IMPROVEMENTS MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CUTTING OR SHEARING METAL OR OTHER MATERIAL
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Laing, of Millwall, Poplar, in the Countý
of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CUTTING OR SHEARING METAL OR OTHER
MATERIAL."
Sealed the 10th March 1865, and dated the 22nd September 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Laing at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 22nd September
1864.
I, SAMUEL LAING, of Millwall, Poplar, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CUTTING OR SHEARING METAL OR OTHER
MATERIAL," to be as follows:-
My improvements relate to the construction of machinery or apparatus for
the purpose of cutting or shearing metal and other material which shall not
only be more efficient and durable than the kind ordinarily employed, but
shall at the saine time be capable of performing the cutting or shearing action
with greater rapidity, and of cutting curves and many irregular forms in plate
iron, brass, or other metal which cannot be done with the machinery for
cutting and shearing now in use.

page_text: My improvements cousist in the employment of one, two, or a greater
number of rotating cutters of circular or other form, whose edges effect the
cutting or shearing of the metal or other material operated upon. When I
employ two or a greater number of cutters in one machine or apparatus
working in pairs, so as to produce the cutting or shearing action by the metal
or other material being passed between the said rotating cutters, the knives
or cutters are mounted or carried on shafts, which shafts are driven by
toothed gearing, or by any arrangement of mechanism suitable for the
purpose. Upon the shafts with their rotating cutters, being put into motion
the plate iron, brass, copper, or other material is caused to pass between
the rotating cutters, and is cut or sheared during its passage between the
peripheries of the said rotating cutters.
When I employ a single rotating cutter, or any number of rotating cutters
not working in pairs, I use in some cases a table in front of the cutter or
cutters, upon which the metal or, material to be sheared or cut is placed, and
from which it can be fed to the rotating cutter or. cutters; in other cases I
employ an arrangement of rollers placed in front of the cutters for the same
purpose. I also propose if convenient or necessary to use the table or
rollers where I use the arrangement of rotating cutters in pairs, as herein-
before described...
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Laing in the Great Seal Patent Office on
March 1865.
the 22nd
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
LAING, of Millwall, Poplar, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Samuel Laing, Her special licence that I, the said Samuel Laing, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Samuel
Laing, 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

page_text: term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS FOR CUTTING OR SHEARING METAL OR OTHER MATERIAL,..upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Samuel Laing, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under 'my, or their, or one
of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the 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 Samuel Laing, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
My improvements relate to the construction of machinery or apparatus for
the purpose of cutting or shearing metal and other material, which machinery
or apparatus shall not only be more efficient and durable than the kind
ordinarily employed, but shall at the same time be capable of performing the
cutting or shearing action with greater rapidity, and of cutting curves and
many irregular forms in plate iron, brass, or other metal which cannot be
done with the machinery for cutting and shearing now in use.
My improvements consist in the employment of one, two, or a greater
number of rotating knives or cutters of circular or other form, whose edges
effect the cutting or shearing operation, which cutter or cutters are made
adjustable, so as to suit the thickness of the iron or other metal or material to
be operated upon by means of wedges or screws, or a combination of wedges
and screws, or eccentric bushes, as herein-after mentioned, and when found
necessary I employ further a guard or bridle, for the purpose of keeping the
iron or other metal or material being sheared or cut at the proper angle for
the purpose.
When I employ two or a greater number of knives or cutters in one
machine or apparatus, so that the knives or cutters work in pairs, the said
knives or cutters are mounted or carried on shafts placed parallel or nearly
parallel to each other, so that the cutters are placed in a vertical position
to each other; the shafts are driven by spur wheels or other arrangement
of gearing suitable for the purpose. When I wish to adjust the cutters
to: suit. the thickness of the iron or other metal or material to be sheared.or

page_text: •
t
I
cut, I place one, two, or a greater number of wedges either longitudinally
or laterally above and below the busb, or when two bushes are used to
each shaft above and below either bush or both bushes of either or
both of the shafts, so that by pushing the wedges in or out the shafts
and cutters are raised or lowered or are neared or separated; or I adjust
the cutters or knives by means of a screw or screws placed in a vertical
position in the framework of the machine or apparatus, and acting directly on
the bush or bushes of either or both of the shafts of the said cutters; or I
adjust the cutters by a combination of wedges and screws placed and worked
in the manner above described; or I employ a round bush or bushes with an
eccentric hole for either or both of the shafts of the said knives or cutters, so
that by turning the bush or bushes the shafts and cutters are raised or lowered.
or are neared or separated. Upon the knives or cutters being adjusted, and
the shafts with the rotating knives or cutters being put in motion, the iron or
other metal or material is caused to pass between the rotating cutters, and is
cut or sheared during its passage between the peripheries of the said rotating
cutters. When the lower knife or cutter projects beyond the upper knife or
cutter, I sometimes employ a guard or bridle projecting horizontally from the
upper part of the machine above the iron or other metal or material being
cut, This guard or bridle I raise or lower as I think necessary to keep the
iron or other metal or material in the proper angle for being cut, and when
the upper knife or cutter projects beyond the lower knife or cutter I employ a
table or bed, upon which the iron or other metal or material rests when being
cut, and by which it is kept at the proper angle for the purpose.
I also
sometimes use a table or bed when the lower cutter projects beyond the upper
cutter.
When I employ only one rotating knife or cutter in a machine or appa-
ratus, the said rotating knife or cutter is mounted or carried on a shaft driven
by a spur wheel or other gearing, and the shaft with the knife or cutter is
adjusted by wedges or screws, or a combination of wedges and screws, or an
eccentric bush or bushes, the same as when two rotating cutters are used, and
I can also use a guard or bridle for keeping the iron or other metal or
material at the proper angle when it is being cut. I also employ a bed
or table mounted on rollers, with a knife on the edge of the-bed or table,
which knife I can raise or lower by means of wedges placed below it, and on
the iron or other metal or material being placed on the table with the part to
be cut placed immediately above the cutting edge of the knife, and the shaft
with the rotating cutter being set in motion, the iron or other metal or

page_text: material is cut by the rotating cutter and by the knife on the table on its
passage below the rotating cutter.
.
In order that the nature of my Invention and the means by which the
same is effected may be more particularly described and ascertained, I to this
Specification append two Sheets of Drawings, numbered I. and II.
In Sheet No. 1, Figures 1 and 2 represent a shearing machine or apparatus
constructed according to that part of my Invention as first described, that is
to say, that in which two rotatory knives or cutters are employed to: effect the
cutting or shearing.
: :
Figure 1 is a front elevation, and Figure 2 a'side elevation of the machine;
and in order more easily to explain the construction of various parts,, the form
of such is indicated, in dotted outlines on the respective views.
A, A, are the two circular cutters, mounted on the shafts B, B, which
receive their rotary motion from the cog wheels C, C. The upper' shaft is.
firmly fixed in the bushes or brasses D, D, while the lower shaft supported
by bushes or brasses E, E, which admit of being adjusted or raised or lowered
by means of a wedge or screw arrangement, or some other contrivance for the.
purpose as herein-before mentioned. In this particular case the adjustment
is effected by means of wedges F, F, of steel, iron, or other metal, which are
held in position and adjusted by means of screws G, G. The screws G, G,
turn in the nuts H, H, which have the form of a standard, and are firmly
bolted to the bed plate of the machine. In order to prevent any accidental
turning of the screws G, G, they are provided. with. counternuts... The brass
or bush at the part next to the circular cutter is provided with one.adjusting
wedge only, whilst the brass or bush at the part furthermost from the cutter
is provided with two adjusting wedges. The reason of this is, that there is no
tendency to lift the forward part of this shaft while the shears are in action, on
account of the forces tending to dislocate the shaft acting downward on this
spot. Both shafts, and in consequence the knife edges of the shears, are
adjusted longitudinally by means of nuts K, K, fixed to the shaft, and turning
against the back of the framework. L, L, Figure 1, are two standards,
carrying a support M for the plates to be sheared; this support can be.raised
or lowered by means of the adjusting screws N, N, working the said, standards.
The plate to be sheared is prevented from turning upwards by means of the
bridle O, the sides of which end in two levers P, one at each side of the
machine; the fulcra of these levers are at Q, and the bridle is raised or
lowered by means of the cross head, spur, or strap R, acted upon by the
adjusting screw S, turning in a boss T, cast or fixed upon the framework of

page_text: •
the machine. By this arrangement the plates to be sheared are kept in the
proper position, and are under the full control of the workman.
In Sheet II., Figure 1 is part of a front elevation, and Figure II. a side
elevation of a modification of my improved machinery or apparatus in which
the upper knife or cutter is rotating, and the lower cutter straight and moved
transversely to the axis of the former. The rotary knife or cutter A carries
aspur wheel, as shewn in the Drawing, and X is a lock catch attached to
this spur. wheel, by means of which the nut at the end of the shaft is carried
round simultaneously with the shaft. The lower cutter A¹ is attached to a
table or platform Y, supported, guided, and travelling on two series of rollers
Z; Z, Z, and U, U, U; the table or platform Y has on its under side-
immediately below the cutter A a groove or recess forming a guide resting on,
the angular shaped-rollers -Z, which are again supported by the little
standards V. The front part of the table is supported by the rollers U..
resting on the standards W. By means of the rollers Z. and U the table or
platform may be travelled to and fro.
The whole of the supporting parts or standards just described are firmly
bolted to the bed plate of the machine, whereby any displacement of the knives
or cutters is prevented. J, Figure II., shews the section of a little plate, or
apron attached to the table for the purpose of preventing any small portion of
the material cut from falling between the cutters anil getting into the bearings:
The table or platform forms the support for thé: plate to be sheared, and is
moved by the workmen. across the machine on. the rollers as the process of
shearing or cutting is performed..
(I have now illustrated by means of the Drawings two forms or modifications
of my Invention, one in which the adjustable rotary knives. or cutters are
made to act in pairs (Sheet No. 1), and another in which one-cutter is rotary.
and the other is straight and attached to a table, and I wish it to be under-.
stood that I do not limit myself to the number of knives or cutters to be
employed in one machine, whether. such be. rotary, cutting in pairs, or rotary
cutters in conjunction with the straight cutter, as herein lastly described;
neither do I limit myself to the material or metal of which the various parts
of such machines may be constructed, as for some purposes it may be found
beneficial to increase the number of cutters, and also to vary the metal or
material of which-the-wedges and bushes may be made..
What I claim as of my Invention is, the employment of rotary cutters in
cutting or shearing machines, when such cutters are mounted on shafts, and.
thereby rendered adjustable by means of wedges or screws, or the combination:

page_text: of wedges and screws, or eccentric bushes, as herein (in this Specification and
appended Drawings) described and illustrated; I also claim the particular
mechanical arrangements of parts of cutting and shearing machines as shown
in the Drawings, Sheets I. and II., accompanying this Specification.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Laing, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
SAMUEL LAING. (L.S.)