IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF FASTENING HOOPS FOR PACKING BALES,
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Alexander Fullarton, of the City of Man-
chester, in the County of Lancaster, Iron Merchant, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF FASTENING HOOPS FOR PACKING BALES,
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Alexander Fullarton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
10th August 1863.
I, JOHN ALEXANDER FULLARTON, of the City of Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Iron Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF FASTENING HOOPS POR PACKING
BALES, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as
follows:-
My improvements consist, first, in rivets made with elongated heads and
squared ends. The openings for admitting the rivets are formed by a slot,
round at one end and squared at the other, in which the hoops are admitted,
and when the ends of the strips or hoops are brought together I turn the
rivets partly round, relieve a portion of the compression of the bale or package,
and make all ends perfectly tight.
Secondly, in a machine or apparatus by which I flatten the ends of the
band for the hoop and punch the apertures. I employ a strong metal frame-
work, to which is fixed a bed having a flat block, and also the die or dies with
the necessary screws for adjustment. In bearings at the top of the framework
there is a shaft provided with eccentrics, one for working the flattening ram
and the other for working the punches.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Alexander Fullarton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 10th February 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
ALEXANDER FULLARTON, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Iron Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS 1er most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Alexander Fullarton, Her special license that I, tho said
John Alexander Fullarton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said John Alexander Fullarton, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF FASTENING HOOPS FOR PACKING
BALES, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Alexander Fullarton, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,
or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, 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 I, the said John Alexander Fullarton, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement (that is to say) :-
First, I employ rivets, each made in the form of a stud, with an elongated
head at one end and a square or rectangular head at the other end. The aper-
tures at each end of the hoops for admitting the rivets are in the form of slots
curved at one end and squared at the other, or curved at both ends. After
the ends of the hoops are brought together and the rivets admitted through
the apertures, 1 turn the said rivets partly round, and when the compression
of the bale is relieved the hoops are perfectly tight upon the bale and the
rivets perfectly tight in the hoops.

page_text: Secondly, I employ a machine or apparatus by which I flatten the ends of
the bands for the hoops and punch the apertures for the rivets, the flattening
being for the purpose of enabling the ends of the hoops to be close together
and easily rivetted, and also making a neat, clean end, without the waste
which arises when the ends are clipped. In a strong metal framework there
is a bed or table having upon it a flat block, and also the necessary die or
dies, which are adjusted to their proper positions by adjusting screws. In
bearings at the top of the framework there is a shaft provided with two
eccentrics, one for working the flattening ram and the other for working the
punches.
The manner in which my Invention is to bo performed will be clearly
understood by the following complete description thereof, reference being had
to the Figures on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, and to the letters
marked thereon.
Figs. 1 and 2 are side views, and Fig. 3 a plan, of one of my improved
rivets; and Fig. 4, a plan of a modification of the same.
In Figs. 1, 2, and 3, each rivet is formed with a shank a, having at one end
an elongated head b, and at the other end a square head c, having two of its
sides parallel with the sides of the elongated head; and in Fig. 4 one head is
rectangular instead of square. I am aware that rivets with elongated heads at
one end and round heads at the other end have been before used for holding
the ends of hoops together, but they have been found unserviceable on account
of the small resisting surface of the round heads at each side of the slots or
apertures in the hoops. My improved square heads give the additional surface
of the four corners, the resisting power of which prevents the rivets from turning
when the hoops are stretched; and if rectangular beads are used, as shewn in
Fig. 4, they have the surface of the corners and the extra surface of the longer
sides; but either with square or rectangular heads I am enabled to employ
the system of fastening the ends of the hoops with studs or two-headed rivets.
The two ends of one of the hoops are shewn in Fig. 5, and cach end has as
many apertures d as there are rivets, the said apertures being in the form of
slots cut parallel with the length of the band, and made of such dimensions as
to allow the elongated heads of the rivets to pass through them.
Figs. 6 and 7 are side and front elevations of my improved machinery for
flatteuing the ends of the bands for the hoops, and punching the apertures
for the rivets, and Fig. 8 a detached view of part of the same. To strong
standards or legs f, Figs. 6 and 7, is fixed the headstock 9, having a bed h, on
which I place a surface block i, and a die holder j, both of which are adjusted
and held firm by screws k. At the upper part of the headstock there is a

page_text: shaft 7, having fixed to it the spur wheel m gearing into the pinion n on the
driving shaft o, which carries at one end the fast and loose pulleys 1, and at
the other end the fly-wheel 9, and when revolving motion is given to the
driving shaft p the shaft revolves at a reduced speed, the driving strap being
shifted from the loose to the fast pulley, and vice versa, by the strap fork r.
On the shaft there are two eccentrics working in blocks s, t, connected by the
bolts to the tops of the rams w, w, which work in guides in the cross frame
fixed to the headstock, the bolts u passing through slotted holes in the tops of
the rams, for enabling the blocks to slide to and fro as the eccentrics revolve
and the rais move up and down. At the bottom of the ram v is fixed the
Hattening block y, and at the bottom of the ram w the punches 2, the block y,
corresponding with the surface block i, and the punches with the dies in
the die holder, to which holder is attached a stop for the ends of the band.
to abut against when the apertures are being punched, and a guard or
plate for preventing the band from rising after the apertures are punched.
The throw of the eccentrics are opposite each other, so that when one ram is
in its lowest position the other ram is in its highest position, which arrange-
ment enables the operations of flattening and punching to take place alternately,
and thereby prevent undue strain upon the machine.
In connection with the flattening and punching apparatus there is a bench
or table a¹ of about the length of the longest bands for the boops, and to the
top of the bench are fixed a number of transverse rods b', the tops of which
are level with the top of the surface blocks i, and with the dies in the die
holder j. At the back of each rod there is a projection c³, and at the front a
bracket d' and stop e', the stops being used for maintaining the band in its
right position sideways during the process of punching; and it is evident that
by adjusting the stops and the guard and dies I can punch any required
width and thick of bands for the hoops. When the bands are to be
flattened and pu I placo a convenient number one above the other on
the rods, as at
8, and put the machine in motion by shifting the
driving strap from .
.Jose to the fast pulley, and then the workman places
one of the bands on the surface of the block i; and when the flattening block y
has descended to its lowest position the edge of the band will be found to be
perfectly flat and even; the band is then placed under the punches and against
the end and side stops, and when the punches have descended to their lowest
position the apertures are punched; the band is now removed to the
brackets d' at the front of the bench, and these operations are continuet
until all the bands originally placed at the back of the bench have been
flattened and punched, and afterwards placed one above the other on the

page_text: brackets d', from whence the bands are carried in a turning direction, and
again placed on the back of the bench, in order that their other ends may bo
flattened and punched by means of similar operations to those before described,
and when completed the bands are removed from the brackets d', and a fresh
supply placed on the back of the bench to be operated upon, and so on con-
tinuously for as many series of bands as required. When desired, I cause each
ram v, w, Figs. 6 and 7, to perform the operations of punching and flattening
by fixing a flattening surface, as shewn at d³, Fig. 8, at the sides and ends of
the punches, and a surface block at the sides and ends of the dies.
When a certain number of bands are to be bent into hoops upon the bale,
and their ends fastened together, I proceed as follows:-The bands are placed
under the bale on the presser plate of the press, and after the bale has been
compressed to a certain extent, one end of each band is raised up and the
other end brought over the top of the bale in the usual manner; but in order
to avoid an extreme compression of the bale, and thereby economize time and
labour, I employ an improved tightener or reversible lever for pulling the
hoops as tight as possible before the rivets are passed through the apertures.
The tightener is represented in the end and side elevations, Figs. 9 and 10; it
consists of two iron piece f', 9', jointed together as at h'; the bottom end of
the part projects sideways, and the other end has a flat surface . The
jointed end of the part g' has eccentric curves at each side of its apex m²,
so that when the part f' is placed firmly against the side of the bale, and the
part g' raised up, as shewn by the dotted lines n³, the upper end of the hoop
can be passed between the flat surface &' and the apex m', and then be nipped
by one of the eccentric curves, when the part g' is brought down, as shown
by the full lines o'. The bottom end of the part f' is now the fulcrum of a
lever formed by the two parts f, g', and when this.compound lever is depressed,
as shewn by the dotted lines p', it pulls the upper part of the hoop and
tightens it over the bale, and when it is tightened as much as possible it is
clenched at the top by a hammer and wedged, so that it cannot unslacken.
The tightener is now removed, and the two ends of the hoop are brought into
close contact, and then the elongated heads of the rivets are passed from the
inside through the apertures, and afterwards turned at right angles to the
longer lengths of the said apertures, as shewn in Figs. 11 and 12, after which
the pressure on the bale is removed, and the bale expanding stretches tho
hoops and makes them perfectly tight upon it. The rivets are generally
turned by hand, but if they are rather stiff I employ a key or lever, shown in
Figs. 18 and 14, for turning them to their right positions. It will be seen
that in the tightener, either one or other of the eccentric curvos can be used

page_text: for nipping the end of the hoop, and thereby enable it to be conveniently used
at either side of the bale.
In my Provisional Specification I stated that the openings for admitting the
rivets are formed by a slot round at ono end and squared at the other, in which
the hoops are admitted. The word "hoops" is a clerical error, and instead of
it the word rivets should have been used, as will be clearly seen by the context.
Having now described the nature and particulars of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be understood
that I do not claim the indiscriminate use of studs for fastening hoops for
packing bales, as studs with an elongated head at one end of the shank and a
round head at the other end have been before used; but what I claim in my
improved method of fastening hoops for packing bales, and in the machinery
or apparatus employed therein, is,-
First, the employment of studs or rivets having elongated heads at one end
of the shanks and square or rectangular heads at their other ends.
Secondly, the machinery or apparatus for flattening the ends of the hoops
and punching their apertures for the rivets, and also the series of operations
connected with the said machinery or apparatus.
And, thirdly, the improved tightener or reversible lever for tightening the
hoops over the bales before the insertion of the rivets into the apertures at the
ends of the hoops, as all such improvements are herein described and illus-
trated in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Alexander Fullarton, havo here-
uuto set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
JOHN ALEX. FULLARTON. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named John Alexander
Fullarton, in the presence of
E. J. HUGHES,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.