AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR SHAPING PLATES OF METAL, AND FOR MANUFACTURING VARIOUS ARTICLES THEREFROM;
Year: 1831

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
CHRISTOPHER TOBIAS KREEFT, of Old Broad Street, in the City of London,
Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS, in consequence of a communication made to me by Stephen
Von Keesz and Moritz Von Tschoffen, Foreignors, residing abroad, I am in
possession of an Invention of "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR SHAPING PLATES OF
METAL, AND FOR MANUFACTURING VARIOUS ARTICLES THEREFROM;" and whereas His
present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth, by His Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at Westminster,
the Twenty-second day of December, in the second year of His reign, did, for
Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said John
Christopher Tobias Kreeft, His especial lincens, that I, the said John
Christopher Tobias Kreeft, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I;
the said John Christopher Tobias Kreeft, 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 expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of. Berwick-
upon-Tweed, and also in all His said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations
abroad, "the said Invention;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a
.

page_text: proviso obliging me, the said John Christopher Tobias Kreeft, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
and to cause the same to be enrolled in His said Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being there-
unto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Christopher Tobias Kreeft, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention to consist in an apparatus whereby the power required for shaping
plates of metal into various forms for the purpose of manufacturing articles of
common therefrom is obtained by means of a powerful lever, to which the
tools required for the purpose are fixed, and which lever causes the tool to
take effect while the work or plate of metal operated upon is kept firmly upon
a bed prepared for it, and constantly revolving in a horizontal position; and
in further compliance with the said proviso, I, the said John Christopher
Tobias Kreeft, do hereby describe the manner in which the said Invention is
to be performed by the following description thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon (that is
to say):-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the said apparatus, with one end of the
framing removed, the better to expose the different mechanical parts of the said
apparatus to view. A, A, is. a fly wheel turned with a man's labor by the
handle B, and thus constituting the prime mover of the apparatus. C is a
shaft turning in the bearings D, D, and carrying on it the toothed pinion E.
This pinion gears into the horizontal cogged wheel, F, and is thrown in, or, out
of gear by pressing in or pulling out the shaft C. The horizontal, cogged
wheel: F is fixed on the upright main spindle G, which is provided with both a
slow and a quick motion-the former it derives from the toothed gear E,, F;
and, the latter from the driving pulley II fixed at the lower part of the spindle
G, and the band of which leads to,a large driving wheel of about 4.or, 5. feet
diameter. The main spindle. G turns at its lower end on the bearing or
gudgeon I, while its upper end passes up through the platform, of the frame or
table J and the brass collar K. On the upper end is cut a screw, and, on this
the varions moulds or dies required to perform the various works are screwed.
L, L, represents one of the said dies made of cast iron, and it may be as well
here to observe that those which are sunk I call dies, and those which. are

page_text: raised I call moulds. L, L, then is a die, and represents such an one as
would be used to form a soup plate. M r, M r, M r, are holdfasts, of which
there may be any convenient number, for holding down the metal plate which
is to be operated upon, and I have generally found four of these to be sufficient.
t, t, t, are 3 of the 4 corners of projecting edges of a plate of metal supposed
in this Figure to be arranged on the die ready for being operated upon; and it
will be seen that the hooks r, r, r, of the holdfasts are arranged so as to catch
over these edges of the plate of metal. N, N, is an upright standard firmly
fixed into the frame below, and O is a slide carrying P, which is a swivel rest
or bearing for one end of the lever to act against. This slide, which for
distinction I call the swivel slide, is adjustable at any required height on the
standard N, N, by the small screw at the back of it here shown. The part
colored pink is another kind of rest for the lever moving in a slide on another
standard, which being concealed by the standard N, N, will be better explained
hereafter by one of the other Figures. This rest I call the slide rest, to dis-
tinguish it from the swivel rest before mentioned.
I will now describe the lever, which is the most important feature of the
Invention. It is represented in this Figure with one end placed in the swivel
rest l', and fitted with the two tools required for performing the first part of
the operation of making a soup plate after the metal plate has been fixed upon
the die. Q, Q, is the said lever, which I call the lever bar, and is furnished
with a cross handle R, R, so as to be worked with both the hands of the
operator, and with one arm of the handle longer than the other. a, b, are the
two tools before mentioned; 6 I call the heart tool, and a, which is the tool
represented also at Figure 6, but partly concealed here by the countersinks of
the die, I call the foot tool. These tools are wedged-shaped in the shank, and
being placed in opposite directions in a mortice cut in the lever bar for that
purpose, centre over the work, and a slight tap of a hammer sets them fast,
while turning the screw c keeps them firmly in their places. When the dies
are used the holdfasts keep the metal plates, which are being operated upon,
sufficiently firm in their places; but when moulds are used it is necessary to
keep the plates down upon the mould by a strong pressure from above; and
this is effected by the screw S, which passes through the head frame T, and is
turned by the small wheel U, but which will be better explained in the next
Figure.
Figure 2 represents the manner of applying the screw S to keep tlie metal
plates steady when moulds are used instead of dies. V is a wooden mould,
and is screwed on to the spindle in the same manner as the die before
described. W is the metal plate in the course of manufacture turned over

page_text: the mould. X is a block of wood placed upon it, and Y is a bar of wood or
iron placed between the block X and the screw S, so that when the wheel U
is turned the screw S descends, and causes a powerful pressure on the block X
which holds the plate W firmly on the mould. The remainder of this Figure
will be described hereafter.
Figure 3 represents the mode of finishing the rimming of a plate, and the
tools necessary for that purpose. Z is the mould used for making a soup
plate, and the upper part of which, therefore, exactly corresponds with or fits
into the metal plate when taken from the countersink of the die L before
.described. It will be better to finish the description of this Figure when
describing the operation of making a soup plate, which I shall do hereafter.
Figure 4 is a front sectional view of the said Invention, and it will save
much repetition of explanation here to state that similar letters are used to
denote similar parts in all the Figures, so that the principal parts of this
Figure will be recognized by reference to those herein-before described. d
is the second standard placed beside that marked N, and the parts co-
lored pink represent the slide with its adjusting screw, to fix it at any
required height on the standard. e is a horizontal slide rest pierced with
holes to receive the end of the lever bar when required, and with this slide
e and the swivel rest P all the necessary positions for the end of the lever
bar Qmay be readily obtained. L is the die for a soup plate, shown in
section; being the hollow or countersink for the bottom of the plate to be
formed in; g the hollow for the flange, commonly called the salt rim, of the
plate to be formed in; and i is the rise over which the edge or rim of the
plate, which is afterwards to hold the wire, is formed. At the right hand
lower corner of the Drawing the lever bar and some of the tools to be used
with it are shewn.
Figure 5 represents two views of the crescent tool used for wiring the plate.
Figure 6 the two views of the foot tool used to press the metal into the die.
Figure 7 the heart tool used for making the flange or salt rim of the plate,
and assisting in hollowing the bowl. Figure 8 the rim-finishing tool, used to
finish wiring the rim. Figure 9 the rim-forming tool, used for pressing the
metal plate over the rise i. Figure 11 the cutting tool, used to cut off any
extraneous parts of the metal forming the plate. Figure 12 is the lever
bar Q, with its cross handles R, R, and furnished with the adjusting screw c
to hold the tools in the mortice h. Figure 13 is another view of part of
Figure 12.
Having now described the various parts of the said apparatus, I will pro-
ceed to describe the mode of operating therewith on a piece of tin plate, so as

page_text: to form a common tin soup plate, which will give a perfect idea of the mode
of using the apparatus in a general way, leaving it to the ingenuity of the
workman to suggest such little modifications and aids as the particular nature
of any variety of work may require, and as the nature of the apparatus may
afford convenience for, which are almost endless, and would be impossible to
describe in a Specification, as each operator's necessities, convenience, or inge-
nuity would probably suggest a different expedient. Take a tin plate, such as
is usually called in the trade IXX soft tin plate, about ten and a half inches
square, and having cut the corners off, lay it over the top of the die L, catching
hold of the projecting edges with the holdfasts r, which must be screwed down
tight upon them by means of the thumb screws M, so that the plate buckles
up a little convex, then put a little sweet oil on the plate with the feather of a
quill, and rub it all over with yellow soap; then put the heart tool b and foot
tool a into the lever bar Q, as shewn at Figure 1, and place the end of the
lever bar into the slide rest e; then put on the quick motion derived from the
pulley H, and turn the spindle G rapidly in the direction against the sun, as
it is called, and taking firmly hold of the cross handle R, R, of the lever bar.
with both hands, and bearing down rather hard with a slanting tool, commence
pressing the tin plate into the hollow which forms the salt rim, and so over the
outer edge of the die with the heart tool b working from left to right; this
fixes the tin plate on the die; then with the same tool commence at the edge,
and working from right to left, bear rather harder, and go down the salt rin
you arrive at the edge of the hollow or bowl of the plate, then pointing
the tool in a perpendicular direction with a rather light but firm hand, strike
down from the salt rim a good half inch into the bowl, then turn your lever
bar Q so as to bring the foot tool a in operation, and shift the end of the lever
bar Qinto the swivel rest P, press the foot tool down in the centre of the tin
plate, and work with a light hand from left to right till you get within a
quarter of an inch where you left off with the heart tool, but do not bear hard
on your lever. This I call the first heat, and if your tool does not centre, it
should now be adjusted again; turn your lever, shifting it to the slide rest c,
and with the heart tool still more perpendicularly pointed, bearing firmly from
you, go into the bowl rather farther, but not quite so as to meet the first
centre heat; yet again turn your lever as before, resting in the swivel rest P,
and with the foot tool again work from left to right, pressing down pretty hard
until arrived where you left off with the heart tool of the first heat; repeat the
same operation till you feel the bottom of the die, and the plate appears to lay
firmly on. The latter two successive operations I term the second and third
till

page_text: heats; the next should be a strong pressure with the heart tool much pointed
down into the bowl, so as to lay the plate close on, and should go quite to the
flat. The next operation is what I call the burnishing heat, commencing with
the foot tool in centre, working left to right, but with little pressure, polishing
slower as you proceed; turn your lever, and with the heart tool in the same
manner, go slowly from left to right out of the bowl upwards, and when out
turn the lever, and with the foot tool polish as much of the salt rim as it will
apply itself to; and, finally, with the heart tool very much inclined, go slowly,
polishing left to right out of the salt rim; this finishes the first part part of
the operation called the raising; now change the tools in the lever bar Q, and
having removed the heart and foot tool, replace them with the rim-forming
tool, Figure 9, and the cutting tool, Figure 11; place the lever in the swivel
rest P, and put on the slow motion; first use the rim-forming tool, Figure 9,
and bestride the rise i of the die with it, and pressing hard down on the lever
bar, bearing first right and then left form the place to receive the wire, when
the plate is turned over afterwards on the mould; turn next the spindle in a
direction with the sun, and polish the tin plate in a contrary direction, with a
soft linen rag dipped in lime slackened by the air only, and sifted through a
fine hair sieve, and finally polish with a piece of still finer linen rag, then turn
the lever and use the cutting tool, the cutting edge being outwards; bestride
the rise i in like manner with this tool, and press down hard on the lever, and
bear outwards till all the outer edges of the tin plate not required to form the
work are cut off. This will finish the operations on the die, and the tin soup
plate thus formed must now be taken out of the die; the die must be un-
screwed from the spindle, and a mould, which may be of hard wood, the
outside of which must exactly correspond with the inside of the soup plate,
must be screwed on to the spindle in its place; a piece of fine linen should
then be spread over the mould to preserve the polish of the inside of the soup
plate, and the soup plate should be turned over the mould, as shown at
Figure 3; the block X should be placed upon it, and screwed down tight
upon it by means of the bar Y and screw S, as shown in Figure 2; all this
keeps the soup plate fixed firmly on the mould; the tools shown in Figure 3
should then be placed in the lever bar; they are the tools used for wiring the
rim of the plate, and are shown separately at Figures 5 and 8 on the Drawings.
Continue the slow motion of the spindle, and with the crescent tool, Figure 5,
turn up the outer edge of the soup plate enough to hold the wire, then cut the
wire to the proper length, and lay it in the rim so raised, hammering down the
rim upon it at the place where the ends of the wire join, and other parts, just

page_text: to hold the wire from slipping out, and with the cresent tool throw the rim
still more over, and at length down upon the wire with the flat side of the tool,
and for this purpose it will be necessary to lower the swivel rest P by means of
the slide O, until the lever bar is at right angles with the standard N, N; then
use the rim finishing tool, Figure 8, which will close the rim neatly and
smoothly over the wire and cut off the rough edge on the inside of the lap over
metal. This completes the soup plate, which may then be removed from the
mould a fit article for sale in the trade. It is evident that a great variety of
work may be performed from the foregoing instructions; but when any deep
vessel is required to be made with the said apparatus, it is necessary, moreover,
to employ the process shown at Figure 2, which I call drawing down. The
mould here shown at V, it will be seen, is deeper than the mould for making
the soup plate on; and in order to make this deeper plate or vessel, it is neces-
sary, when the metal plate is screwed down on the mould by the screw S acting
on the bar Y and block X, to commence hammering down the metal plate in
the manner here represented, in order to stretch it down to the bottom of the
mould. This is done by holding a wedge-formed piece of hard wood under
the metal plate, and beating it down with what I call a drawing haminer, as
shown in the Figure; this operation is only to gain an additional depth for
the vessel, which is then finished as before described.
Now, whereas an endless variety of tools may be used with, and an endless
variety of work performed by, this Invention; and whereas I claim as the
said Invention the apparatus herein-before described for shaping plates of
metal and manufacturing various articles therefrom, and the said Invention
being to the best of my knowledge and belief entirely new and never beforo
used within that part of His said Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland called England, Ilis said Dominion of Wales or Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, nor in any of His Majesty's Colonies or Plantations abroad, I
do hereby declare this to be my Specification of the same, and that I do
verily believe this my said Specification doth comply in all respects fully and
without reserve or disguise with the proviso in the said herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent contained, wherefore I do hereby claim to maintain
exclusive right and privilege to the said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Christopher Tobias Kreeft, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of June, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-two.
JOHN CHRISTOPHER TOBIAS (L.s.) KREEFT.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Eighteenth day of June, in the
year of our Lord 1832, the aforesaid John Christopher Tobias Kreeft came
before our said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Speci-.
fication aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in
form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Twenty-second day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-two.