IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR REDUCING WOOD, METAL, OR OTHER HARD MATERIAL TO FIXED PATTERNS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Giovanni Sconcia, of New Coventry Street,
Leicester Square, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR REDUCING WOOD,
METAL, OR OTHER HARD MATERIAL TO FIXED PATTERNS." -A communi-
cation from abroad by Frederick Baldwin, of West Brattleboro', in
the State of Vermont, United States of America.
14th July 1870.
I, GIOVANNI SCONCIA, of New Coventry Street, Leicester Square, in
5 the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR REDUCING:

page_text: WOOD, METAL, OR OTHER HARD MATERIAL TO FIXED PATTERNS," to be as
follows:-
The object of this Invention is to manufacture chair rounds, tool
handles, and other similar plain and fancy articles from wood, metal,
or other hard material by means of a lathe of special construction,
the feeding and shaping portion of the mechanism being made self-
acting.
The Invention consists of a machine of a lathe-like form provided
with a hollow mandril, through which the blank to be reduced or shaped
is caused to pass by a feeding mechanism which acts automatically as
the cutting or reducing progresses.
The feeding mechanism consists of a pair of rollers, one of which is
plain and the other toothed or serrated to give sufficient grip or hold
of the blank under operation. The rollers are adjustable by springs,
so that blanks of any size within the diameter of the hollow mandril
can be placed between them. The blank as it leaves the feed rollers
is acted upon by rotating cutters which reduce the wood or metal strip
to a circular form to prepare it for the shaping cutters. The blank then
enters the hollow mandril and passes through it, when the shaping
cutters are caused to act and produce hollows and projections upon it
according to the shape of the pattern plate, which is upon a wheel on
the side of the machine. The wheel carrying the pattern plate is fitted
in a slot in the frame, so that it can be removed and others placed in
its stead according to the length of the article to be produced. The
cutters are preferably of V shape and revolve at a high speed; they are
caused to act upon the blank to give it the proper form and shape by
means of a pin which works against the pattern plate. The cutters are
adjustable and follow the undulations of the pattern by means of
springs; they are connected by hook bolts to bell cranks pivoted at the
junction of the angles to ensure their proper working. Clutches are
arranged to throw the working parts into and out of gear as required.
The article as it leaves the shaping cutters is received by an automatic
holder, which is also a polisher or finisher, so that the article before it
finally leaves the machine is in a finished state. This mechanism consists
of a set of revolving polishing wheels, which have an independent forward
travel to carry the work along.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Giovanni Sconcia in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 14th January 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GIOVANNI
SCONCIA, of New Coventry Street, Leicester Square, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Giovanni Sconcia, Her special licence that I,
the said Giovanni Sconcia, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Giovanni Sconcia, 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 REDUCING WOOD, METAL, OR OTHER HARD MATERIAL TO FIXED
PATTERNS," (communicated to me from abroad by Frederick Baldwin, of
West Brattleboro', in the State of Vermont, United States of America,)
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Giovanni Sconcia,
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 Office within six calendar months next and iminediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Giovanni Sconcia, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
The object of this Invention is to manufacture chair rounds, tool
handles, and other similar plain and fancy articles from wood, metal,
or other hard material by means of a lathe of special construction,

page_text: the feeding and shaping portion of the mechanism being made self-
acting.
The Invention consists of a machine of a lathe-like form provided
with a hollow mandril, through which the blank to be reduced or shaped
is caused to pass by a feeding mechanism which acts automatically as
the cutting or reducing progresses.
The feeding mechanism consists of a pair of rollers, one of which is
plain and the other toothed or serrated to give sufficient grip or hold
of the blank under operation. The rollers are adjustable by springs, so
that blanks of any size within the diameter of the hollow mandril can
be placed between them. The blank as it leaves the feed rollers is acted
upon by rotating cutters which reduce the wood or metal to a circular
form to prepare it for the shaping cutters. The blank then enters the
hollow mandril and passes through it, when the 'shaping cutters are
caused to act and produce hollows and projections upon it according to
the shape of the pattern plate which is upon a wheel on the side of the
machine. The wheel carrying the pattern plate is fitted in a slot in the
frame, so that it can be removed and others placed in its stead according
to the length of the article to be produced. The cutters are preferably
of V shape and revolve at a high speed; they are caused to act upon
the blank to give it the proper form and shape by means of a pin which
works against the pattern plate. The cutters are adjustable and follow
the undulations of the pattern by means of springs; they are connected
by hook bolts to bell cranks pivotted at the junction of the angles to
ensure their proper working. Clutches are arranged to throw the
working parts into and out of gear as required.
The article as it leaves the shaping cutters is received by an automatic
holder, which is also a polisher or finisher, so that the article before it
finally leaves the machine is in a finished state. This mechanism
consists of a set of revolving polishing wheels, which have an independent
forward travel to carry the work along.
The Invention will be well understood by the accompanying Drawings,
in which the lathe is shown in its complete form in the several Figures.
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation through the line 1, 2, of Figure 2,
which is itself a plan or view looking on the top; Figure 3 is a view
looking on the end at which the wood to be reduced enters, while
Figures 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 are some of the details.

page_text: The lathe is composed of standards or a frame A, supporting at its
lower part a shaft B, on which the fast and loose pulleys C, D, are
mounted for communicating the necessary rotatory movement to the other
parts by means of the pulleys E, F. The straps from these pulleys pass up
between the frame A and over the discs G, H, for the purpose of rotating
them. The pulley E is of larger diameter than the others on the same
shaft by reason of the greater speed necessary to be given to the disc G,
which carries the shaping cutters or knives. The discs G, H, are sup-
ported upon a tube or mandril a fixed upon or in a cross brace or
bracket I, and at or about the centre of the frame A. A portion of the
exterior of the tube is threaded and has a conical head to hold the disc G
in place, the opposite end of the tube being plain and of less diameter
on its exterior for the reception of a conical socket c which holds the
disc H in place. Both these discs are thus free to revolve against or
upon the cones without imparting a corresponding movement to them.
By this means with the aid of the bracket I the tube or mandril is
held firmly in position to act as a guide to the wood as it is passing
through. The disc H is termed the reducing disc because it carries
the knives or gouge chisels f, f, for reducing the wood as it leaves
the feeding rollers d, e, to the proper diameter for passing through the
tube a, supposing the wood to be of a square or other similar shape and
require reducing. These cutters f,f, are arranged on the outer face of
the disc H, and are capable of being adjusted by loosening the screws g, g,
and shifting them as desired under the plates h, h, one of which only is
shown in Figure 4. The other or shaping cutters i, i, which are carried
by the disc G are capable of automatic adjustment by the action of their
springs j, j, as will be seen on reference to Figure 4, which is a detached
view. In this case the springs act direct upon tail pieces of the
holders k, k, which are in connection through crank plates 1, 1, with a
rod m made to bear against the edge of a wheel J or a pattern plate fixed
on it. It will be found of greater convenience to have separate pattern
plates for practical working, and these may be formed with slot and
screw holes, so that they can be adjusted into position and screwed
home tight in a short space of time, and thus prevent delays in changing
the patterns. The crank plates are formed with noses n, n, and the side
motion of them ensures the cutter holders moving on their pins o, o, to
overcome the pressure of the springs j, j. These cutters are V shaped,
and are held in the holders by screws, clips, or other appliances. The

page_text: crank plates are held in position under the rim of the disc G by pins
which are passed through from the outside, and their movement is
established by rings p, p, on their outer ends, the rings being actuated
by other rings or forks q, q, connected to the rod m. The first motion
shaft B has on a projecting end a cone pulley K for giving rotation by
a strap to a shaft L arranged at the back of the frame; this shaft L
has a beviled pinion M. on it gearing into two beviled wheels N, O, to
give motion to the feed rollers d, e, and the wheel J carrying the pattern
plate. One of these bevil wheels is fast upon a spindle P, and this
spindle carries a worm Q in gear with a worm on the pattern wheel J,
so as to work it round, and thus shift the parts of the pattern in proper
order; the other bevil wheel is on a sleeve which carries another
worm R in gear with a worm wheel on the same axle as one of the
feed rollers, so that the feed roller d partakes of a corresponding motion
therewith, and thus feeds the wood into the lathe to be acted upon by
the cutters. The feed roller d has a serrated edge to ensure obtaining
sufficient grip on the wood to pass it into the lathe; the other roller e,
which is plain, is free to rotate by the action of the wood against it, it is
however adjustable in its support so that it can be fixed nearer to or
farther from the feed roller by means of a screw s, a little allowance
for play being given by means of a spring. The worm, sleeve, and its
bevil wheel are always running in the same direction for the purpose
of the feed, but the other worm, which is on the shaft, can be slid along
and become disconnected from it and put into contact with the first-
named worm; by this means the pattern wheel can be driven in either
direction for the purposes of repeating the pattern, or a portion of it, if
desired. This is done by a projecting button head and a rod t,
Figure 6, being moved to one side, the rod t having a connection through
a pin with the worm collar. The hollow mandril can be reduced in
diameter by inserting short tubes into it, thus, if the mandril is, say,
one foot in diameter, to allow wood of corresponding diameter to pass
through it, it can by the insertion of tubes be so reduced as to pass
only 6 inch diameter wood through, or any given size between the
twelve inches and the six inches, when by adjusting the knives on the
discs they would operate upon the smaller diameter wood in the same
manner as they would have done upon the largest diameter. This is a
great feature in this Invention, as by it articles can be turned and
shaped of almost any extreme difference in diameters in one machine.

page_text: There is scarcely any limit to the number or variety of articles which
can be produced by this lathe, among them may be mentioned wheel
spokes, and naves, chair legs, table legs and rails, banister columns,
penholders, billiard cues, crochet needles, broom handles, furniture kuobs
and rails, piano action rods and walking sticks, knife and tool handles,
vent pegs and railway trenails, curtain rods and bedstead poles; in fact,
as before stated, there is no end to the variety and number of plain or
fancy articles of circular form that can be made by it, whether they be
plain parallel, plain tapered, ornamental parallel, or ornamental tapered
in the whole or only a part of their length. All that has to be done is
to set the machine in motion and enter the stuff between the feed rollers
keeping up piece after piece as the work is completed for any period.
of time. The degree of finish to the articles will of course depend much
upon the sharpness of the cutters and the speed at which they and the
discs are driven, and with most woods they will be found fit for use
without any after treatment, but if extra smooth articles are required
a pair of polishing rollers can be arranged to receive the articles after
they leave the cutters. These rollers, in addition to rotating, can be
made to slide to and fro endwise to give the required degree of polish;
after which the articles can be cut of by a saw or a cutting tool so as to
sever them from each other, or if the extra polishing is not required the
cutting off can be effected by the shaping cutters of the disc G.
In the case of a small lathe, corresponding in size to that shown in
the Drawings, a length of wood can be cut as fine as ordinary wire or
twine without damaging the fibre, as no strain or twist is put upon the
wood while under operation.
I have in the foregoing description only referred to turning or
reducing wood, but by varying the speed and the shape of the cutters,
metals and other hard materials can be operated upon.
In some cases the pattern plate is not required, as the operator can
by his own skill and artistic knowledge turn out pieces with patterns
or shapes on them which may serve for cutting the fixed patterns
from.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,―
First. The manufacture and employment of machinery or apparatus

page_text: for reducing wood, metal, and other hard material to fixed patterns
in the manner herein-before described and shewn in the Drawings.
Secondly. I claim the employment of a hollow mandril in lathes
for turning wood, metal, and other hard material, substantially in the
manner described.
And, thirdly. I claim the mode of operating the shaping cutters by a
rod bearing against a pattern plate, to which a rotatory motion is given,
substantially as described and shown.
In witness whereof, I, the said Giovanni Sconcia, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of January One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
GIOVANNI SCONCIA. (L.S.)