Improvements in Automatic Machinery or Apparatus for Drilling and Punching Circles, Fallers, Gills, Porcupines, and other Machine Combs.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Oct., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 10th Aug., 1892-Accepted, 24th Sept., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Automatic Machinery or Apparatus for Drilling
and Punching Circles, Fallers, Gills, Porcupines, and other
Machine Combs.
I, FRANK HOLDSWORTH BENTHAM, of the firm of Fortune & Bentham,
Richmond Road, Bradford in the County of York, Machine Comb Makers, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:—
This invention relates to improvements in automatic machinery or apparatus for
drilling and punching circles, fallers, gills, porcupines and other machine combs.
And the object of the said invention is firstly to simplify the automatic mechanism
for moving the comb the distance between the holes to be drilled, and secondly to
provide an automatic device for stopping the said mechanism moving the comb or
the mechanism traversing the spindle in case the drill or punch is broken.
The first part of the invention is only applicable where a pawl and ratchet aro
employed to operate the mechanism moving the comb and particularly to that class
of mechanism which is only brought into operation each time a complete hole is
drilled. This part of the invention consists in keeping the said pawl from engaging
the ratchet until each hole is completely drilled.
For this purpose I preferably mount a disc by the side of the ratchet and such
disc has a notch in its periphery rather less in width than the pitch of the ratchet
teeth. Said disc is connected to a lever or its equivalent preferably adapted to be
operated by the slide of the drill spindle and is so arranged that whilst the holes
are being drilled said pawl rides on the periphery of the disc and is thereby
prevented from dropping into or engaging the ratchet teeth but each time a hole is
completed said disc moves to such a position that the notch in its periphery leaves
the pawl free to engage the ratchet and operate the mechanism moving the comb.
And as the said notch is less in width than the pitch of the teeth the pawl in the
act of moving the ratchet engages the side of such notch and thereby brings the
periphery of the disc to such a position that it forms a guard by the side of the next
tooth and prevents the pawl engaging said tooth until said disc is moved in the
above mentioned manner after the hole is completed.
In order to stop the traverse of the drill spindle and the movement of the comb
being drilled in case the drill or punch breaks I employ a delicately balanced lever
one end of which is arranged to rest with slight pressure against the end of the
drill. The other end of said lever is so arranged in relation to a stop lever or its
equivalent that in case the drill or punch breaks such end passes between this stop
lever and a projection on the spindle slide and thereby enables such projection to
move this lever and stop the traverse of the drill spindle and comb. Two balanced
levers may be employed to bear against the drill from opposite sides so as to
counteract any tendency to spring or bend the drill.
My improvements are equally applicable to machines in which two or more
spindles are employed.
In machines for drilling circular combs I preferably mount the cam shaft along
the side of the gantry and put such shaft in and out of gear by means of a clutch
and lever. The cam or cams are arranged to be easily adjusted longitudinally
thereon to allow for different sized "circles" being drilled and a number of cams of
different contour may be arranged side by side. Said cam or cams are arranged to
vibrate an approximately vertical lever to traverse the drill spindle.
Dated this 9th day of October 1891.
DRACUP & NOWELL,
Bradford, Agents.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Automatic Machinery or Apparatus for Drilling
and Punching Circles, Fallers, Gills, Porcupines, and other
Machine Combs.
"
I, FRANK HOLDSWORTH BENTHAM, of the firm of Fortune and Bentham,
Richmond Road, Bradford, in the County of York, Machine Comb Makers, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
This invention relates to improvements in automatic machinery or apparatus for
drilling and punching circles, fallers, gills, porcupines and other machine combs.
And the object of the said invention is firstly to simplify the automatic mechanism
for moving the comb the distance between the holes to be drilled, and secondly to
provide an automatic device for stopping the said mechanism moving the comb or
the mechanism traversing the spindle in case the drill or punch is broken.
The first part of the invention is only applicable where a pawl and ratchet are
employed to operate the mechanism moving the comb which is only brought into
operation each time a complete hole is drilled. This part of the invention consists
in keeping the said pawl from engaging the ratchet until each hole is completely
drilled or drilled the required depth.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying sheet of drawings forming a part of
this Specification in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts
in each of the figures.
Figure 1, represents a front view of such parts of a machine for drilling circular
machine combs as are necessary to illustrate the application of the first part of my
improvements thereto.
Figure 2, is a side view of the same at right angles to the former figure.
Figures 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 are views of detail hereinafter referred to.
Figure 8, is a plan view of such parts as are necessary to illustrate the application
of my improved stop motion thereto.
Figure 9, is a front view of the same.
The drilling head A is of the ordinary construction and the drill spindle A' mounted
therein is traversed longitudinally to and fro in the usual manner by the approxi-
mately vertical lever A the upper end of which engages the tail slide A. The
lever A is mounted on the pin A* between the hangers A' and A secured to the
tail slide bracket A' projecting from the head A. A cam shaft B is mounted in
front of the gantry B' driven at a slow speed from the cross shaft B' by the worm B³
and worm wheel B' and the cross shaft is preferably driven by a step or cone pulley
mounted on the rear end thereof shown broken off in the drawings.
When the machine is used for drilling the drill is fed by the pressure of a weight
or spring in the ordinary way and is withdrawn from action to clear the hole being
drilled at least once during each revolution of the cam shaft B by one of the cams
secured to the face of the cam disc B. The disc B has an interior key or feather
fitting the key-way B' in the shaft B so that it is capable of being adjusted
longitudinally thereon to enable any of the cams C, C¹, C³, or C³ to be brought
into position to vibrate the lever A' or to allow the cams to be moved along with
the drilling head A to operate upon different sized combs. The cam C is formed
to withdraw the drill once during each revolution whilst C' has two swells or proud
parts and is adapted besides entirely withdrawing the drill to partly withdraw it as
well during each revolution after a certain depth has been drilled and is useful for
drilling fine holes. Figure 5 represents a side view of the cams.
When the machine is used for punching (also called drifting or cutting) the
lever A is bifurcated at its lower end and the bifurcated portion embraces the two
cams C and C. The two limbs of the bifurcated end are not in the same plane

page_text: but diverge to either side so as to each be opposite one of the two cams which
engage said limbs alternately and thus vibrate the lever in both directions so as to
both feed and withdraw the punch carried by the drill spindle. Figures 6 and 7
are respectively a front and side view of the bifurcated lover.
The pawl and ratchet motion for traversing the comb the distance between the
holes operates a spur wheel k arranged at each movement to impart a complete
revolution to the pinion / operated by the winch handle n when the machine is used
by hand and is similar to the arrangement described in my previous Specification
No. 818 of 1890. The wheel k is secured on the shaft D mounted in the bracket D'
and the ratchet wheelj is mounted on its other end. The pawl i is pivoted on the
arm loosely nounted on the end of such shaft and the arm is vibrated to operate
the pawl through the medium of the connecting rod E connecting it to one end of
the lever E' mounted on the stud E2 projecting from the bearing bracket B'. The
other end of the lever E' engages the cam E³ secured to the face of the cam dise E'
mounted on the shaft B and is vibrated at each revolution of such shaft.
The free end of the pawli rides on the periphery of the disc F loosely mounted
upon the shaft. D by the side of the ratchet wheel and said pawl is thus kept from
engaging and operating the ratchet wheel until each hole is completely drilled.
Each time the drill passes completely through the comb or a hole is drilled the
required depth the tail slide is arranged to come in contact with one arm of the
bell-crank lever H mounted on the stud H¹ carried by the bracket A' and thereby
moving such lever its other arm vibrates the vertical lever H pivoted on the
stud H projecting from the drilling head A. A plan view of H is shown in
Figure 8. The lower end of H2 engages the adjustable projection H³ on the
horizontal rod H and one end of which rod rests in the guide eye H and the other
end is secured to one arm of the bell-crank lever J pivoted on the bracket .J
projecting from the gantry B'. A bent rod J' is connected by one end to the other
arm of J and such rod after passing through the gantry is bent upwards and then
horizontally at right angles and passes into and engages the hole J' in the disc F.
The disc has a notch or depression Fin its periphery rather shorter than the
distance between the teeth of the ratchet wheel. And each time the lever H is
operated by the tail slide the disc F is also moved through the medium of the
connecting mechanism so as to bring the notch F' beneath the pawli and allow it
to fall and engage the ratchet wheel. Then when the drill is withdrawn the cam E³
operates the pawl by means of its connecting mechanism and the ratchet wheel is
turned the distance between the teeth. And at the same time the side of the notch
in the disc F is also engaged by the pawl and such disc together with the mechanism
connected to it are moved back to their original position. Figure 3 is a separate
view of the disc and ratchet with the pawl disengaged from the ratchet and
Figure 4 is a similar view showing the disc moved to allow the pawl to engage the
ratchet.
A clutch Bs and a clutch lever B' are provided to disconnect the shaft B from
the worm wheel B' to stop such shaft and thus stop the movement of the comb and
traverse of the drill spindle.
The stop mechanism illustrated in Figures 8 and 9 is intended for use when
punching or drifting it consists of a delicate balance lever K pivoted horizontally
between the lugs K¹ which are free to turn on the vertical pin K² fitting in the
bracket K projecting from the head A. The lighter end of the lever K is curved
round to bear lightly against the underside of the extremity of the punch P when
the latter is fully withdrawn and the heavier end of such lever projects past the
upper end of the vertical lever K pivoted to the bracket K projecting from the
hanger A. The lower end of the lever K is connected to the adjustable stud K
secured to the horizontal rod K' connected to the stud K on the clutch lever B*.
The projection L on the tail slide A' has an inclined face L' which normally clears
the top of the lever K' but in case a drill or punch breaks the lighter end of the
lever K is released therefrom and rising allows its opposite end to fall between the
inclined face and the top of the lever K so that at the next forward traverse of

page_text: the tail slide the inclined projection L vibrates the lever K through the medium
of the heavier end of the lever K. And the vibration of the lever K* moves the
rod connected to the clutch lever horizontally and thus moving the clutch lever
disconnects the clutch and stops the cam shaft.
I do not consider this stop motion so essential when the machine is used for
drilling as when punching. To adapt the stop motion to a drilling head it is
necessary to so arrange the parts that the lever K is operated at the termination of
the outward traverse of the drill spindle. For this purpose the end L' of the
projection L is inclined in the reverse direction and a projection is formed on the
heavier end of K adapted when the drill is broken and such end falls to pass in
between K* and L' and at the next outward traverse of the drill spindle operate
the lever K in the above described manner.
For very delicate drills or drifts 1 may employ a counter-balance lever arranged
to bear with the same pressure as K on the top of the drill or drift and a little to
the rear so as not to interfere with the motion of K.
From the foregoing description it will be obvious that my improvements may be
readily applied to machines for drilling and drifting fallers and other machine
.combs.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare what I claim is:
1. In a machine for automatically drilling machine combs in which a pawl and
ratchet or the like device is employed to move the comb the distance between the
holes, the arrangement for keeping the pawl out of action until each hole is
completely drilled and the drill removed from the hole, substantially as herein
shown and described.
2. In a machine for automatically drilling and punching machine combs, a stop
device for automatically stopping the motion of the comb when a drift or drill
breaks consisting essentially of a balance lever arranged to bear against the drift or
drill and be held thereby in an inoperative position but in case a drift or drill breaks
it is adapted to automatically move to such a position that the stop mechanism is
operated and the motion of the comb and traverse of the drill spindle stopped, sub-
stantially as herein shown and described.
3. In a machine for automatically drilling circular machine combs, a cam shaft
mounted below the drilling head parallel with the gantry and having an adjustable
cam or cams thereon adapted to operate an approximately vertical lever carried by
the drilling head, substantially as herein shown and described and illustrated in the
accompanying drawings.
Dated this 8th day of August 1892.
DRACUP & NOWELL,
Bradford, Agents.