IMPROVEMENTS IN OR APPLICABLE TO LATHES, AND IN MECHANISM FOR VARYING ROTATING SPEEDS, APPLICABLE TO OTHER TOOLS, MACHINES, AND SHAFTING
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Robinson, Engineer and Tool Maker, and
Gray Denison Edmeston, Foreman, both of Preston, in the County
of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN OR APPLICABLE
TO LATHES, AND IN MECHANISM FOR VARYING ROTATING SPEEDS, APPLICABLE
TO OTHER TOOLS, MACHINES, AND SHAFTING."
Sealed the 12th February 1869, and dated the 15th August 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Robinson and
Gray Denison Edmeston at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 15th August 1868.
We, ROBERT ROBINSON, Engineer and Tool Maker, and GRAY DENISON
EDMESTON, Foreman, both of Preston, in the County of Lancaster, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN OR
APPLICABLE TO LATHES, AND IN MECHANISM FOR VARYING ROTATING SPEEDS,
APPLICABLE TO OTHER TOOLS, MACHINES, AND SHAFTING," to be as follows:-
Our improvements in lathes consist in combining differential gearing,
either bevil or spur, commonly termed a "jack-in-a-box motion" with

page_text: the lathe spindle, which gearing is connected with a conc or other
well-known motion for varying speeds.
Our improvements in mechanism for varying rotating speeds consist
in combining differential gearing, either bevil or spur, with expanding
cones, so that these concs may be made to approach each other, or to
approach or to be withdrawn one from the other while in motion by
turning the differential gearing by hand or by self-acting mechanism.
Our improvements also consist, when two sets of expanding conc
pulleys are working in connection, in making one or both halves of onc
set of cone pulleys free to slide endways upon the shaft on a fixed key,
and in forcing the two cones together by springs, which will give way
and adjust themselves as the other set of cone pulleys are adjusted.
Our improvements also consist in placing two sets of cone expanding
pulleys with their axis in the same line, and in arranging so that one
set of pulleys will drive the other by means of a band passing from one
set of expanding pulleys over carrier pulleys to the other set of expanding
pulleys; in fixing one cone of each set and making the other moveable
and adjustable endways, one resting against the other so that the end
thrust caused by the band upon one will be counteracted by the other,
and thus the moveable pulleys can be casily adjusted by a friction clutch
or other arrangement.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Robinson and Gray Denison Edmeston in
the Great Seal Patent Office on the 13th February 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ROBERT
ROBINSON, Engineer and Tool Maker, and GRAY DENISON EDMESTON,
Foreman, both of Preston, in the County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said Robert Robinson and Gray Denison
Edmeston, Her special license that we, the said Robert Robinson and
Gray Denison Edmeston, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or

page_text: such others as we, the said Robert Robinson and Gray Denison Edmeston,
our 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 Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS.
IN OR APPLICABLE TO LATHES, AND IN MECHANISM FOR VARYING ROTATING SPEEDS,
APPLICABLE TO OTHER TOOLS, MACHINES, AND SHAFTING," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said Robert Robinson and Gray Denison
Edmeston, by an instrument in writing under our hands and scals,
or under the hand and seal of one 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 wc, the said Robert Robinson and Gray
Denison Edmeston, do hereby declare the nature of our 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 accom
panying, Drawings, that is to say :-
Our improvements in lathes consist in combining differential gearing
(either bevel or spur), commonly termed a "jack-in-a-box motion" with
the lathe spindle or the spindle giving motion to the face plate of the
lathe, which differential gearing is connected with a cone or other well--
known motion for varying speeds.
Our improvements in mechanism for varying rotating speeds consist
in combining differential gearing (either bevel or spur) with expanding
cones or pulleys, so that these cones may be made to approach each
other or be withdrawn one from the other, or be expanded or. contracted
while in motion by turning the differential gearing by hand or by self--
acting mechanism.
Our improvements also consist, when two sets of expanding cone
pulleys or other expanding and contracting pulleys are working in
connection, in making one or both halves of one set of pulleys. free
to slide endways upon the shaft on a fixed key, and in forcing the two
cones together or one of them against the other by a spring or springs,
so that they will give way and adjust themselves as the other set of cone.
pulleys are adjusted..

page_text: Our improvements also consist in placing two sets of cone expanding
pulleys or other expanding and contracting pulleys with their axes in
'the same line, and in arranging so that one set of pulleys will drive
the other by means of a band passing from one set of expanding
pulleys over carrier pulleys to the other set of expanding pulleys,
and in fixing one cone of each set and making the other moveable and
adjustable in the length way of the shaft, one cone resting against or
being connected with the other, so that the end thrust caused by the
band upon ono will be counteracted. by that upon the other, and thus
the moveable pulleys ean be easily adjusted by a clutch fork lever or
other arrangement.
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section, Fig. 2 a back end elevation partly in
section, and Fig. 3 a side elevation partly in section illustrating our
Invention as applied to a surfacing lathe; and these Figures also
illustrate our improved arrangement for varying speeds by means of two
sets of cone expanding pulleys having their axes in the same line.
Fig. 4 is a plan section, and Fig. 5 an elevation illustrating our Inven-
tion for adjusting an expanding cone while in motion by differential
gearing, and these views also illustrate our Invention where one set of
expaning cones is rendered self-adjusting as the other set is altered.
Fig. 6 is an elevation, and Fig. 7 a plan illustrating another mode of
arranging two sets of expanding cones when their axes are in the same
line.
In our improvements, as illustrated by Figs. 1, 2, and 3, A is the
headstock part of the lathe; a, the lathe spindle; b, the face plate
with a spur wheel (*) at the back; c is a pair of fast and loose pulleys,
upon which the belt works that drives the lathe, these pulleys are upon
a shaft (c) having a bearing at one end in a part (c) secured to the
headstock and at the other end in a hollow shaft (d) having its bearings
in a part (d), which can be slided along the shaft (d) by means of a
pinion (d) (shewn by a pitch line in peculiar dotted line), upon a short
cross shaft (3) having bearings in the headstock, which pinion gears
with a toothed rack on the under side of the part (d), which is connected
by means of a clutch hoop with the boss of the spur pinion (d") that
drives the spur wheel (b) on the bark of the face plate (6); this pinion
being capable of sliding on a key upon the hollow shaft (d) so as to be
brought by the rack and pinion on the shaft d³ in and out of gear with
the spur wheel (6). Upon the shaft (c¹) two sets of well-known

page_text: expanding cones are placed; the cone e is secured to the shaft c³, the
other cone e rotates with the shaft c¹ but can be slided endways upon it.
Both the cones (f and f¹) are upon a boss or hollow shaft (f) free to
rotate upon the shaft (c¹), but the cone f is fast upon the hollow shaft
and the cone f¹ rotates with the hollow shaft but is free to slide
endways upon it. Between the two loose cones e¹ and f¹ there is a
collar (9) suitable for a clutch fork (g) which is secured upon a
shaft (g) having bearings in the headstock, by moving which shaft to
and fro the loose cones (e¹ and f¹) will be moved, one will be with-
drawn from and the other will be forced towards its fixed conc. The
cones e and e¹ give motion by means of an endless band (h) to the
cones fand f. This band (h) passes, say, from the back side of the
cones e and e¹ then over the upper carrier pulley (h¹), then to the front
sido of the cones f and f', and from the back side of these cones
ascends and passes over the lower carrier pulley (°), then descends to
the front side of the cones (e and e³); these carrier pulleys are secured
in any convenient manner to a beam or floor above the lathe. Arms (f³)
are secured to the fast cone (f) which carry the bearings of two short
shafts (f), upon each of which a bevel wheel (f) is secured that gears
with one wheel (c³) fast upon the shaft c', and another wheel (d³) fast
upon the end of the hollow shaft (d). The position of the cones is
changed, and thus the speed is varied so as to be self-acting by means
of the shaft which is in gear with the lathe spindle and a wheel k³
having an excentric upon its boss, the wheel rotating upon a stud secured
in the headstock or upon the back shaft for traversing the carriage.
Motion is conveyed by a rod from the excentric to an arm (¹)
carrying a well-known pawl, which will act either way upon the
wheel secured on a shaft having bearings in the headstock. Upon
the other end of the shaft (2) a worm (P³) is secured which gears with
a worm wheel upon a stud fixed in the headstock, and upon the boss
of this worm wheel a cam arm (1) is secured, which acts upon a bowl
in the weighted arm (15) secured upon one end of a short shaft (1)
having bearings in a bracket secured to the headstock; the other end
of this short shaft (16) has an arm (7) with a pin in its end, that fits
a slot in an arm (93) upon the clutch fork shaft (g). There is a hinged
door (m), shown in Fig. 3, through which access may be obtained to the
apparatus within the hollow of the headstock.

page_text: differential gear.
a is the shaft to which the apparatus is applied. e is
one cone fast on the shaft. c¹ is the other cone rotating with the shaft,
but capable of sliding upon it to and from the other cone.
This move-
ment is produced by the spindle (b), which passes through a hole in
the axis of the shaft (a) and screws through a part (e*) secured to the
cone (e), the spindle (b) being prevented from moving endways by a plate
or collar (6) sccured to the shaft (a), as shown. There is a wheel (a')
secured upon the shaft (a) which gears with one (c) working upon a
stud (c) fixed in the pedestal of the shaft (a). The stud wheel (c) gears
with an internal wheel on one side of a pulley formed part (d) which is
free to rotate upon the shaft (a), another internal wheel on the other
side of the part (d) gears with two wheels (g') each on a stud fixed in a
hand wheel (g) secured so as to be free to rotate upon the end of the
spindle (b), and the two stud wheels (g) gear with a wheel (b) secured
upon the spindle (6). With this arrangement when the hand wheel (g)
is stationary the wheel (a) will drive the spindle (b) at the same speed
and in the same direction as the shaft (a), but when motion is given to
the hand wheel (g) this motion is transmitted to the spindle so as to
make it turn faster or slower than the shaft (a), as the case may be, and
thus change the position of the cone (e¹). If required a clamping screw,
brake, or click may be used to keep the hand wheel from moving when
adjustment is not required. The apparatus just described may be used
for transmitting a variable motion from one set of expanding pulleys
on one shaft (a) to another set of expanding pulleys upon another
shaft (n), but in this case the cones may be made self-adjusting, as
shown, upon the shaft (n) in Fig. 4, according to another part of our
Invention, in which one cone (f) is fixed and the other cone (f¹) is
capable of sliding upon the shaft (1) being pushed towards the other
cone by a spring (¹) abutting against a collar (2) upon the shaft (n).
The spring should be of such power and range as will be sufficient to
resist the force tending to separate the cones by the strain put on them
in driving in each position of the sliding conc. This system of self-
adjusting in one set of expanding cones is applicable when the other
set is adjusted by a clutch or other means.
Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate a mode of transmitting motion from one set
of expanding cones to another set in the same axial linc. A are
standards for carrying the pedestals for the shafts; one set of cones e
and e rotate with the shaft (c), the other set of cones f and frotate

page_text: with the shaft f². The cone e is fast upon the shaft c¹, and the
cone is secured upon the shaft (f). One end of the shaft (ƒ)
has on bearing in a pedestal on the standard, and the other end has
its bearing in one of the two pedestals in a slide part carried by the
standard A, the other pedestals carrying the inner end of the shaft c¹,
as shown. Upon the end of the shaft f there may be a wheel to gear
with another wheel on a shaft n to be driven. The two inner cones e¹
and frotate with their respective shafts, but can slide endways upon
them, and the two bosses of these cones come against the pedestals on
the part (9) made to slide in a standard (A³), as shown, and this slide
has a toothed rack upon its under side gearing with a pinion upon the
boss of a worm wheel gearing with a shaft (g) having bearings in the
standard. By this means the two cones can be slided to and fro and
adjusted upon the shafts. The arrangement of the band (h) passing
over the two carrier pulleys (¹) and connecting the two sets of
expanding cones will be understood by inspecting the Drawings. If
desired to reverse the motion the band can be arranged as described in
reference to the Figures on Sheet 1.
We do not confine ourselves in any part of our improvements to the
class of cone pulleys shown in the Drawings, but use any of the known
expanding and contracting pulleys suitable for either round or flat bands,
straps, or belts.
We have now particularly described the nature of our Invention,
and the manner of carrying the same into effect, and claim as our
Invention,-
Firstly. The combination of differential gearing and expanding cones
or pulleys with a lathe, substantially as herein-before described and
illustrated by the Drawings.
Secondly. The mode of adjusting the position of expanding cones or
pulleys by differential gearing, substantially as herein-before described
and illustrated by the Drawings.
Thirdly. The mode, herein-before described and illustrated by the
Drawings, of arranging one set of expanding cones or pulleys so as to
be self-adjusting to the other set.
Fourthly. The arrangement and mode of driving one set of expanding
cones or expanding and contracting pulleys by another set in the same

page_text: axial line by an endless band or belt working over carrier pulleys,
substantially as herein-before described and illustrated by the Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, the said Robert Robinson and Gray Denison
Edmeston, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twelfth
day of February, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-nine.