Improvements in Machinery or Apparatus for the Manufacture of Wood-wool.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Aug., 1894
'omplete Specification Left, 1st July, 1895-Accepted, 3rd Aug., 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machinery or Apparatus for the Manufacture of
Wood-wool.
I, JOSEPH MARCH WEBSTER, of 22, Waverley Road, Liverpool, in the County
of Lancaster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention consists in improvements in machinery or apparatus employed in
the manufacture of wood-wool such as is used for packing and other purposes.
Its objects are to simplify the construction of machinery for that purpose and to
produce thereby a continuous flow of wood-wool. To this end I employ a rotary
drum or head provided around its periphery with a number of cutters and the
same number of ribbing or scoring rollers, the arrangement being that each of the
ribbing or scoring rollers, in passing the face of the wood to be cut, forms upon it
parallel ribs or corrugations which are cut off by the succeeding cutter in the
form of long narrow shavings or wood-wool.
'
Machinery or apparatus according to this invention comprises a cylindrical drum
which is provided at intervals around its periphery with beds for the reception of
knives or cutters arranged to be adjustable thereon and is formed with grooves or
channels adapted to guide away the manufactured wood-wool. The drum is also
provided with the same number of ribbing rollers, which are mounted to revolve
freely in adjustable bearings arranged around the periphery of the dium; the
peripheries of these rollers are formed with longitudinal knife-like projections or
teeth adapted to enter, during the rotation of the drum, into the wood to be
converted into wood-wool and by revolving thereon to form ribs or corrugations on
the surface thereof. The cutters and the ribbing rollers are so relatively adjusted
that each cutter will cut off in the form of long narrow shavings of fairly uniform
width, the ribs or corrugations produced by the preceding ribbing roller.
Suitable tools may be provided in the periphery of the drum for dividing the
shavings into convenient lengths.
The drum which may be rotated in any convenient manner, is mounted on a
shatt supported in bearings which may either be fixed in position or be capable of
being slidden.
In the former case the timber, having been cut into suitable lengths, may be
arranged on a frame and firmly secured therein in any convenient manner, such as
by holding-down rollers and a fence, after which the frame will be fed towards
the rotating drum or cutter-head by a worm or any other suitable means operated
from the shaft of the drum or otherwise. When the bearings of the drum-shaft
are movable, the wooden blocks to be cut are securely held in a suitable fixed
frame and the drum fed forward thereto by any convenient means.
The beds on the drum for the reception of the cutters may face inwards towards
the axis of the drum and the cutters be secmed thereto by set-screws; or the beds
may face outwards and the cutters be secured by means of bolts the heads or nuts
of which may be furnished with guards to prevent the wood under treatment from
coming into contact therewith. The cutters are preferably placed at such an
angle so as to cut the wood cleanly, to slightly curve the shavings, and to have a
tendency to drive the wood-wool out of the drum.
As will be obvious, machinery or apparatus to operate on the principle of my

page_text: invention as above set forth can be variously modified. Thus the ribbing rollers
instead of forming in the wood under treatment ribs or scores parallel to the axes
of the ribbing rollers, may be shaped and arranged to form ribs or scores extending
at right angles to such axes.
1004
Improvements in Machinery or Apparatus for the Manufacture of
Wood-wool.
I, JOSEPH MARCH WEBSTER, of 22, Waverley Road, Liverpool, in the County
of Lancaster, Engineer, 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 :-
This invention consists in improvements in machinery or apparatus employed in
the manufacture of wood-wool such as is used for packing and other purposes.
Its objects are to simplify the construction of machinery for that purpose and to
produce thereby a continuous flow of wood-wool. To this end I employ a rotary
drum or head provided around its periphery with a number of cutters and ribbing
or scoring rollers, the arrangement being that each of the ribbing or scoring
rollers, in passing the face of the wood to be cut, forms upon it parallel ribs or
corrugations which are cut off by the succeeding cutter in the form of long narrow
shavings or wood-wool.
Machinery or apparatus according to this invention comprises a cylindrical drum
which is provided at intervals around its periphery with beds for the reception of
knives or cutters arranged to be adjustable thereon, and is formed or provided
with grooves or channels adapted to guide away the manufactured wood-wool.
The drum is also provided with a number of ribbing rollers, which are mounted
to revolve freely in adjustable bearings arranged around the periphery of the
drum. The peripheries of these rollers are formed with longitudinal knife-like
projections or teeth adapted to enter, during the rotation of the drum, into the
wood to be converted into wood-wool, and by revolving thereon to form ribs or
corrugations on the surface thereof. The cutters and the ribbing rollers are so
relatively adjusted that each cutter will cut off, in the form of long narrow
shavings, of fairly uniform width, the ribs or corrugations produced by the
preceding ribbing roller.
Suitable knife or cutter tools may be provided in the periphery of the drum for
dividing the shavings into convenient lengths.
The drum, which may be rotated in any convenient manner, is mounted on a
shaft supported in fixed or movable bearings. The timber, having been cut into
suitable lengths, may be arranged in a frame or trough and firmly secured therein
in any convenient manner, such as by holding-down rollers, and a fence, after
which the timber will be fed towards the rotating drum or cutter-head by a
worin or any other suitable means operated from the shaft of the drum or
otherwise.
These beds on the drum for the reception of the cutters preferably face inwards
i.e. towards the axis of the drum and the cutters be secured thereto by set-screws.
The cutters are preferably placed at such an angle to the axis of the drum as to
cut the wood cleanly, to slightly curve the shavings, and to have a tendency to
drive the wood-wool out of the drum.

page_text: In the accompanying drawings:
Figs. 1 and 2 are respectively a side elevation and a plan of the machine
constructed according to this invention for making wood-wool;
Fig. 3. is an end elevation of the same as seen when looking in the direction in
which the wood is fed;
Figs. 4, 5, and 6 are views, drawn to a larger scale, showing a feeding-bar
employed in the machine;
Fig. 7 is an end elevation showing the closed end of the cutter-drum ;
Fig. 8 shows a section of the cutter-head taken along the line W. W. of Fig. 9,
Fig. 9 shows a section of the cutter-head taken along the line X. X. of Fig. 8;
Fig. 10 is a detached view of a ribbing roller, its bearings being shown in section
taken along the line Y. Y. of Fig. 7 ;
Fig. 11 is an enlarged section taken along the line Z. Z. of Fig. 2 ;
Fig. 12 is a section taken along the line Z Z' of Fig. 11; and,
Fig. 13 is a plan of the apparatus for holding down the wood to be treated.
A is a base-plate carrying side frames B the upper ends of which are provided
with suitable bearings for a shaft C which is provided with fast and loose
pulleys C¹ and C' for a driving belt and carries the rotary cutter or drum D.
This cutter-drum is provided with say six cutters E in the form of plane-irons and
with three ribbing rollers F, formed with longitudinal knife-like projections or
teeth, the depth of the teeth of the rollers F and the adjustment of these roller:
and the centres E with regard to the periphery of the drum D being such that a
the drum revolves each of the ribbing rollers F forms on the surface of the wool
under treatment ribs or corrugations which are cut off in two successive sets of
shavings by the two succeeding cutters E.
The ribbing rollers F are free to revolve in radially adjustable bearings FI
secured to the ends of the cutter-head D and are preferably made of hardened
steel and in short hollow sections (Fig. 8) threaded upon a spindle G and secured
by a nut G screwed on the spindle, so that should the cutting edges or teeth
of a ribbing roller become damaged it will be necessary merely to remove the
section or sections of the roller corresponding to the damaged portion and to
substitute another section or sections therefor. A dowel pin G' and a corre-
sponding hole are provided in each section to ensure that the grooves and the
teeth of the several sections of a roller shall always be in a line.
The cutters or knives E are arranged at equal distances apart around the
periphery of the drum. They are set slightly at an angle with the axis of
the drum as shown in Fig. 2 for the purpose hereinbefore mentioned, and are
secured by bolts or set-screws in any suitable manner, as indicated in Fig. 9.
Tail or adjusting screws (not shown) may be provided for accurately setting the
cutting edges of the tools to cut wood-wool of the thickness desired.
Inside the cutter-drum D and between each of the arms thereof steel shoots H
planished or otherwise rendered smooth are provided for guiding the wood-wool
and discharging it through the open end (see Fig. 8) ot the drum. To assist in
this discharge suitable holes (not shown) may be formed in the solid end of the
drum shown in Fig. 7, and partly around these holes vanes or buckets may be
provided for gathering air as the drum revolves and driving it through the holes
amongst the wood-wool.
For feeding the wood towards the rotating drum D there are provided two
endless chains J (Figs. 1, 2, and 3) the (for the time being) upper portions of
which travel horizontally at the sides of a long trough or feeding box K, which
may be of any convenient length and in which the blocks to be operated upon are
placed. Extending from one feeding chain J to the other is a removable feeding
bar L provided at each end with a backwardly projecting foot L1 (Figs. 4, 5, and 6)
that rests on the corresponding chain and J with a curved pin or hook L' that
engages with one of the links of the said chain. In the path of the hook L' an
inclined wedge-shaped piece L' may be arranged on each side of the machine in
such a manner that when the feeding bar L comes near the drum D, the ends of

page_text: the hooks L' will slide up the fixed inclined pieces L³ and thereby raised to such
an extent as to stop the feed by being taken out of effectual engagement with the
chains. Other foot pieces Ki (Figs. 2, 3, and 4) are provided on the feeding
bar L for sliding along the upper edges of the side pieces forming the feeding
trough K. The chains J are driven by means of a friction pulley M which is
driven from the drum shaft C through gearing or a belt C and a pulley M¹ and
which engages with a horizontal friction disc N (see Figs. 2 and 3) fixed on a
short vertical shaft N¹ carrying a worm N. This worm gears into a worm
wheel which is free to revolve on the chain wheel driving shaft P¹ with which
it is adapted to be connected by a toothed sliding clutch Q (Figs. 1, 2, and 3).
The driving shaft P is provided with a handle P3 so that when the clutch is out
of gear the chains J can be moved by hand in either direction i.e. either that for
removing the feeding bar L or that for bringing it into position with a fresh
supply of wooden blocks.
For regulating the speed of the feed and the thickness of cut to be taken, the
small friction pulley M has a feather and groove connection with the shaft. M
so that it can he slidden towards or further away from the axis of the friction-
dise N so as to move the chains J faster or slower respectively.
The feeding trough K is supported at one end on a beam R that extends between
and is secured to the main side frames B. To this beam there is attached, so as
to be adjustable relatively to the drum, a bar R¹ (Fig. 11) which is set so as just
to clear the projecting cutting edges of the revolving knives and ribbing rollers.
The other end of the feeding trough may be supported in any suitable manner.
In the case of some classes of wood e.g. knotty wood it may be found advisable
to hold the wood firmly down on the adjustable bar R¹ and beam R. For this
purpose there may be provided a weighted frame S (Figs. 11, 12, and 13)
furnished with a number of loosely mounted rollers T and arranged to be guided
by standards U, to one of which is pivoted a weighted lever V that is also jointed
to the frame S.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed 1 declare that what
I claim is :-
1. In a machine for making wood-wool, a rotary drum provided with cutters
and ribbing or scoring rollers so arranged that each of the ribbing or scoring
rollers forms upon the face of the wood under treatment parallel ribs or corru-
gations that are cut off in the form of shavings by one or more succeeding
cutters, substantially as hereinbefore described.
2. My improved cutter-drum for making wood-wool substantially as herein-
before described with reference to and shown in the accompanying drawings.
3. My improved machinery or apparatus for making woed-wool constructed
and operating substantially as herein before described with reference to and shown
in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 29th day of June 1895.
JOSEPH MARCH WEBSTER.
W. Lloyd Wise,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicant.