IMPROVEMENTS IN PRESSES FOR PUNCHING OR CUTTING OUT LEATHER AND OTHER SUBSTANCES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Josiah Gimson, of Leicester, Mechanical Engineer,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRESSES FOR PUNCHING OR CUTTING
OUT LEATHER AND OTHER SUBSTANCES."
Sealed the 15th August 1863, and dated the 17th February 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Josiah Gimson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th February 1863.
I, JOSIAH GIMSON, of Leicester, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRESSES FOR PUNCHING
OR CUTTING OUT LEATHER AND OTHER SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
My Invention of " Improvements in Presses for Punching or Cutting
out Leather and other Substances relates to that description of presses in
which knives or cutting tools with sharp edges bent in any desired form are
used to cut out pieces of particular shapes. These cutting tools are usually
made about two inches deep, and two, three, four, or more are frequently
adapted to the same press simultaneously in order to economise time and
labour, but as the knives or cutting instruments and also the under blocks do
not always wear away equally, considerable difficulty is experienced in using in
the press at the same time several of different depths.
The object of my Invention is to obviate the inconvenience arising from
using knives and under blocks of different depth, and to this end I adapt to
the moveable plate of the press as many adjustable blocks as there are knives

page_text: or cutting instruments, so that each block may be adjusted separately to suit
the knife with which it is intended to be employed. I prefer that this adjust-
ment should be made by means of adjusting or set screws, so that the blocks
may be screwed up or down according to circumstances. It will be evident
that as a modification the under block on which the substance to be cut is a
placed may be made adjustable vertically instead of the moveable upper
plate.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Josiah Gimson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th August 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSIAH
GIMSON, of Leicester, Mechanical Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Josiah Gimson, Her special license that I, the said Josiah
Gimson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Josiah Gimson, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
'should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times 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 PRESSES FOR PUNCHING OR CUTTING OUT LEATHER AND
OTHER SUBSTANCES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Josiah Gimson, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Josiah Gimson, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say): —
My Invention of "Improvements in Presses for Punching or Cutting out

page_text: Leather and other Substances" relates to that description of presses in which
knives or cutting tools with sharp edges bent in any desired form are used to
cut out pieces of particular shapes. These cutting tools are usually made
about two inches deep, and two, three, four, or more tools are frequently
adapted to the same press simultaneously in order to economize time and
labour, but as the knives or cutting instruments and also the under blocks do
not always wear away equally, considerable difficulty is experienced in using in
the press at the same time several knives and blocks of different depths or
thickness.
The object of my Invention is to obviate the inconvenience arising from
using knives and under blocks of different depth or thickness, and to this end
I adapt to or employ in combination with the moveable part of the press .as
many adjustable pressing surfaces as there are knives or cutting instruments,
so that each pressing surface may be adjusted separately to suit the knife with
which it is intended to be employed; I prefer that this adjustment should be
made by means of adjusting or set screws, so that the pressing surfaces may
be screwed up or down according to circumstances. It will be evident that as
a modification the under block on which the substance to be cut is placed
may be made adjustable vertically instead of adjusting the moveable upper
plate or pressing surface.
In the accompanying Drawing I have shewn a machine or press for cutting
or punching out soles with my improvements adapted thereto.
Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the press, shewing two cutting knives and
blocks; Fig. 2 is an elevation of one end of the machine; Fig. 3 is a similar
view of the opposite end of the machine; and Fig. 4 is a plan view of the
wooden under block, knife, and piece of leather to be operated upon.
a, a, is the main framing of the machine; b, b, is a moveable cross head
provided with adjustable pressing surfaces or plates c, c, which are moveable
vertically by means of their respective screws, as shewn in the Drawing. The
cross head is supported by the side arms d, d, which are connected together at
their lower ends by the cross shaft or rod e. Links f, f, shewn by dots in
Figures 1 and 3, connect the shaft or rode with the excentrics g, g, on another
cross shaft h on one end of which is keyed a box wheel i provided with internal
teeth, into which gears a pinion; on one end of the driving shaft k, which
may be driven either by hand labour or by means of a band passed round the
pullies,. The knives or cutting instruments are shewn at m, m, and the
under blocks at n, n, the strips of leather o, o, being between the knives and
the blocks. Upon motion being communicated to the driving shaft k, the
excentrics g, g, will draw down the cross head and adjustable pressing

page_text: surfaces c, c, and by causing them to press on the top of the knives the latter
will cut through the leather on the block n. It will be evident that as the
pressing surfaces c, c, are adjustable vertically by means of their respective
screws, their position may be regulated and adjusted with great nicety to suit
the varying thicknesses of under blocks and the depth of the knives or cutting
instruments. It will be evident as a modification of the above, that the cross
head b may remain stationary and the under blocks be made to rise and
carry up the knives and under blocks to and against the pressing surfaces, or
the under blocks n, n, may be made adjustable vertically instead of the pressing
surfaces c, c.
Having now described my Invention of improvements in presses for punching
or cutting out leather and other substances, and having explained the manner
of carrying the same into effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me by
Letters Patent as aforesaid, rendering the pressing surfaces or other equivalent
parts adjustable vertically, so that they may be made to suit varying depths
of the cutting instrument and thicknesses of the under block as herein
set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Josiah Gimson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of August, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-three.
JOSIAH GIMSON. (L.B.)