IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SHAPING METALS
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Whitehouse, of Biriningham, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturer, and Septimus Peacock, of Birmingham aforesaid,
Machinist, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SHAPING
METALS"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Whitehouse and
Septimus Peacock at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the
5th November 1881.
JOHN WHITEHOUSE, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer,
and SEPTIMUS PEACOCK, of Birmingham aforesaid, Machinist.
MACHINERY FOR SHAPING METALS."
"IMPROVEMENTS IN
Our Invention consists of the construction and arrangement of the parts of
machinery for shaping metals, herein after described.
Our Invention is especially applicable to the shaping of such articles of metal as
are usually made by the process called spinning, such as the terminal ornaments of
metallic bedsteads and other articles of metallic furniture, and we will describe our
Invention in connection with the manufacture of one of the said terminal
ornaments.
To the axis or spindle of a lathe, we fix a metallic chuck of a size and shape
suitable to receive and hold the wide end of the roughly shaped or raised blank to
be operated upon. On the bed of the lathe three rolls are situated, the said rolls
having in longitudinal section the figure of the counter part of the article to be
produced. These rolls are situated at nearly equi-distant points around the axis of
the blank to be operated upon, and are carried by supports capable of moving
towards and from the axis of the lathe. Two of the rolls are on the support at the
back, and the third on the support on the front of the lathe. By means of a right
and left handed screw worked by a hand wheel the rolls can be made simulta-
neously to approach to or recede from the article under operation. Besides the
motion described, the rolls can be moved in a direction parallel to the axis of the
[Price 8d 1

page_text: lathe. A spindle or axis in a line with the spindle of the lathe carries a disc,
which, when the blank to be operated upon has been placed upon the mandril, is
brought up to the said blank and holds it firmly in its place. This spindle or axis
is operated upon by the foot of the workman, and has a rotary motion similar to
that of the lathe.
The action of the machine is as follows:-The roughly shaped blank being put
upon the chuck the spindle carrying the holding disc is operated by the foot of
the workman, and the blank thus firmly held is rotated by the lathe spindle. By
incans of the hand wheel the rolls are made simultaneously and gradually to close
upon the rotating blank, which under the pressure of the rolls assumes a form the
counterpart of the said rolls. After the rolls have completed the shaping of the
blank, they are made to retire by acting on the hand wheel, and the spindle by
which the blank was held on the chuck being withdrawn, the properly shaped
article is removed from the chuck, and the machine is ready to operate on another
blank.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said John Whitehouse and Septimus Peacock in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 27th April 1882.
JOHN WHITEHOUSE, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer,
and SEPTIMUS PEACOCK, of Birmingham aforesaid, Machinist.
MACHINERY FOR SHAPING METALS."
"IMPROVEMENTS IN
Our Invention consists of the construction and arrangement of the parts of
machinery for shaping metals, herein after described.
Our Invention is especially applicable to the shaping of such articles of metal as
are usually made by the process called spinning, such as the ornaments of metallic
bedsteads and other articles of metallic furniture, and we will describe our Invention
in connection with the manufacture of one of the said ornaments.
To the axis or spindle of a lathe we fix a metallic chuck of a size and shape
suitable to receive and hold the wide end of the roughly shaped or raised blank to
be operated upon.
On the bed of the lathe three rolls are situated, the said rolls
having in longitudinal section the figure of the counter part of the article to be
produced. These rolls are situated at nearly equi-distant points around the axis of
the blank to be operated upon, and are carried by supports capable of moving
towards and from the axis of the lathe. Two of the rolls are on the support at the
back, and the third on the support on the front of the lathe. By means of a right
and left handed screw worked by a hand wheel the rolls can be made simulta-
neously to approach to or recede from the article under operation. Besides the
motion described, the rolls can be moved in a direction parallel to the axis of the
lathe. A spindle or axis in a line with the spindle of the lathe carries a disc,
which, when the blank to be operated upon has been placed upon the mandril, is
brought up to the said blank and holds it firmly in its place. The spindle or axis
is operated upon by the foot of the workman, and has a rotary motion similar to
that of the lathe.
The action of the machine is as follows:-The roughly shaped blank being put
upon the chuck the spindle carrying the holding disc is operated by the foot of the
workman, and the blank thus firmly held is rotated by the lathe spindle. By
means of the hand wheel the rolls are made simultaneously and gradually to close
upon the rotating blank, which under the pressure of the rolls assumes a form the
counterpart of the said rolls. After the rolls have completed the shaping of the
blank, they are made to retire by acting on the hand wheel, and the spindle by
which the blank was held on the chuck being withdrawn, the properly shaped
article is removed from the chuck, and the machine is ready to operate on another
blank.
We will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings
the manner in which our Invention is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in plan, Figure 2 in side elevation, and Figure 3 in cross
section, taken on the line a, Figure 1, machinery constructed according to our
Invention for shaping ornaments for metallic bedsteads and other metallic furniture;
Figure 4 is a side elevation, and Figures 5 and 6 end elevations of the machinery,
the said Figures 4, 5, and 6 exhibiting the mechanism for advancing the holding
disc spindle, and for fixing the said spindle in its advanced position. In Figures 4
and 5 the holding disc spindle is represented in its withdrawn position, and the
locking or fixing mechanism out of action, and in Figure 6 the locking or fixing
mechanism is represented put into action. In the side elevation, Figure 4, the
supports and slides for the shaping rolls are omitted. Figure 7 represents a plan
of the shaping rolls, their supports, and the chuck of the machinery, drawn of the

page_text: full size; and Figure 8 represents the roughly shaped blank from which the
ornament is to be made, drawn of the full size; and Figure 9 represents the
ornament made from the said blank, Figure 8.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several Figures of
the Drawings.
bis the lathe spindle, to which the metallic chuck c is fixed, the said chuck
having a size and shape suitable to receive the roughly shaped blank d to be
operated upon (see the side elevation, Figure 4). On the bed e of the machine or
lathe is a dovetail under slide f, having a longitudinal motion or a motion parallel
to the lathe spindle b. The traversing motion of the slide f is effected by the
screw turned by the band wheel f³, the said screw working in the screw box f*
connected with the under slide f. Supported upon and carried by the under-
slide is a transverse dovetail bed g, carrying the three shaping rolls h, h, h. The
bed g has on its underside the stem g², which works in a recess in the bed e of the
machine, as best seen in Figure 3. The transverse bed 9 is fixed to the under
dovetail slide f by the strong screw pin f³, and the height of the said bed g is
adjusted by the set screw fo, and fixed by the lock nuts represented.
The shaping rolls h, h, h, are situated at nearly equi-distant points around the
axis of the blank d to be shaped, and the said rolls are carried by the supports i, k,
which are connected by pins at l, l, to the dovetail slides m, m, working in the
dovetail bed g. The support i carries two of the shaping rolls, and the other
support carries the third shaping roll (see Figure 3). By means of the pins 1, 1,
the supports i, k, carrying the shaping rolls may be readily removed from the
machine, and supports containing shaping rolls of a different configuration substi-
tuted therefor. The rolls h, h, h, can be made_simultaneously to approach_to_or_
recede from the article under operation. This is effected by means of the right
and left handed screw n, p, turned by the hand wheel p², the part n of the screw
working in a corresponding screw box connected with one of the slides m, and the
part of the screw working in a corresponding screw box connecting with the
other of the slides m. Besides the to and fro motion described of the rolls h, h, h,
they may also be moved in a direction parallel to the axis of the machine by means
of the underslide f worked by the screw f and hand wheel f³, as before described.
'q is the spindle or axis carrying the holding disc q², the said spindle being situated
in a line with the spindle b, and rotated by the speed pulleys represented. The
holding disc spindle q has a sliding motion given to it by the mechanism herein
after described. When the holding disc spindle q is in the advanced position
represented in Figures 1, 2, and 3, the disc q² is pressed into contact with the closed
end of the shaped blank d on the chuck, and holds the said blank firmly in its
place. When the disc spindle q is in its back or withdrawn position, as represented
in Figure 4, it releases the ornament which has been shaped by the rolls, and the
said ornament may be withdrawn from the chuck c.
The advancing and retiring motions of the holding disc spindle g are effected and
the said spindle fixed in its advanced position in the following manner is a
treadle pressed upon by the foot of the workman and raised by the coiled spring ².
Jointed to the said treadler is a connecting rod, the upper end of which is
secured by the pin and slot at to the nearly horizontal arms of the cranked
lever 8, 83, turning on the centre ; a spring 8 pressing the connecting pin to the
bottom of its slot. The upper end of the nearly vertical arm s² of the cranked
lever 8, 8, is forked, and studs on the said forked end work in a collar at the
extreme end of the disc spindle q. By pressing down the treadler by the foot
the spindle q is advanced by the operation of the connecting rod and lever 8, 8,
and the holding disc q2 brought up to the blank d. By lifting the foot from the
treadler the parts take the positions represented in Figures 4 and 5, and the
holding disc q is withdrawn from the shaped article.
In order to prevent the back motion of the holding disc q while the shaping
rolls h, h, h, are operating upon the blank, a locking lever t is made to cross the
back end of the disc spindle q. This locking levert is forked at its free end, and

page_text: when turned down engages with the arm a² on the framing of the machine. The
locking lever t is represented in its raised position in Figures 4 and 5, and in its
depressed and locking position in Figures 1, 2, and 6. The said locking lever is
operated from the treadler in the following manner:-u is a horizontal axis
having at one end the arm u² which is connected by a slot and pin to the rod u³,
jointed to the middle of the locking lever t. On the opposite end of the axis u is
a second arm u*, which is connected by a slot and pin to the connecting rod u³
jointed to the treadle r. On pressing down the treadlo r the spindle q is first
advanced, the further action of the treadle then depresses the locking lever t
behind the end of the advanced spindle q, as seen at Figures 1 and 2. The holding
disc is thus very effectually held to its work against the closed end of the shaped
blank under operation. On removing the foot from the treadle r the locking lever t
is first raised, and afterwards the disc spindle q is withdrawn, as illustrated in
Figures 4 and 5.
By means of the handles at x, y, on the axis u, which handles are grasped by
the workmen, the holding of the disc spindle in its advanced position may be
assisted.
We will now describe the action of the machinery. The roughly shaped blank d,
Figures 4 and 8, being put upon the chuck c, as represented in Figure 4, the
workman presses down the treadle 2. The rotating disc holding spindle q is
thereby advanced and its holding disc q' brought into contact with the blank, the
said holding disc spindle being locked in its advanced position in the manner
before described. The blank is thus very firmly held on the cluck and rotated by
the two spindles band q. The shaping rolls h, h, h, are next made simultaneously
and gradually to close upon the rotating blank d by turning the hand wheel p³.
By the pressure of the rolls h, h, h, upon the blank it is made to assume the
counterpart of the said rolls, that is, it takes the form represented in the finished
ornament, Figure 9. The manner in which the gradually closing rolls h, h, shape
the rotating blank upon the chuck will be understood by an examination of the
plan, Figure 1. After the rolls have completed the shaping of the blank they are
made to retire by turning the hand wheel p³. The foot of the workman being now
removed from the treadle the holding disc spindle q is first unlocked and
afterwards withdrawn. The shaped article can now be removed from the
chuck and another blank put in its place, when the operations described are
repeated.
Although we have only described and represented our Invention as applied to
the manufacture of the ornaments of metallic bedsteads and metallic furniture, yet
we wish it to be understood that our Invention is equally applicable to the shaping
of all such articles of metal as are usually shaped by the process called spinning,
the figures of the chuck and the shaping rolls being varied to suit the particular
article to be manufactured.
Having now described the nature of our Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be performed we wish it to be understood that we claim as our Invention
of "Improvements in Machinery for Shaping Metals,”-
First. The construction and combination of the shaping rolls h, h, h, and parts
connected therewith, the said rolls being arranged around the axis of the blank to
be operated upon, and being so supported that they can be made simultaneously to
approach to or recede from the article under operation, substantially as herein
before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Secondly. The arrangement or combination of the parts of the underslide on
which the bed carrying the shaping rolls is supported, whereby the said shaping
rolls can be moved in a direction parallel to the axis of the machine, substantially
as herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Thirdly. Holding the blank under operation upon the chuck by means of a
holding disc carried by a rotating spindle, capable also of motion in the line of the
chuck spindle, substantially as herein before described and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawings.

page_text: Fourthly. The arrangements or combinations of parts herein before described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, for giving the advancing and retiring
motions to the disc holding spindle, and for locking and holding the said dise holding
spindle in its advanced position.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Whitehouse and Septimus Peacock,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty fifth day of April, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and eighty two.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
37, Temple Street,
Birmingham.
JOHN WHITEHOUSE. (L.S.)
SEPTIMUS PEACOCK. (L.S.)