IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SHAPING, CUTTING, PUNCHING, AND DRILLING METALS,' WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO PRESS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Knowles and James Knowles, of the City of
Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineers, and Arthur Rigg, of
the City of Chester, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS FOR SHAPING, CUTTING, PUNCHING, AND DRILLING METALS,'
WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO PRESS "
ma
"
Sealed the 3rd April 1860, and dated the 10th October 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Knowles,
James Knowles, and Arthur Rigg at the Office of the Commissioners
of Patents, with their Petition, on the 10th October 1859.
We, THOMAS KNOWLES and JAMES KNOWLES, of the City of Manchester, in
the County of Lancaster, Engineers, and ARTHUR RIGG, of the City of Chester,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SHAPING, CUTTING, PUNCHING, AND DRILLING METALS,
WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO PRESSES," to be as follows:-
Instead of employing toothed wheels or gearing for turning the shaft which
impels the cutter we give it the required motion by means of a worm and worm
wheel, the worm being driven by the moving power in any convenient manner,

page_text: and turning the aforesaid wheel and shaft with great power and steadiness,
and thus producing a uniformity of cut, a similar effect being produced upon
lathes when they are driven in the same manner. By applying a worm and
worm wheel to actuate the levers or racks of presses we obtain an uniformity
of pressure not hitherto attained.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Knowles, James Knowles, and Arthur Rigg in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 10th April 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, THOMAS
KNOWLES and JAMES KNOWLES, of the City of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Engineers, and ARTHUR RIGG, of the City of Chester, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Thomas Knowles, James Knowles, and Arthur Rigg, Her special
licence that we the said Thomas Knowles, James Knowles, and Arthur Rigg,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
Thomas Knowles, James Knowles, and Arthur Rigg, our executors, adminis-
trators, 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 Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR
SHAPING, CUTTING, PUNCHING, AND DRILLING METALS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE
ALSO APPLICABLE TO PRESSES," upon the condition (amongst others, that we,
the said Thomas Knowles, James Knowles, and Arthur Rigg, by an instru-
ment in writing under our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one
or more of us, should particularly describe and ascertain 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 we, the said Thomas Knowles, James Knowles,
and Arthur Rigg, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and

page_text: the manner in which the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement (that is to say):
Instead of employing toothed wheels or gearing for turning the shaft which
impels the.cutter, we give it the required motion by means of one or more
worms and worm wheels, the worms being driven by the moving power in any
convenient manner, and turning the aforesaid shaft which impels the cutter
with great power and steadiness, and thus producing an uniformity of cut, a
similar effect being produced upon lathes and slotting machines, when they
are driven in the same manner. By applying a worm and worm wheel to
actuate the levers, or racks of presses, we obtain an uniformity of pressure not
hitherto attained.
These improvements will be clearly understood by referring to the figures
and letters on the accompanying two Sheets of Drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a
transverse elevation, and Fig. 2 a longitudinal elevation of a shaping machine,
in which the shaft which impels the cutter is actuated by worms and worm
wheels; Figs. 3, 4, and 5, are detached views representing the worms and worm
wheels drawn to an enlarged scale; Figs. 6 and 7 are front and end elevations
of a bundle press, in which our improved application of a worm and worm wheel
are employed; and Fig. 8 is a detached view of the worm and worm wheel.
In Figs 1 and 2, a is the driving shaft, fixed to which is the worm b, geared
into the worm wheel c, seen enlarged in Figs. 3 and 5, on the shaft or spindle
of which is the index plate d, which gives motion to the lever e and transverse
sliding frame f in the usual manner. On the driving shaft a there is a second
worm g, seen enlarged in Fig. 4 geared into the worm wheel h, which gives
movement by a cam or eccentric to the levers k and for working the ratchet
wheels, which actuate the longitudinal slides. The aforesaid worms and worm
wheels are employed instead of toothed gearing, and their application is so
simple and self-evident that it is not necessary to give Drawings of their
arrangement to the other machines.
In Figs. 6, 7, and 8, representing the application of our improvements to
presses, m is the driving shaft worked either by hand or power, fixed to which
is the worm n geared into the worm wheel o, having at the sides crank pins
connected by the connecting rods p to the sliding plate q, so that when motion
is given to the driving shaft a steady and powerful pressure is obtained.
Having thus fully described the nature and particulars of our said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, we desire it to be
distinctly understood that we claim as our Invention, and which, to the best of
our knowledge and belief, has not been hitherto used within the realm, the

page_text: application to shaping, slotting, cutting, punching, and drilling machines, of.
worms and worm wheels, for giving movement to the cutter instead of toothed
wheels; and also a similar application of a worm and worm wheel between.the
driving shaft and sliding plate of presses, as such improvements are herein
described and illustrated in the accompanying Two Sheets of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Knowles, for and on behalf of
myself and the said James Knowles and Arthur Rigg, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Signed, sealed, and delivered, by the
within-named Thomas Knowles, in the
presence of
E. J. HUGHES, Patent Agent,
Manchester.
THOMAS KNOWLES. (L.S.).