IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF HORSE-SHOES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Hascltine,
Lako, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE
OF HORSE-SHOES.”-A communication from abroad by the "Rhode
Island Horse-shoe Company (Incorporated)," of Rhode Island,
United States of America.
Sealed the 13th February 1874, and dated the 23rd December 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 23rd December 1873.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE
MANUFACTURE OF HORSE-SHOES," a communication, to be as follows:-
The first division of this Invention has reference to machinery for
swaging the ends of bar blanks and bending such blanks into the form
of shoes.

page_text: In preparing a blank to DC plated out into the proper form 10
horse-shoe it is necessary to swage the bar blank to thicken the metal
at the heels and then bend the bar into the horse-shoe form.
The present improvements consist in such an arrangement and com-
bination of the swaging and bending devices that the operations of
swaging the bar at the heels and then bending it into the form of a
shoe are performed by consecutive operations without removing the
blank from the machine; and it further consists in a device for
centralizing the bar to insure its bending midway between the ends.
The said machine has a suitable frame whereon its working parts are
supported.
Motion is given to the machine by power applied to a shaft upon
which is a gear wheel which tecth engage with the teeth of a
larger wheel, and the latter gives a rotary movement to a crank and
eccentrics.
Two-swages are arranged in suitable guides to have a reciprocating
sliding movement over the surface of a platform. They are operated by
the said eccentrics to which they are linked, and act in combination
with adjustable blocks clamped to the said platform to swage the bar
blank which has been previously cut to the right length, creased and
placed in position in the machine in readiness to be operated upon. Tho
said eccentrics arc set a very little out of coincidence in action, so that
one will commence to act just as the other has completed its work.
So soon as the swages have done their work they commence to retreat,
and a sliding pattern block which also forms a bender advances, the
samo being attached to a bar fitted to suitable guides. This sliding bar
also carries a transverse bar furnished with inclined faces which during
the forward movement of such bar impinge against friction rollers in the
ends of levers and cause such levers to move outward, whereby bending
rollers on their opposite ends are made to approach cach other and act
to complete the bending of the bar at the heels close to the pattern
block. Tho said levers are located underneath the platform of the table,
and the bending rollers are set on studs which project above the top
surface of the table through curved slots cut therein.
To allow bar blanks of different lengths to be accurately placed in
position so that the horse-shoc bend shall be exactly midway between

page_text: the ends there is placed on the platform a yielding gauge just in front
of the adjustable blocks. Whenever a blank is placed in position springs.
which form part of this gauge will be compressed equally, and the bar
will be centralized with respect to the sliding bender.
"
The second division of the said Invention relates to the means for
holding the horse-shoc blank upon the bed during the operation of
plating" out the toc; also to the arrangement of devices for giving
the proper movements to the reciprocating bed upon which the shoo is
placed, and also to the means for discharging the finished shoe.
I provide a series of revolving frames in combination with a recipro-
cating bed supporting an anvil die arranged to slide to and fro
underneath revolving hammers, the shoe blank which has been bent as
heroin-above described being "plated out" by the action of these
hammers.
It is necessary in machines of this class whose rotary hammers in
combination with a sliding anvil have both a percussive and a rolling
action upon the shoe blank that the blank should be held down firmly
at the heels upon the anvil bed while the toe is being "plated out" by
the hammers. To allow this to be done I use a short presser bar
forming the end of an arm which is attached to a shaft mounted in
journal bearings on the reciprocating bed. The said shaft projects
beyond ono of its bearings to give space for the attachment thereto of a
lover arm whose further end carries a friction wheel.
Upon the frame of the machine a raised track is placed with inclined
planes at each end, and the track is so arranged that the friction wheel
upon the end of tho said lever arm will travel upon the same as the
sliding bed moves back and forth underneath the rotary hammers; the
presser bar is thereby caused to clamp the shoe blank to the bed at
the heels during the time the said friction wheel is travelling upon the
straight part of the track and until it begins to descend the inclined
plane at the end.
While the shoe is being hammered the movement of the bed should
be slow but the return movement should be quicker. This return.
movement has been heretofore effected by means of a weight attached
to the sliding bed. It is desirable however that such return movement
should be positively effected in case the weight fails to act.

page_text: In the present machine a cam or wiper is mounted on a transverse
shaft, and by acting upon the curved toc of a bed lever carries the bed
with a slow movement underneath the revolving hammers. The return
movement is positively effected by another wiper on the said shaft
impinging against a rounded face on a hinged toc pivoted to the bed 5
lever.
To discharge the finished shoe from the machine I employ a drag
keyed to a shaft which has bearings in cars projecting from standards
wherein the revolving shaft of the hammers is mounted. An arm
projects from the said shaft and has hung thereon a weight whose 1
tendency is to keep the face of the drag bearing upon the face of
the bed.
When however by the forward movement of the bed the toe of the
shoc which is being hammered is carried under tho drag the latter will
be raised until the toe has passed beyond it, then it will drop in rear of 1
the too and act when the bed returns to strip the shoe from the anvil,
and discharge it from the machine.
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 23rd June 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special
licenco that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake,
my executors, administrators, 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,

page_text: 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 MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF HORSE-SHOES," a
communication to me from abroad by the "Rhode Island Horse-shoo
Company" (Incorporated), of Rhode Island, United States of America,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Robert
Lake, 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 performed, and cause the same to be filed
in the Great Scal Patent Office within six calendar months.next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawing, forming a part of this Specification.
Figure 1 is a top view, and Figure 2 is a side elevation of a machine
constructed according to the said Invention.
In preparing a blank to be "plated out" into the proper form for
a horse-shoe it is necessary to swage the bar blank so as to thicken the
metal at the heels and then bend the bar into the horse-shoe form.
The present improvements consist in such an arrangement and com-
bination of the swaging and bending devices that the operations of
swaging the bar at the heels and then bending it into the form of a
shoe, are performed by consecutive operations without removing the
blank from the machine; and it further consists in a device for
centralizing the bar to insure its bending midway between the ends.
A is the frame of the machine; motion is given to the machinery by
power applied to a shaft upon which is the gear wheel B, the teeth of
which engage with the teeth of the larger wheel C, and the latter gives

page_text: (being of the same stiffness,) and the bar will be centralized with respect
to the sliding bender I.
The second division of the said Invention relates to means for holding
the horse-shoe blank upon the bed during the operation of "plating
out" the toc; also to the arrangement of devices for giving the proper
movements to the reciprocating bed upon which the shoe is placed, and
also to the means for discharging the finished shoc.
Figure 3 is a top view; Figure 4 is a side view; and Figure 5 is an
end view of a machine embodying this part of the said Invention.
A is the rectangular frame of the machine; B is a series of revolving
hammers; and C is a reciprocating bed supporting the anvil die, arranged
to slide to and fro underneath the revolving hammers; the shoe blank,
which it is to be understood has been bent by the machinery described
in the first division of this Specification, being plated out by the action
of such hammers; E is the anvil die upon which the previously bent
blank which is to be fashioned into a shoe is placed.
It is necessary in machines of this class whose rotary hammers in
combination with a sliding anvil have both a percussive and a rolling
action upon the shoe blank that the blank should be held down firmly
at the heels upon the anvil bed while the toe is being plated out by the
hammers. To enable this to be done there is used a presser bar a which
is a short bar of about twelve inches in length and forms the end of the
arm b, which latter is attached to the shaft c mounted in journal
bearings & on the reciprocating bed C. The shaft c projects beyond one
of its bearings to give room for the attachment thereto of the lever
arm whose farther end carries a friction wheel c.
Upon the frame of the machine a raised track G is placed with
inclined planes fat each end, and the location of the track is such that
the friction wheel upon the end of the lever arm F will travel upon
the same as the sliding bed C moves back and forth underneath
the rotary hammers. The effect of the combination of the lever
arm F and track G is as the bed C is moving forward to cause the
presser bar a to clamp the shoe blank to the bed at the heels during
the time the friction wheel is travelling upon the straight part of the
track, and until it begins to descend the inclined plane at the end, at
which time the shoe blank does not require to be longer held down,

page_text: and should also be released from tlic presser bar a to allow its heels to
be hammered.
While the shoe is being hammered the movement of the bed C should
be slow, but the return movement should be a quicker one in order to
avoid useless consumption of time. This return movement has been
heretofore effected by means of a weight attached to the sliding bed
which acts to drag the latter back when the bed is released from the
influence of the cam which imparts to it its forward movement. It is
desirable however that such return movement should be positively
effected in case the weight fails to aet.
In the present machine H is the cam or wiper mounted on the
transverse shafts, which, by acting on the curved toe of the bed lever J,
carrics the bed with a slow movement underneath the revolving
hammers B. The return movement is positively effected by the wiper K
on the-shaft s impinging against a rounded face.g on the hinged toe L, 1
which is pivoted to the bed lever J at h, in the path for the most
effective action of the wiper, whereby a very quick movement is
imparted to the bed O with simplicity of mechanical arrangement.
To discharge the finished shoe from the machine I employ a drag M
keyed to the transverse shaft N which has bearings in ears / projecting 2
from the standards N¹, N², in which the revolving shaft of the hammers
is mounted. An arm o projects from the shaft N and has a weight p
hung thereon, the tendency of which is to keep the face of the drag M
bearing upon the face of the bed C.
When however by the forward movement of the bed the toe of the 2
shoe which is being hammered is carried under the drag the latter will
be raised until the toe has passed beyond it when it will drop to the rear
of the toe and act when the bed returns to strip the shoc from the anvil
and discharge it from the machine.
Having thus fully described the said Invention, as communicated to 3
me by my foreign correspondents, and the manner of performing the
same, I wish it understood that I claim,--
First. The combination and arrangement of the swages F, F, sliding
pattern block I, stationary blocks H, H, and laterally moving bending
rollers N, N', substantially as described, whereby the operations of 3
swaging the ends of a bar blank for a horse-shoe and bending the same
can be consecutively performed as hercin set forth.

page_text: Second. In a horse-shoe machine the combination of the sliding bed C,
the presser bar a, the lever arm F, and track G for clamping a horse-
shoc blank to the bed near the heels while the toe is being plated out,
substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hercunto
set my hand and scal, this Twenty-second day of June, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
Witness,
H. J. NOONE,
8, Southampton Buildings,
London.
W. ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.)