IMPROVEMENTS IN CUTTING TYPES AND OTHER IRREGULAR FIGURES
Year: 1850

page_text: 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 present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-ninth day of August, in the fourteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her beirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege.
and authority, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my exors, adñors, and
assigns, and such others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my exors,
admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times during the term of years therein mentioned, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Planta-
tions abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and
Man, an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CUTTING TYPES AND OTHER IRREGULAR
FIGURES," being a communication from abroad; in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in Her 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and the inanner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention of "Improvements in Cutting Types and other Irregular
Figures, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, relates to an
improved arrangement of machinery, whereby large types or letters may be cut
or formed in wood or other materials with greater facility and expedition than
is now the case.
The machine whereby this is effected can also be employed for cutting
various other kinds of irregular forms, either in wood or stone, and will be
found peculiarly applicable for cutting tracery and Gothic work, and all kinds
of curved or excentric mouldings. It is also capable of cutting letters, forms,
and figures of various sizes from the same pattern; that is, it may be employed
not only for producing an article of the same size as the pattern, but also
fac-similes thereof on a reduced scale. By this means the necessity of keeping
a large number of patterns of various sizes will be avoided, and great economy
be thereby effected.
In this improved machine the cutting tool is mounted in a stationary
bearing, which is capable of adjustment in a vertical direction, to bring the
tool to the proper position for operating upon the wooden block below. By
this means the rotary motion of the cutting tool is rendered much more steady
and accurate than in the ordinary carving machines, wherein an excentric
traversing motion is given to the cutter. The block of wood to be operated
upon is secured upon a bed which has a compound traverse motion imparted
to it for the purpose of enabling any part of the block which it carries to be
brought under the cutting tool. Besides this compound horizontal motion, the
bed is for some purposes mounted in such a manner that it may be moved
vertically in guides, as will be necessary for cutting or carving bas-reliefs, or
figures with uneven or irregular surfaces, but this vertical motion is not very
frequently required for cutting such simple forms as types or letters. All the
requisite motions are communicated to the bed by a rectangular frame, con-
structed upon the principle of the pentagraph, and consisting of four or more
bars jointed together and connected at one corner to the bed, and carrying at
the opposite end a tracer or point, which, when moved over the surface of the
pattern, communicates a corresponding motion to the bed and block at the
opposite end of the pentagraph. In addition to the horizontal pentagraph

page_text: above mentioned, there is also a second pentagraph, which, being placed
vertically, and connected to the same centre and the same part of the bed as
the horizontal pentagraph, will communicate to the bed and block a vertical-
motion corresponding to the motion of the tracing point at the opposite end of
the pentagraph..
Having briefly explained the general features and nature of the present
improvements, I will now proceed to describe more in detail the construction*
and operation of the several parts; and in order that the nature and object of
the Invention may be more fully understood, I have shewn in the accompanying
Drawings various views of a machine, which is applicable not only to the
cutting out of types or letters in wood or other materials, but also to the
producing of various other irregular forms, such as gun stocks, saw handlos,.
bas-reliefs, and other figures with irregular surfaces.
Fig. 1 represents in side elevation the improved machine complete, and
in the operation of cutting out a wooden type or letter; Fig. 2 is a plan
view; and Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the same. A, A, is a table, to which
the framing of the machine is firmly secured. An upright standard B carries
the bearing frame C, in which the rotary stock c of the cutting tool d is
mounted. The bearing frame C is capable of a vertical motion in the
guides e, e, of the standards, but its lowest position during the cutting or
carving of any piece of work is determined by a regulating screw h, which
works in a lug in the upper part of the standard B. The frame C is capable
of being raised (to lift the cutting tool out of contact with its work) by means
of a hand lever f, which has its fulcrum at g; this band lever is connected to
the frame C by the screwed connecting rod h*. The block of wood i to
be operated upon is secured to the sliding bed D by a screw clamp j,
which presses it tight against a shoulder or raised part of the bed. The
bed D has a horizontal motion longitudinally on the guides k, k, and a
transverse motion on the guides 1, 1, so that by this combination a hori-
zontal motion in any direction can be obtained. The moveable bed D
with its guides is mounted on the upper end of a vertical T piece m, m,
which slides in vertical guides n, n, and the weight of the bed and its
appendages is counterbalanced by a weighted rocking lever o, o, the shorter
end of which is inserted in a slot made in the T piece m. The pattern to be-
copied is secured by clamps and screws on an adjustable bed or plate E, which
may be secured at any point along the long iron frame F.
P. P. p. p. of equal length, and two shorter bars p*, p*, constitute a horizontal
pentagraph frame, which has its centre of motion at G, and is connected at
one end by a compound or universal joint to the sliding bed D, and at its
Four bars

page_text: opposite end carries a tracing point q, Fig. 1, which point, as it is moved over
the surface of the pattern, communicates a corresponding motion to the bed D,
and block under the cutting tool. For the convenience of working the tracing
point over the pattern with facility, the tracer end of the pentagraph frame is
furnished with a hand lever r, r, which is jointed at one end to the horizontal
arm or lever s. It will be seen upon referring to the Drawings that the rotary
stock c of the cutting tool is furnished with a band wheel or pulley, and that
motion is communicated thereto by a band or strap t from any prime mover.
When, therefore, the cutting operation is to be performed, it will only be
necessary to communicate rotary motion to the cutting tool, and by means of
the hand lever f the tool may be brought down into contact with the block, the
proper distance for the frame C to descend having been previously regulated.
by the screw /, the tracing point is now drawn round the edges of the pattern
(supposing it to be a letter that is to be cut), and the pentagraph frame is
thereby caused to move the bed and block about under the tool in a corre-
sponding manner, and thus a counterpart or copy of the pattern letter will
be cut out on the block. For very simple work little else than the above
motions is required, but for more elaborate work, such as bas-reliefs, Gothic
tracing, and similar articles, it is necessary that the bed D and block should be
capable of vertical as well as horizontal motion; and for this purpose the ver-
tical pentagraph frame u, u, u, is combined with the horizontal pentagraph
frame above described. This frame u, u, u, is connected to the same centre of
motion G as the frame p, p, and is also connected at one end to that joint
of the frame p, which carries the tracer, and at the opposite end to the joint
whereby the frame p is connected to the sliding bed D. It will be seen that
the centre G of the two frames p, p, and u, u, is so mounted as to allow these
frames to rock when the tracer is moved over an uneven or undulating surface
of the pattern. By this means the block on the bed D at the other end of the
pentagraph frame is not only moved horizontally, but is raised or lowered in
a degree corresponding to the vertical motions of the tracer. It has been
found by experience, that in cutting out letters or flat surfaces it is most con-
venient to follow the outline of the pattern, but for bas-reliefs or irregular
carving it will be found advisable to trace straight across the pattern in
horizontal parallel lines, and in order to facilitate this operation an adjusting
screw v is adapted to the back of the hand lever r, Fig. 2, and by turning this
adjusting screw an eighth, a quarter, or half, or whole turn, after every
traverse of the tracer across the pattern, the distance between the parallel
lines traced by the point over the pattern, and those cut by the tool on the
block, is regulated: with facility and accuracy. A weight w is connected by.

page_text: means of a cord to the end of the lever r, for the purpose of facilitating the
working of this part of the machine. It will be evident to all persons con-
versant with the construction and use of pentagraphs, that by merely altering
the position of the working joints 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 along the bars of the
pentagraph frames, and placing the pins in other holes, the size of the article
to be produced by the cutting tool may be varied without changing the pattern;
and that, therefore, one large pattern of, for example, a wood letter, is all that
is required for all sizes from the largest to the smallest of that particular
letter.
The mouldings or edges round the letter may also be considerably varied in
appearance by merely changing the form of the cutting tool, as will be obvious
to any practical man.
I would also observe, that although for the purpose of avoiding complexity
in the Drawings but one cutting tool is shewn, yet it will be obvious that two
or more cutting tools may be employed, as it will only be necessary to lengthen
the bed so as to receive an additional number of blocks, which will all be
moved simultaneously by the same pentagraph frame.
Having now described the Invention that has been communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent, and the best means with which I am acquainted for
carrying the same into operation, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not
mean or intend to confine myself rigidly to the precise arrangement or con-
struction of parts herein shewn, as they may doubtless be varied without
departing from the nature and object of the present improvements; but that
which I consider to be new, and therefore wish to claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is-
First, the adaptation to the moveable bed D (which carries the block or
blocks to be operated on by the cutting tool or tools) of an arrangement of
levers, constructed on the well-known principle of the pentagraph, whereby
the motions of the said bed under the cutting tool or tools may be made to
correspond to the motions of a point or tracer over the surface of a pattern
placed at the opposite end of the frame.
Second, I claim the combination of the horizontal and vertical pentagraph
frames with a bed mounted in vertical as well as horizontal guides, whereby
not only a horizontal but a vertical motion may be communicated to the bed
and block.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of February, in the
year
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.
of
(L.S.) A. V. NEWTON.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-eighth day of February,
in the year of our Lord 1851, the aforesaid Alfred Vincent Newton came
before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the
Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified,
in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose..
Enrolled the Twenty-eighth day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.