IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CUTTING THE TEETH OF BEVEL WHEELS, OR PATTERNS FOR SUCH WHEELS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Dodge, of Manchester, in the County of.
Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS FOR CUTTING THE TEETH OF BEVEL WHEELS, OR PATTERNS FOR
SUCH WHEELS"
:
Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS FOR CUTTING THE TEETH OF BEVEL WHEELS, OR PATTERNS FOR
SUCH WHEELS"
Sealed the 22nd November 1864, and dated the 4th June 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Dodge at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 4th
June 1864.
I, JAMES DODGE, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CUTTING THE TEETH OF BEVEL WHEELS, OR PATTERNS
FOR SUCH WHEELS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of
machinery or apparatus for cutting the teeth of bevel wheels of all sizes and
any pitch, or for cutting the teeth of the patterns for such wheels, and
consists in the employment of a pattern or guiding slot or surface of the
transverse form of the tooth to be produced or cut. This pattern slot is fitted
on to a face plate, and is capable of being adjusted to any distance from the
centre of the face plate according to the bevel of the wheel to be produced.
The blank wheel is fitted on a shaft or spindle, the axis of which coincides
with the centre of the face plate, and also with a ball and socket or other
suitable joint, to which is connected one end of an inclined radial bar, the

page_text: opposite end of which is provided with a journal or pin which fits into and
travels along the pattern slot or guide herein-before referred to, such travelling
motion of the end of the bar in the slot being produced either by a nut and
screw action, or other equivalent device. This bar carries a to-and-fro
traversing slide actuated by a cam or eccentric, and carrying a right or left
handed cutting tool, similar to those used in shaping machines. By giving a
to-and-fro motion to the cutter, and by moving the end of the bar a step
forward in the pattern slot after each cut, a tooth will be produced on the
blank wheel with one half of the space on each side thereof, one half of the
tooth and the portion of the space being cut with a right-hand tool and
the other half with a left-hand tool. After each tooth is formed the shaft
with the blank wheel upon it is moved round a certain distance, according to
the pitch of the teeth, so as to bring a fresh surface under the cutter. This
spacing of the teeth or circular adjustment of the blank wheel is facilitated
by having an index or pointer attached to the shaft, and working round a
divided circle on the face plate. By changing the pattern or making the face
plate adjustable nearer to or further from the joint or centre upon which the
bar works, or by varying the position of the cutter on the bar and of the blank
wheel along the shaft, different sizes of wheels and pitch of teeth may be
obtained. In making wood patterns a wood cutting tool of course will be
fitted into the cutter holder or slide. It is obvious that the same apparatus
would be equally applicable to the finishing and shaping of bevel wheel teeth
after they have been cast.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Dodge in the Great Seal Patent Office on the g
3rd December 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
DODGE, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said James Dodge, Her special license that I, the said James Dodge, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
Dodge, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the

page_text: 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 MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS FOR CUTTING THE TEETH OF BEVIL WHEELS, OR PATTERNS FOR SUCH
WHEELS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Dodge,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Dodge, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
and accompanying Drawings (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of
machinery or apparatus for cutting the teeth of bevil wheels of all sizes and
any pitch, or for cutting the teeth of the patterns for such wheels, and
consists in the employment of a pattern or guiding slot or surface of the
transverse form of the tooth to be produced or cut. This pattern slot is fitted
on to a carriage sliding upon a curved arm, and actuated by rack and pinion,
and is capable of being adjusted to any distance from the centre of a face
plate (secured to the base of the curved arm), according to the bevil of the
wheel to be produced. The blank wheel is fitted on a shaft or spindle, the
axis of which coincides with the centre of the face plate, and also with a ball
and socket or other joint, to which is connected one end of an inclined radial
bar, the opposite end of which is provided with a journal or pin, which fits
into and travels along the pattern slot or guide herein-before referred to, such
travelling motion of the end of the bar in the slot being. produced either by a
nut and screw action, or other equivalent device. This bar carries a to-and-
fro traversing slide actuated by a cam or eccentric, and carrying a right or
left handed cutting tool, similar to those used in shaping machines. By giving
a to-and-fro motion to the cutter, and by moving the end, of the bar a step
forward, in the pattern slot after each cut, a tooth will be produced on the
blank wheel with one half of the space on each side thereof, one half of the
tooth and the portion of the space being cut with a right-hand tool and
the other half with a left-hand tool. After each tooth is formed the shaft
with the blank wheel upon it is moved round a certain distance, according to
the pitch. of the teeth, so as to bring a fresh surface under the cutter.. This

page_text: .
spacing of the teeth or circular adjustment of the blank wheel is facilitated
by having an index or pointer attached to the shaft, and working round a
divided circle on the face plate. By changing the pattern or making the face
plate adjustable nearer to or further from the joint or centre upon which the
bar works, or by varying the position of the cutter on the bar and of the blank
wheel along the shaft, different sizes of wheels and pitch of teeth may be
obtained. In making wood patterns a rotatory or other wood cutting tool of
course will be fitted into the cutter holder or slide... It is obvious that the
same apparatus would be equally applicable to the finishing and shaping of
bevil wheel teeth after they have been cast.
In order that the Invention may be better understood and explained in
detail, I have hereunto attached a Sheet of Drawings made upon a scale of
about one inch to the foot, similar letters of reference being marked upon
corresponding parts of the apparatus.
.
Fig. 1 represents a side elevation of the apparatus shewing the shaft or
maundril supporting the wheel or pattern to be cut and the diagonal moveable
bar on which the cutting tool slides, and also the graduated quadrant to
regulate the angle or bevil slope of the tooth; Fig. 2 is a front, and
Fig. 3 a plan view of the same; Fig. 4 is a plan view of the sliding piece
containing the "pattern" guide or groove which shapes the tooth; Figs. 5
and 6 are enlarged detached views of the same part.
In Fig. 1, a is a pedestal supporting the bar 6 on the universal joint c, the
opposite end of which bar being supported on a pivot or pin in the sliding
piece e, thus the bar is capable of lateral movement in the arc of a circle on
both sides of its axis, by which means the cutting tool f, supported in the
sliding block 9, is caused to move according to the varying thickness of the
different parts of the tooth. This gradual movement of the bar on its axis
is obtained by means of a "pattern" groove or slot h (seen in Fig. 4), which
corresponds with the form of the side of the tooth, the pin i, supporting the
bar, being caused to travel up one half of the slot (that is from a¹ to a²) by the
screw k, which when turned by the wheel o propels the nut and stud i along
the pattern curve, thereby causing the cutting tool f to shape and finish the
right-hand side of all the teeth upon the wheel under operation, after which
the propelling screw k is reversed to the opposite angle by its supporting
journal being brought to the opposite side of the transverse slide m; the
sliding pin i actuated by such screw is then placed at the point as of the
"pattern slot," at which time the cutting tool f commences shaping the left
side of the teeth, and completely finishes the entire, formation of the teeth
when the stud i has arrived at the point a³ in the pattern slot. The sliding or

page_text: cutting motion is imparted to the blank g by means of a crank or pin and
connecting rod driven from the disc p, by cam or eccentric, and the wheel
to be acted upon is secured on the shaft or maundril r, which is supported on
pivots, as shewn, and is to be turned and regulated by the index and dial
plate t after the cutting of each tooth.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, together with the
method of carrying the same into practical effect, I wish it to be distinctly
understood that I claim, the novel construction and arrangement of apparatus,
as herein-before described.
Secondly, the novel employment and use of the pattern slot shewn and
described for finishing, dressing, and shaping the teeth of bevil wheels, and
for cutting and forming the teeth of "pattern blanks."
Thirdly, I claim the employment and use of the index upon the face of the
curved arm, whereby the slide or radial arm is capable of being adjusted by
means of the rack and pinion, so as to cut any desired angle of tooth, as
herein-before described, set forth, and fully illustrated in the Drawings
attached.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Dodge, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Second day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
JAMES DODGE. (L.B.)