IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CHARGING AND CAPPING CARTRIDGE SHELLS OR TUBES, AND FOR TESTING AND SORTING CARTRIDGES
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake,
& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for an Invention of
"IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CHARGING AND CAPPING CARTRIDGE SHELLS
OR TUBES, AND FOR TESTING AND SORTING CARTRIDGES." A communication
from abroad by Sante Marelli, of Rome, Italy, Gunmaker.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 29th September 1880.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CHARGING AND
CAPPING CARTRIDGE SHELLS OR TUBES, AND FOR TESTING AND SORTING
CARTRIDGES." [A communication from abroad by Sante Marelli, of Rome, Italy,
Gunmaker.]
This Invention relates to machinery for automatically charging or filling
cartridge-shells with the powder, ball, and wads which they are to contain, and for
fixing or placing the cap or priming, the whole being effected in such a manner,
that when the shells have passed through the said machinery, they issue therefrom
as complete cartridges; moreover, the said machinery is so constructed and
arranged, that it tries or tests each cartridge before delivering the same, corrects
certain faults that may occur, and causes all those cartridges which when completed
are not quite perfect, to be delivered into a different receptacle to that into which
the perfect ones are discharged, thus providing means whereby uniformity of
quality may be ensured, and the danger of bad cartridges being accepted as good
ones may be avoided.
In carrying the said Invention into practice, I provide a horizontal table mounted
upon four legs, and this table has on its lower surface four brackets, which support
two main shafts for actuating the mechanism. Between these shafts there is a
pulley fixed by clutch apparatus, which pulley actuates four connecting rods
attached to vertical carriages by means of transverse pivots, and to two excentrics,
so that there is given to the aforesaid carriages a vertical movement to the extent

page_text: of 85 millimetres, at the same time that two rollers also arranged as excentrics give
a to and fro motion to two rocking beams, which work on suitable pivots. These
beams being connected with two slides by small connecting rods compel the slides
to travel in a straight line, which is limited to a distance of 55 millimetres. The
said slides have at their end an automatic hook which engaging successively in
openings in the circumference of revolving plates or discs hereinafter described
operate the latter in such a manner that they have an intermittent and simul-
taneous rotation. A hopper is provided above the table, and inside this hopper
there is a device consisting of three hook-shaped arms or claws formed in one piece
and attached to a spindle carrying a grooved wheel, around which passes a cord,
which also passes around a wheel actuated by one of the main shafts aforesaid.
The said hooks or claws are thus caused to rotate, and as they rotate they seize
the shells and lift them into a perpendicular position over an inclined tube into which
they fall by their own gravity, and when therein, a lever pushes them into the
required position in the apertures in the circuinference of one of the revolving
plates or discs aforesaid. The said lever is jointed on one side by means of a
pivot, and is controlled on the other side by a slide, by means of a rod, so that it is
caused to work in different directions, and in thus working pushes the shells
towards the circumference of the revolving plate or disc.
.
The aforesaid revolving plates or discs, of which there are four, are arranged
horizontally at the upper part of the table, and work together in pairs. For
convenience of description, I will herein distinguish them by the numbers 1, 2, 3,
and 4. Discs 1 and 2 are arranged side by side and work together, and discs 3
and 4 are also arranged and work in a similar manner. Discs 1 and 3 are provided
with a series of notches, indentations, or openings around their periphery, and discs 2
and 4 have a corresponding number of circular apertures around their edges. Disc 1
rotates in a higher horizontal plane than disc 2, and the former overlaps the latter
at one part. Discs 3 and 4 are arranged in the same manner with respect to each
other, the latter being on a higher level than the former.
The said machinery is provided with mechanism whereby its operation is
arrested automatically whenever the disc 1 is not properly supplied with shells.
For this purpose I provide a sliding bolt which works vertically in the carriage
above the said disc, and if one of the openings in the latter should be empty, that
is to say, without a shell, the bolt descends and causes the stoppage of the machine
by allowing devices consisting of a slide, a spring, and other suitable parts in
connection with the bolt, to actuate a lever, which operates to withdraw the clutch
from the pulley, so that the latter becomes loose, and the driving shaft on this side
of the machine becomes stationary. Therefore, as long as the disc 1. is supplied
with shells, the bolt prevents the lever being so operated, and the machine will
operate, but not otherwise. A similar sliding bolt is arranged to enter the caps in
the apertures in disc 2, and if the charge or priming should be absent, the bolt
descends far enough to set in operation the mechanism in connection with the said
bolt, so that the clutch is withdrawn as aforesaid and the machine stops. This
provision for automatically stopping the machine is an important feature of my
Invention.
The priming of the cartridges or fixing the caps is effected as follows, that is to
say: The disc 2 carries the caps placed therein by an attendant as the apertures
come round to him, and the disc 1 carries the empty shells, and when an aperture
comes exactly below a shell at the point where the discs overlap each other, the
cap becomes forced onto the shell, as hereinafter described. A pointed piece is
provided in the carriage above these discs, and serves to push the shell downward
a short distance in the disc 1, until its end rests upon a small cylinder which is
movable within a case or tube in the disc. By entering this case or tube the shell
causes the cylinder to descend and the cap is forced into the shell, as the former
being supported on a pointed piece is unable to descend. Then a rod actuated by
a roller pushes upward the cylinder at the same time that the carriage raises the
pointed piece which forced the shell downward. The shell then rises to its former

page_text: position, and the disc is free to rotate, and as the shells which have been primed or
capped arrive at a certain point they fall out. They are then placed by an attendant
in a receptacle, whence they pass through a tube to the circumferential openings in
the disc 3, which as it rotates brings them one after the other under a pointed
piece which is designed to operate in the same manner as the sliding bolt first
herein mentioned, that is to say, it causes the machinery to stop if a shell
should be missing; but in addition to this function the said pointed piece serves to
correct any inequalities in the shape of the mouth of the shell. In a support there
is a rotating piston which follows the vertical motion of the support, and passes
successively within five spirals arranged around a charging cylinder. This cylinder
has an intermittently rotating movement around a pivot and enters between two
plates. There are in this cylinder five holes, and the powder falling through a
flexible tube enters one of these holes. The lower plate being closed the powder is
carried by the rotating cylinder to a point above the cartridge shell, and is dis-
charged into the latter.
The shell charged with powder arrives in due time under a sliding bolt, which
acts in the same manner as the bolt herein before described for entering the caps,
and the powder is by this bolt pressed in the cartridge shell. When the quantity
is exactly right the bolt, by means of suitable connections, prevents the machine
from being stopped, that to say, it holds in check the parts which would other-
wise actuate the pulley, as herein before described, and the machine is thus free to
work. If, however, the shell should contain not enough or too much powder, the
bolt descends and releases the parts which control a lever and cause the same to
withdraw the clutch on that side of the pulley, and the latter becoming loose on its
shaft the machine stops.
The balls and wads are placed in the apertures in the disc 4, which is on a higher
level than the disc 3, in which are the shells charged with powder, as above
described, and the movement of these two discs is similar to that of the discs 1 and 2.
The presence of the balls and wads is verified by means of a bolt, in the same
manner as above described, so that if a ball or wad should be missing in one of the
apertures, the machine will stop. In the disc 4 there are matrices with a conical
part at their lower end, which receives the end of the shell, and it is necessary to
give to the shell an upward motion to cause it to take its position in such a
manner as to ensure the ball entering centrally. This motion is imparted by a
cam fixed on one of the main shafts, and by a rod which raises the shell. The
rod carries a roller worked by the said cam, and has at its upper end a double claw
conforming to the shape of the base of the shell, and serves to bring back the
cartridge shell into its first position after the ball has entered. The ball is
introduced by means of a piece in the carriage, and by means of a rod also in
the carriage. These two pieces are united by a horizontal arm. The lower end
of this rod passes into an arm fixed to the other rod, and in this arm is jointed
a releasing lever. These parts operate together in such a manner that the ball
and wad are placed properly and automatically in the shell, and as each shell
is charged, it is carried forward in the rotation of the disc to a point above a tube
which conveys it to the mechanism, whose function is to gauge or test the cartridges
made as above described. This gauging or testing and the final delivery of the
cartridges, perfect and imperfect, is effected by the following mechanism, that is to
say-Under the table there is a support having a vertical axis, around which
moves a cylinder having eight tubes, each of which is in its interior of exactly the
same shape as the complete cartridge. The movement of the cylinder is imparted by
a piston placed in a support, and at each elevation of the carriage this piston moves
one tooth and causes the cylinder to rotate one eighth part of a revolution. The
last named support carries a pivotted rod, and moves downward with the carriage
to which it is fixed. This rod has a lever which at the end of its vertical
movement touches a piece and causes a device or holder to rock. In its oblique
position it receives the cartridge, and in its vertical position the cartridge is
introduced into the cylinder by means of the rod. Two jointed fingers are placed

page_text: on the two sides of the holder; these fingers are kept open at the moment when
the cartridge is introduced, and at the first downward movement of the rod they
close, holding the cartridge in a central position, and in front of the verifying or
testing aperture of the cylinder; then the fingers separate and allow the flange to
pass. This movement is operated by means of the introducing rod, in which there
are two grooves parallel with the holder which imparts the movement to the two
fingers. The cartridge by the successive movements of the cylinder arrives under
a presser which is designed for pushing the cartridges into the matrices of the
cylinder. This presser, which is kept up by means of a spiral spring, will yield if
a defective cartridge cannot enter entirely into one of the matrices.
In this case
the defective cartridge resting partly outside the same cannot become mixed with
the perfect ones, but will be caused to fall into a special receptacle by the
following means:-An extractor is pivotted or jointed in one of the supports below
another extractor; the first extractor in its vertical movement does not rise high
enough to touch the rim or flange of the cartridge if the latter has entered entirely
within the matrice, so that, in this case, the cartridge remains and revolves with the
cylinder until it arrives in a position to be acted upon by the second extractor,
and is thereby pushed out of the cylinder through a tube which receives only the
perfect cartridges, and is discharged into a receptacle designed for such cartridges
only. If however the cartridge has not entered entirely in the matrice the first
extractor reaches it, pushes it out of the cylinder, and causes it to descend through
a tube and into a receptacle, both designed to receive only imperfect cartridges.
The perfect and the imperfect are thus separated from each other automatically.
I may modify the construction or arrangement of the parts in various obvious
manners to obtain the same results without departing from the principles of the
said Invention.
The said machine may be driven by any suitable motor.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
29th March 1881.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. " IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CHARGING AND
CAPPING CARTRIDGE SHELLS OR TUBES, AND FOR TESTING AND SORTING
CARTRIDGES." A communication from abroad by Sante Marelli, of Rome, Italy,
Gunmaker.
This Invention relates to machinery for automatically charging or filling
cartridge-shells with the powder, ball, and wads they are to contain, for fixing
or placing the cap or priming, and for testing and sorting cartridges, the whole
being effected in such a manner that when the shells have passed through the
said machinery they issue therefrom as complete cartridges.
Hitherto cartridges have been charged and primed, and then sorted and gauged.
These operations, and also the examination or testing of the cartridges, say, at
Government stores, have hitherto been carried out by various means, a great
number of workmen always having been required for the same. To obviate these
difficulties it has been customary at Government stores to form an opinion on the
quality of a given quantity of cartridges by weighing and firing a certain number
thereof for each thousand which is to be tested. This however affords a very
unreliable criterion, as the allowance that has to be made for differences in the
weight of the various materials whereof a cartridge consists, causes such a latitude
in the total weight of the same that it is impossible to ascertain in this manner
the presence or absence of the detonating material in the cap wherewith the
cartridge is primed. The method above indicated furthermore does not insure
that all the cartridges exactly resemble those that have been tested.
By this Invention, however, I obviate all these disadvantages and greatly reduce
the number of operatives required for charging the shells; and the operatives being
stationed at a distance from the place where the powder is stored the risk of
explosion is greatly reduced.
The said Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, in which
Figure 1 is a plan of the machinery I employ, and
Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same.
Figure 3 is an end elevation of the said machinery, and
Figures 4 to 10 represent various portions of the same detached.
Like letters indicate the same parts throughout the Drawing.
The said machinery is constructed as follows, that is to say:
A horizontal table K is supported on four legs. On the underside of this table
there are four brackets K', K", K, Kш, in which are supported the crank
shafts J and J. Between these shafts a pulley I is mounted by means of clutch-
gearing 19 and 20. This pulley actuates the connecting rods L, L, L, L, which
are combined with vertical carriages M, M³, by means of transverse pivots 21, 22.
The crank shafts impart by these means a vertical movement to the extent
of 85 millimetres to the carriages M, M', at the same time that rollers 23, 24, placed
laterally with regard to the shafts, and also arranged as excentrics, impart a
reciprocating movement to two rocking-beams or levers N, N', oscillating on.
pivots 25, 26. These rocking beams are connected with slides 0, 0, by small
connecting rods 27, 28, and cause the said slides to move in a straight path and to
the extent of 55 millimetres. The said slides O, O¹, are provided at their ends
with automatic hooks, as shewn at 29, 30, 31, 32, Figure 1, which hooks take
successively into the notches of the discs or plates C, C, D, D', and thereby
cause the same to rotate intermittently and simultaneously.

page_text: The cartridge-shells are placed in a hopper or reservoir F, and are seized and lifted
by a series of hooks or claws P (Figures 1 and 3) which are formed in one piece with a
spindle 33, and being thus connected, are caused by the cord or band 35 to rotate
with the wheel 34 whenever the main shaft is set in motion. By means of this
mechanism the shells thus seized are brought in a perpendicular position to the
tube 36, and by gravity are caused to fall into the latter. When they have
passed into the said tube a lever Q pushes the shells into the notches at the
circumference of the disc or plate C¹. The lever Q is for this purpose pivotted at
one end upon the pivot 37, and its other end is actuated by the slide O by means
of the connecting rod 38; an oscillating movement is thereby imparted to the said
lever, so that it pushes the shells into the notch or recess 15 on the disc or plate C³,
which is presented in readiness to receive the said shell.
Figure 4 shews in section a detail view of the mechanism which effects the
passage of the shells into the notches of the disc C¹, as seen from the side B of the
machine.
The mechanism for feeding the primed shells from the hopper or reservoir F¹ to
the plate or disc D is similar to that above described.
To ensure the shells being properly fed to the machine I provide mechanism
constructed as follows, viz. :-
:-
A sliding bolt 39 (Figure 2) works vertically in the carriage M to the extent of
3 millimetres, and when even a single shell is missing in the disc C' this sliding
bolt descends, and the machinery stopped. When, however, the shells arrive in
proper order under the said sliding bolt, it will be arrested 3 millimetres above the
point at which it stops the machinery, and its upper shoulder 40 abuts against the
shoulder 41 of a slide 42, and thus prevents the transverse motion of the latter
from right to left upon the carriage, M, which would otherwise be imparted to the
said slide by a coiled spring, shewn in dotted lines at 43. At each descent of
the carriage M the end 44 of the slide 42 slides upon the inclined face of a tappet 45,
and moves horizontally to the extent of 6 millimetres towards the exterior of the
machinery. If the slide 42 is not stopped at the end of the tappet by the
shoulder 40 of the sliding bolt 39, it will strike against a beam 46, Figures 1 and 2,
rocking in a horizontal plane around a pivot 47, and will thereby cause the
connecting rod 48 to descend. The rocking beam 46 is mounted on the upright R¹
of the table K, and the connecting rod 48 is suspended on the said rocking bean
by a shoulder 49 on the latter, and an indentation or recess 50 in the aforesaid
connecting rod (see Figure 1). When the connecting rod 48 falls one arm of a
bell-crank lever H also descends, and the latter swinging on its pivot 51 allows the
end 52 of the said bell-crank lever to enter a notch or throat on the main shaft J,
see Figure 2. It there impinges upon one of the slightly inclined faces of the
clutch 19, acts upon an inclined tooth of the latter, and draws the same outward.
The tooth 54 of the clutch is thus thrown out of gear with the pulley I which
becomes loose, so that the whole of the mechanism which receives motion from the
said main shaft ceases to operate.
When therefore the machinery is properly fed with cartridges the priming will
proceed, whilst the working will be arrested if this is not the case. Now if the
machinery is stopped, it is necessary for again starting the saine, first to provide the
shells missing in the plate or disc C¹; then the bell crank lever H has to be raised
and to be maintained in its position by the connecting rod 48, which is for this
purpose suspended by its notch 50 upon the shoulder 49 of the rocking beam 46,
the latter having already been caused to re-assume its position by the coiled spring,
and this allows the clutch 19 to be pushed into its first position by a coiled spring
in its interior, and the tooth 54 of the clutch will thereby engage with a
corresponding slot in the pulley I, the latter thus again becoming fixed and
transmitting its motion to the machinery.
This device, whereby the sufficiency of the supply of shells to the plate or disc C₁
is controlled, forms a special feature of this Invention, and substantially the same
arrangement is adopted for controlling the supply of caps to the disc C. The

page_text: extremity 56 of the sliding bolt 55 enters the caps and serves to ensure the
presence in the caps of the priming. If the latter is missing the sliding bolt
stops the machinery; this stoppage forms another prominent feature of this
Invention.
16
-The
The capping or priming of the shells is effected as follows, that is to say :-
shell being under the sliding bolt 39, and the cap under the sliding bolt 55, will,
when the discs or plates C and C₁ make 1/8th of a revolution, be perpendicularly
in line with each other, and in the centre of the lines S, S', B, C. A pointed piece
or pusher 57 (Figures 2 and 5) is mounted in the carriage M, and serves to push the
shell downward for a distance of 6 millimetres. At this point the shell bears upon
the small cylinder 58, free to move in a sleeve 59 fixed upon the disc or plate C".
When the shell moves forward in the said sleeve it compels the cylinder to descend
and the cap entere the shell, as, being supported by a pointed piece or pusher 60,
it cannot descend, and is consequently forced into the shell which is thus primed.
The rod 61 actuated by the roller T pushes the small cylinder 58 in an upward
direction at the same time that the pusher 57 is raised by the carriage M. The shell
is thereby brought back into its former position and allows the disc or plate C' to
carry the primed shells forward to the point 10, Figure 1, where they drop out of
said plate, leaving the notches therein empty.
The primed shells are now placed in the second hopper F¹, passing thence
through the tube 62 they enter the notches in the plate D, which in its rotation
carries them underneath the pointed piece or pusher 63. The latter controls the
presence in the notches of the shells, and if the mouth of a shell is not perfectly
circular corrects the same. This pusher is fixed in a vertical bracket 64 which is
capable of moving to the extent of 6 millimetres in another bracket U, and follows
the movements of the carriage M' (Figure 2) to which the bracket U is attached by
bolts 65, 66. The presence of a shell in the notch 4 of the plate D, Figure 1, causes
the bracket 64 with the pusher or pointed piece 63 to stop 5 millimetres above the
position into which it would arrive were the shell missing. By these means the
oblique slot 67 in the bracket 64 cannot come in contact with the incline 68 of
the lever 69, which is free to turn on the pivot 70, and consequently the end 71 of
the lever 69 is unable to actuate the rocking beam 72 which supports the connecting
rod 73, in the same manner as the rocking beam 46 supports the connecting rod 48.
If, however, a shell is missing the bracket 64 descends 5 millimetres further, the
connecting rod 73 is disengaged as described, and the angle lever H' descends and
unships the clutch 20 in the manner set forth with reference to the clutch 19. This
renders the pulley I loose on the main shaft, and stops the machinery. For
restarting the same the missing shell has to be put into its proper place, and the
bell crank lever H¹ to be raised.
In the bracket 64 there is a piston or gauge rotating on its own axis, and following
the vertical movements of the said support. It passes in succession in the five
helices arranged round the charging barrel G¹, this being thereby caused to rotate
intermittently upon the pivot 75, and between the two plates G, G". In the said
barrel five vertical apertures successively numbered 76 to 80, Figure 1, are arranged.
The powder descending in the india-rubber tube 81 enters the aperture 77. The
lower perpendicular plate G" being closed, the powder is carried by the rotating
barrel up to the point 76. Underneath is the shell into which the powder falls
through an aperture in the plate G", which opens at every fifth part of a revolution
of the charging barrel. The shell being filled with powder, is, by a sixteenth part of
a revolution of the plate or disc D', brought under the operation of the testing
device 82, Figure 2. This device presses the powder into the shell by operating in
the same manner as the sliding bolts 39 and 55 operate, as it is constructed in the
same manner as these. If the quantity of powder in the shell is correct this sliding
bolt 82 stops 3 millimetres before the carriage M¹, and prevents the slide 83
impinging against the rocking beam 72, and thus all these parts complete their
movements, if however the shell does not contain a sufficient quantity of powder,
or contains none at all, the sliding bolt descends and allows the slide 83 to abut

page_text: in its course from right to left against the rocking beam 72 and to disengage the
connecting rod 73, consequently the bell crank lever H' enters the notch on the
part J of the main shaft, and withdraws the clutch 20 shewn in dotted lines,
the machinery being thereby stopped.
The balls and wadding are inserted into the shells in the following manner,
that is to say:
By means of the plates or discs D, D', the shells charged with powder, and the
balls with the wads are brought into juxta position by an operation like that of
the capping discs; the lower disc carries the shells, and the upper one the balls
and wads, see Figure 8. The balls and wads are controlled by the sliding bolt S4,
Figure 2, constructed in the same manner as the other testing devices, and causing
the machinery to be stopped if a ball or a wad is missing.
In the disc D' matrices are provided which are conically countersunk at their
lower part, and which receive the shells, it is therefore necessary that the shells
should rise to cause their entrance into the said countersunk part, and they will
thereby be correctly centred for the insertion therein of the ball and wad. For
this purpose the upward movement is imparted to the shells by a cam T¹ (Figure 9)
mounted on the part J of the driving shaft, and by the rod 85, Figure 8, the said
rod carries a roller Z controlled by the cam T¹, and is provided at its upper end
with the double claw 88, 89, Figure 8, having the same form as the sectional
outline of the lower part of the shell and serving for carrying the shell back into
its former position after the insertion of the ball. The latter is effected by a
recessed rod mounted in the carriage M', and a rod 103 also placed in the said
carriage, see Figure 10; these two parts are connected by a horizontal arm 104.
Somewhat lower down is placed vertically, and in the direction of the collar, a
rod 85 herein before mentioned; the end of the rod 103 enters an arın Z¹ fixed on
the red 85, and upon this arm Z¹ is hinged a shipping lever 105. The parts just
mentioned operate as follows, that is to say:-The rod 85 with its arm Z¹ carrying
the shell makes an upward movement to the extent of 23 millimetres at the same
time that the rod 87 with its arm 104 and the rod 103 make a downward move-
ment for the purpose of placing the ball in the shell. At this moment the shipping
lever 105 enters a notch on the rod 103 in such a manner that the rod 85 in
commencing again to move upward carries with it the rod 103, and, consequently,
also the rod 87. This movement has for its object to guide the ball for some time
when it leaves the disc after being inserted in the shell. The plate D then receives
the charged cartridge and carries it to the gauging device.
The gauging of the cartridges is effected as follows, that is to say: -
The
Underneath the table K is fixed the bracket V, in which is mounted a vertical
shaft 98, Figure 2, upon which rotates a barrel E provided with eight tubes, the
interior whereof is of the exact shape of the charged cartridge; rotary motion is
imparted to the said barrel by a piston 99 provided in the bracket U, and at each
upward movement of the carriage the piston takes into one tooth, and in its
downward movement causes the barrel to make an eighth of a revolution.
bracket U also carries a rod Y hinged on the pivot 94, having a downward
movement like that of the carriage to which it is attached. The rod Y is provided
with a bell crank lever Y¹ impinging in its vertical movement upon the incline 95,
and causing the hand or claw X to oscillate. When in its oblique position the
latter receives the cartridge, and when the same is in its vertical position the
cartridge is introduced into the barrel by means of the rod Y. To allow the
cartridge to enter the hand or claw X into which it falls by reason of its weight,
necessitates the provision in the said hand of a cylindrical aperture, whose diameter
slightly exceeds that of the flange or rim of the cartridge; this, however, would
allow the cartridge to assume an oblique position and to be out of line with the
apertures in the barrel. To obviate this I provide two hinged fingers at the sides
of the hand or claw X. These fingers, not shewn in the Drawing, are opened for
the introduction of the cartridge and closed at the first downward movement of
the rod Y, and they maintain the cartridge properly centred and in line with the

page_text: gauging aperture of the barrel; the said fingers are then opened sufficiently to
allow the rim or flange of the cartridge to pass, their movements being effected by
the inserting rod, the latter being provided with two grooves parallel to a cam
which imparts motion to the said fingers.
The successive movements of the barrel carry the cartridge under the presser 100
which pushes the cartridges into the matrices on the barrel. This presser is
supported by a spring, but is capable of yielding if a faulty cartridge cannot
entirely penetrate into one of the inatrices. In this case the defective cartridge
remaining partly outside the matrix will not pass among the perfect ones, but will
be dropped into a separate receptacle, as follows, that is to say:-
Two extractors of similar construction, one of which is shewn at 102, are
pivotally arranged on the bracket U in such a manner that one extractor is one
half a millimetre below the other (in Figure 2 the extractor 102 covers the other
extractor, the latter is consequently not seen). By reason of this arrangement the
extractor not shewn in its vertical upward movement, only touches the edge of the
cartridge when the same is entirely within the matrix. The cartridge in this case
remains in the gauge, and rotates therewith till it arrives within reach of the
extractor 102, by which it is pushed out of the cylinder and drops into the tube 17
that conducts it into any suitable receptacle. When however the cartridge is not
entirely within its gauge-tube, the extractor not shewn acts upon it and causes it to
descend through the tube 18 which conducts it to the receptacle for the defective
cartridges.
The capping, charging, testing, and gauging of cartridges by this machinery is
practised as follows, viz. :-
Caps are placed in the apertures, numbered 1, 23, and so on, in the periphery of
the revolving disc C, and shells into the hopper F. The shells are then
automatically carried into the recesses or notches, numbered 1, 2, 3, and so on, of
the revolving disc C. The powder, which may be placed in a suitable receptacle
above the machinery, descends through the india rubber tube into the aperture
at G. After the machinery is so far put in working order a child will suffice for
feeding it by placing caps in the apertures presented empty by the rotating disc C¹¹.
The bell crank lever H being disengaged, as above described, the pulley I, actuated
by any suitable motor, becomes fixed on the main shaft, and the capping and testing
proceed simultaneously. The capped shells are delivered by the disc C into a
receptacle placed below the machinery, and the attendant, who supplies the
materials with which the machinery is fed, then places the shells in the hopper F¹.
Thence the shells pass into the revolving disc D as above set forth. Another child
may be employed for placing the balls and wads in the apertures in this revolving
dise D. The bell crank lever E' is now disengaged, and the shaft J thereby
thrown into gear, and all the parts of the machinery are thus rendered operative;
the charged cartridges pass on to the gauging device E, which separates the perfect
cartridges from the defective ones, delivering the former through the tube 17, the
latter through the tube 18, as above described.
It will thus be seen that for attending to this machinery, which is capable of
delivering at least twenty thousand (20,000) cartridges in ten working-hours, one
adult and two children are sufficient, although each revolution of the crank effects
eighteen simultaneous operations upon fifteen cartridge-shells, and upon one ball
and wad, one cap, and the requisite gunpowder; the pulley I makes thirty five
revolutions per minute, and a ready capped, charged, and tested cartridge is
delivered at each revolution, and one horse power will suffice for actuating 10
apparatus constructed according to this Invention.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it under-
stood that I do not claim or limit myself to the precise details of construction and
arrangement of the mechanism above described, but I claim the improvements
whereby I effect the control of the manufacture of cartridges in all stages thereof,
and whereby the machinery is automatically and immediately stopped when the

page_text: materials of which the cartridges are to consist cease to be properly supplied to the
same, all substantially as and for the purposes specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty ninth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
W. ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.)