New or Improved Machinery to be employed in the Manufacture of Fish Hooks.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd May, 1892
Complete Specification Left, 28th Jan., 1893-Accepted, 4th Mar., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
New or Improved Machinery to be employed in the Manufacture
of Fish Hooks.
We CHARLES FREDERIC MILWARD Director of Henry Milward and Sons
Limited, of Washford Mills Redditch in the County of Worcester, Needle and
Fish Tackle Manufacturers and GEORGE EDWARD READING of No. 13 Herbert
Street Redditch aforesaid Machinist do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
Our invention consists of machinery constructed in the manner hereinafter
described which said machinery has for its object principally the feeding of
partially made fish hooks into machines by which the end of the shank is flattened.
The said machinery has for its further object so to gear the feeding mechanism
with the percussive mechanism by which the flattening of the end of the shank is
effected that the said feeding mechanism is at rest when the percussive mechanism
is in action and the reverse.
The machinery constituting our invention is constructed essentially as follows.
The barbed and bent partially made hooks are supplied to and hung upon an
inclined rod or rail down which they slide by their own weight when permitted to
do so by the controlling mechanism hereinafter described. The shanks of the
hooks, at first hanging vertically, are gradually raised into a horizontal position as
the hooks descend by means of an inclined plane over which they pass a horizontal
screw capable of being rotated by a pinion on one of its ends receives the shanks of
the hooks as they reach the bottom of the inclined plane by which the shanks are
raised into a horizontal position. By the rotation of the screw the hooks, the
shanks of which lie in the groove between the convolutions of the thread of the
screw, are advanced horizontally by an intermittent motion. When the end of
the shank of each hook is brought over the bed or anvil on which it is to be
flattened the motion of the screw and hooks is arrested and the percussive
mechanism comes into operation. The flattening of the end of the shank having
been effected the screw is again set in motion and the hook the end of whose shank
has been flattened, is advanced from over the anvil and falls from the machine,.
while another hook has been brought over the anvil and the screw again coming to
rest the shank of the second hook is flattened and so on.
The intermittent motion of the feeding screw is thus effected. A toothed wheel
situated under the pinion on the end of the screw and of double the diameter of
the said pinion is provided with teeth over only one half of its circumference.
The said toothed wheel gears with the said pinion during each semi-rotation; that
is; when the toothed half of the said wheel is presented to the pinion but when the
other or plain half of the said wheel is presented to the pinion no motion is
communicated to the said pinion and the screw carrying it. Thus, a continuous
uniform rotation of the said toothed wheel produces au intermittent rotation of the
pinion and screw, a hook being brought over the anvil by cach rotation of the screw
which hook is operated upon by the percussive mechanism during the time that the
screw and hook are at rest. The feeding mechanism is so geared to the percussive
mechanism that the latter only operates during the time that the screw is at rest.
Or the following modified gearing may be used. On the axis of the feeding
screw and turning it is a toothed wheel which gears with a toothed wheel on a
parallel axis and the last named toothed wheel is driven by a plain disc or wheel
which has on its face a peg or stud. This peg or stud engages with notches at the
back of and gives motion to the second toothed wheel and through it to the toothed

page_text: wheel on the axis of the feeding screw, each revolution of the driving plain disc or
wheel advancing the two geared toothed wheels through one seventh of a revolution
and the feeding screw through a like angle.
The anvil and percussive mechanism may be so situated as to operate on the end
of the shank to be flattened while the shank hangs vertically, in which case the
inclined plane by which the shanks are raised into a horizontal position as they
advance is dispensed with. We prefer however to operate on the shank when in a
horizontal position as hereinbefore described.
Dated this 3rd day of May 1809
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
New or Improved Machinery to be employed in the Manufacture
of Fish Hooks.
We CHARLES FREDERIC MILWARD, Director of Henry Milward and Sons
Limited of Washford Mills, Redditch in the County of Worcester Needle
and Fishing Tackle Manufacturers and GEORGE EDWARD READING of
No. 13 Herbert Street, Redditch, aforesaid, Machinist 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:-
-
Our invention consists of machinery constructed in the manner hereinafter
described, which said machinery has for its object principally the feeding of
partially made fish hooks into machines by which the end of the shank is flattened.
The said machinery has for its further object so to gear the feeding mechanism
with the percussive mechanism by which the flattening of the end of the shank is
effected that the said feeding mechanism is at rest when the percussive mechanism
is in action and the reverse.
The machinery constituting our invention is constructed essentially as follows.
The barbed and bent partially made hooks are supplied to and hung upon an
inclined rod or rail down which they slide by their own weight when permitted to
do so by the controlling mechanism hereinafter described. The shauks of the
hooks at first hanging vertically are gradually raised into a horizontal position as
the hooks descend by means of an inclined plane over which they pass. A
horizontal screw capable of being rotated by a pinion on one of its ends receives
the shanks of the hooks as they reach the bottom of the inclined plane by which
the shanks are raised into a horizontal position. By the rotation of the screw the
hooks, the shanks of which lie in the groove between the convolutions of the
thread of the screw, are advanced horizontally by an intermittent motion. When
the end of the shank of each hock is brought over the bed or anvil on which it is
to be flattened the motion of the screw and hooks is arrested and the percussive
mechanism comes into operation. The flattening of the end of the shank having
been effected the screw is again set in motion and the hook the end of whose shank
has been flattened is advanced from over the anvil and falls from the machine while
another hook has been brought over the anvil and the screw again coming to rest
the shank of the second hook is flattened and so on.
The intermittent motion of the feeding screw is thus effected. A toothed wheel
situated under the pinion on the end of the screw and of double the diameter of the
said pinion is provided with teeth over only one half of its circumference. The
said toothed wheel gears with the said pinion during each semi-rotation; that is,
when the toothed half of the said wheel is presented to the pinion; but when the
other or plain half of the said wheel is presented to the pinion no motion is
communicated to the said pinion and the screw carrying it. Thus, a continuous
uniform rotation of the said toothed wheel produces an intermittent rotation of the

page_text: pinion and screw, a hook being brought over the anvil by each rotation of the
screw which hook is operated upon by the percussive mechanism during the time
that the screw and hook are at rest. The feeding mechanism is so geared to the
percussive mechanism that the latter only operates during the time that the screw
is at rest. Or the following modified gearing may be used. On the axis of
the feeding screw and turning it, is a toothed wheel which gears with a toothed
wheel on a parallel axis and the last named toothed wheel is driven by a plain disc
or wheel which has on its face a peg or stud. This peg or stud engages with
notches at the back of and gives motion to the second toothed wheel and through
it to the toothed wheel on the axis of the feeding screw, each revolution of the
driving plain disc or wheel advancing the two geared toothed wheels through one
seventh of a revolution and the feeding screw through a like angle. But other
mechanisms for giving the intermittent motion to the feeding screw may be used.
We will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying drawings
the manner in which our invention is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in front elevation and Figure 2 in side elevation machinery
constructed according to our invention for feeding fish hooks to the flattening
mechanism and for flattening the ends of the shanks of the fish hooks; Figure 3
represents in plan and Figure 4 in front elevation the traversing or feeding part of
the machinery, drawn to a larger scale than Figures 1 and 2.
Figure 5 represents in cross section the anvil and parts. adjacent thereto, and
Figure 6 represents in side elevation the gearing by which rotation of the feeding
screw is effected, drawn to the same scale as Figures 3 and 4. The other figures
represent modified kinds of mechanism for producing the intermittent motion of the
feeding screw and details of parts of the machinery as hereinafter described.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several figures of the
drawings.
a is the baseplate of the machinery to which the standards b, bare bolted. The
said baseplatea extends in front of the standards and supports the adjustable feed
carriage c which is fixed in any required position by the bolt and screw nut at c³;
e is the hammer block sliding vertically in the adjustable guides d, d carried by
and affixed to the standards. At the bottom of the hammer block e is the
hammer e. The fronts of the standards b, bare provided with bearings b³, 6³ in
which the driving shaft revolves for working the lifting mechanism of the hammer
and the other parts of the machinery. The shaft is provided with fast and loose
pulleys g, g and a fly wheel h; j is a cam on the shaft working in an opening & in
the hammer block." When the shaft rotates in the direction of the arrow in
Figure 2 the cam j lifts the hammer block e by pressing against the plate e³ at the
top of the opening e². As soon as the "rise" j¹ of the cam escapes from the
plate the hammer block drops and the hammer head flattens the end of the shank
of the fish hook which is lying on the anvil beneath it (see Figure 5). To
give increased sharpness and strength to the blow of the hammer, a helical spring m
is secured to a lever n turning on a fulcrum n' at the back of the machine and
working between the upper part of the standards b, b. The front end n² of the
lever n bears on the top of the hammer block e. The tension of the spring m and
the force of the blow of the hammer is regulated by the screw m² and adjustable
screw nut m².
We will now describe the mechanism by which the fish hooks are fed to the anvil
to have their shanks flattened; o, o² is a rod or bar, circular or nearly circular in
cross section, and of such a diameter that it fills approximately the bend of the fish
hooks to be operated on. The said rod or bar is shown separately in Figures 7, 8
and 9. The part o of the rod is horizontal and the other part o is inclined at an
angle of about thirty degrees to the horizontal part. The horizontal part o of the
rod has on it a projecting plate of by which it is secured to the arm 7 (shown
separately in Figures 10, 11 and 12) on the feed carriage c. The plate o has slotted
holes o, o for receiving screws for fastening the rod to the arm q. The slotted

page_text: 1
holes o permit of an adjustment of the horizontal part of the rod to suit fish
hooks of slightly varying sizes; s is the horizontal feeding screw for feeding the
fish hooks to the anvil, the said screw working in the bearings c¹, e' on the feed
carriage c. The size and depth of the helical groove in the feeding screws are
such that the shanks of the fish hooks lie casily in it (see Figure 5). The pitch of
the feeding screw & varies according to the work to be done. It will be seen that
the feeding screws is situated parallel with the main shaft but at such a level
that it is in front of the anvil the upper part of the screw being a little below
the face of the anvil (see Figure 5). Near the inclined portion of the rod
is an incline made preferably of flat steel or iron. The lower portion of the
incline is secured by bolts t', t¹ to a standard t2 and the latter to the feed carriage
by the bolts and nuts c², c².
() 2
The
The fish hooks are automatically fed to the anvil in the following manner.
attendant hangs on the upper portion of the inclined part o² of the bar, a con
tinuous row of fish hooks; a few only are shown in Figure 1. When the fish
hooks are hung on the inclined part of the rod, their shanks hang vertically as
shown at A, but as they slide down the said inclined part of the rod, by their own
weight, the shanks engage with the incline t. The incline t is parallel or nearly so
as seen in front elevation Figures 1 and 4 and as viewed from above or at the side,
as seen in Figure 2, is placed at such an angle with the rod that as the fish hooks
slide down the rod their shanks are gradually brought from a vertical to a horizontal
position as shown at k', ², k³, Figures 1 and 2. When the fish hook reaches the
bottom of the inclined part o² of the rod at its shank has been brought into a
horizontal position and is engaged with the helical groove of the feeding screws
when the latter is for the time being stationary. When the feeding screw & is
rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow (Figures 2 and 6) by the gearing
hereinafter described the fish hook marked Figures 1 and 4 is carried along the
horizontal part o of the bar by the said screw. Every time the feeding screw s
rotates in the direction of the arrow (Figures 2 and 6) it engages with the lowest
fish hook on the inclined part o' of the bar and the said fish hook is carried onto
the horizontal part o of the said bar in the direction of the arrow Figures 3 and 4.
The distance through which the hooks are carried along the horizontal part o of the
bar by the feeding screw depends upon the pitch of the screw and the extent of
its rotation. In the machine represented, the feeding screw makes one complete
rotation for each stroke of the percussive mechanism, thus advancing each fish
hook a quarter of an inch. When a fish hook reaches the middle of the anvil /,
the motion of the feeding screw is arrested and the pusher rod u (see Figures 2, 3
and 5) advances over the face of the said anvil and pushes the end of the shank
of the fish hook into the exact position required to enable the percussive
mechanism to act upon it. The pusher rod slides in a bracket u¹ and is advanced
at the proper time by the action of the eccentric u³, on the shaft, its eccentric
rod, lever and tripper u*. As soon as the pusher rod u has pushed the shank of
the fish hook into its proper position on the anvil, the said pusher rod is released
by the tripper and withdrawn by the helical spring u which is fastened to a
rod u between the standards b, b of the machine. The hammer block e then falls
and the end of the shank of the fish hook is flattened by the hammer head e¹.
While the flattening of the shank is taking place the feeding screws is at rest
and consequently the fish hooks on the rod o are all at rest. When the feeding
screw again rotates it feeds forward the hook whose shank has been flattened,
in the direction of the arrow until it comes to the end of the helical groove in
the screw and the flattened hooks accumulating at the projecting part of the rod >>
beyond the screw as seen at 6 drop off one by one as shown at 7 Figure 4.
The intermittent rotation of the feeding screws is effected by the combination
of parts best seen in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 17, 18 and 19. Upon the end of the
feeding screws is a pinion with which a toothed wheel w gears. The toothed
wheel w turns on the stud w¹ secured to a projection et on the feed carriage c.. The

page_text: toothed wheel w has on one side a ratchet wheel. The toothed wheel w and ratchet
wheel to are shown detached from the machine in Figure 17: On the stud w¹ a
rocking lever to is mounted (shown separately in Figures 18 and 19) which is free
to move independently of the toothed wheel w. The said rocking lever is
confined in its position lengthwise by a collar and screw nut at to and on the
said rocking lever is a stud or pin capable of adjustment in a slot in the
rocking lever. On the front end of the rocking lever is another stud w07 (see
Figures 6, 18 and 19) on which is mounted a pawl w8 (see Figure 6) which engages
with the ratchet wheel w, the said pawl being kept in gear by the spring w. In
the drawings the ratchet wheel w has four teeth and the toothed wheel w is four
times the diameter of the pinion v. Hence each oscillation of the rocking lever to³,
taking one tooth of the ratchet wheel, will cause the feeding screw to make one
complete revolution. But we do not confine ourselves to these proportions. The
motion of the rocking lever is effected by an eccentric a (see Figure 1) on the
main shaft through the eccentric strap and rod the latter being attached to
the pin won the rocking lever (see Figure 1).
In order to ensure that the motion of the feeding screw shall be arrested exactly
when the shank of the fish hook to be flattened is brought to its proper position
on the anvil we fix on the projecting ends of the feeding screws a flat faced
tooth piece y (see Figures 2, 3, 4 and 20). Immediately the feeding screw comes
to rest, the tooth piece y is in the position shown in Figures 2 and 20; that is, its
flat face is horizontal, so that it bears against the flat face of the sliding stop,
which has been advanced during the motion of the feeding screw into the position
seen in Figure 20, and hence the further rotation of the feeding screw is prevented.
As soon as the percussion mechanism has acted and the shank of the fish hook has
been flattened, the stop is withdrawn and the feeding screw is again free to rotate.
The stop z slides in a bracket Figures 1, 2 and 20 and is withdrawn by the
eccentric u which actuates the pusher u but the advance motion of the said stop
is given through the lever (see Figure 2).
น
Instead of giving the intermittent motion of the feeding screw by the gearing
and stop mechanism described and represented the gearing represented in side
elevation in Figure 13 and plan in Figure 14 may be employed. In this arrange-
ment the pinion on the end of the feeding screws gears with a toothed wheel a, a.
This wheel is twice the diameter of the pinion v but it is provided with teeth over
only half its circumference as represented. Continuous rotary motion is given to
the wheel a, a the said wheel making one rotation to each rotation of the main
shaft of the machine. The toothed wheel a, a gears with the pinion v during one
f
half of its rotation, that is while the toothed half of the wheel is presented to the
pinion. The feeding mechanism is so geared to the main shaft that the percussive
mechanism acts while the feeding screw is at rest. To ensure the stoppage of the
feeding screw with this kind of gearing, a recess a, a³ is made in a disc a' which
is fixed to and concentric with the toothed wheel a, a, the said recess a, a
extending circumferentially alongside that part of the wheel which is provided
with teeth. On the pinion va disc v is fixed which has a recess made in it.
Into this recess that portion of the circumference of the disc a, a' fits when the
plain part of the wheel a, a is passing the pinion and there is thus prevented any
movement of the pinion and consequently of the feeding screws.
a,
Or the intermittent motion of the feeding screw may be effected by the arrange-
ment of gearing represented in elevation in Figure 15 and plan in Figure 16.
In this arrangement the feeding screws has on its end a toothed wheel b, b
which gears with another toothed wheel c, c on a parallel axis. This wheel c, c
has slots or notches c, c' seven in number made in it. A plain disc d, d on an axis
parallel to those of the wheels b, b and c, c has on its face, a projecting pin or
stud d, d. Continuous rotary motion is given to the disc d, d.
of the disc d, d, the pin d, d¹ engages in one of the slots c,
wheel c, e through one seventh of a rotation. The wheel
At each rotation
and moves the
gearing with the

page_text: wheel b, b causes the feeding screw to rotate through one seventh of a revolution.
Thus, the feeding screw is rotating during one seventh of the rotation of the
wheel d, d and is at rest during six sevenths of the rotation of the said wheel d, d.
During this interval of rest the percussive mechanism acts on the shank of the fish
hook in the manner herein before described. To prevent the feeding screw from
moving except when the pin d, d¹ is engaged with one of the slots c, e the disc d, d
has affixed to it another disc d, d² concentric with it but smaller in diameter. The
convex portion of this disc d, d³ fits successively into the concave portions c, c* of
the wheel c, c thereby preventing the rotation of the latter except when the pin d, d¹
is engaged with one of the slots
C, c¹
In place of the inclined plate or bar k, k², for changing the vertical position
of the shanks of the hooks into a horizontal position as they descend the inclined
feeding bar o³, the following modification may be substituted. That is to say, we
employ an inclined feeding tube on which the partially formed hooks are supported
by their bends which inclined tube has a slot extending through its whole length,
the slot being slightly curvilinear and describing a quarter revolution from its
upper to its lower end.
The barbs of the hooks supplied to the top of the inclined
feeding tube are engaged in the said curvilinear slot, the position of the slot being
such that the hooks when placed on the top of the inclined tube hang vertically
and as the hooks descend the engagement of their barbs in the curvilinear slot in
the said tube causes them gradually to change their position from the vertical to
the horizontal, which last position is attained on the hooks reaching the bottom
of the inclined feeding tube.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our invention
and the manner in which the same is to be performed we declare that we claim
'as our invention of New or improved machinery to be employed in the manu-
66
facture of fish hooks" ;-
First The use of a horizontal feeding screw, to which an intermittent rotary
motion is given in conjunction with a partly inclined and partly horizontal feeding
rod or with a horizontal parallel feeding rod on which the partly made fish hooks
travel by their bent parts, for feeding the said fish hooks to the percussive
mechanism of the machinery for flattening the ends of their shanks, the said
feeding screw being so geared with the percussive mechanism that it is at rest
when the percussive mechanism is in action and the reverse, the several parts
being constructed, arranged and acting substantially as hereinbefore described and
illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Secondly; The combination with the inclined part of the feeding rod of the
machinery of an inclined plate or bar whereby the shanks of the fish hooks,
supplied to and hung upon the said inclined feeding rod are gradually raised as
they travel down the inclined rod from a vertical position to a horizontal position,
in which horizontal position they are carried by the feeding screw and supported
by the horizontal part of the rod to the percussive mechanism substantially as
herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Also the
modification described in which an inclined feeding tube having a curvilinear slot
in which the barbs of the fish hooks engage is substituted for the inclined rod and
plate or bar, for changing the position of the hooks as they descend the said
inclined feeding tube.
Thirdly; The combination with the feeding mechanisms claimed in Claims 1
and 2 of the percussive mechanism described and illustrated whereby the flattening
of the ends of the fish hook shanks is effected when the feeding mechanism comes
to rest, the several parts of the said percussive mechanism being combined and
worked substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
Fourthly The several arrangements or combinations of the parts of the
gearing and stop mechanism herein before described and illustrated in the accom-

page_text: panying drawings for giving an intermittent rotary motion to the feeding screw of
the machinery.
Lastly; The use of the sliding pusher rod hereinbefore described and illustrated
in the accompanying drawings and the mechanism for working the said rod,
whereby the end of the shank of the fish hook is placed in proper position on the
anvil to be operated upon by the flattening or percussive mechanism.
Dated the Twenty-fifth day of January 1893.
CHARLES FREDERIC MILWARD.
GEORGE EDWARD READING.