IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING SHOES FOR HORSES AND OTHER ANIMALS
Year: 1844

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LAURENCE
HILL, junior, of Glasgow, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Eleventh day of January, in the seventh year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Laurence Hill, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Laurence Hill, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Laurence Hill, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during
the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and
also in all Her said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING SHOES FOR HORSES AND OTHER
ANIMALS," communicated to me by a certain foreigner residing abroad; in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said Laurence
Hill, shall cause a particular description of the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in

page_text: and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Laurence Hill, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:-
a
The Invention consists in the construction and combination of certain
mechanical devices by which from a bar of heated iron of proper dimensions
piece is cut off of the required length for a shoe, and griped between two
dies so formed as to squeeze the piece of iron at each end and thus narrow up
the ends which are to form the heels of the shoe, the cutting and griping dies
being on the same plane and so connected together as to perform their func-
tions by the same operation; and then the piece of iron, thus narrowed at the
ends and griped, is passed between rolling segmental dies, the peripheries of
which move with a greater velocity than the sliding frame that carries the
griping dies and piece of iron, and forces the metal from that end which
comes last under their action back towards the middle of its length, the inner
surface of one or both of the griping dies being hollowed out when extra width
is required for the toe of the shoe to receive the iron from both ends. Without
this provision the metal could readily be forced from the end first acted upon
to the middle, for in that case the metal would be forced forward in the direc-
tion of the motion of the segmental dies, but after passing the middle it could
not be forced backward in a direction contrary to the motion of the dies, as is
well known to all persons experienced in the working of iron, whereas with
this provision the whole difficulty is removed. The tendency of the segmental
dies moving with greater velocity than the sliding frame, &c. to force back the
metal is prevented in drawing from the end first acted upon towards the
middle by the sides of the gripping dies, and the piece against which the iron
between
bears, it therefore goes towards the middle where the enlarged space
the gripping dies leaves it free to enter, and after passing the middle this
greater motion of the segmental dies draws the metal back, as it is not per-
mitted to elongate by the inner face of the cutter against which the end bears,
and the tendency of this increased motion of the dies, independent of any resis-
tance at the end, is to draw the metal back, hence all the surplus metal at the
ends is carried to the middle when it is required to form the toe of the shoe,
which requires greater width. The metal when brought under the action of the
gripping dies, is as stated above, narrowed at the ends, which operation forces

page_text: the metal up and renders it thicker; and as shoes are generally made thicker
at the heels, the segmental dies do not act on the iron along the entire length,
but have their action limited within the ends to leave the whole thickness
of metal at the ends to form the heels. If, however, the extra thickness
should not be required at the heels, the segmental die may be made to act
from end to end, and thus by a change in the form of the face of the dies
any required form can be given to the iron. After the metal has been
carried through the before-described operations it is without being removed
from the gripping dies, and whilst it occupies and fills up the whole space
between them, brought under the action of segmental creasing and punch-
ing dies, there being a corresponding segmental die with a smooth face below
it to form a bed for the creasing and punching die. These two dies are in
a line with the segmental rolling dies, and the sliding frame has a movement
sufficiently long to carry the piece of iron successively under the action of the
two sets of dies, thus avoiding the necessity of removing the iron from one set
of gripping dies to another, and submitting it to the second operation whilst it
is fully imbedded in the gripping dies, the action of the last set of dies having
a tendency to straighten out any bend in the iron which may have been pro-
duced by the first set of rolling dies. The piece of iron, after undergoing these
various and rapid operations, is discharged from the gripping dies, and whilst
yet in a heated state is transferred to the bending machine, as, where the last
operation is performed, will be hereafter described.
*
Having now described the principle of this Invention, I will proceed to give
a description of the manner of constructing and using the same, together with
the various modes in which I have contemplated its application.
In the accompanying Drawing, Figure 1 is a plan of the machine for cutting,
gripping, rolling, creasing, and punching; Figure 2 is a longitudinal eleva-
tion of the same; Figure 3, a longitudinal vertical section, taken immediately
in front of the segmental dies; and Figure 4, a transverse vertical section,
taken at the line X, X, of Figure 1; and such parts as cannot be clearly
represented in these Figures will be represented in separate sections, as will be
hereafter indicated. The same letters of reference are used to designate the
similar parts in the various sections in which they are represented. A, A, is an
iron frame of great strength, and adapted to the working parts; the two sides
pieces A, A, of which are rebated at a, a, to form ways for the sliding frame
B worked by the crank C, the connection between the two being formed by
means of a connecting rod D, in manner well known to every machinist, who
must regulate the length of the crank arm to the length of play required to
carry the piece of iron to be acted upon successively' under the two sets of

page_text: segmental dies. The sliding frame is adapted to receive the gripping dies E, E',
one of them (E) being received in a bed made for it in the sliding frame by
flanges projecting from the upper surface of the sliding frame, as e, e, e', the
end e being provided with a screw f to hold-the die securely in its bed; and
the die E is similarly embedded in a moving jaw F, jointed to the sliding
frame by a centre pin g. The gripping dies, are made of cast iron with the
inner or working surface chilled; one of them has the inner face straight and
the other curved; as represented in Figure 1; or both may be curved for the
purpose stated above. The cutters h, h, are made of steel, and are placed at
the forward end and on the same plane with the gripping dies, and in the same
beds with them, the screws f, f, being used to secure the whole together. As
the cutting and gripping dies wear away, they are pushed forward, and the
space behind packed in with metal. The jaw F' is closed by a lever G jointed
to the sliding frame, and travelling with it, which acts against the inclined face
i, and is thrown open by a spring k, k, attached to the under part of the sliding
frame, and bearing against a pin projecting from the under part of the jaw, as
represented by dotted lines in Figure 2.
against stops 1, P, fixed on one of the
vibration of the sliding frame, the stop
jaw, and the other stop to throw back
permit the spring to throw it open. When the bar of iron in a heated state,
represented at m, is fed between the gripping dies by the operator, it comes
up against the end of a stop or guage n, and as the operations of gripping and
rolling force the two ends of the piece of iron against this stop at one end and
the face of the cutter at the other, it would be forcibly held between the two
at the opening of the gripping dies, and therefore to liberate it. The stop or
guage n is jointed to an arm projecting up from a tumbling shaft o, provided
with a bent arm o", which rests and slides on one of the side pieces A of the
frame; and when the sliding frame reaches the end of its course the end of
this bent lever is carried beyond the frame and falls by its own weight, which
draws back the stop or guage and releives the piece of iron, that is at the
same time liberated by the opening of the gripping dies, and is thus permitted
to fall on an inclined plane, at the foot of which it is received, and whilst hot
is carried to the bending machine.
The outer end of the lever G strikes
side pieces A at the end of each
being for the purpose of closing the
the lever to liberate the jaw and
The sliding frame carries a rack H to communicate motion to the two sets
of segmental dies. It is cast in one piece with the sliding frame, or attached
to it, the connecting piece p being made to extend over, one of the side pieces
of the frame. The teeth of this rack take into cog wheels I, I', on the axis
of the two upper segmental dies, and these cog wheels are made sufficiently

page_text: broad to gear into cog wheels J, J¹, on the axes of the lower segmental: dies;
and thus the whole machine is operated by the reciprocating motion of the
sliding frame. The axes k³, k³, k, l, of the two sets of segmental dies have
their bearings in supports.q, q, q, q, projecting from and cast with the main
frame of the machine, and provided with bearings in the usual manner. At
one end these axes are enlarged, as at L, L, L, L, to form chucks for the
reception of the segmental dies M, M, M', M³, which are imbedded in a recess
made in the face of the chucks, and fastened thereto by screw bolts 8, 8, 8; 8;
that pass through slots in the dies, that their peripheries may be'set at any
required distance from the centre of motion, by means of set screws.r, r, r,r,
that pass through the chucks, and bear on the inner end of the dies.
The dies M, M, are generally made of iron faced with steel, and their peri-
pheries 'are so formed as to produce the form indicated in Figure 7, which
represents the piece of iron after it has been acted upon by the gripping and
segmental rolling dies; and the form of the peripheries must be changed to
correspond with any variations required in the form of the article to be pro-
duced, and the back and front faces are formed to correspond with the gripping
dies, so as to fill up the space between them. The segmental die M¹ is made
in every particular similar to the first set, and forms a bed for the action of
the grooving or fullering' and punching die M³, which is generally made of
cast iron, and is provided with a flange t, through which pass four" set screws
w', w', w', w', and two recesses to receive the steel fullering and punching
dies v, v, more distinctly represented in the section, Figure 6. They are made
of thin plates of steel, with the punches" projecting beyond the grooving or
fullering surfaces, and are made fast to the die M by means of the screws
w, w, which pass through them and the caps x, x, that have a shoulder or
flange, as shewn in section, Figure 6, that bears on the back edge of the dies;
and against which the set screws w¹, w', bear to regulate the distance of their
peripheries from the centre of the axis.
'The peripheries of the fullering and punching dies M², M³, move with the
same velocity, or nearly so, as the sliding frame and gripping dies, they being
at the same distance from the centre of the axes as the pitch line in the cog
wheels 1' and J'; but as it is necessary that the peripheries of the rolling dies
M, M, should move with greater velocity, for the reasons given above, their
axes k, k¹, instead of being parallel, as the axes k; k, of the dies M, M³, are
placed at an angle, as indicated by the red lines y, y, which makes the distance
of the peripheries of the dies from the centre of the axes greater than the semi-
diameter of the pitch line of the wheels I and J, and the amount of the incli-

page_text: nation of these axes must depend upon the quantity of metal to be drawn from
the ends to the middle of the shoe; and if desired, the journals of the axes may
work in sliding boxes provided with set screws.
Instead of this inclination of
the axes, the same important end may be attained by other arrangements, as,
for instance, the axes may be placed parallel, as in Figure 5, which is a trans-
verse vertical section through the axes k, k¹, and instead of communicating
motion to them by the rack H, the wheel I is only made as wide as the
wheel J on the lower axes, and there is another wheel N put on the axis of
less diameter, operated by a second rack O, attached to the sliding frame and
rack H, so that in this arrangement the segmental rolling dies receive their
motion from one rack, and the pinching and fullering rolling dies from
another. And it will be evident that by this arrangement the same end will
be attained as by the one first described, that is, the peripheries of the rolling
dies will move faster than the sliding frame with its gripping dies, &c. The
arrangement of this second rack O and additional wheel N is represented by
dotted lines in Figure 1. Figure 7 represents the piece of iron after it has
been acted upon by the rolling and gripping dies; and Figure 8, the piece of iron
shaped, fullered, and punched, as it is discharged from the machine above
described. In this condition the holes are punched nearly through, and are
afterwards cleared out by a common punching machine, after being bent in
the form of a shoe, and the metal becomes cold.
Figure 9 is a plan of a machine for bending the iron after being rolled,
fullered, and punched into the proper form for horse-shoes; Figure 10 is a
section shewing those parts which in the plan are necessarily hid from view.
P, P, is an iron frame of sufficient strength to sustain and keep in place the
working parts; Q, Q, a piece of iron firmly fastened to the frame P, P, on
the under side of which is fastened the die or shape W, around which the iron
is bent; R, R, a moveable plate or carriage, resting on slides on the stationary
frame P, P. This carriage receives its motion from the crank T, through the
connecting rod S, turning at the same time the wheels U, U, which are con-
nected to it by means of centres or pins, on which they revolve; V, a bridle
connecting the upper ends of the centres together. To these wheels are fas-
tened segmental pieces or cams X, X, which come in contact with and bend
the piece of iron round the die W. Z, a piece of iron, receiving its motion from
the cam. Y, to hold the piece of iron, intended for a shoe, firm against the
die W, while it is being bent by the segmental cams X, X, which are suitably
formed to bend the piece of iron into the desired shape..
It will be perceived that if a piece of iron intended for a horse-shoe were to

page_text: be introduced into the machine, as shewn at A, A, Figure 9, and the moveable
plate or carriage put into motion by the crank T, the wheels U, U, receiving
their motion by coming into contact with the teeth on the edges of the piece of
iron Q, Q, forcing the segmental cams X, X, against the piece of iron A, A,
intended for a shoe, thus bending it to the desired shape around the die W,
the moveable plate or carriage R, R, continuing its motion until it reaches
beyond the die W, at the same time the bar Z is relieved by the cant y, thus
allowing the shoe to drop.
Having described the nature or character of the Invention, and the manner
of constructing and using the same, together with some of the various
methods in which the same principles can be applied, I wish it to be under-
stood that what I claim as the Invention is; arranging the cutters on the same
plane with the hollow gripping dies, and in such manner that they shall
perform their functions by one and the same operation when combined with
the rolling segmental dies, moving with the same or greater velocity than the
gripping dies which carry the piece of iron to be acted upon, as above fully
described.
I also claim giving to the peripheries of the rolling segmental dies a velocity
greater than the gripping dies that carry the piece of iron to be acted upon, for
the purpose fully set forth, whether this be accomplished by either of the
arrangements described above or by any other, as it must be obvious to any
mechanical engineer or machinist that this can be effected by various arrange-
ments without changing the character of the Invention.
And, finally, I claim combining the rolling segmental dies with the fullering
and punching segmental dies, so that the same gripping dies can successively
carry the piece of iron from one set to the other, and thus complete these
operations without removing the piece of iron from the gripping dies, as herein
fully described.
I also claim as the Invention the arranging and combining the different
parts of the machine for bending the iron into horse-shoes, as represented in
Figures 9 and 10.
In witness whereof, I, the said Laurence Hill, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Tenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-four.
LAUR. (L.S.) HILL, J.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Tenth day of July, in the year
of our Lord 1844, the aforesaid Laurence Hill, junior, came before our said Lady
the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid, and
all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the
Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Eleventh day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and forty-four.