IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CAPSULES OR COVERS FOR BOTTLES AND OTHER HOLLOW ARTICLES
Year: 1852

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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF CAPSULES OR COVERS FOR BOTTLES AND OTHER HOLLOW ARTICLES."—
A communication.
Sealed the 23rd March 1853, and dated the 2nd November 1852.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward
Newton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his.
Petition, on the 2nd November 1852.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CAPSULES OR
COVERS FOR BOTTLES AND OTHER HOLLOW ARTICLES" to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to manufacture the capsules or covers
for bottles, boxes, and other hollow articles from sheet metal.
The machine is composed principally of any convenient number (say,
for example, six) of punching apparatus, all of which are furnished
with dies and plungers, and may be worked by cranks or excentrics
from one main shaft.

page_text: The metal to be operated upon to form the capsule, cover, or other
hollow article is introduced into the machine in the form of a sheet,
from which blanks of the required size and form are cut by the first
punching apparatus, the commencement of the intended form or shape
of the capsule or other article being also made at the same time. The
different punching apparatus are mounted one above the other, so that
when the blank or partially formed capsule is pushed out of the dies
of the first punching apparatus, it may be conducted down a channel
to a second pair, where it may be further operated upon to bring it
nearer the intended form.
From the second pair of dies it is conducted in a similar manner to
a third and fourth, and so on, through all the punching apparatus, until
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 2nd May 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the
sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto me, the said William Edward Newton,
Her special license that I, the said William Edward Newton, my s
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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
CAPSULES OR COVERS FOR BOTTLES AND OTHER HOLLOW ARTICLES," being a

page_text: communication from a foreigner residing abroad, upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particu
larly 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 ascer-
tained in and by the following statement, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures.marked
thercon (that is to say):
The machine that forms the subject of the present Invention, which
has been communicated to me from abroad, is applicable for manu-
facturing capsules or covers for bottles and various other hollow articles;
but is particularly intended to be employed for the manufacture of an
improved form of capsule or cover for bottles, for which I have obtained
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of October, One thousandr
eight hundred and fifty-two.
The machine shewn in the accompanying Drawings, and hereafter.
described, may, by merely altering the dies and matrices; be rendered
applicable to the manufacture of all kinds of metallic capsules, ordi-.
narily employed for bottles or vessels having large or small mouths,>
and also metallic boxes of any shape, such as round, oval, or square. 1
The principal feature of this machine is, that the capsule or other:
article to be made is formed by a series of continuous operations in the
machine, which, being self-acting, feeds or carries forward the article{
(to be stamped or formed) through all the stages of the operation from
the cutting out of the blank, and through the several stages, where it
is cut to the required height, and the requisite conical form imparted to?
it by a single blow of the last die or punch. To effect these operations
the machine is provided with six punch carriers, set horizontally.or.:
at a slight inclination, and one above another, so that the article to be
produced may be more conveniently and with greater facility trans-
ferred from die to dic... ---

page_text: In the accompanying Drawings the machine is represented as drawn
to one fourth its real size in the general views, Fig 1, 2, and 3; and
also in the detached views Fig 5, 6, and 11; but the detached views
Fig 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, and 13, are drawn to the real size for the
manufacture of a capsule or stopper intended for ordinary wine
bottles.
Fig. 1, is a view of the top, or that end of the machine where the
first operation takes place. Fig. 2, is a view of the opposite end or
under side, where the capsule or other article is delivered finished.
Fig. 3, is a longitudinal, vertical section, shewing the arrangement of
the matrices for effecting the successive operations.
It will be seen on inspecting the Drawings that the gearing is all
permanently fixed, and that it derives its motion from the pulley or
trigger and first toothed wheel p, Fig. 1.
The machine may be either worked by hand labour, or horse or
steam power, or by any other motive force through the intervention of
a driving band.
On each sheet of the Drawings a line has been traced and marked
with the words "line parallel to the horizon;" this line refers to the
.general views Fig 1, 2, and 3, and is intended to shew the position
in which the machine must be placed when in operation.
Fig. 11, represents in side elevation the traverses A, A, of the franes
at their lower extremities. These pieces project beyond the machine
to a distance of about seven inches, and are bolted to the foundation
plate, which latter is firmly fixed to the ground. The parts D, D, of s
the framing act as guides, and are also intended to resist the strain
when the punches are acting; they are fastened to the pieces A, A, A,
by collars or lugs S, which embrace the guides D, D, at a certain dis-
tance apart.
Fig. 5, represents an end view of one of the matrix carriers, shewing,
first, the guide channel b, down which the blank falls after it has been
operated upon; secondly, the two jaws which keep the dic or matrix
in its place; third, the piece y, which holds the blank to be operated
upon opposite the die; and, lastly, the guide channel c.
Fig. 4, represents the die or matrix for giving the proper form to the
screw stopper. This die or matrix is composed of two parts; the part

page_text: M, is fixed, and is held upon the die-carrier by jaws which are not
represented in the general view. The piece t, is moveable, and consists
of a steel tube bearing upon the bottom of the matrix proper. This
tube t, is screwed on to the end of the rod O; and it will be observed
that a discharge aperture u, is provided for the escape of the piece of
waste metal which is cut out of the screw capsule by the end k, of the
first punch II, during the operation of piercing the same.
The piece
is cut out by the action of the extreme end k, of the punch II, which,
passing through the tube, cuts out the metal on the inner sharp edge of
that tube, after which the tube t, is acted upon by the rod O, and
pushes the capsule out of the die.
In Fig. 3, which represents the entire apparatus in vertical section
taken through the shafts of the punches, it will be observed that the
excentrics are of different sizes, according to the length of stroke
required for the punches at different stages of the operation. This
Figure shews the two levers U, U', which are worked by the cams
T. T', and push the capsule out of the die at the commencement and
end of the operation; the spring n, which holds back the pusher Z, and
the tube t, at the bottom of their respective dies, is also seen in the same
Figure. In this Figure 3, the screw capsule is shewn in red at the
bottom of the die at the time when it is finished.
Figures 12, and 18, represent two sectional views of a peculiar
method of constructing the punches, which may, if required, be adapted
to the machine. This mode of constructing the punches has, however,
been shewn separate, in order to avoid an unnecessary complication of
parts in the general views of the machine. In Fig. 12, the punch is
represented as being composed of a steel tube A, in which is screwed
a rod or spindle B, having at its outer end a head, which acts as the
end of the punch; between the rod or spindle B, and tube A, there is an
annular vacant space, and the rod or spindle B, is pierced near its inner
end with a transverse hole D, whereby a communication between the
space round the spindle B, and the cylindrical cavity C, is maintained.
This cavity C, communicates with a tube I, whereby compressed air or
steam is admitted. A cock H, is provided for the purpose of cutting
off or opening the communication between the annular space in the

page_text: tube A, and the air vessel, and which is only intended to take place
when the punch has arrived at the end of its stroke.
It will now be seen from the foregoing description that the apparatus
is composed of a punch, to which is adapted a cock, whereby a jet of
air or steam may be allowed to rush out at any desired moment. This
punch is adapted by its conical end L, to a handle or rod, wherein it is
retained and secured by a cotter in the machine. In order to avoid
unnecessary complication in the mechanism, the air tube I, is made to
communicate by means of a gutta percha or other flexible tube F, F,
with a compressed air reservoir or a steam boiler: the passage of the
air or steam is indicated by the red colour.
Fig. 12, represents one of the cylindrical punches which commence
the formation of the capsule; and Fig. 13, represents a conical punch
with which the capsule is finished. At the end of the spindle or rod
B, there is a little piece of tin, lead, zinc, or copper, for the purpose
of receiving the counter-blow of the stamp or dic, with which any
ornament or device is embossed on the outside of the capsule.
The first punch carrier, as shewn in Fig 1, and 3, works in a tube
J, which carries at its extremity a picce i, to which are screwed the
different punches required for cutting out the blanks to be operated
upon. This tube J, works in guides C, C, formed by screwing together
two cast or wrought iron plates, as shewn in Fig 1, 2, and 3, the inside
screws serving to adjust the guide to the sliding bar, and the outside
ones serving to attach the guide plates to the standards D. The other
punch carriers work in similar guides, adapted in a similar manner to
the cross pieces D. The guide of the sixth or last punch is marked
with the letters D, D, in Fig. 2. Opposite to each punch is placed a
matrix, and the diameters of these several matrices gradually decrease
from the first to the last operation, as the article gradually approaches
a complete form. These matrices are fixed upon plates E, which are
set in steps one below the other, as seen in Fig. 3. These plates are
firinly bolted to brackets X, affixed to standards A, (as shewn in Fig. 1.)
Opposite the first matrix L, is a second matrix M, (see Fig. 3,) in which
the form of the screw stopper is commenced. This matrix is composed,
first, of a plate M, having an opening corresponding to the form of the

page_text: screw stopper; secondly, of a steel tube t, on the end of a rod O, which
is provided with a screw Z, at its upper end. This tube t, is shewn in'
section at Fig. 4, in which this matrix and its accessories are shewir
drawn the real size for making capsules for ordinary wine bottles.
...
When the machine is at work the blank is cut out by the first punch
and receives its first impression in the matrix L, through which it'
passes, and has the incipient form of the screw stopper communicated'
to it in the matrix M, behind. The blank is at the same time pierced'
by the end k, (Fig 1, and 3,) of the punch, and the piece punched out
makes its exit from the tube t, (Fig. 4,) through the discharge aper-
ture u. After this operation the punch recedes, and the rod O, being
driven up by the lever V, discharges the capsule from the mould and
causes the tubet, again to rise in its guides. The capsule then falls
into a channel c, (Fig. 3,) by which it is conducted to the second matrix,
which, as well as the following ones, is chamfered off to a size equal to
that of the article to be manufactured. The blank is conducted in its
descent by the small channel b, to the next die, and is stopped by the
piece y, which holds it exactly opposite the second matrix, where it waits
to receive the blow of the second punch. A second blow having been
given, the blank passes through the matrix into other channels c, and b,
as before, and in a similar manner from one matrix to another until it
comes to the last. In this latter, whether it be required to manufacture
the ordinary capsules or the screw stopper, the blank is not drawn out
in the matrix L, and does not undergo any change in its form until it
arrives at the matrix N, behind where it becomes slightly conical, and is
cut to the required height. The details of the finishing punch are repre-
sented in Fig. 10. When the operation has arrived at this stage the
punch recedes and the capsule is discharged from the machine by the
plunger Z', (Fig. 3,) which is worked by the rod O', by means of the
lever U', which is acted upon by the cam T', (Fig. 3.) This cam is
worked by means of the bevel wheels 0, 0, 0, 0, (Fig. 1.) One of these
bevel wheels is mounted on the end of the shaft C, (Fig. 1,) together
with the cog
wheels p. p. The shafts of the other bevel wheels work in
journals B, mounted on the traverse A, of the framing. At the other
end of the driving shaft C, (Fig. 1,) are fast and loose pullies, the

page_text: former serving to drive the machine, and the latter for throwing it out
of gear and stopping it. In order to prevent any jar in cutting the
capsule to the requisite length, the piece B', (Fig 2, and 3,) which
carries the last matrix is caused to bear against a strong spring R.
It will be seen, on inspecting Fig. 3, that the cutting-out tool and the
first punch work alternately, the eccentrics which work them being
mounted in an inverse direction upon the main driving shaft C. The
cutting-out tool has a very limited motion, whilst the punch which
traverses it has a stroke of eight or ten times the extent.
For the manufacture of boxes, or any other kind of stamped articles
which are not required to be of a conical form, the piece B', and also
the last punch are dispensed with, for which is substituted a punch of
eylindrical form, like the others. Capsules, of whatever kind, are
finished and cut to the required length by a conical punch of the kind
represented at Fig. 10. Boxes and other articles not of a conical form
are discharged from tho machine simply stamped out, and not cut to
any required length.
I would here observe, that the guide channels c, are of graduated
dimensions, from the first down to the sixth passage for the blank. The
reason of this is, the necessity for presenting the blank exactly opposite
to the punch; it must therefore in its passage from one matrix to
the other be conducted along without any jar or shake.
The machine is made to work continuously, and is fed with a band
of laminated metal cut of the required breadth, and which is caused to
descend by its own weight in the machine through a suitable guide
channel. The first matrix is represented at Fig. 9. The band of metal
is caused to bear against a stop e, (Fig. 9); this stop is not represented
in the general view, Fig. 1, in order to avoid confusion. Fig. 9, also
shews the guide groove in which the metal band works. This also is
not represented in the general view, in order to avoid confusion, but it
is shewn in red in Fig. 9; its length is regulated according to that of
the band of metal to be operated upon.
In Fig 1, and 2, toothed wheels p, p, aro represented mounted upon
the shafts C, C, which wheels take into similar wheels mounted upon
similar shafts, placed a short distance from each other, say about ten

page_text: inches. It will be seen from this that the six punches move simul-
taneously, but the excentrics are so arranged that the punches strike
the blanks one after the other at a regulated speed, in such manner that
the blank may have time to fall from one matrix to the other. It may
be observed, that for certain articles requiring only slightly stamping
it will be sufficient to pass the metal blanks through only three or four
matrices; in this case the punches that are not required to act must be
thrown out of work.
Having now described the Invention that has been communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, and the best means with which I am
at present acquainted for carrying the same into effect, I would observe,
that I do not mean or intend to confine myself rigidly to the preciso
arrangement and construction of parts herein shewn and described,
as they may doubtless be varied without departing from the nature
and object of the above described improvements; but that which I
consider to be new, and therefore wish to claim as the Invention secured
to me by Letters Patent, is, the combination of a series of punches which
are made consecutively to act upon the blank or article intended to be
produced, and whereby a piece of metal of the required size may be cut
out of a sheet to be introduced into the machine, and subsequently
formed by a series of self-acting operations into the shape required. I
also claim the means shewn, or any mere modification thereof, for
conducting the articles to be operated upon from one punch and die to
another, and so on throughout the machine, without the assistance of
hand labour or attention to feed the machine, otherwise than to supply"
a long sheet of blank metal.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Second day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
0
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (LS.)