IMPROVEMENTS IN CUTTING AND DRESSING STONE
Year: 1850

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS. SHALL COME, I, ALFRED'S
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County:
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty, Queen Victoria, by. Her.
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twelfth day of December, in the fourteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my exors, adñiors, and
assigns, and such others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my exors,.
admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times during the term of years therein mentioned, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plan-
tations abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and
Man, an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CUTTING AND DRESSING STONE," being
a communication from a foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton,
by an instrument in writing, under my hand and seal, particularly to describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, and to cause the same to be enrolled in Her Majesty's.
High Court of Chancery within six. calendar months next and immediately.
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the-
same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, con-
sists in a novel construction of machinery for cutting and dressing stone, the
action of which is much the same as that of the mallet and chisel of the work-
man, but from the extended surface with which the cutting parts of the
machine are simultaneously brought into contact, the operation will be effected
with much greater rapidity than by hand.
In the accompanying Drawing, forming part of this my Specification, Fig. 1
represents the improved machine in plan view; Fig. 2 is a front end elevation
thereof; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section; and Fig. 4 is a side eleva-
tion of the same. a, a¹, a², a³, &c. are a series of chisels affixed respectively in
and made to project from the lower ends of a series of chisel holders b, b1, 2, 3,
&c. These holders are angular levers (see the sectional view, Fig. 3), which
are mounted loosely on a horizontal rod d, and rest upon a cross bar or rest
bar c, which together with the rod d extends between and is fastened firmly to
the sectoral sides e, f, of a frame A. The said two sides e, f, have arcs of
cogs g, g, and each is supported at or near its lower end by a journal made to
project laterally from it, as shewn by dotted lines at h, i.
These journals rest and turn in suitable bearings made in or affixed to a
main supporting frame B. The frame A supports a horizontal cross shaft k,
on which the rotary hammers 1, 1, 1, 1, &c. are affixed, and by which they are
made to revolve whenever the said shaft receives an axial motion. Each of
the said rotary hammers consists of a heavy block or piece of metal affixed to
the shaft and made with one or more striking faces m standing from it, as
shewn at Fig. 3. From the outer edge of the said striking face the hammer
or block is gradually curved down (as shewn at n) to the foot of the succeed-
ing striking face, in case there is more than one face to each block, but where
each rotary block has but one striking face the curve extends from the outer
edge of the face entirely around the block and to the lower edge of the face.
The object of this curve is to permit the chisel holder to be moved away from
the rest bar after each stroke of a hammer face, the said movement being pro-
duced in consequence of the progressive forward motion of the stone, as will
be herein-after explained.
On one end of the hammer shaft ka cog wheel o is fixed, which gears into

page_text: a wheel p mounted loosely on the journal h. Attached to the side of the wheel:
p is a drum or pulley q, which receives motion from an endless belt r, that
also passes around a pulley or drum 8, fixed on one end of the horizontal driving
shaft t. This shaft t runs in bearings u, v, and has a fast pulley w and a loose
pulley affixed to it, for the purpose of receiving an endless belt from any
suitable driving power.
A horizontal shaft D is disposed transversely over:
the frame A, and has two pinions E, F, fixed on it; the said pinions being>
respectively made to engage with the toothed segments of the frame A. By
applying the hand to the crank handle G of the said shaft, and rotating it, the
inclined or angular position of the chisels may be varied at pleasure. When
they are adjusted to any required angular position with respect to the upper.
surface of the stone, such position may be maintained by slipping a move-
able lever or catch H into one of the indentations of a notched wheel I,
fixed on the shaft D.
The stone to be dressed or cut is placed on a platform K, which is disposed
below the chisels, and is made to traverse forward, for the purpose of imparting
a proper progressive movement to the stone under operation, as in other stone
dressing machines.
In the Drawings I have exhibited a second set of harness chisels and their.
operating machinery, the same being shewn at L, and so placed with respect
to that herein-before described as to operate on the stone after it has been.
subjected to the action of the first set of chisels. This second set of machinery,
which differs in no material respect from the first, except in the width of the
cutting chisels, is but a repetition of the first, and is only intended to dress
or finish the surface of the stone after it has been cut by the first set of
chisels.
While the stone is under operation it should be moved, as above stated,-
regularly and progressively towards the chisels. Previous, however, to each
blow of a hammer face on a chisel, the projecting part of the stone against
which the edge of the chisel is to be driven has been so moved against the
chisel edge as to press it forward on its holder in a direction off or away from
the rest bar. This takes place preparatory to each blow of the hammer, which
immediately following forces the chisel into the stone until the chisel holder
again meets and rests upon the rest bar. From this it will be seen that when
the blow of the hammer takes place, the chisel is held closely against that part
of the stone to be chipped off, in essentially the same way as a workman with
one hand usually holds a chisel against the stone preparatory to giving it a
blow with a hammer held in his other hand; no spring or other contrivance
is employed to elevate the chisel and its stock or holder, but the mere move-

page_text: ment of the stone against the chisel causes it to assume the proper position for
receiving the blow of its rotary hammer.
Having now described the Invention of improvements in cutting and dress-
ing stone, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, I wish it to be
understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim the
method, substantially as herein set forth, of dressing stone by a chisel or
chisels, which rest on the surface of the stone; to be removed at the time the
blow is struck, so that the said chisel shall by the action of the rotating
hammer, or cam combined therewith, be forced down until its stock is brought
against the bar which determines the depth of the cut, the feeding motion
being against the edge of the said chisel to raise it preparatory to each
successive blow, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand night bundred and fifty