AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR VARNISHING THE INTERIOR OF METALLIC CARTRIDGE SHELLS OR CASES
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake,
& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for the Invention of
"
AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR VARNISHING THE INTERIOR OF METALLIC
CARTRIDGE SHELLS OR CASES." A communication from abroad by Francis
A. Pratt and John R. Reynolds, both of Hartford, Connecticut, United States
of America.
Sealed the 12th May 1876, and dated the 24th March 1876.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 24th March 1876.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR VARNISHING THE
INTERIOR OF METALLIC CARTRIDGE SHELLS OR CASES." A communication from
abroad by Francis A. Pratt and John R. Reynolds, both of Hartford, Connecticut,
United States of America.
This Invention has for its object the coating of the inside of metallic cartridge
shells or cases with varnish, to prevent any injurious action of the metal upon the
powder or fulminate. This coating has heretofore been done by hand and has
been a laborious process. There is also great uncertainty whether the work has
been thoroughly performed, and an even coating of varnish spread over the entire
inner surface of the cartridge case.
The said Invention is intended to obviate these difficulties and to perform the
operation in a more rapid, thorough, and workmanlike manner; and it consists in a
machine, the construction and operation of which will be herein-after described.
In the accompanying Drawings,—
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the said Invention showing the inner parts in
dotted lines; Figure 2 is a top view of the same with part of the upper work
removed to show the varnishing and wiping mechanism.
Figure 3 is a front view of a large disc for receiving, holding, and conveying the
cartridge shells during the operation of varnishing. The rear parts connected with
this disc are shown in dotted lines.
Figure 4 is a section through one of the cells in the said large disc, showing the
construction of its parts; Figure 5 is a front view of the same, showing a gear
wheel on the back in dotted lines.

page_text: A is a hopper in which the shells to be varnished are placed; they are picked up
by the revolving arranging mechanism B upon one of the hooks and dropped head-
foremost into the conveying spout C; they are received in a sliding box D into
which they fall with the head resting upon a shelf or ledge which extends under
about half the width to support the rear part and give a tendency to fall forward.
The shell is held in this position by a partition in the box D which is attached to
the frame and does not move with the box, but passes through a slit in the side in
the position marked D₁ in Figure 1. The box then moves laterally to the right,
leaving the partition D¹, and the shell falls over forward into a horizontal position,
in which movement it is aided by the inclined wire D2, against the forward surface
of which the top end of the shell strikes as it moves to the right. After the shell
has fallen over into the bottom of the box D with its head to the rear, the plunger E
This
moves forward and pushes the shell into one of the cells in the large dise F.
plunger is operated by the cam G and the connecting rods and levers G₁, G², G³,
and the sliding box D) is operated from the same mechanism by the lever G
The large rotating disc F is keyed to the shaft H and receives an intermittent
motion from the pawl and ratchet I, I', which turn it the distance between the
cells at each movement. This pawl is operated by a cam in the wheel J and a
rocking lever J upon the shaft H. The shaft H also has keyed to it the locking
wheel K which is provided with notches around its circumference, into one of
which the pawl K¹ drops at cach movement of the disc F to lock it in exactly the
proper position. The dise F has around its circumference a series of cells for
holding the cartridge shells, being varnished; they are constructed, as shown in the
enlarged views, Figures 4 and 5. The hollow cylinder L turns in a socket in the
disc F, and has upon its inside end the small gear wheel L'. This wheel runs in a
rack upon the circumference of a circular plate M fixed to the frame of the machine,
as shown on the right of Figure 3, so that as the disc F rotates all of the cells turn
in their sockets.
To the plate M is attached a spring plate N, through the lower end of which is
an orifice of the exact interior diameter of the cartridge shell to be varnished. The
ends of the shells which project a little beyond the face of the cells pass under
the lower end of this spring and fit closely against it; the orifice in the
spring being adjusted in such a position as to be exactly over the bore of the
shell when it stops to be varnished. This for the purpose of preventing any
varnish from passing around the edges to the exterior of the cartridge shell.
The varnishing mechanism consists of a rotating brush or swab attached to the
spindle O which enters the cartridge shell as it stops in the proper position, and passes
entirely down to the bottom while turning, thus completely covering its interior
surface. The brush is charged with varnish by running upon the upper side of a
roller P which dips into a box P¹ containing a supply of the fluid. This box is
removable when required by turning aside the bar P².
The wiping mechanism consists of a brush or swab attached to the revolving
spindle which enters the cartridge shell after it has been coated with the varnish,
and wipes out the end which is to receive the bullet to such a depth as may be
desired. This brush is charged with alcohol or other fluid suitable for removing
and dissolving the varnish, by running upon the top of the roller R which dips
into a box R containing the fluid in the same manner as for the varnishing
mechanism.
The spindles O and Qwhich carry the varnishing and wiping brushes receive a
reciprocating motion back and forth through the rotating bushings S, S'; they are
connected at the rear end by means of a crosshead T, which also carries the guide
rod U and are moved together by means of the cam U¹ upon the shaft U³.
Upon the rear ends of the rotating sleeves S, S¹, are gear wheels V, VI, which are
driven by means of the gear wheels V, V3, V+, to give them a rapid rotary
motion.
The rollers P and R are hung upon shafts which have at their rear ends the gear

page_text: wheels W, W; these are driven by the wheel W upon the main shaft X, which
likewise drives the wheel V+.
The shaft U is driven from the shaft X by means of the bevil gear wheels Y, Y₁;
Z is a plunger for driving out the shell from the disc F after it has been varnished.
It is operated by the cam Z¹ upon the shaft U2 so as to advance and push out a
shell cach time the disc F moves one space. The shells fall down upon the front
side of the disc and are carried to a proper receptacle by means of a spout.
The machine is driven by the wheel A' upon the shaft X'. To prevent
clogging and consequent breakage of any of the parts of the machine the wheel A'
is provided with a device for releasing it from the shaft whenever any undue force
is required to drive the machine.
a is a bolt with a wedge-shaped end which enters the shaft X'; this is forced out
and is held by the pin b which enters a slot in a whenever the force required is too
great. A sinilar contrivance is attached to the lever arm which carries the box D;
a pinc communicates motion to the box D, but when the box becomes clogged the
extra force required slips the pin out of its bearing by acting upon its taper point,
and allows the lever to move without the box.
For the purpose of holding the cartridge shell in the cell of the disc F and giving
it friction sufficient to prevents its turning in the socket during the operations of
varnishing and wiping above described the following device is used, see Figures 4
and 5. d, d', are two split spring rings, into the split of which the pins e, el, enter
to hold them from turning in the socket L; they are made with an opening a little
smaller than the exterior of the cartridge shell, so that when it is pressed in it is
held firmly by them; fis a bushing between the rings to hold them in position.
The rings and bushing are retained in the socket by the ring g which is held in
place by the screws i, i.
The operation of iny Invention is as follows:-The shells are placed in the
hopper A from which they are automatically picked up and conveyed to the box D
whence they are inserted into the cells of the disc F, as before described. As
the disc Frotates intermittently the consecutive cells holding the shells stop
opposite the varnishing and wiping brushes which pass forward at the right time,
and enter the shell while the disc F stops. Both operations are performed at the
same time upon two adjacent shells; after the varnishing and wiping the shells
remain in the cells of the disc, while it makes nearly one revolution around to the
extracting plunger Z. While passing around the shells are constantly rotated on
their axes by the rolling of the small gear wheels upon the rack around the rim of'
the wheel M. I thus prevent the running of the varnish and cause it to dry evenly
upon the inside of the shell. The disc is made sufficiently large to give the
varnish time to dry while traversing the distance from the varnishing mechanism to
the ejector.
When each shell reaches the position of the plunger Z it is pushed out and falls into
a suitable receptacle; shells of different diameter and length can be varnished in the
same machine by providing a disc F adapted for each size. The discs and brushes
suitable for any shells can be substituted for cach other in the same machine
without difficulty within the ordinary differences of dimensions used.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondents and the manner of performing the same, I wish it understood
that I claim,―
First. The rotating disc F with its revolving spring cells for holding the
cartridge shells and the fixed rack wheel M, as herein described.
Second. The disc F in combination with the varnishing and wiping mechanism,
us herein described.
Third. The disc F in combination with the arranging, conveying, and feeding
mechanism, as herein described.
Fourth. The disc F in combination with an ejecting bar for removing the shells,
as herein described.
Fifth. The combination of the mechanism for intermittently rotating the dise F,

page_text: the mechanism for operating the varnishing and wiping brushes, and the mechanism
for ejecting the shells with the disc brushes and ejecting bar, as herein described.
Sixth. The spring plate N in combination with the series of rotating cells in the
dise F, as and for the purpose herein described.
Seventh. The conveying box D and its operating mechanism, as herein described.
Eighth. The springs d, d, in combination with the cells for holding the
cartridge shells, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
Witness,
JA". EDWARDS,
8, Southampton Buildings,
London.
W. ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.)