A NEW OR IMPROVED FEED ATTACHMENT FOR POWER PRESSES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Thomas Hughes, of the Firm of
Hughes and Son, Patent Agents, 123, Chancery Lane, London,
for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED FEED ATTACHMENT FOR
POWER PRESSES."-A communication from abroad by Ferdinand
Deming, of Waterbury, County of New Haven, and State of
Connecticut. United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Thomas
Hughes at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 8th July 1875.
I, EDWARD THOMAS HUGHES, of the Firm of Hughes and Son,
Patent Agents, 123, Chancery Lane, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED FEED ATTACH-
MENT FOR POWER PRESSES," a communication to me from abroad by
Ferdinand Deming, of Waterbury, County of New Haven, and State of
Connecticut, United States of America, to be as follows:-
-
This Invention relates to an attachment for power presses to auto-
matically present and feed sheet metal to the punch of the press; the

page_text: object being to construct the feed so that a sheet introduced into the
feed will be automatically worked into the press and presented to the
punch, so as to cause each successive punching to be in the nearest
position to the last so as to avoid waste of metal.
The Invention consists in a carriage arranged to hold the sheet and
guide it to the dies, combined with a feed working parallel with the said
carriage, but diagonally to the punching dies, and with mechanism to
impart to the said carriage a movement in the plane of the dies, and
parallel thereto, substantially as herein-after described.
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 is a top or plan view; Fig. 2, 1
a side view; Fig. 3, an end view; Fig. 4, a rear view; Fig. 5, diagram
illustrating the method for presenting the plate to the punch, so as to
produce the least possible waste; and Figs. 6, 7, and 8, are detached
views.
A is the bed; B, the uprights of a common power press. The
arrangement of the dies and the mechanism for operating the same
between the uprights or heads may be of any known construction and
not necessary to be here described. C is the carriage arranged upon the
bed in a diagonal position, as seen in Fig. 1, the angle of the carriage
being about sixty degrees from the longitudinal line of the press. This
carriage is arranged upon a slide D, the said slide being parallel to the
line of the press and moving in suitable guides, so that the carriage
maintaining its diagonal position will be moved across the press in a lino
parallel to the press, as denoted in broken linės, Fig. 1.
The movement of this carriage must be intermittent, that is, with
a rest at each operation of the punch. To do this a cam E is arranged
beneath on a shaft E', the cam constructed with a spiral groove E³, into
which a stud E³ from the slide extends, so that the turning of the cam
will impart a corresponding movement to the carriage; this groove runs
half around the cam and returns, so that a full revolution of the cam
will cause the carriage to move across the press and back. On the
shaft E a ratchet wheel F is arranged in which a pawl F' works, this
pawl receiving a reciprocating movement from the driving shaft G
through a connecting rod G³, as seen in Fig. 3.
The extent of this reciprocation may be varied by adjusting the a
fulcrum or point of connection between the pawl and the driving shaft,
in substantially the usual manner for similar feeds. This will give the

page_text: necessary intermittent movement to the carriage to present the sheet to
the punches for successive holes in the same line, as for holes 1, 2,
3, 4, &c., as seen in diagram, Fig. 5; these perforations or punches
being in a line diagonally across the sheet, the angle of such line being
the same as the angle between the carriage and the press, and so that
the second row of perforations will come each between the successive
perforations previously made, this angle, as before stated, being about
sixty degrees to give the least possible waste of metal.
Having fed once across for the first row of perforations, an advance
movement of the metal is necessary before the carriage returns to make
the second row of perforations. To do this a pair of feed rolls H, H;;
are arranged in the carriage, geared together, so that the metal passes
between these rolls, the axis of the rolls being at right angles across
the carriage. These rolls are driven by a shaft L provided with a
pinion I working into a pinion L³ on one of the rolls; this shaft
extends through a bearing L° so as to revolve freely therein, and con-
nected with the carriage, as at L', so as to move longitudinally with
the carriage. On this shaft is a ratchet P through which the shaft
passes, splined to the shaft and in connection with the bearing, so that
the shaft will turn with the ratchet but yet move longitudinally through
it. This ratchet is actuated by a pawl P¹ from the driving shaft
through a connecting rod P³, as seen in Fig. 4, and may be adjusted to
give a greater or less throw, in substantially the usual manner for
adjusting the throw of pawls in other machines.
The movement of this pawl will occur at each revolution of the
shaft G, but the feed is only required at each extreme movement of the
carriage; therefore to prevent the feed between these two extremes
a shoe R is hung beside the pawl, and from the pawl an arm a
projects over the shoe, and on the shaft E¹ a cam S is arranged, upon
which the lower end d of this shoe rests. This cam is constructed
with an escapement e upon opposite sides, but between these escape-
ments the circumference of the cam is such that the shoe will be
elevated, as denoted in broken lines, Fig. 2, and thus prevent the
contact of the pawl P₁ with the ratchet P. The escapement occurs
at each extreme movement of the carriage, and when the shoe falls
from this escapement, as seen in Fig. 2, the pawl will engage the
ratchet and turn the shaft L, and through that the feed rolls to give

page_text: the sheet the necessary forward movement to make the next row of
perforations. So soon as the forward movement has occurred the shoe
is raised by the cam S to disengage the pawl from its ratchet, and when
the carriage has returned to the other extreme the shoe will fall off the
next escapement on the cam S, and cause another advance of the sheet, 6
as before, and so continuing the carriage is automatically moved across
the press, and the sheet advanced at the two extremes, so as to continuo
the automatic feeding of the shect until it has been entirely fed through
the machine. This device has thus far been represented as driven from
a longitudinal shaft, but it will be understood that the movement is to be 1
obtained from the driving mechanism of the press, whatever may be the
arrangement of the shaft, and so that the feed will occur before the
descent of the punch.
I have represented the cam which imparts the reciprocating motion
to the carriage as constructed so as by a continuous revolution to carry 1
the carriage from right to left, but in some cases it is desirable to turn
the cam forward and return to impart this movement. For this purpose
I modify the feeding device, as denoted in Figures 6 and 7, which show
respectively a top and end view.
In these Figures E' is the shaft, to which the cam E is attached; on a
this a ratchet 7 is fixed, and at each side of this respectively a face plato
8 and 9. On the shaft between the face plate 8 and ratchet 7 is a
lever 10, and between the face plato 9 and ratchet 7 is a similar lever 11.
From cach of these a connecting rod 12 extends up to the adjustable
crank on the shaft G, so that by the revolution of the said crank a 2
corresponding oscillating movement is imparted to the levers 10 and 11.
On the lever 10 is a pawl 13, and on the lever 11 is a corresponding
pawl 14; these pawls are provided with a spring, which will hold them
at either of two points, one in connection with the ratchet, as at the left,
and the other raised from the ratchet, as at the right.
In the face of the plate 8 is a T shaped groove 14' formed around the
plate, and in this two dogs 15 and 16 are set. Starting with the dog 15
in the position shown, and supposing the pawl to have been off from the
ratchet, as the pawl rises it strikes the dog 15, and is thereby turned
into work with the ratchet, and each oscillation of the lever 10 will a
therefore cause the pawl to work in the ratchet and turn the ratchet shaft
and face plates away from the pawl, the dog 15 moving with them, and so

page_text: continuing until the back of the dog 16 will come beneath a pin 17 on the
pawl, which will raise the pawl from the ratchet and prevent its working.
When this raising of the pawl 13 occurs a dog on the plate 9 corres-
ponding to the dog 15 on the plate 8 strikes the pin 18 on the pawl 14,
and turns that pawl on to the ratchet, so that the pawl 14 becomes then
the working pawl, and the pawl 13 the idle pawl, and turn the ratchet
and shaft in the opposite direction until a dog on the plate 9, like a
dog 16 on the plato 8, raises the pawl 14, and at that time the pawl 13 is
again thrown into work; thus the cam will revolve in one direction to
move the carriage to the left, and in the opposite direction to return the
carriage, therefore by adjusting the throw of the pawls the extent of
each intermittent movement may be varied to the desired degree. As
by this construction there is no dead point or rest of the cam, provision
must be made for a rest of the carriage which holds the sheet to be
punched while that carriage is advanced, I therefore construct the
transverse carriage in two parts, as denoted in Fig. 8, the part 20 being
in direct connection with the cam, and tho part 21 working on gibs
independent of the part 20, and in the part 20 at each side I arrange an
adjusting screw 22, so as to leave a space between the two screws wider
than the part 21, so that the part 21 will not move until the end of the
screw comes against it, then they will move together, and the time which
is required for the part 20 to so reach the part 21 is the time necessary
for the advance of the plate to be punched, and this time may be varied'
by simply adjusting the screws accordingly.
5 SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edward Thomas Hughes in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 8th January 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
THOMAS HUGHES, of the Firm of Hughes and Son, Patent Agents,
0 123, Chancery Lane, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-

page_text: ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, Her
special licence that I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward
Thomas Hughes, 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 law-
fully 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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED FEED ATTACHMENT FOR POWER
PRESSES," a communication to me from abroad by Ferdinand Deming, of
Waterbury, County of New Haven, and State of Connecticut, United
States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Edward Thomas Hughes, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
scals, 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 Edward Thomas Hughes, do hereby
declaro the nature of the 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 accom.
panying Sheet of Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates to an attachment for power presses to auto-
matically present and feed sheet metal to the punch of the press, the
object being to construct the feed so that a sheet introduced into the
feed will be automatically worked into the press and presented to the
punch so as to cause each successive punching to be in the nearest
position to the last so as to avoid waste of metal.
The Invention consists in a carriage arranged to hold the sheet and
guide it to the dies, combined with a feed working parallel with the said
carriage but diagonally to the punching dies, and with mechanism to
impart to the said carriage a movement in the plane of the dies and
parallel thereto, substantially as herein-after described.

page_text: In the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 is a top or plan view; Fig. 2,
a side view; Fig. 3, end view; Fig. 4, rear view; Fig. 5, diagram
illustrating the method for presenting the plate to the punch so as to
produce the least possible waste; and Figs. 6, 7, and S, detached
views.
A is the bed; B, the uprights of a common power press. The
arrangement of the dies and the mechanism for operating the same
between the uprights or heads may be of any known construction and
not necessary to be here described. C is the carriage arranged upon the
bed in a diagonal position, as seen in Fig. 1, the angle of the carriage
being about 60 degrees from the longitudinal line of the press. This
carriage is arranged upon a slide D, the said slide being parallel to the
line of the press and moving in suitable guides, so that the carriage
maintaining its diagonal position will be moved across the press in a line
parallel to the press, as denoted in broken lines, Fig. 1.
The movement of this carriage must be intermittent, that is, with a
rest at each operation of the punch. To do this a cam E is arranged
beneath on a shaft E', the cam constructed with a spiral groove E³, into
which a stud E³ from the slide extends, so that the turning of the cam
will impart a corresponding movement to the carriage. This groove
runs half around the cam and returns, so that a full revolution of the
cam will cause the carriage to move across the press and back. On
the shaft E a ratchet wheel F is arranged in which a pawl F¹ works,
this pawl receiving a reciprocating movement from the driving shaft G
through a connecting rod G', as seen in Fig. 3.
The extent of this reciprocation may be varied by adjusting the
fulcrum or point of connection between the pawl and the driving shaft
in substantially the usual manner for similar feeds. This will give the
necessary intermittent movement to the carriage to present the sheet to
the punches for successive holes in the same line, as for holes 1, 2, 3, 4,
&c., as seen in diagram Fig. 5; these perforations or punches being in a
line diagonally across the sheet, the angle of such line being the same
as the angle between the carriage and the press, and so that the second
row of perforations will come each between the successive perforations
previously made; this angle, as before stated, being about sixty degrees
to give the least possible waste of metal.

page_text: Having fed once across for the first row of perforations an advance
movement of the metal is necessary before the carriage returns to make
the second row of perforations. To do this a pair of feed rolls H, H,
are arranged in the carriage geared together so that the metal passes
between these rolls, the axis of the rolls being at right angles across the
carriage. These rolls are driven by a shaft L provided with a pinion L'
working into a pinion L on one of the rolls. This shaft extends
through a bearing L° so as to revolve freely therein, and connected with
the carriage, as at L', so as to move longitudinally with the carriage.
On this shaft is a ratchet P, through which the shaft passes, splined to
the shaft and in connection with the bearing, so that the shaft will turn
with the ratchet but yet move longitudinally through it. This ratchet
is actuated by a pawl P¹ from the driving shaft through a connecting
rod P³, as seen in Fig. 4, and may be adjusted to give a greater or less
throw in substantially the usual manner for adjusting the throw of pawls
in other machines.
The movement of this pawl will occur at each revolution of the shaft
G, but the feed is only required at each extreme movement of the
carriage, therefore to prevent the feed between these two extremes
a shoe R is hung beside the pawl, and from the pawl an arm a
projects over the shoe, and on the shaft E¹ a cam S is arranged,
upon which the lower end d of this shoe rests. This cam is con-
structed with an escapement e upon opposite sides, but between these
escapements the circumference of the cam is such that the shoo will
be elevated as denoted in broken lines, Fig. 2, and thus prevent the
contact of the pawl P' with the ratchet P; the escapement occurs
at each extreme movement of the carriage, and when the shoe falls
from this escapement, as seen in Fig. 2, the pawl will engage the
ratchet and turn the shaft L, and through that the feed rolls to give
the sheet the necessary forward movement to make the next row of
perforations. So soon as the forward movement has occured the shoe
is raised by the cam S to disengage the pawl from its ratchet, and when
the carriage has returned to the other extreme the shoe will fall off the
next escapement on the cam S, and cause another advance of the sheet
as before, and so continuing the carriage is automatically moved across
the press and the sheet advanced at the two extremes, so as to continue
the automatic feeding of the sheet until it has been entirely fed through
the machine. This device has thus far been represented as driven from

page_text: a longitudinal shaft, but it will be understood that the movement is to
be obtained from the driving mechanism of the press, whatever may be
the arrangement of the shaft, and so that the feed will occur before the
descent of the punch.
I have represented the cam which imparts the reciprocating motion to
the carriage as constructed so as by a continuous revolution to carry the
carriage from right to left, but in some cases it is desirable to turn the
cam forward, and return to impart this movement. For this purpose I
modify the feeding device as denoted in Figures 6 and 7, which show
respectively a top and end view.
In these Figures E is the shaft to which the cam E is attached; on
this a ratchet 7 is fixed, and at each side of this respectively a face plate
8 and 9. On the shaft between the face plate 8 and ratchet 7 is a lever
10, and between the face plate 9 and ratchet 7 is a similar lever 11;
from each of these a connecting rod 12 extends up to the adjustable
crank on the shaft G, so that by the revolution of the said crank a
corresponding oscillating movement is imparted to the levers 10 and 11.
On the lever 10 is a pawl 13, and on the lever 11 is a corresponding
pawl 14, these pawls are provided with a spring which will hold them
at either of two points, one in connection with the ratchet, as at the left,
and the other raised from the ratchet, as at the right.
In the face of the plate 8 is at T shaped groove 14' formed around the
plate, and in this two dogs 15 and 16 are set. Starting with the dog 15
in the position shown, and supposing the pawl to have been off from the
ratchet, as the pawl rises it strikes the dog 15, and is thereby turned
into tho work with the ratchet, and each oscillation of the lever 10 will
therefore cause the pawl to work in the ratchet, and turn the ratchot
shaft and face plates away from the pawl, the dog 15 moving with them,
and so continuing until the back of the dog 16 will come beneath a pin
17 on the pawl, which will raise the pawl from the ratchet and prevent
its working. When this raising of the pawl 13 occurs a dog on the
plate 9 corresponding to the dog 15 on the plate 8 strikes the pin 18 on
the pawl 14 and turns that pawl on to the ratchet, so that the pawl 14
becomes then the working pawl and the pawl 13 the idle pawl, and turn
the ratchet and shaft in the opposite direction until a dog on the plate 9
like a dog 16 on the plate 8 raises the pawl 14, and at that time the

page_text: with mechanism substantially such as described for adjusting and
reversing the action of the said pawls.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of January, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
six.