IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PECKS, HOES, ADZES, AND OTHER EDGE TOOLS, AND LIKE ARTICLES, AND IN TOOLS AND MACHINERY TO BE USED IN THE SAID MANUFACTURE, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS IN TOOLS AND MACHINERY MAY ALSO BE APPLIED TO THE FORGING, STAMPING, PRESSING, AND PUNCHING OF METALS FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES."
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Richard Postlethwaite, of Aston, near Birmingham,
in the County of Warwick, Mechanical Engineer, for an Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PECKS, HOES, ADZES, AND OTHER
EDGE TOOLS, AND LIKE ARTICLES, AND IN TOOLS AND MACHINERY TO BE
USED IN THE SAID MANUFACTURE, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS IN TOOLS
AND MACHINERY MAY ALSO BE APPLIED TO THE FORGING, STAMPING,
PRESSING, AND PUNCHING OF METALS FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Georgo Richard Postlethwaite
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 10th September 1880.
GEORGE RICHARD POSTLETHWAITE, of Aston, near Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Mechanical Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE of
PECKS, HOES, ADZES, AND OTHER EDGE TOOLS, AND LIKE ARTICLES, AND IN
TOOLS AND MACHINERY TO BE USED IN THE SAID MANUFACTURE, PARTS OF
WHICH IMPROVEMENTS IN TOOLS AND MACHINERY MAY ALSO BE APPLIED TO
THE FORGING, STAMPING, PRESSING, AND PUNCHING OF METALS FOR VARIOUS
PURPOSES."
My improvements in, and tools and machinery for, the manufacture of pecks,
hoes, adzes, and other edge tools, and like articles, have referenco principally to the
making of those parts of the said pecks and other articles called the eyes, that is to
say, the holes or openings in which the wooden or other handles of the said pecks
and other articles are inserted, as well as to the shaping or fashioning of the exterior
parts of the said eyes, such as the necks, shoulders, ribs, and poles, and also to the
partial plating of the blades.
in
I will describe any improvements in the manufacture of a peck eye in conjunction
with my improvements in tools and machinery used in the said manufacture.
Instead of using a thick piece of iron and forming a lump in its middle from
which the eye is to be fashioned I use a thin piece of bar iron, the width of which
is to bo regulated by the outside size of the eye to be formed. I take this piece of
bar iron and place it edgwise vertically between a pair of squeezing tools worked
in the machine herein after described, and by the operation of the said tools the
ends of the bar of iron are reduced in width but increased in thickness, leaving the
middle part of the original width and thickness. The blank thus formed is operated

page_text: upon by a second pair of tools, consisting of a bottom tool or box die having the
exact size and shape of the outside of the peck eye, and a top compound tool,
consisting of a punch and a compressor. The punch is so constructed that as it
first descends upon the heated blank it forces the middle part of the said blank
into the box dic, thinning and compressing the metal against the sides of the said
box die, the extremities of the outer edges of the metal remaining at the top of
the box die, no rising of the metal out of the said box die taking place. The
continued descent of the upper tool causes its bottom end, which is provided with
a cutting shoulder, to pierce or cut out the bottom of the partly made eye. The
compressor or flattening tool of the compound upper tool now comes into action,
and simultaneously or nearly so with the piercing out of the bottom of the eye,
the said compressor or flattening tool operates upon the metal of the thick ends of
the blank, compressing the said ends around the upper part of the punch. The eye
is thereby formed, the lowor part from the thin middle part of the blank and the
upper part from the thick ends of the blank. The eye is finished by operating upon
it by means of one or more pairs of clipping tools for cutting off a slight burr or
fraize around the exterior of the pock cyc.
In some edge tools where very short necks are required the preliminary squeezing
of the blank is not necessary. During the fashioning of the eyo the hoc blade may
-be-partly-formed-and-the-rib-also-formed;-thereby-diminishing the labour in the=
plating of the blade.
In order to firmly fix and accurately adjust the lower box dies and tools on the
bed plate of the machine, I construct the said bed plate with dovetail cavities or
grooves extending from front-to-back of the machine,-and-I-give-to-the-sides-of-
the box dies and tools the same inclination as the sides of the dovetail grooves, but
the width of the said dies and tools is considerably less than the width of the
said dovetail grooves.
A tapering figure is also given to the box dies and tools in
the direction of their length. This construction of the lower tools or box dies
permits of the insertion of a taper or wedge shaped key or cotter on each side of
the die box, the taper given to the said cotters and to the die box corresponding.
For the purpose of tightening up the die box the screwed shanks of the taper keys
or cotters project beyond the front end of the bed plato and upon the screwed
shanks screw nuts are screwed. A fixed clip plate is made to cross the dovetail
opening in the bed plate and through holes in the said clip plate the screwed shanks
of the taper keys or wedges pass. By screwing up the screw nuts on the taper
keys or wedges against the said clip plate, the die box or tool may be tightened up
and adjusted to the required degree. In order to prevent the drawing forward of
the die box or tool during the screwing up of the taper wedges, a screw is used at
the middle of the cross clip plate, and is made to act as a stop to the die box or
tool. My improvements in machinery to be used for working the moveable punches
or tools herein before described, and other tools, consist of the construction and
combination of parts herein after described for throwing into and out of action the
working slides or tool holders without stopping the machinery.
I will describe this part of my Invention in connection with one of the connecting
rods and slides or tool holders of machinery in which two or more connecting rods
and slides are combined in the same machine and worked from the same eccentric
shaft. Instead of employing a swinging block capable of being interposed between
or removed from between the connecting rod and the slide or tool holder for throwing
the slide or tool holder into and out of action, as described and represented in the
Specification of Letters Patent granted to me on the 22nd day of November 1878,
No. 4763, I dispense with the said swinging block, and construct the connecting
rod and slide and connect them together and disconnect them from one another in
the manner herein after described.
By my present improvements the action of the machinery is made very efficient,
ite working is simplified, and its height much reduced.
I construct the connecting rod, which is worked by the eccentric shaft of the
machine, with a cheek plate on each side, the said cheek plates projecting laterally

page_text: on the front side of the machine and downwards below the bottom end of the
connecting rod. In theso checks vertical slots opposite one another are made. Each
of these vertical slots opens at bottom into a nearly horizontal slot. The said
horizontal slots are not straight but are curved, the curvature of the slots being
struck from the centre of the eccentric shaft on which the connecting rod works.
The slide or tool holder is secured to the connecting rod by means of a pin or axis
passed through the upper part of the slido or tool holder and working in the
curved slots described in the side cheeks of the connecting rod. The closed end of
the curved compound slot and the junction of the curved slot with the vertical
slot have the required curvature of the pin or axis described to set itself in. When
the pin or axis is situated at the closed end of the curved slot, the connecting rod
and slide or tool holder are brought into the samo vertical line, the bottom of the
connecting rod bearing against the curved top of the slide, and the two parts
move together. When however the pin or axis is situated at the open end of tho
curved slot, that is, at the junction of the curved slot with the vertical slot, the slide
and connecting rod are no longer in the same vertical line, and the motion of the
connecting rod is not communicated to the slide, tho vertical slots in the cheeks of
the connecting rod acting as guide slots and working upon the cross pin or axis in
the top of the slide. The length of the curved compound slot is just sufficient to
allow of the bottom end of the connecting rod to clear the top of the slide or tool
holder. When the slide is disconnected from the connecting rod, the said slide is
supported in its highest position in the manner hereinafter explained.
In order to give the connecting rod one or other of the two positions described,
so as to connect it with or disconnect it from the side, I use a pair of side weighted
levers, rigidly connected together and made to turn as a centro on the cross pin on
which the curved slot works. The upper arms of the lovers are connected togother
by a cross pin passed through the vertical slots in the checks of the connecting rod.
On the last named pin a handle is fixed, the said handle passing between the
projecting cheeks of the connecting rod. The lower arms or extremities of the
levers are curved, and on their extreme ends a counterbalance weight is fixed, the
said weight being sufficiently heavy to bring the side lovers, when at liberty to move,
into a nearly vertical position. When the levers are in this position the connecting
rod does not operate the slide and the latter is at rest. When the slide is at rest
the position of the side levers is such that their lower parts take a bearing on snugs
or projections on the fixed standards of the machine. The slide is thereby
supported in its highest position. The position of the second or handle pin in the
vertical slot with respect to the fulcrum or lower pin in the curved slot is such that
when the slide is at rest the parts are locked, and the connecting rod cannot become
accidentally engaged with the slide. When it is wished to engage the connecting
rod with the slide the handle is pulled down; the connecting rod is thereby moved
on its fulcrum pin and the closed end of the curved slot made to engage with the
said pin, and the connecting rod is rigidly connected with the upper part of the
slide. The slide now rises and falls with the connecting rod. The change of
position of the levers removes their lower arms from the fixed props or projections
and the slide is no longer supported. On releasing the handle it rises by the
action of the weighted levers, and the slide is brought to rest without stopping the
machinery.
The construction and arrangements of parts described for fixing and adjusting
the dies or tools on the bed of the machinery, and for throwing into and out of
action the working slides or tool holders without stopping the machinery, may be
applied to machinery for forging, stamping, pressing, and punching metals for
various purnoses.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said George Richard Postlethwaite in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 26th February 1881.
GEORGE RICHARD POSTLETHWAITE, of Aston, near Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Mechanical Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
PECKS, HOES, ADZES, AND OTHER EDGE TOOLS AND LIKE ARTICLES, AND IN
TOOLS AND MACHINERY TO BE USED IN THE SAID MANUFACTURE, PARTS OF
WHICH IMPROVEMENTS IN TOOLS AND MACHINERY MAY ALSO BE APPLIED TO
THE FORGING, STAMPING, PRESSING, AND PUNCHING OF METALS, FOR VARIOUS
PURPOSES."
My improvements in, and tools and machinery for, the manufacture of pecks, hoes,
adzes, and other edge tools and like articles, have reference principally to the
making of those parts of the said pecks and other articles called the eyes, that is to
say, the holes or openings in which the wooden or other handles of the said pecks
and other articles are inserted, as well as to the shaping or fashioning of the
exterior parts of the said eyes, such-as-the-necks, shoulders, ribs, and poles, and
also to the partial plating of the blades.
from
I-will-describe.my improvements in the manufacture of a peck eye in conjunction
with my improvements in tools and machinery used in the said manufacture
Instead of using a thick piece of iron-and-forming-a-lump_in_its_middle
which the eye is to be fashioned, I use a thin piece of bar iron, the width of which
is to be regulated by the outside size of the eye to be formed. I take this piece of
bar iron and place it edgewise vertically between a pair of squeezing tools worked
in the machine heroin after described, and by the operation of the said tools the
ends of the bar of iron are reduced in width, but increased in thickness, leaving
the middle part of the original width and thickness. The blank thus formed is
operated upon by a second pair of tools, consisting of a bottom tool or box dic, having
the exact size and shape of the outside of the peck eye and a top compound tool,
consisting of a punch and a compressor. The punch is so constructed that as it
first descends upon the beated blank it forces the middle part of the said blank
into the box die, spreading and compressing the metal against the sides of the said
box die, the extremities of the outer edges of the metal remaining at the top of the
box die, no rising of the metal out of the said box die taking place. The continued
descent of the upper tool causes its bottom end, which is provided with a cutting
shoulder, to pierce or cut out the bottom of the partly made eye.
The compressor or flattening tool of the compound upper tool now comes into
action, and simultaneously or nearly so with the piercing out of the bottom of the
eye, the said compressor or flattening tool operates upon the metal of the thick
ends of the blank, compressing the said ends around the upper part of the punch.
The eye is thereby formed, the lower part from the thin middle part of the blank,
and the upper part from the outer edges of the blank.
The eye is finished by operating upon it by means of a pair of clipping tools for
cutting off a slight burr or fraizo around the exterior or upper part of the peck
cye.
In order to firmly fix and accurately adjust the lower box dies and tools on the
bed plate of the machine, I construct the said bed plate with dovetail cavities or
grooves extending from front to back of the machine, and I give to the sides of the
box dies and tools the same inclination as the sides of the dovetail grooves, but the
width of the said dies and tools is considerably less than the width of the said
dovetail grooves. A tapering figure is also given to the box dies and tools in the
direction of their length. This construction of the lower tools or box dies permits
of the insertion of a taper or wedge shaped key or cotter on each side of the die

page_text: box, the taper given to the said cotters and to the die box corresponding. For the
purpose of tightening up the die box, the screwed shanks of the taper keys or
cotters project beyond the front end of the bed plate, and upon the screwed shanks
screw nuts are screwed. A clip plate is made to cross the dovetail opening in the
bed plate, and through holes in the said clip plate the screwed shanks of the taper
keys or wedges pass.
By screwing up the screw nuts on the taper keys or wedges against the said clip
plate, the die box or tool may be tightened up and adjusted to the required degree.
In order to prevent the drawing forward of the die box or tool during the screwing
up of the taper wedges, a screw is used at the middle of the cross clip plate, and is
made to act as a stop to the die box or tool.
My improvements in machinery to be used for working the moveable punches or
tools herein before described, and other tools, consist of the construction and com-
bination of parts herein after described for throwing into and out of action the
working slides or tool holders without stopping the machinery.
I will describe this part of any Invention in connection with one of the connecting
rods and slides or tool holders of machinery in which two or more connecting rods
and slides are combined in the same machine, and worked from the samo eccentric
shaft. Instead of employing a swinging block capable of being interposed between
or removed from between the connecting rod and the slide or tool holder for
throwing the slide or tool holder into and out of action, as described and represented
in the Specification of Letters Patent granted to mo on the 22nd day of November
1878, No. 4763, I dispense with the said swinging block, and construct the con-
necting rod and slide, and connect them together, and disconnect them from one
another in the manner herein after described.
By my present improvements the action of the machinery is made very efficient,
its working is simplified, and its height much reduced.
I construct the connecting rod, which is worked by the eccentric cam or crank
shaft of the machine, with a check plate on each side, the said cheek plates
projecting laterally on the front side of the machine and downwards below the
bottom end of the connecting rod. In these checks vertical slots opposite ono
another are made. Each of these vertical slots opens at bottom into a nearly
horizontal slot. The said horizontal slots are not straight but are curved, the
curvature of the slots being struck from the centre of the eccentric shaft on which
the connecting rod works. The slide or tool holder is secured to the connecting
rod by means of a pin or axis passed through the upper part of the slide or tool
holder, and working in the curved slots described in the side checks of tho
connecting rod. The closed end of the curved compound slot and the junction or
the curved slot with the vertical slot have the required curvature for the pin or
axis described to seat itself in. When the pin or axis is situated at the closed end
of the curved slot, the connecting rod and slide or tool holder are brought into the
same vertical line, the bottom of the connecting rod bearing against the curved top
of the slide, and the two parts move together. When however the pin or axis is
situated at the open end of the curved slot, that is, at the junction of the curved
slot with the vertical slot, the slide and connecting rod are no longer in the same
vertical line, and the motion of the connecting rod is not communicated to the slide,
the vertical slots in the cheeks of the connecting rod acting as guide slots and
working upon the cross pin or axis in the top of the slide. The length of the
curved compound slot is just sufficient to allow of the bottom end of the connecting
rod to clear the top of the slide or tool holder. When the slide is disconnected
from the connecting rod, the said slide is supported in its highest position in the
manner herein after described.
In order to give the connecting rod one or other of the two positions described,
so as to connect it with or disconnect it from the slide, I use a pair of side weighted
levers rigidly connected together and made to turn as a centre on the cross pin on
which the curved slot works. The upper arms of the levers are connected together
by a cross pin passed through the vertical slots in the cheeks of the connecting rod.

page_text: On the last named pin a handle is fixed, the said handle passing between the
projecting cheeks of the connecting rod. The lower arms or extremities of the
levers are curved, and on their extreme ends a counterbalanco weight is fixed, the
said weight being sufficiently heavy to bring the side levers, when at liberty to
move, into a nearly vertical position. When the levers are in this position the
connecting rod does not operate the slide, and the latter is at rest. When the
slide is at rest the position of the side levers is such that their lower parts take a
bearing on snugs or projections on the fixed standards of the machine. The slide is
thereby supported in its highest position. The position of the second or handle pin
in the vertical slot, with respect to the fulcrum or lower pin in the curved slot, is
such that when the slide is at rest the parts are locked, and the connecting rod
cannot become accidentally engaged with the slide. When it is wished to engage
the connecting rod with the slide the handle is pulled down, the connecting rod is
thereby moved on its fulcrum pin, and the closed end of the curved slot made to
engage with the said pin, and the connecting rod is rigidly connected with the
upper part of the slide. The slide now rises and falls with the connecting rod.
The change of position of the levers removes their lower arms from the fixed props
or projections, and the slide is no longer supported. On releasing the handle it
rises by the action of the weighted levers, and the slide is brought to rest without
stopping-the-machinery.-
I will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings the
manner in which my Invention is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in edge view the squeezed or fashioned bar or blank of iron
-from-which-the-peck-eye-is-to-be-made,-and-Figure-2-represents-in-section-the-pair-
of squeezing tools, which I employ for squeezing the said bar or blank, a broadside
view of the shaped blank being represented between the closed tools. In fashioning
the bar or blank, Figure 1, 1 take a piece of flat bar iron having the thickness
shown at a, Figure 1, and of a width required by the size of the eye to be made.
Having heated the bar it is placed edgewise vertically between the squeezing
tools d, e, when in the position Figure 6, and the upper tool d is allowed to descend.
By the operation of the said tools d, e, the ends b, b, of the flat bar of iron are
reduced in width but increased in thickness, leaving the middle part a of the
original width and thickness, as shown in the edge view of the prepared blank
Figure 1, and the face or broadside of the said blank between the squeezing
dies d, e, Figure 2.
In order to form the peck eye from the blank, Figure 1, I operate upon it while
still in a heated state by the pair of shaping tools represented in section in Figure 3,
and subsequently by the pair of clipping tools, the lower or fixed tool of which pair
of tools is shown in plan in Figure 4, and longitudinal section in Figure 5. The
squeezing tools, the shaping tools, and clipping tools are also represented drawn to
a smaller scale in the inachine represented in side elevation, partly in section, in
Figure 6, and the shaping tools are represented in the vertical sections of the
machine in Figures 7 and 8. The lower tool of the shaping tools, Figure 3, is
represented in plan drawn half full size in Figure 9 in conjunction with my
improved fixing and adjusting appliances.
The shaping tools represented in Figures 3, 6, 7, 8, and 9, consist of a bottom
tool or box dief having the exact size and shape of the outside of the peck eye to
be made, and of a top compound tool h, i, connected to and worked by the slide or
tool holder g of the machine. The said tool or box die fis bottomless, and has an
inner edge or ledge at f, and from the said edge or ledge f² the opening is
continued, increasing in width to the bottom of the tool or die, as represented. The
said compound upper tool consists of a punch and a compressing or flattening
tool, the said punch h having the shape and size of the inside of the peck eye to
be made. The compressor or compressing tool i is not connected rigidly to the
slide or holder g, but is connected by the springs k, l, seen in Figures 7 and 8, to
the fixed guides L, 1, of the tool holder g, for the purpose hereinafter explained. At
the bottom of the punch h is a cutting shoulder p. The heated blank, Figure 1,

page_text: being placed on the box die f with the thin part a over the opening in the die box,
and the thick parts b, b, in the depressions on opposite sides of the said opening,
the upper die or tool h, i, in the position represented in Figure 7 is allowed to
descend. On the descent of the punch its conical shaped end forces the said thin
part a of the blank into the box die f, spreading and compressing the metal against
the sides of the box die, and thereby forming a cup or cavity, the extremities of
the outer edges of the blank remaining at the top of the box die, no rising of the
metal out of the box die taking place. As the punch h continues to descend in the
box dief, its cutting shoulder p acting against the inner edge or shoulder f³ of
the die box f pierces or cuts out the bottom of the cup or cavity, and thereby
completes the eye at one stroke.
The compressor or flattening tool i now comes into action, and simultaneously or
nearly so with the cutting out of the bottom of the eye, the said compressor
operates upon the upper part of the metal and of the thick ends b, b, of the blank,
Figure 1, compressing the said metal around the upper part of the punch h, as
illustrated in Figure 3. The eye of tho peck is thereby formed at one operation
from the thin middle part a of the blank, and the ends of the peck from the thick
ends b, b, of the blank. As the slide g of the machine makes its upward stroke,
the peck eye adheres to and is carried up with the punch h, and in order to
liberate the eye from the punch the compressor i is made to act as a knocker off,
that is to say, as the punch h ascends, the projecting ends 1, 2, of the compre-sor i
strike against the fixed guide plates 1, l, of the machine (see Figures 7 and 8),
thereby arresting the motion of the said compressor, the punch continuing its
upward motion. The compressor i is supported in the position Figure 7 by the
springs h, k, attached to the said compressor, and to the fixed guide plates L, L.
the punch is drawn through the now stationary compressor i, the peck eye is
stripped from off it.
As
The eye formed in the manner described while still in a heated state is operated
upon by the pair of clipping tools m, n, represented in the machine, Figure 6, and
the lower clipping tool m is represented half full size in plan in Figure 4, and
section in Figure 5. By the use of the tools m, n, the slight burr or fiu around the
exterior of the peck eye is removed.
I of
The lower clipping tool m is composed of two cutters m³, m², forming between
them an opening of the exact size and outline of the exterior of the eye to be
clipped, and the upper clipping tool n connected with the slide or tool holder
the machine has a figure the counterpart of that of the lower tool m. The peck eye
having been placed in the lower tool m, the upper tool n is brought down upon the
said peck eye, which is thereby forced through the lower tool m, and the exterior
of the peck eye thereby clipped.
In making the eyes of hoes and other similar articles, I employ the tools and
processes described for inaking peck eyes, excepting that the box dies f have a
shape given to them corresponding to the shape of the exterior of the hoe and other
eyes to be made, but in every case, where the exterior of the eye follows the
internal shape of the hole of the oye, the box dies are used without bottoms, and
are provided internally with a ledge or shoulder for the lodgment of the metal, and
for determining the thickness of the metal around the bottom of the eye, the said
ledge or shoulder also forming the cutting edge for the cutting shoulder of the punch
to act against, as before described.
In some edge tools and similar articles the preliminary squeezing of the blank is
not necessary, and, during the formation of the eyes of hoes, the hoe blade may be
partly formed, as well as the ribs and poles fashioned.
The lower box die and tools e, f, m, are fixed and adjusted on the bed of the
machine, in the manuer seen in the front elevation of the machine, Figure 6, and
the half full size plan view of a portion of the machine in Figure 9. The bed
plate g of the machine is formed with dovetail cavities or grooves q, q², extending
from front to back of the machine, and the sides of the box die and tools e, f, m,
have the same inclination given to them as the sides of the dovetail grooves q², q³,

page_text: in the bed plate q. A tapering figure is also given to the dies or tools in the
direction of their length, as seen in the full size plan of the tool f, Figure 9.
Between the sides of the box die or tool and the sides of the groove q³ of the bed
plate g, screwed taper keys or wedges 7, 7, are placed (see Figure 9) the taper of
the said keys or wedges corresponding with the sides of the box dic or tool. 5
Crossing the end of the dovetail opening 92 in the bed plate q is a clip plate 8,
through which the screwed ends of the keys or wedges r pass, screw nuts, being
placed on the projecting screwed ends of the said keys or wedges. By screwing up
the screw nuts against the clip plates the box die or tool f (or the other box dies
or tools) may be adjusted to the required position. In the middle of the clip plate 8
is a screw pin t, which acts as a stop to prevent the drawing forward of the box die
or tool during the screwing up of the taper keys or wedges 7, 7.
1
In order to place and adjust the box die or tool on the bed plate of the machine,
the screw nuts, are removed from the keys or wedges 7, 1, and the clip plate s
is also removed. The box die or tool is now placed in the dovetail groove q³ in the
bed plate near the place where it is required to be fixed. The wedges 2, 7, are next
pushed up between the sides of the box die or tool and the dovetail groove, and the
clip plates is restored to its place, and the screw nuts screwed on the projecting
ends of the keys or wedges. The slide or tool holder carrying the upper tool is next
brought down upon the lower die or tool. By tightening or slackening one or 2
other or both of the wedges 7,7, the box die or tool may be adjusted and fixed laterally
with great nicety; and by means of the screw pin t the adjustment of the box die
or tool in the direction of its length_may_be_effected with great.nicety.
The arrangement for throwing the working slides or upper tool holders into and
out of gear without stopping the machine is represented in connection with the 2
right band slide of the machine, Figure 6, and in the vertical sections in Figures
7 and 8. In Figures 6 and 7 the slide g is represented thrown out of action, and
in Figure 8 in action."
u is the connecting rod of the machine worked by the eccentric or crank shaft v
in the usual way. On each side of the connecting rod u is a cheek plate u³, having 3
the shape best seen in Figures 7 and 8. In each of the said cheeks u² and opposite
each other, is a vertical slot u³ which opens into a curved slot u, the curved slot
being struck from the centre of the eccentric or crank shaft v; w is a pin passing
through the upper part of the tool holder or slide g, and working in the curved
slots u, u, in the side checks u², u, of the connecting rod u. It is by means of 3
the cross pin w that the slide or tool holder g is secured to the connecting rod u.
By an examination of Figures 7 and 8, it will be seen that the closed end of the
curved slot and the junction of the curved slot, with the vertical slot u³ have tho
required curvature for the pin or axis w to seat itself in. When the pin or axis w
is situated at the closed end of the curved slot ut, as represented in Figure 8, the
connecting rod u and slide or tool holder g are brought into the same line, and the
two parts u, g, move together. When the connecting rod is so moved, by tho
appliances hereinafter described, that the pin or axis wis situated at the junction
of the curved slot u with the vertical slot u³, as illustrated in Figure 7, the slide g
and connecting rod u are no longer in the same vertical liuc, and the notion of the 4
said connecting rod u is not communicated to the slide g, the vertical slots u³, u³,
in the cheeks u, u², of the connecting rod acting as guide slots, and working upon
the cross pin or axis win the top of the slide or tool holder g. The slide or tool
holder g, when disconnected from the connecting rod u, is supported in its highest
position by the mechanism hereinafter explained.
It will be scen by reference to Figure 7 that the length of the curved compound
slot us, is just sufficient to allow of the bottom end of the connecting rod u, when
in the position Figure 7, to clear in its vibratory motion, the top of the slide or
tool holder g.
The arrangement of parts for moving the connecting rod u into the position 5
represented in Figure 7, or into that represented in Figure 8, is as follows:-
x, x, are side weighted levers rigidly connected together and made to turn on the

page_text: cross pin was a centre. The upper arms of the levers x, x, are connected together
by the cross pin or bolt y passed through the vertical slots us, u³, in the cheeks of
the connecting rod u, the square parts y of the said cross pin or bolt y fitting in
the said levers in the manner represented in Figures 7 and 8, so that the said pin y
and levers x, x, are rigidly connected together. On the middle of the pin ya
handle y³ is fixed, the said handle passing between the projecting checks u², u²,
of the connecting rod u. The lower arms or extremities of the lovers x, x, are
curved, and the extreme curved seats are furnished with a counterbalance weight y'
sufficiently heavy to bring the side levers x, x, when at liberty to move into the
vertical position represented in Figure 7, in which position the slide or tool holder g
is disconnected from the connecting rod, and the side levers take a bearing on
snugs or projections on the fixed guides I, 1, of the machine, and support the said
slide or tool holder in its highest position. By an examination of Figure 7 it will
be seen that when the handle y³ and side levers x, a, are in the positions last
described, the parts are locked, and the connecting rod u cannot become accidentally
engaged with the slide or tool holder g.
In order to engage the connecting rod u with the slide g after the adjustment of
the tool or after the introduction of the material to be operated upon, and when
the eccentric or crank working the said connecting rod is at its highest point, the
attendant pulls down the handle ys, thereby moving tho parts u, u, x, x, y, y², y³,
from the position represented in Figure 7 to that represented in Figure 8, that
is to say, the connecting rod u is moved on the pin and the closed end of the
curved slot u made to engage with the said pin, the cross pin or bolt y of the side
weighted levers x, x, at the same timo descending in the vertical slots u³ and
seating itself at the junction of the said vertical slots with the curved slots u'.
The same motion removes the lower parts of the side levers x, x, from the fixed
props or projections, and the slide or tool holder is no longer supported. The
connecting rod u is by the change of position described connected with the upper
part of the slide or tool holder g, and the latter rises and falls with the connecting
rod.
When it is wished to arrest the motion of the slide or tool holder the handle y³
(which may be temporarily locked in any convenient way) is loosed, when the
weight y' on the side lovers x, x, raises the said handle, and levers, and other parts
into the positions represented in Figure 7, thereby disconnecting the slide or tool
holder g from the connecting rod u without stopping the machine and supporting
the said slide or tool holder in its highest position.
The construction and arrangement of parts, hereinbefore described and illustrated
in the accompanying Drawings, for fixing and adjusting the dies or tools on the bed
of the machinery and for throwing into and out of action the working slides or
tool holders without stopping the machinery, may be applied to machinery for
forging, stamping, pressing, and punching metals for various purposes.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I claim as my
Invention of "Improvements in the Manufacture of Pecks, Hoes, Adzes, and other
Edge Tools and like Articles, and in Tools and Machinery to be used in the said
Manufacture, Parts of which Improvements in Tools and Machinery may also be
Applied to the Forging, Stamping, Pressing, and Punching of Metals for Various
Purposes,"
-
First. Making the eyes of pecks, hoes, adzes, and other edge tools and like
articles, together with their necks, shoulders, ribs, and poles from blanks or shaped
bars of iron, having the sectional form represented in Figures 1 and 2 of the
accompanying Drawings, or from flat bars of iron by the process or combination
of processes, hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9
of the accompanying Drawings.
Secondly. The construction of the tools, herein before described and illustrated
in Figures 3, 6, 7, 8, and 9 of the accompanying Drawings, to be used for making
the eyes of pecks, hoes, adzes, and other edge tools and like articles, whereby the

page_text: eye is fashioned and the bottom cut out at one operation, that is to say, the
construction of the bottomless box die or tool f, having an internal ledge and
cutting shoulder and the shouldered conical punch 1, and the combination with
the said shouldered conical punch of the compressor or compressing tool i, for the
purpose and substantially as herein before described and illustrated; also the
clipping tools for removing burr or fraize from the exterior of the eyes, represented
in Figures 4, 5, and 6.
Thirdly. The construction and combination of parts, herein before described and
represented in Figures 6 and 9 of the accompanying Drawings, for fixing and
adjusting the lower box dies and other tools on the bed plates of machinery for the
manufacture of pecks, hoes, adzes, and other edge tools and like articles, and for
forging, stamping, pressing, and punching metals for various purposes.
Lastly. The construction and combination of parts, hereinbefore described and
illustrated in Figures 6, 7, and 8 of the accompanying Drawings, for throwing into
and out of action without stopping the machinery the working slides or tool
holders of machinery for the manufacture of pecks, hoes, adzes, and other edge
tools and like articles, and for forging, stamping, pressing, and punching metals for
various purposes, that is to say, constructing the bottom end of the connecting rod
worked by the eccentric, or cam, or crank shaft of the machinery, with slotted side
cheeks of the kind described and illustrated, and connecting the slide or tool holder
-to-the-said-connecting-rod-by-means-of-a-cross-pin-or-axis,-upon-which-the-curved
slots in the connecting rod may be moved for throwing the said connecting rod
into or out of action with the slide or tool holder, the several parts being
constructed-and-operating-substantially-as-described-and-illustrated-;-also-the-
_combination_of_parts, described_and_illustrated,_for_moving_the_connecting_rod_
either into its acting or non-acting position, and for supporting the slide or tool
holder in its highest position when disconnected from the connecting rod of the
machinery.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Richard Postlethwaite, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty fourth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
GEORGE RICHARD POSTLETHWAITE. (L.S.)
37, Temple Street,
Birmingham..