Improvements in Machines for Boring Holes in Brush Stocks and Boards, applicable also to Boring other Articles.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Aug., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 15th June, 1891-Accepted, 8th Aug., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Boring Holes in Brush Stocks and
Boards, applicable also to Boring other Articles.
We, ALFRED WILLIAM NASH, of 77 Sandmere Road, Clapham, Brush Maker,
and WILLIAM ROBERT SMELT, of 174 Boyson Road, Camberwell, Engineer, both
in the County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
In the Provisional Specification filed by one of us, viz. the said Alfred William
Nash, on the 23rd day of November 1889, and numbered 18,811, two arrangements
of brush block boring machine were described, one for producing parallel holes,
and the other for producing oblique holes; but according to this our present inven-
tion we are enabled by means of one and the same machine to produce simultaneously
the entire number of either parallel holes, or of oblique holes, or of both parallel
and oblique holes.
In this machine we employ any desired number of obliquely arranged spindles
carrying, at their lower extremities, the drills or boring bits, and these spindles are
connected by flexible shafting to radial axes carrying drums or pulley's disposed
circularly around the drill spindles. The said drums or pulleys are in frictional
contact with a revolving driving disc situated horizontally above them, and bearing
with sufficient pressure on the drums or pulleys to ensure their revolution. The
axis of the frictional driving disc is driven by any suitable means from the driving
shaft of the machine.
We provide means whereby any of the drums or pulleys may be removed from
contact with said frictional driving disc, so that any one or other of the drills can
be prevented from revolving whilst the others still remain working. The
peripheries of the drums or pulleys may be covered with any suitable flexible
material for aiding in producing effective frictional contact with the driving disc.
The upper ends of all the drill spindles are supported by a moveable plate which,
when oblique holes are to be formed, is capable of being lowered by the operative
who can thus feed forward the drills or bits towards the holder situated below and
carrying the work. When parallel holes are to be formed, the moveable plate,
above referred to, is fixed and the holder supporting the work is advanced towards
the drills.
In order to render the pitch of the holes adjustable, we provide two moveable
gauge-plates through which the spindles pass, one situated below the first men-
tioned moveable plate and the other near the lower extremities of the drill spindles.
By raising or lowering these gauge plates the obliquity of the spindles can be
altered at will and the drills or bits can thereby be brought nearer to, or further
apart from, one another. Or, if preferred, these gauge-plates inay be removed and may
be replaced by others, to permit of the spindles being arranged parallelly so as to
produce parallel holes, in which case it would be unnecessary to make the holder
supporting the work moveable.
Although we have described the machine as applicable to the boring of brush
blocks and boards, it is obvious that the same may be used for boring other articles,
whether of wood or metal, as, for instance, chair seats.
Dated this 13th day of August 1890.
ERNEST DE PASS,
78, Fleet Street, London, Agent for the Applicants.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Boring Holes in Brush Stocks and
Boards, applicable also to Boring other Articles.
We, ALFRED WILLIAM NASH, of 77 Sandmere Road, Clapham, Brush Maker,
and WILLIAM ROBERT SMELT, of 174 Boyson Road, Camberwell, Engineer, both
in the County of Surrey, 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, reference being had to the accompanying drawings
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:
In the Provisional Specification filed by one of us, viz. the said Alfred William
Nash, on the 23rd day of November 1889, and numbered 18811, two arrangements
of brush block boring machine were described, one for producing parallel holes, and
the other for producing oblique holes; but according to this our present invention
we are enabled by means of one and the same machine to produce simultaneously
the entire number of either parallel holes, or of oblique holes, or of both parallel
and oblique holes.
In this machine we employ any desired number of spindles which may be
obliquely arranged and which carry at their lower extremities, the drills or boring
bits. These spindles are connected by flexible shafting to radial axes carrying drums
or wheels disposed circularly around the drill spindles. The said drums or wheels
are in frictional contact with a revolving driving disc situated horizontally above
them, and bearing with sufficient pressure on the drums or wheels to ensure their
revolution. The axis of the frictional driving disc is driven by any suitable means
from the driving shaft of the machine.
We provide means whereby any of the drums or wheels may be removed from
contact with said frictional driving disc, so that any one or other of the drills can
be prevented from revolving whilst the others still remain working. The
peripheries of the drums or wheels may be covered with any suitable flexible
material for aiding in producing effective frictional contact with the driving
disc.
The upper ends of all the drill spindles are supported by a movable plate, which
we call a thrust plate, and, when oblique holes are to be formed, is capable of being
lowered by the operative who can thus feed forward the drills or bits towards the
table situated below and carrying the work. When parallel holes are to be formed,
the movable plate above referred to, may be fixed and the holder supporting the
work may be advanced towards the drills.
In order to render the pitch of the holes adjustable, we provide two movable
gauge or bearing plates through which the spindles pass, one situated below the
first mentioned movable or thrust plate and the other near the lower extremities of
the drill spindles. By raising or lowering these bearing plates the obliquity of the
spindles can be altered at will and the drills or bits can thereby be brought nearer
to or further apart from one another. Or, if preferred, these bearing plates may
be removed and may be replaced by others, to permit of the spindles being arranged
parallelly so as to produce parallel holes, in which case it would be unnecessary to
make the holder supporting the work movable.
And in order that our invention may be readily understood and carried into
effect, we will describe the same fully with reference to the accompanying
drawings.
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal vertical section, and Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section
of a machine constructed in accordance with our invention.
Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line A, A, Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is a horizontal
section taken immediately below the driving disc and showing the manner in which
we prefer to arrange the drums or wheels for driving the spindles. In this figure
only a few of the drums or wheels are shown in order to prevent confusion, but it

page_text: will be evident that the number of these drums or wheels is equal to the number of
spindles employed.
Fig. 5 is a horizontal section on the line B, B, of Fig. 1.
Fig. 6 is a plan, and Fig. 7 an end view of an attachment, hereinafter described,
for boring the holes in the wings of the brush board.
Fig. 8 is a detail section showing clearly the means we prefer to employ for
lubricating the drums or wheels.
Figs. 9 and 10 are respectively an elevation and cross section of the upper end of
one of the drill spindles.
In all these figures like letters indicate similar parts.
a is the framing or body of the machine carrying at its upper part the horizontal
driving shaft from which motion is imparted to the vertical shaft c by the pair of
mitre wheels, c¹. Upon the lower extremity of the shaft c is mounted the friction
disc which by its revolution gives motion to the friction drums or wheels & placed
immediately below it and carried by the fixed ring e.
Situated below the fixed ring e, is the series of drill spindles shown as arranged
in position for producing oblique holes; the upper ends of these spindles being con-
nected with the axes d' of the drums or friction wheels d by means of the flexible
shafting g while their lower extremities carry boring bits, preferably spoon bits.
These bits are not shown, as any suitable kind may be employed. The drill spindles
are supported by an upper or thrust plate carried in the frame ' which is capable
of vertical movement, as hereinafter described, along the pillars l, which latter are
rigidly connected to the framing of the machine by the plate and bolts F. The
obliquity of the spindles is dependent upon the distance apart of the bearing
plates i, j, which may be varied to suit circumstances by shifting the frames i, j,
which carry them along the pillars 1, set screws 2, 3, (Fig. 2) being provided to
enable the said frames to be firmly secured to the pillars in the required position.
The holes with which these plates are perforated, and through which the spindles
pass, are preferably made taper so as to permit of the obliquity of the spindles to
be varied by shifting the bearing plates towards each other. The thrust and
bearing plates are not fixed rigidly within their frames, but may be removed there-
from, together with the drill spindles, and be exchanged for others having a different
arrangement of holes. When parallel holes are to be bored it is only necessary to
remove the thrust and bearing plates and to substitute therefor others which will
enable the spindles to assume a parallel position. Thus we dispense with the
necessity of feeding the work to the drills when forming parallel holes, although if
preferred this mode may be employed.
The flexible shafting is connected with the drill spindles by means of the tapped
ferrules g with which said shafting is provided (Figs. 9 and 10), and in order to
permit of oue set of drill spindles being readily exchanged for others we form the
lower portion of each of the ferrules with a shoulder against which a projection
or pin bears when the spindles are revolved in one direction only, but when it is
desired to remove a set of spindles, the direction of revolution of the machine is
reversed and the ferrules g' are enabled to turn free of the pins f¹, and thereby
unscrew themselves from the drill spindles. The spindles, being now detached
from the flexible shafting, would, if permitted, drop entirely through the bearing
plates, but this is prevented by the collars coming against the upper bearing
plate and thus arresting the further fall of the spindles. The pins are so
arranged as to prevent the ferrules being screwed completely home, and to thus
permit of the ready unscrewing of these ferrules on the reversal of the direction of
rotation of the driving disc. The collars f are situated just below the thrust
plate when the drill spindles are in place, and thus the thrust plate lies between
the ferrules g¹ and collars f³, consequently when the thrust plate is depressed, or
elevated, the whole of the spindles are likewise moved, and may be fed forward to,
or be withdrawn from, the work W carried upon the table m. This movement is
given to the thrust plate by means of the movable frame ¹ and the hand lever h²
which are arranged as at Fig. 5, where it will be seen that the hand lever h²,
and

page_text: lever are carried at opposite extremities of a shaft and are each connected to
the movable frame by screws passing through slots formed in the said levers h³, h².
A counterbalance weight 4 aids in bringing the movable frame ' back to its normal
position when the hand lever is released by the workman.
is the flexible material covering the peripheries of the drums or friction
wheels (see Fig. 8) so as to ensure good frictional contact with the friction disc c³,
and this contact is further aided by providing the stems of the bearings with
spiral springs d, or their equivalent, which tend always to keep the friction wheels
against the driving disc. The stems of the bearings d project through the fixed
ringe and are furnished with muts . By screwing up these nuts sufficiently, any
one or more of the friction wheels may be removed from contact with the driving
disc and thus any particular drill and spindle can be readily prevented from
revolving without interfering with the others. We also preferably provide each
of the stems with a projection which, when the bearing is in place upon the
ring e, enters a recess el formed in said ring and effectually prevents any revolution
of the bearings about their stems and ensures the friction wheels being always in
the line of rotation of the driving disc. Or, if preferred, the stem may be square
in cross section, or of other suitable shape, and fit into a correspondingly shaped
hole.
The method we prefer to employ for lubricating the bearings of the friction
wheels consists in forming their axes or shafts hollow for a portion of their
length, as seen at dx Fig. 8, this hollow extending just beyond the bearing and the
outer ends of these axes are formed with a lefthanded screw thread to receive
the screw caps d'. The hollow portions dx are filled with some suitable kind of
solid lubricant, and the screw caps are screwed a short distance upon the axes d'.
During the working of the machine the lubricant finds its way through the small
orifices thereby lubricating the bearings, and so soon as the lubricant in the
immediate vicinity of the bearing becomes used up it is only necessary to touch the
screw caps d in order to cause them to travel along the left handed screw threads
on the revolving axes d', and thereby force a fresh supply of the lubricant down
the hollow portion dx of the axes.
When it is required to bore the holes in the wings of brush boards we employ
the attachment shown in Figs. 6 and 7, and which is seen in position ready for use
at Fig. 2. This attachment consists of a number of radial drill spindles n, (similar
to those already mentioned) carried by the four bent plates o, o, p, p, the two
former of which are bearing plates and the two latter thrust plates. Both the
thrust plates and the bearing plates are secured to slides ox, px, those marked ox
being fixed to the bar 7 by screws o', the others being free to move thereon. It is
preferable not to form the thrust plates with separate holes for the spindles, but to
provide each plate with a long slot (Fig. 7). These spindles are so arranged
that only one half their number is acting upon the work at one time, for if the
whole number were allowed to work together there would be considerable risk of
breaking the boring bits during the drilling operation by reason of the end of one
hole running into another. We therefore provide the slides p* with short levers p³
which are pivotted to the hand lever p* which has its fulcrum at g* on the bar 7.
By turning this lever in one or other direction the slides are caused to approach. or
to recede from each other. For instance if the hand lever 3 be turned in the
direction of the arrow in Fig. 6, the foremost slide p* will withdraw its spindles
from the work, whereas the other slide pxx will cause its spindles to advance.
the lever handle be turned in the reverse direction the spindles carried by the fore-
most slide will advance and those carried by the rearmost slide p** will retire.
This attachment is likewise rendered capable of drilling holes at any
required angle by providing the bar with a disc having slots ³ therein.
Bolts pass through these slots and enter holes formed in the upper part of the
bracket or standard r, so that by slackening the nuts of these bolts the disc ' may
be readily turned into the required position for giving to the bar り the necessary
inclination. When it is desired not to use the attachment it can be quickly removed
If

page_text: from the machine by disconnecting the bracket r. The spindles of this attachment
are connected by flexible shaftings' to the friction wheels and receive their motion
therefrom. These friction wheels s are carried by the bent bars and are similar
to those already described, they therefore require no further explanation.
It is preferable to furnish the flexible shafting (more especially that conveying
the motion to the spindles of the attachment) with short lengths of metal tubing so
that any kinking of the shafting is prevented.
Although we have described the machine as applicable to the boring of brush
blocks and boards, it is obvious that the same may be used for boring other
articles, whether of wood or metal, as, for instance, chair-seats.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. The improved multiple boring machine for simultaneously boring the entire
number of parallel or oblique, or both parallel and oblique, holes, in brush blocks
or boards, having its parts constructed, arranged, combined, and operating substan-
tially as described.
2. The construction and arrangement of the friction driving disc and friction
wheels, together with the flexible shafting, for giving motion to the drill spindles,
substantially as described and shown.
3. In a multiple boring machine more especially adapted for boring brush blocks
and boards, the method of connecting the flexible shafting with the drill spindles,
and of supporting and carrying said drill spindles to permit of their ready and
simultaneous removal from the machine, so that the thrust and bearing plates may
be exchanged for others having a different arrangement of holes, substantially as
described and shown.
4. In a multiple boring machine, more especially adapted for boring brush blocks
or boards, the construction and arrangement of the attachment for boring_the
holes in the wings of the brush blocks or boards, said attachment being adapted to
be driven by flexible shafting from friction wheels receiving their motion from the
friction driving disc, substantially as described and shown.
5. Our improvements in machines for boring holes in brush stocks and boards,
applicable also to boring other articles, substantially as hereinbefore described and
shown by the accompanying drawings.
Love of Lune 1801
ERNEST DE PASS,
78, Fleet Street, London, and 6, Victoria Street, Nottingham,
Agent for the Applicants.