IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED IN RIFLING THE BARRELS OF FIRE-ARMS AND ORDNANCE
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Beasley, of Smethwick, in the County of
Stafford, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED IN RIFLING THE BARRELS OF FIRE-ARMS AND
ORDNANCE."
Sealed the 22nd July 1856, and dated the 26th January 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Beasley at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 26th January
1856.
I, WILLIAM BEASLEY, of Smethwick, in, the County of Stafford Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS, TO BE, EMPLOYED IN RIFLING THE, BARRELS OF FIRE-
ARMS AND ORDNANCE," to be as follows, that is to say
My Invention consists of, improvements in-the construction of cutting tools,
by which I am enabled to draw them instead of driving-them, through, the
O barrel, and, thus cutting, the entire groove at one cut, the shavings or, cuttings
being thrown-out behind. The tool works upon the principle of a plane, dis-
charging itself through a slot, or hole, and is thus formed. A plug, or solid rod
of steel has, a bevilled slot through it,. as seen at (a); a small knib-or, edge (b)

page_text: is formed out of the solid metal, and as the plug is drawn through the barrel
this edge cuts the groove, and the shaving passes through the bevilled slot and
is thrust out of the tail of the cutter. Any requisite number of these
.cutters may be formed on one plug, so as to cut all the grooves in a barrel at
one time. The end of the plug may be connected to any suitable power, such
as the motion of a planing machine, or on a draw bench; or the tool may be
fixed and the barrels caused to move; and as a spiral direction is requisite for
the groove, I get this motion by causing either the cutter or the barrel to
move in a spiral. By these means I prevent any clogging of the barrel, as is
generally the case with cutters which are driven; the shavings being before
the cutter, impede its progress through the barrel. By my improvements the
cutter clears itself, leaving all the shavings or cuttings behind.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Beasley in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd July 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BEASLEY, of Smethwick, in the County of Stafford, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixtli day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Beasley, Her special licence that I, the said William
Beasley, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Beasley, 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED IN RIFLING THE BARRELS
OF FIRE-ARMS AND ORDNANCE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said William Beasley, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said In-
vention, 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.
L...

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Beasley, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to
the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My Invention consists of improvements in the arrangement and com-
bination of certain mechanical parts in a machine, as well as in the form
and construction of the cutting tools used in such machine, by which I am
enabled greatly to facilitate the operation of rifling or forming the grooves
in the barrels of fire-arms and breech-loading ordnance.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine; Figure 2, a plan as seen
from above; Figure 3, a sectional elevation on the line A, B; Figure 4, a
sectional elevation on the line C, D; Figure 5, an end elevation; Figure 6,
a view of the cutting tool and spindle; Figure 7, a longitudinal section of a
portion of a gun barrel, shewing the cutting tool in operation.
I will now proceed to describe the construction and operation of the
machine-
A is the frame, upon which a carrier B is mounted, supporting on proper
bushes a spindle C, on which are hung the fast and loose pulleys D and E,
and the pinion F driving a spur wheel G, keyed on the end of a strong square-
threaded screw H; I, I, are two headstocks, bolted to the frame A, and in
which headstocks, the barrels K, K, are securely held, the tops of these head-
stocks being capable of adjustment by means of regulating screws L, L, as
scen in Figure 4; M is a travelling carrier, free to work up and down the
table or frame, as seen by the dotted lines, Figure 2. Through the head-
stock. of this carrier are spindles, each having on one end the cutting tool,
and on the other a pinion N, working in the teeth of a rack O. P is a wedge-
formed guide, bolted to the side of the frame A, and to which the rack O is
connected by means of the arm Q, forked at its lower end to embrace a flange
on the guide. On the opposite side of the machine is another rack and pinion
R, R, furnished with a windlass, and secured to the travelling carrier M, and
is for the purpose of working this carrier down the screw without throwing the
machine out of gear every time a series of barrels has been grooved; and to
admit of this operation, the screw box attached to the under side of the
carrier M is formed in two parts, capable of being opened and closed by means
of an eccentric slotted plate and handle S, working on pins or studs on the top
of the screw box. . . .
"

page_text: t.
1
The action of this machine is as follows:-By. means of a driving band upon
the pulley, D, motion is communicated through the pinion F and wheel G to
the screw H, which, working in a screw box under the carrier M, causes that
carrier to travel up the table, which brings with it the rack and pinions O, N,
these pinions being mounted on the spindles on which the cutters are fixed; the
cutters, are thus drawn through the barrels, which are stationary, cutting the
grooves during their passage; but, as hitherto described; the cut or groove would
be straight, or in a line parallel with the axis of the barrel, and it is for the
purpose of giving the requisite twist to the grooves that the wedge guide Pis
provided; the rack 0, which as before stated is attached to this guide in manner
shewn in Figure 4, at the commencement of the operation overbangs the frame
on one side, as seen at Y. During the traverse of the carrier M this rack is
drawn up the, wedge P, and consequently travels in an oblique direction,
thereby, driving, the pinions N, and thus imparting to the cutters a spiral
motion until their work is done, when the travelling carrier M. will be in the
position shewn in the dotted lines Figure 2, and the rack O will overhang on the
opposite side of the table. It will thus be seen that the form of the guide P
governs the cutters, and determines the direction of the cut. or grooves in the
barrel, and this direction may be varied to suit all requirements by, simply
changing the guide. One series of barrels having been grooved, it will be necessary
to return the carrier M down the table to its original position ; to effect this,
I open the screw box by which it is worked by means of the apparatus seen at
.S, S', which is a simple eccentric slotted disc,, working on studs in the head of
the screw box, and provided with a handle,, by which it is easily turned;,and by
employing the windlass pinion and rack R, R, Figure 2, the carrier is
speedily shifted down the table; a fresh-series of barrels having been previously,
arranged in the headstocks I; I, the spindles are passed-through-them from
the lower end, and keyed into the pinions, and the machine is again ready for
'work.
i
I would mention, that although the Drawings represent a machine. capable
of rifling six barrels simultaneously, the number is, within, certain limits
immaterial for ordnance; it would probably be found desirable to groove. but
one gun at a time in consequence of the heavy, nature of the work, but as the
principle of the machine would not be departed from, further description-is-
superfluous..
It now remains for me clearly to describe the cutting tool I employ, and
which is shewn attached to its spindle in Figures 6, and-7, On reference to
the Figures, it will be seen to consist of a short strong tubular piece of metal,.
tapped for a screw in about one-half of its length, and slotted, as at A, in one

page_text: or more places (that shewn indicating four), at a point immediately below the
screw; below these slots are formed the cutting edges (6), projecting slightly
from the general surface, somewhat assimilating to the principle of a plane
iron. The spindle C has a screw (d) formed on its end, terminating in a
conical plug E. The cutter being screwed on to the spindle, as seen in
Figure 7, is ready for work; the spindle is passed through a barrel keyed to its
pinion, and by the operations already fully described, the cutter is drawn
through the barrel, at one cut forming the groove or grooves complete. The use
of the conical plug E, Figure 7, is shewn in its guiding the shaving from the
slots (a) out at the tail of the cutter, whence they issue each in an unbroken
riband, and the cut being by these means always made on the pull, there is no
clogging by reason of the twisting of the shavings, and no impediment offered
to the progress of the cutters, which are thus rendered self-clearing. If
required, a crab, or other suitable contrivance for stopping the machine, when a
series of barrels has been grooved, may be connected to the screw, which would
render the apparatus in a manner self-acting, as it would then require merely
adjustment every time fresh barrels were introduced, and the constant
attendance of a workman would be dispensed with.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be clearly understood, that I
do not confine myself to these precise details, so long as the principle features
of my Invention be retained; but that which I claim is :-
Firstly, the arrangement and combination of the various mechanical parts
(or the equivalents thereof) described herein, and shewn in Drawings, for the
purpose of producing machinery or apparatus to be employed in rifling, on the
pull of the cutter the barrels of fire-arms and breech-loading ordnance.
And, secondly, I claim the form of cutting tool, described and shewn in
Drawings Figures 6 and 7, and the parts of the spindle in connection there-
with, as herein more fully set forth and specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Beasley, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
WILLIAM BEASLEY. (L.S.)