CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MA- CHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CUTTING PAPER AND OTHER FABRICS
Year: 1845

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
THOMAS PERKINS, of Monmouth Street, in the County of Middlesex, Pattern
Card Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Twenty-second day of April, in the eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Thomas Perkins, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I, the said John Thomas Perkins, my exécutors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, and such others as I, the said John Thomas Perkins, my
executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein
mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's
Colonies and Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey,
Alderney, Sark, and Man, my Invention of " CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MA-
CHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CUTTING PAPER AND OTHER FABRICS;" in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said John Thomas
Perkins, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly
to describe and ascertain the, nature of my said Invention, and in what

page_text: manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled
in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as
in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at
large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Thomas Perkins, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following descripton thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon (that is to say) :-
My Invention of Improvements in Apparatus for Cutting Paper and other
Fabrics consists in a novel arrangement of machinery, whereby I am enabled to
actuate a horizontal saw blade or knife, and bring it gradually down through a
pile of paper, pasteboard, paper and cloth, or other similar material, placed
beneath it.
In the accompanying Drawing I have shewn several views of the improved
machinery to be employed for this purpose.
Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the machine complete, and Fig. 2 is a side view
of the same. A, A, are cast-iron side framings, attached together by hori-
zontal rods a, a, as shewn at Fig. 1. B, B, are standards, cast in one piece
with the side framings A. In the centre of these standards a slot b is
made to receive the ends of the press-follower C, which is furnished
with a screw c working in a socket d, in the head D of the framing. To the
upper end of the screw e a fly lever is attached, by the rotation of which the
press-follower C is brought down and made to hold the paper or other
materials firmly upon the bed of the machine. E, E, are brackets bolted to
the side framing, for the purpose of carrying the horizontal shaft F and crank
shaft G. Upon one end of the shaft F the fast and loose pullies e, e, are
keyed, and to the other end a handle f is attached. Motive power may thus
be communicated to the shaft F, either from a steam engine or by manual
labour. g is a cog wheel keyed to the shaft F, and is in gear with the
pinion h on the crank shaft G. i is a fly wheel on the same shaft, for steady-
ing the motions of the machine. The crank shaft G, by means of the
connecting rod K, communicates a lateral motion to the horizontal saw or
cutter h, which works in guides in the standards B, B. In the side of the
guides a series of studs are screwed, which project inwards and abut against
the cutter H to steady its motion. I is the bed, upon which a wooden table.

page_text: for holding the paper is placed, and it is further supported by a ledge on each
side of the framing A, A. In front of this framing, and working in bearings
thereon, is a horizontal shaft K, which carries two segments racks 1, 1, and
about midway of the length of this shaft a weighted pulley m is keyed. There
is also keyed upon the shaft K a ratchet wheel n (into which a catch n*
takes at certain periods of the operation), and likewise a lever o, for the
purpose to be hereafter explained. Attached to the inner side of the
framing A are the guide rods p, p, upon each of which a vertical rack 9, 9,
furnished with lugs or ears, slides. These racks are connected together (in
order that they may move simultaneously) by a horizontal rod r, to each
end of which a vertical rod s is jointed, their upper ends being jointed to
the knife or cutter.
I will now explain the mode of working my improved machine. Before
placing the paper or other material to be cut into the machine, it will be
necessary to raise the cutter H; this is effected by depressing the lever o on
the shaft K, which will actuate the segment racks, and raise the racks q, q,
together with the bar r and vertical rods, and, consequently, the cutter
attached thereto. The paper or other material is then placed upon the table
in the required position beneath the cutter, and the press-follower C is brought
down tight upon the paper; rotary motion is then given to the cog wheel 9,
by means of the handle for the pulley e (as the case may be), and the pinion h
taking into the wheel g; the crank shaft g will be made to rotate, and conimu-
nicate the required lateral motion to the cutter H. Should the weight of the
blade or knife, and the parts in immediate connection therewith, be found
insufficient to produce a good cutting pressure on the material under operation,
as is sometimes the case when cutting millboard, a weight is applied to the
pulley m, as shewn in the Drawing. When the blade H has arrived at the
bottom of the pile of paper its lateral movement may be stopped, if required,
by throwing off the driving strap from the pulley, or stopping the winch
handle, as the case may be. The press-follower C is then raised by reversing
the motion of the screw c, and the blade or cutter is also raised, as before
explained, and held in its suspended position by the catch n* taking into the
teeth of the ratchet wheel. In order to bring forward the paper or other
material under operation, so that it may receive the next cut exactly parallel
to the former one, I have provided an apparatus, shewn best in plan view at
Fig. 3. It consists of a rod t, which is mounted on the outside of the
framing A; one end of this rod is provided with a handle u, and the other is
tapped to any desired length in order that it may work in a moveable boss. v.

page_text: Attached to this boss is a bar w, which stretches across the framing, and
is furnished at its other end with a hollow rod x, through which a solid rod y,
affixed to the framing, passes, forming a guide to steady the bar w in its back-
ward and forward motion. To the bar wa board is attached, which, being
brought forward by the rotation of the handle in the rod t, will push the paper
or other material to the front of the machine, keeping it exactly parallel to the
blade or cutter H. When arrived at the required position on the table,
the paper is held down as before, and the cutter set in action, as above
explained.
A modification of my improved machine will be seen at Fig. 4. In this
arrangement. I propose to cast the standards B, B, separate from the framing,
and attach them thereto by a hinge. The cutter in this instance works in
guides separate from the standards. By this means the upper part of the
machine, which may be called the press, can be thrown back into a hori-
zontal position after the paper is cut, and the edges may be gilt without
removing the paper from the machine.
At Fig. 5 I have shewn the kind of knife best adapted for cutting mill-
board, but for woollen and cotton goods I use a straight edge, similar to that
shewn at Fig. 6.
In conclusion, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to the
precise arrangement shewn in the Drawing, as the movement of the saw blade
or knife can be obtained by the direct application of the motive power to the
crank shaft; and other modifications might also be suggested without depart-
ing from the nature of my Invention. But that which I claim, under the above
in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
Firstly, the general arrangement of machinery above described, and shewn
in the Drawings.
Secondly, the mode of communicating a lateral, and at the same time a
downward motion to the saw blade or knife.
And lastly, the modification shewn at Fig. 4 of the Drawing, whereby the
edges of paper, paper cloth, and other materials, may be gilded in the paper
cutting machine.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Thomas Perkins, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-five.
JOHN THOMAS (L.S.) PERKINS.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Twenty-second day of
October, in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid John Thomas Perkins
came before our Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the
Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the same Twenty-second day of October, in the year above
written.