IMPROVE- MENTS IN SAWING MACHINERY
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALLEN
SEARELL, of Cwmorthin, near Tanybwlch, in the County of Merioneth, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-third day of
October, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, in the fifteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Allen Searell, my exors, adiñiors, and assigns, Her especial licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Allen Searell, my
exors, adiñors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Allen Scarell, my
exors, adñiors, 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 expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, ny Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SAWING MACHINERY;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a
proviso, that I, the said Allen Searell, shall cause a particular description of
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled
in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next
and immediately 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Allen Searell, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, are fully described and aseer-
tained in and by the present Specification thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say:
My improvements have more especial reference to machinery for cutting up
into small pieces such heavy blocks of material as it would be difficult and
inconvenient to move forward or feed against the saw or saws in the process
of cutting as at present performed, but though my improved machinery will be
found more especially useful for this purpose, it may with advantage be applied
in most cases where the weight and bulk of the substances operated upon
are such as not to exclude the application thereto of the sawing machinery
now in use.
In the Drawings I have shewn my improvements as adapted to the sawing
or cutting blocks of slate; Figure 1 is a side elevation; Figure 2, a plan; and
Figure 3 an end elevation of a machine for this purpose. A, A, is a long
rectangular frame, which is supported at the two ends by upright frames B, B,
which last are composed of two cross beams or rails C, C, connected by
parallel guide rods D, D, the latter being passed through bosses E, E, formed
in the ends of the frame A, A; F, F, are screws worked by hand wheels
F, F, whereby the frame A, A, can be raised further up in the frames B, B,
or lowered as may be required. The end frames B, B, are supported by wheels
G, G, upon which the whole machinery may be moved about from one place
to another upon rails suitably placed for the purpose; H, H, is a saw carriage
which runs upon wheels H, I, which rest upon the upper edges of the side rails
of the frame A, A; 13, 11, are other wheels which are attached to the saw
carriage H, and bear against the lower edges of the rails; these serve to keep
the saw carriage from shaking, and yet admit of its having a to-and-fro motion
on the frame A, A; I, I, are two spindles which have their bearings in the
saw carriage H, and carry each one, two, or more circular saws 12, 12, which
may either be mounted upon one end or upon both ends of the spindles, as
represented in the Drawing; j³, 3, are pinions which are fixed to the saw
spindles and gear into a wheel K affixed to an intermediate shaft L. Motion
is communicated to the shaft L, and through it to the saw spindles by means
of an endless band or chain M, M, which is passed almost entirely round two
pulleys N, N, (one at each end of the frame A), and also over a pulley O
keyed to the intermediate shaft L; P, P, P, P, are guide pulleys which bear
against the back of the endless band to keep it in close contact with the
larger pulleys N and O, and so cause it to take sufficient hold to produce the

page_text: rotation of the saw spindles. Or, this endless band may be dispensed with
altogether, and the saw spindle may be driven by a bevil cog wheel fixed
thereon gearing into another on a shaft placed in the centre of the frame A, A,
and throughout its entire length, this second bevil wheel being made to slide
on a feather, so as to follow as the saw carriage H, H, is drawn forward.
The machinery may be put in motion either from a steam engine or other
prime source of power through the medium of a band and pulley R (or by
means of a shaft with suitable gearing). If manual power is employed, it may
be applied to the crank handles S, S. The blocks of slate or other substances
to be cut are mounted upon carriages which run upon lines of rail laid parallel
to or at right angles with those upon which the machine itself is placed with a
line of rail on each side of the machine, so that the saws on both sides of the
machine may be cutting at once. When the blocks are brought into the
required cutting positions, the carriages upon which they are placed are
securely fixed by blocking the wheels; the longitudinal frame A, A, is then
raised or depressed by means of the screws F, F, till the saws are brought to
the proper height for producing the intended cut through the blocks. The saws
now being put in motion, the travelling saw carriage is made to advance from
left to right by means of arrangements such as are next to be described, and
thereby the saws are forced to cut their way through the slate. To the front
end of the saw carriage H there is attached a rope or band which after passing
over a set of pulleys is connected to a weight, by the descent of which the saw
carriage is drawn along and the saws are constantly kept up to their work.
Or, the slow progression of the saw carriage may be effected by means of the
endless screw T, communicating motion by the set of gear wheels T, T, to a
cross shaft V, upon which shaft the rope attached to the carriage is wound as
the shaft revolves. In general, however, I prefer the method first described of
keeping the saws up against the substance to be cut, as the requisite pressure
is more easily regulated by simply increasing or lessening the weight employed
for the purpose. If a cut of considerable depth, say of twelve inches, is
required to be made, then, instead of making one saw cut the whole depth at
once, it is more advantageous to use two saws, the one to follow the other, the
first cutting six inches in depth, and the latter one finishing the cut. This
machine may be applied to cutting slate, stone, wood, or other substances, and
in general I prefer making the bearings for the several revolving shafts of glass
or of some metal cased in or faced with glass, instead of (as usual) making
them of brass or other metal.
And having now described my said Invention, and in what manner the

page_text: same is to be performed, declare that what I claim as of my Invention
is, -
First, the improved sawing machinery before described, in so far as regards
the arrangements, whereby the saws are made to advance to their work while
the substances being cut remain stationary.
And, second, I claim the forming the bearings of the spindles of sawing
machinery of glass, or of some metal cased in or faced with glass.
In witness whereof, I, the said Allen Searell, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of Apirl, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-two.