Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 25th May, 1888
Specification Accepted, 6th July, 1885
I, JOHN HARRISON, of the Diamond Grit Works, Middlesbrough-on-Toes, in the
County of York, Stone Cutter, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement
-
My Invention relates to machines for sawing stone in which the saw blades are fixed
in an oscillating saw frame and in cutting their way form parallel kerfs or lines of
division extending through the stone in a horizontal direction.
The object of my invention is to improve stone sawing machines in several details
of construction whereby the operation of sawing stones into separate slabs of definite
dimensions is facilitated especially in the following respects :-the stiffness of that part
of the saw blade which enters the stone is increased and a more perfect action of the
saw blades obtained by means of adjustable guide bars or saw gates which can be fixed
at any such distance apart as to correspond to the length of that part of the saw blade
which enters the stone; the strike of the saw at the commencement of each stroke is
rendered more effective by suspending the saw frame from short hanger bars so as to
increase the curvature of its motion; a vertical feed is automatically applied to the
saw blade as the kerf deepens to insure a regular cut throughout each kerf by means
of mechanism which is employed in part for raising or lowering the saw frame to any
required position at will; the debris is effectually washed out of the kerfs by each saw
blade having its own continuous supply of water issuing as a jet from a sprinkler
which oscillates or remains at rest as the saw frame oscillates or remains at rest; the
grit is admitted with equal facility to either side of the saw blade which is suitably
perforated for that purpose.
The several objects above enumerated 1 attain by the construction substantially as
described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings to which I will now refer in
order that my invention may be fully understood and readily carried into effect.
=

page_text: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a stone sawing machine as constructed according to
my invention.
Figure 2 is a corresponding view of the end towards the engine or other means by
which the saw is set in motion.
Figure 5 is the corresponding view in plan.
a represents a stone supported in position to undergo the operation of being sawed
into slabs; bbbb are four hangers from which the saw frame is suspended, the position
represented in the drawings being that which the saw frame would occupy at rest with
the stone a partly sawed through. The saw frame may be constructed in any suitable
manner and as illustrated in the drawings consists of the hollow tubes c¹ c¹, which may
be employed as combining lightness with rigidity and strength to form the sides, and
which are tied together by the end plates c²², the sides and ends together making a
rectangular frame; c³ ³ are additional end plates fixed a sufficient distance beyond the
end plates ce to afford means for providing each end of the saw frame with a set of
securing bolts; the saw blades d d are secured between the end plates c²² by having
their extremities bolted or pinned to the securing bolts e, which are furnished with
double eyes as a simple means of effecting this, the saw blades are drawn tight by
screwing up the securing bolts e; that part of each saw blade which enters the stone
is made as rigid or stiff as possible by the employment of guide bars or saw gates f
which are placed one on each side of the stone a, and extend from side to side of the
saw frame as distinctly shown in detail in Figure 6, between which they can be made
to slide to any position in which they may be required to be fixed; in Figure 6, gg are
guages between which the saw blades pass and are rigidly held in their intended
positions, each saw blade being gripped or jammed between two guages by the action
of the wedges g²; fare koeps or cramps which slide along the frame of the guide
bars and afford additional rigidity to any required part. By bringing the saw gates
or guide bars ff as near together as the dimensions of the stone a will allow, it is
obvious that the tendency of the saw blades to buckle or bend is reduced to a minimum
and their action rendered more perfect.
The hangers from which the saw frame is suspended oscillate on the transverso
shafts h and are shorter than saw frame hangers at present in use to increase the
curvature of the saw frame and thereby render the strike of the saw blades at the com-
mencement of each stroke as effective as possible; the transverse bars hh extend
accross the ends of the machine and are supported in the sliding stocks, the con-
struction of which is illustrated more particularly and to an enlarged scale in Figure 3;
the vertical screw bars are screwed through the sliding stocks 'h', which
consequently move up or down in properly formed grooves when the said vertical
bars are made to rotate and of course carry the saw frame up or down with them.
The combination of mechanical parts by which the vertical barsj may be rotated can
be readily designed in any well known manner adapted for such purposes, it being of
course essential to impart a uniform speed of rotation to all the vertical bars simul-
taneously, the means illustrated in the drawings may be described as follows:-on tho
horizontal shafts are provided mitre wheels k which engago with the mitre wheels k¹
provided on the tops of the vertical bars, the rotatory motion of shaft is communi-
cated to shaft by means of the mitre wheels k* which engage with other mitre wheels k³
on a counter shaft P, so that it is only requisite to rotate the shaft to impart its
rotatory motion through shafts to the vertical shafts j¹¹ which are screwed into
the sliding stocks h¹ right or left hand as required to cause them all to ascend or
descend together.
The means employed for applying the feed to the saw blades automatically can be
readily understood from the figures more especially from Figure 1, in which the cou-
bined action of the crank m, the connecting bar m³, the oscillating bar m³, the ratchet
paul m³, and the catch paul m' impart the requisite intermittent motion to the ratch
wheel n, from which it is transmitted to the main shaft at any required change of
speed by the pinion n' and spur wheel n², the ratchet wheel n, and pinion n' rotate on
a shaft or spindle supported in the carrier bar n³, the free end of which rests upon the
adjusting bar p by means of which the pinion n³ can be put in or out of gear with the

page_text: spur wheel n of the main shaft at will, slots in the crank m and the oscillating
bar m² furnish means for regulating the feed applied by each movement of the ratchet
wheel n.
:
For the purpose of raising or lowering the saw frame at will I provide a pulley
shaft furnished with fast and loose pullies 2, over which is passed an endless band
from which the rotation of the shaft is derived as required, the rotation of this shaft
brings into action a train of pinions s¹²ss of which s² is fixed to and rotates with
the pulley shaft and gears into the other three in the manner illustrated, the
pinions rotate on pins in the carrier bar t, the free end of which rosts upon the
adjusting bar p, by which the position of the carrier bar t can be so adjusted that
either the bottom pinion s' which rotates the main shaft in one direction, or the top
pinions which rotates the same shaft in the opposite direction can be geared into
the spur wheel n at will; the adjusting bars p¹² extend downwards to some con-
venient part of the frame work of the machine, suitable means being provided to secure
them in the positions for adjusting the machinery above as required.
21
In the upper part of the machine is provided the sprinkler which is constructed to
supply a separate continuous jet of water to cach kerf in the stone below, this sprinkler
consists of an upper horizontal receiving pipe extending transversely accross the
machine upon the frame work of which it is supported in the pedestals or sockets ww,
a lower horizontal delivery pipe is connected to it by the vertical circulating
pipes, the water is supplied to one or both ends of the receiving pipe v and
issues in jets from holes provided in any desired number along the underside of the
delivery pipe, the holes not intended to send out jets in any particular operation are
plugged up. In order to efficiently wash out the kerf the jet of water is made to reach
the whole length thereof by the oscillation of the sprinkler in a manner corresponding
to the oscillation of the saw frame below; the means by which this is effected as illus-
trated in the drawings is by the combined action of a connecting bar y', which connects
one of the vertical pipes of the sprinkler to an arm or lever y³, which is fixed to the
horizontal shaft y³, to which is also fixed another arm or lever y extending therefrom
in a different direction, and in such a position as to be readily connected by the con-
necting bar y to the oscillating bar m², to which an oscillating motion is imparted in
the manner herein before described, the slot in the bar m² enables the position of the
connecting bar y to be adjusted so as to vary the amount of stroke or travel in the
oscillation of the sprinkler in the well known manner.
Figure illustrates to an enlarged scale a part of a saw blade perforated with
diamond shaped holes pitched to about 6 or 8 inch centres, which improvement
materially facilitates the access of grit to both sides of the saw blade, thus obtaining a
more uniform cut on both sides of the kerf.
It will be observed that the hereinbefore described improvements in stone sawing
machinery which constitute the essential features of my invention are carried into
effect by the combined action of well known mechanical movements or devices, and
that the particular means employed can be readily varied in matters of detail or con-
struction without departing from the object in view, I do not therefore limit myself
to the particular details of construction as described.
Having now fully described my invention and by what means the same may be
carried into effect, what I claim is :-
Firstly In the arrangement or combination of parts constituting the oscillating
saw frame, the use of the adjustable guide bars or saw gates for stiffening that part of
the saw blade which enters the stone, substantially as and for the purpose as described
with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Secondly-The arrangement or combination of parts whereby the curvature of the
motion of the saw frame is increased so as to improve the strike of the saw at the com-
mencement of each stroke by attaching the saw frame to short hanger bars, substantially
as and for the purpose as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying
drawings.
Thirdly The arrangement and combination of parts for automatically applying a

page_text: vertical feed to the saw blades in which the vertical screw bars are screwed through
the sliding stocks ', which move up or down by the rotation of the said vertical screw
bars, substantially as described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
:-
Fourthly The arrangement and combination of parts for raising and lowering
the saw frame at will by means of suitable gearing applied to the vertical screw bars j,
substantially as described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Fifthly The particular construction of the sliding stocks has illustrated in
Figure 3, by which they serve as nuts to the vertical screw bars and as cramps or
hold fasts for securing the saw frame in any required position.
Sixthly The use or employment of an oscillating sprinkler constructed with an
upper horizontal receiving pipe communicating with a lower horizontal delivery pipe
by means of the vertical circulating pipes, substantially as and for the purpose as herein-
before described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
:
Seventhly The use of a perforated saw blade to facilitate the access of the grit to
both sides of the saw blade, substantially as described with reference to Figure 4 of
the accompanying drawings.
Eighthly The general arrangement and combination of parts constituting a
machine for sawing stone, substantially as described and illustrated in the accompany-
ing drawings.