Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 16th Nov., 1886
Complete Left, 15th Aug., 1887.
Complete Accepted, 21st Oct., 1887
I, HENRY JOHN WORSSAM, of Wenlock Road, City Road in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
In rivetting together the plates constituting copper vessels such as the backs used
for brewery purposes or for tanks or cisterns, it is usual, after punching holes through
the plates to countersink the holes very deeply on one side, not by cutting away
metal at the edge of the hole, but by pressing the metal into the form of a conical
hollow to receive the rivet head, so that when the head is in place it does not at all
project beyond the general surface of the plate. Usually the punching and counter-
sinking are done while the plates are separate, in which case there is great risk of
misfit of the holes in the one plate to those in the plate that is to be united to it.
In some cases the plates are brought together in position and the punching and '
countersinking are done by hand, involving considerable expenditure of time and
labour. My invention relates to apparatus whereby the clamping together, the
punching, the countersinking and the rivetting together of the plates are effected by
hydraulic power at little cost and with great efficiency. As one of the most difficult
applications of such apparatus, I will describe it as arranged for completing a circular
row of rivets for uniting the flanged bottom of a back to the conoidal side. Within a
strong rectangular framning I mount on a turntable the flanged bottoin of the back
with the upper portion of the back resting on and temporarily fixed to it. Outside
the back against an inclined part of the frame I fix a hydraulic cylinder in such an
attitude that its axis is perpendicular to that surface of the back where the rivets are
to be inserted. Within the back I fix similarly a hydraulic cylinder connecting it by
adjustable inclined struts to parts of the framing which serve as abutments; in cases
where a strut necessarily terminates at a point within the body of the back, I by
means of adjustable wedge pieces support that point against the outer framing.
Having got the inner and the outer bydraulic cylinders accurately in line at right
angles to the surface to be rivetted, I turn the back on the turntable until I present
to the punch carried by the ram of the inner cylinder the point of its circumference

page_text: where a rivet has to be introduced. I then by means of hand scrows advance two
clamping beads, the one inside and the other outside so as to clamp between them
the two plates that are to be rivetted together. While they are so clamped, I admit
fluid under pressure to the two cylinders, whereby the matrix carried by the ram of
the one is brought up and pressed against the outside, while the punch carried by
the ram of the other is forced through the plates from the inside, and the punch and
matrix being both suitably coned, the countersinking is effected by the same operation.
The rams being then retracted, the punch and matrix which are carried on swing
frames, are swung out of the way, a rivet is introduced into the hole and the two
rams are again made to advance, the one having at its end a flat tool bearing against
the rivet head, while the other with a cupped tool squeezes up the projecting metal of
the rivet giving it its button form. On the retreat of the rams, the clamps are
released, the back is turned partly round and the operation is repeated for another
rivet and so on all round the circumference of the joint. When straight rows of
rivets have to be done us, for instance, a vertical row in the case of a rectangular
tank, the apparatus and operation are similar, except that the abutments of the
cylinders against the external frame are direct, and that instead of moving the tank
for the successive rivets of the row, the cylinders are moved up or down as the case
may be, being suitably counterbalanced. In like manner for a horizontal row of
rivets, the cylinders are moved laterally.
ABEL & IMRAY,
28, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: Apparatus for Rivetting Copper Vessels.
I, HENRY JOHN WORSSAM of Wenlock Road City Road, in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
imanner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement :-
In rivetting together the plntes constituting copper vessels such as the backs used
for brewing purposes or for tanks or cisterns or brewing coppers, it is usual, after
punching holes through the plates to countersink the holes very deeply on one side,
not by cutting away metal at the edge of the hole, but by pressing the metal into the
form of a conical hollow to receive tho rivet head, so that when the head is in place it
does not at all project beyond the general surface of the plate. Usually the punching
and countersinking are done while the platos are separate, in which case there is great
risk of misfit of the holes in the one plate to those of the plate that is to be united to
it. In some cases the plates are brought together in position and the punching and
countersinking are done by hand involving considerable expenditure of time and
labour. My invention relates to apparatus whereby the clamping together, the
punching, the countersinking and the rivetting together of the plates are effected by
hydraulic power at little cost and with great efficiency. As one of the most difficult
applications of such apparatus I will describe it as arranged for completing a circular
row of rivets for uniting the flanged bottom of a back or copper to the conoidal side.
Within a strong rectangular framing I mount on a turntable the flanged bottom of
the back with the upper portion of the back resting on and temporarily fixed to it.
Outside the back against an inclined part of the frame I fix a hydraulic cylinder in
such an attitude that its axis is perpendicular to that surface of the back where the
rivets are to be inserted. Within the back I fix similarly a hydraulic cylinder
connecting it by adjustable inclined struts to parts of the framing which serve as
abutinents in the case where a strut necessarily terminates at a point within the body
of the back I by means of adjustable wedge pieces support that point against the
outer framing. Having got the inner and the outer hydraulic cylinders accurately in
line at right angles to the surface to be rivetted I turn the back on the turntable
until I present to the punch carried by the ram of the inner cylinders the point of its
circumference where a rivet has to be introduced; I then by means of hand screws
advance two clamping heads, the one inside and the other outside, so as to clamp
between them the two plates that are to be rivetted, together. While they are so
clamped I admit fluid under pressure to the two cylinders, whereby the matrix carried
by the ram of the one is brought up to and pressed against the outside, while the
punch carried by the ram of the other is forced through the plates from the inside,
and the punch and matrix being both suitably coned the countersinking is effected
by the same operation. The rum being then retracted, the punch and matrix which
are carried on swing frames are swung out of the way, a rivet is introduced into
'the hole and the two rams are again made to advance, the one having at its end u
flat tool bearing against the rivet head, while the other with a cupped tool squeezes

page_text: up the projecting metal of the rivet, giving it its button form. On the retreat of
the ram the clamps are released, the back is turned and the operation is repeated
for another rivet, and so on all round the circumference of the joint. When straight
rows of rivets have to be done, as for instance a vertical row in the case of a
rectangular tank the apparatus and operation is similar except that the abutments of
the cylinders against the external frame are direct, and that instead of moving the
tank for the successive rivets of the row, the cylinders are moved up or down as the
case may be, being suitably counterbalanced. In like manner for a horizontal row of
rivets the cylinders are moved laterally.
Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings shews a sectional elevation of one arrange-
ment of the above described apparatus for rivetting copper vessels, and Fig. 2 shows
a longitudinal section of the punching and rivetting machine.
The apparatus here shown is intended for rivetting the joints of the upper
cylindrical parts of the copper vessel A; for this purpose the hydraulic cylinder B
for acting on the outer surface of the vessel is carried on a slide on the vertical
frame C while the hydraulic cylinder B¹ for acting on the inner side of the vessel is
adjustably mounted on the one end of a bar or strutt E carried by stays FF' from the
vertical frames CC, the other end of the strutt being made to bear against a shoe
that rests against the inner surface of the vessel A, the outer surface of which is
supported against the thrust by a block fixed to the frame C₁. The arrangement
and mode of action of the hydraulic cylinders will be understood on reference to
Fig. 2.
The cylinders BB¹ have screwed stems D D' fixed to their outer ends on which
slide cross heads H H' connected by side rods to clamping heads I l', which are made
to clamp the plates of the vessel A tightly between them by means of wheel nuts J J¹
screwing on the stems D D'. The cylinder rams K K' carry rivetting dies L L at
their ends and between them and the plates A are in the first instance placed punching
and counter-sinking dies M M' which are hung by arms on one of the side rods as
shewn, so as to be capable of being swung out of the way. They fit into holes in the
heads II, and the die M is formed with a recessed face and contral hole, while the
die M' has a correspondingly projecting face and central punch. Thus when these
dies are advanced by the action of the rams and dies L L' upon them, the die M¹
punches the rivet hole in the plate and also bulges the part surrounding the hole
outwards, against the die M. This having been done the rams K K' and dies L'
are drawn back so as to allow the dies MM' to be withdrawn and swung out of the
way, whereupon a rivet is placed in the hole of the plate, and the rivetting dies L L'
are advanced the die L' forining the abutment for its countersunk inner head, while L
effects the rivetting of the outer head. The dies and clamping heads are then drawn
back so as to allow the vessel A to be turned on the turntable N in order to bring
another part thereof under the action of the punching and rivetting apparatus. A
circular row of rivets having been fixed by this means, the apparatus is shifted up or
down upon the frames C C by gearing 0 0¹, for rivetting another circular row.
The strutt E carries a wheel nut E' into which screws the stem D' of the
cylinder B' so that by turning the nut the cylinder is adjusted to or from the
vessel A.
Fig. 3 shews the arrangement of the apparatus for punching and rivetting tho
plates of the lower curved part of the vessel A. The construction and action of the
apparatus is the same as before described and the parts are indicated by the same
letters of reference, the only difference being that the hydraulic cylinder B is
mounted upon a curved frame P corresponding to the curvature of the vessel A, so
that as the cylinder is moved up or down it, the punching and rivetting dies will
always remain perpendicular to the surface, while the strutt E carrying the other
cylinder B being pivotted with its other end on the slide Q of the frame C,
constitutes a radius of a circle of which the curvature of A forms part, so that as the
strutt is shifted up or down by shifting the slide to which the stay rod F is attached,
the dies of its cylinder are also kept perpendicular to the curved surface of the
vessel.

page_text: Fig. shows the above described invention applied to the rivetting the straight
horizontal rows of rivets of a tank R. In this case the tank R is stationary and the
punching and rivetting cylinders B B¹ are carried by slides on horizontal girders S S¹
secured together by adjustable screw connections TT and arranged to run upon
rails U U, so that for fixing successivo rivets of a row, the girders S S¹ with the
cylinders are gradually moved along the rails, while for shifting the cylinders
transversely from one row to another the cylinder slides have pinions V V₁ gearing
with racks WW' on the girders and rotated by crank handles. The construction and
operation of the apparatus is otherwise the same as above described. To facilitate the
transport of vessels constructed according to this invention screwod bolts may be used
in place of rivets.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention and
in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is :-
1. In rivetting machines, the combination with a rivetting dio of a punching die so
arranged as to be brought in front of the rivetting die in order by the motion
imparted to the latter, to effect the punching of the hole for the rivet, and then to be
withdrawn from in front of the rivetting die in order to allow this to act on the rivet
inserted into the said hole substantially as herein described.
2. In rivetting machines, the combination of a pair of clamping hoads for securely
holding the plates operated upon, a pair of punching dies, passing through openings
in the clamping heads, for punching and countersinking or bulging the plates, and a
pair of rivetting dies that are first made to act upon the punching dies so as to effect
the punching of the plates and after the withdrawal of the punching dies, are
made to act upon the rivet inserted in the hole punched, substantially as herein
described.
3. For rivetting the curved sides of a vessol by means of a pair of punching and
rivetting machines such as are referred to in the preceding claims, mounting the
outer rivetting machine upon an external frame having a curvature corresponding to
that of the vessel, so that the rivetting and punching dies are always perpendicular to
the surface of the plates, while the inner machine is mounted upon the one end of a
bar or strutt pivotted at its other end to a fixed fulcrum and capable of being brought
by a stay rod into different positions within the vessel in which the punching und
rivetting dies are always perpendicular to the inner curved surface thereof substantially
as herein described.
4. For rivetting the vertical straight sides of a vessel by means of a pair of
punching and rivetting machines such as are referred to in the preceding claims,
mounting the outer rivetting machine upon a vertical external frame while the inner
machine is mounted upon the one end of a bar or strutt carried within the vessel by
stay bars and bearing with its other end against the inner surface of the vessel, the
outer surface of which is supported at such point by an external frame substantially
as herein described.