IMPROVEMENTS IN, MACHINERY FOR CUTTING CORKS, BUNGS, GUN WADS, AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES."
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Davies and George Cate, Engineers, and
William Cate, Publisher, all of No. 7, Quality Court, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN,
MACHINERY FOR CUTTING CORKS, BUNGS, GUN WADS, AND OTHER SIMILAR
ARTICLES."
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Davies, George
Cate, and William Cate at the. Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition and Declaration, on the 3rd November
1864, pursuant to the 9th Section of the Patent Law Amendment
Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL. COME, we, WILLIAM
DAVIES and GEORGE CATE, Engineers, and WILLIAM CATE, Publisher, all'
of No. 7, Quality Court, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, send:
greeting.
WHEREAS we are in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR CUTTING CORKS, BUNGS, GUN WADS, AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES,"
and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto us, our executors, admini-
strators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have:
made solemn Declaration that we are the true and first Inventors thereof..

page_text: in
will be formed in the slide. Each of these grooves makes half a turn in the
whole length of the roller, so that if the slide is moved forward the roller.will
be caused to make half a revolution, and by drawing the slide back again the
projection d will follow the other groove in the roller, and so cause it (the
roller to make a perfect revolution on its axis. In order to move the slide to
and fro we employ a fake lever, which embraces. the slide d, as shewn in the
Drawings; one end of this lever is secured to the framing of the machine of
any other suitable manner, and the other is furnished with a. handle: by
which it is moved. By thus moving the slide the knife is also caused to
move to and fro by reason of the bar; 6 being attached to the slide, and the
knife attached to the bar b, or if preferred a handle may be fixed to the bar. b;
but we prefer the former method as by that means we are enabled to employ
a longer knife, and therefore to make much larger corks. . The roller é is
fixed on and gives motion to the shaft f, which carries at its other end a sina!!
disc g, having points on one of its surfaces. A is a square shaft; mounted and
capable of sliding in small brackets, which are also capable of adjustment,. as
shewn in Fig. 2, carried by the bed plate of the machine; on the end of this
shaft and capable of revolving is the disc h³, similar to the disc g. When it
is desired to cut oval or "shouldered" corks these discs are of an oval form!
The shaft his slid to and fro by the lever i, which moves on a centre at i¹;
one end of this lever is furnished with a handle, and at the other is formed a
fork, which embraces a pin on the shaft h. The piece of cork wood to be cut
into cork suitable for stopping a bottle or other vessel, or for being used as a
gun wad, is held securely between the two discs 9 and h' by the lever i, which
takes into one of the teeth of the rack k. is a gauge attached in front of
a knife, for the purpose of setting the cork blank truly in position; this is,
as shewn, capable of adjustment for the purpose of. taking différent :sizes of
cork blanks. When it is desired to cut a cork, bung, or gun wad with this
machine the piece of cork wood is first secured between the disc g and h',
with one of its sides against the gauge 2 and another side against the knife;
the knife is then drawn forwards and moved back quickly in the manner
berein-before described; in so doing, by reason of the projection d* on the
slide & taking into the grooves formed in the roller, it (the roller) is caused
to make a complete revolution on its axis, and so impart a corresponding
movement and cork blank, by which means the piece of cork will be
caused to revolve against the cutting edge of the knife as it (the knife)
moves forwards and backwards, and thus a cylinder of cork suitable for
stopping a bottle or for any other purpose for which it may be required will
be produced. In order that the corks produced may be taper from end to

page_text: end the knife is fixed at a greater or less angle to the cork blank, depending
on the amount of taper desired to be given to the cork, bung, or gun wad; for
this purpose the guides c, c¹, in which the bar 6 carrying the knife moves, are,
capable of adjustment by means of the set screws m, m', and the clamping
nuts n, n¹; this means of adjustment also enables the machine to cut various
sizes of corks, bungs, or gun wads by moving the knife nearer to or further
from the centre of the shaft f. In order to keep the knife sharp during the
working of the machine we apply circular sharpening rollers z, z, z, of emery.
or other suitable sharpening material, and a pad of leather z' placed in the
stroke of the knife, as shewn in Fig. 2; these are capable of adjustment in
the same manner as the guides c, c'. In some cases we apply a small fly.
wheel o, mounted at the end of the shaft f, as shewn..
Having thus described the nature of our Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, we would have it understood that what we claim is,―
First, the application of a roller e, having grooves or projections on its
surface, to cork cutting machines, for the purpose of giving rotary machine to
the cork blank, "square," or "quarter," herein-before described.
And, second, the general arrangement of- machinery for cutting corks,
bungs, and gun wads as herein described.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Davies, George Cate, and
William Cate, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Third day
of November, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-four
WILLIAM DAVIES. (L.S.)
GEORGE CATE.
(L.S.)
Witness to the signatures of all the
parties,
FRANK RATCLIFF,
Clerk to the said William Cate.
WILLIAM CATE. (L.B.)