IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR ETCHING OR ENGRAVING DESIGNS ON CYLINDRICAL OR OTHER SURFACES
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Muckelt, of Salford, in the County of Lan-
caster, Engraver, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
ETCHING OR ENGRAVING DESIGNS ON CYLINDRICAL OR OTHER SURFACES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Muckelt at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Pétition, on the 3rd
July 1855.
I, ROBERT MUCKELT, of Salford, in the County of Lancaster, Engraver, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR ETCHING OR ENGRAVING DESIGNS ON CYLINDRICAL OR OTHER SUR-
FACES" to be as follows:-
The original design is placed on a horizontal table, and the cylinder on
which the design is to be etched or engraved is fixed on a mandril, supported
in bearings and furnished with a friction wheel acted upon by a friction rack.
The etching or graving tools are supported on a moveable slide in the ordinary
manner, and the pointer is jointed to a compound carriage working
fixed to the horizontal table on which the original design is placed. The
motion in the direction of the axis of the cylinder is imparted to the tool slide.
in the following manner: To the tool slide is fixed a projection with a vertical
slot, and in this slot is an adjustable stud entering into another slot in a
pendulum lever suspended from a fixed centre. When the carriage is moved

page_text: laterally, the motion is communicated to the tool slide by a band attached to
the carriage passing over a pulley on a cross. shaft, on which is another pulley
for a band connected to the end of the pendulum-lever, or the communication
from the carriage to the pendulum: lever may be effected in any other con-
venient manner. The requisite amount of rotary motion is given to the
cylinder by another pendulum lever, acted upon when the pointer carriage is
moved transversely by a stud projecting from the carriage; to the friction
rack above referred to is attached a projection with a vertical slot, having an
adjustable stud taking into the slot of the pendulum lever. As the tool slide
and the friction rack are both worked by pendulum levers with adjustable
studs, it is evident that by varying the distance of these studs from the fulcra
of the pendulum levers the original design transferred to the cylinder may be
copied of the same size, or enlarged or reduced to any required scale; by vary-
ing the relative positions of the studs in the pendulum levers, the design can
be elongated or compressed, and by carrying the studs beyond the fulcra of the
pendulum levers the pattern may be reversed. I wish also to observe, that
although I have described my improvements as applicable to transferring
designs on to cylinders, they may be used for transferring on to flat surfaces.
viz
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Muckelt in the. Great Seal Patent. Office, on the
2nd January 1856..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
MUCKELT, of Salford, in the County of Lancaster, Engraver,-send greeting.
WHEREAS. Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself Her heirs and successors,-give-and- grant unto me, the
said Robert Muckelt, Her special license that I, the, said Robert Muckelt, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, -the said Robert
Muckelt, 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 FOR
ETCHING OR ENGRAVING DESIGNS ON CYLINDRICAL OR OTHER SURFACES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Robert Muckelt, by an instrument

page_text: in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertaini
the nature of the said Invention and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, 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 Robert Muckelt, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
forined, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following.
Specification thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing
(that is to say):
"
The nature of my Invention consists in transferring designs for etching.or
engraving purposes from a flat surface 'to cylindrical or flat surfaces by means
of pendulum levers acting on adjustable studs and other parts in combination
therewith, whereby the proportion in size between the original design and that
produced on the surface to be etched or engraved may be varied to any extent
within certain limits.
.1
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect, I will' proceed to describe the means pursued by-me:
Figure 2 is a front elevation; and
a, a, are the standards for the table 6,
These headstocks support the boxes
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a machine for engraving a cylinder, to
which my improvements are applied;
Figure 3, a plan of "part of the same.
to which the headstocks c, 'c, are bolted.
containing the antifriction rollers forming the journals of the mandril d, on
which is the cylinder e. To the mandril d is fixed a pulley f, bearing on the
bar or friction rack g, which is moved to and fro, as will be explained hereafter,
in order to impart the requisite partial rotary motion to the cylinder; it may
sometimes be preferable to connect the pulley f to the bar g, by steel bands.
The diamonds for engraving the cylinder e are supported in the usual manner*
in studs screwed to the levers h. These levers vibrate in the brackets i; which
are capable of being adjusted laterally on the cross beam j, according to the
number of repeats of the pattern in the length of the cylinder, as in other
machines for engraving.
In Figure 2 I have only shewn the first and last diamond levers; the
intermediate ones are placed at any convenient distance apart to suit 'the'
pattern. The cross beam jis supported by the brackets k and slide blocks 1.
These slide blocks are connected to the brackets by screws and lock nuts, by
means of which the cross beam_j_and_diamond levers can be raised or lowered
according to the diameter of the cylinder to be engraved. The requisite
traverse motion is given to the diamonds by means of the vibrating or

page_text: pendulum lever m, whose fulcrum shaft n is supported by the adjustable.
.bush P, which is fixed to the screw ý, passing through a nut in the bracket o,
which bracket is bolted to the table. The vibrating lever m is furnished with
a sliding block, in which fits the stud r projecting from the nuts. This nut is
raised or lowered by the screw u in the slot piece t, which is screwed to the
cross beamj. The lower end of the vibrating lever m passes through the
carriage v, and through a slot in the table b. The carriage v is supported on
rollers working on the edges of the slot, and to the under side of this carriage
are attached the ends of the band w, which is taken over the pulleys x and y.
The tracing point z is jointed in the usual manner to the carriage A, which is:
supported by rollers running upon the cross rail B, the ends of which are
attached to the frames C, C; supported by rollers on the grooved rails D, D,
fixed to the table b. To the upper side of the carriage A are attached the ends
of the band E, which is taken over the pulleys F and G. The carriage A;
cross rail B, and frames C, C, are kept square by the bands, X, X, and guide.
pulleys Y, Y, as shewn in Figure 3.
The pulley a, above referred to, is keyed on the shaft H, which is supported
by two centre pins mounted in bearings fixed to the table b, but the pulley F.
is connected to the said shaft in such wise that it is capable of being moved
with facility in the direction of its axis; for this purpose the hole in the pulley
is somewhat larger than the shaft, and to the pulley are fixed bearings for four
rollers, the circumferences of which take into grooves in the shaft.. By this
arrangement, when the carriage A is moved laterally or longitudinally the
band E imparts a partial rotary motion to the pulley F, which motion is
transmitted to the shaft H by the rollers taking into the grooves above referred.
to. The pulley G-revolves on the pivots-of-adjusting set screws (as shewn;
best in Figure 3), passing through part of the right-hand frame C, to which is
attached the stud I, taking into a sliding block, or passing through a slot in
the lever J, whose fulcrum. is at K. This lever is provided with a sliding block,
in which fits a stud L, projecting from the nut-M, which is raised and lowered
by the regulating screw N, working in the slot piece O, attached to the bar or
friction rack g, above referred to.
When the tracing point is being moved over the original design, which is
fixed to the table b, the stud I, projecting from the right-hand frame C,
imparts the requisite to and fro motion to the lever J, which to and fro motion
transmits through the bar g a partial rotary motion to the cylinder-e.
.
In transferring designs by means of the improved machinery above de-
scribed, the proportion in size between the original design and that of the
design to be etched or engraved on the cylinder e having been determined, the

page_text: positions of the studs r and L, projecting from the nuts s and M, are adjusted
by means of the screws u and N. The position of the stud 7 can be adjusted
to regulate the traverse of the diamonds to suit the number of repetitions of
the designs on the length of the cylinder, and the position of the stud L
according to the amount of rotary motion required to be given to the cylinder;
and as each stud can be adjusted independently of the other, it is obvious not
only that the same enlarged design may be used for producing various sizes of
designs on the cylinder, but that the design produced on the cylinder may
also be compressed or elongated, as required, by varying the relative positions
of the studs r and L. When a series of designs has been produced on the
cylinder, the attendant (removing his foot from. the treadle Q, and thereby
bringing the lever R against the set screws S, by which the diamonds are
lifted,) turns a handle on the worm shaft P, which causes the cylinder to
revolve the requisite portion of a revolution for bringing a fresh portion of the
surface of the cylinder under the diamonds. Both these operations are per-
formed in the usual manner. If it should be requisite to transfer the design
on to a flat surface instead of on to a cylinder, as shewn, the flat surface
would have to be supported on two bars, similar to the one marked g, and the
requisite motion would be communicated thereto, as above described. I would
also observe, that by lengthening the levers m and J beyond their fulcra, as
well as the slots in the pieces t and o, the design produced may be reversed.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described the manner
of performing the same, I wish it to be understood that, except as herein-after
particularly mentioned, I make no claim to any of the parts which I have
shewn and described to illustrate my Invention; but that what I do claim
is, the levers m and J, and the parts in combination therewith, for varying the
relative proportion between the original design and that produced when applied
to machinery for etching or engraving designs on cylindrical or other surfaces.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Muckelt, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this First day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
H. B. BARLOW, Manchester.
!
ROBERT MUCKELT. (L.S.)