Device for Holding Lawn Mower Cutters for Sharpening.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Nov., 1899-Accepted, 6th Jan., 1900
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Device for Holding Lawn Mower Cutters for Sharpening.
I, SAMUEL EDWARD LOUDEN, Machinist, of Post Office Box 57, Riverside,
Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States of America, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement.
My invention has for its object to provide a device for holding lawn mower
cutters for sharpening, which may be used as an attachment for an ordinary
lathe, the grinding wheel being held by the lathe centers, or may be placed
upon any suitable table or bench and used in connection with an ordinary grind-
ing wheel; the device as a whole being simple and inexpensive to produce, easy
to manipulate, durable and practically impossible to get out of repair, adapted
to receive all sizes and styles of lawn mower cutters, and accurate in use so that
the cutting edges are at all times retained in proper relation to the grinding
wheel thereby effecting a great saving of time.
With these ends in view I have devised the simple and novel lawn mower
cutter holding device of which the following description in connection with the
accompanying drawings is a specification, reference characters being used to
indicate the several parts.
Figure 1 is a side elevation illustrating the use of my novel holding device in
connection with an ordinary lathe, a portion only of the bed and the centers of
the lathe appearing in the drawings, the revoluble cutter holder appearing in
dotted lines.
Fig. 2 a section on the line 2-2 in Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 a similar view, certain of the parts being removed in order to show
more clearly the manner in which the cutters are held up to the grinding wheel
as the carriage is reciprocated.
Fig. 4a plan view corresponding substantially with Fig. 1 and showing the
manner in which the stationary, straight cutter is held while being sharpened.
Fig. 5 an enlarged detail plan view, an arm being in section on the line 5-5
in Fig. 2.
Fig. 6a section on the line 6-6 in Fig. 5, and
Figure 7 is a detail sectional view on the line 7-7 in Figure 4 illustrating
the manner in which the straight, stationary cutter is sharpened.
A denotes the bed or frame of a lathe, B lathe centers, C a grinding wheel
and I) the revoluble cutter holder of a lawn mower.
My novel cutter holder comprises essentially a frame adapted for attachment
in any suitable position for use as for example to the bed of a lathe, and Fa
sliding carriage adapted to be moved freely thereon by hand. The special de-
sigu or construction of either frame or carriage is not of the essence of my
invention but may be varied to an almost unlimited extent to adapt the device
for use under different conditions. It is deemed sufficient for the purposes
of this specification to illustrate the application of my invention to a lathe, the
centers B of the lathe being utilized to carry the grinding wheel which is fixed
to a shaft G.
In the drawing I have shown the frame E of my novel cutter holder as consist-
ing of longitudinal strips 10, cross pieces 11, and an arm 12 which extends
outward and upward from the frame and to which the cutter guide 13 is adjust
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page_text: ably secured. I have shown the frame as secured to the bed of the lathe by
means of plates 14 which engage the underside of longitudinal bars 15 which
comprise a portion of bed or frame A, see Fig. 2. Bolts 16 extend upward
through plates 14 and cross pieces 11, and between longitudinal bars 15, and are
engaged by thumb nuts 17 thus providing for the quick and convenient attach-
ment of my novel cutter holder to a lathe or its removal therefrom.
I have shown the sliding carriage as consisting of two cross pieces 18 which
rest and slide freely upon longitudinal strips 10 and are connected by an ad-
justable tie bar H. This tie bar consists of a tubular part 19, a part 20 adapted
to slide within part 19, a set screw 21 for locking the two parts together and
U shaped arms 22 by which parts 19 and 20 are connected to cross pieces 18.
The construction of cross pieces 18 and the manner in which they are held in
position upon longitudinal strips 10 of frame E is clearly illustrated in Figs. 2,
6, 6 and 7. The strips 10 are provided with under cut ways 23 which are en-
gaged by the correspondingly shaped ends of blocks 24" which lie between
strips 10 and under cross pieces 18. These cross pieces are provided with
slots 25 which are engaged by lugs 26 upon the blocks and with a central slot 27
through which a bolt 28 passes. This bolt is cast into or otherwise made solid
with the block 24 and has at its upper end a thumb nut 29 whereby the parts
are locked together. It will be readily understood from Figs. 4 and 5 that by
loosening the two thumb nuts 29 the sliding carriage may be moved laterally
relatively to the strips 10 and longitudinally relatively to blocks 24 thus enabling
me to adjust the cutters toward or from the grinding wheel as may be required
in use, the lugs 26 serving as guides for the cross pieces and insuring free move-
ment in either direction. 30 denotes arms which extend upward from cross
pieces 18 and are provided with rests 31 to receive the shaft 32 of revoluble
cutter holder 1). 33 denotes slides adapted to move vertically on arms 30 and
provided with oval eyes 34, the long diameter of the eyes being vertical and the
smallest end upward so that by vertical movement of the slide any shaft that
will pass through the eyes may be retained securely in position in rests 31. I
have shown the slides as retained in position by thumb nuts 35, see Fig. 2,
engaging bolts 36 which extend from arms 30 and pass through slots 37 in the
slides. 38, see Fig. 4, denotes the straight, stationary cutter and 39 the spiral
cutters which are carried by revoluble cutter holder D. I have shown the cutter
guide 13 as adjustably secured to arm 12 of frame E by means of a thumb nut 40
engaging a bolt 41 which extends rigidly from the arm and passes through a
slot 42 in the guide.
The operation will be readily understood from the drawings. Suppose that
it is desired to sharpen the spiral cutters upon the revoluble cutter holder B of
a lawn mower. The shaft of cutter holder B is placed in rests 31, the cross
pieces 18 of carriage I being moved toward or from each other if necessary and
then locked in position by tightening set screw 21. Shaft 32 is retained in
position in the rests by adjustment of slides 33, the ends of the shaft lying in
the oval eyes in said slides. The cutters are placed in proper position relative
to the grinding wheel, in case change of adjustment is required, by loosening 4
thumb nuts 29 and moving the carriage with the cutter holder there-
on toward or from the grinding wheel. Having placed the carriage in
proper position and locked it there by tightening thumb nuts 29, cutter guide 13
may be placed in engagement with one of the spiral cutters 39 on revoluble
cutter holder 1), as clearly shown in Fig. 3, and locked there by tightening thumb 5
nut 40, as will be readily understood from Fig. 3 in connection with Fig. 4.
Having adjusted the revoluble cutter holder and secured it in place the cutters
thereon may be sharpened very quickly. A suitable grinding wheel is caused to
rotate and the carriage is moved longitudinally on frame E by hand. The action
of cutter guide 13 is to cause cutter holder D to rotate as the carriage is moved 5
along the frame, the amount of rotary motion corresponding to the pitch of the
spiral of the cutters so that all portions of the cutting edge of each cutter will

page_text: be held up to the grinding wheel and ground uniformly and the several cutters
upon each revoluble holder will be ground exactly alike, a single forward move-
ment only of the carriage being required for cach cutter. Having completed
a forward movement the carriage is moved backward until the cutter that has
been operated upon has run off the grinding wheel and the holder is then given
a partial rotation so as to place another cutter in position to be operated upon
when the operation is repeated as before, the cutter guide requiring no adjustment
after being set the first time.
In order to provide a convenient means for sharpening the straight, stationary
cutter 38 I provide upon the cross pieces 18 standards 43 to which cutter
carriers 44 are adjustably secured each carrier being provided with a slot to
receive the cutter and a set screw 45 by which the cutter is held in the slot.
The carriers are provided with bolts 46 rigidly secured thereto and which pass
freely through the standards. After adjusting the cutter in proper position
relatively to the grinding wheel the carriers are locked in position by tightening
thumb nuts 47 on the bolts.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said in-
vention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
claim is:-
1. A device of the character described comprising a frame, an adjustable
guide 13 carried thereby and a sliding carriage F, said carriage consisting of
laterally adjustable cross pieces and an adjustable tie bar between the cross pieces
and each cross piece carrying an arm having means for retaining the shaft of
a lawn mower revoluble cutter holder.
2. In a device of the character described the combination with a sliding
carriage having arms provided with means for retaining the shaft of a lawn
mower revoluble cutter holder, of a frame consisting of longitudinal strips 10
and cross pieces 11, said cross pieces carrying plates 14, and bolts and thumb nuts
whereby the frame may be attached to the bed of a lathe and an adjustable
cutter guide 13 carried by the frame.
3. The combination with a frame as E, of a carriage F adapted to slide there-
on, said carriage comprising laterally adjustable cross pieces 18, and means for
adjustably connecting said cross pieces and each cross piece carrying an arm
adapted to retain the shaft of a lawn mower revoluble cutter holder.
4. The combination with a frame consisting of longitudinal strips 10 and
cross pieces 11, of a carriage consisting of laterally adjustable cross pieces 18
having slots 25 and 27, blocks 24 having lugs engaging slots 25, a bolt extending
upward through slot 27 and a thumb nut 29 engaging said bolt, each of said cross
pieces having an arm provided with means for holding the shaft of a lawn mower
revoluble cutter holder.
5. In a device of the character described the combination with a frame, of a
carriage comprising laterally adjustable cross pieces 18 and an adjustable tie
bar between said cross pieces, arms extending upward from said cross pieces and
having rests to receive the shaft of a lawn mower revoluble cutter holder and
vertically adjustable slides 33 having oval eyes through which said shaft may pass
and be held in position in the rests.
6. In a device of the character described the combination with a frame, of a
longitudinally movable carriage, laterally adjustable cross pieces on said carriage
and means for securing the straight, stationary cutter and the revoluble cutter
holder of a lawn mower upon said cross pieces while being sharpened.
Dated this 7th day of November 1899.