IMPROVEMENTS IN SHEARS FOR CUTTING BOILER PLATES AND SHEETS, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Felix Allender, of Brierley Hill, in the
County of Stafford, Manager of Works, and Daniel Rowley, of Brierley
Hill, aforesaid, Iron Roller, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SHEARS FOR CUTTING BOILER PLATES AND SHEETS, AND FOR OTHER LIKE
PURPOSES."
Sealed the 27th October 1859, and dated the 5th May 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Felix Allender
and Daniel Rowley at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 5th May 1859.
We, JOSEPH FELIX ALLENDER, of Brierley Hill, in the County of Stafford,
Manager of Works, and DANIEL ROWLEY, of Brierley Hill, aforesaid, Iron
Roller, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN SHEARS FOR CUTTING BOILER PLATES AND SHEETS, AND FOR OTHER LIKE
PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists of shears for cutting boiler plates and sheets, and
for other like purposes, which shears differ from the shears ordinarily employed
in the following respects:-The axis or pin on which the moveable blade of the
shears turns, is situated above the level at which the shearing is effected. In
order to prevent the lateral yielding of the moveable blade, we place upon the
axis a support which is nearly of the same figure as the blade, but somewhat.

page_text: smaller. The said support is connected with the moveable blade by two or
three bracings; the said support may be employed as a second moveable
blade acting against a fixed cutter, and used for cutting scrap. We place the
pendulum lever by which the shears are worked near the support or small
moveable blade, whereby we obtain a much greater width between the shears
and the said lever than in the ordinary shears. This greater width gives great
facility for splitting or cutting plates or sheets through where it is wished to
cut off broad strips, for the purpose of removing defective portions of the plate
or sheet, or for other purposes.
rsuance
condition
Letters Patent,
by the said Joseph Felix Allender and Daniel Rowley in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 3rd November 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOSEPH
FELIX ALLENDER, of Brierley Hill, in the Gounty of Stafford, Manager of
Works, and DANIEL ROWLEY, of Brierley Hill, aforesaid, Iron Roller, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Joseph Felix Allender and Daniel Rowley, Her special licence that we,
the said Joseph Felix Allender and Daniel Rowley, our executors, administra-
tors, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Joseph Felix Allender and
Daniel Rowley, 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 SHEARS
FOR CUTTING BOILER PLATES AND SHEETS, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said Joseph Felix Allender and
Daniel Rowley, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under our or their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of
us or them, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Joseph Felix Allender and Daniel
Rowley, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say:-
Our Invention consists of the improvements in shears for cutting boiler
plates and sheets, and for other like purposes, herein-after particularly
described and represented in the accompanying Drawings.
Figure 1 represents a side elevation of shears constructed according to our
Invention; Figure 2 represents a plan of the same; Figure 3 represents a
side elevation of the same taken from the side opposite to that from which
Figure 1 is taken; Figure 4 represents an end elevation of one end of the
shears, and Figure 5 represents an end elevation of the other end of the
shears; Figure 6 represents portions of our Invention, as herein-after ex-
plained. The same letters are used to indicate the same parts in Figures 1,
2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. a is the axis or pin on which the moveable blade or blades
of the shears turn, which said axis or pin is situated above the level at which
the shearing is effected, as represented in the several Figures. By placing the
shear pin or axis above the level at which the shearing is effected, the plates
or sheets can be passed under the shears while the said plates or sheets are
being sheared or split; b is the shear head, carrying one on one side and the
other on the other side the moveable cutting parts or blades c, d, of the shears.
The blade d acts as a support to the blade c, and prevents the lateral yielding
of the said blade c. The said blade c is employed for cutting or shearing
plates and sheets, and the blade d may be used for cutting scrap. The blades
c and d are connected together by the bracing d², passing across the shear
head 6; e, f, are the standards of the shears on the back one f, of which one
end of the axis or pin a is supported and works; the other end of the said
axis or pin a works in and is supported and held down by the stay h, on the
standard e. The said stay h, in addition to supporting and holding down the
shear axis a, acts as a guide for the head of the shears. The stay h may be
cast on the standard e, or it may be made of wrought iron or other suitable
metal, and screwed to the standard e. Instead of the said stay h, a strap may
be secured to the standards e, f, for preventing the rising of the shear pin and
shear head. The standard f has cast to it, or made in one piece with the said
standard, a guide stay rib g, by which said rib g, the blade c of the shears is
made to bear firmly against the fixed cutting edge k of the shears, and thereby
to effect the shearing of the plates more accurately. The standards e, f, are
kept firm, and prevented from springing out by the stay i, screwed to both
standards, as represented; k is the fixed steeling or cutting edge against which

page_text: the blade c works; the said steeling & being fixed to the front standard e, and
Z is the fixed steeling or cutting edge against which the smaller blade d works,
the said cutting edge 7 being fixed to the standard f; m is the arm or lever of
the shears by which they are worked, that is to say, by which an alternating
rising and falling motion is given to the shears. The said arm or lever is
connected to the shears immediately below the blade d, as best seen in
Figures 4 and 5. The said arm or lever m passes through an opening in the
foundation plate and masonry upon which the shears are supported, and is
connected by a pin n to the connecting rod o, to which said connecting rod a
reciprocating motion is given in the usual manner. Portions of the arm or
lever m and connecting rod o are shewn separately in Figure 6. The end of
the connecting rod o is provided with a slot p, through which the pin n passes;
o are the brasses in which the pin n works; q is a block in the slot p, bearing
against one of the brasses o³. The said block q is removed from the slot p
when very thick plates are being sheared, and the shears do not close or cut
their whole length. When the block is removed from the slot p, the
connecting rod o first moves without effecting the arm or lever m, until the
top of the slot in the connecting rod comes against one of the brasses o², when
the arm m is moved by the said rod. The blades are made to turn upon
their axis, but do not close or cut their whole length.
By placing the arm or lever m by which the shears are worked in the
position represented in the Drawings, we obtain a much greater width between
the shears and the said arm or lever than in the ordinary shears. This greater
width gives great facility for splitting or cutting plates or sheets through where
it is wished to cut off broad strips for the purpose of removing defective portions
of the plate or sheet, or for other purposes. r is a platform for straightening
the scraps cut from the plates sheared by the shears c, k, and guiding the said
scraps from the shears. The said platform is placed immediately under the
said shears c, k, as represented in the several Figures. One end of the said
platform is supported by and turns upon a pin s, one end of which pin works
in the standard e, and the other end in the top of the upright t fixed to the bed
plate of the shears and supported laterally by the cross stay t³. The other end
of the said platform is supported upon a cross bar ² fixed to the bottom of
the connecting rod u, which said rod u is fixed to the stay h on the shear
head b. A pin u from the bar u² passes through and works in a slot u³ in the
standard e, by which the motion of the platform is guided. By the motion of
the shears the said platform 2 is raised and lowered by the connecting rod u,
and the scraps cut from the plate sheared by the shears c, k, caught upon the
said platform, and on the rising of the moveable blade c, the said platform
2"

page_text: descends into the position represented, and the said scrap removed from the
shears by sliding down the said platform. At the back of the smaller
shears d, l, that is, those which are employed for cutting scrap, we place an
adjustable guide v, by which guide the scraps can be cut to the lengths
required. The said guide v works in the slot w in the shear head b, and can
be adjusted in the slot at the required distance from the shears d, l.
The shears and framing, and parts connected therewith, are supported upon
the foundation plate x, fixed upon the bottom foundation plate y and masonry z.
The foundation plate a is held firmly to the masonry and connected to the
plate y by the pins 1. Although we prefer to work the shear arm or lever m
in the manner described and represented in the Drawings, yet the said arm or
lever may be placed horizontally or worked vertically from above the shears,
according to the convenience of the place in which the said shears are used.
We sometimes modify our Invention in the manner represented in Figures 7,
8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 of the accompanying Drawings; Figure 7
representing a side elevation of shears constructed according to this modification
of our Invention; Figure 8, a plan of the same; Figure 9, a side elevation
taken from the side opposite to that from which Figure 7 is taken; Figure 10,
a transverse vertical section of the same taken through the line x, Figure 8;
Figure 11, an elevation of one end of the shears; and Figure 12, an elevation
of the other end of the shears; Figures 13 and 14 represent portions of the
The same letters are employed to indicate the same parts in Figures 7,
8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14.
same.
In this modification we give the back standard a the strength represented,
and give to the shear head 6 the form represented in the several Figures. A
separate view of the shear head bis shown in Figure 13. The said shear head
carries, as herein-before described, the blades or moveable cutting surfaces of
the shears. The larger blade for cutting plates or sheets is marked c, and the
smaller blade for cutting scrap is marked d. The fixed steelings against which
the blades c and d work are fixed respectively upon the standards e and a, and
the said steelings are marked ƒ and g. The axis or pin h, upon which the
shear head 6 turns, is supported and kept down firmly upon a third standard i,
in addition to the standards a and e, the said axis or pin h passing through the
said standard and working therein, as best seen in the section Figure 10. A
front elevation of the standard i is shown separately in Figure 14. The end h²
of the axis or pin h works in a stay k fixed to the foundation of the shears, and
the other end of the said axis or pin works in the standard a. The standards a,
i, and e, are prevented from moving, and are held firmly together by the
bolts 1, 1. The guide m, for determining the length of the scraps to be cut by

page_text: the scrap shears d, g, slides upon a bar n, and can be adjusted thereon to the
required distance in front of the said shears. Oil for lubricating the axis or
pin his supplied down the channels o, o, in the shear head b, as shown in
Figures 8 and 10. When the shears are constructed to cut light plates, the
shear pin h need not pass through all the three standards, but may stop at the
middle one i, that is to say, it may pass through the standards a and i, and one
side of the shear head 6. In this case the shear pin may be fastened to the
middle standard i, by a cotter or otherwise. As those parts of the shears
represented in Figures 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14, which we have not
explained, do not differ essentially from the corresponding parts herein-before
particularly explained and represented in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, & 6, we do
not think a description of the same necessary.
Having now described the nature of our Invention and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, we wish it to be understood that we do not limit
ourselves to the precise details herein described, as the same may be varied
without departing from the nature of our Invention; but we claim as our
Invention,-
Firstly, the improvement in shears herein-before described and represented
in the accompanying Drawings, that is to say, making shears double-acting,
one side of the shear head carrying one moveable blade or cutter, and the
other side of the shear head carrying another and smaller moveable blade or
cutter, the said blades or cutters working against fixed steelings or cutters fixed
on the bearings of the shears.
Secondly, the improvement in shears herein-before described and represented
in the accompanying Drawings, that is to say, placing the axis or pin upon
which the shear head carrying the moveable blade or blades turns above the
cut of the shears, whereby the sheets or plates can pass under the shears while
shearing or splitting.
Thirdly, the method herein-before described and represented in the accom-
panying Drawings, of holding down the shear pin and shear head of the shears,
and guiding the shear head, that is to say, by the use of the stays or guides
marked respectively h and k in the several Figures.
Fourthly, the method of preserving the plate or larger shears or cutters up
to the cut, and taking the strain off the shear pin herein-before described and
represented in the accompanying Drawings, that is to say, by the use of the
guide or stay rib marked g in the several Figures.
Fifthly, the use of the platform underneath the larger pair of shears for
straightening and guiding the scraps sheared from plates or sheets by the said
shears herein-before described and represented in the accompanying Drawings.

page_text: Sixthly, the addition of a third standard, for supporting and preventing
the rising of the shear pin or axis herein-before described and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawings.
Seventhly, the method of preventing the shears closing or cutting their
whole length when thick plates are being sheared, herein-before described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, the said Joseph Felix Allender and Daniel
Rowley, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-eighth
day of October, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-nine.
Witness,
W. S. HACKETT.
JOSEPH FELIX ALLENDER. (L.S.)
DANIEL ROWLEY.
(L.S.)