THE METHOD OF WORKING A STAMP BY A STEAM ENGINE, WATER, OR HORSE POWER
Year: 1813

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
BIGGS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Brass Founder, send
greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-third day of
November, in the fifty-fourth year of His reign, give and grant unto me, .the
said Edward Biggs, my exors, adñors, and assigns, His especial licence, full
power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Edward Biggs, my exors,
admors, and assigns, during the term of years therein mentioned, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "THE METHOD OF WORKING A
STAMP BY A STEAM ENGINE, WATER, OR HORSE POWER;" in which said Letters
Patent there is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Edward Biggs, by
an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to cause a particular
description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within two calendar months after the date of the said recited Letters Patent,
as in and by the same (relation being thereunto had), may more fully and at
large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Edward Biggs, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in manner following, that is to say:-

page_text: By the use and application of the machinery herein-after described, and
delineated in the Drawings hereunto annexed, of which the parts are indicated
by the letters of the alphabet, namely:-A denotes a firm and sufficient
support for the anvil or seat B, of the figure set forth, or of any other suitable
figure, according to the nature or description of goods intended to be stamped
or made. C, C, C, C, denote side screws or fit pieces for placing, adjusting,
and securing the said anvil or seat; D are the like or other fit pieces for
adjusting and securing the uprights E, F, and G, H, between which the
hammer or ram t, t, is made to rise and fall. I, K, is a plate or platform, into
which the said uprights are framed or fixed. L, M, is part of the general
framing. N, O, are screws or fit pieces for fixing the uprights in connection
with the general framing above. P, Q, R, is a lever, moveable upon its
centre Q, and having its faces P and R opposed to the side projection S of
the hammer, which acts upon and drives back either of the ends of the lever,
accordingly as the said hammer may be at the lower or upper part of its course.
T, U, W, is the rope, strap, or chain for elevating the hammer. W is a barrel,
upon which the said rope, strap, or chain is wound by the action of the first
mover (whether steam or any other power) upon the arbor or axis a, a, which
last may be made either hollow or solid, as shall be found most convenient or
desirable. X is a ratchet wheel attached to the cylinder W, or forming part
of the same piece along with it. Z is a claw or click, or holding piece,
which prevents the said ratchet and cylinder from moving back, unless when
the said claw or click, or holding piece, is or may be raised by pulling the
cord h, h, which acts upon the lever h, g, and thence by means of another
cord g, g, d, upon the end e of the said claw or click, or holding piece.
Y, Y, represent the forked end of a lever y, y, m, b, having pieces or pro-
jections at Y, Y, which are lodged in a groove upon the face of a wheel or
pulley r, r, and do not prevent the arms from turning round, although they
are capable of altering the distance of the said wheel from the ratchet
wheel X, by acting on the sides of the said groove when the lever y, m, b,
is moved. m is an upright center upon which the lever y, m, b, is
turned; and the effect of the said lever is, that when the hammer t, t, is down,
and S acts against P, the end 6 of the lever y, m, b, is so pressed that the
wheel r, r, is brought close to the wheel X, and the work, by means of pins
from r, r, entering into holes in the opposite face of X, is put into gear or
action; and again, when the hammer t, t, is up, and S acts against R, the end b
of the lever y, m, b, is so pressed that the wheel r, r, is moved farther from the
wheel X, and the work by the said pins being withdrawn is thrown out of
action, and upon the cord b, h, being pulled the whole is discharged, and the

page_text: hammer falls and gives its stroke.
And at the same instant that the stroke
takes place, the lever P, R, is acted upon at P, and the work being again put
into gear, the hammer begins to rise, and the work proceeds as before. And
whereas, by the sudden and powerful action of the hammer, the wheel r, ṛ,
might be injuriously driven to its place at a time when the pins might not be
exactly opposite the holes in the face X, now, I do so construct the said
lever y, m, b, by making the same duly elastic, or springing at the extremity b,
or at y, or otherwise (as any workman, competently acquainted with mechanics,
will readily determine, according to the size of the machinery, and other cir-
cumstances,) that the said wheel r, r, and the pins thereof, shall be firmly
sprung against X, until the instant when the revolution of the axis or arbor
shall bring the holes duly opposite the said pins respectively, and at that
moment the said pins shall enter, and the work be thrown into gear. And
further, whereas by the rapid descent of the hammer, the cylinder W and
wheel X connected therewith will be made to revolve very swiftly in the
direction opposite to that of actual working, and will therefore cause the same
to run back with considerable force, and might break the pins of r, r, at the
instant of their entering the holes in X. Now, I do make the arbor a, a, round
(and not square, as it is by mistake shewn in the Drawings), and do connect
the said wheel r, r, therewith, by means of a spiral spring or other spring,
which shall allow the said wheel r, r, also to recede to the extent of half a
turn along with X, and thereby prevent any jarring or breaking of the
machinery. And farther, whereas the hammer t, t, after giving its stroke,
does rebound and would return again to the work by a second smaller stroke
or chatter, which would be injurious in most cases, and in no case of any
advantage. Now, I do, in order to prevent this last-mentioned effect, fix and
apply a spring piece k, with arms or radii capable of revolving, so that when
one arm is pushed down through a small distance, the next succeeding arm or
radius, shall stand perpendicular, and catch the hammer on its return, by
propping it under the projection or rim Y. Or otherwise for strong work I
do use a lever acted upon by a counterweight, by which an arm is kept
elevated to a certain due angle, and the other arm is kept from the perpen-
dicular situation; and when the hammer descends, it strikes down the first-
mentioned arm beyond a catch or detent, and thereby raises the other end to
the perpendicular situation, and enables the same to prop up the hammer, and
prevent the returning stroke as aforesaid.
And lastly, in order to deliver such articles as or may be struck in hollow or
concave dies, and of such forms as may be disposed to adhere or stick in the
same, I do perforate the said die, and lodge therein a piece, which shall, if

page_text: required, make good the perfect face thereof; and I do raise the said piece by
means of a rod or pin, acted upon by a spring or lever, to a small height at the
time required for delivering such articles, and do by that means disengage and
deliver the same. Or otherwise, in many kinds of work, I do use merely a rod
or pin acting through a hole for the purpose aforesaid..
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Biggs, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Fifteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord