AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR MAKING LASTS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Roscoe Ray Frohock, of Boston, in the County
of Suffolk, and State of Massachusetts, in the United States of
America, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR MAKING
LASTS."
Sealed the 80th July 1869, and dated the 3rd February 1869.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Roscoe Ray Frohock at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
and Declaration, on the 3rd February 1869, pursuant to the 9th
Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROSCOE
RAY FROHOOK, of Boston, in the County of Suffolk, and State of
Massachusetts, in the United States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "AN IMPROVED
MACHINE FOR MAKING LASTS," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant
unto me, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters
Patent for the same, and have made solemn Declaration that I am the
true and first Inventor thereof.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Roscoe Ray Frohock, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and
seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings making 5
a part of this Specification:-
The nature of my Invention consists,―
First. In placing the model last upon mandrels, parallel to the
mandrels upon which the block revolves, said mandrels running in fixed
housings and being connected by reversible gear, so that they may 1
be made to revolve in the same or in opposite directions.
Second. In hanging the guides upon one set of swinging frames
and the cutter wheels upon another set, one set of swinging frames
being connected to a sliding bar which is parallel to and connected
with, by a peculiar device, a second bar to which the other set of 1
swinging frames is connected, the distance from the point of contact
of the guide to the axis of oscillation of the guide frame being equal
to the distance of the cutting point of the cutter wheels from the axis
of oscillation of the cutter wheel frames.
Third. Connecting the guide swinging frames to the cutter wheel 2
swinging frames by means of links which pivot upon prolongations
of the guide frames, and are connected with slides which are movable
upon graduated arcs connected with the cutter wheel swinging frames,
said arcs coinciding with circumferences of circles which have their
centres at the afore-mentioned pivots when the guides coincide with 2
the axis of the model.
Fourth. Connecting the two sliding bars which carry the guide
frames and cutter wheel frames by means of two links and an
adjustable bar and slide, the whole so arranged that the relative longi-
tudinal motion of the two sliding bars may be varied at will.
3
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is
° perspective view of my machine. THONG 2 monmconta

page_text: block which slides upon ways and is operated by the hand screw T;
B is a centre attached to the tail block B, which together with the
mandril D serves to hold and revolve the block K¹, the mandril D
being propelled by the gear wheel D"; B' is a tail block which slides
upon ways and is operated by the hand screw T"; B" is a mandril
attached to the tail block B', which together with the mandril D' serves
to hold and revolve the model K, the mandril D¹ being propelled by
the gear wheel D¹¹; E and F, Figure 1, are two gears running upon
journals inserted in a third and larger gear E", the gear Eu being
held in position by the stud F, upon which it may revolve, and the
stop E. These three gears, namely E, E¹, E", are so arranged in
combination with the gears D and D which operate the block K¹
and model K that if E and E¹ mesh into D" and D", as represented
in the Drawings, then the model will revolve in an opposite direction
to that of the block, so that the last cut will be for the opposite foot
to the model, that is to say, if the model is left the last will be right,
and vice versa. If the gear E" is slipped forward on the stud F and
freed from the stop E, so as to mesh into the gears D" and D¹¹¹, then
the two gears D", D, and the model and block will revolve in the
same direction, the gear E" having the same number of teeth that
the gears D and Du have, so that the last cut will be for the same
foot, that is, if the model is left the last will be left, and vice versa.
L, I, and L", L", Figure 1, represent the swinging frames to which
the cutter wheels O and O' are attached. These frames, one of which
is shewn in section in Figure 8, swing upon pivots inserted in the
saddles h, h, Figure 1, said saddles being held to the sliding rod L*, L*,
by means of a clasp and a thumbscrew b¹, b, and by a key and groover,
Figure 2. M, M, and M", M, Figure 1, represent the swinging
frames to which the guides V, VI, are attached. These frames, one
of which is also shown in section in Figure 3, swing upon pivots
inserted in the saddles ¹, ", Figure 1, said saddles being held to
the sliding rods M, M', by clasps and thumb screws. P' is a link
one end of which is connected to the prolongation of one of the guide
frames by the pivot P, the other end being connected to the slide P³,
as shown, which is so arranged that it may be made fast by means
of a thumbscrew at any desired point on the arc L'; I, L', are
curved prolongations of the cutter wheel swinging frames, and are
so formed as to coincide with the arc of a circle struck from the pivot P
as a centre when the guide V is at the axis of the model, the reason

page_text: for which will be explained hereafter. The sliding rod LA, Figures 1
and 2, to which the cutter wheel swinging frames are attached is con-
nected to the corresponding sliding rod M', to which the guide swinging
frames are attached by means of the links N, N'; these links are
pivoted to the ends of the sliding bars L, M, and also swing on
a common pivot which unites them to a sliding box N". Nu is an
adjusting bar swinging upon the pivot W, Figure 2, the end Z being
beld in any desired position by a thumbscrew working in a slot, as
shown. The operation of this device for regulating the relative motion
by the sliding bars L', M', and through them the guides and cutter
wheels may be explained as follows:-As the links N and N¹ are of
the same length, and as the distance from N" to W is common, the
two distances W, N, x, and W, N", y, will always be equal. If
we complete the triangles W, N", x, and W, N", y, by drawing the
lines W, x, and W, y, it will be seen that the base W, y, will be
longer than the base W, x, when the angle W, N", y, is larger than
the angle W, N", x, but to make this angle larger we have only
to move the bar N¹ toward y. When the bar is so moved, as indicated
by the dotted lines, any movements of L* will lengthen the base
line W, y, and cause Nu to slide along on N, thus reducing the
angle W, N", y, and increasing the angle W, N", x, in other words
making the base line W, 2, proportionally shorter than the base line
W, y, so that the sliding bar L' which carries the cutters will traverse
a longer distance that the sliding bar M' which carries the guides, so
that the last cut will be longer than the model and proportionally
exact in length. If N be carried toward the reverse of this action
will take place, that is, the last cut will be shorter than the model.
When the adjusting bar is exactly in the centre M' and L* will move
together, and the last will be of the same length as the model. If
the sliding bars L, M, are thrown clear back so that the guides and
cutting wheels are in position, then the pivot at Nu will be exactly
over the pivot W, so that the adjusting bar N₁ may be set in any
desired position without causing L or M' to move. The guide swinging
frame M, M, is held on the sliding bar M by means of a clamp and
set screw, so that it may be moved longitudinally when desired; this
adjustment becomes necessary to accomodate models of different
lengths, the two guides V and V¹ being set so that the distance between
their points of contact shall be about half the length of the model.
The cutter wheel swinging frame L, L, is held on the sliding bar L'

page_text: by means of a clamp and set screw 6', Figure 1, so that it may be
moved longitudinally when desired; this adjustment becomes necessary
when it is desired to make lasts of different lengths, the distance
between the cutting points of the two cutter wheels being about half
the length of the last to be cut. For convenience in making these
adjustments divisions are marked off on the sliding rods L, M, as shown
in Figure 2. H and H" are two levers attached to the sliding bar I^;
the inner ends of these levers each form the half of a screw nut which
clasp over the screw G, as indicated by H in Figures 2 and 3. When
the levers Hand Hч, Figure 1, are brought together the said half screw
nuts close tightly around the screw G, and the revolution of Gu
will cause a longitudinal motion of the screw nut and consequently a
longitudinal motion of L, M, which carry the cutter wheels and guides.
The two levers H', H", are held together by a spring clasp H™,
Figures 1 and 3, but when the sliding rod L has been moved the
desired distance by the action of the screw G™ acting in the screw
nut H, then the clasp H is thrown off by the staple H inserted in
the frame of the machine, see Figure 1, and the levers H³, H", open
and thus free the screw nut from the action of the screw G. When
it is desirable to change the block or last the swinging frames may
be thrown back by means of the crank and crank shaft R, R. The
lever Qis connected to the sliding bar L by a pivot and is used to
slide back longitudinally the swinging frames when the machine has
completed a last and place them in position to make a new last.
I will now proceed to describe the mode of action of the guide frames
and cutter wheel frames. The distance between the mandrils upon
which the last and block turn is equal to the distance between the
sliding rods, and also the distance between the pivot P and the slide P²
The distance from the point of oscillation of the guide swinging
frames to the contacting point of the guides is equal to the distance
from the point of oscillation of the cutter wheel swinging frames
to the contacting point of the cutters, and further, as the prolong-
ations I, I, from the cutter wheel swinging frames are in arcs
of circles struck from the pivots P, P", when the contacting points
of the guides V, V, are at the centre of revolution of the model the
cutting points of the cutter wheels are at the centre of revolution of
the block, and this will be true for all positions of the slides P', pm,
on the arcs IP, L", so that when the guides move away from or toward

page_text: the centre the cutter wheels have a corresponding motion, and the
last is made of the same size.or larger or smaller and exactly pro-
portional accordingly as the slides P¹, P, are located on the arcs I, L*.
If the links P*, P³, are parallel to the lines connecting the centres
of oscillation of the swinging frames then the oscillation of the cutter
wheels will be the same as the oscillation of the guides, so that the
last cut will be of the exact size of the model. If the slides P¹, P,
are carried up toward the top of the arcs L³, L, then the motion of
the cutter wheels will be less than the motion of the guides, so that
the last made will be smaller than the model. If the slides P¹, P¹¹¹,
are carried down to the bottom of the arcs L, L, then the motion of
the cutter wheels will be greater than the motion of the guides, and
the last cut will be larger than the model. The arcs L, L', have
division lines marked upon them for convenience in adjusting the
machine for lateral variation in the dimensions of the last. The
plate c, d, over which the bar N™ moves is also provided with division
lines for convenience in adjusting the machine for variations in the
length of the last. S and S¹ are springs connecting the swinging
guide frames to the brace S" and serve to press the guides steadily
against the model, and also to bring the cutter wheels to act against
the block. The upper part M³ of the swinging frame M', M", swings
on a pivot f, and is held in position by a thumbscrew 9, Figure 3,
so that a slight adjustment may be made in the position of the pivot P
and thus to alter slightly the relation between the guides V, V', and
the cutter wheels O, O'. The motive power is communicated to the
machine through the pulley G', which being attached to the same shaft
as the drum G acts through the belts U, U', to drive the cutter wheels.
The wheel G operates the small pinion a on the shaft a¹, Figure 2,
and through it the wheel D"; this pinion a is loose on the shaft but
may be made to revolve by the clutch F, F", which operates in the
usual manner.
What I claim as my Invention and desire to secure by Letters
Patent is,-
First. Arranging the reversing gears E and E¹ in combination with
the gear E, the stud F, and stop E, so as to operate in combination
with the gears D", D", substantially as described and for the purpose
set forth.
Second. The combination and arrangement of the guide swinging

page_text: frames M, M, with the cutter wheel swinging frame L, L, when
operating in combination with each other, substantially as described
and for the purpose set forth.
Third. Connecting with the cutter wheel swinging frames the
graduated arcs IP, L, and combining with the same the slides P¹, Pi",
and the links P, P³, substantially as described and for the purpose
set forth.
Fourth. Combining with the sliding bars L, M, the links N, N³,
the slide N", and the bar N¹, working substantially as described and
for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof I hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-