IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF NUTS FOR SCREWS, AND IN MACHINERY EMPLOYED IN THE SAID MANUFACTURE
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederic Groom Grice, of West Bromwich, in the
County of Stafford, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF NUTS FOR SCREWS, AND IN MACHINERY EMPLOYED IN
THE SAID MANUFACTURE."
Sealed the 8th May 1860, and dated the 25th January 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederic Groom Grice at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th January 1860.
I, FREDERIC GROOM GRICE, of West Bromwich, in the County of Stafford,
Manufacturer,do herebydeclare the nature of the said Invention for" IMPROVE
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF NUTS FOR SCREWS, AND IN MACHINERY EMPLOYED
IN THE SAID MANUFACTURE," to be as follows:-
In manufacturing nuts for screws according to my Invention I proceed as
follows:-
I first prepare bars of iron by giving them nearly the figure of a series of
hexagonal or other shaped nuts joined together side by side. This I effect by
means of a pair of suitably formed dies, which by closing upon the bar of
heated iron, gives to its edges nearly the required form. In order to perfect
the figure of the bar, I subject the said bar to pressure on its upper and lower
faces, and cause the iron to expand laterally, so as to enter the sharp angles of
[Price 8d.]

page_text: the dies. This I effect in the following manner:-The heated bar being still
pressed by the side dies, I bring down upon the face of the bar a series of flat-
faced punches, the said punches having such a figure that in entering they
accurately fill up the space between the side dies. The bar is thus pressed on
its edges by the side dies, and its upper and lower faces are pressed between
the punches and the bed of the machine. In the middle of the face of each of
the last described punches is a small taper punch. The said small taper
punches enter the iron and make an indentation or hole nearly through it.
The iron is thereby forced into the angles of the side dies, while the faces of
the bar are made even and smooth by the action of the flat-faced punches
The punches being raised, the bar is turned over, and the punches again
brought down. The small taper punches enter the iron and complete the
holes through the partly formed screw nuts, at the same time spreading out
the iron, and filling up the side dies or tools. The dividing of the iron
into separate nuts is effected by cutting it transversely at the narrowest parts
by means of a punch having the same figure as the nut. The said punch cuts
off the nut, and forces it into a die of the same shape as the nut. Whilst the
nut is in the die a clearing punch descends through a hole in the cutting-off
punch, and smooths the hole in the nut. After the withdrawal of the punch
the nut is forced from the die.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederic Groom Grice in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th July 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERIC
GROOM GRICE, of West Bromwich, in the County of Stafford, Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of
Her reigu, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Frederic Groom Grice, Her special licence that I, the said
Frederic Groom Grice, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Frederic Groom Grice, 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 King

page_text: dom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man,
an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF NUTS FOR SCREWS, ;
AND IN MACHINERY EMPLOYED IN THE SAID MANUFACTURE," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Frederic Groom Grice, 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 iminediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Frederic Groom Grice, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
screws,
My said Invention consists of the improvements in manufacturing nuts for
and of the machinery to be employed in the said manufacture herein-.
after particularly described, and represented in the accompanying Drawing.
My said Invention is in part an improvementon machinery described in the
Specification of a Patent granted to me, and bearing date the Second day of
April, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six. In
the said Specification I have described and claimed as of my Invention a
method of compressing bar iron into the form of a series of hexagonal nuts
joined together side by side, the pressing of the iron being effected by a pair
of dies and an ordinary press.
One of my present improvements consists of the method of manufacturing
screw nuts, and the machinery employed in the said manufacture, illustrated
in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, of the accompanying Drawing.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of one of the machines which I employ in
carrying my Invention into effect, and Figure 2 is a front elevation of a part
of the same; Figures 3 and 4 represent in plan portions of the machine as
herein-after explained. The said machine has for its object the manufacture
of bars of iron having the figure of a series of hexagonal or other shaped nuts
joined together side by side. The said machine is constructed as follows:-
A die a, shown separately in Plan, in Figure 3, is fixed on the bed of the
machine; a second die c, shown separately in Figure 4, slides in a horizontal
plane on the bed of the machine. The advance motion of the die c is effected
by the cam d, and the return motion of the said die c is effected by box cams
on the same axis. A vertical slide e, shown separately in Figure 2, carrying
a series of flat-faced punches f, f, works in guides g in the frame of the
machine. The slide e is connected by means of the links h with a lever.or

page_text: beam, to which motion is given by a cam or crank, or other mechanical
arrangement. In the middle of the face of each of the punches ff, is a
smaller punch ff. The smaller punches ff, are cylindrical in figure.but
have taper or conical ends, or the said smaller punches f, f, may be cylin
drical in their whole length; and terminate in flat faces; I prefer, however,
the taper termination. The bar of iron 7 to be operated upon is heated to a
red heat, and fed into the machine until its end comes in contact with the
stop on the fixed die a; the moveable die c advances and compresses the
sides of the bar, giving it nearly the figure of the outline of Figure 5. The
iron becomes thicker at those places where the width of the bar is diminished.
As the punches f, f, descend the smaller punches f2f, enter the bar and
form a series of indentations or holes which pass nearly but not quite through
the bar. The flat faces of the punches f, f, next press upon the upper face of
the bar, and the said bar is thereby flattened. The entrance of the smaller
punches, into the bar causes the iron to expand laterally, and to enter
and fill up the sharp angles of the dies a and c. The top and bottom faces of
the bar are at the same time compressed between the flat faces of the
punches f, f, and the bed of the machine, and as the figure of the punches ff,
is such, that in entering between the dies a and c, they accurately fill up the
space between the said dies, the iron can only expand under the pressure to
which it is subjected into the angles of the dies a and c. The punches f, f,
and smaller punches f², f, rise, and die c retires, and the bar is turned over
so as to bring uppermost the face or side which was lowest. The die c again
closes, compressing the bar 7 between it and the fixed die a and the slide e
descends. The smaller punches f2, f2, enter the bar, and perfect the perfo-
rations which were commenced on the other face of the bar, and the flat faces
of the punches f. f, compress the faces of the bar, as already described. The
slide e rises and withdraws the punches, and the die c retires. The bar is
removed from the machine having the figure represented in Figure 5, that is
to say, having at its end the figure of six perforated hexagonal nuts joined
together side by side. By dividing the bar, Figure 5, transversely in lines
midway between the perforations, it is cut into hexagonal nuts. On re-beating
the bar after the shaped portions have been cut off it is subjected to the
action of the machine again, and so on until the whole of the bar has been
made into nuts. The nuts may be cut from the bar, Figure 5, by any suitable
cutting machine. Although I find it convenient to shape as much of the bar
at a time as may be cut into six nuts, yet a greater or less number may be
shaped by the use of longer or shorter dies and a corresponding number of
punches. I have represented the dies a and c of the form suitable for making

page_text: hexagonal nuts, but the said dies may be made of the form required for making
octagonal or other shaped nuts. When square nuts are to be made, the
acting surfaces of the dies a and c are plain, and do not change the figure of
the edges of the bar, but only support them so as to prevent change of
figure by the action of the punches. I sometimes cut off the nut as well as
shape and perforate the iron in the same machine.
A machine of this kind is represented in side elevation in Figure 6, and in
plan in Figure 7; Figure 8 represents a longitudinal vertical section of the
same, and Figure 9, a transverse vertical section of the same. In this
machine the bar of iron n, to be made into nuts is operated upon by a pair of
dies op, which shape at one time only so much of the bar as makes one nut.
The end of the bar is partly perforated at the same time that it is shaped, the
perforation being effected by the punch 7, (see Figure 7). The shaped and
partly perforated end of the bar is marked n². After the end of the bar has
been shaped and partly perforated as represented in Figure 9, the bar is
pushed until the shaped and partly perforated end comes against the stop q
It is here operated upon by another set of tools whereby the shaped end of the
bar is cut off,the perforation being completed and the nut pressed on all sides,
so as to perfect its shape, when the shaped end of the barn is against the stop
2. it is between the die box s, s, and hollow punch t, which said punch t, and
die box s,s, have the shape of the nut to be made. The completion of the nut
will be best understood by reference to Figure 8. The punch t advancing cuts
off the end n of the bar and forces the cut off portion into the die box s, s,
The cutting off is effected by the edges of the die box s, s. As the nut is
forced into the die box s, s, the perforation is completed by the fixed punch u,
against which the nut is forced. The punching or small portion of iron
removed to complete the perforation is received in the cavity in the punch t.
When the punch t, has advanced to its full extent, the nut is compressed on
one side by the said punch t, and on the other by the end of the slide w, it
is supported on its sides by the sides of the die box s, s, and in its interior by
the fixed punch u. The nut thus pressed on all its surfaces is made to assume
the required form. As the hollow punch t retires on the fixed rod <<, the
small punching of iron which was removed from the nut is pushed from the
said punch t by the said rod a. The slide w advancing into the die box s, s,
pushes the finished nut therefrom, and when the slide w has retired, the
several parts are in the positions in which they are represented in the drawing.
The notions of the several parts are thus effected, a pinion on the main shaft
15 engages in a toothed wheel on the axis y, and communicates motion to the
said-axis. The punch is fixed on the and of the bolt 10, which engages in

page_text: the box cam 11 on the shaft y, and takes motion therefrom; on the shaft y are
excentrics 12,12, which communicate motion through the connecting rods 13,
13, to the slide 14, carrying the hollow punch t. The dies o and P, which
shape the edges of the bar nare worked in the following manner:-An axis
takes motion by means of toothed wlieels from the axis y. By means of an
excentric on the shaft z, the connecting rod 16 is made to give a vibratory
motion to the crank 17 on the axis 18. By means of the crank 19, connecting
rod 20, and crank 21, a vibratory motion is given to the axis 22, which is
communicated through the arin 23 and connecting links 24, 24, to the upper
die o. On the shaft 18 is a cam 25, which acts directly on a roller 26 on the
bottom of the bolt carrying the lower die p. The motion of the slide wis
taken from a cam or excentric on the shaft z, but I have omitted in the
Drawing the parts which transmit the motion from the said shafts to the slide w,
in order that more essential parts may the more readily be seen. By the use
of punches with taper ends to indent and finish the holes in screw nuts loss of
iron is avoided as the taper ends of the punches in entering the bar do not cut
away the iron but force it laterally into every part of the dies, I use however
either punches with taper ends or punches having flat ends in either of the
machines hercin-before described.
Having now described the nature of my Invention and the manner of carry.
ing 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 improvement in the manufacture of nuts for screws and in
machinery employed in the said manufacture herein-before described
and represented in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, of the accompanying Drawing,
that is to say, forming or shaping bars of iron to be made into screw nuts
by compressing the face of the heated iron and indenting and perforating
the centre of the partly shaped nut while the edges of the bar are pressed by
side dies, so as thereby to force the iron into the angles of the partially
formed nuts.
Secondly, the improvement in making the holes in screw nuts herein-before
described and illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, of the accompanying
Drawing, that is to say, forming the holes in the partially formed nuts by
punches with taper points by first impressing the nuts on one side and com-
pleting the holes from the other side by means of the said punches, thereby
forming the holes without loss of iron.
Thirdly, the improvement in making the holes in screw nuts herein.before

page_text: described and illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, of the accompanying
Drawing, that is to say, indenting nut shaped iron with a cylindrical punch
with a flat termination and afterwards completing the whole from the reverse
side.
Fourthly, the general arrangement or combination of parts of the machine
for making nuts for screws herein-before describedan drepresented in Figure6,
7, 8, and 9, of the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederic Groom Grice, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of July,in the year of our Lord,
One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
GDORGE SHAW.
FREDERIC GROOM GRICE. (L.S.)