CERTAIN IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CUTTING INDIAN RUBBER AND OTHER ELASTIC SUBSTANCES INTO BALLS AND OTHER SOLID FIGURES
Year: 1844

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY BURKE, of Tottenham, in the County of Middlesex, Manufacturer,
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 Nineteenth day of March, in the seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Henry Burke, Her especial licence, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that I, the said William Henry Burke, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, and such others as I, the said William Henry
Burke, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of
years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my
Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CUTTING INDIAN RUBBER AND
OTHER ELASTIC SUBSTANCES INTO BALLS AND OTHER SOLID FIGURES;" in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said William Henry
Burke, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to
describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be enrolled in Her
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said in part recited Letters 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
William Henry Burke, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,

page_text: and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say) :-
This Improved Machinery for Cutting Indian Rubber and other Elastic Sub-
stances into Balls and other Solid Figures consists in the arrangement and
construction of two distinct machines or apparatus suited to the cutting of
blocks of indian rubber and other solid elastic materials, such as compounds of
indian rubber and other substances, and cork, pith, and such like soft and
elastic matters, for the formation of solid balls and other curved figures. In
describing the operations of these machines, I shall consider the material
operated upon to be indian rubber in a solid compact state, as any other
material capable of being so treated, if in a suitable state of solidity and
firmness, would be cut into figures by the like means.
At the
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 represents in elevation the first
machine to be employed; and Fig. 2 is a top or horizontal view of the
same. a, a, is a wooden bench supporting an iron arched frame b, b,
made fast thereto, in which the vertical spindle c is mounted.
lower end of this spindle there is a pin or centre d, the point of which
is to be inserted into the block or slab of indian rubber or other material
e about to be cut, the block being placed upon the table or bench,
a, a, and if necessary, made fast thereon by a cramp or any other con-
venient means. The bottom of the spindle has an arm f affixed to it, to
which is attached the cutting blade g, by a bolt passed through a slot in the
arm f, and this cutting blade being moveable upon the arm f, can be adjusted
and fixed at different distances from the central pin. The vertical spindle c
has a screw thread upon it, which works through a screw box or socket h in
the top part of the arched frame. At the upper end of the spindle a winch i
is attached for the purpose of giving rotary motion to the spindle c and
cutter the spindle being steadied by passing through
9,
ก guide bar below.
The block or slab of indian rubber, or other prepared material, being rendered
sufficiently rigid by cold, or other known means, is, as before said, placed on
the bench and held down firmly, as at e; the winch i is then turned, in order
to give rotary motion to the spindle, by which the pin d is made to penetrate
the block of indian rubber, and the cutter 9 to describe a circle thereon; and
as the spindle goes round, the screw working in the screw socket h gradually
depresses the spindle, and with it the pin d and cutter g, causing them to pene-
trate the block or slab of indian rubber until a solid cylindrical piece is cut out of
the block, leaving a small central hole through the cylindrical piece for attaching

page_text: it to the subsequent machine. The screw shaft c is then to be turned the
reverse way, so as to draw up the pin d and cutter g, and the block or slab of
indian rubber being shifted, and again fixed upon the bench, another cylindrical
piece may be cut out from it by the like means. I would here observe, that
the great friction consequent upon the knife passing through the indian rubber
renders it necessary that a constant jet of cold water should be applied to the
cutting part, in order to prevent the knife becoming heated, and relieve it
from adhesion. Cylindrical pieces of the material being thus produced,
they are then to be introduced into the second machine about to be
described, for the purpose of being pared round and cut into the spherical
forms required.
Fig. 3 is a horizontal view of the paring machine, as it would appear from
above; Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the same, and Fig. 5 an end elevation;
Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section taken vertically through the machine in the
dotted line Y, Z, of Fig. 3; and Fig. 7 is a transverse section taken in front
of the cutter in the dotted line W, X, of Fig. 3. It may here be observed,
that this is a double machine, intended to pare two pieces at the same time,
the parts of which are exactly alike in construction and operation; therefore,
by the description of one end of the machine, the other end will be explained
also. a, a, a, is a strong wooden table or bench carrying the standards and
working parts; b is the horizontal driving shaft, turned by a winch or other
means, for the purpose of actuating the working parts; c is a bevil wheel fixed
at the end of the driving shaft, taking into a corresponding wheel on the crank
shaft d. To the crank of the last-mentioned shaft a connecting rod e is
attached, which rod at the reverse end is also jointed to an arm f, extending
from the under part of a solid axle or shaft g. This axle or shaft g, it will be
seen, is mounted and works in bearings h, h, and to its ends are attached
gouge-formed cutters i, i, by which the cylinders of indian rubber A, A, are to
be pared down into spherical forms. One of the cylindrical pieces of indian
rubber A is shewn upon an enlarged scale detached at Fig. 8; it has a small
spindle k passed through the aperture formed in it by the perforation of the
centre pin d of the circular cutter shewn in Fig. 1, for the purpose of
mounting it concentrically in front of the gouge cutter, as seen in Fig. 3. The
apparatus by which the cylindrical piece A is held to be pared into the
spherical form consists of a stationary bracket 7 fixed to the table a, in which
is mounted a frame m (seen best in Figures 5 and 6), carrying the small
spindle k, and the screw n forming the back centre for the spindle to turn in,
as may be seen in dots in the enlarged detached representation of this frame
at Fig. 9. The frame m is enabled to slide vertically in dovetailed grooves in

page_text: the stationary bracket l, for the purpose of raising and constantly forcing the
oylinder of indian rubber A up against the edge of the gouge cutter as the
paring operation proceeds. This raising of the sliding frame m is effected by
the rotation of a bevil pinion p, which is driven by gear to be hereafter
described, the upper part of the shaft of the pinion p having a screw thread
upon it working in the hollow screw box formed vertically in the slider m (seen
best in the section Fig. 6), hence, as this shaft and pinion p is turned, the
slider m rises and carries the cylinder of indian rubber up to the cutter. A
concave toothed roller q, fixed upon an axle which turns freely in the slots of
two standards r, r, is made to press against the back of the cylinder of indian
rubber A, for the purpose of keeping the cylinder of indian rubber at all times
bearing against the edge of the cutting gouge i, and giving it a slow rotary
motion. This forward bearing of the roller q is effected through the agency
of the forks of a bell crank lever 8, s, embracing the axle of the roller q, the
bell crank lever being acted upon by the force of a weight t, pendant from a
horizontal arm (as seen best in Figures 5 and 6); and the rotary motion of
the roller q is caused by a toothed wheel u upon its shaft, taking into an
endless screw upon the crank shaft d.
Having described the construction and arrangement of the parts of the
paring machine, I proceed to shew its mode of operating upon the previously
prepared cylinder of indian rubber, in order to reduce the outer parts of the
cylinder, and bring it into a spherical form. The cylinder of indian rubber, or
other elastic material, having been cut into the form and proper dimensions
by the first-described machine, I place the said cylindrical piece of elastic
material upon the small spindle k, as at Fig. 8, and then introduce it with the
spindle into the sliding frame m, as shewn at A*, in Fig, 6, the sliding frame
m being there seen in its lowest position. The frame m must then be raised
until the ends of the cylinder A*, come into contact with the edge of the gouge
cutter i. Rotary motion is then given to the main shaft b, which, by means
of its bevel wheel c, drives the crank shaft d. The crank shaft as it revolves,
through the agency of the rod e and arm f, gives oscillatory movements upon
its axis to the shaft g, which carries the gouge cutter i, and thereby causes the
edge of the gouge cutter to act upon the cylinder of indian rubber, and to pare
off its surface. Whilst this is going on, the endless screw upon the crank
shaft gives a slow rotary motion to the toothed wheel u upon the shaft of the
concave roller 9,
which causes the cylinder of indian rubber A to be turned
slowly round upon its axis or spindle k; at the same time a small horizontal
toothed wheel w, taking into the endless screw v, is made to give rotary motion
through a pair of mitre wheels to a pulley x, from which pulley a band passes

page_text: to another pulley upon a horizontal shaft y below (seen best in Fig. 4); and
this shaft y, by means of a bevel pinion at its end taking into the bevel pinion
p on the screw shaft that works in the slider m, causes the slider m gradually
to rise, and to bring the lump of indian rubber A up to the edge of the cutter
as its surface is pared away, until the cylinder is reduced in form to the
spherical figure required, as represented in Fig. 9.
It may be necessary here to observe, that though in the accompanying
Drawings I have shewn the machinery for cutting balls of indian rubber and
other elastic substances as capable of operating upon two cylinders of the
elastic material simultaneously, through the agency of one driving shaft and
crank shaft, yet I do not intend to confine myself to using the machine at all
times in this double form, but may sometimes employ only one system of the
mechanism, viz, those parts which are marked with letters of reference, the
other parts being the same in their general features and modes of operating,
though, perhaps, capable of cutting balls of a different diameter, which
variation will depend upon the distance of the cutting edge of the gouge from
the centre of its shaft, and some slight adjustments of the other parts of the
machinery.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Burke, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-four.