IMPROVED MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING SHEET METAL BOXES OR CASES
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Wagstaff, of Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Tin Plate Worker, for the Invention of
“IMPROVED MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING SHEET METAL
BOXES OR CASES."
Scaled the 19th January 1875, and dated the 22nd July 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Wagstaff
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 22nd July 1874.
I, JOHN HENRY WAGSTAFF, of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Tin Plato Worker, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING
SHEET METAL BOXES OR CASES," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in the construction and employment of
improved machinery or apparatus for performing the several operations
required for the manufacture of sheet metal boxes or cases, such as
turning in the edges, pressing in and back lapping the wires, knocking

page_text: up the corners and bottoms, and also for creasing and corrugating the
plates when desired.
On a bed or foundation plate I fix two standards or side framės
having slotted bearings, in which work pivots at the ends of a pressure
plate, parts of the pivots being cut away to correspond with the slots,
so that wires can be passed through the slots to a longitudinal groovo in
the pressure plate, and afterwards held firm by a moveable plate acted
upon by springs or thumbscrews or by a rack or cam, the moveable
plate carrying an adjustable guide plate used for regulating the different
depths of the turned over edges. The pressure plate is provided with a
handle or lever, so that it can be turned over by hand or power, and in
the plate there are transverse grooves for enabling the ends of the wires
to be turned at right angles. The extreme end of the pressure plate is
central with the axes of the pivots and the edge of the pivots, and the
edge of the plate falls off to an angle of 45° or thereabouts, the angular
part corresponding with a similar angular part of a cross bar or frame,
cast with or fixed to the standards.
On the foundation plate there are slides or guides, in which is placed
a block or carriage having at the top a socket, to which is fitted a pin
or shaft carrying an arm or table for holding various bars or tools, and
motion is given to the block or carriage by a rack and pinion worked by
a worm and worm wheel.
To perform the operation of edging the sheet metal is passed under
the moveable plate to the guide plate, and the arm or table moved
so as to press the tool upon it close up to the pressure plate, and
then the pressure plate is brought over by the handle or lever to form
the edge.
For wiring, the formed edge is placed over a groove in a tool carried
by the arm or table and moved close up to the pressure plate, and
the wire passed through the slots under the edge over the groove,
and then tho pressure plate is turned over to press the wire and
metal tightly into the groove, thus forming a bead with the wire
inside.
For back lapping, the bead is moved forward into the longitudinal
groove in the pressure plate, and the moveable plato brought over the
bead to the required depth of the edge, and the pressure plato

page_text: brought over to form the second edge, after which the moveable
plate is again shifted and the pressure plate brought over the
bead and pressed down closely to press the edge and the body close
together.
For knocking up the corners of the box or case, the sides and ends of
which are edged and flattened in the usual manner, and the wires
previously bent, the body is placed upon the tool in the table with the
wire opposite the transverse grooves in the pressure plate, and after the
table is pressed up to the angular cross piece on the standards the
pressure plate is brought over to squeeze and press and knock up
the corner; and for knocking up the bottom the operations are similar.
The only difference being in the position in which the parts of the box
are held on the table.
To make this machine complete in itself, I attach to it a guillotine
cutting machine; but when desired I employ several separate machines ;
one for edging only, one for edging, wiring, and back lapping, and one
for. knocking up.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Henry Wagstaff in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 22nd January 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY WAGSTAFF, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Tin
Plate Worker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Henry Wagstaff, Her special
licence that I, the said John Henry Wagstaff, my executors, admini-
strators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Henry
Wagstaff, my executors, administrators, 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,

page_text: the plates when desired; and Figs. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17,
are diagrams representing the operations required.
In Figs. 1, 2, and 3, a represents a bed or foundation plate to which
are fixed two standards or side frames b, in which work pivots c at the ends
of à pressure plate & provided with a lover e, so that it can be turned by
hand or power; and in the plate there are transverse grooves for enabling
the ends of the wires to be turned at right angles; and the pressure
plate & and parts in connection with it are shown in the cross sections,
Figs. 4 and 5. The extreme end of the pressure plate is central with
the axes of the pivots, and the edge of the plate falls off to an angle of
45°, as seen at d, Figs. 4 and 5, the angular part corresponding with a
similar angular part of a cross bar g fixed to the standards b.
On the foundation plate a there are two pedestals h, in which are
placed trunnions i at the ends of a block or carriage k having at the top
a socket, to which is fitted a pin or shaft carrying an arm m for holding
various tables or tools, one of which is marked n, and the backs of the
table and tools are also shaped to an angle of 45°, the said tools being
changed as required. To the block or carriage is cast or fixed the
lever p, which can be acted upon as required by the cam or eccentric q
on the lever r, and when the lever p is not in use it is in its backward
position, as shown by the dotted lines, the lever resting on the
support l.
•
8
In Figs. 6, 7, 8, and 9, I fix on a bed or foundation plate & two
slotted bearings or pedestals t, in which work pivots u at the ends of a
pressure plate provided with a lever to, parts of the pivots being cut
away to correspond with the slots, so that wires can be passed through
the slots to a groove x in the bed 8, and in the pressure plate there is a
groove y. To the pressure plate is connected a moveable plate or
holder a' by means of screws b' and slots c', and the holder can be
moved up and down or to and fro, as required, by the slotted cam d
and lever e¹, the slot encasing a pin f¹ fixed to the holder.
The operations of turning in the edges at right angles, as seen in
Fig. 10, may be performed in the ordinary bending machines or in the
machine shewn in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, in which when the plate hás
3. to have its edge turned the lever pis brought-up to the cross bar g,
and after the plate is adjusted it is held fast-by turning the eccentric q

page_text: by the lever r, after which the pressure plate d is brought over by the
lover e to turn in the edge, as seen in Fig. 10.
Some of the edges have to be turned over or folded to an angle of
180°, as shewn in Fig. 11, and then I prefer to use the machine shewn in
Figs. 6, 7, 8, and 9, in which the turned edge, shewn in Fig. 10, is
placed on the beds near the groove x, and then the pressure plate ▾
pressed upon it by the lover w, the effect of which is to fold the edge,
as shown in Fig. 11, there being a straight edge or thin sheet of metal
to prevent the edges from being folded too closely together.
To perform the operation of edging the sheet metal for receiving the
wire, the edge of the sheet is passed under the moveable plate a¹,
Figs. 6, 7, 8, and 9, which with the pressure plato is brought over by
the lever w to shape the edge, as in Fig. 14, and then the wire is placed
in the turned over edge and the edge with the wire within it placed in
the groovo x in the bed 8, after which the pressure plate is turned over 1
to press in the wire, as shown in Fig. 15.
For back lapping the bead is taken out of the grooves and placed
under the moveable plate a', and then into the groove y in the pressure
plate, which is brought over the bead to the required depth of the
edge and pressed to form the bead and edge, as shown in Fig. 10, after
which the bead is again placed in the groove x in the bed s, and the
moveable plate a¹ brought down firmly upon it, and the pressure plato
brought down with force to press or clamp the parts tightly together,
as shown in Fig. 17.'
For knocking up the corners, when the bend, Fig. 10, is enclosed in
the fold, Fig. 11, as seen in Fig. 12, one end is placed at each side of
the table on the block or carriage k, which is then brought up by the
lever p and held firm by the cam 7 and lever r, after which the pressuro
plato is brought over by the lever e with force, and the edges are firmly
knocked up and pressed closely together, as seen in Fig. 13; and the 3
operation of knocking up the bottoms is performed in a similar manner,
it being only necessary to change the table or tool required, and the
creasing or corrugating operation can be performed in either machine by
employing suitable tools.
Having now described the nature and particulars of my said. In- &
yention, and the manner which the same can be performed, I desire it

page_text: to be understood, that I claim the improved machinery or apparatus for
manufacturing sheet metal boxes or cases, as herein described and
illustrated on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, or any mere modi-
fication thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Wagstaff, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of January, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.
JOHN HENRY WAGSTAFF. (L.S.)