IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING RIVETS, BOLTS, AND SPIKES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Francis Watkins, of the Victoria Works, Smethwick,
near Birmingham, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR MAKING RIVETS, BOLTS, AND SPIKES."-A communication.
Sealed the 11th September 1857, and dated the 9th May 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Francis Watkins at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th May 1857.
I, FRANCIS WATKINS, of the Victoria Works, Smethwick, near Birmingham,
do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR MAKING RIVETS, BOLTS AND SPIKES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery for making
rivets, bolts, and spikes. For these purposes two wheels are used, the
peripheries of which are formed into segments with flat surfaces. In these
segments the halves of the dies are formed in such manner, that when a flat
segment of one wheel is opposite a flat segment of the other wheel, and the
two are pressed together, they form a die suitable for making a rivet, bolt, or
spike, as the case may be. These wheels are geared together by toothed
wheels, the teeth of which admit of the peripheries of the die wheels coming up
to and departing from each other, so that the two die wheels may be revolved
at intervals a distance suitable for bringing the next sections of the two wheels
into a position to be pressed towards each other. The die wheels are made to
rotate a distance at intervals by means of a suitable ratchet wheel and driver.

page_text: In combination with these die wheels is a guage plate, to determine the
distance to which the rod or piece of metal shall be introduced, also a cutter
and a header. The die wheels are pressed towards each other at the proper
intervals by suitable cam surfaces, and the guage plate, cutter, and header are
actuated by suitable cam surfaces and instruments moved by the working of the
machine.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Francis Watkins in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
9th November 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANCIS
WATKINS, of the Victoria Works, Smethwick, near Birmingham, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Francis Watkins, Her special licence that I, the said Francis Watkins, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Francis
Watkins, 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
MACHINERY FOR MAKING RIVETS, BOLTS, AND SPIKES," (a communication,) upon
the condition (amongst others). that I, the said Francis Watkins, 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 Francis Watkins, do hereby declare
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 follow-
ing statement thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery for making

page_text: and matched with each other that each movement of said wheels will bring a
pair of the die box sections d, d, (on the wheels B, B',) exactly opposite and
facing each other, as shown in Figure 23, and at the moment that a pair of
said die box sections are brought opposite each other, automatically acting
mechanism forces the said section on the wheel B firmly against the section on
the wheel B', and securely holds the same in said position whilst other
mechanical movements cut off and head a rivet within said die box, and then
the said pressure is instantly relieved to permit the next simultaneous move-
ment to be imparted to the said rollers B, B¹, for discharging the finished rivet
and bringing the succeeding pair of die box sections into connection with each
other. The aforesaid intermittent movements are imparted to the rollers
B, B', by means of the ratchet wheel C¹ on the shaft F and the actuating pall
i, which is combined with the sliding carriage Q (see Figure 13), and is
operated by means of the spring K, and by a series of laterally projecting cams
c, c, from the ring 1', which is combined with the arms of the large cam wheel
I on the shaft C. The ways of the bearings v¹, v, of the pall carriage Q are
on each side of the notch q¹ of the bed plate O, Figure 5, and the said carriage
is adjusted to the proper position and guided in its movements by means of
the laterally adjustable bearing blocks U, T. The antifriction roller s¹ of the
carriageworks in a box r¹, which is received into a socket in said carriage,
and in which its position may be regulated by the set screw u, shewn in
Figure 11. The spring K passes through the slot in the bed plate, and is
combined with an arm m rising from the block T, and with the arm / which
projects from the side of the pall carriage Q, in such a manner that the said
spring forces said carriage to its extreme outward position the instant that it
is relieved from the action of either of the cams c, c. The bearing journals of
the outer ends of the shafts E, F, are formed immediately within the wheels
B, B¹.
The under portion of the bearing box G of the shaft E is secured to the bed
plate O by means of the screws w¹, w¹, Figure 6, which pass from beneath,
first through the sliding plate vl, and thence upwards through the slots g, g, in
said bed plate, into screw apertures in the said portion of this journal box,
thereby securing said journal box in such a manner that it can slide longi-
tudinally the length of the said slots g, g. The roller B is pressed forwards at
the proper moment against the periphery of the roller B¹, and there held for
the proper length of time, by the series of cams on the periphery of the cam
wheel A on the shaft A' acting against a hardened projection from the outer
end of the journal box G. The journal boxes of the shaft A' are secured
to the front edge of the bed plate O, and the said shaft is geared to the

page_text: main shaft C by means of bevel wheels, as shewn in the Drawings. A
reciprocating lever, composed of the parts R, g, Figure 14, is combined
with and plays loosely upon the shaft F (of the wheel B') immediately within
its outer journal box; to the portion g of the said lever which projects over
said journal box the laterally projecting arm of the curved reciprocating guage
plate 6 is securely fastened, which plate works a short distance from the inner
surfaces of the wheels B, B¹, in such a manner that it can be thrown opposite
the inner end of the die box formed by the matching sections d, d, combined
with said wheels, and be adjusted to different distances therefrom. The short
arm of the lever R, Figure 14, which descends below the shaft F, is jointed
to the laterally projecting arm p of the sliding carriage P by means of the
connecting rod o. The front end of the shaft F, which projects a short
distance through the wheel B', serves as a fulcrum pivot for the reciprocating
cutting plate e, whose inner surface is in close contact with the front faces of
the peripheries of the wheels B, B'. The lever s', which descends from the
eye of the cutting plate e, is jointed to the sliding carriage P by means of the
connecting rods, Figure 3.
Within the box M, which is bolted to the front end of the bed plate, a
notched adjustable bearing block N is placed immediately in front of the
cutting plate e, and is made to bear against the said cutting plate with
the requisite degree of force by means of the set screws h, h, Figure 4, which
pass through screw apertures in the front side of the box M into concavities
in the said bearing block. The horizontal spring L, which passes through
the slot f, Figure 15, in the front side of the box M, is combined with a
shoulder descending from the top. of said box and with the carriage P, in such
a manner, that the said spring will throw said carriage into its extreme outer
position the instant that the carriage is relieved from the action of either of the
cams j,j, on the inner face of the rim of the cam wheel I. The ways of the
bearings t, t, of the sliding carriage P are on each side of the notch p¹ in the
rear edge of the bed plate, and they are guided by means of the bearing
surface m', Figure 5, and the adjustable bearing block q, as shewn in the
Drawings. Within vertical offsetts II', H', from the top and bottom surfaces
of the bed plate, or within other suitable bearings, the gate H which carries
the header a is confined within adjustable friction surfaces, as represented in
Figure 6. The recessed header a may be combined with the projecting head h¹
of the gate by means of the clamp w and set screw y, as shewn in Figure 6,
or by any other suitable means. The spring J, which works within the slot
of the bed plate, is so combined with said bed plate, and with an offset from
the front side of the gate H, that it will throw back the gate to its extreme

page_text: rearward position the instant that it is relieved from the action of the radiating
cams of the cam wheel D on the main shaft C. The box a¹, containing a
roller for the actuating cams on the cam wheel D to strike against, is inserted
into a socket in the rear end of the gate H, as shewn in Figure 4. A
portion of the lower peripheries of the wheels B, B', run in the water boxes
S, S, for the purpose of cooling them.
The operation of my improved rivet-making machine I will now describe.
The machine having been put in motion, and the ends of a suitable number
of rods having been placed in the furnace, the heated end of a rod is laid into
the recess in one of the die box sections, designated by d", Figure 3, on the
wheels B, B', and is pressed forwards until its end bears against the guage
plate b, and then the action of one of the cams c, as before described, imparts
such an amount of motion to the said wheels B, B', as will carry down and
match the said die box sections, and just before the said sections come
opposite each other one of the cams on the wheel A strikes against the
journal box G, and thereby forces inwards the wheel B, and brings the inner
die box section on this wheel into close contact with the corresponding section
on the opposite wheel, and the next instant one of the cams j, Figure 1,
carries forward the carriage P, and by so' doing simultaneously throws
upward the curved guage plate 6 and the cutting plate e; the elevation of
the guage plate d gives free play to the header a, and the elevation of the
cutting plate e cuts off the portion of the heated rod embraced within the die
box; the long actuating surface of the said cam j holds the lower portion of
the cutting plate over the mouth of the die box, see Figure 4, where it is
supported by the block N, whilst the header a is driven forwards, forms the
head on the rivet and recedes again, and then the retrograde movement of
the carriage P throws downwards the guage plate 6 and cutting plate e, and
simultaneously with said movement the wheels B, B¹, are again moved
forwards to discharge the finished rivet, and to carry the end of another.
heated rivet into the machine to be operated upon, and so on.
What I claim as the Invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is,
first, forming a successive series of die boxes of a double series of sections d, d,
which are combined with the parallel peripheries of two intermittingly rotating
wheels B, B', when the arrangement of the bearings of one or both of said
wheels is such as to allow of a sufficient amount of lateral play thereof to
enable a pair of said sections to be firmly pressed against each other at
the termination of each intermittingly rotary movement of said wheels,
substantially as herein set forth.
Second, I also claim combining the guage plate 6 and the cutting plate e

page_text: with each other and also with the wheels B, B', substantially in the manner
and for the purpose herein set forth.
Third, I also claim the combination of the wheels B, B¹, with the guage
plate b, the cutting plate e, and the header a, substantially in the manner and
for the purpose herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francis Watkins, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
GEORGE N. STORMS,
Victoria Works, Smethwick,
Nov. 5th, 1857.
FRANCIS WATKINS. (L.S.)