AN IM- PROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF DOWLS USED IN
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Oakes Asbury, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IM-
PROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF DOWLS USED IN
Sealed the 22nd September 1853, and dated the 28th March 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Oakes
Asbury at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 28th March 1853.
I GEORGE OAKES ASBURY, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF DOWLS USED
IN JOINERY" to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in making dowls by means of the machine
herein-after described; and that the description of the said machine may
be the more readily understood, I remark that the said dowls consist of
rods of iron having pointed ends. My machine consists of a bed-plate
of cast-iron, carrying two journals or bearings, in which a cranked shaft
works; the said shaft has a fly-wheel at one end, and a driving pulley
at the other; a connecting rod from the said crank gives an alternating

page_text: sliding motion to a pair of dies on the bed of the machine, which said
pair of dies, during their motion, approach to and recede from a cor-
responding pair of fixed dies on the bed of the machine. These dies are
of a figure suitable to produce the taper ends of the dowl by compress-
ing the rod of iron subjected to their action. Each pair of dies (that
is to say, one fixed and one movable die,) is so situated with respect, to
the other that their distance is equal to the length of the dowl to be
produced; and the said dies are capable of adjustment, so as to produce
dowls of greater or less length. In each die box (that is to say, the box
in which the two fixed and two movable dies are situated and adjusted.)
are centre pieces occupying the space between the two dies, which said
centre pieces guide the rod of iron from one pair of dies in its passage
to the other. The rod, of which the dowl is made, is passed through a
guage by which it is guided to the first fixed die, the first movable die
approaching forms a taper end on the rod, and it is next pushed forward
to a guage or stop which is fixed at a distance from the dies equal to
the length of the dowl; the movable dies being again advanced grip
the rod of iron in the two pair of dies, by which the two ends of the
dowl are formed; but the said dowls are joined together end to end
after the operation of the dies, and they are cut off by a cutter actuated
by an excentric on the driving shaft, which said cutter advances during
the time that the rod is gripped in the dies, and divides the dowls at
the point where their conical or taper ends meet. The said dowls may
have pyramidal or other shaped ends by shaping the dies accordingly.

page_text: sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said George Oakes Asbury, Her special
licence that I, the said George Oakes Asbury, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George Oakes
Asbury, 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 MANU-
FACTURE OF DOWLS USED IN JOINERY," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said George Oakes Asbury, 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 George Oakes Asbury, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof (that is to say):
My Invention consists in making dowls by means of the machine
herein described; and that the description of the said machine may be
more readily understood, I remark that the said dowls consist of rods of
iron having pointed ends.
Figure 1, represents my Invention in side elevation; Figure 2,
represents the same in plan; and Figure 3, represents the same in
transverse vertical section, the said section, Figure 3, being taken
through the line «, Figure 2. The other figures represent detached
portions of the machine; b, is the shaft by which motion is communi-
cated to the various moving parts of my machine; the said shaft is
driven by the pulley c, and is provided with the fly-wheel d; e, is the
base of the machine in journals or bearings f, f, on which the shaft b,
works. A connecting rod g, having a clip h, is connected with an
excentric on the shaft b, and communicates on the rotation of the said

page_text: shaft an alternating sliding motion to the pair of dies i, , on the be
or base of the machine; the said pair of dies i, k, during their motion
alternately approach and recede from a corresponding pair of fixed
dies l, m, on the bed of the machine. These dies are of a figure
suitable to produce the taper ends of the dowls by compressing the
rod of iron subjected to their action; the form of the working ends of
the dies is seen in Figures 4, 5, 6, and 7; Figures 4, and 5, represent-
ing them in end view, and Figures 6, and 7. representing them in side
view. The distance between the dies of each pair is equal to the length
of the dowl to be made, and the distance between them is determined
by the centre or adjusting pieces a, o, placed between them, and the
said dies and adjusting pieces n, o, are secured together by being
fixed in frames which I call dio boxes, or in any other convenient
manner.
The die box in which the moveable dies are fixed slides in the dove-
tail (see Figure 3.) on the bed of the machine, on the end of the
adjusting piece fixed between the two fixed dies 1, m; a groove or
guide 2, (Figures 8, and 9.) is made, which serves to guide the rod
of iron to be made into dowls. The rod of iron, of which the dowls are
to be made, is passed through a gauge or guide q, by which it is guided
to the first fixed die m; on the rotation of the shaft b, the moveable
dies i, k, are made to approach the fixed dies 1, m, and the moveable
dick, compressing the end of the rod a, between itself (the said
moveable die) and the fixed die m, forms a taper end on the said rod,
(see the front view of one of the said dies,) Figure 4. When the
moveable dios retire, the rod is pushed forward till its end bears against
the gauge or stop 2, (the said gauge or stop 7, is capable of adjustment
by the set screws, so as to suit the different lengths of the dowls to be
made); as the moveable dies i, k, again approach the fixed dies 1, m,
two taper ends are formed on the piece of the rod lying in the guide p,
(Figures 8, and 9,) as will be understood by an inspection of Figures 4,
and 5; while the partially formed dowl is held by the dies the cutter (,
approaches and cuts off the previously formed dowl, or the waste piece
formed on first introducing a fresh rod; on the returning of the cutter (,
and the opening of the dies, the rod a, on which the dies have formed

page_text: two taper shoulders, is pushed up to the stop r, when the dies again
close, forming the other shoulders, and holding the partially formed
dowl, while the cutter cuts off the previously formed one; that is to say,
divides the partially formed dowls at the point where their conical or
taper ends join; these operations are repeated during each revolution of
the shaft b, until the whole of the rod (with the exception of waste
pieces at the ends) has been made into dowls. The advance motion of
the cutter t, is eflected by a camb ", on the shaft b, and the return
motion of the said cutter is effected by the spring v; the shape of the
dies i, k, l, m, may be varied so as to produce dowls having pyramidal
or other shaped ends.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be under-
stood that I do not limit myself to the precise method of carrying my
Invention into effect herein described and represented in the accom-
panying drawing, as the details of the same may be varied without
departing from the nature of my said Invention; but I claim the
making of dowls by the action of dies and a cutter.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Oakes Asbury, have here-
unto set my hand and seal this Ninth day of September, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
three.
GEORGE OAKES ASBURY. (L.S.)
Witness, GEORGE SILAW.