CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING, CARVING, AND SCULPTURING MARBLE, STONE, WOOD, AND OTHER LIKE SUBSTANCES
Year: 1845

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GRAZIANO
CONTÉ, of 127, Regent Street, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Third day of October, in the ninth year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Graziano
Conté, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said Graziano Conté, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Graziano Conté, my exors, adñors, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the
term of fourteen years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick;
upon-Tweed, the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
CUTTING, CARVING, AND SCULPTURING MARBLE, STONE, WOOD, AND OTHER LIKE
SUBSTANCES," communicated to me by a certain foreigner residing abroad;
in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said
Graziano Conté, should cause a particular description of the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery, within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters

page_text: Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had will more fully
and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Graziano Conté, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:-
The Invention consists in a peculiar combination of mechanical parts
forming a machine or apparatus, whereby I am enabled to produce perfect
fac-similes of models or casts, such as busts and other figures, of which copies
are or may be required to be made in marble, stone, wood, or other like
substance.
And in order that the Invention may be more clearly understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto annexed
in which similar letters denote corresponding parts in all the Figures, that is
to say :-
Figure 1 shews a perspective view of the machine or apparatus for pro-
'ducing busts and other works in sculpture. A is a column or pillar firmly
fixed in a vertical position. Upon this column is made to slide two collars or
rings B, B, having projecting pins, through each of which is made to pass a
set screw C, C, which support a rectangular or oblong frame D. There are
also set screws C¹, C¹, for fixing the rings in any required position upon the
column. Each of these rings has also a projecting feather or key which is
made to slide in a groove, cut in the column, the object of which is to keep
the frame D, D, always in a vertical position. E, E, is also a rectangular or
oblong frame supported by and attached to the frame D by two screws or
centres passing through the end of such frame; it will therefore be observed
that each of these frames is suspended as it were on an axis or centre, and are
capable of moving upon such axis in the same manner that a door (or folding
door) moves upon its hinges. F is a cross bar fixed in the frame E by two
set screws F forming centres upon which the bar moves. G, G, are two
beams having holes bored through the middle part thereof, and are suspended
or attached to the cross bar F by two pins or studs G¹, G¹, upon which the
beams move as upon an axis. At the upper end of the beams G, there is a
cross bar H, and at the lower end there is a cross bar I, I, supporting the
frame K, K, hereafter described. The two bars H and I are attached to
the beams G, G, by pin joints, so as to admit of the beams forming the
paralellogram G, H, G, I, moving freely either in one direction or another, that

page_text: is to say,
either backward or forward, up or down, or in a lateral direction,
thus forming as it were an universal joint as will be clearly understood. L is
a pillar or column firmly fixed to the floor and supporting one end of a cross
bar M, the other end being fixed in any convenient manner to the pillar A;
N, N, are two studs or projecting pieces bolted to the bar M; each of these
studs has a hole through it, through which is made to slide a bar 0, 0, sup-
porting at each end a socket or tube P, P; within each of these tubes is
made to slide a rod attached at its upper end to a cross bar Q, which latter
is attached to the frame E, E, so as to move freely upon its axis. The object
of this arrangement is to keep the frame E, E, during its motion backward
and forward in the same parallel plane.
The action of this part of the apparatus is as follows:-Supposing it were
required to move the parallelogram G, H, G, I, in a position at right angles
to the frame E, E, it is evident that such would easily be accomplished in
consequence of the beams G, G, moving freely upon an axis at G¹, G¹; it will
also be apparent that the ends of the bars G, G, can be raised or depressed in
consequence of the cross bar F moving freely upon an axis at F1, F¹, during
the backward and forward movement. The frame D, D, moves upon its axis
at B, B, and carries with it the frame E, E, which in consequence of the
arrangement of parts herein-before described and marked with the letters
N, O, P, Q, always remains parallel with the fixed bar M. For instance if
the frames D, D, E, E, and G, G, were moved backward or forward the rods
would be withdrawn from the tubes P, P, and the bar O would slide endways
through the studs N, N; the bars Q and O would also partly rotate on their
axis, and thereby allow the frames E, E, D, D, and G, G, to move in the
manner herein-before described, so that in whatever position the frames D, D,
and E, E, be placed, the latter will always move through planes which are
parallel to each other; this will also be the case with regard to the cross
bar I of the parallelogram G, H, G, I, to which is attached a rectangular
frame K, K, which carries the cutters, of which the following is a de-
scription: a, a, is a screw bolt having at one eud a right-hand screw
and at the other end a left-hand screw. This screw has a boss in the
middle having holes through it, so that by turning the screw (which may
be done by putting a lever in one of the holes), the frame k, k, will be firmly
secured to the cross bar I, and may by means of such screw be fixed at any desired
angle to the aforesaid cross bar I; 6 is a shaft supported in suitable bearings
c, c, attached to the frame K, K, by means of bolts. This shaft is driven by
means of an endless gut or band d, d, passing over
guide pullies and g, and round the driving pulley h.
guide pullies e, under
The frame supporting

page_text: the guide pullies f is attached to and moves with the frame D, D. The
guide pullies e are shewn in the Drawing as being above the shaft b, but it
will be evident the same would act equally well if placed below such shaft.
Upon the end of this shaft is fixed a pulley for receiving the endless band,
and to this pulley is fixed two tappets for giving motion to the chisels or tools
for roughing out the block of marble in the first instance, which is afterwards
finished by means of a rose, bit, or other suitable tool fixed in the rotary
shaft b.
Figure 3 shews a plan, and Figure 4 an end view of the shaft and tappets
for working the cutters; 6 is the shaft, upon the end of which is keyed a
pulley i forgiving motion to the shaft by means of the gut or band d, d, as
herein-before described. Upon one side of this pulley are firmly fixed two
tappets k and I, which 'during the rotary motion of the shaft alternately come
in contact with the projecting ends of the tools or chisels k¹, F. It will be
observed on referring to the Drawing that the tappet k is placed farther from
the centre of the shaft than the tappet 1, so as to correspond with and act
alternately on the projecting ends of the tools. The tappet is shown as
having raised or drawn back the tool , which after the tappet has passed the
projecting end of the tool, such tool is by means of the spring m forcibly
struck against the block of marble or other substance which may be supposed
to be at o; n is a spring for acting upon the tool k', which, as the shaft b
revolves, will be acted upon by the tappet k in a similar manner to that last
described. It will be evident that two, four, or more tools may be employed
if found desirable, by having an equal number of tappets, which may, if
required, be placed on both sides of the pulley i.
In Figure 1, m, n, shews the position of the springs for actuating the
chisels, and are firmly fixed to a projecting piece p, attached to the frame K, K,
the opposite ends of the springs being attached to the chisels k', P, by means of
small steel studs or pins; q, q, is the guide frame, which consists of two
sliding bars passing through the side or end of the frame K, K, and through
projecting pieces r, r, r, r, attached to the frame K. These sliding bars are
capable of being withdrawn and set at any given distance from the frame K, K,
8, 8, is a spindle or guide passing through the ends of the bars q, q, and may
also be fixed at any required position by set screws t, t. This guide bar or
spindle may therefore be set to correspond with the chisels or rotary cutter,
as may be required; u, u, is a lever, one end of which is attached by means
of a swivel joint to a vertical column or pillar v, and at about one third more
or less from the end of this lever there is a projecting pin or stud which
connects the lever to the frame K, K. The object of this lever is to bring

page_text: the frame K, K, and tools, up to the work or remove them from it, as
will be hereafter described. R, R', are two tables, each of which is fixed on
the end of a vertical shaft S, S', each having a double crank, and are supported
by suitable framework T, T. Each of the cranks are connected together by
means of connecting rods U, U; V is a wheel keyed on the end of a
horizontal shaft, having at the opposite end a small bevil wheel, which gears
into and works a bevil wheel (not shewn in the Drawing) keyed on the shaft
S, and fixed just below the table R, so that by turning the wheel V a slow
rotary motion will be given to the two tables R, R', both of which will move
through an equal space, owing to the shafts being connected together by the
rods U, U, as described.
The action of the machine is as follows:-On the table R' and opposite the
cutting tools is firmly fixed the block of marble to be operated upon, and upon
the table R is also firmly fixed the cast, bust, or object to be copied. The
spindle 8, 8, of the guide frame q, q, is then placed at a distance from. the
chisels, equal to the distance betwixt the centre of the two shafts S, S¹.
Motion is then communicated to the driving pulley h, which gives motion by
means of the aforesaid band to the shaft b, which imparts motion, as described,
to the chisels k, l, which are brought in contact with the block of marble or
other substance fixed on the table R¹ by means of the lever u, u. The
distance, to which the cutter frame will be moved forward, will be governed by
the guide spindle s, s, which comes in contact with the external surface of the
figure fixed on the table R, which table can be moved round as required by
the wheel V, during which movement the chisels are cutting or working out
the block of marble or other substance into the form of the bust or cast fixed
on the opposite table R'. After the block has been roughed out to the proper
form, it is afterwards finished with a rose, bit, or other suitable rotary cutter
fixed in the shaft b, the guide q, q, and spindle s, s, being first set so that the
distance between the point of the spindle s, 8, and point of the tool will be
equal to the distance between the centres of the shafts S, S¹.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, and the manner in which
the same is performed, I would have it understood, that although I prefer
the framework to be made of wrought iron, yet I do not confine myself to
such metal, as other metal or materials may be employed, neither do I confine
myself to the precise details herein mentioned, so long as the peculiar
character of the Invention be retained; but what I claim as the Invention
is,-
First, the general arrangement and combination of parts shewn and
described, with regard to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed.

page_text: Secondly, I claim the application of the frame K, K, with the combination
of parts therein shewn for the purpose above-described.
Thirdly, I claim the application of tappets together with the springs for
working the chisels, as herein-before described.
And, fourthly, I claim the mode of imparting rotary motion from the crank
shaft S to the crank shaft S¹, by means of two or more connecting rods, as
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Graziano Conté, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-six.