IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING BOLTS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the "International Patent
Office," No. 8, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Consulting Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING BOLTS."-A communication from abroad by
Abram Alexander, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of
America.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and Decln-
ration, on the 5th October 1867, pursuant to the 9th Section of the
Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the International Patent Office, No. 8 Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer,
send greeting..
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR MAKING BOLTS," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant
unto me, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters
Patent for the same, and have made solemn Declaration that it has been
communicated to me from abroad by Abram Alexander, of Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, United States of America.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, do hereby declare
that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and seal, fully
describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, in and by the following statement, reference
being bad to the accompanying Drawings forming a part of this Specification:-
These improvements relate to that class of machines in which the bolts are
made by compressing with a plunger or heading tool or die, a bar of heated
iron clamped in gripping dies, and the said improvements consist in the
combination of the mechanical devices by which the pressure on the heading
die or plunger is applied, in the arrangement for closing and opening the
gripping dies, and in the device for regulating the length of the bolts and for
driving out the finished bolt from the dies. In a machine constructed with
these improvements bolts are made more perfectly and at a single blow, with
great rapidity and with less expenditure of power than in the machines now

page_text: toothed wheels gearing with the pinions C and communicating motion to
the shaft E which is mounted on suitable blocks E", E"; F is a combination
cam composed of several cams f arranged side by side and corresponding to
a notched block F¹ fastened to the drop piece D. Each notch f of the
cam F bas only a small throw or stroke so as to impart the required motion
to the piece D with little expenditure of power, but as each notch takes up
the said drop piece D where the preceeding notch leaves it and carries it
one step higher, the full lift of the piece D is accomplished with the resi-tance
of the lift of one of the cams f only. When the last cam f clears the block
F (see Figure 2) the drop piece D which is fully elevated falls freely upon
the cushion B' (see Figure 6) and remains there until it is again taken up
by the action of the compound cam F. The piece D has two knuckles e cast
upon or securely fastened thereto in the position indicated by the Drawings.
G, G, are blocks or lieads sliding in suitable guides G' fastened to the frame A
in such a manner that the blocks G, G, will have a free horizontal motion only
in the direction of the line c, x. The blocks G have knuckles g like those of
the piece D, and between the knuckles g and e are fitted the pieces H whose ends
are made to fit the said knuckles; iron links or straps are fitted to the
pieces H and to projections on the knuckles 9 and e to retain the pieces G and
drop piece D together in such a manner that if the piece D is elevated, the
two pieces G are moved in the direction of the arrows 1, Figures 1 and 2,
and when the piece D falls, the pieces G are pushed apart and in the
direction of the arrows 2 with a force which is increased as the piece D.
falls by the weight of the said piece by its velocity and by the
the pieces form with the plane of motion of the piece D.
continued until the pieces H are horizontal, the buckles 9 and
all in one line at right angles with the plane of motion of the piece D, aud
the pieces G having accomplished their stroke. To the pieces G are
fastened the plungers or dies I, which may be of any shape or construction
required for the object in view. The pressure produced by dies fastened to
the pieces G on a bar of beated iron gripped in stationary dies is so great
and instantaneous that before the iron has time to cool it is forced into
every part of the cavity in the said stationary dies, and at one operation a
perfect and sound bead or head and collar are produced forming an excellent
bolt. The mechanical combination for obtaining efficient gripping die
holders prevents the breaking of any part of the machine if any bolt or
bolt blank is improperly caught in the gripping dies; in this combination
J is the stationary and J the movable gripping die, which may be made.
to suit any desired shape of bolt to be made therein. The die J is held
angle which
This force is
being then

page_text: The piece L
stationary by screws, wedges, or other suitable means in proper ledges
or jaws K; the movable die J is firmly held by set screws or wedges
in the jaws K' of the piece L, which piece is movable on a bolt L' passing
through the said piece L and also through the frame A.
vibrates in a recess made for that purpose in the frame A, the bolt L' acting
as a centre or fulcrum for the piece L to swing on and preventing any
motion of the said piece in the direction of the line x, x. M is a bolt
passed through two extensions a, a, of the frame A; the said bolt is located
on the line Y, Y, at right angles with the line a, a, and opposite or nearly
so to the centre of resistance of the dies J, J. The piece L has also on
the line Y, Y, a knuckle piece N, and between the two are fitted the two
pieces R and the double knuckle piece Q arranged in such a manner that
when the two pieces R and the knuckles N, O, and bolt M are all on a line, the
dies J, J', are closed; the knuckles N, O, and bolt M are linked together by
the links r, so that when the piece is moved in the direction of the arrow
(Figure 5) it will bring the knuckles in a line and close the dies J, J', and
when moved in the opposite direction to the arrow it will pull apart and
open the said dies. It will be observed that when the dies J, J', are closed
the knuckles o of the piece Q and the two pieces R being on a straight
line between the bolt M and knuckle N of the piece L the dies J, J¹,
cannot open without crushing the pieces R, Q, or breaking the bolt M, and
that at the same time the power required to bring the said pieces in a straight
line to move the piece is comparatively slight. To guard against breaking
any part of the machine the motion of the piece Q in the direction of the
arrows (Figures 1 and 5) for closing the die J is not obtained by a
positive and absolute limited action, but by the gravitation of the weight W
acting through the lever V and toggle piece T on the sliding bar P (see
Figure 1) while the motion in the opposite direction to the arrow (Figure 5)
or in the direction of the arrows 2, Figure 1, is produced by the action of
the cam S on the lever S¹ on the sliding bar P; thus the cam S acts for
opening the dies J, J, and keeping them open while the operation of closing
them is entirely performed by the gravitation of the weight W. The
mechanical combination which acts as a guide for the accurate placing of
the blanks in the dies J, J, and determining the exact length of the bolt
produced therein, and at the same time for driving the finished bolt from the
dies J, J', when they open, is shown in detail in Figures 5, 6, and 7 of
plate 2. 1 is a hollow screw having a wheel 2 fastened to one of its ends
and formed to screw into a nut 18. The latter is secured to the frame A in
such a position that the centre of the screw 1 will be in a line with the

page_text: centre of the dies J, J, and that its end will rise to the point of the bolt
blank V gripped in the dies J, J. 3 is a rod passing through the bollow
screw 1, and the spiral spring 6, and having heads 4 and 5 one at each end
of it, the spring 6 will keep the head 4 in contact with the end of the
screw 1 (as seen in Figures 5 and 6). By screwing or unscrewing the
screw 1 the bead 4 will be brought to the proper distance from the dies J, J¹,
so as to serve as a guide for placing the blank V in the required place, and
the point of the blank V will be in contact with the head 4, whereby all the
bolts will be made exactly of the same length; 7 is a hammer with a
bandle 12 pivoted on a centre 8 mounted on the piece 10, the whole being
made adjustable on the slide piece 15 secured upon the frame A. 11 is a
rod attached to the piece Q at the point 20, and having at its other end a
catch and releasing arrangement as shown in Figure 7 or of any suitable
construction and adjustment acting on the end of the handle 12, so that
when the piece Q is moving in the direction of the arrow Figure 5 it will
cause the said catch to seize the handle 12. When the catch moves in the
opposite direction it will pull the said handle against the spring 14 for a
certain distance and then release it; the hammer 7 in flying back strikes
the head 5 moving the rod 3 and driving the finished bolt from the dies J, J',
to form a space for another blank. The spring 6, compressed for an instant
by the blow of the hammer 7, resuming its former position will then bring
back the head 4 in the proper place to act as a guide as already described.
The piece 10 is made adjustable and also the length of the piece 11 to adapt
the machine to any length of bolts. The blank V having been previously
heated is held to the proper place in the open dies J, J', its point resting on
the piece 4. For this operation proper mechanism is used not represented
in the Drawings. The dies J, J', closing, will grip the blank V firmly
while the drop D gradually rises; the said drop now falls spreading apart
the pieces G (see dotted lines Figure 2 and Figure 6) forcing the heading
dies I against the heated part of the blank V with great force and forming
the head of the bolt at one blow in a most perfect manner.
The cam F now
takes up the drop D, and the cam S acting on the lever S¹, bar P, and
piece Q, opens the gripping dies J, J', raising the weight W and pulling
back the hammer 7; the latter when released flies back upon the piece 5
driving out the newly made bolt and forms a space for a new blank in the
open dies J, J.
If too much metal is left in the blank to form the head of
the bolt properly the machine is not broken as would be the case if the motion
of the plunger I was obtained from the positive and limited. action of a
cam, eccentric, or crank, all that will happen in my machine is that tho

page_text: piece D does not fall quite to its lowest position; this lack of motion in the
piece D indicates that the blank V was too long or too far engaged in the
gripping dies J, J.
In the accompanying Drawings my improved machine is represented as
double, and it is in this manner I prefer to construct the said machine, as
by this arrangement with nearly the same expenditure of power, two bolts
can be made at one blow, one at each end of the machine, but the machine
can be made single so as to act only at one end, the piece D having in that
case only one knuckle e, the general arrangement being substantially the
same as in the double machine.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondent, and shown how the same may be conveniently
and advantageously carried into practice, I claim,—
First. The combination of the piece D, guides d, and frame A, with the
piece H, bolts G, and guides G₁ arranged and operating for the purpose
and substantially in the manner set forth.
Second. The combination of the compound cam F and block F¹ with
the drop piece D, to impart a vertical upward motion to the said piece D
for the purpose and substantially in the manner specified.
Third. The piece L, bolt L, bolt M, frame A, pieces R, piece Q, piece P,
lever S¹, cam S, lever V, and weight W, combined and arranged for the
purpose and substantially as set forth.
Fourth. The combination of the hollow screw 1, bolt 3, and nut 13 with
the hammer 7 or equivalent devices and the gripping dies of a bolt machine
for the purpose and substantially in the manner specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE. (LS.)
Witness,
THO³. N. PALMER,
Clerk to Mess. Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
8, Southampton Buildings,
W. C.