IMPROVEMENTS IN FILE-CUTTING, MACHINERY
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to. William Brookes, of 62, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer and Patent Agent, for the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FILE-CUTTING, MACHINERY."-A communication
from abroad by Alfred Weed, of Boston, in the County of Suffolk, and
State of Massachusetts. United States of America.
Sealed the 22nd' September 1865, and dated the 29th March 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Brookes at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
March 1865.
on the 29th
I, WILLIAM BROOKES, of 62, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Civil Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FILE-CUTTING MACHINERY," communicated to
me from abroad by Alfred Weed, of Boston, in the County of Suffolk, and
State of Massachusetts, United States of America, to be as follows:-
Figure 1 is an end elevation of a machine arranged to carry out my
improvements; Figure. 2 is a side elevation of the same; Figure 4 is a top
or plan view; and Figures 3, 5, 6, and 7, are detail views.
The improvements relate, first, to so supporting the blank while it is being
fed: through the machine, and receiving the blows of the chisel as always to
keep its top surface horizontal, so that the cut shall be of a uniform depth
across it.
Second, to an arrangement of devices or means which form teeth of the
same depth throughout the whole length of the blank, while at the same time
the force of the blow of the chisel does not vary.

page_text: Third, to feeding the blank independently of its bed piece, and in such a
manner that it always has a firm bearing immediately under where the blow
is struck, so that the file cannot possibly spring or warp, thus ensuring
uniformity of cut.
a, a, a, a, in the Drawings represent the supporting framework of the
machine; b, b, is the driving shaft actuated by a belt on the drum c. The
blank d (Figure 2) is inserted in the end of the shaft e, e, which has a forward
and back motion imparted to it as follows:-On the driving shaft b, b, is a
bevil gear engaging with a similar gear g on one end of the cross shaft h,
on the other end of which is a gear i, that through a series of toothed wheels
rotates a screw shaft 1, 1. The screw shaft 2, 1, by means of a half nut m
attached to a lever n (Figure 7) fastened to a travelling carriage o, o, gives
a forward movement to the latter. The carriage o, o, moves upon suitable
ways p, p, and carries with it, a cross piece 9, which forms the bearing of
the shaft e, e, in which the blank is held, the shaft e, e, being free to revolve
in the cross piece, q, q, if desired, but also secured therein, so as to move with
the travelling carriage o, o. The carriage o, o, and consequently the blank,
after having been fed forward the required distance, can be drawn backward
to its starting point by disengaging the half nut m from the screw shaft I, 1,
by means of the lever n (Figure 7), and then rotating the toothed wheel r
that engages with the threads of the screw shaft 1, 1, by means of a winch 8.
It will be evident that the speed with which the blank is fed through the
machine, and consequently the distance between the teeth, can be varied by
adding to or taking from the gears between the cross shaft h and the screw
shaft 1,. The bed piece or bearing which sustains the blank under the point
where it is struck by the chisel consists for round or triangular files of a
roller u (Figures 2 and 3), turning upon a shaft or axle v, v, in the direction
in which the blank is moving. The roller u.has inserted in it a hollow
shell w, w; made in halves, so as to allow it to receive a ball or bulb x formed.
in the shaft v, v, the whole arrangement allowing the roller u both to rotate
on the shaft v, v, and to receive a rocking motion or play thereon in the
direction of the transverse section of the file, as will be understood by inspec-
tion of Figure 3. The bed piece for flat files is represented in Figures 5
and 6, and consists of a semicircular bearing y, properly slotted for. the
reception of the blank, and resting in a grooved block z, by which arrange-
ment the bearing y can also play laterally in its journal z.
By arranging: the bearings to the blank, as above described, so that while
serving as a firm. bed piece thereto, they are free to play laterally, it will be.
seen that whatever may be the unevenness of the blank its top surface must

page_text: necessarily always be kept in a perfectly horizontal position so as to present
its whole width to the chisel, the importance of which has been heretofore
explained. a' is the cutting chisel set in an arm b', turning upon a bearing at c',
and lifted by a cam d' upon the main driving shaft acting upon a cam e¹ on
the shaft of the arm 6'. The blow is given by means of a bent spring f¹.
The blank is held firmly upon its bed piece by means of a lever g', 9', turning
upon a pivot at h², and held down by a spring i¹. The end of the lever g', 9'.
bears upon the blank immediately back of the cutting chisel, and has
upon it
a projection, in which is a wedge. Upon the wedge strikes an elastic bunter
attached to the under side of the arm 6'. The depth to which the chisel will
cut may be regulated by sliding the wedge in or out in its bearing, thereby
varying the extent of stroke of the hammer arm. Thus in cutting a taper
file, for instance, the chisel strikes the narrow portions thereof with the same
force as the wider parts, so that the depth of cut throughout the whole length
of the file will be the same, because by the above-described arrangements,
although the blow is just as heavy on the narrow ends, the cutter cannot
penetrate any deeper than on the widest part of the blank. n', n', is an
arrangement of lever arms for throwing off the driving belt of the machine
when the file is finished by the forward movement of the travelling car-
riage o, o, which need not be herein more particularly explained.
By feeding the file, as herein above described, independently of its
supporting bed piece, the latter is arranged so that it forms a solid bearing
at all times immediately under the point of impact of the chisel, whereas if
the blank had a continuous bearing along its whole length, as has heretofore
been the case, the blank (if at all uneven in its shape so as not to touch every
part of its bearing, or if any portion of the bearing itself is not true) would
spring under the blow and cause an imperfect cut. It will be obvious that
the shaft in which the blank is set may have any desired rotatory movement
imparted to it by means of proper gearing applied to it.
30 SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
C
by the said William Brookes in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
29th September 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BROOKES, of 62, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer
35 and Patent Agent, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Brookes, Her special license that I, the said William
Brookes, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Brookes, 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN FILE-CUTTING MACHINERY," communicated to me from abroad
by Alfred Weed, of Boston, in the County of Suffolk, and State of Massa-
chusetts, United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said William Brookes, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 William Brookes, 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, that is to say:-
Previous to explaining the peculiar features of the Invention it may be well
to point out some of the difficulties heretofore experienced in producing files
by machinery equal to those by hand.
.
One of the obstacles to be overcome has arisen from the necessity' of
keeping the top surface of the blank always horizontal, which has not pre-
vious to my improvements been accomplished in machines for cutting
files. If the top surface of the blank is not kept perfectly true and level
it will be evident that one edge alone might at some portions of the operation
be cut, owing to the inclination or "tipping" of the blank.
Exact uniformity in the depth of the teeth has also been almost impossible
to obtain in file-cutting machines, especially where "taper" files are to be made.
For instance, the wider parts of the blank require more force of blow to be
indented to the proper depth than the narrower ends, because in the first case
the cutting tool has to operate on a greater surface.
Lastly, in cutting files by machinery it has been customary to place the

page_text: blank upon a bed and then feed both blank and bed together to the cutting
chisel, which arrangement owing to the difficulty of keeping the blank at all
times upon a firm and solid bearing has allowed the file to spring and warp
under the blow, thereby producing, of course, imperfect cuts.}
The improvements relate, first, to so supporting the blank while it is
being fed through the machine and receiving the blows of the chisel as
always to keep its top snrface horizontal, so that the cut shall be of a uniform
depth across it.
Second, to an arrangement of devices or means which form teeth of the
same depth throughout the whole length of the blank while at the same
tine the force of the blow of the chisel does not vary.
Third, to feeding the blank independently of its bed piece and in such a
manner that it always has a firm bearing immediately under where the blow
is struck so that the file cannot possibly spring or warp, thus ensuring
uniformity of cut.
But that the Invention may. be better understood I will by the aid of the
accompanying Drawings proceed more fully to describe the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
· Figure 1 is an end elevation of a machine arranged to carry out my
improvements; Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same; Figure 4. is a top
or plan view; and Figures 3, 5, 6, and 7, are detail views.
. a, a, a, a, in the Drawings represent the supporting framework of the
machine; b, b, is the driving shaft actuated by a belt on the drum c... The
blank d (Figure 2) is inserted.in the end of the shaft e, e, which has a forward
and back motion imparted to it as follows:-On the driving shaft b, b, is a
bevil gear f, engaging with a similar gear 9 on one end of the cross shaft h,
on the other end of which is a gear i, that through a series of toothed wheels
rotates a screw shaft 7, 1. The screw shaft l, l, by means of a half nut m
attached to a lever n (Figure 7) fastened to a travelling carriage o, o, gives a
forward movement to the latter. The carriage 0, 0, moves upon -suitable
ways p, p, and carries with it a cross piece q, q, which forms the bearing of the
shaft e, e, in which the blank is held, the shaft e, e, being free to revolve in
the cross piece q, q, if desired, but also secured therein so as to move with
the travelling carriage o, o. The carriage o, o, and consequently. the blank,
5 after having been fed forward the required distance, can be drawn..backward
to its starting point by disengaging the half nut m from the screw shaft 1, 7,
by means of the lever n (Figure 7), and then rotating the toothed wheel r
that engages with the threads of the screw shaft 1, 1, by means of a winch s.

page_text: It will be evident that the speed with which the blank is fed through the
machine, and consequently the distance between the teeth can be varied by
adding to or taking from the gears between the cross shaft h and the screw
shaft 1, 1. The bed piece or bearing which sustains the blank under the point
where it is struck by the chisel, consists, for round or triangular files, of a
roller (Figures 2 and 3) turning upon a shaft or axle v, v, in the direction
in which the blank is moving. The roller u has inserted in it a hollow
shell w, w, made in halves so as to allow it to receive a ball or bulb formed
in the shaft v, v, the whole arrangement allowing the roller u both to rotate
on the shaft v, v, and to receive a rocking motion or play thereon in the
direction of the transverse section of the file, as will be understood by inspection
of Figure 3. The bed piece for flat files is represented in Figures 5 and 6,
and consists of a semicircular bearing y, properly slotted for the reception of
the blank, and resting in a grooved block z, by which arrangement the bearing y
can also play laterally in its journal z.
By arranging the bearings to the blank as above described, so that while
serving as a firm bed piece thereto they are free to play laterally, it will be.
seen that whatever may be the unevenness of the blank its top surface must
necessarily always be kept in a perfectly horizontal position so as to present its
whole width to the chisel,: the importance of which has been heretofore
explained. a' is the cutting chisel set in an arm b', turning upon a bearing c',
and lifted by a cam d' upon the main driving shaft acting upon a cam e¹ on
the shaft of the arm b¹. The blow is given by means of a bent spring f¹.
The blank is held firmly upon its bed piece by means of a lever g', g', turning-
upon a pivot at h¹³, and held down by a spring it. The end of the lever g', g',
bears upon the blank immediately back of the cutting chisel, and has upon it
a, prejection k¹, in which is a wedge 1. Upon the wedge strikes an
elastic bunter m' attached to the under side of the arm b'. The depth to
which the chisel will cut may be regulated by sliding the wedge in or out in
its bearing, thereby varying the extent of stroke of the hammer arm.
Thus, in cutting a taper file for instance, the chisel strikes the narrow portions
thereof with the same force as the wider parts, so that the depth of cut
throughout the whole length of the file will be the same, because, by the
above described arrangements although the blow is just as heavy on the
narrow ends, the cutter cannot penetrate any deeper than on the widest part
of the blank. n³, n¹, is an arrangement of lever arms for throwing off the
driving belt of the machine when the file is finished by the forward movement
of the travelling carriage o, o, which need not be herein more particularly
explained..

page_text: By feeding the file as herein above described independently of its supporting:
bed piece the latter is arranged so that it forms a solid bearing at all times:
immediately under the point of impact of the chisel, whereas, if the blank
had a continuous bearing along its whole length, as has heretofore been the
case, the blank (if at all uneven in its shape so as not to touch every part
of its bearing, or if any portion of the bearing itself is not true), would spring
under the blow and cause an imperfect cut. It will be obvious that the shaft
in which the blank is set may have any desired rotatory movement imparted
to it by means of proper gearing applied to it..
Figures 8, 9, 10, and 11 show a modification of the improvements, in which
Figures 8 and 10 are side elevations, Figure 9 a front elevation, and Figure 11
a top view of this modification of file-cutting machinery.
By this modification, first, a spiral movement may be given to a round blank
while being fed along so as to form the teeth in a spiral direction from point:
to tang, and, secondly, the force of the blow of the chisel may be varied at
pleasure automatically.
In Sheet 2 the tang of the blank A is represented as inserted in a longi-
tudinal shaft B that is slowly revolved by suitable gearing. The shaft B has
a spiral groove C formed in it through its entire length, with which engages a
pin D whereby as the shaft is rotated the blank will have teeth cut upon it
in a spiral direction from point to tang. The groove C in the shaft B may
be made of any desired shape, for instance, in a zig-zag form, thereby varying
the relative position of the rows of teeth upon the file accordingly.
The foree of the blow given by the chisel upon the blank can be varied at
pleasure by increasing or diminishing, as the cutting progresses, the tension
of a bent spring E, which is done automatically by the following means:-
A bar F is held by a clamp G attached to a travelling slide H in such a
manner as to be adjustable or set at any desired angle therein. Upon the
bar F bears a rod I, pivotted at K, upon which pivot is a cam or eccentric L,
which abuts against a sliding plate attached to the bent spring E, bearing
upon the hammer arm of the chisel. Thus the bar F as it is fed along
will exert more or less pressure upon the rod I, and consequently upon the
spring E, according to the angle at which it is set, and as this angle and also
the shape of the bar F can be varied at pleasure, the force of the blow of the
chisel upon the blank will be regulated accordingly while the latter is being
fed along.
Having thus described the improvements as communicated to me, I would
have it understood that what I claim is,-
First, supporting the blank by a bed piece so constructed and arranged

page_text: as to be susceptible of a lateral movement or play, so as to keep the top
surface of the blank always horizontal, and present its whole width to the
chisel, as set forth.
Second, the combination of a bunter attached to the cutter arm and a
suitable stop, so operating together as to prevent any variation in the force of
the blow while the file is being fed along, substantially as described.
Third, so arranging the feeding device and the bed piece or support to the
blank that the blank is fed along independently of its bed piece, and the
bearing to the file afforded only directly under the locality where the blow is
struck, substantially as described.
Fourth, the combination of the bunter and an adjustable stop for the
purpose of varying the depth of cut at pleasure, as described.
Fifth, the use of the semicircular bearing y moving in a suitable journal =
as described and for the purpose specified.
Sixth, the construction and arrangement of the roller u, shell w, and ball
shaft v, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Brookes, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.