Improvements in Controlling and Disengaging Mechanism for Clutches of Mechanical Presses and other Machines.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 19th Dec., 1888
Complete Specification Left, 19th Sept., 1889-Accepted, 23rd Nov., 1889
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Controlling and Disengaging Mechanism for
Clutches of Mechanical Presses and other Machines.
We JOSEPH SAMUEL TAYLOR and STEPHEN WILLIAM CHALLEN, Constitution Hill,
Birmingham in the County of Warwick Engineers and Machinists do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows :-
Our invention relates to the manner in which we construct and arrange steam and
other power presses having clutches for engaging and disengaging one part or portion
of the mechanism with or from the constant driving portion, having reference more
particularly to presses where the driving pulley or spur wheel is required to be
continuously running while the pressing or punching mechanism is itself standing.
One object of our invention being to allow the full stroke of the press to be made
and then to be automatically arrested and secured in any determined position against
further movement being communicated from the constant revolving driving pulley or
wheel, at the same time when the pulley, or wheel is thus in motion allowing that the
stroke of the press may be continued, or the driving shaft itself rotated, by means of
a small wheel, lever, or spanner, placed upon the end of the shaft, being moved by
hand; also to obviate the wear and tear common to presses arranged with clutches
sliding upon and driven by keys secured to the spindle or driving shaft, and to make
the disengaging gear more durable and effective than it is at present.
We will now describe the arrangement and construction of the mechanism connected
with our improved clutch which operates upon and controls the gearing of the press.
We construct an automatic disengaging clutch for use upon a power press by keying
or otherwise securing upon the press or crank shaft a driving arm having formed
upon its surface a slot or groove into which a spring, bolt, or sliding key is placed ;
the action of the spring being such that the end of the bolt is always urged to issue
out of the end of the slot and thus to project beyond the top surface of the driving
arm; for convenience and safety we sometimes form the sliding bolt or key with its
lower portion hollow so that the coiled spring can he placed within the bolt or key in
such a manner that one end of the spring rests against the slot or groove while
the other end is forced against the top end of the hollow space or hole of the sliding
bolt.
Upon the lower end of the sliding bolt or key we form or attach a pin which
projects through and beyond the groove and upon this pin we place a roller.
Adjacent to and upon the same shaft, we mount a driving pulley or spur wheel with
a rim projecting over the driving arm which pulley or wheel revolves freely and
independently upon the shaft. The internal edge of the projecting rim of this wheel
or pulley we form with one or more holes to receive the driving pin or key from the
driving arm when it is carried out beyond the end or top of the arm groove by the
spring beneath it, thus when the driving pin or key enters one of the recesses formed
in the driving wheel the shaft is caused to revolve with the wheel. In order to hold
the driving pin or key out of contact with the wheel and to control the motion of the
shaft in any desired manner, we place upon the shaft close to the driving arm a cam
which runs freely thereon and to secure this cam we arrange a cam holder or yoke
having a projecting end to receive and be secured to a spindle which moves freely
backwards and forwards between the press frames, when a foot or hand lever is pressed
and in thus moving carries with it the cam holder, the cam we form in a peculiar
manner so that at one position it shall engage with a projecting roller upon the driving
key and prevent the key from moving outwards in which secured position the motion
of the driving pulley is not communicated to the shaft, should however it be desired

page_text: to cause a stroke of the press to be effected gradually by hand instead of by the power
from the relief pulley it is possible to turn the shaft by means of a hand wheel lever
or spanner which can be placed upon its free end, the roller is capable of being
operated upon by means of two surfaces or paths upon the cam, the one being quite
concentric with the shaft and the other concentric in one portion but having a
cam or step causing the roller to be depressed or lowered from one path which
allows the pin to engage with the driving wheel into another path which withdraws
the pin from the wheel.
The outer surface of this cam forming the edge is constructed in such a manner
that when it is carried forward by means of the foot lever being moved it presses
against the roller which is revolving with the arm until it reaches the interrupted or
stepped cam when it is led into the inner recess containing at one portion of its
path the cam surface for depressing the roller and when it is thus led into the
recess and the depressing point of the cam is reached then the motion of the press
shaft ceases, while the driving wheel continues to revolve freely and independently
upon it. The cam is held in such a position within the cam holder by means of
set screws or keys that the clutch is released automatically when the press slide
is at the top of its stroke, or it can be released at any other desired position at
will by altering the position of the cam in its holder after the set screws have been
slackened.
We will now describe the action of the clutch and its mode of operation upon the
press.
The main driving pulley or spur wheel is always in motion upon the shaft and is
connected to or disconnected from the shaft by means of a foot or hand lever,
connecting rod, and bill crank, which moves a spindle supported by the top frames of
the press backwards and forwards carrying with it at the same time the cam holder or
yoke which is rigidly secured to the spindle; when the foot lever is pressed and the
cam is moved forward, it releases the roller upon the driving key, which is then free
to engage with the first hole within the inner rim of the driving wheel that comes
against it, at the same time the foot lever is released and a spring upon the spindle
causes the cam to be carried back against the roller which is revolving with the wheel
and it presses against the roller until in its motion it comes in contact with the step of
the cam when it is immediately withdrawn from the plain surface of the rim or
edge to the inner recess which leads to the depressing cam surface where it is
depressed and the driving bolt or key thereby withdrawn from the wheel and the
motion of the press shaft arrested.
Should it be desired at any time to continue the motion of the pulley or wheel to
the shaft instead of allowing it to act intermittently that is to stop and start afresh
for each stroke of the press we then keep the foot lever depressed and thus cause the
cam to be kept right away from the driving key roller.
We do not limit the application of our improvements in presses to the particular
systems herein before set forth but employ their equivalents in mechanical construction
with equal advantage and apply them to presses that are to be worked by manual
power as well as to those to be driven by pulley or spur gearing as hereinbefore
described.
Although our invention is described as applied to mechanical presses it may be
usefully applied to other machines where the power of arresting a stroke at any point
is required.
Dated this 18th day of December 1888.
MARKS & CLERK,
Agents for Applicants.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Controlling and Disengaging Mechanism for
Clutches of Mechanical Presses and other Machines.
We JOSEPH SAMUEL TAYLOR and STEPHEN WILLIAM CHALLEN of Constitution
Hill, Birmingham in the County of Warwick, Engineers and Machinists, 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:-
Our invention relates to the manner in which we construct and arrange steam and
other power presses having clutches for engaging and disengaging one part or
portion of the mechanism with or from the constant driving portion, having
reference more particularly to presses where the driving pulley or spur wheel is
required to be continuously running while the presses or punching mechanism is
itself standing. The object of our invention being to allow the full stroke of the
press to be made and then to be automatically arrested and secured in any
determined position against further movement being communicated from the constant
revolving driving pulley or wheel, at the same time when the pulley or wheel is
thus in motion allowing that the stroke of the press may be continued, or the driving
shaft itself rotated by means of a small wheel, lever or spanner, placed upon the end.
of the shaft, being moved by hand; also to obviate the wear and tear common to
presses arranged with clutches sliding upon and driven by keys secured to the spindle
or driving shaft and to make the disengaging gear more durable and effective than it
is at present.
We will now describe the arrangement and construction of the mechanism
connected with our improved clutch which operates upon and controls the gearing of
the press.
We construct an automatic disengaging clutch for use upon a power press by
keying or otherwise securing upon the press or crank shaft a driving arm having
formed upon its surface a slot or groove into which a spring, bolt, or sliding key is
placed; the action of the spring being such that the end of the bolt is always urged
to issue out of the end of the slot and thus to project beyond the top surface of the
driving arm, for convenience and safety we sometimes form the sliding bolt or key
with its lower portion hollow so that the coiled spring can be placed within the bolt or
key in such a manner that one end of the spring rests against the slot or groove
while the other end is forced against the top end of the hollow space or hole of the
sliding bolt.
Upon the lower end of the sliding bolt or key we form or attach a pin which
projects through and beyond the groove and upon this pin we place a roller.
Adjacent to and upon the same shaft we mount a driving pulley or spur wheel with
a rim projecting over the driving arm which pulley or wheel revolves freely and
independently upon the shaft.
The internal edge of the projecting rim of this wheel or pulley we form with one
or more holes to receive the driving pin or key from the driving arm when it is carried
out beyond the end or top of the arm groove by the spring beneath it, thus when the
driving pin or key enters one of the recesses formed in the driving wheel the shaft is
caused to revolve with the wheel.
In order to hold the driving pin or key out of contact with the wheel and to control*
the motion of the shaft in any desired manner, we place upon the shaft close to the
driving arm a cam in which the shaft can rotate freely at the proper time, and to
secure this cam we arrange a cam holder or yoke having a projecting end. to receive
and be secured to a spindle which cam holder moves freely backwards and forwards
between the press frames, when a foot or hand lever is pressed and in thus moving
carries with it the cam; the can we form in a peculiar manner so that at one position
t shall engage with a projecting roller upon the driving key and prevent the key
from moving outwards in which secured position the motion of the driving pulley is

page_text: not communicated to the shaft, should however it be desired to cause a stroke of the
press to be effected gradually by hand instead of by the power from the belt pulley it
is possible to turn the shaft by means of a hand wheel lever or spanner which can be
placed upon its free end; the roller is capable of being operated upon by means of
two surfaces or paths upon the cam, the one being quite concentric with the shaft
and the other concentric in one portion but having a cam or step causing the
roller to be depressed or lowered from one path which allows the pin to engage
with the driving wheel into another path which withdraws the pin from the
wheel.
The outer surface of this cam forming the edge is constructed in such a manner
that when it is carried forward by means of the foot lever being moved it presses
against the roller which is revolving with the arm until it reaches the interrupted or
stepped cam when it is led into the inner recess by a cam or inclined surface, which
communicates between the outer and inner recess and depressing the roller leads it
into the inner recess. When the depressing point of the cam is reached then the
motion of the press shaft ceases while the driving wheel continues to revolve freely
and independently upon it. The cam is held in such a position within the cam holder
by means of set screws or keys that the clutch is released automatically when the
press slide is at the top of its stroke, or it can be released at any other desired position
at will by altering the position of the cam in its holder after the set screws have
,been slackened.
We will now describe the action of the clutch and its mode of operation upon the
press.
The main driving pulley or spur wheel is always in motion upon the shaft and is
connected to or disconnected from the shaft by means of a foot or hand lever
connecting rod and bell crank, which moves a spindle supported by the top frames
of the press backwards and forwards carrying with it at the same time the cam
holder or yoke which is rigidly secured to the spindle; when the foot lever is pressed
and the cam is moved forward it releases the roller upon the driving key which is then
free to engage with the first hole within the inner rim of the driving wheel that
comes against it, at the same time the foot lever is released and a spring upon the
spindle causes the cam to be carried back against the roller which is revolving with
the wheel and it presses against the roller until in its motion it comes in contact with
the step of the cam when it is immediately withdrawn from the plain surface of the
rim or edge to the inner recess by the deprossing cam surface which leads the roller
to the inner recess and the driving bolt or key is thereby withdrawn from the wheel
and the motion of the press shaft arrested.
Should it be desired at any time to continue the motion of the pulley or wheel
to the shaft instead of allowing it to act intermittently that is to stop and start
afresh for each stroke of the press we then keep the foot lever depressed and thus
cause the cam to be kept right away from the driving key roller.
We do not limit the application of our improvement in presses to the particular
systems hereinbefore set forth but employ their equivalents in mechanical construction
with equal advantage and apply them to presses that are to be worked by manual
power as well as to those to be driven by pulleys or spur gearing hereinbefore
described.
Although our invention is described as applied to mechanical presses it may be
usefully applied to other machines where the power of arresting a stroke at any point
is required.
In order that our invention and the manner of performing the same may be readily
understood, we append hereunto 3 sheets of explanatory drawings to be hereinafter
referred to.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts throughout.
On Sheet 1 Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of one form of application of our
improved clutch and disengaging mechanism. A is the driving arm rigidly secured to
the press or machine shaft X. B is a spur wheel driven by means of a pinion Z;
the wheel B running freely or loosely upon the same shaft and has its internal rim

page_text: bored or formed so that the surface will admit of the edge of the locking or driving
bolt to bear against it without undue wear-Figure 2 is a part elevation showing in
section the rim and the inclined path of the wheel B, the inclined portion leading
into one of the recesses or driving holes into which the spring bolt carried in the
slot a of the driving arm A is caused to enter and thus to receive motion from the
wheel B and so drive the shaft X.
Figures 3 and 34 show in detail the driving arm A-Figures 4 and 5 show in
detail the cam and roller-Figures 6 and 7 show to an enlarged scale the rim of the
wheel B.
Cis the can which we do not secure to the driving shaft X but allow the shaft to
run freely within it; the cam C is secured to a cam holder or yoke D having a
projecting end for attachment to a spindle d carried by lugs or brackets from the
frame V of the press or machine.
The cam holder or yoke D we secure to a foot or hand lever E for the purpose of
moving the holder and with it the cam along the shaft backwards and forwards a
slight distance sufficient to admit of the roller F carried by the pin on the driving
bolts being brought against the concentric surface or path of the cam: or to be moved
into the path or surface which continues in the same line from this concentric surface
but which is formed with a strip or cam C within it to cause the roller to be depressed
or lowered from the concentric path, so that the driving pin may engage with one of
the holes or recesses of the wheel B and is thereby set in motion.
On Sheet 2, Figure 8 is a sectional elevation of another arrangement of our
clutch and mechanism attached to a fly wheel.
Figure 9 is an enlarged view of the driving arm A and Figure 10 is a detail of the
locking or driving bolt G.
Figures 11 and 12 are detail views of the cam and cam holder where D is carried
in and out by the sliding movement of the pin d¹ within the portion of the
frame V.
On Figure 8, is the driving shaft carrying the driving arm A formed
with its slide containing the driving or locking bolt G; this bolt G being always
urged outwards against the internal rim of the fly-wheel H by means of the
spring 1 carried within the bolt slide or by springs arranged to act in an equivalent
manner to that indicated on Figure 8. The cam is carried by the holder or
yoke Das before described and the locking or driving bolt G is provided with
a pin to carry a roller F for running within, the internal path of the cam,
this internal path being stepped to lead into a lower portion as hereinbefore
described.
On Sheet 3 Figures 13 and 14 show a modification of our improved driving
arrangements and clutch in which the driving bolt springs are placed on each side
of the bolt instead of within it and the pin carrying the roller is not forged but
screwed in.
Figures 15 and 16 show our application to a belt driven power press. Figures 17
and 18 are details of the cam and yoke or cam holder, Figures 19 and 20 are details
of the driving arm and Figure 21 is an alternative arrangement of the cam and
holder operated as herein before described for Figures 11 and 12.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is
I. The combination mechanism for controlling and disengaging the driving gear
of mechanical presses and other machines consisting of a spring bolt or locking pin,
connecting between a moving arm and the wheel to be driven together with a yoke
and cam surface acting on a roller or projection from the bolt or pin to keep it out of
gear till a handle and treadle controlling the yoke is moved substantially as
hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
II. The combination of two paths or controlling surfaces within a cam piece
and a roller or projection from a pin or bolt to cause the pin or bolt to be

page_text: withdrawn at the proper time after a revolution has been made substantially as
and for the purpose hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
III. The combination and arrangement of controlling and disengaging mechanism
as applied to mechanical presses substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated
in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 18th day of September 1889
MARKS & CLERK,
13, Temple Street, Birmingham, Agents for Applicants.