IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CUTTING STRIPS OR THREADS OF INDIA-RUBBER OR OTHER MATERIALS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Clark, of the City of Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Airproof and Waterproof Fabric Manufacturer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CUTTING
STRIPS OR THREADS OF INDIA-RUBBER OR OTHER MATERIALS."
Sealed the 23rd May 1864, and dated the 27th November 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Clark at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 27th Novem-
ber 1863.
I, JAMES CLARK, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Airproof and Waterproof Fabric Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR
CUTTING STRIPS OR THREADS OF INDIA-RUBBER OR OTHER MATERIALS," to be as
follows:-
The sheet of rubber or other material is wound upon a drum and caused
to revolve in the ordinary manner, but instead of working the slide rest and
cutter and the screw for regulating the size of the strips or threads by hand, I
work them by self-acting movements. I cause a shaft extending from one
end of the machine to the other to revolve either by separate driving, or by
being geared to the shaft of the drum holding the rubber. This shaft has a
long groove and carries an eccentric, so that it can revolve and traverse along
the shaft, which eccentric is connected with the cross slide rest, and moves the
cutter to and from the rubber to be cut. The slide rest carrying the cutter is
moved longitudinally by a screw having at one end a ratchet wheel with a

page_text: number of teeth in proportion to the distance the slide rest has to traverse for
each cut, and at one end of the shaft carrying the eccentric there is a ratchet
or catch which rides over the teeth of the ratchet wheel when the cutter is
moving forwards to cut the rubber, but seizes the wheel and moves it the
distance of a tooth when the cutter is moving back, thus turning the screw and
moving the slide rest onwards the distance required. The cutter may be
either the ordinary knife fixed to the slide rest, or a revolving circular cutter
fixed to a shaft working in bearings or centres in the cross slide rest, and having
motion imparted to it from a separate revolving drum.
Although I have only described one cutter, two or any suitable number may
be used, either working side by side or one or more traversing from each end
of the rubber or other material towards each other, or in any other convenient
manner.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 27th
May 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
CLARK, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Airproof and
Waterproof Fabric Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said James Clark, Her special license that I, the said James Clark,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
Clark, 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
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 STRIPS OR THREADS OF INDIA-RUBBER OR OTHER MA-
TERIALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Clark,
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

page_text: Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Clark, 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 state-
ment (that is to say) :-
The sheet of rubber or other material is wound upon a drum and caused
to revolve in the ordinary way, but instead of working the slide rest and
cutter and the screw for regulating the size of the strips or threads by hand, I
work them by self-acting movements. I cause a shaft extending from one end
of the machine to the other to revolve either by separate driving, or by being
geared to the shaft of the drum holding the rubber or to the spindle or shaft
by which the drum is turned. The aforesaid shaft extending from one end of
the machine to the other has a long groove and carries an eccentric, which
revolves with and traverses along the shaft. The said eccentric is connected
with the slide of the cross slide rest, and moves the cutter to and from the
rubber or material to be cut. Or, instead of an eccentric, I employ a cam,
which acts upon a roller on the slide and moves the slide and cutter forwards,
the back or return movement being caused by the operation of one or more
springs. The slide rest carrying the cutter moved longitudinally by a screw
with a number of teeth in pro-
having fixed to it at one end a ratchet wheel
portion to the distance the slide rest has to traverse for each cut, and at one
end of the shaft carrying the eccentric or cam there is a plate and crank pin
carrying a rod mounted with a catch or ratchet, which rides on the teeth of the
ratchet wheel when the cutter is moving forwards to cut the rubber or material,
but seizes the wheel and moves it the distance of a tooth when the cutter is
moving back, thus turning the screw and moving the slide rest onwards the
distance required for the next strip or thread. The cutter may be either the
ordinary knife fixed to the slide rest, or a revolving circular cutter fixed to a
spindle working in bearings or on centres on the slide of the slide rest, and
having motion imparted to it from a separate revolving drum.
Although I have only alluded to one cutter, two or any suitable number may
be used working at suitable and convenient distances from each other, and
traversing from one end of the machine to the other; or one or more cutters
may be made to traverse from one end of the rubber or material towards the
centre; and when the cutter or cutters traverse from each end they must be
connected to separate slide rests, and be acted upon by separate eccentrics or
cams, and one-half of the length of the screw must be right and the other half
left handed, or two separate screws may be used.

page_text: The manner in which my Invention is to be performed will be clearly under-
stood by referring to the figures and letters on the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a front, and Figs. 2 and 3 are end elevations of
that arrangement of my improved machinery or apparatus for cutting strips or
threads of india-rubber or other materials in which the cutters traverse from
each end of the rubber or material towards the centre, and Figs. 4 and 5 are
detached views of a circular cutter and mode of working it.
In Figs. 1, 2, and 3, a represents the legs or standards of the machine;
b, the bed; c, the fast headstock; d, the driving spindle; e, the cone
pulleys; f, the loose headstock; g, the drum on which the rubber or material
is wound; and h the drum shaft. On the bed 6 there are two carriages i, k,
carrying two cross slide rests l, m, each having a tool or cutter n, which
at the commencement of the cutting operations are placed at the extremities
of the rubber or material on the drum. One slide rest is provided with a
nut having a right-handed thread, and the other rest with a nut having a
left-handed thread, and the nuts are fitted to screws o, p, cut in shafts
which work in bearings in the ends of the bed b, and each is mounted
at one end with the ratchet wheel r. In front of the slide rests there is
a shaft 8 extending from one of the beds to the other, and at each end
of the shaft is fixed a plate or wheel 9 carrying a crank pin to which is
jointed the rod u having a catch or ratchet v. The said shaft & carries at one
end the toothed wheel w, connected by the gearing a to the pinion y fixed to
the spindle d of the headstock. The shaft s has a longitudinal groove and
carries two cams, each held sideways in a bracket a' fixed to each carriage i, k,
so that as the shaft revolves each cam may be turned with the shaft s by a key
or feather in the groove, and at the same time traverse along with the carriage
and slide rest to which it is held, and each slide rest carries a roller or bowl 6',
so placed that the cams as they revolve shall come in contact with them.
When the tools are properly placed at each end of the rubber or material, and
the machine set in motion, the pinion y and gearing a give a slow revolving
motion to the wheel w, shaft 8, and cams z, and the increasing radii of the
cams acting on the rollers 61 propel the slide rests and tools forwards and cut
the rubber or material, the return movement of the rests and tools being
caused by india-rubber or metal springs c¹. As the slide rests and tools move
forwards, each ratchet or catch v on the rod u rides on the teeth of its corres-
ponding ratchet wheel r in consequence of the receding motion of the crank
pin, but when the slide rests and tools move back, the crank pin is advancing
towards the wheel and causes the ratchet to seize one of its teeth and turn the
wheel a fraction of its circumference, and thereby turn the shaft and screws

page_text: and shift the slide rests and tools the required distance for the next cut, after
which the cams again propel the rests and tools forwards, and the ratchet is
coming back for taking a fresh tooth of the ratchet wheel when the slide rest
is returning, and so on until all the rubber or material is cut into strips or
threads.
Instead of the ordinary straight tools or cutters, I employ, when desired,
one or more circular cutters having revolving motion imparted to them. In
Figs. 4 and 5 one of the circular cutters is shewn at d; it is fixed to the
spindle e' working in bearings in the slide rest, and having a pulley f¹ for
giving it revolving motion by a strap from a separate revolving drum.
It is evident that, instead of having two separate screws for shifting the
two slide rests, I may employ one only, or a right and left handed screw on
one shaft.
Having now described the nature and particulars of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be understood
that I do not confine myself to any particular mode of driving the machinery
herein described, and that I claim,-
First, cutting india-rubber strips or threads by self-acting mechanism instead
of by hand as heretofore.
Secondly, the use or employment of two or more cutting knives, either cir-
cular or of the ordinary kind, for cutting india-rubber strips or threads, as such
improvements are herein described and illustrated in the accompanying Sheet
of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Clark, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named James Clark, in the
presence of
G. SEPTIMUS HUGHES,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.
JAMES CLARK. (L.S.)