IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING UNTAPPED NUTS INTENDED FOR SCREW. BOLTS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Whittaker, of the City of Manchester, in
the County of Lancaster, for the Invention of “IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING UNTAPPED NUTS INTENDED FOR SCREW.
BOLTS."
Sealed the 10th November 1871, and dated the 13th May 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Whittaker at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 13th May 1871.
I, JOHN WHITTAKER, of the City of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING UNTAPPED NUTS INTENDED FOR
SCREW BOLTS" (to be as follows) :-
This Invention consists in improved arrangements and combinations of
machinery for making untapped, square, hexagon, or other shaped nuts
more perfectly and economically than has hitherto been attained. On
a table or bed fixed to suitable framework there are bearings carrying
a cam shaft with fast and loose pulleys, and also other bearings sup-

page_text: porting a shaft to which is fixed a disc with a projecting portion to act
as a double cutter and carrier, the said disc having vibrating motion
given to it when the machine is at work by a lever actuated by cams
on the cam shaft. The cutter, which is square, hexagonal, or other
required shape, is enclosed in a case having an opening for the passage
of the metal bar from which the nuts are to be made, and this bar is
passed onwards on one of its narrow sides. At each side of the machine
there are guides for three hammers having straight ends if the nuts are
to be square, but angular if they are to be hexagonal, and these hammers
are worked at the times required by means of cranks and slides
actuated by cams on the cam shaft, there being adjusting pieces for
regulating the positions of the hammers as their ends become worn.
In this double machine there are two punches, two crowners, and two
flatteners, working in suitable guides and moved as required by levers
actuated by cams on the cam shaft, and either each punch or crowner
or both have tapered parts to slightly countersink one or both sides of
the hole in the nut to facilitate the tapping and the prevention of burrs.
When the machine is at work the heated bar is passed through the
passage in the case, and the cutter as it vibrates one way cuts off a
blank, carries it through one side of the case to one side of the table,
and then stops to allow a hammer to come forward to press the blank
against the disc or body of the cutter, after which two other hammers
squeeze the other sides of the blank and place it under the punch. When
the hole is punched the cutter vibrates in the opposite direction to enable
its second cutter to cut off a blank and carry it through the other side
of the case to the other side of the table, and at the same time the
two last-mentioned hammers place the untapped nut in position to be
crowned and afterwards removed, and as these latter operations are
being performed a hammer on the other side comes forward to hold the
blank against the disc, then other hammers squeeze the other sides of the
blank, and place it under the punch, crowner, and remover on that side,
and thus similar operations take place alternately at each side of the
table, and the nuts are manufactured with great rapidity and exactness.
When desired I employ two vibrating double cutters and four sets of
hammers, punches, crowners, and flatteners, and thereby make a
quadruple machine. In some cases it may be required to have a single
machine, and then there is only a single cutter, which may either
vibrate or entirely revolve, and when desired I substitute for the cutters
which vibrate or revolve cutters which reciprocate to and fro horizontally,

page_text: and act singly in connection with a stationary block or cutter, or I form
the cutters as grids which move to and fro between each other.
In another arrangement of machinery I dispense with the hammers
and use rollers, between which the cut blank passes, the rollers acting
on all the sides to smooth and flatten them, and also to champher them
on one or both sides. The rollers are made to revolve positively by
gearing from the driving shaft or by the friction of the blank passing
between them, and these nuts when champhered resemble nuts forged
and filed by hand.
In another arrangement I employ jointed jaws or clips worked by
cams for squeezing and smoothing all the sides of the blank, the punch-
ing and crowning operations being similar to those before described. The
jaws or clips are placed on a revolving or vibrating disc, which after
the blanks are squeezed and smoothed lead or carry them to the punch,
crowner, and remover.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Whittaker in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 13th November 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
WHITTAKER, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-fourth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said John Whittaker, Her special license that I, the
said John Whittaker, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said John Whittaker, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING
UNTAPPED NUTS INTENDED FOR SCREW BOLTS," upon the condition, amongst
others, that I, the said John Whittaker, by an instrument in writing

page_text: 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
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Whittaker, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Figures on the
accompanying four Sheets of Drawings, and to the letters of reference
marked thereon (that is to say) :—
This Invention consists in improved arrangements and combinations
of machinery for making untapped, square, hexagon, or other shaped
nuts more perfectly and economically than has hitherto been attained,
and on Sheet 1, Figs. 1 and 2 are front and top views, and Fig. 3 a
transverse section of one arrangement and combination of my improved
machinery adapted for square nuts, and Figs. 4, 5, and 6, are enlarged
views of detached parts.
To strong standards or framework a is cast or fixed a table b, having
at the back bearings c carrying a cam shaft d provided with fast and
loose pulleys, and on the table there are other bearings e carrying a
cross shaft f, to the front end of which is fixed a disc g, Figs. 2, 5,
and 6, with two projecting steel pieces h, i, which act as double cutters
and carriers, the said disc having vibrating motion given to it when the
machine is at work by a lever k, Figs. 2 and 3, actuated by cams lon
the cam shaft d; these cutters h, i, are square, and with the disc are
enclosed in a case m, having an opening n for the passage of the metal
bar o, from which the nuts are to be made, and this bar is passed
onwards on one of its edges. At each side of the machine there are
three hammers p, q, r, fixed to slides, these hammers having straight
ends as the nuts are to be square, but the ends are angular if the nuts
are to be hexagonal, and these slides and hammers are worked at the
required times by cranks & and levers t, u, acted upon by cams v, w, x,
on the cam shaft d, there being ordinary adjusting pieces y for regulating
the positions of the hammers as their ends become worn. In this double
machine there are two punches a¹ and two flatteners 6' fixed to slides c¹
working in guides d', and moved as required by cams on the cam shaft,
and in the table there are recesses or countersinks c¹, Figs. 2, 3, and 4,

page_text: to act as crowners, and each punch or crowner has a tapered part to
countersink one end of the hole in the nut, or both punch and crowner
may have tapered parts to countersink both ends of the hole, the object
being to facilitate the tapping, the prevention of burrs, and the condensing
of the metal; and in Fig. 4 there is a taper projection in the centre of
the crowner.
When the machine is at work the heated bar is passed
through the passage n in the case m, and if the disc g vibrates in the
direction of the arrow, Fig. 5, the cutter h cuts off a blank and carries it
through the case to the table, and then stops to allow the cams to push
forward the three hammers p, q, r, the hammer p pressing the blank
against the body of the disc to squeeze two sides of the blank, and the
hammers q, r, to squeeze the other sides of the blank. The hammer p
now leaves the blank to allow the hammers q, r, by the action of the
cams w, x, to place the blank under the punch a', which then moves
downwards to punch the hole by the action of the cam f' on the lever g¹,
and after the hole is punched the punch is raised by the action of the
cam h¹ on the arm ¹, and kept up by the spring k¹. The hammers q, r,
now place the untapped nut over the crowner e¹ and under the flattener 6'
by further action of the cams w, x, and after the hammer q is moved
back out of the way of the punch by the cam m' and slide n¹ the nut is
flattened and crowned by another descent of the slide c' caused by the
cam o' acting on the lever g', the flattener being raised by the action of
the cam p¹ on the arm to allow the nut to be removed through the
hole q¹ by means of the slide r¹, lever s³, and cam f. When the hole is
punched and the punch raised from the nut the disc vibrates in the
opposite direction to enable the second cutter to cut off another blank
and carry it through the other side of the case to the other side of the
table, after which the blank is squeezed, the hole punched, and the
untapped nut crowned, flattened, and removed by operations exactly
similar to those before described, the movements taking place alternately
at each side of the machine, and the nuts manufactured with great
rapidity and exactness. When desired I employ two vibrating double
cutters and four sets of hammers, punches, crowners, flatteners, and
removers, and thereby make a quadruple machine, but in some cases it
may be required to have a single machine, and then there is only a
single cutter, which may either vibrate or entirely revolve. When
hexagon nuts are required I form on the disc projecting cutters of a
hexagon shape, and make the ends of the hammers and the passage in
the case to correspond with them. In Figs. 7, 8, and 9, u¹ represents

page_text: x¹, 'hammers having angular ends; and y¹, the case with a hexagonal
passage. The disc and cutter vibrate to and fro to cut off from the
heated bar hexagon blanks which are carried alternately to opposite
sides of the machine to be hammered, punched, crowned, flattened, and
removed by operations precisely similar to those described for the
square nuts.
In another arrangement of my improved machinery for manufacturing
untapped nuts of a square, hexagon, or other shape, I substitute for the
cutters which vibrate or revolve cutters which reciprocate to and fro
horizontally, and act in connection with a stationary block or cutter.
This arrangement is represented in Figs. 10, 11, and 12, Sheet 2, and
Figs. 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18, Sheet 3, Figs. 10 and 11 being front
and end elevations, Fig. 12 a plan, and Figs. 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and
18 enlarged views of parts of the same. The machine is double, and
both sides are exactly similar, and therefore if one side is particularly
described, the working of the machine will be easily understood. To
the table a fixed to standards 6 are cast pedestals or bearings c, in
which works the shaft & carrying the fast and loose pulleys e and the
bevel pinions f, which gear into the bevel wheels g fixed to the
shafts h fitted in the pedestals or bearings i. To the table a is bolted
a block k having in it steel pieces forming stationary cutters, there
being between them a space for the passage of the metal bar m
from which the untapped nuts are to be made, and in connection with
these cutters there is a reciprocating cutter n, Figs. 13, 15, and 17, fixed
to the slide o, which is moved to and fro by the eccentric p, and one side
of the cutter cuts off a blank when it moves in one direction and another
blank when it moves in the reverse direction, and as the cutter moves
to and fro a crowner q at each side moves to and fro to squeeze and
crown the blanks, the crowners being formed in the ends of the bars r
fixed to slides 8, which are put in motion by the eccentrics t on the
shafts h. On the table a are fixed guides in which are fitted slides u
carrying at the top hammers v, and at the bottom bowls w, placed in
cam slots & formed in slides y working below the slides u in guides
formed in the table, and these slides y are worked to and fro to cause
the cam slots to work the hammers as required by the cranks and
connecting rods a¹, Figs. 10, 11, and 12, Sheet 2. The two sides of the
blank are squeezed and one side crowned by the cutter and crowner

page_text: ,
approaching each other, after which the crowner and cutter separate
from each other to allow the hammer to move the blank against the
hammer ¹ to squeeze two of its edges and hold it to be punched by the
punch c¹, both punches being fixed to brackets & on the slide e¹, which
is moved to and fro by the eccentric fl on one of the shafts h, so that
when one punch is punching the other punch is moving back, and at the
time the hole is being punched the top edge of the blank is squeezed and
smoothed by a roller g¹, Figs. 14 and 17, working in brackets fixed to
the slide e¹, and the bottom edge of the blank is also squeezed at the
same time by the top roller pressing the blank on its bed or seating.
After the blank is punched it is carried by the hammers and ₁ before
the flattener h¹ worked by an eccentric ¹ on the shaft h, and after the
blank is flattened the hammers and 61 move back to release the
untapped nut to enable it to be removed. The flattener ¹ presses
the nut against the part m', Figs. 15 and 16, of the metal block k, and
at the time of flattening the nut is supported by either one of the
arms n', o¹, of the lever p', Figs. 15 and 16, when the arm is in its
highest position, as seen at n¹²; but when the arm at either side is in
its lowest position there is a space q' to allow the nut to drop through
a hole in the table into a receptacle or on to the floor, and to make the
drop certain it is acted upon by a knocker out ². The lever p¹ is jointed
to the block k, and is moved as required by the connecting rod s³,
levers t¹, rod u¹, lever v', and cam w³, fixed to one of the bevel wheels g;
and the knocker out at one side is worked by the rod x', lever y', and
cam z¹, there being a corresponding lever y¹ and cam ¹ for the knocker
out at the other side. The double cutter and hammers in this machine
are arranged for square nuts, the cutter and square-ended hammers being
seen in Fig. 17, but for hexagon nuts the double cutter and hammers
are hexagon, as seen a², b², c², Fig. 18. In some cases, instead of the
rollers g, Figs. 14 and 17, for squeezing the top edges of the blanks, I
use vertical hammers fixed to slides working in suitable guides, and give
motion to the slides and hammers by levers worked by eccentrics or
cams on the shafts h.
When required I modify the arrangement of the machine shewn in
Sheets 2 and 3, by placing two cranks for working the connecting
rods a¹ and slides y, Figs. 10, 11, and 12, on one shaft, and using a

page_text: rods a¹, I use, when required, eccentrics and slides similar to those
shewn in Figs. 13 and 14.
In some cases instead of forming the vibrating disc and double cutter
with cutting parts of 90°, as in Figs. 5 and 6, Sheet 1, I form the
cutting parts at angles of 45°, as shewn in Figs. 1 and 2*, Sheet 2, and
the metal bar c³, from which the nuts are to be made is passed in an
inclined direction to the double cutter. The case d³ through which
the cut blanks are guided to the hammers is also of an angular shape,
and the hammers e³, f³, are formed with angular ends of 45°. I also
apply this system of cutting off the blanks at angles of 45° with the
metal bar to cutters reciprocating to and fro horizontally, and in
Sheet 2, Fig. 3* is a vertical section of a reciprocating cutter having
inclined ends in connection with a stationary cutter placed at corre-
sponding angles, and Fig. 4ª an end view of the stationary cutter and
the angular-ended hammers.
In Fig. 3º, d' represents the cutter, e* the slide to which it is fixed,
f the stationary cutter, and 9' the metal bar from which the nuts are
to be made.
In Fig. 4* the passage in the metal block in which the cutter works
is marked *, and the angular hammers k*, each hammer squeezing
two sides of the blank, and in this arrangement it will be seen that the
metal bar g' is passed onwards in an angular direction.
In another arrangement I dispense with all the hammers and use
rollers, between which the cut blanks pass, the rollers being made of
cast iron or tempered steel, and acting on all the edges and sides of the
blanks to squeeze and smooth them. The rollers are made to revolve
by the friction of the blank passing between them, or they may be
made to revolve positively by gearing from the driving shaft.
On Sheet 4, Figs. 19 and 20 are front and top views of parts of a
double machine adapted for using rollers worked by the friction of the
blanks, there being a vibrating double cutter, which cuts from below
and brings the blanks one after another at each side to the top of the
table or bed. The vibrating cutter marked a, Figs. 19 and 20, has two
cutting edges which alternately pass a stationary cutter b, so that when
the heated metal bar d is pushed up to the cutters a blank e is cut off
at one side when the cutter is moving in one direction and raised to
the top of the table. A carrier 7 on the corresponding side now carries

page_text: or pushes the blank between the rollers h, where it is held until it is
punched and two of its edges squeezed and smoothed, and then the
carrier carries the blank before the carrier i to allow a crowner to
descend to crown it, after which the carrier i pushes the blank between
the rollers hand which hold it to be flattened, and also squeeze and
smooth the other two edges, and a further movement of the carrier i
pushes the untapped nut over the hole m for it to drop where required.
The carriers 9 and i are fixed to slides worked by levers n, o, acted upon
by cams on the cam shaft p, and the vibrating cutter a is worked by
a lever q put in motion by a cam on the shaft p, the movements being
similar to those described for the vibrating cutter shewn in the various
Figures on Sheet 1.
The numbers of the carriers and rollers may be varied as desired, and
in Fig. 21 I shew an arrangement of three carriers and four rollers to
be used on one or both sides of the machine. The double cutter, first
at one side and then at the other, cuts a blank off the heated metal bar
and raises it to the top of the table, after which a crowner descends to
crown the blank t, and then the carrier u pushes the blank between the
rollers v and before the carrier w, the blank in its passage having two
of its edges squeezed and smoothed by the rollers. The carrier w now
advances to place the blank between the rollers and x, where it is held
to be punched and have its other edges squeezed and afterwards pushed
before the carrier y, and then a flattener descends to flatten the untapped
nut, which is afterwards pushed by the carrier y between the rollers v, z,
to the delivery hole a¹, the rollers giving an extra finish to the two
edges passed between them. These rollers are either worked by friction
or by gearing, and the carriers are worked by levers and cams or
eccentrics similar to some described in the several arrangements. When
the nuts are to be champhered, as scen in Figs. 22 and 23, I make
the rollers with inclined edges, as shewn in Fig. 24, the rollers being
marked b¹ and the inclines c¹.
Having now described the nature and particulars of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to
be understood that in machinery for manufacturing untapped, square,
hexagon, or other shaped nuts, I claim,―
First. The vibrating discs having cutters of square, angular, or hexagon
shapes, and the stationary cutter boxes and cutters in connection with
them.

page_text: Secondly. The reciprocating cutters of various shapes fixed to rcci-
procating slides, and also the stationary cutter boxes and cutters in
connection with them.
Thirdly. The slides and cam slots for giving positive motion to the
hammers employed in the machines using reciprocating or vibrating 5
cutters.
Fourthly. The application of rollers instead of hammers for squeezing
and finishing the edges and sides of the untapped nuts and champhering
the corners.
Fifthly. The method of countersinking the holes in the nuts to 1
facilitate the tapping and the prevention of burrs.
And, Sixthly. The general arrangement of the various machines as
all such improvements are herein described and illustrated in the
accompanping four Sheets of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Whittaker, have hereunto set 1
my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named John Whittaker in
the presence of
G. SEPTIMUS HUGHES,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.
JOHN WHITTAKER. (L.S.)