IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING GROOVES IN KNOTCH BOARDS OF STAIRS, LADDER STRINGS, UPRIGHTS FOR LOUVRE BOARDS AND IN OTHER ARTICLES REQUIRING SUCH GROOVES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Walker, of West Hartlepool, in the County of
Durham, Timber Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR CUTTING GROOVES IN KNOTCH BOARDS OF STAIRS, LADDER
STRINGS, UPRIGHTS FOR LOUVRE BOARDS AND IN OTHER ARTICLES REQUIRING
SUCH GROOVES."
Sealed the 11th February 1868, and dated the 13th August 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Walker at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th August 1867.
I, THOMAS WALKER, of West Hartlepool, in the County of Durham, Timber
Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Improve-
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING GROOVES IN KNOTCH BOARDS OF STAIRS, LADDER
STRINGS, UPRIGHTS FOR LOUVRE BOARDS AND IN OTHER ARTICLES REQUIRING SUCH
GROOVES," to be as follows:-
For the purposes of my Invention I employ arms mounted so as to be
capable of being turned to any required angle and connected together by
suitable rods which are carried by sliding pieces mounted upon the said arms.
The material to be grooved is placed upon the above mentioned arms, and is
moved against a revolving cutter situate above and is traversed along rollers
or other-guides-for-successive cuts. The distance apart of the grooves is
regulated by a gauge piece which is mounted so as to turn upward and

page_text: downward upon a centre and is placed in one groove to determine the position
of that which is to succeed it. The said gauge piece is also capable of being
turned horizontally for adjustment.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Walker in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
13th February 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
WALKER, of West Hartlepool, in the County of Durham, Timber Merchant,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of August, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Thomas Walker, Her special license that I, the said Thomas Walker, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as 1, the said Thomas
Walker, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR CUTTING GROOVES IN 'KNOTCH BOARDS' OF STAIRS, LADDER STRINGS,
UPRIGHTS FOR LOUVRE BOARDS, AND IN OTHER ARTICLES REQUIRING SUCH GROOVES,"
upon the condition, amongst others, that I, the said Thomas Walker, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and
àscertain 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Walker, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement and accompanying Drawings, that is to say:-
For the purposes of my Invention I employ arms mounted so as to be capable
of being turned to any required angle and connected together by suitable
rods which are carried by sliding pieces mounted on the said arms. The
material to be grooved is placed upon the said rods, and is moved against a

page_text: revolving cutter situate above, and is traversed along rollers or other guides
for successive cuts. The distances apart of the grooves are regulated by a
gauge piece which is mounted so as to be capable of being turned upward and
downward upon a centre, and is placed in one groove to determine the position
of that which is to succeed it. The said gauge piece is also capable of being
moved horizontally.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig 1 represents my improved apparatus in
side elevation; and Fig. 2 is a plan or top view thereof; Fig: 3 is a face view
of a portion of a board cut with notches for stairs in order to explain the
description of work to which my Invention refers, the said notches being denoted
by a, b.
My improved apparatus shewn as stated at Figs. 1 and 2 is placed upon a
bed or table c of any ordinary construction carrying a rotatory cutter d turning
in suitable bearings and driven by the motive power, such cutter being adapted
as is well known in wood cutting machinery so that it may be brought into
contact with the material to be operated upon or be raised therefrom. Ate, e*,
are two arms provided with centre pins f, f*, projecting into the table or
bed c, and upon these pins the said arms therefore are capable of being turned
so as to be brought to any desired angle; the arms e, e, are furnished with V
guides g, g, upon which are placed sliding pieces h, h*, connected together
by bars i, *, through the medium of centre pins k, k*, upon which they are
capable of turning; at 1, 1*, are circular slots formned. upon parts extending
from the arms e, e*, and within these slots are tightening screws m, m*,
passing into the bed c, by which means therefore the arms e, e*, may be
retained at any desired angle; at n is a projection or "fence" extending
upward from the bar i*, and against which the edge of the board to be grooved
is placed; at o is a bracket attached to be bar i, and from which there extends
a screw provided with two nuts, between which is a collar p jointed to a
lever ; this lever carries a projecting part r corresponding in width to the
grooves intended to be cut in the board; the lever q extends to the front of
the machine, and is there provided with a slots which may be caused to enclose
pint projecting from the bar i*.
a
In Fig. 2 the grooves to be cut are shewn by the red lines and the board
is supposed to be moved at intervals by hand in the direction of the arrow, the
lever q has been turned downward, and the part r projects into a groove
which has been cut, the said part r therefore detains the board and registers
its position for the next cut which is being effected by the rotatory tool d, and
-in-order-to-effect this the attendant pushes forward the bar which together
with the other bar i slides through the medium of the pieces h, h, upon the V

page_text: guides g, and thus the board is gradually brought against the cutter d until
the groove is completed; when that is done the lever q is raised and the
board pushed forward until the groove last cut is brought into a position
coincident with the part r which being again lowered therein constitutes a
guage for the next cut, and so on until the whole of the required grooves have
been produced. This may complete the operation for some purposes, but for
cutting grooves at right angles to those above alluded to, as for instance, for
"knotch boards" of stairs, and as seen at Fig. 3, the lever q is shifted to a
second pin p*; and the arms h, h*, are turned upon their centres fif*, so as
to occupy positions parallel to the grooves now to be cut, and the operation is
conducted as above described.
It will thus be seen that according to my Invention the cutter is stationary
as regards the direction of the grooves, and that the board is moved towards
it by the attendant.
In Fig. 1 the arms e, e*, and bars i, *, are shewn as if they were brought
at right angles to each other, this is merely to avoid the confusion which would
arise from showing those parts in foreshortened positions.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be understood
that I claim as secured to me under the above in part recited Letters Patent,
and for the purposes above set forth, the use of the parallel motion, substantially
as above described acting in conjunction with a cutter towards which the
substance to be cut is forced.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Walker, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eleventh day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
THOMAS WALKER. (L.S.)