IMPROVEMENTS IN TURNING APPARATUS FOR MAKING GAS BURNERS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Hector Alexander, of Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, Gas Burner Manufacturer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN TURNING APPARATUS FOR MAKING GAS BURNERS."
Sealed the 3rd June 1862, and dated the 10th December 1861..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Hector Alexander at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 10th
December 1861.
I, HECTOR ALEXANDER, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Gas Burner Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TURNING APPARATUS FOR MAKING GAS BURNERS," to be
as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention of improvements in turning apparatus for making gas burners
has for object to make the operations partly self-acting, and generally to
facilitate and increase the rapidity of manufacture.
In a modification of apparatus embodying the. improvements, the rod to be
shaped into burners by turning is held and rotated in a headstock, such as is
ordinarily used. Three tools (or it may be more in some cases) are brought
to bear upon the rod, one shaping out the outside, a second finishing it, and a
third boring out the interior. The holder of the first tool is made capable of
a slight movement inward and outward, whereby the-diameter-of-the-burner is
varied, and is mounted upon a slide which moves on guides parallel to tho
headstock. As the burner is being gradually turned down into shape this

page_text: slide is made to move along by means of a weight or weighted lever, which is
put back at the termination of the operation, and restores the tools to the
starting position. At the back part of the tool holder there is a small anti-
friction pulley, which bears against a pattern guide, and it is the shape of this
guide which determines that of the burner. This pattern guide is centred on
a pin, so that it can be moved out of the way whilst the tool is moved back,
and it is put into acting position by a lever, being held and supported there by
a second lever. or stop held up behind it by a spring. This last stop lever is
put down to allow the pattern.guide to move back when required by an arm
fixed to the tool holder slide. The finishing and boring tools are carried by
an arm or bracket jointed to the tool holder slide in such a way that they can
be turned over out of the way.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Hector Alexander in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 9th
June 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HECTOR
ALEXANDER, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Gas Burner
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Hector Alexander, Her special licence that I, the said Hector
Alexander, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Hector Alexander, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
TURNING APPARATUS FOR MAKING GAS BURNERS," upon the condition, amongst
others, that I, the said Hector Alexander, my executors or administrators,-by-
an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
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 inime-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: -
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Hector Alexander, 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 follow-
ing statement in writing, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
My said Invention of improvements in turning apparatus for making gas
burners has for object to make the operations partly self-acting, and generally
to facilitate and increase the rapidity of manufacture.
And in order that the nature of my said Invention, and the manner or per-.
forming the same, may be' properly understood, I have hereunto appended a
Sheet of explanatory Drawings, representing a modification of apparatus_as
constructed with my improvements.
Figure 1 of the said Drawings is a front elevation, and Figure 2 is a plan
of the apparatus, and the same reference letters mark the same parts in both
Figures.
The apparatus is fixed upon a bench or frame, of which only the top shears A
are shown in the Figures. The rod B, to be shaped into burners by turning,
is held and rotated in a chuck C upon the spindle D of a headstock E, such
as is ordinarily used. Three tools F, G, H, (or it may be more in some cases)
are brought to bear upon the rod B, one F shaping out the outside, a second G
finishing it, and a third H boring out the interior. The holder I of the first
tool F is made capable of a slight movement backward and forward (or inward
and outward), whereby the diameter of the burner is varied or tapered; and
this tool holder I is mounted upon a slide or sliding frame J, which moves on
guides K, fixed on a table or platform L parallel to the headstock E. The
tools are made to act on the burner by the movement in the direction of the
arrow of the slide J, which is made to move thus by the action of a weighted
lever M. This lever M is fixed upon an axle N mounted in standards O at
the left-hand end of the apparatus, and the axle N has attached to it at right-
angles to the lever. M an arm P, connected by a link Q to the slide J. From
the link there projects up a pin R, upon which the tool holder I is centred
by means of a long arm S, this arrangement permitting of the backward
and forward adjustment of the tool F already mentioned. At the back part
of the tool holder I there is a small antifriction pulley T, which bears against
a pattern guide U, and it is the shape of this guide which determines that of
the burner, the tool holder I being kept against it by a cord and weight V.
This pattern-guide.U.is.centred on a pin W, so that it can-be-moved-backwards-
out of the way whilst the tool holder I is returned to its starting position.
Whilst acting the pattern guide U is held in position by a stop X upon a

page_text: lever Y, beneath which there is a spring tending to keep it up.
At the end
of the operation the lever Y is depressed to allow the pattern guide to pass over
its stop X by an arm Z, fast on a spindle a, mounted in standards 6, and having
at its front end another arm c, into contact with which last the tool holder I
is brought as the turning of the burner is being completed. The pattern
guide U is afterwards moved forward again into its place by a lever d, con-
nected by a link e to an arm f on the lever axle N. The finishing and boring
tools G, H, are carried by an arm or bracket 9, jointed to the tool holder
slide J; and this arm 9 can be turned over out of the way when fixing the rod
or burner-blank B in its chuck. The finishing tool G slides on a rest h, whilst
the first cutting tool F slides under the inverted rest i, the turning strain
being upwards on that side. The apparatus is represented with the parts in
positions ready for starting, the lever M being held up by a bent spring j. To
start the operation the lever M is forced down by means of the handle out of
the bent rest near the top of the spring, and then descends by the action of
the weight m. The lever M descends, moving forward the slide J, as, already
explained, and thereby causing the tools to act on the burner blank B until an
adjustable stop n upon it reaches the slide. By that time the pattern guide U
will have been released, and the lever M can be raised up again, thereby
moving the parts back again to their original positions. The burners being
thus turned; are marked for cutting off by a lever p, jointed to a bracket q,
and are finally cut off by means of a hand tool.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is or may be performed, I have to state that I do not restrict
myself to the precise details herein described or delineated, but that what I
consider to be novel and original, and claim as the Invention secured to me
by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is, the combining of
details constituting self-acting or partly self-acting contrivances for turning
gas burners, substantially as herein described and delineated.
In witness. whereof, I, the. said Hector Alexander, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.