Method and Machinery for Cutting Caoutchouc Sheets.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd May, 1892
Complete Specification Left, 7th Feb., 1893-Accepted, 11th Mar., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Method and Machinery for Cutting Caoutchouc Sheets.
I, GUSTAV LOUIS HILLE, of No. 45 Finsbury Pavement, London, Manufacturer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to a method and machinery for cutting caoutchouc sheets
into circular or other shaped pieces with bevilled edges, or otherwise, by means of
metal cutters heated by steam or gas.
The cutters may for this purpose be heated either by being made to pass through
a. steam or otherwise heated chamber, or they may be fixed to a moveable steam
chamber that is connected by a flexible or jointed pipe to a steam boiler.
For carrying out the said method of operating, a machine of the following
construction may be employed, in which the heating of the cutters is effected by
passing them through a stationary steam chamber.
A suitable horizontal framing carries at each end a roller, round which rollers is
stretched a horizontal endless apron. On each side of this apron is an upright on
which is fixed a transverse box, the uprights also serving as guides to a vertically
reciprocating transverse beam carrying the cutters, situated above the said box.
The cutters, which may be of cylindrical or other form, in descending with the
beam, pass through corresponding openings formed through the box below, and
steam being admitted to this from a boiler through suitable pipes, the cutters will
become more or less heated as they pass through.
At one end of the framing is a roller on which is coiled the sheet of uncured
caoutchouc to be cut, and the end of this sheet being laid on the endless apron, to
which a step-by-step travelling motion is imparted, the caoutchouc is thereby
brought under the steam chest, and there remains stationary with the apron, until
the cutters have descended and cut a corresponding number of discs out of the
caoutchouc sheet. Within the cutters are spring ejectors which project somewhat
below the cutters and which are pressed inwards as they come in contact with the
caoutchouc sheet, so that on the cutters rising, the ejectors in being pushed outwards
again by their springs; eject the disc of caoutchouc from the cutter, on to the
travelling sheet again, which carries them on to the other end of the machine, where
they are removed. As the caoutchouc sheet passes under the steam chest it also
becomes heated thereby, so as to facilitate the cutting. The cutters may either have
an outward bevilled cutting edge, for cutting discs with a bevil edge, or they may
have an inward bevilled edge, for cutting discs with a straight edge.
At the point where the apron passes under the steam chest, a table or support
is provided for the apron and caoutchouc sheet, while the cutters are acting
thereon.
For imparting simultaneously the vertically reciprocating motion to the cutters
and the step by step motion to the apron and caoutchouc sheet, the driving shaft of
the machine imparts rotary motion through suitable gearing to a transverse shaft
on each end of which is mounted an eccentric, the rods of which are connected to
trunnions on the end of the transverse beam carrying the cutters.
A crank pin on the one excentric is connected by a rod to the tail of an arm pivotted
on the end of the axis of the one roller of the travelling apron, and this arm carries
a pawl gearing with a ratchet wheel fixed on the said axis of the roller, so that as
the excentrics rotate and thus impart the up and down motion to the cutters, they
also impart a to and fro motion to the arm and pawl, which in its turn imparts a
step by step rotary motion to the roller of the apron.
The travelling apron may in some cases be dispensed with, and the caoutchouc

page_text: sheet or strips be placed by hand beneath the cutters. When it is desired to cut
rings, the cutters are constructed with two concentric circular cutting edges.
According to another modification the transverse beam carrying the cutters may
be formed hollow so as to serve as a steam chest, the heat of which would be
conveyed by conduction to the cutters fixed thereto, the separate fixed steam chest
being in this case dispensed with.
Dated this 23rd day of May 1800
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Method and Machinery for Cutting Caoutchouc Sheets.
1, GUSTAV LOUIS HILLE, of No. 45 Finsbury Pavement, London, Manufacturer,
do bereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:—
My invention relates to a method and machinery for cutting caoutchouc sheets
into circular or other shaped pieces with bevilled edges or otherwise-suitable for
making balls or dolls by means of metal cutters heated by steam or gas.
The cutters may for this purpose be heated either by being made to pass through
a steam or otherwise heated chamber or they may be fixed to a moveable steam
chamber that is connected by a flexible or jointed pipe to a steam boiler.
The accompanying drawings shew a machine for carrying out the above described
method of operating in which the cutters are heated by causing them to pass
through openings in a fixed steam heated chest.
Fig. 1 shews a side view, Fig. 2 a plan, Fig. 3 a front view to an enlarged scale
of the cutter beam with the cutters, (one of which is shewn in section) and the
steam chest for heating them.
Fig. 4 shews a plan partly in section of the steam chest.
At each end of the framing A. are mounted rollers B and C, over which is
stretched an endless apron D. At a convenient point of the framing A are mounted
two opposite uprights E to which is fixed the steam chest F and which in addition
serve as guides to the vertically reciprocating beam G carrying the cutters R. The
beam G receives its reciprocating motion by means of excentrics I and their rods H,
the excentrics being fixed on a shaft M driven by toothed gearing K L from the
driving shaft. The one excentric I carries a crank pin which is connected by a
rod N to the tail of a lever O mounted loose on the end of the shaft of the roller C,
which lever carries a pawl P gearing with a ratchet wheel fixed on the roller
shaft.
Thus on the rotation of the excentric I the roller C receives a step-by-step
rotary motion through the rod N lever O pawl P and ratchet wheel Q, thereby
producing a step-by-step travelling motion of the apron D. At the one end of the
framing A are brackets S in which is carried a roller to on which is coiled the
uucured caoutchouc sheet g.
As shewn at Fig. 3. the cutters R are fixed to the solid beam G by means of
screws T. For ejecting from the cutters the discs of caoutchouc cut out of the
sheet, an ejector U is provided within the cutter which is by preference pressed
downwards by means of springs V.
In the arrangement shewn, where the beam carrying the cutters R is solid, the
heating of the latter is effected by means of a steam chest F fixed on the uprights E,
and having, as shewn at Fig. 4, vertical openings W formed through it, through
which the cutters Rare made to pass before they effect the cutting. The circulation
of steam through the steam chest F is effected by means of pipes X Y leading to a
steam boiler.
The solid beam G might also be made hollow and supplied with steam by flexible

page_text: or jointed pipes, so as to heat the cutters secured thereto by conduction, in which
case the steam chest F would be dispensed with.
At one side of the machine framing A is an adjustable guide bar Z for accurately
guiding the caoutchouc sheet to the cutters.
The action of the above described machine is as follows:
The front end of the caoutchouc sheet g coiled on the roller w, which revolves
freely in the brackets S, is placed upon the travelling apron D and the machine is
then started.
The cutter beam G is thereby made to move vertically up and down, the cutters
being thus made to pass through the openings W of the steam chest F so as
to become heated thereby.
The travelling apron D at the same time receives a step-by-step forward motion
causing the caoutchouc sheet g to be unwound from the roller w and to travel
forward with it, so that on arriving beneath the steam chest F it is acted upon by
the descending cutters R, which cut correspondingly shaped discs out of it. On the
upward motion of the cutters the ejectors U eject the discs from the cutters, causing
them to fall back on the apron D, which carries them to the end of the machine
where they drop off. The step-by-step motion of the apron D is so arranged
relatively to the motion of the cutters, that it remains stationary when these are
acting upon it.
For affording support to the caoutchouc sheet while the cutters R are acting
thereon, a transverse beam or support covered with a soft material is arranged
underneath the travelling apron D immediately below the steam chest F.
The travelling apron may in some cases be dispensed with and the caoutchouc
sheet or strips be placed by hand beneath the cutters. These are made of any
configuration corresponding to that of the caoutchouc disc to be cut; when
caoutchouc rings are to be cut, the cutters are formed with two or more concentric
circular cutting edges.
For cutting the discs with a bevilled edge, the cutting edge of the cutters is
bevilled outwards, as shewn; for cutting a straight edge the cutting edge is bevilled
inwards.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is : :-
1. The method of expeditiously and smoothly cutting sheets of uncured
caoutchouc, consisting in effecting such cutting while both the caoutchouc sheet
and the cutters are in a heated condition substantially as described.
2. For carrying out the method of cutting referred to in the preceding claim, a
machine wherein the cutters are either caused to pass through a chest heated by
steam or other means, or are fixed to a reciprocating chest so heated, substantially
as described.
Dated this 7th day of February 1893.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.