IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR DRAWING WIRE
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Fum of Haseltine, Lake,
& Co, Patent Agents, Southhampton Buildings, London, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR DRAWING WIRE" A communication from
abroad by the American Screw Company (Incorporated), of Providence, Rhode
Island, United States of America.
Sealed the 231d March 1877, and dated the 31st January 1877.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake at tho
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 31st January 1877
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co, Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR DRAWING
WIRE" A communication from abroad by the American Sciew Company (Incor-
porated), of Providence, Rhode Island, United States of America
The said improvements are applicable to that class of machines which embody a
draw plate and a coiling or drawing drum
Machines of this class as heretofore constructed require the close supervision of
an attendant The breakage of the wue is of comparatively frequent occurrence,
and this is followed by the sudden uncoiling of the wie and a sweeping stroke of
the broken end attended with danger to the attendant unless he has been so
vigilant as to promptly apply the usual foot lever stop motion, and has with his
hand maintained control of the wire prior to and after breakage The expansive
uncoiling of wire from the drum involves much labor and loss of time of the
attendant and the machine. The wire is delivered to the diaw plate from a reel
loosely mounted upon a movable ieel standard While in operation this standard
from various causes is liable to be displaced or overthrown If unduly displaced it
will not occupy a desirable position with relation to the diaw plate, and if over-
thrown while the machine is in operation the running wire ta undles the reel about,
detaches the wne therefrom, and entangles it, necessitating much loss of time and
labor before the drawing operation can be resumed
My improvements have for their object the obviation of these several difficulties,
and the said Invention mainly consists in the combination with the drum and draw
plate of stopping mechanism controlled by that portion of the wire which extends
from the draw plate to the drum, whereby when the wire breaks or the end of
the wire has left the plate the drum will be promptly and automatically stopped.
[Price 6d]

page_text: drum plate
Another feature of the said Invention consists in the combination with the dium
and cel standard of stopping mechanism, which is kept from operating as such so
long as the standard occupies its proper position with relation to the diaw plate,
but which permits it to operate in stopping the dium whenever the standard is
overthrown or otherwise unduly moved out of its proper position
I do not limit the main feature of my Invention to stopping mechanism of any
particular construction which may profitably be employed in the several combina-
tions above set forth, but I have einbodied these features in a machine which
contains novel devices and combinations of mechanisin which are herein shewn and
described, and portions thereof constitute subordinate features of my Invention, as will
be herein-after specified
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a machine embodying my improvements with a
portion of its fiame bioken away
Figure 2 represents said machine in vertical section on a line, including the
axis of the drum shaft, the centre of the diaw plate, and the centre of the reel
standard
Figure 3 represents in perspective the "piesser," its operative mechanism, portions
of the frame of the machine, and a portion of the drum in vertical section.
t
12
Figure represents in section the latch mechanism which controls the "presser"
The frame of the said machine is necessarily so constructed as to afford a film
support for the mechanism, and it should be strong and heavy
A is the vertical shaft on which the coiling diuin B is mounted Power is com-
municated to this shaft by genuing not shown The drum is so mounted on the
shaft that it can be moved vertically thereon, but it is 10tatively connected theic-
with by a clutch, as is shown in the main sectional view, Figure 2, at a, and the
A
disengagement between dium and shaft is effected by the lifting of the hum
Cross head as at C slides loosely on the vertical shaft when pressure 18 applied to
the foot level D, which operates though the vertical 1od b and the lionizontal lever c
which is connected with the crosshead The lever cat its junction with the cross-
head has two arms, each of which supports a vertical sliding rod as at d, and each of
these at the upper end is provided with a fiction solle e, which is in contact with
the under surface of the diam
With this construction it will be seen that if the foot lever be depressed the dium
will be litted, and thereby disconnected from the diving shaft, permitting the latter
to continue its movement while the drum remains stationary A sping catch as at
near the treadle of the foot lever engages with the upper surface of the level
when it is depressed and the drum elevated, holding them in those positions until
the cutch is specially manipulated to effect release of the lever The dium is pio-
vided with the usual clamp as at g for engaging with the end of the length of wie
to be diawn and coiled on the drum
As above stated machines for drawing wire have heretofore been so constructed
that the dium can be disconnected from the shaft by means of a foot lever
The lower end of the crosshead neck surrounding the shaft A is provided with
two inclined planes as at which are reversed counterparts of two inclined planes
on the upper end of the sleeve E, which also surrounds the shaft, and under some
cucumstances moves with said shaft, but is normally stationary These inclined
planes are in form like a sumple clutch, but instead of 10tatively connecting or dis-
connecting two parts as in a clutch they separate the two parts, when the lower
part or sleeve is rotated in that the crosshead and drum are thereby elevated in
like manner as if the treadle had been depressed The sleeve E is provided on one
side with a concave recess with which the convex end of a lateral sping plunge as

page_text: nt engages for affording a frictional stop for the sleeve, and preventing its rotation
with the shaft, except when it is 1otatively connected therewith, during which time
the plunge simply clicks at every revolution At the lower end of the sleove at
its periphery is a square-shouldered recess as at ladjacent to but below the afore-
said concave recess Keyed to the shaft is a disc as at F, the upper surface of
which supports the sleeve E This disc has a hub which contains a vertical sping
latch as at m, so locate that it can enter the recess in the sleeve, as shown in
Figure 2
The head on top of the sping latch has a flat face for engaging with
the end of the recess 7, but it has also an offset portion, the upper part of which
is inclined like an ordinary latch face The disc has also a indial spring bolt as at
21, which is normally at its front end, so engaged with a hole in the shank of the
latch mas to keep the latter in a dopressed position, and out of engagement with
the recess of the sleeve This bolt has also a vertically projecting stud as at n¹
In the same hanger in which the spring plunger k is mounted and below it is a
sping slide as at o
In its noimal position this slide is well advanced toward the
sleeve, and when in that position while the disc is evolving a cam surface on the
slide withdraws the radial sping bolt n from the vertical latch bolt, but this lattor
is prevented from engaging with the sleeve E at the recess 7 by means of the
engagement of the spring slide with the head of the latch bolt, which depresses it
and forces it to pass beneath the sleeve, leaving the latte unmoved
This spling
slide is withdrawn not only when the wne breaks, but also when the reel stand is
thrown over from any cause Gis the draw plate, it is secured to the top of the
fame, so that it is capable of slight movement in the direction in which the wie
18 diawn. It is provided with a 1ocess at its under side as at p, Figure 2, which is
loosely occupied by the upper end of a vertical lever at II, which is pivoted at its
lower end to the floor or bed of the machine A spring as at p¹ is so set that it is
compressed by the draw plate when the latter is hold in its advanced position by
the wire and dium The lever H is connected by a chain or other flexible device
with the sping slide o in such a manner that said slide occupies its normal position
while the diaw plate is held in its advanced position by the wine and drum, but
when the latter is allowed to be thrown back by its spring the lever moves with
it and withdraws the spring latch, which, as before stated, effects the withdrawal
of the radial spring bolt n, but fails to depress the vertical spring latch m, and
therefore this latter engages with the sleeve, rotates it, and elevates the cross head
and the drum, thus stopping the latter by disengaging it from the clutch a on the
duving shaft I is the reel standard, as usual it is so constructed that a wne
loaded 1eel can readily be mounted thereon, and an empty one removed
The basc
of the standard is usually broad and heavy When in working position the icol is
so set that the wire is delivered smoothly from it to the diaw plate In the bed
plate of the machine is a vertical sliding pin as at q, Figure 2, so located that it is
covered by the base of the reel standard when in position for service
Beneath the
bed of the machine is a lever q¹ with one end of which the pin q engages. With
its opposite end there engages another vertical sliding pin qs, which passes upward
through the bed of the machine, and is in contact with the under side of the horizontal
arm of a bell-crank level q³ The vertical aim of lever q³ is connected duectly
with the spring slide o by a chain or wire A spiral spring as at r rendered
adjustable by means of a thumbscrew is so set that it bears on the upper surface
of the short longitudinal arm of the lever q³.
It will be obvious that when the icel standard base is on the pin q the bell-
crank lever q³ and its spring r will not be permitted to withdraw the spring slide o,
but that if the standard should be thrown over the said slide would be promptly
withdrawn, the sleeve E rotated, and the drun elevated and stopped precisely in
the same manner as has already been described in connection with the draw plate,
its spring, and the lever H
It will be seen that these stopping devices are wholly independent of each other,
although each can separately operate as a "stop motion" by withdrawing the same
spring slide, and that in case the tipping of a recl standard and the breakage of

page_text: the wire between diaw plate and dium should simultaneously occur both devices
would co-operate harmoniously
The wire is kept from uncoiling after the completion of a "diaw" or breakage
by means of the piesser at K This presse may be variously constructed, and one
of the simplest forms thereof consists of a sliding spring rod, so set that it will be
forced toward the drum, and carrying a compressing roller on a vertical axis, which
will always press on the dium on the intervening wie, and be capable of revolving
therewith, and of receding as the layers of wue increase on the diuin
such a device in combination with the drum and draw plate would embody my
Invention, I have by preference illustrated the feature by means of a system of
levers which automatically operate the presser whenever the dium is elevated
While
The presser face is at the end of a lever, which is slotted below the face to receive
the flange S of the drum, as shown in Figure 3 The lever at its rear end is pivoted
to a vertical lever t, which is so actuated by a spring that the presser is forced
toward the dium unless otherwise prevented The presser is withdrawn from the
dium normally, and is so held by a sping latch as at t¹, as shown in Figure 4
This latch is made to release the lever tand the presser by means of a spring
catch on the end of the level beneath the top of the frame, this lever u is
connected by a link u¹ with the piesser lover, so that when this level is raised by
the drum the latch t¹ieleases the lever t, and the presser 18 promptly thrown
When the
forward against the coiled wue on the dium, and securely holds it
dium is next lowered to its working position the presser does not retire automati-
cally, but maintains its pressure until the hand lever L is thrown back, this lever is
connected with the vertical levert by a 1od v and rock shaft v', which has an alm
at each end, one for connection with the 10d v, and the other with the lever t The
spring for actuating the presser is shown at w, and it operates through the lock
shaft by contact with one of its arms When the presso is moved backward the
latch engages with the lever t, and holds it until the drum is again elevated
The "piesser" and its operative incchanism is fully shown in Figure 3
The operation of the several combinations of mechanism has been fully explained
in each instance in connection with the detailed description
Although I have shown the stopping mechanism so applied that it permits the
vertical diving shaft to evolve while the dium is stationary, it is to be distinctly
understood that my Invention is not limited to this particular mode of operation,
because the stopping levers, as I am well awaic, can be readily connected with an
ordinary clutch on a horizontal diving shaft from which power would be denved
for diving the vertical shaft In this case the vertical shaft and dium would be
positively connected instead of being connected by a clutch, as shewn, and both the
shaft and drum would therefore be stationary after the operation of the stopping
mechamısın
For illustrating my Invention I have selected wne drawing mechanism, which
is generally considered preferable to all others, and persons skilled in the aut to
which this Invention appertains will be readily able to apply my improvements to
other wie diawing machines, which involve a dium and diaw plate by the employ-
ment of suitable mechanism without departing from the spirit or principle of my
Invention
The draw plate is herein shewn to perform a service in connection with the
stopping mechanism, which requies it to be capable of a backward movement on
the breakage of the wne, but I am well aware that the die block may be igidly
mounted, and yet perform in one sense a controlling function in connection with
stopping mechanism As, for instance, the lever which elevates the dium, or in
any manner disconnects the dium oi its shaft from its diver, may be weighted
sufficiently to effect the disconnection desued, and said weighted level may be
counterpoised by means of a hoop or loop, which is supported by the wie at any
point between the diaw plate and drum, so
fall drop the weight and stop the diuin
instead of being an active medium in the
that the breakage of the wie and its
With such mechanism the diaw plate,
combination, will be simply passive in

page_text: that it will secure the requisite tension on the wire for enabling it to support the
weighted level If however the hook of the lever be applied to the wie adjacent
to a surface with which the wie is always in bearing contact the mere presence
of the we will prevent the stop motion from operating, in which case the diaw
plate will perform no service in connection with the stopping mechanism
However constructed and applied the stopping mechanism will be controlled by
that portion of the wire which 18 between the diaw plate and dium, and it is
immaterial, so far as mere stopping is concerned, whether the stopping mechanisni
1s prevented from operating as such by the tensile strain on the wie, as in the
case of the moveable diaw plate, or by the mere presence of the wire, as in the
case of the fixed plate, although it is obvious that promptness in operation is of
consequence, and that this is attained by the moveable plate, as hiereui set forth
Having thus fully described the said Invention as cominunicated to me by my
foreign correspondents, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it understood
that I claim,
First In a machine for drawing wne the combination, as above described, with
the drum and the diaw plate of the stopping mechanism, whereby when the we
breaks between the draw plate and dium the latter will be kept from revolving, as
above set for th
Second In a machine for drawing wire the combination with the drum and its
diving shaft of stopping mechanism controlled by a reel standard, as above described,
whereby when the icel standard is unduly displaced from its proper position the
drum will be stopped, as above set forth
"pressor"
Thud The combination with the drum of a wire drawing machine of a "
for preventing the uncoiling of the we, as above descubed
Fourth In combination with a dium in a wue diawing machine and stopping
mechanism a piesser, as above described, whereby when the drum is stopped
the "piesser is caused to engage with the wie coiled on the drum, as above
set forth
,
Fifth The combination with the driving shaft the drum and its connecting
clutch of the disc on the shaft, its latch a spring slide controlled either by a disc
plate or a reel stand, or both a sleeve provided with inclined planes loosely
mounted on the shaft and a crosshead 101 lifting the dium, as above described
In witness when cof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set iny
hand and seal, this Thntieth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven.