AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC PENS, AND NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC PENS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Gillott the younger, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Manufacturer, and Henry Gillott, of Birmingham
aforesaid, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR
IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC PENS, AND NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR
THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC PENS."
Sealed the 26th January 1855, and dated the 27th November 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Gillott and Henry
Gillott at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Peti-
tion, on the 27th.November 1854.
We, JOSEPH GILLOTT the younger, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturer, and HENRY GILLOTT, of Birmingham aforesaid;
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for:" AN
IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC PENS, AND NEW OR IMPROVED
MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC PENS," to be as follows:-
Our improvement or improvements in metallic pens consists in hardening
the points of steel or other pens in the following manner; that is to say, we
heat the point of the pen to redness in a flame urged by a blow-pipe or other-
wise, and, removing the said pen from the said flame, we allow it to cool by
simple exposure to the air, or by directing a stream of air upon it the point

page_text: Our new or improved machinery consists of mechanical. arrangements,
whereby the longitudinal and transverse grinding, by which the points of
steel pens are finished, is effected while the pens are held mechanically, instead
of by hand. The grinding apparatus consists of two grinders, made of any
suitable material, one of the said grinders revolving in a vertical plane, and
the other in a horizontal plane. The pens are fixed in carriers supported on
a disc which revolves horizontally, and by the motion of the said disc each
pen is first carried to and pressed upon the grinder which revolves vertically,
and afterwards that which revolves-horizontally; by the former the longitudinal
grinding is effected, and by the latter the transverse or cross grinding is
effected; instead of placing the carriers on a revolving disc, the said carriers
may be fixed on a sliding bar, to which an alternating motion is given. In
either case the carriers are so constructed as to give or permit such a motion
to the pen as is required to effect the longitudinal grinding over a sufficient
extent of the curved surface of the pen.
"
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Gillott and Henry Gillott in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 11th May 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOSEPH
GILLOTT the younger, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manu-
facturer, and HENRY GILLOTT, of Birmingham aforesaid, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Joseph Gillott and Henry Gillott, Her special licence that we, the
said Joseph Gillott and Henry Gillott, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said Joseph Gillott and Henry Gillott, our
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 AN IMPROVEMENT-OR-IMPROVE-
MENTS IN METALLIC PENS, AND NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR THE MANU-
FACTURE OF METALLIC PENS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we,

page_text: the said Joseph Gillott and Henry Gillott, by an instrument in writing under
our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, should particu-
larly 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Joseph Gillott and Henry Gillott,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say:-
Our improvement or improvements in metallic pens consists in hardening
the points of steel pens in the following manner; that is to say, we .heat the
point of the pen to redness in a flame urged by a blow-pipe or otherwise, and
removing the said. pen from the said flame, we allow it to cool. by simple
exposure to the air, or by directing a stream of air upon it.. The point of the
pen is thus hardened and made more durable.
Our new or improved machinery for the manufacture of. metallic pens
consists of mechanical arrangements, herein-after particularly described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, whereby the longitudinal and
transverse grindings, by which the points of metallic pens are. finished, are
effected..
Figure 1 represents our new or improved machinery in plan; and Figure 2:
represents the same in elevation; Figures 3 and 4 represent, the former.in
elevation and the latter in plan,. some of the working parts, on a larger scale
than Figures 1 and 2. The same letters indicate the same parts in the
several Figures. a represents a grinder, which has motion in a vertical
plane, and by which the longitudinal grinding of the pen is effected; and b
represents a grinder, situated in a horizontal plane, against the thin edge of
which the cross grinding of the pen is effected. Motion may be commu-
nicated from the driving power to these grinders in any convenient manner.
The pen to be operated upon is fixed in the forceps or holder c, d, the said
forceps being fixed on a spring e, situated at the end of the slide f; the
said slide is situated on the disc or table g, which rotates upon the axis h..
The pen is introduced into the forceps in the following manner:-i is an
arm, fixed to the bed of the machine, and having the form represented.
When by the revolution of the disc or table g, the forceps c, d, are brought
into the position represented in Figure 3, the end of the arm i wedges between
the parts c, d, of the forceps c, d, and separates the parts c, d, of the said
forceps, so that the pen may be inserted between them. The disc or

page_text: table g does not perform a continuous rotation, but rests for a time at the
moment when the arm i opens the forceps c, d; this rest is for the purpose of
permitting of the ready introduction of the pen, and is effected in the following
manner: The motion of the disc or table g is effected through the bevil
wheels l, m, (see Figure 2.) The wheel is fixed on the axis h, but the wheel
m is loose upon the axis n, the said axis n carrying an arm o and click p
which said click engages with the ratchet q on the wheel m, and communicates
a rotatory motion to the said wheel m. During each revolution the end p¹ of
the click p comes in contact with the fixed stop r, and the said click is thereby
raised and disengaged from the ratchet q. The rotatory motion of the wheel m,
and consequently that of the disc or table g, is arrested, until the end p', escaping
by the revolution of the arm o from the fixed stop r, the said click p' again
engages in the ratchet q, and again communicates motion to the wheel m.
The ratchet contains but four teeth, as represented, so that by the action
last described the wheel m makes but three-fourths of a revolution for cach
revolution of the arm o and axis n; but the number of teeth on three-fourths
of the wheel m is equal to the whole number on the wheel l, so that the axis h
and table g make one revolution for each revolution of the axis n. By the
arrangement described, the forceps c; d, rest for a time, for the purpose of
permitting of the introduction of a pen, the said forceps being held open
during their time of rest by the arm i. When the axis h and table g resume
their motion, the forceps c, d, passing from the arm i, close upon and hold the
pen firmly. The pen is at. length brought to the grinder a, and is pressed
thereupon by the springe. The position of the pen with respect to the
grinders a and b, is thus effected. s, t, are guides, which can be accurately
adjusted by means of the screws s¹, t'; as the table g revolves, the roller u is
brought against the curved face of the. guides s, t, and the arm f is forced
back on the plate g to such a distance as suffices to bring the pen with
sufficient pressure upon the grinders. The return motion of the arm f may
be effected by a ring v, of vulcanized caoutchouc, attached in the manner
represented. After the pen has been operated upon-by-the grinders-a-and-b,
the said pen requires to be removed from the forceps c, d; this is effected
in the following manner:-w is a spring, the end of which enters a slit in
the part c of the forceps; the said spring w is fixed upon and travels with the
arm f. is a disc fixed on the top of a stationary rod y; the said rod y passes
through the hollow axis h, and is fixed on the bed of the machine. The
-spring-w-presses against_the_lower_edge of the disc a, and is hence prevented
from raising the pen from the forceps c, d; but that portion of the edge of the
disc which is opposite to the arm i is cut away in the form of a tooth, as

page_text: represented at z, so that when, by the revolution of the disc or table g. the
spring w is brought under the portion of the disc x, the said spring, being
no longer restrained by the edge of the disc a, suddenly rises, and forces the
pen violently out of the forceps. The pen is thrown into the channel 1,
pursuing the course indicated by the arrows in Figure 2, and falls into the
box or receptacle 2. Before the spring w escapes from the edge of the disc a
at the part 2, the forceps c, d, have been opened by the arm i, so that the pen
is not held by the said forceps, but rests upon the spring w. Although we
have only described one carrier or forceps on the disc or table g, yet, by
making the said disc or table g larger, several carriers or forceps may be
placed thereon, and several pens may be operated upon during each revolution
of the disc or table g. We do not, however, think it necessary to represent
such modification, as it resembles in all essential respects the arrangement
herein-before described and represented in the accompanying Drawing, with
such alterations only as a machinist is competent to make.
Having now described the nature of our said Invention, and the
manner of
carrying the same into effect, we wish it to be understood that we do not
confine ourselves to the precise details herein described, as the same may
be varied without departing from the nature of our said Invention; but we
claim as our Invention,-
Firstly, hardening the points of steel pens in the manner herein described,
that is to say, by heating the said points in a flame, whether urged or not by a
blow-pipe, and afterwards cooling the same by simple exposure to the air, or
by directing a stream of air thereon.
Secondly, the new or improved machinery for effecting the longitudinal and
transverse grindings of metallic pens, as herein described, and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, we, the said Joseph Gillott and Henry Gillott, have
hereunto set our hands and seals, this Ninth day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
TACRnr
Amm
JOSEPH GILLOTT, JUNIOR. (L.S.)
HENRY GILLOTT.
(L.S.)