IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CUTTING CARDBOARD AND OTHER LIKE SUBSTANCES, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE •
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Mark Robson, of Clifton Road, Spark-
brook, Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Photographer, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CUTTING CARDBOARD
AND OTHER LIKE SUBSTANCES, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE
•
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Mark Robson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 19th August 1872.
I, THOMAS MARK ROBSON, of Clifton Road, Sparkbrook, Birmingham,
in the County of Warwick, Photographer, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CUTTING CARD-
BOARD AND OTHER LIKE SUBSTANCES, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE
TO PLANES FOR CARINET AND OTHER LIKE WORK," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain peculiar constructions and arrange-
ments of apparatus for cutting ovals, circles, and straight lines in

page_text: "
cardboard and other like substances to be employed chiefly as photo-
graphic and other picture mounts, and consists as adapted for cutting
ovals of a pattern oval of wood or metal having a guiding groove or
fillet made round it near its circumference, and a fixed stud or fixed
centre in the centre of the oval round which stud works freely a horizontal
slotted arm, the slot being free to move along the stud or fixed centre
as herein-after explained. A guide block is mounted upon the horizontal
arm and carries an antifriction roller on its under side, which moves
round in the oval guiding groove before referred to. A parallel forked
guiding piece having its inner parallel sides rebated is also secured by
a thumbscrew to the horizontal arm, and carries between its parallel
sides a knife holder consisting of a block of wood or metal, which fits
in between the parallel guides and is adjustable therein to suit different
sizes of ovals, and is fixed by a set screw. The cutter is fitted into this
block at any desired angle to the surface to be cut, and consists, by
preference, of a lancet-shaped cutter contained in a slot by a metal
cross plate and tightening screw, the said cutter being set up by a nut
working on a screw thread in a stem forming the upper end of the
cutter; such nut engaging in a slot in a fixed back plate. On turning
the nut the cutter will be raised or lowered, and may then be fixed by
the set screw.
The ends of the parallel forked guide, before mentioned, work in a
peripheral guiding groove or channel made round the edge of the oval
pattern. The cardboard, from which it is desired to cut out an oval, is
fixed under the pattern oval by pins or otherwise, and the cutter block
having been adjusted and fixed in its parallel guides to suit the size of
oval to be cut the arm is then to be moved round the fixed stud and
its slotted part will travel along such stud to enable the cutter to follow
the shape of the oval, it being guided by the guiding groove on the
surface of the pattern acting upon the guiding block.
When circles or arcs of circles are to be cut the arm may be made to
turn round a fixed centre without any pattern, and should be in the
form of a parallel forked guide at its outer end for the reception of the
adjustable cutter block or holder.
For cutting straight lines a cutter block and cutter similar to those
before referred to are employed guided along a straight bar of wood on

page_text: metal, a groove being made transversely across the under side of the
block, which fits and runs freely along the said guiding bar.
The material to be cut is fixed by pins or otherwise underneath the
guiding bar, and the cutter block is slid to and fro along the bar till the
material is cut through.
By having the cutter fixed to a definite angle it is obvious that any
desired level may be cut. The same mode of setting and fixing the
cutter, herein-before described, is equally applicable to the setting and
fixing of plane irons.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Mark Robson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 18th February 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
MARK ROBSON, of Clifton Road, Sparkbrook, Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Photographer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of August, in. the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two,- in
the 36th year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Thomas Mark Robson, Her special
license, that I, the said Thomas Mark Robson, my exécutors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas Mark
Robson, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 APPARATUS FOR CUTTING CARDBOARD AND OTHER LIKE
SUBSTANCES, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO PLANES FOR
CABINET AND OTHER LIKE WORK," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Thomas Mark Robson, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly

page_text: 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 Thomas Mark Robson, 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 accom-
panying Drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that
is to say-
My said Invention relates to certain peculiar constructions. and
arrangements. of apparatus for cutting ovals, circles, and straight lines
in cardboard and other like substances to be employed chiefly as photo-
graphic and other picture mounts..
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I 1
shall now proceed more particularly, to describe the same, and for that
purpose shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of
Drawings, the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in
all the corresponding Figures.
Figure 1 of my Drawings represents a longitudinal vertical section of
my improved apparatus for cutting out oval mounts; and Figure 2 is a
corresponding plan of the same.
.
'
:
A is a pattern oval of wood or metal having a guiding groove a or a
fillet made round it near its circumference, and a fixed stud or centre
pin B in the centre of the oval, round which stud works freely the 2
self-adjusting horizontal slotted arm C, the slot 6 therein being free to
move along the stud or fixed centre B as herein-after explained, or in
lieu of making the arm slotted it may consist of a rod or bar sliding
--through-a-guiding-aperture-in-the-centre-pin-A-guide-block Dis
mounted upon the horizontal arm C and carries an antifriction roller
on its under side, which moves round in the oval guiding groove a before.
referred to. A parallel forked guiding piece E having its inner parallel
-sides-rebated-(see Figure 4) is also secured by a thumbscrew to the
outer end of the horizontal arm C, and carries between its parallel sides
a knife holder F consisting of a block of wood or metal which fits in a
between the parallel rebated guides and is adjustable therein to suit

page_text: different sizes of ovals, and is fixed in any desired position by a set
screw C. The cutter f is fitted into this block at any desired angle to
the surface to bo cut, and consists, by preference, of a lancet shaped
cutter sharpened on both edges so as to cut in either direction, contained
in a slot in the holder F by a metal cross plate g, and 'fixed' in position
when set to the desired depth of cut by a tightening screw, the said
cutter being set up by a thumb nut i working on a screw thread on
the stem k which forms the upper end of the cutter; such nut engaging
in a slot in a fixed back plate l. On turning the nut i the cutter f
will be raised or lowered and may then be fixed by the set screw h.
The ends of the parallel forked guide E, before mentioned, work in a
peripheral guiding groove or channel m made round the edge of the
oval pattern. The cardboard from which it is desired to cut out an
oval is fixed under the pattern oval by pins n, n, passing through holes
in the pattern and entering the cutting board or table after passing
through the cardboard, or any other means of fixing the cardboard and
apparatus may be adopted. The knife holder F having been adjusted
and fixed in its parallel guides to suit the size of oval to be cut, the
slotted arm O is then to be moved round the fixed stud or centre pin B
when its slotted part will travel along such stud to enable the cutter to
follow the shape of the oval, it being guided by the guiding groove a on
the surface of the pattern acting. upon the antifriction pulley c in tho
guiding block D. In order to case the motion of the latter round the
curve of-the-groove a, a slight-lateral yielding may be afforded to the
block D by fitting a cushion of india-rubber o to the arm O so as to bear
against the inner side of the block:...
When circles or arcs of circles are to be cut the arm C may be made
to turn round a fixed centre B' without any pattern, and should be in
the form of a parallel forked and rebated guide E at its outer end, as
shewn in detail plan and end elevation at Figures 3 and 4, for the
reception of the before-mentioned adjustable cutter block or knife
holder F, the said arm being provided with holes a to receive the fixed
centre pin or pivot round which it is moved, the oval pattern being
dispensed with.
Ticure 5 is a plan, and Figure 6 a side elevation of my arrancoment

page_text: curved cuts of any desired length with bevelled edges. For this purposo
a cutter block F and cutter f (Figures 5 and 6) similar to those before
referred to are employed, guided along a straight or slightly curved bar
of wood or metal A, a groove a being made transversely across the
under side of the block F which fits and runs freely along the said
guiding bar. This cutter is fixed and adjusted in precisely the same
manner as the cutter for cutting ovals or circles.
The material to be cut is fixed by pins or otherwise underneath tho
guiding bar A, and the cutter block or knife holder F is slid to and fro
along the bar till the material is cut through.
By having the cutter f fixed to a definite angle it is obvious that any
desired bevel may be cut with certainty and exactitude, which will bo
found particularly useful in model making. The same mode of setting
and fixing the cutter hercin-before described is obviously equally
applicable to the setting and fixing of plane irons.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used
or carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to
me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,—
First. The combination of the pattern A with a self-adjusting rotating
arm C, guide block D, guides E, and adjustable knife holder F with
its adjustable cutter f, the whole being arranged and operating together,
substantially as and for the purpose herein-before described and illustrated
by Figures 1 and 2 of the Drawings annexed.
Second. The application and use of the combined arm and guide O
and E rotating round a fixed centre, and carrying an adjustable knife
holder containing an adjustable cutter for cutting circles, substantially
as herein-before described and illustrated by Figures 3 and 4 of the
Drawings annexed.
Third. The combination of tho knife holder or cutter block F con-
taining a cutter f fixed to any given angle, and guided along a guiding
bar A for the purpose of making rectilinear or slightly curved bevel
cuts in cardboard or other substance, substantially as herein-before
described and illustrated by Figures 5 and 6 of the Drawings annexed.