IMPROVEMENTS IN PUNCHING, CUTTING, AND SIMILAR MACHINES ACTUATED BY FOOT POWER
Year: 1884

page_text: I, JOHN BINNS of Low Green, Rawdon near Leeds, in the County of York
Machine Maker, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN PUNCHING, CUTTING, AND SIMILAR MACHINES ACTUATED BY FOOT POWER," to
be as follows:-
In the ordinary construction of hand punching and cutting machines it has been
customary to construct them with an upper lever or arm, necessitating the use of
one hand of the attendant to operate same; allowing only one hand to be at liberty
for attending to the material operated upon.
My invention is intended to construct such machinery so that they can be
operated by the foot of the attendant leaving both hands at liberty for attending to
the punching and cutting of the materials; there is also a peculiar construction and
arrangement of levers whereby a greater extent of motion is given to the punch or
presser than could formerly be obtained by the same movement of the upper lever,
whilst less power is required to operate the machine.
The machine constructed according to my Invention consists in the employment
of a vertical rod, at the foot of which is the pressing block, being forced upwards
by a spring, but the said rod is forced downwards by a lever attached to the upper
part of the framework. A lever is also hinged underneath the machine operated
by the foot of the attendant.
The top and bottom levers are not connected together by one rod as formerly
but are connected together by two vertical rods, the ends of which rods are secured
to a hinged arm; the points of connection being some little distance apart, so as to
throw the centres at different distances from the fulcrum of the hinged arm by
which means a greater extent of movement is given to one rod than to the other,
consequently the movement of the presser block is increased for the same movement
of the foot lever.
When this machine is employed to punch and cut leather, the cutting table is
provided with a series of cutting blocks underneath which are openings for the
leather to drop through when cut so that if each cutting block is of a different size
the machine is found of great advantage when utilizing waste pieces of leather.

page_text: If the machine is employed to cut paper labels, or other articles or materials the
table may be an ordinary flat one.
This construction of machine will also be of advantage for morticing wood, as a
longer stroke of the vertical rod to which the cutter is attached can be obtained for
a shorter movement of the upper or bottom levers.
200
I, JOHN BINNS of Low Green, Rawdon near Leeds, in the County of York
Machine Maker, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN PUNCHING, CUTTING AND SIMILAR. MACHINES ACTUATED BY FOOT POWER" and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
1
In the ordinary construction of hand punching and cutting machines it has been
customary to construct them with an upper lever or arm, necessitating the use of
one hand of the attendant to operate same, allowing only one hand to be at liberty
for attending to the material operated upon..
My invention is intended to construct such machinery so that they can be
operated by the foot of the attendant, leaving both hands at liberty for attending
to the punching and cutting of the materials, there is also a peculiar construction
and arrangement of levers whereby a greater extent of motion is given to the
punch or presser than could formerly be obtained by the same movement of the
upper lever, whilst less power is required to operate the machine.
In order that my Invention may be better understood reference is made to the
accompanying Sheet of drawings wherein Fig 1 is sectional elevation of a machine
constructed according to my Invention. A is the framework carrying the ordinary
standard B for receiving the vertical rod C which is provided with a pressing
block D operated in an upward direction by spiral spring E all arranged in the
usual manner.
One part of my invention consists in the means employed for giving a downward
movement to the vertical rod C, and this I accomplish by the employment of the
lever arm F hinged at G and by the foot lever H hinged at I.
Between the two levers I employ an intermediate lever arm J which is connected
to the top and bottom levers by two rods K and L such rods being connected to
the said lever arm J at two different points a. and b, consequently whatever
movement is given to the bottom lever H, the movement of the upper lever will
be greater and this can be varied according to the distances apart of the centres a
and b.
The upper end of the rod C bears against the underside of the lever arm F, so
that when the foot lever is depressed the rod C is caused to descend, and when the

page_text: foot lever is allowed to ascend the pressure is removed off the rod C, and the spiral
spring E forces the rod upward as will be well understood.
It will thus be seen that by the employment of the intermediate lever arm J and
the two rods K and L, that more leverage is obtained, and a greater extent of
movement is given to the top lever than would be the case if the top and bottom
levers were connected together by one rod, and these are great advantages in
morticing machines, or other form of punching and cutting machines where a
vertical motion is required.
When this machine is employed to punch and cut leather, the cutting table M is
made with arms like a wheel and in the spaces between each arm I insert a cutting
block N which may be of various sizes and shapes as shewn in detail Fig 2 and
section Fig 3.
These cutting blocks are bottomless so that as the sections of leather are cut they
will drop through and fall into a receptacle P placed underneath to receive them.
The cutting table M is made to rotate upon its centre, so that any of the blocks N
can be readily placed under the pressing block D.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is;
Firstly The use and employment of the intermediate lever arm J and rods K
and L for purposes substantially as herein shewn and described.
Secondly The employment in this class of machine of a rotary table M provided
with recesses for different sized cutting blocks, substantially as herein shewn and
described.