IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING BOLTS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Collier Bakewell, of No. 6, Haverstock
Terrace, Hampstead, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING BOLTS."-A communication.
Sealed the 19th November 1858, and dated the 21st May 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Collier Bakewell
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st May 1858.
I, FREDERICK COLLIER BAKEWELL, of No. 6, Haverstock Terrace, Hampstead,.
in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING BOLTS," being a communication
from a foreigner residing abroad, to be as follows:-
The Invention consists of certain improvements in machinery for making
bolts, whereby a symmetrically shaped head is formed without injuring the
quality of the iron or diminishing the strength of the bolt.
The principle of the action of this improved machine consists in bringing con-
verging dies to press repeatedly against the heated end of the iron that is to
form the bolt, each simultaneous pressure of the dies being preceed and
followed by blows from a swinging hammer fixed to the machine. In the
operation of this machine a stationary heading tool, which consists of a
circular block of steel with two parallel plane faces and a hole in the centre
of the exact diameter of the neck of the bolt to be made, is arranged centrally
to the converging dies, which are moveable in grooves that radiate from the

page_text: centre of a disc whereon the heading tool is placed. The ends of these dies
that press against the head of the bolt slide upon the upper surface of the
heading tool, and the other ends are bevelled and project beyond the cir-
cumference of the disc. By this arrangement the bevelled projecting ends
may be forced into the grooves against the head of the bolt by upright
rounded projections or tappits fixed on to a tappit ring that is turned round
when the machine is in action. The dies are immediately afterwards with-
drawn, and the hammer, which is fixed to a horizontál shaft, falls and strikes
the head of the bolt. These actions are repeated rapidly until the head of the
bolt is completely formed, and it is then forced upwards and removed. Four
dies, that shape the head into a square form, are pressed against it at the same
instant; and when the bolt is large, four additional dies are employed to press
against the corners, and prevent the metal from being squeezed out of form at
the angles. For this purpose there are eight grooves made in the disc that
holds the dies, four of them being intended to contain the corner dies when
required. The hammer is lifted by four projecting pins, that strike against an
inclined finger connected by levers with the hammer shaft; and when the
finger is released, and the hammer falls, the force of the blow is increased by
the reaction of a spiral spring attached to the shaft. During each revolution
of the wheel to which the projecting pins are fixed, the hammer is lifted & falls
four times, and each of the dies is forced against the head of the bolt four
times by the action of the tappits. The hole in the heading tool may be
conical, so that the bolt may be stronger round the head than in other parts.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederick Collier Bakewell in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 20th November 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
COLLIER BAKEWELL, of No. 6, Haverstock Terrace, Hampstead, in the County
of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Frederick Collier Bakewell, Her special licence that I, the said Frederick
Collier Bakewell, my exccutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
I, the said Frederick Collier Bakewell, my executors, administrators, and

page_text: 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING BOLTS," being a communication
from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Frederick
Collier Bakewell, 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 Frederick Collier Bakewell, 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 the following
statement:-
This Invention consists of certain improvements in machinery for making
bolts, whereby a symmetrically shaped head is formed without injuring the
quality of the iron or diminishing the strength of the bolt.
The principle of the action of this improved machine consists in bringing
converging dies to press repeatedly and simultaneously against the heated head
of the bolt, each simultaneous pressure of the dies being preceded and
followed by blows from a swinging hammer fixed to the machine, and actuated
by it. In the operation of this machine a stationary heading tool, which
consists of a circular block of steel with two parallel plane faces and a hole
in the centre of the diameter of the neck of the bolt to be made, is arranged
centrally to converging dies, which are moveable in grooves that radiate from
the centre of a disc wherein the heading tool is placed. The ends of the dies
which press against the head of the bolt slide upon the upper surface of the
heading tool, and the other ends are bevelled and project beyond the
circumference of the disc. By this arrangement the bevelled projecting ends
may be forced into the grooves against the head of the bolt by upright
rounded projections or tappits fixed on to a tappit ring that is turned round
when the machine is in action. The dies are immediately afterwards with-
drawn, and the hammer, which is fixed to a horizontal shaft, falls and strikes
the head of the bolt. These actions are repeated rapidly until the head of the
bolt is completely formed; it is then forced upwards by a piston and
removed.
In more particularly describing this Invention, so as to enable those skilled

page_text: in the art to make and use the improved machine, I desire to refer to the
Drawing which accompanies and forms part of this Specification. The
Drawing comprises ten Figures, marked Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, in
.each of which like letters of reference are employed to indicate the same parts
of the apparatus.
Figure 1 is a perspective view of the machine; Figure 2 is a sectional
perspective view through the centre of the machine; Figure 3 represents one
of the side dies turned bottom upwards to show the heel pieco and tongue;
Figure 4 is one of the corner dies turned bottom upwards; Figure 5
represents the piston which supports the bolt while the head is being formed,
and raises it for the purpose of discharge; Figure 6. is a perspective view of
the heading tool; Figure 7 is a perspective view of the disc which carries the
sido dies, corner dies, and heading tool with thoso parts all removed;
Figure 8 represents the disc (Fig. 7) turned bottom upwards to show the
rebate for the head of the pivot; Figure 9 is a perspective view of the tappit
ring, showing the tappits and the annular groove with its indentations opposite
the tappits; Figure 10 represents the tappit ring (Fig. 9) turned bottom
upwards, to show the bevel teeth, which gear into a bevel wheel of the
machine.
The Inventor is aware that numerous attempts have been made to manu-
facturo bolts by machinery, but all of them, so far as he knows, are complicated
in their arrangements, and more less defective in their operations. The
chief end to be attained in the manufacture of screw bolts is to make a strong
and well-formed head. It is essential that the under side of the head should
be perfectly true and level, and at right angles, or (in case a bolt with a skew
head is required) at the exact required angle to the shank, for if this be not
the case, the head will be apt to bo wrenched and weakened by the nut being
screwed tight up when the bolt is in use. It is also important that the iron
.of the head should not be weakened in the upsetting process, as that would
.make it liable to break off'; and for the same reason, it is essential that there
should be no weakness or diminishing of thickness of the neck of the bolt.
All these defects are found more or less in bolts made by machinery now in
use, but they are overcome in this machine by the repeated and alternate
actions of the upsetting hammer and heading dies. The nearer a machine of
this kind approaches in its action to the mode of making bolts by hand, the
better it will accomplish its object, and this is what the Inventor has aimed
at in this machine, which does the work of the blacksmith substantially in the
same manner, but with an accuracy, precision, and rapidity only to be attained
by the use of automatic machinery. The construction and operation of this

page_text: machine are as follows:-In the Figures in the Drawing, A is a strong iron
frame or horizontal bed plate, on which is a cubical block B, from which rises
the stock or pivot C, which is a heavy cylindrical block of iron turned true and
smooth, on which, as a journal, the tappet ring D revolves. The pivot C
rises very slightly above the upper face of the tappit ring D, so as to fit
into a circular rebate in the under side of the disc E. On the under side of
the tappit ring D are bevel teeth, extending from the circumference of the
ring to the pivot C. These bevel teeth O gear into a bevel wheel F, which is
fixed to and revolves with the horizontal shaft G, the bevel wheel being
situated close to, and having its inner bearing in one side of the cubical
block B. In the centre of the pivot C is a perpendicular circular hole ",
slightly larger in diameter than the bolt to be made by the machine, so that
in casc long bolts are to be made, the shank may extend down through the
heading tool I into the pivot C. In the circular hole a is fitted a piston J,
the lower end of which rests on the short arm of the treadle or lever K, which
has its fulcrum in the block B, so that the piston I may be raised by depressing
the long arm of the treadle which projects from the machine. The upper
extremity of the piston I is flat, and serves as the resting point of the end of the
piece of iron to be made into a bolt, the short arm b of the lever resting firmly
against the frame of the machine when the long arm is not depressed, so as to
give resistance to the blow of the upsetting hammer L. On the circumference
of the tappit ring D, and equidistant from each other, are four tappits
d, d, d, d, which rise perpendicularly from the face of the ring; the face of
each tappit d extending to the outer edge of an annular groove c, cut in the
face of the tappit ring D, and concentric with the ring itself. The outer edge
of this groove is an unbroken circle, while on the inner edge are four cam-like
indentations f, one of which is opposite to each tappit. This annular groove
is designed to receive the heel piece h of the side dies M and corner dies N,
as herein-after explained. E is a circular disc, the diameter of which is such
that it will lie on the pivot C, over and parallel to, though not quite in
contact with, the upper face of the tappit ring D, and inside of the tappits
d, d, &c.; it is placed concentric with the pivot C and tappit ring D, and has
a circular rebate on its under face, into which the top of the pivot C fits, as
before stated. This circular disc is screwed fast to the top of the pivot by four
screws g. 9.9. 9. The depth or thickness of this disc is such that, when in
place, the upper face is on a level with the top of the tappits d, d, &c. In
the centre of the disc is a circular hole i, into which the heading tool His
placed. The heading tool is a circular block of steel with two parallel plane
faces and a hole in the centre of the diameter of the neck of the bolt, as

page_text: before described. When in place in the disc E, the hole in the centre of the
heading tool is precisely over the centre of the pivot C, and over the piston I.
Radiating from the centre of the disc E aro eight grooves, equally distant from
each other, marked m, m, &c., and deep enough to receive eight converging
dies, four of which M, M, &c., are side dies, and four N, N, &c., are corner dies.
Each of these eight dies has a heel piece, which projects at right angles from
their under sides far enough to enter the annular groove e in the tappet ring;
the outer side of the heel pieces, when the dies aro in their places and not
pressed, forward, being in the line of the circumference of the disc. Each die
has a bevelled projection 2 (like the tongue of a latch bolt of a lock) projecting
beyond the circumference of the disc, so that as the tappit : ring revolves,"
the tappits will come in contact one after the other with the bevelled tongue n
of the die, and press it in towards the centre of the disc. The under side of
the inner extremity of cach die M or N rests on the face of the heading tool
H, and slides over it towards the centre. A face plate P, of the same diameter
as the disc E, with a circular hole in the centre large enough to receive the
upsetting hammer L, and to allow of the exit of the finished bolt, is screwed
down over the upper face of the disc E, and keeps the converging dies in
place. From the outer side of the bevel wheel F project four studs or pins
0, 0, 0, 0, at equal distances from each other, and at equal distances from the
axis of the wheel. These pins act upon a fiuger p, which has its fulcrum at r,
and.is pivoted to a connecting rod q. This connecting rod is pivoted to the
lever arm t, which projects from the horizontal shaft Q, to which shaft is rigidly
attached a swinging hammer L. This hammer is so placed that when it falls
it strikes directly over the vertical hole in the heading tool and the hole a
in the pivot C. The face of the hammer may be of any shape that it is
desired to give to the the head, and it may be furnished with any required stamp
or trade mark. The hammer shaft Q is supported by a suitable frame 'R,"
placed at the back of the machine, and connected with the bed plate A: A
spiral spring s is coiled round the hammer shaft, one end being fastened to the
hammer frame, and the other pressing on the arm of the hammer. Thus,
whenever one of the pins o in the bevel wheel depresses the finger p, it raises
the hammer, and as the pin passes over the point of the finger, the hammer
is released, and falls by its own weight with the added force of the spiral
spring s. Motion is communicated to the several parts of the machine by
power applied to the shaft G.
Having thus described the construction of the machine, I will proceed to
describe its operation. The iron which is to be made into bolts is first cut
into suitable lengths, and the end that is to be formed into the head of the

page_text: bolt is heated to a welding heat. This is done in a furnace, a large number
being heated at the same time. The length of each rod of iron to be made
into a bolt must be such that a quantity of iron sufficient to form the head of
the bolt will project above the top of the heading tool. A piece of the heated
iron is inserted with a pair of tongs into the heading tool, the cool end resting
on the top of the piston I, and the heated end projecting above the top of the
heading tool; the machine is then set in motion, and operates as follows:-
The pin or stud o in the bevel wheel F, passing the end of the finger p, permits
the hammer to fall, which strikes the heated end of the rod, and forces it down
into a button shaped mass of irregular form on the face of the heading tool H.
The tappit ring D being moved round by the action of the bevel wheel F,
each of the tappits d, d, &c. passes over the projecting tongues n, n, &c. of the
four corner dies in rotation, pressing them towards the centre. Each of these
corner dies N has a rectangular V-shaped indentation at its extrémity, which
pressing against the mass of iron on the top of the heading tool, shapes the
angular corners of the head of the bolt; the curved indentation f of the
groove e in the tappit ring D permitting the heel of the die to pass inwards,
and allowing the die to be moved forwards by the action of the tappits; but
the heel h still sliding in the groove c, is brought outwards again so soon as
the curved indentation f is passed, and thus the dies are immediately withdrawn.
The four tappits d, d, &c. still passing round the circular disc E, next come in
contact with the projecting tongues n, n, &c. of the side dies M, and in like
manner force them in towards the centre; the heels h of these side dies
working in the groove in the tappit ring in the same manner as the heels of
the corner dies. These side dies close together until they touch each other
at their corners, and thus form a square into which the button shaped mass of
iron is squeezed; the side dies are then immediately withdrawn by the
action of the heel pieces in the annular groove e. The hammer then falls
again, and shapes the head and welds together any imperfections which may
be caused by the squeezing or upsetting processes. As there are four studs
on the bevel wheel F, and four tappits on the tappit ring D, this operation is
repeated four times for every revolution of the tappit ring. Each bolt is
struck by the hammer and pressed by the dies as often as is necessary to
shape it completely. The motion of the machine is then stopped by uncoupling
the shaft G from the driving shaft in the usual manner, and the treadle K
being depressed, the piston I is raised, and with it the finished bolt, which is
then removed with a pair of tongs, and another piece of iron is put in its
place, to go through the same operation. When bolts of ordinary size are to
be made, the corner dies may be dispensed with, as the side dies close so exactly

page_text: that they form a die box, in which the head of the bolt is formed with
sufficient accuracy; but when bolts of unusual size or thickness are made, the
corner dies are found necessary to prevent the iron at the corners from being
squeezed through the points of contact. It is manifest that as the upsetting
hammer strikes vertically on the heated end of the rod, it will tend to drive
the iron into the heading tool, and as the diameter of the neck of the heading
tool is slightly larger than the rod of iron, and a little tapering downwards, the
neck of the bolt which is confined in the heading tool will be made compact
and firm, and instead of being weakened by the heading operation; as is
usually the caso with machine-made bolts, it will be strengthened and some-
what enlarged. As it is sometimes desired to make the necks of bolts square,
so as to prevent their turning round when the nut is being screwed on, this
may very conveniently be done by making the hole in the heading tool square
instead of round for a part of its depth, and the action of the upsetting hammer
on the heated end of the rod will drive the iron into the angles of the square
neck of the heading tool, and thus make the bolt of the required shape. The
size of the head of the bolt will be regulated by the length of the side and
corner dies, and by the width of the face of the side dies. These dies may be
made adjustable in length by making them in two parts, united by bolts:
passing through a slot in each piece, or by any other convenient method; or,
if preferred, various sizes of dies may be kept, all fitting into the same con-
verging grooves m in the circular disc E, for making the various sizes of
bolts. In order that the side and corner dies may be readily removed and
replaced without disturbing the machine or removing the face plate, a notch
of recess T is made in the rim of the tappit ring of the width of the sido dics,
and extending down to the bottom of the annular groove c, so that when any
one of the dies is brought opposite to that notch, the die may be removed by
taking hold of the projecting tongue n of the die and drawing it out, the
notch T being deep enough to allow the heel piece h to pass the rim of the
tappit ring; thus each die in turn may be removed and another one
substituted. A variety of heading tools suited to the various diameters of
bolts to be made, and all fitting in the central hole i of the disc E, should be
kept on hand. The length of bolt. to be made will be adjusted by the piston I,
and pistons of various lengths must therefore be used as circumstances require.
Having thus described this improved machine for making bolts, and the
mode of its operation, the parts of the Invention which I claim and desire to
secure are,
1st, the use of a stationary heading tool arranged centrally to converging
dies in the manner substantially as described.

page_text: 2ndly, the use of a swinging hammer for upsetting the head of the bolt, in
combination with the converging side dies and corner dies, arranged and
operating substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Collier Bakewell, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of November, in the year of
our Lord 1858.
FRED. COLLIER BAKEWELL. (L.S.)