Patent No. 8660 Improvements In Machinery For Cutting Vegetable...Pt1
THE
London
JOURNAL AND REPERTORY
OF
Arts, Sciences, and Manufactures.
CONJOINED SERIES.
No. CXXI.
Recent Patents.
To THE RIGHT HONORABLE FRANCIS EARL OF DUCIE, of Woodchester Park, in the county of Gloucester, RICHARD CLYBURN, of Uley, engineer, and EDWIN BUDDING, engineer, of Dursley, both in the same county, for their invention of certain improvements in machinery for cutting vegetable and other substances.- [Sealed 15th October, 1840.]
THIS invention of certain improvements in machinery for cutting vegetable and other substances, consists, firstly, in the application of a peculiarly formed rotary knife-edged tool or cutter to the purposes of cutting, paring, or shaving certain substances hereinafter mentioned; such rotary tool or cutter consisting of a blade or blades, coiled spirally, either upon a cylinder or upon rims, hoops, discs, or wheels; each blade being so coiled as to form, at all points of its width or transverse section, an angle with the axis or centre line of the coil so formed, in order that a sharp cutting edge may be produced, by removing the outside of the thickness of such blades in an angular direction, and admitting of a ready mode of sharpening the same, without the necessity of removing or detaching the blades from the axis on which they revolve, or the axis itself, from the machine.
Secondly,-In supporting such blades or cutters, throughout their whole length, upon a cylinder, suitably formed, when used for the purpose only of cutting hay, straw, or other such substances, intended to be used as food for cattle or other animals.
Thirdly, In the employment of a spiral or coiled blade or cutter, for the purpose of cutting turnips, mangel wurzel, or other roots, into slices or other pieces, to be used as food for cattle, sheep, or other animals.
Fourthly,-In a mode of changing the speed of the feeding rollers, in what are commonly called chaff-cutting machines, in order that the hay, straw, or other matter, under operation, may be cut into different lengths, if required.
And lastly,-In giving to spiral or coiled rotary blades or cutters, a notched or serrated edge, resembling a sickle or finely-cut saw; such edge being capable of retaining that property as it is ground away by the process of sharpening. In Plate XV., at fig. 1, is shewn one construction of cutter, the application of which constitutes the first head of the invention. The cylinder or axle, in this instance, is of iron, having screw-like or spiral grooves or channels b, b, b, formed thereon. One side of these channels are inclined planes, forming an angle with the axis and periphery of the cylinder. Upon these inclined planes or sides of the grooves, the knives or blades c, c, c, are placed or wound, in a spiral direction, and attached thereto by screws, rivets, or other means; d, d, is the axis, upon which the cylinder with its blades, revolves, and is keyed to the arms or discs e, e, at each end of the cylinder.
In some cases, instead of the double coil of blades here shewn, it may be desirable to use a cutter, having the blades affixed thereon, as a right and left-handed screw, the opposite angles meeting in the centre, as shewn at fig. 2; in which figure, the cutters (revolving in the direction of the arrow) are so arranged as to draw the article, under operation, towards the centre of the machine, which is desirable when cutting fibrous vegetable matters; but, under some circumstances, such as in shaving leather, the cutters are reversed, and they will then have a tendency to force the material operated upon, towards each end of the cylinder. The method of mounting the spiral blades may be effected in various ways.
The first application described, of the improved tool or cutter, is to the shaving or paring of leather, so as to bring it to a uniform thickness.
Figs. 3 and 4, represent a machine, which may be employed for shaving or paring hides or skins, or strips of leather intended to be used for the manufacture of wire cards, or other purposes. Fig. 3, is a front elevation, and fig. 4, a transverse vertical section, taken through the middle of the machine, looking towards the left-hand end. a, a, a, is the frame-work of the machine, connected together by cross-bars, as shewn in the drawings. On the top of this frame-work is mounted the rotary cutter A, turning in proper bearings at each end, and is driven by a strap or endless band passing over the pulley b, or by other means; c, c, is a cylindrical bed or roller, over which the leather passes, it being tightly distended upon its surface, in order that, as it passes the edges of the cutting tool, all superfluous parts may be shaved or pared off. The bed c, c, should be of copper, iron, or other firm substance, coated with copper or other material, which will not discolour the articles under operation.
The revolving bed is mounted, at its ends, upon the extremities of short levers d, d, which have their fulcrums, at the reverse ends, on pins or studs, affixed to the frame-work of the machine; e, e, are cams or excentrics, mounted upon the longitudinal shaft f, f, their peripheries acting against the under sides of the levers d, d, or some part connected therewith; g, is a lever or handle, affixed to one end of the shaft f; by which means, the shaft can be turned a portion of a revolution, and consequently with it the cams or excentrics e, e, whereby the roller or bed c, c, will be brought nearer to, or further from, the rotary cutter, as required, to regulate the thickness of the leather or depth of the cut of the blade into the material; h, h, is a slot, having its radius from the centre of the shaft f, f; in which slot there is a sliding pin i, provided on one side with a collar k, and on the other with a screw-nut 7; by which means, both it and the lever g, may be retained in any required position in the slot h. A pin m, (see the detached fig. 5,) is affixed to a spring n, mounted upon the lever handle g; which pin passes through an aperture in the handle g, and is pressed by the spring n, into a recess, formed in the collar k, of the sliding pin i; by means of which, the lever is held or retained.
It will be evident, from this arrangement of the parts, that the materials under operation may be shaved or pared to any required uniform thickness; for by moving the pin i, higher up or lower in the slot h, the lever handle being made to keep its relative position, will cause the shaft ƒ, f, and also the excentrics e, e, to be turned a portion of a revolution, and thereby bring the bed c, to the required distance from the rotatory cutter.
A roller o, o, turning in proper bearings, has one end of the skin or hide, or strip of leather, attached to it, upon which the leather is to be wound, after it has passed through the machine. The means by which the attachment of the leather is made, will be seen in the section. It will be perceived, that there is an indentation or recess formed in the roller o, and in this is placed the rod p, which has the hide or skin wound around it, the rod being kept in its position, when in action, by means of the hoops of metal q, q, so that the roller o, when revolving, keeps the upper lap of the skin or hide tightly distended upon the lower one, thereby holding it tight in the required position. r, r, is a spring blade, extending throughout the length of the bed c, which is for the purpose of pressing upon the material under operation, in order that it may be evenly distended when presented to the action of the blades of the rotatory cutter. This spring blade is attached to the bar s, s, fixed to the frame-work, and is capable of adjustment, so as to give more or less tension to the spring blade, by set screws, as shewn in the drawing.
The mode by which motion is given to the drawing roller o, will be seen by reference to figs. 3 and 4. t, is a worm, mounted on one end of the axis of the rotatory cutter A, which worm takes into the wheel u, mounted on the short shaft v; and on this shaft there is a bevil pinion w, taking into another bevil wheel x, the latter wheel being mounted upon the axis of the roller o; and by these means, it will be caused to revolve slowly, and take up or draw the skin, hide, strip of leather, or other material, through the machine. A clutchy, affords the means of giving rotation to the roller at pleasure; and ≈, is a scraper, turning on centres, affixed to the levers d, d, for the purpose of removing any dirt or fibrous particles adhering to the bed c, c. The operations of the machine are as follow:-The workman first withdraws the pin m, from the recess in the collar k, and forces the handle g, upwards into the position shewn by dotted lines, in fig. 4; by which means, the cams e, e, are turned downwards, and the bed c, c, consequently falling into the position shewn by dotted lines in the same figure; the skin, hide, or strip of leather, or material, is then passed by the workman through the machine under the rotatory cutter A, and one end of it is attached, by the means before described, to the roller o. The handle g, is then brought down with the pin m, into contact with the collar k; the sides of which, being formed as inclined planes, will cause it to recede, and allow the handle to pass further down, until the pin m, arrives opposite the recess formed in the collar k, when it will be forced into that recess by the spring w, and the handle will become fixed. The bed c, c, being now brought up to the required position, by means of the cams e, motion is to be communicated to the driving pulley b, and to the roller o: the hide or other material will be gradually drawn through the machine, and the upper surface be shaved or pared as it passes over the As soon as the end of the hide, under operation, has passed through the machine, the driving strap is thrown on to the loose pulley b*, by any ordinary means; roller o, o, is again thrown out of gear, and the handle g, raised, the bed c, falling down as before. The hide is then reversed, end for end, and again passed through the machine; that end which has been operated upon by the rotatory cutter, being this time affixed to the roller o. By this operation, the whole length of the hide or skin will be pared or shaved to the required thickness.
Figs. 6 and 7, represent a machine, with the improved construction of cutting tool applied thereto, designed to cut or shave a whole hide or skin; but as it will sometimes occur, that the entire extent or surface of the hide cannot be stretched evenly over the bed, on account of certain parts, (by curriers usually called "bags,") this machine is arranged suitably for operating upon a portion only of the whole surface of skin or hide at one time. Fig. 6, is a front elevation of the machine; and fig. 7, a vertical section, taken transversely. a, a, a, is the frame-work of the machine; A, the rotary cutter. In this instance, it is mounted in bearings, suspended from the top bar of the frame-work, and is driven by a strap, passing over the pulley b;-c, c, is the bed, over which the leather passes, and upon which that part of the material under operation, is distended.
The bed, in this machime, is mounted upon sliding pieces d, d, capable of moving up and down between the parallel guides d*, d*. Cams e, e, mounted upon the shaft f, f, act upon the sliding pieces d, d,-the handle g, being placed in different positions, as described with reference to the former machine; o, o, is the roller or drum, on which the material is wound, as it proceeds from the cutter, and in this machine is of larger diameter: and instead of the rod p, as in the former instance, a pair of chaps or holders p, p, are used for drawing the material through the machine, there being an opening or recess q, q, in the periphery of the drum o, o, into which they pass, in order to present an even surface for the material to be wound upon. The spring blade, for pressing the leather evenly upon the bed, is represented at r, r.
The mode by which motion is given to the drum o, o, is as follows:-t, is a worm, mounted on the end of the shaft of the rotatory cutter A, taking into a worm-wheel u, mounted on the shaft v, v; on which shaft there is another worm w, taking into the worm-wheel x, on the axis of the o. The mode of operating with this machine, is as follows:- The skin, hide, or material, intended to be shaved or pared, is first folded over, leaving a single thickness a little longer than the width of the rotatory cutter; it is then placed upon the table t, in the front of the machine. The bed