IMPROVEMENTS IN DIRECT-ACTING HYDRAULIC MACHINES FOR RIVETTING, PUNCHING, OR SHEARING, AND IN APPARATUS FOR ADJUSTING SUCH MACHINES TO MURID WORK
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ralph Hart Tweddell, of Delahay Street, Westminster, in
the County of Middlesex, James Platt, of the Atlas Engine Works, Gloucester,
in the County of Gloucester, and John Fielding, also of the Atlas Engine
Works, Gloucester, in the County of Gloucester, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN DIRECT-ACTING HYDRAULIC MACHINES FOR RIVETTING,
PUNCHING, OR SHEARING, AND IN APPARATUS FOR ADJUSTING SUCH MACHINES
TO MURID WORK"
Sealed the 24th April 1878, and dated the 27th February 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Ralph Hart Tweddell, James
Platt, and John Fielding at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on
the 27th February 1878.
RALPH HART TWEDDELL, of Delabay Street, Westminster, in the County of
Middlesex, JAMES PLATT, of the Atlas Engine Works, Gloucester, in the County of
Gloucester, and JOHN FIELDING, also of the Atlas Engine Works, Gloucester, in the
County of Gloucester. "IMPROVEMENTS IN DIRECT-ACTING HYDRAULIC MACHINES
FOR RIVETTING, PUNCHING, OR SHEARING, AND IN APPARATUS FOR ADJUSTING SUCH
MACHINES TO THEIR WORK."
This Invention relates to direct-acting bydraulic machines for rivetting, punching,
or shearing, whether such machines be stationary or of the portable kind, as
described in the Specification to Letters Patent granted to R. H. Tweddell on the
12th Dec., 1871, No. 3358.
The object of our present improvements is to simplify the construction and
facilitate the adjustment and application of such inachines as we will now describe.
In the portable rivetting machine consisting of two lever jaws, which at the one
end butt against each other, and at the other end carry the rivetting tools, we form

page_text: the hydraulic cylinder as part of one of these levers, or attach it firmly thereto, and
we arrange its ram to work out at the back of the cylinder connecting the ram to
the other lever by a piston rod passing through the bottom of the cylinder, or by
two adjustable tie bolts. We adjust the length of these tie bolts by means of nuts
working on their threaded ends, and in order to adjust them equally, we connect
these nuts together by gearing, so that they are turned simultaneously and
equably.
According to a modified form of such rivetting machine, we insert the lever jaws
in a slot cut through a tube. The two sides of this tube form the tie rods taking
the strain of the work, and the one end of the tube forms the hydraulic cylinder,
the ram of which butts by a slide or roller on the lever jaw next to it.
Or, according to another construction we place the lever jaws between two tubes
which act as tie rods, and form at their ends two hydraulic cylinders with rams
acting on a cross-head, which slides in longitudinal slots in the tubes.
Instead of leaving the ram free to make a stroke farther than the length of the
cylinder will permit, we provide a stop for the ram to limit its out stroke, and we
make this stop in the form of segmental collars, portions of which form shoulders,
whilst portions between them are cut away. The ram is inserted by passing its
segmental collars through the spaces between those formed in the neck of the
cylinder, and the ram is then turned partly round so as to bring the two sets of
segmental collars into a corresponding position, where they act as stops, the ram
being prevented from turning by the tie bolts connected to the farther lever of the
machine.
Should the ram require to be removed for cleansing or repair, the tie bolts are
removed, and the ram being then turned partly round can be withdrawn from the
cylinder.
Instead of or in addition to the stops above mentioned, we also provide adjustable
tappets acting on a lever connected to the valve slide, so that if the ram moves
beyond its normal stroke, the slide is moved by the tappet so as to shut off the
supply and open the discharge.
When the machine is suspended from a crane or traveller, we employ as the
means of its suspension the pipes which convey the working fluid to and from it,
connecting them to the cylinder by packed trunnions, so that the machine may be
turned into the various attitudes required for different kinds of work. When this
arrangement is adopted, we prefer to place the supply and discharge valves in some
conveniently accessible part of the pipes which may be at a distance from the
cylinder of the machine.
In some cases, instead of making the machine as above described with two levers
working on their end butting point as on a fulcrum, we make it as a solid framing
with the gap, in the form of what is commonly known as a "bear," with the
cylinder situated in one of the arms. This machine we mount by a ring or framing,
so that it can be turned round in one plane, or by shifting the ring, it can be
turned round in a plane at a right or other angle thereto to direct it as required
to the work.
Also, the ring framing may be made as a gimbal to allow of the machine being
turned to the required attitude without disconnecting any part of the framing.
For convenience of rivetting domes on boilers and work of like kind, we fit the
cylinder to slide along an arched arm of the "bear," and in order that the rivetting
die may truly face the rivetting tool when the cylinder is shifted in position, we
mount the die on a joint concentric with the arch of the arm, and connect the die
by suitable links to the cylinder, so that they both are moved equably together.
This form of machine as well as the portable machine of the form first referred to
can be conveniently suspended from an overhead traveller by means of its supply
pipe.
In order to adjust its height, we make this pipe as a telescopic tube, or one tube
sliding within the other through suitable packing, and at the side of it we fix

page_text: another pipe suspended from the traveller. This pipe is fitted with a plunger,
which is connected to the inner telescopic pipe that carries the machine.
By means of suitable cocks or valves we admit the working fluid to the pipe in
which the plunger works, or discharge it therefrom, thereby effecting the raising or
lowering of the machine as required.
The portable rivetting machine may also be mounted on a truck so as to run on
rails along the keel of an iron vessel or a girder, or such like work, and balanced
on a joint on this truck so as to admit of its being raised or lowered to suit rows
of rivets at various heights along the keel. The frame in which it is balanced is
preferably mounted on a vertical pivot on the truck to admit of the rivetting
inachine being turned round in a horizontal plane.
For work of the kind referred to, the rivetter, instead of being mounted on a
carriage, may be suspended from a lever arm projecting from a sleeve, which can
turn on a horizontal bar or tube, and slide along the same, so that the vertical and
horizontal position of the rivetter may be determined as required for the work.
In rivetting up a girder the flanges thereof may be used as the rails on which
the truck carrying the rivetter is run along, the wheels of the said truck being
made adjustable in gauge to suit different widths of flanges.
In the slides valves commonly employed for the supply and discharge of the
working fluid, the cup leathers used as packing are apt to become strained and
injured when the fluid passes them into the ports which they uncover. In order to
prevent this injury we provide such ports with shields, against which the cup
leathers bear, the port passages being formed under such shields leading from
apertures at the one side of the cup leathers to apertures on the other side.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Ralph Hart Tweddell, James Platt, and John Fielding in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 23rd August 1878.
RALPH HART TWEDDELL, of Delahay Street, Westminster, in the County of
Middlesex, JAMES PLATT, of the Atlas Engine Works, Gloucester, in the County of
Gloucester, and JOHN FIELDING, also of the Atlas Engine Works, Gloucester, in the
County of Gloucester. "IMPROVEMENTS IN DIRECT-ACTING HYDRAULIC MACHINES
FOR RIVETTING, PUNCHING, OR SHEARING, AND IN APPARATUS FOR ADJUSTING SUCH
MACHINES TO THEIR WORK."
This Invention relates to direct-acting hydraulic machines for rivetting, punching,
or shearing, whether such machines be stationary or of the portable kind, as described
in the Specification to Letters Patent granted to R. H. Tweddell, on the 12th
December 1871, No. 3358.
The object of our present improvements is to simplify the construction and
facilitate the adjustment and application of such machines as we will now describe.
In the portable rivetting machine consisting of two lever jaws, which at the one
end butt against each other, and at the other end carry the rivetting tools, we form
the hydraulic cylinder as part of one of these levers, or attach it firmly thereto,
and we arrange its ram to work out at the back of the cylinder connecting the ram
to the other lever by a piston rod passing through the bottom of the cylinder.
Fig. 1 represents a side view, partly in section, and Fig. 2, a front view of this
arrangement.
A and B are the two levers, as part of one of which A is formed the hydraulic
cylinder C fitted with its piston c, provided with suitable packing. The piston
rod c¹ passes through packing and is linked to the lever B. A spring D opens the
levers when the pressure on the face of the piston is relieved, but instead of this
spring D the levers might be opened by pressure applied to the back of the
piston.
Instead of a piston with its rod as shewn in Fig. 1, a plunger with two adjustable
side rods attached to its cross head may be used, as shewn in the side view, Fig. 3,
and end view, Fig. 4, where A and B are the two levers, the one having attached
to it the hydraulic cylinder C; c¹, its plunger, has a cross head c², to which are
attached two side rods E, E, linked to the lever B.
We adjust the length of these tie bolts by means of nuts working on their
threaded ends, and in order to adjust them equally we connect these nuts together
by gearing, so that they are turned simultaneously and equably.
Fig. 5 represents to an enlarged scale a section through one of the adjusting
nuts e of the tie rods E, which nuts are turned simultaneously by worms on one
spindle e¹.
According to a modified form of such rivetting machine, we insert the lever
jaws in a slot cut through a tube. The two sides of this tube form the tie rods,
taking the strain of the work, and the one end of the tube forms the hydraulic
cylinder, the ram of which butts by a slide or roller on the lever jaw next to it.
Fig. 6 is a side view partly in section, Fig. 7 is a transverse section, and Fig. 8,
a plan of this arrangement.
Here A and B are the two levers which are passed through a slot in a tube F, the
two sides of the tube forming the tie rods and the hydraulic cylinder C being formed
in one end of the tube.
Its plunger c butts against the back of the lever A. The
levers, on relief of the pressure in C are opened by a spring D, for which a hydraulic
cylinder might be substituted.
To prevent the levers A and B from shifting vertically they have pins a, b, the
one of which, a, works in a slot in the sides of F, and the other, b, passes through
plain holes in those sides.
According to another construction we place the lever jaws between two tubes

page_text: which act as tie rods, and form at their ends two hydraulic cylinders with rams
acting on a cross head which slides in longitudinal slots in the tubes.
Fig. 9 represents a sectional plan of this arrangement.
A and B are the two levers situated between two tubes forming hydraulic
cylinders C, C, in which work rams c, c, connected to the lever A by a pin a passing
through slots in the sides of C, C.
When the machine is suspended from a crane or traveller we employ as the
means of its suspension the pipes which convey the working fluid to or from it,
connecting them to the cylinder by packed trunnions, so that the machine may be
turned into the various attitudes required for different kinds of work.
This mode of suspension is shewn in Figs. 3 and 4, Fig. 3° representing to an
enlarged scale a section through the trunnion. G is the supply pipe leading to a
branch g which communicates by the trunnions g' with the inlet pipe g² of the
hydraulic cylinder C.
The link g³, corresponding to g, may be a solid bar, as shewn, secured to the
rivetter by a bolt with a nut g by tightening which the rivetter is held in position.
The upper end of the suspending links works in a swivel H, so that the rivetter can
be turned round in a horizontal plane.
A similar mode of suspension is applicable to rivetters of other forms, as shewn
in Figs. 14 and 15, and also in Figs. 16, 17, and 18.
Instead of using a double suspending link as above described a single tubular
link may be employed with swivel joints set at various angles, as shewn in
Figs. 3b, 3c, 3d, and 3e, so as to give facility for setting the machine in any desired
attitude.
Instead of several joints in the suspending pipe a single joint working in an
oblique trunnion may be employed, as shewn in the plan, Fig. 10, and in the side
views, Figs. 11 and 12, representing the rivetter in two attitudes, Fig, 13 being a
section through the trunnions, drawn to an enlarged scale. In this case the bent
supply pipe g works in the oblique trunnion g', from which there is communication
by the pipe g to the cylinder C.
The rivetter may be conveniently turned on the trunnions as an axis by means of
worm gearing, as shewn, and can thus be made to take various attitudes suited to
the work on which it is employed.
This mode of suspension may also be applied to machines of other forms, as may
be readily understood, examples of which are shewn in Figs. 104, 10B, 10%, and 10º.
Of these 10B shews an elevation, and 10° a plan of the mode of suspending a rivetter
from a crane or traveller; Fig. 10° shewing the connection to the suspending gear.
In this case the supply pipe is a flexible one, which may be wound on a drum in a
known manner, as shewn to an enlarged scale in Fig. 10º.
In some cases, instead of making the machine as above described with two levers
working on their end butting point as on a fulcrum, we make it as a solid framing
with a gap in the form of what is commonly known as a "bear" with the cylinder
situated in one of the arms. This machine we mount by a ring or framing, so that
it can be turned round in one plane, or by shifting the ring it can be turned
round in a plane at a right or other angle thereto to direct it as required to the
work.
Also the ring framing may be made as a gimbal to allow of the machine being
turned to the required attitude without disconnecting any part of the framing.
Fig. 19 is a side view, and Fig. 20 a section partly in elevation of a machine thus
arranged.
In Fig. 19 the machine is shewn suspended by a ring J, within which it can be
turned as on a horizontal axis, while it can also be turned in the swivel H, from
which the supply pipe g is led to the cylinder C.
On the back of the machine can be bolted a frame K, as shewn in Fig. 20, the
same ring J fitting thereon, so that the machine can be turned with the axis of its
cylinder moving in a vertical plane. In this case the pipe g communicates by a
trunnion with an inlet pipe g'.

page_text: For turning the machine round within the ring J a rack and pinion motion may
be employed, as shewn in longitudinal and transverse section, Figs. 21 and 22,
j being the spindle of the pinion.
The ring J may be suspended by double links, as shown in Figs. 16, 17, and 18,
these links with their swivel and the ring J constituting a gimbal framing,
admitting of the machine being turned into many different attitudes without dis-
connecting any part.
For convenience of rivetting domes on boilers and work of like kind we fit the
cylinder to slide along an arched arm of the "bear," and in order that the rivetting
die may truly face the rivetting tool when the cylinder is shifted in position we
mount the die on a joint concentric with the arch of the arm, and connect the die
by suitable links to the cylinder, so that they both are moved equably together.
Fig. 23 is a side view, partly in section; and Fig. 24 is a side view of a
machine thus arranged as it would be applied to rivetting a dome or steam head on
a boiler, these two Figures shewing the machine in different attitudes to suit the
work.
Fig. 25 is a plan of the machine.
In this construction the cylinder C can be shifted along a slot of a circular arc L,
the die b being turned round proportionally by means of a lever / connected to the
same gear as that which gives motion to the cylinder, so that the axis of the die is
always in line with that of the cylinder.
Portable machines of the forms described can be conveniently suspended from an
overhead traveller by means of their supply pipes.
In order to adjust the height we make this pipe as a telescopic tube, or one tube
sliding within the other through suitable packing, and at the side of it we fix
another pipe suspended from the traveller. This pipe is fitted with a plunger,
which is connected to the inner telescopic pipe that carries the machine.
By means of suitable cocks or valves we admit the working fluid to the pipe in
which the plunger works or discharge it therefrom, thereby effecting the raising or
lowering of the machine as required.
Fig. 26 is a vertical section of a supply pipe thus arranged for suspending the
machine and raising or lowering it as desired.
M is the supply pipe, working telescopically within the outer pipe m and com-
municating by holes with the annular space between the two pipes, to which space
the working fluid is supplied. N is an external pipe, which can also be supplied
with the working fluid from the annular space or have the fluid discharged there-
from, the supply and discharge being governed by suitable valves. In the pipe N
works a plunger n, which is connected at the top to the pipe M.
When working
fluid is admitted to N this plunger is forced upwards, and thereby raises the pipe M
and the machine suspended by it, and conversely by discharging the contents of N
the pipe and machine are lowered. The whole is suspended from a truck or
traveller by a swivel with a spherical lip O, so as to give freedom for swinging.
A modified form of this suspending gear is shewn in Fig. 27, which is a vertical
section with the lower part in elevation, this lower part and the upper part being
shewn in cross section at Fig. 28, and the valve box at the bottom being shewn in
sectional plan to an enlarged scale at Fig. 29.
In this modification the pipe N, instead of being at the side of the telescopic pipe,
encloses it, and the suspending pipe M, instead of being within the supply pipe m,
encloses it. This suspending pipe has fixed to it at its top an annular piston m³
fitting the inside of N and the outside of m. The supply pipe m¹ is connected to
the inner pipe m through a spherical joint, and it is to be understood that a similar
connection for the supply is employed in the arrangement shewn in Fig. 26. At
the bottom of the pipe N is a valve box containing screw supply and discharge
valves worked by levers P, P, so as to admit the working fluid supplied by the
pipe p to the annular space within the pipe N or to discharge fluid therefrom.
When it is admitted to this space the pressure acting on the annular piston m³

page_text: raises the pipe M and with it the machine suspended by it, and conversely when
the pressure in the annular space is relieved the pipe and machine descend.
The application of this suspending apparatus to a travelling crane is shewn in
Fig. 30, a rivetter being in that Figure shewn as suspended in convenient position
for rivetting the flange of a girder.
The portable rivetting machine may also be mounted on a truck, so as to run on
rails along the keel of an iron vessel, or a girder, or such like work, and balanced
on a joint on this truck, so as to admit of its being raised or lowered to suit rows
of rivets at various heights along the keel; the frame in which it is balanced is
mounted on a vertical pivot on the truck to admit of the rivetting machine being.
turned round in a horizontal plane.
The
This mode of mounting a rivetter is shewn in side view at Fig. 31, and in end
view at Fig. 32, as it might be applied in rivetting the keel of a vessel.
machine is suspended within a fork Q, which is mounted by a vertical shaft 9 on a
truck R, and the machine is counterbalanced by a weight adjustable on a lever 7.
For work of the kind referred to the rivetter, instead of being mounted on a
carriage, may be suspended from a lever arm projecting from a sleeve, which can
turn on a horizontal bar or tube and slide along the same, so that the vertical and
horizontal position of the rivetter may be determined as required for the work.
Fig. 33 is an end elevation, and Fig. 34 a side view, of this arrangement.
S is a tube, on which slides a sleeve a carrying a counterweighted lever, from
which the rivetter is suspended. The traverse of the sleeve and rivetter is effected
by means of a screw 8¹.
In hydraulic machines for rivetting and such like operations instead of leaving
the ram free to make a stroke farther than the length of the cylinder will permit,
we provide a stop for the ram to limit its outstroke; and we make this stop in the
form of segmental collars, portions of which form shoulders, whilst portions between
them are cut away. The ram is inserted by passing its segmental collars through
the spaces between those formed in the neck of the cylinder, and the ram is then
turned partly round, so as to bring the two sets of segmental collars into a corre-
sponding position, where they act as stops, the ram being prevented from turning
by the tie bolts connected to the farther lever of the machine.
Should the ram required to be removed for cleaning or repair the tie bolts are
removed, and the ram being then turned partly round can be withdrawn from the
cylinder.
Fig. 35 is a longitudinal section; and Fig. 36, a transverse section of a
hydraulic cylinder with its ram working between stops, as above described. The
cylinder is made with interior segmental collars S, and the rain with exterior
segmental collars 8, so that by turning the ram until its shoulders 8 come into the
spaces between the shoulders S of the cylinder the ram can be introduced or with-
drawn. When it is introduced it is turned partly round, so that its shoulders
correspond in position with those of the cylinder, which then act as stops. After
the ram is introduced into the cylinder, and partly turned as described, it is
prevented from turning by the insertion of the tie bolts E, E. The cylinder itself
inay be held in the same manner in the framing of the machine, as shewn in the
longitudinal section, Fig. 37, transverse section, Fig. 38, and plan, partly in section,
Fig. 39.
Instead of or in addition to the stops above mentioned we also provide adjustable
tappets, acting on a lever connected to the valve slide, so that if the ram moves
beyond its normal stroke the slide is moved by the tappet so as to shut off the
supply and open the discharge.
An external elevation of valve gear arranged to operate in this manner is shewn
in Fig. 3, a section through the cylinder and valve gear being shewn at Fig. 40,
and a section of the valve itself being shewn to an enlarged scale at Fig. 41. The
ram R is made with a recess at its side 7, into which enters the end of a tappet
lever T. As the ram R approaches the end of its out stroke one end of the recess 7,
acting on the lever T, moves it, whereby the valve V is moved to the position

page_text: shewn in Fig. 41, so as to close the supply of working fluid to the cylinder. The
valve can then be farther moved by hand or otherwise, so as to open the discharge
from the cylinder, allowing the ram to make its return stroke. As it approaches
the end of that stroke the other end of the recess r, acting on the tappet lever T,
causes the discharge to be closed.
In order to adjust the length of stroke as desired a set screw may be applied, as
shewn at r in Fig. 3, or similar arrangement may be applied at either or both ends
of the recess 1°.
In the slide valves commonly employed for the supply and discharge of the
working fluid, the cup leathers used as packing are apt to become strained and
injured when the fluid passes them into the ports which they uncover. In order
to prevent this injury we provide such ports with shields against which the cup
leathers bear, the port passages being formed under such shields leading from
apertures at the one side of the cup leathers to apertures on the other side.
The valve in Fig. 41 is shewn constructed in this manner, and a similar con-
struction for double-acting valve is shewn in longitudinal section at Fig. 42.
Fig. 43 shews one end with the valve in position for supply, and Fig. 44 shews
the other end with the valve in position for discharge.
In this construction the annular space in the middle of the valve is supplied with
the fluid under pressure; P, P, are the ports leading to the cylinder, and X is the
discharge pipe.
It will be seen that the packing leathers which are exposed to pressure u, u, are
stationary,, and that shields o, o, on the slide valve move over these leathers,
covering them while the fluid under pressure passes under the shield, as shewn in
Fig. 43. There are also shields o' fixed in the valve case in such position as to
cover the other leathers u', u', when the discharge fluid passes under these shields,
as shewn in Fig. 44.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, we claim in respect of direct-acting hydraulic machines
for rivetting, punching, or shearing, and of apparatus for adjusting such machines
to their work,—
First. The construction of machine herein described with reference to Figs. 1
and 2 of the accompanying Drawings, wherein the hydraulic cylinder is formed in
one of the levers of the machine and its piston is connected by a rod to the other
lever.
Second. The construction described with reference to Figs. 6, 7, and 8, wherein
the levers of the machine are placed in the slot of a tube, one end of which forms
the hydraulic cylinder and the sides of which constitute tension rods.
Third. The construction described with reference to Fig. 9, wherein the levers of
the machine are situated between two tubes forming two hydraulic cylinders and 4
constituting tension rods.
Fourth. Suspending the machines by means of their supply or discharge pipe,
so jointed and swivelled that the attitude of the machines may be varied as
desired to suit the work to which they are applied, substantially as herein
described.
Fifth. The construction of suspending gear suitable for turning the machine on
a horizontal or on a vertical axis, as described with reference to Figs. 16, 17, 18,
19, and 20.
Sixth. Mounting the cylinder of the machine so that it can be adjusted in a
circular arc to suitable position for rivetting domes on boilers and work of like 5
kind, as described with reference to Figs. 23, 24, and 25.
Seventh. Suspending the machines by means of their supply pipes, constructed
telescopically, to be raised or lowered by the working fluid, as described with
reference to Figs. 26, 27, 28, 29, and 30.
Eighth. Mounting the machine on a truck by framing, so arranged as to admit a
of its adjustment in a vertical and also in a horizontal plane, as described with
reference to Figs. 31 and 32.

page_text: Ninth. Mounting the machine on a lever pivotted on a sleeve which can be slid
along a bar or tube, as described with reference to Figs. 33 and 34.
Tenth Limiting the stroke of the ram in the cylinder by means of internal and
external collars, made segmental, so as to admit of the introduction or removal of
the ram when turned partly round, as described with reference to Figs. 35, 36, 37,
38, and 39.
Eleventh. The construction of the tappet valve gear, as described with reference
to Figs. 3, 40, and 41.
Twelfth. The use of shields for protecting the packing leathers, as described with
reference to Figs. 40, 41, 42, 43, and 44 of the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ralph Hart Tweddell, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.
RALPH HART TWEDDELL. (L.S.)