Improvements in Machinery for Grinding and Polishing.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 25th Aug., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 24th May, 1895-Accepted, 10th Aug., 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machinery for Grinding and Polishing.
FRANK CHAPLIN ASKHAM Broad Lane Works Sheffield Manufacturer do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
A method and machinery for grinding and polishing articles automatically which
have hitherto been generally ground and polished by hand.
Many different classes of articles may be ground and polished by means of the
machine and process which form the subject of this invention. Some of the
articles which are intended to be so ground are table, carver, spear, matchet, dagger
and such knife blades, as also pocket and pen knife blades, all kinds of files, razors,
sheep shears, joiner's tools such as plane irons and chisels, skate blades and any
other class of goods which require grinding and can be conveniently done.
It will be understood that there will need to be suitable modifications of the
grinding machine to suit varying kinds of work both as to size of the machine the
way the articles are fed into the machine and held there during the process of
grinding and also in the actual traversing of the article across the grinder, but
although these modifications will be necessary the principles of my invention will
still remain the same although in some cases it may not be necessary to apply every
part of my invention to each article as for instance it will be more advisable to
place some classes of articles in the machine by hand rather than automatically
and yet other parts of my invention may be applied to them during the grinding
process.
Before describing my machine I wish to state that I do not claim to have invented
the grinding wheel itself nor have I invented the simple motion of traversing the
object backwards and forwards across the face of the grinder broadly.
I will now proceed to describe the machine the different parts of which separately
and in combination form my invention.
66
"
The grinder wheel may be of any ordinary shape as ordinarily used and may be
composed of any artificial material such as consolidated emery or natural ones such
as stone. The particular form of the grinder which I prefer to use for most
articles is in the shape of a hollow cylinder without ends, what is known as a
ring or "face wheel." This I prefer to mount on the end of a spindle whose
axis lies in a horizontal direction. In now describing my machine I will speak of
this spindle as S'. This spindle is rotated in the usual way by a driving band. I
am enabled to save an amount of shop room and also to turn two grinders by means
of one band by having at the other end of S¹ a sleeve which I will call S³ which
sleeve carries a second similar grinder. S¹ is free to move in a longitudinal direction
in this sleeve but will not turn round in it because it carries a feather key which
fits into a recess in the sleeve. By this arrangement I am able to feed either
grinder to its work as it is wanted without withdrawing the grinder at the opposite
end from its work as would be the case if the shaft carrying the two grinders was all.
in one piece.
At right angles to S₁ and approximately in the same horizontal plane and at a
convenient distance from the face of the grinder I arrange a shaft in suitable
bearings which I will call S³. Upon this shaft is fastened an irregular block
which I shall call B', one edge of which would pass approximately close to the
surface of the grinder if the shaft S³ were moved in the direction of its axis which
is at right angles to the grinding spindle S¹. The face of this block forms the rest

page_text: which holds the article to be operated upon from moving away from the face of
the grinder when that is brought against it and also carries a convenient gauge G
which pushes the work along before itself as it moves in a direction across the face
of the grinder.
B¹ is made of such a shape that there is a long slit in the body of it through
which may pass a flat bar B one end of which is supported from falling in a vertical
direction by resting upon that bottom part of B' which is below the slit. B³ in one
position projects slightly from the front surface of B₁ and carries small blocks or
rollers one of which is immediately on the inside of the face-wheel or ring grinder
and another immediately on the outside whilst others are arranged at convenient
intervals further from the outside. These blocks or rollers form the supports which
keep the article being ground from falling in a vertical direction through its own
weight or by the force of the grinding process which is downwards as the grinder
turns that way. The other end of B2 encircles an eccentric block E which is
fastened to a shaft St and parallel to it. It is evident that a slight turn of *S*
and E will cause B2 to project more or less from the face of B', and that the end
carrying the supporting blocks or rollers will yet be free to move in a slight up and
down or rocking direction if the shaft S* were moved around its own axis. It is
necessary that this movement should be given to some classes of articles such as
knife blades which require to have their surface ground à convex shape, as, if they
were simply fed in front of the grinder without being rocked, the result would be
a perfectly plane surface. And it is also evident that the degrees of convexity
imparted to them will depend upon the distance of the centre round which they are
rocked from the grinder face which centre is the axis of S³, so if S³ be a greater
distance away from the grinder face the amount of convexity imparted to the
article will not be so great as if S³ were nearer to the grinder face. If any machine
is built-to do only such work as does not require a convex surface I may prefer to
place B under the table which is mentioned later as that on which a supply of
work is placed by the attendant.
It is now evident that S³ requires to reciprocate both in a longitudinal direction
and also at the same time slightly round its own axis. To attain the longitudinal
motion I use the following means. A portion of the length of S³ is formed into a
screw upon which fits a round nut N' which is continually rotated round its own
axis in a conveniently placed bearing but cannot move in a longitudinal direction by
reason of having collars at either end outside the bearing, one of which collars is
formed into a toothed wheel to which movement is given by suitable gearing which
rotates N¹ first one way and then the other such a number of turns each way as will
cause the shaft S³ to move the required distance in a longitudinal direction as to
carry the length of the article being operated upon to and fro across the face of the
grinder. The rocking motion is imparted to S by the following means. Upon S³
is fastened a lever which I shall call L which extends below a cylindrical piece
which is continually rotated on S as an axis. The outside surface of this
cylindrical piece is of an irregular shape and is used as a cam to impart motion to
the lever L as it passes along its length during the longitudinal traverse of S³ to
which it is fastened, L' being caused to press against the cam by suitable means.
Thus if a part of the cam which is depressed is passing the point of contact with
the lever, the lever will move upward in a vertical direction imparting a slightly
rotating motion to S³, and if a part of the cam which is enlarged now follows, the
lever will be pressed downwards rotating S slightly in the opposite direction, this
gives the required rocking motion to the shaft Š³ and B' which is fastened to it.
Another part of my invention which I call the automatic feed consists in the
machine taking the articles which have been placed in a quantity in a convenient
position one by one at the proper time and putting them in such a place on the
supports and near the edge of B' so that they will be carried before the grinder in
the proper position by a gauge G which is fastened to B¹ pushing them forward
as B¹ traverses and also when the articles have been operated upon in causing them
to pass away from the machine.

page_text: The articles are placed by the attendant upon a table which is formed on the
machine casting upon which the bearings of S1 and S2 are. If they are blades or
flat files he arranges them upon their edge in a straight line and close together and
they are pushed forward in a body to the edge of the table by a suitable force
which I will explain later. This edge is in a vertical direction approximately close
to the edge of B' but above it by about a breadth of an article. They are kept
from falling over the table by a stop plate, between this stop plate and the article
which is nearest to it a slide which is of the same thickness as the article is
interposed. It is evident that if this slide were raised in a vertical direction the
pressure which is behind the body of articles would push one up to the stop plate
but it would be kept from falling, although beyond the edge of the table, by the
friction caused between the article and the plate by the pressure behind. If now
the slide was caused to descend it would push one article in a vertical direction
downwards where it would fall but for the supports which form part of B. The
article cannot there get out of position because there is not room enough between
the edge of the table and the edge of B¹ for it to lie flatways in. Meantime B' has
begun to move towards the grinder, and G' has abutted against the end of the
article, and begun to carry it forward past the face of the grinder, which motion
is continued together with the rocking motion until N¹ begins to turn in an opposite
direction when the article is again brought back to the place from which it started
and by the removal of the supports it is allowed to fall by gravity down a guide
into a convenient receptacle, the supports immediately taking up their former
position and the slide pushing down a fresh article to be operated upon.
The method by which I give movement to the push down slide is as follows. I
bave already explained how by a slight movement, say a quarter turn of St the
bar B2 which carries the supports can be drawn back from the vertical face of B¹.
Salso carries another eccentric E2 which operates a lever which has its fulcrum in
a convenient position outside St. This lever L³ passes over. B' and the end of it
carries the push down slide mentioned. The same quarter turn of S which draws
back the supports which form part of B' also operates this lever L' by means of E³,
so that, it is simultaneously lifted when the supports are drawn back. When S* is
again turned back a quarter turn, so placing the supports in position to keep the
work from falling, lever L is again depressed pushing down a fresh article.
The mechanism which imparts motion to the shaft S³ by means of the nut N¹, is
driven, in the first place by a band on a pulley, which drives two sets of worm
and wheel gearing which drive a face wheel in which is a crank pin or stud.
This stud works in a vertical link so as to give horizontal reciprocating motion
to a horizontal rack, which engages a pinion which is in the same piece as a gear
wheel of very much greater diameter W'. The size of this gear wheel is so
arranged that it only needs to turn part of its circumference in order to rotate
the nut N¹ sufficient times for one traverse of the work across the grinding face.
The quarter turn motion is imparted to S by placing on the end of that shaft a
face plate and pin, which pin works in a slot formed in a horizontal lever, which
turns freely about a pin as fulcrum at one end. At a point between this fulcrum
pin and the pin which engages the lever in the slot, a lug which forms part of the
gear wheel W abuts, the lower side of the lever when that wheel is nearly at the
end of a movement, that is, just a short time before it begins to turn back again.
The consequence being that the lever is lifted a certain distance by the lug, the pin
in the face plate at the end of S passing through this lever is thereby raised
turning the shaft round a quarter turn. As soon as W₁ has begun its backward-
motion the lug ceases to hold up the lever, and it falls by its own gravity and that
of an extra balance weight, thus turning round the shaft S to its original position.
It will be remembered that this quarter turn of S works the eccentrics E¹ and E²
which actuate the supporting pins, and also the lever which works the automatic
An important part of my invention consists. in the fact that. I continue the
feed.
.

page_text: shafts S and S to the length of several grinders placed in line say 8 or 10
and so save much expense in making the machines, as one set of actuating wheels
and devices at the end, is sufficient for the whole number of machines, and also
that these actuating wheels and devices drive corresponding shaft motions for the
corresponding grinders which are fastened on the sleeves ST.
It is evident that some arrangement has to be made for the feeding of the
grinding-wheel to the work as it is worn. I am aware that attempts have been
made to compensate for the wear of the grinder by a regular constant or inter-
mittent automatic feed forward caused by a screw and wheel, or ratchet
arrangement connected with the spindle, but this arrangement requires such fine
adjustment to operate satisfactorily any length of time, that it requires a long
period before the operator can exactly determine the amount of feed motion
required, and either a great wear of grinding material may ensue or too little
be ground off the article operated upon. My invention is intended to supersede
this form of feed and at the same time allow articles varying slightly in
thickness to be ground without removing practically more material from a thick
than a thin one.
The manner in which I propose to do this is as follows. It will be remembered
that I described the grinder-spindles S and S₁ as being capable of longitudinal
motion, so that either could be pulled back from the work or pushed forward to the
work independently of the other. Upon S' and S' I form fast collars against each
of which circular compression springs of a suitable strength wound loosely round S¹
abut, pressure may be brought on the other end of each of these springs by levers
whose fulcrum is fixed outside the spindle, and whose ends engage the springs so
that when pressure is brought to bear on the other end of the levers they will
move on these fulcrums and compress the springs against the fast collars and so
press the spindles forward towards the work holders with more or less force
according as the lever is moved through a greater or less distance. I operate
this other end of the lever automatically by means of a cam, which is turned about
its own axis by having its opposite end lengthened into a lever with a link at the
end, into which link fits a pin which is fastened into B. As B¹ traverses across
the front of the grinder it is evident that any particular part of this cam which
operates the lever which in turn works upon the spring on the grinder spindle, may
be shaped so as to cause more or less pressure of the grinder on the work, as it
reaches any particular point of its traverse, thus grinding more off one place than
another. This is necessary in grinding some articles such as blades as they require
more material removing towards that end which joins the handle than at the point
of the blade.
It is also evident that if one article to be ground is slightly thinner than the one
previously operated upon or if the grinder has worn to a small degree, that yet the
pressure behind the grinder caused by the spring and lever will be practically the
same for the reason that the very slightly reduced compression of the spring will
scarcely make any perceptible difference to the force which it exerts, and thus the
grinder will be kept against the work automatically at almost the same pressure,
for a series of articles even though they vary slightly in thickness, or though the
grinder may have been reduced.
In applying my invention I have a second spring not as strong as the first one
which is so arranged that its tendency if not overcome by the first spring is to pull
back the grinder from B¹, and thus when the pressure is taken off the first or
actuating spring, the second comes into operation and immediately moves back the
spindle carrying the grinder, from the surface of B' thus overcoming any tendency
of the spindle to run loose longitudinally, and perhaps touch B' at a point where it
is not desired. In applying my invention I arrange that the link which surrounds
the pin on B', which carries it forward can be opened instantly thus allowing the
slide and pin to traverse without imparting any motion to the cam which causes
pressure to the spring. This arrangement is very important, as it provides a

page_text: safeguard against a machine which is constantly reciprocating its work slide B',
having the slide spoilt by the grinder when perhaps by some mistake there is no
article between it and the grinder.
A small but important part of my invention is that of placing a piece of some
resilient material such as india-rubber between the face of B' and the article to be
ground thus allowing any small irregularities on the side of the article which is not
heing ground to sink into the india-rubber and thus prevent them from holding up
the article too close to the grinder at that part, as might be the case if the face
of G were made of unyielding material.
The grinder is provided with a suitable shield to prevent any water or other
liquid which may be used from flying off about the machine, and a pump is provided
to supply the liquid necessary, but these do not form part of my invention but are
adjuncts in carrying out the whole scheme.
The motion for pressing up the blades for the automatic feed is included in my
invention, and consists of a weight of suitable size which slides freely in a groove
in the table, a rope which is fastened to this weight passes along the groove in the
direction in which it is required the weight shall travel to press the work forward,
this is passed round a suitable pulley sunk in the table and around another which
is fastened to a draw spring and the end is terminated in a loop round a fixed pin.
It is evident, that if the spring is under tension to a proper degree, that the
tendency will then be for it to pull the weight forward in the opposite direction to
that in which the spring is trying to pull for double the distance which the spring
travels, and with half the strength of it. I am enabled to use the other end of this
same spring for the corresponding motion of the machine whose grinder is carried
by S
I will now describe some of the different modifications which would be
necessary to meet the requirements of different classes of work. The whole
machine as described would be used for grinding table blades. If they had no
bolster upon them when ground they would be placed close together resting on
the back of the blade with the edge upward and so be fed into the machine by
the automatic motion. If they had bolsters, a piece of packing needs to be
placed between each blade to make up for the thickness of the bolsters. This
packing is so arranged that it drops from the table when the blade is fed by the
automatic motion on to the supports. In grinding blades for knives the rocking
motion of S will need to be greater at the bolster end of the blade than at the
point, in fact at the extreme point there should be no rocking as the blade
there should be about flat. This is easily accomplished by shaping the cam which
operates on the rocking lever more irregularly at one end than at the other.
In grinding razor blades the grinder will be of very much smaller diameter, and
the axis of its shaft S' will be placed at an angle to the shafts S3 and S4 so that the
concave shape may be attained by using the outside sweep of the grinder. These
blades could be ground by feeding them against the grinder with their length
parallel to the axis of S' but I prefer to feed them at some angle between that
point and a right angle so that when the grinder wears it shall not alter the degree
of concavity with which it grinds after grinding a series of articles as the wear
will be from the frout of the grinder ring and not from the whole depth of it
at once.
In grinding sheep shears one side will need to be done with the rocking motion
whilst the other or concave side will need to be done by some arrangement as that
described for razors.
In grinding flat files, or machine knives, or sections, the articles will be fed
into the machine just as described for table blades, but being perfectly flat they
will not need to be rocked during traverse across the face of the grinder. The
same remarks apply to most joiner's tools such as plane irons and chisels.
Half round files of course on the convex side will require rocking very much
more than knife blades whilst skate blades will be ground at an angle to S* and S*
as in the case of razors, as also pen and pocket knife blades.

page_text: I mention these different articles not because my invention is confined to being
applied to them only but to show that the principles of it are suitable for a great
many classes of work with very slight alterations of the details. But it is evident
that these details do not interfere with the principles of the invention.
After grinding, if it is required to finish or polish the article it is again put into
the machine the necessary number of times to produce the required degree of
fineness, and a finer grinder is gradually substituted, and then a buff, the machine
of course operating in just the same manner as when it was grinding the rough
article.
Dated this Twenty fourth dow of 1004
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machinery for Grinding and Polishing.
I, FRANK CHAPLIN ASKHAM of Broad Lane Works, Sheffield, Yorkshire,
Manufacturer, 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 :-
Many different classes of articles may be ground and polished by means of the
machine and its combinations forming the subject of this invention. Some of the
articles which are intended to be so ground are knife blades, sheep shears, joiner's
tools such as plane irons and chisels, skate blades and any other class of goods
which require grinding and can be conveniently done.
It will be understood that there will need to be suitable modifications of the
grinding machine to suit varying kinds of work both as to size of the machine,
the way the articles are fed into the machine, and held there during the process of
grinding, and also in the actual traversing of the article across the grinder, but
although these modifications will be necessary the principles of my invention will
still remain the same although in some cases it may not be necessary to apply
every part of my invention to each article, as for instance it will be more advisable
to place some classes of articles one by one into the machine by hand rather than
automatically and yet other parts of my invention may be applied to them during
the grinding process.
Before describing my machine I wish to state that I do not claim to have
invented the grinding wheel itself nor have I invented the simple motion of
traversing the object backwards and forwards across the face of the grinder
broadly.
I will now proceed to fully describe the machine and in order that my invention
may be fully understood shall refer to the figures on the annexed sheets of
drawings the same letter of reference indicating the corresponding parts in all
the figures.
In the said sheets of drawings
Fig. 1 is a plan of the machine with two grinders showing a view of the gearing
for giving the necessary motion to the shafts S3 and S4 which it will be noticed are
broken off being suitable for giving motion to the traversing devices for a further
series of articles. Part of the spindles S1 and S2 are shown in section to show the
arrangement of S³.
Fig. 2 is an end elevation of Fig. 1 with several parts broken away and the
pulley P¹ removed for the purpose of more clearly showing other parts of the
machine.
Figs. 3 & 4 are a pair of sectional elevations showing the two positions of
the supports which hold the work from falling in a vertical direction during
grinding and the means by which their movement is caused.
-.

page_text: Figs. 5 & 6 are a pair showing the knock down lever L³ in two positions. In
Fig. 5 it will be noticed the lever is in its top position ready to force down the
article X whilst in Fig. 6 it has moved downwards by the turning of the eccentric F
and the article X has been forced down.
Figs. 7 & 8 are also a pair. They show what I call the rocking motion and the
means by which it is caused as explained later on.
Fig. 9 is the end view of a cross section of an article which has been ground
without the rocking motion being in operation.
Fig. 10 is an end view of the cross section of an article ground with the rocking
motion in operation.
Fig. 11 is a sectional elevation of the arrangement of pressure levers which I
use when it is necessary for the table T¹ to be clear on account of larger sized
work being placed upon it. This fig also shows the arrangement for carrying the-
spindle S which I prefer to use in case of heavy grinding.
Fig. 12 is an end view of the latter mentioned:
Figs. 13 & 14 are two views of the gauge which forces up and withdraws the
work during grinding.
Fig. 15 is an enlarged view of portion of Fig. 1 showing more plainly on
account of the larger scale the arrangement of B and B and L and also the.
bar B whilst the bar B is also shown on Fig. 15 in cross section.
Fig. 16 is an end view showing the method which I prefer for carrying the
support B by B¹ in the case of extra long traverse.
Fig. 17 shows the idle pulley P3 which is too small to be shown on Fig. 1.
The grinder wheels A and A' may be of any suitable shapes as ordinarily used
and may be composed of any suitable artificial material such as consolidated emery
or corundum, or natural ones such as stone. The particular form of the grinder
which I prefer to use for most articles is in the shape of a hollow cylinder without
ends, what is known as a "ring" or "face wheel." This I prefer to mount on one.
end of a spindle whose axis lies in a horizontal direction. In now describing my
machine I will speak of this spindle as S¹. This spindle is rotated at a suitable
speed by a driving belt or rope. I am enabled to save an amount of shop room
and also to turn two grinders by means of one belt or rope by having at the other
end of S¹ a sleeve which I will cali S' which sleeve carries a second similar
grinder A. S¹ is free to move in a longitudinal direction in this sleeve but will
not turn round in it because it carries a feather key A³ which fits into a recess in
the sleeve. By this arrangement I am able to feed either grinder to its work as it
is wanted without withdrawing the grinder at the opposite end from its work as
would be the case if the shaft carrying the two grinders was all in one piece.
The grinder A' is intended to grind one side of the article and the other grinder A
the other side, where the articles require to be ground to a cutting edge, so that it
may not be necessary to place the edge downwards and so injure it during the
process. In the case of grinders of large size being used I prefer to supplement
this key by an arrangement as shown in Fig. 11 where the driving pulley A*
carries projections A between which projections the arms A fastened upon S³ can
slide freely longitudinally but are compelled to move and thus rotate S³ when the
pulley A is turned.
Approximately at right angles to S³ and approximately in the same horizontal
plane and at a convenient distance from the face of the grinder 1 arrange a shaft
in suitable bearings which I will call 8. Upon this shaft is fastened an irregular
block which I shall call B' one edge of which would pass approximately close to
the surface of the grinder if the shaft S³ were moved in the direction of its axis
which is approximately at right angles to the grinding spindle S¹. The face of
this block forms the rest which holds the article to be operated upon from moving
away from the face of the grinder when that is brought against the said article
and also carries a convenient gauge G¹ which pushes the said article along before
itself as it moves in a direction across the face of the grinder.
B¹ is made of such a shape that there is a long slit. in the body of it through

page_text: which may pass a flat bar B³ one end of which is supported from falling in a
vertical direction by resting upon that bottom part of B₁ which is below the slit.
Bs in one position projects slightly from the front surface of B' or has fastened to
it small blocks or rollers Bª one of which is immediately on the inside of the face-
wheel or ring grinder and another immediately on the outside whilst others are
arranged either continuously or at convenient intervals further from the outside.
This projection or rollers B³ forms the support which keeps the article being
ground from falling in a vertical direction by its own weight or by the force of
the grinding process which is downwards as the grinder turns that
The other
way.
end of B2 encircles an eccentric block E¹ which is fastened to a shaft S* which
sbaft is approximately in the same horizontal plane as S³ and parallel to it. It is
evident that a slight turn of S' and E' will cause B2 to project more or less from
the face of B', and that the end carrying the supporting block or rollers will yet
be free to move in a slight up and down or rocking direction if the shaft S³ were
moved around its own axis. It is necessary that this movement should be given to
some classes of articles such as knife blades which require to have their surface
ground a convex shape as in Fig. 10 as, if they were simply fed in front of the
grinder without being rocked, the result would be a perfectly plane surface as
Fig. 9. And it is also evident that the degree of convexity imparted to them will
depend upon the distance of the centre round which they are rocked from the
grinder face which centre is the axis of S³, so that if S³ be a greater distance away
from the grinder face the amount of convexity imparted to the article will not be
so great as if S³ were nearer to the grinder face. When the machine is to be used
for grinding long articles instead of B2 passing through B₁ I prefer to hang it
upon B¹ as B1 on B' ' in Fig. 16. If any machine is built to do only such work as
does not require a convex surface I may prefer to place B' under the table T
which is mentioned later as that on which a supply of work is placed by the
attendant.
It is now evident that S³ requires to reciprocate both in a longitudinal direction
and also at the same time slightly round its own axis. To attain the longitudinal
motion I use the following means. A portion of the length of S³ is formed into a
screw upon which fits a round nut N' plainly seen broken open on the right hand
side of Fig. 1. N¹ is continually rotated in a conveniently placed bearing N³ but
cannot move in a longitudinal direction by reason of having collars N³ and N¹ at
either end outside the bearing, one of which collars N³ is formed into a toothed
wheel to which movement is given by suitable gearing which rotates N' first one
way and then the other such a number of turns each way as will cause the shaft S
to move the required distance in a longitudinal direction as to carry the length of
the article being operated upon to and fro across the face of the grinder. The
rocking motion is imparted to Ss by means plainly shown in Figs. 7 and 8. Upon
S³ is fastened a lever which I shall call L' which extends below a cylindrical
piece C¹ which is continually rotated on S as an axis by being geared with N'
see Fig. 1. The outside surface of this cylindrical piece C¹ is of an irregular
shape and is used as a cam to impart motion to the lever L' as it passes along
the length of C¹ during the longitudinal traverse of S³ to which it is fastened
L' being caused to press against the cam by suitable means as a spring or balance
weight. Thus if a part of the cam which is depressed as at D is passing the
point of contact with the lever, the lever will move upwards imparting a slightly
rotating motion to S³, and if a part of the cam which is enlarged now follows, the
lever will be pressed downwards rotating S³ slightly in the opposite direction, this
gives the required rocking motion to the shaft S³ and B' which is fastened to it
thus causing the surface of any article placed between the grinder A' and the
face D2 to be ground to a convex shape.
Another part of my invention which I call the automatic feed consists in the
machine taking the articles which have been placed in a quantity in a convenient
position one by one at the proper time and putting them in such a place on the
supports B³ and near the edge of B₁ so that they will be carried before the grinder

page_text: in the proper position by a gauge G¹ which is fastened to B¹ pushing them forward
as B¹ traverses and also when the articles have been operated upon in causing them
to pass away from the machine.
The articles X see Figs. 5 and 6 are placed by the attendant upon a table T¹
which is formed on the machine. If they are blades or flat files he arranges them
upon their edges in a straight line and close together and they are pushed forward
in a body to the edge of the table T¹ by a suitable force or weight W being
guided each to exactly the same place in turn by the bar B see Fig. 15 which is
shaped to engage a projection or depression formed on each article for that
purpose. This edge of T¹ is in a vertical direction approximately about the
thickness of one article from the edge of B¹ see D' in Figs. 5 and 6 but above B³
by about the breadth of an article. They are kept from falling over the table T¹
by a stop plate T. Between this stop plate and the article which is nearest to it
a moveable plate T which is of about the same thickness as one article is inter-
posed see Fig. 6. It is evident that if T3 were raised in a vertical direction the
pressure which is behind the body of articles X would push one up to the stop
plate T but it would be kept from falling vertically although beyond the edge of
the table T¹ by the friction between the article and the plate T caused by the
pressure behind. If now the plate T³ was caused to descend it would push one
article in a vertical direction downwards where it would fall but for the supports B³
which form part of B2 and which have now taken up the position shown in Fig. 4.
The article cannot there get out of position because there is not room enough
between the edge of the table T¹ and the edge D2 for it to lie flatways in. Mean-
time B¹ has begun to move towards the grinder, and G₁ has abutted against the
end of the article, and begun to slide it forward on the supports B³ past the face
of the grinder, which motion is continued together with the rocking motion
until N begins to turn in an opposite direction when the article is again brought
back to the place from which it started and by the removal of the supports B³ it
is allowed to fall by gravity down a guide into a convenient receptacle the
supports B³ immediately taking up their former position and the plate T3 pushing
down a fresh article to be operated upon.
The method by which I give movement to the push down plate T³ is as follows.
I have already explained how by a slight movement, say a quarter turn of S the
bar B2 which carries the supports can be drawn back from the vertical face of B'..
S* also carries another eccentric E2 which operates a lever which has its fulcrum
in a convenient position E¹ outside St. This lever L³ passes over B₁ and the end
of it carries the push down plate T³ already mentioned. The same quarter turn
of Swhich draws back the supports B³ which form part of B2 also operates this
lever L by means of E2, so that, it is simultaneously lifted when the supports B³
are drawn back. When S is again turned back a quarter turn, so placing the
supports Bs in position to keep the work X from falling, lever L2 and plate T³ are
again depressed pushing down a fresh article.
The mechanism which imparts motion to the shaft Ss by means of the nut N¹ is
driven in the first, place by a band on a pulley P', Fig. 1 which drives a suitable
gear G³ which drives a face wheel G³ in which is a crank pin or stud K. This
stud works in a vertical link K2 so as to give horizontal reciprocating motion to a
horizontal rack K' which engages a pinion K* which is in the same piece as a gear
wheel W₁ of very much greater diameter. The size of this gear wheel is so
arranged that it only needs to turn part of its circumference in order to rotate the
nut N sufficient times for one traverse of the length of the article X across the
grinder face.
The quarter turn motion is imparted to S by placing on the end of that shaft
a face plate H¹, Figs. 1 and 2 and pin H2, which pin works in a slot H³ formed in
a horizontal lever H', which turns freely about a pin H as fulcrum at one end.
At a point between this fulcrum pin H and the pin H which engages the
ever H in the slot H³ a lug or projection W³ which forms part of the gear
wheel W' abuts the lower side of the lever when that wheel is nearly at the end
B

page_text: L
of a movement, that is, just a short distance before it begins to turn back again.
The consequence being that the lever H is lifted a certain distance by the lug W³
the pin H2 in the face plate H¹ at the end of S* passing through this lever is
thereby raised turning the shaft S round a quarter turn. As soon as W' has
begun its backward motion the lug W³ ceases to hold up the lever H* and it falls
by its own gravity and that of an extra balance weight He thus turning round
the shaft S to its original position. It will be remembered that this quarter turn
of S* works the eccentrics E' and E2 which actuate the supporting pins Bs and the
lever which works the automatic feed respectively.
An important part of my invention consists in the fact that I may continue the
shafts S3 and S4 to the length of several grinders placed in line say 8 or 10 and so
save much expense in making the machines, as one set of actuating wheels and
devices at the end is sufficient for the whole number of machines, and also that
these actuating wheels and devices drive corresponding shaft motions for the
corresponding grinders which are fastened on the sleeves S³.
It is evident that some arrangement has to be made for the feeding of the
grinding wheels A¹ and A³ to the work as they are worn. I am aware that
attempts have been made to compensate for the wear of the grinder by a regular
constant or intermittent automatic feed forward caused by a screw and wheel, or
ratchet arrangement connected with the spindle, but this arrangement requires such
fine adjustment to operate satisfactorily any length of time, that it requires a long
period before the operator can exactly determine the amount of feed motion
required, and either a great wear of grinding material may ensue or too little be
ground off the article to be operated upon. My invention is intended to supersede
this form of feed and at the same time allow articles varying slightly in thickness
to be ground without removing practically more from a thick than a thin one.
The manner in which I propose to do this is as follows. It will be remembered
that I described the grinder spindles S1 and S2 as being capable of longitudinal
motion, so that either could be pulled back from the work or pushed forward to
the work independently of the other. Upon S1 and S2 I form fast collars C²
against each of which circular compression springs C³ of a suitable strength
wound loosely round S¹ abut. Pressure may be brought on the other end of these
springs by levers L³ whose fulcrums L' are fixed outside the spindles S¹ and S
and whose ends engage the springs C³ so that when pressure in a suitable direction
is brought to bear on the other end of the levers L³ they will move on their
fulcrums L' and compress the springs C³ against the fast collars C³ and so press
the spindles S1 and S2 forward towards the work holders B' and B¹ with more or
less force according as the levers L³ are moved through a greater or less distance.
I operate this other end of the levers L³ automatically by means of a cam L³
which is turned about an axis L' by having its opposite end lengthened into a lever
with a link L' at the end, in which link slides a pin P' which is fastened into B¹.
As B¹ traverses across the front of the grinder it is evident that any particular
part of this cam L' which operates the lever L³ which in turn works upon the
spring C³ on the grinder spindle S¹, may be shaped so as to cause more or less
pressure of the grinder ou the work, as it reaches any particular point of its
traverse, thus grinding more off one place than another. This is necessary in
grinding some articles such as blades as they require more material removing
towards that end which joins the handle than at the point of the blade. This part
of my invention also enables me to accomplish a very desirable thing namely to
withdraw the grinder from the working line which is approximately near to the
face of B in grinding thin articles every time the end of an article has traversed
past the face of the grinder thus ensuring that the face of B¹ shall not be ground
off and so spoil the machine. In Fig. 1 the cam L' is shown of such a shape that
no motion will be caused to L³ because the conformation of its edge is part of the
circumference of a circle of which the fulcrum L is the centre.
I also provide a safeguard from the grinders A' and A2 coming forward further
than desired by providing a small idle pulley P³ Fig. 17 so that if by any accident

page_text: or the inattention of the attendant no work to be ground is interposed between the
face of B¹ and the grinder that the grinder shall not be able to injure B¹ because
it will be kept back by the pulley P³ which will prevent a forward movement and
itself not be ground away as a fixed stop would be, because the friction will be
lessened by pulley Ps turning on the pin which forms its axis.
It is also evident that if one article to be ground is slightly thinner than the
one previously operated upon or if the grinder has worn to a small degree, that
yet the pressure behind the grinder caused by the spring and lever will be
practically the same for the reason that the very slightly reduced compression of
the spring will scarcely make any perceptible difference to the force which it
exerts, and thus the grinder will be kept against the work automatically at almost
the same pressure, for a series of articles even though they vary slightly in
thickness, or though the grinder may have been reduced. When large work is
required to be done I arrange my machine as in Fig. 11 where it is seen that
the lever L³, is placed below the surface of table T' so that it may not be in the
way of the work X.
The end of L³, is then actuated by the circular cam L³,
which is turned on its axis by being grooved to fit a chain which transmits motion
to L, from B during its traverse corresponding with that transmitted by the
lever and link L' in Fig. 1.
In applying my invention I have a third spring C₁ not as strong as springs C³
which is so arranged that its tendency if not overcome by the first springs is to
pull back the grinder A₁ from B₁, and thus when the pressure is taken off the
first or actuating spring, the second comes into operation and immediately moves
back the spindle carrying the grinder from the surface of B¹ thus overcoming any
tendency of the spindle S' and the sleeve S2 to run loose longitudinally and
perhaps touch B₁ at a point where it is not desired.
A small but important part of my invention that of placing a piece of some
resilient material such as indiarubber, see Q¹ Figs. 3 and 4, between the face of B¹
and the article to be ground thus allowing any small irregularities on that side of
the article which is not being ground to sink into the indiarubber and thus prevent
them from holding up the article too close to the grinder at that part as might be
the case if the face of B¹ were made of unyielding material.
The grinder is provided with a suitable shield to prevent any water or other
liquid which may be used from flying off about the machine and a pump is
provided to supply the liquid necessary but these do not form part of my invention
but are adjuncts in carrying out the whole scheme.
I will now describe some of the different modifications which would be necessary
to meet the requirements of different classes of work. The whole machine as
described would be used for grinding table blades. If they had no bolsters upon
them when ground they would be placed close together resting on the back of the
blade with the edge turned upward and so be fed into the machine by the automatic
motion. If they had bolsters a piece of packing needs to be placed between each
blade to make up for the thickness of the bolsters. This packing is so arranged
that it drops from the table when the blade is fed by the automatic motion on to
the supports. In grinding blades for knives the rocking motion of S³ will need to
be greater at the bolster end of the blade than at the point, in fact at the extreme
point there should be no rocking as the blade there should be about flat. This is
easily accomplished by shaping the cam C' which operates the rocking lever L'
more irregularly at one end than at the other.
In grinding flat files or machine knives, or sections, the articles will be fed into
the machine just as described for table blades, but being perfectly flat they will
not need to be rocked during traverse across the face of the grinder. The same
remarks apply to most joiner's tools such as plane irons and chisels.
Half round files of course on the convex side will require rocking very much
more than knife blades whilst skate blades will be ground with S₁ at an angle.
to S and S as in the case of razors.

page_text: I mention these different articles not because my invention is confined to being
applied to them only but to show that the principles of it are suitable for a great
many classes of work with very slight alterations of the details. But it is evident
that these details do not interfere with the principles of the invention.
After grinding, if it is required to finish or polish the article it is passed before a
finer grinder the necessary number of times to procure the required degree of
fineness and a buff is then substituted the machine of course operating in just the
same manner as when it was grinding the rough article.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed 1 declare that what I
claim is.
1st. In a grinding or polishing machine the combination with a spindle carrying
a grinder of a sleeve surrounding the said spindle which sleeve forms the spindle
or axis for the carrying of a second grinder, motion being possible between such
sleeve and spindle in a direction parallel to their axis of rotation but so arranged
that both sleeve and spindle are compelled to rotate together by means substantially
as hereinbefore described.
2nd. The combination in a grinding or polishing machine of a spindle with a
sleeve spindle each carrying a grinder and so arranged that each or either grinder
can be pushed forward or withdrawn independently of the other by the motion
derived from a reverse duplicate set of work traversing devices.
3rd. The combination in a grinding or polishing machine of a number of
duplicate and reverse duplicate work holding and traversing devices to all of
which number the proper traversing and other motions are imparted by one set
of actuating devices or gearing suitable for giving the necessary motions.
4th. The combination in a grinding or polishing machine of a grinder and spindle
so arranged as to be capable of movement in a direction parallel to their axis of
rotation with an arrangement of levers whereby the said grinder can be moved or
pressed in the direction mentioned the ability of such levers to cause movement or
pressure being automatically controlled or varied by part of the devices causing
or governing the traverse of the work before the grinder by means of the
intermediate employment of a suitably shaped cam to which movement is given
from some part of the said devices substantially as herein before described.
5th. The combination in a grinding or polishing machine of a spindle and sleeve
spindle, each of which carrying grinders are so arranged that each can be pressed
forward or withdrawn independently of the other with a reverse duplicate set of
controlling levers whereby the said grinders carried by the spindle and sleeve used
as a spindle can be simultaneously or independently pressed forward to or withdrawn
from the working line substantially as hereinbefore described.
6th. In a grinding or polishing machine the combination with the grinder and
its spindle of a coiled spring which is interposed between the force which holds
the grinder up to the work with suitable firmness and the place where such force
or pressure is applied to the grinder or its spindle so that the grinder may be held
with elastic pressure against the work instead of with a rigid one.
7th. In a grinding or polishing machine in which the work is traversed across
the face of the grinder the combination with a grinder of work holding devices
which may be rocked in a rotary manner round an axis which lies in a direction
parallel to the line of traverse of the said work holding devices such movement
being caused by means of some part of the traversing devices being actuated by a
suitable rotary cam substantially as herein before described.
8th. In a grinding or polishing machine in which work is traversed across
the face of the grinder the combination of a grinder with a connection between
the grinder or its spindle and the work traversing devices. So that as the work
holder nears the end of its traverse across the face of the grinder the pressure
between such work holder and the grinder is caused to cease by a backward

page_text: movement of the grinder in a direction approximately at right angles to the line of
traverse instead of the said contact ceasing by an article passing from before the
grinder during its course in the line of traverse across its face arranged substantially
as herein before described.
9th. In a grinding or polishing machine the combination with a grinder of a
support or rests on each or either side of the position where the process of grinding
actually takes place upon which supports the article being ground is caused to move
along during its traverse before the grinder such supports being stationary so far
as movement in the direction of the line of traverse of the article to be ground is
concerned substantially as hereinbefore described.
10th. In a grinding or polishing machine the combination with a grinder of a
support or rests which can be automatically withdrawn from and replaced into
position convenient to support the work for the grinding or polishing process such
withdrawal taking place in a direction approximately at right angles to the line of
traverse of the work across the grinder.
11th. In a grinding or polishing machine the combination with a grinder of
means for the automatic removal of work from the machine by allowing the force
of gravity to operate upon the article to be removed by the removal of the suppor! :
or rests which held the article in its position during the process of grinding or
polishing substantially as herein before described.
12th. In a grinding or polishing machine the combination with a grinder of
means for the automatic continuous intermittent removal from a convenient position
of one article at a time for the purpose of putting it in such a position that it may
pass before the grinder by suitable means without having to be further placed or
adjusted by the attendant substantially as herein before described.
13th. In a grinding or polishing machine the combination with a grinder of
means for the automatic moving of separate articles from one part of the machine
to another by a plate or slide which being forced into the position which an article
previously occupied so compels that article to take up a position convenient for
being traversed before the grinder substantially as herein before described.
14th. In a grinding machine the combination with a grinder of means for
automatically producing a varying shape or contour of surface upon an article by
the process of grinding by presenting the article to the grinder on a support or
rests the position of which support in relation to the grinder is caused to vary
such variation of position being caused by a rotating cam the conformation of
which is varied along its length suitably for the shape it is intended to give by
grinding to the surface of the article in corresponding places substantially as
hereinbefore described.
15th. In a grinding or polishing machine the combination with a work holder
of a piece of resilient material such as india-rubber placed between the work
holder and the article to be ground or polished.
16th. In a grinding or polishing machine the combination with a traversing
block or slide forming a work holder or rest of a catch or gauge which catch is so
arranged as to engage with a projection or depression which is arranged on each of
the articles to be operated upon and thus the article is carried along by the catch
until released by suitable means substantially as herein before described.
17th. In a grinding or polishing machine the combination with a rest or table
upou which articles to be operated upon are placed of a bar of convenient
conformation intended to engage with some projection or depression which is
formed in each of a number of articles so that the said bar will guide every article
in turn to approximately the same place such place being a convenient one from
which each article may be automatically moved to a position for being operated
upon by the grinder.
18th. The combination in a grinding or polishing machine with a grinder of a
stop consisting of a small wheel which may be rotated on its axis and is so placed
that it will prevent the grinder from coming forward towards the work holding

page_text: appliances further than is desired and yet itself will not be ground away substan-
tially as hereinbefore described.
Dated this Twenty-third day of May One thousand eight hundred and
ninety-five.
F. C. ASKHAM,
Applicant.