CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SOWING, RASPING, OR DIVIDING WOODS OR TANNERS' BARK
Year: 1840

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHAL COME, 1, HUMAS
GADD MATTHEWS, of the City of Bristol, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Fifth day of May, in the third year of Her reign, did, for Her-
self, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Thomas Gadd
Matthews and Robert Leonard, of the City of Bristol, Merchant, Her especial
license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that we, the said Thomas
Gadd Matthews and Robert Leonard, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, and such others as we, the said Thomas Gadd Matthews and Robert
Leonard, our executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of
years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and.
vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in.
all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, our Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SOWING, RASPING, OR DIVIDING
WOODS OR TANNERS' BARK;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a
proviso, obliging us, the said Thomas Gadd Matthews and Robert Leonard,
by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals, or under the hand and
seal of one of us, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of our said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the
same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six

page_text: calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited
Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will
more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Thomas Gadd Matthews (on behalf of myself and of the said Robert Leonard),
do hereby declare that the nature of our said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, is particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following description thereof, reference being had to the Draw-
ings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say)-
Our Invention of improvements in machinery or apparatus for sawing,
rasping, or dividing woods or tanners' bark, consists in certain arrangements
of circular saws, by means of which we are enabled to reduce wood or bark
to a finely divided state for the use of dyers or tanners in a more economical
and expeditious manner than has been effected heretofore. The peculiar
feature of the Invention is, combining or attaching a number of circular saws
upon a rotary spindle in such an arrangement that, although not in immediate
contact, they are placed so nearly contiguous to one another that when any
piece of wood or quantity of bark is brought under their operation it will be
sawn, rasped, or reduced to a finely divided condition without leaving any
veneer.
But in order that our Invention may be more clearly understood, we have
attached to these Presents a Sheet of Drawings, in which we have shewn the
arrangement of mechanical parts whereby we carry our Invention advan-
tageously into effect.
Fig. 1 is a plan view, and Fig. 2 a side elevation, of the apparatus. In
each of these Figures similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.
The circular saws a, a, are attached to a spindle b, which is mounted in adjust-
able bearings. The peculiar construction of the saw barrel will be seen upon
inspecting the Drawing, Fig. 1. The circular saws or discs of metal are
mounted on their spindle at an oblique angle thereto, and the spaces between
each saw is filled up or occupied by pieces of wood, felt, metal, pasteboard, or
other suitable substance. The saws, when properly arranged upon the spindle,
are then screwed up between two cheeks by means of the bolts and nuts c, c, c, c.
As the saws become worn away by frequent use, the bearings which carry the
shaft on which they are mounted must be brought forward a little; this is
effected by means of the adjusting screws y, y. The log of wood is shewn at
rotary saws at e by means of
d, d, and is brought under the operation of the
the gearing shewn in the Drawing and hereafter described, assisted by the

page_text: gravity of the wood itself; by these means it is caused to slide or move down
the inclined trough f,f,f, as its lower end becomes sawn or rasped away by the
action of the rotary saws. The upper end of the log is kept steady by the pins
or spikes g, g, which are attached to the end of the sliding rack h. A counter-
balance weight i is attached to the other end of the rack by a cord or chain
j, which passes over a pulley k; this weight is intended to facilitate the opera-
tion of pulling up the rack when a fresh log is intended to be placed in the
trough ff, to be operated upon. Fast and loose pulleys 1, 1, are mounted on
the driving shaft, and rotary motion is communicated to them from a steam
engine or other prime mover. On the same shaft are mounted other pulleys
m, m, which communicate motion by means of a strap to the pulleys n, n,
which are mounted on a shaft o above. A bevil friction wheel p is mounted
on the shaft o, and revolves in contact with the larger bevil friction wheel 9,
which is mounted loosely on the upright shaft r, and by means of a common
clutch box v, mounted on the upright shaft r immediately below the wheel q,
the said shaft is made to revolve in its bearings. A worm or endless screw s
is formed on the shaft r, and as it revolves it communicates a slow rotary
motion to the large worm wheel t, on the axle of which a pinion u is mounted.
This pinion gears into the sliding rack h, and causes it slowly to move down
the trough ff, and thereby keep the log of wood constantly under the
operation of the rotary saws. When a fresh log of wood is required to be
operated upon, the under part of the clutch box v is lowered by means of the
lever and rod w, so as to throw the two parts of the said clutch box out of
gear; then, upon turning the handle x on the axis of the worm wheel, the said
wheel and pinion will be turned back, and by that means the sliding rack will
be brought back again into its original position, as shewn in Fig. 2.
Having now described our Invention, and the manner of carrying the same
into effect, we wish it to be understood that we do not intend to confine our-
selves to the precise arrangement of mechanism herein shewn, as it may be
varied in different ways without departing from the principle or nature of our
Invention; but we claim as the Invention secured to us by the herein-before
in part recited Letters Patent, the application of rotary circular saws to the
sawing, rasping, or reducing to powder of woods or tanners' bark for the use
of dyers or tanners in whatever manner the said saws may be applied.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Gadd Matthews, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty.
THOMAS GADD (L.s.) MATTHEWS.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fifth day of November, in the
fourth year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said Thomas Gadd
Matthews came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and
acknowledged the instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein
contained and specified, in form above written. And also the instrument
aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the fifty-
fifth year of the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the Fifth day of November, One thousand eight hundred and
forty.