IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SHAPING WOOD AND OTHER MATERIALS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Johan Jacob Meyer, of Rochdale, in the County of
Lancaster, Cabinet Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SHAPING WOOD AND OTHER MATERIALS."
Sealed the 23rd November 1855, and dated the 23rd May 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Johan Jacob Meyer at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd May 1855.
I, JOHAN JACOB MEYER, of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster, Cabinet
Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SHAPING WOOD AND OTHER MATERIALS" to be as
follows:-
My improvements consist, firstly, in the employment of a stationary cutting
or scraping tool, against which the material is caused to travel and at the
same time to rise and fall, by which means designs are produced thereon in
different degrees of relief. The rising and falling motion I effect by means of
a travelling template, or other such apparatus.
Secondly, in the use of a cutting or scraping tool, either stationary or
moveable, operating upon the material, which at the same time is caused to
move sideways by a template, or other such apparatus; or, instead of this
arrangement, the tool may be caused to move sideways; if desired, this part of
my Invention may be combined with that first described,

page_text: Thirdly, in the employment of peculiarly constructed rotating tools. This I
accomplish by first obtaining blanks of a conical form, or as parts of spheres,
and then, by removing portions of the periphery, leave intervening projecting
parts.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Johan Jacob Meyer in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
23rd November 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHAN
JACOB MEYER, of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster, Cabinet Maker,
send greeting.
WHERASS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand cight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Johan Jacob Meyer, Her especial license that I, the said Johan
Jacob Meyer, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Johan Jacob Meyer, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter luring 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SHAPING WOOD AND OTHER MATERIALS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Johan Jacob Meyer,
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 Johan Jacob Meyer, 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 Drawing (that is to say):-
My improvement consists, firstly, in the employment of a stationary cutting
or scraping tool, against which the material is caused to travel and at the same
time to rise and fall, by which means designs are produced thereon in different
degrees of relief.
Secondly, my Invention consists in the use of a cutting or scraping tool,

page_text: either stationary or moveable, operating upon the material, which at the same
time is caused to move sideways, by a template or other such apparatus; and,
if desired, this part of my improvements may be combined with that first
mentioned.
Thirdly, in the employment of peculiarly constructed rotatory tools.
And in order that the same may be fully understood, I have appended
to this my Specification a Sheet of Drawings, which I will now proceed to
describe.
Fig. 1 is an elevation of the machine in section, and Fig. 2 is a plan view.
The framework is shewn at a, upon which is mounted a bridge piece b, fur-
nished with suitable sides for acting as guides to a cross bar c, capable of being
lowered at pleasure by means of a screw d; the bar c carries the cutting or
scraping tool e, and it is borne upwards by means of springs, not seen in the
Drawing; the screw d, therefore, becomes an abutment, and renders the tool
stationary when in operation. The framework a is furnished with suitable
guides, upon which a table f is placed, after the manner of a planing machine;
beneath this table is a rack g, driven by a shaft h, through the intervention of
gearing denoted by the red lines. The shaft h is provided with two sets of fast
and loose pullies i, k, the one being driven by an open and the other by a
crossed strap; one of these, therefore, will cause the table f to move in one
direction, and the other will impart a reversed motion. To the upper face of
the table are attached brackets l, to which is fixed by means of screws a strip
of wood m, narrowed at each end, in order to afford a certain amount of
elasticity. Upon this the material n to be operated upon is placed, and
maintained in its position by strips o; to the under side of the piece m is fixed
a corrugated plate p, bearing upon a fixed plate 9, carried by the stationary
framework. Upon rotatory motion being communicated to the shaft h, the
rack 9 will be driven in the one or other direction by the pulley i or k, thereby
causing the material n to be carried against the tool ; at the same time the
plate p, moving in contact with the piece q, will cause the material to be lifted
against the force of the spring in the strip m, the elasticity of which will cause
it to return to its former position, and thus a cutting or scraping away of the
material will be effected of a wavy character, according to the pattern of plate p
employed, and this may of course be changed at pleasure for the purpose of
varying the design; as the operation proceeds, the screw d is turned in order to
depress the tool. Upon the whole length of material having been operated
upon, a stop will arrive in contact with a lever connected to the strap fork and
reverse the motion, by shifting the strap from the one to the other of the
pullies i, k, after the ordinary manner of such motions.

page_text: The second part of my Invention is also shewn in the Figs. 1 and 2, before
referred to. In order to carry the same into effect, I adapt a pattern plate s to
the side of the piece m, and cause it to move in contact with a fixed blade t;
the consequence of which will be, that as the material is carried onward it will
be moved to and fro transversely beneath the tool e, and another description of
design will be produced; in this instance the strip m will also yield by its
elasticity, but in order to facilitate its return I adapt a spring u, fixed to the
stationary framework. I have shewn and described the two parts of my
Invention as combined in one machine, but they may, if desired, be used
separately; and in the case of the transverse motion, the tool e may be, as
described, fixed, or it may be caused to rise and fall by a pattern plate or other
such apparatus. I would also observe, that although I have shewn and described
the material as moving in a straight line, yet I do not confine myself thereto,
as it may be mounted upon a table capable of moving around a centre, and
caused to rise and fall or move inward and outward by pattern plates, as above
described.
The third part of my Invention is shewn at Fig. 8, which represents the
section of a rotatory cutter to be used in any ordinary machine. I first form a
blank, the section of which is a circle with conical sides, and then remove
certain portions, as at a, by which means a series of cutting edges are
obtained.
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,
Firstly, the combination of a stationary cutting or scraping tool with a
rising and falling motion of the material operated upon.
Secondly, the combination of a stationary or moveable tool with a transverse
motion of the material.
Thirdly, the construction of rotatory cutting tools in the manner aforesaid.
In witness whereof, I, the said Johan Jacob Meyer, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
JOIN JACOR MEYFR (1.S