IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CUTTING FILES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for
the Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CUTTING FILES."-A com-
munication.
Sealed the 19th January 1858, and dated the 13th August 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th August 1857.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CUTTING FILES," to be as
follows:-
This Invention consists in constructing and operating the bed on which the
file is cut in such a manner as to have a forward feed motion, and at the time
of the blow of the hammer a slightly independent oblique forward motion of
the upper half of a compound bed (or united bed, as the case may be,) caused
by the percussion of the hammer on the chisel in upsetting the burr or teeth
of the file against the back edge of the chisel, in consequence of its angle of
cut wedging it forward at the time of cutting the teeth in the file blank. The
cutter or chisel holder and stock is mounted in such a manner as to cause the

page_text: chisel, which is firmly held by a set screw in the holder, to find its own
adjustment or level upon the file blank at all times under the stroke of the
hammer, to make the cut uniformly across the face of the blank. To effect
this the chisel holder is capable of a slight axial motion, so that it may yield
to a certain degree, as would be the case with the hand of a workman,
without, however, interfering too much with the blow. The hammer is
operated by means of cams, and the hammer shaft is provided with a regulator,
ratchet wheels, and springs, whereby the force of the hammer may be varied
at pleasure to suit different kinds of work without change of mechanical parts,
and also to increase the force of the blow as the file increases in width from
the point towards the tang.
The feed motion is effected by means of an intermittent worm on the main
driving shaft, operating on a male and female screw, or rack and pinion, for
elevating or working an inclined plane or triangular gate or frame, whereby
the bed on which the file blank is cut is fed or moved forward.
The blank is held by a jointed hook tang holder, and the chisel is held down
on to the blank before the blow of the hammer is given. The feed table is a
compound one, and composed of two or more principal parts, one of which is
provided with tongues or projections placed in an inclined position across the
table, and made to take into corresponding grooves constructed in another
portion of the table. The blank being secured on the table by the tang holder,
the whole is moved forward by causing the triangular frame or gate to
descend, as before mentioned.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 13th February 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of August, 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
William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said William Edward
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the

page_text: said William Edward Newton, 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 "IMPROVED
MACHINERY FOR CUTTING FILES," being a communication from abroad, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton, 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 William Edward Newton, 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 Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention of improved machinery for cutting files consists, in the
first place, in constructing and operating the bed on which the file is cut in
such a manner as to have a forward feed motion, and at the time of the blow
of the hammer a slightly independent oblique forward motion of the upper
balf of a compound bed (or united bed, as the case may be,) caused by the
percussion of the hammer on the chisel in upsetting the burr or teeth of the
file against the back edge of the chisel, in consequence of its angle of cut
wedging it forward at the time of cutting the teeth in the file blank, and the
difference of resisting surfaces of metal.
The second improvement relates to the mode of constructing and operating
the cutter or chisel holder and stock, which parts are constructed and arranged
in such a manner as to cause the chisel, which is firmly held by a set screw in
the holder, to find its own adjustment or level upon the file blank at all times
under the stroke of the hammer, so as to make the cut uniformly across the
face of the blank.
The third improvement relates to the mode of constructing and operating
the hammer, which is actuated by means of cams, the hammer shaft being
provided with a regulator, ratchet wheels, and springs, whereby the force of
the hammer may be varied at pleasure to suit different kinds of work without
change of mechanical parts, and also to increase the force of the blow as the
file increases in width from the point towards the tang.

page_text: #
The fourth improvement relates to the mode of constructing and operating
the feed motion, which latter is effected by means of an intermittent worm on
the main driving shaft, operating on a male and female screw or rack and
pinion, for elevating or working an inclined plane or triangular gate or frame,
whereby the bed on which the file blank is cut is fed or moved forward.
The fifth improvement relates to the mode of constructing and operating the
inclined plane or triangular feed gate as a means of feeding the blank into the
machine.
The sixth improvement consists in a novel mode of constructing the tang
holder.
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the right side
of the machine; Fig. 2 is a front end elevation of the same; Fig. 3, a side
elevation of the left side of the machine; and Fig. 4 is a plan view; Figs. 5, 6,
and 7, are detached views of the upper and lower halves of the compound bed
and the table board on which they are operated; Fig. 8 is a detached cross
section of the chisel, chisel holder, and stock; Fig. 9 is a detached view of
the cam, ratchet wheel, spring, and detent pins for controlling and operating the
hammer; and Fig. 10 is an outline representation in red and black lines,
shewing the action of the chisel on the blank in upsetting the teeth.
A is the frame of the machine, and B is the table board across its top, and
forming a part of it, having a groove C in its upper surface. This groove
extends the length of the table B in a slightly oblique direction from the front
and right side of the machine to the back and left side of it. The object of
this, is to cause the lower half of the compound bed D, by means of a tongue a
on its lower surface and working in the groove C, to traverse the length of the
feed table, B in an oblique direction. On the upper surface of D are two
grooves 63, 62, extending from the left to the right obliquely across it, into
which fit tongues c2, c, on the lower surface of the upper half E of the com-
pound bed. The object of this is to cause it to work up or forward by an
independent motion to that of the feed proper against the edge of the chisel,
in consequence of the percussion of the hammer on the file blank F, secured
upon the upper face E, which, from the opposite obliquities of motion between
the upper and lower halves of the compound bed D and E, and the sideways
inclining planes of their opposing faces, allows of just sufficient motion under
the blow, of the hammer to work up against the front edge of the chisel to
cause an upsetting of the burr or teeth of the file to the required angle to
: produce a perfect cutting edge. As this result must be simultaneous with the
blow of the hammer, like that of the peculiar motion of the hand in holding

page_text: 22
the chisel under the action of the hammer, it will be obvious that this
operation is of great importance in making a successful file-cutting machine.
G, G, are side rails, attached to the upper part of the frame of the machine.
These are intended as guides for the compound bed, but may be dispensed
with, or other equivalent devices used in place thereof for guiding the com-
pound bed. H is a vertical guide post, secured between the sides of the
frame A at its back end. In this frame is adjusted a sliding gate I, of a
triangular form, the longest side of which forms an inclined plane, on which is
a tongue (see Figs. 3 and 4). This tongue fits into a groove d' on the back
end of the lower half D of the compound bed, so that as the gate I is elevated
or depressed by means of the screw or rack J at the back of it, being forced
into gear by a foot lever O at the side of the machine frame with the vertical
screw K rotated by a wheel L on the head of it, operated by a worm M on
the end of the main driving shaft N; the compound bed by means of the
tongue working in the groove d² of the bed D is thus fed up under the chisel,
as required, and is drawn back again by the rack J being thrown out of gear
with K by the foot lever O. P, P, are two pawles on the main driving shaft N,
and as the shaft N rotates, they operate a ratchet wheel Q, running loosely on
the hammer axis R, and having a stiffener spring S secured to the side of it
and the axis R, and also at its opposite side a detent or regulator pin s³, which
by its adjustment is made to hold the wheel fast as it reacts after the file has
been cut against a stop pin s3 on the axis R, so as to preserve a uniformity of
starting point in cutting the file, while the increasing force of the hammer is
regulated by the pawles winding up the spiral spring on the ratchet wheel one
tooth at each blow of the hammer, and which is sustained at its maximum
force by the blanking plate s blanking the teeth of the ratchet wheel till the
file is cut. This blanking plate s may be shifted to various points on the face
of the wheel to blank it, so that the pawles cannot act in increasing the force of
the hammer beyond the required force. T is an intercepting bar and lever,
arranged at the side of the machine for the purpose of throwing the pawles out
of gear with the wheel Q, and also holding the toe t3 of the hammer t' down
so that the main shaft may continue to run while the file is being adjusted.
U is the chisel stock, secured on an axis u², arranged on a part of the frame
of the machine. This stock has a mortice in its front end, in which is a
square block V, held by a pin v², as shewn in Fig. 8, so as to admit of a slight
vibratory motion. In the centre of this block is a socket v³, in which loosely
fits the stem of the chisel holder W, also held in its place by the pin v. The
object of this is to admit of the chisel X in the holder W having a slight

page_text: vibratory motion as well as a rocking motion to find its level on the face of
the file blank independent of any absolute motion in the chisel on its own axis,
so that each blow of the hammer will be through the centre of percussion to
give the greatest effect to the action of the chisel in raising the burr on the
file blank. y (Figs. 1 and 4) is a lever, arranged on the hammer axis frame,
and operated by a cam Z on the main driving shaft N, for depressing the
chisel (just in advance of the blow of the hammer) down upon the blank, so
as to be at rest when the hammer strikes the head of the chisel. It will be
perceived that but one angle of cuts is made by this machine, which is
therefore what may be called a right-handed machine. To give the bisecting
cut it is intended to use an independent machine, made as a left-handed
machine, but in all other respects, the machines will be the same. The file
blank F is secured, as seen in Figs. 1, 3, and 4, upon the upper half of the
compound bed E by means of a. tang holder f, having a joint f³ in it, and a
hookg for holding the tang of the-file while under the action of the cutter.
Having now described the Invention of improved machinery for cutting
files, and its operation, as communicated to me by my foreign corre-
spondent, I will proceed to set forth what I claim and desire to secure by
Letters Patent.
First, I claim the combination and arrangement of the upper and lower
halves, of a compound bed, whereby the lower half of the bed has a feed
motion obliquely to the line of its feed, and the upper half on which the file
blank is cut, and at the time of the intermit of the feed an opposite and
independent oblique motion against the edge of the chisel in consequence of
the percussion of the hammer, as above described.
Second, I also claim the combination and arrangement of the compound
bed operating in the manner as set forth, with the triangular feed gate, and
side rails and frame of the machine or their equivalents.
Third, I also claim the combination and arrangement of the hammer with
the pawles and ratchet wheel, having the regulator spring and detent pins
operated thereby, or their equivalents, for the purposes above described.
Fourth, I also claim the compound self-adjusting chisel stock in com-
bination with the chisel, which said chisel is held rigidly in the centre of
percussion under the blow of the hammer, as herein-before described.
Fifth, I also claim the use of the triangular gate, or its equivalent, in com-
bination with the rack and vertical screw apparatus for operating the same as
a feed motion for a file-cutting machine, as herein-before described.
Sixth, I also claim the jointed. hook tang holder, or equivalent device,

page_text: for holding the file blank in combination with the bed, as herein-before
described.
Seventh, I also claim the combination and arrangement of all the said
several parts herein-before described as a whole machine for the purpose of
cutting files, as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Eleventh day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)