IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PINS AND HACKLES OR GILLS."
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Richards Harding, of Leeds, in the County
of York, Machinist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PINS AND HACKLES OR GILLS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Richards Harding
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 29th December 1864.
I, THOMAS RICHARDS HARDING, of Leeds, in the County of York, Machinist,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PINS AND HACKLES OR GILLS," to be as
follows:-
My Invention consists, first, in an improved mode of feeding wires or
pins into pointing, cutting, and other machines. In feeding the wires or pins
direct from the hopper on to the main band of the machine, as described in
the Specification of my Patent dated 21st June 1861, No. 1599, the wires
or pins have a tendency to crowd together. To obviate this I employ an
additional travelling band, which receives the wires or pins from a hopper and
delivers them on to the main band. By regulating the speed of this additional
or preliminary travelling band the delivery of the wires or pins on to the maia
band is effected without crowding. and the wires or pins may, when desirable,
be fed to the main band at intervals.
Second, in an improved mode of flattening pins or wires. The flattening is
effected by pressing the pins or wires between a pair of dies. The pressure is

page_text: given by an excentric or other suitable apparatus pushing one die up towards
the face of the other, and the machine is so arranged that one excentric works
two sets of dies, one set being suitably mounted on either side. On each pair
of dies a cutter or cutters are fixed, so that when the wires or pins are nipped
between the dies and flattened, the cutter or cutters at the same time and by
the same operation cut the pin at its required length. In order to remove
such of the wires or pins as stick to the dies after having been cut and flat-
tened, a spring or brush is made to pass over the face of the dies after each
stroke of the machine.
.
Thirdly, in an improved machine for cutting wires or pins. In the process
now in use the wires or pins are taken into the hand by the workman and cut
by ordinary shears. By my Invention I cause the wires or pins to be carried
to ordinary shears or to circular cutters by means of a travelling band. When
the wires or pins are spread on this band, although they lay parallel to each
other, their points are not in one regular and uniform line, which is necessary
in order to cut them of one uniform length. I propose to effect this arrange-
ment in various ways: either by a rotating brush or roller working upon the
surfaces of the wires or pins as they are laid on the travelling band and driving
them up to a gauge, or by a horizontal bar or pusher, (acting as a gauge)
being pushed up to the points of the wires or pins. Or it may be effected by
a travelling metal band working opposite to the points of the wires or pins,
but obliquely to the direction in which the wires travel on the band on which
ihey are spread. By these means the travelling metal band will act as an
inclined plane, and as the points of the wires or pins will come in contact with
the metal band in some part of its traverse, the wires will ultimately leave
the end of the metal band with their points in one regular and uniform line.
Fourthly, in an improved mode of forming the stocks of gills or hackles.
At present the stocks in which the pins are inserted, and the necessary pro-
jections or seats at each end of the stock, are cast. My Invention consists in
passing the metal of which the stock is made between pressing rollers, one of
such rollers having suitable indentations upon its surface to produce the
necessary. projections or seats for the stocks. By this means I can pass any
length of metal between the rollers, and by cutting the bar after being pressed
where the projections or seats are produced, separate stocks are thereby made.
Or I first cut off the stocks from rods or wires drawn to a suitable size, and
then form the stock with the projections or seats by pressure between suitable
dies.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Richards Harding in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 29th June 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
RICHARDS HARDING, of Leeds, in the County of York, Machinist, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand, eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Thomas Richards Harding, Her special licence that 1, the said
Thomas Richards Harding, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Thomas Richards Harding, 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 APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF
PINS AND HACKLES OR GILLS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Thomas Richards Harding, 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 Thomas Richards Harding, 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
My Invention of "Improvements in Apparatus for the Manufacture of Pins
and Hackles or Gills," relates, in the first place, to an improved mode of feeding
wires or pins into pointing, cutting, and other machines used in the manu-
facture of pins or hackles.
hopper on to the main band of the machine, such as that described in the
Specification of my Patent, dated Twenty-first June. One thousand eight.
hundred and sixty-one, No. 1599, the wires or pins have a tendency to crowd
together. To obviate this I employ an additional travelling band which
In feeding the wires or pins direct from the

page_text: receives the wires or pins from a hopper, and in fact forms part of the bottom
of the hopper. From this additional band the pins or wires are delivered on
to the main band of the machine. By regulating the speed of this additional
travelling band the delivery of the wires or pins on to the main band is effected
without crowding, and the wires or pins may, when desirable, be fed to the
main band at intervals. This part of the Invention is shewn at Figures 1, 2,
and 3 of the accompanying Drawings. The Invention is represented as
adapted to the pointing machine which I patented on June Twenty-first, One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, No. 1599, and above referred to. d is
the endless travelling band, which, by rolling the wires on the plate e causes
them to pass through the machine as described in my Patent just referred to;
and are two studs or axles carrying the rollers h, i, over which is stretched
an endless band o of india-rubber or leather. The upper side of this band
forms the bottom of the hopper or receiver a as seen in Fig. 1. This endless
bando is actuated by means of the pinion k, attached to the rollers i. The
pinion gears into the wheel on the roller m, which carries the endless
travelling band d. By changing these pinions I am enabled to vary the
speed of the small band o relatively to the main band d, and therefore can
accelerate or retard the feeding of the wires without altering the speed of the
main band d. The crowding of the wires on one another can thus be prevented,
because by retarding the band o 1 can feed the wires on to the band d at any
desired speed, or indeed at intervals if required. By this means I can dis-
pense with the use of the two screws shewn in Figures 1 and 2 in the
Specification of my Patent, 1599, above referred to.
The second part of my Invention relates to an improved mode of flattening
pins or wires and cutting them off of the required lengths. The flattening is
effected by pressing the pins or wires between a pair of dies. The pressure
is given by an excentric or other suitable apparatus to push or force the
moveable dies up towards the face of the other or stationary dies. The
machine is so arranged that one excentric works two sets of dies, one set being
suitably mounted on either side of the excentric. On each pair of dies cutters
are fixed, so that when the wires or pins are nipped between the dies and
flattened, the cutters at the same time and by the same operation will cut off
the pin at its required length. In order to remove such of the pins as may
stick to the dies after having been cut and flattened, a spring or brush is made
to pass over the face of the dies after each stroke of the machine, and push
the pins off into a receptacle provided to receive them. Figures 4 and 5
represent a plan view and a side view of my improved flattening machine; (a) is
a fly wheel which also serves as a band wheel or pulley, and is actuated by a

page_text: strap driven by any prime mover. This wheel is keyed on to the shaft b, at the
other end of which is mounted the eccentric c, shewn by dots in the Figures,
working in the block (c) of the slide (d); e and are steel dies fastened to
each end of the slide d by means of the cross plates (g, g). By the action
of the excentric c the slide d, and therefore also the dies e, f, are caused to
move backwards and forwards in their guides, alternately approaching and
receding from the fixed dies (j, i). These fixed dies (j, i) abut against the
projections (k, k,) and are firmly held by the bands or collars (1, 1) which
are tightened against them by means of the screws (m, m.) Figure 4. The
adjustment of each pair of dies is performed by means of the wedges (o, o.)
acting between the dies e, f, and a projection in the slide (d). The fixed and
moveable dies and cutters are shewn detached on an enlarged scale at Figures
6 and 7. It will be seen that at the back of the fixed dies (j, i) a thin plate
of steel (q) is fastened, and screws as a gauge to regulate the length of the
pins to be flattened. On the front part of the same dies (j, i) the cutters
(r, r.) are fixed by means of screws as shewn at Figure 6. It will be seen
that the cutter (r), Figures 6 and 7, has a projecting part (r) which serves
as a stop for the wires, and also prevents the moveable die e from descending
on to the edge of the cutter r, the edge of which is made to project a little
from the face of the die. When a wire, the end of which has been previously
pointed, is introduced between the dies e and 1, and when the die e by the
action of the excentric c (as already described) is brought to press against the
fixed die ), the pin is cut off and flattened at one operation. As soon as the
pin is released by the separation of the dies is removed by the action of
springs (s, s¹) which during the separation of the dies descends and scrapes
their surface and detaches the pin therefrom. These springs (s, s¹) may be
actuated in various ways. In the Drawing I have shewn two different modes
of working it. In Figure 5 a T lever is mounted on a stud fastened
into the fixed part of the machine, the lower branch of this lever enters in a
nick v in the slide d, so that by the motion of the slide the lever is made io
oscillate on its centre of motion, and therefore the spring (s) (fastened to its
right-hand end) is caused to rise and fall so as to scrape the surface of the dies
and then to retire before the next forward motion of the dies. At the other
end of the lever t, in Figure 5, I have shewn another mode of actuating the
spring, and although this plan is somewhat more complicated it is found to act
more satisfactorily. The end of the lever t, by pressing against the catch '
depresses the slide u, which carries the spring (s), and when it has depressed
the spring so far that its end leaves the catch t the slide will be released and
brought up suddenly by the spiral spring (u').
This method of working the

page_text: spring (s) is advantageous, because as soon as the dies are cleared the spring s
will at once be taken out of the way of the next wire to be fed in.
The third part of my Invention relates to an improved machine for cutting
off the wires or pins after the pointing operation has been performed. In the
process now in use the wires or pins are taken into the hand by the workman
and cut off by ordinary shears. By my Invention I cause the wires or pins
to be carried to ordinary shears or to circular cutters by means of a travelling
band. When the wires or pins are spread on this band, although they lay
parallel to each other, their points are not in one regular and uniform line
which is necessary in order to cut them off one uniform length. I effect this
desired object in various ways. It may be done either by means of a rotating
brush or roller working upon the surfaces of the wires or pins as they are
laid on a travelling band and driving them up to a gauge, or by means of a
horizontal bar or pusher (acting as a gauge) being made to act against and
push up the points of the wires or pins; or it may be effected by a travelling
metal band working opposite to the points of the wires or pins but obliquely to
the direction in which the wires travel on the band on which they are spread.
By these means the travelling metal band will act as an inclined plane, and
as the points of the wires or pins will come in contact with the metal band
in some part of its traverse, the wires will ultimately leave the end of the
metal band with their points in one regular and uniform line. Figure 8 is a
plan view, Figure 9 a front elevation, and Figure 10 a longitudinal section
of a machine, shewing this improvement. a is the framework of the machine;
b is a shaft, one end of which carries the driving pullies e, e, and on which is
keyed a cylinder or roller b¹; c is another shaft, on which is keyed another
cylinder or roller c'. An endless band of leather or india-rubber is stretched
over these two rollers or cylinders and is actuated by them; d is a third shaft
also provided with a roller, covered with india-rubber or leather. This roller is
mounted and works immediately above and is in contact with the roller b
The cutters g, g, are adapted to the shafts of the rollers band d, and are
fastened by the nuts h, h. In order to adjust the circular cutters g, g, the
shaft d is made to work in points and may be moved laterally in either
direction and adjusted by means of the screws and nuts i, i. The wires pre-
viously pointed are spread on the endless sheet † (Fig. 10), and are by its
forward motion carried on until they are brought between the cutters g, g
when the pins on being cut off will drop into a suitable receptacle, and the
wires will pass into another, as at j. The use of the leather covering of the
roller d' is by pressing on to the roller b' to hold the wires firmly during the
cutting-off process. In order that the pins cut off may be of one uniform

page_text: length I use an endless steel band (Figure 8), which is stretched over the
rollers I, 1, one of which is actuated by gearing into the wheel m. This metal
band is placed obliquely to the sheet f, and is made to work in the same
direction, and at exactly the same speed. The wires when spread on the end-
less band or sheet are made to project over its edge more than the length re-
quired to be cut off, and by their ends coming in contact with the steel band k
they will be gradually pushed back to the required length. The roller is
moveable; its position can therefore be adjusted, and by its distance from the
cutters the length of the pin to be cut off will be determined. Instead of
a travelling band like the steel band I sometimes use a face plate, placed
obliquely to the sheet or bandlike the band k, and I give to this plate a
slight but definite backward and forward motion, whereby the pins will he
pushed back to the proper length before they reach the cutters g, g.
The last head of the Invention relates to an improved mode of forming the
metal stocks of gills or hackles. At present the stocks in which the pins are
inserted are cast in metal with the necessary projections or seats at each end of
the stock. My improvement consists in forming the stocks from metal rod or
wire, which is passed between pressing rollers, one of such rollers having
suitable indentations upon its surface to produce the necessary projections or
seats for the stocks, the other roller being plain. By this means I can pass
any length of metal rod or wire between the rollers, and a number of stocks
can thus be formed in one length, and by cutting the bar or rod after being
pressed (in the manner explained) at those points where the projections or seats
are produced, separate stocks are thereby made. Another method consists in
first cutting off the stocks from rods or wires drawn to a suitable size and then
forming the stock with the projections or seats by pressure between suitable
dies. Or if preferred the cutting and pressing operation may be simultaneous.
Fig. 11 is a side elevation, and Fig. 12 a front elevation, drawn full size, of
an apparatus consisting of a pair of circular dies or rollers for forming the
stocks in a continuous length. It will be seen that the upper roller is pro-
vided with a series of projecting parts which will form the depressions in the
backs of the stocks. The lower roller has only a plain groovey made round
t suitable to receive the flat wire or metal rod or bar. It will be evident that
when the rod or wire z is passed between the rollers the pressure of the pro-
ecting parts of the roller w against the wire or metal rod will form the required
ndentations at the back of the stock. The stocks are afterwards cut off in any
suitable manner. Figures 13 and 14 represent views, also drawn full size, of
pair of flat dies, whereby the stocks can be formed from flat wire or metal
od and cut off in suitable lengths at one operation. The fixed or bottom die

page_text: is provided with a back gauge plate 2. and also with a cutter g, so that the
stock may be cut off when the moveable or upper die comes down to press the
metal into form. By the pressure of the upper die the flat bar of metal will
be bent into the form shewn at Fig. 13, and the required scats for.the stock
will be thereby produced.
Having now described my Invention of "Improvements in Apparatus for
the Manufacture of Pins and Hackles or Gills," and having explained the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I claim as the Invention secured to
me by Letters Patent as aforesaid,―
First, the adaptation to the feeding apparatus of a machine for pointing,
cutting, flattening, or otherwise-operating upon pins or wires as above-mentioned
of an additional or secondary travelling band, actuated in any convenient
manner, so that the pins or wires may be carried forward in proper order
and succession to the main feeding band as herein set forth.
Second, the arrangement herein set forth for flattening and cutting off the
wires or pins.
Third, I claim the arrangement and construction of parts herein set forth
and shewn at Figures 8, 9, and 10, or any mere modification thereof for cutting
off pins or wires.
Lastly, I claim the mode or modes herein set forth of forming the stocks for
hackles or gills.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Richards Harding, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-fourth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
DARLINGS
Signed and sealed by the said
Thomas Richards Harding, in
the presence of
JOSEPH BEAUMONT WILKINSON,
27, East Parade,
Leeds.