IMPROVEMENTS IN MORTISING MACHINES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Green and William Jackson, both of Leeds,
in the County of York, Machinists, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MORTISING MACHINES."
Sealed the 28th November 1854, and dated the 31st July 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Green and William
Jackson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Peti-
tion, on the 31st July 1854.
We, JOSEPH GREEN and WILLIAM JACKSON, both of Leeds, in the County of
York, Machinists, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MORTISING MACHINES" to be as follows:-
In the application of a hollow rack (through which an ordinary spindle is
passed to attach the cutting tool) to alternately raise or lower the cutting
tool of a mortising machine, instead of the spindle now used for that purpose,
which has teeth all round it, whereby, in consequence of the pitch lines in the
rack, and in the toothed wheel working the rack, being in the same line, a
much firmer grip is obtained than by the old machine, where the teeth of the
wheel obtain a very imperfect hold of the teeth of the spindle, in consequence
of their circular form, and are also very liable to injury.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Green and William Jackson in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 31st January 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOSEPH
GREEN and WILLIAM JACKSON, both of Leeds, in the County of York,
Machinists, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
Joseph Green and William Jackson, Iler special license that we, the
said Joseph Green and William Jackson, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said Joseph Green and William
Jackson, 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
MORTISING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
Joseph Green and William Jackson, by an instrument in writing under our
hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, 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 I, the said William Jackson, on behalf of myself
and of the said Joseph Green, do hereby declare the nature of our said Inven-
tion, 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 Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention consists in the application to mortising machines of a hollow
rack, or its equivalent, (through which the spindle of the cutting tool passes,)
for raising and lowering the cutting tool of a mortising machine, in place of the
spindle generally used for that purpose, which has teeth all round it. By this
improved arrangement a better hold will be established between the teeth of
the rack and the reciprocating cog wheel which works the rack, than between

page_text: the corresponding parts of the old machine, and therefore a much firmer grip
will be obtained.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the improved
machine; Fig. 2, a side view of the same; and Fig. 3 is a full-sized view of
the parts for conveying motion to the cutting tool.
A is the framing of the machine; B, an adjustable bed for holding the
wood to be mortised; and C, a binding screw for securing the wood to the
bed. The adjustment longitudinally of the bed to bring up the wood under
the action of the cutting tool or chisel is effected, as usual, by a toothed pinion
D, connected to the carriage B, and working into the rack E, fixed to. the
bed B. The lateral adjustment is effected by means of a screw F, mounted
in a bearing in the main framing A, and taking into a threaded lug affixed
to the under side of the bed carriage B. G is the spindle which carries the
cutting tool, the same being let into a socket in the lower end thereof, as usual.
This spindle is capable of sliding in adjustable brackets H, I, which are
connected together by being bolted to a vertical rod K, which ensures their
simultaneous adjustment in the slot of the framing A. The up and down
movement of, these brackets is effected by means of a screw L, which is
operated by a winch handle, and is pendent from the top of the framing A.
The lower end of this screw takes into a tapped lug on the bracket H;
according therefore to the direction in which the screw is turned the brackets
are depressed, as required, to suit the depth of the wood under operation.
Over the spindle G is dropped a tube M, which carries a flat-faced rack N.
and this rack is secured to the spindle by being confined between a fixed and
a removeable collar upon the spindle, so that they may move up and down
together, while at the same time the spindle is free to receive an independent
axial motion. A pin passes through the removeable collar (which is on the
upper side of the rack), and through the spindle, whereby the spindle G is
supported in its bracket guides. The teeth of the rack gear into the teeth of
a spur wheel O, and present a surface which will ensure a good firm hold of
the wheel O. There is also a flange around both sides of the wheel O, the
better to enable the rack to maintain its position when the axial motion
herein-after named is given to the spindle. The axle of the wheel O has its
bearings in the framing, and to it is attached a hand lever P, for actuating the
wheel O, which, when the lever is raised or lowered, will impart a vertical
motion to the spindle, and consequently to the cutting tool.
The lower part of the spindle G has a vertical groove cut in it, and resting
upon the face of the lower bracket is a bush R, encircling the spindle, a pin

page_text: from which enters this groove. The spindle can slide easily through this bush
upward and downward; but when the reversing handle Q, which is fixed to
this bush, is turned, an axial movement is given to the spindle, by reason of
the pin fitting within the groove; and the turning of the cutting tool or chisel,
for the purpose of reversing the position of its cutting edges, to permit of the
completion of the mortising or tenoning operation, is thereby effected.
Having now set forth the nature of our Invention of "Improvements in
Mortising Machines," and explained the manner of carrying the same into
effect, we wish it to be understood, that under the above in part recited
Letters Patent we claim, the application to mortising machines of the rack
as herein described, or any mere modification thereof, for the purpose above
explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Jackson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-seventh day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
(L.S.)
WILLIAM JACKSON.
Signed (by affixing his mark) and sealed by the
said William Jackson, in the presence of
J. B. WILKINSON,
Clerk to Messrs. J. & H. Richardson & Gaunt,
Solicitors. Leeds.