IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPA
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Sinclair, of Hill Street, in the County of
Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPA-
Sealed the 23rd March 1858, and dated the 5th December 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Sinclair at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 5th
December 1857.
I, JAMES SINCLAIR, of Hill Street, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR
APPARATUB FOR CUTTING OR DIVIDING STONE. AND MARBLE," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction. and arrangement of
sawing mechanism for dividing or cutting stone, marble, slate, and other
similar substances.
The improvements consist in the employment of a saw or serrated cutting
blade, fitted or inserted into a suitable back or holder, which is secured at
each end to a pair of slotted vibrating links or levers, such levers oscillating
on fixed centres at their lower extremities.
The saw is attached to the two levers at different distances from their work-
ing centres, so as to give a greater length of lever at one end of the saw than
at the other, and these levers are so arranged as regards: their position that
when one is in a vertical position the other will be at an angle. The slots are
for the facility of adjusting the height of the saw. A longitudinal recipro-

page_text: cating motion is given to the saw, either by hand or by power, whilst at tho
same time a vertical or lifting motion at each end alternately is also imparted
to it by the peculiar arrangement of levers before mentioned, so as to facilitato
the admission of sand or cutting powder and water into the cut at each
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Sinclair in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
4th Juno 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
SINCLAIR, of Hill Street, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said James Sinclair, Her special license that I, the said James Sinclair,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
Sinclair, my executors, administrators, or 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 MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS FOR CUTTING OR DIVIDING STONE OR MARBLE," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said James Sinclair, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, 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 James Sinclair, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to bo
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
My said Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of
machinery or apparatus for cutting or dividing stone, slate, or marble, whereby
greater facility is afforded for the admission of the sand or cutting powder
and water at each stroke of the cutter.

page_text: According to this Invention I employ a straight saw or serrated cutting
blade, or a blade having a smooth edge with notches at suitable intervals for
the admission of sand or cutting powder into the cut. This blade which in
itself forms no part of my present Invention, is fitted into a back or holder
in any convenient manner, so as to strengthen the blade and dispense thereby
with the necessity of straining it. The back of this cutting blade is con-
nected at each end to a slotted, vibrating, or oscillating link or lever working
on adjustable centres situated either above or below the back of the blade.
These links are so arranged as regards their relative positions and attach-
ments to the back of the cutting blade, that when the one is in a perpendi-
cular position the other will be at an angle. A longitudinal reciprocating
motion is imparted to the saw, either by hand or by power, so as to give a
horizontal cut or stroke of the blade, whilst a vertical or lifting motion is
imparted to each end of the blade alternately for each stroke, by the action
of one or other of the two slotted links berein-before referred to, which lifting
motion of the blade allows the sand or cutting powder and water to enter the
cut freely at each stroke of the blade.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the same
letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout both Figures.
Figure 1 of my Drawings represent a transverse section of my machine
for cutting or dividing stone, slate, flags, or marble taken through the centre
thereof, and Figure 2 is a complete side elevation of the same.
A, A, are the main standards of the machine, which connected together
and kept parallel by the cross bars B, C, placed respectively at the upper and
lower portions of the standards; D is the main driving shaft which works in
bearings in the ordinary plummer blocks E, E, bolted to the top flanges of
the two standards. This shaft carries a pair of fast and loose driving pullies
F, G, to enable the machine to be conveniently driven by steam or other
power. On each extremity of the main shaft is fitted a single crank H, H',
the two cranks being fitted thereon at right angles to each other. To the
crank pin of each of these cranks respectively. is jointed one end of a
long connecting rod I, the opposite end of each of which is connected as
shewn at K, K', to the backs L, L', of the two straight horizontal cutting
blades M, M', which are guided laterally by suitable overhanging brackets
N, N', bolted to each extremity of the two main standards, a reciprocating
or to-and-fro motion is thus imparted to the cutting blades, one blade being
at the end of its stroke when the other is in the middle of its stroke. The

page_text: cutting blades M, M', are fitted in any convenient manner into their respec-
tive backs L, L', and are notched at intervals as shewu at a, a, to facilitato
the entrance of sand and water into the cut. For this purpose also I causo
the cutting blades to be lifted slightly at each end alternately at every stroke.
And this I accomplish by the aid of the slotted links or levers O, O', which
work or vibrate upon the centres o, o', their slotted portions being each
engaged with a stud or bolt b, b', on each of the backs of the blades. These
links, as will be seen on referring to the Drawing, are so disposed that one of
them in each blade will be in a vertical position at the end of the stroke,
whilst the other is at an angle, by which means the rising or lifting motion
will be imparted at each end of each blade alternately. In order to allow for
the descent of the blades as the cutting proceeds, I propose to employ a means
of adjusting the height of the working centres of the links, so that they may
be lowered as the cut deepens. This may be effected by forming the working
centres on slides c, c, which slides are connected with screw spindles and hand
wheels d, d, so that on turning the latter the working centres may be raised
or lowered as required. It will be obvious that by my peculiar mode of
working the cutting blades, and arrangement of mechanism connected there-
with, the great desideratum of a loug horizontal cut with a lifting motion at
each end to allow the sand and water to enter beneath the blade, is effectually
accomplished, since the slot in the links are so arranged as regards their
length, that they will of necessity individually raise or lift one end of the
blade slightly just before the termination of each stroke. Blades fitted with
backs as herein-before described, are intended for dividing or paving the edges
of slabs, stone, marble, slate, or other materials of a like nature, which slabs
e, e, are laid upon suitable supporting tables or bed plates f, f. When it is
required to form slabs out of large blocks of material, I propose to use a
horizontal frame having several cutting blades stretched therein in the ordi-
nary way, and without backs so as to allow the blades to pass down within the
cuts. This frame is reciprocated to-and-fro by cranks and connecting rods
as shown in my Drawings, but the two cranks in that case must of course
work together, that is, they must both be in a line with each other, and on
one side of the main shaft. The same arrangement of slotted lifting links
as berein-before described, is then applied to the reciprocating frame for the
purpose above referred to, which arrangement constitutes the principal or
main feature of my Invention. The ordinary rising motion for elevating tho
block of stone or other material to be cut into slabs will be employed, and the
framing of the machine must be so constructed as to allow of the block rising
between the standards as the cutting proceeds.

page_text: Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict
myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion
to describe or refer to, as variations may be made therefrom without deviating
from the principles or main features of my said Invention; but what I
consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,--
First, the general construction, arrangement, and combination of machinery
or apparatus for cutting or dividing stone, slate, marble, or other similar sub-
stances, whereby the cutting blade or blades have a lifting motion imparted to
them at each end alternately for every stroke or cut of such blade or blades
as herein-before described.
Second, the system or mode of imparting a horizontal motion to the cutting
blade with a lifting motion at each end of such blade alternately at every
stroke, for the purpose herein-before described.
Third, the peculiar arrangement and combination of slotted links or levers
for effecting the lifting motions of the opposite ends of the cutting blades
alternately at each stroke as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Sinclair, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourth day of June, One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-eight.
JAMES SINCLAIR. (L.S.)