IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WEDGES AND KEYS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to François Xavier Poignand, Merchant at Paris,
Town in the French Empire, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF WEDGES AND KEYS."-A communication.
Sealed the 14th March 1856, and dated the 27th September 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said François Xavier Poignand
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th September 1855.
I, FRANÇOIS XAVIER POIGNAND, Merchant at Paris, Town in the French
Empire, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WEDGES AND KEYS," (communicated to me from
abroad,) to be as follows:-
Wedges and keys used for fixing rails in their chairs, and for other similar
purposes, have been hitherto made by a circular saw, which cut them according
to a line traced out, and then planed off by hand to the size and shape
required. Now, I make my wedges and keys entirely by machinery, and
dispense with the operation of first tracing them out upon the wood. Suitable
blanks are first sawn of the required lengths by a circular saw; they are
then fixed in frames upon a revolving platform, where they are finished by
a planing machine. This planing machine consists of a frame which is fitted
with two sets of plane irons placed in opposite directions. The planes are

page_text: moved to and fro by a connecting rod attached to an excentric upon the shaft
of a fly wheel or to a crank. Various forms may be given to the plane irons
according to the required shape of the finished wedge; and from their being
placed in reversed positions, they plane both in the forward and backward
stroke. I use gear connected with the saw or with the motor which drives
the connecting rod to cause the platform to revolve at proper intervals to
suit the action of the planes.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said François Xavier Poignand in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 22nd March 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANÇOIS
XAVIER POIGNAND, Merchant at Paris, Town in the French Empire, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh 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
me, the said François Xavier Poignand, Her special licence that I, the said
François Xavier Poignand, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said François Xavier Poignand, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 THE MANUFACTURE OF WEDGES AND KEYS,"
(communicated to me by a foreigner residing abroad,) upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said François Xavier Poignand, 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, 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 François Xavier Poignand, 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

page_text: Tenneco, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say:-
D is the
Whereas wedges and keys used for fixing rails in their chairs, and for other
similar purposes, have been hitherto made by being cut out by a circular saw,
according to a line first traced out on the wood, and then planed off by hand
to the size and shape required: Now, by my Invention, I make wedges and
keys entirely by machinery, and dispense with the operation of first tracing them
out upon the wood. Suitable blanks are first sawn of the required length by
a circular saw; they are then fixed in frames upon a revolving platform, where
they are finished by a planing machine. This planing machine consists of a
frame which is fitted with two sets of plane irons placed in opposite directions.
The planes are moved to and fro by a connecting rod attached to an excentric
upon the shaft of a fly wheel or to a crank. Various forms may be given to
the plane irons according to the required shape of the finished wedge.
Figure 1 of the Drawings annexed is a plan of the circular saw.
saw; E, wood to be cut into blanks. Figure 2 is a plan of my improved
planing machine; Fig. 3, a longitudinal elevation; and Fig. 4, a cross section
of the same. A is the circular platform, in which the frames G, G, holding
the blanks are placed; F, F, are the blanks. Each frame is divided in two
by strips a, a, connected to cross pieces b, b', which can be raised or lowered
in the frames by the screws c, c'. B is a treadle working a rod B', fitted at
top with a disc B", which raises the frames up to the planes; d, e, are screws
for bringing the blanks nearer to or further from the sides of the frame, whereby
the blanks are brought parallel to the stroke of the plane irons; H, H, are the
planes which are moved to and fro by a connecting rod I, actuated by the fly
wheel J, to which motion is communicated by manual power, by driving bands
from a steam or other engine, by gearing, or otherwise; K, K, are the plane
irons, which are made in sets of two, so that two blanks are planed at one time.
The plane irons may be placed in contrary directions, so that one shall be acting
both in the backward and forward stroke; or they may both be placed in the
same direction, so as to act on either the forward or backward stroke only.
L, L, are two plane irons set in the side of the plane at right angles to the
plane irons before named; M, M, are guides at the side of the frame, into
which the keys are placed after being removed from the frames in order to
have their sides finished; or they may be first planed on the sides and then
fixed in the frames. As soon as two blanks in the frames have been planed
on the upper face the planes are stopped, the spring catch k is drawn back,
the platform turned until another frame has come under the planes, and the
catch has entered the next notch in the edge of the platform. The two first

page_text: blanks are taken out of their frame and turned over, and the operation repeated
until every pair of keys have been planed on both back and front faces. Some
keys will not require to be planed on the sides, when of course the side plane
irons L, L, may be dispensed with.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim, the manufacturing
of wedges and keys by means of the frames, platform, and planes acting in the
manner herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said François Xavier Poignand, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
CHI. ARMENGAUD,
6, Rue Filles du Calvaire, à Paris.
F. X POIGNAND. (L.S.)