CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS ON THE MACHINES COMMONLY USED FOR CUTTING THE EDGES OF PAPER AND BOOKS
Year: 1813

page_text: TO ALL TO. WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
COWPER, of the Parish of Saint Mary, Newington Butts, in the County of
Surrey, Ironmonger, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twentieth day of May,
in the fifty-third year of His reign, give and grant unto me, the said Edward
Cowper, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, His especial licence, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that I, the said Edward Cowper, my exors, admors,
and assigns, should and lawfully might, during the term of years therein
mentioned, make, use, exercise, and vend; within England, Wales, and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS ON
THE MACHINES COMMONLY USED FOR CUTTING THE EDGES OF PAPER AND BOOKS;"
in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso that if I, the said
Edward Cowper, shall not particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, and cause the same to be inrolled in
His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent, that then the said
Letters Patent, and all 'liberties and advantages whatsoever thereby granted,

page_text: shall utterly cease, determine, and become void, as in and by the same
(relation being thereunto had) may more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Edward Cowper, do hereby declare that my said Invention is described in the
Drawing hereunto annexed, and the explanation thereof following:-
U, P, Fig. 1, is an upright press, of wood or any other fit material. F, a
frame of metal, or any other proper material. P, a frame of metal, or any
other proper material, to which the knife or cutting instrument is fixed by
the bolts b, b, b, b. The plate is turned at right angles, at the ends,
and is moveable up and down the frame F, and is moved backward and
forward by the frame. K, the knife or cutting instrument, made of steel,
or iron and steel, or any other proper material; its cutting edge is indented.
The inner side, that is, the side next the press, is as level as possible, but
the outer side is bevelled towards the edge of the indentation or teeth
in the same manner as a fleam. G, G, two guides, of iron or any other
proper material, to guide the knife in its descent. The pressure of the guides
is regulated by screws, as seen in the side view.
0, 0, 0, 0, rollers, between
which the frame-moves. F, W, a fly wheel; and H, the handle. S, a spindle,
at one end of which is the fly wheel, and at the other a crank C. T, sockets,
of brass, iron, or any other proper material, in which the spindle turns.
C, R, a connecting rod connecting the crank and frame. R, W, a ratchet
wheel, click, and pulley, to raise the plate P, to which it is united by a cord
or chain. B, r, a bracket to support the board B, o, which slides on the
bracket, and is kept square to the front of the press by two projections, z, z, as
seen in Fig. III. C, B, is the cutting board. W, a piece of wood or any other
material, having two or more pins in its under side; these fit into the
holes h, h, in the board B, o, and keep the paper square.
Fig. II. shews the method of adapting the cutting instrument to the common
bookbinders' plough. The letters of reference are the same in all the Figures.
To use the machine, place the paper in the press, bringing the part to be
cut under the knife and screw down the press, raise the click of the ratchet
wheel, and the knife will descend to the paper; turn the fly wheel, and the
frame and plate and knife will move backward and forward, the knife cutting
the paper till it reaches the cutting board. The fly wheel may be placed under
the frame, and the knife may be made to descend by pressure.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Cowper, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Ninth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and thirteen.
EDWP COWPER. (L.S.)

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Ninth day of November, in the
year of our Lord 1813, the aforesaid Edward Cowper came before our said
Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stampt according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Ninth day of November, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirteen.