IMPROVE- MENTS IN SHAPING METALS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1860

page_text: Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SHAPING METALS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREIN." A communication from abroad by Jean Baptiste Vin, of
40, Rue Consulat, Marseilles, in the Empire of France, Undertaker.
Sealed the 12th September 1860, and dated the 26th March 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 26th March 1860.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North
Britain, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN SHAPING METALS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREIN," a communication from abroad by Jean Baptiste Vin, of 40, Rue
Consulat, Marseilles, in the Empire of France, Undertaker, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved system or mode of manufacturing
spades, shovels, trowels, spatulas, sword blades, wedges, large nails, files, and
other similar articles, by passing them through peculiarly constructed rolls.
The peculiarity in this system of rolling and shaping metals is that the articles
presented on one side of the rolls return in place of passing through to the
opposite side.

page_text: In making a shovel by this system of rolls, a piece of sheet metal is first
taken to a pair of cylindrical rolls, where it is lengthened and widened so as to
form a rectangle. One side is now channelled so as to form the socket of the
shovel by submitting it to the successive action of a set of graduated rolls
having a flattened portion on their peripheries. From these last-mentioned
rolls the metal is taken to a pair of eccentric rolls, so shaped as to curve or
bend the metal, which is then passed between the jaws of a pair of shears, and
to complete the socket it is passed through a pair of grooved rolls in con-
junction with a fixed conical mandril; the eccentric rotation of these rolls
double up the sides of and complete the rounded socket. The plate is then
presented edgewise and passed between two deep and narrow grooves which
impart the proper obliquity to the sides. The metal is next subjected to
another pair of rolls, which are so formed as to flatten it and also to form the
sides.
In the manufacture of trowels it is proposed to use rolls fitted with
moveable rings, and provided with a matrix; by the addition or diminution of
the rings, and by adjusting the distance between the rolls, the sizes of the
trowels may be varied.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 26th September 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentle-
man, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said John Henry
Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and 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 "IM-

page_text: PROVEMENTS IN SHAPING METALS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREIN," a communication from abroad by Jean Baptiste Vin, of 40, Rue
Consulat, Marseilles, in the Empire of France, Undertaker, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Henry Johnson, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Henry Johnson, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
The said Invention relates to a peculiar system or mode of manufacturing,
by the aid of suitably constructed rolls, shovels of all kinds, the teeth or tines
of agricultural implements, trowels, spatulas, wedges of all kinds, large nails,
the blades of swords and sabres, hammer heads, files, and other similar
articles.
The annexed Sheet of Drawings contains various views of the peculiar
mechanism employed in this improved mode or method of shaping metals.
Figure 1 represents an elevation of a rolling mill with eccentric rolls,
specially adapted to the manufacture of shovels of all kinds and sizes, with or
without sides. To vary the dimensions it is simply necessary to adjust the
axes of the rolls nearer to or further from each other. Figure 2 represents a
plan of a fixed conical mandrill placed between the grooved eccentric rolls 5
and 6 (Figure 1), and serving, in combination with the rotation of the rolls,
to form the socket for the reception of the handle of the shovel. This socket
may be made more or less open, or of greater or lesser diameter, by drawing
out the mandrill more or less from the rolls. Figure 3 is a transverse section
of the coupling for connecting the sets of rolls, in which 7 is the junction shaft
and other the coupling box, shewn also in Figure 1. Figure 4 represents an
end view of two cones 9 and 10 (Figure 1), for forming the piece or tail of
which the socket of the shovel is made, and imparting to it a conical or
tapered shape. Figure 5 is a transverse section of the two eccentric rolls I
and 2 (Figure 1), which reduce the material to the desired thickness.
Figure 6 is a side elevation of the rolls 1 and 2; Figure 7 is a transverse
section of the eccentric rolls 3 and 4 (Figure 1), for curving the metal ;
Figure 8 is a similar section of the rolls 5 and 6 (Figure 1), herein-before

page_text: referred to, taken through one of the narrow grooves a, a; the bottoms of these
grooves are made eccentrically in order to impart the desired taper or obliquity
to the sides of the shovel towards its front edge as is clearly shewn in Figure 8,
where a shovel blank with its socket piece is represented as being passed
between the rolls; Figure 9 is a similar section of the same pair of rolls
5 and 6, taken through the grooves b, b, and showing the position of the
conical mandrill herein-before referred to between them.
Figure 10 represents a sectional elevation of a pair of rolls adapted to the
manufacture of trowels used by masons and bricklayers. A, B, are two eccen-
tric rolls, and C, C', C, are eccentric rings carried by the roll A; D is a
matrix on the roll B. By enlarging or diminishing the rings C³, and the
adjustment of the rolls A and B, nearer to or further from each other, the
sizes of the trowels may be varied at pleasure; Figure 11 is an end view of
the roll B, and matrix D, (a detached plan of which is shewn at Figure 12.)
The rings C are secured on the roll A by the feather x (Figure 10), which
enters corresponding slots made in the interior of the rings; the latter are
slipped on endwise, and are prevented from turning round the foll by the slots
and feather. Each of the matrices is provided with tenons f,f, at each end,
as shewn in Figure 12, and the rings 9, 9, each contain corresponding orifices
for the reception of these tenons. The roll B is further provided with a
groove extending over its whole length, into which two keys i, i, are inserted,
which also take into corresponding slots or key-ways made inside the rings g.
By this arrangement the rings 9 are held firmly on the roll, and prevented
from turning or slipping thereon. Figure 13 represents a detached view of
the cam H, and the working lever of the shears, which is actuated thereby ;
Figures 14 and 15 represent respectively a plan and side elevation of the
shears, and Figure 16 is a section of the shear jaws o, o.
Figure 17 is a side elevation of a pair of eccentric rolls specially adapted
to the manufacture of spatulas, and Figure 18 is a corresponding transverse
section of the same taken through one of the grooves or channels. The
adjustment of the axis of the rolls nearer to or further from each other, is
effected by the gearing 11, 11, in Figure 1; this gearing imparts a rotatory
motion to a pair of screw spindles which raise or depress, as the case may be,
the bearings of the upper roll; 12, 12, are spur pinions for transmitting
motion to the upper series of rolls; 13, 13, are the standards which support
and guide the bearings of the rolls.
In manufacturing shovels according to this Invention, a piece of sheet iron
is first rolled out into a rectangular form by means of the rolling mill. One
of the sides is then shaped for the purpose of forming the socket of the shovel

page_text: by placing it edgeways between the two cones 9 and 10; the operation is begun
by the first or smallest part of the cones, then the shovel is submitted to the
second and larger part, and finally to the third and largest part, which com-
pletes the tail piece ready for rolling into a socket. The shovel is now passed
between the rolls 3 and 4, which curve it, when it is conveyed to the blades o, o,
of the shears (Figure 15), and is then presented to the rolls 5 and 6, and
conical mandrell (Figure 2), which by their conjoint action form and perfectly
roll the socket. By presenting the sheet between the grooves a, a, it is tapered
or bas its sides rendered oblique, when it is a third time passed between the
rolls 1 and 2, and is thereby flattened and the sides formed as shewn in the
Drawing. The workman curves it by raising the end of the shovel during
the action of the rolls.
The main feature which distinguishes this system of rolling metals from
others is, that the material presented at one side of the rolls returns in place of
passing to the other side. This result is obtained by the eccentricity of the
rolls, which admit of the article being introduced between them at the time
when their surfaces are farthest apart, and which then grip the article as
their surfaces approach, and roll it and force it forwards toward the attendant.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that what I consider to be novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is,
First, the general system or mode of rolling and shaping metals, as herein-
before described.
Second, the peculiar construction and arrangement of rolls for making
shovels and similar articles, as berein-before described and illustrated by the
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twenty-sixth day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)