Improvements in and relating to Machines for Drilling, Tapping, and Performing other Operations in the Manufacture of Sorews, Screw-nuts, and other Small Articles.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Feb., 1894-Accepted, 16th June, 1894
Improvements in and relating to Machines for Drilling, Tapping, and
Performing other Operations in the Manufacture of Sorews,
Screw-nuts, and other Small Articles.
I, HENRY LING ROTH, of 32 Prescott Street, Halifax, in the County of
York, Accountant, Manager of the Automatic Standard Screw Co., Halifax, 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 :-
This invention relates to machines for the production of screws, screw-nuts and
other small articles, and particularly to machines of the kind or class wherein the
work is rotated about its axis, and the various tools are fed to the work and moved
away therefrom as required, by suitable mechanism.
The said invention comprises improvements which are chiefly designed to be
applied to machines such as that described in the Specification of former Letters
Patent dated 19th October 1886, No. 13,339, to adapt the same for drilling and
tapping holes as well as for performing the operations described in the said former
Specification.
The said improvements are, however, applicable to other machines for the same
or like purposes.
An important feature of the said invention is the employment of two or more
tool-holders provided with tools for drilling and tapping holes, forming screw-
threads, or performing other operations, which tool-holders are arranged to be
moved perpendicularly to the axis of the work to bring them successively into
alignment with such axis, and are combined with a suitable device which acts
upon them successively to feed the tools to the work as required.
It is advantageous to mount the tool-holders in a vertically movable slide which
is raised and lowered by means of a suitable cam to bring the tool-holders
successively into their operative position, a longitudinally movable rod or bar, also
operated by a cam, being provided for feeding the tools to the work.
The said invention also comprises the provision of suitable means for adjusting
the parts of the mechanism to regulate the action of the same according to the
work to be performed.
In the accompanying drawing
Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in vertical longitudinal section, and
Figure 2 an end elevation, partly in transverse section, showing a portion of a
machine such as is described in the said foriner Specification, fitted with the
improved mechanism herein described.
A is the frame of the machine which is formed with end standards A' and with
a horizontal table A supported thereon, substantially as described in the said
former Specification. B is the main shaft, which is supported in suitable bearings
in the said frame, and on which the various operating cams are fixed.
C is a bracket or head rigidly secured upon the table A' and provided with a
suitable guide C¹ on which a slide D is arranged to be moved perpendicularly to
the axis of the work. The slide D is held down by a spring E, and is provided at
its lower end with an arm D' which extends downwardly through an aperture in
the table A' and is furnished with an anti-friction roller D³; this roller bears
against the peripheral surface of a cam F fixed on the shaft B.
G, H are two rods or spindles mounted parallel to each other in the slide D so
that they can be freely moved therein in a longitudinal direction; these rods or
spindles are provided at one end, with sockets G₁, H' respectively, to receive drills,

page_text: taps, screw-threading dies or other tools. When, for example, as in the
manufacture of screw-nuts or the like, a longitudinal hole is to be drilled and
tapped in the work, the drill is secured in the socket or tool-holder G' and the tap
in the socket or tool-holder H. The said rods or spindles G, H are provided
with springs G, H2 whereby they are held in the position shown relatively to the
slide D. An adjusting-screw D is fitted in the head C in such a position that,
when the slide D is in its lowermost position, it rests upon the upper end of the
said screw. By adjusting this screw, the position of the slide, when lowered, may
be so determined that the spindle H will be in line with the axis of the work.
For feeding the tools successively to the work, I provide a rod or bar J which
is fitted to slide longitudinally in the head C, and is arranged to be operated by a
cam K on the shaft B through the medium of a lever L pivoted at L; this lever
is provided at one end with an anti-friction roller L2, which bears against the said
cam K, and the other end of the said lever works in a slot J' in the rod or bar J.
Any convenient device, such for instance as a feather working in a slot, is
employed to prevent rotation of the said rod or bar about its axis whilst permitting
longitudinal movement thereof. This rod or bar is provided with an arm J' in
which is secured an adjusting-screw M for limiting the travel of the rod or bar J,
and an adjustable pin or rod N which, when the slide D is in its lowermost
position, is in line with the spindle H. This pin or rod N is provided with a
milled head N to facilitate its adjustment. The rod or bar J is also provided
with a spring J3 for effecting its return movement as hereinafter described.
The drilling spindle G is restrained from rotation by means of a pin working in
a longitudinal groove in the bead C, or by other suitable means. This spindle is
provided with an adjusting-screw G³ for determining the depth of the hole to be
drilled by regulating the distance through which the pin or rod N must be moved
before it commences to move the spindle G. Tolimit the forward movement of the
tapping spindle H, the following device is provided, viz.:-a projecting pin P is
fixed in the said spindle so that it will engage with an adjustable bar or stop Q
and prevent rotation of the spindle H about its axis while the tap is entering the
hole previously drilled in the work. The bar or stop Q is held in place by a plate
or clamp Q' secured to the slide D by a screw Q2, and its adjustment is effected by
means of a screw Q³. The said bar or stop is to be so adjusted that, when the tap
has entered the hole to the required depth, the pin P will have passed the end of
the said bar or stop, and the spindle H can then freely rotate with the work. To
prevent rotation of the said spindle in the reverse direction, when the direction of
rotation of the work is reversed in order to effect the withdrawal of the tap from
the hole, a spring-pawl or catch R is provided which engages with a groove H³
in the spindle H, thus preventing the rotation of the said spindle whilst permitting
the required longitudinal movement thereof.
The operation of the improved mechanism is as follows, that is to say :-At a
suitable period in the cycle of operations performed by the machine, the cam F,
acting upon the arm D', raises the slide D so as to bring the drilling spindle G into
line with the work. The cam K then actuates the lever L so as to cause the said
lever to move forward the sliding rod or bar J; in this movement of the said rod
or bar J, the pin or rod N comes in contact with the adjusting screw G³ and moves
forward the drilling spindle G; a hole of the required depth is thus drilled in the
work, the depth of the hole being determined by the adjustment of the screws G³
and N. The lever L is then released by the cam K and the drill is withdrawn by
the spring G, the spring J³ effecting the backward or return movement of the rod
or bar J. The cam F then permits the depression of the slide D by the spring E,
so that the tapping spindle H is brought into line with the previously drilled bole,
the parts being then in the position shown in Figure 1, and the cam K again
actuates the lever L thus. forcing the tap carried by the spindle H into the
previously drilled hole. When the hole is tapped, the pin P having moved clear
After the lever I has
of the stop Q, the spindle H rotates freely about its axis.
been released by the cam K, the direction of rotation of the work is reversed to

page_text: effect the withdrawal of the tap from the. hole, this withdrawal being assisted by
the reaction of the spring H2, and the rotation of the spindle H about its axis being
prevented, during such withdrawal, by the engagement of the catch R with the
groove H³.
The machine constructed with the improved mechanism above described can be
readily adapted for making screws, by simply removing the cam F or throwing it
out of gear, and fixing in the spindle H suitable screw-threading dies. If desired,
one or more additional spindles may be mounted in the aforesaid slide, and the cam
for raising and lowering the same may be modified, so that three or more suitable
tools may be used, to suit the exigencies of the work to be done by the machine.
It is obvious that the details of construction of my improved mechanism may be
somewhat further modified without departing from the nature of my said invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
First. A machine of the kind or class above referred to, in which the work is.
rotated about its axis, and wherein suitable provision is made for moving two or
more tool-holders perpendicularly to the said axis to bring them successively into
alignment therewith, and for moving such tool-holders longitudinally when in their
operative position, for the purposes above specified.
Second. The combination of two or more tool-holders mounted parallel to each
other in a suitable slide, means for moving the said slide perpendicularly to the axis
of the work to bring the tools successively into alignment with such axis, and means
for moving the said tool-holders longitudinally when in their operative position,
substantially as, and for the purposes, above set forth.
Third. A machine provided with the improved mechanism constructed substan-
tially as described with reference to the accompanying drawing and operating as,.
and for the purposes, above specified.
Dand the 19th dan of W1004
D. YOUNG & Co.,
11 & 12, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.