IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SCREW NUTS AND WASHERS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Richard Postlethwaite, of the Firm of
Griffiths, Son, and Postlethwaite, of Harborne, in the County of Stafford,
Manufacturers, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY USED
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SCREW NUTS AND WASHERS."
Sealed the 10th September 1867, and dated the 27th March 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Richard Postle-
thwaite at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 27th March 1867.
I, GEORGE RICHARD POSTLETHWAITE, of the Firm of Griffiths, Son, and
Postlethwaite, of Harborne, in the County of Stafford, Manufacturers, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SCREW NUTS AND WASHERS," to be as
follows:-
My said Invention consists of the construction and arrangement herein-after
described of the parts of machinery used in the manufacture from bars of
heated iron of screw nuts and washers.
I construct and arrange the parts of the said machinery as follows:-The
principal tools in the said machinery are a cutting-off punch and a pressing
punch, a nut box, and a punch for making the hole in the nut or washer. I
arrange the machine so that the said tools shall have motion in a horizontak

page_text: line, and I make the machine double, that is, I provide a set of tools at each
end of the machine, and I give motion to the said tools by means of a shaft
situated in the middle of the machine, the advance motion of one set of tools
corresponding to the return motion of the other. The cutting-off punch is
carried by a frame sliding in grooves on the bed of the machine, and actuated
by a cam driven from the principal shaft of the machine. The nut box is
fixed in the framing of the machine; the axes of the cutting-off punch, nut
box, pressing punch, and piercing punch being coincident or in the same line;
the pressing punch slides in the nut box and retires therein as the cutting-off
punch advancing and cutting off the piece of iron against the edges of the
nut box carries the cut-off piece into the nut box and compresses it between
the faces of the said cutting-off punch and pressing punch and the sides of
the nut box. While the iron is held in the nut box between the cutting-off
and pressing punches the piercing punch for making the hole in the nut
advances from the pressing punch and punches out a disc or wad from the
nut, the said wad being forced into a cylindrical hole in the cutting-off punch.
After the formation and piercing of the nut the cutting-off punch retires from
the nut box, and the pressing punch advances therein, pushing out the nut,
which falls from the machine. As the cutting-off punch retires the wad is
forced out of it by an ejecting punch sliding in the said cutting-off punch
coming against a fixed stop. The thickness of the nut is determined by the
distance to which the pressing punch can retire into the nut box; this
distance may be varied at pleasure in the following manner :-The carrier of
the pressing punch does not slide directly in the framing of the machine, but
in a tubular piece capable of being screwed to a greater or less distance in
the framing; a shoulder on the carrier coming against the end of the tubular
piece limits the motion of the said carrier in the said tubular piece, and
by screwing the said tubular piece to a greater or less distance into the
framing the thickness of the nut may be determined. The pressing punch
is worked by a cross bead connected by connecting rods to the slide working
the cutting-off punch; the said connecting rods are capable of sliding in
the cross head when they move in the direction in which the iron is carried
into the nut box. The retiring motion of the pressing punch in the nut box
is produced by the pressure of a bow or other spring against it. When the
said rods move in the contrary direction they act upon the cross head and
advance the pressing punch in the nut box. The punch by which the. hole is
made in the nut is worked by a cross head from a slide working in grooves in
the bed of the machine; the said slide is actuated by a cam driven from the
principal shaft of the machine.

page_text: In order to prevent injury to the machine in case of two nuts occupying the
nut box or other like accident I do not fix the fly wheel rigidly to the shaft,
but connect it therewith in the following manner:-The hole in the boss of
the fly wheel through which the shaft passes is so large that the shaft does
not fit it. On one side of the boss and at opposite points are snugs through
which set screws work; between the ends of these screws and the shaft pieces
of soft iron are placed and pressed by the said screws with any required
degree of pressure against the shaft. On the other side of the boss are two
other snugs and set screws with pieces of soft iron, but at right angles to the
former; the fly wheel is thus connected to the shaft at four points with
any required degree of pressure, and by adjusting the set screws the fly
wheel may be permitted to rotate without the shaft whenever there is such an
amount of resistance in the machine as it is unable to bear without risk of
injury.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Richard Postlethwaite in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 25th September 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
RICHARD POSTLETHWAITE, of the Firm of Griffiths, Son, and Postlethwaite, of
Harborne, in the County of Stafford, Manufacturers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said George Richard Postlethwaite, Her special licence that I, the said
George Richard Postlethwaite, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said George Richard Postlethwaite, 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 USED IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF SCREW NUTS AND WASHERS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said George Richard Postlethwaite, 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

page_text: 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 George Richard Postlethwaite, 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 following statement thereof, that is to say :-
My said Invention consists of the construction and arrangement herein-after
described of the parts of machinery used in the manufacture from bars of
heated iron of screw nuts and washers.
I construct and arrange the parts of the said machinery as follows:-The
principal tools in the said machinery are a cutting-off punch and a pressing
punch, a nut box, and a punch for making the hole in the nut or washer.
I arrange the machine so that the said tools shall have motion in a horizontal
line, and I make the machine double, that is, I provide a set of tools at each
end of the machine, and I give motion to the said tools by means of a shaft
situated in the middle of the machine, the advance motion of one set of tools
corresponding to the return motion of the other. The cutting-off punch is
carried by a frame sliding in grooves on the bed of the machine, and actuated
by a cam driven from the principal shaft of the machine. The nut box is
fixed in the framing of the machine, the axes of the cutting-off' punch, nut box,
pressing punch, and piercing punch being coincident or in the same line;
the pressing punch slides in the nut box, and retires therein as the cutting-off
punch advancing and cutting off the piece of iron against the edges of the nut
box carries the cut-off piece into the nut box and compresses it between the
faces of the said cutting-off punch and pressing punch and the sides of the nut
box. While the iron is held in the nut box between the cutting-off and
pressing punches the piercing punch for making the hole in the nut advances
from the pressing punch and punches out a disc or wad from the nut; the said
wad being forced into a cylindrical hole in the cutting-off punch. After the
formation and piercing of the nut the cutting-off punch retires from the nut
box, and the pressing punch advances therein, pushing out the nut, which falls
from the machine. As the cutting-off punch retires the wad is forced out of
it by an ejecting punch sliding in the said cutting-off punch coming against a
fixed stop, the thickness of the nut is determined by the distance to which the
pressing punch can retire into the nut box; this distance may be varied at
pleasure in the following manner :-The carrier of the pressing punch does not
slide directly in the framing of the machine, but in a tubular piece capable of

page_text: being screwed to a greater or less distance in the framing. A shoulder on the
carrier coming against the end of the tubular piece limits the motion of the
said carrier in the said tubular piece, and by screwing the said tubular piece
to a greater or less distance into the framing the thickness of the nut may be
determined. The pressing punch is worked by a cross head connected by
connecting rods to the slide working the cutting-off punch; the said connecting
rods are capable of sliding in the cross head when they move in the direction in
which the iron is carried into the nut box. The retiring motion of the pressing
punch in the nut box is produced. by the pressure of a bow or other spring
against it. When the said rods move in the contrary direction they act upon
the cross head and advance the pressing punch in the nut box; the punch by
which the hole is made in the nut is worked by a cross head from a slide
working in grooves in the bed of the machine; the said slide is actuated by a
cam driven from the principal shaft of the machine.
In order to prevent injury to the machine in case of two nuts occupying the
nut box or other like accident 1 do not fix the fly wheel rigidly to the shaft,
but connect it therewith in the following manner:-The hole in the boss of
the fly wheel through which the shaft passes is so large that the shaft does not
fit it. On one side of the boss and at opposite points are snugs, through which
set screws work; between the ends of these screws and the shaft pieces of soft
iron are placed and pressed by the said screws with any required degree of
pressure against the shaft. On the other side of the boss are two other snugs
and set screws with pieces of soft iron, but at right angles to the former. The
fly wheel is thus connected to the shaft at four points with any required degree
of pressure, and by adjusting the set screws the fly wheel may be permitted to
rotate without the shaft whenever there is such an amount of resistance in the
machine as it is unable to bear without risk of injury.
Having explained the nature of my Invention I will proceed to describe,
with reference to the accompanying Drawings, the manner in which the same
is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in elevation, partly in vertical section, a nut machine
constructed according to my Invention, and Figure 2 is a plan of the same,
partly in horizontal section. The same letters of reference are employed to
indicate the same parts in both Figures. a is the cutting-off punch, and 6
the nut box; c is the pressing punch, and is the punch for making
the hole in the nut. The cutting-off punch a is carried by the sliding
frame d sliding in grooves e on the bed of the machine; the said frame d
is actuated by the back cam f acting on the rollers g carried by the said
frame; the cam f is driven from the driving shaft by means of a

page_text: pinion and toothed wheel k, as seen in Figure 2. 1 is a clutch box for throwing
the shaft f of the cam f into and out of gear with the driving shaft h; m, n,
are fast and loose pulleys, and o is the fly wheel on the shaft h; the nut box b
is fixed to the framing of the machine. The pressing punch c slides in the nut
box b, being fixed in a carrier p; the said pressing punch can only retire into
the nut box 6 until the shoulder på of its carrier comes against the end of the
tubular piece q, which is capable of being screwed to a greater or less distance
into the framing of the machine and is fixed by the lock nut r.
The greater
or less thickness of the nut, as well as the pressure put upon it, is determined
by screwing the tubular piece q to a greater or less distance into the framing,
and thereby determining the distance to which the pressing punch c can retire
in the nut box b; the said pressing punch c is actuated by a cross head s con-
nected by connecting rods t with the framed working the cutting-off punch a;
the said connecting rods t are capable of sliding in the cross head s when they
move in the direction in which the iron is carried into the nut box b, as seen at s
in Figure 1. The retiring motion of the pressing punch c in the nut box is pro-
duced by the pressure of the spring u (see Figure 2). When the rods t move in
the direction contrary to that in which the iron is introduced into the nut box
the screw nuts at their ends are brought to their bearings on the cross head s,
and the pressing die c advances and pushes the nut out of the nut box b. The
punch c³, by which the hole is made in the nut, is worked by a cross head v
from the sliding frame w through the connecting rods &. The middle cam fƒ³
acting on the roller ws of the sliding frame w effects the retiring motion of the
punch c, and the front cam f acting on the roller y on the back of the
sliding frame w gives the forward motion to the punch c² and pierces the hole
in the nut. z is an ejecting punch, the head of which on the retiring motion
of the cutting-off punch a is brought against the sliding frame w, and made to
eject the wad cut by the punch c, and which had been forced into the said
cutting-off punch a.
The action of the machine is as follows:-The bar of heated iron from
which the nuts are to be made is fed across the face of the nut box v, the
usual back and side stops for guiding the iron (not shown in the Drawing)
being employed. The cutting-off punch a advancing cuts off the piece of
iron against the edges of the nut box b, carrying the said cut-off piece into the
said nut box, the pressing punch c and piercing punch & retiring, the shoulder
of the carrier p bearing against the end of the tubular piece q; the cutting-
off punch a now compresses the heated iron between its end and the end of
the pressing punch c; the piercing punch & now advances and pierces out a
wad from the nut, the said wad pushing back the ejector and entering the

page_text: cylindrical space in the cutting-off punch a; the nut being now formed the
cutting-off punch a retires from the nut box b, and the pressing tool c advances
in the nut box, thereby tbrowing out of the said nut box the nut which
has been made. The striking of the head of the ejector against the sliding
frame w throws out the wad from the cutting punch a, and the parts are
now ready to commence the formation of another nut.
In the Drawings the several parts are in the positions which they respec-
tively occupy when the machine is about to commence the making of a nut.
The machine represented is in duplicate, that is, the said machine contains
the working parts described on either side the driving shaft h; but as the
parts on the left-hand side of Figures 1 and 2 are similar to those described
on the right-hand side I do not consider a further description of the said parts
necessary; by this duplication of the essential parts of the machine a nut
is formed alternately at one and the other end of the machine, the advance
motion of the tools at one end of the machine taking place simultaneously,
with the retiring motion of the tools at the other end of the machine, and the
reverse.
The machine described and represented may be used for making washers
by screwing the tubular piece q so far into the framing of the machine as is
necessary to limit to the required extent the distance to which the pressing
tool c can retire in the nut box b.
The fly wheel o is attached to the shaft h in the manner illustrated in
Figures 3, 4, and 5 of the Drawings; Figure 3 being an elevation,
Figure 4a plan, and Figure 5 a section of this part of my Invention.
a is the boss of the fly wheel, through a hole in which the shaft h works
freely; b, b, are snugs opposite to each other and on the same side of the
boss a.
Similar snugs c, opposite to each other, are fixed on the other side of
the said boss a; through these snugs screws 62, 6, and c, c, are passed and
press upon the pieces of soft iron d, d, between the end of each screw and the
shaft h. The fly wheel o is thus connected to the shaft at four points with any
required degree of pressure, and by adjusting the screws b, c, the fly wheel may
be permitted to rotate without the shaft whenever there is such an amount of
resistance in the machine as it is unable to bear without risk of injury. By
the arrangement described and represented any injury to the machine is pre-
vented in case of two nuts occupying the nut box, or in case of other accident
which would result in injury to the machine if the momentum of the fly wheel
were allowed to continue the motion of the working tools.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the sunc is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not

page_text: limit myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawings, as the same may be varied without departing from
the nature of my Invention; but I claim as my Invention,―
Firstly, the improvements in machinery used in the manufacture of screw
nuts and washers, herein-before described and illustrated in Figures 1 and 2
of the accompanying Drawings, that is to say, the general arrangement or
combination of the working tools of the machine and the cams and appliances
for actuating the same, substantially as described and illustrated.
Secondly, the screwing tubular piece marked q and parts connected there-
with for determining the thickness of and pressure put upon the nuts or
washers made by the machine, herein-before described and illustrated in
Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying Drawings.
Thirdly, the arrangement of parts described with respect to Figures 3, 4,
and 5 of the accompanying Drawings for connecting the fly wheel with the
driving shaft.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Richard Postlethwaite, have here-
unto set my band and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of September, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
GEORGE RICHARD POSTLETHWAITE. (L.S.)