IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING METAL PLATES, BARS, AND RINGS, AND IN MACHINERY EMPLOYED THEREIN.
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Beeley, of the Hyde Junction Iron Works, near
Manchester, Engineer and Boiler Maker, and Alfred Muir, of the Firm of
Messieurs William Muir & Co., of the Britannia Works, Manchester, Engineer,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING METAL PLATES, BARS, AND
RINGS, AND IN MACHINERY EMPLOYED THEREIN.'
"
Sealed the 30th June 1876, and dated the 26th January 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Beeley and Alfred
Muir at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 26th January 1876.
THOMAS BEELEY, of the Hyde Junction Iron Works, near Manchester, Engineer
and Boiler Maker, and ALFRED MUIR, of the Firm of Messieurs William Muir & Co.,
of the Britannia Works, Manchester, Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING
METAL PLATES, BARS, AND RINGS, AND IN MACHINERY EMPLOYED THEREIN."
'In preparing boiler and other plates for overlapping each other it is customary to
heat the corners, and in some cases other parts, to thin them down so that when
one plate comes upon or under the other an approximately even joint is formed; this
has usually been done by hammering when hot to the great injury of the metal,
especially in steel. Now our Invention consists in performing the operation of
thinning down by machinery when cold, thereby leaving the metal in its original
state, and uninjured by irregular and partial heating.
The machinery employed consists of a plate edge planing machine combined with
one or more shaping machines, the edge of the plate is made true by the planing
machine, and the bevelling or thinning down is performed by the shaping machine
or machines, this combined machine we call "the plate preparing machine."
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Thomas Beeley and Alfred Muir. in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 25th July 1876.
THOMAS BEELEY, of the Hyde Junction Iron Works, near Manchester, Engineer
and Boiler Maker, and ALFRED MUIR, of the Firm of Messieurs William Muir & Co.,

page_text: of the Britannia Works, Manchester, Engineer.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING
METAL PLATES, BARS, AND RINGS, AND IN MACHINERY EMPLOYED THEREIN."
In preparing boiler and other plates for overlapping each other it is customary to
heat the corners, and in some cases other parts, to thin them down, so that when
one plate comes upon or under the other an approximately even joint is formed,
this has usually been done by hammering when hot to the great injury of the
metal, especially in steel. Now our Invention consists in performing the operation
of thinning down by machinery when cold, thereby leaving the metal in its original
state, and uninjured by irregular and partial heating.
The machinery employed consists of a plate edge planing machine combined with
one or more shaping machines, the edge of the plate is made true by the planing
machine, and the bevelling or thinning down is performed by the shaping, machine
or machines; this combined machine we call "the plate preparing machine," and it
is represented in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, Fig. 1 being an elevation
partly in section; Fig. 2, a front view; and Fig. 3, a plan of the same; Figs. 4, 5, 6,
7, 8, and 9 are detached views on an enlarged scale of parts of the same.
a is the bed of the plate edge planing machine, and b is the table to which the
plate to be operated upon is secured. As will be described hereafter the parts a
and bare bolted together as shewn in Figs. 1 and 2, or in any other convenient
manner, or the two parts may be cast together. On the bed a is the slide c, which
is traversed to and fro by the screw d; this screw is turned round alternately in
opposite directions by an open and a crossed driving strap passing around the fast
pulley d, or by gearing; the direction of motion is reversed by a projection on the
slide c acting on adjustable bushes on the stop rod d², and by the usual levers and
strap guides shewn in Fig. 2. To the slide c is connected the headstock e of the
tumbler tool holder f, shewn detached in Fig. 4, which is moved half round after
every cut by means of the handle f¹ so as to bring the tool in the proper position
for cutting in whichever direction the slide may be moving. The handle f₁ is held
horizontal when turned by stops shewn in Figs. 2 and 4. To the table b is fixed
the cross beam g, to which one or more shaping machines are attached, and through
which pass the five or other convenient number of screws h for holding the plate to
be operated upon on the table b.
The shaping machines are partly shewn detached in Figs. 5, 6 and 7, and they
can be moved along the beam g by turning the pinions i, gearing into a rack fixed
to the beam. Each shaping machine consists of the saddle n, in which are bearings
for the driving shaft j, and for the axle of the disc, in which is an adjustable crank
pin fitting in a block which slides in the link l; this link vibrates above on a fixed
stud, and below it is jointed to the slide m of the tool holder as in shaping machines
of the ordinary construction. The discs are driven by the pinions j¹, which are
connected to the shaft j by a sliding clutch box j, as shewn detached in Figs. 8 and
9, and each pinion gears into a wheel A¹ fixed to the axle of the disc k; the sliding
clutch boxes can be thrown in or out of gear with the clutches on the boss of the
pinions by the levers ³.
The tool holder slides m are connected to the saddles n by the fulcrum studs n¹,
see Figs. 1, 5 and 6, and the tool holders o are jointed in the ordinary manner to
the vertical slides p, fixed to the horizontal slides q, fitting on the angle of the
slides m. By this arrangement the tool can be set to cut at the required angle, as
shewn in Fig. 5. The lateral feed of the tool is made self-acting by the diagonal
stop bracket n², fixed to the saddle n; this bracket fits on the stop rod r, to which
two adjustable bushes are secured, and as the slide m moves to and fro the stop rod
gives motion to the lever r¹, which by means of a catch, ratchet wheel, and screw
drives the slide q along the angle of the slide m.
In the accompanying Drawing we have shewn two shaping inachines combined
with one plate edge planing machine, but the number of shaping machines may be
varied.
The mode of operation is as follows:-The plate to be operated upon is first
'secured to the table b by the screws h as described, and the edge thereof is planed

page_text: by the tool in the tool holder f, and after each traverse of the slide c the attendant
reverses the position of the tool so that a cut may be given during both the traverse
and the return of the slide. When the edge is true the planing machine is stopped
by bringing both the driving straps on the loose pulleys, and the bevelling down of
the corners or other parts of the plate is then effected by the shaping machine or
machines as above described.
The machine may be adapted to operate upon bars and rings.
We wish to remark here that the same result may be attained by the use of
a separate plate edge planing machine, and a shaping machine, but we prefer the
use of the compound machine described.
Having thus stated the nature of our Invention, and described the manner of
performing the same, we declare that we claim as our improvements in preparing
metal plates, bars, and rings, planing and shaping the edges or other parts thereof
when cold, instead of hammering when hot as heretofore customary, and we also
claim the improved compound planing and shaping machine shewn and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Muir, for myself and on behalf of the
said Thomas Beeley, have hereto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-
second day of July, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
ALFRED MUIR. (L.S.)