CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MA- NUFACTURE OF VICE BOXES, AND IN THE MACHINERY FOR EFFECTING THE SAME;
Year: 1848

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PETER
WRIGHT, of Dudley, in the County of Worcester, Vice and Anvil Manufac-
turer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Thirty-first day of August, in the twelfth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Peter Wright, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Peter Wright, my exors, admors, and assigns,
and such others as I, the said Peter Wright, my exors, admors, 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, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MA-
NUFACTURE OF VICE BOXES, AND IN THE MACHINERY FOR EFFECTING THE SAME;"
in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said
Peter Wright, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, par-
ticularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be
enrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had,
will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that, in compliance with the said proviso, 1, the said
Peter Wright, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is 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 5
thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention of "Certain Improvements in the Manufacture of Vice
Boxes, and in the Machinery for effecting the same," consists,--
First, in making the boxes of those vices technically called "standing
vices," or such as are generally used by smiths and engineers, of wrought iron,
either by forging, stamping, or otherwise, and in cutting the worms or female
screws in the said wrought-iron boxes out of the solid metal, so as to render
the worm stronger and more durable, as by this means it forms part and
parcel of the box itself. In some cases where stationary boxes are required
I lengthen the eye of the vice by welding thereto a piece or pieces of iron,
so that the eye itself forms part of the box in place of making the box
separate from the vice, as is usually done, and the worm or screw is cut out
of the solid metal as in the former instance.
My Invention relates, secondly, to an improved machine or apparatus for
cutting the worms or female screws of vice boxes out of the solid iron, as
above mentioned.
In order that my improvements may be clearly understood I have shewn
in the accompanying Drawings various views of vice boxes constructed upon
my improved plan, and also views of the improved machine by means of
which I cut the worms of the boxes out of the solid.
Fig. 1 in the accompanying Drawings represents a side elevation of a vice
with one of my improved boxes adapted thereto.
Fig. 2 represents a longitudinal section of one of the said boxes detached,
with the worm cut therein out of the solid.
Fig. 3 represents a section of the upper part of a vice, in which the box
is stationary, and forms a fixed part of one of the chops of the vice. The vice
box is formed in the rough by stamping, forging, or otherwise, an internal
cylindrical space being left to cut the worm in by a subsequent operation.
As this cylindrical hole may not be made perfectly true, I in practice prefer to
place the box in a boring machine or lathe, for the purpose of boring it out
true previous to having the worm cut therein. Having done this, and bored
the hole perfectly cylindrical, I place the box in the machine shewn in the
Drawings at Fig. 4, and proceed to cut the worm or screw therein, as will
be hereafter explained. It should be observed, that I prefer the box to be

page_text: made with both ends open, as shewn by dots in Fig. 2, and the outer or lower
end (as shewn in the Drawing) not to be closed until after the operations of
boring and cutting the worm or screw are completed, but when these operations
are finished, the larger end is to be closed by fixing a plug in, as shewn in
the Drawing at Figs. 2 and 2*.
Fig. 4 represents a front elevation of the machine I employ to cut the
worms or screws in the boxes. This machine consists of a cast-iron frame
plate A, A, which is secured in any convenient and suitable manner in a vertical
position, as, for instance, against a wall. To this plate A are secured by nuts
and bolts, or otherwise, a series of bearings a, b, c, and d, for the purpose of
supporting the various working parts of the machine. The bearings b, b, are
secured to the frame plate A by screw bolts, and support the drill stock f, f.f,
in the lower end of which the holder g of the cutting tool or instrument is
secured by a cotter, as shewn in the Drawing at 1. The bearing a is attached
to a large cast-iron plate B, B, which is moveable at pleasure, and may be
adjusted to and secured at any suitable height in the machine by means of
the screw bolts, which can be moved up and down in the slots h, h, as will be
well understood by inspecting the Drawing. The vice box to be operated
upon is secured in the bearing a of the plate B, as seen at C in the Figure,
the lower end of the vice box being open to allow the lower end of the
holder g of the cutting instrument to pass through, and turn in another
adjustable bearing c below. This bearing c may also be moved up and down
in the slots h, h, and can be secured at any suitable height by means of screw
bolts that pass through the said slots. The object of this bearing c, and the
prolongation of the stock or holder g of the cutting instrument, is to give
steadiness to this latter while cutting. The upper end of the drill stock carries
a screw e, which is secured therein by means of a cotter, or in any other con-
venient manner, and passes through a female screw in the topmost bearing d.
The object of the screw e is to communicate a gradual and regular descending
motion to the cutting tool or instrument, at the same time that it is caused
to rotate by means of the driving gear; and for the purpose of commu-
nicating rotary motion to the drill stock f, this latter is furnished with a
long feather or rib i, i, which passes through the horizontal bevil wheel j,j,
and acts as a clutch, whereby the drill stock, with its cutting tool, is
caused to rotate with the wheel ; as the latter is driven round by the
bevil wheel on the driving shaft l. The stock or holder g of the cutting
tool is shewn detached and in section at Fig. 5. It consists of a cylin-
drical rod or shaft with a long slot or groove cut therein for the purpose
of receiving the steel cutter. m, which is mounted on a pivot at about

page_text: the middle in such a manner that the cutting point may project beyond
the slot of the cylindrical shaft g. Near the upper end of this cutting
tool is a ring n (Figs. 4 and 5) which carries two adjusting screws 0, 0,
whereby the lower or cutting point of the tool may be projected more or less
of
outward as circumstances may render it necessary. The cylindrical part g
the instrument is made to fit the hole in the vice box C; and as the lower end
of the instrument g turns in the bearing c, it is kept perfectly steady. When
the cutting operation is being performed, a small quantity of water from the
cistern p is supplied to the interior of the vice box by the pipe 7 for the pur-
pose of reducing the friction and keeping the point of the cutter cool. This
water ultimately escapes from the lower and open end of the vice box; and
falls into the reservoir r below. It will be clearly understood by inspecting
the Drawing that the pitch of the worm to be cut in the box will be regulated
by the screw e at the upper end of the stock, and as this screw may be
removed and replaced by another of different pitch, so may vice boxes, with
worms of any
suitable pitch, be made in this machine by merely changing this
regulating screw. In operating with this machine it is first necessary to
secure the vice box C in its bearing, and adjust the point of the cutting tool,
so that it only projects but a very short distance from the slot in the cylindrical
holder then upon communicating motion from any prime mover to the large
band wheel or pulley t on the driving shaft 7, the cutting tool m will be made
to rotate, and gradually cut a spiral shaving out of the box under operation.
The pulley t is kept in motion until the cutting tool reaches the bottom of the
vice box, or to that part to which the worm is intended to extend. The
machine is then stopped, and the cutting tool and its holder g is run up again
to its original position by communicating motion in the opposite direction to
the small pulleys on the driving shaft l, and when tlie point of the cutting
tool m leaves the upper end of the vice box, the adjusting screws 0, 0, are
turned so as to cause the cutting tool to project a little further from 'the
holder 9, and then upon again putting the pulley t in motion the cutter will
descend and take another spiral shaving off the inside of the box. These
operations are continued until a worm of suitable depth is cut in the box, and
when this has been done the box is removed from the machine, and a fresh
one secured in the bearings in its place.
I,
Having now described my Invention, and the best means with which I am
at present acquainted for carrying the same into effect, I would observe, in
conclusion, that I do not mean or intend to confine myself rigidly to the
precise arrangement or construction of parts herein shewn and described, as
they may doubtless be varied without departing from the nature and object of

page_text: my Invention; but that which I consider to be new, and therefore wish to
claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein before in part recited
Letters Patent is,―
First, making the boxes of vices of wrought iron, and cutting the worms or
screws therein out of the solid metal instead of brazing, welding, or otherwise
securing therein a worm or screw separately made, as has usually been the
case.
Secondly, I claim the machine herein shewn and described, or any mere
modification thereof, for cutting worms or screws in the interior of boxes or
cylinders.
In witness whereof. I the said Peter Wright have becounts cot my hand
Enrolled the Twenty-eighth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.