NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF AGRICULTURAL AND OTHER FORKS, SCREW-BOLTS, RIVETS, SPIKES, AND OTHER LIKE ARTICLES."
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Richard Postlethwaite, of Aston, near
Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Mechanical Engineer, for an
Invention of "NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE
OF AGRICULTURAL AND OTHER FORKS, SCREW-BOLTS, RIVETS, SPIKES, AND
OTHER LIKE ARTICLES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Richard Postlethwaite
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 19th August 1881.
GEORGE RICHARD POSTLETHWAITE, of Aston, near Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Mechanical Engineer.
"NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR THE
MANUFACTURE OF AGRICULTURAL AND OTHER FORKS, SCREW BOLTS, RIVETS,
SPIKES, AND OTHER LIKE ARTICLES."
My Invention consists of machinery, the parts of which are constructed and
arranged in the manner herein after described for the manufacture of agricultural
and other forks, screw bolts, rivets, spikes, and other like articles.
The machine consists essentially of the following parts :-
Three upper slide blocks or rams work between four supports or standards, the
lower ends of which are embedded in and secured to a heavy base plate.
These three upper slides are actuated by an eccentric shaft having three eccentrics
of short throw or of small eccentricity. By the rotation of these eccentrics the
alides receive a rapid to and fro vibratory motion. The slides are directly con-
nected to the said shaft, side play being allowed in the parts of the slides in which
the eccentrics work; the usual connecting piece and joint are thus dispensed
with, and the required rectilinear motion obtained. The eccentric shaft has one
or more fly wheels, and also a fast and loose pulley for the steam engine or other
band by which the machine is driven. The fly wheels are made of small diameter
in consequence of the high speed required to be given to the upper slides. Between
FT
"

page_text: :
the said standards and underneath the upper slides are three other slides. The
bottom ends of these slides take their bearing upon other horizontal wedge shaped
slides. To these wedge shaped slides levers are jointed. These levers at their
upper extremities are jointed to a rod secured to the standards, and their lower
extremities have foot plates. Projecting from the back of the said levers are two
arms passing through to the back of the machine, and carrying counterbalance
weights for the purpose of giving the return or outward motion to the wedge
slides. The working tools are fixed to the lower ends of the upper slides and the
upper ends of the lower slides respectively, a gauge screw under the foot plate by
which the horizontal wedge shaped lever is operated, determining the exact height
to which the lower slides and the tools carried by them can be raised.
Each upper slide forms a pair with the lower slide underneath it, and each pair
of slides is provided with a different pair of tools suited for giving progressively
the required shape to the metal or blank operated upon.
The action of the machine is as follows :-
The lower slide is adjusted by a gauge screw to fall only so far as just to allow
sufficient. room between the tools to take in the heated iron or steel to be operated
upon.. . The said heated metal having been placed between the faces of the tools
the foot lever is pressed down. The lower slides rises and brings the metal under
the action of the upper vibrating slide, by the action of which the required shape
is rapidly given to the metal under operation. As soon as the pressure of the foot
is taken off the foot lever the horizontal wedge shaped slide makes its return
motion by the action of the counterbalance weight, and at the same time the tools
separate and liberate the article which has been shaped, and are again in their
places ready for repeating the operation described.
For
many purposes the rising and falling of the lower slide or slides is not not
required. In such cases the lower slides may be temporarily fixed in the required
positions by a bolt and catch attached to the foot levers or by other means.
For making forks with two or more prongs I take a blank or piece of iron or
steel of suitable size, and heating one end I place it between the first pair of tools
or dies called fullers or necking tools, and by raising the lower slide the edges of
the said blanks are necked or fullered in; this process takes up but a very small
portion of the length of the said blank. I then heat the other end of the said blank
its whole length, and place it between the second pair of tools or slitters. I prefer
in most cases to cut out a thin shread, leaving the end of the slit of a semi-circular
shape, as by this means the prongs are made more solid, there being no rough or
ragged edges to beat or compress into the prongs. After slitting the usual length
for forming two or three prongs the iron or steel while still hot is placed in position
and the slit parts bent back for drawing down taper. In this form they are placed
between the third pair of dies or tools. These tools resemble swages, and may
either shape the prongs in succession to a cylindrical, oval, square, or diamond
shape. Attached to each outside standard of the machine are hand tools having
the required shape to fashion the forks after the prongs have been drawn down.
This fashioning simply consists of bending the prongs which are still sufficiently
hot for the purpose.
In making a four pronged fork the blank is first heated principally in the
middle of its length, and a fresh pair of tools, suitable for flattening and shanking
the blank, are fixed in the first pair of slides. The heated blank is placed between
the tools and operated upon edgewise. On raising the lower slide the upper edge
of the blank is impressed or indented to the shape of the top tool or die, and a
portion of the metal is forced into a cavity in the lower die, thereby forming the
shank of the fork. To this shank the socket or other attachment for the tree or
handle of the fork is welded.
In the pair of tools last described parts of their faces are flat and correspond
with each other. A space is maintained between them equal to the thickness of
the blank, and as the blank increases in width by the indenting of its edges it is
turned over and placed between these flat parts of the tools, by which means the

page_text: required thickness is preserved. One end of the blank, shaped as last described, is
next heated and slit up to the required length, that portion which forms the outside
prong being left somewhat wider than the inside prong. They are then separated
and brought into position for swaging between the second pair of tools, as before
described with respect to two or three prong forks. Two prongs being now shaped,
the other end of the blank is heated and treated in a similar manner, after which
the fork is finished on the hand tools fixed in the pillars of the machine.
In making forks having a greater number of prongs than those described the
method of manufacture is the same as that last described if the number of prongs
is even, but if the number of prongs is odd the process first described is adopted.
In each case the blanks must be proportionately wider in accordance with the
number of prongs to be made.
For the manufacture of bolts, rivets, spikes, and the like, the machine only
requires the addition of tippers attached to the lower slides. The lower ends of
these tippers rest on a hand lever at right angles to the said tippers. The length
of the bolts, rivets, or spikes to be made determines the length of the tippers.
For heading bolts, rivets, spikes, and the like, tools different from those used for
making forks are employed. The tools which fit into the lower slides have axial
holes which receive the shanks of the bolts or articles to be headed, the bottoms of
the bolt or other shanks bearing upon the tops of the before described tippers.
The upper tools have the configuration suitable for forming the heads required.
The blank is heated at one end and placed with its heated end uppermost in the
bottom tool. By acting on the foot lever and bringing the tools together the
heated blank is headed to the form of the upper die. The foot lever being released
the lower slide falls down its upper end, moving slightly forward, and the bolt,
rivet, or spike is ejected from the lower tool by the hand lever and tipper.
If square neck bolts are to be made they are first bunted or thickened up in one
pair of tools, then put into the second set of tools for heading, as before described.
The heads of bolts, rivets, and spikes being thus formed by a series of blows, as
before described, are much stronger and more solid than by the usual method of
the one blow system.
At one side of the machine I place revolving cutters driven from the fly wheel
of the machine.
The said cutters are used for taking off the fin from the heads of bolts, spikes,
and the like.
Upon the same spindle may be placed a circular saw for fork slitting instead of
slitting between the dies or tools, as before described.
Although I have described a machine consisting of three pairs of working slides,
the machine may be constructed with one pair of slides only, or two pairs, or more
than three pairs, when required to suit any special class of work.

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 11th February 1882.
GEORGE RICHARD POSTLETHWAITE, of Aston, near Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Mechanical Engineer.
"NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR THE
MANUFACTURE OF AGRICULTURAL AND OTHER FORKS, SCREW BOLTS, RIVETS,
SPIKES, AND OTHER LIKE ARTICLES."
My Invention consists of machinery, the parts of which are constructed and
arranged in the manner herein after described for the manufacture of agricultural
and other forks, screwbolts, rivets, spikes, and other like articles.
The machine consists essentially of the following parts:—
Three upper slide blocks or rams work between four supports or standards, the
lower ends of which are embedded in and secured to a heavy base plate.
These three upper slides are actuated by an eccentric shaft having three
eccentrics of short throw or of small eccentricity. By the rotation of these
eccentrics the slides receive a rapid to and fro or vibratory motion. The slides are
directly connected to the said shaft, side play being allowed in the parts of the
slides in which the eccentrics work; the usual connecting piece and joint are thus
dispensed with, and the required rectilinear motion obtained. The eccentric shaft
has one or more fly-wheels, and also a fast and loose pulley for the steam engine or
other band by which the machine is driven. The fly wheels are made of small
'diameter in consequence of the high speed required to be given to the upper slides.
Between the said standards and underneath the upper slides are three other slides.
The bottom ends of these slides take their bearing upon other horizontal wedge
shaped slides. To these wedge shaped slides levers are jointed. These levers at
their upper extremities are jointed to a rod secured to the standards, and their
lower extremities have foot plates. Projecting from the back of the said levers are
two armas passing through to the back of the machine, and carrying counter-
balance weights for the purpose of giving the return or outward motion to the
wedge slides. The working tools are fixed to the lower ends of the upper slides,
and the upper ends of the lower slides respectively, a gauge screw under the foot
plate by which the horizontal wedge shaped lever is operated determining the
exact height to which the lower slides and the tools carried by them can be raised.
Each upper slide forms a pair with the lower slide underneath it, and each pair of
slides is provided with a different pair of tools suited for giving progressively the
required shape to the metal or blank operated upon.
The action of the machine is as follows:-
The lower slide is adjusted by a gauge screw, to fall only so far as just to allow
sufficient room between the tools, to take in the heated iron or steel to be operated
upon. The said heated metal having been placed between the faces of the tools
the foot lever is pressed down. The lower slide rises and brings the metal under
the action of the upper vibrating slide, by the action of which the required shape
is rapidly given to the metal under operation. As soon as the pressure of the foot
is taken off the foot lever, the horizontal wedge shaped slide makes its return
motion by the action of the counterbalance weight, and at the same time the tools
separate and liberate the article which has been shaped, and are again in their
places ready for repeating the operation described.
For many purposes the rising and falling of the lower slide or slides is not
required. In such cases the lower slides may be temporarily fixed in the required
positions by a bolt and catch attached to the foot levers, or by other means.
For making forks with two or more prongs, I take a blank or piece of iron or

page_text: steel of suitable size, and heating one end I place it between the first pair of tools
or dies called fullers or necking tools, and by raising the lower slide the edges of
the said blanks are necked or fullered in; this process takes up but a very small
portion of the length of the said blank. I then heat the other end of the said
blank its whole length, and place it between the second pair of tools or slitters. I
prefer in most cases to cut out a thin shread, leaving the end of the slit of a semi-
circular shape, as by this means the prongs are made more solid, there being no
rough or ragged edges to beat or compress into the prongs. After slitting the
usual length for forming two or three prongs, the iron or steel while still hot is
placed in position, and the slit parts bent back for drawing down taper. In this
form they are placed between the third pair of dies or tools. These tools resemble
swages, and may either shape the prongs in succession to a cylindrical, oval, square,
or diamond shape. Attached to each outside standard of the machine are hand
tools having the required shape to fashion the forks after the prongs have been
drawn down.
This fashioning simply consists of bending the prongs which are still sufficiently
hot for the purpose.
In making a four pronged fork, the blank is first heated principally in the
middle of its length, and a fresh pair of tools suitable for flattening and shanking
the blank are fixed in the first pair of slides. The heated blank is placed between
the tools and operated upon edgewise. On raising the lower slide the upper edge
of the blank is impressed or indented to the shape of the top tool or die, and a
portion of the metal is forced into a cavity in the lower die, thereby forming the
shank of the fork. To this shank the socket or other attachment for the tree or
handle of the fork is welded.
In the pair of tools last described parts of their faces are flat, and correspond
with each other. The space is maintained between them equal to the thickness of
the blank, and as the blank increases in width by the indenting of its edges it is
turned over and placed between these flat parts of the tools, by which means the
required thickness is preserved. One end of the blank shaped as last described is
next heated and slit up to the required length, that portion which forms the outside
prong being left somewhat wider than the inside prong. They are then separated
and brought into position for swaging between the second pair of tools, as before
described with respect to two or three prong forks. Two prongs being now shaped
the other end of the blank is heated and treated in a similar manner, after which
the fork is shaped on the hand tools fixed in the pillars of the machine.
In making forks having a greater number of prongs than those described, the
method of manufacture is the same as that last described if the number of prongs
is even, but if the number of prongs is odd the process first described is adopted.
In each case the blanks must be proportionately wider in accordance with the
number of prongs to be made.
For the manufacture of bolts, rivets, spikes and the like, the machine only
requires the addition of tippers attached to the lower slides. The lower ends of
these tippers rest on a hand lever at right angles to the said tippers, the length of
the bolts, rivets, or spikes to be made determines the length of the tippers. The
tools used are hereinafter described.
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 front elevation, and Figure 2 in end elevation, machinery
constructed according to my Invention; Figures 3 and 4 represent transverse
vertical sections of portions of the machinery, and Figures 5 and 6 represent some of
the details. The other figures represent the tools which I use in combination with
the machinery for the manufacture of agricultural and other forks, and screw
bolts, rivets, and other like articles, as hereinafter explained.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
and 6.
The the
T

page_text: machinery. a is the bed plate, and b the standards recessed in and bolted to
the said bed plate. The standards b are bound together transversely by bolts or
tie rods at 63, 63, 63, passing through eyes in the said standards, distance pieces c, c.
being secured between each pair of standards, as seen in Figure 1. The outer
standards of the machine are provided with the cored or tubular pillars 64, 64, in
the tops of which tools are fixed for the purposes hereinafter explained; d is the
driving or eccentric shaft of the machine carrying three eccentrics of short throw
or of small eccentricity. These eccentrics work the upper slides e, e, in which the
top tools are fixed, the said eccentrics giving a rapid to and fro or vibratory
motion to the said upper slides. The upper slides are guided in their motion by
the guiding plates e³, e², cast on the standards b, b. The slides e, e, are directly
connected to the eccentrics on the shaft d, side play being allowed in. the parts of
the slides in which the eccentrics work. Each end of the eccentric shaft & carries
a small fly wheel or plate wheel, one only, marked d², being represented, and the
said shaft is driven by the fast and loose pulleys at d³, d³, in the ordinary way; ff.
are the bottom slides of the machine carrying the lower tools, the said lower tools
making pairs with the tools carried in the upper slides e, e. These slides ff, have a
rising and falling motion in the guides es, es, of the standards, but the said slides f. f,
have a greater range of motion than the upper slides e, e. The lower slides f, f.
besides their rising and falling motion, are also capable of falling forward out of
the line of the upper slides, as represented in Figure 4, for the purpose hereinafter
explained. The said lower slides f, f, are worked by the wedge slides g, g, upon
which the bottom ends of the said lower slides take a bearing, as seen in Figures 3
and 4. The wedge slides g, g, are supported upon the bed plate a of the machine,
and have a horizontal forward motion given to them by foot levers h, h, jointed
at h¹ to one of the lower cross bolts or tie rods 63 of the machine. One of these
foot levers is represented in front elevation in Figure 5, and a plan of the foot
part marked i of the said lever is represented in Figure 6. By an examination of
Figure 5, it will be seen that the upper end of the foot lever h is furnished with
an eye or tubular part 2 which forms the joint part, and works upon the fixed
bolt or tie rod 63 as a centre. The lower end of the foot lever h is connected to
the wedge slide g by means of a pin h passed through the forked part of the said
lever working in the slot h³ in the said wedge slide, as seen in Figures 3 and 4.
An arm (or arms) projects from the back of the foot lever h, and carries a
counterbalance weight for giving the return or outward motion to the wedge
slide g.
When the foot plate i of the foot lever his pressed upon, the said lever
forces inwards the wedge slide g, and the latter raises the lower slide f, as
illustrated in Figure 3. On removing the foot from the foot lever h it is returned
to the position represented in Figure 4, by the action of the counterbalance
weight, forcing back with it the wedge slide 9, and the lower slide takes its
lowest position, as represented in the said Figure 4. The upward range of motion.
of the lower slides f, f, is regulated by the adjusting screw 7 (see Figure 3) on the
bottom of the foot lever h. This screw, when the foot lever is pressed upon, strikes
against the bed plate a of the machine, and the further inward motion of the
wedge slide g is arrested, and consequently the further upward motion of the
lower slide prevented. By means of the said adjusting screw the bottom tool
carried by the lower slide fis permitted in its upward motion to approach the top
tool carrred by the upper slide e only to the distance required for the particular
treatment of the article under operation.
When the machine is to be used for making screw bolts and other like articles
it is necessary that the lower slidef shall fall forward after it has reached its
lowest position, as represented in Figure 4, for the purpose of removing the lower
tool out of the line of the top tool for ejecting the bolt or article from the said
lower tool. This falling forward motion of the lower slide f is permitted by the
gaps or cut away parts at e*, e, in both sides of the guides of the said lower
Blide.
-
The slide f for bolt, making is constructed hollow, and contains a “tipper”-or

page_text: rod m (see Figure 3) for ejecting the bolt from the bottom tool. The said tipper
is operated by the hand lever n, upon the heel part n² of which the bottom of the
tipper is supported. The said hand lever n, n³, is jointed at n³ near its lower end
to the bottom slide f, the shank of the said hand lever passing through and
working in a slot h³ (see Figure 5) in the foot lever h. After the bolt or article
has been operated upon the lower slide f is allowed to descend to its lowest
position, and take the forward or outward position represented in Figure 4, the
further outward motion of the said slide f being prevented by the latter bearing
against the cross knuckle or joint part h³ of the foot lever h. When the slide fis
in the position Figure 4, the depression of the hand lever n causes its heel n³ to
raise the tipper m and eject the bolt or article from the top tool of the said slide.
The return of the slide f to its vertical position is effected by operating upon the
hand lever n.
.
When the machine is used for the manufacture of articles which do not require
to be ejected from the lower tools it is necessary to prevent the falling forward or
outward motion of the lower slide to the position shown in Figure 4. This is
effected by removing the hand lever n, n², and substituting therefor the set bolt
marked P in Figure 3. The said set bolt is connected to the same centre or
fulcrum n³ as that on which the hand lever n, n³, turns. The set bolt p is fitted
with a screw nut and washer at p³, and the head of the said set bolt is perforated,
and the joint pin at n³ is passed through the said head. The shank end of the
set bolt p passes through the slot at h in the foot lever h. By adjusting the
position of the screw nut p³ on the set bolt p the backward traversing motion of
the wedge slide g is limited; or the said set bolt may be used for locking or
fastening the lower slide in any desired position with respect to the upper slide.
In Figure 3 the screw nut p³ is adjusted on the bolt p in a position proper to lock
the slide in its highest position. It will thus be seen that by the use of the
stop the upward range of motion of the slide ƒ may be regulated, and by the use
of the set bolt p, p³, the downward range of motion of the said slide ƒ may be
limited, or the said slide fixed in any desired position.
Although the set bolt p, p, and hand lever n, n², are represented combined in
the machine, Figure 3, yet it must be understood that the said parts p, p³, and
n, n³, are never used in combination, the hand lever n, n², only being used when
articles which require to be ejected from the bottom tools in the lower slides are
being manufactured.
Instead of working the lever h connected with the wedge slide g by the foot as
described, it may be worked automatically, that is, from the machine itself.
I will now describe the manufacture of agricultural and other forks by the use
of the tools constructed according to my Invention worked in the machinery
before described.
In making a two prong fork I take the blank or piece of steel represented in
Figure 7. This blank may have a width of about an inch, and a thickness of
about half an inch, and of a length sufficient to make the kind of fork required.
The blank c, Figure 7, being heated is placed edgeways between the pair of tools
marked a, b, represented in Figure 8, the said tools being fixed in the upper and
lower slides e, f, of one of the pairs of slides of the machine, the lower slide ƒ being
so adjusted by the set bolt p of the machine that the two tools a, b, when open
are sufficiently apart to receive the blank edgeways. By pressing upon the foot
lever h the lower slide frises with its tool b, and the end of the heated blank is
compressed to the shape shown in the closed tools, Figure 8, the amount of com-
pression of the blank having been regulated by the adjusting screw of the
machine. The foot lever h being released the tools a, b, open, and the shaped
blank may be removed. The neck or shank d of the fork is thus made upon the
blank. The slight side expansion of the blank is removed by replacing it between
the tools, closing them, and then removing it from the tools while they are in their
closed state. The blank, Figure 8, with the neck or shank d upon it is next slit.
This is effected by the use of the pair of slitting-tools marked e, f, represented in

page_text: section in Figure 9, and side elevation in Figure 10, the two tools being fixed in
the slides of the machine.
The said slitting tools are provided with V shaped cutters g, g, but cutters of
other sectional figure may be used. The blank is held by its neck or shank part d
in the pair of slitting tools e, f, Figures 9 and 10, and on the closing of the said
slitting tools by the action of the machine the cutters g, g, of the said tools are
made to compress or slit the heated blank between them. While the tools are
closed the slit blank is withdrawn from between them in the direction indicated by
the arrow in Figure 10, this being readily permitted by the inclined shape of the
cutters g, g. The slit blank is represented in Figure 11. The slit blank Figure 11 :
is next opened out from the shank part d so as to bring the slit parts into the
same line, as illustrated in Figure 12. The blank Figure 12 is next placed in the
pair of tools h, i, represented in Figure 13, by the operation of which the middle
part of the fork is fashioned. The bottom of the tool i, Figure 13, has a con-
figuration proper to receive either the diamond, cylindrical, oval, or square shaped
prongs of the fork to be made. Or the fashioning of the middle part of the fork
may be effected by the use of the pair of tools represented in Figure 16, which are
employed for fashioning a four prong fork. In this case the blank for the two
prong fork occupies the position indicated in dotted lines between the pair of tools,
Figure 16. The blank having the shape shown in the dies h, i, Figure 13, is
reheated at one of its prong parts, and is then drawn down or elongated and
pointed by the operation of the tools represented in Figure 14, and marked k, l.
The acting faces of these tools have a figure the counter part of the prong to be
made, and the said tools are set in the machine in the following way.:-The foot
lever h is first so adjusted by the set bolt p that a space is left between the opposed
faces of the tools k, l, sufficient to take the thickest part of the prong, and after-
wards the set pin is so adjusted that the lower slide carrying the bottom tool may
rise to such a height, as will leave only a space between the two tools k, l, of the
thickness of the thinnest part of the prong to be made. The heated prong being
placed between the tools k, l, adjusted as described, they are gradually closed upon
one another by pressure upon the foot lever, the prong being at the same time
withdrawn from between the said gradually closing tools. In this way the prong
is elongated and pointed. In Figure 14 one of the prongs is represented in the act
of being drawn down. The other prong is operated upon in the same manner, and
the two prongs are then bent into a two prong fork in the usual way.
In making a three prong fork according to my Invention a broader blank than
that before described is taken, and two slits are made in the blank instead of one.
The parts of the blank from which the outer prongs are to be made are then opened
from the middle part so as to form a cruciform piece. For shaping this blank the
lower slide of the machine is permitted to descend to its full extent, and
afterwards to fall into the inclined position represented in Figure 4.
The pair of tools used for shaping the opened out three pronged blank is
shown in Figure 15, and marked m and n. The middle prong part of the blank
is received in a central hole in the lower tool n, as represented. The lower slide f
of the machine having been properly adjusted, the said slide is operated in the
manner before described, and the shank or plug d of the intended fork is shaped,
as represented in the said Figure 15. The blank thus operated upon is removed
from the lower tool by means of a tipper after the lower slide has taken the
inclined position, Figure 4. After the blank has been removed from the tools,
Figure 15, the prong parts are drawn down and finished by the use of the tools,
Figure 14.
In making a four prong fork according to my Invention, a blank of the proper
size is taken according as a light or heavy fork is to be made, and the blank
being heated at about its middle the heated part is placed between the pair of
tools represented in Figure 16, and marked p, q. By the operation of these tools
a sinking at r is formed in the middle of the blank, and the shank or plug d at
the same time fashioned. The blank is next slit on either side the central part,

page_text: as shewn by the full lines in Figure 16, and at the same heat the slit parts are
bent into positions proper for drawing them down and finishing them by the
use of the tools, Figure 14.
In making a five prong fork according to my Invention, a wider blank is taken,
5 one end of which is heated and shouldered down and shanked; in the same manner
as described for a two or three prong fork, and the blank is then slit for the
formation of the middle prong, the metal on each side of the middle prong part
being sufficiently wide for the production of two more prongs. The slit blank
while still hot is placed in the pair of tools, Figure 15, and opened out as
described for a three prong fork. The blank for the five prong fork has a
thickness sufficient to seat itself upon the bevil part n² of the lower tool n, when
the two tools are in the position, Figure 15. After the operation of the tools,
Figure 15, the blank is removed and one of the thick ends at right angles to the
middle prong part is divided or slit, and the divided parts opened out and drawn
5 down so as to form two prongs.; and the other thick end of the blank is similarly
divided or slit, and the divided parts opened out and drawn down to form two
more prongs. The five prongs having been thus formed the fork is finished in the
usual way.
A six prong fork is made in a way similar to that described for the making of
a four prong fork, and a seven prong fork is made in a way similar to that
described for a five prong fork, but for the making of forks having more than five
prongs I employ a system of repeated diagonal slittings and fullerings. This process
is illustrated in Figure 17 in conjunction with one of the pairs of tools marked t, u,
which I employ. The middle of the blank being heated, it is placed between the
tools t, u, Figure 17, which are arranged in the slides e, f, of the machine at the
distance apart required by the additional width of the blank to be operated upon.
By raising the lower slide ƒ by acting upon the foot lever h the shank or plug d is
formed in the lower tool u, and by the operation of the upper tool t the opening at
the middle of the blank is widely expanded, as shown in the Drawing. The blank
is then further operated upon, so as to give the bottom of the central depression
the form indicated in dotted lines and marked u². The blank is next slit at the
diagonal line w for forming the first prong. The partly made prong is next
straightened and bent forward towards the middle of the blank, so as to be situated
nearly in a line with the shank d. The prong is then drawn down and finished.
The space between the fork prong thus raised and finished, and the metal from
which it is cut, is next fullered to the shape indicated by the dotted lines at x, and
another prong is slit at y, and bent forward and drawn down, as described with
respect to the first prong at w. The operations of fullering, slitting, bending
and drawing down are then repeated until the whole of the prongs have been
made, as will be understood by an examination of Figure 17. The tools which I
use for fullering the parts of the blank at a between the prongs require to be long
enough to operate between the prongs. The fullering tools which I use for this
purpose are represented in Figure 18, and are marked z and ³.
The tools for opening the prongs after slitting and for bending the forks into the
proper size and shape are fixed in the pillars 64, 64, of the machine.
The machine thus contains all the appliances necessary for the complete formation
of the forks.
Some of the tools represented may be used for operating, as before described,
upon different kinds of forks, while others may be used for two or more purposes.
In making screw bolts, rivets, and other like articles, I use the machine in con-
junction by preference with the tools represented in Figures 19, 20, 21, and 22.
In adapting the machine to the manufacture of screw bolts and like articles, the
set bolt p, Figure 3, is removed and is replaced by the hand lever n, n³, and the
lower slide fis furnished with the tipper m; the machine is then ready to receive
the bolt making tools. In making bolts from rods or blanks having the same
diameter throughout, the end of the blank is heated and the cold end placed in the
bore of the lower tool a" of the pair of tools a¹, a³, represented in Figure 19. The

page_text: lower slide ƒ of the machine carrying the lower tool a² being raised, the heated end
of the rod is upset or compressed into the heading tool a¹ carried by the upper
slide e of the machine, the heading tool having a series of blows given to it. The
cavity as in the heading tool a¹ is for the purpose of receiving the top of the
bottom tool a², so as thereby to keep the head formed on the shank perfectly
central.
A machine with one pair of slides is only required for the making of these bolts,
which are termed round necked bolts.
When bolts having square necks are to be made the heated blank is first
" bunted " by the use of the pair of tools represented in Figure 20, and marked
6 and 6, the said tools being fixed in another pair of slides of the machine. After
bunting the blank, as shown in the lower tool, Figure 20, it is removed to the
lower tool a² of the pair of tools a¹, a³, Figure 19, the upper part of the tubular
part of the said lower tool as being provided with a square hole for forming the
square neck under the head of the bolt. The heading and necking may be effected
at one operation, but by two processes more solid and better work results.
When screw bolts having short shanks of the kind called swaged bolts are to be
made, one end of a thick bar is raised to a welding heat, and is reduced to the
required diameter by the operation of the pair of swages represented in Figure 21,
and marked c', c², the reduced bar or blank being represented between the closed
tools. The piece to form the bolt is cut off from the shaped bar at a distance from
the shouldered or reduced part sufficient to form the head, as represented at c³,
Figure 21. This cutting off is effected by the pair of cutting tools represented in
Figure 22, and marked d¹, d², the slide of the machine carrying the lower tool d²
being rigidly fixed by the set bolt p, so that the two tools occupy the positions
represented in Figure 22. The end of the bar, after the swaging operation, is
passed between the cutters d¹, d, and rotated, the vibration of the top cutter
permitting of the said rotation. By the operation of the cutters the bar is nearly
cut through, the cut having the figure shown at c³, Figure 21. The blank being
connected to the bar by a slight web or connection is placed in the bore of the
tool a³, Figure 19, and by a slight twist the blank is separated from the bar. The
blank is then headed at one heat.
By varying the shape of the tools, rivets, spikes, nuts, washers, and other like
articles may be made by the use of the machine.
In Figures 1 and 2 I have represented appliances combined with the machine for
removing the fin or fraze from and for otherwise shaping or finishing the heads of
bolts and like articles. The said appliances consist of a spindle a driven from one
of the fly wheels ď³ by a band passing over the pulley q². The said spindle q carries
a pair of circular cutters r, T, the distance between them being regulated by a
socket to suit bolt heads of different sizes. Instead of two cutters a single cutter,
as represented in Figure 2, and marked ³, may be used. The heads of the bolts
are guided to the single cutter or between the double cutter by a lever 8, represented
in Figure 2, centred at 8². The said levers is provided with a socket or holder t,
so constructed that the head of the blank held in it overhangs the said holder.
Hence the head only comes in contact with the cutters. In Figure 2 a bolt u is
represented in the act of being operated upon by the cutter at ³.
A circular saw may be fixed on the shaft q for fork slitting, or cutters of various
shapes suited to the shaping operation to be performed, may be fixed on the said
shaft.
Although I have described and represented a machine consisting of three pairs
of working slides, the machine may be constructed with one pair of slides only, or
with two pairs or more than three pairs when required to suit any special class of
work.
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 do not limit myself to
the precise details herein described and illustrated, as the same may be varied
without departing from the nature of my Invention.

page_text: But I claim as my Invention of " New or Improved Machinery for the Manu-
facture of Agricultural and other Forks, Screw Bolts, Rivets, Spikes, and other
like Articles,"-
First. The construction of the bottom slide or slides f, carrying the lower tool or
tools or dies, and the raising of each of the said bottom slides by means of a wedge
slide worked by a weighted lever, the said lever being actuated either by the foot
of the workman or automatically, substantially as herein before described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Secondly. The combination of the said bottom slide or slides, and the appliances
connected with it or them, with the vibrating upper slide or slides carrying the top
tool or tools or dies, for the purpose and substantially as herein before described
and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Thirdly. The combination with the lever, by which the bottom slide is worked,
of the adjusting appliances described and illustrated for regulating the amount of
stroke or lift of the said bottom slide, and for regulating the descent of or for
rigidly fixing the position of the said bottom slide.
Fourthly. Making the bottom slide fcapable of taking the outward or inclined
position represented in Figure 4, for the purpose and substantially as described and
illustrated, and the combination with the said bottom slide of the ejecting lever
described and illustrated.
Fifthly. The general arrangement or combination of the parts of the machinery
herein before described and illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 of the accom-
panying Drawings, for the manufacture of agricultural and other forks, screw bolts,
rivets, spikes, and other like articles.
Sixthly. The construction of the tools or dies herein before described and illus-
trated in Figures 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18 of the accompanying Drawings,
to be used in the manufacture of agricultural and other forks.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Richard Postlethwaite, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eighth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and eighty two.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
GEORGE RICHARD POSTLETHWAITE, (LS.)
37, Temple Street,
Birmingham.