IMPROVED MACHINERY POR PUNCHING METAL
Year: 1864

page_text: Blackwe of Beeralston, near Tavistock, in
the County of Devon, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY POR
PUNCHING METAL."
Sealed the 28th October 1864, and dated the 14th May 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Francis Blackwell at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th
May 1864.
I, FRANCIS, BLACKWELL, of Beeralston, near Tavistock, in the County of
Devon, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED
MACHINERY FOR PUNCHING METAL," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a novel construction of machine for punching
metals (chiefly the plates known as "grates," and used by miners for assorting
the stamped ore, according to size), whereby the punching of the metal plates
is effected with great regularity and expedition. The plate to be punched is
fixed upon a horizontal frame, which slides in guides provided to receive it.
To this frame is attached a rack of ratchet teeth, into which a pawl works
for giving a step by step motion to the frame and the plate which it carries.
This plate traverses under a set of punches attached to the under side of a
slding block, which moves up and down in vertical guides. These guides
continue down below the sliding frame that carries the plate, in order to
recieve a second sliding block, which is fitted to form a bolster for sustaining
the plate under the pressure of the punches. These upper and lower blocks

page_text: are slotted to receive rock levers, which pass them, and are intended to impart
the requisite vertical motions thereto. The levers which give motion to the
upper or punch block are mounted on a cross shaft, carried by the main
framing of the machine, and they are connected to a transverse crank shaft
by means of adjustable screw couplings. In the same way the levers which
operate the bolster block have for their fulcrum a cross shaft below the
sliding plate, and connected by adjustable screw couplings to an excentric
frame, which is caused to rise and fall by means of excentrics or cams on the
crank shaft. The crank shaft is fitted with fly wheels, to give smoothness of
motion to the machine. The pawl that takes into the rack before mentioned
is operated through a crank that is coupled to one of the rock levers of the
punch block.
The operation of the machine is as follows:-Rotary motion being imparted
to the crank shaft, the punch and bolster are caused to approach the plate
simultaneously, and the piercing of a line or lines of holes is effected. As
these blocks leave the plate, the pawl will come into action, and drive the
sliding frame forward the distance of one tooth of the rack, thereby presenting
a fresh portion of the plate to the action of the descending punches.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Francis Blackwell in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
14th November 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANCIS
BLACKWELL, of Beeralston, near Tavistock, in the County of Devon, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her beirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Francis Blackwell, Her special license that I, the said Francis Black-
well, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Francis Blackwell, 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 "IMPROVED MACHINERY
FOR PUNCHING METAL," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said

page_text: Francis Blackwell, 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 Francis Blackwell, 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):-
This Invention relates to a novel construction of machine for punching
metals (chiefly the plates known as "grates" which are used by miners for
assorting stamped or crushed ore according to size), whereby the punching
of the metal plates is effected with great regularity and expedition.
My improved machinery is shewn in the accompanying Drawings, in which
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of the machine; Fig. 2 is a plan view
of the same; Fig. 3 is an elevation of one end of the machine, and Fig. 4 is
an elevation of the other end, shewing the row of punches whereby the sheet
of metal is perforated.
The plate to be punched is shewn at a, and is secured by a screw clamp b
to a horizontal frame c, which slides in guides made in the fixed framing to
receive it. To this frame c is attached a rack c¹, of ratchet teeth, into which
a pawl d works for giving a step-by-step motion to the frame c and the plate
which it carries. The plate a to be operated upon is drawn by the frame c
under a set of punches attached to the under side of a sliding block f,
which moves up and down in vertical guides, as seen at Fig. 1. These
punches pass through the fixed block e', which will prevent the plate a from
rising with the punches when the latter are drawn up by the upward motion
of the punch block. The vertical guides of the sliding punch block continue
down below the sliding frame c that carries the plate a, in order to receive a
second sliding block f¹, which is fitted to form a bolster for sustaining the
plate a under the pressure of the punches. These upper and lower blocks f
and fare slotted to receive the rocking levers g, g', which pass through them
and are intended to impart the requisite vertical motion thereto. The levers
g and g', which respectively give motion to the upper or punch block f and
to the bolster block f¹, are mounted on cross shafts h and i carried by the
main framing of the machine, and their ends are connected to the transverse
crank shaft by means of adjustable screw couplings . The crank shaft is
fitted with a fly wheel m, to give smoothness of motion to the machine. The

page_text: pawl d that takes into the toothed rack c¹ before mentioned is operated
through a bell-crank lever n, that is coupled by links n³ to the rock levers g
of the punch block f, as seen in Fig. 1.
The operation of the machine is as follows:--Rotary motion being imparted
to the crank shaft 1, the punch f and bolster f¹ are caused to approach the
plate a simultaneously, and the piercing of a line or lines of holes is effected.
As these blocks leave the plate, the punches are drawn through the fixed
block or plate e', and the pawl will come into action, and drive the sliding
frame c¹ forward the distance of one tooth of the rack, thereby presenting a
fresh portion of the plate a to the action of the descending punches e. When
the plate a has been perforated throughout it must be released from the
screw clamp b, and may then be removed from the machine.
Having now described my Invention of "Improved Machinery for Punching
Metal," and having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect,
I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid, the
use of a row or series of punches and counter die or block operated as herein
set forth, so that rows of holes may be rapidly made (one at each descent of
the punches) in a plate or sheet of metal equidistant from each other, the
plate of metal being moved forward automatically under the punches by the
means above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francis Blackwell, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twelfth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
JOSEPH PAUL,
Temperance Hotel,
Tavistock.
FRANCIS BLACKWELL. (L.S.)