IMPROVEMENTS, IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF SCREWS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Avery, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Engineer, for the Invention of " IMPROVEMENTS, IN MACHINERY
FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF SCREWS."
Sealed the 15th September 1859, and dated the 16th March 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Avery at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th March 1859.
1, WILLIAM AVERY, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Engineer,.
do hereby declare the nature of tho said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF SCREWS," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates, first, to the means of feeding the blanks into the
holding clamps or jaws, whereby they are held while the head is being turned
and while the thread is being cut thereon; and, second, to arrangements of
machinery for slotting or cutting the nick in the heads. of screws or blanks
intended to form screws.
Feeding the blanks.-A number of blanks, that is, plain spindles with
heads, is placed in a hopper leading into a spout or open guide; as soon as
the blanks reach a given point an instrument I term a separator comes into
action, and separates one blank from the rest; the blank so separated falls or
is deposited upon a feed rod; a spring catch takes hold of the back of the
blank, and as the feed rod is moved forward the spring connected to the catch
also presses the blank forward, and at the end of the stroke of the feed rod

page_text: delivers the blank into and between the clamps, to be by them held while
being threaded. Or instoad of the feed rod, I cause the blank to be received
between a pair of holders; a piston then drives the blank forward, either head
or point first, as may be desired, and delivers it into and between the clamps.
Slotting or cutting the nick in the heads of scrows or blanks.-The screws
or blanks are led through a guide rod, and when they reach a given point a
separator divides one off from the rest; the piece so separated falls between
a pair of holding jaws in a proper position for being acted upon by a rotary
saw, which cuts the required slot or nick. The jaws then rise, and a wedge,
entering between them, separates them, and at the same time knocks out the
slotted screw or blank head. Another wedge further opens the jaws to enable
them to receive a fresh blank or scrow, when the motions are repeated, as
before described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Avery in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
16th September 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
AVERY, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, tho
said William Avery, Her special licence that I, the said William Avery,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as 1, the said
William Avery, 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 THE MANUFACTURE OF SCREWS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I; the said William Avery, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Avery, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following.
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say:-
My Invention relates to the means of feeding the blanks into the holding
clamps or jaws, whereby they are held while the head of the blank is being
turned, while the nick in the head of the blank is being slotted or cut, and.
while the thread or worm is being formed, and consists of certain arrangements
of machinery for those purposes.
!
Figure 1 in the accompanying Drawing is a side elevation, and Figure 2 is
a plan of the apparatus, arranged and constructed according to my Invention,
for feeding the blanks in connection with the operation of turning the heads of
the same. A, A, is the frame, which is fixed into a machine used for turning
the blanks; attached to this frame are two inclined plates B, B, which form
the guides, and which I term the "rails," and over these rails is placed a bar
or guard C, between which and the rails the screw blanks are supplied, and
from whence they are caused to fall singly (by means of a separator herein-
after described) between the jaws D, secured on a slide E; F is a plunger,
moved by a lever or levers G; the plunger works between the jaws, which
are pressed together by a spring H. The blank is forced between the jaws by
means of the plunger, and the slide and jaws are then moved forward by the
action of the lever G sufficiently to bring the blank forward, so that it may be
seized by the holding jaws or clamps as each blank is delivered from the rails;
the remainder are prevented from falling out of the rails by a short lever I,
which I term a "separator;" this separator is moved clear to allow of the
passage of the jaws for the delivery of the blank into the clamps.
'
Figure 8 is a side elevation of my arrangements for feeding and holding the
blanks during the cutting or nicking of the heads, and Figure 4 is a plan of
the same. A, A, are the rails, which are fixed in a similar position as in the
previous Figure, between which and the guard B the blanks are supplied.
Near the upper part of the frame is a shaft C, caused to rotate by steam or
other power; this shaft carries a cam D, which cam in its rotation carries
down a lever E, attached to a shaft F passing through part of the frame, and
connected with another lever G, which has also attached to it a separator H;
this separator is quadrant shaped on its surface, and has a semicircular notch
cut on its edge, as represented in Figure 4. The shaft F has fixed on and
projecting from it a pair of holding jaws I, which are caused to rise by the
action of the cam D working against the leyer E. When the jaws have risen

page_text: far enough, a wedge J enters and keeps them apart, the separator at the same
time partially rotates, carrying with it a blank, which it deposits between the
jaws; the spring K then brings them down between two rollers L, L; these
roller's press the two jaws firmly against the blank during the cutting of the
nick, which is effected by a circular saw, as usual. As soon as the nick is cut,
the rotation of the cam D raises the jaws from between the rollers, when
another wedge M comes into operation, and forces the nicked blank out of the
jaws; this wedge is operated upon by the spring N.
Figure 5 is a side elevation, and Figure 6. is a plan of an apparatus,
arranged and constructed according to my Invention, for feeding the blanks
during the operation of worming. A, A, is the frame, which is fixed on to a
machine used for worming; this frame has two or moro forked uprights to
support two inclined planes or rails B, similar to those before described in
Figure 1, and from which the blanks fall singly into a groove formed in the
top of the bar D; they are then forced forward by the catch E, and at the
same time held firmly ready for the delivery to the jaws or clamps (although a
spring catch is shown in the Drawing, other forms of catch may be employed).
The feed bar is then moved forward by the action of the lever and rod F, F',
(worked by a cam,) sufficiently far to bring the blank forward so that it may
be seized by the jaws or clamps; the blanks are delivered singly by a
separator, as described in either Figure 1 or 3.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I hereby declare that I do not claim as
my Invention or the exclusive use of the parts of the said machinery for
forming, nicking, or worming, when taken separately; but what I claim is,
the arrangement of apparatus for feeding the blanks to be formed, nicked, and
wormed in and for the manufacture of screws, as above described by reference
to the Drawings hereunto annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Avery, have hereunto set my
hand and scal, this Ninth day of September, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-nine.
WILLIAM AVERY. (L.S.)