An Improved Self-feeding Lathe for Shouldering, Shanking, Facing, Countersinking, or otherwise Shaping small articles such as Rivets, Pins, Studs, Bushes, and Rollers.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 12th June, 1897
Complete Specification Left, 14th Mar., 1898-Accepted, 4th June, 1898
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Self-feeding Lathe for Shouldering, Shanking, Facing,
Countersinking, or otherwise Shaping small articles such as
Rivets, Pins, Studs, Bushes, and Rollers.
I, GEORGE FREDERICK BULL, Works Manager to The Alfred Appleby Twin
Roller Chain Syndicate Limited, residing at 11, Cannon Hill Road, Balsall Heath,
in the City of Birmingham, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be
as follows:-
:―
This invention consists in an improved construction of self-feeding lathe for
shouldering, shanking, facing, countersinking, or otherwise shaping small articles.
such as rivets, pins, studs, bushes, and rollers. The said lathe has been designed
on inexpensive lines, and the feeding mechanism only requires to be kept supplied
with articles to be operated upon, so that one attendant could look after a number
of machines,
The
The improved lathe is characterised by a pair of advancing and retiring rotating
tool holders automatically operated, a fixed and a movable combination work holder
and feed, a supply hopper carrying the articles to be fed, and a guiding fork for
centreing the article before being operated upon by the cutting tools; all the
moving parts of which are self-acting and worked from a rotary shaft.
advancing, retiring, and rotating tool holders, as aforesaid, which carry the shaping
cutters, are each mounted within suitable upright bearings upon independent
slides or saddles adapted to work upon a bed, and their movement is to advance to
the work simultaneously and to return again when the work has been operated
upon and then have a period of rest. This movement of the slides is obtained by
cams on a principal shaft mounted to revolve in bracket bearings attached to the
back of the machine's bed. The means for accomplishing this movement of the
slides from the cams are a rack fixedly connected to the underside of each slide,
a pinion, mounted to revolve within the bed framing at each end, meshing with
the teeth of each of the racks, and a rocking arm, connected to the axis of each of
the pinions, having at its end a roller which bears against the acting face of its
particular cam fixed upon the principal shaft, and from which the movement of
the slides carrying the tool holders is obtained. An adjustment screw comprising
a screw pin working through the saddle carrying the slide is provided, whereby a
greater or less forward movement of the tool holders is obtained.
Centrally between the advancing and retiring tool holders, as aforesaid, and
mounted upon the machine bed, is the work holding and feeding mechanism con-
sisting essentially of an adjustable saddle riding upon the bed, formed at its front
into an upwardly directed extension to constitute a holding jaw or stop for the
work, and having working upon its rear side a transversely back and forth moving
slide, actuated by a lever jointed to a bracket extension of the saddle and worked
by a cam off the principal shaft. Standing up from the saddle over the transverse
slide, but allowing the said slide to travel between it and the saddle, is a hopper or
container wherein is placed the articles to be operated upon; the shape of the

page_text: container being such that the said articles lie geometrically one on top of the other
and are fed forward at the front part of its open bottom, which constitutes the
outlet, by their own gravitation. The transversely working slide, as aforesaid,
has a sinking or groove within it at its forward end, and rear of this is a vertical
projection, the former to constitute a seating or recess into which falls, one at a
time, the articles to be fed forward by the slide to the tools and within which the
said article is held while operated upon, and the latter a means for loosening the
articles in the hopper each time the slide is reciprocated, and so prevent them
wedging. The articles as they drop one by one into the sinking or groove each
time the same comes under the hopper are fed forward by the slide until they are
central with the bed when it is held momentarily while the tools come up at each
end and do their work, after which the feed slide and also the tools recede until
another article or blank is fed forward. The article is held in the recess or sinking
while being operated upon by being gripped by the tip of the upwardly extending
projection arm at the front of the feed saddle, it being held rigid between them as
if between two jaws. The movement of the feed slide can be adjusted in respect
of the throw of the lever working it.
On the outside of the front end of the hopper containing the articles is fixed
a yielding spring steel arm, bifurcated at its lower end the branches of which
come in front of the article lying within the recess in the feed slide, its purpose
being to hold the said article within the recess until the slide has been moved
forward for the article to be gripped by the projecting jaw, before described, at
the front of the feed saddle. The bifurcated yielding arm, as aforesaid, does not
grip the article for the full forward movement of the slide but delivers it between
the inclined ends of a guiding fork, carried upon one end of a lever jointed to a
bracket adjustably fixed to the machine's bed, the other end of which lever is
connected to and operated by a cam upon the principal shaft. This guiding lever
centres and keeps straight the article until it is gripped between the fixed and
movable jaws, after which it instantly swings out of the way to enable the cutters
in the tool holders to advance and operate upon the ends of the article.
Upon the top side of the fixed jaw is attached a spring arm, the one end of
which is automatically raised by the article when brought forward to the fixed
jaw to be gripped, its purpose being to pull the said article out of the sinking or
groove in the feed slide when the said slide recedes, and to act as a kicker-out from
the fixed jaw, the article falling through a gap in the bed into a receiver.
Springs are used for bringing most of the moving parts back to their normal
positions, and the hopper or container for the work is made detachable to accommo-
date the blanks or the particular articles being shaped.
Instead of the feed slide a rotating disc or plate may be used, having a number
of channels or pockets upon its periphery. The hopper is elevated above this
disc and feeds into the pockets the articles, which are brought into line with the
tools by an intermittent rotary movement being imparted to the disc or plate.
In facing small articles a distance piece or gauge is fixed between the tool
carrying slides, by which their work can be accurately determined, and the fixed
jaw is made adjustable so as to accommodate the different diameters.
This invention is invaluable in shouldering or shanking rivets or cross pins for
drive chain, and for facing and countersinking the roller or blocks thereof, or for
any kind of work where accuracy to a thousandth part of an inch is essential.
Dated this 11th day of June 1897
W. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
11, Burlington Chambers, New Street, Birmingham,
Agents for Applicant.

page_text: An Improved Self-feeding Lathe for Shouldering, Shanking, Facing,
Countersinking, or otherwise Shaping small Articles such as
Rivets, Pins, Studs, Bushes, and Rollers.
I, GEORGE FREDERICK BULL, Works Manager to The Alfred Appleby Twin
Roller Chain Syndicate Limited, residing at 11, Cannon Hill Road, Balsall Heath,
in the City of Birmingham, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement:-
This invention consists in an improved construction of self-feeding lathe for
shoudering, shanking, facing, counter-sinking, drilling or otherwise shaping
small articles such as rivets, pins, studs, bushes, and rollers. The said lathe has
been designed on inexpensive lines and the feeding mechanism only requires to
be kept supplied with the articles to be operated upon, so that one attendant could,
in some cases, look after a number of machines.
The improved lathe is characterised by a pair of advancing and retiring rotating
tool holders non-rotating abutments or one of each, automatically operated, a
combination work holder and feed, a supply hopper carrying the articles to be fed,
and a guiding fork or part for centreing or guiding the article before being
operated upon by the cutting tools; all the moving parts of which are self-acting
and worked from a rotary shaft. The advancing, retiring, and rotating tool
holders, as aforesaid, which carry the shaping cutters, are each mounted within
suitable upright bearings upon independent slides or saddles adapted to work
upon a bed, and their movement is to advance to the work simultaneously and to
return again when the work has been operated upon, and then have a period of
rest. The movement of the slides is obtained by cams off a principal shaft
mounted to revolve in bracket bearings attached to the back of the machine's bed.
The means for accomplishing this movement of the slides from the cams are a rack,
fixedly connected to the underside of each slide, a pinion, mounted to revolve
within the saddle carrying the slide, and which meshes with the teeth of each of
the racks, and a rocking arm, connected to the axis of each of the pinions, having
at its end a roller which bears against the acting face of its particular cam fixed
upon the principal shaft, and from which the movement of the slides carrying the
tool holders is obtained. An adjustment screw, comprising a screw pin working
through the saddle carrying the slide, is provided whereby a greater or less
forward movement of the tool holders is obtained.
Centrally disposed between the advancing and retiring tool holders non-rotating
abutments or one of each, as aforesaid, and mounted upon the machine's
bed is the work holding and feeding mechanism, the same consisting essentially
of a rotatable work-carrying wheel, disc or its equivalent having a number of
channels or pockets upon its periphery, and a feed hopper disposed above the said
wheel, into and from which the articles composing the work is fed and liberated
accurately or mathematically one by one and allowed to fall upon the work-
carrying wheel; all of which said parts are carried by an adjustable saddle-like
bracket mounted upon the machine's bed and are actuated indirectly by means of
cams off the principal shaft. A projecting jaw consisting of a back and forth
moving rod is mounted upon the adjustable saddle-like bracket or upon the lathe
bed, and is operated by a cam off the principal shaft, for the purpose of gripping
the work and holding it upon or within the work-carrying wheel while the
advancing and retiring tools before described operate upon it.
In the accompanying sheets of drawings the invention is shown applied for the

page_text: purpose of facing and counter-sinking the bores of rollers which are used in the
building up of twin and single roller cycle drive chains.
In Fig. 1 is represented an elevation of the off side of the machine, and presents
clearly to view the main portion of the working parts, namely:-the advancing and
retiring rotating tool holders and their means of support and reciprocation, the
principal shaft from which the movements are obtained through the cams, and the
means for giving an intermittent rotation to the work-carrying wheel or disc.
Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section upon the line F Fig. 1, and clearly shows the
wheel or disc which feeds forward the articles to be operated upon, the means for
accurately or mathematically feeding the said articles to the said wheel or disc
and guiding them in their passage to the advancing and retiring tool holders, and
also the means for gripping or holding the articles fed within the pockets of the
work-carrying wheel whilst the advancing and retiring tool holders with their
rotating cutters accomplish the task set them. In this view it will be seen that
the work-carrying wheel advances the articles one after another into the path of
the counter-sinking tools, and after a time permits the said articles to fall there-
from one by one. Fig. 3 is a detail view illustrative of the mechanism for impart-
ing an intermittent rotation to the work-carrying wheel, and comprehends in it
means for adjusting the amount of rotation. Fig. 4 is also a detail view, it showing
the relative positions of the work-carrying wheel and the feed, and also how the
former is carried in the saddle-like bracket; so also are Figs. 5 and 6, the former
showing in top side plan the positions of the rotating tools, the work carrying
wheel or disc, and the back and forth moving rod for holding the work in the
wheel while the tools advance to it and do their work, whilst the latter fig. shows
the front of the feed box in elevation and the slide for liberating the articles one
by one from the upper part thereof.
Fig. 7 is a modification wherein a slide is used instead of a wheel for carrying
the work, but the means for operating it and holding the articles thereon whilst
the tools advance are, to all intents and purposes, the same as in the previous figs.
In the said figs. the same letters of reference are used to indicate similar parts.
a is the lathe's bed, which is formed with undercut edges a³, and a³ are the
supports or legs upon which it is mounted. c is the principal shaft upon which
are mounted the respective cams for controlling the movement of the mechanisms,
the same being mounted within bracket bearings, c³, c³, attached to the offside
of the bed a, and driven by a cone speed pulley, e, through a belt or other well
known contrivance. d and e are the advancing and retiring rotatable tool holders
or movable lathe heads which are adapted to carry the cutters, d², e², for operating
upon the work, the said holders being preferably formed of ordinary rotatablo
spindles, e (having driving pullies, ½, e) which are journalled in upright
bearings, d, e, of traversing slides, d, e, the latter being mounted upon 4
saddles, d, e, carried upon the top of the lathe's bed. These saddles are clamped
to the said bed by any well known means, and have a fine longitudinal adjustment
thereon brought about by rotating screw bolts ds, which are carried by bearer
plate on the lathe's bed and take into screwed boxes do, formed within depend-
ing extensions d¹¹ of the saddles, but only one of these adjusting screw bolts are 4
shown in the drawings. The slides de, which carry the rotating tools, are
traversed back and forth or made to advance to the work and to again retire,
within the said saddles as a bearing, by toothed pinions, f, g, carried upon
axes, f, suitably journalled in the saddles, meshing with toothed rack
portions f, g³ attached to the underside of the slides carrying the rotating tools, 5
the said toothed pinions or sectors being rotated or rocked by short arms f, g,
through the intervention of face cams, f, g, carried upon the principal shaft, c,
before mentioned, the contact of the said short arms with the cams being made
through the medium of rollers fo, go.
Thus are the slides carrying the cutters made to simultaneously advance to the 5
work, so that the said cutters operate upon it, and to again retire after accomplish-

page_text: ing the task by one rotation of the principal shaft c, the cams f5 95 being so shaped
and set that the said slides have a period of rest whilst the feeding and other
mechanisms are brought into play.
Carried upon a set back vertical upright or pillar part 2 of a saddle-like
bracket h, which is adjustably mounted upon the bed a, and arranged so that its
periphery rotates on the centre line of the cutters of the advancing and retiring
tool holders is the work carrying wheel or disc i, whose axis of rotation is disposed
parallel and level with the centres of the lathe heads. This work carrying wheel
is set up on its periphery with a number of pockets or concave seatings 2³, and is
mounted upon a spindle 3 which takes its bearing within the pillar part h³, as
aforesaid, and a sleeve extension h³ standing out from its side, and which receives
an intermittent rotation for the purpose of carrying the wheel or disc forward and
the work to the tools. The means for imparting the intermittent rotary motion
to the spindle 3 consists of a ratchet toothed wheel it, which is mounted upon its
one end, a pawl ³, carried by a lever 6, which engages the ratchet wheel's teeth,
and an half-moon cam 7 mounted fast upon the principal shaft c, the contact
between the lever's end and the said cam being made by an adjustable roller 28,
whose fulcrum pin takes through a slot in the lever's free end and is clamped
there. This lever is loosely slung upon the sleeve extension h³ of the pillar
part 2 of the saddle like bracket h, and the pawl is attached to its face by means
of a small lever 10 and a screw bolt and nut, the latter for rocking the said lever
and then rigidly clamping it in position, which adjusts the number of teeth the
pawl will take in the movement of the ratchet wheel.
The extreme upper part 4 of the pillar part of the saddle-like bracket h is
designed into a feed hopper, wherein to the rollers x to be fed to the work carrying
wheel and by it to the cutters are supplied, and a vertical channel 5 is formed
within the said feed hopper to lead from a gauge shoot h6 onto the pocketted
periphery of the work carrying wheel i. This gauge shoot, down which the rollers
are first passed by the attendant, is for the purpose of testing the thickness of the
said rollers before they are allowed to pass into the feed hopper, and this gauge
shoot is surrounded and carried by a tray h² fastened to the extreme upper part /*
of the bracket h, the said tray being used for stowing the rollers or the work. The
vertical channel h³ is only of sufficient width to admit of the rollers passing down
in a vertical line one on top of the other, and it is partially open at its front 1,8
in order to obtain access to the rollers within it should anything go wrong in their
feed, whilst it is closed at its back. The partially closed front he is made by
overlapping attached plates as shown in Figs. 4 and 6.
Working across the vertical channel h³, transversely to the lathe bed, so as to
make the feed of the rollers a to the working carrying wheel i intermittent, and
to prevent them jamming in the channel, is a traversing escapement bolt j,
operated by a rocking lever j2 which receives its movement from a cam upon
the principal shaft c. This lever is jointed to the saddle-like bracket h through
an extension 4 standing out from the pillar portion 2, and its connection with
the cam is made by an anti-friction roller, j³, and to the escapement bolt j by
a peg, 6, a slot j', and a spring ; a coiled or other spring keeping the roller
upon the lower arm of the said lever against the cam . This latter is, as shown
in Fig. 2, of a three-quarter circular shape, and the roller is upon its rise, the
shape of its fall being indicated by the dotted line 710. The particular connection
means of the lever to the bolt is for the purpose of preventing trouble in case a
roller should become jammed in the bolt's hollow inner part 1, through which
each one has to pass in its turn, as should such a jamming take place the move-
ment of the lever would be allowed by the compression of the spring 18 and the
said bolt would not be in any way forced. The hollow inner part, 7, of the bolt
is of a box formation, it being open upon the one side as shown at j¹² in Fig. 4, and
it has inlet and outlet gaps, 13, 14, formed within its top and bottom edges, the
said gaps not being opposite each other. Through these gaps the rollers pass
one by one into and out of the hollow inner part in such a manner that when

page_text: one is let in from the vertical channel the one previously passed through is pre-
vented from being forced upwards back again thereinto by the rotation of the work
carrying wheel.
A guide or forked part n, carried by the bracket h, hoods over that part of the
work carrying wheel between the feed channel 5 and the point where each roller
is operated upon, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 5, and piercings m³, m³, clearly
shown in Fig. 5, are formed within its sides to admit of the passage of the
cutters de² to the work.
The rollers are held rigid within their respective pockets whilst the cutters
are at work by a jaw, consisting of a back and forth moving rod n¹ working
through an auxiliary bracket n² attached to the saddle bracket h. This back and
forth moving rod is operated by a double armed lever n³, fulcrummed to the auxiliary
bracket n² at nt and connected at its one end, n³, to the said rod, the movement for
rocking the said lever being transmitted by a cam o, upon the principal shaft c,
through the medium of the plunger o² working transversely through a boss portion
in the lower part of the lathe's bed a. This plunger o faces the cam o with an
anti-friction roller o³ upon its one end, and the other end of is made adjustable in
respect of lengthening or shortening the said plunger and so adjusting the rocking
movement of the lever n³, the said end of abutting against the long arm of the
lever n³, which latter is kept in this position by the spring of which has a pulling
in tendency upon the said long arm. The formation of the cam o is very similar
to that of the cam 3, as its movement of the particular parts are alike in character.
In working, the rollers are fed by way of the gauge shoot down the channel h³,
and are allowed to escape one at a time into the lower part thereof and to the
pockets of the wheel by the bolt j, after which they are carried round by the
said wheel until each in its turn comes within the path of the moving bolt, n¹
when it is firmly jammed by the said bolt whilst the cutters d² e² are traversed
forward to act upon them.
Immediately the said cutters recede the roller gripped is freed by the rod n,
and the wheel i can then receive a partial rotation to bring another roller forward,
whilst the feeding into the wheel is continually working in time with the work
carrying wheel.
In the modification shown in Fig. 7 the articles comprising the work drop one
by one onto the slide i, and are carried by it, through the cam movement, to be
gripped between the seating it lies in and an immovable jaw n whilst the
cutters, 2, e, come forward and accomplish their work. The jaw n is capped by
a spring arm n³, which is displaced by the article whilst being gripped, but which
forms the means for withdrawing the article from the seating and kicking it out
so that the slide i can return with its seating empty to receive another article
from the feed.
It is obvious that certain details comprised in the movements can be modified
to suit the particular article to be operated upon without departing from this
invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is:-
First. In combination in a self-feeding lathe, a pair of advancing and retiring
heads or spindles carrying either rotating cutters, non-rotating abutments, or one
of each, a rotatable work carrying wheel or disc adapted to carry the work and
to bring it in line with the said cutters or abutments, and a back and forth moving
rod to hold the work within the carrying wheel whilst it is being operated upon,
substantially as set forth.
Second. In combination in a self-feeding lathe, a pair of advancing and retiring
heads or spindles carrying either rotating cutters, non-rotating abutments, or one
of each, a rotatable work carrying wheel or disc adapted to carry the work and
to bring it into line with the said cutters or abutments, a back and forth moving

page_text: rod to hold the work within the carrying wheel whilst it is being operated upon,
and an automatic feed for the purpose of accurately or mathematically loading
the said wheel or disc with the work, substantially as set forth.
Third. In a self-feeding lathe the means described for automatically advancing
and receding the heads or spindles carrying the cutters or the like, and the
devices d d do for finely adjusting the said means and the movement of the
heads, substantially as set forth.
Fourth. In a self-feeding lathe as described, the combination with the work
carrying wheel of the means for intermittently rotating it and of finely adjusting
the degree of rotation (parts 210 and 2 and 28 and 29), substantially as set forth.
Fifth. In a self-feeding lathe substantially as described, arranging the feed
hopper to surmount the work carrying wheel and so that the articles will fall
therefrom onto the said wheel by their gravitating effect.
Sixth. In a self-feeding lathe having a work carrying wheel and the feed hopper
arranged as described, the means for allowing the articles to escape one by one
relative to the rotation of the work carrying wheel, and the means for guiding
them upon the wheel to the cutters, substantially as described.
Seventh. In a self feeding lathe having a back and forth moving rod such as n¹,
the means for operating the said rod and adjusting its operation, substantially as
described.
Eighth. In combination in a self feeding lathe, a pair of advancing and retiring
heads or spindles carrying either rotating cutters, non-rotating abutments, or one
of each, a work carrying slide adapted to carry the work from the feed and to
bring it into line with the said cutters or abutments and to be gripped by an
immovable jaw whilst it is being operated upon, substantially as described.
Ninth. In a self feeding lathe, the particular arrangement and mounting of
the parts in combination, substantially as described with reference to Figs. 1 to 6
Dated this 12th day of March 1898.
W. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
11, Burlington Chambers, New Street, Birmingham.
Also at Liverpool, London, and Manchester,
Patent Agents for the Applicant.