IMPROVE-. MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF NUTS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Archibald Brooman, of 166, Fleet Street,
in the City of London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-.
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF NUTS."-A communication
from abroad by Almond Glover and Edward Shelton, of New York,
United States of America.
Sealed the 27th December 1864, and dated the 29th June 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Archibald
Brooman at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 29th June 1864.
I, RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF NUTS," to be
as follows:-
This Invention consists in certain improvements in nut-making machinery
whereby, first, its construction is considerably simplified; second, it is enabled
to be run at a very high speed; third, the labor of the pressing dies is reduced,
and they are enabled to be kept cool, so that they wear longer; and, fourth,
nuts of better quality are produced.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a plan of a nut-making machine
constructed according to this Invention; Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical
section of the same, through the line X, X, Figure 1; Figure 3 is a transverse

page_text: section of the same through the line Y, Y, Figure 1; Figure 4 is a horizontal
section, on a larger scale, of the. die box, dies, and a blank, which is about to
be formed into a nut. Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding
parts in the several Figures.
A is a stout bed plate or horizontal frame supported upon suitable standards
A, A', and supporting all the working parts of the machine; B is the rotating
main shaft arranged transversely to and near one end of the frame A, and
carrying four cams C, D, E, F, the cam C being to operate the pressing
dies C, C, the cam D to operate the punch D¹, the cam E to operate the
moveable cutter E', and the cam F to operate the carrier F¹ by which the
blanks after being cut from the bar by the cutter E' are carried to the pressing
dies. G is the die block in which the nuts are pressed between front and
back dies C, C. This block, which is secured firmly in the frame in the
usual or a suitable manner, has its opening of a size and form to correspond
with that of the finished nuts, except that the entrance on the front is made
slightly flaring or enlarged in taper form at each side, as shewn at a, in
Figure 4, for a purpose which will be herein-after explained. The dies C', C³,
fit easily to the die block, and both are hollow, the back one C³ for the
passage of the punch, and the front one C¹ for the reception of the burs that
are cut out from the blanks in the punching operation, and of the plunger C
for expelling the said burs. The front die C¹ is attached rigidly to a slide C³,
which works in guides d, d, on the frame A, and the back die C2 is attached
to a sliding bar C, which works in guides e, e, below the frame, and this
bar C is connected with the slide C³ by means of a turned-up tongue fon
the said bars, and a mortise g.in the said slide, for the purpose of enabling
the back die to be operated to expel the nuts from the die block by the same
cam by which the front die is operated, thereby dispensing with the back
shaft commonly used to operate that die, and so simplifying the machine, but
in order to permit the necessary movement of the front die independent of the
back one, the mortise g is made longer than the tongue f, that the slide C³
and front die may continue advancing into the die block after the back one
has been arrested by the portion h of the bar C coming, as shewn in Figure 2,
against a stop h¹ formed by the back of a slot in the frame. The advance of
the front die into the die block and retirement of the back die therefrom are
effected by the action of the peripherical surface of the cam C upon a friction
roller attached to the slide C³, and the drawing back of the front die and
advance of the back one are effected by a friction roller j attached to one side
of a cam,
and acting upon the arm H' of a rocking shaft H, another arm H³
of which is connected with the slide C³. In order that the retirement of the

page_text: back die may be effected during the first part of the advance of the front one,
there is a spring k applied between the bar C and the arm H2 of the rocking
shaft H, the said spring always pushing against the said rod. The punch D¹ is
attached to a slide D³, which is arranged to work in suitable guides provided in
the frame A in rear of the back die C³, and the cam D acts upon the said punch
to make it punch the hole in the nut through a slide D³, which is arranged to
work parallel with C3 in suitable guides provided in the frame A. This slide
is fitted with an antifriction roller 1 for the cam to act upon, and is connected
by a rod D' with the arm D* of a rocking shaft De, which is arranged at the
opposite end of the frame to the main shaft B, and parallel with the latter
shaft another arm D' of the rocking shaft De projects upward through an
opening in the frame A, and comes behind the punch slide D to push it
forward into the nut blanks, as the said blanks are pushed into the die block
by the front die; the rod D is connected with the rocking shaft H by means
of a spring, which keeps the roller in contact with the cam.
The movable cutter E¹, before mentioned, is secured in a slide E', which
is arranged side by side with the back die C in suitable straight guides, and
operates in combination with the stationary cutter E, which is secured to the
frame A at one side of the die block. The cutting edge of this cutter Ę* is
arranged in the same plane with a fixed straight guiding surface m, which is
at right angles to the movements of the dies, and the movable cutters and
the bar from which the nuts are to be made is placed against the guide and
fed forward till it comes in contact with and is stopped by a fixed gauge n
arranged at the side of the die block. The movable cutter E' in advancing
cuts off the blank from the box, and pushes or places it against a fixed but
adjustable guide P, which is so set parallel with the face of the die block that
there will be just room enough for the thickness of the blanks to pass between
it and the die block.
The carrier E', already mentioned, consists of a straight sliding bar, which
is arranged and suitably guided to work between the said guide P and the die
block at right angles to the dies and cutter E', and is made with an angular
recess r, r, in its inner extremity, as shewn in Figure 8, into which the blank
is deposited by the cutter E¹ as it is cut from the bar, and in which it rests
while the said carrier carries it to a position opposite the opening of the die
block, and while the front die C' advances far enough to push the blank into
the said block. The cam E, which operates the cutter E¹, acts upon a stud s
in one side of a sliding bar E³, which works on suitable guides at the
respective ends of the framing; the cutter is drawn back after its operation
by means of a spring.

page_text: The cam F, which operates the carrier F¹, does so through a lever F, which
works horizontally on a fixed fulcrum u, one end of the said lever entering a
slot in the carrier, and the other carrying a pin or roller, which enters the
groove in the periphery of the cam F.
I is a finger for knocking off the
finished nuts from the end of the back die C2, in case of their sticking to the
latter after it has pushed them out of the die block. This finger is attached
to a slide I', which is arranged opposite to the carrier F, and which is
attached to one end of a horizontally moving lever I', which works on a fixed
fulcrum w, the other end of which is so acted upon by a protuberance on
the outer side of the cam D that the said slide and finger are thrown forward
very suddenly just after the nuts have been pushed out from the die block;
the said slide and finger are drawn back by a spring v, which keeps the
lever I in contact with the cam.
Rotary motion being imparted to the shaft B, the operation of the machine
is as follows:-The attendant standing on that side of the machine where the
cutters are placed, takes a white hot bar of iron of suitable size for the nuts,
and placing it upon the frame A against the straight guiding edge m, slides it
up to the gauge n. The advance of the cutter E' cuts off a piece or blank of
proper size, and pushes it into the carrier E¹, which immediately carries it in
front of the die block. The front die then advances and pushes the blank into
the die box, the back die in the meantime receding, and as soon as the blank
has fairly entered the die box the punch D' advances with a quick movement
toward and through the blank, pushing the core into the front die. The
cam C is of such shape that the front die is moved forward slowly, and time
is allowed for the punch to do its work before any pressure is brought upon
the sides of the blank, but after the hole has been punched the stoppage of
the back die by the projection h of the bar C, coming into contact with the
the stop h', causes the necessary pressure to be produced by the continued
advance of the front die to force the sides of the nut out against the sides of
the opening in the die block and the nut to be shaped and finished, the
finishing being effected as the point 10 of the cam C arrives opposite the
centre of the roller i. As soon as the cam has passed that position the
roller j attached to it comes into operation on the arm H¹ of the rocking shaft
and draws back the front die, and causes the back one to advance through the
die block, and push the nut out of the die block, the spring k in the mean-
time separating the dies, so that the nut may drop out from between them or
be knocked out by the finger I, which advances at this time; as the front die
comes back the plunger C is brought into contact with a fixed stop 12,
arranged over the slide C³, and thereby stopped, and the continued retirement

page_text: of the said die causes the bar to be pushed out by the said plunger. These
operations are all repeated during every revolution of the main shaft, and
hence a nut is formed at every revolution.
The several cams are so arranged that the time which the iron is in the die
block and between the dies is not more than one quarter of the time occupied in
each revolution of the main shaft, leaving the dies at rest during the remainder
of the revolution with a stream of water upon them to keep them cool, and
owing to the time thus allowed for cooling the shaft B may be driven at a
higher velocity than the driving shaft of other machines, and a greater
number of nuts produced in a given time without injury to the dies. The
durability of the front die is also increased by relieving it from the duty of
cutting off the blanks (which it has to do in other nut machines) and
employing a separate cutter for that purpose. The nuts, too, owing to the
short time occupied in forming them, are finished before the metal has time to
chill, and are thus made of better quality and appearance.
It has been herein-before stated with reference to Figure 4, that the
entrance of the opening of the die block is flared or enlarged at the sides in
taper form; I will now describe the object of such enlargement.
In cutting off the blank J there is unavoidably formed thereon a rough or
projecting edge 18 on the side against which the movable cutter comes into
operation, and a corresponding rough edge on the opposite side of the
remaining portion of the bar. Now, by turning over the bar after each nut
is made the rough or projecting edge 14 left on its end by the cutting off the
last nut will come on the same side upon which the edge 13 will be formed
upon the next blank in cutting it off, and both rough edges will be on that
side of the blank which first enters the die block, as illustrated in Figure 4,
and in the act of pushing the blank into the taper or flaring entrance of the
die block, the superfluous metal forming the edges will be forced into the body
of the blank, so as to form square corners. The bar, therefore, should always
be turned over by the attendant before being presented anew to the cutters.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Archibald Brooman in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 29th December 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, Her special licence that I,
the said Richard Archibald Brooman, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, my exė-
cutors, 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 THE
MANUFACTURE OF NUTS," (communicated to me from abroad by Almond
Glover and Edward Shelton, of New York, United States of America,)
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Richard Archibald
Brooman, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 Richard Archibald Brooman, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, that is to say:-
This Invention consists in improvements in nut making machinery, whereby,
first, the construction of such machinery is considerably simplified; second,
it may be run at a very high speed; third, the labor of the pressing dies is
reduced, and they are enabled to be kept cool, so that they wear longer;
and, fourth, nuts of better quality are produced.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a plan of a nut making machine
constructed according to this Invention; Figure 2 is a longitudinal section
of the same through the line x, x, Figure 1; Figure 3 is a transverse section
of the same through the line y, y, Figure 1; Figure 4 is a horizontal
section on a larger scale of the die box, dies, and a blank which is about to be
formed into a nut. Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts
in the several Figures.
A is a stout bed plate or horizontal frame mounted upon standards A¹, A¹,

page_text: and supporting all the working parts of the machine; B is the rotating main
shaft, arranged transversely to and near one end of the frame A, and carrying
four cams C, D, E, F; the cam C being for working the pressing dies C¹, C³,
the cam D the punch D", the cam E the moveable cutter E¹, and the cam
F the carrier F¹, by which the blanks after being cut from the bar by the
cutter E are carried to the pressing dies. G is the die block in which the
nuts are pressed between front and back dies C, C; this block, which is
secured firmly in the frame, has its opening of a size and form to correspond
with that of the finished nuts, except that the entrance on the front is made
slightly flaring or enlarged in taper form at each side, as shewn at a in Figure
4, for a purpose hereinafter explained. The dies C2, C3, fit easily to the die
block, and both are hollow, the back die C³ for the passage of the punch, and
the front die C¹ for the reception of the burs that are cut out from the blanks
in the punching operation and of the plunger c for expelling the said burs.
The front die C is attached rigidly to a slide C³, which works in guides d, d,
on the frame A, and the back die C³ is attached to a sliding bar C, which
works in guides e, e, below the frame and this bar; C is connected with the
slide C³ by means of a turned up tongue f on the said bar and a mortise g in
the said slide, for the purpose of enabling the back die to be operated to
expel the nuts from the die block by the same cam by which the front die is
operated, thereby dispensing with the back shaft commonly used to work that
die, and so simplifying the machine; but in order to permit the necessary
movement of the front die independently of the back one, the mortice 9
made longer than the tongue f, that the slide C³ and front die may continue
advancing into the die block after the back die has been arrested by the
portion of the bar C coming, as shown in Figure 2, against a stop h¹,
formed by the back of a slot in the frame. The advance of the front die into
the die block and retirement of the back die therefrom are effected by the
action of the face of the cam C upon a friction roller i attached to the slide
C³, and the drawing back of the front die and advance of the back one are
effected by a friction roller j attached to one side of the cam C, and acting
upon the arm H¹ of a rocking shaft H, another arm H2 of which is connected
with the slide C³. In order that the retirement of the back die may be
effected during the first part of the advance of the front one, there is a spring
k applied between the bar C and the arm H2 of the rocking shaft H, the
said spring always pushing against the said rod. The punch D₁ is attached
to a slide D, which is arranged to work in guides provided in the frame A in
rear of the back die C, and the cam D acts upon the said punch to make it
punch the hole in the nut through a slide D³, which is arranged to work.
is

page_text: parallel with C³ in guides provided in the frame A. This slide is fitted
with an antifriction roller for the cam to act upon, and is connected by
a rod D' with the arm D³ of a rocking shaft D, which is arranged at the
opposite end of the frame to the main shaft B, and paallel with the latter
shaft. Another arm D7 of the rocking shaft Do projects upwards through
an opening in the frame A, and comes behind the punch slide D³ to push it
forward and with it the punch D¹ into the nut blanks as the said blanks are
pushed into the die block by the front die. The rod D is connected with
the rocking shaft H by means of a spring, which keeps the roller in
contact with the cam. The moveable cutter E¹ before mentioned is secured
in a slide E³, which is arranged side by side with the back die C in straight
guides, and operates in combination with the stationary cutter E', which is
secured to the frame A at one side of the die block. The cutting edge
of this cutter E is arranged in the same plane with a fixed straight guiding
surface m which is at right angles to the movements of the dies and the
moveable cutters, and the bar from which the nuts are to be made is placed
against the guide m, and fed forward till it comes in contact with and is
stopped by a fixed gauge n arranged at the side of the die block. The
moveable cutter E¹ in advancing cuts off the blank from the bar, and
pushes or places it against a fixed but adjustable guide p, which is so set
parallel with the face of the die block that there will be just room enough for
the thickness of the blanks to pass between it and the die block. The carrier
Falready mentioned consists of a straight sliding bar, which is arranged and
suitably guided to work between the said guide p and the die block at right
angles to the dies and cutter E¹, and is made with an angular recess r, r, in
its inner extremity, as shewn in Figure 3, into which the blank is deposited by
the cutter E as it is cut from the bar, and in which it rests while the said
carrier carries it to a position opposite the opening of the die block and while
the front die C¹ advances far enough to push the blank into the block. The
cam E, which works the cutter E', acts upon a studs on one side of a sliding
bar Es, which works in guides at the respective ends of the framing. The
cutter E is drawn back after its operation by means of a spring. The
cam F, which works the carrier F', does so through a lever F³, which
works horizontally on a fixed fulcrum u, one end of the said lever entering.
a slot in the carrier, and the other carrying a pin or roller, which enters the
groove in the face of the cam F. I is a finger for knocking off the finished
nuts from the end of the back die C³ in case of their sticking to the latter
after it has pushed them out of the die block. This finger is attached to a
slide 1', which is arranged opposite to the carrier F', and which is attached to

page_text: one end of a horizontally moving lever I', which works on a fixed fulcrum w,
the other end of which is so acted upon by a protuberancez on the outer side of
the cam D, that the said slide and finger are thrown forward very suddenly
just after the nuts have been pushed out from the die block; the said slide
and finger are drawn back by a spring v which keeps the lever I* in contact
with the cam.
Rotary motion being imparted to the shaft B, the operation of the machine
is as follows:-The attendant standing on that side of the machine where
the cutters are placed takes a white hot bar of iron of suitable size for the
nuts, and placing it upon the frame A against the straight guiding edge m,
slides it up to the gauge n.
The advance of the cutter E¹ cuts off a piece or
blank of proper size, and pushes it into the carrier F, which immediately
carries it in front of the die block. The front die then advances and pushes
the blank into the die box, the back die in the mean time receding, and as
soon as the blank has fairly entered the die box the punch D' advances with
a quick movement towards and through the blank, pushing the core into the
front die. The cam c is of such shape that the front die is moved forward
slowly, and time is allowed for the punch to do its work before any pressure
is brought upon the sides of the blank, but after the hole has been punched,
the stoppage of the back die by the projection h of the bar C' coming into
contact with the top h¹, causes the necessary pressure to be produced by the
continued advance of the front die to force the sides of the nut out against
the sides of the opening in the die block and the nut to be shaped and
finished, the finishing being effected as the point 10 of the can C arrives
opposite the centre of the roller i. As soon as the cam has passed that
position, the roller j attached to it comes into operation on the arm H
of the rocking shaft and draws back the front die, and causes the back one to
advance through the die block and push the nut out of the die block, the
spring k in the meantime separating the dies so that the nut may drop out
from between them or be knocked out by the finger I which advances at this
time. As the front die comes back the plunger c is brought into contact with
a fixed stop 12 arranged over the slide C³, and thereby stopped, and the
continued retirement of the said die causes the bar to be pushed out by the
said plunger. These operations are all repeated during every revolution of the
main shaft, and hence a nut is formed at every revolution.
The several cams are so arranged that the time which the iron is in the die
block and between the dies is not more than one quarter of the time occupied
in each revolution of the main shaft, leaving the dies at rest during the
remainder of the revolution with a stream of water upon them to keep them

page_text: cool, and owing to the time thus allowed for cooling, the shaft B may be
driven at a higher velocity than the driving shaft of other similar machines,
and a greater number of nuts may be produced in a given time without injury
to the dies. The durability of the front die is also increased by relieving it
from the duty of cutting off the blanks (which it has to do in other nut
machines,) and employing a separate cutter for that purpose. The nuts, too,
owing to the short time occupied in forming them, are finished before the
metal has time to chill, and are thus made of better quality and appearance.
It has been herein-before stated, with reference to Figure 4, that the
entrance of the opening of the die block is flared or enlarged at the sides in
taper form; I will now describe the object of such enlargement.
In cutting off the blank J, there is unavoidably formed thereon a rough or
projecting edge 13 on the side against which the moveable cutter comes into
operation, and a corresponding rough edge on the opposite side of the remain-
ing portion of the bar. Now, by turning over the bar after each nut is made,
the rough or projecting edge 14 left on its end by the cutting off of the last
nut will come on the same side upon which the edge 18 will be formed upon
the next blank in cutting it off, and both rough edges will be on that side of the
blank which first enters the die block, as illustrated in Figure 4, and in
the act of pushing the blank into the taper or flaring entrance of the die block,
the superfluous metal forming the edges will be forced into the body of the
blank so as to form square corners; the bar, therefore, should always be turned
over by the attendant before being presented anew to the cutters.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as the "Improve-
ments in Machinery for the Manufacture of Nuts,―
First, the employment of a moveable and a stationary cutter at one side of
the die block, the moveable cutter working side by side and parallel with the
back die, substantially in manner and for the purpose herein-before described
and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Second, the combination with the dies of the stationary and moveable
cutters E¹, E³, gauge n, carrier F, and guide p, the whole constructed and
arranged relatively to each other and to the dies, and operating substantially
as herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Third, making the entrance to the die box of tapering or flaring or enlarged
form at the sides as represented at a, a, Figure 4, and herein-before described
for the purpose of producing, in combination with the turning over of the bar,
the results herein-before mentioned.
Fourth, connecting the back die with the front die, so that the back die is

page_text: caused to produce the discharge of the nut from the die block, substantially as
herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Fifth, constructing the tongue ƒ on the bar C and longer mortise g in the
front die slide C³, the projection h on the bar C and stop h¹ in the frame, and
the spring k or their equivalents, all in combination with each other and with
the front and back dies, substantially in manner and for the purpose herein-
before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Sixth, the arrangement of the cams C, D, to produce the final pressure of
the nut between the dies after the punching has been performed, substantially
as herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Seventh, actuating the punch D' by a cam D on the shaft which carries
the cam C for actuating the front die, the cam D actuating through the
intermediation of a slide D³, and a two-armed rocking shaft D¹, arranged
substantially as herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawings.
Eighth, the combination of the shaft D, cams C, D, E, dies C¹, C³,
punches c, D¹, rod D', sliding bar E³, die block G, and cutters E¹, E³, all
arranged and acting substantially as herein-before described and illustrated in
the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of December, One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.