Improvements in Wood Cutting Machines.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Jan., 1896-Accepted. 8th Feb., 1896
COMPLETE SELUTATION.
[Communicated from abroad by WILLIAM F. HUTCHINSON, Manufacturer, and
EDWIN GOULD, both of 256 and 257 Broadway, New York, United States
of America.]
Improvements in Wood Cutting Machines.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My invention relates to improvements in wood cutting machines and particularly
to machines for cutting kindling wood, although the machine may be used for
cutting other material; and the object of my invention is to produce a machine
capable of operating on the roughest kind of wood without regard to its shape or as to
whether it is knotty, and which will quickly cut or saw the wood into blocks or sticks
of desired dimensions, and a further object of my invention is to produce a machine
which utilizes a double series of band saws arranged with one series above the
other and preferably at right angles to each other so that when a block of wood is
dropped upon the top saws they will strip it in one direction while the saws
beneath will strip it in the opposite direction, and thus when the block has passed
through the machine it will be cut into sticks suitable for kindling wood or perhaps
for other purposes.
Another object of my invention is to provide a simple and convenient means for
adjusting the saws, the guides for the same and the guide for the wood, so, that the
machine may be quickly and nicely adapted to cut sticks of required dimensions;
also to provide a carrier which will receive the prepared wood and convey it to
a desired point, and in general to produce a machine which may be operated by an
unskilled person and will cut up wood with great speed and nicety.
To these ends my invention consists of certain features of construction and
combinations of parts, which will be hereinafter described and claimed.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this
Specification, in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in
all the views.
Figure 1 is a plan view of one half the machine;
Figure 2 is a similar plan view of the other half of the machine;
Figure 3 is an elevation, looking in the direction of the arrow in Figure 2;
Figure 4 is a detail cross section on the line 4-4 of Figures 1 and 2, showing
the arrangement of the saws, the wood guide and the wood in the act of
being sawn;
Figure 5 is an enlarged detail perspective view of the wood guide;
Figure 6 is a sectional plan of one of the saw drum supports and illustrates the
means for adjusting the same;
Figure 7 is a vertical cross section on the line 7-7 of Figure 6 ;
Figure 8 is a broken detail sectional view of one of the band saws with the guide
and the brace for the saw;
Figure 9 is an enlarged detail sectional view o. the line 9-9 of Figure 8, and
Figure 10 is a view of one of the saw guides which is adapted to give to the saw
a quarter turn.

page_text: The machine is provided with a suitable frame 10, and on this is supported
a series of drums 11 which are arranged in pairs opposite each other and on opposite
sides of the machine the drums being of the usual kind for carrying band saws,
and they are driven by pulleys 12 on the drum shafts. The drums 11 are mounted
in suitable bearings 13 on brackets 14 and one bracket of each pair of drums is
mounted on a slideway 15, as best shown in Figures 6 and 7, and is provided near
opposite sides with screws 16 which enter lugs 17 on the under side of the bracket
and which are journalel in the base of the frame 10, these screws being provided
at their outer ends with bevelet pinions 19 which engage pinions 20 on a
shaft 21, the latter being journaled in suitable supports 22 and having at one
end which is easily reached a hand wheel 23, and thus by turning the hand wheel
the shaft 21 and its pinions are turned and both screws 17 are similarly and
simultaneously moved, so that both sides of the bracket are moved at once and
a steady even movement imparted to the drum 11 which is carried by the bracket,
and in this way the space between opposite drunis may be controlled and the
tension of the saws carried by the drum regulated.
One pair of drums is arranged at a slightly lower level than the other, and
each pair of drums carries a series of parallel land saws 24, the number of saws
depending upon the kind of wood to be sawn, and the series of saws cross at right
angles, as shown best in Figures 1 and 2, so that one series or set of saws
saws wood in one direction while the other saws saw it at right angles to the first cut.
It is, of course, necessary to turn the saws up edgewise at a point where they saw
the wood, and as this cannot be done at once without materially straining the saws
the following guide mechanism is employed.
Each saw 24 soon after it leaves the drum 11 passes between guide rollers 25,
see Figure 10, which are arrangel to give the saw a quarter turn and are supported
on blocks 26, and near the center of the machine the saw passes between horizontal
turning rollers 27 which are supported on a block 28, as shown in Figure 9, and
this completes the guiding of the saw and turns it up into a vertical position as the
drawing shows. There are two sets of these last guides for each set of saws, these
being placed on opposite sides of the center of the machine, as shown in Figures 1
and 2, so as to hold the center or working portions of the saws in a vertical
position, and there are also two sets of the inclined guide rollers which are arranged
nearer the drums and which case the strain on the saws.
The blocks 26 and 28 are fastened to cross bars 29, which are arranged at right
angles to each other and are in parallel pairs, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, and the
several guides of each set are arranged on two bars instead of one for convenience,
as this enables the blocks to be placed less closely together. The cross bars 29
have end bearings 30, which are fastened by ordinary set screws to supporting
bars 31, which are also arranged at right angles to each other and are supported on
arms 32, which are secured to the brackets 14 (see Figure 3) but the cross bars
may be supported in any convenient position. The arrangement just described
enables the cross hars 29 and their guides to be adjusted in and out as desired.
Each saw 24, while turning into a vertical position, as in Figure 9, travels across
a brace 33 which is of the same thickness as the saw, so as not to interfere with the
sawing of the wood, and the top of the brace is V-shaped or grooved, as shown in
Figure 9, so that the saw may run smoothly upon it and not be easily displaced.
The braces 33 are each held by a pair of bolts 34 which are fastened to adjacent
blocks 28, and the bolts have ordinary nuts thereon by adjusting which the tension
of the braces 33 may be regulated, and this arrangement also provides fur the
moving out and in of the cross bars 29.
To hold the wood to be sawn in place, while it is being cut, an angular guide 35
is used, which is supported above the saws and forms an abutment for the wood and
holds the latter in place so that it does not wabble excessively while the saws are
passing through it. To further guide the saws as well as the wood the guide 35 is
slotted at the bottom, as shown at 35 in Figure 5, and both series or sets of saws
pass through the slots. The guide 35 is supported on bars or rods 36 which are

page_text: placed at right angles to each other, and the guide has preferably keepers 37 to
receive the rods 36 to which they may be fastened by ordinary set screws. Any
other convenient means may be employed for supporting the guide without affecting
the principle of the machine.
The cross bars are supported on posts 38 which are secured to the bearings 30 of
the cross bars 29, and thus when the cross bars are adjusted, the guide bars are
also adjusted and the guide is easily supported in a central position in the
machine.
The wood 39 may be fed to the machine in any convenient way, and when it is
dropped in position in front of the guide 35 it is quickly sawn into sticks 40 in the
manner above described, and drops downward upon a carrier 41 which may be
made to convey it to any desired locality, and the carrier may be of any usual form
and, as illustrated, comprises an ordinary carrying belt 42 which moves over
drums 43, one of which is driven by a pulley 44.
It will be readily seen that the main principle of my invention consists of the two
series of band saws travelling at angles to each other and in different planes, and
that the other accessories of the machine may be considerably changed without
affecting the invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to ine by
my foreign correspondents, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. A wood cutting machine, comprising a plural series of band saws, the cutting
portion of one series crossing above the cutting portion of the opposite series,
both such series running substantially horizontal and with their toothed edges
uppermost, and a wood guide supported above the saws whereby a block of wood
dropped upon the saws will be sawn and the pieces dropped between the saws,
substantially as described.
2. A wood cutting machine, comprising a plural series of band saws, the cutting
portion of one series crossing above the cutting portion of the other series, both such
series running substantially horizontal and with their toothed edges uppermost, a
wood guide supported above the saws to guide a block of wood to them, and means
for adjusting the guide, substantially as described.
3. The combination with a series of band saws, of the wood guide enclosing
adjoining sides of the work and serving as an abutment to guide the wood to
the saws, the guide having slots therein to receive the saws, substantially as
described.
4. The combination of the supporting cross bars, the saw guides carried thereby,
the crossing series of saws travelling through the guides, a wood guide supported
above the saws, and means for supporting the guide from the cross bars, substantially
as described.
5. A wood cutting machine, comprising a double series of band saws, the cutting
portion of one series travelling above the cutting portion of the other series and the
two series crossing as specified, and an angular guide for wood held on adjustable
supports above the saws and provided with slots to receive and guide the saws,
substantially as described.
6. The combination of the series of band saws, the drums which carry them, the
sliding bracket supporting one of the drums, and a screw and gear mechanism for
adjusting the bracket, substantially as described.
7. The combination with the band saws, of an elongated brace for each saw, the
brace being of substantially the same thickness as the saws and being supported at
its ends while its top edge is fitted snugly to the lower edge of the saw, substantially
as described.
8. A wood cutting machine, comprising a plural series of band saws, the cutting
portion of one series travelling above the cutting portion of the other series, each
such series running substantially horizontal and with their toothed edges uppermost,
a wood guide supported above the intersecting points of the saws to guide a block

page_text: of wood to the saws, and a carrier travelling beneath the saws and adapted to
receive the wood which drops from them, substantially as described.
9. A wood cutting machine having its several parts constructed and arranged
substantially as shown in the accompanying drawings and described in the foregoing
Specification.
Dated this 7th day of January 1896.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.