IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SAW MILLS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Ennis, of St. Helier's, Jersey, Mechanical
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
SAW MILLS."
Sealed the 10th November 1865, and dated the 15th May 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Ennis at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th May 1865.
I, GEORGE ENNIS, of St. Helier's, Jersey, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION
OP SAW MILLS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements in the construction of
machinery used in combination with vertical saws, great simplicity being
combined with rapidity and continuity of action, and the time occupied in the
operation of sawing being thereby greatly economised. Instead of the face or
guide plate now generally used in such machinery, a series of vertical grooved
rollers, on which the timber is placed, is employed, such rollers being con-
nected by means of a train of toothed wheels, and actuated by a pair of mitre
wheels driven by a horizontal shaft. The requisite forward motion is imparted
to the timber by a ratchet wheel, the same being attached to the before-
mentioned borizontal shaft by the ordinary gear well understood by persons
acquainted with mechanical appliances. The timber is pressed against the
vertical grooved rollers by a leading screw with slide plate, and to which are
attached one or two rollers with levers or weights, or any other means adapted

page_text: for the purpose, so as to feed the saws at any required speed and pressure.
By means of these arrangements a continuous supply of timber can be
introduced into the machine, and any such quantity of timber as the breadth
of the frame will admit can be sawed at one operation. Steam or any other
suitable motive power, may be employed for actuating the before-mentioned
machinery.
.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Ennis in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
15th November 1865.
TO. ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
ENNIS, of St. Helier's, Jersey, Mechanical Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said George Ennis, Her special licence that I, the said George Ennis,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
George Ennis, my executors, administrators, and 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 THE
CONSTRUCTION OF SAW MILLS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said George Ennis, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, 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 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 George Ennis, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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 accompanying Drawings, and to the
figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:-
;
My said Invention relates to certain improvements in the construction of
machinery used in combination with vertical saws, great simplicity being

page_text: combined with rapidity and continuity of action, the time occupied in tho
operation of sawing being also thereby greatly economised. The face or
guide plate, endless chain, and racked bar commonly employed in sawing
machinery, are altogether, dispensed with, and instead of the face or guide
plate hitherto used in such machinery I employ a series of vertical grooved
rollers, such rollers being of equal diameter. The said rollers are connected
with each other by means of a train of toothed wheels, and are actuated by a
pair of mitre wheels, one of which is attached to the head or upper end of a
shaft on which one of the connecting wheels is fixed, the other of such mitre
wheels being mounted on a horizontal shaft carrying the ratchet wheel,
herein-after mentioned, and by which the mitre wheels are actuated, thus
giving the requisite forward motion to the timber to be sawn, which is pressed
against the said vertical grooved rollers. The said ratchet wheel is furnished
with the ordinary gear, well understood by persons acquainted with mechanical
appliances. On the side of the apparatus furthest from the ratchet wheel are
arranged one or more grooved rollers, the same being attached to a slide plate
and provided with levers and weights, or other analogous contrivances, for
the purpose of giving pressure, as herein-after mentioned. The last-mentioned
rollers, with the slide plate to which they are attached, are actuated by a
leading or guage screw fitted under the same, and by means of which the last-
mentioned rollers can be either forced against the timber, thus pressing it
against the first-mentioned vertical grooved rollers, so as to feed the saws at
any required speed and pressure; or they can be withdrawn in such manner
as to admit any breadth of timber for which the machine may be adapted.
I will now proceed to refer to and describe the accompanying Drawings,
from which the nature and mode of operation of my said Invention will be
more clearly understood.
Figure 1 is a top view of the machine, and Figure 2 an elevation of the
same, similar letters of reference being used in each Figure.
A is the ratchet wheel before mentioned, the same being provided with a
pall in the usual manner, and driving the mitre wheels B, B, which latter
drive the spur wheels, the pitch of which is seen at c, c, c, c; D, D, D, are
parallel grooved rollers keyed to the spur wheels, the office of such rollers
being to drive the timber E up to the saws f, ff; F, F, are grooved rollers
fixed to the slide plate i, i, the plate being actuated by means of the wheel G,
to which is attached the before-mentioned screw working under the plate H,
but not shewn in the Drawings; I is a lever fixed to the roller frame K, and
connected to the crank L, having a weight M attached thereto for the
purpose

page_text: .
of keeping a constant pressure on the timber E. The Drawings are made on
the scale of one inch and a half to the foot.
It will be manifest that the slide plate with its accompanying rollers can be
drawn back the whole breadth of the saw frame, and thus allow. any number
of deals or a log of any admissible size to be passed through the machine.. A
great additional advantage derivable from this Invention is, that the apparatus
may be fed with a continuous supply of timber without stopping any part of
the machinery..
I should here mention that steam or any, suitable motive power may be
employed for the purposes of this Invention..
With regard to the dimensions of the machinery it is unnecessary to enter
into any details, as it may be constructed of any desired size, having regard to
the purposes and particular kind of work which it is intended to perform, nor
is it requisite to give any particulars as to the method of constructing those
portions of the machinery which are well known and do not form a part of my
said Invention, as they are well known and will be understood by persons
.conversant with such matters.
; Having thus fully declared and ascertained the nature of my said Invention,
and also the manner in which. it is to be performed, I would observe in
conclusion that I do not confine or restrict myself to the precise details herein-
before described and set forth, as variations. may be made therefrom without
departing from the principles or main features of my said Invention, neither
do I claim the several parts of the said apparatus separate and apart from
each other as being of my Invention, but what I consider novel and original,
and therefore claim as constituting my said Invention is, the construction of
machinery for sawing timber in the manner substantially herein-before set
forth and described, or any mere modifications thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Ennis, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
GEORGE ENNIS.
(L.S.)