Improvements in Screw Making Machines.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 6th June, 1893-Accepted, 29th July, 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Screw Making Machines.
I, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN WHEELER of 17 Chardon Street, Boston, in the
County of Suffolk, and State of Massachusetts, United States of America,
Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
My invention relates to screw making machines and it consists in certain novel
features of construction, arrangement and combination of parts which will be
readily understood by reference to the description of the accompanying drawings
and to the claims bereinafter given and in which my invention is clearly
pointed out.
Figure 1 of the drawings is a front elevation of a machine embodying my
invention.
Figure 2 is an elevation of same looking at the right hand end of Figure 1.
Figure 3 is an elevation of the opposite end.
Figure 4 is a vertical transverse section on line 1, 1 of Figure 1 and looking
towards the right of said figure.
Figure 5 is a similar section on line 2, 2 of Figure 1 looking in the same
direction.
Figure 6 is a vertical longitudinal section through the axes of two of the work
carrying spindles and their carrying cylinder.
Figures 7, 8 and 9 are respectively a plan, an end elevation, and a longitudinal
section of the tool holding carriage.
Figure 10 is a plan of the shipper slides for operating the rod clamping and
feeding mechanisms.
In the drawings A is the bed of the machine supported upon the legs A¹ A¹
which may be stepped in a shallow pan for catching the surplus oil in the usual
manner, Figure 1, which pan may be supported on suitable legs or a bench at the
desired height in a well known manner.
B is a cam shaft mounted in bearings in the legs A¹ and having secured upon its
right hand end the worm wheel C with which the worm C¹ on the shaft C2 engages
to impart to said cam shaft a rotary motion said shaft C2 having secured upon its
rear end the pulley Cs by which and a suitable belt, not shown, rotary motion is
imparted to said shaft C².
D is a housing bolted to the bed A and having a removable cap D' secured
thereto, within which is mounted, so as to be revoluble therein, the spindle carrying
cylinder E having secured thereon at its left hand end the ratchet wheel , and has
loosely mounted upon a hub projecting therefrom the ring e to which is pivoted the
pawl in position to engage with the teeth of said ratchet wheel b as shown in
Figure 3.
A lever d is fulcrumed on the stand d' and has mounted on a stud set therein a
truck d² which fits into and is acted upon by the cam path d³ formed in the side of
the cam disk F mounted upon the shaft B, said path and truck being shown only
in dotted lines in Figure 3, the movable end of said lever d being connected by the
link d* to the arm c² projecting from the ring e as shown in said Figure 3.
The ratchet wheel b has formed therein in close proximity to the shoulder of
cach tooth a detent notch e see Figure 3, with which the movable end of the
horizontal arm of the elbow lever e engages to lock the cylinder E after each
intermittent movement of said cylinder about its axis, said locking lever being
rD....01

page_text: pressed into engagement with said detent notch by the spring e² shown in Figure 6
and is disengaged therefrom by the cam projection e on the right hand side o
the cam disk F as shown in dotted lines in Figures 1 and 3.
G is a shaft mounted in bearings in the cylinder E and the stand G' and having
loosely mounted thereon the pulleys H and H' constructed and arranged to be
revolved in opposite directions by means of an open belt leading from an overhead
counter-shaft to one of said pulleys and a crossed belt leading from said counter-
shaft to the other of said pulleys.
Each of the pulleys H and H' is provided with a friction clutch constructed and
arranged in any well known manner to be thrown into or out of action by an end-
wise movement of the tapered ended sleeve H2 mounted upon said shaft G between
said pulleys so as to be movable end wise thereon and revoluble therewith said
end wise movement of the sleeve H2 being produced by the action of the cam H³
upon the lever mounted upon the rocker shaft f which has secured thereon the
forked shipper lever f' the forked end of which engages with the annular groove g
in said sleeve all as shown in Figure 1.
The cylinder E has mounted in suitable bearings formed therein a plurality of
hollow spindles h, four being shown in the drawings, but a greater or less number
may be used if desired for any special class of work, said hollow spindles or sleeves h
being so fitted to said cylinder that they are free to be revolved therein but cannot
be moved end wise therein, and each spindle has firmly secured thereon a spur gear
wheel the teeth of which are engaged by the teeth of a similar gear wheel
secured upon the shaft G as a means of imparting a rotary motion to all of said
spindles at the same time and at a uniform speed all as shown in Figures 4 and 6.
Each sleeve or spindle has secured to its inner end the frusto-conical nose
piece the bore of which is also made conical to receive the split collet con-
structed and arranged to be moved toward the smaller end of said nose piece by
the sleeve j and thus grip the metal rod & from which the screws are to be cut, said
sleevej being moved towards the right of Figures 1 and 6, to contract said collet
by the action of the frusto-conical hub jupon the elbow levers j³ j pivoted upon
the collar carried by the sleeve or spindle h.
The hub is mounted upon the sleeve h and is moved endwise at the proper
time by the shipper stand having set in its under side the stud / carrying at its
lower end the truck 2 which fits into and is acted upon by the cam path in the
periphery of the cam cylinder I firmly secured upon the shaft B as shown.
Within the sleevej is fitted so as to be movable endwise therein, the sleeve m
the inner end of which is split, slightly compressed and then tempered, said sleeve
being made of fine spring steel, so as to grip the rod k at its inner end, and has
firmly secured upon its outer end the circumferentially grooved collar m' which
when in its lowermost position engages with the upper end of the arm of the shipper
slide m³ having set in its under side the stud m³ carrying at its lower end a truck m
with which the cam lugs n and n secured upon the periphery of the cam cylinder I
alternately engage to impart to said sleeve an intermittent reciprocation for the
purpose of feeding the rod of metal through the spindle the distance required for
forming a new screw after one has been cut therefrom.
The construction and make up of the several spindles and the devices for gripping
the wire or rod from which the screws are to be formed is old and not of my
invention.
J is a tool carrying head mounted upon the intermediate plate J, so as to be
adjustable thereon in the direction of the length of the shaft G, and to be firmly
clamped thereto by the bolt e, said head having secured therein as many tools as
there are spindles carried by the cylinder E.
The plate J is fitted to a dovetailed guideway in the base-plate J³, so as to be
freely movable endwise therein, and said base-plate J2 is pivoted to the bed A, and
is adjustably secured thereto by the bolts o' o'o', which pass through curved slots
in said plate, and are screwed into the bed A as shown in Figures 4, 7, 8 and 9.
The plate J has set in its under side the stud which projects through the

page_text: same
slot p' cut through the plate J2 and carries at its lower end the truck p² which is
acted upon by a suitable cam K, which may be provided with the path g as shown,
or have cam lugs or projections detachably secured thereon in the
manner as the lugs are secured on the cam cylinder I. L is a plate or bar secured
upon the bed A just to the right of the housing H and having formed in the upper
side a dove-tailed groove or guideway extending transversely of said bed and
having fitted therein so as to be movable therein, transversely of said bed, the
plate or bar L', which has formed in its upper side a T-shaped groove r extending
transversely thereof, in which is adjustably mounted the tool post L² provided with
a slot to receive the cutting off tool which is secured in position therein by means
of the collar r³, the threaded sleeve and the set-screw, all in a well known
manner.
The bar L' is connected by the links to the upper end of the two armed lever s¹
which is fulcrumed on the bed A and carries, at the free end of its lower arm, a
truck t which fits into, and is acted upon by the path u in the side of the cam
disk M to move said cutting off tool toward and from the centre of the shaft G
for cutting off the screw after it has been turned and threaded.
As it is designed to form screws from rods some eight or ten feet long and as
four or more rods are in the machine and being acted upon at the same time, and
as they are intermittently revolved about the axis of the cylinder E and also
rotated about their own axes it is necessary that the outer ends of said rods should
be supported so as to keep them parallel with each other.
To this end I screw into the outer end of the cylinder E between the spindles h
a plurality of rods u¹ corresponding in number to the number of spindles in said
cylinder, the outer ends of which rods are secured in a disk N provided with a
plurality of holes in line with said spindles and of a size to allow the free passage
of the rod k and form a bearing therefor.
The periphery of said disk N is fitted to a bearing in the stand N¹ the
upper end of which surrounds and encloses about one half the circumference of
said disk.
N2 is a second disk fitted upon the rods u¹ about midway between the disk N
and the cylinder E and provided with holes for the passage of the rods the
same as described for the disk N, said disk N³ serving to support the ends of the
rods after they have been withdrawn from the disk N.
The tool carrying head J has set therein, at v, a tool for rough turning the
shank of a screw on the end of the rod presented thereto, at v¹ a tool for finishing
the turning of said shank to the desired size, at v², a thread forming die, and at va a
tube to enclose said threaded screw, and receive it when severed from the rod by the
cutting off tool r¹.
The shaft B revolves in the direction indicated by the arrow on Figure 4, and
the shaft G revolves in the direction indicated by the arrow on Figure 5 when the
pulley H is in engagement with the clutch as shown in Figure 1, and in the
opposite direction when the pulley H' is in engagement with the clutch.
The operation of my invention is as follows:
The rods kk having been inserted through the holes in the disks N and N2 and
into and through the sleeves m m and the collets 2 so as to be firmly clamped at
their inner ends by the said collets, and the several parts of the machine being
in the positions shown in the drawings, if power is applied to the pulleys C³ and H
to cause the shafts B and G to be revolved at the proper relative speeds, the cam
projection disengages the locking lever e¹ from engagement with the detent
notch e when the cam path acting upon the truck d² vibrates the lever d and
causes a movement of the ring c, pawl c, ratchet wheel b, and cylinder E about
the axis of the shaft G in the direction indicated by the arrow on Figure 3 a
distance equal to the angular distance between two of the rod carrying spindles.
When this motion is completed the lever e¹ is immediately pressed into a detent
notch e to lock said cylinder against further movement about its axis until the shaft B
has completed its revolution.

page_text: This rotation of the cylinder E causes the spindle on the front side of said
cylinder or in the same horizontal plate as and in front of the shaft G to be
moved, with the rod carried thereby, in a position directly below the shaft G
and in axial line with the tool for rough turning the shank of the screw to be
formed therefrom.
When this is done the cam path 13 in the cam cylinder I, acting upon the
shipper 1, through the stud and truck 12, moves the conical hub with which said
shipper is for the time being engaged, toward the cylinder E to release the pressure
of the levers 2 upon the outer end of the sleeve or tube j, and thus relieve the
pressure of the collet 12 upon the rod k, when the cam block n comes in contact
with the truck m on the stud m³, and through it moves the shipper m² toward the
cylinder E thereby moving the sleeve m and the rod k contained therein and
gripped thereby, in the same direction, a distance equal to the length of the screw
to be made.
When the feeding of the rod is completed the path 13 acting through the shipper?
moves the conical hub toward the left of the Figure 1, thereby moving the sleevej
and collet toward the right and causing said collet to firmly grip said rod k and
and hold it against the pressure of the tools in the tool head, when it is fed towards
said rods to cause said tools to perform the different operations thereon.
The path 9 in the cam cylinder K now begius to act on the tool head J through
the medium of the truck p2, the stud p and the plate J' to move said head toward
the cylinder, the tool v, during such movement acting upon the lowermost rod k to
rough turn the shank of a screw thereon the tool v' acting upon a rod k at the rear
of the shaft G to finish the sizing of the shank of a screw previously rough turned,
the tool cutting a thread upon a rod k directly above said shaft G, and the tool v³
passing over the threaded screw on the end of the rod k directly in front of said
shaft and at the same time the tool is being fed towards said shaft G to cut
a threaded screw from said last mentioned rod k by the action of the path u upon
the lever s¹.
The operations described in the last paragraph take place in the order named
except that in commencing work with a series of fresh rods supplied to the series
of spindles no tool carried by the tool head except the roughing tool could perform
any work at the first movement of the tool head towards the cylinder E because
only the lower rod & would be projecting beyond the end of the spindle nose any
further than just sufficient to allow the tool to cut the ends of the front rod to
the desired smooth slightly rounded shape.
At the second movement of the tool head towards said cylinder the rod that has
previously had a screw shank roughly turned thereon is at the rear of the shaft G,
another rod has been moved from in front of said shaft to a position beneath it,
bringing the groove on the conical hub, surrounding the spindle in which said
rod is supported, into engagement with the shipper arm 1, and the groove of the
collar m into engagement with the shipper arm m² and said rod has been
moved towards the tool head a distance equal to the length of the screw to be
made, and the tools and v³ act at the same time upon said two rods to rough
turn the shank of a screw upon one and finish the turning to size a screw shank
upon the other rod.
At the third forward movement of the tool head a screw shank is rough turned
on one rod, a second screw shank turned to size on another rod, a third screw shank
is threaded on another rod, and the fourth rod has its end cut off, and at the fourth
and each subsequent forward movement of said tool head a completed screw is cut
from the rod in front of the shaft G and deposited in the tube v³, a shank is rough
turned on another rod, a shank is turned to size on a third rod, and a screw is
threaded on a fourth rod, until the rods are all worked into screws.
When the tool head has arrived at the extreme of its forward movement the
path of the cam H³ acting upon the lever f moves the clutch sleeve H2 towards
the right of Figure 1 thus releasing the pulley H from the clutch and causing the
pulley H¹ to engage the clutch and reverse the motion of the spindles at the same

page_text: time that the cam path 9 acts to move the tool head towards the right of Figure 1
or away from the spindles to disengage the tools from the rods so that said rods
with the spindles and the cylinder carrying the same may be moved about the axis
of said cylinder to change the positions of the rods & relative to the screw forming
tools after the completion of each screw.
It will be seen that by the use of my invention a great advantage will be
obtained over the screw making machines now in use in that a screw is completed
at every forward movement of the tool head while with the machines now in use
the several tools which perform the various operations of rough turning, finish
turning, threading and cutting off have to act in succession upon the same screw
and as a consequence a very much longer time is required to finish a screw than is
required with my machine.
In the case of using the same machine for making screws of different lengths,
the cam lugs or plates n and n¹ on the cam cylinder I, have to be removed and
others of different lengths of throw substituted therefor, and a similar change inust
be effected in regard to the cam K, when it is desired to change the length of
screw to be made, in order that the desired length of rod may be fed out of the
spindle, and that the tool head shall have imparted to it the requisite length of
reciprocation to form the desired length of screw shank upon the inner end of
said rod.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :
1st. In a screw making machine, the combination of a rotatable cylinder carrying
a plurality of hollow spindles each adapted to grasp a rod or blank, mechanism
for rotating said cylinder step by step, mechanism for locking the cylinder after
each step or partial rotation, rod-feeding devices longitudinally movable relatively
to said spindles, a shipper-slide movable on a fixed guide and arranged to engage
each of the feeding devices at a given point, each feeding device and the accom-
panying spindle being presented in succession to the shipper-slide, mechanism
for reciprocating said slide to cause it to alternately project and retract the feeding
device engaged therewith, a non-rotating tool-head carrying a series of operating
tools and movable toward and from the cylinder, mechanism for reciprocating said
tool-head to alternately project and retract its operating tools, a cutting-off tool
movable in a fixed path or guide at right angles to the axis of the cylinder and
arranged to act on each rod in succession, and mechanism for reciprocating said
cutting-off' tool, as set forth.
2nd. In a screw-making machine, the combination of a rotatable cylinder carrying
a plurality of hollow spindles each adapted to grasp a rod or blank and each
provided with a rod-feeding device, mechanism for rotating said cylinder step by
step, devices for locking the cylinder after each step, mechanism for operating the
feeding devices successively while the cylinder is locked, a non-rotating tool-head
movable toward and from the cylinder, a guide for said tool-head adapted to be so
adjusted as to direct the tool-head in a path at an angle to the axis of the cylinder
and thus cause one or more of the operating tools to make a taper cut, and
mechanism for reciprocating said tool head, as set forth.
3rd. In a screw-making machine, the combination of an intermittently rotating
cylinder, a plurality of hollow spindles mounted in bearings in said cylinder at
equal distances from each other and from the axis of said cylinder and each
provided with clamping mechanism for holding a metal rod and feeding it end wise
therein, a tool-head, a bed pivotally connected with the supporting-frame of the
machine and provided with guides for said tool-head, said bed being adapted to be
adjusted to give said guides any desired angle with relation to the axis of the
cylinder, means for positively securing the bed in any position to which it may be
adjusted, mechanism for reciprocating the tool-head on said bed, a plurality of
operating tools set in or carried by said tool-head, means having provision for

page_text: intermittently moving said spindle-carrying cylinder around its axis, means having
provision for locking said cylinder in position, and mechanism for rotating all of
said spindles in unison, as set forth.
Dated this First day of May 1893.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN WHEELER.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.