Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 14th May, 1888
Complete Specification Left, 11th Feb., 1889
Complete Specification Accepted, 13th Apr., 1889
UT DalID.
I, WALTER Coor of number 41 Little Lonsdale Street East in the City of Melbourne
and Colony of Victoria, Lead Worker, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
This invention consists of an improved method of and apparatus for manufacturing
lead shot or balls from sheet lead instead of casting them as ordinarily. Thus I take
a sheet of lead of any convenient width and of a thickness fully equal to the diameter
of the shot or balls to be manufactured and this sheet of lead I feed to a punching
machine which is furnished with one or more lines of steel punches and dies and with
an intermittent feed motion which feeds the sheet of lead onwards immediately
The
the line of punches has in its upward stroke cleared each line of holes.
punchings or pieces of lead which are ejected through the dies are delivered
to a box or receptacle underneath. The under end of the punches I form concave or
semispherical and so by this means during the process of punching they also compress
or stamp the top ends of the punchings into a semi-spherical form while the bottom
ends of the punchings are rounded by reason of their bulging out during the process
of punching. These lead punchings are then placed in a metal barrel or cylinder
having agitating arms within it and this barrel is rotated in one direction while the
spindle upon which it revolves and which also has agitating arms on it is rotated in a
reverse direction so that the punchings therein are agitated and rubbed one upon the
other until they are formed sufficiently spherical when they are transferred to another
plain rotating barrel in which the shot or balls are sufficiently polished or brightened
to complete their manufacture.

page_text: Instead of these punchings I may use short lengths of lead wire or sheet lead
cut into strips and then into short lengths but I prefer to use the punchings as already
described. The lead wire in strips should be of a thickness fully the diameter of the
shot to be produced.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Method of and Apparatus for Manufacturing Lead Shot
or Balls.
I WALTER Coop of Number 41 Little Lonsdale Street East, in the City of
Melbourne, and Colony of Victoria, Lead Worker, 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 :-
This invention consists of an improved method of and apparatus for manufacturing
lead shot or balls from sheet lead instead of casting them as ordinarily. Thus I take
a sheet of lead of any convenient width and of a thickness fully equal to the diameter
of the shot or balls to be manufactured and this sheet of lead I feed to a punching
machine which is furnished with one or more lines of steel punches and dies and with
an intermittent feed motion which feeds the sheet of lead onwards immediately the
line of punches has in its upward stroke cleared each line of holes. The punchings or
pieces of lead which are ejected through the dies are delivered to a box or receptacle
underneath. The underend of the punches I form concave or semi-spherical and so by
this means during the process of punching they also compress or stamp the top end
33
3:
of the " punchings into a semi-spherical form while the bottom end of the
"punchings are rounded by reason of their bulging out during the process of
punching. These lead punchings are then placed in a metal barrel or cylinder having
agitating arms within it and this barrel is rotated in one direction while the spindle
upon which it revolves and which also has agitating arms on it is rotated in a reverse
direction so that the punchings therein are agitated and rubbed one upon the other
until they are formed sufficiently spherical when they are transferred to another plain
rotating barrel in which the 'shot or balls are sufficiently polished or brightened to
complete their manufacture.

page_text: As an alternative for the barrel or cylinder with agitating arms I may
the barrel of a square or polygonal section and without agitating arms.
construct
In order that my invention may be well understood. I will now describe it with refer-
ence to the accompanying sheets of drawings which shew the various apparatus used.in
manufacturing the shot or balls,-
Figure 1 being an elevation of the feed gear side of the punching machine, and
Figure 2 an elevation of its opposite side showing the line of punches.
Figure 3 is a sectional elevation looking from the line a a Figure 1 towards the
feed gear.
Figure
is a plan of the underside of the line of punches shewing it attached
to its sliding block.
Figure 5 is a side view of the eccentric rod for connecting the main shaft with
the sliding block.
Figure 6 is an enlarged view of a few of the line of punches shewing them
secured to their supporting bar and shewing also the semi-spherical cavity at their
lower ends.
Figure 7 shews one of the lead punchings as delivered from the punching machine.
Figure 7 a strip of sheet lead the one end of which has several lines of punchings
taken from it.
Figure 8 is a part side elevation and a part central section of the shot or ball rounding
machine, and
Figure 9 a sectional elevation of it looking endwise from the line bin Figure 8.
Fig. 10 shews that the intermittent feed rollers may be replaced by rotary cutters
for cutting the lead into strips when they would be cut off into cubical pieces by shears
which would replace the line of punches and the die plate; while
Fig. 11 shews a plan of a cutter which would cut the sheet lead into cubical pieces
in the one operation without its being previously cut into strips such cutter also
taking the place of the line of punches of the punching machine.
In Figures 1 to 7 which shew the several views and details of the punching machine.
A are the punches secured as shewn to the bar A' which is held by the pinching
screws B' in position below the under surface of the sliding block B. C is the die plate for
the line of punches secured to the bed plate (. The die plate C has a guide plate C
for the punches secured to it with a space between them just sufficient to admit the
thickness of sheet lead which is to be punched. The punches A are hollowed out at
their lower ends as shewn in Figure 6 so as to press or stamp the top ends of the
punchings into a semi-spherical form. The sliding block B is arranged at its ends on
the vertical guides D' attached to the brackets D the lower flanges of which are bolted
to the bed plate C. The top part of each bracket D is furnished with bearings to
receive the main shaft E which has upon it the fly wheels or pulleys E. Fare eccentric
rods the journals for which on the shaft E are formed sufficiently eccentric to give the
necessary up and down stroke to the sliding block B which carries a spindle B² to
which the lower ends of the eccentric rods are connected. G are the feed rollers
supported in suitable bearings in the brackets Cattached to the bed plate C and the
lower of these rollers has an intermittent motion imparted to it, its spindle G having
secured at its end a ratchet wheel G2 at each side of which is an arm G³ arranged
loosely on such spindle while a pawl G is centred between them. The outer ends of
the arm G3 bear a transverse pin for connection to the eccentric rod G³ the strap G°
of which is arranged on an eccentric Gỗ secured on the main shaft E. G³ is an
outer bearing for the spindle G. G are toothed wheels for communicating motion
from the lower to the upper feed roller. H is a piece of sheet lead having several
rows of punched holes H in it and one of the punchings H from which is shewn to an
enlarged scale in Figure 7. Cis a box or receptacle under the punching machine into
which the punchings fall.

page_text: In Fig. 10 is shewn the series of rotary cutters G* which replace the intermittent
feed rollers G and in Fig. 11 the cutter plate A which replaces the line of punches A
so as to cut the sheet of lead into cubical pieces as it is fed onward by the feed
rollers.
The
In Figs. 8 and 9 which shew the shot or ball rounding machine, J is a barrel
arranged to run loosely on the shaft J1 which is supported in bearings J2 on a suitable
framing J. Jis a door at end of barrel to enable the punchings to be placed in
and after they have been rounded into shot or balls to be taken from it.
shaft J has secured to it within the barrel the agitator arms J and the barrel has
secured to it the agitator arms Jo. Pulleys or flywheels J are keyed on the shaft J'
to receive its driving belt or belts while the barrel is driven by a belt J which passes
round its body and imparts motion to it in a reverse direction to that of the spindle J'.
When the shot or ball rounding machine is constructed of a square or polygonal
section its ends are secured on its central shaft so that they both revolve together and
further no agitating arms are employed. The dotted lines in Fig. 9 indicate a
rounding machine of square section.
The shot or ball polishing machine consists of a barrel J with an end door J
as shown in Figures 8 and 9 but for such purpose the barrel is keyed on its shaft
and neither it nor the barrel is provided with agitator arms.
The mode of operation with the machine shewn in Figs. 1 to 9 is as follows:-
The punching machine being set in motion a sheet of lead of the requisite width is
fed between the rollers G which carry it forward intermittently to between the line of
punches and its die plate such feed motion being intermittent to allow the sheet of lead
to lie at rest while the punches are passing through it and until they rise in their
upward stroke clear of its top surface. The pawl and ratchet feed gear then rotate
the feed rollers sufficiently to carry the sheet of lead forward far enough to receive
the punches in their next downward stroke. The ejected lead punchings H2 fall into
the box C under the machine their upper surface having been rounded by the concave
end of the punches A. A sufficient quantity of these lead punchings is then placed in the
rounding machine the barrel J and spindle J¹ of which are driven in reverse directions
so as to cause their agitator arms J and J to travel towards each other and so thoroughly
agitate the punchings about in order that they may be thoroughly rubbed beaten or
ground on one another until they are finally rounded or formed sufficiently spherical
for the purpose. The now rounded shot or balls are removed from this machine and
cleansed of all black lead; then they are placed in the polishing machine which is
rotated until the shot or balls are effectually brightened or polished by rolling and
rubbing upon each other when they are removed and the manufacture of the shot or
balls is completed.
Although I have described the shot or balls as being manufactured from punchings
from sheet lead I may dispense with the punching machine and make them from
sheet lead cut into cubical pieces of the requisite size and then round these pieces in
the rounding machine, or I could take lead wire of the proper diameter and cut it into
the desired lengths and place such lengths in the rounding machine and so by either
of these means manufacture the shot or balls.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is
First. The method of manufacturing shot or balls herein described from lead
punchings subsequently rounded into form in a suitable machine.
Second. The alternative method herein described of manufacturing shot or balls from
pieces of lead which are cut to a suitable size and afterwards rounded substantially as
described and explained.
Third. The combination of the parts forming the machine for ejecting a line of
punchings" as above claimed and consisting essentially of a line of punches arranged
on a sliding block having an up and down motion given it, a die plate arranged on a
fixed support, and a pair of feed rollers to which an intermittent motion is imparted,

page_text: and their other appurtenant parts, substantially as herein described and explained and
as illustrated in Figures 1 to 7 of my drawings.
Fourth. The combination of the parts forming the rounding machine consisting of
a closed barrel having agitating arms arranged in it and supported loosely on a spindle
furnished with agitating arms such barrel and spindle being driven in reverse direc-
tions substantially as herein described and explained and as illustrated in Figures 8
and 9 of my drawings.
Fifth. The use of a series of rotary cutters (in place of the feed rollers) for cutting
the sheet lead into strips substantially as herein described and explained and as illus-
trated in Fig. 10 of my drawings.
Sixth. The use of the cutter shewn in Fig. 11 for cutting the sheet of lead into
cubical pieces substantially as herein set forth.
J. C. MEWBURN,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London,
Patent Agent.