IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING FIBROUS AND OTHER MATERIALS."
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Raynsford Jackson and Æmilius Irving
Jackson, both of Blackburn, in the County of Lancaster, Cotton
Spinners and Manufacturers, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR CUTTING FIBROUS AND OTHER MATERIALS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Raynsford
Jackson and Æmilius Irving Jackson at the Office of the Commis-
sioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 24th September 1862.
We, ROBERT RAYNSFORD JACKSON and ŒMILIUS IRVING JACKSON, both of
Blackburn, in the County of Lancaster, Cotton Spinners and Manufacturers,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR CUTTING FIBROUS AND OTHER MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
The object of our Invention is an improved machine for cutting fibrous
material into short lengths, such fibrous material to be fed either in detached
portions or in a lap or laps of continuous length; but our improvements are
also applicable for cutting other materials.
Our Invention consists in certain modifications of machines which have
been mostly used hitherto for cutting paper, such machines consisting of a

page_text: knife which has either a vertical or a compound vertical and lateral move-
ment; but we prefer such as make a. diagonal cut. The knives in these
machines cut against or into lead or other soft metal or material.
Our improvements consist in combing a lattice with machines of this
class to feed forward the material to be cut, which passes between a pair of
weighted rollers having an intermittent motion given to them. The material
before coming to the knife passes over a spring plate or other elastic arrange-
ment, which has sufficient force to lift the material when permitted, so that
the ends of the fibres which tend to stick in the incision made in the soft
metal by the knife are thus forced upwards and detached from the incision
after each cut, and can thus be freely fed forward for the next cut without
obstruction. Before each cut takes place the material is pressed down tightly
close to the knife by a bar which passes across the material operated upon.
This presser bar is actuated from the movements of the knife by means of
antifriction bowls which are carried by the knife bar, which work in cam slots
formed in the presser bar. The presser bar may be lifted by connection
with the knife, and pressed down by weights or springs, or it may be worked
by an independent cam action or otherwise, so as to lift up to let the
material pass freely when feeding, and then descend when the knife is
cutting. The feed motion may be produced by any ordinary intermittent
mechanism. In place of cutting against a fixed plane surface of soft
metal or other material, a compound roller may be employed covered with
soft metal or other suitable substance, and the cut may be made against
this roller, which may be rotated forward part of a revolution after each cut
by being connected with the intermittent feed motion. The machine is pro-
vided with holders for laps when material is to be operated upon in this state.
We also employ the spring plate and presser bar in combination with
machines in which the knife or knives employed cuts past the edge of another
Send lenifa
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Raynsford Jackson and Æmilius Irving Jackson
in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 24th March 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ROBERT
RAYNSFORD JACKSON and ÆMILIUS IRVING JACKSON, both of Blackburn, in the
County of Lancaster, Cotton Spinners and Manufacturers, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight. hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
us, the said Robert Raynsford Jackson and Æmilius Irving Jackson, Her
special license, that we, the said Robert Raynsford Jackson and Æmilius
Irving Jackson, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as we, the said Robert Raynsford Jackson and Æmilius Irving Jackson,
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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR CUTTING FIBROUS AND OTHER MATERIALS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said Robert Raynsford Jackson and Æmilius Irving
Jackson, by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals, (or under
the hand and seal of one of us,) should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, 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 Robert Raynsford Jackson and
Emilius Irving Jackson, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement and accompanying
Drawings (that is to say):-
The object of our Invention is an improved machine for cutting fibrous
material into short lengths, such fibrous material to be fed either in detached
portions or in a lap or laps of continuous length; but our improvements are
also applicable for cutting other materials.
Our Invention consists in certain modifications of machines which have
been mostly used hitherto for cutting paper, such machines consisting of a
knife which has either a vertical or a compound vertical and lateral move-
The knives in these
ment; but we prefer such as make a diagonal cut.
machines cut against or into lead or other soft metal or material.
Our improvements consist, namely, in combining a lattice or endless feeder
with machines of the class above described to feed forward the material to be
cut, which is made to pass between a pair of weighted rollers having inter-
mittent motion imparted to them. The ends of a portion of the fibres are

page_text: driven into the incision in the material against which the knife cuts, and
have a tendency to stick in this incision and obstruct the feeding forward
of the material for the next cut, and to overcome this objection the material
before coming under the knife is made to pass over a spring plate or other
elastic arrangement (or its equivalent), and this spring plate has sufficient
force to lift (when permitted) the material after it has been pressed down so
that the ends of the fibres are forced upwards and detached from the incision
after each cut, and thus the material can be fed forward for the next cut
without obstruction. Before a cut takes place the material is pressed down
tightly close to the knife by a bar which passes across the material operated
⚫upon.. This
presser bar is actuated from the movements of the knife bar, on
which antifriction bowls are carried that work in cam slots formed in or
attached to the presser bar, the studs or slots being adjustable. The presser
bar may be lifted by connection with the knife, and pressed down by weights
or springs, or it may be worked by independent cam action or otherwise, so as
to lift up to let the material pass freely when feeding, and then descend to
press upon the material when the knife is cutting. The feed motion may be
produced by any ordinary intermittent mechanism. In place of cutting against
a fixed plane surface of soft metal or other material, a compound roller may
be employed covered with soft metal or other suitable substance, and the
cut may be made against the roller, which may be rotated forward part of
a revolution after each cut by being connected with the intermittent feed
motion. The machine is provided with suitable holders for laps when material
is to be operated upon in this state. We also employ the spring plate and
presser bar in combination with machines in which the knife or knives
employed cuts past the edge of another fixed knife.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a longitudinal section, and
Figure 2 is a front view, of a machine made according to our improvements;
Figure 8 is a back view of a part of the machine; and Figure 4 is a side view
of part of the machine.
A, framing of the machine; a, first motion shaft; a¹, fast-and-loose driving
pulleys; a, fly wheel; a³, pinion on shaft (a) driving wheel 6¹ on intermediate
shaft 6; onthis shaft a pinion 63 is secured, driving a wheel c¹ on a shaft c, at each
end of which a crank c³ is secured, which cranks are connected by rods c³ to the
knife bar d, which slides in vertical guides in the framing. The knife bar d is made
to move diagonally by means of a stud which is fixed in it, which stud carries
an antifriction bowl that fits in a diagonal slot d² in the cross bar d³ (seen best
in Fig. 3) so that the movements of the knife are both vertical and lateral at
the same time. The crank shaft c has an end movement in agreement with the

page_text: lateral movement of the knife bar d, which is imparted to it by a cam c^
secured to the shaft, and into the path of this cam enters an antifriction bowl,
carried on a stud fixed in a bracket c' secured to the side frame, so that as the
bowl is fixed the cam by the rotation of the shaft, and thus the shaft in forced
endways in agreement with the side movements of the knife bar d; e is a
lattice of any required extent, which carries forward material drawn from the
laps, arranged as shewn in Fig. 1. The material passes through fluted rollers f,
which are geered together at one side by bevel wheels. The rollers have bevel
wheels fixed on their ends, and these geer with bevel wheels on a vertical shaft f.,
carried in suitable bearings from the framing; the lower wheel on the vertical
shaft is fixed, the upper one slides on a fixed key, the boss of the wheel
being grasped by a forked part from. the bearing of the upper feed roller, so
that the wheel is moved up and down by the movements of the roller. The
upper roller is weighted by means of the weighted levers f*, each having its
fulcrum on a stud f' in the framing, and from these levers rods f³ ascend, which
are bent at their upper ends, so as to come upon the top side of the bearings
of the upper roller; the lattice e receives motion, by being geered with the
lower feed roller by wheels e', the pitch lines of which are shewn on Figure 4.
Intermittent motion for feeding the material is given to the fluted rollers by a
cam piece co secured upon the side of the wheel c'; this acts upon the bowl,
carried by an arm g¹ from a shaft g, and this arm is weighted by another
arm g, so as to cause the shaft to turn when not otherwise acted upon till the
finger g', (shewn in Fig. 4,) comes against a pin or stop g³ in the framing.
Upon the outside end of this shaft g.an arm is fixed, which is connected by
means of a rod g with an arm 9', centred and free to oscillate on the end of
the lowest feed roller; this arm carries a click which works upon a ratchet.
wheel 98 secured upon the end of the feed roller, and thus movement is
imparted to feed the material after. each cut. The knife cuts into a piece of
wood or lead, which is kept in its place in a recess formed in the upper side of
the cross bearer (a') by a bar which is adjustable against the strip of lead or
wood by means of screws. The material is lifted from the incision made by
the knife by the spring plate h, which extends across the machine; this
spring plate is pressed down before each cut, and lifts when the pressure is
removed. In place of the spring a lever plate may be used, the fulcrum or
shaft from it being brought to the outside of the framing, and weighted by
means of an arm and weight; or the arm may be arranged so as to be acted
upon by an incline upon the knife bar, which will act upon the lever as it
ascends, and will cause the front edge of the plate to be lifted, so that the

page_text: I material may be detached from the incision. The material is pressed down by
means of a bar K, extending across the machine, the ends of the bar working
in guides formed by ribs upon the side frames. This presser bar is cast hollow
and is actuated by two studs fixed in the knife bar, which work in slots carried
in the hollow presser bar, as shewn in Fig. 3. It will be seen that as the knife
has both vertical and lateral movement, and that as the presser bar is only
capable of moving vertical, the studs in the knife bar will impart its vertical
movement to the presser bar ke as long as they are in the horizontal part of the
slots, but when by lateral movement they arrive at the diagonal parts of the
slots, which are at the same angle as that for giving the diagonal movement to
the knife bar, the presser bar will become stationary. The slots in the presser
bar k are made in separate pieces, so as to fit into the hollow presser bar
between the top and bottom rib so as to be capable only of side movement,
and the position of each slot is adjusted by a screw k³ screwing through a nut
connected with the slot piece, and acting against studs or collars fixed in the
hollow presser bar, as shewn in Fig. 3; the slot pieces are kept in their places
when adjusted by means of set screws passing through slots in the hollow
presser bar as shewn. The under side of the presser bar when up is a little in
advance of the edge of the knife, and the slots are adjusted so that the knife
and presser bar descend together till the material is sufficiently compressed, at
which moment the studs have arrived at the diagonal part of the slots; the
presser bar then remains stationary, and the knife descends alone, and makes
the cut; when the knife ascends again it lifts the presser bar when the studs
arrive at the horizontal part of the slots, and then the material is fed forward
for the next cut. The presser bar may be weighted against the material
and lifted by the ascent of the knife bar by means of the studs or their
equivalents.
We have now particularly described the nature of our Invention, and the
mode of carrying the same into effect, and claim as our Invention,―
Firstly, the combination and arrangement of mechanism for cutting material
into lengths as herein-before described and shewn in the accompanying
Drawings.
Secondly, the system or mode of detaching the ends of the fibrous material
from the incision made by the knife by the mechanism and arrangements
herein-before described.
Thirdly, the system or mode of pressing upon the material to be cut by a
presser bar arranged and actuated in the manner herein-before described.
Fourthly, the use of the spring plate (h) or its equivalent or the presser

page_text: bar (k) acting in the manner described in machines for cutting fibrous
and other material when the knife cuts past. another fixed knife or other
edge.
In witness whereof, we, the said Robert Raynsford Jackson and
Æmilius Irving Jackson, have hereunto set our hands and seals,
this Twenty-first day of March, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
ROBERT RAYNSFORD JACKSON. (L.S.)
EMILIUS IRVING JACKSON.
(L.S.)