CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN CUTTING SCHISTUS FOR SLATES
Year: 1852

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PIERRE.
ARMAND le Comte de FONTAINE MOREAU, of 4, South Street, Finsbury, in the
County of Middlesex, and of 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, à Paris, English and
Foreign Patent Agent for Inventions, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her.
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great.
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Nineteenth day of
August, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the sixteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto.
me, the said Pierre Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau, my exors,.
adiiors, and assigns, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Pierre Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau,
my exors, adiñors, and assigns, or such others as 1, the said Pierre Armand
le Conte de Fontaine Moreau, my exors, adñors, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during
the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN CUTTING SCHISTUS FOR
SLATES," communicated to me from a Foreigner residing abroad; in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Pierre Armand
le Comte de Fontaine Moreau, shall cause a particular description of the.
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her.

page_text: said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Pierre Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau, do hereby declare that the
nature of the said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be
performed, are fully described and ascertained in and by the following statement
thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the
figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say :-
The Invention communicated to me consists in a new arrangement of
machinery applicable to apparatus for cutting and drilling slabs of schistus
into slates for roofing or other purposes. The cutting is obtained either
simultaneously on all the faces of the slab of schistus by means of one single
blade, or alternately on each face by means of several blades. The cutting
blades may be worked either by pressure or percussion. The sheets of schistus
are not cut by the edges of an ordinary blade, but by means of a blade in the
form of a cleaver provided with a'square surface similar to the back of a knife
and the tooth of a saw. The thickness of these blades and the separation of
The
the teeth vary according to the size of the slabs intended to be cut.
simultaneously cutting on all the faces of the slab requires a less complicated
mechanism and completes the work more quickly, but it requires a more
powerful moving power, the resistance on all the faces of the slab being
stronger. The alternate cutting on each face of the slab requires a more
complicated mechanism and does not produce the work so quickly. I obtain
the simultaneous cutting on each face of the slab by two different means, the
first I effect by means of a moulding frame having the form of the slate to be
cut, and on the interior of which the cutting blade is fixed; the cutting blade
is usually composed of several pieces, and in this case, the moulding frame
and the blade works as a punch, in the second case the cutting blade works
independently from the moulding frame, which acts merely as a guide along
the sides of the said moulding frame, and on which the cutting blade slides.
In the above-described modes of cutting, the moulding frame is internally
provided with the holders supporting the slab on the platform of a dimension
similar to form required. Whatever may be the mode of action of the
cutting blade, that is to say, whether it acts with the moulding frame or slides
separately on the sides of it, as herein-before described, the cutting blade is
always put in motion by means of a rod having holders at its lower extremity
and fixed to the cutting blade. But when the cutting blade slides indepen-

page_text: dently of the moulding frame and along the sides of it, the main rod acts with
two other rods, one directing the holders which, as herein-before described,
maintains the slab of schistus on the platform, and which rod is so arranged
that its movement always precedes and continues after the motion of the main
rod, and the other rods put into operation the punches (which drill the slate);
but this movement takes place only after the holders of the first above
described rod have performed their motion. The platform is either solid or
hollow; in the latter case, it must be provided with cross pieces to support the
slab of schistus on the parts where the pressure of the holders herein-before
described takes place. The cutting blade always acts vertically to the plat-
form whatever may be its position, whether horizontal or inclined. When the
cutting blade and moulding frame act simultaneously and as a punch, the
supporters of the slab are not put in motion by rods, but are made to adhere
to the interior of the moulding frame and follow the combined motion of the
blade and moulding frame. The punches serving to drill the slate follow also
the same movement. The movement. of one rod, or of all the rods, is given
by means of a transverse shaft provided with cams or excentrics. The
working of the cutting blades, the supporters, and punches, is either continuous
or intermittent. In the latter case, instead of being transmitted, as in the
first mode, by means of cog wheels, or of a pulley, the movement is produced
by two pullies or two wheels, one of which is permanent and the other
moveable. A fork put in motion by the hand engages a strap from the loose
pulley on the permanent one, and if the motion is to be transmitted by cog
wheels the engaging takes place also by the hand. But whatever may be the
mode of putting the apparatus in motion, the disconnection takes place by
means of a stopper as soon as the main shaft has performed its rotative
motion, and the moving rods return to their former position, either by means
of excentrics or of strong spiral springs with which their upper ends are
provided, if their movement has been produced by cams. In cutting alter-
nately, each blade which is to cut each side of the slab works alone by means
of a rod put in motion either for excentrics or cams, but in the simultaneous
system a single main rod puts in motion the blade on each side of the slab,
and acts by means of an excentric or cam. In both cases the action of the
two rods serving to fix the slab on the platform and to conduct the drills is the
When the rods are set in motion by cams they are always made to
return back to their former position by the action of the spirals springs before
described; these springs having been collapsed by the action of the cams on
the transverse shaft are immediately distended as soon as they have been freed
from their pressure by the entire evolution of the transverse shaft. The slate
same.

page_text: f
having been cut by either of the two arrangements herein-before described, is
driven out from the platform by the action of a hammer of a thickness equal
to the slate to be cut, and in length about one eighth of its height. This
hammer is put in motion by means of a spring, which collapses under the
pressure of a cam wheel, which allows it to distend immediately after the
recoil of the cutting blades. The rods which put the punches in motion are
only required to act when the slates are to be drilled.
Having thus explained the nature of the Invention, I will proceed to
describe the Drawings hereunto annexed.
Figure 1, Drawing I., represents a front elevation of the machine with
blades so arranged as to cut alternately. The rods A, B, C, D, serve to put
in motion the blades on the sides of the moulding frame of the machine by
means of the blade holders, to which they are permanently joined. The rod F
serves to keep the slab of schistus on the platform and puts in motion a small
spiral spring, to which is attached a small moveable cross piece A', Figure 6,
Drawing II., having two small springs. The rod G puts in motion the three
All the
drill a', a', a', Figure 7, Drawing II., serving to drill in the slate,
herein before described rods A, B, C, D, F, G, receive their motion from
the cams A, B, C, D, F, G¹, and the transverse shaft V, V, Figure 2,
on which they are placed at different positions; the rods A, B, C, D, F, G,
being put in motion by the cams of the transverse shaft V, V, give an alternate
movement to the connecting shafts H, H, H, H, H, Figure 1, and cause the
descending motion of the blades. The same rods A, B, C, D, F, G, after
performing their descending motion, and being free from the action of the cams,
return back to their former position by the distending action of the spiral
springs X, X, X, X, with which their upper extremities are provided, and
return at that moment to their former point of rest on the cross piece E, E,
of Figure 1, and through which they have passed when forced down by
the action of the cams A, C, G, D', of the transverse shaft V, V. The
cross piece E, E, is permanently fixed upon the table K, K, by means of the
standards M, M, to which its extreme ends are attached by screws and nuts.
The blade bearers which receive their movement from the rods A, B, C, D,
and which descend by means of slides on the sides of the moulding frame,
are maintained in their descending motion along the sides of the supports
N, N, Figure 1, by means of the bolts o, o, o. I would observe, that the
before-described supports N, N, must have a dented shape when only one
slate is to be cut from a slab of schistus. The cutting blade must have also
the same dented form.
In Figure II., Drawing I., V, V, represents a front view of the transverse

page_text: shafts, with its cams A¹, C¹, F, G, B', D', which gives motion to the rods
A, B, C, D, as herein-before described, and causes the alternate cuttings.by
means of one rotative revolution on all the faces of the slate. Figure 2ª repre-
sents a plan of the transverse shaft V, V, and of the cams A, C, F¹, B¹, G¹, D'.
Figure 3, Drawing II., represents a side view of the platform or table, receiv-
ing the slab of schistus to be cut; its dimensions are exactly similar to those
of the moulding frame. Figure 4, Drawing II. is a plan of the platform,
which, being hollowed, is provided with cross pieces serving to support the
slab of schistus while the cutting blades are performing their operation, and
the drilling of the slate is performed by the punches a', a', a', of the cross
piece A', as herein-before described. Figure 5, Drawing II., is a plan of the
apparatus, and represents, first, the upper extremity of the rods A, B, C, F, G,
which are represented in front view, Figure 1, Drawing I.; secondly, the
cross piece E, E, seen in side view, Figure 2; thirdly, the upper ends of the
two standards M, M, serving to fix the cross piece E, F, to the table K, K,
of the apparatus; fourthly, the upper extremities of the four standards or
supporters J, J, J, J, serving to connect together the table K, K, to the sides
N, N, of the moulding frame. Figures 6 and 7, Drawing II., represents the
moveable cross piece A', provided with springs, and by which the slab of
shistus to be cut into slate is conveniently supported on the platform herein-
before described and represented by the Figures 3 and 4. Figure 7 repre-
sents the drills a', a', a', serving to pierce the slate when necessary. The cross
piece and punches are put in motion by the rods F, C, Figure 1, Drawing I.
Figure 8, Drawing I., represents a side view of the whole apparatus, and
shows clearly the four standards J, J, J, J, connecting the table K, K, with
the sides N, N, of the moulding frames, and the action of the moveable
hammer P, serving to take off the slate when cut. This moveable hammer P
is set in motion by means of the small cam set on the transverse shaft V, V.
When the latter has completed its rotary movement, the hammer P returns
directly to its former position, by means of the springs with which it is
provided. Figure 1, Drawing III., represents a side elevation of the appa-
ratus set in its frame, and ready to be put into operation. In this Figure
A, A, A, represents the cutting blades; a, a, a, the supporters, serving to
maintain the blades during their alternate and descending motion; b. b. b, the
pins by which they are screwed to the supporters. D is the platform, which
is connected to the cross piece supporting the rols by the standards bolted to
the table and cross piece. D' is the lower platform for receiving the schistus
preparatory to being cut into slate. P, O, the hammer, serving to drive off
the slate after it has been cut by the blades A, A, A. H is the working lever.

page_text: F, the extremity of the rods, put in motion by the cam of the transverse shaft
G. M represents the spiral springs which are set round the rods. They
cause the rods to return to their former position when they are disengaged;
after having received their descending motion from the cams. S is the reci-
pient, into which are received the slates, after they have been driven off the
platform by the action of the hammer P, Q, herein-before described. U is the
main shaft, giving motion to all the apparatus. G is the outer end of the
transverse shaft, provided with cogs T, put in motion by the cog T', set on the
main shaft U. The workman, by means of the lever II, causes the catching T to
slide on the main shaft U, and put it in motion, and when the transverse shaft
G has performed the rotative motion which it has received by the catchings
T and T, the latter returns to its former position, by means of the dis-
engaging cog acting by itself, and without the assistance of the workman
attending the apparatus. The several sides of the slates are always cut by a
complete rotative motion of the transverse shaft G, Figure 1, Drawing 111,,
and in successive parts. The several Figures of Drawings I., II., and III.,
herein-before described, represent a cutting machine provided only with four
cutting blades, which are sufficient for slates of ordinary dimensions, but it will
be easily understood that the number of the cutting blades can be increased
so long as the rods and the cams of the transverse shafts herein-before described
are increased with it. As it has been herein-before described, the cutting of
the slate may be effected simultaneously on every face of the slab, but in this
case it is necessary to unite together the four rods A, B, C, D, Figure 1,
Drawing I, giving movement to the blades K, K, in the middle of their
length, in one single rod. In this case the motion of the four blades become
simultaneous, being given by one excentric, the other arrangements of the
apparatus remaining the same. It will be also easily understood that the conical
catchings T of the transverse shaft G, and that of T of the main shaft,
Figure 1, Drawing III., can be replaced by means of pullies, and that the
spirals of the rods A, B, C, D, Figure 1, Drawing 1., may be also replaced by
excentrics.
And having now described the nature of the Invention communicated to me,
and the best means I am acquainted with for performing the same, I wish it
to be understood that I do not claim as the Invention any of the parts herein-
before described, taken separately, nor do I restrict nor confine myself to the
precise details or arrangements of construction herein given so long as the
general character of the Invention be retained; but what I do claim, and wish
to be protected by the said herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,
Firstly, the peculiar arrangement of machinery for cutting slates for roofing