A NEW OR IMPROVED RADIAL DRILLING MACHINE
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Thomson and James Macintyre Thomson,
both of the Firm of John and James Thomson, Engineers, of the
City of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, for the
29
Sealed the 27th December 1872, and dated the 8th July 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Thomson and
James Macintyre Thomson at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 8th July 1872.
We, JOHN THOMSON and JAMES MACINTYRE THOMSON, both of the
Firm of John and James Thomson, Engineers, of the City of Glasgow,
in the County of Lanark, North Britain, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED RADIAL DRILLING MACHINE,"
to be as follows, that is to say:-
This said Invention has reference to a new or improved horizontal
radial drilling machine, applicable for boring the smaller class of holes
in the vertical faces and flanges of massive castings, as the framing beds,

page_text: condensers, air pumps, and cylinders of marine and other engines, and
such large castings, for the securing of these and other parts to them
by bolts and pins (up to, say, two inches or so) all in a more convenient
and economical manner than has been possible by the vertical or hori-
zontal radial drilling machines heretofore in use, which have been so
unsuitable for this class of work that the great mass of these holes
have been bored by hand and the ordinary ricket and cramp, or other
simple hand-boring drills, involving great loss of time and labour both
in the boring and in setting the tool for each hole.
The nature and novelty of this Invention consists substantially in a
new or improved construction and arrangement of the parts of the said
horizontal radial drilling machine, all as follows:-The main frame
consists of a strong vertical standard, preferably of the hollow box
class, secured by flanges and bolts at its sole to a suitable foundation
of masonry or iron bed plate, and of a sufficient height to carry the
large bearings and journals of the hollow horizontal carrying spindle
of the vertical radial arm carrying the horizontal drilling stock and
spindle, so that the arm may clear the ground and radiate round the
entire circle in either direction, and thus enable the drill and spindle,
traversed on the arm of little more than half the usual length of such
arms, to bore a hole in such vertical face, flange, or plate, in any
angular or radial direction and at any distance from, the centre thereof,
within the available limits of the inner and outer radii the drill spindle
is capable of being moved on its arm, which radial movement is given
to the spindle stock on its arm by a screw spindle passed out through
a short counterbalancing arm continued on the outer side of its central
boss firmly secured to the hollow horizontal carrying axis on which
it turns in the bearing at top of standard by flanges and deep spigot
and faucet ends. This horizontal hollow carrying axis or spindle
(carrying the radial arm, and its drill stock, spindle, and feeding
gearing) is turned and held in any vertical radial position in front
of the work to be bored, and just clear of the front face of the standard
by a screw wheel keyed or otherwise fixed on it, by preference near
the centre between the two journals and bearings, and by a screw or
worm on a short transverse spindle gearing into the screw wheel, and
turned in journal bearings at the top of standard, preferably below the
wheel, and by a hand wheel or lever on either overhanging end clear
of the standard and the actuating or first motion cone or pulley shaft

page_text: carried in journal bearings in strong brackets fixed or cast on the upper
back part of the main standard, so as to drive the second motion spindle
(revolving in bearings in the centre of the main carrying horizontal
hollow axis) preferably by bevel wheels, this second horizontal spindle
giving motion to the third transmitting shaft carried in bearings in the
centre of the radial arm, so as thus by other two pairs of small bevel
wheels to actuate the actuating boring horizontal spindle carried in its
drill stock, all otherwise mounted with its feeding screw spindle and
mechanism, and which all shift radially on the radial arm in a usual
manner as in other radial drilling machines. The radial arm and its
main hollow spindle (when set to the desired position opposite where
the hole is to be bored by the hand screw spindle and wheel before
referred to) are further held and prevented from vibrating by hand
screws and griping blocks or bushes acting within the bearings and on
the journals of the hollow carrying shaft.
The radial arm, as well as its carrying spindle, is preferred to be made
so as to enclose all the actuating spindles and wheels and turned truly
cylindrically on the outside, so that the deep bored boss of the drill
stock or frame is traversed to and fro radially on the arm by the long
screw, along with its internal motive spindle through a sliding bush
working in a slot cut longitudinally through the centre and outer shell
or body of the arm parallel to its carrying axis also turned on the
outside to turn in its bearings and receive the screw wheel and boss of
the arm.
When the first motion shaft is actuated by a belt passed over a cone
pulley direct, it is preferred to be mounted loose on the shaft and
coupled to it by a "Napier" or other simple friction clutch put in or
out of gear by a lever or rod within reach of the person attending the
drill; but it will be understood that this new or improved horizontal
radial drilling machine may be driven by other arrangements of first
motive gearing.
Although the radial arm and drill stock have been described as made
in the form of hollow cylinders, considering this best for enclosing the
driving gearing, screws, and spindles, it is to be understood that other
ordinary forms of these with their slides, and exposed gearing, and
spindles, and traversing screw may also be used. .
The work to be operated upon may cither be set on the ground
opposite the machine and left there without being secured, provided

page_text: its own weight is sufficient to prevent it being shifted in position by the
pressure of the horizontal boring spindle and drill, or otherwise a cast
iron or other suitable bed plate may be employed (either stationary or
as a low carriage on slides or rails) to which the work would be bolted
down. And as a further improvement and addition to the usefulness
of the machine, a circular motion could be given to this table on which
the work is placed, thereby enabling one side after another to be
operated upon without resetting.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Thomson and James Macintyre Thomson
in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 7th January 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
THOMSON and JAMES MACINTYRE THOMSON, both of the Firm of John
and James Thomson, Engineers, of the City of Glasgow, in the County
of Lanark, North Britain, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said John Thomson and James Macintyre
Thomson, Her special licence that we, the said John Thomson and
James Macintyre Thomson, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said John Thomson and James Macintyre
Thomson, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "A NEW OR IMPROVED RADIAL DRILLING MACHINE," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said John Thomson and James Macintyre
Thomson, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under our, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in

page_text: the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and im-
mediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said John Thomson and James
Macintyre Thomson, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement in writing,
reference being had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
Our said Invention has reference to a new or improved horizontal
radial drilling machine, applicable for boring the smaller class of holes
in the vertical faces and flanges or other parts of massive castings,
such as the framing beds, condensers, air pumps, and cylinders of
marine and other engines, and other large castings, mostly for the
securing of these and other parts to them by screw and other bolts
and pins; or it might be bearings for spindles or valves (up to several
inches in diameter), all in a more convenient and economical manner
than has been possible by the vertical or horizontal radial drilling
machines heretofore in use, which have been so unsuitable for this
class of work that the great mass of these holes in large and heavy
castings have been bored by hand and the ordinary ricket and cramp,
or other simple hand-boring drills, involving great loss of time and
labour both in the boring and in setting the tool for each hole.
And in order that the nature, novelty, and mode of performing our
said Invention may be properly understood, we shall now proceed to
describe the Sheet of Drawings which we have hereunto appended for
the purpose of showing the same all more clearly; the same reference
letters and numerals indicating the same parts in all the Figures.
-
Figures 1 and 2 are side and end elevations, and Figures 3 and 4
are a horizontal and transverse section taken on the lines 1
1 and
2 2, in Figure 1, to which they correspond all respectively of one
modification and adaptation of our said Invention or new or improved
horizontal radial drilling machine, shown with the end of a large surface
condenser Z placed in front of it, in Figures 1 and 4, ready for boring
all the holes in the inner and outer flanges for attaching the end tube,
plate, and cover respectively without requiring to move the casting Z,
which may be set or fixed on a convenient bed plate in front of the
machine near the level of the ground (not shown on the Drawings),

page_text: but which would preferably be made to travel on V grooved rollers or
bearing surfaces and angled shaped bearing guide rails or beds, and
traversed by a rack and pinion, screw, or other equivalent mechanical
motion used for traversing the bed plates of other machine tools.
Referring to these Figures 1 to 4, the nature, novelty, and mode of
performing our said Invention of a new or improved construction and
arrangement of the parts of horizontal radial drilling machines, consist
substantially all. as follows:-The main frame consists of a strong
vertical standard A, preferably of the hollow box class, secured by
screw bolts passed through the flanged sole A' cast on it to a suitable
foundation of masonry at A", or it might be an iron bed plate. This
main standard is made of a height sufficient to carry the large journal
bearings A2, A3, of the main hollow horizontal carrying and radial
swivelling spindle B, B¹, of the vertical radial arm C, C', carrying
the horizontal drilling stock D, and spindle D¹, all so that the long
arm C and drill stock D may clear the ground, and radiate round
the entire circle in either direction in front of the article Z to be
bored. The stock D, spindle D¹, and drill D", only require to traverse
on the arm C, the short radii of from c to c¹ to bore any hole within
the area of these circles c, c³, shown in Figure 2, thus enabling the
arm C to be little more than half the length of the radial arms of other
machines to do the same work, or bore the holes in such large vertical
face, flange, or casting in any angular or radial direction, and at any
distance from the centre 1 1 thereof within the available limits of
the said inner and outer radii (c - c¹, Figure 2), within which the
drill stock D and spindle D' are capable of being moved to and fro
on its arm C. This radial movement is given to the spindle stock D
on its arm C by the screw spindle E, working with the arm and nut
in block D traversed in the slot C¹ passed out through the end
plate at C² or at C" of the short counterbalancing arm C₁ continued
on the other side of its central boss B¹, which is firmly secured by the
deep spigot and faucet ends and flanges at B", to the hollow hori
zontal carrying axis B on which it turns steadily in the bearing A²
at the top of the standard A. The hand crank turn key E¹ on the
outer end of the screw spindle E turns the screw and traverses the
drill spindle to the radial position desired. The horizontal hollow
carrying, turning, and setting spindle B, B', (carrying the radial arm
C, C³, and its drill stock spindle D, and feeding gearing D², D³,) is turned
---

page_text: and held in any vertical radial position in front of the work Z to be
bored, with its feeding spindle d just clear of the front face of the
standard A by the screw wheel B² keyed or otherwise fixed on it,
by preference near the centre between the two journals and bearings
A², A², and by the screw or worm B³ on the transverse spindle B",
gearing into the screw wheel B³, and turned in journal bearings near
the upper and middle part of standard A, preferably below the wheel B',
Figure 4, actuated by a cross hand, lever, or wheel B', on either over-
hanging square end of the spindle all clear of the standard, and the
actuating or first motion cone or pulley F, the shaft F of which is
carried in journal bearings in strong brackets F", F2, cast or fixed
on the upper back part of the main standard A, all so as to drive the
second motion spindle G (revolving in bearings g in the centre of the
main carrying horizontal hollow axis B), preferably by bevel wheels-
G¹, G. This second horizontal spindle G actuates the third trans-
mitting shaft H carried in bearings in the centre of the radial arm C, C¹,
by a second pair of small bevel wheels G2, G³, and the shaft H in turn,
by another pair of bevel wheels H¹, H", working close to the traversing
block D of the drill stock D actuates the horizontal boring spindle D'
and drill D carried by it; all otherwise much in the usual manner
that other radial drilling machines are actuated, so that the drill stock D.
(with its hand and self-acting feeding mechanism D², D³, and screw
spindle d carried on it) is traversed to the desired radial position on
the radial arm C, C¹, by the screw spindle E and hand lever E', and.
when fixed by its bush and fixing screw d¹ the boring spindle D¹ is
actuated by the transmitting wheels G2, G3, and H', H", and shaft H,,
which traverses with the drill stock D and its internal block D¹¹
through the cycs of the wheels G³ or H³ within the arm C, C¹. The
new radial arm C, C¹, and its main hollow horizontal spindle B (when
set to the desired position opposite where the hole is to be bored by the
screw wheel and spindle B2, B3, B¹¹, and hand wheel B', before referred.
to) are firmly fixed and prevented from vibrating by the hand screw's A*
acting on griping blocks or bushes within the bearings A² on the
journals of the hollow carrying shaft B.
The radial arm C, C', as well as its carrying spindle B, B', is preferred
to be made so as to enclose all the actuating spindles G, H, and D¹
with their actuating bevel wheels, and turned truly cylindrically on the
outside, so that the deep bored boss D of the drill stock (as a frame

page_text: by a sliding bush D¹ sliding within the centre of the arm C, and a
longitudinal slot Cu cut through its outer shell or body, so that the
axis of the boring spindle will always be parallel to that of the carrying
spindle B, which is also turned on the outside so as to oscillate or turn
in its bearings A³, and fit and carry the screw wheel B and boss B¹ of
the arm C, C¹.
"
When the first motion shaft F is actuated by a belt passed over. a
cone pulley F, direct from a corresponding reverse cone pulley on the
driving shaft of the workshop, either of which cone pulleys may, by
preference, be mounted loose on their shaft and coupled to it by a
Napier or other simple friction clutch or coupling, put in or out
of gear by a lever or rod within reach of the person attending the
drilling machine, although it will be understood that this new or
improved horizontal radial drilling machine may be driven by other
ordinary arrangements of first motive gearing.
Although this radial arm C, C³, and drill stock D have been described
and shown as made in the form of hollow cylinders, considering this
the best form for enclosing the driving gearing, screws, and spindles,
it is to be understood that other ordinary forms of these with their slides
and exposed gearing, and spindles, and traversing screw may also be
used mounted in this new manner on the horizontal spindle B at the top
of the frame or standard A.
The work Z .to be operated upon may either be set on the ground
in proper position in front of the radial arm C, C¹, for boring a series
of holes, and left there without being otherwise secured than by its
own weight when that is sufficient to prevent its shifting by the feeding
pressure of the horizontal boring spindle and drill D¹, D"; or otherwise
it can be fixed to a suitable cast iron low sliding or rolling table, bed
plate, or carriage, indicated at z, in red lines in Figure 1; and as a
further improvement and addition to the usefulness of the machine and
travelling table z, a circular motion could be given to this bed plate or
table (or a plate or table upon it) on which the work is placed, thereby
enabling one side after another to be operated upon with little re-
setting.

page_text: Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of our
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, we would obseve in conclusion that we do not desire
to claim or restrict ourselves to many of the details which we have had
occasion to describe and delineate in the accompanying Drawings,
although well known as common and necessary to this and other cons-
tructions of radial drilling machines, as many variations may be made
therefrom without departing from the main or essential features of our
said Invention, which we believe to be novel and original and therefore
claim as the Invention secured to us by the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent, the construction of a radial drilling machine having
the setting and fixing horizontal shaft or axis (as B) of the vertical
radial arm (as C) carrying the horizontal drilling spindle (as D¹), at
such a height in its main frame (as A) that the latter can radiate all
round the complete circle (as c¹,) so as to bore horizontal holes within it
as much below as above the said axis (B) in the work (as Z) set in front
of it, all substantially as and for the purposes herein described and
shown in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Thomson and James
Macintyre Thomson, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this
Sixth day of January, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-three..
5 Witness,
JOHN THOMSON,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
JOHN THOMSON.
(L.S.)
JAMES M. THOMSON. (L.S.)