IMPROVEMENTS IN METAL BOXES OR CASES, AND IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME AND SIMILAR ARTICLES
Year: 1873

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William May at the Office
t
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th
July 1878.
I, WILLIAM MAY, of Camberwell New Road, in the County of
Surrey, Civil and Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN METAL BOXES OR CASES,
AND IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME AND SIMILAR ARTICLES," to
be as follows:-
My Invention relates to the manufacture of sheet metal boxes or
cases, tubes, ferrules, and other like articles, and to a machine to be
employed in such manufacture. The said Invention is particularly
applicable to the manufacture of small boxes or cases for matches and
other articles of domestic use, and I will therefore more especially
describe its application to the same.
My improved machine is constructed to operate as follows:- - It
receives the sheet of iron, brass, tin, or other metal, and first bends it
slightly and folds or sets its edges to form the seam or joint of the box

page_text: or case; it then forms a crease or rib or two or more creases or ribs
transversely across the sheet of metal to strengthen and stiffen the said
box or case; then it finishes the bending of the metal into the desired
form, and finally unites and secures the edges. The said machine
moreover may be provided with mechanism for cutting the ends of the
box or case from a sheet of metal. For performing these various
operations the said machine is provided with the following appliances :-
Upon a framing of cast iron or other suitable material I mount a pair
of feed rollers, one of which is concave and the other convex on its
periphery these rollers bend the sheet slightly, and are furthermore so
formed as to make the folds or flanges for the joint or seam at the edges
of the metal. The aforesaid rollers are arranged at the front end of the
machine; immediately behind them I place a pair of dies, the lower one
of which is fixed while the upper one is moveable and is operated by a
cam or other mechanism. One of these dies has small V shaped or other
grooves extending across it, and the other die has correspondingly
formed projections. The metal passes from the feed rollers into these
dies, and the upper die is forced down upon the same to form in it the
aforesaid creases or ribs. Behind the said dies I arrange a circular or
reciprocating cutter or knife to cut off the boxes or cases after they leave
the said dies.
In a line with these dies and behind the same I place a mandril
whose cross sectional form must be that which is to be given to the
box, that is to say, it must be circular, oval, or of any other form,
according as it is desired to produce circular, oval, or other boxes or
cases. In combination with this mandril I arrange mechanism for
completing the bending or shaping of the box or case and securing the
seam or joint. This mechanism consists of a holding bar, two side
bending bars, and an upper die...
.
The holding bar holds the box on the mandril while the side bending
bars give it the proper shape, the upper die is formed with a recess to
admit the flanges or folds on the edges of the box. The said holding
bar is placed immediately under the mandril and when the partially
formed box or case is moved under the mandril from the creasing dies
the said bar rises and holds the same tightly between its upper surface
and the under surface of the said mandril. Then the side bending bars
rise and turn the sides of the box upward, bringing the two edges on

page_text: which the flanges or folds are formed close together under the aforesaid
upper die. The latter then descends and its recess or groove. folds the
long flange or lap down over the short flange; then the mandril is turned
slightly to one side and the said flanges are thereby folded and com-
pressed upon the exterior of the box or case. Then the said mandril
moves backward and throws off the said box or case and returns to its
original position, the aforesaid operations being continually repeated
during the working of the machine. The necessary motions of the
aforesaid bars, die, and mandril are obtained from the driving shaft of
the machine through cams, levers, rods, or other suitable mechanism.
The box or case when delivered from the mandril as above described
will be finished so far as relates to the body of the box, and only requires
the end to be fixed in it. The pieces to form the ends are cut from a
sheet of metal of the proper size and shape; the aforesaid creasing dies
form a crease or groove in the end of the box or case in which the end
is readily inserted and secured; the covers for the said boxes are made in
the same manner as the boxes.
A
I prefer that the aforesaid machine should be provided with mechanism
for cutting the said end pieces for the boxes or cases.
For this purpose
I mount upon the frame of the said machine two rollers which are
geared to work together. These rollers are provided on the periphery
with cutters, either circular, oval, or of any other desired shape.
sheet of metal is passed between these rollers and as they rotate the
said cutters cut therefrom pieces of the exact shape to form the ends of
the boxes or cases. It is obvious however that, if desired, this
mechanism may be separate from the mechanism first berein-described,
and plates provided with cutters may be used in the place of the said
rollers.