CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CUTTING PIASSAVA OR OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRUSHES, WHICH SAID IM- PROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES OF CUTTING
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Jones, of Manchester, in the County, of
Lancaster, Brush Maker, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CUTTING PIASSAVA OR OTHER FIBROUS
SUBSTANCES EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRUSHES, WHICH SAID IM-
PROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES OF CUTTING."
Sealed the 14th August 1858, and dated the 18th February 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said. Frederick Jones at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th February 1858.
I, FREDERICK JONES, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Brush
Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CUTTING. PIASSAVA,' OR OTHER
FIBROUS SUBSTANCES EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRUSHES, WHICH SAID
IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES OF. CUTTING," to be as
follows:-
The apparatus consists in two upright bars sliding vertically in V grooves, to
which bars is attached the cutter or cutters, and a reciprocating. motion is
imparted thereto by means of cranks upon a shaft driven by spur gearing, the
cranks being connected to the top of the said bars by an intermediate con-
necting rod at each side, so that as the cranks rotate the required motion will

page_text: be given to the cutters. The "piassava" or other material to be cut is placed
in an adjustable guage or receptacle, and retained therein by means of a
pressing lever, whilst the knife descends to cut or reduce the material to the
required form or length. It will be evident that the apparatus may be
applied to cutting other materials, such as whalebone, paper, cardboard, wood,
cork, and other similar substances, and also that it may be driven either by
steam power or by hand.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederick Jones in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th
August 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
JONES, of Manchester, in the County Lancaster, Brush Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of February, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her reign, did, for Herself,
Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Frederick Jones,
Her especial licence that I, the said Frederick Jones, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Frederick Jones, my execu-
tors, 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 Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR
CUTTING PIASSAVA' OR OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFAC-
TURE OF BRUSHES, WHICH SAID IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER
PURPOSES OF CUTTING," upon the condition, amongst others, that I, the said
Frederick Jones, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 I, the said Frederick Jones, 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, statement
and accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
In the main or principal framing of this apparatus two upright bars slide

page_text: vertically in V grooves, to which bars is attached the cutter or cutters, and a
vertical reciprocating motion is imparted thereto by means of cranks upon a
shaft driven by spur gearing, the cranks being connected to the top of the said
bars by an intermediate connecting rod at each side, so that as the cranks
rotate the required motion will be given to the cutters. The "piassava,"
cork, or other material to be cut is placed in an adjustable gauge or
receptacle, and retained therein by means of a pressing lever, whilst the knife
descends to cut or reduce the material to the required form or length. It will
be evident that this apparatus may be applied to cutting other materials than
cork and "piassava," such as whalebone, paper, cardboard, wood, and other
similar substances, and also that it may be driven either by steam power or by
hand.
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 and a half to a foot, similar letters of reference being marked
upon corresponding parts of the apparatus.in the Figures shewn. Fig. 1 is a
side elevation of the machine, clearly shewing the position of the "piassava,"
&c., and the action of the knife thereupon; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the
same; and Fig. 3 is a plan view, illustrating the position of the adjustable
bed. In Fig. 1, a, a, is the framing of the machine, in which the bars b, b,
slide vertically; these bars are connected together, and are also in connection
with the crank c upon the driving gearing d, d, by means of the rods or bars e, e,
which extend from the top of such vertical bars to the crank. f. f, is a knife
or blade secured to and extending from one bar to the other across the
machine; and g is the "piassava," cork, or other material to be cut, which is
placed in the gauge or receptacle h, which is capable of adjustment by means
of the screw i; the "piassava" or cork is retained in the gauge h by means of
the lever k, the fulcrum of which may be raised or lowered in the slide or
support, and the opposite end may be weighted to any extent required to
keep the material sufficiently dense and compact to be cut.
It will be readily seen that as motion is imparted to the crank by the
driving gearing d, d, it will cause the ascent and descent of the knife, and that
each time the knife descends, the portion of "piassava," &c. projecting from
the
gauge will be severed from that in the gauge, leaving the surface clear
and evenly cut, and in fit condition for making into brushes. When the
apparatus is employed for the purpose of cutting circular corks from the solid
block, the knife f is to be removed, and a framing containing a series of
circular cutters is substituted, the cutters being similar to that shewn in section
in Fig. 4, in which it will be seen that the internal surface of the cutter is

page_text: slightly tapered, corresponding to the taper of the cork. By any suitable
arrangement of mechanism in connection with the above-described machinery
these cutters are made to revolve, rapidly, as the sliding bars b, b, cause them
to descend slowly, through the block of cork, by which means the "corks" are
cut or shaped to the required gauge, and form and fall in a finished condition
from the interior, of the cutters as they rise for the succeeding stroke.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, together with the
method of performing the same, I would remark, in conclusion, that I claim
the 'novel arrangement, application; and use of the machinery or apparatus as
herein-before described for, cutting "piassava," whalebone, jute, and other 1
similar fibrous materials employed in the manufacture of brushes, which said
apparatus may also be applied to cutting cork, paper, cardboard, &c., the
whole of which is herein-before described, set forth, and fully illustrated in the
Drawings attached.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Jones, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
FREDERICK JONES. (L.S.)