Improvements in Match-making Machinery.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Sept., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 9th June, 1890-Accepted, 12th July, 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Match-making Machinery.
1, EDWIN PAUL, of 83 Newby Street, Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
According to my present invention I construct machinery for cutting match splints
from veneer and coiling the said splints between tapes preparatory to the dipping
process as follows:-
The veneer upon which the machine is to operate has a thickness equal to that of
the match splints, and is previously prepared by being cut into strips of a convenient
length-say two to three feet-and of a breadth equal to the length of two matches,
the grain of the wood running across the strips.
The main frame-work of the machine has a vertical main driving shaft supported in
suitable bearings and having a fly-wheel and driving pulley near its lower end, and a
crank pin at its upper end for driving the cutters, which will hereinafter be termed
lower cutters.
These lower cutters are plates of steel of a thickness equal to that of the splints and
having a cutting face a little wider than the breadth of the strips to be cut. The
breadth of the cutters is somewhat greater than the width of the cutting face and, for
a purpose hereinafter described, a tongue projects at each side of the cutting face.
These lower cutters are detachably mounted on a frame which slides horizontally above
the main driving shaft and has a reciprocating movement imparted to it by the crank
pin already mentioned. Any convenient number of lower cutters may be mounted on
this sliding frame, but I find two at each end to be a convenient number.
Corresponding to each lower cutter, I provide a thin plate of steel forming a second
cutting edge, which rests against the top surface of the lower cutter and will be
hereinafter termed an upper cutter. Each upper cutter is ground on its lower side to
an acute cutting edge and this bevel lies on the top of the corresponding lower cutter
so that the plane of the upper cutter makes an acute angle with that of the lower
cutter. The cutting face of the lower cutter and the cutting edge of the upper
cutter are in opposition so that they have a shearing action.
The upper cutter is approximately equal in breadth to the lower cutter and it is
detachably secured to the frame-work of the machine, the clamping arrangements
being such that each upper cutter bears with an elastic pressure upon the upper
surface of the lower cutter. The object of the tongues at each side of the cutting
face of the lower cutters already, described is to prevent the upper cutter from
springing down when the cutting face of the lower cutter recedes from the cutting
edge of the upper cutter.
The cutting edges of the upper cutters are square with the direction of motion of
the lower cutters, and the cutting faces of the latter are, by preference, slightly
oblique, in order that the cutting or shearing may be gradual.
Immediately above the cutting edges of each pair of cutters is a receptacle for the
strips of veneer to be cut. The back of the receptacle can be opened for the insertion
of the strips, several of which are superposed and simultaneously inserted, the length
of the strips being vertical. The front of the receptacle holds the front strip of veneer
in the correct position to be operated upon by the cutters, and as the cutting proceeds
the front strip is fed downwards as bereinafter described. As soon as the front
strip of veneer is completely cut into splints the next strip is automatically pushed
forward and becomes the front strip, and the process goes on until all the strips
have thus been cut into splints.
The bottom part of the front of each receptacle where it abuts against the upper

page_text: cutter is for a small height capable of a very slight forward motion and is pressed
backwards by a spring. The object of this is that, while the cutting is going on, the
pressure of the strip of veneer will force this part slightly forward and so expose
the sharp edge of the upper cutter, and on the other hand while the strip of veneer
is being fed down between the cutting strokes, there will be no obstruction to its
descent.
The back of the receptacle is conveniently operated, in conjunction with the
corresponding back of the opposite receptacle, by two pairs of rods forming toggle
joints, pivotted on a sleeve sliding on a vertical spindle between the receptacles.
The sleeve is lifted by hand to insert the strips and is pressed downwards by a
spring so as to keep the strips of veneer continuously pressed towards the fronts of
the receptacles while the machine is in operation.
The feeding of the front strips of veneer is accomplished as follows. In front of
each receptacle, which is partially open in front, I provide a vertical spindle which
is driven by shafting and gearing from the main driving shaft.
On this spindle I form a number of thin sharp-edged screw threads which partially
penetrate the front strip of veneer, and so feed it downwards as the feed spindle
rotates. In order that the feed may be intermittent and may cease during the
actual cutting, the screw threads only extend round a portion (about one quarter)
of the circumference, the pitch being such as to give the proper amount of feed,
equal to the thickness of the splints, while the feed spindles rotate through this
portion of a revolution.
The arrangements for coiling the splints between tapes are as follows:-
For each pair of cutters I provide two reels of tape. These reels are carried
on bushes as hereinafter more fully described, the bushes being mounted on studs on
a sliding frame carried on the main frame-work of the machine and always drawn
towards the cutters by a chain and weight. This sliding frame will hereinafter be
termed the reel frame. One tape is taken over a leading pulley and led over the top
of the lower cutter. The other tape is similarly led under the bottom of the lower
cutter and the two tapes are then superposed and coiled on a third stud attached to
the reel frame.
The coiling is effected by a serrated feed-roller driven by gearing from the main
shaft, which bears against the outside of the reel of doubled tape. The weight already
mentioned always draws the reel against the feed-roller with sufficient force to ensure
a frictional grip, and as the reel grows in size the reel frame is forced back. By
driving the reel from the periphery a constant speed is maintained in the tapes.
The action of the coiling part of the machine is as follows:-At each stroke of the
lower cutter, a splint is cut off and pushed forward by the cutting face of the lower
cutter between the upper and lower tapes. As the lower cutter recedes the splint is
gripped between the tapes and carried forward into the reel and coiled therein, where
it is retained between the spiral convolutions of the two tapes.
As soon as the coil is completed, the ends are secured and it is removed from the
machine.
It is necessary that the splints when coiled should all be pitched regularly a sufficient
distance apart to prevent them from adhering to each other after being dipped.
As the splints are fed into the tapes by a positive feed, they can be pitched with
practically perfect regularity and with any desired pitch, depending upon the peripheral
speed of the feed rollers in relation to the strokes of the cutters.
Each reel is mounted on a metallic bush to which the end of the tape is secured by
a stud.
In the case of the reels which are being coiled, the bush fits freely on a stud on the
reel frame.
In the case of the reels which are being uncoiled it is necessary to maintain a certain
resistance to the uncoiling so as to maintain a suitable tension in the tapes. For this
purpose the reel bush fits freely on to a second bush on which it is feathered and which
term a friction bush. This friction bush is internally coned at each end and revolves

page_text: on a pair of conical frusta feathered on the stud on the reel frame and which can be
tightened by a handwheel and spiral spring.
The reel frame is fitted with a rack motion and pawl by which it can be drawn back
while the full reels are being removed.
Two sets of coiling apparatus can be conveniently mounted on the same reel frame.
In this case the studs upon which the reels are to be coiled are not mounted directly
on the reel frame but are each mounted on a lever which I term an equalising lever
in order that an equal pressure may be maintained against each feed roller although
one reel may be slightly larger than the other. The longer arms of the two equalising
levers are connected by a metallic tape or chain passing over a straining pulley so that
each lever necessarily presses its reel with the same force against the corresponding
feed roller
Dated this 6th day of September 1889.
SLOAN & LLOYD BARNES,
26, Castle Street, Liverpool, Applicant's Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Match-making Machinery.
1, EDWIN PAUL of 83 Newby Street Liverpool in the county of Lancaster, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
According to my present invention, I construct. machinery for cutting match splints
from veneer and coiling the said splints between tapes preparatory to the dipping
process as follows:-
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Match-making Machinery.
1, EDWIN PAUL of 83 Newby Street Liverpool in the county of Lancaster, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:'
According to my present invention, I construct. machinery for cutting match splints
from veneer and coiling the said splints between tapes preparatory to the dipping
process as follows:
:-
the accompanying drawings which serve to illustrate my invention,
Fig. I is an elevation of the machine,
Fig. II is a plan partly in section on the line A A of Fig. IV,
Fig. 111 is an end elevation, the reel frame being removed,
Fig. IV is a sectional elevation partly on the line B B and partly on the line CC
of Fig. II,
Fig. V is a sectional plan on the line D D of Fig. IV the upper cutters 12 being
removed and
Fig. Vi is a sectional elevation on the line E E of Fig. IV.
Figs. VII to XIV inclusive show details.
Throughout the drawings, similar parts are indicated by the same reference
figures and in the case of sectional views the direction in which they are viewed
is indicated by the small arrows adjacent to the letters denoting the plane of
section.
The veneer upon which the machine is to operate has a thickness equal to that
of the match splints and is previously prepared by being cut into strips of a
convenient length, say two to three feet and of a breadth equal to the length of two
matches, the grain of the wood running across the strips.
1 is the lower frame work of the machine, carrying the main driving shaft 2 fitted
with fly wheel 3, driving pulley 4, crank dise 5 and crank pin 6. The crank pin 6
imparts a reciprocating movement to the cutter frame 7 which slides in suitable
adjustable slides 8 as shown in Fig. Vl and carries the four lower cutters 9 which are
securely clamped to it.
These lower cutters are shown to larger scale in Figs. VII and VIII. Each is a
plate of steel of a thickness equal to that of the splints and has a cutting face 10 a
little wider than the length of the splints, and also two tongues 11 for a purpose to
be hereinafter described; the cutting face 10 is made slightly oblique to the axis of
the cutter in order that the cutting or shearing may be somewhat gradual.
Fig. 1 is an end elevation, the reel frame being removed,
Fig. IV is a sectional elevation partly on the line B B and partly on the line CC
of Fig. II,
Fig. V is a sectional plan on the line D D of Fig. IV the upper cutters 12 being
removed and
Fig. VI is a sectional elevation on the line E E of Fig. IV.
Figs. VII to XIV inclusive show details.
Throughout the drawings, similar parts are indicated by the same reference
figures and in the case of sectional views the direction in which they are viewed
is indicated by the small arrows adjacent to the letters denoting the plane of
section.
The veneer upon which the machine is to operate has a thickness equal to that
of the match splints and is previously prepared by being cut into strips of a
convenient length, say two to three feet and of a breadth equal to the length of two
matches, the grain of the wood running across the strips.
1 is the lower frame work of the machine, carrying the main driving shaft 2 fitted
with fly wheel 3, driving pulley 4, crank disc 5 and crank pin 6. The crank pin 6
imparts a reciprocating movement to the cutter frame 7 which slides in suitable
adjustable slides 8 as shown in Fig. Vl and carries the four lower cutters 9 which are
securely clamped to it.
These lower cutters are shown to larger scale in Figs. VII and VIII. Each is a
plate of steel of a thickness equal to that of the splints and has a cutting face 10 a
little wider than the length of the splints, and also two tongues 11 for a purpose to
be hereinafter described; the cutting face 10 is made slightly oblique to the axis of
the cutter in order that the cutting or shearing may be somewhat gradual.
.

page_text: Corresponding to each lower cutter 9 an upper cutter 12 is fitted, shown to larger
scale in Figs. IX and X.
Each upper cutter is formed of a thin plate of steel, and its lower side is ground
to an acute cutting edge which bears with an elastic pressure on the upper side of
the corresponding lower cutter when the upper cutter is clamped in position by the
clamping screws 13 to the upper frame work 14; the object of the projecting
tongues 11 is to prevent the upper cutter from springing down when the cutting
face 10 of the lower cutter recedes from it; the cutting edge of the upper cutter is
preferably square with the direction of motion of the lower cutter.
15 is a plate sliding on the top of each upper cutter and always urged towards the
cutting edge by the spiral spring 16 and adjusting screw 17. The object of this will
be hereinafter described.
Four receptacles are formed in the upper frame work 14 to receive the strips of
veneer 18 which are to be cut into splints, a considerable number being superposed
and simultaneously inserted. The backs 19 of these receptacles are jointed to the
links 20 which are pivotted to the sliding sleeve 21 carried on the upright spindle 22;
these links form a toggle joint and with the aid of the spiral springs 23 they force
the strips of veneer with an elastic pressure against the fronts of their respective
receptacles. A hand wheel 24 operating a pinion gearing with rack teeth on the
spindle 22 is fitted for withdrawing the backs 19. In order that the veneer strips
may always be accessible, the receptacles are open at one side and latches or
levers 48 are pivotted to the sides of the backs 19 to retain the veneer strips in
position.
The bottoms of the veneer receptacles are formed by the fixed pieces 25. These
pieces do not extend quite to the front of the receptacles but leave a passage wide
enough for one veneer strip, leading down to the cutting edges of the cutters.
The means for feeding the front strips of veneer towards the cutting edges are as
follows: 26 are feed screws mounted on the vertical spindles 27 and driven by the
spindles 28 and gear wheels from the main shaft 2. These feed screws 26 penetrate
an opening in the front of the veneer receptacles and so bear against the front strip
of veneer; they are shown to an enlarged scale in Figs. XII, XIII and XIV.
The thread is thin and sharp, projects somewhat less than the thickness of the
splints and extends round one fourth of the circumference of the screw.
The pitch
of the thread is equal to the breadth of four splints, and as the screws are geared to
rotate once for each cutting stroke, they will thus, in the quarter revolution during
which they are in action, feed the veneer downwards a space sufficient to form one
splint. They are arranged to feed while the cutting face 10 is drawn back clear of
the veneer.
The screws 26 may be formed in one piece but it is preferable to form
them in short lengths equal to the pitch, threaded on to a central spindle so that any
thread which may break can be renewed.
The object of the sliding plate 15 is that, while the cutting is going on, the pressure
of the veneer will force this part slightly forward and so expose the sharp edge of the
upper cutter, and on the other hand, while the veneer is being fed down between the
cutting strokes there will be no obstruction to its descent.
It will be seen that by the arrangements described, each front strip is intermittently
fed and cut into splints; as soon as its upper edge descends below the bottom of the
receptacle, the next strip is automatically pushed forward and becomes the front strip
and so on until all the veneers have been cut.
The arrangements for coiling the splints are as follows:-
29 are reel frames sliding on the fixed spindles 30; they are feathered on the
spindles to prevent rotation and are always drawn towards the machine by chains
and weights which are not shown; by means of the handwheels 31 operating rack
pinions, the frames can be drawn back and held by a suitable pawl.
For each pair of cutters two reels of tape 32 are provided; these are mounted on
the studs 33 on the reel frame. One of these tapes is taken round the leading pulley
or roller 34 and led over the top of the lower cutter 9; the other tape is similarly

page_text: led round the leading pulley or roller 35 and under the bottom of the lower cutter
and the two tapes are then superposed and coiled on the studs 36.
The coiling is effected by the serrated feed rollers 37 which bear against the
outsides of the reels of doubled tape 38; the pressure caused by the chains and
weights herein before mentioned ensures sufficient frictional grip. The feed rollers 37
are mounted on the cross shafts 39 operated as shown by worm gear, and by driving
the reel from its periphery a constant speed is maintained in the tapes.
Each reel is mounted on a metallic bush to which the end of the tape is secured
by a stud. In the case of the reels which are being uncoiled it is necessary to
maintain a certain resistance to the uncoiling so as to maintain a suitable tension in
the tapes. Fig. XI shows the arrangement adopted; 40 is a short conical frustum
formed with or secured to the stud 33 on the reel frame, 41 is a similar frustum
feathered freely on the stud and acted on by the spiral spring 42 and adjusting
nut 49. The friction bush 43 which fits on the conical frusta has an external feather
over which the reel bush 50 fits freely..
The studs 36 are not mounted directly upon the reel frames but on the equalising
levers 44 which are pivoted on the reel frames. Their long arms are connected by
the metallic tapes 45 passing over the pulleys 46; this arrangement ensures that each
coil 38 shall bear with an equal pressure against its feel roller 37 although there
may be slight differences in their diameters.
11
The action of the coiling part of the machine is as follows:-
At each stroke of each cutter 9 a splint 47 is cut off and pushed forward by the
cutting face 10 between the upper and lower tapes. As the cutter recedes the splint
is gripped between the tapes, carried forward into the reel and coiled therein, where
it is retained between the spiral convolutions of the two tapes; as soon as the coil is
completed, the ends are secured and it is removed from the machine.
It is necessary that the splints when coiled should all be pitched regularly a
sufficient distance apart to prevent them from adhering to each other after being
dipped; as the splints are fed into the tapes by a positive feed they can be pitched
with practically perfect regularity and with any desired pitch, depending upon the
peripheral speed of the feed rollers in relation to the strokes of the cutters.
The cutting of match splints from veneer and the coiling of them between the
spiral convolutions of tapes being well known, no broad claim thereto is made
herein.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In match making machinery, the use of a reciprocating cutter, cutting or
shearing the splints individually from veneer and thrusting them between a pair of
tapes where they are retained by frictional contact, substantially as described.
2. In match making machinery the combination of two cutters in elastic contact,
one of which has a reciprocating motion by which it individually cuts or shears the
splints from veneer and pushes them between a pair of tapes between which they are
coiled, substantially as described.
3. In match making machinery the combination of a reciprocating lower cutter 9,
an upper cutter 12, sliding plate 15 and spring 16, substantially as and for the
purpose described and illustrated.
4. In match making machinery a reciprocating cutter 9 with projecting tongues 11,
substantially as and for the purpose described and illustrated.
5. In match making machinery the use of a feed screw 26 with threads extending
round a part of its circumference and engaging with the veneer for the purpose
of imparting an intermittent feed motion to it, substantially as described and
illustrated.
6. The arrangements for holding the veneers and feeding the front strip to the
cutters, substantially as described and illustrated.

page_text: 7. In match making machinery the use of the equalising levers 44, straining
tapes 45 and pulleys 46, substantially as and for the purpose described and
illustrated.
8. The combination and arrangement of parts forming the improved machine for
cutting and coiling match splints, substantially as described and illustrated.
Dated this 7th day of June 1890.
SLOAN & LLOYD BARNES,
Castle Chambers, Castle Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicant.