having the position represented in dotted lines in
Figure 4, when the die a commences its descending motion. The
said clip or fingerf turns upon the same axis b as the die a, but the
said clip or finger turns upon the said axis b independently of that
of the die a. After the die a has descended so far as to bring the
blank e opposite the end of the finger f, the said finger, which up to
this time had been stationary, descends with the die a, holding the
blank e securely in the said die. When the die a and finger f, carrying
the blank e, have arrived at their lowest position the stem of the blank e
is coincident with the clamps d. The die a and finger f now slide upon
their axis towards the clamps or holding tools d, by which motion the
blank e held between them is carried to the said clamps or holding
tools d, which close upon the said blank and communicate rotation
thereto in the usual way. When the blank has been seized by the
clamps the springs finger f descends and leaves the rotating blank

page_text: supported by the die a. The cutter & advancing effects the turning of
x
the head of the blank as usual. After the blank has been operated
upon the clamps d open and release the turned screw blank, the die a
and finger slide upon their axis 6 from the clamps, and performing an
ascending motion receive another blank from the rail c, and the
operations described are repeated.
is
The motions of the several parts are effected as follows:-g, Figure 1,
is the principal shaft of the machine, geared to the cam shaft i by the
train of toothed wheels h; n is a cam on the shaft i for effecting the
descending motion of the die a, the arm a¹ of the said die a being kept
to its bearing on the cam n, and the return or ascending motion of
the said die a effected by a coiled spring, not represented in the
Drawing; k is a cam on the shaft i, best seen in Figure 4, which cam
acting on the lever / effects through the connecting rod m the required
rising and falling motion of the spring clip or finger f on the axis b.
The lever is kept to its bearing on the cam k by a coiled spring, not
shown in the Drawing. The sliding motion of the die a and finger f
upon the axis 6 is effected in the following manner:-p, p² is a side
cam made in one piece with the cam n, which works the die a; q, q²,
a lever working in a horizontal plane and bearing against the side
cam p, p. The arm qª of the lever q bears against the end of the
sliding pin working in a hole in the framing of the machine. The
position of the said pin r is best seen in Figure 4. When the part p³ of
the camp advances against the end of the lever q the end q³ of the
said lever q presses the pin r against the side of the die a, and carries
it and also the finger f from the position represented in Figure 5 to
that indicated in dotted lines in the said Figure 5. The return sliding
motion of the die a and finger f, and the bearing of the lever q upon
the cam p, p, are effected by a coiled spring, not shown in the Drawing.
By means of the said return sliding motion of the die a and finger f
the screw blank held between them is carried to the clamps d, as herein-
before explained.
The parts of the machinery, Figures 1 and 2, not described constitute
no part of my Invention.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that
I do not limit myself to the precise details herein described and
illustrated, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature

page_text: of my Invention, but I claim as my Invention of improvements in
machinery for the manufacture of screws the mechanism herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing for feeding
screw blanks or partially formed screws into the various machines by
which the manufacture of screws is effected, and supporting the body
or stem of the screw or blank during the operations of the tools upon
the said screw or blank, that is to say, by the use of a die turning upon
an axis or centre, which said die by a rising and falling and sliding
motion upon the said axis transfers the blanks or partially made screws
one at a time from the feeding rail to the clamps or holding tools,
and supports them during the operations of the machines upon them;
the said die being provided with a spring clip or finger for supporting
the blank in the die after the blank or partially made screw has left the
feeding rail, and during the descending and sliding motions of the said
die; the said die and spring clip or finger, and parts connected
therewith, being constructed, arranged, and worked, substantially as
described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin William Rogers, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of April,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.
Witness,
S. ZACHARY LLOYD,
Stourport.
BENJAMIN WILLIAM ROGERS. (L.S.)