Improvements in Machinery for Cutting and Finishing Corks.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 25th Nov., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 22nd Sept., 1893-Accepted, 28th Oct., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machinery for Cutting and Finishing Corks.
We, JOHN LOWMAN of 78 Coburg Road, Old Kent Road in the County of
Surrey, Engineer, and JOHN STAFFORD BUCKNALL of 71 Crystal Palace Road
Sydenham in the County of Surrey, Secretary of Henry Bucknall & Sons
Limited do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
In cutting corks by machinery we employ a cutting tool consisting of a steel
tube coned at one end whereby an annular cutting edge is formed. This tubular
cutter is mounted in bearings as the spindle of a lathe is carried and it is driven by
a belt and a belt pulley.
The cork to be operated on is first cut into bars square in section. Such a bar
of cork is by the operation of the machine advanced up to and pressed against the
cutting edge.
This takes place whilst the tool rotates and so a cylindrical piece of cork is thus
cut and this is delivered through the hollow tool.
In front of the tool and on a
level with the lower part thereof there is a stationary bed upon which the bar of
cork is laid and it is held firmly down upon the bed by a roller mounted upon a
lever which is operated on by a spring in such manner as to cause the roller to
bear with a suitable pressure upon the bars of cork. There are also two feed
rollers they are on vertical axes which are carried in bearings so mounted that they
can be moved to and from each other by the aid of a right and left screw having a
hand wheel upon its outer end. The axes of the feed rollers also have upon them
pinions with long teeth gearing with a worm which can be driven by a belt and
pulley. In the action of the machine the feed rollers are by turning the hand
wheel adjusted to grip the sides of the bar of cork and then by the rotation of the
rollers the cork is carried against the cutting edge which being in rapid motion
cuts the cork; the cylindrical piece thereby produced is delivered as already
described; it is afterwards cut up into corks of the required length.
For finishing corks we employ a disc faced with a suitable cutting or abraiding
material and rotated at high velocity.
The cork to be operated on is supported in front of the disc upon a narrow
stationary platform or support and it is pressed up to the disc by a roller. The
cork turns round whilst it is in contact with the disc so that the whole of its
cylindrical surface is acted on by the disc. The roller which presses the cork
towards the disc is driven by an endless cord and pulleys and it makes one rotation
whilst each cork is being treated.
The roller is mounted in a rocking frame which is supported by a spring, and
upon the neck of the roller there is an arm which at one period in the rotation of
the roller comes against a stationary finger; this causes the roller to retire from
the disc. The finished cork then falls away, its release being facilitated by a
flattened part of the roller then being presented to it. .The machine is automatically
fed with corks requiring to be finished, these descend endwise. along a guide trough
until the lowest cork is immediately over the place it is required afterwards to
occupy in order that it may be finished. Then the rocking motion of the roller.
frame when it next occurs gives motion to a finger which displaces the cork from
its position at the end of the feed trough and causes it to fall into place between
the disc and pressing roller. Another finger similarly operated restrains the corks
in rear.
Dated this 24th day of November 1892.
J. LOWMAN.
J. S. BUCKNALL.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION:
Improvements in Machinery for Cutting and Finishing Corks.
We, JOHN LOWMAN, of 78 Coburg Road, Old Kent Road, in the County of
Surrey, Engineer, and JOHN STAFFORD BUCKNALL, of 71. Crystal Palace Road,
Sydenham in the County of Surrey, Secretary of Henry Bucknall & Sons
Limited, do hereby declare the nature of this. invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement :-
The cork to be operated upon is brought to the machine in the form of bars of
rectangular section and by the machine it is fashioned to a circular form suitable to
be divided up into corks.
This is effected by means of a rapidly rotating cutter having an annular cutting
edge and rollers which carry the bars of cork forward along the surface of a table
and force it against the cutting edge and through the cutter, which with its spindle
is hollow from end to end. The bars being thus reduced approximately. to a.
circular section are afterwards cut to suitable lengths.
The corks are finished in another machine in which one at a time they are.
pressed against a rapidly revolving disc or other surface faced with, an abraiding.
material such as glass paper. Whilst so held the corks are turned slowly round.
and when the entire circumference of the cork has been acted upon it is released
and another cork is supplied to take its place. As the abraiding surface becomes.
worn the corks are pressed more firmly against it and, when the, surface becomes.
unserviceable the machine is stopped.
In order that our invention may be fully understood and. readily carried, into,
effect we will proceed to describe the drawings hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine for cutting or shaping corks..
Figure 2 is a plan of the machine.
a is the frame of the machine, it supports the head stock in which, is the
spindle c, it is driven at high velocity by a belt passing around the pulley.c¹. The
spindle c is hollow and it carries the tubular cutter.d which presents an, annular
cutting edge. The frame also carries the stem e' on the top of which the table e is
fixed.. The stem e' is held in suitable guides and by the screw and nut it can be
raised and lowered; the screw being geared by bevilled pinions. with the axis of
the hand wheelf. The frame also carries the axis g on which are fast and loose.
pulleys g' and the bevilled pinion 92. This pinion drives.a wheel h' on the vertical
axis and this carries a spur wheel i. The teeth of the wheel i are long and are
engaged with the teeth of another similar wheel ¹. The axes of the wheels i and. ¿¹
are carried by slides kk which are moveable along, horizontal guides on the
frame. k¹k' are hand wheels for setting the slides which they do by means of screws!
and nuts and the slides when set can be locked fast. I and are rollers which. are
fast upon the axes i and i'. The slides k also carry the rollers m m. which can
revolve freely upon stud axes. n is a standard fixed to the frame aud. serving, as, a
fulcrum for the lever o. This lever carries at one end an axis on which is the,
roller o¹ and the other end of the lever is controlled by the spring p. The spring
is, coiled around a stem on which are nuts q one of, these. serves, as a stop for the
lever and another to adjust the.compression of the spring..
The operation of the machine is as follows:-The parts having been suitably,
adjusted and set in movement, rectangular bars of cork, previously cut to a suitable
side are brought to the machine.
The bars are placed on the table e and one at a time the end of the bars of cork
* 24

page_text: are presented to the rollers 11. These rollers carry the bar onwards towards the
cutter the top roller o¹ keeping the bar down and the rollers mm guiding it
truly. As soon as one bar has passed on from between the rollers another bar
is presented to them. The cutter reduces the bars of cork to a circular section but
leaving flats on two sides as is usual in cork cutting. The bars in this form are
delivered out at the rear end of the hollow spindle c. The division of the circular
bars into lengths suitable for use is a separate operation.
Figure 3 is a side elevation of the machine for polishing or finishing corks.
Figure 4 is a front view, Figure 5 is a plan of the same and Figure 6 shows some
of the parts to a larger scale.
A is the frame of the machine, upon it the axis B is mounted, and B'B' are fast
and loose pulleys on the axis. C is the driving strap. On the axis B is also the
belt pulley B. D is a head stock and this carries the spindle D¹. D' is a pulley
on the spindle and E is a belt passing around this pulley also the larger pulley B³.
The disc F which is faced with abraiding material is mounted on the spindle D'
and by the means described it is rapidly rotated. The axis B also has a worm B*
upon it and this is engaged with the worm wheel G¹ on the axis G which thus is
slowly rotated. His a hopper such as is commonly employed for the delivery of
corks; it receives the corks to be operated upon by the machine. H' is a roller at
the lower part of the hopper, it has ribs upon it, against which the corks lie. The
axis of the roller is turned in the direction indicated by the arrow by an endless
cord H2 passing around a pulley on the axis G. The corks being thus kept in
motion pass into the throat of the inclined guide trough H³ along which they then
descend by gravity. In the drawing the corks are seen lying in the trough. At
the lower end of the trough H³ are two pushers I' and 12 they receive from time to
time by means hereinafter described a movement from and towards the disc F.
The pushers as they retire release the corks which slide down the guide trough as
far as a stop H* admits. When the pushers advance the leading cork is pushed
sideways off the trough by the pusher 12 and the next cork is held back in the
trough by the pusher I. K is a stationary support which receives the cork when
it is delivered from the trough H³. The cork rests upon the inclined surface K¹
and is kept in place thereon by the guards K2. The cork when on the support K
is pressed against the surface of the disc F by the roller L. The axis of the
roller L is carried by a frame L' which is capable of rocking upon an axis L².
The frame is held by a spring M against an adjustable stop N. By the regulation
of this spring M the pressure exerted against the cork to hold it to the face of the
disc F is graduated as is hereinafter described. The cork rotates whilst it lies
against the disc F and the support K in unison with the rotation of the roller L.
The roller L is driven from the axis G in the following manner :-The cord O
connects a pulley on this axis and pulley on the axis L' on which latter axis there
is also another pulley L³; a cord transmits movement from the pulley L³ to a
pulley on the axis of the roller L. This axis has also a finger L upon it to
actuate the pushers 1 and 12 and once in a revolution this finger comes against
another finger Q. The finger Q is upon a short axis carried by a fixed standard,
and the axis has upon it another finger Q. The pushers I¹ and I can slide
horizontally in the frame which carry them and to the finger 13 the cross piece ✗
is clamped by lock nuts screwed on to the pusher.
The pusher I also passes through the cross piece ✗ but a spring between the
lock nuts on the pusher I gives freedom so that the pusher I¹ can yield and allow
the pusher I to advance independently.
The cross piece X has a stem I' which projects rearwardly through the frame
and has a coiled spring upon it. When the finger L' comes against the finger Q
the latter finger pressing upon the cross piece X causes it to advance compressing
the spring on the stem 13. The cross piece then carries both the pushers forward
with it until the pusher I' coming against a cork at the lower end of the trough H*
is stopped; it holds the cork pressed against the side of the trough. The pusher I'

page_text: advances further and it thrusts the cork abutting on the stop H* off the shelf on
which it till then was.
When the finger L' has passed the finger Q the spring on the stem I³ brings the
pushers back and another cork delivered from the hopper descends to the stop H
The cork displaced by the advance of the pusher 12 falls on to the incline K¹ and
between the guards K2 K2 and it is held by the roller L against the face of the
disc F. The disc by means of the abraiding material on its face polishes the cork
and as the cork partakes of the slow rotary movement of the roller L every part of
its face is successively operated on and finally the cork is released when the
recess L in the roller L coming round to the cork gives it room to fall away.
The way in which the pushers almost simultaneously operate to bring forward
another cork has been already described.
The spring M by which the pressure upon the cork when in contact with the
disc is exerted is attached to a regulating screw R and as the machine continues at
work and the abraiding material gets less and less keen this screw is progressively
tightened. For this purpose the screw is provided with a nut R' upon the periphery
of which are teeth adapted to receive the pitch chain S which also passes around
another chain pulley T. T' is a ratchet wheel fast on the axis of the pulley T.
The arm T2 is free to turn on the same axis and it carries a pawl engaged with the
teeth of the ratchet.
Once in each rotation of the axis G the cam G' acts upon a slide G³ and lifts
the arm T2 away from a stop T³ and the pawl then turns the ratchet wheel.
Afterwards when the arm T is released it falls back to the stop T³. In this way
movement is imparted to the nut R' and thus the spring M is progressively
tiglitened. So compensation is made for the wearing away of the abraiding
material from the face of the disc.
U is a belt fork, it is fixed to the sliding bar U₁ and there is a spring U'
connected with this bar which tends to move the bar in a direction to shift the
driving belt C onto the loose pulley and so to stop the machine. The bar U is
however geared or connected with the axis V and cannot move without rotating.
this axis. V₁ is an arm on the axis V it is shown in Figure 5 in the position it
occupies when the machine is at rest. In starting the machine the arm V' is
pushed back and its return is prevented by putting the pivotted stop W in its path
so that the end of the arm abuts upon the end of the stop. In the progressive
tightening of the spring M as already explained the end of the screw R travels
progressively outwards, it comes in contact with and acts against the pivotted
stop W and finally it thrusts the stop round so far that the arm V₁ escapes from
its end. When this takes place the machine stops the belt C being shifted to the
loose pulley by the action of spring V2 and the attendant knows that it is time to
renew the abraisive surface upon the disc F or rather to change the disc for
another which is kept ready to hand.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :-
.
1. A machine substantially as described for cutting or shaping corks in which
rectangular bars of cork are carried forward by rollers and forced up to and
through a hollow cutter having an annular cutting edge whilst the said cutter is
rotated at high velocity.
2. A machine substantially as described for finishing or polishing corks in which
corks are automatically supplied to and held against a rapidly revolving abraiding
surface; are slowly turned round whilst so 'held and when the entire periphery of
the cork has been operated upon are automatically released.
3. In a machine for 'finishing or polishing corks the combination of parts
substantially as described by which 'the cork is held whilst being polished and is
released when finished; such parts consisting of the 'revolving abraiding surface F

page_text: the stationary support K, and the slowly revolving roller L with the recess L
therein.
4. Machinery substantially as described and represented by the annexed
drawings.
Dated this 22nd day of September 1893.
CARPMAEL & Co.,
Agents for the Applicants.