IMPROVE- MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING SUGAR AND FOR ASSORTING THE LUMPS WHEN CUT
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Muir, of the Britannia Works, in the City
of Manchester, Engineer and Machinist, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING SUGAR AND FOR ASSORTING THE LUMPS
WHEN CUT."
Sealed the 10th November 1863, and dated the 25th May 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Muir at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 25th
May 1863.
I, WILLIAM MUIR, of the Britannia Works, in the City of Manchester,
Engineer and Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING SUGAR AND FOR ASSORTING THE
LUMPS WHEN CUT," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in cutting loaf sugar by means of an improved self-
acting combination of circular or other saws, with the slides and other
machinery to which they and the loaf of sugar are connected; also in assorting
the lumps when cut, and separating the dust therefrom by means of a revolving
or reciprocating sieve.
In performing my Invention the loaf of sugar to be cut is attached to a
moveable table or chuck, and the saws are mounted on moveable slides; the
distance between the saws by which cuts are made in the face of the sugar
loaf will correspond to the size of the lumps of sugar to be produced. These
sets of saws are placed at right angles to each other, and act in succession on

page_text: the sugar, after which another saw is brought into action to detach the lumps
from the loaf; these lumps then drop in or are conveyed to a revolving or
reciprocating sieve, through which the sugar dust and the smaller or irregular
shaped pieces drop, while the cubes or lumps of a uniform size are collected in
a suitable receptacle.
The above details may be considerably varied, the requisite motion may be
given to the sugar for bringing it towards the saws or to the saws for bringing
them towards the sugar, both laterally, vertically, or horizontally; and
instead of using two sets of saws for cutting across the end of the sugar loaf,
one set may be used, and the loaf of sugar turned half round before the second
cut is given; the whole machine is made self-acting, so that when a loaf of
sugar has been attached to the table or chuck, it is cut up into cubes of
the proper size, and the dust and irregular pieces separated from each
other.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Muir in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 20th
November 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
MUIR, of the Brittania Works, in the City of Manchester, Engineer and
Machinist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Muir, Her special license that I, the said William Muir,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Williamı
Muir, my executers, 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 SUGAR AND FOR ASSORTING THE LUMPS WHEN CUT," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Muir, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed,

page_text: 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 I, the said William Muir, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
(that is to say):
My Invention consists in cutting loaf sugar by means of an improved self-
acting combination of circular or other saws, with the slides and other
machinery to which they and the loaf of sugar are connected; also in assorting
the lumps when cut, and separating the dust therefrom by means of a revolving
or reciprocating sieve.
In performing my Invention the loaf of sugar to be cut is attached to a
the
moveable table or chuck, and the saws are mounted on moveable slides;
distance between the saws by which cuts are made in the face of the sugar
loaf will correspond to the size of the lumps of sugar to be produced. These
sets of saws are placed at right angles to each other, and act in succession on
the sugar, after which another saw is brought into action to detach the lumps
from the loaf; these lumps then drop in or are conveyed to a revolving or
reciprocating sieve, through which the sugar dust and the smaller or irregular
shaped pieces drop, while the cubes or lumps of a uniform size are collected
into a suitable receptacle.
The above details may be considerably varied, the requisite motion may be
given to the sugar for bringing it towards the saws, or to the saws for bringing
them towards the sugar, both laterally, vertically, or horizontally; and instead'
of using two sets of saws for cutting across the end of the sugar loaf, one set
may be used, and. the loaf of sugar turned partly round before the second cut is
given; the whole machine is made self-acting, so that when a loaf has been
attached to the table or chuck, it is cut up into cubes of the
the dust and irregular pieces separated from each other.
proper
size, and
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into operation, I will proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet.
of Drawings, reference being had to the figures and letters marked
thereon.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine for cutting sugar and for assorting
the lumps when cut, constructed according to my improvements; Figure 2 is
a front elevation, Figure 3 a plan, and Figure 4 a transverse section of the
same.
a is the framing of the machine; b, the driving shaft, furnished with the

page_text: fast and loose pulleys b¹ and b, which are driven by steam or other power
To the shaft 6 is fixed the worm 63, gearing into the wheel c' fixed to the
shaft c, on which are also fixed the various dises and tappets for actuating the
chuck d, for holding the loaf of sugar to be cut up into lumps, and the slide of
the circular saws e for cross cutting, and the slide of the circular saw f, by
which the lumps are separated from the loaf of sugar, so that one revolution
of the shaft performs one series of operations. The requisite rotary motion is
given to the saws e and f by the pulley on the shaft b, as will be described
hereafter. The chuck d, which is fixed to or forged with the spindle d
has an advancing as well as intermittent rotary motion imparted to it; the
former is given by the disc c, a stud in which takes into the slots in the inter-
mittent wheel d², to the axle of which is fixed the wheel d³, gearing into the
pinion g', the boss of which revolves in a pedestal fixed to the framing, and
forms the nut of the screw g. The end of the screw 9 fits into and is con-
nected to the hollow spindle d' by a key and circular groove. The intermittent
rotary motion is given to the chuck d by the disc c³, the stud of which gives
motion to the intermittent wheel h¹ on the shaft h, to which is fixed the
wheel h² gearing into the pinion h³, which is loose on the spindle d', but con-
nected to it by a key and longitudinal groove. The cross-cutting saws e are
fixed on the shaft e¹, revolving in bearings projecting from or attached to the
slide e, which is moved to and fro on the rods i, i, by the tappet c' fixed to
the shaft c; this tappet has a groove in which a bowl projecting from the
lever enters. The lever j is fixed to the shaft, to which is fixed the lever ³,
the upper end of which is connected to the slide 2 by the link 3. The
tappet c, fixed to the shaft c, gives the requisite to-and-fro motion to the
slide f2 of the circular saw f by means of the lever k, shaft k¹, lever k², and
link ; the slide f2 moves on the rods i, i, above referred to. The strap from
the pulley passes around and gives motion to the pulley l, fixed on the
shaft on this shaft are fixed the mitre wheels and 13; the latter gives the
requisite rotary motion to the cross-cutting saws e by the mitre wheel m,
upright shaft m', grooved pulley m², and band m³, which is carried around the
pulley e³ on the shaft e¹, and over the guide pulley m², and the mitre wheel /
gives motion to the saw f by the mitre wheel n, horizontal shaft n³, grooved
pulley n², and band n³, which passes around the pulley f³ fixed on the shaft f¹,
and over the guide pulley n*.
Under the circular saws e and f is fixed the hopper or funnel o, which
conveys the sugar dust and lumps into the sieve p, to which a rapid vibratory
motion is given by the eccentric & on the shaft b, and the connecting rod p²;
the sieve p is suspended by the links p¹; the dust and irregular shaped lumps

page_text: of sugar pass through the sieve into the receptacle q, while the lumps of the
proper size pass along the sieve p, the bottom of which is diagonal, as shewn
in Figure 2, and fall into the receptacle r. By making the sieve with
different sized meshes, and the receptacle 9 with compartments, the dust can
be separated from the lumps, and the lumps classified according to their
sizes.
The mode of operation is as follows:-The Drawing represents the various
parts of the machine in the positions they occupy when the loaf of sugar x has
been partly cut up. After the screw 9 has caused the chuck d to advance for
the depth of a lump of the required size, the cross-cutting saws e are traversed
across the face of the sugar loaf by means of the tappet c' and parts above
described; the chuck d is then turned one-fourth round by the disc c³, and
other parts put in motion by it, as above described; the saws e are then
brought back into their original position, thereby cross-cutting the face of the
sugar loaf; the saw f now comes into operation, and is traversed across the
face of the sugar loaf by the tappet c³, as above described, thus cutting off the
lumps of sugar from the loaf, which lumps falling on the sieve p are separated
as required; these operations are repeated until the whole sugar loaf is
cut up.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described a convenient
arrangement of machinery for carrying the same into operation, I wish it to
be understood that I do not limit myself thereto, as the details may be varied.
I would also remark that circular saws and sieves have before been used for
cutting and assorting lumps of sugar. I therefore limit my claim to the
arrangement and combination of self-acting machinery, whereby a loaf of sugar
may be cut up and the lumps and dust assorted without intermission, as
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Muir, have hereto set my hand
and seal, this Seventeenth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.