IMPROVEMENTS IN RIVET-MAKING MACHINERY
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to David Tannahill and John Tannahill, both of Glasgow,
in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Engineers, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN RIVET-MAKING MACHINERY."
Sealed the 7th July 1863, and dated the 13th January 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said David Tannahill and John
Tannahill at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 13th January 1868.
We, DAVID TANNAHILL and JOHN TANNAHILL, both of Glasgow, in the
County of Lanark, North Britain, Engineers, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN RIVET-MAKING MACHINERY," tc
be as follows, that is to say:-
This Invention relates to improvements which are more or less applicable
to various kinds of rivet-making machines.
A first improvement relates to the turn-table movement by which the table-
or disc with the series of dies is shifted round between each stroke to bring a
fresh die under or in front of the ram or shaping head. A difficulty bas
hitherto been experienced in combining with a simple and easy movement the
necessary accuracy of position at each shift; by the present Invention, how-

page_text: ever,
this is effected by employing a reversed ratchet with the ordinary ratchet
and pawl lever arrangement by which the table or disc is shifted. A catch
centred on a stationary stud is arranged to engage with the reversed ratchet,
being pressed inwards by a spring, and a tooth of the ratchet is brought firmly
up against it at each shift by the action of the pawl lever on the other ratchet.
At the commencement of a fresh shift the reverse ratchet catch is for a
moment drawn out of the way for the point of the next ratchet tooth to pass it.
The ratchet wheels are by preference constructed so that the faces of the teeth
are cut out of steel, cavities being formed in the original iron block to receive
the steel in the requisite positions. If the improved shifting movement is
applied to a machine in which the die table or disc turns about a vertical
axis, the table is by preference made to rest and turn in a circular V-shaped
groove, instead of being formed with an inverted groove to rest on a projecting
ridge.
.
A second portion of the improvements relates to machines in which the ram
or shaping head works horizontally. A keeper is provided to receive the
blank as it is cut off the rod, and this keeper holds the blank opposite the die
until the ram acts upon it. The keeper is made to collapse as the ram is
beginning to act on the blank, and is then withdrawn, but not before the blank
is properly held between the ram and the die. The shaping dic of the ram
head is fitted with a strong spring at the back, which causes it to project a
little until the pressure of the stroke is sufficient to compress the spring.
With this arrangement the blank is at first pushed into the die with a com-
paratively slight pressure, which permits of the keeper being more easily or
conveniently withdrawn, but of course on the heading die receding inwards it
reaches an internal shoulder, and the final compression is given with as much
solidity as in ordinary arrangements. In the various modifications the
movable cutter for cutting the blanks off the rods is by preference made to
work rectilineally in guides, instead of being fixed to a lever, and the bridge
piece in which the ram or shaping head is guided is by preference accurately
fitted into its seat in the framing, but so as to permit of accurate adjustment at
any time by 'means of set screws provided on opposite sides of it for the
DUEDOse
.i.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said David Tannahill and John Tannahill in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 11th July 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, DAVID
TANNAHILL and JOHN TANNAHILL, both of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark,
North Britain, Engineers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent; bearing date the Thirteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant. unto
us, the said David Tannahill and John Tannabill, Her special licence that. we,
the said David Tannahill and John Tannahill, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said David Tannahill and John Tannahill,
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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN RIVET-MAKING
MACHINERY," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said David
Tannahill and John Tannahill, our executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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 the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said David Tannahill and John Tannahill,
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
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :—
Our said Invention relates to improvements which are more or less appli-
cable to various kinds of rivet-making machinery.
And in order that our said Invention and the manner of performing the
same may be properly understood, we have hereunto appended a Sheet of
explanatory Drawings, to be herein-after referred to, and representing two
modifications of rivet machines as constructed with our improvements.
Figure 1 on the Sheet of Drawings is a side elevation, Figure 2 is an end

page_text: elevation, and Figure 3 is a plan, of a rivet-making machine, embodying
some of our improvements. This machine is of the class termed "vertical,"
from the motion of the ram or shaping head A being vertical, and in some
respects it resembles machines of that class as hitherto constructed. It will
therefore be unnecessary to give herein a detailed description, excepting so far
as may seem requisite for the proper explanation of our improvements.
A first improvement relates to the turn-table movement by which the table
or disc B with the series of dies C is shifted round between each stroke to
bring a fresh die under or in front of the ram or shaping head A. A difficulty
has hitherto been experienced in combining with a simple and easy movement
the necessary accuracy of position at each shift; by the present Invention,
however, this is effected by employing a reversed ratchet with the ordinary
ratchet and pawl lever arrangement by which the table or disc B is shifted.
The reversed ratchets are indicated by dotted lines at D in Figure 8, and are
shown detached in Figure 4. The table B is shifted round step by step by the
pawl lever E, actuated by means of a connecting rod F from a crank G on
the main shaft H, by which the main lever or beam I is worked. A catch J,
indicated by dotted lines in Figure 3, is centred on a stationary stud, and is
arranged to engage with the reversed ratchet, being pressed inwards by a
spring, and a tooth of the ratchet is brought firmly up against it at each shift
by the action of the pawl lever E on the other ratchet. At the commencement
of each shift the reverse ratchet catch J is for a moment drawn out of the
way for the point of the next ratchet tooth to pass it. For this purpose the
catch J is fitted with a slotted link K, which embraces the pawl lever E or a
pin on that lever, and just as it completes its backward movement the pawl
lever E draws over the link K, and thereby causes the catch J to be moved
outwards. An ordinary spring pawl L, indicated by dotted lines in Figure 3,
is provided, to prevent the table B from moving backwards. The ratchet
wheels D are by preference constructed so that the faces of the teeth are cut
out of steel, cavities being formed in the original block to receive the steel in
the requisite positions. This improved shifting movement may be applied to
either a "vertical" or a "horizontal" machine. When the machine is vertical
and the die table or disc B turns about a vertical axis, the table B is by pre-
ference made to rest and turn in a circular V-shaped groove, as indicated at M
in Figure 2, instead of being formed with an inverted groove to rest on a
projecting ridge. The machine is provided as usual with cutters N for cutting
the blanks off the rods, but the upper or movable cutter is by preference made
to work rectilineally in guidos P, being jointed instead of, fixed to the lever Q,

page_text: by which it is actuated. The bridge piece R, in which the ram or shaping
head A is guided, is accurately fitted into its seats in the side frames S, but so
as to permit of accurate adjustment at any time by means of set screws T
screwed into lugs provided on opposite sides of it for the purpose. In a similar
way the rods U, by which the main lever I is held down to the wooden spring
beams, are screwed at their lower ends and fitted with nuts, as indicated by
dotted lines in Figure 1, so that they can at any time be accurately adjusted.
Figure 5 is a' sectional plan, Figure 6 is a side elevation partly in section,
and Figure 7 is a transverse vertical section, of a "horizontal" machine or
one in which the ram or shaping head A works horizontally, and a further
portion of our improvements are shown as applied to it. This machine is
represented as fitted with only one die C. The cutters N for cutting off the
blanks are immediately above the die C, the upper cutter being fixed to a
block sliding in guides P upon the cross frame piece V, and being actuated by
a lever Q on a rocking shaft W, which is worked by a crank pin disc on the
main shaft H. A keeper X is provided to receive each blank as it is cut off
the rod, and this keeper holds the blank opposite the die C until the ram A
acts upon it. The keeper X is in two parts hinged together and fitted with a
spring, or the outer part may be made capable of springing, and angular
pieces of thin metal at the top of the keeper receive the blank, being arranged
so that in collapsing one can enter under the other. The keeper collapses as
the heading ram A begins to act on the blank, and is then withdrawn, but not
before the blank is properly held between the ram A and the die C. The
keeper X is fixed to a block sliding in guides Y, and is depressed out of the
way at the proper times by a transverse lever Z, actuated by a longitudinal
lever a, which last is moved by a cam on the main shaft H. The shaping
die 6 of the ram head A is fitted with a strong spring c at the back in a socket
formed in the ram head, and this spring causes the die to project a little until
the pressure of the stroke is sufficient to compress the spring. With this
arrangement the blank is at first pushed into the counter die C with a com-
paratively slight pressure, which permits of the keeper X being more easily or
conveniently withdrawn, but of cours on the heading die 6 receding inwards,
it reaches an internal shoulder, and the final compression is given with as much
solidity as in ordinary arrangements. The bearings of the main shaft H and
of the first-motion shaft d are made movable, and the concussion of the
shaping stroke is received by a wooden spring beam e provided with a screw
adjustment f.
Having thus particularly described our said Invention, and the manner in

page_text: which the same is or may be performed, we have to state that we do not
restrict ourselves to the precise details herein described or delineated; but that
what we believe to be novel and original, and claim as the Invention secured
to us by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is, the combining or
arranging of the parts of rivet-making machines, substantially as herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, we, the said David Tannahill and John Tannahill,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Tenth day of July, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
28, St. Enoch Square, ·
Glasgow.
DAVID TANNAHILL. (L.S.)
JOHN TANNAHILL.
(L.S.)