IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC CARTRIDGE CASES, AND IN MACHINERY TO RE EMPLOYED IN THE SAID MANUFACTURE
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Richard Bayliss, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC CARTRIDGE CASES, AND IN MACHINERY
TO RE EMPLOYED IN THE SAID MANUFACTURE."
Sealed the Sth September 1877, and dated the 4th April 1877.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Richard Bayliss at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 4th April 1877.
THOMAS RICHARD BAYLISS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Mechanical Engineer.
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC
CARTRIDGE CASES, AND IN MACHINERY TO BE EMPLOYED IN THE SAID MANU-
FACTURE."
In the ordinary manufacture of metallic cartridge cases a disc of metal of a thick-
ness equal to that of the head of the cartridge case to be made is operated upon by
a series of dies or tools and pressure, according to the well-known method called the
drawing-through process, the required shape of the head, percussion cap chamber,
and anvil, as well as that of the flange, being also produced by dies or tools and
pressure. By this method of manufacture the metal is exposed to great strain in
passing from the disc form to the tubular form, and the thickness of the walls of the
cartridge case produced varies at different parts. Further, the dies or tools employed
are subject to great wear and tear, and require frequent renewal.
In manufacturing metallic cartridge cases according to my Invention, I take a
disc of metal having about the thickness required in the head of the cartridge case
to be manufactured. By the tools employed for cutting out these discs the per-
cussion cap chamber is partly formed in the centre of the disc. I support this thick
disc between two centres, preferably situated vertically, so that the disc can rotate
between the said centres. The said disc is operated upon by one or more pairs of
rolls, by which treatment the metal is reduced in thickness and the diameter of the
disc increased. The said rolls do not operate upon the central portion of the disc,
which is left of the original thickness for the formation of the head of the cartridge
case, the portions of the disc surrounding the central or head portion being alone
operated upon or reduced in thickness by the rolls. The rolls are situated radially
with respect to the disc, and when I employ two pairs of rolls I prefer to place

page_text: them opposite to each other, that is, in the direction of a diameter to the disc.
Whero more than two pairs of rolls are employed, I prefer to place them equidistant
from one another. The discs thus formed are converted into metallic cartridge cases
by the drawing-through and heading processes, the number of drawings being much
less than that required when a thick disc is operated upon by the drawing-through
tools, which tools in the ordinary manufacture have both to reduce the thickness of
the metal and to give it a tubular form.
In metallic cartridge cases made according to my Invention the metal is much
stronger and more uniform in thickness than in cartridge cases made wholly by the
drawing-through process.
My improvements in machinery to be employed in the manufacture of metallic
cartridge cases consist of the combination of a pair of centres for supporting the
thick disc to be operated upon with one or more pairs of rolls for reducing the
marginal portions of the metal of the disc. These rolls have their axes parallel to
the plane of the disc, and consequently perpendicular to the axes of the centres
between which the disc is supported. The said rolls rotate in the direction proper
to give a rotation to the disc operated upon by them, and are by preference geared
together and take their motion from a common shaft. By making one roll of each
pair, say, for example, the under roll, somewhat longer than the upper roll, the disc
after having been operated upon has the whole of its under surface in the same
plane, the reduction of thickness having been effected from the upper side of the
disc. By making both rolls of the same length the reduction of thickness takes
place from both sides of the disc.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Thomas Richard Bayliss in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th September 1877.
THOMAS RICHARD BAYLISS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Mechanical Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC
CARTRIDGE CASES, AND IN MACHINERY TO BE EMPLOYED IN THE SAID MANU-
FACTURE"
In the ordinary manufacture of metallic cartridge casos a disc of metal of a thick-
ness equal to that of the head of the cartridge case to be made is operated upon by
a series of dies or tools and pressure, according to the well known method called the
drawing-through process, the required shape of the head, percussion cap chamber,
and anvil, as well as that of the flange being also produced by dies or tools and
pressure.
By this method of manufacture the metal is exposed to great strain in passing from
the disc form to the tubular form, and the thickness of the walls of the cartridge
case produced varies at different parts. Further, the dies or tools employed are
subject to great wear and tear, and require frequent renewal.
In manufacturing metallic cartridge cases according to my Invention, I take a
disc of metal having about the thickness required in the head of the cartridge case
to be manufactured. By the tools employed for cutting out these discs the per-
cussion cap chamber may be partly formed in the centre. I support this thick disc
and make it rotate upon one or between two centres, preferably situated vertically.
The said disc is operated upon by one or more pairs of rolls, by which treatment the
metal is reduced in thickness and the diameter of the disc increased. The said rolls
do not operate upon the central portion of the disc which is left of the original
thickness for the formation of the head of the cartridge case, the portions of the disc
surrounding the central or head portion being alone operated upon or reduced in thick-
ness by the rolls. The rolls are situated radially with respect to the disc, and when I
employ two pairs of rolls I prefer to place them opposite to each other, that is, in
the direction of a diameter to the disc. When more than two pairs of rolls are

page_text: employed I prefer to place them equidistant from one another. The discs thus
formed are converted into metallic cartridge cases by the drawing-through and
heading processes, the number of drawings being much less than that required when
a thick disc is operated upon by the drawing-through tools, which tools in the
ordinary manufacture have both to roduce the thickness of the metal and to give it
a tubular form.
In metallic cartridge cases made according to my Invention, the metal is much
stronger and more uniform in thickness than in cartridge cases made wholly by the
drawing-through process.
My improvements in machinery to be employed in the manufacture of metallic
cartridge cases consist of the combination of one or a pair of centres for supporting
the thick disc to be operated upon with one or more pairs of rolls for reducing the
marginal portions of the metal of the disc. These rolls have their axos parallel to
the plane of the disc, and consequently perpendicular to the axes of the centre or
centres by which the disc is supported. The said rolls rotate in the direction proper
to give a rotation to the disc operated upon by them, and are by preference geared
together and take their motion from a common shaft. By making one roll of each
pair, say, for example, the under roll, somewhat longer than the upper roll, the disc
after having been operated upon has the whole of its under surface in the samo
plane, the reduction of thickness having been effected from the opposite side of tho
disc. By making both rolls of the same length the reduction of thickness takes
place from both sides of the disc,
I will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings the
manner in which my Invention may be performed.
Figure 1 represents in plan; Figure 2, in edge view; and Figure 3 in section, a thick
dise of metal, drawn double size, of the kind which I use in manufacturing cartridge
casos according to my Invention, the said dises having about the thickness of tho
hends of the cartridge cases to be made. By the tools used for cutting out the discs,
Figures 1, 2, and 3, a central depression at a is made in one of the faces of the
discs. From this central depression the cap chamber may be formed, the said
central depression also serving as a guide for the centre to engage in, by which
the thick disc is supported in the marginal reducing machine herein-after described.
Figure 4 represents in plan, and Figure 5 in section, the thick disc, Figures 1, 2,
and 3, after it has been operated upon, so as to reduce its marginal parts only, the
central portion of the disc being left of the original thickness. The reduced
marginal parts of the blauk, Figures 4 and 5, are marked b, and the central thick
portion is marked c.
Figure 6 represents in section and elevation a partly made cartridge case, which
has been formed by the Drawing through process from the disc or blank, Figures 4
and 5, the head of the partly formed cartridge case being made from the thick
central part c of the blank, and the walls of the case from the thin marginal
parts b, b, of the blank. The partly made cartridge case, Figure 6, is finished and
headed by the ordinary drawing through and heading processes.
Figure 7 represents in plan, and Figure 8 in section, a blank of the kind shown
in Figures 4 and 5, but having a larger central depression in it. I do not however
confine myself to any particular size of the said central depression.
I will next describe the machine, which I prefer to use for producing the blank,
Figures 4 and 5, from the thick discs, Figures 1, 2, and 3, that is to say, for reducing
by a rolling operation the marginal parts of the disc, leaving the central part
unoperated upon.
Figure represents a front elevation, and Figure 10, a side elevation of the
said machine; Figure 11 is a vertical section of the same; Figure 12 is a horizontal
section of the same taken on the line A, B.
Figure 11 and Figure 13 is a side elevation of one of the cam boxes and its cams,
by which the rising and falling motion is given to the upper rolls and the sliding
centre on which the disc rotates during the rolling operation.
Figure 14 is a vertical section of a portion of the machine drawn to a larger

page_text: scale, the said section being taken in a plane parallel to the faces of one of the pairs
of rolls, and Figure 15 is a front elevation of the two pairs of rolls and the sliding
centre of the machine.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in Figures 9 to 15.
c, d, are the two upper rolls, and e,f, are the two lower rolls of the machine. The
rolls c, d, are separated from each other to a distance equal to the diameter of the
central part of the disc which is to be left of the original thickness, and the lower
rolls cf, are separated from each other a less distance than the upper rolls c, d, as
represented. Each of the four rolls c, d, e, f, is carried by an independent shaft;
these shafts are marked respectively c,d,e,f. The rolls c, e, constitute a pair
operating on one side of the centre of the disc, and the rolls d, f, constituto another
pair on the opposite side of the centre of the disc.
The opposed or acting parts of the rolls of each pair travel in the same direction;
this direction with respect to one pair being opposite to that of the other pair, as
will be understood by an examination of Figures 14 and 15, in which the direction
of the motion of the rolls is indicated by arrows. The lower rolls e, f, have only a
rotatory motion, but the upper rolls c, d, besides a rotatory motion have also a
rising and falling motion given to them; this rising and falling motion of the
upper rolls c, d, is effected by means of the cross head g, to which a reciprocating
rising and falling motion is given, the brasses at c³, d³, of the shafts c³, d², of the said
rolls being capable of sliding in their bearings in the frame of the machine, the
said brasses being connected by the screws and nuts at h to the said cross head g.
The openings in the bearings are best scen in Figures 11 and 14. The vertically
sliding centre i on which the disc under operation rotates is carried by the cross head g,
and partakes of the motion of the said cross head; it also has an independent motion
in the guide k in which it works, for the purpose herein-after described. The con-
struction of the said centre i is best seen in the enlarged view Figure 14. The upper
tubular part of the guide e in which the centre i works contains a strong coiled
spring, which presses upon the head of the said centre i and depresses it through
the bottom of the guide . In order however to rapidly withdraw the centre i from
the disc to remove the latter, after it has been operated upon by the rolls, the said
centre i is slightly raised in its guide k by the action of the incline carried by the
rising cross head g upon the vertcal arm of the cranked lever m. The horizontal
arm of this lever jointed to the centre i is thereby raised, and the said centre lifted
in its guide, the coiled spring & being compressed as illustrated in Figure 14, where
the cross head g and parts carried by it are represented at their highest positions.
The rising and falling motion of the cross head y carrying the upper rolls c, d,
and centre i is effected by means of cains n, n², on the shaft p, acting on rollers in
the cam boxes q, q, the said cam boxes being connected to the rods ?, ?, and the
latter to the ends of the cross head g, as represented. The rising motion of the
cross head g is effected by the cam n (in each can box q), and the downward motion
of the cross head is effected by the can n² (in each cam box g), the last named
cams also putting the required pressure on the upper rolls to effect the reduction of
the metal of the disc under operation. The thick discs are fed by hand, one at a
time, into the reciprocating horizontal feeder 8, the said feeder working in a dove-
tail in the bed or seat t (see Figures 9 and 10). The end of the feeder & is furnished
with a spring seat or holder t for receiving the disc to be fed to the rolls, as best
seen in Figure 14.
I will now describe the gearing by which the two pairs of rolls are geared
together and driven, and the arrangements by which the motions of the feeder and
other parts of the machine are effected. is the driving shaft carrying fast and
loose pulleys and a fly wheel. On the said shaft is a bevil toothed wheel v, which
gears with the bevil wheels w, x, on each side of it. The wheel w is carried by the
shaft w, a spur wheel won which shaft gears with a spur wheel w' on the shaft
of the lower roll e, and the spur wheel gears with the spur wheel w³ on the
shaft of the upper roll c. Similarly the motion of the shaft carrying the bevil
wheel x is transmitted through the spur wheels a³, a, ³, to the shafts carrying the

page_text: lower roll and upper roll d, as will be understood by an oxamination of the
section, Figure 11. The teeth of the spur wheels w³, w, and x, x, are so deep that
the lifting of the shafts carrying the wheels 2, 3, does not ungear them from tho
lower toothed wheels w', . By thus gearing together and driving the rolls c, d,
and e, f, the several rolls are made to move in the directions indicated by the arrows
in Figures 14 and 15.
The shaft p, on the ends of which the cams n, n³, are fixed for giving the rising
and falling motion to the upper rolls, has a slow rotation given to it by the worm y
on the driving shaft u, gearing with the worm wheel y on the cam shaft p (sce
Figures 11 and 12).
The reciprocating motion of the feeder 8 is effected by the levers z, 2¹, and con-
nection at the said levers z, z¹, being worked by the groove or box cam 23 on the
cam shaft p. The shape of the cam is best seen in Figure 10.
The action of the machine is as follows:-The upper rolls c, d, having been lifted
to their highest position, as seen in Figures 11 and 14, the feeder s advances in the
manner herein-after particularly described into the space between the lower rolls
e, f, and the disc in the said feeder is carried between the upper and lower rolls and
made to rest on the lower rolls, the middle depression or hole in the said disc being
brought opposite to or in a line with the sliding centre i. The sliding centre with
the upper rolls C, d, now descends, and its pointed end enters the depression in the
middle of the disc, being held very forcibly by the strong spring . The feeder s
now retires, the spring bottom or sent t* of the said feeder yielding vertically so as
to leave the disc supported between the lower rolls e, f, and the centre i. By the
gradual but rapid descent of the cross head g the upper rolls c, d, are brought into
contact with the upper surface of the disc between the rolls, and by the operation
of the said rolls a rotary motion is given to the said disc, and the marginal parts of
it are reduced in thickness and the diameter of the disc increased, the central part
of the disc or that part situated between the upper rolls c, d, being unoperated upon
and left of the original thickness.
In Figure 15 a disc marked 2 is represented in the machine after the marginal
parts of it have been reduced in thickness by the operation of the rolls, the said disc
2 during the rolling operation rotating upon the centre i. By an examination of
the said Figure 15, it will be seen that the reduction of metal has been effected from
the upper side only of the disc, the whole of the under surface of the disc being in
the same plane. The reduction of metal however may take place from both sides of
the disc if required. In this case the space between the lower rolls e, f, must be
made equal to the space between the upper rolls c, d. After the disc has been thus
operated upon, the upper rolls c, d, rise from the lower rolls e, f, and by the action
of the incline g, of the cross head g on the lever m, the centre i is lifted from the
depression in the disc 2, as illustrated in Figure 14. The feeder & now advancing
pushes the rolled disc 2 from between the said rolls, the said feeder advancing beyond
the centre of the machine for the purpose of ensuring the effectual removal of the
reduced disc from the machine, the disc falling down the inclined guides at 3. The
feeder having thus acted as a knocker-off makes a slight backward movement so as
to bring the disc carried by it to the middle of the machine, for the sliding centre i
to descend upon and hold it during the rolling operation, as before described This
advance of the feeder beyond the middle of the machine, for the purpose of effectually
removing the reduced disc, is effected by the part marked of the cam 3, which
works the feeder. The feeder retiring, the disc is gripped between the rolls by the
descent of the upper rolls, and the sliding centre i enters the central depression in
the disc, the marginal parts of the disc are reduced by the operation of the said rolls,
and the several movements herein-before described are repeated.
Instead of operating simultaneously on portions of the disc on opposite sides of its
centre by two pairs of rolls as described and illustrated, the disc may be operated
upon by a pair of rolls on one side only of the centre of the disc, that is, it
may be
operated upon either by by the rolls c, c, or d, f. When the disc is thus operated upon
by one pair of rolls, the said disc must be supported between centres, that is, a second

page_text: centre in a line with the centre i must support the under side of the disc by entering
a depression in the said under side of the disc. Or instead of one or two pairs of
rolls for operating upon the disc more than two pairs of rolls arranged equidistantly
around the centre of the disc may be employed. In this case the rolls must be of
very small diameter, that is, of about the diameter of the disc after it has been!
reduced, but I believe the arrangement of four rolls and one centre, as in the machine
before described and illustrated in the Drawings, to be the best arrangement for
carrying my Invention into effect.
Having now described the nature of my Invention and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I claim as my
Invention,―
First. The improvements in the manufacture of metallic cartridge cases herein-
before described and illustrated in Figures 1 to 8, both inclusive, of the accom-
panying Drawings, that is to say, manufacturing the said cartridge cases by
taking discs of metal having about the thickness required in the heads of the
finished cartridge cases, and reducing the marginal parts only of the said discs,
leaving the central portion of the discs of the original thickness, the heads of
the cartridge cases being made from the thick central parts of the discs or blanks,
and the tubular parts of the cartridge cases from the thin or reduced marginal parts
of the discs or blanks by the ordinary drawing-through and heading processes, sub-
stantially as described and illustrated.
Secondly. The improvements in machinery herein-before described and illustrated
in Figures 9 to 15, both inclusive, of the accompanying Drawings to be used for
reducing, by a rolling operation, the marginal parts of the said thick discs or blanks;
that is to say, machinery consisting essentially of one or more pairs of rolls, between
which the discs are operated upon and their marginal parts reduced, the said discs
being supported during the rolling operation between the said rolls and a sliding
centre or centres, about which centre or centres the discs rotate, the several parts
of the machinery being constructed and arranged, and operating substantially as
described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Richard Bayliss, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven.
Witness,
ALFRED RUBEN CARPENTER,
Barmouth,
North Wales.
THOMAS RICHARD BAYLISS. (L.S.)