IMPROVEMENTS IN SHAPING, EDGE MILLING, OR PRO- FILING MACHINES
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Muir, of the Firm of William Muir and Company,
of the Britannia Works, Sherborne Street, Strangeways, Manchester, Engineer, .
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SHAPING, EDGE MILLING, OR PRO-
FILING MACHINES."
Sealed the 3rd June 1879, and dated the 10th December 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Muir at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 10th December 1878.
ALFRED MUIR, of the Firm of William Muir and Company, of the Britannia
Works, Sherborne Street, Strangeways, Manchester, Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SHAPING, EDGE MILLING, OR PROFILING MACHINES."
At present for the longitudinal traverse of the table it is usually worked by hand,
so that in "milling" an object from a dummy or template, in going round the end
it requires the most careful manipulation of the workman. Now my improvement
consists in a self acting motion, consisting of a disc, pin, and connecting rod. By
these appliances or their equivalents any object can be "milled" self acting to
almost any irregular form.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Alfred Muir in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 7th Junc
1879.
ALFRED MUIR, of the Firm of William Muir and Company, of the Britannia
Works, Sherborne Street, Strangeways, Manchester, Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SHAPING, EDGE MILLING, AND PROFILING MACHINES."
The ordinary method of working edge-milling or profiling machines is as
follows: The object to be milled is fixed on a table; the cutter or mill is attached
to a revolving spindle carried on a vertical slide having a vertical and transverse
motion, the table having a longitudinal motion.
All the above motions have
hitherto been usually actuated by hand, by rack and pinion, or screw and nut.
In milling or profiling an object it is necessary to hold transversely the conical
peg on the vertical slide against the former or copy fixed to the table with one hand
by a lever or otherwise, whilst the other hand is moving the table longitudinally,
the result being an irregular motion to the longitudinal slide or table, producing an
uneven surface on the object milled.
This Invention consists in the application of certain improved machinery for
imparting a self acting longitudinal reciprocating motion to the table, thus producing
an even surface upon the object that is being milled.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood, I will proceed to
describe the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
Fig. 1 is an elevation and Fig. 2 a plan of my improved machinery, and Fig. 3
is a front view of the sliding headstock. a is the ordinary table, upon which an
object and its copy or former are fixed; b, the cutter for milling the object; c, the
adjustable conical peg which bears against the copy or former. The spindles of the
cutter and the conical peg are supported in a sliding headstock as usual. A self
acting reciprocating motion is given to the table a by means of an adjustable crank
motion. To the table a is connected a slot link d, adjustable thereto by means of
the screw e, and firmly fixed by the nut f, the other end of the slotted link sliding
through the bearing g. A slide block and crank pin h are adjustable (to the
required stroke) in the crank disc by means of a screw j. The crank pin h when
being adjusted slides in a tee groove k formed on the upper surface of the disc l.
A continuous circular motion is given to the crank by means of teeth formed on the
outer edge of the disc and a worm g gearing into it. Motion is given to the
worm from the ordinary driving shaft m of the machine by means of a rope or
strap n, which communicates motion from the pulley o on the driving shaft to the
pulley p on the worm shaft.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described one method of
performing the same, I declare that I claim imparting a continuous self acting longi-
tudinal motion to the tables of shaping, edge-milling, or profiling machines by
means of the disc pin and connecting rod or their equivalents, as shewn and
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Muir, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Fourth day of June, One thousand eight hundred and seventy
ALFRED MUIR. (L.S.)