IMPROVEMENTS MACHINERY, IN WOOD-CUTTING
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin
to Benjamin Dobson, of Bolton, in the County of
Lancaster, Machine Maker, and William Slater, of the same Place,
Manager, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
MACHINERY,"
IN WOOD-CUTTING
Sealed the 16th February 1869, and dated the 11th September 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin Dobson and
William Slater at the Office of the Commissioners of latents, with
their Petition, on the 11th September 1868.
We, BENJAMIN DOBSON, of Bolton, in the County of Lancaster,
Machine Maker, and WILLIAM SLATER, of the same Place, Manager, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
WOOD-CUTTING MACHINERY," to be as follows:-
Our Invention is chiefly applicable to the machinery for making mule
carriages for spinning or doubling, and it consists in the combination
and arrangement of mechanism whereby we are enabled to make the
said carriages more accurately and expeditiously than by the means
generally in use, but our improved machinery may be applied for sawing
and planing other articles of wood.

page_text: Our Invention consists of a combination and arrangement of machinery
for effecting the various operations required to saw, plane, and sand paper
mule carriages, which operations can be performed either separately or
simultaneously in the same machine.
Firstly. For this purpose we mount the length of carriage upon a
table which is capable of being put in motion, either backwards or
forwards, by means of toothed wheels and a rack.
To the bed upon
which the table slides we fix a shaft which carries two saws, one upon
each end; this shaft is driven by suitable pulleys and a strap.
Secondly. We fix two side cutters upon two upright shafts (one on
each side of the carriage) which are carried by suitable fixings working
on V slides on the bed of the machine. Each of the cutter blocks is
adjustible by separate screws.
Thirdly. We fix a pair of cutters near to one end of a horizontal shaft
for planing the bevelled edge of the front of the carriage, and near to
the other end of the same shaft we fix another pair of cutters for
planing the top end of the carriage back. All the saws and cutters
are driven by suitable straps and pulleys from the main driving shaft of
the machine.
Fourthly. On each side of the machine we mount upon slides attached
to the framing a fixing carrying a shaft and a pulley, each shaft being
adjustible by separate screws. We cover the pulley with an endless
belt of thick india-rubber, or a layer of cork wood secured to the pulley,
and cover the face of the india-rubber or cork wood with sand, emery,
or glass cloth or paper; a revolving motion is given to the pulleys, and
they are pressed slightly against the carriage front and back after it has
passed the side cutters before named. These shafts may be placed
vertically or diagonally to the face of the carriage.
Fifthly. Another method of applying the glass or sand cloth rubbers
is by fixing a rocking shaft to the bed of the machine, and fixing a
spring lever to each end of the said shaft; to the upper ends of the
spring levers are fixed the rubbers. Another lever is fixed to the
rocking shaft, the end of which is connected to a crank or eccentric.
The two rubbers are latched or fastened out of contact with the carriage
when required.
Another method of applying the rubbers is by mounting a shaft on
the bed of the machine and fixing a disc plate on each end of the shaft;

page_text: these discs turn with the shaft by means of a feather key, but are
capable of sliding on it. On the inner face of these discs is secured
a ring of india-rubber, cork wood, or leather, over which is placed the
sand or glass cloth or paper. The discs are driven by a strap or band
and suitable pulleys. An open spiral spring or weighted lever acts
upon the bosses of the discs so as always to have a tendency to press
them towards the carriage.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Benjamin Dobson and William Slater in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 11th March 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, BENJAMIN
DOBSON, of Bolton, in the County of Lancaster, Machine Maker, and
WILLIAM SLATER, of the same Place, Manager, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters l'atent, bearing date the Eleventh day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said Benjamin Dobson and William Slater, Her
special license that we, the said Benjamin Dobson and William Slater,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
Benjamin Dobson and William Slater, 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
IN WOOD-JUTTING MACHINERY,"
of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Benjamin Dobson
and William Slater, our executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under our, or their, or one of our or their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Benjamin Dobson and William
Slater, do hereby declare the nature of our 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):-
Our Invention is chiefly applicable to the machinery for making mule
carriages for spinning and doubling, and it consists in the combination
and arrangement of mechanism whereby we are enabled to make the
said carriages more accurately and expeditiously than by the means
generally in use, but our improved machinery may be applied for
sawing, planing, and polishing other articles of wood.
Our Invention consists of a combination and arrangement of
machinery for effecting the various operations required to saw, plane,
and sand paper mule carriages and other articles, which operations can
be performed either separately or successively and simultaneously in the
same machine.
And in order that our Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into operation, we will proceed to describe the accompanying
two Sheets of Drawings, reference being had to the figures and letters
marked thereon.
On Sheet 1, Figure 1 represents an elevation of our improvements
in machinery for sawing, planing, and sand papering, the carriage of a
mule for spinning or doubling; Figure 2 is a plan, and on Sheet 2,
Figures 3 and 4 are end elevations of the same.
The machine consists of a table a, which slides to and fro on the
bed b, supported by the centre standard c and the outer, standards d
and e, the ends of the table projecting beyond the bed are supported
by antifriction rollers mounted in frames fixed to the floor. At the
under side of the table a is cast or fixed the rack a', which is moved to
and fro by the pinion g' keyed on the shaft g, to which is also fixed the
spur wheel driven alternately by the pinions 1 and 2 in the following
manner: To the driving shaft is fixed the pulley h', and the pinion h³
gearing into the wheel f' on the shaft f, to which is also fixed the
pinion gearing into the wheel g; on the shaft are the loose
pulleys and, the latter being secured to the pinion h².
By this
gearing the table a is driven alternately in contrary directions by a
strap passing around a drum on a countershaft in the room below, and
the forward motion is considerably slower, than the retrograde motion in
order to save time in running the table back; or the to-and-fro motions

page_text: may be obtained by any other convenient combination of machinery.
To the bed b are fixed bearings for the shaft i, to each end of which is
fixed a circular saw 2, the distance between these saws can be adjusted
according to the width of the carriage or other article on the table a
by varying the thickness of the washers between the saw and a shoulder
on the shaft i. This shaft is driven by the strap passing over the
pulley on the shaft i, and the pulley on the shaft revolving in
bearings in the standards, and driven by a countershaft from the
roon below, the strap passing around the pulleys
The object
and 1.
of these saws, which are protected by the guards & fixed to the bed b,
is to remove the ends of the wedges and tennons or other projections
from the sides of the carriage or other article. To the centre standard c
are fixed the V projections c', on which are fitted the slides j, j'; in
each of these slides is a bearing for the upright shafts, the upper and
lower ends of which are supported in adjustable bushes passing through
the ends of the slides j, j'; to each shaft is keyed a block for the
cutters, the object of these cutters is to plane the vertical sides of
the carriage. The shafts are driven by the twisted straps from the
pulleys on the shaft 1, passing around the pulleys on the shafts k,
The distance between the slides j. and j', and between each slide and
the side of the carriage can be adjusted by the hand wheels m and m³,
the former being connected to a nut in the slide j, and the latter fixed
to a screw shaft passing through the bed and through a nut in the
slide j'. The upper ends of the slides j and j' are connected by a stay j
to keep them firm, and this stay is provided with a slot at one end to
allow the distance between the slides to be regulated. The upper part of
the centre standard c is connected by the cross beam c³, the ends of which
are V-shaped to guide the cross plate n³, which is raised and lowered
by the hand wheel a' fixed to a screw passing through a nut in the
cross plate n. To the plate n³ are cast or fixed the bearing and bushes
for supporting the horizontal shaft o, to which are fixed the blocks for
the bevel cutters o', which in revolving plane the bevelled edge of the
front of the carriage, and for the square cutters of for planing the top
of the carriage back the shaft o is driven by a band or strap passing over
the pulley on the shaft l, and the flanged pulley o³ on the shaft o.
To the bed are fixed the brackets 2, which are provided with
V projections to support the slides p' supporting the shafts 2 of the
polishing drums 2³. We prefer to place the shafts p³ in a slightly
slanting position, and the lateral position of the slides p¹ can be

page_text: regulated by the hand wheels q, one of which is fixed to a screw shaft
passing through the bed b and through a nut in one of the slides p',
and the other is fast to a screw passing through a nut in the other
slide. The polishing drums p" are covered with a hoop of india-rubber,
or a layer of cork or other elastic or yielding material, and the surface
of the india-rubber, or cork, or other elastic or yielding material is
covered with sand, emery, or glass cloth or paper, or other suitable
material. A rapid rotary motion is given to the polishing drums p³ by
the twisted straps passing around the pulleys 2 on the shafts p³ and
the pulleys e on the shaft e², which revolves in bearings fixed to the
end of the bed b near the standard e. The polishing drums 2 are
pressed slightly against the sides of the carriage, and the elastic or
yielding surface of the drums prevents the sand paper or other material
from injuring the face of the carriage or other articles, and increases
The shaft e is
the durability of the sand paper or other material.
driven by a strap from a pulley on a countershaft in the room below,
passing over the pulleys e and e'. The straps for giving motion to the
various parts of the machine are brought on their fast or loose pulleys
by means of three handle levers, connecting rods, and strap forks,
all of which are placed within easy reach of the attendant when standing
near the centre standard c. The starting lever s is for moving the strap
fork, by which the strap for the driving pulleys ' and his actuated.
The starting lever is for moving the driving strap from the fast to the
loose pulleys
on the shaft 2, and vice versa, and the starting
levert is for moving the driving strap from the fast pulley e³ to the loose
pulley e'. The mule carriage or other article to be operated upon is secured
to the table a by V-leaded bolts fitting in the groove in the centre of the
table and clamps; the lateral position of the carriage or other article
being regulated by a projecting rib on one side of the table, as shewn in
Figure 3, but the mode of securing must be varied according to the
article to be operated upon. On starting the machine the table a moves
in the direction of the arrow in Figure 1, and brings all projections
from the sides of the carriage or other article against the circular
saws, which cut them off to the extent required.
The carriage
or other article in advancing is then brought against the cutters
which remove all the irregularities left by the saws, and plane the
sides of the carriage or other article perfectly true; the upper edges
of the sides of the carriage or other article are planed as required by the
cutters o and o, and then the sides of the carriage or other article are
and

page_text: As soon as the end of the
the polishing drums the
finished by the emery or other drums 2.
carriage or other article has passed beyond
table a is run back to the point from which it started by moving
the driving strap on to the pulley h, and a fresh carriage or other article
is secured to it, as before described. It is evident that the diameter and
shape of the cutters and polishing drums must be varied according to
the nature of the work to be done, and instead of the polishing drums 2³,
as above described, we use two discs mounted on a shaft revolving in
bearings in the bed b; these discs are made adjustable in the same
manner as the saws '. On the inner face of each disc is secured a
ring of india-rubber or other clastic or yielding material, which is covered
with sand paper or other polishing agent. The discs are made to revolve
rapidly, and a spring or weight acts on the boss of each disc to press
them against the sides of the carriage or other article.
From the foregoing description and Drawings it will be seen that all
the operations for roughing out, planing, and polishing, or finishing
mule carriages or other articles of wood are performed in succession and
simultaneously, thereby effecting not only a great saving in time and
labor, but performing the work more accurately than by manual labor
as heretofore.
We wish to remark that we make no claim to any of the elements or
separate parts of which our improved machinery is composed, being aware
that circular saws, revolving cutters, and polishing drums have before
been used for cutting wood; but what we do claim is the arrangement
and combination of circular saws, revolving cutters, and polishing drums
acting in the manner and for the purposes described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Benjamin Dobson and William
Slater, have hereto set our hands and seals, this Eighth day
of March, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.