IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR GRINDING, STRIPPING, AND CUTTING FILE BLANKS, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS 18 ALSO APPLICABLE TO GRINDING AND POLISHING CHISELS, PLANE IRONS, AND OTHER ARTICLES
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Dodge, of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR GRINDING, STRIPPING, AND CUTTING FILE BLANKS, PART
OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS 18 ALSO APPLICABLE TO GRINDING AND POLISHING
CHISELS, PLANE IRONS, AND OTHER ARTICLES."
Sealed the 15th March 1867, and dated the 17th September 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Dodge at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 17th
September 1866.
I, JAMES DODGE, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR GRINDING, STRIPPING, AND CUTTING FILE BLANKS, PART
OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS IS ALSO APPLICABLE TO GRINDING AND POLISHING CHISELS,
PLANE IRONS, AND OTHER ARTICLES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists, firstly, in a method of constructing the bed upon
which file blanks are placed during the operations of grinding, stripping, and
cutting, the design being to obtain a resistance which will however yield
under a certain amount of pressure.

page_text: And this part of my Invention so far as it relates to grinding and stripping
is a modification of the apparatus for which I obtained Letters Patent,
dated 29th August 1863, No. 2143. My method as therein described
consisted in the employment of india-rubber, felt, or other such yielding
material as a bed for the articles to rest upon, I now propose to use loose
pieces of metal which when pressed beyond a certain extent will by slipping
on their surfaces afford the desired yielding.
The following arrangement will illustrate this part of my Invention :-The
file blank is placed upon a block which rests upon two loose wedge formed
pieces which themselves rest upon a central wedge formed piece, the whole
being enclosed within a similarly formed cavity. If the file blank be pressed
on one side then the wedges yield by slipping on their surfaces. The above
arrangement assumes that one file blank only is operated upon at the same
time, but I propose, and especially for the purposes of grinding and stripping
to place a series side by side upon a corresponding series of slipping surfaces,
and thus the said blanks will adjust themselves to one level while under
operation. The above description refers to file blanks only, but the same
arrangement is applicable to grinding and polishing chisels, plane irons, and
other articles.
Another part of my Invention relates to a modification of a method of
cutting files by the direct action of a cam or excentric for which I obtained
Letters Patent, dated 4th October 1865, No. 2548. In that arrangement,
and in reference to Figs. 16, 17, and 18, of the Specification of the said
Patent, I described the acting excentric as moveable bodily, so as to regulate
the cut to the arch of the file blank.
According to my present Invention I retain the same principle, but make
the bed moveable and the excentric stationary, excepting as regards its
rotation, and I still employ a finger resting upon the blank to regulate the
cut, but in this instance it determines the motion of the bed instead of the
chisel holder, such bed being pressed by a weight, spring, or excentric.
Another part of my Invention relates to those file cutting machines in
which the cut is effected direct by the motive power as distinguished from
the charged force of a spring, and consists in the use for that purpose of two
or more tappets placed upon the same shaft for actuating the cutter.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,.
.filed by the said James Dodge in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
16th March 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
DODGE, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said James Dodge, Her special license that I, the said James Dodge, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
James Dodge, my 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 GRINDING, STRIPPING, AND CUTTING FILE BLANKS, PART OF WHICH
IMPROVEMENTS IS ALSO APPLICABLE TO GRINDING AND POLISHING CHISELS, PLANE
IRONS, AND OTHER ARTICLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
James Dodge, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Dodge, 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 (and accompanying Drawings), that is to say:-
My Invention relates, firstly, to a method of constructing the bed upon
which file blanks are placed during the operations of grinding, stripping, and
cutting, the design being to obtain a resistance which will, however, yield
under a certain amount of pressure, and this part of my Invention so far
as it relates to grinding and stripping is a modification of the apparatus for
which I obtained Letters Patent, dated the Twenty-ninth August, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-three, Number 2143. My method as therein described
consisted in the employment of india-rubber, felt, or other such yielding
material as a bed for the article to rest upon. I now propose to use loose

page_text: pieces of metal which when pressed beyond a certain extent will by slipping
on their surfaces afford the desired yielding.
This part of my Invention is also applicable to grinding and polishing
chisels, plane irons, and other articles which are treated in a similar
manner.
Another part of my Invention relates to a modification of a method of
cutting files by the direct action of a cam or excentric, and for which I
obtained Letters Patent, dated Fourth October, One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-five, Number 2548. In that arrangement, and in reference to
Figs. 16, 17, and 18 of the Specification of the said Patent, I described the
acting excentric as moveable bodily so as to regulate the cut.
According to my present Invention I retain the same principle, but make
the bed moveable, and the excentric or cam stationary, excepting as regards.
its rotation, and I still employ a finger resting upon the blank to regulate the
cut, but in this instance it determines the motion of the bed instead of the
chisel holder.
Another part of my Invention relates to those file-cutting machines in which
the cut is effected direct by the motive power as distinguished from the
charged force of a spring, and consists in the use for that purpose of one or
more tappets placed upon the same shaft for actuating the cutter.
In the accompanying Drawing Figs. 1, 2, and 3 represent the first part of
my Invention.
The bed of any ordinary grinding, stripping, or polishing machine is shewn.
at a, having a cavity b, b*, extending longitudinally; within this cavity are
placed two loose pieces c, c¹, the sides of which are inclines, as also are the
sides 6 of the aforesaid cavity. Between these inclined sides are placed
wedge-formed pieces d, d¹, d², extending downward from carriers or beds
e, e', e, to which the articles f to be operated upon are secured by clamps or
other usual means. The grindstone or similar apparatus acting upon the
articles by pressing them downward causes the wedges d to press against s
the inclined sides of the loose pieces c, c¹, and also against the inclines 6* ;
and if the surfaces of the articles under operation be true to each other no
alteration of the parts will take place, but if there be an irregularity on the
surface of one of the said articles (say that shewn at f*) then greater pressure
will be exerted upon it, and the wedge will cause the piece e¹ to slide,
which motion will be communicated to the other piece c through the medium
of the next wedge d¹ so as to act upon the wedge d, and then the articles on
the carriers e, e¹, &, will be brought to a common level.
The bed a may be

page_text: adapted to any machine now in use for effecting the aforesaid operations with
either a rectilinear or rotatory motion; in the latter or other case in which
the bed has to be adapted in an inclined position I place flanges ġ upon the
bed a, projecting over the ends of the carriers e, and they are thus pre-
vented from falling out when the pressure of the grinding apparatus is
removed.
Figs. 4 and 5 represent a modification of this part of my Invention, and
which I will describe as applied to the cutting of files. At h is the travelling
bed of a file-cutting machine provided with a longitudinal cavity, within
which is placed a loose wedge-formed piece i, and on each side thereof are
other wedges j, k, surmounted by the carrier to which the file blank m is
secured. Resting upon the blank is a finger n similar to that described in
the Specification of my Patent of October Fourth, One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-five aforesaid; this finger by exerting its pressure keeps the surface
of the blank true to the cutter, for if a want of such truth exist, then the one
or the other of the wedges j, k, is pressed downward so as to communicate an
upward movement to the other wedge through the medium of the slide place i,
and thus a constant level is maintained.
).
Figs. 1, 2, 3 have been described solely in reference to grinding,
stripping, and polishing, but the same arrangement may be adapted to file-
cutting machines when it is desirable, as in the case of small files, to cut more
than one; at the same time I would also observe that although three blanks
only are shewn it will be evident that the wedge-formed parts may be repeated
for as many more as may be desired.
The next part of my Invention is shewn at Figs. 6 and 7, in which o
represents the sliding bed of a file-cutting machine, beneath which and in
contact therewith is placed a cam or excentric p mounted on a shaft 9, pro-
vided with a weighted lever r, by which means the said bed is forced upward
until the blank s thereon arrives in contact with a finger t fixed to the frame-
work u.
The cutter or chisel is shewn at mounted in a sliding piece w,
which is forced downward by a tappet on the shaft x; the cutter is set true
with the edge of the finger t, and has sufficient motion imparted to it to project
a distance beyond the said finger and into the blank 8, according to the
depth of cut required. The blank may be placed upon a bed or carrier
similar to that shown at Figs. 4 and 5, or upon a rocking surface of ordinary
construction, and the sliding bed o being constantly forced upward by the
weighted lever r will cause the surface of the blank to be kept true to the
finger t, the effect being the same as in my former Patent aforesaid, only in
this instance the shaft x does not move bodily, the equivalent therefor being

page_text: the vertical movement of the bed o.
by the parts y and also by flanges
The bed is guided in its sliding 'motion
on the excentric p.
The next part of my Invention is also shewn at Fig. 6 upon the shaft x.
I form two or more tappets (the Drawing shews four) at 1, 2, 3, 4, acting
upon a bowl 5, mounted in the slide w. By these means one revolution of
the shaft will effect four cuts, and thus I am enabled to run the gearing of
the machine at a comparatively low speed, which is a matter of importance
when rapidity in cutting is required.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be under-
stood that I claim as secured to me under the above in part recited Letters
Patent, and for the purposes above set forth,-
Firstly, the adaption to beds of such machinery as aforesaid of moveable
wedge-formed pieces.
Secondly, causing the bed of file-cutting machines to be pressed towards
a finger or fingers which rest upon the blank or blanks.
Thirdly, the use of two or more tappets upon one shaft for actuating the
cutter.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Dodge, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
JAMES DODGE. (L.S.)