Improvements in Method of and Machinery for Manufacturing Turn-buckles.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 25th Nov., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 2nd Aug., 1892-Accepted, 8th Oct., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Method of and Machinery for Manufacturing
Turn-buckles.
I, ROBERT LAFAYETTE BARCLAY, of Plattekill in the County of Ulster and
State of New York, United States of America, Machinist, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention to be as follows:-
Turn buckles are extensively used in bridges, buildings, cars &c., and they are
made with two parallel rods united at their ends by right and left handed nuts
receiving screw threads upon the end of rods that are to be tightened by the
rotation of the turn buckle.
These turn buckles have usually been forged by hand and are expensive, and it
is difficult to render tliem uniform in strength and size and the metal is liable to
separate at the places that are welded together.
In my present invention an ingot of iron or steel at a welding or nearly welding
heat is presented to the action of rolls having upon their surfaces corresponding
segmental dies, the recesses of which correspond or nearly so to the turn buckle to
be produced, and the ingot is pressed up between these dies automatically by the
action of a cam upon a sliding support, so that the turn buckle blank as it is forced
up and then rolled through between the dies, receives a shape approximating that
of the finished turn buckle, but there is left a thin web between the side bars and
also a fin projecting around the edges of such turn buckle.
This blank turn buckle is next subjected to the action of dies, preferably in a drop
press, which dies correspond to the external shape of the finished turn buckle, and
these dies straighten out the article and render the surface smooth and accurate in
shape.
The next operation to which the blank is subjected is performed in a press, in
which there are dies that grasp the top and bottom surfaces of the turn buckle and
a cutting die is brought up from below and cuts out the central web, and an
external die is employed to trim off the web or fin projecting around such turn
buckle, and the turn buckle is conveyed to. the place of delivery in a condition
complete and ready to be bored at the ends and tapped to form the right and left
handed nuts at the ends of the turn buckle.
In carrying out this invention it is advantageous to employ rolls that give motion
to the segmental dies, which rolls are driven by gearing, and to ensure accuracy in
the movements of these rolls an external toothed gear wheel is fastened to the shaft
of one roll, and an internal toothed gear wheel is fastened to the shaft of the other
roll, these gear wheels being of the same size and having corresponding numbers of
teeth, and a driving shaft passes across parallel to one of the rolls and has two
pinions upon it, one gearing into the wheel with external teeth and the other into
the wheel with internal teeth, so as to drive the rolls in the proper directions and to
simplify the gearing and make use of gears that are as large as required for giving the
proper leverage to the rolls, and by having the driving shaft and its pinion in the
same horizontal plane as the axis of the lower roll, such lower roll can be
adjusted to bring the dies properly together without disturbing the action of the
gearing.
The dies made use of for straightening out and perfecting the shape of the turn
buckle, after being passed through the dies upon the rolls, are preferably made with
comparatively thin edges, so that the web and the fin are reduced in thickness, and
when these are trimmed off but little power is required. In trimming off the fin
the turn buckle is laid upon an open die, the opening of which corresponds to the
external shape of the finished turn buckle, and the edges around this die stand

page_text: upwardly and the space below this die is sufficiently large for the easy removal of
the turn buckle after it has been forced down through such open die, but before
this is done the punch is carried up from below to cut out the fin from the middle
part of the turn buckle upwardly, the punch corresponding in its external con-
figuration to the internal opening in the die, but the space in the upper die is much
larger, so that the web which is carried upwardly, as it is cut out, falls out of the
upper die freely when the same is raised, and the die which presses downwardly
upon the top of the turn buckle is smaller than the open die, and hence the fin that
is cut off from around the turn buckle does not adhere to the upper die when the
same raises.
By this construction of mechanism the turn buckle is trimmed off with rapidity
and the thin pieces of metal do not become wedged in the dies.
Suitable eccentrics or toggle mechanism with gearing are made use of for giving
motion to the punch and die in this shearing machine.
Dated this 25th day of November 1891.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Method of and Machinery for Manufacturing
Turn-buckles.
I, ROBERT LAFAYETTE BARCLAY, of Plattekill in the County of Ulster and
State of New York, United States of America, Machinist, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
Turo buckles are extensively used in bridges, buildings, cars, etc., and they are
made with two parallel rods united at their ends by right and left handed nuts
receiving screw threads upon the end of rods that are to be tightened by the
rotation of the turn buckle.
These turn buckles have usually been forged by hand and are expensive, and it
is difficult to render them uniform in strength and size and the metal is liable to
separate at the places that are welded together.
In my present invention an ingot of iron or steel at a welding or nearly welding
heat is presented to the action of rolls having upon their surfaces corresponding
segmental dies, the recesses of which correspond or nearly so to the turn buckle to
be produced, and the ingot is pressed up between these dies automatically by the
action of a cam upon a sliding support, so that the turn buckle blank as it is forced
up and then rolled through between the dies receives a shape approximating that of
the finished turn buckle, but there is left a thin web between the side bars and also
a fin projecting around the edges of such turn buckle.
This blank turn buckle is next subjected to the action of dies, preferably in a
drop press, which dies correspond to the external shape of the finished turn buckle,
and these dies straighten out the article and reuder the surface smooth and accurate
in shape.
The next operation to which the blank is subjected is performed in a press in
which there are dies that grasp the top and bottom surfaces of the turn buckle and
a cutting die is brought up from below and cuts out the central web, and an
external die is employed to trim off the web or fin projecting around such turn
buckle, and the turn buckle is conveyed to the place of delivery in a condition
complete and ready to be bored at the ends and tapped to form the right and left
handed nuts at the ends of the turn buckle.
In the drawing
Fig. 1 is a side view and Fig. 2 is an elevation endwise of the shafts, representing
the rolling apparatus.

page_text: face and euge view of a turn Duckie Diank.
Fig. 6 is a cross section in larger size representing the turn buckle as forged up
ready to be bored and tapped.
Fig. 7 is an elevation, and Fig. 8 a side view of the drop and mechanism for
straightening out and finishing the turn buckle blank.
Fig. 9 is a section at the line a a, Figs. 7 and 10, in larger size.
.Fig. 10 is a sectional plan at the line
Fig. 11 is a sectional plan at the line
yy, Fig. 9.
in larger size.
Fig. 12 is a section at the line y' of Fig. 11.
Fig. 13 is an elevation, and Fig. 14 is an elevation sectionally at the line 3, with
the gearing in dotted lines showing the press for cutting off the fins from the forged
turn buckle blank.
Fig. 15 is a vertical section through the dies and in larger size than Fig. 13, and
Fig. 16 is a plan view at the line 2, Fig. 13.
I make use of segmental dies A A' which are of a size and shape adapted to the
turn buckle blank that is to be forged, and these segmental dies A A' are fastened
to the rolls B B upon the shafts CC that are supported in suitable frames D D¹
and driven by competent power, and the turn buckle blank E, Fig. 5, is forged in a
rough condition by the action of these segmental dies A A' as hereafter more fully
explained.
The rolls B B and their shafts C Care somewhat similar to those employed in
rolling iron bars and sheets, except that the segmental dies A A' take the place of
the ordinary roller surfaces, and for securing these segmental dies to the respective
rolls it is advantageous to construct the rolls and the dies as shown in Fig. 3, that
is to say, the segmental dies fit upon the surfaces of the respective rolls and they
are held in position by the undercut ribs 2 and clamping bars 3, hence these
segmental dies can be removed and others inserted so as to vary the size or shape
of the turn buckle produced, and it is also necessary to adjust the rolls nearer to or
further from each other according to the size or shape of the segmental dies, and
with this object in view I prefer to adjust the lower journal boxes for the shaft C¹,
which adjustment is advantageously made by the wedges 5 driven in between the
cross bearers of the frames and the under side of the journal boxes, such wedges
being preferably actuated by the screws 6 that may be rotated by any suitable
wrench or lever.
In rotating the respective rolls, any desired character of gearing may be
employed, but I find it advantageous to provide a main driving shaft F supported
in suitable bearings upon the bed G and provided with a pulley H for a belt from a
suitable motor, and the pinion 7 gears into the driving wheel I upon the counter-
shaft I and there is a pinion K upon the shaft I' gearing into a wheel K¹ upon the
shaft C of the upper roll B, and the counter-shaft I extends across the frame of
the machine and terminates in a pinion L that is within the internal gear wheel L',
and the pitch lines of the internal gear wheel L' and the wheel K' correspond, so
also do the pitch lines of the pinions K and L, hence the respective shafts and rolls
are driven at the same speed and in the proper direction and the gearing simplified,
and in consequence of the counter-shaft I¹ being on the same level or nearly so as
the shaft C of the lower roll, the latter can be adjusted vertically, the small
amount that is necessary, without interfering with the proper meshing of the teeth
of the pinion L and the internal gear L'.
In the forging of an article such as a turn buckle, the rotating dies are liable to
force the ingot away from the rolls and hence the advancing end of the highly
heated ingot does not always properly fill the advancing ends of the dies and the
forging is liable to be imperfect. To avoid this difficulty, I employ an automatic
pusher M which is composed of a rod 8 that acts upon the rear end of the heated
blank 9, and this pusher rod 8 is advantageously screw threaded at the rear end, so
that it can be adjusted to project more or less from the front end of the pusher M

page_text: according to the size of the blank that is.to be acted upon, and this pusher M is
within the slide block N that rests upon the longitudinal bearing bar N¹, and there
is a forked lever O upon a shaft O', which forked lever is connected by links O² to
the slide block N. hence when the shaft O' is rocked, the block N is slid along upon
the bearing bar N' and the pusher M forces the heated ingot 9 into the recesses 10
of the segmental dies A. A' as the dies and rolls are rotated in the direction of the
arrows Fig. 3, and it is advantageous to make use of a spring 11 around the auto-
matic pusher M and within the slide block N which allows the automatic pusher to
yield and prevent injury to the parts as the heated blank is extended to a greater
or less extent in the forging operation performed by the segmental dies A A¹ upen
the heated blank, and it is to be understood that these segmental dies carry the
heated ingot through between themselves and deliver the forged turn buckle blank
from such revolving segmental dies in the form illustrated in Fig. 5. A suitable
support B7 is provided for the ingot, as seen in Fig. 3. This may be changed to
suit different ingots.
In order to give a rocking motion to the shaft 0, I prefer to make use of the
cam P on the shaft C, and this cam acts upon a lever arm P at the end of the
shaft O', and the shape of the cam is to be such that it will rock the shaft O' and
move the forked lever O and pusher at the proper time to force the ingot forward
into the segmental dies as the latter are revolved.
When the turn buckle blank Fig. 5, is discharged from the segmental dies A B,
it has the end portions 12, and connecting bars 13 and the central web 14 which is
comparatively thin, and a fin 15 around the forging which extends out to a greater
or less extent according to the quantity of metal that there may have been in the
ingot, as it is always preferable to have sufficient to thoroughly fill the segmental dies,
and the blank turn buckle is taken to the drop press in which there are dies 16
and 17 corresponding to the exterior shape of the complete turn buckle, and these
dies straighten out the turn buckle and nip or compress the fin and web at their
junctions with the turn buckle, so that the fin and web can be cut off with the
expenditure of but little power. These dies 16 and 17 are in the drop press illus-
trated in Figs. 7 and 8, and the die 17 is upon a drop hammer Q that is guided
by a vertical frame Q that rises above the bed Q, which bed carries the die 16,
and connected with the drop hammer Q is a lifting plank R which is between the
rolls S S¹ and these rolls are provided with driving pulleys S whereby the rolls.
are kept in constant rotation, and when one of the rolls is moved towards the other,
the lifting plank R is nipped between the rolls and raised, and the hammer is
allowed to drop by the opening of such rolls S S¹ to relieve the nipping and lifting
action of such rolls upon the plank.
At the upper end of the frames Q there are the head blocks T T through which
pass the shaits of the respective rolls S S', and there are journal boxes 18 for the
shaft of the roll S and adjacent to these journal boxes are eccentric shafts 19
represented in larger size in Figs. 9 and 10, the eccentric portions of each shaft
being between the journal box 18 and a cap 20, and there are screw bolts 21 passing
through the journal boxes and through the cap.
It is to be understood that there is an eccentric shaft to each journal box 18 and
that these eccentric shafts 19 have squared or polygonal ends so as to be turned by
a suitable wrench or spanner, the latter being made so as to span the roller S and
be adapted to turn both eccentric shafts 19 simultaneously; and it is to be under-
stood that one or both screw bolts 21 are slackened and that by turning the
eccentric shafts 19 the roller S can be set up towards the lifting plank as necessary
from time to time to compensate the wear of the lifting rolls upon the plank, and
when the bolts 21 are tightened the parts are clamped firmly and the eccentric shaft
simultaneously held so that the parts are not liable to work loose under the jarring
operations to which the drop press is subjected.
The shaft of the roll S' is in eccentric bearings 22 provided with crank arms 23
to which is connected a slide rod 24, and when this slide rod 24 is raised, the
eccentric bearings 22 are turned so as to relieve the grip of the roll S¹ on the

page_text: plank, and when the slide rod 24 is drawn down, the parts are moved in
the opposite direction to cause the roll S¹ to grip the lifting plank and raise the
hammer and the die 17, and these operations are advantageously performed
automatically, because as the hammer Q is raised, the projection 25 acts upon the
clamp 26 on the rod 24 to raise the said slide rod and release the roll S' from the
plank to allow the hammer to drop, and when the hammer has caused the dies 16
and 17 to act upon the turn buckle blank, the slide rod 24 is allowed to drop as next
described, so that the eccentric bearings 22 are turned and the roll S' caused to grip
the lifting plank to raise the hammer again.
The lower end of the slide rod 24 is guided by a block 27 bolted to the side
frame Q, and in this block 27 is a rotary latch 28 (see Figs. 11 and 12), and at one
end of the rotary latch is an arm 29 against which a spring 30 acts to turn the arm
into the position shown in Fig. 12. the spring 30 preferably being helical and within
a hole in the block 27 and surrounding the reduced portion or tail of a plug 59 that
acts against the heel or back end of the arm 29, and the rotary latch 28 is cut away
at one side adjacent to the round lower end of the slide rod 24, and this slide rod 24
is also cut away, as represented in Fig. 12, so that when the hammer is raised and
the rod 24 is raised with the hammer by the projection 25 acting on the clamp 26,
the spring 30 turns the rotary latch into the position shown in Fig. 12 to come
into the cut away portion of the rod 24, thereby holding up the rod 24 and keeping
the eccentric bearings of the roll S¹ so that the roll is not in contact with the lifting
plank R, hence the hammer falls and as it falls it strikes the arm 29 turning the
rotary latch 28, so that the rod 24 is unsupported and drops, and in so doing the
roll S is made to again grip the lifting plank and raise the hammer. By this
means the rise and fall of the hammer are rendered automatic, but to place the drop
hammer under the control of the attendant a rocker or treadle U is provided, and it
is pivoted at 31, and the bar of this rocker is within reach of the hand or foot or
the attendant, preferably the latter, and when the rocker is depressed, the chain 32
moves the lifter lever 33 and raises the slide rod 24, so that the hammer does not
operate upon the same, and it is advantageous to provide a projection 34 on one
side of the drop hammer Q and a hold-fast lever 35 pivoted upon the frame Q' and
connected with the treadle or rocker U, and this hold-fast 35 may be raised or
lowered so as to catch the hammer at any desired place in its upward movement and
sustain the same.
It is advantageous to use the connecting bar 36 and chain 37 between the hold-
fast lever and the treadle, and the link 38 is a guide to the bar 36, and there is a
spring 39 to raise the rocker U and a suitable spring 60 is provided to act upon the
hold-fast lever 35 to throw it into position to hold the hammer, and the arrangement
of these parts is such that the attendant by keeping his hand or foot upon the
rocker U keeps the hold-fast 35 out of action by depressing the rocker and he
brings it into action by raising such rocker, and when the rocker is depressed
the rod 24 is raised to throw the roller S' out of action, hence the hammer can
be arrested when the dies 16 and 17 are together and when the hammer is
elevated.
After the turn buckles have been flattened out and given their perfected shape
and the fins and web reduced in thickness adjacent to the parts of the turn buckle,
such forged turn buckle blank is taken to the next machine, represented in Figs. 13
to 16, for shearing off and removing the fin and the web, and with this object in
view the dies a and are employed, the die a being an open die corresponding in
shape to the exterior of the turn buckle, as seen in Fig. 16, and having an upwardly
projecting edge, and the die having a shape corresponding generally to the shape
of the turn buckle itself, and there is a punch e acting upwardly from below, the
punch being the shape of the opening in the turn buckle. These dies and punch
are supported and actuated in any convenient manner, so that their movements are
as next stated, that is to say, the turn buckle blank as it is forged is laid upon the
die a and it is supported by its projecting fin. The die then comes down upon
the turn buckle and the punch c is moved upwardly from below, and the result of

page_text: these movements is that the turn buckle is carried down through the die a by the
die cutting off the fin around the exterior of the turn buckle, and the punch c
coming up from below, cuts out the web that there is in the middle of the turn
buckle, and by supporting the die a upon the bed a having a large opening therein,
the finished turn buckle falls down into this opening as the punch c is drawn
downwardly, and the web that is cut out from the center of the turn buckle is
above such turn buckle and the top of the punch e descends to the level of the
bottom of the opening in the bed a¹ so that the turn buckle and the web can be
drawn out by a hook inserted through the opening in the bed a' beneath the die a,
and after the upper die has been raised sufficiently high, the ring shaped fin or the
pieces of the fin cut off by the die a are easily removed from the top of such die a,
and I remark that the turn buckle is sufficiently rigid for the fin and web to be
sheared off, hence the edges of the punch c do not require to touch the inner edges
of the upper die band the exterior edges of this die b do not require to touch the
inner edges of the die a, and in this manner the parts work freely without becoming
obstructed and without unnecessary wear.
I have represented a convenient arrangement for giving motion to the die b and
the punch c.
The die is carried by a head d that slides in the vertical guides e
upon the frame, and this head d receives motion by a crank upon the shaft y with
a connecting rod to the head d, and the lower die a and its bed a' are supported
by the table portion of the frame of the machine, and below the table are the
guides for the head & to which the punch c is connected, and this head receives
motion by the connecting rod 7 to the crank shaft m, and there are gear wheels n
and o on the respective crank shafts g and m, and the motive power is to be applied
to the driving shaft .p by a belt or otherwise to the pulleys and it is preferable to
g
use a fly wheel to equalize the movement, and the pinion s gears with the
respective wheels n and o to drive the same, and the parts are so constructed and
timed as to give the relative movements before mentioned to the upper die 6 and to
the punch c in cutting off the fin and the web as aforesaid.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :
First. The herein described improvement in the manufacture of turn buckles,
consisting in forging out the turn buckle blank from an ingot by the action of
rotary dies, straightening and perfecting the forging operation by dies and a drop
hammer and cutting off the fin and removing the web by the action of dies,
substantially as set forth.
Second. The rotary forging machine having segmental dies, rolls and shafts to
which they are connected, an automatic pusher for acting upon the ingot and the
external and internal gears for driving the rolls and segmental dies, substantially as
set forth.
Third. The combination with the dies for straightening and perfecting the forging,
of the hammer, the lifter plank and lifting rolls, the eccentric bearings and adjust-
ments for such lifting rolls and the automatic mechanism for bringing such lifting
rolls into and out of action, substantially as set forth.
and
Fourth. The combination with the die a adapted to the exterior conformation of
the turn buckle, of a die b for pressing the turn buckle down through the dic a,
the punch c for cutting out the web within the turn buckle, and mechanism sub-
stantially as specified for giving motion to the die b and the punch c, substantially
as set forth.
Dated this Second der of Aust 1809