AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR PUNCHING LEATHER, CLOTH, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES OF A SIMILAR KIND
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Simeon Heath, of Walsall, in the County of
Stafford, Saddlers' Tool Manufacturer, for the Invention of " AN
IMPROVED MACHINE FOR PUNCHING LEATHER, CLOTH, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES
OF A SIMILAR KIND."
Sealed the 4th January 1876, and dated the 15th July 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Simeon Heath at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th July 1875.
I, SIMEON HEATH, of Walsall, in the County of Stafford, Saddlers'
Tool Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR PUNCHING LEATHER, CLOTH, AND OTHER
SUBSTANCES OF A SIMILAR KIND," to be as follows:-
A suitable bed plate being provided and fitted upon a stand of suitable
size and strength I place two carriers on the under side of it, one at each
end, for the purpose of supporting a shaft which is caused to revolve
under the centre of the said bed plate. On the upper side of the said

page_text: bed plate I provide a strong frame similar to the top bracket of a sewing
machine.
Upon, the before-mentioned shaft, which is on the under side of the
said bed plate, there are two or more cams of the proper shape and size,
the larger of which is employed in the working of a rocking shaft which
is caused to move between two centres in a horizontal direction on the
far side of the before described frame or bracket. To this rocking shaft
I attach two levers, the first of which goes through a slot in the said
bed bed plate, and is brought into contact with the largest of the before-
mentioned cams, and the second of the said levers, which is at the other
end of the said rocking shaft, is connected in any suitable manner with
the punch which is employed to perforate the leather or other substance
under operation, and thus punch working within guides in a vertical
direction is thus caused to rise and fall at proper intervals.
The other cam or cams before referred to are for the purpose of]
working a suitable feed, which may be similar to either the under or top
motion at present well known in sewing machines, and the feed so
employed causes the leather or other substance which is being punched
to move along in a regular and well defined manner under the said
punch in the same way as the material is now fed in a sewing machine,
except that the feed employed for my improved machine is generally
longer, but the length of the feed may of course be regulated to any
required degree by a screw or other well known mechanical equivalent.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters l'atent,
filed by the said Simeon Heath in the Great Seal Patent Office 20
on the 14th January 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SIMEON
HEATH, of Walsall, in the County of Stafford, Tool Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her 80
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-

page_text: cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Simeon Heath, Her special
licence, that I, the said Simeon Heath, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Simeon Ilcath,
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,
usc, excrcise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR PUNCHING LEATHER, CLOTH, AND OTHER
SUBSTANCES OF A SIMILAR KIND," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Simeon Icath, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
scals, 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

page_text: under operation, and this punch working within guides in a vertical
direction is thus caused to rise and fall at proper intervals.
The other cam or cams before referred to arc for the purpose of
working a suitable feed, which may be similar to either the under or top
motions at present well known in sewing machines, and the feed so
employed causes the leather or other substance which is being punched
to move along in a regular and well defined manner, under the said
punch in the same way as the material is now fed to a sowing machine,
except that the feed employed for my improved machine is generally
longer, but the length of the feed may of course be regulated to
any required degree by a screw or other well known mechanical
equivalent.
As a modification of my Invention I cause the punch to work in a
four-square motion, and so construct it that it will partly force its way
into the material which is being punched, and then make a horizontal
motion carrying with it the material, and when it has reached the
required distance the hole is completely formed by the punch completing
its downward motion.
That my Invention may be better understood I have annexed Drawings
thereof, which I now proceed to describe.
Fig. 1 is an end elevation, and Fig. 2 a side elevation of a machine
constructed according to my Invention.
a is the bed plate, underneath which the shaft b revolves in two
bearings c, c. A hand wheel & and a handle e are shown fixed upon the
said shaft b, but the shaft may be turned otherwise than by hand if
desired. A frame fis secured upon the bed plate a, and has two set
screws g, g, between which is mounted the horizontal rocking shaft h. A
lever is attached to the rocking shaft h, and has an antifriction roller /
at its lower end which is pressed against a cam 7 by means of a coiled
spring m, and derives its motion therefrom A second lever 12 also 5
attached to the rocking shaft h communicates a vertical motion to the
plunger o, to the lower end of which is secured the punch p. Two
smaller cams q and rare fixed upon and turn with the shaft b, and
actuate a feed bar 8, whose movements are similar to those of a feed bar
in an ordinary sewing machine, and are well understood; t is a screw 3
for limiting the extent of the feed, and is a presser plate for holding
the work firmly upon the bed-plate or feed bar.

page_text: The leather or other substance to be punched having been introduced
between the presser plate u and the bed plate a, and the machine having
been put in motion, a perforation is made at cach descent of the punch p,
and the distance between the perforations is determined by the amount
of motion permitted to the feed bar s. In the machine which I have
described the feed is derived from a separate feed bar s situated below
the bed plate a.
As a modification I will now proceed to describe the machine shown
in Figs. 3 and 4, in which the punch itself is both punch and feed bar,
both operations being effected above the bed plate a. The main shaft b
carries two cams, of which that marked cgives a vertical motion to the
plunger d and punch e by means of the lever f and the antifriction
roller g, and the cam h gives a horizontal motion to the horizontal
slide 2, to the outer end of which is fixed the guide k of the plunger d.
A spring effects the return motion of the slide 2, and a slot m in the
lever fallows the said horizontal motion of the plunger d to take place
independently of the said lever f; n is a presser plate held down by a
coiled spring o acting upon the lever 1, which can be raised for the
insertion of the work by means of the handle q, and which is also
raised to release the work at each revolution of the small cam u.
เ
•
The punch having been raised to its highest position, and being
situated at or about the dotted centre line 7, the work to be punched
having been placed in position, and the machine having been put in
motion, the action of the cam is,-
-

page_text: punch, and consequently regulates the distance apart of the perforations.
A guide peg scrves to guide the work during its progress through the
machine
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is or may be carried into effect, I desire it to
be understood that without limiting myself to the precise details hercin-
before described (as these may be varied or modified to some extent
without departing from the nature of my said Invention), I claim as
the Invention to be protected by the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent,―
Firstly. The combination of parts whereby a punch and a separate
feeding apparatus are caused to punch holes at regular intervals in
leather or other material, substantially as herein-before described and as
shewn in Figs. 1 and 2 of the accompanying Drawings.
Secondly. The combination of parts whereby the successive vertical
and horizontal movements of the punch effect both the operation of
punching and that of feeding in the material to be punched, substan-
tally as hercin-before described and as shown in Figs. 3 and 4 of the
accompanying Drawings.
In witness whercof, I, the said Simcon Heath, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
six
Witness,
G. R. HOLLAND,
Birmingham.
SIMEON HEATH. (L.S.)