Improvements in Lathes for Outting Out or Producing Articles having Curved Surfaces.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Dec., 1896--Accepted, 10th July, 1897
Improvements in Lathes for Outting Out or Producing Articles
having Curved Surfaces.
I, ALEXANDRE HÉNIN, Senior, of 5 Cité du Petit Thouard, Paris in the Republic
of France, Manufacturer of Table Ware, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to improvements in parts and tools of machines for cutting
out or producing articles of wood, bone, ivory, tortoise shell, horn etc. having
curved surfaces, such for instance, as spoons and forks of all various shapes and
sizes, the object of the improvements being to reduce waste of material during
manufacture.
The machine comprises: First a chuck mounted in the centre of a lathe having
a horizontal axis, the shape and size of which are chosen in accordance with the
shape of the object to be formed and on one or several of the faces of which are
mounted blocks of wood bone, ivory shell, horn or the like which have to be cut
to a desired curvature. The chuck is placed between supports adjustably mounted
on the face-plate and arranged concentrically with said chuck diametrically
opposite each other; in each of the supports are placed parallel sliding guides
which can be caused to reciprocate by a cam-shaft in such manner that said
guides alternately come to lie either close to or far from the curved surface forming
the periphery of the chuck. The chuck is, moreover, also provided inside, in certain
cases with parallel sliding guides which can also be caused to reciprocate by
means of a cam-shaft arranged in the centre of the chuck so that these guides
alternately projeot forward or recede, so that their projecting parts are caused
to form a curve corresponding to the curvature of the object to be cut out or
formed. The sliding guides of the supports and of the chuck serve to support
and to guide the curved blade of the cutting out tool. The chuck and the
supports thus mounted on the face plate of the lathe all participate in the rotary
movement of the horizontal spindle of the lathe, the cutting out tool being fixed."
Secondly a cutting out tool, the curved flexible blade of which is several times
changed during the operation the blade used at the beginning being the shortest
and that at the end of the operation the longest. This tool is fixed at the top of
a tool-holder secured to a horizontal table to which uniform angular rotary
movement is communicated by an endless screw, for instance, actuated by gearing
driven from the driving mechanism of the lathe, so that it is possible to move
forward the blade of the cutting out tool in proportion with the progress of the
cutting out of the blocks.

page_text: will be better understood upon reference to the accompanying
drawings, in which
Fig. 1 is an outer front, view of one of the lateral supports;
Figs. 2 and 2 show in elevation each lateral support seen in the position at
right angles to that of Fig. 1; the central chuck is here supposed to have its
sliding guides removed.
Fig. 3 shows in front view and in side elevation the form of one of the sliding
guides of the supports as well as the cam shaft which passes through it and which
causes it to reciprocate.
Fig. 4 shows in longitudinal section the construction of the chuck when it is
provided with sliding guides.
Fig. 4 shows one of the sliding guides of this chuck.
Fig. 4 shows a chuck with sliding guides.
Fig. 4 is a vertical section on line x-y Fig. 1" showing the blocks of material M
secured to the chucks and the cuts formed by the cutting out tool;
Fig. 4 is an end view of the chuck and the lugs or flanges by which it is
secured.
Fig. 5 shows a cutting out tool having a long flexible blade corresponding say
to one of the stages of cutting out. The blade being a long one would be used in
one of the later stages of the operation ; 12,
Fig. 6 shows in plan and
Fig. 7 in front elevation on a different scale, the manner in which the chuck
and the supports are fixed to the lathe T and the position of the tool holders...
The chuck a the top and bottom faces of which are flat is fixed in the centre
of the face plate b of the lathe ; to this rotating face-plate 6 are attached
supports which are arranged parallel to and at equal distances from its axis:
Opposite the chuck a the face plate 6 is provided with a wide slot 61 which extends
to a greater or less degree into the face-plate; through this slot or opening is
introduced the rear ends of the blocks of material M to be cut or formed which
rest with their plane surfaces on one or other of the plane faces a¹ of the chuck a
which serves to receive them. These blocks are rectangular pieces, one such piece
being placed on the flat top and the other against the flat bottom surface of the
chuck, and are held firmly pressed against said faces in desired position by the
jaws m m which are adjustable in the slot 6' and may be caused to approach
to or recede from the axis of the lathe by means of screw bolts d revolving in fixed
nuts secured in recesses of the face-plate b. A short tool is first placed in the
tool-holder and the face plate with the supports, chuck and blocks of material
rotated. The fixed tool cuts into the solid blocks of one side of, say the top block,
and after having passed through it and cut a groove in it, comes out of it. At this
moment it is between the curved side surface of the chuck and the curved surface
of the guides in the support so that it is, firmly guided and when the block has
made one revolution it enters again at the same groove. Meantime the tool has
been moved forward towards the face-plate so that now it cuts a longer groove in
the block, the beginning portion of said longer groove coinciding with the groove
cut first and so on. When the blade has cut a groove equal to its own length a
longer blade is substituted and so on. Under the chuck a and on the same table
as the lathe is arranged a circular movable table e which carries a frame f on the
top of which is arranged a tool holder f¹ in which is removably fixed the cutting
out tool g (Fig. 5); the frame f is provided with a handle which enables the
tool to be brought to the desired position.
On one part of the periphery of the table e is secured a toothed sector el having
helical teeth, secured to a sliding bracket i which can slide between bars j so as to
be capable of receding when desired, from the table e; a nut having lugs or
ears enables the bracket i and the toothed sector e¹ to be secured in place to
enable the portion of the helical toothed wheel to engage with an ordinary endless
screw which thus communicates to the table e a rotary angular motion in
accordance with the movement of the chuck a.

page_text: The cutting tool (Fig. 6) consists of a handle 9 provided with bolts some of
them projecting and others sunk and of an arched Hexible blade g' of variable
length.
On the table of the lathe is arranged another tool-holder A which is fixed and
also serves as a rest for the tool which is employed for the cutting out..
The supports e are provided with one or several rectangular grooves into which are
placed a number of sliding guides k which are juxtaposed in such manner that
their arched parts which form the guiding surface are arranged towards the
chuck a cam-shaft is then passed through the openings 1 of these guides, said
shaft being supported at its ends and in the middle, or in several parts of its length,
in case of a long slide in bearings e secured to the support. This shaft nis
provided with a square portion n¹ at its outer end, and the cams with which this
shaft is provided are of the same length as the guides k and they alternate on
its periphery; so that by causing it to rotate one or the other series of the guides k
is caused to appear. As the length and the shape of these guides are selected so
as to correspond to the curvature to be given to the article it will be understood
that these guides will firmly support the tool at the moment when it comes out
from the block during the cutting out operation and guide it to cause it to
penetrate into the block on the other face a¹ of the chuck exactly at the same
groove which the tool has previously formed.
When the chuck a is provided with sliding guides, these juxtaposed and
overlapping parts (Fig. 4) rest in wide rectangular grooves made in the chuck
between its two plane faces a¹ which serves as a support to the blocks to be cut
out, and the guides are alternately caused to reciprocate so as to approach or to
recede from the axis of the chuck, by the partial rotary movement of the cam-
shaft o which passes through the chuck and the cams of which passes through
the openings q of the guides p move them away in one or the other direction in
order to cause them to press or to guide the cutting out tool according to the
desired curvature to be given to the blocks.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is:-
1. In a machine for forming or cutting out articles having curved surfaces such
for instance as spoons and forks from wood, bone, ivory, tortoise shell, horn and
similar materials the combination of a cutting out tool g having a curved flexible
blade g of a length variable for each stage of the operation with a chuck a on
the faces a of which are mounted blocks of the material to be cut said chuck
being fixed in the centre of the face-plate b of a rotary horizontal lathe and two
supports e secured to the revolving face-plate & of the lathe and arranged
symmetrically and diametrically opposite each other on either side of ita centre;
said supports being provided with sliding juxtaposed guides k which are adjusted
by means of a cam-shaft n, in order to alternately bring them nearer to or further
from the axis of the lathe in such manner that these guides & guide the cutting out
tool g when it comes out of the material operated upon and guide it according to
the curvature desired be given to the articles, substantially as described and
illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
2. In a machine for cutting out or forming articles having curved surfaces
comprising a cutting out tool, as g, and symmetric supports, as c, provided
with sliding guides as k, said supports being mounted diametrically opposite
each other on a revolving face-plate as & of a horizontal lathe the com-
bination with these parts of a chuck a on the opposite sides a of which are secured
the blocks to be cut out, said chuck being provided with juxtaposed sliding
guides 2 which may be moved away from or nearer to its axis by means of a
cam-shaft n, in order to guide and support the tool on its two faces when it comes
out from the block or material operated upon according to the outer and inner
curvature to be given to the articles to be formed substantially as described and
illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

page_text: 3. The combination and arrangement of parts forming a complete machine for
cutting out or forming articles having curved surfaces, such as spoons forks and
the like, substantially as described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 2nd day of December 1896
BOULT & WADE
Agents for the Applicant.