IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CUTTING CORK, SO AS TO RENDER THE SAME_ SUITABLE FOR STUFFING PURPOSES
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Emanuel Bernard Hart, of New York, in the United
States of America, but now residing in London, for the Invention of
"IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CUTTING CORK, SO AS TO RENDER THE SAME_
SUITABLE FOR STUFFING PURPOSES."-A communication from abroad by
Isachar Zacharie, residing at New York, aforesaid.
Sealed the 25th September 1862, and dated the 29th March 1862.
1
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Emanuel Bernard Hart at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th March 1862.
I, EMANUEL BERNARD HART, of New York, in the United States of America,
5.but now residing in London, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CUTTING CORK, SO AS TO RENDER .THE
SAME SUITABLE FOR STUFFING PURPOSES," a communication from abroad by
Isachar Zacharie, resident at New York, aforesaid, to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to cut cork in such a manner that it shall be
reduced to a condition representing stringy or fibrous material, which is well
adapted for stuffing beds or upholstery work and such like by reason of its
elasticity or springy nature. The machinery to be used for this purpose
consists of two or more metal, discs having channels or grooves cut on their
surfaces; these discs being arranged parallel and near each other and either
vertical or horizontal by means of shafts by which they receive rotary motion

page_text: from any power, the discs moving in opposite directions. A hopper placed
above the discs supplies them with the pieces of cork which they reduce into
strings or fibres by means of their grinding and cutting action caused by the
channels on the faces of the discs. The distance between the discs is to be
adjusted by regulating screws and brought closer together as the pieces of
cork are being reduced to fibres until they almost meet together when they
are again to be separated and a fresh supply of cork is to be introduced.
The machinery may be modified or varied by the substitution of vertical
reciprocating knives for the rotary cutters according to circumstances but
for general use the rotary cutters are most suitable.
Another modification is to arrange on a shaft a series of parallel rotary
cutters under which a roller or sliding table is arranged, between which and
the cutters thin pieces or sheets of cork are to be introduced.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Emanuel Bernard Hart in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
29th September 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EMANUEL
BERNARD HART, of New York, in the United States of America, but now
residing in London, send greeting.
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-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Emanuel Bernard Hart, Her special licence that I, the said Emanuel
Bernard Hart, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Emanuel. Bernard Hart, 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-
PROVED MACHINERY FOR CUTTING CORK, BO AS TO RENDER THE SAME SUITABLE
FOR STUFFING. PURPOSES," a communication to me from abroad by Isachar
Zacharie, resident at New York, aforesaid, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Emanuel Bernard Hart, my executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and

page_text: grooves cut therein, each of these "grooves contains a knife, so that when
placed in a position for cutting, four or more tiers of knives are. visible to
produce the fine cuts desired, the distance between the knives' must be very
small, if all in one line the spaces would quickly fill up with sawdust or small
pieces of cork, and frequently break the knives, but by having them divided as
above stated this trouble is obviated. The feeding boxes are square boxes open
in front and rear with small openings on each side, top and bottom, for grooved:
rollers or cylinders to enter in part, the top of the box not being stationary
permits of increasing or decreasing the quantity of cork to be used. From
this loose cover just in front of the rear roller, another.independent cover is
suspended from a rod attached to a large screw which turns in a female thread
cut in a cross bar on standards outside and above the boxes;, this cover.exactly
fits the interior of the box and reaches to the front.: This inside cover is
divided into four" or more longitudinal strips or fingers. Each finger.is beld
from the top by a pin; the head of which rests on a cross bar through which
it passes or plays freely, which-bar is raised or lowered by a large screw passing
through an opening in the full top and having its thread in gearing in a brace:
Each pin is surrounded by a loose india-rubber spring, and regulates the
pressure of the cork without regard to its uneven thickness or rough surface,
when operated upon by the screw. There are in each feeding box/six grooved
cylinders, two on each side, one in the top, and one in the bottom. These
cylinders protrude into the interior of the box about the depth of the grooves,
or more if required, and when moved, take hold of the cork and press.it
towards the front (facing the saw and knives) only sufficiently to take off such
shaving as may be required. The top and bottom cylinders or grooved rollers
are worked by gearing on the side cylinders to which are attached worm wheels
which are actuated by worms set on shafts working in bearings above the
feeding boxes, the shafts deriving motion by means of a ratchet wheel on the
end of each shaft at the back of the boxes, each ratchet wheel being turned
other
by means of a pall every time the pall arrives with its box to one side or
of the machine, the pall then coming in contact with an upright projecting.bar
'bolted on to the rear standards or frame of the machine.The saw used is a
dished circular saw with a sharp knife-like edge, which instead of tearing
through the cork, as any common circular saw, would do, produces a smooth
shaving instead of a rough one...
Having now described and ascertained the nature of the said. Invention,
and the manner in which. the same is to be performed, I would remark' in
conclusion that I do not limit myself to the exact details herein expressed.as
it is obvious that various slight modifications may be made in the general

page_text: 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Emanuel Bernard Hart, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
The object of this Invention is to cut cork by machinery in such manner
that it shall be reduced to a condition resembling stringy or fibrous material,
which is well adapted for stuffing beds, or upholstery work, and other similar
objects, by reason of its elasticity or springy nature. In order to explain the
said Invention as completely as possible, I will now proceed to describe the
best means I am acquainted with for carrying the same into practical effect,
by which description any person acquainted with the art of cutting cork, and
with the machinery employed therein, will readily understand the construction
and working of the improved machine, whereby I effect the object stated in the
title of this Specification. The machinery is adjusted on a strong square iron
frame and standards, and from the front of the machine in a direction towards
the back, a shaft is set in bearings; the front end of the shaft is provided with
& screw or worm, the rear end has attached to it a circular saw, and the centre
of the shaft is provided with a driving pulley whereby power is communicated
from a steam engine to the machine, the entire movement of which is pro-
duced by the worm, which gears into a worm wheel set on a shaft below the
worm shaft. This worm-wheel shaft works in bearings at the top and front
of the frame, and on each side of the worm wheel there is a cam on the shaft.
These cams regulate the motion of two levers below them, their fulcra
being in the front cross bar of the frame, and they extend to the rear of the
machine, where they are connected with rods, beams, and an universal joint,
attached to the knife boxes, and feeding boxes placed on the top of the frame.
. They produce the alternately horizontal motion of the knife boxes in their
frames, and the traverse motion of the feeding boxes on slides, the feeding
boxes moving alternately to and fro, always presenting for cutting the cork of
one box to the knives, and that of the other box to the saw, the one forming
incisions into and across the pieces of cork presented, while the other takes off
5 a shearing cut, that extends across the surface of the cork, and the shearing
that is thereby removed, falls away in the form of small polygonal strips or
fibres adapted as an elastic material and employed for stuffing cushions or
mattrasses, and other articles of furniture. The knife boxes have a square
opening nearly in the centre, into which are fitte: four or more blocks, with

page_text: arrangement of parts constituting the machinery described without in any way
departing from the principles on which the Invention is based and the purposes
and objects intended to be accomplished thereby, but what I claim and desire
to be secured to me by the herein in part recited Letters Patent is, firstly,
the knife box or shield which retains firmly each knife placed in it permitting
only the point to protrude and operate as described.
Secondly, the application of the circular knife-edged saw, which being a
combination of knife and saw, produces a smooth uniform shaving.
Thirdly, the self-supplying feeding box which by the pall of the ratchet
wheel coming in contact with the bar, produces the motion of the different
grooved cylinders, whereby the cork is fed progressively to the action of the
knives and saw as described.
Fourthly, the method of divisional pressure produced by four or more
independent fingers in connection with the india-rubber springs, &c. To each
finger is given an independent pressure, and yet to the whole surface there is
given an united and even pressure regardless of any irregularity of the thickness
of the cork.
And, lastly, I claim the material or fibre produced by the machine in the
manner aforesaid, and its application to various useful purposes as partly
herein specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Emanuel Bernard Hart, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of September, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
ALEX. PRINCE,
Agents for Patents,
4, Trafalgar Square,
Charing Cross.
E. B. HART. (L.S.)