IMPROVE- MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING FILES."
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Pierre Lewis Tieffé Lacroix, of Metz, in the Empire
of France, Mechanician; Watch .Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING FILES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Pierro Lewis Tieffé Lacroix,
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd January 1856.
I, PIERRE LEWIS TIEFFE LACROIX, of Metz, in the Empire of France,
Mechanician, Watch Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING FILES, to be as follows:-
The annexed Drawings represent the machine by which files of any descrip-
tion may be cut. Fig. 1 is a side elevation, and Fig. 2 is the plan of the said
machine. B", B", wooden frame; G", upper cross pieces, bearing the cast-
iron sole plate-U; F; F, sliders, laid on moveable rests; T, T, file bearers,
with holders or jaws 'M; 0, 0, bearing brackets of a shaft Z, where the tool
holders G are made to slide when necessary; these holders are. fastened by
setting screws when in the required position. H', chisel or file cutter;
M, hammer's head; R, lever or handle of the hammer moving on trunnions;
D', D', cam wheels, fixed on a shaft, K, revolving in bearings; K', tooth
wheel, fixed,on, the same shaft and actuated. by a similar wheel fixed, on the
driving shaft,P, carrying the fly-wheel V; P",, grooved, pulley for applying

page_text: the power; d. gearing for giving or stopping the motion. A, tooth wheel,
accurately divided and fixed on the shaft P; it gears with a similar wheel B₁,
the shaft.of which carries two bevel wheels a, b, which actuate two similar
ones fixed on the same shaft with the wheels 1 and 6; these latter wheels impel
the wheels 3 and 4 through the medium of similar ones 2 and 5. The wheels
1, 3, 4, and 6 are provided with pegs projecting on their face; there are 24 of
these pegs in the present machine, but there might be more or less; these
pegs gear with two corresponding spur wheels, which in this case have 12 teeth.
The said wheels are placed at the end of the driving screws of the sliders for
the purpose of giving the proper division to the cutting of the files. e and i,
Fig. 1, are two springs, placed over and under the handle of the hammer.
Two files in their holders, brought to the end of the sliders in order to begin
entting the files at the point, may be seen in Fig. 2. To give the required
inclination to the cutting, the moveable rests are made to move round their
cutters by means of the toothed segment G1, G¹, cogging with the rack X,
which is moved forward or backward by the handle p. The slanting of the
tool is obtained by turning the tool holder G to the right or to the left on the
shaft Z, upon which it is then fastened by a setting screw, and the shaft itself
may be moved either way and stopped by catches c, c, entering the teeth of
spur wheels fixed at each end. The roughness of the cutting may be varied
by modifying the combination of the spur wheels A and B', which according
to their respective diameters modify the speed with which the file bearers
progress; the hammers must also be removed when necessary, for the purpose
of adjusting their weight to the depth of the cut required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Pierre Lewis Tieffé Lacroix, in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 21st July 1856.
TO ALL TO. WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PIERRE
LEWIS TIEFFE LACROIX, of Metz, in the Empire of France, Mechanician,
Watch Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty, Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself; Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Pierre Lewis Tieffé Lacroix, Her special licence that I, the said Pierre

page_text: Lewis Tieffé Lacroix, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Pierre Lewis Tieffé Lacroix, 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.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING FILES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Pierre Lewis Tieffé Lacroix, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 Pierre Lewis Tieffé Lacroix, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, reference being had to the annexed Drawings; in
which Fig. 1 is a side elevation; B", frame, firmly erected on stone or brick-
work, and bearing two cross pieces G", which support the plate U, firmly
fixed thereon; two carriages moveable on a centre Du are placed on the
plate or table U. F, F, are two guiding pieces fixed on the carriage, between
which slides the file rest T; a pair of jaws M' hold the file. Two brackets or
stands O serve as bearings to a shaft Z, on which the chisel holders G, G, are
fixed by screws, as soon as by sliding on the shaft Z they reach a suitable
position over the file. H¹, cutter or chisel, secured by screws; M, the head of
the hammer, which is fixed by a screw on the handle or lever R, moving on an
axis in bearings on the frame B; D, D, are two wheels with cams fixed on
the shaft K; K', cog wheel, fixed on the same shaft as the cam wheels, and
actuated by the wheel P¹, fixed on the main shaft P, which carries also the
fly wheel V. A pully P" on the fly wheel is actuated by any suitable power
by bands or straps d, gearing on the shaft P, for starting or stopping the
machine. An accurately divided tooth wheel A of a given size is fixed at the
opposite end of the shaft P; and outside the frame, so as to be removed at
pleasure for modifying the fineness of the cut on the file. The wheel A
cogs with another B¹ of the same diameter fixed on the shaft E¹; two bevel'
wheels a, b, (Fig. 3,) cog with two similar wheels, a¹, b; fixed on two peg
wheels 1 & 6, which gear on either side with intermediate wheels 2, 3, 4, 5.
The wheels 1, 3, 4, 6, have 24 pegs, which gear with two small toothed wheels
m, n, fixed at the end of the screws, which give the divisions on each carriage

page_text: e & Fig. 1; two springs, one above the other under the hammer handle,
regulate the blows and give them steadiness. ...
16.08
Fig. 2 is a plan of the machine'; the carriages placed on the table:U are in-
clined to the left. 9, g-files placed on their rests Tat the end of the carriages;:
c, c; are toothed segments of a circle, made fast on each of the carriages; and:
"gearing with the rack X, actuated by the handle p, in order to change the
position of the sliders right or left for the first or second cutting. Two small
ratchet wheels c, c, are fixed at the ends of the shaft Z, carrying the chisel
holder's G; the catches of the ratchet wheels are fastened on the stands O; and
give the required inclination to the chisel holders. S, S", transoms for.
keeping the distance of the frames B; on the latter transom are the bearings
H of the hammer.
7
Fig. 3 is a plan of a portion of the machine, the carriages E, E;being.then:
inclined to the right on the table U. In the first the file guides F, F, and rest
have been removed, and the division -screw, of about 1 inch, .may be seen.
engaged in a nut on the file rest, which slides in grooves in the guides E; one:
of the ends of the division screw has a collar, which turns freely in a bearing on
one side of the carriage; the other end of the division screw is received_by, a.
center pointed screw at the other side of the same carriage; the. toothed
wheels m, n, (of 12 teeth) gear with the peg wheels 4. & 6; the latter,.
turning towards the right, 'cause the wheels m, n, as well as the division screw's
to turn to the left, and thus the file rest is carried back to the other side of
the carriage. When the first cutting is effected, the catch is removed from its
rack X, which being moved forward, the carriages are moved to the left: on
the table (Fig. 2), and the wheels m, n, then gear with the peg wheels 1,3,
which turning to the left cause the wheels m, n, and screws to, turn to the
right, bringing back the sliding rests T to their starting point. The file is. then
cut with double cross cuts. The inclination of..the cuttings of the file is given
by the inclination of the carriages F, F, with the line a", 6, (Fig. 3). The
peg wheels 1 & 6, (Figs. 3 & 4,) are both fixed at the end of a tube, a bevel
wheel being fixed at the other, end; 'the peg wheel 6 turning. to the right
causes the intermediate wheel 5 to turn to the left, & the latter impels.the
peg wheel 4 to the right; the wheel- I turning to the left carries the bevel
"wheel h¹, and turns the intermediate wheel 2 to the right, which drives the
wheel 4 to the left; all the peg wheels being of a double size and with twice
as many pegs as the wheels m, n; the latter shall revolve twice while the peg
wheels turn once. Three cams L, L', L", are fixed on the cam wheels D, D,
on the shaft K; the wheel K on the same shaft gears with, the smaller wheel
'P' on the shaft P: The wheel A, on the latter shaft outside the frame B,

page_text: gears' with the wheel B', fixed on the same shaft as the bevel wheels a!&b.
If the wheels A & B are of equal 'diameter, and the wheel K half the
diameter of the wheel. P', the cam-wheel should revolve twice when the wheels,
A, B, the bevel wheels a, b, a, b, and the peg wheels 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6; revolve
once; thus the hammer will strike three blows for each half turn-of the screw;
or three cuts in each inch: If the wheels A & B be not of the same
diameter, the first being greater or less; the cut of the file would be coarser-or
finer. By changing these wheels the cut required will be obtained!
Fig. 5 shews the carriage & file rest. In order that the chisehor: cutter.
may work well and bear truly on the file, the file rest or anvil is moveable,
and made half cylindrical, with a collar at each end working in suitable
bearings. This half cylinder bears in its whole length in a groove cut in the
brass rest, and the bearing on which the file is held fast by the jaw M¹ is
secured by screws on the face of the half cylinder, which allows the file to
recline in all directions, and the chisel to bear on the whole breadth of the
file. D, Figs. 1 & 5, is a round iron plate fastened on the carriage, and
turning in the table U, to allow the carriage to turn to the right or left-as
required. The division screw y crosses the whole length of the carriage; it is
engaged in the nut o (Fig. 5) on the file rest T, which it' drives.
Fig. 6 shews the chisel holders on the shaft Z. r is a slider, on which the
chisel H is held by a steel plate, which slides between two guiding edges v, v;
a spring catch z placed behind the chisel holders allows it to be raised in
the required position. Above the catch there is a stout spring, which causes
the slider r, on which the chisel is fixed, to rise each time the hammer
strikes, so as to disengage the chisel from the cut made in the file at each
blow.
Fig. 7 is a side view of a slider with a rest for cutting round files. T, the
rest, fixed upon the half cylinder V, which is moveable at each end in suitable
bearings; g, a round tapered file placed in a groove in the rest T; M', the file-
holding jaw, which is fitted in the 8-toothed wheel n, which turns freely between
a standard S; i, wedge to keep the wheel n steady whilst the file is being cut.
When it has been cut its whole length, the wedge is removed, the wheel n &
file turned about and the wedge replaced in the next tooth to proceed to the
next cut, & so on, till eight adjoining cuts have been made. The jaw M¹
being fixed in the wheel, moves round with it, and carries the file with it also.
Figs. 8, 9, 10, are views of a chisel holler of another shape. Fig. 8, plan;
Fig. 9 front, & Fig. 10 side elevation. A, steel cylinder in which the chisel
P is fitted; the piece A slides between two brass pieces B, C, wedged together.
When the wedges d are taken off, the piece B may be removed, and also the

page_text: +
cylinder A, to change or sharpen the chisel. v is an adjusting screw in the knob
i, to raise or lower the cylinder A, and with it the chisel P; the wedges d
enter. mortices in the knobs t, t. H' is a piece of steel fixed in the cylinder A
over which the hammer strikes; the wedges are held by small cross pins.
In Fig. 10, Z shews the shaft over which the chisel holders are held by screws f.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
the same may be carried into effect, I wish it to be understood, I do not confine
myself to the precise details herein described, as the same may be varied:
without departing from the principle of my Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said Pierre Lewis Tieffé Lacroix, have. here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Signed and sealed in presence of
A. LARA.
P. L. TIEFFE LACRO IX. ·