IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR COPYING ORNAMENTAL FIGURES
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Christian Meyer, of Prune Street, Phila-
delphia, in the United States of America, Manufacturer, for the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR COPYING ORNAMENTAL FIGURES
Sealed the 17th July 1860, and dated the 23rd March 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Christian Meyer
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 23rd March 1860.
I, FREDERICK CHRISTIAN MEYER, of Prune Street, Philadelphia, in the
5 United States of America, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR COPYING ORNAMENTAL
FIGURES AND FORMS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to that class of copying machines in which a revolving
cutter is used to impart to a crude object the shape and ornaments of a given,
O pattern, and consists in forming on a block or plate of steel or other suitable
material a fac-simile of any given pattern by attaching both the block and
pattern to a moveable table, in such a position in respect to a revolving drill
or cutter and a stationary tracer point imparting to the table such a continuous
pressure towards the points of the tracer and the drill, and connecting the

page_text: table to a system of slides, by which it may be readily moved vertically and
transversely, that the drill will remove from the crude block the exact amount
of material at the proper points regulated by the pattern. The tracer point is
so constructed and connected to a stationary frame that it may be readily
adjusted longitudinally in respect of the point of the drill, and in a line which
is central to or coincident with the rotatory axis of the drill, by which means
the varying length of the drill arising from breakage or from the occasional
grinding of its point for the purpose of sharpening the same, may be com-
pensated for. On the above mentioned sliding table are fitted two horizontal
circular plates, arranged to turn simultaneously by the aid of a screw and
worm wheels, whereby ornamental figures and forms on circular objects, such
as cups, may be accurately copied. The sliding table is further provided with
antifriction rollers, which are interposed between it and the fixed slide or
guiding plate upon which it moves. The above mentioned continuous pressure
which is imparted to the table in the direction of the drill or cutter, is derived
from a weighted lever arm and antifriction roller or other equivalent
device.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederick Christian Meyer in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 20th September 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
CHRISTIAN MEYER, of Prune Street, Philadelphia, in the United States of
America, Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Frederick Christian Meyer, Her special license that the said
Frederick Christian Meyer, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Frederick Christian Meyer, my executors, administrators,
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR COPYING ORNAMENTAL FIGURES

page_text: AND FORMS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Frederick
Christian Meyer, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in
the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Frederick Christian Meyer, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
My said Invention relates to that class of copying machines in which a
revolving cutter is used to impart to a crude object the shape and ornaments
of a given pattern, and consists in forming on a block or plate of steel or other
suitable material a fac-simile of any given pattern, by attaching both the block
and pattern to a moveable table in such a position in respect to a revolving
drill or cutter and a stationary tracer point imparting to the table such a
continuous pressure towards the points of the tracer and the drill, and con-
necting the table to a system of slides by which it may be readily moved
vertically and transversely, that the drill will remove from the crude article the
exact amount of material at the points regulated by the pattern. The traces
point is so constructed and connected to a stationary frame that it may be
readily adjusted longitudinally in respect to the point of the drill, and in a line
which is central to or coincident with the rotatory axis of the drill, by which
means the varying length of the drill arising from breakage, or from the
occasional grinding of its point for the purpose of sharpening the same, may be
compensated for. On the above mentioned sliding table are fitted two
horizontal circular plates, arranged to turn simultaneously by the aid of a
screw and worm wheels, whereby ornamental figures and forms on circular
objects, such as cups, may be accurately copied. The sliding table is further
provided with antifriction rollers, which are interposed between it and the fixed
slide or guiding plate, upon which it moves. The above mentioned continuous
pressure, which is imparted to the table in the direction of the drill or cutter,
is derived from a weighted lever arm and antifriction roller or other equivalent
device.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the

page_text: same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all the
Figures.
Figure 1 is a side view (partially in section) of my improved machine, as
adapted to the cutting of ornamental forms on an object with a flat surface.
Figure 2 represents the same applied to the cutting of ornamental forms on
circular surfaces; Figure 3 is an end view of the machine; Figure 4 is a
sectional plan on the line 1, 2, Figure 1; and Figure 5 is a section of the
table and slide drawn to an enlarged scale.
A is the framework of the machine, secured to any suitable bench or
table B; the portion a of the frame which rests on the bench is constructed
after the manner of an ordinary headstock for a lathe, and has a spindle C
furnished with the usual cone pulley, and adapted to receive the cutting tool
or drill e. To the lower projecting portion 6 of the frame A is fitted a sliding
table E, in such a manner that it can have a vertical movement only, and this
in a direction at right angles to the central line of rotation or axis of the
spindle C, the vertical position of this table being controlled by the screw F,
in the manner best observed on reference to Figure 1. To the table E is
secured a plate G, furnished with a screw c, having a suitable handle d, the
said screw being adapted to a nut on the under side of the slide H, which has
inclined projections f, f, adapted to inclined ribs on the plate G (as seen in
Figures 1 and 2), so that the slide which is controlled by the screw c can be
moved horizontally in a transverse direction at right angles to the line of
rotation of the spindle C. The slide H has a longitudinal dovetailed pro-
jection of the same form as, but somewhat less than, a longitudinal dovetailed
recess in the table I, the surfaces of the latter being maintained free from
contact with those of the former at the top by the antifriction rollers m, m,
and at the inclined sides by similar antifriction rollers n, n, as best observed
on reference to the enlarged sectional view, Figure 5, so that whilst the table I
is capable of moving by the application of the slightest force in a line parallel
with the centre of rotation or axis of the spindle C, and at right angles to the
direction in which the slide H moves, the table is prevented by the rollers
from moving in any other direction. K and K are two circular plates,
having spindles passing through and turning in the table I, the edges of the
plates being provided with teeth adapted to the threads of the screw J, which
turns at one end in the projection P of the table, and at the opposite end in
the vertical portion of the said table, the projecting portion of the screw being
furnished with a suitable handle, or with pulleys for receiving a strap. The
overhanging portion g of the frame has a projection j, furnished with a tracer q

page_text: the point of which is in a continuation of the centre line of rotation or axis of
the spindle C. This tracer consists of a screwed rod pointed at the end, and
furnished with two nuts, one on each side of the frame, through which the
pin passes, so that by turning the nuts it may be adjusted longitudinally at
pleasure. On the outer end of the overhanging portion 9 of the frame are a
number of holes, to any of which an arm M may be connected, this arm being
provided with a weighted lever N, and at its lower end with a pin P, having
a rounded or spherical pulley Q, which bears against the vertical portion of
the table I, the pin being so connected to the arm that it may turn freely
therein.
Supposing my improved machine to be required for operating on a flat
object, as, for instance, a flat plate of steel, which has to be formed into a die
for stamping the ornamental work of silver or plated wares. The original
pattern of the die may be produced in a variety of ways, one of the readiest
plans being to mould it in wax or other plastic material, and from this to take
an electrotype or casting, having a surface sufficiently hard to admit of its
being used in connection with my machine. This pattern, represented at X
(Figure 1), is secured to the inside of the vertical portion of the table I, which
is entered between the roller Q of the arm M and the adjustable tracer point q.
A vertical plate R is secured to the table I, and to the inside of this plate is
attached the block of steel or other metal y from which the die has to be
formed, the situation of the block in respect to the drill e being the same as
that of the pattern in respect to the tracer. The weight on the lever M being
adjusted so as to operate the slide I, and cause the steel plate to be pressed
against the drill e with the desired force, and the tracer being properly adjusted
in the frame, a revolving motion is imparted to the spindle C. It will be
seen that the table I, as regards the extent of its movement towards the drill
in a line parallel with the centre of the shaft's rotation, is limited by the
patternæ in conjunction with the tracer e, so that as the table is moved
vertically by turning the screw F, or transversely by turning the screw c
(Figure 3), it will move from and towards the drill or cutter e, that is, from
the latter when the elevated portions of the pattern a are being passed over the
tracer e, and towards the cutter when the lower portions of the pattern traverse
in contact with the tracer.
Whilst the cutter revolves, therefore, it must remove from the steel plate so.
much of the material at such points that when the whole surface of the plate
has been brought in contact with the cutter, and as much of the material has
been removed, as the pattern will allow, the plate will be formed into a fac-

page_text: simile of the pattern, and the desired die will be completed. Owing to the
delicate adjustment of the table on the antifriction rollers which intervene
between it and the slide H, the most minute elevation or recess of the pattern
will impart a corresponding movement to the table I, the movement being easy
and uniform, and free from the sudden jerks which would be the result in the
absence of the antifriction rollers. It will be seen, that although the inward
movement of the table is limited by the pattern x, in conjunction with the
roller and the tracer q, the pressure of the weighted arm is resisted by the
point of the drill as it penetrates the steel plate, and not by the tracer, the
latter being in contact with the pattern only, at such time as the cutter is im-
parting the finishing touches to the die, at which time the greater part of the
pressure is removed from the table, so that the point of the latter may be made
so sharp as to penetrate the most delicate interstices of the pattern without
any fear of cutting or indenting the surface.
It is of the greatest importance that the stationary tracer should be made
adjustable in the frame since the cutter may break and require renewing or
sharpening after the die or other object has been partially cut, the length of
the drill is consequently altered to a greater or less extent, and the position of
the pattern would require alteration in the absence of any adjustability of the
stationary tracer, which by means of the nuts may be moved to or from the
pattern to suit the altered cutter.
The pattern may in many cases be of such a character that the finishing
may be best imparted to the die by a scraping action. In this case a tool of
the proper form is introduced into the end of the spindle C, and the latter held
stationary by an arm t (Figure 2) resting on a rod v secured to the framework,
when by operating the screw F, the table with its plate and pattern may be
moved up and down, or by operating the screw e may be moved transversely,
in either case the same scraping effect is produced, the amount of the material
removed from the plate by the scraping process, and the points of the plate
from whence it is removed being regulated by the pattern and tracer.
Elaborate dies, the preparation of which now requires the most tedious
manipulation at the hands of skilled artisans may be produced with facility by
the above-described machine without any other aid than that required for
operating the tables, and these may be made self-acting by a suitable system of
gearing operated by the driving spindle c, or any adjacent shaft.
When the machine is required for cutting ornamental forms on circular
objects, such as cups or other vessels, the vertical plate R is removed from the
table I, and a pattern cup secured to the circular plate K', whilst the plate K