AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC PENS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Morrison, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Machinist, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC PENS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Morrison at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 22nd
March 1855.
I, JOHN MORRISON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Machinist,.
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT OR
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC PENS" to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to that stage of the manufacture of metallic pens at
which the grinding near the point and on the back of a metallic pen, called the
straight and cross grindings, are effected. My said Invention consists in
effecting the said grinding in the sheet metal from which the pens are made,
or in grinding the blanks after they are cut from the sheet of metal, and before
they are bent into pens. In carrying my Invention into effect, I cause the
sheet of metal to be operated upon to pass under rotating grinders situated
transversly to the sheet; these grinders, being alternately pressed upon and
raised from the sheet of metal, grind portions of the same at such points, that
when blanks are afterwards cut from the sheet the said ground parts shall

page_text: constitute the straight grinding of the pens. The sheet of metal is also
subjected to the action of a continuous grinder, whereby a narrow band is
ground all along the middle of the said sheet of metal when pens are made
from the said sheet; the last-named grinding constitutes the cross grinding of
the said pens. I do not confine myself to the use of any particular kind
of grinder or cutter. The grinding of the blank is effected by means in all
essential respects the same as those already described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Morrison in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th September 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
MORRISON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Machinist, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Morrison, Her special licence that I, the said John Morrison, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Morrison, 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT OR
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC PENS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Morrison, 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 John Morrison, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof (that is to say) :-
My Invention relates to that stage of the manufacture of metallic pens at

page_text: which the grindings near the point and on the back of a metallic pen, called
the straight, and cross grindings, are effected. The said grindings are usually
effected upon the
pen when the said pen is in a nearly finished state; that is
to say, after the sheet of metal of which the said pen is.made has been cut and
bent. My Invention consists in effecting the said grindings in the sheet
metal from which the pens are made, or in-grinding the blanks after they are
cut from the sheet of metal, and before they are bent into pens.
Figure 1 represents a sheet of steel prepared according to my Invention
from which sheet of steel blanks are to be cut for the manufacture of metallic
pens. The said sheet of metal has down its middle a strip or band a, ground
in the direction. of the length of the sheet of metal, and a series of other trans-
verse grindings b, b; the said transverse grindings alternate with unground
portions, as represented, the ground portion on one side of the strip or band a
being opposed to an unground portion on the other side of the said strip or
band a. When blanks are cut from the sheet of metal, Figure 1, as indicated
at c, c, the grinding a constitutes the cross grinding of the said blanks c, c, and
the grindings b, b, constitute the straight grindings of the said blanks c, c. In
applying my Invention to the manufacture of different kinds of pens, grindings
different from those represented in Figure 1 are required, and the sizes and
positions of the said grindings must be varied to suit the particular kind of
pen to be manufactured; but as the different kinds of grindings required for
different kinds of pens are well understood, I do not think it necessary to
describe the same. Figure 2 represents in elevation, and Figure 3 in plan, a
machine which I use in carrying my Invention into effect, the said machine
being so constructed as to produce the grindings-represented in Figure 1 A.
By the modifications herein-after described, the said machine may be made to
produce the grindings represented in Figure 1. The sheet of metal to be
operated upon is fed to the machine under the rollers d, d, and between the
guides e, f, the guide f being moveable to accommodate sheets of metal of
different widths. The sheet of metal is carried forward by the rollers g, h,
driven by the pulley i on the axis k of the lower roll; the sheet of metal
passes over the roller over which is situated a grinder m.
Motion is com-
municated to the said grinder m by the pulley n on its axis; 'the motion of the
grinder.m is in a plane perpendicular to that of the sheet of metal. The
grinderm effects the grinding b'. Figure 1A on-one-side of the grinding a¹,
and the grinding b on the other side of the grinding a', is effected by the
grinder-o, Figures 2 and 3. The sheet of metal passes over and is supported
by the rollerp during the action of the grinder o; the sheet of metal lastly
passes over the roller q, during which it is subjected to the action of the

page_text: S is an
grinder r, by which the grinding a', Figure 1 A, is effected. The grinder 1 is
situated in a plane at right angles to the planes of the grinders m, o. The
sheet of metal passes out of the machine between the rolls s, t, the said rolls
being driven on the pulley u of the axis v of the roll t. In order to prevent
the sheet of metal from "buckling" during its passage through the machine,
it is supported above and below by endless guide cords, two of the said cords
working over and two under the sheet of metal. These guide cords are
marked w in the Drawing, and are guided in their course by pullies x, a, and
y, y; grooves are made in the rolls g, h, and s, t, for the reception of these
cords. A proper tension is preserved in the guide cords w by the weights, 2.
Spring side guides of the kind represented at 1, Figure 3, may be used to keep
the sheet of metal up to its bearing against the fixed guide 2. The grinders
m, o, r, are prepared in the ordinary manner. The adjustment of the several
grinders and the rolls l, p, q, is thus effected. For convenience of description
I will first describe the adjustment of the roller q and grinder r.
upright fixed on the base of the machine; 4 is a screw working through one
extremity of the horizontal arm on the top of the upright 3. The lower end
of the screw 4 bears upon the arm 5, and determines the height to which
the spring 6 can raise the roller q. 7 is a screw passing through one arm of
the fork 8, and also bearing upon the arm 5. By driving home the screw 7 the
roller is depressed, and the action of the grinder arrested; by unscrewing
the screw 7, the roller q rises, but only to the extent permitted by the adjust-
ing screw 4. q is a screw, by which the adjustment of the fork carrying the
grinder may be effected; the fork 8 turns upon centres, as represented, and
is also capable of turning upon the pin 10, so as to permit of the accurate
adjustment of the face of the grinder to the surface of the sheet of metal
being operated upon. The roller p and the roller l are adjusted, the former
by means of the screw 11, and the latter by means of the screw 12; but as the
action and adjustment of the said rollers resemble the action and adjustment
of the roller q, I do not think it necessary further to describe the same. The
grinder o is carried by the fork 13, and the grinder m by the fork 14; the
said forks 13 and 14 turn upon centres, as represented.
grinders m, o, are depressed to their proper position they are
as represented at 15, and their positions thereby fixed. Motion is com-
municated to the several grinders by pullies situated upon their axes, as
represented.
9
When the said
bound together,
In order to produce the grindings, Figure 1, the grinders m, o, must be
thrown alternately into and out of action. This may be done by making flutes at
regular intervals on the rollers p, l, and gearing the said rollers to the feeding

page_text: rollers I, h. Or, instead of fluting the rolls p, 1, the said rolls may be alternately
depressed, by causing a comb or other mechanical agent to press upon the
arms carrying the said grinders, the return motion of the said arms being
effected by the springs under them. By either of the methods described, the
sheet of metal may be alternately pressed up to the grinders p, l, one of
the said grinders being inoperative while the other is in action. In this way
the grindings, Figure 1, may be produced. Although I prefer to operate upon
a continuous sheet of metal, as described, yet blanks cut from a slicet of metal
may, by being held in a suitable holder, be passed through the machine and
receive the requisite grindings.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described, as the same may be varied
without departing from the nature of my said Invention. But I claim as my
Invention, effecting the straight and cross grindings of metallic pens by
grinding the sheet metal from which the blanks are cut, or the blanks before
being made into pens, as herein described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Morrison, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
GEORGE SIIAW.
JOHN MORRISON. (L.S.)