IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING STONE
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Manby, of 25, Great George Street, West-
minster, and William Piper, of Palace Road, Stangate, for the Invention
Sealed the 23rd November 1855, and dated the 24th September 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Manby and
William Piper at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 24th September 1855.
We, CHARLES MANBY, of 25, Great George Street, Westminster, and
WILLIAM PIPER, of Palace Road, Stangate, do hereby declare the nature of
the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING STONE" to be
as follows:--
This Invention consists of combining mechanical parts into a machine in
such manner that quick motion may be given to a wire, and be the means,
when aided by a constant supply of sand or grit and water, of cutting stone.
The wire, by the arrangement of the machinery, is caused to enter further
and further into the stone, according as the cut into the stone is accomplished.
For this purpose an endless wire, of soft iron, by preference, is placed on two
grooved pulleys which are at a distance apart. One of the grooved pulleys is
driven or caused to rotate by any suitable power, by which a quick motion
is communicated to the band of wire, which is kept distended by a weighted
pulley acting on a part of the endless band of wire at a distance from that
where the cut is being made by another part of the endless wire. The stone
to be cut (when the cut is intended to pass completely through it) is placed
on a suitable bed or stand, so as to be supported above the level of the floor

page_text: in a position between the two pulleys or wheels which carry and give motion
to the endless band of wire. The stand or bed for supporting the stone is
arranged suitably for moving the stone into position to be cut by the wire.
Or, in place thereof, the machine carrying the wire is arranged so as to assume
the proper position in respect to the stone, or the support for the stone; and
the apparatus carrying the wire may be adjustable in order that the cut may
be made by the wire in position and to the extent desired. The endless band
of wire is not held in straight lines between the peripheries of the two pulleys
or wheels, but is more extensive in length than to do so.
is made into the stone, that part of the wire which is
making the cut may at starting be considerably out of the straight line, whilst
the part pressed on to give the desired tension to the wire may be more nearly
in a straight line, and be more and more pressed into a curved line as the cut
is made more and more deep in the stone. Each machine may be made with
one or more cutting wires, according as one or more cuts is or are desired to
be made at one time.
Hence, as the cut
for the time being
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Manby and William Piper in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 20th March 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, CHARLES
MANEY, of 25, Great George Street, Westminster, and WILLIAM PIPER, of
Palace Road, Stangate, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
us, the said Charles Manby and William Piper, Her special licence, that we,
the said Charles Manby and William Piper, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said Charles Mauby and William Piper,
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 MACHINERY FOR
CUTTING STONE, (a communication from Eugene Chevallier,) upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said Charles Manby and William Piper, our
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our or their

page_text: hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us or them, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Charles Manby and William Piper,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement thereof, that is to say:—
This Invention consists of combining mechanical parts into a machine in
such manner that quick motion may be given to a wire, and be the means,
when aided by a constant supply of sand or grit and water, of cutting stone.
The wire by the arrangement of the machinery is caused to enter further and
further into the stone, according as the cut into the stone is accomplished.
For this purpose an endless wire, of soft iron, by preference, is placed on two
grooved pulleys, which are at a distance apart. One of the grooved pulleys is
driven or caused to rotate by any suitable power, by which a quick motion
is communicated to the band of wire, which is kept distended by a weighted
pulley acting on a part of the endless band of wire at a distance from that where
the cut is being made by another part of the endless wire. The stone to be cut
(when the cut is intended to pass completely through it) is placed on a suit-
able bed or stand so as to be supported above the level of the floor in a position
between the two pulleys or wheels which carry and give motion to the endless
band of wire. The stand or bed for supporting the stone is arranged suitably
for moving the stone into position to be cut by the wire. Or, in place thereof,
the machine carrying the wire is arranged so as to assume the proper position
in respect to the stone, or the support for the stone; and the apparatus carrying
the wire may be adjustable in order that the cut may be made by the wire in
position and to the extent desired. The endless band of wire is not held in
straight lines between the peripheries of the two pulleys or wheels, but is more
extensive in length than to do so. Hence, as the cut is made into the stone,
that part of the wire which is for the time being making the cut may at
starting be considerably out of the straight line, whilst the part pressed on to
give the desired tension to the wire may be more nearly in a straight line,
and be more and more pressed into a curved line as the cut is made more or
more deep in the stone.
Each machine may be made with one or more cutting
wires, according as one or more cuts is or are desired to be made at one time.
Having thus stated the nature of the said Invention, we will proceed more
fully to describe the manner of performing the same.

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING,
which represents a side elevation of a machine arranged suitably for carrying
out the Invention. a, a, is a railway; b, b, is a carriage on which the stone
to be cut is placed. and it is brought into and retained in position for any
desired portion of the stone to be cut; c, c, is the framing of the machine;
d is the stone on the carriage, and it. is shown to be partly cut through by the
endless wire e. The wire is driven by means of the grooved wheel f, which
receives motion from a steam engine or otherwise, by the strap g acting on a
drum.h, fixed on the axis of the wheel f. The wire is guided by the wheels
i, i, and its tension is ensured by the wheel j, which is mounted in the sliding
frame k, which is capable of sliding freely between the uprights of the framing,
and the weight of such wheel and frame pressing on the wire causes it to be
kept in a state of tension. A constant supply of grit and water is kept up
to the cut in the stone, as when sawing stone in ordinary manner.
wire which we have used is soft iron, of about No. 12 or 14 guage, but other
sizes and descriptions of wire may be employed in carrying out the Invention.
We have usually caused the wire to move at the rate of about 30 to 35 feet
per second, but the speed may be varied. In joining the wire, care is to be
taken that the brazing or other join should be kept to the same diameter as
the other parts. It is not essential that a single wire only should be used, as
two or more may be laid together, as when making wire cord, and such cord
may be used in an endless form, as above explained. The machine shown
has only one cutting wire, but machines may be made to work with several
wires to work at the same time in making two or more cuts.
The
The arrangement of the framing and details of the machinery may be varied
without departing from the peculiar character of the Invention.
In witness whereof, we, the said Charles Manby and William Piper,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Nineteenth day of
March, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-six.
Witness,
B. GOBEY,
4, Old Square, Lincoln's Inn.
CHARLES MANBY. (L.S.)
WILLIAM PIPER.
(L.S.)