CERTAIN NEW METHODS OF APPLYING THE POWERS OF WATER MILLS, CATTLE MILLS, AND STEAM ENGINES, EITHER SIMPLY OR COMBINED WITH THE PRESSURE OF THE ATMOSPHERE, AND WITH WEIGHTS AND SPRINGS, TO THE WORKING OF FLY PRESSES OR STAMPS, SUCH AS ARE COMMONLY USED FOR THE PURPOSE OF STRIKING OR MAKING IMPRESSIONS UPON BUTTONS, BUCKLES, 03 OTHER PIECES OF METAL, AS WELL UPON STEEL DIES, OR MEDALS OR COINS; AND ALSO TO THE WORKING OF PRESSES FOR CUTTING OUT BLANKS FOR ANY OF THE ABOVE PURPOSES
Year: 1790

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I. MATHEW
BOULTON, of Solio, in the County of Stafford, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third by his
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Eighth day of July, in the thirtieth year of His reign, did give and
grant unto me, the said Mathew Boulton, His especial license, full power,
sole privilege, and authority, that I, the said Mathew Boulton, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should, and lawfully might, during the term of
years therein expressed, make, use, exercise and vend throughout that part
of Great Britain called England, His Dominion of Wales, and Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN NEW METHODS OF APPLYING
THE POWERS OF WATER MILLS, CATTLE MILLS, AND STEAM ENGINES, EITHER SIMPLY
OR COMBINED WITH THE PRESSURE OF THE ATMOSPHERE, AND WITH WEIGHTS AND
SPRINGS, TO THE WORKING OF FLY PRESSES OR STAMPS, SUCH AS ARE COMMONLY USED
FOR THE PURPOSE OF STRIKING OR MAKING IMPRESSIONS UPON BUTTONS, BUCKLES, 03
OTHER PIECES OF METAL, AS WELL UPON STEEL DIES, OR MEDALS, OR COINS; AND ALSO TO
THE WORKING OF PRESSES FOR CUTTING OUT BLANKS FOR ANY OF THE ABOVE PURPOSES;"
in which said recited Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me,
the said Mathew Boulton, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of
my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and to cause the same to be
inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within one calendar month
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent, as in and by

page_text: the said Letters Patent, and the Statute in that behalf made, relation being
thereunto respectively had, may more at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, and in pursu-
ance of the said Statute, I, the said Mathew Boulton, do hereby declare that
the following is a particular description of the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to bo performed (that is to say):-
My first method is by employing the power of the mill, or of the steam
engine to turn a horizontal axle or shaft, A, see No. 1 in the annexed Drawing,
making 48 turns per minute, or any greater or lesser number, as may suit the
particular case. Upon the shaft or axle (A), I fix a pinion (B), of about two
feet diameter, (or more or less as may be required,) the teeth of which act upon
and in the teeth of the horizontal wheel (C), of eight feet diameter, so that the
perpendicular shaft (D), which is the axis to which the wheel (C) is fixed, shall
make twelve turns per minute, when the pinion (B) makes forty-eight turns; on
the same shaft (DD) is fixed the great wheel E, which has no teeth, but upon its
upper or under side are fixed the five pieces F, F, in the positions represented
in the Drawing No. 1, which pieces may be either made curved, as drawn, or
straight, according to other circumstances, but must be placed at or near the
angles to the radii of the wheel represented in the Drawing No. 1; as the
great wheel E turns round by the action of the mill or engine, the pieces
F, F, each in its turn meet the piu G, fixd in the arm II, and force it
to move in the same direction with the wheel E, until it escapes from the
piece at the point (f). The arm H is thus made to revolve upon the axis
of the screw of the coining press J, J, about the sixth part of entire revolution,
or so as to make an angle of sixty degrees with its position when at rest, or to
move through such greater or lesser angle as may suit the circumstances
otherwise requisite. The short levers K, K, are attached or fixed to the
arm E, and move through the saine angles that it does. To the levers K, K,
are fastened respectively one end of each to two ropes or chains L, L, which
pass over pulleys at M, M, and the other ends of these ropes or chains are
fastened to the stems of pistons moving in the air pumps N, N, which are of
seven inches diameter internally. These pistons are mounted with leather in
the same manner as the bucket of a comnion pump or otherwise, so that they
may move freely up and down in the barrel of the air pump and yet be air-
tight. These pistons are also furnished each with one or moro valves opening.
upwards so as to permit the egress of any air or other fluid which may be con-
tained in the pumps, but to prevent its regress or return. In order to make.
these pistons eflectually air-tight, a quart or more of oil is poured into each.
pump. By the motion of the arm H the levers K, K, raise the said pistons of

page_text: fixed upon
.
the air pumps N, N, and the pumps being effectually shutt or closed at
bottoin by solid plates, by the rising of the pistons the pumps are exhausted
of air, and the pistons are acted upon by the whole pressure of the atmosphere,
and consequently tend to descend with the power of fourteen pounds weight
upon each square inch of their area. When the pin G is arrived at the
point (f), a catch O, (Figure 3,) takes hold of a detent, which is a part of or
fixed firmly to some part of the bar P, (which serves for a fly to the coining
press J, J, and as soon as the pin (G) escapes or is totally disengaged from
the end of the piece F, f, the pistons of the air pumps being no longer resisted,
descend in the pumps, and act upon the levers K, K, by means of the ropes or
chains L, L, and oblige the arm ET, and the bar P to which it is attached (by
the catch and detent), to return with violence, and the bar P being firmly
the upper end of the great screw of the coining press, causes it to
revolve upon
its axis, and at the same time the obliquity of its threads causes it
to descend perpendicularly and press the two dies together, which impress, stamp,
or coin the money or other piece placed between them. (N.B.) The dies,
moulds, stamps, or matrices, which make the impression, are fixed in the press;
and the press itself and screw are constructed in the usual inanner or other-
wise, as may suit, which it is not necessary to describe, as it forms no part of my
present Invention. When the bar P has resolved so far upon its centre as
that the dies have inade the impression on the blank or other piece placed
between the dies, the catch O is disengaged from the detent by a spring R,
which acts upon it at that place, and by the elasticity of the press the bar P:
recoils and leaves the arm II behind it, which remains in its then position, as
represented at the press No. 2, until one of the pieces F, f, overtakes it, and
raises it for another blow; and the same operations are repeated, which,
according to the velocities assigned, will be sixty times in each minute, (during
the raising of the screw, or the recoil of the bar P, the blank which was coined
is pushed out and another is laid in between the dies, either by the person who
attends it, as usual in coining money, or otherwise by some proper contrivance
which does not relate to the present purpose). To prevent the bar P from
recoiling too far, it is received between the springs S, S, and retained by its
friction between them until the arm H is freed from the piece F,f. To
prevent the vibration of the arm H, it is furnished with a tail T, which is
retained betwen two springs in the same manner as has been described for the
bar P. It is necessary to observe, that any number of presses may be placed'
round the wheel E, E, that its diameter and the size of the presses admit of.
There are eight presses represented in this case, and they are represented such.

page_text: as are large enough to coin half-crown pieces; but the size and dimensions of
any or all the parts described, as well as the velocities assigned, may be varied
according as the work to be done requires. The Drawings annexed hereto
are made from the real machine in their just proportions, according to the
scales marked upon them respectively. When it is wanted to stop any one of
the presses without stopping the rest, it is done by pulling the string U
altached to the lever V, which raises the pin G, and puts it out of the way of
tho picces F,f, until it is again wanted to work, when the string being
slackened, the pin G drops down into its former place. In the like manner I
give motion to presses for cutting out blanks or other pieces of metal, the only
difference being that in place of the dies a pair of cutting-out tools in the usual
form are fixed in the press, and that the presses, the wheel E, E, and other
parts are of smaller dimensions, and proportioned to their work. Accordingly as
the coining presses are required to give a lesser or greater blow, the ropes
or chains L, L, are fastoned to the levers K, K, nearer to or farther from the
centre of the great screw which operates by raising the piston of the air pump
through a lesser or greater space in each blow, and the blow may by this
means be exactly proportioned to the work required.
The essential parts of this Invention arc,-
First, the applying the powers of mills or steam engines to the working the s
presses in place of men's labour, as has hitherto been practised.
Secondly, the applying the clastic force of the atmosphere acting upon the
piston of an air pump to give the necessary velocity to the bar P or fly of the
press, (to strike the blow which coins the money. This method possesses
the advantages of being more easily regulated than weights or springs, and of
avoiding the shakes which would be given to the arm H, by the vis inertice of
the weight, if a weight were used.
Thirdly, that the arm II, which raises the pistons of the air pumps (or raises
a weight, or bends the spring, in cases where weights or springs are used in.
place of the air pumps, is totally disengaged from the bar P or fly of the press
during the time the piece F, f, acts upon it, by which means that bar
is allowed to recoil in a natural manner, and does not give the shakes which
would be occasioned to the whole machine by its vis inertiae if it were acted
upon immediately by the pieces F,f, although the air pumps perform their,
office much better than either weights or springs; yet I have and do apply:
either or both of these latter in place of the air pumps. In regard to the
materials for this machinery, iron or other metals or wood may be used indif-.
ferently. I have made the shafts A and D, the pinion B, and the great

page_text: wheel E wholly of cast iron. The pieces F, f. are of cast of iron, but I havo
used them of wood; the bar P is of iron; the arm I is of wood, armed with
sockets of iron lined with brass, and the air pumps are of cast iron.
My second method of working these presses by the power of mills or steam
engines is by applying the first moving power to work a crank, or any other
machinery, which will give a right lined reciprocating motion to a rod or rods
sliding horizontally, and making strokes or vibrations from one to six feet long,
according to the size of the machines or presses to be wrought thereby. This
sliding rod has fixed upon it, at proper intervals, clamps of wood or metal,
moveable upon joints in the nature of catches, which in the motion of the rod
in one direction give way and pass by the arm H without acting upon it, but
immediately on the returning motion of the rod, lock behind the pin G, or
some other part of the arm H, and oblige it to return with them, and raise up
the pistons of the air pumps until from the difference between the right lined
motion of the rod and the circular motion of the arm H, the latter escapes
from the catch upon the rod and returns by the power of the air pumps taking
the bar P with it in the same manner, as has been described. These sliding
rods are made-longer or shorter, according to the number of presses required
to be wrought thereby, and the size of the presses.
My third method of working coining presses is by a steam engine solely, and
consists in placing the cylinder of the engine where one of the air pumps is
placed in the Drawing No. 1, and attaching the chain L to the end of the
piston rod of the engine, so that when a vacuum is made in the cylinder of the
engine by any of the methods used in these engines the piston descends and
pulls the arm H and the bar P along with it, and when the steam enters the
cylinder to fill it for another stroke, the piston is raised, and P, H, restored
to their places by the force of a small air pump, or a weight or spring acting
upon H, in the contrary direction, and more presses than one may be wrought
by the same engine by having proper connections between the arms H, H, of
the different presses. The cylinders of the steam engines applied to this
purpose are furnished with proper condensers and machinery for working their
regulating valves, as is usual in such machines.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fifth
Signed and sealed, being first duly stampt,
in the presence of
MATT (L.s.) BOULTON.
THO HANDLEY.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fifth day of August, in the year
of our Lord 1790, the aforesaid Mathew Boulton came before our said Lord
the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid, and
all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stampt according to the tenor of the
Statutes made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Fifth day of August, in the year of our Lord! One thousand