Year: 1859

page_text: cut to rise up again rapidly to avoid loss of time; the cams act on bosses or
projections carried by a rod which is connected with a rocking lever, and
from this a link passes to another similar lever, and this by a rod actuates
the carriage in which the spindles are mounted. The link above mentioned
as connecting the two levers can be shifted towards or from the centre of
either of them, to-regulate the extent of motion given to the spindles,
according to the length of cork to be cut; the rod which connects the second
lever with the spindle carriage is also capable of being adjusted in its length
so that the spindles may be set to rise to the same position, whatever be the
distance through which they travel (this is necessary to the proper working
of the machine, as will be seen when other portions of it have been described);
the position of the table on which the pieces of cork wood to be cut are placed
is also adjustable in height, so as to accord with the length of cork to be cut.
In order to hold the cork wood in position while the cutting is proceeding, a
rod is passed down through each of the spindles, (which are made hollow for
the purpose,) and rests on the cork wood, and is pressed down constantly, by a
spring acting on its upper end; these rods are lifted from time to time to
allow the cut corks to be removed, and a fresh piece of cork wood to be
placed under the spindles by a projection on the spindle carriage which, as it
rises, comes against a lever, and this in moving gives motion to an axis on
which a series of forks are mounted; and there is a nut on each of the rods,
under which the forks act to lift the rods, their springs yielding to allow them
to rise. Each spindle carries at its lower end two cutters, one of them has a
point which appears in edge view thus
W.
This cutter is intended to cut the
outside surface of the circular groove, and its tooth hooks on the cork, and
keeps the cutter from bending outside, as it would otherwise do. The other
cutter is intended to cut the outside surface of the cork; it carries a straight
cam on the outside to clear the cut, and its point appears thus
4
.in
edge view. In order to keep the bands which drive the spindles in a proper
state of tension, the drum round which they pass is carried by arms connected
with a weighted lever, which tends constantly to draw the drum from the
spindles. When it is desired to cut conical corks, the cutters, in place of being
fixed to the spindles, are connected with it by hinges at their upper ends by
means of springs, and they are pressed inwards towards the centre so as to keep
projections with which they are furnished constantly in contact with a cone

page_text: mounted loosely on the rod, which holds the piece of cork wood in position.
As the spindles descend the projections on the cutters passing down the cones,
the points of the cutters are caused to move further and further from, the
centre as they pass from one end to the other of the cork..
For the purpose of finishing the corks to give them a good surface, their ends
are held against a flat surface of grinding material revolving at a considerable
velocity; and to finish the sides of the corks, two rollers with grinding surfaces,"
and placed at a slight inclination, are employed, and they revolve at different,
velocities and in such a direction as to prevent corks placed between them.
being.taken down and crushed; the space between the rollers is greater at one
end than at the other, so that corks placed in the gutter between the rollers
at one end are able to fall through at the other end; the travelling of.the.
corks from one end of the rollers to the other is assisted by a rotating
brush which keeps them constantly in motion. The grinding surfaces it is
preferred to form by glueing pieces of pumicestone on, to a back or core of
wood, and afterwards grinding the surface true; the grinding surfaces may,
However, be otherwise produced.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Isaac Wood in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
1st July 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ISAAC
WOOD, of Charing Cross, send greeting.
1
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of January, in the year of our Lord,
One thousand eight hundred, and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year..
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Isaac Wood, Her special licence that I, the said Isaac
Wood, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Isaac Wood, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN CUTTING AND FINISHING CORKS, AND IN MACHINERY USED FOR SUCH
PURPOSES," a communication from abroad by Henry F. Cox and Alexander
Millar, of New York, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said

page_text: Isaac Wood, 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 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 immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
1
:
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Isaac Wood, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be:
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery for cutting and
finishing corks. For this purpose the piece of cork wood from which the:
corks are to be cut is placed on a table, over which a series of spindles-are
mounted; these spindles are driven by bands from a drum which is kept
constantly revolving, and they are furnished at their lower ends...with
sharp-pointed cutters placed at a distance from the centre of the spindler
corresponding with the radius of the cork to be cut. The spindles are caused!
to rise and fall at regular intervals by cams, and at every descent each of the
spindles cuts a cork from the block of cork wood placed beneath them. The
cams are so arranged as to cause the spindles to descend gradually, but when
the corks are cut to rise up again rapidly to avoid loss of time. The cams act
on bosses or projections carried by a rod which is connected with a rocking
Jever, and from this a link passes to another similar lever, and this by a rod
actuates the carriage in which the spindles are mounted.. The link above
mentioned as connecting the two levers can be shifted towards or from the
centre of either of them, to regulate the extent of motion given to the spindles
according to the length of cork to be cut. The rod which connects the second
lever with the spindle carriage is also capable of being. adjusted in its length,,
so that the spindles may be set to rise to the same position whatever, be the
distance through which they travel (this is necessary to the proper working of
the machine, as will be seen when other portions. of it have been described);
the position of the table on which the pieces of cork wood to be cut are
placed is also adjustable in height, so as to-accord. with the length of cork to
be cut. In order to hold the cork wood in position while the cutting is pro-
ceeding, a rod is passed down through each of the spindles (which, are made.
hollow for the purpose) and rests on the cork wood, and is pressed down..
constantly by a spring acting on its upper end. These rods. are lifted from
time to time, to allow the cut corks to be removed and a fresh, piecë, of cork
wood to be placed under the spindles, by a projection on: the spindle carriage,

page_text: which as it rises comes against a lever, and this in moving gives motion to an
axis on which a series of forks are mounted, and there is a nut on each of the
rods under which the forks act to lift the rods, their springs yielding to allow
them to rise. Each spindle carries at its lower end two cutters; one of them
has a point which appears in edge view thus
W.
This cutter is intended
to cut the outside surface of the circular groove, and its tooth hooks on the
cork, and keeps the cutter from bending outside, as it would otherwise do.
The other cutter is intended to cut the outside surface of the cork; it carries a
straight cam on the outside to clear the cut, and its point appears thus
upper
::
in edge view. In order to keep the bands which drive the spindles in a proper
state of tension, the druin round which they pass is carried by arms connected
with a weighted lever, which tends constantly to draw. the drum from the
spindles. When it is desired to cut conical corks, the cutters, in place of
being fixed to the spindles, are connected with it by hinges at their ends
by means of springs, and they are pressed inwards towards the centre so as to
keep projections with which they are furnished constantly in contact with a
cone mounted loosely on the rod which holds the piece of cork wood in
position. As the spindles descend, the projections on the cutters passing down
the cones, the points of the cutters are caused to move further and further
from the centre as they pass from one end to the other of the cork. For the
purpose of finishing the corks to-give them a good surface, their ends are held
against a flat surface of grinding material revolving at a considerable velocity;
and to finish the sides. of the corks, two rollers with grinding surfaces, and
placed at a slight inclination, are employed; they revolve at different velocities
and in such a direction as to prevent corks placed between them being taken
down and crushed. The space between the rollers is greater at one end than
at the other, so that corks placed in the gutter between the rollers at one end
are able to fall through at the other end. The travelling of the corks. from one
end of the rollers to the other is assisted by a rotating brush which keeps
them constantly in motion. The grinding surfaces it is preferred to form
by glueing pieces of pumicestone on to a back or core of wood, and after-
wards grinding the surface true; the grinding surfaces. may, however, be
otherwise produced.
1
And in order that the said Invention may be most fully understood and
i

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a front view of a machine for cutting corks arranged according
to this Invention; Figure 2 is a plan, .ánd Figure 3 is a longitudinal section
of the same.
A, A, A, A, is the frame of the machine; it is screwed on a bench at B, B;
C, C, is the main shaft, which is made to revolve by means of a belt over
pulleys D, D, one of which is keyed on the shaft, the other loose; E, E, is an
iron table, which may be adjusted at various heights by means of screws and
nuts at F, F. The table has a wooden top G, G, on which the cork wood is
placed under the cutters at H; I, I, are the holding rods; they are made to
press the cork against the table by springs J, J, and are prevented from
revolving by forks K, K, which embrace the square part of nuts L, L; M, M,
are spindles; they carry the knives N, N, and are set in a frame or moving
head 0, 0, 0, 0, which is free to slide up and down along the dovetailed
ways P, P, forming a part of frame A, A. The spindles M, M, are made to
revolve by means of the round belts Q, Q, which receive motion from drum
R, R. The shaft and drum R, R, is supported by arms S, S, which turn freely
around shaft C, C, from which the drum R, R, receives its motion by means
of pullies T and U and a belt over them. The object of supporting the
drum on moveable arms S, S, and not on the frame A, A, is to keep the belts
Q, Q, always tight. To effect this the arms S, S, are connected by links V, V,
with the small arms of bell-crank levers X, Y, and the weights W, W, are
suspended from the long horizontal arms Y, Y. The moving head 0, 0, 0, 0,
is moved up and down in the following manner :-The shaft C, C, carries a
pinion a, by which a train of wheels and pinions b, c, d, is set in motion, and
the shaft is made to turn slowly. Two cams 9 and h are keyed on this shaft,
one on each side of rod i; they act respectively on rollers k and l, and make
rod i slide up and down through a bracket j. This rod is linked to one end
of a horizontal beam lever m, m, which is thus made to rock; the other end
of lever m, m, is connected by links n, n, to another beam lever,
P. p, which
derives from the connection a similar rocking motion. The lever p, p, is
united to the moving frame o, o, by a connecting rod q, q, of adjustable length;
above the moving head o, o, is a rocking shaft r, r, the journals of which turn
in boxes fastened to the frame A, A, of the machine. This shaft carries ás
many forks K, K, as there are holding rods I, I; each fork embraces a square
part of a nut made fast in the rod by a set screw so as to
prevent the rods

page_text: from being carried round by the friction of the fast revolving spindles.
Another portion of the nut extends over the fork, so that when the shaft is
made to rock in the direction that will raise the forks, the holding rods are
carried up, the springs J, J, yielding to allow them to rise. The moving head
C, C, carries a pin s, s, which acts against lever t, t, each time that the moving
head 0, 0, 0, 0, comes up. The lever t, t, is connected by means of a link to the
projecting arm u, and when acted on by pin s, it causes the rocking shaft r, r,
to describe a portion of a turn. This turning of the shaft in the direction
pointed out by an arrow raises the forks and the holding rods, and releases the
corks from the gripe of the latter.
To make use of the machine an attendant provided with strips of cork wood
stands in front of the table. When the moving head reaches the end of the
upward strokes, and during the time that the holding rods are raised, the
'attendant throws down the cut corks from the table and places a new strip of
wood in H; the, next instant the holding rods coming down keep the wood
firm, and the knives coming down in their turn with a rapid rotary motion cut
the corks out of it. As soon as the points of the knives reach down to the
table the moving head rises again rapidly and frees the corks. The cams g
and h are so shaped that, the moving head descends slowly, is raised rapidly,
and remains stationary for a few moments before coming down again. Each
machine is provided with several moving heads, each head carrying a set of
cutters to cut corks of as many different diameters. The spindles represented
in Figure 1, Figure 2,' and Figure 3 are intended to cut cylindrical corks.
To cut corks with a taper, the spindle represented full size in Figure 4 and
Figure 5 is used. In these Figures, 'a¹ is the holding rod; 61, 61, is a cone free
to revolve around .a' as an axis, but prevented from moving up and down
independently on the holding rod by the shoulders c¹ and d¹; f¹ and g' are
'the knives, they are attached to the spindle by pins 1, 2, around which they
are free to turn inside of grooves cut lengthway on opposite sides of the spindle.
The knives rest on cone 6, 61, by means of projecting parts k¹, k', and they are
pressed against it by springs ', . To avoid the friction of projecting parts
k¹, k¹, on cone b¹, b¹, when the spindle revolves, the cone is carried round with
the spindle by means of pin m³, which projects through slot q'. There is
inside of the spindle a conical cavity p¹, p', of sufficient size to lodge the
cone b¹, b¹. If the spindle just described be substituted for the one on the
machine, and this is made to work as usual, it is obvious that when the spindle
descends the effect of cone b', b', is to spread out the knives g', f', the points
of which will cut a conical cork. As the distance 3, 5, is just twice the
distance 3, 4, the taper of the cork cut is twice that of cone b', b'. The

page_text: knives gand situated on opposite sides of a spindle, have different duties
to perform, and are slightly different in shape. Knife g₁ is intended to cut
'the outside surface of the cork, and carries a straight cam on the outside to
'clear the cut from the "cut wood." Knife fi is intended to cut the outside
"surface of the cut or circular groove, and carries a tooth on 'the inside, but this
(tooth is not straight as that of the other knife, it hooks on the cork, as shown
in the Drawings, and thus keeps 'the knife from bending outside, 'as it would
tōtherwise do.
The machine may be adjusted to cut cork of various lengths for each
backward or
diameter or each taper. This is done by moving the liuks n, n,
forward in the slots-cut through the levers 'm, m, and p, p. The stroke of the
head frame is thus made smaller or greater. Each time the position of link
nnis altered, the length of rod 7, 7, is to be also altered to suit, that is, in
such a manner as to make the moving head rise up to the same point in all
cases. This is necessary for the regular working of the rocking shaft r, r.
The table F, F, is also adjusted to fit the thickness of cork wood.
1
Figure 6 is a side view, and Figure 7 is a longitudinal section of a spindle
also arranged to cut taper corks, but slightly differing in form from 'that
shown in Figures 4 and 5. a is the holding rod; 2, the cone, which is free
to revolve on it; f and gare the knives, they are not fixed to the tabular
spindle, but fit into grooves or recesses cut in it at its lower end, as is shown by
the section Figure 7*, and they are kept up against the cone 6 by springs l², 1.
It will be seen that these springs keep the knives against. the cone 63, and as
the knives descend with the spindle; the cone causes them to separate so as to
'cut a cork of the desired form, and the knives always remain at the same
inclination, being held against the cone by. the springs. The form of the
'grooves in the spindle is such that they at all times retain a firm hold of the
knives. The spindle, as shown in the Drawing, has a toothed wheel mounted
on it, so that it may be driven by another toothed wheel carried by the frame, or
it may be driven by a band in the manner already described. The knives f³ and
g2 are shown separately at Figures 8, and the cone 6 as shown separately at
Figures 9. After the corks are cut their surface is generally rough, and they are
yet unfit for market; I finish them by rubbing them on a grinding surface. To
'finish the head I use the instrument represented at Figure 10. A is a circular
'table kept in rapid rotatory motion, the top of which is a grinding surface.
Both ends of each cork are smoothed by being pressed slightly against the
table. To finish the sides the machine represented at Figures 11, 12, 13, and
14 is used. It consists of two rubbing cylinders A'; B', turning as is shown in
Figure 14-by arrows, but with different velocities, and of a rotary brush C, C,

page_text: other in F¹ than in D¹,
also turning. The cylinders are not exactly parallel, they are nearer each.
nor are they exactly horizontal, the end G¹ being
higher than the end H'. The corks to be finished are placed like E¹ at end.
F', the action of the rollers is to turn them round and round, grinding their
surface all the time, and to draw them to the end D', where they fall into
a basket. The nature of the grinding surface is of the greatest importance, it
must be such as to leave the cork with a smooth velvety surface; I construct the.
rollers of wood and cover them with pumicestone, which I glue upon the wood
and grind circular. This arrangement is cheap and effectual, but a good
result might be obtained by substituting emery paper or other substances for
pumicestone, or by using steel rollers cut like a smooth file.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would remark that I do not claim in general rotary
cutters or the spreading out of them, but I claim,
First, the shaping the knives f', g¹, Figure 4, as described.
Second, the combining a cone b', 6', with a spindle M and holding rod a¹, a¹,.
in such a manner that the cone does not bear the pressure of the holding
rod against the cork, nor any other pressure but that from the knives.
Third, the combination of the spring J and holding rods I, I, independently
of spindle M, by which the pressure on the cork is uniform and moderate.
Fourth, the arranging the machinery so that the cork may be held stationary
and the knives moved to cut the cork, as herein described.
Fifth, the rock lever r, r, and forks K. to release the cork.
Sixth, the combination of cams g, h, and levers m, m, and p, p, with
adjustable links n, n, and adjustable rod q, q, to adjust the machine for various.
lengths of cork.
Seventh, the combination of arm S, S, with drum R, R, and lever X, Y,
and weights W, W, to have a uniform tension of belts.
Eighth, the using of rotary surfaces (flat and cylindrical) covered with
pumicestone or equivalent grinding substance for the purpose of smoothing the
surface of corks, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Isaac Wood, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this First day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
ISAAC WOOD.
(L.S.)