IMPROVE- MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING THE BORING OF BROOM OR BRUSH STOCKS AND BOARDS
Year: 1881

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Samuel Ludbrook at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 4th June 1881.
SAMUEL LUDBROOK, of Harford Street, in the County of Middlesex.
" IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING THE BORING OF BROOM OR BRUSH
STOCKS AND BOARDS."
My Invention consists in improvements in machinery or apparatus for facilitating
the boring of broom or brush stocks and boards, and relates to that class of
apparatus wherein the brush boards or stocks are held on a series of vice-plates
or holders which are arranged in an adjustable frame, and are caused by means of
a suitable template or pattern-plate and intermediate mechanism to move the
block or board the requisite distance to adjust it under the drill or tool to bore the
holes one after the other in the proper position. The said plates or holders also
allow the board or stock to receive a cant or inclination corresponding with the
desired angle or inclination of the tufts of fibre with which the said holes are to be
filled.
In machines of this class, as heretofore constructed, the vice-plates or holders for
clamping the stock or board in position under the drill consist of two jaws adapted
when closed to clamp the stock or board on and along its side edges. These jaws
are moved into contact with the stock or board by means of a right and left handed
screw whose ends work through screw threaded holes at one end of the said jaws,
the other end of the said jaws being pivoted to a suitable block on the oscillating
frame. This screw is provided centrally with a small hand wheel whereby the
screw is turned, but by reason of the great force required to clamp the sides of the
wood firmly between the vice plates or jaws, this wheel frequently proves
insufficient to ensure the proper clamping of the board or stock between the said
jaws, and the said board or stock is sometimes lifted from between the said jaws by
the drill in its upward or rearward movement, thus necessitating the stoppage of
the machine and the readjustment of the board or stock, or if it is spoiled or
injured, its replacement by another. In some cases also when the board or stock
s not properly clamped the holes are drilled imperfectly or inaccurately, thus
endering the board or stock useless. Moreover, the screwing up of the said jaws
o clamp the board or stock between them occupies a considerable time, as their
Prine A1

page_text: unpivotted ends sometimes require to be widely opened to permit the ready
removal and placing in position of a board or stock.
My Invention has for its object to remedy these defects and to greatly accelerate
the work, so that a much greater number of boards or stocks may be bored within
a given time than can be bored in the said machines as heretofore constructed.
For these purposes I construct my improved holder as follows, that is to say,
instead of constructing it to clamp the stock or board on its side edges as heretofore,
I employ two vice plates or jaws which are adapted to come in contact with and
grip the ends of the stock or board. These jaws are adapted to move freely
end wise on a plate or frame, and are preferably formed at the sides with V shaped
grooves which fit and slide on tongues on the said frame. To effect the end wise
adjustment of the said jaws I form in them screw threaded holes, one of which is
right handed and the other left handed, and pass through the same a screw which
is supported in suitable bearings in the clamp frame and has a crank handle or
hand wheel at one end to facilitate its manipulation, when the said screw is turned
by the crank handle in one direction the jaws will approach cach other and clamp
the stock or board between them, and when turned in the other direction the said
handle will cause the jaws to recede or open and permit the ready removal of the
said stock or board. By this arrangement of the jaws and the method of operating
the same, I am enabled to secure and release the boards or stocks much more
rapidly than heretofore, and with but a very slight adjustment of the crank. A
great saving of time is thus effected and the productiveness of the machine is
therefore considerably enhanced.
To permit the said jaws to be readily adapted for the support and clamping
in position of boards of different thicknesses, or for clamping and supporting broom
or brush stocks, I provide the inner face of the said jaws with packing pieces,
which support the stock or board and which may be readily removed and replaced
by packing pieces of different thickness. By changing these pieces I am also
enabled at any time to support the stock or board nearer to or farther from the
centre on which the frame carrying the vice-jaws rocks so as to vary the cant or
inclination of the holes bored in the said stock or board.