IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF SCREW NUTS
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Arthur Greenwood, of Leeds, in the County of
York, Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF SCREW NUTS."-A communication
from abroad by Moriz Vog'l, of Zoeptau, Moravia, in the Empire of
Austria.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION-Left-by the said Arthur Greenwood at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 14th September 1874.
-
. I, ARTHUR GREENWOOD, of Leeds, in the County of York, Mechanical
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF SCREW NUTs," to be
as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to manufacture screw nuts by
machinery in a more simple and economical manner than by the
machinery heretofore employed for such purposes, and thereby to effect
a considerable saving in the cost of manufacture. To this end a bar of

page_text: iron of suitable size and section (according to the size of the nuts
intended to be made) is heated in a suitable fire, and then submitted to
the first operation, which is to roughly mark out or form the nuts on
the heated bar without completely detaching them therefrom. The bar
of iron is introduced into the machine, and thrust up to a gauge point;
then two V shaped dies are brought against the bar with sufficient force
to indent the same on both sides, and by repeating this operation
the bar will be divided into a number of hexagonal blanks, which however,
for the sake of convenience, are not completely separated from each
other. The bar roughly prepared in this manner is removed to the
punching dies. A single nut is first detached from the bar by the
descent of a hollow plunger, which is worked by an excentric, and forces
the nut from off the end of the bar into a mould or die in which a
rising and falling plunger works. The blank having been thus placed
in the die a punch, which works up and down in the upper plunger, is
brought down and forces out a round piece of the metal from the blank,
and thus forms the central hole, which is subsequently tapped in the
ordinary manner. The upper plunger with its punch then rises out of
and
the die, and the lower plunger is lifted by an excentric below,
pushes the newly formed nut out of the die. The same processes are
then repeated until all the blanks on the prepared bar are cut off and
formed into nuts, which may then be tapped in the ordinary manner.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Arthur Greenwood in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 13th March 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ARTHUR
GREENWOOD, of Leeds, in the County of York, Mechanical Engineer,
send greeting.
2
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of September, in the year of 3
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Arthur Greenwood, Her special licence
that I, the said Arthur Greenwood, my executors, administrators, and

page_text: assigns, or such others as I, the said Arthur Greenwood, 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, 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 SCREW NUTS," being a communi-
cation to me from abroad by Moriz Vog'l, of Zoeptau, Moravia, in
the Empire of Austria, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Arthur Greenwood, 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 In-
vention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, 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 Arthur Greenwod, 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 Drawing here-
unto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say) :-
The object of this Invention is to manufacture screw nuts by
machinery in a more simple and economical manner than by the
machinery heretofore employed for such purposes, and thereby..to effect
a-considerable saving in the cost of manufacture. To this end a bar of
iron of suitable size and section (according to the size of the nuts
intended to be made) is heated in a suitable fire, and then submitted to
the first operation, which is to roughly mark out or form the nuts on
the heated bar without completely detaching them therefrom. The bar
of iron is introduced into the machine, and thrust up to a gauge point;
then two V shaped dies are brought against the bar with sufficient force
to indont the same on both sides, and by repeating this operation the
-bar-will be divided into a number of hexagonal blanks, which however,
for the sake of convenience, are not completely separated from each
other. The bar roughly prepared in this manner is removed to the
punching dies. A single nut is first detached from the bar by the
descent of a hollow plunger, which is worked by an excentric, and forces

page_text: the nut from off the end of the bar into a mould or die in which a
rising and falling plunger works. The blank having been thus placed.
in the die a punch, which works up and down in the upper plunger, is
brought down and forces out a round piece of the metal from the blank,
and thus forms the central hole, which is subsequently tapped in the
ordinary manner. The upper plunger with its punch then rises out of
the die, and the lower plunger is lifted by an excentric below, and
pushes the newly-formed nut out of the die. The same processes are
then repeated until all the blanks on the prepared bar are cut off and
formed into nuts, which may then be tapped in the ordinary manner.
In the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 is a front clevation of the
machine complete; Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section taken in the
line 1, 2, of Fig. 1, and through the central part of the machine;
Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the machine in which the heated bar
of iron is roughly formed into a series of nut blanks, as shown at
Fig. 6; Fig. 4 is a horizontal section of the machine; and Fig. 5 is.
another horizontal section shewing the mechanism for moving or
shifting the nut blanks.
A, A, is the main shaft of the machine. It is preferably made of
steel, and carries the excentrics for actuating the various working parts,
as will be hereafter described, and is mounted in bearings at the top of
the side standards B, B'. A heavy metal block C serves as a bed to
receive some of the working parts, as shewn at Fig. 2. A moveable
piece or slide D at one end of the machine works in vertical guides, as
shewn at Figures 1, 3, and 4, and carries the upper tool or die N,
whereby, in conjunction with a corresponding under tool N', the bar of
heated iron is roughly formed into nut blanks, as shewn in the detached
view, Fig. 6, already referred to. Another slide E, Figures 1 and 4,
works in vertical guides at the central part of the machine, and carries
the tools for punching and finishing the nut; F is a block supported
on a bracket at the end of the machine, and carries the lower tool or
die N¹ for roughly forming the nut blank; G is another block, which
rests on the heavy metal block C, and supports the fixed press die O for
pressing and finishing the nut. The slide D with the forming or
"fullering" tool N is actuated by the excentric H at the end of the
shaft A, which also carries the excentrics J, J, which actuate the
finishing and pressing tool. Between these two excentrics is another
excentric K for working the punching tool X for forming the hole in

page_text: the centre of the nut. A wedge adjustment L, Figures 1 and 3, actuated
by a screw and hand wheel serves to regulate the position or height of
the slide D, and its tool N and M, M.
Figures 1 and 2 are similar arrangements for adjusting and regulating
the position and action of the pressing tools for finishing the nut in the
fixed die O. A piston or plunger P works vertically in a hole in the heavy
metal block C, and carries at its upper end the movable die Q, which
with the plunger P is capable of being raised by the cam R mounted
on the horizontal shaft S below. This is driven by the bevil gearing on
the vertical shaft T, as shewn in Fig. 1, and as the shaft S rotates the
cam R will lift up the piston P and die Q, and by so doing will push
the newly formed nut out of the fixed die O. The vertical shaft T and
the parts connected therewith are actuated by the bevil wheels U, one
of which is on the end of the shaft T, and the other on the end of the
3 excentric shaft A. The upper pressing die Z is secured to the lower end
of the slide E, and consequently moves therewith when the latter is
actuated by the excentrics J, J; but within the slide E works the
block W carrying at its lower end the conical punch X, which makes
the central hole in the nut blank. This punch of course has a motion
O independent of the slide E, being actuated by the central excentric K,
so that its lower end works through the die Z, and by being forced
against the nut blank in the fixed die O will punch out a piece of metal
from the blank, and force this waste piece into the hole in the lower
die Q. The hole in this die, and that made from end to end of the
plunger P are made slightly conical, so that the circular pieces of metal
that are successively punched out of the nut blanks will pass down the
die Qand plunger P, and be discharged at the lower end.
The operation of the several working parts of the machine is as
follows:-The iron rods or bars (of suitable section, according to form
) and size of nut intended to be produced) are heated in a suitable furnace
conveniently arranged for the purpose near the machine. A bar of iron
properly heated is placed under the slide D, Figures 1 and 3, and upon the
fixed V shaped fullering tools N¹, the proper position of the heated
iron bar being regulated by the spring stop n. The upper or movable
5 fullering tool N is then brought down, and roughly forms a hexagonal
nut at the end of the bar. The bar thus prepared may be carried forward
to the finishing dies, but if desired the operation of roughly forming
a blank may be repeated, so. that a number of blanks may be formed

page_text: in succession, as shewn at Fig. 6. The gaugen will ensure a
reasonable degree of accuracy in this operation, as its point will be
inserted in the under notch just formed in the heated iron bar.
When the upper die N descends it will push down the gauge n, which
is attached to the upper end of the rod m, and is capable of yielding
when pressed down, but will be raised up again by the spring m¹ below
when the pressure is removed. After the nuts have thus been roughly
formed, and while still very hot and hanging together, as shewn at
Fig. 6, they are placed under the finishing press at the central part of
the machine.
In order to place the nut blanks with accuracy under the working
tools a sliding gauge g is adapted to the press, as shewn at Figures 2
and 5. This gauge 9 has a notch cut in its end corresponding in shape
to the form of the nut blank, as seen best at Fig. 5. The angular end
of the bar is pushed into this notch, and at the proper moment the
sliding gauge with the nut blank in it is pushed forward by a bent
lever V connected therewith, and actuated by a cam V' on the shaft T.
By this means the blank is brought accurately over the opening in the
die O, and under the pressing and finishing die Z and punch X, both of
which then descend, the punch X being a little in advance of the
die Z. The nut blank will thus be detached from the end of the bar,
and be forced forward into the fixed die O, but as the punch will con-
tinue in advance of the die Z it will begin to punch or force out a piece
of metal from the centre of the blank, so as to form the hole. In so
doing the soft metal will be pressed out laterally to a slight degree; then
upon the die Z coming down on the top with considerable pressure the
nut will be finished. The die Z and punch X will then rise up, and be
withdrawn from the fixed die O and the under or lower die Q, and
plunger P will be lifted by the action of the cam R, and will push the
newly formed nut out of the fixed die O. A small slide ½ (Figures 23
and 5) actuated by the curved lever V₁ and cam V³ on the shaft T will
then be advanced, and will push the released nut away from the die,
when the same operations may be repeated on a second blank, and so on
until all the iron is converted into nuts. By keeping several bars in the
heating furnace there will always be a supply of heated iron, so that the
action of the machine may be continuous.
It will be understood that nuts of various sizes may be made in the
machine by changing the tools and dies, for which purpose the latter

page_text: are made easily detachable from the other parts of the machine. The
nuts when formed in this manner will be found to be better finished
than when made in the ordinary manner. They may then be tapped in
the ordinary manner.
Having now described the Invention of "Improvements in Machinery
for the Manufacture of Screw Nuts," which has been communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, and having explained the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me by
Letters Patent, as aforesaid, the arrangement or combination of parts
herein shewn and described for forging screw nuts from bar iron at one
neat.
neat.
In witness whereof, I, the said Arthur Greenwood, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Eleventh day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.