CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MAKING OR MANUFACTURING METAL SCREWS
Year: 1836

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MILES
BERRY, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the Parish of Saint
Andrew, Holborn, and County of Middlesex, Patent Agent and Mechanical
Draftsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by Ilis Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing
date at Westminster, the Sixth day of October, in the seventh year of His
reign, and in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-six,
did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Miles Berry, His especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Miles Berry, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Miles Berry, my executors, administrators, 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 mentioned, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, an Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS FOR MAKING OR MANUFACTURING METAL SCREWS," being a coni-
munication from a foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters is
contained a proviso, obliging me, the said Miles Berry, 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 inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in

page_text: part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being inereunto
had, will more fully and at large appear.
f
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Miles Berry, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon
(that is to say):-
:-
These improvements in machinery or apparatus for making or manufacturing
metal screws apply to that part of the process of making or manufacturing
such screws whereby the thread or worm of the screw is cut or formed upon
the shaft, and are intended more particularly to be applied in the manufacture
of what is usually denominated "wood screws," or such other metal screws as
are formed out of shafts or blanks of metal previously prepared by cutting off
the required length from the piece of wire or rod, and forming the head thereon
by compressing one end in proper shaped tools, dies, or punches, and consists
in certain novel or improved constructions and arrangements of mechanism
for effecting this object, which will be. fully.illustrated by the accompanying
Drawings, and the following description thereof (that is to say):-Figures 1
and 2 are perspective views of the machine or mechanism, as seen on opposite
sides thereof; Fig. 3 is a plan view of a part of the mechanism or apparatus
for guiding and governing the motion of the spindle which carries the screwing
dies during the operation of cutting the thread or worm on the screw shafts;
Fig. 4 is an end view or vertical section of the same, looking towards the right-
hand end of Figure 3; and Fig. 5 is a representation of the apparatus which
is placed on the end of the spindle, and containing the dies for cutting the
screw threads, together with the levers and other parts by which they are
made to operate; Eig. 6 is an enlarged representation of the jaws or levers
which carry. the cutting dies, one of the side plates being removed to expose
the parts. In all these Figures the same letters and numbers of reference are
used to designate the same parts of the machinė. The spindle or mandril a, a, a;
carries the screwing. dies on one end at B, and revolves continuously, and at
the same time traverses forwards and backwards in suitable bearings; at its
other end is placed the leading, or guide screw C. The spindle is made to
revolve by means of a band or strap passed from a steam engine or other first
mover to the pulley or rigger wheel A, mounted on the shaft, or spindle.. The
jaws or levers h, h, in which the screwing dies or cutters are mounted, are
placed between cheek plates B, B, securely attached on to the end of the
mandril. The screwing dies are mounted at the outer extremities of the

page_text: levers h, h, and are fitted into grooves formed in the levers, and are retained
and regulated by set screws. m is the joint pin or fulcrum of the levers, the
inner extremities of which are jointed to the levers b, b, by which the jaws are
opened and closed; the lovers 6 having their other ends also jointed to the
sliding collar r, keyed on to the spindle, but so as to slide freely upon' it. It
will be seen by the Drawings that the jaws will be opened whenever the
levers are drawn back, which is effected by a cross bar or lever in connection
with the collet r, it being embraced by a cross piece acted upon by a sway bar
or hanging lever I. The sway bar or lever I is placed nearly vertically, and
passes through the table or bench of the machine, and vibrates on a joint pin =.
The weight J' tends to force the upper end of the lever I 'forward; or the
same effect may be produced by forcing back the lower end of the sway bar by
a' spring in any convenient manner. T is a lateh, connected by a joint to thie
sway lever I, and passes through a hole formed in the standard of the front
end bearing, and is forced upwards by a spring acting on its under side, 'anil
is latched to the standard by means of the projection or catch K, whenever the
sway bar has been passed back far enough for this purpose: 4 is a' projecting
stud or tappet on the latch, by which it is disengaged from the standard at the
proper time, this being effected by its coming into contact with the conical
collar 3 on the spindle. C is the guide screw or leader, placed upon the
spindle; the rake of its thread corresponding with that of the cutting dies, or
the one intended to be formed upon the screw'shaft. Under the guide screw
is placed the segment of a female screw a*; see the plan view, Fig. 3, which
is a representation of the apparatus by which the female screw is sustained
and disengaged from contact with the male screw at the proper period.
6, 6, is a horizontal platform, in which the female screw is mounted; this
platform works on joint pins ** at one end, and is capable of being depressed
at the other, so as to disengage the female screw from the guide screw. 'The
falling end of the platform passes through a hole in the side standard 2 of the
framework. k, k, is another sway lever, similar in its construction to that last
described; one of its uses is to disengage the female from the guide screw,
which it is made to do by the backward movement of the mandril a,'a, which
brings this lever into contact with an adjustable tappet or nut on the rod e,
the rod being passed through a slot in this second'sway lever, which lever, when
it comes into contact with the nut, causes the rod e, e, to act upon the levers f. f,
and d, d, which are jointed to one another (see Figs. 1, 3 and 4), and thereby to
draw the wedged-shaped piece c of the lever d inwards, when the platform b'; ';
will fall and disengage the female screw, and allow the weight g to carry the
mandril forward, which it does by drawing the lower end of the lever k out-

page_text: wards.
w is a spring, which acts upon the lever d. The operation of these
parts will be understood by inspecting the Drawing. It will be observed,
that the rod e passes through the standard of the back end bearing as well
through the lever k, and should have a spiral spring placed upon it to regulate
its action and receive the blow on its movement in forcing the levers f, f.
forwards. The screw blanks or shafts to be operated upon are fed into
the machine, and brought under the operation of the cutting dies by means of
a shallow drum or wheel, having holes formed in its periphery, through which
the screw blanks project, so as to be successively brought under the operation
of the screwing dies. The screw blanks or shafts, after being properly prepared,
are to be placed into holes made through the periphery of the drum wheel D,
which wheel is dish-shaped, or formed as a shallow drum, with one head seen
"best in Fig. 2. This wheel may be of cast iron or other metal, and on to the
inside of its periphery or rim there are pieces of cast steel or other hard metal,
'fastened by means of dovetails, or otherwise secured, so as to correspond with
the holes for receiving the blanks; these pieces of steel have also holes drilled
through them, and are countersunk, so as to adapt them to the heads of the
screw blanks, the countersunk mouths of the holes of these steel pieces are
fluted, jagged, or ridged, to prevent the blank from turning whilst its thread is
being cut. In order to hold the screw blank in its place when the screw is
being cut upon it, a steel pin v is made to press against its head. This pin is
placed in the end 5 of a cranked lever v¹, which lever is shewn detached in
Fig. 7; one end of this cranked lever has its bearing at 10 in the standard 2*,
and the other end in the bearing 11 of the standard 211; this lever is shaped
so as to form a crank, within which the wheel D is situated; the necessity of
this cranked form will be apparent as a part of the wheel D comes within the
line of the axis of the fulcrum, or bearings of the crank lever. The screw
blanks are successively brought under the operation of the dies by the following
means-There is a lever E (see Fig. 1) attached to the shaft v¹ of the crank
lever, and when the extremity of the lever E is raised, the pin v, which other-
wise presses upon the head of the screw blank, will be removed from contact
with it, but while the lever is kept down the pressure upon the head will be
continued. The weight p is suspended from a lever E, for the purpose of
pressing the pin v upon the head of the blank, which is continued while the
screw is cutting. The shaft or fulcrum x of the lever k has an upright arm
or lever i attached to it, and consequently moves with the lever K as it is put
in motion by the action of the spindle a, a. The arm i, as it passes backwards,
draws with it the hooked pall or clawker 8, and this pall draws the ratchet
wheel F round a part of a revolution, according to as many teeth as the pall

page_text: has passed over, thereby raising the weight G, which is attached by an arm to
the shaft of the ratchet wheel, until the weight passes the vertical line, when
it will immediately fall over by its gravity, and by raising the lever l*, brings a
fresh screw blank to be operated upon, as will be hereafter explained, and at
the same time the female screw is disengaged from the guide screw, and the
spindle or mandrel is forced suddenly forward by the action of the weights
already described. Upon the shaft of the ratchet wheel F there are two cams
h, h, (shewn by dots in Fig. 1,) which lift the two levers E and e*; these
parts are shewn detached in Figs. 8 and 9; one of the cams acts upon the
lever E, and the other cam upon that marked e*. The falling over of the
weight G brings these cams upwards against the levers and raises them. The
effect of raising the lever E will be to remove the pressure of the piu v from
the head of the screw blank which has just had its head or worm cut upon it,
and also to allow the wheel D to pass round far enough to bring another blank
into the position to be taken hold of by the cutting jaws. The lever e* is for
the purpose of moving the wheel D round, when it is at liberty to turn. A
vertical arm projects from this lever, and carries the feed arm or pall m',
which acts upon the ratchet wheel II, having the same number of teeth as
'there are blanks in the wheel D, the wheel being consequently carried round
the required distance at each movement of the pall. A is a rod, turning upon
a hinge joint of the bench, and has a pointed screw pin y at its upper end,
which takes into holes formed on the periphery of the drum, similar to those
on the plate of a dividing engine, thereby retaining the wheel D in the precise
position requred. The lever " is acted upon by the levers 71, 71, and the rod
and spring n', n³, so as to engage and disengage its pin with the drum wheel
by the motion of the lever *. It will be seen that there is a second ratchet
wheel F on the shaft of the tumbling weight G, which holds it in the position
given to it by the action of the rod S, the palls or clicks at u falling into the
notches as it advances, and retaining it until the weight falls over.
Having thus fully described all the parts of this machinery which are
necessary to enable a competent machinist to understand its operation, and to
construct the same by the aid of the Drawings to which it refers, I shall proceed
to state its action more clearly, and detail its manner of operation. The blanks
are placed by the attendant into the holes of the wheel D, formed on the
interior of the rim, where they are retained by their own gravity until they
arrive at the point where they are to be operated upon, viz, opposite the
cutting dies. It will be seen that all the motions of the machine result from
that of the wheel or rigger A. The machine is shewn in Fig. 2, with the
spindle a, a, drawn back by the female screw, being in contact with the guido

page_text: screw C, and the lever k has been carried back, so as to be nearly in contact
with the collet or nut on the rod e; on its further progress in this direction,
by moving the collet back, the toggle joint levers f, f, (Fig. 3,) are drawn
from a right line into an angle towards each other, consequently the
wedge c, which kept the female screw in contract with the guide screw, is
withdrawn, the platform b, b, falling away. The spindle being now free,
is pushed forward by the lever k, by means of the weight 9; at this time the
projection K of the latch T, holding against the standard 2, detains the
sway lever I, I, and the grooved collet and cross bar r, whilst the spindle
proceeds on sliding through them, and by these means the collet, from its
connexion with the jaws h, h, through the jointed levers b, b, opens the jaws
and screwing dies, so that they may be able to advance upon the blank; at
this period the conical collar 3 comes into contact with the tappet 4, on the
latch T (see Fig. 5), and by depressing it liberates the sway lever I, when the
weight J forces the upper end of this lever forward, and the levers b, b, con-
sequently close the jaws upon the blank, and thereby come into the proper
position to cut the thread on the screw shaft on the retreat of the spindle; the
motion of the lever k, which thus disengages the female from the guide screw,
also acts, by the means of the arm i and the hooked pall 8, to remove the
pressure from the head of the now threaded screw by means of the falling over
of the weight G, for at the same time the action of the cams on its shaft raises
the lever E, and removes the pressure; a new blank is brought into its
proper situation to have its thread or worm cut thereon by the operation of
the lever and it's fall, as already described. The screw blanks, as they have
the thread or worm cut upon them, 'pass round with the wheel D, until they
arrive at a point where they will fall out of their holes by their own gravity,
and are received into a trough, by which they are conducted off to a proper
receptacle.
Fig. 10 is a partial representation of another modification or arrrange-
ment of construction of this improved apparatus for cutting the thread or
worm on the screw blanks, and shewing a different mode of opening and
shutting the jaws or levers of the screwing. dies. The driving rigger A in
this instance is placed at the end of the mandrel or spindle, and a third
standard is introduced, as shewn in the Drawing; there is a joint in the
mandrel or spindle at b¹; d is a rod passed through the levers or jaws, upon
which a strong spiral spring d' is placed, for the purpose of keeping them
open. The cutting levers are jointed at c, and are closed by the cone B,
which is connected by a cross piece to the top of the sway bar or lever I. D
is a horizontal bar passing through the lower extremity of the sway bar I, to

page_text: which it is attached'; one end of the bar D passes through a hole or mortice
in the piece projecting from the bench. At this point is a projection or catch
on the upper side of the bar D, and underneath is the spring i, pressing the
bar upwards, and at the other extremity of the bar is the helical spring G:
Over the end of the bar D is placed a tumbler or bent lever E, to which is
attached by a joint the rod E, which passes through the back sway lever k, k.
It will be seen that as the top of the front sway lever I recedes while the
screw is cutting the lower end draws the horizontal bar D forward until the
projection on its upper side catches on to the top of the holes in the piece H,
it being pressed upwards by the spring i. This operation detains the bar in
this position until the cutting dies are carried forward to a position to com-
mence operating, at which instant. an adjustable nut 9 on the rod E comes in
contact with the sway bar k,. k, and by means of the rod and tumbler E
disengages the catch of the horizontal bar D, by pressing its end downwards,
and by the action of the spiral spring G, pulley K, and weight L, the foot of
the front sway bar I is forced back,,and its upper end forced forward, carrying
the conical piece B between the ends of the levers, and by expanding them
closes the dies or cutters on the
screw blank. The bearings through which
the spindle passes in the front standard are confined in it by a rod and spring
e, which permits them to move or vibrate with the spindle from the joint b¹.
The advantage derived by this method of moving the spindle is, that the guide
screw C is kept in its proper position, and is not affected by any difference in
the friction on cutting the worm or thread, and by means of the joint in the
spindle, and the spiral spring e, the dies or cutters are permitted to conform
themselves to any inequality or crook in the screw blank, whereby they are
allowed to cut a better thread or worm, if the blank should happen not to be:
placed in a direct line with the centre of the spindle.
Having now described the construction and operation of this improved
mechanism, I wish it to be understood that I do not mean or intend to clai:n
any of the parts separate or by themselves, but claim under the above in part
recited Letters Patent,
First, the general construction and arrangement of the mechanism as above
set forth and described, and particularly the method by which the sway lover
I is combined with the spindle a, a, and made to operate therewith and upon
the jaws or levers h, h, containing the dies for cutting the screw threads. I
also claim the combination and arrangement of the sway lever k, with the
spindle a, and female screw for keeping it in and throwing it out of contact
with the guide screw on the spindle; and also the combination of the levers
E and ', with the lever k and its arm i, acting through the medium of the

page_text: pall or ratchet rod S to raise the weight G, which, when turned over in the
way described, brings the cams h¹ into contact with and raises the levers E
and in the manner and for the purposes set forth. I also claim the manner
of feeding in or bringing the screw blanks under the operation of the cutting
dies by means and use of the wheel D, or other analogous contrivance for
receiving an hole in the screw blanks, whilst the thread or worm is being cut
thereon by the screwing dies.
And, lastly, the combination of the two sway levers I and k, by means
of the rods D and E, in the manner and for the purpose described under
Fig. 10.
In witness whereof, I, the said Miles Berry have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Sixth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven.
MILE (L.S.) BEKKI.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Sixth day of April, in the
seventh year of the reign of His Majesty King William the Fourth, the said
Miles Berry came before our said Lord the King in His Chancery, and
acknowledged the instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein con-
tained and specified, in form above written. And also the instrument
aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the
fifty-fifth year of the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the Sixth day of April, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-