CERTAIN IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES OF MARBLE
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Knowles, of Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Marble Merchant, and Edward Taylor Bellhouse, of
the same place, Engineer, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES OF MARBLE."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Knowles and
Edward Taylor Bellhouse at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 18th May 1858..
We, JOHN KNOWLES, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Marble Merchant, and EDWARD TAYLOR BELLHOUSE, of the same place,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES OF MARBLE "
to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in the improved manufacture of marble and
stone for tables, washstands, mantle pieces, and various other purposes
by the employment of a revolving cutter or rubber of iron, steel, or
other metal, or of stone or other material, for cutting, grinding, and

page_text: polishing the irregularly curved edges or surfaces of the marble slabs or
blocks to any required ornamental or plain pattern; one method of doing
this is the following:-The marble being laid upon a moveable plate is
actuated either by weights or by any other suitable arrangement so as
to bring the marble in such positions as to be acted upon by the
revolving cutter or rubber. In order to guide the edges or surfaces of
the marble in the required course against the cutter or rubber a template
of the required shape is fastened on the marble. A loose washer of the
same diameter as the cutter or rubber is placed upon the spindle of the
revolving cutter or rubber in such a position as to allow the periphery
of the washer to follow the line of the template. When it is desired to
cut or formn regularly curved mouldings, rings, or segments, a number
of blocks of iron, steel, or other metal may be attached to a disc or
to a series of arms, made to revolve and causing the blocks to operate
upon the surface of the stone, the rubbing surfaces of these blocks
being reverse sections of the moulding or surfaces required.
For the purpose of finishing the marble blocks having stones felt or
other material fixed upon them may be used, acting with any required
pressure obtained by weights, springs, or other suitable means upon the
edges or surfaces of the marble. The plate to which the marble is
attached may, if required, be made moveable, so that the material
operated on may rotate, as well as the cutters or rubbers may be
stationary whilst the marble revolves.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Knowles and Edward Taylor Bellhouse
in the Great Seal Patent Office, on the 12th November 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JOHN KNOWLES, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Marble
Merchant, and EDWARD TAYLOR BELLHOUSE, of the same place, Engi-
neer, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hur dred and fifty-three, in the

page_text: sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said John Knowles and Edward Taylor
Bellhouse, Her special license that we, the said John Knowles and
Edward Taylor Bellhouse, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said John Knowles and Edward Taylor
Bellhouse, our 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF ARTICLES OF MARBLE," upon the condition (amongst others) that
we, the said John Knowles and Edward Taylor Bellhouse, by an
instrument in writing under our hands and seals, or under the hand
and seal of one of us, 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 inmediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said John Knowles and Edward
Taylor Bellhouse, do hereby declare the nature of our said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be par-
ticularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement,
reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the letters
and figures marked thereon, that is to say:
Our said Invention relates to various arrangements of mechanism,
apparatus, or means to be used in the manufacture of marble and stone
into tables, washstands, mantle pieces, and other articles for which
marble and stone are ordinarily used. In such improved arrangements
we employ a rotatory cutter or rubber of iron, steel, or other metal, or
such cutter or rubber may be of stone or other material, and it is applied
for cutting, grinding, and polishing the irregularly shaped edges or
surfaces of the slabs or blocks of raw material to any desired pattern or
device. According to one modification of these improvements the
marble is laid down upon a traversing plate or carriage, such carriage

page_text: being actuated by weights or by other convenient means in such
manner as to bring the marble into the desired positions for the action
of the cutter or rubber. And to guide the edges or surfaces of the
marble in the required course against the rotating cutter a template or
guide plate of the proper shape is attached to the marble, and upon the
spindle of the revolving cutter is placed a loose washer of the same
diameter as the cutter, so contrived as to allow the periphery of the
washer to follow the line of the template. When symmetrical or
regularly curved mouldings, rings, or segments are to be produced, a set
of blocks of iron, steel, or other material are attached to a disc or to
a series of arms, which are made to revolve and cause the blocks to
operate upon the surface of the marble or stone, the rubbing contour
surfaces of these operating blocks obviously being reverse sections of
the mouldings or surfaces to be made.
To finish up marble surfaces operating blocks having stones felt or
other material fastened to thein are used, and the necessary working
pressure for such action is obtained from weights, or springs, or other
suitable means. And the plate to which the marble is attached may be
made moveable, if required, so that the material operated upon may
revolve as well as the cutters, or the cutters may be stationary whilst
the marble revolves.
And in order that our said Invention may be properly under-
stood we shall now proceed to describe the several Figures on the
Sheets of Drawings hercunto attached. Figure 1, on Sheet 1, of the
Drawings is a longitudinal clevation of the traversing carriage which
supports the piece of marble to he manufactured. Figure 2, is a
corresponding plan of the same apparatus. Figure 1, on Sheet 2, of
the Drawings is a partly sectional end view of the carriage, shewing
also the cutting tool in side elevation. Figure 2, is a vertical section
of the cutting tool and spindle end, shewing the manner of joining
the former to the latter. Figure 3, is a side and Figure 4, a front
clevation of the machine for manufacturing marble into articles of
circular contour. The piece or pieces of marble or other material A,
to be operated upon is borne by the carriage B, which runs upon the
rails C, laid down on the floor, and is caused to move along the in

page_text: one direction by the weight D, whilst it is moveable in the opposite
direction by means of a winch attached to the axle of a pair of the
carrying wheels, which winch apparatus is not shewn in the Drawings.
Upon the top of the carriage B, arc fixed a pair of V slides E. upon
which are fitted corresponding grooves on the underside of a table or
frame F, the traverse of this table being in a direction at right angles
to that of the carriage, or across the latter. This sliding table F, is
moved in one direction by the weight G, and in the opposite direction
by means of the winch H. A second table 1, is placed above the
table F, being supported on the rollers J, so as to be capable of rotating,
whilst it is retained in position by a central pin or pivot K, working in
an eye in the lower table F. Upon the turn-table T, is fixed a table I,
of slate or other material, and it is upon this table I, that the slab or
slabs A, of marble or other material to be operated upon are fixed.
Upon the marble, and firmnly attached to it, is a template M, of wood
or other material, which is of the exact shape in profile to which the
marble is to be worked: when this template is made of wood the
edges should be defended by thin hoop iron. The cutting or shaping
mechanism shewn in Figure 1, on Sheet 2, of the Drawings consists
of a vertical spindle N, similar to that of an upright drill, and it is
driven in the same manner as such drills. This spindle N, is carried
in upper and lower bracket bearings O, and is fitted with adjustable
collars P, in order that the tool may be set to any required height.
As a further means of adjustment a lever Q, is provided, this lever
being formed with a slot to embrace the spindle and act upon the
adjustable collars R, to raise or lower the spindle, as may be required.
The cutter S, made of steel, iron, stone, or other material, is attached
to the lower end of the spindle N, being retained by the cotter T, as
more distinctly shewn in the section Figure 2, on Sheet 2, of the
Drawings. To prevent the grease or other lubricating matter applied
to the spindle bearings from descending upon and injuring the marble
an annular cup or receiver U, is formed or fixed upon the spindle
immediately below the lower bearing. Immediately above the cutter
is a loose washer or guide wheel V, which, lying in the plane of the
template M, and coming in contact with it, necessarily determines the

page_text: contour given by the cutter to the marble or other material under
operation. The action of the machine will be at once comprehended
when it is recollected that the marble to be worked is constantly drawn
up against the tool by the weights D, and G, acting in directions at
right angles to each other, so that as the edge of the marble is worked
away by the cutting tool the marble will continually approach closer
up to the latter, until the washer M, comes in contact with the edge
of the template. This will prevent the tool from entering further into
the marble in that direction; but as the pressure of the weights is in
two directions, a fresh portion of the edge of the marble will continually
present itself to the cutter, until all that projects beyond the edge of
the template be cut away. The cutting operation will then be com-
pleted, and the slab or slabs of marble will be brought to the exact
shape defined by the template. The worked surfaces may afterwards
be finished in the same machine by substituting for the cutting tool
revolving rubbers of wood, felt, or other material, which may be used
with or without sand, polishing powder, or other finishing material.
By this machine the edges of pieces of marble may be cut and finished
to any required moulding and any shape or profile, with the exception
of such patterns as have indented angles into which the cutter cannot
enter; and where these occur they must be worked when the marble
is taken out of the machine. In the modification of our machine
adapted for working marble into articles of circular contour, and repre-
sented in Figures 3, and 4, on Sheet 2, of the Drawings, we employ a
circular disc A, or a series of radial arms fixed to the lower end of a
vertical spindle B, supported in bracket bearings C, the lubricating
inatter from which is caught in the annular cup C; the spindle B,
is worked by the bevel wheels D, from the horizontal shaft E, driven
in any convenient manner. The bevel wheel is fitted upon the
spindle B, with a feather, to admit of the latter being set up or down
by means of the overhead lever F. Upon the disc or arins A, are
fixed a series of segmental blocks G, of cast iron, steel, composite
metal, brass, stone, or other material. These segments correspond
to the mouldings which are to be given to the piece of marble H,
below, and they are brought down to act upon it by means of the over-

page_text: head lever F. The piece of marble H, to be operated upon is fixed
upon a table 1, revolving upon the vertical spindle J, driven from the
horizontal shaft E, by means of the speed pulleys and belt K, the
lower horizontal shaft L, and bevel wheels M. Or the revolving
table I, may be removed, beiug connected to the vertical spindle J, by
a socket joint N, to allow of this, and the marble may be fixed down
upon the stationary table or frame O, as represented in Figure 3, in
which Figure the revolving table I, is supposed to be removed, whilst
in Figure 4, it is represented as in its place, and as having the piece of
marble II, fixed down upon it. The machine is thus arranged so that
the operation may be carried on either by causing the cutting tools to
act upon a stationary non-revolving piece of marble, or by causing the
piece of marble to revolve whilst the tools are stationary, according
as the nature of the work renders one or the other the more desirable
for finishing the marble; after it is cut, rubbers of wood, felt, or
other material are substituted for the cutting segments, and may be
worked with or without sand, polishing powder, or other material.
Where it is considered desirable several series of these segments placed
at different radii may be employed, and several cutting operations may
be proceeding at the same time. In cases where the disc or arms A,
are stationary, weights or springs are made to bear upon the acting
blocks or rubbers so as to produce the pressure required for their
efficient action upon the marble or other material under treatment.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of our
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used
or carried into effect, we would observe, in conclusion, that we do not
confine or restrict ourselves to the precise details or arrangements
which we have had occasion to describe or refer to, as many variations
may be made therefrom without deviating from the principles or main
features of our Invention; but what we consider to be novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to us by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the general arrangement and construction of machinery, appa-
ratus, or means for the manufacturing articles of marble, as herein-
before described.

page_text: Second, the systein or mode of cutting or shaping articles in marble
by means of a template combined with a rotatory cutter or rubber, as
herein-before described.
Third, the system or mode of cutting or shaping articles of marble,
wherein the template has a compound or duplex motion against a
stop guide washer, or pulley piece, on the cutter spindle.
Fourth, the system or mode of shaping curvilinear surfaces or
mouldings by means of revolving blocks, as herein-before described.
Fifth, the application and use in manufacturing articles of marble
of a shaping spindle, with a combined longitudinal and rotatory move-
ment, for carrying the working or shaping surfaces, as herein-before
described in reference to Sheet 2, of the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Taylor Bellhouse, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Fourth day of November,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.