Improvements in the Manufacture of Hollow Articles from Pieces or Blanks of Ductile Metal and in Machinery employed therein, Particularly Applicable to the Manufacture of Buffer Cases.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Jan., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 23rd Oct., 1890-Accepted, 29th Nov., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Hollow Articles from Pieces or
Blanks of Ductile Metal and in Machinery employed therein,
Particularly Applicable to the Manufacture of Buffer Cases.
We JAMES HONIBALL TOZER and WILLIAM TOZER both of 10 Eastcheap in the
City of London, Railway Plant Contractors, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
Our invention has reference to the manufacture of hollow articles from pieces or
blanks of ductile metal such for example as steel plate and it relates more particularly
to the manufacture of the cases or boxes of railway or other buffers, but it is applicable
to the manufacture of other hollow articles.
We will proceed to describe it as applied to the manufacture of a buffer case.
We take a sheet or blank of ductile metal, say steel plate, which is considerably
thicker than the walls of the buffer case to be produced. We then submit the plate in
a sufficiently heated state to the action of a male and a female die as will be well
understood so as to force or press the plate into the form required, the heated plate
being stretched or extended by the action of the dies so as to fill the annular or other
space between them when forced home.
And in order to form the flange of the buffer case we bring down upon the outer
portion of the plate or blank before the pressing operation commences a ram or block
which surrounds the male die and is of such configuration that it holds down upon the
top of the walls of the female die all that part of the plate which extends beyond the
hollow or mouth of the female die. The said outer portion of the plate thus remains
unaffected by the pressing operation and constitutes the flange of the finished case.
If it is preferred that this flange should be thinner than the main part of the original
blank, the case after pressing may be removed and inserted under another press and
the flange be reduced to the dimensions and shape required by employing suitable dies
to effect this; or the blank instead of being of equal thickness throughout may be
made thinner at the portion which will constitute the flange; the blank may also be
made thinner at the centre, or a portion of the centre can be removed by drilling or
otherwise.
Should it be found that the male die is liable to be forced through the centre
of the plate during the pressing operation we can employ. a counter piece which
we bring up through the female die against the underside of the plate before
commencing the pressing operation, and we then cause the male die and counter
piece to descend together so that the counter piece supports the centre of the
plate while the rest of the plate is being pressed into shape.
If the buffer case to be manufactured is of such configuration that it cannot be
pressed at one operation it may be pressed at two or more operations, the dies
used in the first or earlier operations being of an intermediate form or forms.
Our improvements in machinery for manufacturing buffer cases or other hollow
articles from pieces or blanks of ductile metal consist of the combination with the
female die and the male die or plunger of a ram or block to hold down the outer
or flange part of the blank during the pressing or shaping operation as has been
already described.
The improvements in machinery may also include the use in combination with
a female die and a male die or plunger of a counter piece which can be moved
up through the female die so as to bear against the blank and can then be moved
down simultaneously with the male die so that the middle part of the blank is
held between them during the pressing or shaping operation as has been already

page_text: described. The male die and the counter piece may be hydraulic rams which can
be moved both independently of each other and simultaneously as required.
Dated this 24th day of January 1890.
J. C. MEWBURN,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Patent Agent.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Hollow Articles from Pieces or
Blanks of Ductile Metal and in Machinery employed therein,
Particularly Applicable to the Manufacture of Buffer Cases.
We, JAMES HONIBALL TOZER and WILLIAM TOZER both of 10 Eastcheap in the
City of London, Railway Plant Contractors do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
Our invention has reference to the manufacture of hollow articles from pieces or
blanks of ductile metal such for example as steel plate and it relates more
particularly to the manufacture of the cases or boxes of railway or other buffers;
we will describe it as applied to the manufacture of a buffer case.
We take a plate or blank of ductile metal, say steel plate which is at the outset
considerably thicker than the walls or sides of the finished case to be produced.
We then submit the plate in a sufficiently beated state to the action of a male and
female die as will be well understood so as to force or press the plate into the
form required, and in order to form the flange of the case and also to hold the
plate firinly down while it is being pressed, we bring down upon the outer portion
of the plate or blank under treatment a ram or block which surrounds the male
die and is of such configuration that it acts as a vice and holds down upon the
top of the female die that part of the plate which extends beyond the mouth of
the female die, the said outer portion of the plate thus remains unaffected by the
pressing operation and constitutes the flange of the finished case.
In order that the workman operating the machine can see the work as it is
going on, the outer or vice ram may be perforated, or may be made with bars
like a cage.
And the vice ram if preferred need not hold down the top or flange of the plate
under treatment all the time that the operation is going on, but may be released
from time to time at the will and discretion of the operator, the male die however
continuing to force or press the plate into the female die whether the vice ram is
holding the plate firmly or not, in this manner the plate will not be subject to
the same amount of stretching as would be the case if the vice ram were always
holding down, but will be operated upon by an alternate stretching and forcing
or pressing action at the will of the operator as experience may prove to be the
most beneficial for the particular work in hand.
Should it be found desirable to preserve the original thickness of the plate at the
centre or part where the plunger or male die will come, we employ a counter piece or
counter ram which we bring up through the female die against the underside of the
plate before pressing, and we then cause the male die and the counter piece or ram to
grip the plate tightly and to descend together while the rest of the plate is being
stretched or pressed into shape in the manner described above.
Figures 1, 2 and 3 of the accompanying drawings illustrate the method and
machinery we prefer to adopt. Figure 1 shows the plate or blank before the pressing
has been effected, the vice ram being represented as brought down upon the outer
portion of same. Figure 2 shows the blank after the pressing operation, the male die
having been withdrawn therefrom. Figure 3 shows the counter piece or ram brought
up through the female die against the underside of the plate or blank. A is the plate
or blank to be operated upon, B is the male die, and C the female die; D is the vice
or holding down ram which holds the flange of the plate while the pressing operation
is going on, and E is the resultant shape which the plate assumes after pressing. F is

page_text: the counter piece or ram which descends with the male die and grips the underside of
the plate in order to maintain it at its original thickness.
If the buffer case to be manufactured is of such configuration that it cannot be
pressed at one operation it may be pressed in two or more operations, the dies used in
the first or earlier operations being of an intermediate form or forms, and if it is found
desirable the buffer case may be subjected to treatment other than pressing, say for
instance hammering, at any stage of its manufacture in addition to the pressing and
stretching herein before described.
Instead of a buffer case in which the whole buffer is to be self contained with its
spring and plunger etc. we may manufacture a buffer guide for attaching to the buffer
beams or headstocks of vehicles where the springs and buffer rods are attached to the
underframes of the vehicles themselves, employing the same method of manufacture as
described for buffer cases with the exception that the buffer guides will be generally
smaller and lighter in all the principal dimensions.
This is illustrated in Figure 4. A is the plate to be operated upon in the saine
manner as before and out of which the buffer guide is to be formed, and H is the buffer
guide produced.
And instead of the buffer guides being made singly we can manufacture them by the
same method in pairs, two out of one plate, the position they occupy upon the plate
being determined by the design of the vehicle for which they are intended ;
these twin buffer guides may either be attached to the underframe of the vehicle in the
usual way with bolts and nuts and screws etc., or they may form part of the headstock
of the vehicle itself and be pressed out of it when it is made of suitable material and of
the proper dimensions to enable this to be done.
Figure 5 shows twin buffer guides H and H¹ pressed out of the same plate A as just
described.
Our improvements in machinery for manufacturing buffer cases or other similar
articles from pieces or blanks of ductile metal consist in the combination with the
male and female die of a ram or block to hold down the outer or flange part of the
blank during the pressing operation as has already been described and the combination
with the male die and the female die of a counter piece or ram which can be moved up
through the female die so as to bear against and grip the blank or plate under treat-
ment, the counter piece and male die being then moved down simultaneously, so that
the middle part of the blank or plate is held tightly between them during the pressing
or shaping operation as has already been described.
The male die and the counter piece may be hydraulic rams which can be moved both
independently of each other and simultaneously as required.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. The manufacture of buffer cases and buffer guides in the improved manner herein-
before described, that is to say by pressing or forcing a heated plate or blank of ductile
metal by one or a succession of processes into a die of the required form, a vice or
holding down ram being employed for holding the flange part of the case or outer
portion of the plate or blank during the pressing or forcing operation as set forth.
2. The manufacture of two buffer guides or twin guides out of the same plate by tho
method and in the manner hereinbefore described.
3. In machinery for manufacturing buffer cases or other hollow articles from pieces
or blanks of ductile metal a counter piece or ram adapted to be passed through the
female die so as to grip the underside of the piece or blank and then to move with the
male die during the pressing or forcing operation, the piece or blank being held
hetween them as and for the purpose hereinbefore described.
4. In machinery for manufacturing buffer cases or other hollow articles from pieces
or blanks of ductile metal, the combination of a male die, a female die, a vice or
holding down ram for holding the outer portion or flange part of the piece or blank

page_text: during the pressing or forcing operation, and a counter piece or ram for gripping the
underside of the said piece or blank, all substantially as and for the purpose herein-
before described.
Dated this 23rd day of October 1800
J. C. MEWBURN,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Patent Agent.