IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF RAILWAY BOLTS AND SPIKES AND OTHER LIKE ARTICLES
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Wilkes, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Machinist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF RAILWAY BOLTS AND SPIKES AND OTHER LIKE
ARTICLES."
Sealed the 6th July 1865, and dated the 7th April 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Wilkes at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th April 1865.
I, THOMAS WILKES, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Machinist,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF RAILWAY BOLTS AND SPIKES AND OTHER LIKE
ARTICLES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described in
machinery for the manufacture of railway bolts and spikes and other articles
headed like bolts and spikes. My said Invention relates to the dies or tools
by which the heading of the bolt or spike is effected. In machines of the
ordinary construction for heading bolts and spikes, the die by which the
heading is effected is hollow and has the form of. the head to be made. On
the descent of the said die the top of the heated rod of iron brought under the
heading die is compressed and made to fill up the die. The sides of the

page_text: hollow die are slightly inclined so that the head may not stick in the die, but
leave it readily on the ascent of the said die. In making the heading die
according to my Invention I make the hollow in it of the same diameter at
top as at bottom, and of a depth nearly double the thickness of the thickest
head to be made by it. In the hollow of the die a piston or plunger is
situated, the said piston or plunger having a stem which slides in the axis of
the shank of the die and protrudes from its top. The said piston or plunger
is capable of rising and falling in the hollow of the die and is supported in its
raised position by a coiled spring bearing against a cross pin passed through
its stem above the top of the shank of the die. In the ram or plunger of the
machine is a cross slot, into which the top of the stem of the piston projects,
and a fixed bar crosses the said slot. When the plunger ascends the top of
the said stem strikes against the said fixed bar, and the piston is forced to its
lowest position in the hollow die. In heading a bolt or spike with my
improved machinery, the heated rod is brought with its heated end uppermost
under the heading die. The plunger descends and the hollow die compresses
the top of the heated rod, causing the piston to be pushed to the top of the
hollow die and forcing the heated iron to take the form of the mould. As
the plunger rises it carries the headed rod with it, but the top of the stem of
the piston coming into contact with the fixed rod passing through the slot in
the plunger the piston is brought to its lowest position in the mould or die,
the said piston in its descent in the mould forcing out the headed rod. The
headed rods being forced out of the heading die in the way described the
hollow mould may be made with parallel sides so as to make heads of the
same diameter at their 'top as at their bottom. The thickness of the head
made may be varied at pleasure by the introduction of one or more washers
between the piston and top of the mould. These washers limit 'the distance
to which the piston can rise in the mould and consequently limit the thickness
of the head made.
My Invention is applicable to all machines for heading rods of heated iron.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Wilkes in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
5th October 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
WILKES, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Machinist, send 3
greeting,

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year-
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Thomas Wilkes, Her special licence that I, the said
Thomas Wilkes, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Thomas Wilkes, 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 RAILWAY BOLTS.
AND SPIKES AND OTHER LIKE ARTICLES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Thomas Wilkes, 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 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 Thomas Wilkes, 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 thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described in
machinery for the manufacture of railway bolts and spikes and other articles
headed like bolts and spikes. My said Invention relates to the dies or tools
by which the heading of the bolt or spike is effected. In machines of the
ordinary construction for heading bolts and spikes the die by which the
heading is effected is hollow and has the form of the head to be made. On
the descent of the said die the top of the heated rod of iron brought under the
heading die is compressed and made to fill up the die. The sides of the
hollow die are slightly inclined so that the bead may not stick in the die, but
leave it readily on the ascent of the said die. In making the heading die
according to my Invention, I make the hollow in it of the same diameter at
top as at bottom, and of a depth nearly double the thickness of the thickest
head to be made by it. In the hollow of the die a piston or plunger is
situated, the said piston or plunger having a stem which slides in the axis of
the shank of the die and protrudes from its top. The said piston or plunger
is capable of rising and falling in the hollow of the die, and is supported in its

page_text: raised position by a coiled spring bearing against a cross pin passed through its
stem above the top of the shank of the die. In the ram or plunger of the
machine is a cross slot into which the top of the stem of the piston projects, and a
fixed bar crosses the said slot. When the plunger ascends the top of the said
stem strikes against the said fixed bar and the piston is forced to its lowest
position in the hollow die. In heading a bolt or spike with my improved
machinery the heated rod is brought with its heated end uppermost under the
heading die. The plunger descends and the hollow die compresses the top of
the heated rod, causing the piston to be pushed to the top of the hollow die
and forcing the heated iron to take the form of the mould. As the plunger
rises it carries the headed rod with it, but the top of the stem of the piston
coming into contact with the fixed rod passing through the slot in the plunger
the piston is brought to its lowest position in the mold or die, the said piston
in its descent in the mould forcing out the headed rod. The headed rods
being forced out of the heading die in the way described the hollow mould
may be made with parallel sides so as to make heads of the same diameter at
their top as at their bottom. The thickness of the head made may be varied
at pleasure by the introduction of one or more washers between the piston
and top of the mould. Or the same effect may be produced by making the
piston stem adjustable by means of rods of varying lengths. These washers
or rods limit the distance to which, the piston can rise in the mould and
consequently limit the thickness of the head made.
My Invention is applicable to all machines for heading rods of heated iron.
Having explained the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to describe,
with reference to the accompanying Drawing, the manner in which the same
is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in vertical section a portion of a heading machine to
which my Invention is applied, the parts of the said machine being in the
positions which they respectively assume when the bolt or spike has just been
headed and is about to be projected from the heading die or tool. Figure 2
represents the same, the parts being in the positions which they respectively
assume when the headed bolt or spike has been projected from the heading
die or tool; and Figure 3 represents a front elevation of the machine in the
last described position. Figure 4 represents a portion of the same on a
larger scale. The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in each
Figure of the Drawing. a is the framing, and 6 the cheeks or guides between
which the ram or plunger c works. The said ram or plunger may be actuated
in any convenient way. d is the heading die or tool fixed by the set screws e
in the bottom of the said ram; c and f is the fixed die on the bed of the

page_text: The parts of the
machine in which the heated rod to be operated upon is placed. The hollow
or mould d in the heading die d has the same diameter at top as at bottom,
and has a depth nearly double the thickest head to be made by it. The said
hollow or mould do in the die d has a shape corresponding to that to be given
to the heads. In the said hollow or mould d² of the die da piston or plunger
g is situated, the bottom of the said piston having a figure corresponding to
that to be given to the top of the head. The said piston g has a stem g'
which slides in the axis of the shank d' of the heading die d and projects from
its top. The said stem gis prolonged upwards through the axis of the
plunger c as represented, the said prolonged part being marked g³. The said
piston 9 is capable of rising and failing in the mould ds of the heading die d,
and is supported in its raised position (that is in the position represented in
Figure 1) by the coiled spring i situated in the shank d³ of the die d, one end
of the spring bearing against the bottom of the recess in the shank and the
other end bearing against a cross pink, passed through the part g² of the stem
of the piston g. The spring i is best seen in the separate view, Figure 4. In
the ram or plunger c of the machine is a cross slot l, into which the top of the
stem of the piston g projects, and crossing the said slot is a fixed bar m.
The cross slot is protected by a covering plate or box n.
machine being in the positions represented in Figures 2 and 3, the said
machine is ready to head a bolt or spike. The heated rod being placed in
the lower die f with its heated end uppermost, the plunger c descends and the
hollow die d compresses the top of the said heated rod, causing the piston g to
be pushed to the top of [the said hollow die into the position represented in
Figure 1. The said heated end of the rod is thereby made to take the form
of the mould or die d³, and the said rod is headed as represented in Figure 1;
where the headed rod or bolt is marked p. After the head has been made on
the rod the plunger c rises and the heading die d carries with it the headed
rod until the said die has arrived at the position represented in Figure 1.
By the continued rising motion of the plunger c, the top of the stem g³ of the
piston comes in contact with the fixed rod m, passing through the cross
slot in the said plunger, and causes the said piston to descend to its lowest
position in the mould or hollow d of the die das represented in Figure 2, and
thereby force out the headed rod from the said die. During the descent of
the piston g in the die d' the spring i is compressed, and on the descent of the
plunger c to form another head, the end of the stem g³ being removed from
the fixed cross bar m, the piston g is raised by the expansion of the spring i
to the top of the hollow or mould d². By forcing out the headed rods from
the heading die in the manner described and illustrated in the Drawing the

page_text: hollow or mould of the said die may be made with parallel sides so as to make
heads of the same diameter at their top as at their bottom. The thickness of
the head made by the heading die & may be varied at pleasure by introducing
one or more washers between the piston 9 and the top of the mould d³, but I
prefer to effect this object by making the stem of the piston g in two pieces,
marked respectively 92, 93. By introducing into the hollow of the plunger c
rods or pieces g³ of different lengths, the distance to which the piston g can
rise in the mould d² is varied, and the machine thus made capable of forming
heads of different thicknesses. The improvements described and represented
may be applied to machines of various constructions used for heading rods of
heated iron.
Having now described the nature of my Invention and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated in the Drawing,
as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of my Invention,
but I claim as my Invention the improvements in the heading dies or tools of
machinery for the manufacture of railway bolts and spikes and other articles
headed like bolts and spikes herein-before described and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawing, that is to say, making the hollow or mould of the
said heading dies or tools in which the heads are formed with parallel sides,
so that the head made thereby is of the same diameter at top as at bottom,
in which said hollow die or tool a piston works, by means of which piston
the end of the heated rod is compressed in the mould and by which the
headed rod is forced from the die or tool, substantially as described and
illustrated, also varying the thickness of the heads made by means of washers
or adjustable rods or stems to the said piston as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Wilkes, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
THOMAS WILKES. (LS.)