IMPROVEMENTS IN TURNING LATHES, A PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS IS APPLICABLE TO OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Muir, of Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN
TURNING LATHES, A PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS IS APPLICABLE TO
OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES."
Sealed the 9th December 1853, and dated the 9th June 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Muir at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 9th June 1853.
1, WILLIAM MUIR, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN TURNING LATHES, A PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS IS
APPLICABLE TO OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
It consists, firstly, in a new and improved mode of giving support at
intervals to the leading screw worm shaft or other long shaft in lathes,
the construction of the supports (and their accessories) being such that
the action of the slide rest traversing along the bed shall clear them
out of the way at the right moment, so as to pass without coming in
contact therewith. Figs. 1, and 2, of the accompanying sketches shew
the method which I employ. A, is the support which is capable of

page_text: sliding vertically in the box B. It is furnished with an eccentric (o
sliding block with eccentric pin c, Fig. 2), the stud belonging to such
eccentric passing through the side of the box, and terminating in a
small toothed wheel d. To the slide rest is attached a rack f. Thus
when the slide rest is moved in a direction to pass the support the
teeth of the rack take into those of the wheel turning the eccentric
round and depressing the support, allowing thereby the slide rest to
pass free. At the other side of the slide rest is also another rack,
which brings up the support again to its foriner position. This part of
the Invention is applicable to some constructions of traversing cranes,
as also in all cases where permanent supports to long shafts are
unattainable.
The Invention consists, secondly, in a new and improved action for
putting the nut embracing the leading screw in and out of
gear, such
action being connected with that for traversing the slide by hand, so
that when one is out of gear the other is in gear, and vice versa. This
is shewn in Figs. 3. 4, and 5. A, A, are the two jaws of the nut,
which have links a, attached eccentrically to the spindle of the handle b.
Thus when the handle is turned the jaws approach or recede from
one another. B, Fig. 4, is the handle for traversing the slide by hand,
and it is connected with the handle b, by a pinion c, and toothed
segment d, Fig. 5. It is also furnished, as shewn, with a clutch box
and a spiral groove fitted with a key (or the pinion c, may have an
inclined face bearing against another inclined face on the handle 6).
By this arrangement, whenever the handle b, is turned in a direction to
throw the nut out of gear, the spiral or inclined face will force the
clutch of the handle B, into gear, and the contrary action will take
place when the handle b, is moved in the other direction.
The Invention consists, thirdly, in attaching to the side of the ordinary
lathe bed an additional longitudinal bearing for the purpose, in some
cases, of more conveniently working the slide or ordinary rest; this
will be understood from the cross section, Fig. 6.
The Invention consists, fourthly, in applying to the common back
geared lathe additional gearing on the side of the headstock opposite
the back gear, such additional gear to be used distinctly from the back,

page_text: gear, and when more power is required. For this purpose the last
pinion of the train gears into a wheel attached to the face plate itself,
and on the same side of the centre as that on which the tool acts. The
whole will be understood from inspection of Fig. 7.
The Invention consists, lastly, in applying to the ordinary lathe an
apparatus for the purpose of screwing or cutting the threads on bolts.
An outline of the principal part of this is shown in Figs. 8, 9, and 10.
It consists of a poppet head with a sliding socket a, for holding the dies.
These are held tight by means of a conc (see end view, Fig. 9), which
is jammed into the interior of the socket a, by being drawn up by the
screw b. The dies are slided up to their work by the handles c. When
a number of screwed bolts are to be made from one bar I construct the
spindle of the fast headstock hollow, and pass the bar endways through
the centre. I thus present successive portions to be turned and
screwed, cutting off each portion as soon as finished. In this case I
also prefer to employ the shape of lathe bed, Fig. 6, as it gives facilities
for sliding the rest and poppet head clear of one another as they are
alternately used.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Muir in the Great Seal Patent Office.
on the 9th December 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
WILLIAM MUIR, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lan-
caster, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the six-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Muir, Her especial license
that I, the said William Muir, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Muir, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and n
others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term

page_text: 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 "IMPROVEMENTS
IN TURNING LATHES, A PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS IS APPLICABLE TO
OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Willian Muir, 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 Muir, do hereby de-
clare the nature of my 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:
My Invention relates, firstly, to the means of giving support at
intervals to the leading screw worm shaft or other long shaft used in
the construction of lathics. It is well understood that such screws or
shafts are frequently of such a length that if they were not supported
at proper intervals they would bend or "sag" by their own weight;
but the supports must be of such a nature that when the slide rest in
traversing along the bed is compelled to pass them they may be cleared
out of the way without risk of damage, returning again to their former
position when the rest has passed. Now the mode in which I effect
this object is illustrated in Drawing No. 1, Figs. 7, 8, 9, and 10, and is as
follows: A, is a portion of the lathe bed, and B, a portion of the slide rest
traversing thereon; D, is the leading screw working the slide rest by
means of the nut D', attached to it. At given intervals along the bed
are fixed a convenient number of sockets E, in which are fitted the
sliding pieces F, capable of rising and falling vertically. These sliding
pieces, when in their highest position, as in Figs. 8, and 10, constitute
the supports to the screw. Each socket is furnished with a stud f, and
pinion f', and projecting from the inner face of the stud is an eccentric
pin e, passing into a block which works in a cross slot in the sliding piece

page_text: or support F. Thus, when the stud is turned round so that the pin e, is in
its highest position, the support will be bearing against the screw, such
position being more securely determined by a notch in the stud into
which the point of a small sliding catch g, is forced by a spiral spring.
In Figs. 7, and 9, the slide rest is represented as just passing the
support; and here it will be seen that it is necessary for the latter to be
depressed in order to allow the rest to pass. To effect this there is
attached to each side of the rest a rack G, either of which (according to
the direction in which it is moving) will take into the teeth of the
pinion f', and turn the stud round half a revolution, depressing thereby
the support through the intervention of the eccentric pin before any
part of the rest can come in contact with it. When the rest has
passed the other rack will now take into the pinion and complete
the revolution of the stud, bringing up the support to its former
position to relieve the screw of its weight. It is clear that the
above-described mechanism may be applied to either a worm or any
other kind of shaft, and in cases where any object other than a slide
rest may be required to traverse past a support in any kind of
machinery, as, for instance, in traversing cranes or planing machines
worked by long screws.
My Invention consists, secondly, in a new and improved combination
of movements applied to slide rests, whereby the mechanism for
traversing the slide by self-acting means is thrown out of gear, and
that for traversing it by hand is thrown in gear, and vice versa, by a
single and simultaneous action. This is shewn also in Drawing No. 1,
where Fig. 1, is a section through the bed and slide rest; Fig. 2,
a front view; Fig. 8, a plan; and Figs. 4, 5, and 6, a section and
views of the nut, shewing its action more distinctly; H, is the leading
screw, embraced by the nut I, which is in two halves capable of approach-
ing to and receding from each other by sliding in a groove in the frame
of the rest, and by being furnished with the curved links h, which are
also connected with opposite eccentric pins on the inner face of the
shaft K. Thus when this shaft is turned round in one direction the
halves of the nut will appoach and grip the screw, and when in the
other direction will separate and leave it frce. On the shaft K, is

page_text: keyed a toothed segment L, taking into a pinion M. This pinion runs
Joose on one half of a clutch box N, seen in Fig. 3, and its outer face
is constructed with an incline, which bears against another stationary
inclined face k. The other half of the clutch box is keyed on a shaft
carrying a pinion gearing into the rack P, fixed to the bed. It will
now be readily understood that when it is desired to traverse the slide
by hand the handle of the shaft K, must be turned in a direction to
relieve the nut I, from the leading screw, when the segment L, will
simultaneously turn the pinion M, round, and by means of the inclined
planes force the clutch N, into gear, so that now by turning the handle
Q, the rack and pinion motion will come into free action. When, on the
contrary, the self-acting motion is required to be in operation, the shaft
K. must be turned in the contrary direction, when the nut I, will come
into gear, and the clutch N, out of gear, being assisted in its backward
motion by the spiral spring n. It will be observed that, in addition to
the pinion M, the segment L, takes into another pinion R, upon the
screw S, which brings the tool up to its work; and the intention of
this arrangement is, in order that when a given length of work has been
slided, and it is required to bring back the rest to commence again, the
tool may be cleared from the work so as to prevent damage. The
necessity of this will be obvious in the case of cutting screws, and it will
be here effected simultaneously with the other movements described by
simply turning the boss of the pinion round (which has a thread upon
it corresponding to another thread on its outer socket) to the extent
given by the arc described by the segment L. When the self-acting
motion is again put in gear the tool will be again projected forward to
its former position. The pinion R, is also provided with a handle
which may be used indiscriminately with that of the shaft K. The action
last described does not interfere with the ordinary feeding motion of the
screw S, which in this case is communicated by the handles t, on the
dividing wheel T.
My Invention consists, lastly, in an improved construction of parts
of the ordinary lathe for the purpose of making small screws and screw
bolts with ease and rapidity. These improvements are shewn in
Drawing No. 2, where. Fig. 1, is a front elevation of the lathe; Fig. 2,

page_text: a plan; and Fig. 3, a cross section looking in the direction of the loose
headstock. The spindle of the fast headstock is provided, as usual, with
the speed pully A, but this is made capable of running loose or fast
by means of a cone clutch, the handle for working which B, is placed
conveniently to the hand of the operator. It is also furnished with a
wheel C, for turning the spindle by hand when desired, and with a bell
chuck D, for holding the work. E, is an ordinary hand rest, for which,
if requisite, a slide rest may be substituted. It will be seen that the rest
is not fixed to the bed in the ordinary way, but is partly supported by
an additional longitudinal bearing, which is cast along with the common
bed. The intention of this construction is, that when the screw a, is
slackened, and the rest drawn a little back, it may be slided out of the
way to the right or left without coming in contact with the headstocks..
The loose headstock or poppet head F, consists of a frame carrying a
sliding socket G, which may be projected forward or drawn back by the
handle H. The socket is turned out at the end towards the chuck with
an interior cone, and in this a piece f, is inserted, with a conical shoulder.
in a circular aperture in which the die g, (Fig. 3,) for cutting the
thread is placed. The shoulder of the piece f, is also slit in three or
more places, as shewn in Fig. 3, and a screw h, enters it at the back
through the bore of the socket. Thus when the conical shoulder is.
tightened up by the screw the die will be firmly held for use, and when
it is desired to remove the lie the grip of the cone can be readily
slackened by turning the screw the contrary way.
It will now be clearly undestood that great rapidity and ease of mani-
pulation is attained by the above-described improvements, inasmuch as
when the work has been turned down to the proper diameter by means
of the rest the latter can be moved aside, and the die brought up to cut
the thread with little loss of time, while also by means of the conical
clutch acting on the speed pully A, the revolution of the spindle may be
stopped at the precise moment desired, and manual power substituted
when necessary.
As a number of screws or screw bolts may some-
times be made from one bar, I. construct the spindle of the fast head-
stock hollow, as shewn in dotted lines in Fig. 2, and I pass the bar
through the centre endwise. I thus present successive portions pro-

page_text: jecting from the chuck to be turned and screwed, cutting off each
portion as soon as finished. It is evident that the above-described
improvements, with the exception of the hollow spindle, will be con-
veniently applicable to a duplex lathe, that is to say, where one fast
headstock serves for two poppet heads, one on the right and the other
on the left.
Having now fully described and ascertained the nature of my Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I would
have it understood that I do not claim as new the whole as herein
described, neither do I confine myself to the precise mechanism ex-
plained as appertaining to the Invention; but what I claim as new is
as follows: First, I claim the method of supporting a leading screw
worm or any other shaft by means of a sliding piece which is depressed
when any object passes it, and raised again after it has passed by the
mechanism described, or such as is mechanically equivalent to the
same. Secondly, I claim the combination of movements described for
throwing the self-acting traversing apparatus out of gear and the
hand traversing apparatus in gear simultaneously, and vice versa, or
any modification thereof substantially the same in effect. Lastly, I
claim, with regard to the third part of my improvements, the mechanism
of the poppet head, and the mode of supporting the rest by an additional
bearer, either in the case of a single or a duplex lathe; also, the hollow
spindle, as well as the general combination of all the parts; the whole
is described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Muir, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Seventh day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
Signed in the presence of
RICH Howson, of Manchester.
WM MUIR. (L.S.)