Improved Machinery for Holding and Bending Annular Plates for the Manufacture of Watch-cases and other Articles.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application (in United Kingdom), 7th Nov., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 26th July, 1895-Accepted, 31st Aug., 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improved Machinery for Holding and Bending Annular Plates for
the Manufacture of Watch-cases and other Articles.
I, CHARLES EDOUARD HENRIOD-BAEHNI, of Bienne, in the Republic of
Switzerland, Mechanician, do hereby declare the nature of my invention to be
as follows:-
The present invention consists in a machine for holding and bending annular
plates for use as flanges, rims or shoulders for watch-cases and analogous objects,
such as spectacles, lights, etc.
The machine is placed on a pillar, and possesses special mechanism for holding
A shaft carrying an
the annular plates to be bent into the shapes desired.
actuating pulley and journalled in fixed puppets, is hollow and carries at one end
a sleeve provided with a slightly conical cavity. The front portion of this sleeve
for which it will be useful to employ steel, is fastened in the body of the sleeve
so that it can be removed, in order that when this part is worn it may not be
necessary to replace the whole sleeve but only this portion.
Inside the shaft is a longitudinally displaceable hollow stem. This stem is
widened in the form of a hollow cone at that end where the sleeve lies and it
is provided with a flange at the base of the cone. The opposite extremity of
this hollow stem is provided with a screw-thread and carries a fly-wheel. Inside
the hollow stem another stem is arranged which carries at the one of its extremities
a cone, and at its other end it is provided with a screw-thread on which is screwed
a uut provided with pins and engaging with the fly-wheel in such a manner that
this stem will be displaced in the one direction or the other when the screw nut is
turned by means of the fly-wheel. The widened portion, in the form of a cone, of
the hollow stein is provided with longitudinal slits so that this part can be widened
radially when the cone on the end of the inner rod is pressed against the conical
widening of the stem by the rotation of the fly-wheel.
The annular plate to be bent is put off the cone and rests against the end of the
sleeve, the rotation of the fly-wheel then expands the cone on the hollow stem and
also draws the latter inward causing it to expand within the annular plate and also
press the latter between its flange and the sleeve, thus holding the plate securely
in place.
Longitudinally alligned with these parts is a cup fixed on the end of a rotary and
adjustable arbor, the latter capable of being displaced longitudinally and fixed and
supported from its end by a bail with a set-screw forming an abutment for the end
of the arbor. Laterally against the arbor is a rowel in a rowel-holder; this latter
with its rowel can be displaced in a direction perpendicular to and in a direction
parallel to the arbor by means of sliding carriages and can be fixed in the desired
position.

page_text: Having fixed the annular plate in position as aforesaid, the arbor with its cup is
approached toward the sleeve until the rim of the cup touches the plate, then the
arbor is fixed by means of the bail so that it cannot recede. The rim of the plate
can then by means of the rowel be turned back onto the cup. Thereupon the cup
is withdrawn and the outer rim of the plate is still further turned down by the
rowel until the plate receives the form of an inverted U in cross section, which is
the shape it must have as an unfinished shoulder or rim for a watch-case.
By turning the fly-wheel in the desired direction, the cone can be removed from
the hollow stem and at the same time this latter will be advanced, so that the
shoulder or rim can be taken out over the flange of the hollow cone.
Dated this 7th day of November 1894.
HERBERT HADDAN & Co.,
Agents to Applicant.
Improved Machinery for Holding and Bending Annular Plates for
the Manufacture of Watch-cases and other Articles.
I CHARLES EDOUARD HENRIOD-BAEHNI, of Bienne, Switzerland, Mechanician,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to
be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-.
The present invention consists in a machine for holding and bending annular
plates for use as flanges, rims, or shoulders for watch cases and analogous objects,
such as spectacles, lights etc.
In the annexed.drawing this machine is represented as an example in Figs. 1
and 2.
The machine is placed on a pillar and possesses special mechanism for holding
the annular plates to be bent into the shapes desired. A shaft a carrying an
actuating pulley and journalled in fixed puppets bis hollow and carries at one end
a sleeve e provided with a slightly conical cavity. The front portion c¹ of this
sleeve for which it will be useful to employ steel is fastened in the body of the
sleeve c so that it can be removed in order that, when this part is worn it may not
be necessary to replace the whole sleeve c but only this portion.
C
Inside the shaft a is a longitudinally displaceable hollow stem d arranged in such
a manner as to permit of its being displaced in direction of its axis but so as not to
allow of its turning independently of this axis. This stem d is widened in the form
of a hollow cone at that end where the sleeve e lies and it is provided with a
flange d' at the base of the cone. The opposite extremity of this hollow stem is
provided with a screw thread and carries a flywheel e. Inside the hollow stem d
another stem is arranged which carries at the one of its extremities a cone f¹
and at its other end it is provided with a screw thread on which is screwed a nut g
provided with pins h and h¹ engaging with the flywheel in such a manner that this
stem will be.displaced in the one direction or the other when the screw nut g is
turned by means of the fly wheel e. The widened portion, in the form of a cone,
of the hollow stem d is provided with longitudinal slits, so that this part can be
widened radially when the cone f¹ on the end of the inner rod is pressed against
the conical widening of the stem d by the rotation of the flywheel c. The annular
plate to be bent is put on the cone and rests against the end of the sleeve; the
rotation of the flywheel then expands the cone on the hollow stem and also draws
the latter inward causing it to expand within the annular plate and also press the
latter between its flange and the sleeve, thus holding the plate securely in place.
Longitudinally alligned with the part c' is a cup k fixed on the end of a rotary
and adjustable arbor the latter capable of being displaced longitudinally and fixed

page_text: and supported from its end by a bail with a set screw forming an abutment for the
end of the arbor.
Laterally against the arbor a is a rowel s in a rowel holder n; this latter with its
rowels can be displaced in a direction perpendicular to and in a direction parallel
to the arbor a by means of the sliding carriages o and p and can be fixed in the
desired position.
The screw threads which are provided on the stems d and f are chosen in such a
manner that one can, by turning the fly wheel e produce a desired displacement of
these two stems, the one with regard to the other. When it is wanted to give by the
aid of this machine to an annular plate, for instance the form of a raw shoulder, said
plate is passed over the flange d' of the stem d and then the flywheel e is turned so
as to cause a radial enlargement of the conical part of the stem d by means of the
cone ; in consequence of this enlargement the plate is centred on the conical
part of the stem d; it is at the same time pressed between the flange d' and the
fore part of the sleeve c owing to the backward movement of the stem d
(Fig. 2).
Having fixed the annular plate in position as aforesaid, the arbor / with its cup
is approached toward the sleeve c until the rim of the cup k touches the plate;
then the arbor is fixed by means of the bail y so that it cannot recede. The rim
of the plate can then, by means of the rowel s, be turned back onto the cup k so as
to give it the form shown in Fig. 5.
Thereupon the cup is withdrawn and the outer rim of the plate is still further
turned down by the rowel until the plate receives the form of an inverted U in
cross section as shown in Fig. 6, which is the shape it must have as an unfinished
shoulder or rim for a watch case.
By turning the fly wheel e in the desired direction, the cone f¹ can be removed
from the hollow stem d and at the same time this latter will be advanced so that
the shoulder or rim can be taken out over the flange d' of the hollow cone.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. Machine for bending plates for the manufacture of certain parts of watch-
cases, such as the shoulder portions etc. characterized by a holdfast mechanism by
the aid of which an annular plate can at the same time be centred and fixed in
such a manner that the outer rim of the plate remains free, in combination with
the cup k and rowel s arranged so as to be displaceable at will parallel and
perpendicularly to the shaft of the machine.
2. In the machine for bending the plates for the manufacture of certain parts of
watch cases as described in Claim 1, a holdfast mechanism having a hollow stem d
provided with flange d' and longitudinal slits, the stem with the cone f¹, and a
flywheel e with screw nut g.
Dated this 26th day of Jule 1905
HERBERT HADDAN & Co.,
18 Buckingham Street, Strand, London, W.C.,
Agents to the Applicant.