IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING, DRESSING, CUTTING, AND SHAPING STONE AND OTHER MATERIALS MADE USE OF FOR BUILDING PURPOSES AND ARCHITECTURAL DECORATIONS
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
MOREY, Citizen of the United States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Tenth day of May, in the fourteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Charles Morey, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I, the said Charles Morey, my exors, adñors, and
assigns, and such others as I, the said Charles Morey, my exors, adiñiors,
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times during the term of years therein mentioned,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's
Colonies and Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey,
Alderney, Sark, and Man, an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR PREPARING, DRESSING, CUTTING, AND SHAPING STONE AND OTHER MATERIALS
MADE USE OF FOR BUILDING PURPOSES AND ARCHITECTURAL DECORATIONS," being a
communication from a foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said Charles Morey, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and
to cause the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery

page_text: within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in
part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto
had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the
said Charles Morey, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof,
reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters
and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention refers, firstly, to certain arrangements of machinery for
dressing and shaping hard and soft stone, slate, marble, and other like granular
substances.
And, secondly, to the manufacture of the cutting tools used in such or
similar machinery.
In Sheet I. of the Drawings, Fig. 1 represents in side elevation, and Fig. 2
in plan view, an arrangement of apparatus which I term my preparing
machine, as it is intended to reduce the material from the rough state in
which it leaves the quarry, and prepare it for the finishing action of the
machinery hereafter mentioned. a, a, is the traversing bed of the machine,
supported on rails parallel; b, b, c, c, are side standards which carry the tools
and the mechanism for working them. Mounted in bearings in the cross-head
of the standards are three pinions gearing into each other. The axle of the
middle pinion carries a hand wheel for giving motion to the three, and the
axles of the other pinions are clongated downwards and threaded, for the
purpose of taking into lugs projecting from the under side of a sliding frame
d, d, which carries the chipping tools, and thereby affording a means of
adjusting the frame to any desired elevation. In this frame are formed
bearings for a crank shaft e, which receives rotary motion from a steam engine
or other motive power by a strap and rigger as shewn, and is governel in its
rotation by means of a fly-wheel. The shaft e is provided with four cranks,
but a greater or lesser number may be used according to the nature of the
work required to be accomplished. To each crank a chipping tool f is
connected by a strap and brasses, and the throw of the cranks is so arranged
that the descent of the tools upon the work shall follow in succession instead
of being simultaneous. The tools f work in a guide 9 attached to the frame d,
and they are furnished with flat springs h, which bear against the guide and
Removeable cutting
cause the tools to keep in contact with their work.
edges are fitted to the tools by entering a socket in the end thereof; and they

page_text: are held in their places by a binding screw. These cutting edges are by
preference serrated, and being applied as described they may when worn or
broken be readily replaced by new ones.
From the above description it will be understood that when rotary motion
is given to the crank shaft the tools will be caused to strike in succession
upon the upper surface of the stone, and chip off the rough protruding parts
which it may present, and by a slow traverse motion being given to the table
on which the stone is fixed, the whole of the upper surface will be gradually
brought under the action of the tools. When the stone has been thus dressed
it is ready to be finished in the machine, which I will next describe.
Fig. 3 is a front view, and Fig. 4 a side elevation (being partly in section),
of an arrangement of machinery for dressing stone and other like granular
substance, so as to bring it to an even surface. It is provided like the former
machine with a traversing table a for carrying the stone to be operated upon,
which table rests on parallel rails 6, 6, and is traversed by means of a worm c
keyed on to a shaft d, and taking into a rack e attached to the under side of
the table. The side standards of the machine are shewn at f, f, and they
carry at their upper end a regulating apparatus similar to that in the beforo-
described machine, for supporting a vertical frame g, g, and determining the
elevation at which it shall stand. This frame g, g, is connected to the side
standards f, f, by means of screws which pass through slots made in the
framing, and it is provided with bearings for carrying a vertical shaft h at the
lower end of which the cutting tools i, i, are mounted. These cutting tools
(which I term "burrs") are discs of iron or steel mounted loosely on axles
radiating from a common centre, and having their bearings in lugs projecting
downwards from a cross arm or disc attached to the lower end of the shaft h;
and the peripheries of the burrs are serrated to enable them to cut or reduco
the stone by rolling over its surface. Keyed to the shaft is a drum or pulley.
over which a band from any first mover passes for giving rotation to the burrs,
and by this means the burrs are caused to roll over the stone and describe a
series of parallel arcs thereon. Of these burrs there may be one, two, or
more sets employed, according to the amount of power at the command of the
operator.
Fig. 5 represents in side elevation, and Fig. 6 in plan view, an arrange-
ment of machinery for dressing two faces of a block of stone at one and
the same time. This arrangement is intended principally for dressing grind-
stones, but it may also be used for preparing mill stones or other circular
blocks of stone. a, a, is a rectangular frame forming the bed of the machine,

page_text: and to one end thereof a frame furnished with two standards b, b, is bolted.
These standards support a horizontal shaft c, which is furnished with driving
pullies d, and carries on its inner end the stone to be dressed. Mounted upon
V rails on the bed frame is a frame c, c, which is connected to the bed frame
by an adjusting screw f (furnished with a hand wheel), taking into a vertical
piece cast on the bed frame. The object of this connection is to adjust the
position of the frame e, with respect to the bed frame, for the purpose that will
be presently described. This frame e itself carries an adjustable frame g, the
line of motion of which is at right angles to that of the frame e; and
the relative positions of the two frames are determined by a screw h, which
passes through one side of the frame g and through a raised piece cast on the
frame e. In the frame g at one side a slot is formed, to allow of a screw
passing through to the frame e below, and thereby effecting another connection
which will allow the upper frame to slide over the face of the lower frame
when required. Bolted to the frame g is a rectangular bracket piece i, which
carries two sets of burrs k, k, for dressing the stone. These burrs are mounted
loosely on their axles, and are set at right angles to each other, and by turning
the screws fand h of the adjustable frames, they are brought up into contact
with their work. Rotary motion now being given to the stone through one of
the driving pullies and the shaft c, the stone is made to rotate in close contact
with the burrs, and is by that means reduced at its periphery and at one of its
sides simultaneously.
It will be readily understood that stones of various thicknesses may be
expeditiously dressed by increasing the number of the burrs until they present
a cutting or reducing surface equal in breadth to the periphery of the stone to
be acted upon; or, when stone for a shaft is required to be reduced, the burrs
which act upon the flat surface of the stone may be thrown out of action when
they have dressed that surface, and a traverso motion may be given to the
other set of burrs in a line with the axis of the shaft, so as to bring the burrs
into contact with the periphery of the shaft, after the manner of working the
cutting tools in a self-acting lathe.
In Sheet II. of the Drawings, Fig. 7 is a side elevation of a machino
in which the burrs are caused to act by impact, and Fig. 8 is a front view of
the same.
The stone to be operated upon is supported on a traversing table
composed of a rectangular frame a, with removable cross bars b. When the
stone is required to have an axial motion these bars are removed, and the
stone is supported by poppet heads c, c, similar to those used in a lathe; and
like means to that employed in such machinery is used for determining

page_text: the amount of axial motion the stone is to receive, and for effecting the
traverse of the stone under the burrs or cutting tools. d, d, are standards
connected together at the top by a cross piece, and carrying two adjustable
sliding pieces d, d*, which form bearings for the axle e. Mounted on this axlo
is a drum f, around the periphery of which a series of curved plates g, with
bracket pieces cast on them, is bolted. These plates each carry a row of burrs
mounted loosely on axles which have their bearings in the bracket pieces
of the plates; and the burrs are so arranged that those in one row will "break
joint" with the burrs in the neighbouring row, and thus the raised lines
of stone left by the row of burrs which had last struck upon the surface of the
stone will be reduced by the action of the next succeeding row, and so on.
The nice adjustment of the burrs to their work is effected by means of vertical
screws h, h, which severally pass through a threaded piece bolted to the sliding
pieces d, and have their bearings at foot in a step provided for them, and at
top in the cross bar of the standards. Keyed to the upper end of these screws
are the bevilled wheels i, i, which gear into and are driven by pinions j, j, on
the horizontal shaft k, by turning which by means of the hand wheel the
elevation of the sliding pieces d*, and consequently the position of the axle e,
is determined. On one end of the shaft e a driving pulley is keyed, which, by
means of a strap passing from any first mover, gives rotation to the shaft and
causes the burrs to strike in rapid succession upon the surface of the stone
which is presented to their action. It will of course be understood that these
burrs must be set around the drum with great nicety, so that they shall
bc equidistant from the centre of motion, and thus all cut into the stone at an
equal depth to produce a uniformly smooth surface. On the other end of the
shaft e is a pinion, which gears into another pinion on a vertical shaft l, which
turns in bearings carried by the shaft e, and is capable of rising and falling
therewith. It also works through a bearing m, and is intended to carry
a cone drum, over which a strap passes to another cone drum, for the purpose
of communicating motion to the table which carries the stone to be operated
upon. This second drum is mounted on a shaft n, which has its top bearing
in a bracket bolted to the side standard, and its bottom bearing is a sliding
plate o, which works in guides formed on the side standard. To the lower end
of this shaft a worm is keyed, and on either side thereof a worm wheel is
mounted, the axles of which each carry a pinion in gear with the rack of the
traversing table. When the stone is to be carried forward under the action of
the burrs, the worm is thrown into gear with the worm wheel by means
of a lever p connected by a link t to the sliding plate o, whereby a slow

page_text: traverse motion will be cominunicated to the table. To reverse the direction
of traverse of the table the worm is thrown into gear with the smaller wheel,
when the stone will be quickly carried back to its starting position.
Fig. 9 shows a modification of the above arrangement for mounting the
burrs or cutting tools, whereby burrs may be used for fluting columns, the stone
having in this case an axial motion imparted to it at the completion of every
flute, in order to bring a fresh portion of the periphery of the stone under the
action of the rotating tools. It is obvious that any form of fluting or grooving
may by this means be effected, providing no undercut is required. By sub-
stituting for the concave burrs, shewn in the Drawings, others with a different
sectional configuration, and applying them to a block of stone having merely a
traverse motion, a great variety of grooving may be readily effected, whatever
the shape of the block required to be acted upon.
The second head of this Invention, which refers to the manufacture of the
burrs or cutting tools, consists in manufacturing them in an economical
manner with a case-hardened or chilled surface, whereby they will be enabled
to resist to a certain degree the grinding action of the stone. It has hitherto
been the practice to make these burrs of steel, and to rough their peripheries
in the same manner that a milled edge is given to thumb screws, that is,
by rotating them in a lathe and pressing against them a milled runner.
In
order to reduce the cost of manufacture, I first prepare a metal pattern of the
burr which I intend to produce in quantities, and form therefrom any required
number of metal moulds; I then run into these moulds moulten iron or steel,
whereby I produce burrs with great rapidity, and having a case-hardened
periphery, which is due to the sudden contact of the molten metal with the
cold metal of the mould.
Having now described the Invention of "Improvements in Machinery for
Preparing, Dressing, Cutting, and Shaping Stone and other Materials mado
use of for Building Purposes and Architectural Decorations," as communi-
cated to mo by my foreign correspondent, I wish it to be understood that
I claim under the above in part recited Letters Patent,―
First, the arrangement of machinery for effecting the preparatory dressing
of the stone, as above described.
Secontly, mounting the burrs or cutting tools so that they shall work in a
plane at a right angle to the axis round which thoy rotate.
Thirdly, mounting burrs or cutting tools at a right angle or any other
required angle to each other, so that they shall act upon two faces of the stona
simultaneously.

page_text: Fourthly, the arrangement of the burrs or cutting tools for acting by impact,
as described with reference to Sheet II. of the Drawings.
And, lastly, the manufacture of the burrs or cutting tools by casting them
n metal moulds, and thereby giving them a case-hardened or chilled cutting
surface.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Morey, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Tenth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.
Enrolled the Tenth day of November, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.