IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR PUNCHING AND SHEARING METALS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Hill, of Heywood, in the County of Lancaster,
Boiler Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS FOR PUNCHING AND SHEARING METALS."
Sealed the 22nd February 1859, and dated the 25th August 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Hill at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 25th
August 1858.
I, THOMAS HILL, of Heywood, in the County of Lancaster, Boiler Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR PUNCHING AND SHEARING METALS," to be
as follows:-
I employ a strong frame of two sides, so that the plates to be punched may
pass between them. At any convenient part of the framework there are
bearings for the driving shaft, and pulleys giving motion by means of gearing
to a shaft carrying any desired number of eccentrics or cams. In one of my
arrangements I employ a cam at each side of the interior of the framing for
the purpose of giving motion to punch holders having one or more punches,
and outside the framing cams are placed on the shaft for actuating shears or
cutters.
The plates to be punched rest upon tables furnished with suitable dies, and
also upon a travelling table or dividing apparatus.
The throw of the cams, the amount of gearing, and the strength of the
framework are proportioned to the size and number of holes to be punched.

page_text: By employing a machine or apparatus of the aforesaid description I am
enabled to punch one or more holes in two sides of a plate at one operation,
thereby ensuring great exactness and economy, the shearing of the plates
going on at the same time.
It is evident the aforesaid arrangements may be modified in a variety of
ways, adapting the machine to punch several holes either with or without the
shearing apparatus.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Hill in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
23rd February 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
HILL, of Heywood, in the County of Lancaster, Boiler Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Thomas Hill, Her special licence that I, the said
Thomas Hill, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Thomas Hill, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
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 OR APPARATUS FOR PUNCHING AND SHEARING
METALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Hill, by
an instrument in writing 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 Thomas Hill, 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 (that is to say) :-
My improvements consist in employing a strong framework of two sides,

page_text: so that the plates to be punched and sheared may pass between them, and
also on the outside when desired. Motion is given to a shaft carrying any
suitable number of eccentrics or cams, which rise and fall by means of con-
necting rods, a cross bar or slide in the inside, and also slides on the outside, to
which slides the necessary punches and shears are attached. The plates to be
punched and sheared rest upon dies and cutters connected with the framework,
and also upon a travelling table or dividing apparatus. The presses may be
arranged so as to punch part or the entire number of holes across the plate, or
one or more at each side, the shearing or squaring going on at the same
time, thus producing an amount of economy and exactness never before
obtained.
These improvements will be clearly understood by reference to the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings, with the figures and letters of reference thereon.
Fig. 1 is a front elevation of one of my improved punching and shearing
presses; Figs. 2 and 3, end elevations thereof; and Fig. 4 is a front view of a
modification of the same.
In Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the framing is shewn at a, having two strong sides, so
that a plate to be punched and sheared may pass between them, and other
plates placed on the outside, resting as required upon the travelling frames or
dividing apparatus b and c. The framework is furnished with the inside
guides d, and the outside guides e and f, which guides are truly fitted with
the outside slides g and h, and the inner slide or cross bar i, all of which are
connected by ball or other joints to the lower ends of the connecting rods k,
the upper ends of which fit and pass over cranks, cams, or eccentrics fixed to
or forming part of the shaft l, to which the necessary motion is given by
means of the gearing m and pulleys n. The cams and eccentrics give the
slides an easy and powerful up-and-down motion, and also the punches and
cutters connected to them. To the outside slide g, I connect a cutter o, for the
purpose of shearing only; and to the outside slide h a cutter p, and punch q, so
that by degrees one side of a plate may be squared and punched at the same
time. The inner slide or cross bar i is furnished on each side with a cutter r,
and also with one or more punches s, so that a plate may be squared and
punched on both sides at once, the number of punches and length of cutter
being adapted to the work required. The plates are placed upon the travelling
5 tables, and have a certain length of traverse by giving the screws a corre-
sponding movement. The aforesaid arrangement forms a very efficient and
powerful machine, but the cutters and punches may be placed according to
the purpose desired.
In Fig. 4 I shew a number of punches t, attached to the cross slide u, for

page_text: the purpose of punching the entire number of holes across the plate,
shears or cutters being employed, when required, for squaring the sides.
In the aforesaid arrangements the throw of the cams, cranks, or eccentrics,
the amount of gearing, and the strength of the framework and parts are
proportioned to the size and number of holes to be punched.
Having thus fully described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be distinctly
understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein set
forth, as such may be varied or modified without departing from the principle
thereof; but I claim as my Invention, and which to the best of my knowledge
and belief has not been hitherto used within the realm, the arrangement and
construction of a machine or apparatus for punching and shearing metals
with a strong framework of two sides, the plates to be operated upon passing
between the sides or inside the framework as well as on the outside, instead
of the outside only, as heretofore generally adopted, and the means or method
of working the cams, punches, and shears, so as to punch one or more
holes at each side of the plate and also across the plate at one operation,
thereby ensuring great exactness and economy, the shearing going on at the
same time, or not, at discretion, as such improvements are herein described
and illustrated in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Hill, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of February, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named Thomas Hill, in the
presence of
THOMAS HILL. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named Thomas Hill, in the
presence of
E. J. HUGHES, Patent Agent,
Manchester.
THOMAS HILL. (L.S.)