CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR TURNING AND CUTTING WOOD AND OTHER SUBSTANCES TO BE EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SPOOLS OR BOBBINS, OR OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Braithwaite, of Crook, near Kendal, in the
County of Westmoreland, Machinist, for the Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR TURNING AND CUTTING
WOOD AND OTHER SUBSTANCES TO BE EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
SPOOLS OR BOBBINS, OR OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES."
Sealed the 1st December 1865, and dated the 5th July 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Braithwaite at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 5th
July 1865.
I, JOHN BRAITHWAITE, of Crook, near Kendal, in the County of West-
moreland, Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR TURNING AND CUTTING
WOOD AND OTHER SUBSTANCES TO BE EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SPOOLS OR
BOBBINS, OR OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates more particularly to the turning or shaping of small
rough blocks or short cylindrical pieces of wood to be subsequently employed
in the manufacture of "spools" or "bobbins," or other similar articles.
The improvements consist in arranging and supporting in upright frames
two or more revolving spindles, the lower end of each being supplied with a
"chuck" for wood, beneath each of which spindles a disc is situated supplied.
with four or more projecting centres. These discs are driven by bevil

page_text: gearing, and receive an intermittent rotatory motion, which is imparted
thereto by means of a revolving crank or finger actuating a lever and catch in
connection with a clutch box on the driving shaft. At each stoppage of the
said discs the centres which they support are severally brought directly under
the upper revolving spindles, and these centres are constantly supplied with
small blocks or pieces of wood, which are caused with each stoppage of the
said disc to be raised by such disc and forced against the upper spindle, which
immediately imparts thereto a rapid rotatory motion. The elevation of these
discs takes place during each stoppage in their revolution, and as the clutch is
thrown out of gear it relieves a catch retaining a weight, and so allows such
weight to drop, the action of which gives such discs the required rise, as
before described, by means of a clip connected to the sliding boss of the
rotatary discs. During the time these discs remain elevated the blocks of
wood as they rotate are acted upon by a cutting tool fixed to a slide and
actuated by a grooved cam on the driving shaft, the slide retaining the cutting
tool being forced along in a straight line by means of the said cam, which thus
reduces the roughness of the wood and shapes it into even cylinders, and
smooths the surface as the pieces are severally brought under the action of the
said tool, and as each separate piece is finished the disc is lowered, and the
"clutch" thrown into gear, which gives such disc a slight turn and brings
another centre underneath the revolving spindle, at which time a repitition of
the said operation is effected.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Braithwaite in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 4th
January 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
BRAITHWAITE, of Crook, near Kendal, in the County of Westmoreland,
Merchant, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Braithwaite, Her special license that I, the said John Braithwaite,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Braithwaite, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter

page_text: 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 IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR TURNING AND CUTTING WOOD AND
OTHER SUBSTANCES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
Braithwaite, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 John Braithwaite, do hereby declare the
nature of the 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 Drawings (that is to say) :-
My Invention relates more particularly to the turning or shaping of small
rough blocks or short cylindrical pieces of wood to be subsequently employed
in the manufacture of spools, bobbins, or other similar articles.
The improvements consist in arranging and supporting in upright frames
one or more revolving spindles, which have also a vertical movement, the
lower end of each being supplied with a clutch for wood, beneath each of
which spindles a disc is situated and supplied with several projecting centres.
These discs are driven by gearing, and receive an intermittent rotatory
motion, which is imparted thereto by means of a revolving crank or finger
actuating a lever and catch, the crank being driven by spur wheels from the
cam shaft. At each stoppage of the said disc the centres which they support
are severally brought directly under the upper revolving spindles, and these
centres are constantly supplied with small blocks or pieces of wood, which are
caused with each stoppage of the said disc to be raised, or they may be caused
to revolve by the spindles coming down upon the pieces, which immediately
imparts thereto a rapid rotatory motion. The elevation of these discs or the
depression of the spindles takes place during each stoppage of the discs in
their revolution, and as the crank or finger revolves it relieves a catch
retaining a weight, and so allows the disc to rotate. During the time these
discs remain stationary the blocks of wood as they rotate are acted upon by a
cutting tool fixed to a slide, and actuated by a grooved can on a driving
shaft, the slide retaining the cutting tool being forced along in a straight line
by means of the said cam, which thus reduces the roughness of the wood.
This cutter slide is provided with a strong spring, which allows the cutter to

page_text: yield should any obstacle present itself, and shapes it into even cylindrical or
conical forms, and smoothes the surface as the pieces are severally brought
under the action of the said tool, and as each separate piece is finished the
disc is lowered or the spindles are raised, and the disc again rotates, brings
another centre underneath the revolving spindle, at which time a repetition of
the aforesaid operation is effected.
In order that the Invention may be better understood and explained in
detail, I have hereunto attached a Sheet of Drawings made upon a scale of
about three inches to the foot, similar letters of reference being marked
upon corresponding parts on all the Figures.
Fig. 1 represents a front view, shewn in elevation, of the machinery or appa-
ratus for turning and shaping small cylindrical pieces of wood, in which the
intermittent revolving discs supporting the same are clearly illustrated, and
also the arrangement of apparatus in connection therewith for giving the
necessary intermittent motion; and Fig. 2 represents a general side view of
the same, shewing more particularly the arrangement of apparatus employed
for actuating the cutters.
In Figs. 1 and 2, a, a, is the framing supporting the uprights or standards
h, b, to the upper portion of which the crosshead c is secured, in which the
two bar levers d, d, have their fulcra, and are employed for the purpose of
giving a rising and falling motion to the spindles e, e, by means of the con-
necting rods and levers in connection with the eccentric or tappet herein-after
described. The spindles e, e, are supported vertically in bearings h, h, and
are connected to the bar levers d, d, by means of the sliding bosses f, f, and
the connecting rods and guide bars g, g, the pulleys i, i, being for the purpose
of driving the said spindles independently. The discs k, k, supplied with
the centro pieces 1, 1, 1, 1, upon which the pieces of wood to be shaped are
placed, are supported in the bearings m, m, and r, r, attached to the
foundation framing a, and are caused to receive an intermittent motion, which
brings the centres 1, 1, in succession underneath the centres of the driving
spindles e, e, at which time the said spindles are lowered into contact with the
pieces of wood, which are thereby caused rapidly to revolve. The cam non
the driving shaft o then propells the sliding cutters p, p, forward, bringing
them into contact with the rough surfaces of the blocks of wood, which rapidly
become shaped or turned into even, smooth, cylindrical, or other shaped
pieces. After this part of the operation the spindles 'e, e, are lifted out of
contact, and the dises perform part of a revolution, and present another rough
block, which becomes acted upon as before described. The intermittent
motion of the discs k, k, and the rise and fall of the spindles e, e, is effected

page_text: by an arrangement of mechanism described as follows:-The discs k, k, are
secured to the vertical shafts q, q', which are supported by and revolve in the
bearings r, r, and m, m, and receive their motion as follows:-The crank s,
which is driven by the wheel t on the driving shaft o, is supplied with a crank
pin or bowl u, which at every revolution comes into contact with the end of
the lever v, which has the effect of raising or elevating a bolt or projection
on the lever w out of a recess or hole in the wheel a¹, which thereby becomes
released and free to revolve. Tho vertical motion of the spindles e, e, is
effected as follows:-The eccentric tappets 1, Fig. 2, on the shaft o with
every revolution depress the ends of the levers y, y, Fig. 2, raising the other
end of the levers y, Fig. 1, and the connecting rods, d, and g, thus lifting the
spindles e, e, and releasing the finished pieces. When the discs have taken
another quarter turn and brought another rough unfinished piece under the
spindles, the spindles then drop by the outside of the eccentric, allowing one
of the ends of the levers y to rise, and the other ends with the rods z, d, and g,
to fall by their own gravity and that of the weight attached. The bowl on
the crank pin, after having acted upon the lever v, comes into contact with one
of the vertical bowls or pins a¹ on the lower disc 61, secured to the vertical
shaft q, and propells or forces it forward one quarter of a revolution, and
transmits through the wheel a the movement of a quarter turn to the unlocked
wheel and vertical shaft q'. Immediately this quarter turn is completed
the bolt on the lever w becomes again forced or inserted by the weight c¹, c¹,
into another recess of the wheel a', which thereby effects the locking and
steadying of the discs k, k, during the operation of shaping or cutting the
rough blocks into smooth cylindrical pieces.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, together with the
method of carrying the same into practical effect, I wish it to be distinctly
understood that I claim,-
First, the mechanism for cutting or reducing simultaneously one or several
rough blocks or pieces into smooth cylindrical or conical forms by self-acting
means.
Secondly, I claim the use of the discs or bottom centres having an inter-
mittent rotating motion, in conjunction with a vertical movement imparted to
the spindles, or the use of discs or lower centres having a vertical movement
and intermittent rotatory movement, the top centre not having a vertical
movement; or I claim the use of both discs and spindles having vertical
movements.
And, lastly, I claim the use and application of springs to the cutters as

page_text: herein-before described, set forth, and fully illustrated in the Drawings
attached.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Braithwaite, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witnessed by
JOHN L. DAVIES, C.E.,
Office for Patents,
Manchester.
JOHN BRAITHWAITE. (L.S.)