IMPROVEMENTS IN MA- CHINERY TO BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF STAIR RODS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Allcock, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Brassfounder, for the' Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MA-
CHINERY TO BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF STAIR RODS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Allcock at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 10th
August 1865!
I, THOMAS ALLCOCK, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Brass-
founder, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY TO BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF STAIR RODS," to be as
follows, that is to say :-
This Invention consists in the employment of a slide rest fitted with-
peculiar cutters, the forms of which cutters are exhibited in their several
views in the annexed Drawings, these cutters being by the action of the slide
rest brought to bear upon the ends of the rods, cut or turn such ends to the
requisite form to receive the tips. This operation has hitherto been per-
formed in an ordinary lathe with a single cutter worked by hand, involving
much loss of time and uncertainty of performance, but by the employment of
the slide and tools above named all irregularity of work and loss of time in
shifting the rods is avoided, at least one half the time being saved in per-
forming the operation.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Allcock in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
10th February 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
ALLCOCK, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Brassfounder, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight, hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Thomas Allcock, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas
Allcock, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Thomas Allcock, 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 terin 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 TO BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF STAIR
RODS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Allcock,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Thomas Allcock, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to
the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention consists in the employment in a lathe of a slide rest fitted
with peculiar cutters, the form of which cutters are exhibited in their several
views in the annexed Drawings, these cutters being by the action of the slide
rest brought to bear upon the ends of the rods cut or turn such ends to the
requisite form to receive the tips. This operation has hitherto been per-
formed in an ordinary lathe with a single cutter worked by hand, involving
much loss of time and uncertainty of performance, but by the employment of
the slide and tools above named all irregularity of work and loss of time in

page_text: shifting the rods is avoided, at least one half the time being saved in per-
forming the operation.
I will now proceed to describe the 'Invention more fully in detail by the aid
of the annexed Drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of the slide
rest and lathe fitted with the dies or cutters; Figure 2, a plan of the same;
Figures 3 and 4, detail views of the peculiar cutters or dies I prefer to
employ.
(a), (Figures 1 and 2), are the cutters fitted into the dovetailed slides (b),
which are fixed in corresponding grooves in the moveable jaws or castings (c),
forming the slide rest upon the bars (d), which jaws (c) are actuated by the
cam lever and handle (e); (f) are two uprights in one casting with an
arm (f), which serve to carry the main spindle (9), pullies (h), and the
mechanical parts lettered (i, i, i, i³, 1); (j) is a lever handle working to-
and fro upon a spindle (k), which is fixed in the casting (1), this casting (1)
being bolted on to the upright (f), as seen in plan; (j¹) are: pins screwed
through the arms of the handle (); (i) is a block piece fixed on the main
spindle and revolving, with it, grooved so as to receive the two jaws or
pincers (¹), these jaws being held in the grooves but working freely upon the
pins (m), passing through them and through the block piece (i), and provided
with adjustable teeth or pliers (³); the jaws (¹) are again jointed at (n) to
two short lever arms (i), which entering the boss (i), are held by set pins
(0); this boss (2) also revolves with the main spindle.
The operation of the machine is as follows:-(p) is a stair rod shewing
the end turned to the requisite form and held in position by the jaws (¹),
which, by their connection with the boss (2), are tightened or released at will,
the lever handle moving in one direction causing the pins (¹) to impinge
against the boss (2), the boss (3) thereby moving will cause the short armis
(i) to assume a more vertical line, and thus the jaws are drawn closer
together, whilst--the movement of the--handle in the opposite-direction
releases the jaws from their hold on the rod. The blank end of the rod
having been fixed in position the cutters are brought forward to meet it by
means of the cam lever handle (e), and having been tightened the driving
power is applied by any suitable gearing such as a band on the pullies (h)
passing down to a fly wheel below and acted upon by a treadle; thus the main
spindle revolves, and with the rod and jaws until the end is formed, when it
is taken out by the operator and the opposite end inserted, which when
operated upon and released can readily pass out at the other end (9) of the
spindle by means of a slight push, the spindle being hollow through its whole
length.

page_text: Figures 3 and 4 shew detail views, full size, of the cutters or dies; those
shewn in (Figure 3) are formed of two independent pieces of metal, which
arrangement facilitates the manufacture of the dies, and also enables them to
be more readily replaced in the event of new ones being required.
It will be obvious that other forms of cutters beside those exhibited in the
accompanying Drawings may be employed to produce a different end or tip to
the rod.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be carried into effect, I claim, without limiting myself
to these precise details, the improvements in machinery to be used in the
manufacture of stair rods, consisting in the application to the slide rest of a
lathe of cutters or tools peculiarly formed to turn the ends of stair rods,
substantially as herein more fully set forth and specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Allcock,, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
THOMAS (L.S.) ALLCOCK.