IMPROVEMENTS-IN MACHINERY USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SCREW BLANKS, NAILS, PINS, RIVETS, AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES
Year: 1855

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said "John Wakefield at .the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 18th
October 1855.
).
I, JOHN WAKEFIELD, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Machinist,
do hereby declare" the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS-IN
MACHINERY USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SCREW BLANKS, NAILS, PINS, RIVETS,
AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES," to be as follows:
1
My Invention consists of improvements in that part of the said machinery
which effects the feeding of wire or other material to the said machines, and
also the adaptation to the said machinery of counting apparatus for registering
the quantity of articles made by the said machinery!
My Invention consists, firstly, of two 'adjusting screws,' wedges, or stops,
which may either be fixed one at each end of the feed' bracket or on the feed-
ing slide. These stops can be adjusted so as to regulate with the greatest
nicety the quantity of wire or other material fed into the machine at each
motion thereof.

page_text: Secondly, of a relief lever or clutch applied to the feed rod, by which the
risk of bending or doubling up of the wire or other material used is avoided,
and consequently all risk of damage removed; as the relief lever or clutch
opens upon the application of an extra strain, and the machine ceases to feed.
Thirdly, I use two or more adjustable slides in conjunction with the relief
lever or clutch, before mentioned, by which means I can with the greatest
facility work up the ends of the wire or other material employed.
Fourthly, the application of a counter or register of the quantity of articles
made to screw heading or rivet machines. The said counter or register will
(if used in conjunction with my apparatus for working up the ends of the
material) denote with the greatest nicety the quantity of blanks made by the
said machine.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Jolin Wakefield in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th April 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
WAKEFIELD, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Machinist, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria,
Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Wakefield, Her special licence, that I, the said John Wakefield, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as. I, the said John
Wakefield, 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, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SCREW BLANKS, NAILS, PINS, RIVETS, AND OTHER
SIMILAR ARTICLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
Wakefield, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Wakefield, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof :-
My Invention consists of improvements in that part of the said machinery.
which effects the feeding of the rods or wires of metal to the said machinery,
and also in the adaptation to the said machinery of counting apparatus for
registering the quantity of articles made by the said machinery.
Figure 1 represents in side elevation, Figure 2 in plan, and Figure 3 in end
elevation, the feeding apparatus of a screw heading machine constructed
according to my Invention.
My Invention consists, firstly, of the two adjusting screws a, b, fixed one at
the end of the feeding slide c, and the other at the end of the feed bracket d.
The said screws a, b, permit of the adjustment of the slide c with the greatest
nicety, and thereby determine with accuracy the length of wire or rod fed into
the machine at each motion of the slide c. In the advance motion of the slide
c, the head of the screw a strikes against the bed plate e at f; and on the
return motion of the slide c, the head of the screw g strikes against the end of
the screw b. Instead of the screws a and b, wedges may be employed, but I
prefer screws, as described.
My Invention consists, secondly, of a relief lever or clutch, represented in.
Figure 1, applied to the rod which works the feeding mechanism; by the use
of which relief lever or clutch, the risk of bending or doubling up of the wire.
on the occurrence of any obstruction is avoided, and loss of time and injury to
the machine prevented. h is the feed rod, by which the feeding mechanism is
worked; i is a continuation of the feed rod h; the rod i having an alternating
motion communicated to it by the driving machinery. The end of the rod i
enters the end of the rod h, as indicated in dotted lines at k. l, m, are arms or
levers, connected by joints n, o, to the rod h; the ends of the levers l, m, engage
in slots on opposite sides of the rod i, as indicated in dotted lines at p. The
ends of the said arms or levers l, m, are inclined or bevilled, as represented.
q,r, are springs fixed on the rod h, and which press the levers l, m, into the
slots in the rod i. The motion of the rod i is transmitted through the levers
1, m, to the rod h; but if any obstruction occur to the motion of the feeding
machinery, the resistance of the rod h causes the inclined ends p of the levers
l, m, to rise out of the slots in the end of the rod i. When the motion of the
rod i is no longer transmitted to the rod h, the machine ceases to feed, and the
doubling or bending of the wire or rod supplied to the machine is prevented.
My Invention consists, thirdly, of the use of two or more slides s, t, which

page_text: enable the, machine to work up the ends, of the wire or rod. The slide s is
furnished with rods s', s, which slide in the block u, as indicated in dotted lines.
The slide s is also provided with rods which work in the slide t, as indi-
cated in dotted lines. The slide t is also provided with rods, t, which slide
in the bed plate e'of the machine. As the feeding-slide c advances, the slides
s, t, approach one another by their rods sliding in the, manner described, that is
to say, as the block u, approaches the bed, plate e, ther parts.s; t, and their
appendages shorten, sliding upon one another, somewhat after the manner of a
telescope. The wire v, gripped in the block,u, has two bearings.in s, t, between
the said block u and, the bed e: These supplementary, bearings for; the rod or
wire v enable the machine to work up the ends of the rods, or wires employed...
I sometimes modify the last-described part of my Invention..in the manner
illustrated. in side elevation in Figure 4, and in longitudinal section in Figure 5';
the parts, Figures 4 and 5, being placed between the block and bed e
Figure 2; in substitution for the slides s, t, and their appendages w. Figures. 4
and 5 is a tube, sliding, in another tube, appin y on the tube w.working
in a slot. in; the tube x. 1 is a helical spring, which, bearing against shoulders
on the ends of the tubes w,, x, tends to, give the, compound tube, w, -a, its
greatest elongation. The wire v, Figure 2, passes through the tube w, Figures
4 and 5, and is thus provided with a nearly continuous bearing. As the feeding
slide c; Figure, 2, (advances, the block, u presses against;, the, shoulder; on the
tube-w, and forces' it into the tube x.. As the feeding.slide creturns, the
spring. 1, restores, the tube w. to the position represented... In order more effec-
tually to work up the, ends of the wires or rods,, I turn a hole in that end of
each rod which last enters the machine, as shown at 2; Figure 6, and make
a pin or stud on that; end of each rod which first enters the machine, as
shown at 3, Figure :6; and I make the said pin 3 engage in the hole.. 2;
and thereby avoid the inconvenience which, sometimes arises from the-end
of one, rod or wire not following the end of the previous irod or, wire with
sufficient accuracy.
My, Invention consists, fourthly, in; the application to screw or rivet machines.
of a counter or register of the quantity of articles, made...This part of my
Invention; is' represented in Figures 1, 2, and 3. 4 is a weighted arm or lever,
turning upon a centre; at 5, and carrying a pall or click at 6;17 is a ratchet
wheel; with which the click 6 engages. The lever 4 rests upon the roller 8,
carried by the block u on the feeding slide c. When the roller 8 comes under
the part 4 of the lever 4,; the said lever descends, and on the return motion
of the..feeding slide c, the lever 4 is raised again. By the motion of the
lever 4, the click 6 carries round the ratchet, wheel 7; a worm 9-on the axis of
fi

page_text: the ratchet wheel 7 engages in the worm wheel 10, on the face of which a
graduated scale is made; a fixed pointer 11 indicates upon the scale under-
neath it the number of times the lever 4 has been raised, and consequently
the number of blanks which have been made. Those parts which are repre-
sented on the Drawing, but which I have not described, are well known, and
constitute no part of my Invention, and I therefore do not think it necessary
to describe them.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described, as the same may be varied
without departing from the nature of my said Invention; but I claim as my
Invention,-
Firstly, the use of adjusting screws or wedges for adjusting accurately the
range of motion of the feeding slide of machines used in the manufacture of
screw blanks, nails, pins, rivets, and other similar articles, as herein described,
and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
Secondly, the use of the relief lever or clutch applied to the feed rod of
machines used for the manufacture of screw blanks, nails, pins, rivets, and
other similar articles, as herein described, and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawing.
Thirdly, the use in screw blank and other such like machines of adjust-
able slides, for affording a nearly continuous bearing for the wire or rod to
he made into blanks, and thereby permitting the working up of the ends of
the said wires or rods; also the method of connecting or engaging together
the end of a rod or wire being introduced into the machine to the rod or
wire which was introduced before it, as herein described, and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawing.
Fourthly, the application of a counter or register of the quantity of articles.
made to machines used for the manufacture of screw blanks, nails, pins, rivets,
and other similar articles, as herein described, and illustrated in the accom-
panying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Wakefield, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
Witness,
JOHN WAKEFIELD. (L.S.)
JOHN HENRY WAKEFIELD.