A Safety-guard for Slate Cutting Machinery.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Apr., 1899
Complete Specification Left, 29th Jan., 1900-Accepted, 3rd Mar., 1900
A Safety-guard for Slate Cutting Machinery.
I, GEORGE WATSON, of Brynrhydd, near Llanwrst, in the County of Caer-
narvon, North Wales, Proprietor of Slate Quarries, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention to be as follows:--
This invention relates to a safety-guard for application to slate cutting
machinery, as commonly used for dressing slates in the quarries and other works
of that description, and the object of it is to protect the workmen against getting
accidentally cut by the dressing knife.
The edges of slates are "dressed," that is, cut straight and square by means of
a knife attached longitudinally across a revolving skeleton drum-like support
having a central shaft which is mounted in bearings at each end of the frame
of the machine; this knife being driven by an engine.
At present the knife, which of course is a formidable instrument, is entirely
unguarded or is exposed, so that an accident might very easily occur even to a
most careful workman.
According to my invention, the guard is composed and fitted as follows:-
A sheet of wire netting or equivalent material, preferably but not necessarily,
bent to the curve of the cylinder, is placed across the machine outside the knife
This wire guard
and fastened along its side edges to the frame of the machine.
surrounds the knife and, to a more or less extent, but leaving of course an open-
ing in front for the workmen to feed-in the slates. To close this front opening
when desired, when the machine is not in use, for instance, I provide the fixed
wire guard above described with a flap or oblong panel also preferably of wire.
This Hap is either hinged to the front edge of the fixed guard, or, it may be
provided with a hinge rod projecting at each end a little beyond the edge, and
the front edge of the fixed guard at each end provided with an eye or a hook,
so that the flap may easily be hung or slid in place and removed instantly when
desired.
This guard may be in the form of a rectangular box which may be simply
dropped over the revolving knife and secured as above described to the machine
frame.
Further, the open netting may be covered over with any transparent material,
when it will become merely a support for such material. It need not be open-
work or transparent all over, although that is perhaps preferable, but in any
case a window of sufficient size to enable the workman to see the knife blade
coming so that he can feed-in the slate at the right moment, must be left.
Dated the 27th day of April 1899.
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: I, GEORGE WATSON, of Brynrhydd, near Llanwrst, in the County of Car-
narvon, North Wales, Proprietor of Slate Quarries, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particu-
larly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to a safety-guard for application to slate cutting
machinery, as commonly used for dressing slates in the quarries and other works
of that description, and the object of it is to protect the workmen against getting
-accidentally cut by the dressing knife.
The edges of slates are "dressed," that is cut straight and square by means of
a knife attached longitudinally across a revolving skeleton drum-like support
having a central shaft which is mounted in bearings at each end of the frame
of the machine; this knife being driven by an engine.
At present the knife which of course is a formidable instrument is entirely
unguarded or is exposed so that an accident might very easily occur even to a
most careful workman.
I will now proceed to describe my invention with the aid of the accompanying
drawings, in which :-
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a slate-cutting machine fitted with my
guard.
Figure 2 is a transverse central section of the machine shown in Figure 1.
According to my invention, the guard is composed and fitted as follows:-
A sheet of wire netting or equivalent material a preferably, but not neces-
sarily bent to the curve of the cylinder is placed across the machine outside the
knife and fastened along its side edges c, c, to the frame d of the machine.
This wire guard a surrounds the knife b, to a more or less extent, but leaving
of course an opening e in front for the workman to feed-in the slates. To close
this front opening when desired, when the machine is not in use for instance,
I provide the fixed wire guard above described with a flap or oblong panel f,
also preferably of wire. This flap is either hinged to the front edge of the
fixed guard so that it can be lifted up or flapped down as and when required, or
it may be provided with a hinge-rod projecting at each end at h, h, a little
beyond the edge, and the front edge y of the fixed guard at each end provided
at front corners i, i, with an eye or hook, so that the flap or panel may easily be
hung or slid in place and removed instantly when desired.
This guard a and f may be in the form of a rectangular box which may be
simply dropped over the revolving knife and secured as above described to
the machine frame.
Further, the open netting a and f may be covered over with any transparent
material when it will become merely a support for such material. It need not
be openwork or transparent all over although that is preferable, but in any
case a window of sufficient size to enable the workman to see the knife blade
coming so that he can feed-in the slate at the right moment, must be left.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. In a machine for cutting or trimming slates, the combination with the
framework thereof of an openwork or transparent guard surrounding or covering
the knives or cutter as a whole, substantially as and for the purpose described.
2. In a machine for cutting or trimming slates, the combination with the

page_text: framework thereof of an openwork or transparent guard surrounding or covering
the knives or cutter as a whole, the lower part of the front of the guard consti-
tuting a hinged flap, substantially as and for the purpose described.
3. In a machine for cutting or trimming slates, the combination with the
framework thereof of an openwork or transparent guard surrounding or covering
the knives or cutter as a whole, the lower part of the front of the guard being a
removable panel, substantially as and for the purpose described.
Dated the 29th day of January 1900.
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
No. 22, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.