AN IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINERY FOR POLISHING PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION FLAT SURFACES OF GLASS AND OTHER. SUBSTANCES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINERY FOR POLISHING
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th February 1857.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane;
in the County of. Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT. IN MACHINERY FOR POLISHING
FLAT SURFACES OF GLASS AND OTHER. SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to that description of polishing machinery in which
the polishing bed and the surface being polished rotate on separate axes
excentric to each other. The improvement consists in grooving the surface
of the polishing bed in circles excentric to its axis of rotation. In polishing
plate glass and other substances on a polishing bed having an unbroken flat
surface, and using therewith a fine polishing material in a moist state, all air
is excluded from between the polishing bed and the slab or substance under
operation, and consequently the pressure of the atmosphere on the back of the
slab is the cause of great friction, which necessitates the exercise of very great
power to produce the motion necessary for polishing, but. by grooving or
otherwise similarly reducing the surface of the polishing bed for the purpose
of admitting air to the, under surface of the slab, the, retarding atmospheric
pressure will be in a great measure. removed, and. the friction produced in the
polishing operation will be considerably reduced. The process can then be

page_text: performed at a less expense of power, and as expeditiously as when the
polishing bed has an unbroken plane surface.
The cloth or felt which covers the polishing bed is sunk in the circular
grooves, and confined therein by metal rings, which are screwed or nailed
down to the bottom of the grooves.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 4th August 1857.
"TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents; 66, Chancery Lane; in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting:
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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
AN IMPROVEMENT IN, MACHINERY FOR POLISHING FLAT SURFACES OF GLASS AND
OTHER SUBSTANCES," being a communication from abroad; upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked' thereon (that is to.say):-
: This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, relates

page_text: to that description of polishing machinery in which the polishing bed and the
surface to be polished rotate on separate axes excentric to each other, and
the improvement consists in grooving the surface of the polishing bed in
circles excentric to its axis of rotation. In polishing plate glass and other
substances on a polishing bed having an unbroken flat surface, and using
therewith a fine polishing material in a moist state, all air is excluded from
between the polishing bed and the slab or substance under operation, and
consequently the pressure of the atmosphere on the back of the slab is the.
cause of great friction, which necessitates the expenditure of very great power
to produce the motion necessary for polishing, but by grooving or otherwise
similarly reducing the surface of the polishing bed for the purpose of admitting
air to the under surface of the slab, the retarding atmospheric pressure will
be in a great measure removed, and the friction produced in the polishing
operation will be considerably reduced. The process can then be performed
at a less expense of power, and as expeditiously as when the polishing bed has
an unbroken plane surface. In some polishing machinery the bed has been
grooved, but the grooves have been arranged at right angles in parallel lines
or in regular circles or rings one within the other, but such arrangements of
the grooves are objectionable, because certain portions of the surface to be
polished will necessarily escape from being brought in contact with the
polishing surface, or be brought in contact therewith less frequently than
other portions thereof, and the polish will therefore be uneven and imperfect,
and much time and watchfulness on the part of the attendants is required to
shift the material under operation to obtain even a passable polish. By the
arrangement of the grooves in circles excentric to the axis of rotation, in the
manner which constitutes the present Invention, the above difficulties are
entirely overcome, and every portion of the surface to be polished is inevitably
caused to receive an even polish by the simple rotation of the polishing bed
without any care on the part of the attendant..
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 is a vertical section of a polishing
machine for plate glass or other substances with the improvement applied
thereto, and Fig. 2 is a plan of the same. Similar letters of reference
indicate corresponding parts in both Figures. A is the framing of the
machine; B is the rotating polishing bed secured to the upright shaft C;
D, D, are cranes, which hold the pivots d, d, of the frames E, E, in which
'the slabs of glass or other material F, F, are secured to be polislied. The
polishing bed B is made of iron or wood, faced with felt or woollen cloth,
which is shown tinted blue in the section, Fig. 1. a, a, are the annular
concentric grooves formed in the bed. These grooves are arranged excen

page_text: trically to the axis of rotation of the bed, which is the centre of the shaft C.
It is preferred to make the width of the grooves a, a, and the width of the
annular spaces b, b, between them nearly equal, in order to reduce the
polishing surface, consisting of the spaces b, b, to about one-half the area of
the bed, and their depth should be sufficient to prevent their being quickly
filled up with the polishing material. The cloth or felt covering of the bed
is sunk in the grooves, and confined, therein by metal rings e, e, which are
screwed or nailed down to the bottom of the grooves outside of the said
covering. In, this machine the slabs F, F, or other articles, to be polished,
are caused to rotate on the axes d, d.,. By the friction between the surface of
the polishing bed and the surfaces being polished, and by the peculiar com-
pound, movements of the polishing surface and the surfaces submitted to its
action, caused by the excentricity of the axis of rotation d of surfaces under
operation to the axis of rotation. C of the polishing bed, and the excentricity
of the grooves in the polishing bed to the axis C, every portion of each
surface being polished is caused to receive the same amount of rubbing, and
consequently an uniform polish of all parts of such surface is produced.
Having thus described the Invention of "An Improvement in Machinery
for Polishing Flat Surfaces of Glass and other Substances," as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, I wish it to be, understood that I do not
claim, generally the grooving of the polishing bed, neither do I claim. the
excentric arrangement of the axis of rotation of the polishing bed and of the
surface or surfaces to be polished, whereby the rotations of the latter are
caused by their friction on the former; but I claim, as the Invention secured
to me by the above in part recited Letters Patent, the construction of, the
rotating polishing bed with circular grooves arranged excentrically to the, axis
of rotation thereof, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Fourth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66; Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON: (L.S.)