IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING OR SURFACING THE FACES OF SAD IRONS AND OTHER SMOOTHING IRONS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Cross, of West Bromwich, in the County
of Stafford, Iron Founder, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR CUTTING OR SURFACING THE FACES OF SAD IRONS AND
OTHER SMOOTHING IRONS."
Sealed the 16th February 1872, and dated the 25th August 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Cross at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th August 1871.
I, WILLIAM CROSS, of West Bromwich, in the County of Stafford,
Iron Founder, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING OR SURFACING THE FACES OF SAD
IRONS AND OTHER SMOOTHING IRONS," to be as follows :—
My Invention consists of the arrangement or combination herein-
after described of the parts of machinery for cutting or surfacing the
faces or flat surfaces of sad irons and other smoothing irons.
By the use of my Invention a large number of sad irons or other
smoothing irons can be operated upon together, great saving of time
and labour being thereby secured.

page_text: The said machinery consists essentially of a horizontal table or
support having a slow rotatory motion given to it, and a cutter or series
of cutters under which the sad or other irons carried by the said table
are slowly passed, the said cutter or cutters advancing by an intermittent
motion partly across or over the said table. The said rotating table t
is supported upon adjustable supports fixed to the bed plate of the
machine. Supported upon the said table is a circular chuck or holder
in which the several sad irons (or other irons) to be operated upon aro
secured. In the said chuck or holder annular openings are arranged,
through which openings the handles of the several sad irons are dropped, ]
the slab or body of the sad iron resting upon the chuck. By means of
cross rods and fixing pins or other convenient arrangement of fastenings
the sad irons are secured side by side to the chuck or holder, the
bottoms or faces of the several sad irons being situated upwards and in
the same horizontal plane. The several sad irons may however be ]
arranged in various ways upon and fixed to the chuck or holder. By
the slow rotation of the table the several sad irons secured to the chuck
are carried slowly under the cutter, the said cutter being made to cut or
smooth a portion of each of the faces of the sad irons. After each
rotation of the table the outter is advanced a short distance across the
table, so as to operate upon another portion of each sad iron in the
chuck until the whole of the faces of the several sad irons have been
cut, smoothed, or surfaced. Instead of one cutter two or more cutters.
may be carried in the same holder, the said cutters being situated in
advance of each other and set at different depths. Rotation is given to
the table supporting the chuck or holder in which the several sad irons
to be operated upon are secured by means of a worm wheel on the
bottom of the said table, with which worm wheel a worm fixed on the
driving shaft of the machine gears.
The intermittent motion of the cutter or cutters is effected as
follows: On the worm shaft described is a second worm, which second
worm gears with a worm wheel on a shaft at right angles to the driving
or worm shaft. On this shaft is a crank or face plate, to which a crank
rod is jointed, the said crank rod working a nawl lever, the nawl of

page_text: required distance across the table to effect the next cut. In this way
the intermittent motion of the cutter or cutters is effected.
Although my Invention is specially applicable to the cutting or
surfacing of the faces or flat surfaces of the slabs or bodies of sad irons,
yet the bottoms or faces of box smoothing irons and charcoal smoothing
irons may be cut or surfaced by the use of my Invention.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Cross in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 22nd February 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CROSS, of West Bromwich, in the County of Stafford, Iron Founder,
send greeting.
.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Cross, Her special licence
that I, the said William Cross, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Cross, 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 MACHINERY FOR CUTTING OR SURFACING THE FACES OF SAD IRONS AND OTHER
SMOOTHING IRONS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Cross, 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 samo 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 William Cross, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to

page_text: be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :—
My Invention consists of the arrangement or combination herein-
, after described of the parts of machinery for cutting or surfacing the
faces or flat surfaces of sad irons and other smoothing irons.
By the use of my Invention a large number of sad irons or other
smoothing irons can be operated upon together, great saving of time and
labour being thereby secured.
The said machinery consists essentially of a horizontal table or
, support having a slow rotatory motion given to it, and a cutter or scries
of cutters under which the sad or other irons carried by the said table
are slowly passed, the said cutter or cutters advancing by an intermittent
motion partly across or over the said table. The said rotating table
is supported upon adjustable supports fixed to the bed plate of the
'machine. Supported upon the said table is a circular chuck or holder,
in which the several sad irons (or other irons) to be operated upon are
secured. In the said chuck or holder openings are arranged, through
.which openings the handles of the several sad irons are dropped, the
slab or body of the sad iron resting upon the chuck. By means of
cross rods and fixing pins or other convenient arrangement of fastenings
the sad irons are secured side by side to the chuck or holder, 'the
..bottoms or faces of the several sad irons being situated upwards and
in the same horizontal plane. The several sad irons may however be
· arranged in various ways upon and fixed to the chuck or holder. By
I the slow rotation of the table the several sad irons secured to the
chuck are carried slowly under the cutter, the said cutter being made
to cut or smooth a portion of each of the faces of the sad irons. After
reach rotation of the table the cutter is advanced a short distance across
the table, so as to operate upon another portion of each sad iron in the
chuck until the whole of the faces of the several sad irons have been
cut, smoothed, or surfaced. Rotation is given to the table supporting
the chuck or holder in which the several sad irons to be operated upon
are secured by means of a worm wheel on the bottom of the said table,
with which worm wheel a worm fixed on the driving shaft of the
machine gears.
"
The intermittent motion of the cutter or cutters is effected as
follows: On the worm shaft described is a second worm, which second
worm gears with a worm wheel on a shaft at right angles to the driving

page_text: --
or worm shaft. On this shaft is a crank or face plate, to which a crank
rod is jointed, the said crank rod working a pawl lever, the pawl of
which engages with a ratchet wheel on the screw of the sliding cutting
tool holder. After each rotation of the table the pawl lever drives
forward the ratchet wheel, and the latter rotates the screw of the tool
holder and causes the cutter in the said holder to be advanced the
required distance across the table to effect the next cut. In this way
the intermittent motion of the cutter or cutters is effected.
Having explained the nature of my Invention I will proceed to
describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in side elevation, Figure 2 in plan, Figure 3 in
front clevation, and Figure 4 in cross section, a machine for cutting or
surfacing the faces of sad irons and other smoothing irons, the parts
of the said machine being constructed and arranged according to my
Invention; Figures 5 and 6 represent parts of the machine drawn to a
larger scale. The same letters indicate the same parts in each of the
Figures of the Drawings.
a is the horizontal table or support of the machine having a slow
rotatory motion given to it in the manner herein-after described. The
said table or support turns on the fixed axis b, the bottom of the said
axis passing through the bed plate c, and the top of the said axis passing
through the cross head d, the said axis being secured to the bed plate
and cross head in the manner best seen in Figure 4. The edge of the
rotating table a is supported upon the supports or brasses a³, a³, in the
manner best seen in Figure 3. The brasses a², a³, are carried in the
shoes a, a, and are adjusted by the set screws a', a; e is the circular
chuck or holder fixed to the table a for carrying the sad (or other)
irons to be operated upon by the machine. The said chuck or holder e is
connected to and supported above the table a by the pillars f.f, and
screws and nuts at 9, 9, (see Figure 4). The screw nuts by which the
screws g, g, are fixed in the pillars f, f, are passed through the T-shaped
slots represented in the table a. In the said chuck or support e of the
table a openings at e² are made (see Figures 4, 5, and 6), through which
openings the handles of the several sad irons h, i, are dropped, the slabs
or bodies of the sad irons resting upon the chuck. By means of clamps
or cross rods passed through the handles of the sad irons, the several sad
irons are secured in concentric circles to the chuck or holder e, the

page_text: bottoms or faces of each series of the sad irons being situated upward
and in the same horizontal plane. The arrangements of clamps which
I prefer to use are represented in Figures 5 and 6 drawn to a larger
scale than Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4. In fastening single irons to the
chuck the clamp arm 20, Figure 6, is passed through the handle of the
iron and fixed in its place by the clamp screw 21. Or the clamp arm
may be made so long as to pass through the handles of two irons. Or
one clamp may be made to fasten down four irons. This arrangement is
represented in Figure 5. In this case a rod 22 is passed through the
handles of cach pair of irons, and the two rods are connected together
by the cross rod 23. Upon the middle of this cross rod 23 the arm 24
of the clamp bears in the manner represented in the Drawing, the said
arm 24 being fixed in its place by the clamp screw 25.
Other arrange-
ments than those described and represented may be adopted for fixing
´the sad irons to the chuck or holder, and instead of arranging two con-
´ centric series only of the sad irons upon the chuck or holder e, more
than two series may be arranged and fixed in the manner described.
The sad irons fixed on the table a are carried slowly by the motion of
the said table under two cutters l, m, the cutter being employed for
· cutting or surfacing the faces of the outer series h of the sad irons, and
the cutter m being employed for cutting or surfacing the faces of the
inner series of the sad irons. The said cutters l, m, are made to
advance across the chuck e by an intermittent motion, the said cutters
during the action of the machine moving in opposite directions, so as to
approach each other. By the slow rotation of the table a the series
of the sad irons secured to the chuck e arc carried slowly under the
cutter and the series of the sad irons are carried slowly under the
other cutter m, the said cutters being made to cut or smooth a portion
of cach of the faces of the sad irons of the two series by the rotation of
the table. After each rotation of the table a the cutters l, m, are
advanced a short distance across the table so as to operate upon another
portion of each of the sad irons until the whole of the faces of the
several sad irons have been cut, smoothed, or surfaced. In Figure 2 the
cutter is represented as having operated upon a portion of each of the
sad irons of the outer series h, the parts operated upon being marked h³, {
while the cutter m is about to operate upon the inner series of sad
irons . The cutters l, m, are fixed respectively in the sliding holders
P, m³, the said holders sliding on dovetails P³, m³, on opposite sides
of the cross head d of the machine. The vertical adjustment of the

page_text: cutters l, m, is effected by the hand wheels 4, m, and the advancing
and retiring motions of the tool holders P, m³, are effected by the
screws p, q, working in screw boxes in the said holders, the intermittent
advancing motion of the said tool holders across the machine after each
rotation of the table a being effected automatically, in the manner
herein-after described, and their retiring or withdrawing motion after
the machine has operated upon the several sad irons being effected by
moving the hand wheels p², q³, on the outer ends of the screws p, Q.
The several motions of the machine are effected in the following
manner :—A slow rotation is given to the table a supporting the chuck
or holder e by means of the worm wheel r fixed to the bottom of the
table a, with which worm wheel a worm a fixed on the driving shaft t
gears. The said driving shaft & turns in bearings at u, u, and the said
shaft is provided with the fast and loose pulleys v, v, and fly wheel w.
The intermittent motion of the cutters l, m, is given from the main
shaft by the following arrangement of parts:-Near the outer end of
the driving shaft t is a worm ≈ (see Figures 1 and 2) which gears with
the worm wheely. On the end of the axis of the worm wheel y is a
face plate or crank z, to which one end of the crank rod 2 is jointed, the'
other end of the said rod 2 being jointed to one of the arms of the
cranked lever 3 and giving to the said lever 3 a rocking motion. The
lever 3 turns on the shaft or axis 4. The rocking motion given to the
cranked lever 3 is transmitted through the rod 5 and pawl lever 6 to
the pawl 7, the said pawl 7 engaging with a ratchet wheel 8 on the
screw p of the sliding cutter tool holder P. The shaft or axis 4 of the
cranked lever 3 passes under the bed of the machine (indicated in dotted
lines in Figure 3) and has on its opposite end a second cranked lever
or arm 10. The motion of the lever or arm 10 is transmitted to the
sliding tool holder m³ by means of the connecting rod 11, pawl lever 12,
and pawl 13, the said pawl 13 engaging with the ratchet wheel 14 on
the screw q of the said tool holder m². By an examination of the plan,
Figure 2, it will be seen that the pawls 7 and 13 are situated on opposite
sides of their respective ratchet wheels 8, 14, so that the motions
transmitted to the screws p, q, are in opposite directions, and conse-
quently the tool holders P, m³, and the cutters l, m, carried thereby are
3 made to approach each other, as indicated by the arrows in the said
Figure 2. After each rotation of the table a the pawl levers 6, 12,
drive forward their respective ratchet wheels 8, 14, and the latter rotate
the screws p, q, of the tool holders and cause the cutters l, m, in

page_text: the said holders to be advanced in opposite directions across the tablo
to effect the next cut, as will be understood by an examination of the
Drawings.
Instead of employing two cutters having an intermittent motion and
moving in opposite directions across the table one cutter only may bo i
employed for cutting the whole of the series of sad irons carried by the
chuck or holder, and two or more cutters may be carried in the samo
holder, the said cutters being situated in advance of each other and set
at different depths.
Although my Invention is specially applicable to the cutting or 1
surfacing of the faces or flat surfaces of the slabs or bodies of sad irons
yet the bottoms or faces of box smoothing irons and charcoal smoothing
irons may be cut or surfaced by the use of my Invention.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I 1
do not limit myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated,
as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of my
Invention; but I claim as my Invention, the improvements in machinery
for cutting or surfacing the faces of sad irons and other smoothing irons
herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, 2
that is to say, machinery consisting essentially of a rotating table or
support provided with a chuck or holder for carrying the sad or other
irons to be operated upon and a cutter or cutters under which the sad
or other irons are slowly carried, the said cutter or cutters advancing by
an intermittent motion partly across or over the table, the parts of the 2
said machinery being constructed, combined, or arranged and working
substantially as described and illustrated.
In witness whercof, I, the said William Cross, have hercunto set
my hand and scal, this Twentieth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
WILLIAM CROSS. (L.S.)
"