Ix- PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR DRESSING, SURFACING, OR SHAPING STONE
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Tweeddale, of Johnstone, in the County
of Renfrew, North Britain, Engineer, for the Invention of "Ix-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR DRESSING, SURFACING, OR
SHAPING STONE."
Sealed the 22nd February 1876, and dated the 29th September 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Tweeddale at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th September 1875.
I, JOHN TWEEDDALE, of Johnstone, in the County of Renfrew,
North Britain, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR DRESSING,
SURFACING, OR Shaping Stone," to be as follows, that is to say :—
This Invention relates to improved machinery or apparatus designed
with the view of avoiding as much as possible any rubbing or scraping
of the cutting edges on the stone, so as to reduce the wear of such
cutting edges to a minimum.
An important feature of the improved machinery consists in the
cutting edges having imparted to them a rolling action when in the

page_text: act of cutting, not as hitherto been proposed by a rubbing or frictional
action of the stone or other parts, but by the positive action of fixed
and rigid gearing; and a further improvement on such rolling cutters
consists in making them with indented or stellate edges instead of
complete circular discs.
A
The cutters used in carrying out the Invention are rings or discs with
their outer faces flat and their edges bevilled or chisel shaped in radial
section, whilst presenting in face view either a plain circle or as is
preferred a toothed outline with rounded projections or teeth.
number of such cutters, cach fixed on a spindle, are carried by a 1
carrying disc, which is made to revolve by any suitable gearing. The
several cutter spindles arranged in a circle round the carrying disc pass
through bearing eyes therein, and have fixed or formed on their ends
projecting on the other side of the carrying disc pinions which gear
with an internally toothed circle fixed to the framing. This gearing
causes the cutters to have the desired rolling movement (as though
they rolled round the inside of a circle equal and parallel to the pitch
circle of the internally toothed wheel).
In one arrangement of the general machinery the cutter carrying disc
is fixed on a horizontal shaft, so that the cutters may act on a vertical
face of the block of stone, which is made to travel horizontally at right
angles to the shaft. The stone is carried and moved by a slide or
carriage sliding or running on horizontal guides or rails and moved by
any suitable progressive or feed motion, such as is in use in planing
and other machines. The stone may be fixed directly on the slide or
carriage, but by preference there are provided two or more rests or
frames fitted to be easily adjusted and secured on the slide or carriage,
so that whilst one stone is being operated on in the machine another
stone can be adjusted upon its rest or frame ready to be transferred to
the machine without loss of time when the first stone is completed.
Theremay be a single cutter carrying disc to act on the entire breadth
of the stone, or there may be two or more such discs in the breadth;
and there may be two or more cutter carrying discs or sets of discs
arranged to operate in succession, so that the stone may receive a second
or finishing action.
The cutter carrying disc may be mounted with its shaft vertical or
at any inclination, so as to act on a horizontal or inclined surface of the
E

page_text: In other modifications the cutter discs may be carried on a slide,
which is made to reciprocate in frame guides in a horizontal, vertical,
or inclined direction, fixed racks being provided for the pinions on the
cutter spindles to gear with, and so produce the desired rolling action.
The stone operated on may be mounted on a turntable, at one part
of which another stone may be adjusted whilst the first is being operated
upon.
In cases where it is an object to economise space as much as possible,
and particularly when operating on large blocks, the stone may be
fixed and the feed or progressive movement may be imparted to slides
or carriages having the cutters mounted on them. Or when a straight
row or series of cutters is used the progressive or feed motion may be
given to the slide or frame carrying the cutters, whilst a comparatively
quick transverse reciprocating motion is given to the stono and to a
rack acting on the pinions of the cutters.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Tweeddale in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 28th March 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
TWEEDDALE, of Johnstone, in the County of Renfrow, North Britain,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said John Tweeddale, Her special
licence that I, the said John Tweeddale, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Tweeddale, my 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 MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR DRESSING, SURFACING, OR SHAPING Stone,"

page_text: upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Tweeddale,
my oxccutors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and scals, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Tweeddale, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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 accom-
panying Drawings, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to improved machinery or apparatus
designed with the view of avoiding as much as possible any rubbing or
scraping of the cutting edges on the stone, so as to reduce the wear of
such cutting edges to a minimum.
An important feature of my improved machinery consists in the
cutting edges having imparted to them a rolling action when in the act
of cutting, not as has hitherto been proposed by a rubbing or frictional
action of the stone or other parts, but by the positive action of fixed and
rigid gearing, and a further improvement on such rolling cutters consists
in making them with indented or stellate edges instead of complete
circular discs.
In some modifications of my improved apparatus the rolling cutters
are carried on a disc which is made to revolve by any suitable gearing; 2
and pinions on the spindles of the cutters gear with a fixed internally
toothed circle which causes the cutters to have the desired rolling
motion.
In other modifications the rolling cutters are carried on a slide which
is made to reciprocate, fixed racks being provided to act on the pinions
on the cutter spindles, either directly or through intermediate pinions so
as to produce the desired rolling motion.
And in order that my said Invention and the manner of performing
the same may be properly understood I hereunto append five Sheets of
explanatory Drawings, to be herein-after referred to, and representing 3
various modifications of my improved machinery or apparatus. In

page_text: these Drawings the same reference letters and numerals are used to
mark the same or like parts wherever they are repeated.
Figure 1 on Sheet 1 of the Drawings is a plan, and Figure 2 is a front
elevation of a machine in which the rolling cutters are carried by
revolving discs, the block of stone S that is being operated on being
shown in Figuro 1, but not in Figure 2.
Figure 3 is a face view, and Figure 4 a section of one of the rolling
cutters C, and showing one mode of fixing the cutter on its spindle A,
whilst Figures 5 and 6 show another mode of fixing the cutter O on its
spindle A. Each cutter O is a ring or disc with its outer face flat and
with the edges bevilled or chisel shaped in radial section, whilst
presenting in face view either a plain circle, or as I prefer and as shown
in Figures 3 and 5, a toothed outline with rounded projections or teeth,
the bevilling being extended into the hollows between the teeth, so
that a sharp edge is presented at all parts of the contour of the
cutter.
In the plan of fixing shown in Figures 3, 4, the back of the cutter
disc O is formed with threo radial projections indicated by dotted lines
in Figure 3, and which fit in counterpart recesses formed in the head of
the spindle A. A screw B fixes the cutter to the spindle.
In the plan shown in Figures 5 and 6, a three-sided dovetail pro-
jection is formed on the back of the cutter disc O, and a corresponding
recess is formed to receive it in the head of the spindle A. A tapered
key E locks the parts together.
The machine shown in Figures 1 and 2 is provided with three cutter
carrying discs D 1, D2, D3, which are fixed on horizontal shafts 4, 5, 6,
running in bearings in the two cheeks 7, 8, of a massive cast-iron frame.
A first motion shaft 9 carrying fast and loose pulleys 10 for a driving
belt has on it a pinion 11 in gear with a spur wheel 12 on an inter-
mediate shaft 13, and a pinion 14 on this last gears with a spur wheel 15
on the disc shaft 6. A carrier wheel indicated by a red circle 16 in
Figure 2 gears with a spur wheel 17 on the disc shaft 5, and this spur
wheel gears with an equal spur wheel 18 on the disc shaft 4. The
several cutters or small cutters discs Carranged in circles on the carrying
discs D pass through bearing eyes in the discs, and on their ends pro-
jecting on the other side of the discs, pinions 19 are formed or fixed and
gear with internally toothed circles 20 fixed to the frame cheek 8. The

page_text: block of stone S to be operated on is fixed on a sliding table 21, which
is moved along a guide bed 22 by means of a screw shaft 23, the gearing
for driving which is arranged to act continuously, and is such as to be
easily understood from the Drawing. Of the three cutter carrying discs
two, D1, D2, are smaller than the third, D 3, and the two revolving in
opposite directions, and so as to cut in towards the middle horizontal
line of the stone, take a first rough cut, whilst the larger disc D3 which
is placed with its centre on the middle line gives a finishing cut to the
stone. The line of movement of the sliding table 21 is arranged at a
slight inclination to the plane of the cutter carrying discs D, so that the
cutters C may move through the back parts of their revolutions without
touching the stone.
There may be one or more of the cutter carrying discs D in each machine,
according to circumstances, and each such disc D may be mounted
with its shaft horizontal, as shown, or vertical, or at any inclination so
as to act on a vertical, or horizontal, or inclined surface of the stone.
Figure 7, on Sheet 2, is a plan; and Figure 8 is a front elevation of a
modification of my improved apparatus, in which the rolling motion of
the cutter discs O is produced by means of a fixed rack R. In this
example three of the cutter discs C arc carried by means of their
spindles A which are placed vertically in a slide 25, and this slide is
fitted to move horizontally on a transverse guide frame 26 which is
adjustable vertically on a pair of frame standards 27. The slide 25 and
guide frame 26 are shown in section in Figure 9. Each cutter spindle A
has a pinion 19 on its upper end, and can be raised more or less by
means of screw nuts 28 on its extreme end above the pinion, whilst it is
kept down by an adjustable screw pin 29 held in a cross bar 30 fixed
above the slide. Each pinion 19 is in gear with a pinion 31 carried on
a stud on the slide 25, and the several pinions 31 are in gear with a
toothed rack R fixed to the transverse guide framo 26. The inter-
mediato pinions 31 could be dispensed with if the rack R were arranged
to gear with the pinions 19 at what are their right-hand sides in Figure 9,
but the arrangement shown admits of parts of the apparatus being
more conveniently arranged. The movement of the slide 25 along the
transverse guide frame 26 is effected by a screw shaft 32 carried by the
frame 26, and working in an internally screwed piece 33 attached to the
slide 25. The screw shaft 32 is driven by means of bevil wheels 31
from a vertical shaft 35, which is driven by means of bevil wheels 36

page_text: from a horizontal shaft having on it a series of fast and loose pulleys 37
for open and crossed driving belts. When the cutter slide 25 reaches
each end of its traverse its motion is reversed by the action of a trans-
verse horizontal rod 38 carried by the guide frame 26, and having on it
stop pieces 39 which can be fixed at different points, accordingly as a
broad or narrow block of stone is being operated on. A ring 40 on the
slide 25 embraces the rod 38 between the stops 39, and moves the rod
on approaching each end of its traverse. The movement of the rod 88
is communicated by a lever 41, to which it is jointed to a vertical
shaft 42 on which the lever is fixed, and a lever 43 on the lower part of
this shaft is connected by a link 41 to one of the belt shifting levers 45,
whilst this lever 45 is on a rocking shaft having on it a lever 46 con-
nected by a link to the other belt shifting lever 47.
The machine represented on Sheet 2 is designed for operating on the
top horizontal surface of a block of stone (S) which is to be carried on
a sliding table or carriago 21 moved on rollers along a guide bed 22 by
means of a screw shaft 23. The gearing connected with the screw
shaft 23 will be easily understood from the Drawing, and comprises
arrangements for driving the shaft continuously at either of two speeds
and an arrangement acting intermittently and which will move or feed
the block of stone towards the cutters at the end of each traverse of the
slide 25. The intermittent feed or progressive motion is derived from
the vertical shaft 42, a lever 48 on this shaft being connected by a
link 49 to a pawl lever 50, the pawl of which engages with a toothed
wheel 51 loose on a shaft or stud. The wheel 51 gears with a similar
wheel 52 by which the motion is transmitted to the screw shaft 23
when the corresponding clutch 53 is set for that action, and the wheel 52
has in connection with it a pawl lever 51 connected by a link to the
other pawl lever 50. The wheels 51, 52, turn in opposite directions,
and as one wheel is acted on by one movement of the link 49 and the
other by the reverse movement, both movements act in the same direction
on the screw shaft 23.
Figure 10 on Sheet 3 is a plan; and Figure 11 is a front elevation of
a modification differing from that shown on Sheet 2, and herein-before
described, in having the rolling cutter slide 25 moved in a simpler
manner. The slide 25 has jointed to it one end of a rod 55, the other
end of which is jointed to a lover 56, and this lever 50 is connected by a
rod 57 to a crank pin 58 which is adjustably fixed in the slot of a

page_text: wheel 59 driven by gearing that will be easily understood from the
Drawings. The connecting rod 57 can bo jointed to different parts of
the lever 56 which gives a means of adjusting the length of stroke of
the slide 25 in addition to that afforded by the adjustable attachment of
the crank pin 58.
The stone operated on may be mounted on a turntable, at one part of
which another stone may be adjusted whilst the first is being operated
upon. Such an arrangement is shown on Sheet 4 of the Drawings,
Figure 12 being a plan, partly in section, and Figure 13 a vertical
section, one half as at the line G-H, and the other half as at the
line H-I in Figure 12. The table 59 is of an annular form, and at
one part passes between the standards 27 which carry the transverso
guide frame 26 and rolling cutter slide 25, the minor details connected
with these points being, however, not shown in Figure 12. The table 59
rests and moves round on a number of rollers 60 carried by sleeper
blocks 61, and it is guided by horizontal rollers 62 held by some of the
blocks 61 and bearing against the inside of a cylindrical flange 63
formed on the under side of the table. This flange 63 has worm wheel
teeth formed on its outside, and there gears therewith a worm 64 on a
shaft 23 which may be driven like the corresponding feed or progressivo
motion shaft of the other modifications. The upper side is represented
as formed with framed spaces to receive the blocks of stone, but such
blocks may be fixed on the table in any convenient way, and the table
and sides of the spaces may be formed with holes or slots for holding
bolts.
In cases where it is an object to economise space as much as possible,
and particularly when operating on large blocks, the stone may be fixed
and the feed or progressive movement may be imparted to slides or
carriages having the rolling cutters mounted on them; or when a
straight row or series of cutters is used, the progressive or feed motion
may be given to the slide or frame carrying the cutters, whilst a com-
paratively quick transverse reciprocating motion is given to the stone
and to a rack acting on the pinions of the cutters.
A modification of the apparatus in which the block of stone S is
stationary, whilst being operated on, is shown on Sheet 5 of the
Drawings, Figure 14 being a plan, and Figure 15 a front clevation.
Sliding brackets 27' are substituted for the fixed standards 27 of tho

page_text: other modifications, and are moved along horizontal guides or shears 65
by two screw shafts 23¹ substituted for the one 23 used for moving the
table 21 in the other modifications, but driven by similar gearing. The
transverse guide frame 26 and the rolling cutter slide 25 and details
connected therewith remain the same, but the power for working the
slide 25 is transmitted from gearing placed at the further end of the
machine, and not fully shown in the Drawing, by a longitudinal
shaft‍66, which is grooved so as by a feather to drive a bevil pinion 67
carried along it by one of the sliding brackets 27' and gearing with a
bevil wheel on the vertical shaft 35. In a similar way grooved longi-
tudinal shafts 68, 69, transmit the movements relating to the reversing
of the slide 25, and to the feed or progressive motion of the sliding
brackets 27¹.
In Figure 15 the block of stone S is shown as set upon a wheeled
truck 70, and one machine may be made long enough to receive two
or more trucks, so that the operation of the machine need not be
interrupted when changing from one block of stone to the next. A
simple mode of securing the stone block S on the truck 70 is shown.
On a pin 71 at the centre of each end of the truck there are jointed or
hooked two links 72, each consisting of right and left screwed parts
connected by a coupling, and having a claw piece 73 fixed at the end to
catch in an indentation in the side of the stone. The claw piece 73
will be best understood from Figure 16.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention and the
manner of performing the same, I have to state that I do not restrict
myself to the precise details herein described and delineated, but that
what I believe to be novel and original and claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
1. The arranging of machinery or apparatus for dressing, surfacing,
or shaping stone, wherein the cutters have imparted to them a rolling
motion by the positive action of toothed gearing, as herein-before
described.
2. The making of the rolling cutters with indented or stellate edges,
as herein-before described.
3. Each of the machines herein described as a whole and as
distinmishod Gam

page_text: arrangements adapting it for operating with the rolling cutters, as herein-
before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Tweeddale, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of
March, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-six.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
JOHN TWEEDDALE. (LS.)