IMPROVEMENTS IN INLAYING WOOD, IVORY, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1861

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Theodore Schneider and Charles
Edward Crawley at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 10th August 1861.
We, THEODORE SCHNEIDER, of 74, Horseferry Road, Westminster, and
CHARLES EDWARD CRAWLEY, of 17, Gracechurch Street, do hereby declare
the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN INLAYING WOOD, IVORY, AND
OTHER SUBSTANCES, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in inlaying wood, ivory, and
other substances, and in apparatus employed therein. For this purpose, we
take a veneer (which to facilitate the description we will assume to be black)
of the wood or other material, and we place it on a sheet of metal from which
portions have been cut corresponding in form with the parts which are
required to be removed from the veneer, the said sheet of metal being fixed
on a suitable base to retain in their places any parts which may have been
separated in producing the pattern. Over the veneer we place another sheet
of metal, on the surface of which punches are fixed exactly corresponding in
form and position with the parts to be removed from the veneer. This plate
is put correctly in its position, so that the punches come correctly over the cor-
responding recesses in the first plate by means of guide pins. The plates are
then pressed together until the veneer is cut; when they are again separated,
the hollows in the first plate will be filled with portions of the veneer which
have been forced into them by the punches whilst on the upper plate, and
clinging around the punches will be the veneer to be inlayed perforated in the
manner required. Again, we place between the two plates another veneer
(we will suppose a white one) of wood or other material, and we cut it as
before. This operation will place over the black portions of veneer left by

page_text: the first cut on the two plates other corresponding white portions of veneer
the hollows in the first plate being sufficiently deep, and the punches suffi
ciently high to receive these two thicknesses. The object now is to place the
white portions in the black and vice versa. To effect this, an arrangement is
made to which attention has not yet been called. Moveable pieces of thin
sheet metal are fitted accurately into the hollows cut into the first plate, so
that the wood or material forced into these hollows rests on the moveable
pieces of metal; under these there are pins fitted into holes bored through the
foundation plate. Thus, by pushing up these pins the moveable pieces of
metal may be raised flush with the upper surface of the plate and the wood or
material thus pushed out of the hollows. In a similar manner_moveable
pieces of metal capable of being similarly actuated are fitted closely around
the punches of the upper plate. The two plates being thus, as before men-
tioned, charged with the materials, the plates are again pressed together, and
then the moveable pieces of both plates are, by pressing on the delivery pins
on which they rest, caused to clear the material from the plate and punches,
which are caused-gradually to separate,-and-the same motion. forces the
inlaying pieces into the corresponding perforations in the veneers to be
inlayed.
In order to actuate the pins of the two plates, the following arrangement is
made: The foundation plates which carry the cutters above described are
each supported by four standards, one at each corner, at a distance from a
metal block, and of these metal blocks, when the apparatus is at work, the
one rests on the bed of the press and the other receives the pressure of the
ram or plunger.
Between the foundation plates and the blocks other plates, which we will
call delivery plates, are placed, and the delivery pins before mentioned rest on
these plates; between each delivery plate and its block two axes are mounted,
and these carry eccentrics one under each corner of the delivery plate; thus
by turning these axes the delivery pins will be forced upwards or downwards,
as the case may be. The four axes are all connected together, so that they
may all be turned at the same time; the delivery plates are brought back
when the eccentrics are turned to permit of their return by means of spiral
springs fitted between these plates and the foundation plates. It will be
seen, that by slightly modifying this arrangement, more than two colors may
be used.