IMPROVEMENTS IN ROTATORY WOOD CUTTING MACHINES FOR MAKING LATHS, CARDS, STRIPS, AND SHEETS OF WOOD
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Arthur Thomas Allcock, of Gainsboro', in the
County of Lincoln, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROTATORY
WOOD CUTTING MACHINES FOR MAKING LATHS, CARDS, STRIPS, AND SHEETS
OF WOOD."
Sealed the 20th May 1873, and dated the 20th March 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Arthur Thomas
Allcock at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 20th March 1873.
I, ARTHUR THOMAS ALLCOCK, of Gainsboro', in the County of Lincoln,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for “IMPROVEMENTS IN
ROTATORY WOOD CUTTING MACHINES FOR MAKING LATHS, CARDS, STRIPS, AND
SHEETS OF WOOD," to be as follows:-
:-
To prevent the loss of time that occurs in rotatory wood cutting
machines as heretofore constructed, owing to the machine having to
stand idle whilst the cutting knife and roller knife are being run back
after a piece of wood has been cut and previous to a new piece being
put in; and also for an easier and more expeditious manner of centering
and fixing the pieces of wood on the driving shaft of the machine.

page_text: To carry out this Invention I make the head stocks of the machine
duplicate; that is, having two sets of shafts and gearing for rotating
the wood parallel to one another; in a line between them is the slide
for the knife roller to traverse in. Two cutting knives and one knife
roller are used, the cutting knives working in slides, one knife to each
shaft on opposite sides of the machine. The knife roller and two
cutting knives have their feed motions so geared together that as one
cutting knife and the knife roller are in work advancing up to the
centre of one shaft, the other cutting knife and the knife roller are
leaving the other shaft, and making room for another piece of wood to
be put in by the time the first piece is worked up. The two shafts for
rotating wood are driven independently of one another; and the feed
gear is so arranged that one shaft of the machine may be employed
cutting one thickness and length of wood, and the other shaft a
different thickness and length, each working alternately, the relative
distances of the cutting knives and the knife roller always remaining the
same to their respective shafts.
In place of using a screw and wheel to close up the shafts and adjust
them to the length of the piece of timber, and for forcing the driving
chucks into it, I fix on the outer ends of the shaft a piston working in
a cylinder forming a portion of the outer bearing. By a suitable valve
with a hand lever to a convenient part of machine water or oil under
pressure can be admitted on either side of the piston, and thus the
driving chucks can be pressed in or out of timber, and the adjustment
made to its length. The back cover of the cylinder has a nut in its
centre in which, should by accident or otherwise the supply of water or
oil under pressure fail, a screw and hand wheel can be used as
formerly.
In lifting the timber into the machine I use a travelling crane of
light construction having two winding drums on one shaft driven by a
worm and wheel; from the drums hang the lifting chains or ropes.
Each of these chains or ropes passes round a guide pulley, one at each
end of a beam, and are fastened to centre of the beam, thus suspending
it. The guide pullies each work in a horizontal slot in the ends of the
beam, and along which they can be traversed by a screw with a handle.
The piece of timber is suspended from the beam by either timber dogs
or clip hooks. The object of the guide pullies is, that after the piece of
timber has been lowered to nearly its position between centres of shaft

page_text: of machine by the crane a more minute vertical adjustment can be
given it by turning the screw round and traversing the guide pulley,
thus lengthening or shortening one of the chains, and so bringing the
axis of the piece of timber in a line with the centres of machine
to have driving chucks forced in by the hydraulic apparatus before
described.
When using the hydraulic apparatus and the crane together I make
the driving chucks fast on the machine centres, so that one at least of
the chucks must be pulled out of the remaining core of wood on
drawing back the shaft and piston. By these means a boy is able to
adjust and fix a piece of wood in the machine at one operation, and a
great saving of time and labour effected.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Arthur Thomas Allcock in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 19th September 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ARTHUR
THOMAS ALLCOCK, of Gainsboro', in the County of Lincoln, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Arthur Thomas Allcock, Her special
licence that I, the said Arthur Thomas Allcock, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Arthur
Thomas Allcock, 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 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROTATORY WOOD CUTTING MACHINES FOR MAKING
LATHS, CARDS, STRIPS, AND SHEETS OF WOOD," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Arthur Thomas Allcock, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and soals, should particularly describe and ascertain the

page_text: 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 Arthur Thomas Allcock, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statements in writing, and on reference being had to
the accompanying Drawings, for which purpose I have appended two
Sheets of Drawings :—
In Sheet 1, Figure 1 is an end clevation of my improved machine;
Figure 2 is a side elevation; and Figure 3 is a plan of the same.
Figure 4 is a transverse section through the machine on the line X, Y,
looking in the direction of the arrows; Figure 5 is a longitudinal part
section on a horizontal plane through one of the wood driving shafts of
the machine shewing the arrangements of the bearings and of the
hydraulic cylinders for forcing the driving chucks into the wood.
In Sheet 2, Figure 6 is a side elevation of the crane for lifting and
centreing the pieces of wood; Figure 7 is a plan of the same; and
Figure 8 is a plan of the suspension beam of the crane detached.
In order that these Drawings may be distinctly understood I have
marked the same with letters and figures of reference corresponding
with those in the following explanation, and where parts of the machine
are in duplicate the same letters or figures of reference are used in the
description, but the duplicate parts are distinguished by the addition of
the sign (*) to the letter or figure of reference.
Referring now to Sheet 1, Figures No. 1, 2, 3, and 4, it will be seen
that two parallel sets of shafts for revolving wood are used. A, A, in the
front of the machine is shewn in gear revolving the piece of wood C,
and A*, A*, in the rear of the machine is at rest waiting to receive a
fresh piece of wood when the piece C is cut up. B is the knife roller,
which is of the usual construction and working in the slide blocks and
guides 1 and 1 and 2 and 2* in a right line between the shafts A, A,
and A*, A*. D and D* are the cutting knife boxes for holding the
cutting knives as heretofore constructed, and which boxes work in the
guides 3 and 3* on opposite sides of the machine up to their respective
shafts A, A, and A*, A*. E, E, and E*, E*, are the hydraulic cylinders

page_text: for closing up the shafts A, A, and A*, A*, respectively, and so forcing
the driving chucks 4 and 4* into or withdrawing them from the wood.
The shafts A, A, and A*, A*, are caused to revolve alternately by the
following means:-Motion is given from the prime mover to the fast
and loose belt pullies G and G* carried on the counter shafts H and H*,
which also carry the pinions I and I* geared into the spur wheels J and
J*. The spur wheels J and J* are keyed fast on to the shafts K and K*
respectively, which pass through the body of the machine under the
shafts A, A, and A*, A*, and to which they give motion by means of
the pinions L and L* and the spur wheels M and M*.
The pinions L and L* instead of having great breadth across the teeth
to allow the wheels M and M* to slide endways, as before constructed,
are only of the ordinary width, the wheels M and M* instead of being
keyed fast direct on the shafts A, A, and A*, A*, are keyed fast to a long
sleeves a, see Figure 5, which sleeves revolve in bearings b. The shafts
A, A, and A*, A*, can slide endways through the sleeves, but must
revolve with them, by feathers and sliding keyways. By these means
space is gained, and by removing the end covers of the hydraulic
cylinders E, E, and E*, E*, the shafts A, A, and A*, A*, can be entirely
withdrawn without disturbing or removing any of the gearing. The
ends of the shafts A, A, and A*, A*, carry the pistons c working in the
hydraulic cylinders E and E*, which cylinders are attached to or by
preference cast in one piece with the outermost bearing of the sleeve a.
By means of the valves d and the hand levers e water or oil under
pressure can be admitted on either side of the pistons c, and thus an
endways motion for forcing in the driving chucks 4 and 4* and holding
the piece of wood in position can be given to the shafts A, A, and A*,
A*.
A nut and a screw plug f are fixed in the end covers of the hydraulic
cylinders, so that should the supply of water or oil under pressure fail,
the screw plug f being removed, a hand wheel and screw h, shewn in
dotted lines, can at once be used in its place, and the endways motion
thereby be given to the shafts A, A, and A*, A*. When using the
hydraulic arrangement I make the driving chucks 4 and 4* fast to tho
shafts A, A, and A*, A*, so that on drawing the shafts back at least one
of the driving chucks must be withdrawn from the remaining core of
wood.
The feed motion is given to the knife roller B and to the cutting
knife boxes D and D*, so that the relative distances to their respective

page_text: shafts A, A, and A*, A*, remain the same, by the following means, sec
Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4. On the counter shafts H and H* are fixed the
worms j and j*, in gear with the worm wheels k and k*, which are fast on
shafts and *; on the outer ends of these shafts are pinions m and m*,
communicating their motion through the idle wheels n and n* to the
wheels o and o*. The idle wheels are adjustable in radial slots struck
from the centres of the wheels o and o*, to allow for the pinions m and
m* being altered in size, thereby giving a different. velocity to the wheels
o and o*, and altering the thickness or gauge of the cut. The wheels
o and o* are not permanently fixed on their shafts p and p* but can be
left loose upon them, the wheels q and q* are keyed fast on the shafts p
and p*, and the wheels o and o* and q and q* can be connected together
at pleasure by means of the clutches r and r*, of which the clutch r is
shewn in gear in connection with the revolving shaft A, A, whilst the
clutch is shewn out of gear, as the shaft A*, A* is standing still.
When the shaft A*, A*, is revolving the clutch * is thrown into gear
and the clutch thrown out of gear, so that the feed motion for the
two shafts A, A, and A*, A*, is independent one of the other and may
be of a different thickness or gauge. The two shafts p and p* are
connected together by a lay shaft & passing longitudinally through the
body of the machine with two pair of mitre wheels t and t*, SO
arranged that the motion of the two shafts p and p* is in the same
direction. In gear with the wheels q and q* are trains of three
wheels u, v, w, and ux, vx, w*%; of these the wheels u and u* are
connected to the four short screws x¹, a², x³, x4, the screws and ³
give motion to the knife box D, and x³ and x* give motion to the knife
box D. The connection between these wheels and screws is made with
a sliding key way, so that any of the wheels u and u* may be thrown out
of gear with the wheels q and q* and v and v*, whereby the motion of
its short screw will be stopped and an adjustment of the distance of
either one or both ends of the knife boxes D and D* from the shafts
A, A., and A*, A*, can be made. The wheels w and w* are fast on
the ends of the long right-handed screws y¹ and y³, and the wheels v
and v are fast on the ends of the long left-handed screws y³ and y*;
these screws pass transversely across the machine on the upper and lower
sides of the main wood driving shafts, and through nuts z and z*, which
are secured to the guide blocks 1 and 1*; the axle ends of the knife
roller B revolve in these blocks. Motion is thus given to the knife
roller B in a direction to or form the shafts A, A, and A×, A*, at

page_text: exactly the same speed that the knife boxes D and Dˆ advance or recede
to or from the same shafts. It is obvious that only the lower left-handed
y, y, need be employed to give motion to the knife roller B, but I
prefer usually to have two screws in order to give a central strain on
the guide blocks 1 and 1*.
For lifting and centreing the pieces of wood in the machine I use a
crane of the following description, see Sheet 2, Figures 6, 7, and 8:- A
carriage a is supported by four wheels b, b, and 6*, 6*, on the gantries c
and c*, and can be traversed backwards and forwards thereon by the
chain wheels and endless chains d and d*, which are attached to a pro-
longation of the axles of travelling wheels b and 6* at diagonal corners
of the carriage a. The gantries cand c* cross over the machine at right
angles to the wood driving shafts, and may be continued any convenient
distance for the purpose of bringing the pieces of wood up to the machine.
The shaft e, revolving in the bearings f, has mounted upon it the two
winding drums g and g*, and receives motion from the counter shaft h by
means of the worm and the worm wheel i. The shaft h has as a chain
wheel and endless chain j and j* at each end, so that the winding drums g
and g* may be revolved from either end of the crane according upon
which side of the machine it is being used. Upon the winding drums g
and g* coil the ends of two chains and *, which after passing round
the guide pullies 7 and 7* are united together, and to the suspension
beam n by the pin m. The guide pullies 7 and 1* can be traversed in
longitudinal slots o and o* in the beam n by the screws p and p*. The
suspension beam is made with two sides or flitches to allow the guide
pullies to work between them. From the lower part of the beam are
suspended the timber dogs q and q* by pins passing through the holes
and v. Through both sides of the beam several holes are provided to
suit different lengths of pieces of wood. The lower ends of the timber
dogs q and q* are driven in the same plane into the piece of wood s at a
given distance from its axis, say from three to seven inches, according
to the size of the piece. If thus suspended it would hang with its axis
parallel to the centres of the main wood revolving shafts of the machine.
If however it occur that on the piece of wood being lowered to its
position in the machine its axis is not fair and parallel with the centres
of the machine a vertical adjustment can at once be given to either end
of the piece of wood by turning one of the screws p or p*, which by
traversing its guide pulley or 1 can lengthen or shorten the corre-

page_text: sponding suspension chain k or k*, and thus give the required adjust-
ments. Any horizontal adjustment required at either end of the piece
of wood can easily be given by hand, as it is freely suspended by the
chains and k+.
Having now particularly described my Invention, and the manner in 5
which the same is to be performed, what I claim as my Invention, and
desire to protect by Letters Patent, is as follows,—
First. The combination and use of the two wood revolving shafts with
one knife roller and two cutting knives, substantially as described.
Second. The feed motion, as before described, or any mere modifi- 1
cation of it, whereby I am enabled to cut the same or different
thicknesses on opposite sides of the machine.
Third. The construction and means of using the hydraulic cylinders
for the purposes described.
Fourth. The general arrangement and construction of the machine, so 14
that the same may be used in combination and in conjunction with the
crane and centreing arrangement.
Fifth. The general arrangement and combination of the crane and
suspension beam for the purposes described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Arthur Thomas Allcock, have here- 20
unto set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.
ARTHUR THOMAS ALLCOCK. (L.S.)