AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF POWER HAMMER
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF POWER
HAMMER." A communication from abroad by Philip Syng Justice, of
Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania. United States of America
Sealed the 17th August 1866, and dated the 24th March 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 24th March 1866.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION
OF POWER HAMMER," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the employment of a metal spring and a flexible
connection for suspending the ram or hammer, by which means the vibration
caused by the hammer striking its required blow is absorbed and the
effectiveness and force of the blow of the hammer is very greatly increased.
Bolted to the sides of the anvil block are standards, which with a cap-piece
secured to their upper ends form a frame in which the ram or hammer slides

page_text: vertically.
The hammer is suspended from a semicircular metal spring
which is secured by means of a telescopic rod to the crank pin of a crank
shaft having its bearings in the frame; this spring is surrounded by a flexiblo
belt which passes through an eye in the upper part of the hammer, and by
which it is suspended. To the crank shaft a flanged driving pulley and a fly
wheel are keyed for working the hammer. The belt used on the pulley is a
slip belt with a tightener suspended vertically over its slack side between the
flanged pulley and the main shaft from which the power is derived. A rod
should extend from the belt tightener to the floor, which for convenience of
the hammerman may terminate in a stirrup for the insertion of his foot in
swinging the belt tightener whilst either sitting or standing, by which means
the rapidity and force of the blow of the hammer can be increased or
diminished at will. To prevent the heat of the metal whilst being worked
from injuring the flexible connection or belt which surrounds the metal spring
a reflector or guard is fixed on either side of the frame above the anvil block.
The die for receiving the heated metal to be operated upon is secured by a
groove or dovetail in the anvil block, and is held firmly in its place by a wedge
being forced under it by means of a screw entering the anvil block, the object
being to facilitate the changing of the dies. In vibrating the hammer by
means of the metal spring and belt or elastic connection a stroke greater than
the throw of the crank pin is obtained, whilst at the same time the hammer
receives through the said spring and flexible connection the power imparted to
it in one direction and transmits it in the opposite, thereby making a vibratory
motion similar in effect to a rotary motion. The object of the telescopic rod
is to increase or diminish the length of the connection between the hammer
and the crank pin, whereby objects of unequal sizes can be hammered on the
some die
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 24th September 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her

page_text: reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special licence that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF POWER HAMMER," being a communication
to me from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 tho
following statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention relates to the employment of a metal spring and a flexible
connection for suspending the ram or hammer of power hammers operated by
a crank shaft. By this means the vibration caused by the hammer striking
its required blow is absorbed in the flexible connection or belt attached to the
aforesaid spring, whilst in the deflection and general action of the spring
itself the effectiveness and force of the blow of the hammer is very greatly
increased.
In order to enable others to use and practice the Invention I describe its
construction and operation thus,
On reference to the accompanying Drawings which form a part of the
Specification, Fig. 1 represents a back view, and Fig. 2 a vertical section
of this hammer; Figures 3 and 4 show the details of a split connecting
rod joint. Similar letters on the various Figures refer to like parts of the
machine.
A is the anvil block, on the sides of which are bolted or otherwise secured
the guides or frames B, B, the upper ends of which combined with the cap C
form the journal for the crank shaft M; F is the hammer or ram suspended
between the guides or frames B, B, by the flexible connection and spring

page_text: before mentioned; K is the semicircular metal spring, usually made of cast
steel, which is secured by means of a telescopic rod to the crank pin D, and
which is also surrounded by a flexible belt which passes through an eye in the
upper part of the hammer and by which it is suspended. O, P, R, on Fig. 3
shows the connecting rod joint complete, and Figs. 4 show the parts of the
same joint in detail, of which O is the ferrule which can be screwed at its
lower end to a solid or hollow connecting rod. At the upper end of the
ferrule O the stem ends of the boxes P, P, are inserted and held securely in
their place by a set screw R. This furnishes a cheap and efficient connecting
rod joint easily taken apart or altered at will; E is a flanged driving pulley
attached to the crank shaft M, and around which the slip belt is to pass, by
which the hammer may be operated. The tightener for this belt should be
suspended vertically over the slack side of the belt between the flanged
pulley E and the main shaft from which the power is derived. A rod should
extend from the belt tightener to the floor, which for convenience of the
hammerman may terminate in a stirup for the insertion of his foot in swinging
the belt tightener, whilst either sitting or standing, by which means the
rapidity and force of the blow of the hammer can be increased or diminished
at will; N is a deflector or guard to prevent the heat of the metal whilst
being worked from injuring the flexible connection or belt which surrounds
the metal spring K. G is a die secured by a groove or dovetail in the anvil
block A, and which is held firmly in its place by a wedge H being forced
under it by means of a screw S which enters the anvil block A, as shown at
Fig. 2, the object being to permit the dies to be changed at will without loss
of time or the necessity for hammering small wedges between the dies and
anvil block. In vibrating the hammer by means of the metal spring and belt
or elastic connection K a stroke greater than the throw of the crank pin D is
obtained, whilst at the same time the hammer receives through the spring and
flexible connection the power imparted to it in one direction and transmits it
in the opposite, thereby making a vibratory motion similar in effect to a
rotary motion, and as before stated the concussion of the hammer with the
object placed upon the die is prevented from being communicated further than
the belt or flexible connection, thus making a cheap appliance and one not
liable to the ordinary destruction attending other power hammers. The
object of the telescopic rod L is to increase or diminish the length of the con-
nection between the hammer and the crank pin, whereby objects of unequal
sizes can be hammered on the same die.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "An Improved
Construction of Power Hammer," and explained the manner of carrying the

page_text: same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part
recited Letters Patent I claim the elastic and flexible connection between the
hammer and crank shaft for the purpose substantially as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-fourth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)