Improvements in Drilling Machines.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Dec., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 12th Sept., 1895-Accepted, 19th Oct., 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Drilling Machines.
1, WILLIAM WILSON HULSE, of the Ordsal Works, Salford, in the County
of Lancaster, Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention has reference to constructions of drilling machines specially
suitable for drilling cylindrical objects such as boiler shells. According to one
construction, the machine comprises a base plate carrying a standard or frame on
which the drilling headstocks are mounted with the axes of the drill spindles
horizontal or inclined, as may be required, a horizontal table adapted to hold
cylindrical work (hereinafter referred to as a boiler shell) with its axis vertical,
and provided with means for adjusting it circularly, a vertical abutment column
arranged to extend upward above and centrally with the table, means for adjusting
the standard or frame and table with column to and from each other, and a
horizontal chuck or support (hereinafter referred to as the upper chuck) adapted
to rotate round the column and to be firmly secured to the boiler shell at or
near the part thereof in which holes are to be drilled so as to afford lateral
support to the boiler shell under operation. Such a machine can be constructed
in various forms, and the drill spindles, of which several may be used, can be
mounted and worked in various ways. The drill spindles may be mounted in
adjustable headstocks arranged radially upon a transverse slide carried by the
aforesaid standard or frame. The drill spindles are rotated by pulleys, shafts and
gearing and are capable of being lengthened so as to project towards the centre of the
The feed traverse
boiler shell by means of hollow or solid shafts and keys.
motions to the drill spindles may be effected by screw and differential wheels
provided with a clutch or clutches which enable the feed traverse to be suspended
and also by engaging another clutch enable the drill spindle to be rapidly with-
drawn. Each spindle may be traversed from a feed shaft common to all the spindles
with rapid withdraw motion by hand wheel. In both cases means are provided for
suspending the feed traverse of any spindle independently of the others and for
independently traversing each spindle by hand. The slide carrying the drilling
spindles may be fixed or may be adjustable in height. The work-table which may
be mounted on a sleeve or socket so as to rotate about the column and be adjustable
vertically by screw and nut or by hydraulic pressure can be adjusted circularly by
worm gearing actuated by suitable dividing mechanisın. The upper chuck consists
of a disc or frame vertically adjustable if need be, mounted to rotate round the
column and provided with radially adjustable jaws adapted to be forced tightly
against the boiler shell either directly or indirectly through pivoted self-adjusting
devices. External jaws may also be provided to engage the outside of the shell
if and when preferred. The various jaws on the upper chuck as well as those on
the work table, for securely holding a boiler shell in place, may be adjusted in various
ways, conveniently by screw or by hydraulic action, the arrangement in either case
being such that all the jaws in each chuck may be caused to advance or withdraw
simultaneously.
For drilling the longitudinal seams or butt strips of boiler shells, a standard
carrying one or more drill spindles, adjustable vertically thereon, is employed and
may be used in combination with or independently of the drill spindles for circular
seams

page_text: In another construction of drilling machine in which the boiler shell is arranged
to be supported horizontally on rollers by which it is adjusted in a rotary direction
from time to time and the drills are carried by one or more radial arms capable or
each capable of being partly turned about horizontal trunnions, each radial arm is
provided with two drill headstocks adjustably mounted on a right angled slide and
provided with adjustments enabling both spindles to point to the axis of the work
and to drill holes in vertical, horizontal or diagonal planes. The drill spindles can
be rotated and moved endways by various means. The feed traverse may however
with advantage be effected by mechanism of the kind herein before described.
The drill headstocks in each of the foregoing arrangements are or may be each
provided with an adjustable stay that is or may be formed as a slide and is adapted
to support the outer end of the drill, or drill spindle, or both, and to carry when
necessary a centre finder" so arranged that when the headstock carrying the
stay is adjusted to cause both points of the "centre finder" to bear against the
boiler shell, the corresponding drill spindle will be radial to the shell or its axis.
&
Dated this 12th day of December 1894.
Improvements in Drilling Machines.
I, WILLIAM WILSON HULSE, of the Ordsal Works, Salford, in the County of
Lancaster, Engineer, 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 :—
This invention has reference to improved constructions of drilling machines,
specially suitable for drilling cylindrical objects such as boiler shells, as I shall
now proceed to explain by reference to the accompanying drawings wherein,
Fig. 1 is a side elevation;
Fig. 2 an end elevation; and
Fig. 3 a plan shewing so much of one arrangement of drilling machine according
to this invention as is necessary to understand the construction thereof..
1 is a base plate carrying a standard or frame comprising two uprights 2 on which
is fixed an arc shaped transverse slide 3. 4 are the drilling headstocks arranged
radially upon the slide 3 and carrying the drill spindles 5. Each drill spindle is
mounted to slide endways within and be rotated by a hollow driving shaft 5" as
usual, the hollow shaft 5* being rotated by a pair of bevel wheels 6 from a vertical
shaft 7 mounted in a vertical bearing 8 on the slide 3 and provided with a driving
pulley 9, the several pulleys 9 being driven by belts 9" from a vertical pulley 10
common to them and which is itself driven from a step pulley 11 through horizontal
and vertical shafts mounted in a standard 1ª and geared together by a pair of bevel
wheels 12. The feed traverse motions to the drill spindles are effected by an
arrangement of screw and differential wheels. For this purpose the drill spindle 5
is provided with an internal screw thread with which engages a screw 13 that is
fixed in an end ways direction but is capable of being rotated by spur wheels 14, 14ª
from a shaft 15 as shown in Fig. 1 and to a larger scale in Fig. 9 which however
represents a headstock intended for a modified construction of machine. The
shaft 15 is provided with a loose toothed wheel 16 in gear with a toothed wheel 17
fast on the hollow shaft 5" of the drill spindle 5, and has feathered to it a clutch 18,
that is adapted by a lever 19 to be alternately engaged on one side with the loose

page_text: spur wheel 16 and on the other side with a fixed part 4ª of the headstock 4. Tue.
arrangement is such that when the clutch is in gear with the loose spur wheel 16,
the drill spindle 5 and screw 13 will be rotated in the same direction but at
different speeds, whereby a slow forward feeding movement will be imparted to the
drill spindle, and when the clutch is engaged with the fixed part 4º, the screw 13
will be held stationary and the drili spindle will be caused to travel rapidly back
thereon and thereby effect a quick return without having its direction of motion
reversed. The several clutch levers 19 are or may be arranged to be operated
simultaneously by means of stops 19* on a curved bar 19b fitted in a groove 19° and
adapted to be moved horizontally therein by hand..
The drill spindle can be adjusted by hand by means of a spur wheel 21 loosely
mounted on the shaft 16 and gearing with a spur wheel 22 fast on the screw 13.
:
1
23 is a horizontal table adapted, as for example by providing it with adjustable
jaws 23, to hold cylindrical work 24 (hereinafter referred to as a boiler shell) with
its axis vertical. 25 is a vertical abutment column arranged to extend upward
through and centrally with the table 23 and carried by a slide 26 mounted to more
on ways 1 on the base plate 1, so that it and the table 23 with boiler shell can be..
moved towards and from the standard or frame 2 to suit the work in hand. The
work table is mounted on a sleeve or socket 23b so as to turn about column 25 and
is adjustable vertically thereon by means of a screw 23° engaging a nut that works
in a slot in the column and is connected to the sleeve or socket 23. Or the vertical
adjustment may be effected by hydraulic plungers. The work table is adjusted
circularly from time to time by a worm wheel 27 mounted on the slide 26 so as to
turn about the column 25 and connected with the table 23 by vertical rods 27" along
which the table can slide when being adjusted. The worm wheel 27 is in gear
with a worm on a shaft 28 actuated by suitable dividing mechanism comprising for
example, a handle wheel 29, vertical shaft 30, bevel wheels 31 and change wheels 32,
the last of which is fixed on the worm shaft 28.
Upon the abutment column 25 is mounted a horizontal chuck (hereinafter called
the upper chuck) that is adapted to rotate around the column and to be firmly
secured to the boiler shell at or near the part thereof in which holes are to be
drilled so as to afford lateral support to the boiler shell 24 under operation. :
This chuck consists of a disc or fraine 33 carried by a collar 34, fixed to the
column 25. The disc or frame is mounted to rotate about the column, and is
provided with radially adjustable jaws 35 that are adapted to be forced tightly
against the boiler shell either directly, or, as shown, indirectly, through pivoted
plates 35ª having forked outer ends so as to render them self adjustable when
brought to bear against the interior of the boiler shell. The various jaws on
the upper chuck, as well as those, 23, on the work table 23, may be adjusted
in various ways, conveniently by screw or by hydraulic action, the arrangement
in either case being such that all the jaws in each chuck will be caused to advance
or withdraw simultaneously. In the example shown for this purpose, the jaws 23ª
and 35 in each set are threaded on radial screw spindles 36 each provided at its
inner end with a bevel wheel 37 in gear with a bevel wheel 38 common to them.
"The bevel wheel 38 for the upper chuck is provided with a ring 39 of spur teeth
with which gears a pinion 40 carried by a spindle 41 capable of being operated by
a hand wheel or equivalent device. The bevel wheel 38 for the lower chuck
jaws 23" is provided with a boss 39 formed with holes to receive a bar by which it.
can be turned.
For drilling the longitudinal seams or butt strips of boiler shells, a standard 42
carrying one or more drill spindles 43, adjustable vertically thereon. by its or their
headstocks 44 and a screw shaft 45 is employed and may be used in combination
with or independently of the drill spindles 5 for circular seams.
The drill spindles 43 are driven by bevel wheels 6 from a vertical, shaft 46
common to them, the feed traverse of such spindles being effected from a common
shaft 47, which extends through a sleeve 48 carried by each headstock 44, and
provided with a pinion that is in gear with a rack on a sleeve 5° that is connected.
:

page_text: with the drill spindle so as to move such spindle with it, but so as to permit the
spindle to revolve freely within it as well understood. The sleeve 48 is adapted to
be connected with and disconnected from the shaft 47 by a clutch 49. The two
shafts 46 and 47 are driven from a main driving shaft 50 as shown.
'
Figs. 4 and 5 are similar views to Figs. 1 and 3 respectively showing a modified
construction.
In this case the transverse slide 3 is vertically adjustable on the standards 2 and
is provided with a slide bed 3 on which the drill headstocks 4 are radially
mounted. The drill spindles 5 are each driven through a hollow driving shaft 5ª
and a pair of hevel wheels 6 from a short vertical shaft 7 that is journalled in the
slide bed 3ª and to which the corresponding headstock 4 is journalled by its
bifurcated end 4ª so as to be capable of being adjusted about such shaft as a
centre to suit different diameters of work. Each shaft 7 is driven by a pair of
bevel wheels 1 from a cross shaft 52 that is common to all the shaft 6, is mounted
in hearings 3 carried by the slide bed 3ª and is driven from the main driving
shaft 50 through bevel wheels 53, vertical' shaft 54 mounted in bearing 54ª carried
by the standard 2 and bevel wheels 55. The drill spindles are rotated at different
speeds by providing the driving shaft 50 with two sets of fast and loose pulleys 56, 56"
of different diameters as shown.
'
Each drill spindle in the particular arrangement now being described, is arranged
to be traversed from a feed shaft 57 common to all the drill-spindles. This feed
shaft is driven from the shaft 52 through spur wheels 58, shaft 59, worm 60, worm
wheel 61, hand wheel 61, shaft 62 and bevel wheels 63. A feed traverse motion
is transmitted to each drill spindle from the feed shaft 57 through bevel wheels 64
vertical shaft 65, spur wheels 66 vertical shaft 67, bevel wheels 68, horizontal
shaft 69, worm 70, worm wheel 71 and a cross shaft 72 which passes through and
is adapted to be connected by a clutch 73 to a sleeve provided with a toothed
pinion 74 in gear with a rack formed on the top of a sleeve 5b, connected with the
drill spindle 5 as hereinbefore described with reference to the drill spindles 43.
The worm wheel 61 is loose on the shaft 62 and is connected with the band
wheel 61, which is fast on such shaft, by a ratchet and pawl device so as to
admit of the two being readily disconnected when it is desired to operate the feed
shaft 57 by hand, through the said wheel 61° for rapidly withdrawing the drill
spindles. For suspending the feed traverse of any particular drill spindle inde-
pendently of the others and for independently traversing each spindle by hand,
the corresponding cross shaft 72 is disconnected by its clutch 73 from the sleeve
carrying the pinion 74 which can then be independently turned by means of the
part of the said clutch secured thereto. As the slide 3 carrying the drill head-
stocks 4 is, in this arrangement, made vertically adjustable the work table 23 is
not made adjustable vertically. The upper chuck for supporting the boiler sbell
internally is however made vertically adjustable to suit different positions of the
drills 5 for which purpose the collar 34 carries a nut 34ª that projects through a
slot in the colunin 25 and engages a vertical screw 34 that is fixed end ways and by
rotating which the collar and upper chuck can be raised or lowered as desired. In
other respects the work table and upper chuck are constructed and operated as
herein before described with reference to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, and there may be
provided in connection with them. 42 is a standard carrying drills for drilling
longitudinal seams as in the other construction of machine hereinbefore described.
Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are respectively end, side and plan views, and Fig. 9 a detail
view to a larger scale, showing another construction of drilling machine in which
the boiler shell 24 is arranged to be supported horizontally on rollers 75 by which
it is adjusted in a rotary direction from time to time, and the drills are carried by
one or more radial arms 76 (two are shown) capable, or each capable of being
partly turned about horizontal trunnions at 76ª, through which the driving shaft 50
passes. This type of machine is well known. Each radial arm is according to
this invention, provided with two drill headstocks 4, 4* adjustably mounted on a
right angled slide 77 and is provided with adjustments enabling both drill spindles 5

page_text: To point to the axis of the work and to drill holes in vertical, horizontal or
diagonal planes. The headstock 4* may be adjusted to cause the axis of its drill
spindle to point to the horizontal axis of the work; by raising and lowering' the
slide 77, which may be done by ordinary means, or by tilting the radial arm 76 by
means of the hand wheel 78 and jointed rod 79, or by both these means, as may be
required. The headstock 4 is swivelled, as shown in Fig. 9, upon the adjustable
slide 80 carrying it, so as to turn about a horizontal axis y in order that it and its
drill spindle can be adjusted. as required and be then secured in place as for
example by nuts screwed into pins 81 that are fixed to the slide 80 and extend
through curved slots 82 in the headstock 4. The headstock 4* is provided with
adjusting mechanism that may be of ordinary kind for moving it horizontally upon
the slide 77, and the headstock 4 with mechanism for moving it vertically on the
said slide so that the axes of the drill spindles can at will be brought into the
same horizontal or vertical plane, or to lie in an inclined plane, as shown, so that
the drills can be used to simultaneously drill holes for a longitudinal seam or for a
transverse seam, or holes arranged zig-zag in either seam. The drill spindle of
the headstock 4* is driven from a horizontal shaft that is carried by the slide 77
and is in connection by bevel wheels with a driving shaft 83 extending longi-
tudinally of the radial arm 76, and by bevel wheels, a short vertical shaft and
bevel wheels 6 with the said drill spindle. The drill spindle of the headstock 4 is
driven by a horizontal spindle carried by the slide 80 and around which the said
headstock is arranged to swivel, the said horizontal spindle being connected at one
end with the said drill spindle by bevel wheels 6 and at the other end by similar
bevel wheels with the driving shaft 83 which is driven from the driving shaft 50
by bevel wheels 84. (Figs. 6 and 7.)
The
The drill spindles 5 can be rotated and moved endways by various means.
feed traverse may however with advantage be effected by screw and differential
wheel mechanism of the kind herein before described and as shown in Figs. 6 and 8:
and to a larger scale in Fig. 9.
The drill headstocks 4, or 4, 4* in each of the foregoing arrangements, are, or
may be, each provided with an adjustable stay 95 (Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 5) that is or
may be formed as a slide and is adapted to support the outer end of the drill 5*
or drill spindle 5, or both, and to carry when necessary a "centre finder" 86
(Fig. 6) so arranged that when the headstock carrying the stay is adjusted to
cause both points 86ª of the "centre finder" to bear against the boiler shell 24,
the corresponding drill spindle will be radial to the shell or its axis.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In a drilling machine of the kind herein described suitable for drilling boiler
shells, an upper chuck consisting of a disc or frame mounted to rotate round a
vertical abutment columu and provided with a number of radially adjustable
jaws adapted to be simultaneously forced either directly or indirectly against the
inner side of a boiler shell at or near the part thereof in which holes are to
be drilled substantially as herein before described with reference to the drawings
annexed.
2. The improved drilling machines constructed arranged and operating substan-
tially as herein before described with reference respectively to and shown in
Figs. 1, 2 and 3, and in Figs. 4 & 5 of the drawings annexed, whether or not a
standard such as 42 carrying drills for drilling longitudinal seams or butt strips be
provided.
3. In a drilling machine of the kind in which rollers are provided for supporting
a boiler shell with its axis horizontal and the drills are carried by one or more
radial arms capable or each capable of being partly turned about horizontal
trunnions, the combination with the radial arm or with each of them, of two drill

page_text: headstocks adjustably mounted on a right angle slide and provided with adjust-
ments enabling both spindles to point to the axis of the work and to drill holes in
vertical, horizontal or diagonal planes, substantially as hereinbefore described with
reference to and shown in Figs. 6 to 9 inclusive of the drawings annexed.
a
For the Applicant,
W. LLOYD WISE,
46 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Chartered Patent Agent.