IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR DRAWING WIRE
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Austin Mee, of Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Wire Drawer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR DRAWING WIRE."
Sealed the 19th November 1872, and dated the 21st May 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Austin Mee at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 21st May 1872.
I, JAMES AUSTIN MEE, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
3 Wire Drawer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR DRAWING WIRE," to be as
follows:-
My Invention consists in a certain arrangement of machinery or
apparatus whereby I draw wire through two or more dies at the same
O time. For this purpose I place a drum beneath the ordinary "block"
on which the wire is to be wound, around which drum the said wire is

page_text: coiled after it has passed through one of the dies, from whence it is
conducted by a guide roller to the front of the second die, and being
there drawn is wound upon the ordinary "block," which bears a proper
relative circumference to the aforesaid drum for taking up the increased
length of wire, or those two parts may be driven at different speeds. In
order correctly to adjust the surface speed of the drum I propose to
form it in segments capable of expansion and contraction.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Austin Mee in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 21st November 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
AUSTIN MEE, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Wire Drawer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of May, One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-two, and the thirty-fifth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said James Austin Mee, Her special license that I, the said James
Austin Mec, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said James Austin Mee, 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 OR
APPARATUS FOR DRAWING WIRE," upon the condition, amongst others, that
I, the said James Austin Mee, 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 James Austin Mee, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same

page_text: is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement and accompanying Drawings (that is to say) :-
My Invention consists in a certain arrangement of machinery or
apparatus whereby I draw wire through two or more dies at the same
time.
In the accompanying Drawing Figs. 1 and 2 shew the general
arrangement of my improved machinery or apparatus in side elevation
and plan views, and to these I will in the first place refer, subsequently
describing the details of construction which I adopt. The draw bench is
shewn at a upon which is mounted in the usual manner the ordinary
drum or block b, the shaft c thereof being driven by any known means,
and beneath this block is placed a second block d, which may at
present be supposed of any ordinary construction fast with the block b.
Ate is the die standard, but which for the purpose of my Invention
carries two dies f, g, secured in position by means of the screws h. Upon
the bench a is a standard i carrying a stud on which is mounted a
pulley j. The wire in process of being drawn is shewn by the blue line;
at A it is proceeding from the coil and passes around the lower block d
after having been drawn through the die f, which operations may be
performed by any known means. From thence it is conducted in the
direction of the arrow k over the pulley j, its upper part being then
drawn through the second dio g, and coiled upon the block b, to which
it is made fast by the usual vice 7. The shaft c being put in motion the
two blocks b, d, revolve together and the wire is drawn by the latter
through the die f, therefore giving off a certain length which passes in
the direction of the arrow k to the pulley j, but as fast as this takes
place the wire is drawn by the block 6 through the second die g, which
is smaller than that shewn at f, and the said block b is of the proper
enlarged diameter for drawing, and winding the increased length
thereon, and it will thus be seen that by the revolution of the shaft
c the wire is drawn through two dies at the same time. The pulley
is placed at an angle to conduct it to the block b, but as it is a guide
only, a simple peg or other such apparatus might be used.
Having thus described my Invention in its most simple form, I will
proceed to refer to Figs. 3 and 4 which shew the construction I prefer
to adopt in practice.
At c is the block shaft upon which is mounted a tube m formed at
its lower end with a cone ». and upon this tube is mounted the block b

page_text: which may be considered as that in ordinary use. Upon two of the
arms of this block is mounted a cross piece o, on which there is a pulley
handle P attached to a screw q which works in a nut r fixed to the upper
end of the tube m. The under drum or block shewn at d in Fig. 1 is
formed in segmental pieces 8, 81, 8², 8³, 8, 8³, its lower flange being at t
formed as a separate part, and connected to the drum or block 6 by
means of bolts u passing through radial slots r, p¹, p³, po³, pot, pt, in the
segmental pieces 8, 8¹, 8³, 8³, 84, 85, the inner ends of which abut against
the cone n. Upon the flange t is a ring w formed with notches in which
projecting parts of the segmental pieces are situated and in which they
can slide radially, and the said flange t is also provided with projecting
parts y extending upward to the bottom of the block or drum b. Upon
the shaft C is the usual driving crank z, but according to the positions
of the parts shewn it is out of gear. On commencing operations the
bolts are tightened and the flange is thus drawn towards the
bottom of the block or drum b, the projecting parts y being thus forced
into contact therewith, and as the ring W embraces the parts x of the
segmental pieces, the two blocks or drums are bound together so as to
be capable of revolving as one, and the whole apparatus is lowered
by the ordinary lever arrangement until the flange t is in gear with the
driving crank z, and the drawing of the wire through the two dies f, g.
Fig. 1 then goes on as described in reference to Figs. 1 and 2.
It will of course be understood that the circumferences of the two
blocks or dies must be in such proportions as to afford proper relative
surface speeds for the increased length of the wire, and that these
proportions must be varied to suit different dies or classes of work. To
accomplish this variation according to my Invention, the pulley handle p
is turned in the one direction or the other, whereby the nut & is raised
or lowered together with the tube m and cone n so as to bring a smaller
or larger diameter of the said cone opposite the segmental pieces; by
the former they are allowed to pass inward, and by the latter they are
forced outward, thus decreasing or increasing the diameter of the block.
This sliding of the segmental pieces is permitted by their being slightly
free of the block b and flange t, the projecting parts y preventing
their being bound, but they are carried round by the ring W and bolts u,
which two parts constitute radial guides, and at whatever position the
cone n may be placed the segmental pieces are caused to abut against it
by the tension of the wire.

page_text: I have above mentioned my Invention in connexion with two blocks
or drums and dies, but if desired, three or more of proper varying
diameters may be placed on the same shaft in connexion with as
many dies with guide pullies to return the wire. I would also observe
in reference to this part of my Invention, that instead of the expanding
segments the block or drum may be formed in solid like an ordinary
block, but unless of the proper proportionate diameter driven by gearing
so as to get the proper relative speed. I would also observe in reference
to the expanding block that I do not limit myself to the method shewn
for expanding or contracting the segments, as it will be evident to
all competent mechanics that equivalents therefore may be adopted;
as, for instance, that arrangement known as the universal chuck.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be
understood that I claim, as secured to me under the above in part recited
Letters Patent,-
Firstly. The use of two or more blocks or drums placed upon the same
spindle and drawing the wire through two or more dies at the same
time.
Secondly. The use of a block or drum formed in parts which may be
adjusted inward or outward to vary the diameter of the said block
or drum.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Austin Mee, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.