IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR MANUFACTURING CARTRIDGE SHELLS
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Julius Boult of 323 High Holborn in the county
of Middlesex, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR
MANUFACTURING CARTRIDGE SHELLS" a communication from John Henry
Ring Charles Callahan James Harrison Pindar and John Henry Morrison, all
of Lowell in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts in the
United States of America
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Alfred Julius Boult at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 2nd October 1883.
com-
ALFRED JULIUS BOULT of 323 High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex,
IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR MANUFACTURING CARTRIDGE SHELLS"
municated to me from abroad by John Henry Ring, Charles Callahan, James
Harrison Pindar, and John Henry Morrison all of Lowell in the county of
Middlesex and State of Massachusetts in the United States of America ;
This invention relates to a machine which by a continuous and automatic
operation, forms from sheet metal, cartridge shells as hereinafter described. In the
accompanying drawing Figure 1 is an oblique view of the machine, with part of
the frame broken away to show the operative parts, the first punch and die-disk
being at the right, and the last punch and die-disk being at the left of the figure.
Figure 2 is a vertical section through the last die-disk and through the heading
lever showing also the burr and the heading punch. Figures 3 and 4 are
respectively top and side views of the stripper detached and Figure 5 represents
the first punch and die-disk (the disk in section) A is the frame of the machine.
B is a support for the guides of the punches and for the upper ends of the die
shafts and may be considered a part of the frame. C is the main shaft caused to
revolve by any convenient means and which by suitable bevel gears gives to the
shaft N a uniform motion. Centrally secured to the shaft is the wheel N' having
a portion of its periphery removed and over the break just made is a radial
arm N' attached to said shaft N from the underside of which arm rigidly depends
a point N³ a little outside of the circle of said wheel N². A shaft M parallel to

page_text: the shaft N has secured to it the wheel M¹ and this wheel M¹ has at equal intervals,
radial slots wide enough to allow the pin N' to enter them and has between these
slots, hollows which fit the circular periphery of the wheel Nº. Therefore the
revolution of the shaft N causes the pin N* to enter one of the slots of the
wheel M turning said wheel M¹ until the circular part of the wheel N enters one
of the hollows cut in the circumference of said wheel M' and thereby stops the
latter wheel until said pin enters another slot in said wheel, so that to give a
complete revolution to the shaft M there must be as many revolutions of the
shaft N as there are radial slots in the wheel M'. Hence the gear M³ secured to
the shaft M and taking into the gear O' in the first die shaft O (which by the
gears causes all of said shafts O to revolve together) gives an intermittent
circular motion to all the die-disks L secured to said shafts O respectively. By a
crank D' on the main shaft C and a rod D³ connecting said crank and the free
end of the lever D (the other end of said lever being pivoted in brackets F F on
the frame A and E E¹ E³ denoting attached parts of said lever) said lever is caused
to vibrate in a vertical plane.
Secured to the part E of the lever or arm D are a series (equal in number to
the number of die-disks L) of vertical punches H running in guides J secured to
the frame B by brackets. Said die-disks are each provided with a number of dies
(placed at equal intervals) equal to the number of motions made by said disks
respectively in completing a revolution. The crank D 1 is so set on the shaft C
that the arm D and the punches H attached to said arm descend and rise once
during every rest of the disks L and the dies are so arranged in the disks and the
edges of the disks so overlap each other from right to left that when the disks are
at rest each of the punches H (except the first) passes through one-disk into another
and rises again the first punch H entering the first disk only.
All of the dies in the same disk L are of the same size and shape but the
diameter of the dies in the successive disks and the diameter of the punches
decreases from right to left of the machine. In order to prevent the shells from
sticking to the punches H and so being drawn up out of the dies with said
punches, a stripper T, Figures 1, 3 and 4, may be used between the successive
die-disks L so that when the shell is below the stripper T, the jaws of said
stripper will close on the punch H above the shell, the stripper consisting of a pair
of jaws which are closed by their own elasticity (their ends being joined as shown
in Figure 3,) or by suitable springs, each jaw of the stripper having on its inner
face a depression from top to bottom like the inside of half of a frustrum of an
inverted hollow cone, so that the shell will readily pass down between the jaws
but cannot return. The first punch H needs no stripper as it does not descend
through the die-disk, its form being that of a cylinder having the flat side of a
hemisphere placed upon its cylindrical end, the projecting part of the punch
forming a depression in the strip of metal fed to it and the circular part cutting
out the metal around said depression thus forming a slightly dishing circle of
sheet metal, Attached to the part E¹ of the lever D by a link K' is the burr K
having a fluted central pin designed to enter the open end of the shell, while the
burr trims said open end till the shell is of the proper length. The burr is kept in
a vertical position by the guide K and is lifted by the lower end of the said
link K¹ embracing the shank of the burr just below the enlarged head of the latter
and is forced down as the lever D falls, and the stock of the shell is cut away, by
the spring K³ placed between the upper arm of said guide K³ and the band
wheel K. The burr is revolved by a band X passing around said band wheel K*
and another band wheel N on the shaft N.
The heading punch G is attached to the part E¹ of the lever D and is directed
by the stationary guide J which is like the guides of the drawing punches and is
supported as they are. All the dies in the last disk L are counterbored at their
lower ends (Figure 2) the depth of the counterbore being just sufficient to admit
the rim of the cartridge shell when the same is completed The punch G fills the
trimmed case from the top of the same to within the thickness of the central

page_text: portion of the closed end of the shell from the bottom of the last disk. Now, as
the punch G descends, the inner end of the lever S pivoted to the frame B between
its ends, is brought up against the bottom of the last disk L (the outer end of said
lever being carried down by a connecting rod S¹ attached to the part E' of said
lever D) and in rising heads the shell on said punch G by pressing the part of
said shell which projects below the said disk into the counter-bored part of the die
in said disk, a shoulder on the punch preventing the shell from being lifted by the
heading lever S. The lever S has immediately under the burr K a depression
hemispherical in shape, to receive the closed end of the shell, which depression aids
in holding the shell while being trimmed and allows said shell to project below the
disk L for the subsequent operation of heading.
P P¹ represent feed-rolls the lower one of which P has attached to its shaft a
ratchet Q to which an intermittent motion is given by a pawl Q' operated by the
rising and falling of the lever D.
In the operation of this machine, a strip of sheet copper or other suitable metal
or alloy is placed between the feed rolls and by them carried to the first punch H
which cuts from said strip a small circular piece and at the same time slightly
hollows said piece; the arm D rises carrying the punches H G and burr up and
the lever S down; the disks L then revolve revolve intermittently carrying the
piece of sheet metal one stage nearer the second punch of the series H at each
revolution of the shaft N until sooner or later, depending upon the number of dies
in the first disk, said sheet metal is carried under the second punch H: the first
punch meanwhile at every descent of the lever D cutting out and cupping a new
circle of sheet metal and so filling the dies of the first disk between the first two
punchies
When the second punch descends upon the sheet metal, said punch draws the
cupped circle into a short tube and pushes said tube through the first disk into the
second disk and into a smaller die by which disk last named the short tube, now
longer and of less diameter is carried by degrees over a still smaller die in the
third disk and under the third punch which last named punch descends, drawing
the tube still smaller and pushing it through the second disk into said third disk,
and so the operation is repeated until at every descent of the lever Devery punch H
is drawing the sheet metal and every punch H (except the first, the operation of
which has been fully explained) is pushing a partly formed shell through one die-
disk into the die-disk next below and to the left until as the successively drawn
shells reach the last die-disk they are carried by degrees under the burr K and
trimmed at their open ends and carried from said burr under the heading-punch
and over the heading-lever S as above set forth, the completed shell being pushed
through and out of the last die-disk by another punch or by another shell coming
from the last disk but one into the last disk. So that, at each descent of the
lever D, after the machine bas headed and discharged the first shell, a circle of
sheet metal is cut from the strip supplied by the feed rolls by the first punch H
and all the other punches H the burr K and the heading punch G and lever S are
performing their various functions and at each revolution of the shaft M, shells in
various stages of manufacture are being carried forward from punch to punch of
the series H and from the last drawing punch H to the burr K and from the latter
to the heading device and to their final discharge, a finished shell dropping at
every descent of said lever D. In making cartridges by the ordinary methods it is
necessary to anneal the metal at every second or third drawing. I do not anneal
the metal at all after putting it into the machine. The number of punches for
drawing the metal should be about a dozen,
I claim as this invention :-
1 The combination with the main shaft C having suitable gearing attached
thereto, and the crank D' secured to the end of the shaft C of the vertical shaft N
arranged below and geared with the main shaft and provided with gear or pulley N
and crank N¹ lever D arranged above the main shaft and adapted to carry and

page_text: operate the punches connecting lever D and shaft N to the operating mechanism
substantially as set forth,
2nd In a cartridge machine, a stripper T composed of two flexible or spring arms
united together at one end and curved at their opposite ends to fit around the
punch and fixed in position to engage the said punch as and for the purposes set
forth.
3rd The combination with the series of disk shafts O provided with gears 0
and having the disks L fixed to their upper ends, the main shaft C and punches H
of the gear M, wheel M¹, having radial slots, mutilated gear N, crank N' shaft N,
pitman D, lever arm D and frame or head E having the punches H made fast thereto
substantially as and for the purposes set forth,
4th The combination with the burr K provided with a band pulley K* upon its
shaft and the disk L rotating intermittingly and arranged below the burr K of
the vertical shaft O fixed to the underside of the disk L the shaft N intermediate
mechanism connecting the shaft N with the shaft O whereby the latter is made to
rotate intermittingly the band X pulley N* on shaft N and the necessary driving
mechanism substantially as and for the purposes set forth,
5th The combination with the disk L the lever D and the driving mechanism of
the heading punch G, the burr K, heading lever S and means for connecting the
burr to the driving mechanism substantially as set forth.
6th The combination substantially as herein before set forth of the disk L
rotating intermittingly, the burr K provided with the pulley K' and having a
vertical movement in its bearings, the spring K³, lever D, link K2 and the necessary
operating mechanism substantially as set forth.
In witness whereof I the said Alfred Julius Boult have hereunto set my hand
and seal this second day of October in the year of our Lord, One thousand Eight
hundred and Eighty three
ALFRED J. BOULT (L.S.)