CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING BOLTS, SCREW-BLANKS, RIVETS, AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Rothera, of Hollins, in the County of
Lancaster, Machine Maker, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING BOLTS, SCREW-BLANKS,
RIVETS, AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES."
Sealed the 18th March 1856, and dated the 8th October 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Rothera at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 8th
October 1855.
I, WILLIAM ROTHERA, of Hollins, in the County of Lancaster, Machine
Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING BOLTS, SCREW-BLANKS,
RIVETS, AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES," to be as follows:-
In a strong metal framing and driven by suitable gearing, I employ a series
of cams.and.excentrics, for the purpose of effecting several motions necessary
for the formation of the article under manufacture, as, for example, in the
formation of a screw-blank. or.bolt, the "bar" or "rod" metal is fed in at the
side of the, framing of the machine or apparatus, the rod being of the same
diameter as that of the screw-blauk required; it is received and secured

page_text: between two jaws, which, being operated upon by one of the before-mentioned
excentrics on the main shaft of the machine, are pressed forward and against a
steel face plate which forms a cutting edge. By this means the desired length
of metal is cut off, a moveable guage being employed to regulate or adjust the
required length; the piece of metal cut off slightly projects beyond the jaws
encircling it, for the purpose of allowing metal for the formation of the head,
by the aid of an excentric; a die is now forced over the projecting piece of
metal, thereby confining the spreading of the metal of the head, and inside
this die is employed a small sliding punch, actuated by the same excentric as
the die, for the purpose of forming the head of the screw-blank, and by the
gradual withdrawal of the die previous to that of the punch, the head of the
screw-blank is forced from the die, and the die thus relieved; the jaws are
now allowed to slide back into their original position, and slightly to open,
allowing a lever worked from a cam on the main shaft to fall and force out
from between the jaws the completed screw-blank. The feeding is now
repeated, the various motions before described respectively take place, and
the screw-blanks, bolts, rivets, or other similar articles under manufacture,
are continuously formed and dropped beneath the machine or apparatus.
A weighted lever and wedge is likewise employed, for the purpose of allowing
the die and punch to yield or slightly give way, should by any chance a heavy
strain take place, or too much metal be inserted at the feeding point of the
machine or apparatus.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Rothera in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
8th April 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROTHERA, of Hollins, in the County of Lancaster, Machine Maker, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of October, One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her
heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said William Rothera,
Her especial licence that I, the said William Rothera, my executors,
administrators, or assigns, or such others as I, the said William Rothera,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and

page_text: 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 the Isle of Man, an Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING BOLTS, SCREW-BLANKS, RIVETS,
AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said William Rothera, 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 Rothera, 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 and accompanying Drawings (that is to say):-
My Invention for certain improvements in machinery or apparatus for
manufacturing bolts, screw-blanks, rivets, and other similar articles, consists
in a novel arrangement of machinery or apparatus adapted to effect the above-
named purpose, and which adaptation or arrangement of machinery will be
readily understood by referring to the Sheet of Drawings accompanying these:
presents and the following description thereof. The Drawings are made upon
a scale of about two inches to a foot, and have similar letters of reference
placed upon corresponding parts of the mechanism in all the Figures.
"
Fig. 1 is a front view of the machine, shewing more clearly the "swages'
and the cam for working the same, and also the "yielding" motion, with lever
and weight for allowing the bearing of the cam shaft to move; Fig. 2 is a side
elevation, more particularly shewing the apparatus for forming the bolt or
screw-blank head, together with the cams for actuating the same, and also its
own particular "yielding" or giving-way motion; Fig. 3 is a plan view of
the machinery or apparatus; and Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the ram for
forming the head upon bolts, screw-blanks, rivets, and other similar articles.
Mounted in a strong metal framing a, a, are a series of cams or excentrics
driven by suitable gearing, for the purpose of effecting the several motions
necessary for the completion of the article in process of manufacture; for
example, the formation of a screw-blank or bolt will be a suitable and sufficient
explanation.
The driving gear will be seen in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, A being the driving
shaft; B, the fast pulley, communicating motion to the pinion C and spur
wheel D, which drives the mitre wheels E, E. The bar or rod of heated

page_text: 66
metal, being nearly of the diameter as that of the screw-blank or bolt required,
is first placed between the " swages or jaws b,, the cam c (driven by the
wheels D, D,) forces the sliding pieces carrying the "swage" b against the
swage", thus .compressing the hot metal rod into the form required for
the bolt; behind the swages. is placed a moveable bar d, capable of being
raised and lowered by the levers d', d', which receive their motion from another
cam e, also upon the cam or driving shaft. This bar d determines the length
of the bolt by limiting that of the hot metal when first placed through the 'jaws
or "swages;" the cam e now propels both "swages" carrying the hot rod
until it is brought against the cutting edge or knife f, which sèvers the rod
from the bolt in the "swages," leaving only sufficient metal to form the head of
the bolt; the "swages" are still carried forward until the bolt arrives opposite
to the ram g; the jaw 6' then stops against the metal block h, whilst the
jaw b advances and gives an extra pressure to the bolt. Should the metal in
the jaws be too thick, so as not to allow the "swages" to come together and
form the bolt of its proper diameter, the cam shaft bearings i'are fitted in
V grooves or slides; behind these bearings is a block k, to one side of which
is attached a lever and weight 7, the other side being forced against the bearing
by means of the weight l, which should be equal to the pressure required to
bring the "swages" together, and should there be too great a quantity of
metal in the jaws, the cam c will exert a strain upon the shaft, upon which
the bearings of the shaft will slide in the V grooves, force the lever and weight
I back, and thus release themselves from the extra pressure, and prevent any
breakage or unnecessary strain upon the machine. The bolt is now ready for
the formation of the head, which is accomplished as follows:-Upon a shaft F,
placed at right angles to the cam shaft in Fig. 1, and also driven by the mitre
wheels, is keyed the cam m, which forces up the outer sliding piece n, n, of the
ram, to which a die is attached for the purpose of confining the spreading of the
metal of the head; the cam o now compresses the inner ram, and consequently
the rod fitted inside to force the metal forward into the said die; thus the head
is formed by being pressed or punched into the die by means of the inner ram
and against the solid block p fixed upon the framing; the shaft carrying these
cams is also furnished with the moveable bearings, lever, and weight, as
described in Fig. 1, to obviate the strain, if there should be more metal than
the die can properly compress. When the cams m and o have forced up the
ram to the full extent, the cam 9 upon the same shaft in its revolution comes
in contact with the projecting finger upon the bar, which is attached at
any suitable point to the ram, and carries the bar rl, and consequently the ram,
back, thus bringing the ram to a proper position for the formation of another

page_text: bolt head. The jaws or "swages" holding the bolt are now also drawn back
to their former position by means of the weight s attached to the chain s¹, and
are connected together by the connecting bar t, so that they may still retain
the bolt until the hammer u upon the vertical lever v is caused to descend by
means of the combination of levers actuated by the cam w, and strike out from
the jaws or "swages" the completed bolt, screw-blank, &c. In Fig. 4 the
cotters or wedges a, a, are for the purpose of lengthening or shortening the
outer ram containing the die, should a different sized bolt, &c. be required;
and the cotter or wedge y will lengthen or shorten the inner ram, which will
be found requisite in consequence of lengthening or shortening the outer one.
The feeding being now repeated, the various motions before described will
respectively take place in succession, and the screw-blanks, bolts, rivets, or
other similar articles under the process of manufacture be continually formed,
and dropped or delivered beneath the machine.
Having now described the nature and object of my said improvements,
together with the manner of carrying the same into practical effect, I would
remark, in conclusion, that I claim principally,-
First, the application of moveable bearings to shafts upon which any extra
strain may be exerted, whether the said bearings be made to "yield" by the
exact means before described, or by similar means, as by a combination of
wedges or other mechanical equivalent.
Secondly, the use of an inner and outer ram, the outer one for confining the
spreading of the metal in forming the head of the bolt, and the inner one for
forcing up the metal to form the head of the bolt, &c. The inner ram holds
the bolt until the outer ram is gradually drawn from off the bolt.
And, lastly, I claim the novel and peculiar arrangement of the machinery or
apparatus herein-before described, and fully set forth in the accompanying
Drawings generally, as improvements in machinery or apparatus for manu-
facturing bolts, screw-blanks, rivets, and other similar articles.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Rothera, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
WILLIAM ROTHERA. (L.S.)