IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING BULLETS
Year: 1861

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 MACHINERY FOR MAKING BULLETS."-A
communication from abroad by Richard Gornall and William John
Hooper, of Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, and United States of
America.
Sealed the 15th August 1861, and dated the 4th March 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th March 1861.
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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING BULLETS,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention consists, first, in a cylindrical undivided matrix adapted to
first compress the bullet approximately into form, and then to hold it to be:
turned or finished.
Second, in devices for imparting intermittent longitudinal rotary motion to
the matrix in order to accomplish the objects above stated.
A bar of lead is supplied to a cylindrical receptacle, and the machine being

page_text: set in motion, the end of the bar is received in a suitable socket in a carrier,
and the latter swinging round separates a blank from the bar, and carries it
beneath a matrix. A punch ascends at this moment, and forces the blank
into the matrix, the cavity in the top of the punch operating to form
approximately the conical front of the bullet, while the conical protuberance
on the lower end of the core produces the cavity required in the rear. By the
continued movement of the machine the matrix is elevated, thereby partially
forcing out the compressed blank, which is supported above by an immovable
core while the punch descends, the carrier is then released, and swings round
to its former position to receive a new blank. At the same moment a driving
belt is shipped upon the fast pulley, which rotates the core and matrix, and
with them the pressed and partially exposed blank. A cutter then advances
into contact with the blank, and imparts to its surface the desired finish, and
the bullet is completed. The elevation of a lever by the action of a tappet
withdraws the matrix completely from the bullet, when the latter falls from
the punch, or is separated therefrom by any suitable means. It is preferable
to contract the diameter of the matrix very slightly at its lower end, in order
more firmly to hold the bullet. The force with which the blank is compressed
within the matrix causes it to be held with perfect security for turning by the
small part of its heel.
Many important advantages will be manifest in the above described machine
over those in common use for making bullets of this description. It is very
rapid in its operation, and produces bullets of truer form and more perfect
finish than is possible with the most careful and laborious manipulation where
hand trimming is required.
By a slight modification the bullet may be expelled by a longitudinal motion
of the core while the matrix remains stationary, and the final shaping of the
bullet may be effected by a suitable rotary cutter while the core and matrix
are at rest.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed 3
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 4th September 1861..
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.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
5 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING BULLETS," 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 Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention of improvements in machinery for making bullets consists,
first, in a cylindrical undivided matrix adapted to first compress the bullet
approximately into form, and then to hold it to be turned or finished.
Second, in devices for imparting intermittent longitudinal rotary motion to
the matrix in order to accomplish objects above stated.
In the accompanying Drawing, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine;
Figure 2 is an end view of the same; Figure 3 is an axial section of the
matrix drawn full size.
A is the bed of the machine supported upon standards B, B; C, D, are
knees extending above and below the bed, and constituting sockets for the
punch and matrix to work in, as herein-after explained; E is a cylindrical
matrix journalled within a cross-head F, by which it is raised and lowered at
proper times through the medium of the links G, the lever H, and the con-
necting rod I, attached to the rear end of a lever J. The levers Hand J are
fulcrumed at h and j respectively; K is a punch working in a socket in the

page_text: knee D, and connected with the front end of the lever J, so that the punch K
will be raised simultaneously with the depression of the matrix, and vice versa.
The punch K is provided at its upper end with a suitable cavity to form the
conical part of the bullet. L (Fig. 3) is a core journalled in the knee C
concentrically within the matrix E, and held against longitudinal motion by a
collar c engaging beneath a shoulder in the knee. The second core L is pro-
vided at its lower end with a conical projection, to form the necessary cavity
in the rear of the bullet. A screw e projecting through the matrix into a
longitudinal groove in the core affords to the former a longitudinal motion
independently of the latter, but compels them to rotate in unison; 1, l', are
respectively a fast and loose pulley upon the core L; M (Fig. 1) is an
automatic shipper, which at the proper period throws the belt N on to the fast
pulley, in order to impart an intermittent rotation to the core and matrix;
O is the feeding tube; P is a carrier adapted to receive the lower end of the
bar of lead at the bottom of the feeding tube, separate a blank, and carry it
round beneath the matrix, into which it is forced by the ascent of the punch;
Qis a cutter sliding in ways g, and advanced at the proper period to form the
exterior of the bullet; R is the main driving shaft carrying a pinion r, which
gears with a cogged disc S secured to a shaft s. This dise S carries near its
periphery a roller s', which serves to depress the rear end of the lever J; T is
a spring serving to elevate the rear end of the same lever when released by
the roller s¹. A tappet & engages beneath the lug j2 upon the lever J, to
impart a further motion to the latter, in order to expel the bullet, as herein-
after explained; ³ (Fig. 2) is an excentric or crank pin working in a yoke
lever q¹ pivoted at q³, and operating through the medium of a connecting
rod to forward the cutter Q (Fig. 1) at the proper time; ' is a spring
which draws back the cutter Q when released by the excentrics; s (Fig. 2)
is a cam working in a yoke lever p operating the carrier P (Fig 1) and
shipper M through the medium of a connecting rod p¹ and lever m. The
belt N is driven by a pulley U upon a shaft u, driven by means of a belt u¹
from the band fly wheel R¹. The shaft s being rotated by any suitable means,
and the tube O supplied with bar lead, the end of the bar is received in a
suitable socket in the carrier P, and the latter by swinging round separates
a blank from the bar, and carries it beneath the matrix E. The punch K
ascends at this moment and forces the blank into the matrix, the cavity in the
top of the punch operating to form approximately the conical front of the
bullet, while the conical protuberance on the lower end of the core L produces
the cavity required in the rear. The positions of the respective parts at this

page_text: period are shown by black lines in Figs. 1 and 2. By the continued move-
ment of the machine the matrix E is elevated, thereby partially forcing out
the compressed blank, which is supported above by the immovable core L,
while the punch K descends and releases the carrier P, which swings round
to its former position to receive a new blank. At the same moment the belt N
is shipped upon the fast pulley 1, which rotates the core and matrix, and with
them the pressed and partially exposed blank, while the cutter Q advances
into contact with the blank, and imparts to its surface the desired finish, and
the bullet is completed. The positions of the respective parts at this period
are shown by red lines in Figure 1, and the relative positions of the matrix,
core, and cutter are exhibited in Figure 3, the finished bullet being here
represented in red. A further elevation of the lever J by the action of the
tappet & beneath the lug withdraws the matrix completely from the bullet,
when the latter will fall from the punch, or be separated therefrom by any
suitable means. It is preferable to contract the diameter of the matrix very
slightly at its lower end, in order more firmly to hold the bullet. The force
with which the blank is compressed within the matrix causes it to be held
with perfect security for turning by the small part of its heel, shown within
the matrix in Figure 3.
Many important advantages will be manifest in the above described
machine over those in common use for making bullets of this description.
It is very rapid in its operation, and produces bullets of truer form and more
perfect finish than is possible with the most careful and laborious manipulation
where hand trimming is required.
I have described the construction and arrangement of parts which are
preferred by the Inventor for carrying out his improvements, but I do not
desire to be understood as confining myself rigidly thereto, as it will be
obvious that by a slight modification the bullet may be expelled by a longi-
tudinal motion of the core while the matrix remains stationary, and the final
shaping of the bullet may be effected by a suitable rotary cutter while the core
and matrix are at rest.
Having now described the Invention of improvements in machinery for
making bullets, that has been communicated to me by my foreign corre-
spondent, and having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect,
I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent, as aforesaid,―
1st, the use of a solid matrix operating in connection with a suitable punch
and core, to first compress the bullet, and then hold it as a chuck or mandril
for the purpose of being turned, as set forth.

page_text: 2nd, I claim the manner herein-before described of imparting intermittent,
vertical, and rotary motion to the matrix, for the purposes set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.s.).