CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HINGES
Year: 1839

page_text: WHEREAS in consequence of a communication made to me by a certain
Foreigner residing abroad, I am in possession of an Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HINGES;" and whereas Her present
most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters Patent under the
Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at Westminster, the Twentieth
day of July, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine, and in the third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said David Johnston, Her especial licence, that I, the said
David Johnston, my exors, adññors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
David Johnston, my exors, adñors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and
no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, "The said In-
vention;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me,
the said David Johnston, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be enrolled
in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months

page_text: next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent,
as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at
large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
David Johnson, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, so
communicated to me as aforesaid, doth consist in forcing the eyes through,
which the pin or rivet passes to form a hinge by forcing forward the metal of
which they are to be made into dies or moulds, which by their shape turn the
metal over into the form of eyes as it is forced into the mould; and in further
compliance with the said proviso, I, the said David Johnston, do hereby describe
the manner in which the said Invention is to be performed, by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawing annexed, and to the
figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:-
Two plates of malleable or ductile metal, which when united are to form a
hinge, are first stamped out or prepared separately in flat pieces, as shewn at
Figure 5, having projections from one end of each as tongues, corresponding
with the tongues and spaces of the other as its match plate. These tongues,
when turned or bent over flatwise, form what are called the eyes of the hinge;
and when placed together the eyes of each plate between or beside those of
the other, as their number requires, with a pin or rivet through them, constitute
the joint of the hinge. Now the improvement here to be described consists in
To do this
the manner of bending the tongues and forming them into eyes.
a die is, provided of the form represented in Figure I. of the annexed Drawing,
to be made of a block of steel or other suitable material. At a is shown a
plane surface extending back from the front side of the die at an angle of
small inclination upwards, to a distance about equal to the length of the
hinge plate, and then terminating in a regular curve upwards, about equa
to a semicircle, with its concave surface towards the front of the block,
as shown at b. This section of a circle is to have the same line of curvature
as is intended to be given to the outside surface of the eye of the hinge plate
to be formed by it. The bending of the tongues is effected by forcing them
end. foremost into and against the concavity of the die, by which the tongues
conforming to its, curve become bent flatwise in their whole length, or so as to
bring the ends over to their own surface, or to that of the plate to which they
belong, as shewn at Figure 6. For this purpose a machine is to be provided for
producing a reciprocating go and come motion of sufficient power and extent
to force the tongues by means of a steel follower or driver effectually into the
die, and then returning back far enough to allow the hinge plate to be

page_text: removed, and another placed before the driver ready for a like operation.
This is done by any of the modes in common use for producing movements of
'the kind, as by a revolving shaft with a camb or eccentric section, or by a
crank, or the like, with their usual appendages when applied to like purposes.
The machine for this purpose représentéd in Figures II. and IV. is provided
with a crank for producing the movement required, as shown at c; d is the
die firmly fixed at one end of the frame; e is the driver between the end of
which and the die the hinge plate is placed in order to be operated upon;
fis the connecting rod between the crank and driver; g is a sink in the front
of the die block to allow for the passage of a flange or projection from the
under side of the end of the driver in order to prevent its slipping or rising
over the hinge plate while forcing it forward, and shown separately and more
distinctly in section at Figure 7. Prévious to this operation, however, a short
bend is to be given to the ends of the tongues similar to that represented in
Figure III., for the purpose of facilitating its passage round the concave
surface of the die. This first bending is effected by means of an apparatus
connected and operated upon with the same machinery, and may also be
called a die, consisting of a lever, as shewn at h, Figure II., and as shown by
the end view of the same at h, Figure IV., together with the rest at i, in
which the tongues are placed for the operation. On. the under side of the
head or outer end of this lever are two rectangular projections in form of
offsets, as seen at j and k. By means of the arm upon the shaft of the
operating wheel, as at l, in nature of a camb, an up and down motion is given
to the back end of the lever at every revolution of the wheel by means of
which the band of the lever is also alternately raised and borne down, as of
course. At its elevation the ends of the tongues of the hinge plate are
placed under the lower projection, which in its horizontal extent is calculated
just to catch upon the upper surface of the ends of the tongues when thus
placed near it, so as to carry them down with its next downward motion,
This tends to elevate the outer end of the hinge plate as now lying upon the
rest (the distance between the rest and lower projections being about equal to
the thickness of the plate), but the upper projection overreaching the other for
the purpose coines upon the outer end of the plate, and bears it down to a
level with the top of the rest; and thus produces the bend required. When
the head of the lever is again raised the plate is taken out prepared to be
placed before the die. This operation is shewn in section at Figure 8;
Figure 1 is a separate view of the concave die, and Figure 9 is a sectional.
view of the same, with the hinge eye in progress of manufacture.

page_text: Now whereas I claim, as the said Invention, forming the eyes of hinges
out of one piece with the hinge plate, by forcing that portion of the metal
of which they are to be composed into dies so shaped or formed as to
turn over the metal into the form of eyes as the metal is forced into the
die or mould, as represented by the Drawing annexed; and such Invention
being, to the best of my knowledge and belief, entirely new, and never
before used within that part of Her said Majesty's United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her said Dominion of Wales,
and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, I do hereby declare this to be my
Specification of the same, and that I do verily believe this my said Specifica-
tion doth comply in all respects, fully and without reserve or disguise, with the
proviso in the said herein-before in part recited Letters Patent contained,
wherefore I do hereby claim to maintain exclusive right and privilege to the
said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said David Johnston, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of September, One thousand
eight hundred and thirty-nine.
Taken and acknowledged by David
Johnston, party hereto, at Glasgow,
this Twenty-seventh day of Sep-
tember, One thousand eight hundred
and thirty-nine, before me,
DAVID (L.S.)
(L.S.) JOHNSTON.
John Bannatyne, of Bernard Street, Russell Square, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, maketh oath and saith, that he is well acquainted
with Robert Findlay, a Justice of the Peace for the County of Lanark, whose
name appears to the Specification hereunto annexed marked A, and has
frequently seen him write, and that the name "Ro. Findlay," set and subscribed
to the caption of the said Specification, is, to the best of this Deponent's
knowledge and belief, the proper handwriting of the said Robert Findlay, and

page_text: Inrolled the Third day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine.