NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF BOLTS, RIVETS, SPIKES, SCREW BLANKS, AND Nuts
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederic Grice, of West Bromwich, in the County of
Stafford, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINERY
FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF BOLTS, RIVETS, SPIKES, SCREW BLANKS, AND Nuts.”
Sealed the 19th September 1856, and dated the 2nd April 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederic Grice at the Office
of the Comniissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 2nd April
1856.
I, FREDERIC GRICE, of West Bromwich, in the County of Stafford, Manu-
facturer; do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "NEW OR
IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF BOLTS, RIVETS, SPIKES, SCREW
BLANKS, AND NUTS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of machinery for the manufacture of bolts, rivets,
spikes, screw blanks, and nuts constructed in the following manner :-The iron
or metal to be made into a rivet is dropped vertically into a die situated on
the bed of the machine, the upper end of the rod of iron protruding above the
top of the said die: A tubular die is made to descend upon the face of the
first-mentioned die and surround the protruding end of the rod of iron, a bolt
or plunger sliding vertically in the tubular die descends, and crushing or
spreading out the protruding top of the metal rod, causes it to be expanded
horizontally and form the head of the rivet; the tubular die, on rising, carries

page_text: the rivet with it, but the motion of the plunger in the tubular die being
arrested before that of the said die, the said plunger is made to force the rivet
out of the said tubular die. The lower die in which the rivet is contained
slides in a dovetail on the base of the machine, and is now withdrawn and the
rivet raised out of it by a rod passing through its bottom. The motions of
the tubular die and the plunger within it are effected from a common shaft.
A crank in the middle of the said shaft is connected with the bolt which
forces down the plunger. Excentrics on either side of the said crank are con-
nected with bolts which work the tubular die. The ascending motion of the
plunger is arrested at the proper point by a horizontal rod or stop, which
passes through a slot in the said plunger; instead of two plungers for working
the tubular die, one only may be employed. The machinery described is
applicable to the manufacture of bolts, rivets, spikes, and screw blanks. In
order to adapt it to the manufacture of nuts, I place the said machine hori-
zontally, so that the several motions shall be in a horizontal instead of a
vertical plane. This change of position renders it more convenient for the
manufacture of nuts, for which manufacture some variations in the details of
the machinery are required, which I do not think it necessary here to
describe.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederic Grice in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
2nd October 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERIC
GRICE, of West Bromwich, in the County of Stafford, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of April, 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
Frederic Grice, Her special licence that I, the said Frederic Grice, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Frederic
Grice, ny 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 "NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR

page_text: THE MANUFACTURE OF BOLTS, RIVETS, SPIKES, SCREW BLANKS, AND NUTS," upon.
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Frederic Grice, 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 Frederic Grice, do hereby declare the
nature of the 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, that is to say:-
My Invention consists of the machinery for the manufacture of bolts, rivets,
spikes, screw blanks, and nuts, hereinafter described, and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawing. Figure 1 represents in side elevation, and Figure 2
in section, my machine for the manufacture of bolts, rivets, spikes, and screw
blanks. a is a hollow or tubular plunger working in the guides b, b, on the
uprights c, c. The said die or plunger a is connected by means of links d, d,
with the crank lever e turning upon the axis f; the said lever e is acted upon
by means of the camb g on the driving shaft h. i is a central die or plunger,
working in the plunger a, and connected by means of the link k with the
crank upon the main shaft h. The hollow plunger a carries at its bottom a
mould or die m, the interior of which has the figure of the head of the bolt,
rivet, spike, or screw blank to be manufactured. The central plunger i carries
at its lower end the die n, which fits the interior of the dio m. o, is a bed
(shown separately in plan in Figure 3) turning upon the axis p; the said bed o
carries a series of dies q, q, the internal figure of which resembles the body of
the rivet, spike, or screw blank to be manufactured; pieces of iron r, r,
properly heated are dropped into the dies q, q, and the bed o is made to rotate
and come to rest by an intermitting motion; when one of the dies q, q, with
its contained rod r is brought under the plungers a and i the bed o is brought
to rest. By the rotation of the shaft h, the camb g acting upon the lever e
depresses the plunger a, and brings the hollow die m upon the top of the dic q;
the crank now causes the plunger i to descend, and the die n entering the
die m, compresses the projecting top of the rod r into the head s. On the
retiring of the plungers a and i, the bolt or rivet is raised from the die q by a
rod passing up through a holet in the bed of the machine. I have not
thought it necessary to represent or describe the mechanism by which the
bed o is moved, or the bolt raised from the hole t, as the said mechanism
resembles that which is commonly used for effecting similar motions in other

page_text: machines. Instead of giving the bed o rotatory motion, the dies q, q, may be
made to slide on a bed having an alternating or sliding motion. I sometimes.
modify my Invention, in the manner illustrated in the sections Figure 4. In
this modification, the plunger u is actuated by a crank on the driving shaft,
and carries the. central peg or die w, which compresses the top of the rod and
forms the head of the rivet or bolt. v, is a hollow die, within which the head of
the rivet or bolt is formed. The die w works in the said hollow die v; the said.
die v is connected with the plunger u by the rods a, a, helical springs pressing
the said die v from the plunger u. On the descent of the plunger u, the
hollow die v is first brought upon the fixed diez, and surrounds the top of the
heated rod to be made into a rivet, bolt, or screw blank. The motion of
the plunger u being continued, the die or plunger w enters the die v and com-
presses the top of the rod projecting in the said die v into a head.
In manufacturing nuts, I first compress bar iron into the form represented
in Figure 5, that is to say, into the form of a series of hexagonal nuts joined
together side by side; or where octagonal nuts are to be manufactured, into a
series of the said nuts joined side by side. The pressing of the iron into the
form of Figure 5, or other nearly similar form, may be effected by a pair of
dies and an ordinary press, which I do not think it necessary to describe. In
order to form nuts from the iron, Figure 5, it is only necessary to divide the
said iron at the dotted lines 1, 1, Figure 5, and to perforate each piece cut-off
with a central perforation. This I effect by a modification of the machine
represented in Figures 1 and 2. I place the said machine, Figures 1 and 2;
on its side, so that the motions of the dies instead of being vertical shall be in
a horizontal plane. The iron, Figure 5, is made to slide on a plain bed. The
plunger a carries a hollow die of the figure of the nut, the said hollow die
having a cutting edge on one side, for the purpose of dividing the iron, Figure 5,
at the lines 1, 1. After the nut has been cut off at 1, 1, Figure 5, and is held
in the hollow die, a central die or plunger, carried by the plunger i, Figures 1
and 2, advances, and entering the nut forms a hole nearly but not quite through
the said nut. On the retiring of the moveable dies, the nut is pushed out of
the fixed die by a rod working in the hole t, Figure 2, and the said nut falls
from the machine. The perforation of the nut may be completed by an
ordinary press.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described and represented, as the same may
be varied without departing from the nature of my said Invention; but I claim
as my Invention,―

page_text: Firstly, the new or improved machinery for the manufacture of bolts, rivets,
spikes, and screw blanks, herein-before described, and illustrated in Figures 1,
2, 3, and 4 of the accompanying Drawing.
Secondly, the method of manufacturing nuts for screws, herein-before
described, and illustrated by Figures 1, 2, and 5 of the accompanying
Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederic Grice, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this First day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
FREDERIC GRICE. (L.s.)