CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED IN CUTTING TEXTILE FABRICS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edmund Phillips, Manufacturer, and James Howie,
Agent, both of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, for the
Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS TO
BE EMPLOYED IN CUTTING TEXTILE FABRICS."
Sealed the 8th March 1867, and dated the 18th September 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edmund Phillips and
James Howie at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 18th September 1866.
We, EDMUND PHILLIPS, Manufacturer, and JAMES HOWIE, both of Man-
chester, in the County of Lancaster, Agent, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS
TO BE EMPLOYED IN CUTTING TEXTILE FABRICS," to be as follows:-
Our Invention is designed for the purpose of cutting cloth made from wool,
cotton, flax, or other similar and ordinary material into the necessary shapes
or patterns preparatory to their being made up into garments or other articles,
as the case may be, and the improvements consist in the novel employment of
a strip or ribbon of steel formed into an ondless band and mounted on two

page_text: wheels or pulleys revolving one above and the other beneath the cutting-out
table, one of the wheels being driven by a band or strap actuated by hand or
power, or in any other suitable manner, the necessary tension being given to
the band of steel by causing one of the wheels to recede from the other, the
bearings being capable of adjustment for the purpose. A slit or opening is
formed in the table through which the band passes in a downward direction,
the cloth to be cut being moved forwards or fed against the edge of the band
in manner as required by the shape or pattern to be cut, a sharp edge being
given to the band and maintained by suitable means.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edmund Phillips and James Howie in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 12th March 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, EDMUND
PHILLIPS and JAMES HOWIE, Agent, both of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Edmund Phillips and James Howie, Her special license that we, the
said Edmund Phillips and James Howie, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said Edmund Phillips and James Howie,
our 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED IN CUTTING TEXTILE
FABRICS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Edmund
Phillips and James Howie, our executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under our, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 we, the said Edmund Phillips and James Howie,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the

page_text: sume is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement and accompanying Drawings:-
--
Our Invention is designed for the purpose of cutting into shapes, designs,
or patterns textile fabrics or paper, and also for cutting into uniform blocks
or slabs hard substances, such as marble, and the improvements consist in the
novel employment and use of an endless steel blade distended between two
pulley driven by gearing herein-after described, the whole being mounted in
suitable bearings. The endless steel blade passes around and is carried by
two pulleys, the upper one of which is capable of being adjusted by a screw
and slide in order that a suitable tension may be given to the said blade, and
also that it may work with greater accuracy and precision; this top adjustable
pulley is supported upon elastic bearings, by which means it is caused
slightly to yield so as to suit itself to the varying qualities of material to be
cut; the bottom pulley, around which the blade passes, is driven by pulley
and strap, thereby giving motion to the knife or blade and top pulley. In
the intermediate space between the top and bottom pulleys a table or platform
is provided in which a slot is formed, through which the cutting knife in its
downward passage runs; thus when it is desired to cut textile fabrics into
shapes, which are afterwards employed to form garments, there are placed on
the table and presented to the continuous cutting edge of the knife, which
severs or cuts the same into the design, pattern, or shape desired.
In cutting stone, marble, or other hard and similar substances the endless
knife is arranged so as to run in a horizontal direction, and to be drawn by
bevel or other suitable gearing. The table or platform upon which the block
or slab to be cut is placed is so arranged that the weight or bulk of material
under operation is counterbalanced by weights connected by chains running
over pulleys with the table, or the table may be raised by means of a screw,
rack, and hammer, or other equivalent, actuated from any convenient position
of the machine through the medium of a ratchet and powl.
In order that the Invention may be better understood and explained in
detail we have hereunto attached a Sheet of Drawing, made upon a scale of
about two inches to the foot.
Fig. 1 represents a front elevation of the machine as adapted for cutting
textile fabrics; Fig. 2 represents a side elevation of the same; and Fig. 3
represents a plan view of the table or bed to be employed when cutting
paper; Fig. 4 represents a transverse section, and Fig. 5 an elevation of the
same; Fig. 6 represents an elevational view of the cutter and table when
employed for cutting marble; in this view the knife and pulleys are supported
and actuated in a horizontal position, the slab or block of marble being

page_text: gradually forced up and against the cutting edge of the knife by means of
counterbalance weights or other equivalents; and Fig. 7 represents a side
elevation of the same.
In Figs. 1, 2, and 3, a, a, is the framing of the machine supporting the
top and bottom pulleys b and c; around these pulleys the endless blade or
knife d is placed, the required and necessary tension to which being obtained
by means of the adjustable and yielding bearing c¹, which is readily raised
or lowered by reason of its connection with the slide supported in the
bearings of the framing a, and actuated by the screw and wheel g. The
endless knife d receives its motion from the bottom pulley b, around which it
passes, the said pulley being driven by the strap and pulley A, the machine
being readily put into motion or stopped passing the strap from the fast to
the loose pulley, or visa versa. The table upon which the goods are placed
that require cutting into shapes is provided with a slot-k, through which the
knife in its downward action passes in order that the goods upon the table as
they are submitted to its action will be clearly severed and cut into the shapes
desired. The moveable table shewn on Figs. 3 and 4 is arranged for the
purpose of supporting paper whilst being presented to the cutting edge of the
knife d, d. m, m, is the moveable table upon which the paper to be cut is
secured by means of the clamps and screws n; this table containing the
paper is impelled in a direction parallel to the knife or blade along the
groove o, thereby giving to the paper so cut a straight and even edge.
The knife is protected and guarded from coming into contact with the
operative by means of the sliding and adjustable guard p.
In Figs. 5 and 6, a, a, is the endless blade or knife, which is supported
and actuated in a horizontal position by means of the pulleys b, b; theso
pulleys receive their motion by means of the pulleys and bevel gearing c. The
table d, upon which the block or slab of marble to be cut is placed, is connected
by the chain e passing over the pulleys f,f, with the counterbalance weights 9, 9;
these weights can be increased or diminished in order that a greater or less
pressure of the slab can be exerted upon the cutting edge of the knife, or the
table can be raised by screws, a regular and steady motion being given to the
screws by a self-acting feed motion.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, together with the
method of carrying the same into practical effect, we wish it to be distinctly to
be understood that we claim the novel employment and use of an endless knife
or blade mounted and actuated in the manner before described, or any slight
modification thereof, for the purpose of cutting or severing paper, textile
fabrics, or other similar materials, and also to be employed for the purpose of

page_text: cutting stone, marble, or other hard and similar substances, or for cutting
any material or substance that is at present cut with reciprocating or vibratory
knives.
In witness whereof, we, the said Edmund Phillips and James Howie,
have hereunto set our hand and seal, this
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
day of March,
EDMUND PHILLIPS. (LS.)
JAMES HOWIE.
(L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered.
EDMUND PHILLIPS. (Ls.)
JAMES HOWIE.
(L.S.)