IM- PROVEMENTS IN LATHES
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Holmes, of Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Engineer and Machinist, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN LATHES."
Sealed the 2nd April 1858, and dated the 23rd October 1852.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Holmes at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 23rd October 1852.
I, JOHN HOLMES, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engi-
neer and Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LATHES" to be as follows:-
Firstly, I introduce a self-adjusting rest for the face plate, the
arrangement and mechanism of which are shown in the accompanying
Drawings at A;
Secondly, a self-adjusting rest as shown at B, by which is accommo-
dated any size or diameter of metal or material to be held in the lathe
whilst being turned or otherwise operated upon, without the necessity
of loose and troublesome packings; and,
Thirdly, a self-adjusting and powerful back stay, by which the weight

page_text: of the metal or material in the lathe is supported or balanced. This
back stay has a spiral spring to adjust the required position, and a cot-
ter to support or bear the weight when so adjusted, as shown at ('.
The further details of my improvements I will more fully explain in
iny Complete Specification.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Holmes in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 23rd April 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, J,
JonN HOLMES, of Manchester. in the County of Lancaster. Engineer
and Machinist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of October. in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the six-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me. the said John Holmes, Fler especial licence
that T, the said John Holmes, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said John Holmes, ny executors, administra-
tors, 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, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LATHES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I. the said John Holmes,
should, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same was to be performed, and cause the sanie 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 John Holmes, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, that is to say:

page_text: My Invention relates, firstly, to improvements in that part of lathes
used for turning, boring, sliding, or otherwise operating upon nietal,
wood, or other material, called the face plate, to which I apply one or
more stays or supporting slides in any convenient part of the face plate
or the driving wheel, at the back or any convenient position, so as to
relieve the weight hung upon the face plate, resist the cut and prevent
vibration, thereby enabling the lathe to perform its work with greater
exactness and truth than heretofore. Secondly, to improvements in
the sliding or back stay, which I make to grip or bind round the shaft
to be slided, by the application of suitable bushes, so arranged as to
prevent any yielding to the inequalities of the material operated upon.
And, thirdly, to an arrangement of mechanism for forming a suitable
and convenient stay or carrier to support the guide screw and worm
shaft, which insures a more perfect action and greater steadiness than
heretofore obtained by the use of oscillating weights and parallel levers.
These improvements will be clearly understood by reference to the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings, in which I have represented the new
or improved parts shaded with color, the ordinary parts of the lathe
being either drawn in outline, or shaded with ink only. The Drawings
are made to a scale of about one and a half inch to the foot, and have
the same letters of reference to represent similar parts where different
views or diagrams are shewu. Fig. 1. is a front elevation of a lathe
shewing part of my said improvements; Fig. 2. a plan thereof; and
Fig. 3, a transverse section of Fig. 1, taken at a, b.
The first part of iny said improvements will be understood by the fol-
lowing references: A, represents the fast head stock; B, the loose head
stock; C, the bed; D, the carriage; E, the small face plate, to which
is secured the large face plate F, with its wheel G, which, through the
medium of the pinion H, the wheel I, and pinion J, upon the cone pully.
K, receives motion from the driving strap L. On the inuer periphery
of the wheel G, is raised the angular projection M, see Figs. 2, and 3,
which takes into a corresponding groove of the sliding stay N, and
by means of the two screws O, and P, at right angles to each other,
is pressed, and the lock nut Q, retains it, against the periphery of
the wheel G, in such a manner as to resist the pressure of the tool,

page_text: and thereby relieve the spindle and face plate from all unnecessar
springing or tremor.
The second part of my said improvements is as follows:-Upo
the carriage D, is bolted the standard R, and cross piece S, the uppe
part of which is moveable around the centre or rule joint c, for the
purpose of placing the shaft, and is secured by the bolt and cotter e
into the cross piece S, is screwed to the bushf, which is in halves, the
internal cone of which acting upon the external conc of the bush g
which is also in halves or sections, whose circumference is notched to
allow its contracting; and the bush or ferrule h, with which it is lined
is in like manner cut, and by screwing it in the bush f, forces the
conical bush g, by the resistance of its fulcrum, into a smaller
diameter, and thus holds the shaft perfectly steady, preventing all
jolting or jarring by reason of the inequalities on its surface slipping
into the spaces where it is not held as in the stays now in use.
The third and last part of my said improvements relates to the stay
or carrier for the guide screw and worm shaft of a slide and screw
cutting lathe, and is as follows:-To the framing or any other con-
venient place I attach the upright cannon or box U, containing
the vertical carrier i, whose stalk moves freely up and down in it,
and around the said stalk is coiled the spiral spring j; or, instead
of the said spiral spring, I effect the same object by fixing a lever
or other contrivance to raise the carrier to its proper position. The
said stalk is bored to admit the hollow stud k, with the friction
bowls, and m, one of which is on the stud k, & the other on the
steady pin n. In the inside of the stud is the steady pin n, and
spring o, as shewn at Fig. 3. Upon the carriage is fixed the finger
p, and lever q, see Figs. 1, and 2, whose action is as follows:-Upon
the carriage coming within the range of the stay, the inclined end
of the finger p, presses back the bowl 7, and overcomes the pressure of
the spring upon the head of the steady pin, which relieves the stalk
from its support, upon which the lever or incline q, comes in contact
with the bowl m, and presses it down sufficiently low to admit of the
carriage passing over it, as shewn by the red lines in Fig. 1, and on
the left hand side of Fig. 3. When the carriage has passed over, and

page_text: relieved the bowl m, from the pressure of the lever g, the spiral spring
j, forces up the stalk into its original position; and simultaneous with
this movement the steady pin shoots into its hole by the action of the
spring o, and retains it firmly locked until the passing of the carriage in
the opposite direction, when it is acted upon as before.
Having thus fully described the nature of my said improvements, I
desire it to be distinctly understood that I do not confine myself to the
exact details, as such may be varied or modified without departing from
the principle thereof; but I claim as of my Invention, and which to the
best of my knowledge and belief, has not been hitherto used within
this realm, firstly, the arrangement and combination of machinery
or apparatus for giving additional support to the face plate, and. resist-
ing the pressure of the tool, as herein described; secondly, the means
herein described of enabling the sliding or back stay to offer a more
useful and permanent bearing, and to compensate for any alteration in
its dimensions by wear and tear; and, thirdly, the means of supporting
the guide screw and worm shaft by the aid of a moveable steady pin
or latch, whether the carrier be actuated by the pressure of a spring or
the action of a weight.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Holmes, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of April, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
JOHN
(15.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the said
5 John Holmes in the presence of
E. J. HOGUES,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.