IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SHAPING AND PUNCHING STRIP OR SHEET IRON
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Henson Henson, of Laurence Pountney
Lane, in the City of London, Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SHAPING AND PUNCHING
STRIP OR SHEET IRON."
tr
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Henson Henson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 17th January 1873.
I, HENRY HENSON HENSON, of Laurence Pountney Lane, in the City
of London, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SHAPING AND
PUNCHING STRIP OR SHEET IRON," to be as follows:-
.
This Invention relates to a peculiar combination and arrangement of
combined machinery or apparatus for stamping, punching and cutting,
or shaping at one operation strips of sheet iron suitable for the con-
struction of the peculiar fencing described in the Specification of my
Patent No. 3075, 1870.
According to my present Invention I combine together a table or
bed and a pressing plate or follower, into each of which there is fitted so
as to be readily removeable a cast steel or other hard metal die of the

page_text: length, width, and section required. In one of these dies there are
fitted or formed punches for making the rivet holes in the strips
requisite for the putting together of the fence, corresponding holes being
made in the opposite die. In addition to the said punches I make the
upper and lower dies at one end thereof to act as shears, that is to say,
with a projecting, cutting, or shearing edges on one die, and corre-
sponding shearing edges on the other die, such shearing edges being
if
arranged in a V form. On the opposite end of the dies there may
required be another pair of cutters which will cut the strip at right
angles and to the required length, the cut on the opposite end leaving a
sharp point or V on the end of the strip which imparts the desired finish
to the upper end of the strip or pale forming part of the fence.
These operations of stamping or corrugating longitudinally the strip,
punching the rivet holes therein, and cutting or shaping the ends thereof,
are all effected at one operation and by one and the same machine which
may be worked by hand, steam, or other power.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said Henry Henson Henson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 17th July 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
HENSON HENSON, of Laurence Pountney Lane, in the City of London,
Engineer, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
36th year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Henry Henson Henson Her special license
that I, the said Henry Henson Henson, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Henson Henson, my
executors, administrators, or 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 OR APPARATUS FOR SHAPING AND PUNCHING STRIP OR SHEET IRON,”

page_text: upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Henson
Henson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, 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 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 Henry Henson Henson, 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, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings and to the letters and figures marked thercon, that is
to say :-
My said Invention relates to a peculiar combination and arrangement
of combined machinery or apparatus for stamping, punching, and
cutting or shaping at one operation strips of sheet iron suitable for the
construction of the peculiar fencing described in the Specification of my
Patent No. 3075, One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
According to my present Invention I combine together a table or bed
and a pressing plate or follower, into each of which there is fitted so as
to be readily removeable a cast steel or other hard metal die of the
length, width, and section required. In one of these dies there are fitted
or formed punches for making the rivet holes in the strips requisite for
the putting together of the fence, corresponding holes being made in tho
opposite die. In addition to the said punches I make the upper and
lower dies at one end thereof to act as shears, that is to say, with
projecting, cutting, or shearing edges on one die and corresponding
shearing edges on the other die, such shearing edges being arranged in
ay form. On the opposite end of the dies there may if required be
another pair of cutters which will cut the strip at right angles and to
the required length, the cut on the opposite end leaving a sharp point
or V on the end of the strip which imparts the desired finish to the
upper end of the strip or pale forming part of the fence.
These operations of stamping or corrugating longitudinally the strip,
punching the rivet holes therein, and cutting or shaping the ends thereof
are all effected at one operation, and by one and the same machine,
which may be worked by hand, steam, or other power.

page_text: And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood I shall
now proceed more particulary to describe the same, and for that purpose
shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the Figures.
Figure 1 of my Drawings represents a side elevation of the top and
bottom dies, closed together, with the corrugated strip of metal between
them; Figure 2 is a plan of the bottom die; Figure 3 is an inside plan
of the top die; Figure 4 is a transverse vertical section of the two dies
with the corrugated metal strip enclosed between them; Figure 5 is an
elevation of the > cutting or shearing end of the two dies; Figure 6
is an elevation of one of the pales or completed strips attached to its
horizontal rails, and Figure 7 is a plan thereof.
A is a fixed table or strong supporting bed upon which is fitted so as
to be removeable therefrom, the lower corrugating die or tool B, such
die being provided with studs a, a, which fit into corresponding holes in
the table or bed, and ensure the die being in its exact position with
regard to the top die when once adjusted. Dies of various sections and
lengths may be employed in the same machine, but they should all
be fitted alike with adjusting studs a, or be otherwise constructed as is
well understood with a view to enabling each die to be fitted accurately
in its proper position in the machine. C is the top die or tool which
may also be fitted to a carrying block or follower as is well understood,
and therefore I have not shewn such block or follower in my Drawings.
These dies or tools should be made of steel or other hard metal, those for
preparing the upright strips b for the palings (see Figure 6) being
about four feet long, whilst those for preparing the horizontal rails c, c,
of the fencing should be about nine feet long, as I prefer to make these
in nine feet lengths, although I do not confine or restrict myself to any
dimensions. The style of corrugation which I prefer to impart to the
strips of sheet metal consists of two convex and one central concave a
corrugation or vice versa, as is clearly shewn in Figures 4 and 7, but I
do not limit myself thereto. In one of the said dies or tools (by
preference the top one), I insert steel punches d, d, for punching the
rivet holes in the centre line of the strips 6 for the reception of the
rivets which serve to secure them at their upper and lower ends to the a
cross rails c, and I prefer to so arrange the two outer corrugations as
that their edges shall project slightly above the crown of the central
corrugation in order that when the upright of the fencing is secured to-

page_text: the cross rails c, it may be sprung slightly in the centre to bring its
central corrugation in contact with the rails c, and thereby ensure a firm
bearing of the two edges of the outer corrugations of the corrugated strip b
against the corresponding edges of the rails c, as shewn clearly in Figure 7.
In the bottom die I make holes e corresponding accurately in position
to the punches & in the top die, and in order that the pieces punched
out may drop down freely and continue the perforations through the
table or bed plate as shewn in Figure 4. The punches d my consist
of steel pins screwed or otherwise inserted into the central hollow of the
top die, and made to project sufficiently from the surface thereof to
come in contact with the flat strip of metal to be operated upon, just
before or at the time that the two lateral convex parts of the said die
come in contact with the strip (see Figure 5), by which arrangement the
operation of punching the rivet holes commences a little before or
simultaneously with the process of bending or corrugating the strip, the
punches thus serving to hold the strip firmly along the centre during
the completion of the bending process.
In order to cut each strip to the proper length and to point or shape
one end thereof, I make both ends of the two dies so as to act as shears
as herein-after fully explained with reference to the Drawings, and with
a view to ensuring accuracy in the position of the flat strip over the
bottom die I form a sunk part or recess on its inner edges as shown
at fin Figures 2, 4, and 5, within which recess the flat strip is laid and
supported till the top die descends upon it. One end of the bottom die
is shaped in plan (see Figures 2 and 5), the upper edges g, g, of
the forming shearing edges, the sides descend perpendicularly at
this part from the shearing edges, as shewn clearly in Figure 5, and the
sunk part or recess of runs out on each side of the > end, as shewn
clearly in Figure 2, where the position of the flat strip when properly
placed on the die is indicated by the red lines, the opposite end of the
same die also forms a sharp shearing edge extending transversely
across it. On that end of the top die which corresponds to the
> shaped end of the bottom die there is formed a raised cutting edge g²,
g, of a form in plan corresponding exactly to and fitting over the
cutting edges g, g, of the bottom die, the cutting edges g¹, g', in the top
die project beyond the general surface of the corrugations therein to an
extent slightly in excess of the thickness of the strip to be cut, whilst they
at the same time follow the general contour or curves of the surface of

page_text: such die, as is clearly shewn in Figures 3 and 5. The opposite end of
the top die is also formed with a slightly raised cutting edge ¹ corre-
sponding to the shear edge 7 in the bottom die. By the time the strip
has been punched and nearly forced home into the hollows of the bottom
die the two sets of shearing edges at the ends of the dies will commence
their action and will sever the ends of the strip, just about the time that
the corrugation is completed, the punches holding the strip firmly during
the cutting operation. The top or moving die or tool should be
mounted in suitable upright standards at each end within which it is
guided steadily, and may be actuated by any suitable or well-known
arrangement of mechanism capable of imparting the necessary force or
power thereto.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that I lay no claim to
neither do I confine or restrict myself to any mode of driving or
actuating my improved tools for making the rails for the before-
mentioned sheet metal fencing, as any of the methods now employed for
driving or actuating sheet metal, corrugating machines, or any other
suitable mechanical contrivance may obviously be applied to one or
other of the dies or shapers, for imparting thereto the required
reciprocating motion and pressure, but what I consider to be novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the herein-before
described peculiar construction, arrangement, and combination of tools
for stamping or corrugating, punching, and cutting or shaping at one
operation strips of sheet metal suitable for the construction of the
peculiar kind of fencing herein referred to.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Henson Henson, have
to this my Specification set my hand and seal, the Sixteenth
HENRY H. HENSON. (L.S.)