IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SPOONS, FORKS, AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES, AND IN APPARATUS OR MACHINERY TO BE EMPLOYED THEREIN, PARTS OF WHICH SAID APPARATUS OR MACHINERY ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER MANUFACTURES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Daniel Joseph Fleetwood, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF SPOONS, FORKS, AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES, AND IN
APPARATUS OR MACHINERY TO BE EMPLOYED THEREIN, PARTS OF WHICH SAID
APPARATUS OR MACHINERY ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER MANUFACTURES."
Sealed the 1st October 1867, and dated the 9th April 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Daniel Joseph Fleetwood
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th April 1867.
I, DANIEL JOSEPH FLEETWOOD, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SPOONS, FORKS, AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES,
AND IN APPARATUS OR MACHINERY TO BE EMPLOYED THEREIN, PARTS OF WHICH SAID
APPARATUS OR MACHINERY ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER MANUFACTURES," to be as
follows (that is to say) :-
My present Invention consists mainly of certain improvements upon and
additions to a former Invention of mine bearing a similar title and for which
Her Majesty's Royal Letters Patent dated the 20th day of September,
A.D. 1865, have already been granted to me.

page_text: And, firstly, this Invention refers to improvements in and connected with
the dies used in the above-named manufacture, and in the die holders employed
to contain such dies; I form the dies used in producing double sided work
with grooves or recesses sunk round the contour of the pattern as a provision
for receiving the scrap in the shape of the fin or burr.
For single sided work I employ a die sunk in relief or male die for the top
die, and in cases where it may be preferred to produce the blanks flat and to
bowl a spoon, curve a fork, or perform any operation analagous to these by a
separate and subsequent process I propose to use flat male and female dies to
produce the pattern. Again, in instances when such bowling or shaping is
performed by several blows, I propose to place a series of lower dies on a
travelling bed upon a hydraulic support as a cushion and by suitable motion
advance the travelling bed with the dies on it up an inclined plane so as to
bring the series of dies in succession under the part of the metal blank to be
shaped at each blow, and thus to deepen the sinking without altering the
position of the force or stamp, or of the metal blank under operation, or the
same effect may be produced by working the lower die upwards against an
upper die or force by pressure from the hydraulic ram, or vice versâ ; where an
ordinary stamp is employed, the use of a hydraulic bed is not necessary, this
process is applicable to all descriptions of stamping hollow forms in metal but
particularly for ornamental stamping, and for piercing out blanks, the prongs
of forks, and other similar uses. The blanks may be fed in by a hopper; as
a security against slipping or displacement whilst the spoon or other article is
being operated upon, I provide clips or retaining springs which are recessed
into one or both of the dies, and within which clips the bowl of the spoon or
one end of the article is held during the operation. For the purpose of accurate
adjustment of the dies with each other, I provide guides consisting of slide
rods working in corresponding grooves, the rod being on one die and the
groove on the other, or they may be in instead of on the dies if preferred, and
for the exact fitting of the dies in the die holders or carriages I employ slides
upon the one part working in grooves on the other; the employment of these
slides and grooves also assists materially in the setting of the tools in the
process of cutting out.
I propose also in some instances to employ open
die holders, that is to say, holders consisting of a bottom and two ends instead
of a box form, these may be used with or without regulating wedges, and may
be adjusted by means of the guides before named, and fixed or released by
binding pins or set screws.
For the ready removal of the die holders and carriages from the press table
I provide beneath each carriage.small spring compensating rollers let into

page_text: grooves or recesses in the under side of the bottom of the carriage, so that when
the pressure is removed these spring rollers come into action and admit of the
carriage being run off the table of the press.
For heavy dies I provido a lifting apparatus to assist the removal of the
upper die, this may be a wheel lever chain and balance weight or a small
hydraulic lift.
And, secondly, this Invention refers to improvements in apparatus or
machinery to be employed in the above-named and other similar manufactures ;
and for the purpose of filing the prongs of forks, and for other uses to which
such a machine may be applicable, I employ slide boxes carrying slides fitted
with files of any requisite form and working in opposite directions from the
same cam at one end and at the other connected to a rod working from a shaft
upon which is fixed an eccentric or cam guide driven by pulleys and bands or
other suitable driving gear, and causing the files to work with a reciprocating
motion over the surface of the article to be operated upon.
My next improvement lies in applying to the hydraulic press employed by
me a maximum guage and valve which may be adjusted to indicate any given
pressure, and thus prevent breakage of dies, or injury to the press, by inadver-
tency in putting on too great power, and when using the press with dies of
unequal size and strength in alternation, as in the case of two operators being
engaged at the same press, the one in forming small articles, and the other
large ones, I employ with such maximum guage a separate set or sets of stop
valves so that a greater or lesser pressure may be regulated for heavier or
lighter work by each of the operators, as each in turn may require.
I also propose to obtain my press power direct from a steam cylinder and
piston working a double piston rod of given diameter attached to rods of lesser
diameter working with reciprocating action in the hydraulic forcing cylinders,
the latter furnished with their hydraulic pipes in connection with the press or
presses, return pipes and valves, and this apparatus I can employ either with
or without an accumulator, thus acting either as a forcing cylinder into an
accumulator or direct into the cylinder of the press. The piston rod may be
all in one piece, serving in the mid-length as steam piston rod and at each end
as hydraulic forcing plungers.
My next improvement consists in passing dies or tools with the metal between
them and confined in suitable holders or carriages, protected if requisite by
suitable packing plates, between rollers to obtain the pressure requisite for
cutting out blanks or impressing them with any desired pattern or into any
desired form, and I propose to make the dies or tools in the following manner,
that is to say, by taking steel blanks or hubs from ordinary dies by stamping,

page_text: rolling, or pressure, hardening the blanks so obtained, and using them as hubs
for the multiplication of dies, and I prefer to make my dies plate form instead
of block form, as being more readily adapted to rolls or presses.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, fileri
by the said Daniel Joseph Fleetwood in the Great Seal Patent Office,
on the 8th October 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DANIEL
JOSEPH FLEETWOOD, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manu-
facturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Daniel Joseph Fleetwood, Her special license that I, the said Daniel
Joseph Fleetwood, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
1, the said Daniel Joseph Fleetwood, 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SPOONS, FORKS, AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES,
AND IN APPARATUS OR MACHINERY TO BE EMPLOYED THEREIN, PARTS OF WHICH SAID
APPARATUS OR MACHINERY ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER MANUFACTURES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that the said Daniel Joseph Fleetwood, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Offico within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Daniel Joseph Fleetwood, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being bad to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
My present Invention consists mainly of certain improvements upon and
additions to a former Invention of mine, bearing a similar title, and for which

page_text: Iler Majesty's Royal Letters Patent dated the Twentieth day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, have
already been granted to me.
And, firstly, this Invention refers to improvements in and connected with
the dies used in the above-named manufacture, and in the die holders
employed to contain such dies; I form the dies used in producing double-
sided work with grooves or recesses sunk round the contour of the pattern as
a provision for receiving the scrap in the shape of the fin or burr.
For single sided work I employ either a top or bottom die, but by preference
a top die sunk in relief, and in cases where it may be preferred to produce
the blanks flat and to bowl a spoon, curve a fork, or perform any operation
analagous to these by a separate and subsequent process, I propose to use flat
male and female dies to produce the pattern, and in forming the dies I prefer
that the female die be sunk in shallow relief, the male die being so formed
that it may not enter the sunk portion of the female die but merely abut
against it at the cutting edges, thus preserving those edges from injury.
Dies thus constructed may be fed with cross rolled blanks, the scrap from
which can be removed by a subsequent process. Again, in instances when
such bowling or shaping is performed by several blows or pressures, I propose
to place a series of lower dies on a travelling bed upon a bydraulic support
as a cushion, and by suitable motion advance the travelling bed with the
dies on it up an inclined plane, so as to bring the series of dies in succession
under the part of the metal blank to be shaped at each blow, and thus to
deepen the sinking without altering the position of the forcer or stamp, or
of the metal blank under operation, or the same effect may be produced by
working the lower die upwards against an upper die or forcer by pressure
from the hydraulic ram; in practice I prefer to employ a horizontal travelling
bed or feeding apparatus, this process is applicable to all descriptions of
stamping hollow forms in metal, but particularly for ornamental stamping
and for piercing out blanks, the prongs of forks, and other similar uses; the
blanks may be fed in by a hopper. As a security against slipping or dis-
placement whilst the spoon or other article is being operated upon I provido
clips or retaining springs which are recessed into one or both of the dies,
and within which clips the bowl of the spoon or one end of the article is held
during the operation. For the purpose of accurate adjustment of the dies
with each other I provide guides, consisting of slide rods working in corre-
sponding grooves, the rod being on one die and the groove on the other, or
they may be in instead of on the dies if preferred, and for the exact fitting of the
dies in the die holders or carriages I employ slides upon the one part working

page_text: in grooves on the other; the employment of these slides and grooves also
assists materially in the setting of the tools in the process of cutting out. I
propose also in some instances to employ open die holders, that is to say,
holders consisting of a bottom and two ends instead of a box form; these
may be used with or without regulating wedges, and may be adjusted by
means of the guides before named, and fixed or released by binding pins or
set screws.
For the ready removal of the die holders and carriages from the press table
I provide beneath each carriage small spring compensating rollers let into
grooves or recesses in the under side of the bottom of the carriage, so that
when the pressure is removed these spring rollers come into action and admit
of the carriage being run off the table of the press.
For heavy dies I provide a lifting apparatus to assist the removal of the
upper die, this may be a wheel, lever, chain, and balance weight, or a small
hydraulic lift.
Aud, secondly, this Invention refers to improvements in apparatus or
machinery to be employed in the above-named and other similar manufactures,
and for the purpose of filing the prongs of forks, and for other uses to which
such a machine may be applicable. I employ slide boxes carrying slides fitted
with files of any requisite form, and working in opposite directions by means
of a shaft, upon which is fixed an eccentric cam driven by pulleys and bands
or other suitable driving gear, and connected with the slides by means of a
connecting rod, thereby causing the files to work with a reciprocating motion
over the surface of the article to be operated upon. For the edging of spoon
and fork blanks, and for other similar uses, I employ revolving files or fraising
tools shaped or partly shaped to the contour of the article to be operated
upon; these tools I cause to revolve either vertically or horizontally to suit
the article under operation.
My next improvenient lies in applying to the hydraulic press a maximum
guage and valve, which may be adjusted to indicate any given pressure, and
thus prevent breakage of dies or injury to the press by inadvertency in putting on
too great power, and when using the press with dies of unequal size and strength
in alternation, as in the case of two operators being engaged at the same press
the one in forming small articles and the other large oues, I employ with such
maximum guage a separate set or sets of stop valves, so that a greater or
lesser pressure may Le regulated for heavier or lighter work by each of the
operators, as each in turn may require.
I also propose to obtain my press power direct from a steam cylinder and
piston working a double piston rod of given diameter, attached to rods of

page_text: lesser diameter working with reciprocating action in the hydraulic forcing
cylinders, the latter furnished with their hydraulic pipes in connection with
the press or presses, return pipes and valves, and this apparatus I can employ
either with or without an accumulator, thus acting either as a forcing cylinder
into an accumulator or direct into the cylinder of the press. The piston rod
may be all in one piece serving in the mid length as steam piston rod, and at
each end as hydraulic forcing plungers.
My next improvement consists in passing dies or tools with the metal
between them and confined in suitable holders or carriages, protected if
requisite by suitable packing placed between rollers to obtain the pressure
requisite for cutting out blanks or impressing them with any desired pattern
or into any desired form, and I propose to make the dies or tools in the fol-
lowing manner, that is to say, by taking steel blanks or hubs from ordinary
dies by stamping, rolling, or pressure hardening the blanks so obtained, and
using them as hubs for the multiplication of dies, and I prefer to make my
dies plate form instead of block form as being more readily adapted to
11
I may remark that the Drawings illustrate only portions of my Invention,
they apply to those parts which cannot so well be described without their
aid, other parts of the same will be readily understood by the foregoing
description.
Referring to Sheet A, Figure 1 represents in part sectional and part front
elevation a press constructed in accordance with my improvements; Figure 2
is a longitudinal section of the same; Figure 3 shews the press in side
elevation; and Figure 4 is a plan with some of the parts in section.
(a) is the hydraulic support or cushion held up to the stops (a¹) by the
pressure from the air vessel or accumulator (b); (c) are the supply pipes
furnished with a valve (d) loaded by the weight (d'), the position of which
upon the lever (e) determines the maximum resistance of the water in the
cylinder (a2); (f) is the main slide or forcer working vertically between the
plates (g), and put in motion by the eccentric (h) which is formed upon the
shaft (s) and driven by the wheels (i) from any suitable source of power.
Upon the descent of the main slide or forcer (f) the hydraulic bed or
cushion (a) remains stationary until the pressure of the main slide or forcer
(f) shall exceed or become superior to the resistance caused by the weighted
valvo (d), when the valve (d) will be raised by the pressure of the water, and
the water expelled from the cylinder (a) into the accumulator (b); the lower

page_text: die will thus yield to the pressure of the upper die, and no injury can be
sustained by the dies or any part of the press from over pressure. On the
upward stroke of the main slide or forcer (f) the motion of the pin (7) which
is fixed in the end of the shaft (s) lifts the lever (e) by means of the con-
necting link or bar (k) and allows the water in the air vessel or accumulator
(b) to return through the valve (d) into the cylinder (a) and thus to restore
to its normal position the bed or cushion (a). (1) is an arrangement of starting
and stopping gear; the remaining parts are those of an ordinary machine of
this description and need no further elucidation.
I shall therefore proceed to describe the next part of my Invention in its
proper order; it consists of the travelling bed or feeding apparatus to be
employed with this description of press, and I prefer that it should be con-
structed as shewn, for the purpose of clearer illustration, to an enlarged scale
detached in Figures 5 and 6; this bed or feeding apparatus is worked hori-
zontally instead of upon an inclined plane. (m) is the die holder, which may
be arranged to receive one or more dies; (n) is a casting or framework in
which an endless flat chain (p), here shewn in dotted lines, travels, passing
over pullies (o) mounted upon spindles and capable of adjustment as to their
relative distances apart. This apparatus, as shewn in Figs. 5 and 6, is placed
upon the hydraulic bed or cushion (a) of the press, the die holder (m) resting
immediately under the main slide or forcer (f), the endless flat chain (p) is
so constructed that each of its links may receive a blank to be cut or stamped,
or the links of one or both of the chains may be made so as to form clips or
retaining springs, within which clips the bowl end of the spoon or one end of
the article may be held, and by means of any suitable arrangement of travelling
gear from the motion of the press the pullies (o) are caused to revolve with
an intermittent action, and thus to draw each blank in rotation into such
position upon the die (m) as to bring it within the grip of the dies attached
to the main slide or forcer (f) and ram (a); having received its pinch the
onward motion of the chain over the pullies (o) carries it over the forward
pulley and allows the blank or scrap to fall off.
Sheets B and C illustrate my improvements in the construction and arrange-
ments of the valves and guages which I propose to employ in connection with
hydraulic presses.
Referring to Sheet B, Figure 1 is a part elevation and part section of a
press arranged for two or more operators to be engaged at work at the same
time; Figure 2 is a plan of the same; aud Figure 3, a section upon the line
(A, B,) of the plan Figure 2; the remaining Drawings exhibit details which
will be herein-after referred to.

page_text: (a) and a' are the framework and pillars of the press; (b) is the hydraulic
cylinder within which works the piston and ram (c); (d) is a table secured
upon columns for the purpose of carrying maximum valves (e and e¹) which
are governed by levers and weights (e and e), thus forming maximum
guages; the table (d) also carries the cylinder (f) with double-acting
hydraulic ram (f¹), rack (f), and wheels (9', 9, 9, 9'); these arrangements
are shewn partly in dotted lines, and work the valves (h', ha, h³, h³); (i,') are
the pipes for connecting, the press and valves. Figure 4 shews an enlarged
transverse section of the valve (e), the valve (e¹) being similar; (1) is the
cylinder, (2) the waterway leading from the valve (3) to the cylinder (1);
(4) is the pipe in connection with the cylinder of the press; (5) is an exhaust
pipe. The valve (3) is kept down by the weighted lever (6), and the cylinder
is shewn in connection with the exhaust pipe (5); when the pressure in the
pipe (4) exceeds the weight upon the valve (3) the valve (3) is raised, the
exhaust pipe (5) is closed by the upper face (7) of the valve (3), and the
water rushes from the pipe (2) into the cylinder (1). Figure 5 is an enlarged
section of the valves (h¹ and h²).
Figure 1 shews the ram (c) commencing its downward movement or stroke,
for which purpose the bottom exhaust (H) is open, and the bottom supply (H³)
is shut, the top supply (H) being open, and the top exhaust (H³) sbut. Upon
the completion of the stroke, that is, so soon as the pinch is given at, say, a
pressure of fifty tons, the valve (e) lifts the lever (e), and the rush of water
through this valve (e) enters the cylinder (f), and thereby instantaneously
reverses the valves (H', H, H³, H',) by means of the rack (f) and wheels
(9, 9, 9, and 9,) the bottom exhaust (H') will now be closed, the bottom
supply (H) open, the top supply (H) closed, and the top exhaust (H³) open,
the ram (c) will therefore ascend until the upper pinch is given, say, at a
pressure of 300 tons, when the lever and weight (e³) will be raised, allowing
the water to pass through the maximum valve (e¹) to the cylinder (f), when the
valves (H, H, H³, H',) will be again reversed, and the action of the press will
be repeated as before. The ram (f¹) is double acting, and the exhaust water
escapes through the exhaust pipe (k). The press is started or stopped by
means of a valve placed between the valves described and the accumulator,
which also acts as a throttle valve for regulating the speed of the press.
I have described the action of the valves (H, H2, H3, H',) as being simul-
taneous, and in practice there is no objection to this, but at Figure 6 is shewn
another arrangement of the rack and wheels, by means of which the supply
valves are shut before the exhaust valves are open, and the exhaust closed
before opening the supply, thus the rack (f) has twice the length of stroke

page_text: shewn in Figure 2, and is provided with teeth (J) upon opposite sides, but for
a portion only of its length; the rack is shewn out of gear with the wheels
(G, G³,) and ingear with the wheels (G, G*,) upon the return stroke of the
rack the supply valve (G) and the exhaust valve (G2) will be closed before
the teeth (J) come into contact with the wheels (G, G³,) when the further
motion of the rack (f) will open the exhaust valve (G³) and the supply valve
(G), the flat portions (m) of the wheels (G1, G2, G3, G4,) by coming into
contact with the plain portion of the rack (f) ensure that the wheels shall
be left in the position for re-engaging with the teeth (j).
Referring to Sheet C.-Figure 1 is a front elevation and part section of
a hydraulic press arranged so as to give ก long stroke of ram with the least
possible expenditure of high-pressure water, and fitted with the same system
of valves described in Sheet B; this for convenience is shewn as a single
acting press; Figure 2 is a plan of the same; Figure 3 is a section upon the
line A, B, on the plan Figure 2, shewing the arrangement of levers in
connection with the valves.
(1) is the cylinder of the press closed at top and open at bottom; (2) is the
table of the press, between which and the ram (3) the dies (16) are placed;
4, 4, are the pillars of the press; upon the top of the cylinder (1) is bolted
the cylinder (5) containing piston (6) and rod (7) screwed into the main
ram (3), a pipe (8) leads from the small cylinder (5) to the exhaust valve (9)
and inlet valve 10, and a pipe (11) leads from the large cylinder (1) to the
low-pressure supply valve (12), and the high-pressure supply valve (13); the
valves (10) and (13) are both supplied from a high-pressure accumulator fed
by pumps in the ordinary manner; the valve (12) is in connection with a low-
pressure accumulator without pumps fed by the action of the press itself.
The ram (3) has been driven down by the low-pressure water through the
valve (12) until the dies (16) nearly touch each other; the adjustible
block (17) (Fig. 3) has drawn down the catch (18) and the lever (19), and
by means of the shaft (20), (see also (Fig. 2) lever (21) and links (22) has raised
the valve (15), thereby having admitted high-pressure water to the end (31)
of the small cylinder (23), and caused the rack (35) to assume the position
shewn in the Drawings; the low-pressure valve (12) is now shut, and the
high-pressure valve (13) open, the very small remaining portion of the stroke
of ram (3) will now be completed by the high-pressure water, and when the
resistance of the dies has caused the pressure in the cylinder (1) and pipe (11)
to exceed the pressure at which the maximum valve (14) is set, the maximum
valve 14 will be raised, and will admit high-pressure water to the second
small cylinder (24), and thereby close the exhaust valve (9) and open the

page_text: high-pressure valve (10) in connection with the cylinder (5), the piston (6)
of which would raise the ram (3) if an outlet were afforded for the water
above the ram (3); this outlet is provided in the following manner :-The
rise of the lever of the maximum valve (14) raises the links (26), and by
means of the lever (27), shaft (28), lever (29), and links (30), disengages
the catch (18) from the block (17), and allows the lever of the valve (15) to
fall, thereby putting the end (31) of the small cylinder (23) in connection
with the exhaust pipe (32), the piston of the small cylinder (23) is now at
liberty to be acted upon by the high-pressure water which the rise of the
valve 14 admitted into the branch pipe (33), and the consequent stroke of
the rack (35) will by means of the wheels (36) close the high-pressure supply
valve (13) of the main cylinder (1), and open the low-pressure valve (12).
The ram (3) will now be raised by the piston (6), and the whole of the
contents of the cylinder (1) will be driven back into the low-pressure
accumulator; when the ram (3) has arrived at the top of its stroke it will
remain there until the attendant by means of the handle (34) puts the
cylinder (5) in connection with the exhaust, and causes the whole of the
foregoing process to be repeated; it is necessary to provide the low-pressure
accumulator with a safety valve, because the small extra quantity of water
admitted to the cylinder 1 by the high-pressure valve (13) is driven into the
low-pressure accumulator in addition to the quantity which has previously
been received from it during the first part of the down stroke of the ram (3).
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is practically to be carried out, I wish it to be understood
that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein described and illus-
trated; but I claim the several improvements in apparatus or machinery to be
employed in the manufacture of spoons, forks, and other similar articles, parts
of which said apparatus or machinery are or may be also applicable to other
branches of manufacture, substantially in manner herein more fully set forth
and specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Daniel Joseph Fleetwood, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
DANIEL JOSEPH FLEETWOOD. (L.S.)