IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING WATCH CASES AND KINDRED ARTICLES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Louis Thiery, of Boston, in the County
of Suffolk, in the State of Massachusetts, in the United States of
America, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
MANUFACTURING WATCH CASES AND KINDRED ARTICLES."
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Charles Louis Thiery at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with bis Petition and
Declaration, on the 29th June 1875, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
LOUIS THIERY, of Boston, in the County of Suffolk, in the State of
Massachusetts, in the United States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING WATCH CASES AND KINDRED ARTICLES," and
have petitioned Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, to grant
unto me, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters
Patent for the same, and have made solemn Declaration that I am the
first and true Inventor thereof.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Louis Thiery, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in the main of automatically feeding forward
the swaging or shaping rolls of the machine in lieu of advancing or
feeding them by hand as heretofore practiced, but the Invention also
embraces various details of mechanism all of which will be duly
explained.
My present machine contains a mold or former for receiving and
imparting to the metal planchet the general form it is to assume when
completed, and in combination with such mold a plunger or male die for
forcing the metal planchet into the mold, and constituting with such
mold a clamp or vise for securely holding the planchet, while its outer
portion or edge which projects beyond the plunger is being swaged into
the destined shape while in combination with such mold and dic, the
machine embodies a series of rollers pivoted to suitable carriers or
supports and traveling about the mold, one or more such rollers
revolving upon horizontal pivots, and the others upon vertical pivots,
the first-named rollers and their carriers being susceptible of bodily
vertical movements toward or away from the top of the mold, and being
intended to crowd a portion of the metal planchet or blank into the
irregularities or cavities of the mold, or to condense, upset, or otherwise,
reduce a portion of such blank to the desired form, while the functions
of the latter rollers are to prevent bulging, crushing, or breaking down
of the wall of the blank, which the first-named rollers would otherwise
cause..
The Drawings accompanying this Specification represent in Figure 1
a side elevation, in Figure 2 a cross sectional elevation, in Figure 3 a
plan, and in Figures 4 and 5, sections of details of the machine to be
herein-after explained.
In these Drawings A represents the pedestal or base of the machine as
composed of a hollow block or post, while upon this base I crect the
frame of the machine consisting of a tablet B, two side columns C, C,
surmounted by a cross head or beam D and a curved brace E, the rear
of the latter being supported by two columns or posts F, F, also erected
upon the tablet B.
The operative parts of the machine are mounted upon or rotate in
common with an upright shaft G, erected centrally upon the base B and

page_text: midway between the columns C, O, and upon or within the upper end of
this shaft G I place the matrix or former H, which receives the planchet
of metal to be manipulated. The matrix or mould H is fashioned
interiorly into the form desired, and therefore imparts to the planchet of
metal which is crowded into it the general shape which such planchet is
to assume, whether the object to which the planchet is reduced bo a
body of a cover or the removable or waste portion of "center," etc.,
and the planchet is forced into the irregularities or sinuosities of the
mold by a drop die or plunger I, which as shown in the Drawings is
attached to the lower end of a cylindrical rod or bar, passing centrally
and vertically upward through the cross beam D, and suspended at its
upper end by a pivot J from a horizontal lever K, which lever is dis-
posed over the said cross beam D, and finds its base in an adjustable
step L erected upon such cross head.
As the plunger after descending upon the planchet and crowding the
latter into the mold, constitutes in conjunction with the latter a clamp
to seize and securely hold the greater portion of said planchet while its
outer portion or periphery is being manipulated, it becomes necessary in
order to secure an economical operation of the machine to provide a
means of raising and lowering this plunger with a rapid and powerful
movement, and to effect such a result, in doing which I carry out one
feature of my present improvements, I connect the outer or free end of
the lever K to the upper end of a jointed or flexiblo pitman M, the
lower end of such pitman being in turn pivoted to the outer side
eccentrically of a ratchet wheel N, which ratchet wheel is provided with
a stop, pawl, or dog, and is mounted and revolves upon a horizontal stud
O projecting laterally from the lower part or base of the left column C
before alluded to, while mounted also upon the stud O and disposed
between the latter and said column is a hand lever P which carries a
spring pawl Q to engage the teeth of the ratchet wheel, and operate the
latter after the manner of ratchet drills now in general use, and as will
be readily understood.
The eccentric or crank action of the wheel N upon the pitman M
effects the elevation and depression of the lever K and plunger I, and it
will be seen that the operator can by a long sweep of the hand lever P
effect at one movement either the elevation or depression of the plunger,
although in practice several movements are usually made.

page_text: The lever K, jointed pitman M, ratchet wheel N, and hand lever P,
with its pawl Q, constituto a means I have adopted for effecting one
object aimed at in these improvements, that is, as before stated, of
obtaining rapid and powerful movements of the plunger or male die.
The rotary carriage which supports and carries the reducing or shaping
rollers which manipulate the planchet into the form which the latter is
to assume, irrespective of or in addition to that imparted by the mold
and plunger, is shown in the accompanying Drawings at R as a hori-
zontal disc or face plate, which constitutes the upper termination of
central shaft G before named, while to the lower part of this shaft G 1
and immediately above the table B I affix a horizontal bevel geer T,
which engages and is driven by an upright beveled pinion U affixed to
the inner end of a horizontal shaft V, which constitutes the driving
shaft of the machine, and is mounted within a branch standard W
departing from the rear side of the base A, the pinion serving to impart 1
continuous rotary motion to the carriage R.
As a second and important element in my present improvements
consists in the manner in which I automatically effect the feeding
movements of the swaging rollers, or the carriers upon which they are
mounted, I shall now describe the peculiarities of the mechanism by 2
which I effect such results.
As shown in the accompanying Drawings the swaging rollers are four
in number, although this number may be varied at pleasure, two of
which, viz., a and b, are horizontal rollers and serve to produce as well as
to protect the lips or walls of the cover of the case or other object to be 2
reduced to shape in the machine, while the other pair of rollers, viz.,
c and d, are to act downward upon the upper edge of said wall, and
_condense, thicken, upset, or otherwise treat the planchet or blank of
metal, according to the nature of the article to be produced.
It is important in the manufacture of watch cases that at certain 3
points in the cover, as well as other parts, the metal should be thicker
than at others to obtain strength when needed and effect an economical
use of metal.
The roller a, whose purpose in the main is to aid in producing the
centers of watch cases, is mounted upon a vertical shaft or pin e within 3
the furcated inner end of a horizontal sliding bar or carriage f, which in

page_text: turn is received and slides within a hollow guide or box g affixed to the
upper face of the carriage R, the roller a being situated immediately
adjacent to the periphery of the plunger, and serving as before stated to
keep the wall of the metal planchet (after the latter has been reduced
to a box shape) in an erect position and against the plunger, and protect
such wall from the crushing and crippling which would result to it by
the action of the condensing or shaping rollers c, d.
The bar or carriage f is retracted by a spring h, as shewn in the
Drawings, and is advanced against the power of this spring and toward
the roller a by a vertical wedge i, which wedge enters a slot j created in
such bar f, and is pivoted at its lower end to the upper extremity of a
vertical slide bar or carrier %, which is let into and plays within a longi-
tudinal channel 7 created in the periphery of the tubular shaft C, the
vertical movements of this slide bar & being effected by an annular band
or ring in which encompasses the shaft C, and is gimballed within a
horizontal beam n, such beam being pivoted adjustably at its rear end to
one of the posts F before alluded to, and having its front end swiveled
in a suitable manner to the upper end of a vertical feed or adjusting
screw o, the lower end of such screw being screwed into a nut P swiveled
to a start q constituting part of the front of the base A of the machine.
The connection between the slide bar & and ring m consists in a pair
of antifriction rollers 7, 8, which are pivoted to the bar and roll upon the
said ring one above and one below, and it will be apparent that as tho
feed screw is rotated in onc direction the beam 22 and consequently the
wedge i are elevated, and as such wedge recedes from the front boundary
of the slot the bar falso recedes with it by the action of the spring h,
and the roller a recedes from the immediate vicinity of the plunger, or
the wall of the blank of metal surrounding the latter,
The box or guide g is secured to the carriage R by bolts 8, and its
height with respect to such carriage is governed by set screws t, t, etc.,
while furthermore the wedge i is rendered expansible to vary its scope
by constructing it in two parts v, v, hinged together at bottom, and by
introducing between these parts an auxiliary wedge or expanding block
or spreader w, the height of the spreader and consequently the breadth
of the wedge being determined by a rod y which screws through the
lower part of the wedge proper, and is connected or swiveled in any
suitable manner to the spreader.

page_text: The condensing or upsetting roller c is pivoted to the inner end of a
horizontal carrier bar a¹ which slides within the upper part of a vertically
sliding post b³, which post or bar, like the bar k, is let into and plays
within a channel c' created longitudinally in the periphery of the
tubular shaft C, and like said bar & is connected with and operated by
the ring m through the medium of antifriction rollers.
The second swaging or upsetting roller d is also pivoted to the inner
end of a horizontal bar d¹ which slides within the upper part of a
vertical post or bar e¹, which bar slides within a channel f' created in
the shaft C, and is pivoted with antifriction rollers to operate with the
ring m in manner similar to the operation of the bar f', and this roller d
is intended for use in connection with blanks whose walls are higher and
thinner than those operated upon by the roller c.
A peculiar motion is imparted to the carrier bar d within the bar e',
and with respect to the mold H as follows:-The rear end of the bar is
reduced to two sloping or oblique faces g¹ and h¹, the upper one g¹ of
which is a lateral slope, and the other a longitudinal slope or under-
cut, as shown in Figure 5 of the Drawings, while the ledge or step ¹
which intervenes between theso wiping faces is also sloping downward,
as represented in said Figure 5.
The bar d' is forced outwardly or away from the locality of the
mold by a spring, and abuts at its outer end against the sloping
inner end p¹ of a swinging dog or cam composed of a short block
pivoted at its outer end to the top of a post m¹ which is erected upon
the carriago R, this dog being forced by a spring against a stop o¹ placed
alongside it. As the bar d¹ in company with the bar e¹ is lowered
during the production of any given portion of a watch case, its undercut
or lowest slope, or inclined face h³ comes in contact with the sloping
end p¹ of the dog 1, and as the bar d¹ continues to descend the bar is by
the wiping action of such dog forced outward, thus impelling or feeding
the roller d gradually inward toward the mold and plunger as the cover
or other portion of a case is being fashioned into shape. The bar d'
continues to descend until it reaches its lowest point, and the slope h¹
passes below the dog when the laterally sloping portion g' of the said
bar crowds the dog to one side and forces itself outward between such
dog and the stop o' and retracts the bar d' and removes the roller from
contact with the object which has been compressed into the desired
shape.

page_text: The screw o by means of its hand wheel q' is now rotated in a
reverso direction until the bar & and its roller are raised to their highest
point, which permits of the removal of the finished portion of a case
and the introduction of a second planchet; and it will be seen that as
the said bar d¹ rises in this return movement, its sloping step wipes
against the under side of the dog and forces the latter to one side and
prevents it from obstructing the ascent of the bar.
The second horizontal protector roller 6 is disposed between the
rollers c and d, and is pivoted to the inner end of a bar s¹ which is
secured in a proper manner to the upper part of a post A, such post
being crected upon a horizontal plate v¹, sliding to and fro, of a radial
groove or channel to¹ created in the top of the carriage R, and forced
outward by a suitable spring a³, the said bar s' abutting at its outer
extremity against a stop screw x¹ which is screwed through the outer
end or bend of a horizontal yoke y¹ disposed upon the top of the
carriage R, and with its arms a, b, straddling the post t, the yoke
being confined to the carriage by any suitable connection which permits
it to reciprocate to a limited extent.
In order to automatically force the roller 6 inward as the work pro-
gresses, as in the case of its companion roller a, I form upon the inner
end of each arm a³, b², of the yoke y'a sloping step c³, and to each
carrier bar a¹ and e¹ I add a rib or tooth d³ so disposed that when each
bar is lowered by and with the beam n these ledges shall intercept the
step c² and force the yoke y', and with it the post and roller b
inward. As the rollers c and d and their carrier bars rise, the roller bis
retracted by the action of the spring a³.
In the usc, heretofore, of machinery for producing watch cases, the
advance or feeding movements of the rollers as tho work progresses
have been effected by the hand of the operator acting through tho
medium of a screw or its equivalent, thereby monopolizing the
operator's time and compelling his undivided attention to this act.
By my method, in which the machine, while pursuing its other
functions, automatically effects this feeding of the rollers, the attendant
is enabled to devote a great part of his time to other labor, thereby
securing a point of economy of time and obtaining more accurate and
perfect results.

page_text: thus
The operation of this machine, briefly stated, is as follows:-The
circular planchet of metal destined to form the desired portion of a
watch case, is first cut from a sheet and then struck up in a suitable
press into a
'blacking box" shape, so called. The "blank"
required is deposited bottom downward within the mold or matrix H,
and the plunger I lowered by means of the hand lever P and ratchet N
until it meets the blank and clamps the latter to mold, and in the act
of forcing or crowding the bottom of the blank into the irregularities or
sinuosities of the mold.
The driving pinion U is next put in revolution, which imparts rotary
motion to the carriage R, one of the rollers a or having been pre-
viously advanced until, as it travels in a circle about the plunger, it
nearly or quite impinges against the outer face of the wall of the blank,
and serves to keep such wall up to the periphery of the plunger, and
prevent its being crushed or misplaced by the action of the rollers c
and d.
The revolution of the carriage R causes the various rollers to travel
in a common circular path about the mold and plunger, the vertical
rollers bearing down upon the upper edge of the wall of the blank, and
the horizontal rollers serving, as before stated, to protect and support tho
sides of such wall; consequently, if the attendant by means of the feed
screw o gradually lowers the beam n, the rollers follow the movements
until the lowest point is reached, and the blank has been reduced to the
general shape intended, the rollers a and 6 or one of them being in the
act gradually fed inward automatically, as before explained.
In the present machine the amount of metal in the blank is to be so
calculated as to provide for increasing the thickness of the desired
position of a watch case in some places as compared with others, as by
the system of rotary swages or reducing rollers I am enabled to increase
or diminish the thickness of the blank at any desired point.
1
Details of the machinery hercin-before described consist as follows:-
First, in a means of supporting the hinge bearer and retaining it intact
under the action of the swaging rollers, and I accomplish this by a
receiver whose concavity corresponds to the irregularities of the cap and
hinge bearer.
The Drawings represent in Figures 16 and 17 plan and section of this
Jatoil and in which Anunt

page_text: metal, whose shank fits the socket of the machine, the upper face of this
receiver being fashioned into the corrugated or irregular annular lines,
which impart to the cap the requisite form. Upon one edge of this
receiver, and intercepting some one or more of its annular depres-
sions a, a, etc., I create a straight elevated ridge or spur B', so disposed
as to coincide with and adapt itself closely to the hinge bearer of the cap
when the latter is placed bottom down in the receiver. The spur B'
supports the hinge bearer under the powerful swaging action of the
rollers, and constitutes part of the receiver.
A second detail of the machine consists in means for enabling the
cover or cap to be removed from the die after the hinge bearer has been
formed upon such cover or cap, and consists in forming the male die
which produces this hinge bearer of an independent piece of metal,
which is let into the periphery of the main die in such manner as to be
readily detached therefrom.
The Drawings represent in Figure 18 an elevation, and in Figure 19 a
section of a male die containing this detailed improvement; Figure 20 is
a view of the larger portion of such die; and Figure 21, a perspective
view of the lesser or removable portion thereof.
Figure 22 is a perspective view of a modification of the removable die;"
Figures 23 and 24 are views of an embryo cover or cap.
In these Figures A³ denotes the die proper in one side of the head of
which I create a cavity B³ for receiving the removable die C³, the die A³
and its auxiliary Os being provided with any suitable means of keeping
them securely in place, the cavity B being semicircular in cross section,
though this form is not compulsory, as it may be polygonal as shown in
Figure 22.
The peripherial portion of the auxiliary die is formed with a notch &³
in its face to correspond to the hinge bearer, which it is to reduce to
shape as the descent of the dic into the matrix compresses the metal of
the cover into this notch or depression d³, and thus forms said hinge
bearer, the auxiliary die adhering to the cover and removed therefrom
afterward.
In order to ensure at all times a sufficient supply of metal to produce.
:

page_text: extensions aº, 6º, one of which is for the hinge bearer, and the other for
thumb-piece.
As several examples of the class of work performed by this machine,
I instance the following:-I produce by it the different portions of a
watch case in one homogeneous piece of metal without joints or solder,
as shown in Figures 6 and 7 of the Drawings, which are cross sections
of a watch case. In these Drawings the center of the case is shown at
a, and its back at 6, the advantages of a case of this kind being that it
is cheaper because it is produced by machinery from a single piece of
metal in a fraction of the time required to manufacture it by hand, and ]
better in that it has no seams which require nice fitting or solder to
craze these seams.
i
Secondly. I produce by this machinery the bead or finish upon the
outer edges of the covers or backs of the cases, which has heretofore
been done only by hand, and I also produce the "pendant lip," tho
"thumb-piece," and the "hinge bearer or stay," as any or all of these
details are produced by changing the relative form, condition, or dis-
position of the metal of the cover or center at any given point, and
pressing it into the desired shape, as I am enabled to make the metal
thick in places where strength is required, or thin where such strength is
not requisite.
This construction is shown in Figures 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 of the
Drawings, in which a represents the cover of a watch of which b* is the
outer finish or bead; c' is the pendant lip; d' the thumb piece or ledge,
and e¹ the hinge bearer or stay, while f¹ represents the "center" of the
case, and the hinge bearer or stay which is formed upon it, the
tubular stem or pendant of such center being shown at g', the hinge
bearer being formed in like manner with that of the cover.
Thirdly. I produce in this machine and also of one homogeneous piece
of metal the deep watch bezel adapted to hold the thick glass crystals
now much in use. This bezel is shown in sections in Figures 14 and 15
of the Drawings, in which it is shown as having a horizontal base as
shown at a, an upwardly extending outer side or wall ', a ledge c
slightly beveled so that its upper part will overhang slightly its lower
part, and an internal slanting supporting face or wall d, which extends
down nearly to the plane or base a³. On the inclined supporting face d
the correspondingly beveled periphery of the thick glass crystal rests,

page_text: and is held tightly by the ledge c³, the upper edge of which snaps or
closes over the top edge of the crystal, when the latter is forced down on
to the bezel and against the inclined face d. There is considerable
economy of material in a bezel made in this way, only so much metal
being used as is indispensable, as the bezel is quite tubular or hollow.
CHARLES LOUIS THIERY. (L.S.)