IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GRIDIRON STEPS FOR CARRIAGES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Grice and Eli James Harrison, both of
Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturers, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GRIDIRON STEPS
FOR CARRIAGES.”
Sealed the 17th October 1873, and dated the 6th May 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Grice and' Eli
James Harrison at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 6th May 1873.
WC, JOHN GRICE and ELI JAMES HARRISON, both of Birmingham,
in the County of Warwick, Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GRIDIRON.
STEPS FOR CARRIAGES," to be as follows:-
The said gridiron steps are ordinarily manufactured by fixing the
ends of a series of bars into the rectangular or other shaped frame of
the step, the ends of the bars being made of a dovetail figure, and
fitted into recesses of a corresponding figure in the frame. The said
bars are fixed in their places by a rivetting process. In wear the bars

page_text: become loose and make an unpleasant rattling noise, or when further
worn become wholly detached from the frame.
The object of our Invention is to remedy these defects, and consists
in manufacturing the said steps by the following process or series of
processes.
We will describe our Invention in connection with the manufacture
of a gridiron carriage step of a rectangular figure. We take a blank
or piece of wrought iron of a length about equal to the length of the
step, and of a width about equal to the breadth of the step, and of a
thickness about equal to one-half the depth of the bars to be formed.
On one edge of the blank we attach by welding the arm of the step.
We heat the blank to a forging heat, and by means of a stamp and
suitably shaped dies we give the said blank the general shape of the
step, the percussive blow of the stamp forcing the heated iron into
every part of the dies. The roughly-formed step thus produced has
fins or webs running along the middle of all or most of the bars, as
well as along the frame. In order to remove these fins or webs the
roughly-formed step is operated upon by a pair of clearing dies worked
cither in a screw or bolt press. By the action of the said clearing dies
the whole of the webs or fins, or superfluous metal left by the stamping
process is removed, and the step only requires to be perfected in shape
and finish by hand filing.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Grice and Eli James Harrison in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 30th October 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, wc, JOHN
GRICE and ELI JAMES HARRISON, both of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of May, in the year of 3
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto us, the said John Grice and Eli James

page_text: Harrison, Her special license that wc, the said John Grice and Eli
James Harrison, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as we, the said John Grice and Eli James Harrison, our
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 "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GRIDIRON STEPS FOR CARRIAGES,” upon
the condition (amongst others) that we, the said John Grice and Eli
James Harrison, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under our or their hands and seals, or under the hand and scal of
one of us or them, 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 Eli James Harrison, on behalf of
the said John Grice and myself, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be par-
ticularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
thereof, that is to say :-
The said gridiron steps are ordinarily manufactured by fixing the
ends of a series of bars into the rectangular or other shaped frame of
the step, the ends of the bars being made of a dovetail figure, and
fitted into recesses of a corresponding figure in the frame. The said
bars are fixed in their places by a rivetting process. In wear the bars
become loose and make an unpleasant rattling noise, or when further
worn become wholly detached from the frame.
The object of our Invention is to remedy these defects, and consists
in manufacturing the said steps by the following process or series of
processes.
We will describe our Invention in connection with the manufacture
of a gridiron carriage step of a rectangular figure. We take a blank
or piece of wrought iron of a length about equal to the length of the
step, and of a width about equal to the breadth of the step, and of a
thickness about equal to one-half the depth of the bars to be formed.

page_text: On one edge of the blank we attach by welding the arm of the step.
We heat the blank to a forging heat, and by means of a stamp and
suitably shaped dies we give the said blank the general shape of the
step, the percussive blow of the stamp forcing the heated iron into
every part of the dies. The roughly-formed step thus produced has
fins or webs running along the middle of all or most of the bars, as
well as along the frame. In order to remove these fins or webs the
roughly-formed step is operated upon by a pair of clearing dies worked
either in a screw or bolt press. By the action of the said clearing dies
the whole of the webs or fins, or superfluous metal left by the stamping
process is removed, and the step only requires to be perfected in shape
and finish by hand filing.
Having explained the nature of our Invention, we will proceed to
describe, with reference to the accompanying Drawings, the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
,
Figure 1 represents in plan and edge view the blank from which
a gridiron carriage step is to be made according to our Invention.
The said blank consists of a plate or piece of wrought iron a of a
size about equal to the width and length, and about one-half of the
thickness of the step to be made. To one end of the rectangular
blank a the arm b is welded. We raise the blank, Figure 1, to a
forging heat, and by the use of the shaping dies, herein-after described,
worked in a stamp we give the said blank the figure represented in
plan of upper side and section in Figure 2, cross section in Figure 3.
and plan of under side and edge view in Figure 4. The section of
Figure 2 is taken on the line c, c, and the section, Figure 3, is
taken on the line d, d, of Figure 2; that is to say, by the action
of the said shaping dies a frame h is made having in its upper face
a series of depressions e, e, e, separated by the bars f, f, f, and having
in its lower face a single rectangular depression 7 (see Figure 3).
The dividing bars f, f, f, have the thickness of about one-half that
of the partly made step, the web or thin plate i connecting the frame h
and bars f, f, f, together being situated along the middle of the said
step. The partly made step, Figures 2, 3, and 4, is next operated
upon by the pair of punching or perforating dies or tools herein-after
described, whereby the webs or thin metal plates i, i, between the con-
nected bars f, f, f, and the frame of the step are removed, and a
series of parallel bars unconnected together execpting at the sides of

page_text: .
the step frame is formed as illustrated in Figures 5, 6, 7, and 8,
Figure 5 representing in plan of upper side, and Figure 6, in side
élevation, a completed gridiron carriage step made in the manner
described; Figure 7 is a plan of under side, and Figure 8, a section
of the same: In the said Figures 5, 6, 7, and 8, the arm of the step
is marked b, the rectangular frame of the step is marked 1, and the
parallel bars are marked f, f. f.
We will now describe the shaping dies and the piercing or perforating
dies or tools which we employ.
Figure 9 represents the face; and Figure 10 a section of the upper
shaping die; and Figure 11 represents the face of the bottom shaping
die. Figure 12 represents a section of the two dies in action. k is tho
upper die fixed to the ram or plunger of the stamp, and 7 is the bottom
die fixed on the bed of the stamp. The upper die k has made in it the
semi-cylindrical depression m to receive the half of the arm 6 of the
step, a rectangular depression n of the shape of half the frame of the step.
and a series of parallel depressions p of the shape of the connecting
bars of the step frame. The bottom die has in it the depression q to
receive the half of the arm 6 of the step, a rectangular depression of
the shape of half the frame of the step, and a rectangular projection 8
to form the depression g in the lower side of the step. When the
dies k, l, are brought together, as illustrated in Figure 12, their faces
do not come quite in contact, the distance between their meeting faces
being equal to the thickness of the web or thin plate i (Figure 3)
connecting the bars and frame of the partly made step together. The
blank, Figure 1, being raised to a forging heat is placed on the bottom.
die 1, and the upper die k is brought down the required number of times
upon it. By this means the heated metal is gradually forced into every
part of the two dies k, l, and a partly made step of the kind represented
in Figures 2, 3, and 4 is thereby produced. The dies k, l, may be worked
in a press instead of in a stamp.
Instead of forming the partly made step, Figures 2, 3, and 4, by the
percussive action of an upper die upon the heated metal on a fixed lower
die, as described, the forcing of the heated metal into the said dies may
be effected by pressure, that is to say, the two dies k, l, with the heated
blank between them may be passed between a pair of plain rolls, by the
operation of which rolls the two dies are pressed forcibly into contact,

page_text: or nearly so, and the heated metal between them forced into the said
dics and thereby shaped.
Figure 13 represents in plan, and Figure 14 in section the lower
punching or perforating die; and Figure 15 represents in side elevation
the upper or moveable punching or perforating die or tool which we
use Figure 16 represents the two punching or perforating dies in
position for work with the partly made step between them. t is the
lower die or bed fixed on the bed plate of the stamp or press in the
ordinary way. The said dic or bed t has a central opening t in it of
the shape of the openings between the bars of the step, down which
opening the wad or punched out part or piece passes. The middle of
one side of the diet is open at t to receive the arm 6 of the step, and
along the opposite side of the die and parallel with the central opening t³
is a stop or guide t, the width of the said stop or guide being equal
to that between two adjacent bars, or between a bar and the frame of
the partly made step, the sides of the said stop or guide having the same
inclination as the bars of the step. The acting part or punch u² of the
upper die or tool u has the figure of the openings to be made in the
step. The fin or thin metal i, i, between the bars f, f, and frame of
the step is removed in the following manner:-The partly made step,
Figures 2, 3, and 4, is placed and supported on the lower dic or bed t
in the position represented in Figure 16, that is to say, two of the
bars f, f, of the partly made step are made to embrace the stop or
guide t, the arm band part of the step resting on the lower die in the
manner represented. By the descent of the upper die or tool u and the
action of the punch the thin metal or web i between the frame h and
the bar fis cut away. The upper die u being raised the partly made
step is lifted from the lower die t, and the bars f², f³, of the step are
now made to embrace the stop or guide t, when by the descent of the
upper die u the thin metal or web i between the bars f, f, is cut away,
and so on. In this way the whole of the connecting webs or thin metal
pieces between the several bars and frame of the partly made step arc
removed in succession. After the step has been operated upon by the
punching or perforating dies or tools described the said step has the form
represented in Figures 5, 6, 7, and 8, and is finished by hand filing. 3
Instead of first shaping the step and afterwards perforating the
openings between the bars and frame, as herein-before described and
illustrated in the Drawings, the said shaping and perforating of the step

page_text: may be effected at one operation. In this case the dies k, l, Figures 9,
10, 11, and 12, are so constructed as to form the perforations in the step
as well as to shape the frame and bars of the step. A roughly formed
step made in the manner last described is finished by the use of a pair
of clearing dies worked in a screw or bolt press, by the use of which
clearing dies the fins or webs formed along the bars and frame are
removed.
Our Invention is applicable to the manufacture of gridiron carriage
steps of various shapes and sizes.
Having now described the nature of our Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood that
we do not limit ourselves to the precise details herein described and
illustrated, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature
of our Invention; but we claim as our Invention, the improvements in
the manufacture of gridiron steps for carriages herein-before described
and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, that is to say, making
the said steps from one piece of wrought iron operated upon in succession
by a pair of shaping dies worked in a stamp, or press, or rolls, and a
pair of punching or perforating dies or tools, or by the use of a pair of
shaping and perforating dies or tools followed by the use of a pair of
clearing dics, the process of manufacture being conducted and the dics
or tools constructed and worked substantially as described and
illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Eli James Harrison, have here-
unto set my hand and scal, this Twenty-ninth day of October,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
ELI JAMES HARRISON. (L.S.)