IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING NUTS AND WASHERS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING NUTS AND
WASHERS." A communication.
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Sealed the 24th July 1857, and dated the 16th February 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,, on
the 16th February 1857.
..
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING
NUTS AND WASHERS," to be as follows:-
This Invention or improvement relates to the die or dies used in machines
for forging and swedging nuts, washers, and other similar articles, and its
distinguishing feature consists in making the die or dies for such or similar
machines of chilled cast iron. The chilled cast-iron dies consist of three parts
or pieces, but in some cases it may be expedient to construct dies for this pur-
pose of a greater or less number of sections.
The upper. die works in a die box, and on the top of the die is placed a
check plate, through which and the die passes a punch. The die box is placed

page_text: inside a metallic ring, which ring strengthens it, and it is attached to a cross-
head by any of the ordinary means.
The die box and punch are so secured to the crosshead, that they move
simultaneously, while the check plate and die move independently to the
extent of throwing the hut or other article out of the die box, when the cross-
head ascends; and as the crosshead descends, and the nut is being cut off from
the heated bar and swedged into shape, the die and check plate raises the
thickness of the nut. The lower die is so secured in place, that it will be in
line with the chamber of the die 'box, and with the punch which enters the
lower die when perforating the hot blank. In making hot-pressed nuts and
washers the heated bar is placed upon the lower die; then by the descent of
the crosshead the blank is cut off from the bar by the die block, and swedged
and compressed into shape in the chamber of the die; at the same time the
blank is punched by the central punch, and the burr from the nut passes off
through a hole in the lower die to the ground. As the crosshead returns, the
checkplate is brought in contact with a check bar on each side of the machine,
and stops the check plate and the upper die, and forces the nut out of the
chamber. In the upper die are grooves to allow the passage of water to cool
the punch, as may be required, which may be done during the interval of
heating the bar when the machine is at rest.
The dies may be made in chill boxes properly arranged, or by any other
suitable means, being subject to great strain in swedging and punching the
hot blank in the die chamber. The cast chilled die is denser and of greater
hardness than steel dies, which renders it eminently well fitted to resist the
heat and intense pressure to which it is subject in the manufacture of hot
nuts, &c.
What are needed in making hot punched nuts and washers, are dies of such
extreme hardness and of such strength as will best resist the heat and pres-
'sure to which they are subject, which are found by practical test to be chilled
'cast dies.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord:
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her.
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said
William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Edward Newton, 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 "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING NUTS AND WASHERS,";
being a communication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said William Edward Newton, 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 William Edward Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :—
This Invention of "Improved, Machinery for Manufacturing Nuts and
Washers" relates to the kind of die or dies used in machines for forigng and.
swaging nuts, washers, and other analogous articles.
The Invention consists in manufacturing the die or dies for such, or similar
machines of chilled cast iron. Chilled cast iron has been known and used for
other purposes;
I do not therefore claim it, except for the purpose above-
mentioned, and I do not intend to confine myself to any peculiar method for
operating the dies.
The machine represented in the accompanying Drawings, and to which the
improved dies are attached, is designed to be operated by the direct applica-
tion of steam, it being provided with the requisite appendages for such
purpose, but the same arrangement of dies may be actuated by other suitable
means.
Fig. 1 is a vertical section of the machine for making the nuts and washers;
Figures 2, 3, 4 5, 6, and 7, enlarged views of the dies detached from the
machine, and which will be hereafter referred to.

page_text: "The chilled cast-iron dies consist of three parts or pieces A, B, C, shewn on
an enlarged scale in Figures 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, but in some cases' it may be
expedient to construct dies for this purpose of a greater or less number of
pieces. The upper die A works in the die box B, and on the top of the die A
is placed a check plate D; shewn detached in Fig. 3; through this plate D and
also through the die A passes the punch E, as seen in Figures 1 and 2. The
die box D is placed inside the metallic ring F (Figures 2 and 4), which ring
strengthens it. The die box B is attached to the cross head G (Fig. 1):by
any of the ordinary means: The die box B and punch E are so secured to the
crosshead that they move simultaneously, while the check plate. D and die A
move independently to the extent of throwing the nut or other article, out of
the die box B, when the crosshead ascends; and as the crosshead descends, and
the nut is being cut off from the heated bar and swaged into shape, the die A
and check plate D rises the thickness of the nut. The lower die C is so
secured in place that it will be in line with the chamber B' of the die box
and with the punch E, which enters the lower die C, when perforating the hot
blank, as seen in Figures 1 and 2. In making hot-pressed nuts and washers
the heated bar is placed upon the lower die C; then by the descent of the
crossliead the blank is cut off from the bar by the die block B and swaged
and compressed into shape in the chamber B of the die; at the same time the
blank is punched by the central punch 'E,'and the burr from the nut passes off
through the hole C¹ in the lower die C and falls to the ground. As the cross-
head returns the check plate D is brought in contact with a check bar on
each side of the machine, corresponding to H, Fig. 1, and thereby stops the
check plate D and the upper die A, and forces the nut out of the chamber B¹.
While the blank is being swaged and' punched, the check plate is forced
against the crosshead by the die A; thus the blank is enclosed
in the chamber B' while being punched and swaged into shape.
this chamber are formed by the die box B, the top by the die A, and the
bottom by the die C. In the upper die are grooves to allow the passage of
water to cool the punch, as may be required, which may be done during the
interval of heating the bar when the machine is at rest.
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upon all sides
The sides of
The dies may be made in chill boxes properly arranged, or by any other
suitable means, and the dies may be of other forms besides those described, so
as to make nuts and washers of more or less number of sides, as, may be
required.
The dies heretofore in use t for this purpose have been made of steel, to
which there are insurmountable objections.
The expense of a set of steel dies varies from three to six pounds, according

page_text: to the size and form, while the same sets of cast chilled dies would cost from
four to twelve shillings.
The steel dies will operate well for a short time, but as they are continually
exposed to the heat of the hot bar and blank, the steel becomes 'decarbonated
and crystallized, thereby so much changing the nature and quality of the
steel that the dies become either soft or brittle, according to the nature of the
steel; and as the dies are constantly being subject to great strain and pressure.
in swaging and punching the hot blank in the die chamber'B', the die B will.
crack in pieces, and the cutting edge B2 will become rounded or spoilt by tho'
deterioration of the steel, and the faces and edges A² and C² of the dies 'A
and C are also affected by the same heat and pressure, but the die B is subject'
to the most heat and strain, as the hot blank is swaged and punched in the
die chamber B¹.
It is the general practice in using steel dies to cause a jet of water to act
on the dies for the purpose of cooling them, which is objectionable, as 'the'
water in cooling the dies tends to chill the blanks, and the blanks when chilled.
cannot be swaged and punched as perfectly as they would be if not chilled;:.
consequently the nut is strained and hardened, so that the nut and the taps
will be injured in cutting the thread, which is not the case in the use of chilled
dies, as they are not affected in the same degree by heat.
It is well known that steel when frequently subjected to alternations of
heating and cold water becomes crystallized, and in this state it is unfit for
the purpose designed.. By the use of steel dies, the expense of making hot
nuts is rendered much greater, and they are also much less perfect than thoso
made by the use of cast chilled dies, as the steel dies become more or less
impaired in the manner herein stated, and the nuts made by them correspond-
ingly imperfect, as the heated blank will partake of the form and shape of tho
dies as it is being swaged and compressed, for the dies forming a mould or
matrix in which the hot nut is shaped, any imperfection in the dies is
impressed upon the nut.
The objections and difficulties consequent upon making hot nuts and
washers by the use of steel dies are not attendant upon the employment of the
improved machinery above described, as the new. article produced by the
chilled cast dies is better, more useful, and can be made cheaper than by
5. the old method.
It is found that the peculiar nature of the chilled cast dies is such, that
it partakes of all the requisite qualities of the steel dies, without their expense:
and their tendency to anneal and otherwise to be impaired by the action of
the heat and pressure in manufacturing hot nuts, like the steel dies. Among

page_text: the advantages derived from using chilled iron instead of steel, the following
may be enumerated:- All wrought metal is necessarily fibrous in its structure;
to a greater or. less degree; its structure therefore cannot present a surface
that is perfectly homogeneous in its character.
The density of wrought steel depends upon the cohesion of its particles by
means of welding and condensation under the hammer. The larger the mass
of metal, the more imperfect will be the process of tempering or rendering the
surface hard, as this depends upon the sudden cooling of the mass from a red
heat, in other words, a sudden crystallization of the carbonate of iron, steel
being the carbonate of iron. In thick masses this hardening extends but a
little distance below the surface, and the "temper" is removed by a lower heat
than that required to render the mass sufficiently hard for use in the process of
tempering. In hardening steel, where large masses are concerned, it is
merely "case-hardening" the metal a little beneath the surface, which, yielding
to the blow or pressure, causes the hardened portion to crak and split, thus
spoiling the dies. The outer surface also soon becomes annealed, and is
thereby rendered fibrous. When melted cast iron is suddenly cooled, the
molecular arrangement is more compact than when left to cool slowly, and the
volume of the mass thus chilled, as compared with steel, is greater in the ratio
of the superior degree of heat involved in the respective processes, and the
perfectness of the conducting medium of the mould or fluid used in the
process.
The molecular arrangement of cast metal being thus more perfect, the same
degree of heat does not anneal it, and repeated blows do not render the surface
fibrous, and hence cast dies are more perfect in their structure, and more
durable than those constructed from wrought metal. The cast chilled die is
denser and of greater hardness than the ordinary steel dies, which renders it
eminently well fitted to. resist the heat and intense pressure to which it is
subject in the manufacture of hot nuts, &c. In hardening steel dies, to
render them more durable, they are liable to crack by the process, and when
thus tempered, they cannot resist the same degree of heat and pressure as the
cast chilled iron dies, for the reason before stated. What are needed in
making hot punched nuts and washers, are dies of such extreme hardness, and
of such strength as will best resist the heat and pressure to which they are
subject, which are found by practical test to be chilled cast dies.
+
Having now described the Invention that has been communicated to me
as aforesaid, what I claim as new in the improved machinery for manufac-
turing nuts and washers, is the application to machinery for manufacturing
such articles of a chilled cast die or dics, which may be constructed and

page_text: operated as above described, or in any other manner calculated to effect the
intended purpose.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Fifteenth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)