IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PLANING OR SHAPING METALS, WOOD, OR OTHER MATERIALS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Fothergill Batho, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR PLANING OR SHAPING METALS, WOOD, OR OTHER MATERIALS."
Sealed the 17th November 1868, and dated the 20th May 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Fothergill
Batho at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 20th May 1868.
I, WILLIAM FOTHERGILL BATHO, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for " IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PLANING OR SHAPING METALS, WOOD, OR OTHER
MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of a new arrangement of machinery for the
purpose of planing or shaping the sides of various articles by means of
cutting tools acting simultaneously on different parts or faces of the
work operated upon.
My machinery consists of a frame in which I mount in suitable
bearings six or any convenient number of spindles arranged by preference
in a horizontal position and radiating to a fixed point in the centre of

page_text: the said frame. All the spindles are driven simultaneously by suitable
bevil gearing, and each spindle carries a cutting tool similar to the
roughing out drill used in the slot drilling machine, and every cutter is
placed at right angles to its neighbour. The object to be operated upon
is carried between centres or spindles carrying vices connected to a top
and bottom frame, and these two frames are connected by three vertical
shafts which work in bushes placed in the main frame of the machine.
A vertical feed motion is given to this tripod frame by means of a screw
or rack connected to its lower part and driven by suitable gearing from
the main driving shaft of the machine. In some cases a combined
rotary and vertical motion is given to the object operated upon by
the cutters, which then form or shape inclined or spiral surfaces upon
the object.
My improved shaping machinery is specially applicable for shaping
the sides of nuts, or tubes, or rods, to which a sectional area of an
external polygonal form is required to be given. It is also adapted for
producing in some cases curvilinear surfaces.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the. conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Fothergill Batho in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 20th November 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
FOTHERGILL BATHO, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-first
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said William Fothergill Batho, Her special licence
that I, the said William Fothergill Batho, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Fothergill Batho, 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 "Im-.

page_text: PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PLANING OR SHAPING METALS, WOOD, OR OTHER
MATERIALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Fothergill Batho, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said In-
vention, 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 Fothergill Batho, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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 accompanying
Sheet of Drawings (that is to say) :-
:―
My Invention consists of a new arrangement of machinery for the
purpose of planing or shaping the sides of various articles by means of
cutting tools acting simultaneously on different parts or faces of the work
operated upon.
My machinery consists of a frame in which I mount in suitable
bearings six or any convenient number of spindles arranged by preference
in a horizontal position and radiating to a fixed point in the centre of
the said frame. All the spindles are driven simultaneously by suitable
bevil gearing, and each spindle carries a cutting tool similar to the
roughing out drill used in the slot drilling machine, and every cutter is
placed at right angles to its neighbour. The object to be operated upon
is carried between centres or spindles carrying vices connected to a top
and bottom frame, and these two frames are connected by three vertical
shafts which work in bushes placed in the main frame of the machine.
A vertical feed motion is given to this tripod frame by means of a screw
or rack connected to its lower part and driven by suitable gearing from
the main driving shaft of the machine. In some cases a combined
rotatory and vertical motion is given to the object operated upon by
the cutters, which then form or shape inclined or spiral.surfaces upon
the object.
My improved shaping machinery is specially applicable for shaping
the sides of nuts or tubes or rods to which a sectional area of an external
polygonal form is required to be given. It is also adapted for producing
in some cases curvilinear surfaces.

page_text: And in order that the said Invention may be more fully understood
I now proceed to describe the same with reference to the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of the
machine; Fig. 2, a plan partly in section; Fig. 3, à plan in section
through A, A, Fig. 1, shewing the feed motion; and Fig. 4, an elevation
of the apparatus for stopping and starting the "feed."
I
a is the hollow cylindrical frame of the machine carrying in suitable
bearings the various working parts hereafter described; is an ordinary
driving pulley or rigger for actuating the machine, the said pulley being
secured to the shaft . The other end of the said shaft & carries a bevel
pinion c which gears or engages with the bevil wheel c¹. The said bevil
wheel c¹ is of annular form, open in its centre to receive the hollow boss
of a similarly formed bevil wheel c, to which it is firmly attached in
any suitable manner. The long boss of the wheel c, to which the bevil
wheel c¹ is united, turns freely upon the hollow bearing E forming part
of the frame a. The bevil wheels c¹ and care further secured in their
places and prevented from falling by means of the collar or washer d
pinned or otherwise fastened to the lower end of the hollow bearing E. The
bevil wheel c forms a common driver to all the six spindles f, which it
actuates simultaneously by means of the six pinions which are keyed
upon their respective spindles, the said spindles being free to advance or
recede as required. The six spindles or tool carriers f are arranged
radially around a common centre by preference in a horizontal plane,
each spindle being equidistant from the other, as seen in Fig. 2. The
inner converging ends of the spindles f have sockets or other suitable
means provided for holding a cutting tool having cutting edges of any
required form. The spindles are adjusted by means of the usual
appliances employed for adjusting revolving drill spindles. An effective
means of accomplishing this object is shewn in the Drawings; it consists
of a hollow shaft or bush h which slides freely through the bracket i
cast upon the frame. The hollow shaft h is screwed on its exterior
to fit corresponding internal screws within the bosses of the hand
wheels k', . The hollow shaft is grooved lengthwise to slide upon
a key fitted in the spindle 1, by which it is prevented from turning.
The drill spindle may be traversed in or out by the rotatory motion of
the hand wheel acting upon the screwed surface of the hollow shaft h,
and it may be securely locked in any desired position by the other hand
wheel, which thus acts as a "jamb" or lock nut. Each of the

page_text: spindles may be thus adjusted to the work or drawn back therefrom
for convenience in changing the cutters. For the purpose of cutting
or shaping the work into flat surfaces the cutting tools m are made of flat
steel, and the cutting edges are so placed with regard to each other that
when the edge of one cutter is in a vertical position the adjacent cutter
on either side has its cutting edge in a horizontal line, that is, one cutter
is placed half a revolution in advance of the next one to it, and when
three alternate cutters have their edges vertical the other three alternate
cutters are horizontal; by this peculiar and novel arrangement the path
or circle described by the cutting edge of one cutter in its revolution
intersects the path of the next one on each side of it, but without
coming into collision with either of them. The great advantage thus
gained is that finished faces of less width than the width of the cutting
edges may be produced in the material or object operated upon. The
articles to be shaped or operated upon are carried within a traversing
frame which is thus constructed :-² is a crosshead or three-armed
casting at the upper part of the machine, and n² is a concave or dish-
shaped casting connected therewith by the three rods or sliding shafts
ns, n, n. The dish n² has a central boss o projecting upwards to carry
an ordinary steel centre, socket, or chuck o' according to the work being
operated upon, and it has another part projecting downwards and
forming the long hollow cylinder o. The exterior of this cylinder is
cut into a screw, the said screw forming an essential part of the feed
motion herein-after described. p, p, are radial openings, through which
the cuttings or waste produced by the cutting tools pass to the hollow
cylinder o. The dished casting n receives the whole of the waste
shavings which pass out at the lower end of the cylinder, thus obviating
damage to the working parts and encumbrance or clogging of the
machine from any accumulation of the said waste material. The tripod
or crosshead has a central opening screwed to engage with the threads
of the screw q, the lower extremity of which forms a cane or centre,
and the upper end carries a land wheel q', by which it is traversed or
turned; q is a lock nut with convenient handles for turning it.
The machine is represented in the Drawings as acting upon or finishing
the common hexagonal or six-sided screw nuts. For this purpose the
nuts are placed upon a mandril r centred between the conical point of
the screw q and the lower socket o', which is provided with a square hole
for the purpose; instead of the chuck o' and centre q, two vices, chucks,

page_text: or any other convenient means suited to the form of the article to be
operated upon may be employed in order to grasp or hold the same
firmly. s is a three armed casting to form a guide or "steady" to the
nuts being shaped, the particular form and details of this piece being
determined by the kind of work upon which the machine is engaged.
The feed motion is imparted to the sliding frame n¹, n², in the
following manner:-t is an ordinary "speed cone" driven by a corre
sponding speed cone which has a direct driving motion from the
pulley 6 to which it is attached; the shaft carrying the speed conc
also carries at its inner end the bevil pinion t which gears or engages
with two bevil pinions v1, v2, placed loosely upon the cross shaft v;
3 is a common forked clutch sliding upon a feather in the cross shaft v
by which the shaft is connected with either one of the two bevil pinions.
The cross shaft is thus driven in either direction by connection through
the clutch with one or other of the pinions v', v², or by leaving the
clutch midway between the pinions, and so that it engages with neither
of them the cross shaft may remain at rest; the said cross shaft v also
carries a worm w¹ which is geared to or engages with the teeth of the
worm wheel 10. The boss or central portion of the worm wheel is
screwed internally to engage with the threads of the hollow screw o
By means therefore of the three bevil pinions 2, v', and v2 the sliding
clutch, the worm w¹, and worm wheel w an upward or downward feed
motion may be imparted to the said hollow screw o³ and frame, with
the work or articles to be shaped carried therein, or by placing the
clutch in its middle or neutral position the feed motion may be
wholly withdrawn.
Fig. 4 represents in elevation a self-acting arrangement for arresting
the feed or traverse of the frame. x is a bracket bolted to the inner
side of the frame a within which a slide ¹ is fitted to traverse freely
both backwards and forwards; upon the slide x¹ is a small stud or pin a
projecting into the diagonal slot formed at the lower end of a vertical
sliding shaft guided by suitable bearings and carrying upon it the
two tappets x, x, which are secured thereto at any desired points by set
screws. In the upward or downward motion of the frame n¹, n², as it
approaches the limits of its traverse in either direction, the outer edge of
the dish n² comes in contact with one or other of the said tappets a, a,
and the sliding motion thus imparted to the shaft serves to arrest
the feed or further traverse of the frame in the following manner:

page_text: a transverse motion
the sliding shaft a³.
and slide ¹ in one
The diagonal or inclined slot in the said sliding shaft, both in its
upward and downward motion, imparts to the stud a
equal to the degree of inclination of the said slot to
The transverse motion thus imparted to the stud
direction or the other, accordingly as the slotted shaft is moved
upwards or downwards, is conveyed directly to the sliding clutch by
the strap attached both to the said clutch and slide x', and simul-
taneously therewith the feed motion ceases as the clutch is withdrawn
from the bevil pinions with which it was previously engaged.
Although I have described my Invention as relating to a machine
supplied with six spindles or cutters, it is obvious that any other desired
number of cutters or spindles may be employed and similarly actuated.
In the example herein-before described and represented in the
accompanying Drawings three alternate spindles only may be provided
with cutting tools for acting simultaneously upon the three sides of
an article or object of triangular figure in its cross section. In this
case the three other alternate spindles have the cutters removed there-
from. For cutting or shaping articles of octagonal cross section the
machine must have eight spindles arranged and actuated in like
manner to the six spindles. It is obvious that various numbers of
spindles may be thus advantageously employed in the construction of
a machine according to my said Invention, and it is also obvious that
a certain number or portion only of the said spindles may be employed,
leaving some of the said spindles unemployed for convenience in acting
upon work requiring a less number of finished faces than the greatest,
number of faces which the machine is capable of producing simul-
taneously when all its spindles are in operation. The sectional outline
of the finished faces produced by the cutters may also be varied by a
suitable conformation of the cutter to the desired shape. Thus by means
of a cutter with its end made globular, spherical, or rounded, and grooved
or serrated in the usual manner with radial grooves or cutting edges,
the faces cut thereby would have a corresponding hollow form, and a
variety of other forms may in like manner be given to the several faces
of the work by corresponding modifications of the cutting tools. By
imparting to the work acted upon not only the vertical traversing motion
herein-before referred to, but also simultaneously therewith combining
a rotatory motion, the finished faces would have a spiral direction around
a common axis, and the work produced would be of screwed or twisted

page_text: exterior, the pitch or inclination of the several faces being determined
by the relative speed of the circular feed motion imparted to the work
to the speed of the vertical feed motion. The means for giving the said
circular feed motion may be arranged in any convenient manner, such as
may be found in a variety of machine tools having similar motions for
other purposes.
Having now described the nature and particulars of my said Invention,
what I claim is, the machine or apparatus herein-before described
and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings for cutting or shaping
simultaneously in the manner and by the means described the various
sides or surfaces of the articles or materials operated upon, and the
essential features of my Invention are as follows:-
1. The concentric radial arrangement of the cutter spindles in a
common plane, horizontal by preference.
2. The mode of driving the same by the pinions and common driving
wheel.
3. The traversing frame arranged for carrying the work, and for
collecting and delivering the waste material or cuttings.
4. The general arrangement of the frames, cutter spindles, and
traversing frame, so that the length of the work to be operated upon
is limited only by convenience, and may be made unlimited by employing
a hollow mandril through which to feed the articles or material to be
operated upon.
5. The alternate arrangement or placing of the cutters with their
cutting edges at right angles to each other.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Fothergill Batho, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of November,
1868.
WILLIAM FOTHERGILL BATHO. (L.S.)