IMPROVEMENTS IN CUTTING AND DRESSING STONE
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Ellicott Holmes, of No. 12, Buckingham
Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Inven-
T
Sealed the 8th February 1870, and dated the 10th August 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Ellicott Holmes
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 10th August 1869.
I, JOSEPH ELLICOTT HOLMES, of No. 12, Buckingham Street, Strand,
in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CUTTING AND DRESSING STONE," to
be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to cutting and dressing stone and other sub-
stances by machinery, and consists of certain new or improved cutters
or modes of fitting and actuating the same. In place of the ordinary
flat or straight edged chisels or tools I substitute cone-shaped or circular
edged rotary cutters with inclined axes. The form of the new or im-

page_text: proved cutter is similar to that of a frustum of a very flat cone, either
solid or truncated, with the base downwards and the sides in section,
being straight or curved. I fit a number of these cutters in sets, and
so that their lower edges are all in the same horizontal plain upon
strong steel pins or studs fixed in and projecting from the under side of
two disc wheels (or radial arms or cranks); the latter, as the case may
bc, I key fast upon two vertical shafts, from the centres of which
respectively the axes of the two sets of cutters are equidistant. By this
mode of fitting my object is to give to each cutter a "circloidal
motion," and also to obtain a "rolling cut." For actuating the cutters
thus formed and fitted I mount and gear them in suitable framing,
which consists, first, of a longitudinal "sleeper frame" with side
standards; secondly, a "moveable bed plate," upon which the stone or
other substance is placed, and which traverses the sleeper frame from
end to end alternately; and, thirdly, a "rising and falling transverse
frame," in which a driving shaft (through which the power is applied)
and the vertical shafts and cutters are fitted so that they all rise and fall
bodily or together therewith. The ends of this frame, which I denominate
the "cutter frame" work in slots or guides in the standards of the
sleeper frame, and are fitted with screw blocks and screws for raising,
lowering, and supporting, and fixing it as required. The driving shaft
and the bed plate are so geared that the motion of the latter is regulated
by that of the former, and caused to advance with the stone under the
cutters with an "intermittent" progressive motion, and the vertical
shafts which carry the cutters are geared to the driving shaft (which is
mounted in bearings and is placed across the top or head of the cutter
frame) by bevil wheels pitched so as to cause the two shafts to rotate
uniformly with each other but in opposite directions, so that while the
shaft at one end of the cutter frame causes its cutters to revolve from
left to right, the shaft at the other end will cause its cutters to revolve
from right to left, and I so arrange the driving motion that both sets of
cutters commence their respective cuts at the sides and work towards
the centre of the stone. By this latter arrangement a perfect and
unbroken edge or "arris" is obtained when two adjoining faces of the
stone or block have been worked, the cutting or dressing of which is
effected as follows, viz:-The stone having been placed in position on
the "bed plate" with the side to be cut or dressed upwards, the cutters
are adjusted (by raising or lowering the transverse or "cutter frame")

page_text: till they will revolve in the required plain or line of cut, and so that
their edges will rotate in and by contact with the stone, the depth of cut
being regulated as required by the last-mentioned adjustment. By
reversing the motion of the driving shaft after the first cut has been
made as the stone is moved forwards, a second cut can be made as the
stone is moved backwards, and so on vice versa. The forward and back-
ward cuts may also be made by giving the cutters a radial instead of a
revolving motion by modifying the driving gear.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joseph Ellicott Holmes in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 10th February 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
ELLICOTT HOLMES, of No. 12, Buckingham Street, Strand, in the County
of Middlesex, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Joseph Ellicott Holmes, Her special
licence that I, the said Joseph Ellicott Holmes, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph Ellicott
Holmes, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CUTTING AND DRESSING STONE," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Joseph Ellicott Holmes, my exccutors,
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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Ellicott Holmes, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:-!
This Invention relates to cutting and dressing stone and other
substances by machinery, and consists of certain new or improved cutters
or modes of fitting and actuating the same. In place of the ordinary
flat or straight edged chisels or tools, I substitute cone-shaped or
circular edged rotary cutters with inclined axes. The form of the new
or improved cutter is similar to that of a frustum of a very flat cone,
either solid or truncated, with the base downwards and the sides in
section, being straight or curved. I fit a number of these cutters in sets
and so that their lower edges are all in the same horizontal plane upon
strong steel pins or studs fixed in and projecting from the under side of
of two disc wheels or radial arms or cranks. The latter, as the case may
be, I key fast upon two vertical shafts, from the centres of which
respectively the axes of the two sets of cutters are equidistant. By
this mode of fitting my object is to give to each cutter a "bicircloidal "
motion and also to obtain a rolling cut. For actuating the cutters thus
formed and fitted I mount and gear them in suitable framing, which
consists, first, of a longitudinal "sleeper frame" with side standards;
secondly, a moveable "bed plate" upon which the stone or other
substance is placed, and which traverses the sleeper frame from end to end
alternately; and thirdly, a rising and falling transverse frame in which
a driving shaft (through which the power is applied) and the vertical
shafts and cutters are fitted, so that they all rise and fall bodily or
together therewith. The ends of this frame, which I denominate the
"cutter frame," work in slots or guides in the standards of the sleeper
frame, and are fitted with screw blocks and screws for raising, lowering,
supporting, and fixing it as required. The driving shaft and the bed
plate are so geared that the motion of the latter is regulated by that of
the former and caused to advance with the stone under the cutters with
an intermittent progressive motion, and the vertical shafts which carry
the cutters are geared to the driving shaft (which is mounted in bearings
and is placed across the top or head of the cutter frame) by bevil wheels,
pitched so as to cause the two shafts to rotate uniformly with each
other, but in opposite directions, so that while the shaft at one end of
the cutter frame causes its cutters to revolve from left to right, the

page_text: shaft at the other end will cause its cutters to revolve from right to left,
and I so arrange the driving motion that both sets of cutters commence
their respective cuts at the sides, and work towards the centre of the
stone. By this latter arrangement a perfect and unbroken edge or
arris is obtained when two adjoining faces of the stone or block have
been worked, the cutting or dressing of which is effected as follows,
viz. -The stone having been in position on the bed plate with the
side to be cut or dressed upwards, the cutters are adjusted by raising
or lowering the transverse or cutter frame, till they will revolve in the
required plain or line of cut, and so that their edges will rotate in and
by contact with the stone, the depth of cut being regulated as required
by the last-mentioned adjustment. By reversing the motion of the
driving shaft, after the first cut has been made as the stone is moved.
forwards, a second cut can be made as the stone is moved backwards,
and so on vice versa. The forward and backward cuts may also be
made by giving the cutters a radial instead of a revolving motion by
modifying the driving gear.
The accompanying Drawing is intended to illustrate the machine or
machinery formed as herein-before described.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Fig. 1 is an end elevation shewing a machine formed with revolving
discs fitted with the improved cutters. a, a, is the sleeper frame; b, b,
standards or vertical frame mounted thereon; c, the rising and falling
transverse frame. The ends of this frame work in openings in the
standards, and are raised, lowered, and supported in the adjusted position
by strong screws d, d, which are turned by the bevil gear and shaft
shewn at the top of the upright frame. e is the driving shaft mounted
in bearings in the driving wheel f; g, g', are two vertical shafts, also
mounted in the transverse or cutter frame in gear with the driving
shaft e by the bevil wheels h, h1, h2, h3; i, i, the revolving discs keyed
fast to the vertical shaft; j,j,j, j, j, are the rotary cone-shaped cutters
fitted in inclined bosses formed at the outer edge of the discs. These
bosses are accurately bored to receive the spindles of the cutters; the
latter are made of chilled metal, and, the number in each disc may be
varied as required. When fixing the discs to their respective shafts
their relative positions must be adjusted so that the cutters on one disc
will pass between those on the other disc as they work past the centre

page_text: line of the surface of the stone, so that both sets of cutters may work
slightly beyond this line. k is the bed plate upon which the stone / is
placed; m is a strong toothed rack bolted to the under side of this plate;
n, a strong pinion in gear with the said rack and made fast upon the
transverse shaft o, on the end of which at the right hand a toothed wheel
is fixed, and in the teeth of which wheel the screw p turned by the
shaft works. The driving shaft and the shaft 2 are so geared that
when the cutters are at work an intermittent motion is transmitted to
the bed plate k by the mechanism last described. The cutters arc
intended to work from opposite ends of the stone when more than
one cut is required by reversing the motion of the driving shaft. The
cone cutters are free to turn in their respective sockets and are cause
to rotate by the contact of their cutting edges with the stone, so that a
"rolling cut" is thus obtained. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of a
single rotary cutter machine in which the actuating mechanism is
formed and constructed upon the bicircloidal principle, and the line
of cut is straight across the stone from side to side alternately; Fig. 3
shews the cutter and mechanism detached. a, a, is the sleeper frame;
b, b, the standards or upright frame; c, the transverse sliding frame,
the ends of which are raised, lowered, and adjusted and supported as
shewn at Fig. 1 and herein-before explained; d is the bed plate which
is caused to traverse the sleeper frame from end to end by screws or
toothed gearing worked from the driving shaft e; fis the main vertical
shaft mounted in the bearings f¹ and f' in the transverse frame, and
caused to make a quarter turn more or less to the right and left alternately
by reversing the motion of the gearing g and g¹; h, h, are two cranks,
and i a strong spur wheel all made fast upon this shaft; jis the cutter
shaft, to the lower end of which the cutter crank is keyed; 7 is the
cutter, the shank of which occupies the place of the crank pin; m is a
second spur wheel of the same size as the wheel i, with which and also
with the interally toothed segment n bolted to the frame c it is in
gear. The shaft j is mounted in the pin holes of the cranks h, h. Upon
turning the shaft fas before explained, which may be effected by giving
the wheel g'a quarter turn more or less alternately, the cutter / will make
straight cuts from side to side of the stone, the cutter being caused to
advance by the motion of the bed plate as the cutter passes clear of the
stone at each side.
I claim the rotary cone cutters made to operate upon the stone by a
rolling cut by discs, cranks, levers, or screws in circular, segmental,

page_text: curved, or straight lines by the bicircloidal and other mechanism as
herein described or analogous thereto.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Ellicott Holmes, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
J. E. HOLMES.
(L.S.