IMPROVE- MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CUTTING IRREGULAR AND CURVILINEAR. FORMS IN WOOD OR OTHER SIMILAR SUBSTANCES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City
of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman; for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CUTTING IRREGULAR AND CURVILINEAR.
FORMS IN WOOD OR OTHER SIMILAR SUBSTANCES."A communication from
abroad by Robert Marcher, of New York, in the United States of
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th November 1861.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON; of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields; in the County of
Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street; in the City of Glasgow, North
Britain, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY-OR-APPARATUS FOR CUTTING IRREGULAR AND CUR-
VILINEAR FORMS IN WOOD OR OTHER SIMILAR SUBSTANCES," a communication from
abroad by Robert Marcher, of New York, in the United States of America,
Manufacturer of Prepared Mouldings and Oval Frames, to be as follows:
This Invention relates to certain peculiar combinations of mechanism to be
employed in cutting irregular forms in wood or other substances of a like
nature, and is more particularly adapted to the manufacture of picture,
looking glass, and other frames of an oval or other curvilinear form.

page_text: According to the first part of this Invention, it is proposed to combine with
a table or other equivalent means for rotating the frame to be cut a pattern
of the general form of the frame to be produced, and two rotating shafts, each
carrying a suitable tracer and cutters. One of these shafts is made self-
adapting to the other by a lateral sliding motion, whilst the other shaft is by
a similar contrivance made self-adapting to the inner periphery of the pattern,
so that the cutters, which by their form and rotation produce the required
mouldings, shall be guided in the required track to cut the general form of
the frame to be produced.
The second part of this Invention consists in the combination with a pattern
and tracer, or equivalent mechanism for determining the oval or other
curvilinear form to be given to a frame of two sets of cutters carried by
parallel shafts, and so mounted that the distance between the two shafts shall
be self-adapting by a lateral sliding motion of the shafts, the cutters being
forced up to the work by a weight or equivalent yielding, pressure, whether one
or both of the said shafts be so mounted.
The third part of this Invention consists in arranging two parallel cutter
shafts relatively to the table which carries the rough frame or blank in a plane
at right angles to the axis of the cutter shafts, so that the cutter shafts.shall
be on opposite sides of the axis of such frame, one of the shafts being outside,
and the other inside the frame, so that by a lateral movement in one direction
both sets of cutters shall be made to act, and by a movement in the reverse
direction they shall be relieved from action, whereby the entire surface of a
frame can be cut at one operation without any liability to the cutters
interfering with each other. In lieu of a pattern and tracer, as herein-before
described, an eccentric mechanism or pattern wheel or cam may be used for
imparting the self-adapting motion to the cutter shafts, and, if desired, the
axis of the tracers and cútter shafts may remain stationary as regards lateral
movement, the corresponding lateral adapting motion being imparted to the
shaft which supports the pattern and material to be cut
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 20th May 1862.
"
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex, 3

page_text: and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North Britain,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors; give and grant unto me,
the said. John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said John
Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Henry Johnson, 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 "IM-.
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CUTTING IRREGULAR AND CUR-
VILINEAR FORMS IN WOOD OR OTHER SIMILAR SUBSTANCES," a communication from
abroad by Robert Marcher, of New York, in the United States of America,
Manufacturer of Prepared Mouldings and Oval Frames, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, or under
the hand and seal of one of them, 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 John Henry Johnson, do hereby declare
the nature of the 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
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:
The said Invention relates to certain peculiar combinations of mechanism to
be employed in cutting irregular forms in wood or other substances of a like
nature, and is more particularly adapted to the manufacture of picture, looking-
glass, and other frames of an oval or other curvilinear form.
According to the first part of this Invention it is proposed to combine with a
table or other equivalent means for rotating_the_frame_to_be_cut, a pattern_of
the general form of the frame to be produced, and two rotating shafts, each
carrying a suitable tracer and cutters; one of these shafts is made self-adapting "
to the other by a lateral sliding motion, whilst the other shaft is, by a similar
contrivance, made self-adapting to the inner periphery of the pattern, so that

page_text: the cutters, which by their form and rotation produce the required mouldings
shall be guided in the required track to cut the general, form of the frame to
be produced.
The second part of. this Invention consists in the combination with a pattern
and tracer or equivalent mechanism for determining the oval or other curvilinear
form to be given to a frame. of two sets of cutters carried by parallel shafts, and
so mounted that the distance between the two shafts shall be self-adapting by
a lateral sliding motion of the shafts; the cutters being forced up to the work
by a weight or equivalent. yielding pressure, whether one or both of the said
shafts be so mounted.
The third part of this Invention consists in arranging two parallel cutter
shafts relatively to the table which carries the rough frame or blank in a plane
at right angles to the axis, of the cutter shafts, so that the cutter shafts shall
be on the opposite sides of the axis of such frame, one of the shafts being out-
side, and the other inside the. frame, so. that by a lateral movement in one
direction, both sets of cutters shall be made to act, and by a movement in the
reverse direction they shall be relieved from action, whereby the entire surface
of a frame, can be cut at one operation without any, liability to the cutters
interfering with each other. In lieu of a pattern and tracer, as herein.
before, described, an eccentric mechanism or pattern wheel or cam may be used
for imparting the self-adapting motion to the cutter shafts, and, if desired,.
the axes of the tracers and cutter shafts may remain stationary as regards.
lateral movement, the corresponding lateral adapting motion being imparted.
to the shaft which supports the pattern and material to be cut.
And in order that the 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 everal Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the.
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in both Figures.
Figure 1 of the Drawing represents a perspective view, and Figure 2, a
vertical section of the improved, machinery or apparatus herein-before referred '
to. a represents a suitable frame or standard; b, b, two, vertical and parallel
-shafts, the journals-of-which-run-in-bearings-mounted-in-carriages-c-c-one-for-
each shaft, the said carriages being adapted to slide horizontally in suitable
guide ways in the frame. By means of a weight d and a cord e, or other
equivalent means the two, carriages c, c, are constantly drawn or forced in one 3
direction and hence tend, constantly to move in, that direction, so that either or..
both of them will yield when required in the opposite direction, or may be
drawn away by means of rods, f, f, when required. Each of the said shafts is.
provided at its lower end with a roller or tracer 9, and above the rollers, with

page_text: suitable cutters, the reverse of the form of the mouldings or configuration
desired to be produced, the cutters on one being adapted to the moulding or
form desired to be given to the outer periphery of the frame to be produced,
whilst those on the other are adapted to the inner periphery including the
under rebate to receive the glass or picture if applied to making picture frames:
These cutter shafts are each provided with a pully h to receive motion by a
belt from a drum i on the driving shaft j. Below the lower end of the cutter
shafts b, b, there is a circular table & connected with the upper end of a vertical
shaft, which is adapted to slide vertically in suitable bearings in the frame a.
And the said table is held at the required elevation, or elevated or depressed
at the will of the attendant by a lever m, connected in any suitable manner
with the shaft. If the table be connected with the upper end of this shaft, so
as to turn thereon, the lever m may be connected with the shaft by a pin n;
but if the table be secured to the shaft, so as to turn with it, then the connection
of the lever therewith should be by a suitable collar. The table is held at any
desired elevation by a notched plate o. The circular periphery of the table is
toothed, and receives a slow rotary motion from a pinion p on a "vertical
shaft which shaft receives motion by a belt r from a pulley s on the driving
shaft or by any other suitable means. The lower end of the pinion shaft is
pivoted in one end of a lever t, so that the pinion can be engaged with or
disengaged from the teeth of the table. A pattern u of an oval or any other;
form to be produced is secured to the upper surface of the table, and the rough,
frame or block of wood termed a "blank," and previously made of a configura-
tion approximating generally to the form desired to be produced is secured by.
suitable means to the pattern, or to the table, but in such relations to the
pattern that it may receive the action of the cutters, whilst the rollers on the;
cutter shafts bear against the pattern.
In attaching a blank the table must be let down by the attendant, and-
after properly securing the block, as indicated, the cutter shafts are drawn
away against the force of the weights d, d, or other equivalent force, such as
springs, by means of the rods f, f, and so soon as the table is brought to the.
required elevation the pinion p is thrown into gear therewith, so as to impart
to it a slow rotary motion. The cutters, which rotate at a high velocity; are,
then liberated by the attendant, and are brought into action by the weights d, 'd,
or equivalents, one of the said cutters acting against the inner, and the other.
against the outer periphery of the blank, which is gradually cut away, until,
the tracing rollers g, g, on the shafts are brought to bear against the inner and,
the outer peripheries of the pattern, which is thus made to act as a gauge and
guide during the circuit, the cutters being pressed against the material to, ber

page_text: cut, remove the wood, until the tracing rollers come into contact with the
pattern, and as the table with the pattern and blank rotates slowly, whilst the
cutters rotate at a bigher velocity, it follows, that at the end of each entire
revolution, the frame or block will be reduced to the required configuration,
both upon the inner and outer periphery, and upon the entire face; if the
cutters be properly shaped as being situated on the opposite sides of the axis of
the blank, the cut of the one set of cutters may come up to or overlap the cut
of the other set without conflicting with each other, which could not be done
if the two sets of cutters were arranged on the same side of the axis of the
pattern. The cutters may be so formed, as to cut under, as well as on the
face of the blank, and thereby form a rebate to receive a picture or looking-
glass in making frames for such purposes, or to make a moulding of any kind,
which may be required to extend to the under surface. By means of the
rotary motion of the table with the pattern or equivalent circuit, and the sliding
or lateral motion, any form of frame can be cut automatically and with accuracy
and by the employment of two shafts with cutters and tracers, one or both of
which are made self-adapting in distance, the tracers and cutters are rendered
self-adjusting to any width of pattern. By having the two cutters on opposite
sides of the axis of the pattern, one inside and the other outside of the pattern,
both the inner and the outer periphery can be cut at the same time, and yet
admit of using cutters to cut on the under as well as the upper surface, and
over the entire surface.
It will be obvious from the foregoing, that some parts of the said Invention
may be used to advantage without others, by the substition of equivalent
means, as for example, the use of two parallel cutter shafts with the distance
between them, self-adapting, may be employed in connection with an eccentric-
mechanism as a substitute for the pattern and tracer. And although it'
is preferable to give the motions for bringing the cutters into action, and for
relieving them, and for following the form of the pattern to the cutter and
_tracer_shafts.in_the_plane of the pattern, nevertheless it will be obvious that a
portion of the advantages pointed out may be attained by having the axis of
the tracer and cutter shaft stationary, and mounting the shaft-of-the-table-
which carries the pattern in a movable or sliding carriage adapted to slide
in the plane of the pattern in the same manner as the carriages of the
tracer and cutter shafts, but in such case the two sets of tracers and cutters
will not be self-adapting to any and all widths of pattern, which desirable
results may however be obtained by having one of the said shafts yielding.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or:

page_text: carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion, that 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 irregular and curvilinear forms in wood and other
similar substances, as herein-before described.
Second, the combination of a revolving table or support, carrying the
material or frame to be cut with a pattern surface, and two rotating shafts
provided with tracers and cutters, one of such shafts being self-adapting
to the outer, and the other to the inner periphery of the pattern surface,
in the manner and for the purpose substantially as herein-before described.
Third, the application and use, for the purpose herein-before referred to of
two parallel cutter shafts, so mounted that the distance between them shall be
self-adapting, in combination with a pattern surface and tracers as herein-
before described.
Fourth, the arranging or disposal of two cutter shafts and tracers on opposite
sides of the axis of the rough frame to be shaped, the one set of cutters acting
upon the outer side or periphery, and the other set upon the inner side of such
frame substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to this my
Specification hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of May,
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)