IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SHEARING METALS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Walter Williams, of Wednesbury Oak, Tipton,
in the County of Stafford, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR SHEARING METALS."-A communication from abroad
by Robert Briggs, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United
States of America.
I, WALTER WILLIAMS, of Wednesbury Oak, Tipton, in the County
5 of Stafford, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SHEARING METALS," to be as follows:-

page_text: sheared off the plate are caused to slide in an upward direction upon
the inclined upper edges of the guides, so as to pass above the before-
mentioned guide rollers.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Walter Williams in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 17th June 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WALTER
WILLIAMS, of Wednesbury Oak, Tipton, in the County of Stafford, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Walter Williams, Her special licence that I,
the said Walter Williams, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Walter Williams, 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 SHEARING METALS,"
a communication to me from abroad by Robert Briggs, of Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, in the United States of America, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Walter Williams, 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 Walter Williams, 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

page_text: the following statement thereof, reference being had to the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say :-
One part of the Invention has reference to an improved arrangement
for adjusting the cutting discs of rotary shearing machines. For this
purpose the two cutter shafts have feathers formed along their entire
length, and upon them are slid a series of sleeves which fit on the feather
and are thus prevented from turning. These sleeves have a projecting rim
or flange formed at one end, while upon the other portion of their outer
surface is formed a screw thread. Between the screwed end of the one
sleeve and the flanged end of the contiguous sleeve is placed a separate
follower collar, also sliding upon the shaft, and an annular cutter disc
is introduced between and is held by the surfaces of the collar and the
flange of the sleeve. Upon the sleeves other adjusting sleeves with
internal screw threads are screwed, the ends of which are made to abutt
against the follower collars, so as to cause them to hold the cutter discs
firmly, the adjusting sleeves being provided externally either with
polygonal surfaces or with holes, so as to be capable of being turned by
a spanner. Thus by screwing the adjusting sleeves to a greater or less
extent upon the other sleeves the distance between the cutter discs may
be readily adjusted so as to cut plates of any desired width, or to
compensate for wear. The last adjusting sleeve at the one end of the
cutter shaft abutts against a fixed collar on the latter, while at the other
end the cutter shaft has a collar capable of being moved along the shaft
and secured thereto in different positions by set screws, which collar 1
carries other screws which are made to press against the first follower
collar so as to clamp together the whole system of sleeves, follower
collars, and cutter discs after they have been adjusted to the proper
gauge.
c
Another part of the Invention has reference to an arrangement of a
guides to shearing machines having more than one cutter, whereby the
plate is guided straight through the machine while it is being cut. For
this purpose there is fixed at the back of the circular or other cutters
a guard plate carrying adjustable guards one in a line with each cutting
edge, so that the sheared strip of plate as it passes from between the
cutters passes between the side surfaces of the two guards. Upon
these surfaces are formed inclined projecting lips, underneath which the

page_text: sheared strip passes and is directed thereby between the grooves of two
adjustable guide rollers or blocks situated in a line with the guards upon
the guard plates, which rollers or blocks can be so adjusted as to give
a straight line direction to the sheared strip after it emerges from the
cutters, at the same time the two side portions that have been sheared
off the plate are caused to slide in an upward direction upon the inclined
upper edges of the guides, so as to pass above the before-mentioned
guide rollers.
Having thus set forth the nature of the said Invention, I will now
proceed more particularly to describe the manner of performing the
same.
On the accompanying Sheet of Drawings is shewn a shearing machine
with the before-described improvements applied thereto. Figure 1 shews
an elevation of the machine partly in section; Figure 2 shews an end
view of the same; Figure 3 shews a plan of the same to a smaller scale,
and Figure 4 shews a transverse section through the cutter shafts,
shewing an end view of the fixed collars and follower collars. Similar
letters of reference indicate similar parts in each of the Figures.
A, A, are the cutter shafts geared together by pinions B, B, and
mounted in the headstocks C, C, fixed to the bed plate D. Upon the
shafts A, A, are slid the sleeves E, E, fitting with grooves over the
feathers a, a, of the shafts. The sleeves E have screw threads formed
upon their outer surface as shewn, and upon them are screwed other
sleeves F, F, with internal screw threads. At one end of each sleeve F
is placed a follower collar G, which collars hold the cutter rings H
against the flanges e on the end of the sleeves E, the end cutter ring
being held by the collar G¹. Thus it will be seen that by screwing the
sleeves F more or less upon the sleeves E the spaces between the cutter
rings may be adjusted to the exact extent required. The right distances
between the cutters having thus been obtained the whole system is
clamped together by the screws I, I, screwing through the adjustable
collars J, J, and bearing against the collars G', while the end sleeves E¹
and F¹ bear against the fixed collars a¹, a', on the shafts A, A. The
adjustable collars J, are secured on the shafts A by means of set screws K
which enter into recesses a², a², formed on the shafts. Upon the guard
plate L are placed the guards M, M, adjusted in the slot 7 of the
guard plate to such positions that the end of the sheared strip of metal

page_text: which has been depressed by the shearing action of the cutters H shall
pass along the side surfaces of the guards under the lips m, m, and the
ends of the two contiguous sheets or strips which have been elevated by
the shearing action of the cutters shall pass along the surfaces m³, m³,
of the guards and be carried above the guide rollers N, N. The middle
strip thus described as passing along the surfaces of the guards M, M,
enters into the grooves of the guide rollers N, N, which rollers can be
so adjusted in the slot of the guard plate L, that a straight line
direction shall be given to the sheet or strip after it emerges from the
cutters, and it has been found practicable to shear up ordinary sheet
iron with the ordinary irregular edges as they come from the rolls of a
sheet mill (which edges do not afford any facility for guidance) into
straight parallel strips notwithstanding inequalities of thickness or
buckles in the plates, and notwithstanding inequalities of diameters or
unequal sharpness or irregular setting of the circular cutters at least
within the limits of their irregularities in practice. ` In place of the
guide rollers N grooves can be formed in guide blocks of metal, of
hardened steel for instance, but the construction described is preferred.
A similar disposition of guard plates and rollers or fixed guards may be
affixed to the back side of shears having reciprocating knives or cutters
as in ordinary plate shears, only with several cutters to shear two or
more parallel edges at once.
Having thus described the nature of this Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the combination of the before-described improvements as
shown on the accompanying Drawings, as it will be evident that each
part of the Invention may be employed separate and apart from the
other, but what I claim under the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is,―
First. The employment in rotary shearing machines of screw threaded
sleeves upon the cutter shafts for adjusting the rotary cutters arranged
and operating substantially in the manner herein-before set forth.
Second. The employment in shearing machines for slitting or trimming
plates of guide rollers or their equivalents at the back of the cutters,
operating in combination with elevating guards for carrying the con-

page_text: tiguous strips or shearings above the rollers in such manner as to cause
the plate to pass straight through the shears, substantially as herein-before
set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Walter Williams, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
WALTER WILLIAMS. (L.S.)