IMPROVEMENTS IN SAWING MACHINES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William John Cunningham and Herbert Connop,
both of Everett Terrace, Victoria Dock Road, in the County of Essex,
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William John Cunningham
and Herbert Connop at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 9th November 1863.
We, WILLIAM JOHN CUNNINGHAM and HERBERT CONNOP, both of Everett
Terrace, Victoria Dock Road, in the County of Essex, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SAWING MACHINES," to
be as follows:-
Our improvements in sawing machines relate to that class of machines used
for fret and other ornamental or shaped work. For this purpose we mount a
saw (which for fine work is necessarily very narrow) between two levers or
beams, which take on to two bars or pieces working in vertical guides, to
which pieces the saw is immediately fixed. The saw passes through a table,
which we prefer to cast of a piece with the frame, the form of which some-
what resembles a single-armed press, but lighter, the arm being of considerable
length and according to the size of the work to be taken in. The extreme
end of the table rests upon a foot cast thereon, and immediately under the
saw, which foot has guides or chases in it, which serve to guide the lower
piece to which the saw is affixed, while the upper piece or bar slides in a guide

page_text: formed on the end of the arm. The upper lever or beam is pivotted on a
fulcrum at about mid-breadth and mounted on the arm, while the lower one is
parallel and similarly mounted on a fulcrum fixed to the under side of the
table. The opposite ends (from the saw) of the levers are attached by a
suitable connecting rod united by joint pins; to this connecting rod we
communicate an up-and-down motion by means of a friction bowl mounted
thereon, and taking into an eccentric or cam groove in the driving wheel or
rigger, whose axis is fitted in bearings in the cast frame, or motion may be
communicated by means of a crank taking into a horizontal slot formed on a con-
necting rod. This driving wheel may either be driven by handle thereon, or by
a band or strap from any suitable motive-power machine.. The saw is adjusted
and tightened between the levers by a tension screw suitably applied, by pre-
ference to the lower reciprocating piece to which the saw is fixed. A foot
piece depends from the arm of the frame, which is furnished with an adjusting
slot to accommodate it to the thickness of the work which it presses on and
holds down on the table. This machine we sometimes mount on a bench and
worked by a wheel and treadle from below. We form the frame single,
and in order to keep the levers and parts central therein we core and cast
open the spaces required to be occupied by the several working parts, which
with the frame or casting being all in one piece renders the whole compact
and of economical construction.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William John Cunningham and Herbert Connop in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 9th May 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
JOHN CUNNINGHAM and HERBERT CONNOP, both of Everett Terrace, Victoria
Dock Road, in the County of Essex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said William John Cunningham and Herbert Connop, Her special licence
that we, the said William John Cunningham and Herbert Connop, our exe-
cutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said William John
Cunningham and Herbert Connop, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
should in any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all

page_text: 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 SAWING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that we, the said William John Cunningham and Herbert Connop, our exe-
cutors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, 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 per-
formed, 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 we, the said William John Cunningham and
Herbert Connop, 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, reference being had to the
two Sheets of Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon (that is to say) :-
Our improvements in sawing machines relate to that class of machines used
for fret and other ornamental or shaped work. For this purpose we mount a
saw (which for fine work is necessarily very narrow) between two levers or
beams, which take on to bars or pieces working in vertical guides, to which
pieces the saw is immediately fixed. The saw passes through a table, which
we prefer to cast of a piece with the frame, the form of which somewhat
resembles a single-armed press, but lighter, the arm being of considerable
length and according to the size of the work to be taken in. The extreme
end of the table rests upon a foot cast thereon immediately under the saw,
which foot has guides or chases in it, which serve to guide the lower piece to
which the saw is affixed, while the upper piece or bar slides in a guide formed
on the end of the arm. The upper lever or beam is pivotted on a fulcrum at
or about mid-length and mounted on the frame arm, while the lower one is
parallel and similarly mounted on a fulcrum fixed to the under side of the
table. The opposite ends from the saw of these levers are attached to a
suitable connecting rod by joint pins; to this connecting rod we commu-
nicate an up-and-down motion by means of a friction bowl mounted thereon,
and taking into an eccentric or cam groove in the driving wheel or rigger,
whose axis is fitted in bearings in the cast frame, or it may be communicated
by means of a crank motion, the crank pin taking into a horizontal slot formed
on the connecting rod. This driving wheel may either be driven by handle
on the axis or by a strap from any suitable motive power machine. The saw is

page_text: a machine constructed according to our Invention, and adapted for small
work, being on a single standard frame, and driven by a treadle below, while
Fig. 3 represents a lateral section of the machine.
a, a, is the frame of the machine (in referring to the machine we allude to
the upper part only, the. lower part being merely the standard and treadle
before mentioned), having suitable feet b, b, adapted for fixing on to a bench
or pedestal c; d, d, is the saw table, and e the reciprocating saw mounted
between the two levers f, f¹, which are connected at the opposite ends by a
rod g pivotted to them, the levers being mounted on fulcra at h, h. At the
upper part the saw is fixed to a reciprocating rod i fitted and moving in a
guide formed on the arm of the frame a. This rod has a horizontal slot at
the upper end, which is embraced by the forked end of the lever f, the pin k
in which traverses the slot during its motion, the motion of rod i being
vertical, while that of pin k is segmental. To permit of tightening up the
guide in which is fitted, we form it in the end of the frame arm with a
cover embracing the side and front of rod i, which is secured by tightening up
in two directions by screws j. j, as seen. The saw e is held at top by pinching
it between the lower end of the rod i and a plate fixed thereto by screws, as
seen, and in like manner at bottom by a plate and screws pinching and fixing
it to a piece l, which passes through a guide piece m, the arms or lugs of
which fit in and traverse slot guides n, n; in the fore foot a stem o projects
downwards from piece 7, furnished with a screw passing through m, and
with a nut p below. The piece m being disposed below the end of the lower
lever f', and that lever being rigidly connected with the upper one f, to
which the upper end of the saw is fixed, the turning of the nut p tightens or
slackens the saw e, which can therefore be readily released or placed in the

page_text: state of tension required for the work." r is the cam or eccentric groove
communicating motion to the saw e, the cam r being mounted on a rotating
spindle g, and the cam groove taking on to a truck roller mounted on a pin
fixed to the connecting rod g. This rod it will be observed is cranked to
admit of its passing the axis of the driving cam, and it occupies a central
position in the thickness of the frame a, the latter being cored open at the
back part and in the hind foot for its reception, as also for the end of lever f¹.
On the cam wheel is a grooved pulley s receiving motion by a band t from a
fly wheel u mounted on a stud fixed in the standard v, motion being com-
municated to the wheel by a connecting rod w taking on to the crank pin x,
and connecting it with the treadle y, which is worked by the foot of the
operator, as well understood. The treadle is supported at back in centres or
bearings z from the floor. The saw is threaded and passes through a small
hole in the sawing table d, and is fixed as above described. The metal
table d is of restricted dimensions, but, as a large surface may be required to
place the work under operation upon, it is extended to the dimensions required
in the form of a wooden surface, as seen at d', d', which wooden part is
supported by cross bars 1, 1, fixed under table d by screw bolts 2, 2. By
fixing a crank handle on axis q, and fixing frame a on a bench, the lower
frame and treadle may be dispensed with, or it may be driven by a band from
any suitable power, as seen in Figs. 4, 5, and 6. To operate this machine
it is simply necessary to place the piece of material on the table d with the
lines or figures on it to be followed by the saw, the operator then gives motion
to the saw by means of the treadle, and presses the wood or other material
to be operated on up to it, following the lines or device required to be cut
out exactly as for an ordinary fret or band saw. In order to make the
machine a more complete tool we add a circular saw 3 and a drill 4 to it,
fitting and fixing them to the cam axis, as seen; and for the working of the
circular saw we fit a small table 5 to the side of frame a by means of slotted
brackets 6; these brackets are fixed by thumbscrews 7 working in the slots
of the brackets, so that the table 5 can be readily raised or lowered to suit
the thickness of material to be sawn; we make no claim to the circular saw
or drill so fitted, either separately or in combination.
Sheet represents a machine of larger construction, according to our
Invention, having a double frame, but which, with the exception of the lower
framing, is the same as the machine herein-before described, it will therefore
be unnecessary to recapitulate the description. Fig. 4 is a front elevation,
Fig. 5 a side elevation, and Fig. 6 a plan of this machine. The same letters

page_text: of reference are affixed to the same parts, therefore the previous description
will equally apply thereto.
It will be observed that the side frames or standards A of Figs. 4, 5, and 6
are carried up to the saw table d, d, while the feet of frame a are as before,
but rest on cross brackets or tie bars 9, 9, of frames A.
We have shown a second pulley or rigger 8 on the axis 7 of this machine
for the purpose of driving it by power, instead of by the treadle, if required.
To vary the speed of the saw e, a speed pulley with a number of grooves
may be substituted for the pulleys, and a driving wheel with service grooves
or speeds substituted for the band fly wheel u, as well understood in communi-
cating motion by band or strap.
Having described the nature of our Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, we declare that what we claim as our Invention to be
protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the com-
bination and arrangement of parts giving motion to the reciprocating saw e,
as herein-before described and represented in the Drawings annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said William John Cunningham, for myself and
on behalf of the said Herbert Connop, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
W. CLARK, Patent Agent,
58, Chancery Lane,
London.
W. J. CUNNINGHAM. (L.s.)