IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CUTTING INDIA-RUBBER AND OTHER SUBSTANCES INTO THREADS OR NARROW STRIPS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTER
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman,
for the Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CUTTING INDIA-RUBBER AND
OTHER SUBSTANCES INTO THREADS OR NARROW STRIPS."--A communication
from Henry Davenport, of the City of New York, in the United States of
America.
Sealed the 16th December 1856, and dated the 8th September 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th September 1856.
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 "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CUTTING INDIA-
RUBBER AND OTHER SUBSTANCES INTO THREADS OR NARROW STRIPS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates chiefly to the cutting of india-rubber thread from an
endless belt or fillet by means of rotary shears. The fillet of india-rubber is
strained over a pair of rollers, to which rotary motion is communicated for
the purpose of presenting the whole surface gradually to the rotary shears
or cutters. These cutters are carried by a frame, which slides on transverse
guides on the table of the machine, situate about midway between the
tension rollers. By means of a screw shaft, which receives a slow axial

page_text: motion through a train of gearing driven from one of the tension roller shafts,
the position of the cutter frame is shifted laterally, so that the shears, com-
mencing to cut at the edge of the endless sheet, will slowly move inwards and
cut up the rotating sheet (as it passes between the cutting edges) into a long
continuous thread or strip. The strip as it is formed is conducted away to a
suitable reel. Nipping rollers are also provided for holding the sheet of india-
rubber or other substance up to the cutters.
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 7th March 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 Eighth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, 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 "In-
"PROVED MACHINERY FOR CUTTING INDIA-RUBBER AND OTHER SUBSTANCES INTO
THREADS OR NARROW STRIPS," being a communication from Henry Davenport,
of the City of New York, in the United States of America, 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.
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

page_text: 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,
consist in an improved arrangement of machinery applicable to the cutting of
india-rubber thread from rubber made into an endless belt or fillet. The belt
is strained or drawn over two or more rollers or cylinders, which, when
revolving, present one edge of the belt to a pair of rotary knives or cutters,
whereby the edge is cut off into thread. By continuing the process the whole
of the belt or fillet will be ultimately converted into thread.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the machine,
shewing the gearing wheels, and ends of the cylinders and rollers, and part of
the frame and standards; Fig 2 is a sectional elevation of the machine from
the same side as Fig. 1, the end gearing and their supports being removed;
Fig. 3 is a plan view of the machine; Fig. 4 is a vertical cross section of the
machine, taken at the points indicated by *, Fig. 3; Fig. 5 shews the axles,
the two gearing wheels, and standards of the rotary knives or cutters, and
the cutters themselves, and two small regulating rollers; also the sliding table
of the cutters, and apparatus for connecting or disconnecting the sliding
table with the feed screw; and Fig. 6 represents a side elevation of the knives
or cutters in position, with the edge of the rubber between their cutting edges;
also a cross section of the uprights and frame of the carriage for carrying the
cutters, and of the platform or way upon which the table traverses. Similar
letters represent similar parts in all the Figures. The Drawings are upon
a scale of two inches to the foot for an ordinary sized working machine.
The mechanism is placed upon an oblong rectangular cast-iron frame A.
Near the opposite ends of the frame are placed two hollow cylinders or drums
B, B', the axles of which turn in journal boxes c, c, placed on the top of the
uprights a, a', provided at opposite ends of the cylinders. These cylinders
must have smooth surfaces, and their axes must be parallel with each other, the
cylinder B' being placed a little higher than the cylinder B, so as to give
an upward inclination to the belt of rubber (which the cylinders are intended
to carry) as it passes from the cutters. The journal boxes c, c, are made
adjustable by thumb or adjusting screws operating upon slides, by which means
the cylinders are set true to each other, and at the precise distance apart desired.
Midway between the two cylinders and across the frame is placed a platform
C. This platform sustains a sliding table D which traverses upon the platform,
having underneath and on either side of it projections d, d, (Figures 5 and 6,)

page_text: which fit into corresponding grooves on either side of, and running the whole
length of the platform, to keep the table in a straight and uniform line when
moving. This sliding table carries the two circular knives or cutters by which
the thread is cut from the endless belt of india-rubber. These cutters E, E, are
shown in Figures 5 and 6 ; they are made of steel with sharp cutting edges,
the cutting edge of the upper lapping slightly over the cutting edge of the
lower cutter; one edge should face the other at a very slight angle, so as to
cross their faces, like the blades of a pair of shears, the inclination being
on that side of the cutters which meets the belt from which the thread is cut.
To the outer face of the cutters are attached brass discs e, the peripheries
of which are just within the cutting edges of the cutters to which they are
attached; they are considerably thicker than the cutting knives, and serve to
support and hold the rubber steady and even. The cutters are attached
to axles F, F, which revolve in journal boxes in the supporting cross pieces
ff, at either end of the sliding table, and which rest upon the uprights g, g.
To the end of the axle F, opposite to the end carrying the cutter, is a
spur wheel G, which works into a spur wheel of the same pitch and diameter
as G', and which is attached to the axle of the lower cutter E. Upon the
platform C and under the sliding table is placed the feeding screw H, which
extends nearly the whole length of the platform; it is connected to the table
by moveable jaws, having screw threads to correspond with the feed screw,
and which are shut upon it or disconnected by an excentric or bar attached to
the jaws worked by the arm I (Figures 4 and 5), operating upon the pin J
attached to the excentric or bar. The lower axle F¹ is prolonged, and carries
a spur wheel and pinion, which are connected with the series of gearing wheels
and pinions employed for giving motion to the machine, as hereafter described;
this axle is also grooved or slotted in a straight line through its whole length
to receive a feather or key, which passes into it from the spur and pinion R, S,
(Fig. 1,) by which it is geared and also receives motion, so as to allow the axle
to move along with the sliding table and cutter to which it is attached, and at
the same time to revolve; this axle passes through two uprights b, b, (Fig. 4,)
by which it is supported and kept in a true line while traversing and revolving.
In front of the edges of the two rotary cutters, where their edges meet,
are placed two small rollers h, h, one above the other, (see Figures 4 and 5,)
and so near together that they will touch the rubber on either side; their
purpose is to keep that part of the rubber belt, which is about to be cut, true
and even, and at a constant line of inclination to the cutters. The axles
of these rollers are fixed to the standard h¹ at one end only, so that the rubber

page_text: will slip between the rollers at the other. In front of these two small rollers,
and between them and the drum B, is a pair of solid metal rollers or cylinders
K, K', (see Figures 2 and 3.) These rollers are turned true, and are set
parallel to each other and to B; they extend across the machine, and aro
placed so near together as to touch the rubber on either side; they are
supported by pairs of uprights (one of which is seen at L, Fig. 2), and
are geared together by pinions M, M'. The purpose of these rollers is to
carry the sheet or belt of rubber evenly towards the cutters and keep it at
an uniform horizontal position. The upper roller K is made to take off
at pleasure to admit the side of the belt of rubber between the rollers by
means of adjustable covers or top pieces, which may be secured by screws or
keys. On the opposite side of the sliding table is placed a single iron roller,
seen at N (Fig. 3), supported on two uprights N' (Fig. 2); it is removable
at pleasure, and its purpose is to carry away the rubber which rests upon
it from the cutters in an even and uniform line, and at the right inclination,
and (in connection with the other rollers) to hold the rubber steady and true
to the cutters while operating upon it.
The gearing by which motion is given to the different parts is as follows:-
The axle of the drum B is prolonged at either end; at the end B² is a
pulley, secured to the axle for receiving the driving belt by which the power
is communicated. It has a loose pulley B³ for disengaging the driving belt.
At the opposite end of the axle B is a spur wheel B', (Fig. 1,) which gears
into the small pinion P. This pinion gears into a spur wheel O, which
communicates motion to the pinion M¹. Into this pinion M¹
gears the spur
wheel Q, which drives the pinion R on the axle F, and by this means rotary
motion is given to the cutters. Attached to the pinion R is the smaller pinion
S, which communicates motion through the train of spur wheels T, U, V, and
pinions T¹ and U¹ to the spur W, which is attached to the end of the feed
screw H, before described, and gives it rotation, the speed being reduced to the
degree required for cutting the required size of thread. The gearing wheels
and pinions are supported upon arms and standards secured to the main
frame, but projecting from it, so as not to interfere with the sliding table and
its platform and appendages. These supports and standards are seen in
Fig. 1, at P, O', M³, T, Q¹, b, and V¹. In the machine described the
thread cut is about forty-two to forty-four to the inch. The drums or
cylinders B, B', are geared together by a band or cord X, Fig. 2, running in
grooves in the cylinders. The grooved vertical wheel X (supported by the
upright X by means of a slot a³, through which a screw passes into the frame,)

page_text: is for the purpose of keeping this cord or band clear of the fillet of rubber.
The speed of the rollers M, M', is a little greater than that of the cylinder
B. The cutters revolve with a speed a trifle greater than that of B, while the
speed of W which turns the feed screw is very greatly reduced. The speed of
the feed screw must be regulated according to the size of thread required; the
finer the thread required, the slower the feed; and the coarser the thread, the
more rapid the feed.
To prepare the machine for operation, the endless belt or fillet of rubber is
carefully prepared, and made of uniform thickness, with its edges as parallel
and even as possible, and it is laid over the cylinders B, B', by taking them out
of their places; the roller K is also lifted off that the rubber may be placed
over the roller K, the upper roller is then replaced; the sliding table with its
appendages is placed at the beginning of the feed of the screw, and the jaws
are closed upon the screw; the lower part of the rubber belt or fillet is placed
upon the roller N, so that the rubber will slightly press and rest upon the
roller, causing it to revolve. The edge of the rubber to be cut is inserted
between the two small guide rollers h, h. The belt of rubber should be placed
as true and even as possible upon the drums B, B', with an even strain or
tension throughout, which is effected by the adjusting screws and slides c, c,
(Fig. 3,) in the journal boxes. A small grooved horizontal wheel y is supported
by an adjustable spring rod y' (Figures 3 and 4). The edge of the rubber
opposite to that which is being cut is placed in the groove of this wheel, and
serves to keep the rubber in its place, and counteracts any tendency of the rubber
to draw away from the cutters. The rubber belt or fillet is seen in position at Z,
Fig. 1.
It should be observed that the breadth of the rubber belt or fillet
cannot be greater than the distance which the sliding table can travel; it may
be of less width, as the cutters can be brought up to its edge, however narrow
the belt may be. Under the drum B¹ in the lower part of the frame is hung
a reel a, a, which receives and winds the thread as it comes from the cutters ;
it is made to revolve by an endless cord or belt passing from the drum B¹.
The drum B, and the rubber belt while being cut, are carried in the direction
indicated by the arrows; and the drum B being in motion carries the spur
wheel attached to its axle, by which motion is communicated to the rotary
knives through the medium of the gearing wheels, as described, the sliding
table with the cutters advancing at the same time uniformly, so as to keep
the cutters continuously and evenly operating upon the edge of the rubber belt,
and thus the operation proceeds until the rubber belt is entirely cut up into
thread.

page_text: Having thus set forth the nature of the Invention, communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent, I wish it to be understood that under the above in
part recited Letters Patent, I claim the means herein described for reducing
sheet rubber, gutta percha, and other materials capable of receiving the like
treatment, to threads or narrow strips.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Seventh day of March, 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.)