IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC SCREW NUTS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Horatio Harfield, of 113, Fenchurch Street,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC
SCREW NUTS."-A communication.
Sealed the 18th April 1856, and dated the 11th February 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Horatio
Harfield at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 11th February 1856.
I, WILLIAM HORATIO HARFIELD, of 113, Fenchurch Street, do hereby
declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF METALLIC SCREW NUTS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of
metallic screw nuts.
The first improvement consists in constructing the nut box of a series of
segments, excentrics, and set screws, combined with an enclosing case in such
manner, that the size of the interior of the nut box can be varied at pleasure.
Second, the Invention consists of combining with the nut box a moveable
bottom with elastic bearings, to enable the machine to adapt itself to different
sizes of nuts and relieve itself from injurious strains in case of extra inetal
being fed in.

page_text: Third, the machine is arranged to form nuts thicker than the bar from
which the nuts are cut, by forcing the whole, or part of the metal displaced in
perforating the holes, into the bodies of the nuts.
Fourth, the Invention consists of combining the use of a round punch with
the moveable bottom, and also a round punch corresponding with the angular
punch, in such manner that cach nut formed will be perforated by the joint
action of the said round punches..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Horatio Harfield in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 6th August 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HORATIO HARFIELD, of 113, Fenchurch Street, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Horatio Harfield, Her special licence that I, the said William
Horatio Harfield, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said William Horatio Harfield, 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 THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC SCREW NUTS," (a communi-
cation,) upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Horatio
Harfield, 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 William Horatio Harfield, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to bo
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-

page_text: On the axis c are also
Figure 1 is a front elevation, partly in section, of a nut-making machine
arranged according to the Invention; Figure 2 is a transverse section thereof,
taken at the line 1, 2, at Figure 1; Figure 3 is a plan; Figure 4 is a vertical
section, and Figure 5 is a horizontal section of part of the machine. a is the main
axis, which receives motion from a steam engine or other prime mover; a¹ is a
pinion on this axis, which drives the axes b and c by means of the toothed
wheels b¹ and c¹. On the axis b are cams d, e, and e. The cam d actuates
the slide d', and the cams e and e actuate the slide e¹.
cams f, g, and g*. The cam f actuates the slide f¹, and the cams g and g*
actuate the slide.g¹. The slides d', e, f, and g', carry tools, which, with the
assistance of the dies and die box h (which will be described hereafter), mould
or form the nuts from the bar of iron. The slide d¹ has keyed to it, by the
key d², a punch d³, the end of which is of a size suitable for forming the hole
in the centre of the nut. The slide e' carries the punch holder e², which is
adjusted at the back by the slotted key e³, and is secured to the slide by the
screws e Into the punch holder e² is fitted a punch e, the face of which is
of the size and form of the under side of the nut which it is desired to make,
and it has a hole through its contre in which the punch slides. At the
other end of the machine the slide f carries the punch holder f, which is
secured by the key and the screws f, and into the bolder fis fitted and
keyed a punch f, the face of which is of the size and shape of the top of the
nut. The slide g¹ carries the punch holder g², which is secured by the key g³,
and the length of the punch holder is adjusted by putting in filling pieces g' in
front of the key. 9 is a circular punch, which is keyed into the holdes g²,
and the punch 9 is of the size of the hole which is to be made in the centre
of the nut.
I will now proceed to describe the arrangement of the dies and die box h.
Figure 6 is a full size view of a die box and dies for making a six-sided nut.
is the die box, which consists of a solid metal frame, and when in use it
rests against the framing of the machine; it has in its circumference two
slots h², h. h, h³, are bolts which pass through the slots and screw into
holes in the framing of the machine; are screws by which the position of
the die box is adjusted; thoy pass through lugs on the framing of the machine.

page_text: ho, h³, are segments, of which the die box contains as many as there are sides
to the nut which is to be made. The dies are set to the size of the nut to be
made in the following manner :-The pattern of the nut is placed in the die
box as near its centre as possible, and the segments are ranged round it; then
the conical excentrics are dropped into holes in the segments, and then the
bolts hare screwed up so as to hold the excentrics and the segments into
their proper position; lastly, the screws hs are screwed up to bear on the
back of each segment, so as to secure them firmly in position. ho, ho, are
projections formed on two of the segments .h, or they are to assist the
workman in presenting the iron to the machine. The action of the machine
is as follows: A heated bar of iron of suitable size is placed so as to
rest against the projections or guages hº, the slides d¹ and e¹ then come
forward simultaneously with the faces of their punches and e, flush
or nearly so. The punch eshears off a piece from the bar and forces it
in between the dies or segments h³, until it comes against the end of the
punch f³, carried by the slide f, the rear end of which at this time rests
on the spring j, and at this time also the face of the punch is flush or
nearly so with the face of the punch f'. Then the punches d³ and go advance
simultaneously until they nearly meet in the centre of the nut; during this
action the punch still advances, and the metal displaced from the centre of
the nut is forced into every part of the mould, and the punch f³ recedes slightly
by the yielding of the spring j; at this point the cam d permits the punch d³ to
recede, and it is rapidly brought back by the spring d', which is carried by the
rear end of the slide d', and bears on the end of the slide e¹. The punch 9³
continues its forward movement until it has driven the wad (or piece of which
is left in the centre of the nut) out of the nut and into the punch e, which
now recedes, and when it has arrived at its back centre a slight forward motion
is given to the slide d¹ to expel. the wad from the punch e. While this is
taking place the punch g³ is withdrawn by the action of the cam g*, and the
punch is moved forward by the cam f and pushes the finished nut out of
the mould; then the clearer i is moved forward by the incline 62 in the side of
the wheel b¹, and pushes the nut off the end of the punch f, if it has not
previously fallen off. The operation is then repeated to make another nut.
The spring can be set by means of the screws j', so as to regulate the thick-
ness of the nut, and its tension is regulated by the nut j. k, k, are cavities
hollowed out of the slides d', e, f, and g¹; these cavities are for containing
oil, which is supplied to the sponges k¹, k, by the tubes,, to lubricate
the cams d, e, f, and g.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, and the manner of

page_text: performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine
myself to the exact details described; but what I claim is,-
Firstly, the method of arranging the die or nut box, so that it can be
adjusted to the size of nut which it is desired to make.
Secondly, the combining with the die or nut box the moveable bottom or
punch f, having an elastic. bearing to enable the machine to adapt itself to the
reception of bars of different degrees of thickness, and form perfectly shaped
nuts from either a thin or a thick bar, and to enable it to relieve itself from
injurious strains.
Thirdly, the so arranging the machine that the metal which is removed from
the centre of the nut is forced into the body thereof.
Fourthly, the method of producing the hole in the centre of the nut by the
joint action of the two round punches d³ and g³.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Horatio Harfield, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
IZM IT HADEILD
XIZM
N
II. HARFIELD (L.B.)