IMPROVE- MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR FORGING OR SHAPING METALS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Dodge, of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR FORGING OR SHAPING METALS."
Sealed the 22nd April 1870, and dated the 26th October 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Dodge at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th October 1869.
I, JAMES DODGE, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR FORGING OR SHAPING
METALS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in the employment of a hammer or hammers
working in conjunction with two or more dies or anvils, which are
successively or at pleasure brought into a proper position to receive the
blow, and whereby I am also enabled to dispense with the necessity of
turning the metal or article to be forged.

page_text: An arrangement I propose for carrying out my Invention consists of
two hammers turning upon centres, upon which they are raised by cams,
and by the act of being so raised they compress springs to assist in
giving the blow when they are liberated. These two hammers work
alternately upon two dies or anvils which are capable of turning upon a
centre, so as to bring them into suitable positions in reference to the
hammers, and these dies may if desired be different in form according
to the article to be forged. I also propose to adapt treadles, by which
any desired hammer may be prevented from acting, and I cause the
shifting of the dies or anvils to bring the part which carries them
against an abutment during the striking of the blow. The hammers
may be actuated by cams, as aboye mentioned, or by steam or other
medium of communicating power, and the dies or anvils instead of
turning upon a centre may be otherwise shifted.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Dodge in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 26th April 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
DODGE, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said James Dodge, Her special license, that
I, the said James Dodge, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said James Dodge, 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 OR
APPARATUS FOR FORGING OR SHAPING METALS," upon the condition, amongst
others, that I, the said James Dodge, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the

page_text: 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Dodge, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement and accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 represents my improved machine
in vertical section, certain of the parts being removed at the left hand,
in order to expose other parts.
One of the two side frames is shewn at a, in which is mounted the
main driving shaft b, which carries a crank pin c situate in a block d,
which is capable of being thus caused to slide in a slot e formed in a
frame; this frame is carried by a shaft g mounted in the stationary
frame a, and the aforesaid crank pin c therefore causes the frame ƒ to
rock upon the centre of motion g. At h, h, are two dies or anvils, as
the case may require, carried by the rocking frame f, and capable of
moving therewith into different positions, as will hereafter be explained.
Upon the main shaft 6 is a spur wheel i in gear with another of twice
the number of teeth, and mounted upon a shaft, which carries two
tappets or wipers m, n, capable (when permitted) of acting successively
against a roller o mounted upon a lever p which turns upon a fixed
centre q. This lever when thus turned compresses a spring ", which
thus becomes charged with power, so as to force the said lever back
when it is released from either of the tappets m or n, and bring the
hammer s upon the article to be shaped, as will hereafter be explained.
At is a shaft carried by the stationary framework, and provided with
two levers u, v, to the former of which is jointed a rod we connected at
its lower end to a treadle x, and forced upwards by a spring y, and
at a, y*, is also another treadle and spring, and these two the workman
commands by sitting before them. By these means therefore the
hammers may be retained free from the tappets m, n, and prevented
from descending at the pleasure of the workman. The above description
has had reference to the right-hand side of the machine, but there are
similar parts on the left-hand side marked with the same letters of
reference, but with the addition of an *; in the latter case, however,
some of the parts are removed, as before mentioned. At 1, 1*, are.

page_text: inclined planes formed upon the rocking frame f, and these alternately
arrive in contact with other inclined planes 2, 2*, formed upon solid
blocks or beams extending between the side framings of the machine;
and as these two inclines on each side arrive in contact the rocking
frame, and consequently shaft g, are slightly forced upwards and t
pressed in contact with a strip of cloth 3 or similar packing carried by
the cap 4 of the said shaft g. The springs 1, *, as shewn, consist of
blocks of india-rubber situate within cavities of the levers p, p*,
carried by caps which abut against the stationary parts 5, 5*.
and
The operation of the machine is as follows:-Assuming for the present
that the treadle x is down instead of up, as shewn in the Drawing on the
right-hand side, and that the hammer s is not therefore held up, but is
free to be acted upon by the tappets or wipers m; n, and supposing also
that a triangular piece of metal; as shewn at 5, is to be forged or shaped,
according to the positions shewn this piece of metal is in the die h, and
the hammers with a corresponding cavity has fallen upon it by the
force of the spring *, and this position of the anvil and hammer is
shewn by the full lines in the detached Fig. 2, the arrow indicating the
direction of the blow. The main shaft 6 now revolving will by means
of the crank c cause the frame f to turn upon its centre g and bring
the anvil h into the position shewn by full lines in Fig. 2, while the
other anvil will be turned into the position also shewn by dotted lines
in Fig. 2, by which motion the said anvil h will have receeded from the
nietal 5, and the workman holds it upon the other anvil *; thus avoiding
the necessity of turning it, as in ordinary. forging. By this time the
tappet m will have passed the roller o and the lever p, and consequently
hammers will be free, and be forced downwards by the spring r, so
as to strike the metal upon two of its triangular sides. After this the
return motion of the crank c will bring the parts again into the position
shewn in Fig. 1, and by this time the revolution of the tappet m* will
allow the hammer * to fall into the position shewn in Fig. 1. It has
been stated that the wheels k, k*, have twice the number of teeth con-
tained in i, and the tappets m, n, and m*, *, therefore work alternately
on each side. It will be observed that when a blow is struck one of the
inclines 1, 1*, of the frame f is on one of the solid beds 2, 2*, and as
the shaft g has been by these means slightly forced upwards against
the packed cap 4 the said blow is received by a solid foundation, the
shaft g being relieved thereof, while the cloth 3 serves to deaden the

page_text: blow. The operations may continue as above described as long as may
be desired, but should it be required to strike more than one blow in
succession by one hammer, then the workman liberates one of the
treadles, and the lever u, for instance, being then brought into the
position shewn at the right hand of Fig. 1 withdraws the hammer s
from the tappets m, n. At 7 is a rest of the form of the article to be
forged, and which is used by the workman as a support for the same.
In describing the operation of my machine I have alluded to the
forging of triangular shaped metal by way of illustration, but it will be
evident to all competent persons that other shapes may be produced in
like manner.
I would also observe that I do not limit myself to the precise arrange-
ment of parts shewn and described, and that steam or air may be
substituted for the cams which actuate the hammers and anvils, that
which I claim as secured to me under the above in part recited Letters
Patent being,
Firstly. The use of moveable anvils or dies working alternately in
conjunction with the like number of hammers, substantially as described.
Secondly. The use of apparatus for holding a hammer back for the
purpose of allowing successive blows to be struck with one hammer:
Thirdly. The solid abutments, as illustrated at 2, 2*.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Dodge, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
TAMAN DODAT