An Improved Apparatus for Cutting Sheets of India Rubber and other Material.
Year: 1897

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Apparatus for Cutting Sheets of India Rubber and
other Material.
WC, JAMES CARDWELL QUINN, of 135, Bevington Road, Aston, Birmingham,
Rubber Manufacturer, and VALENTINE PFISTER, of 52, Linton Road, Aston, Bir-
mingham, Tool Maker, both in the County of Warwick, do hereby declare the nature
of my said invention to be as follows:-
Our invention has for its object a new or improved device machine or tool for
cutting sheets of rubber into strips and for dressing the edges, the tool being
applicable for cutting any desired number of strips or bands at a single operation
and for making the cuts square from the table or inclined thereto.
Our device or tool is adapted for use on a wood or other table and has a rail or
guide for the tool or device which is mounted upon wheels and made capable of
running either lengthwise or crosswise of the table. The axle carrying the wheels
generally does not revolve and from it by arms is carried a supplemental shaft or
shafts upon which circular cutting knives are mounted at arranged distances apart
with a spring or springs bearing upon the shaft or pivots for pressing the cutters
through the rubber or other sheet material upon the table so that the cuts may be
diagonal or square with the table. The supplemental shaft may be round or may
have any number of sides so as to be conveniently set to the work in hand. By
these means the tool may be traversed over the work the whole or part of the
length of the table or crosswise of the table.
1007
An Improved Apparatus for Cutting Sheets of India Rubber and
other Material.
We, JAMES CARDWELL QUINN, of 135, Bevington Road, Aston, Birmingham,
Rubber Manufacturer, and VALENTINE PFISTER, of 52, Linton Road, Aston, Bir-
mingham, Tool Maker, both in the County of Warwick, do hereby declare the nature
Price 8d

page_text: of our said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
Our invention has for its object a new or improved device, machine or tool for
cutting sheets of rubber into strips and for dressing the edges the tool being
applicable for cutting any desired number of strips or bands at a single operation
and for making the cuts square from the table or inclined thereto.
Our device or tool is adapted for use on a wood or other table
and has a rail at each side of the table or a depression groove
or projection answering the purpose of a rail or guide for the tool or device which
is mounted upon wheels and made capable of running either lengthwise or cross-
wise of the table. The axle carrying the wheels generally does not revolve and from
it by arms is carried a supplemental shaft or shafts upon which circular cutting
knives are mounted at arranged distances apart with a spring or springs bearing
upon the shaft or pivots for pressing the cutters through the rubber or other sheet
material upon the table to be cut or dressed. The arms from the main shaft may
have knuckle or universal or other adjustable joint or junction which may be set
to any desired angle to the sheet of rubber upon the table so that the cuts may be
diagonal or square with the table. The supplemental shaft may be round or may
have any number of sides so as to be conveniently set to the work in hand. By
these means the tool may be traversed over the work the whole or part of the length
of the table or crosswise of the table.
In order that our invention may be clearly understood and more easily carried
into practical effect we have appended hereunto three double sized sheets of draw-
ings upon which we have illustrated examples of our new machine for cutting
rubber sheets.
Figure 1 is a plan view of our machine shewing the driving mechanism situated
in the front.
Figure 2 is an end elevation of part of Figure 1.
Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional elevation of one end of the knives or cutters.
Figure 4 is a front elevation of one end of our machine shewing a modified form
of the driving mechanism.
Figure 5 is an end view of part of Figure 4.
In carrying our invention into practice we mount our machine or tool on the
wood or other table A which is provided with the rail a¹ at each side or a depression,
groove or projection answering the same purpose of a rail or guide for the machine
or tool to travel upon and for this purpose the bed or carriage 13 of the machine
is mounted upon the wheels D at either end. The two ends of the carriage are
connected together centrally by the cross pieces b' which forms part of the bed or
carriage and to these cross pieces or central portion the carriage the revolving
cutter or knives K are fixed. These knives K of which there may be any number
are each revolubly mounted at one end to the arm k¹ which arms are pivoted at
their other ends to the carriers fixed between the cross pieces as clearly shewn
at Figure 3. In order to enable the knives to be moved laterally across the bed
for the purpose of varying the widths of rubber being cut we form a slot or slots
in the cross piece b¹ through which the adjusting pins for holding the carriers
pass so that by slackening any one of these pins the carriers can be moved either
nearer to one another or further apart thus altering the position of the knives and
varying the widths of the strips of rubber being cut at one operation. Or a
greater or lesser number of knives and carriers may be used is desired as we do not
limit ourselves to any particular number. For the purposes of obtaining the
necessary pressure upon the cutters we provide each cutter with an adjusting
arrangement which consists of the spring fixed at one end to the arm k and
bearing upon the other end of this spring is the adjusting screw which screws
through a hole in the projecting portion formed out of or attached to the
cutter carrier as shewn at Figure 3. The cutters K may be made so as to adjust
to any angle required, a slotted dial plate or the like being used for this
purpose.

page_text: The sheet of rubber W is first laid upon the table which may be covered with
zinc or the like and the bed or carriage B to which the knives or cutters are fixed
is then caused to travel backwards and forwards across the table A by means of
the endless rope or band R or its equivalent which endless rope or band passes around
the pulley 1' fixed on the shaft F running in suitable bearings fixed to the frame F1
situated in front of the machine also mounted on this shaft are the fast and
loose driving pulleys H which are driven by suitable banding from any convenient
source. The endless rope or band R passes over the guide pulleys p¹ also mounted
on the frame F¹ and over the guide pulleys 72 mounted in brackets fixed to
the parts b¹ of the bed or carriage and thence over other guide pulleys similar to the
pulleys p and around a pulley similar to the pulley P situated at the back of the
machine. The grips or clutches J and J' which grip the rope so as to cause the bed
or carriage to travel are fixed together by the cross piece 2 mounted in brackets
fixed to the frame or rest T which frame is fixed centrally on the top of the parts b'.
Pivoted centrally at one end to the cross piece are the cranked levers L and L'
for operating the clutches or grips and these cranked levers are also pivoted at 62
to the frame or rest T. It will be seen that when the lever L is moved into the
position as shewn at Figure 1 that it will grip the left hand side of the rope against
the stationary half of the clutch thus causing the carriage or bed to travel in the
direction of the arrow, but when the carriage has reached the limit of its traverse
the lever L will come into contact with a stop piece similar to the stop piece a³
which is fixed to the table A thus causing the clutch J to release its hold of
the rope.
The lever L¹ is then pushed further by the operator so as to cause the
clutch J to grip the rope by which means the carriage is caused to travel in the
opposite direction and the rubber sheet is cut into the requisite strips.
At Figure 4 we have shewn another method of operating the carriage or bed B.
In this case we arrange an endless rope on either side of the table, the pulleys P
and guide pulleys over which the rope passes being fixed to the frames F2 and to the
carriage B. The levers L³ for actuating the clutches J3 are operated by the lever 14
situated in front of the carriage B. The shaft F upon which the driving pulleys H
are mounted is connected to the shaft upon which the pulley l' on the opposite
side of the machine is mounted by a driving band or chain so as to transmit motion
to this endless rope on this side of the table. Or instead of using two endless
ropes or bands for operating the bed or carriage we may arrange an endless rope
or band passing over suitable guide pulleys so as to encircle the table for the same
purpose. In some cases we may dispense with the driving arrangements the bed
or carriage be pushed along the rails of the table by manual labour. We may also
use distance pieces placed between the carriers 2, for spacing the cutters at the
required intervals their top edges resting on the top of the frames b¹ we thus
dispense with the adjusting screws k³.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is:
CLAIMS.
First. The new or improved machine, device or tool for cutting sheets of rubber
consisting essentially of a travelling bed or carriage such as B having two or more
First. The new or improved machine, device or tool for cutting sheets of rubber
consisting essentially of a travelling bed or carriage such as B having two or more
revolving knives or cutters such as K adjustably or permanently fixed to the
parts of the said carriage, which bed or carriage is operated either by manual
labor or by an endless band or bands or their equivalent upon a stationary table
and for the purpose substantially as herein set forth and as shewn upon the
drawings.
Second. Cutting sheets of rubber into strips by adjustably or permanently
revolving knives or cutters mounted in arms such as ¹ or their equivalents pivoted
to carriers such as fixed to a bed or carriage mounted upon wheels and caused

page_text: to travel upon a stationary table upon which the sheet of rubber is laid in the
manner substantially as herein set forth and as shewn upon the drawings.
Dated this 13th day of July 1898
JAMES CARDWELL QUINN,
VALENTINE PFISTER,
By George Barker,
Fellow of The Chartered Institute of Patent Agents,
Agent for Applicants,
77, Colmore Row, Birmingham.