OR IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF GUN WADS AND OTHER NON-METALLIC DISCS
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Blakemore Allport, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Gun Manufacturer, for the Invention of "NEW OR IMPROVED
MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF GUN WADS AND OTHER NON-METALLIC
DISCS."
Sealed the 28th July 1876, and dated the 18th February 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Blakemore Allport
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 18th February 1876.
SAMUEL BLAKEMORE ALLPORT, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gun
Manufacturer.. "NEW OR IMPROVED MACRINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF GUN
WADS AND OTHER NON-METALLIC DISCS."
My Invention consists of machinery constructed as herein-after described, which
said machinery effects the rapid and economical cutting out of gun wads and other
discs from non-metallic material.
The said machinery consists of the following arrangement or combination of
parts: The cutter. tool consists of a ram working in vertical slides. This ram is
raised by snail or other rotating cams acting on tappets on the said ram.
The ram
after the tappets are liberated from the cams falls by its own weight, which may be
augmented when required by weights placed upon its top. The said ram carries at
its bottom a compound cutting tool, consisting of a series of hollow or tubular
punches fixed in a holder. Under the said ram is a travelling table, on which the
felt or other material from which the wads or discs are to be cut is supported, and
which is made to advance through the required distance after each operation of the
cutting tool so as to bring a fresh portion of the material being cut under the ram
and cutting tools..
The travelling of the material is effected by an eccentric, which gives an alter-
nating motion to a connecting rod, and thereby produces an intermittent advancing
motion to the said material.
The table on which the material being cut is supported is covered with a layer of
soft wood (preferably pear tree wood) cut at right angles to the grain of the wood
so that in the layer of wood the fibres are in the line of the cut.
The table over which the material being cut travels has a slow compound motion,

page_text: whereby the cutting edges of the tools are prevented from descending on the same
portion of the table in successive cuttings, and the edges of the cut articles are thus
preserved sharp or free from ruggedness.
I prefer to arrange the cutters in the holder, so that they shall not cut continuous
rows of discs, but that one row of cutters shall cut out discs at a considerable dis-
tance apart, the uncut portions of the material being operated upon by other rows
of cutters as the material travels through the machine. By this arrangement of
the cutters the discs are cut without distortion, and the material can be used up
with a minimum of waste.
All the motions of the machine may be taken from one shaft, which may be
rotated by hand or by steam or other motive power.
My Invention is especially applicable to the cutting of wads for guns, but may
also be employed for cutting discs of paper, parchment, felt, cloth, or other non-
metallic substances for various purposes.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Samuel Blakemore Allport in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
15th August 1876.
"
SAMUEL BLAKEMORE ALLPORT, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gun
Manufacturer. NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF GUN
WADS AND OTHER NON-METALLIC DISCS."
My Invention consists of machinery constructed as herein-after described, which
said machinery effects the rapid and economical cutting out of gun wads and other
discs from non-metallic material.
The said machinery consists of the following arrangement or combination of
parts The cutter tool consists of a ram working in vertical slides. This ram is
raised by snail or other rotating cams acting on tappets on the said ram.
The ram
after the tappets are liberated from the cams falls by its own weight, which may be
augmented when required by weights placed upon its top. The said ram carries at
its bottom a compound cutting tool, consisting of a series of hollow or tubular
punches fixed in a holder. Under the said ram is a travelling table or block, on
which the felt or other material from which the wads or discs are to be cut is sup-
ported, and which material is made to advance through the required distance after
each operation of the cutting tools so as to bring a fresh portion of the material
being cut under the ram and cutting tools.
The travelling of the material is effected by an eccentric, which gives an alter-
nating motion to a connecting rod, and thereby produces an intermittent advancing
motion in the said material.
The block on which the material being cut is supported is made of soft wood
(preferably pear tree wood) cut at right angles to the grain of the wood, so that the
fibres are in the line of the cut.
The block over which the material being cut travels has a slow compound motion,
whereby the cutting edges of the tools are prevented from descending on the same
portion of the block in successive cuttings, and the edges of the cut articles are thus
preserved sharp or free from raggedness.
I prefer to arrange the cutters in the holders so that they shall not cut continuous
rows of discs, but that one row of cutters shall cut out discs at a considerable dis-
tance apart, the uncut portions of the material being operated upon by other rows of
cutters as the material travels through the machine. By this arrangement of the
cutters the discs are cut without distortion, and the material can be used up with a
minimum of waste.

page_text: All the motions of the machine may be taken from one shaft, which may be
rotated by hand or by steam or other motive power.
My Invention is especially applicable to the cutting of wads for guns, but may
also be employed for cutting discs of paper, parchment, felt, cloth, or other non-
metallic substances for various purposes.
Having explained the nature of my Invention I will proceed to describe with
reference to the accompanying Drawings the manner in which the same is to bo`
performed.
Figure 1 represents in side elevation, and Figure 2 in front elevation a machinę
for the punching or cutting out of gun wads or other non-metallic discs constructed
according to my Invention; Figure 3 is a plan of the same, and Figures 4 and 5
are parts of the same, as herein-after explained.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several Figures of
the Drawings.
The machine consists essentially of a double-sided press, the two sides or
uprights a, a, of which terminate at top in bearings carrying the main shaft b,
from which the principal motions of the machine are taken. On the said main
shaft bare the ordinary fast and loose pulleys and a fly wheel to regulate its
motion. The bolt or ram c of the press is hollow or of a box form (see the plan
Figure 3), and carries at its lower end the compound punching or cutting
tool, h. The said bolt or ram e slides vertically in guides in the uprights a, a,
and the said bolt or ram is connected with and receives its motion from a pair
of snail shaped cams d, d, on the main shaft b in the following manner :-Fixed
on to the top of the bolt c is a stirrup shaped frame e carrying a block f capable of
slight vertical adjustment by a screw. On the said block f are mounted two steel
rollers, which rest on the peripheries of the snail shaped cams d, d. On the
rotation of the shaft b and cams d, d, in the proper direction the peripheries of the
said cams press under the rollers f¹, f¹, and by means of the connection or frame e
raise the bolt c. When the longest radius of the cams d, d, escape from the
rollers f, f, the bolt c falls by its own weight and effects the cutting out or
punching of the wads or discs, as herein-after explained. In order that the longest
radius of the snail cams d, d, may be removed sufficiently far from under the
rollers f,f, to allow of the free fall of the latter, projections at f2 are made on
the sides of the block f, against which projections the snail cams bear after they
leave the rollers f¹, f¹, so that the bolt cannot fall till the cams escape from the
projections f*
Upon the lower end of the hollow bolt c, and recessed into the same, is secured
an iron block g, grooved on its lower side to receive the punch holder. This block
is perforated of the size and shape of the hollow interior of the bolt c to enable the
punched or cut out wads or discs to pass upwards through the said block and hollow
bolt and out at the top of the latter, or by tubes fixed in the bolt.
The punches of which the compound cutting tool is composed are marked h, h,
and their construction and method of fixing will be best understood by an
examination of the section, Figure 4. The said punches h, h, consist of conical
steel tubes, knife-edged at their lower ends, but having flat surfaces at their upper
ends. Their interiors are coned very slightly, but their exteriors are coned at a
greater angle, as represented. A series of these punches are used, arranged in two
rows in the steel plate i, into which their exteriors are fitted so that their upper flat
surfaces shall coincide with the upper surface of the said plate i. The plate i is
screwed to a dovetail slide ; perforated with holes corresponding with the interiors
of the punches, whereby a surface is afforded to sustain the punches from being
driven upwards in the act of cutting. The slide j is fitted into dovetail grooves in
the block g up to a stop pin, from which it can be withdrawn to sharpen the
punches when required. Into the top of the block g tubes may be screwed or fitted
to conduct the wads through and out of the top of the hollow bolt c.
The sheet of wadding or other non-metallic material marked z, from which the

page_text: wads or discs are to be cut or punched, is supported upon a long block of wood or
other material marked kc. This block has the compound motion given to it herein-
after described, that is, it has a longitudinal intermittent motion communicated to
it by the operation of the machine and a transverse motion communicated to it by
hand. I use by preference for the block pear tree wood, and build it up of pieces
of the said wood fitted accurately together, the grain being vertical. The said
pieces of wood are bound together by a wrought-iron strap around them and by
through bolts. The said block / rests upon the floor or base of the machine, and
can freely pass through the side frames or uprights a, a.
I give the compound motion to the block, so that the punches h, h, may cut
upon a different place on the surface of the block at each blow of the said
punches by the following combination of parts-In the middle of the base of the
machine a horizontal spindle works, on which spindle a roller is mounted, which
receives an intermittent motion from a crank pin 61 on the end of the main shaft b
at each revolution of the said shaft. The motion of the crank pin b¹ is transmitted
through a rod m to a pawl lever n, the pawl n¹ of which takes into a toothed feed
wheel o.
The motion of the wheel o is transmitted through the worm p to the
worm wheel p on the spindle of the roller l. A leather or other strap 3 (see the
detached view, Figure 5) is wound once round the roller Z, and the ends of the said
strap are attached to the ends of the block, as represented. By the arrangement
of parts described a longitudinal intermittent motion is given through a short range
to the block at each stroke of the machine. When the block khas moved
through its whole length in one direction by reversing the position of the pawl n¹
upon the toothed feed wheel o the block will be moved similarly in the opposite
direction. In order that the compound punching tool h, h, shall not cut or punch
continually upon the same lines on the block a slight side motion is given to the
said block at each end of its traverse. This is effected in the following manner :-
In suitable recesses in the base of the machine and underneath the block ke an iron
frame Չ is situated, the ends of the said frame being turned up at right angles (sce
Figure 1), so as to clip the said block at about a third of its depth. Attached to
the middle of the frame q is a convex screw ", extending towards the back of the
machine and engaging with a hollow screw 71. The screw 7 is capable of rotating
in the frame of the machine, but is incapable of moving in the direction of its
length. By turning in one or other direction a milled head 72 on the end of the
screw through one-fourth of a revolution the screw is made to advance in or
retire out of the hollow screw 71, and the frame q attached to the said screw ris
thereby made to advance to or retire from the back of the machine, carrying with
it the block k, so as to adjust the lateral position of the said block. The turned-up
ends of the frame q serve as guides to direct the motion of the block k lengthwise.
A spring catch may be employed to engage in notches in the milled head of the
screw to retain or lock the said screw when it has been moved through a quarter
rotation.
For the purpose of feeding the sheet of wadding or other material z on the
block the required distance at each stroke of the machine, and for pressing or
holding down the said wadding or material I adopt the following arrangement of
parts I provide a square frame s capable of a horizontal sliding motion in suitable
grooves made on the sides a, a, of the machine. At the front and back of the said
frames are mounted two spindles t, t, the said spindles being situated transversely
to the direction of the motion of the wadding or material to be cut, and on each of
the said spindles t, t, are fixed two pressers u, u, which receive a slight rocking
motion from the levers 2, 3, keyed near the ends of the spindles aforesaid, and con-
nected together by links v, v. The said levers t² 2, are provided with stops t³ at
their heels to check their rocking motion, and thereby to give a motion of trans-
lation to the frames and parts carried by it. The pressers u, u, are actuated by
an eccentric w on the main shaft b, operating through the eccentric rod w³ and
cranked lever w³, the latter being jointed to the cross spindle t' of the pressing

page_text: levers, t. By the arrangement described and represented the pressers u, u, first
compress the wadding or material on the block and carry it forward a distance
equal to that between two adjacent discs to be cut from it. As soon as the pressers
have made this motion and fed forward the wadding the bolt c and its punches h, h,
fall and cut or punch from the wadding a series of wads or discs, the cut or
punched discs passing into the hollow punches and the columns of discs accumu-
lating therein being made to ascend the hollow bolt c to the top thereof or through
tubes fixed in the bolt, from whence they may be delivered to receptacles placed to
receive them. After the wads or discs have been cut or punched the pressers u, u,
rise by the turning of the levers t, t, on their centres and release the wadding or
other material z, which remains stationary till the frames and pressers u, u, have
retired through the same distance they were advanced, when the pressers u, u, take
a fresh hold of the wadding by compressing it as before described, and again feed it
forward, and the operations described are repeated.
In order to ensure that the pressers u, u, shall feed forward the wadding or
material I affix to the horizontal sliding frame 8, and immediately beneath the
pressers u, u, two flat strips of sheet steel, between which strips and the press ers
the wadding passes, so that when the pressers descend the wadding or material
is compressed between them and carried forward at each stroke of the machine.
Instead of feeding or advancing the wadding or non-metallic material over the
block by the mechanism described the said feeding or advancing may be effected by
rolls.
Attached to the sides of the machine and capable of adjustment to or from each
other are two guides marked x, x. The sides of these guides are parallel to each
other, and their lower edges come so nearly down to the upper surface of the
cutting block as that the said block can move freely underneath them. The
wadding or other non-metallic material is introduced between the guides x, x,
by which its motion is accurately directed.
When wadding of extra thickness is to be cut or punched one or more weights
y, y, may be fixed on the top of the stirrup shaped frame e, whereby additional
momentum is given to the bolt c and punches carried by it.
Having now described the nature of my Invention and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to
the precise details herein described and illustrated, as the same may be varied
without departing from the nature of my Invention; but I claim as my Invention
of new or improved machinery for the manufacture of gun wads and other non-
metallic discs,―
First. The compound punch or cutter tool, consisting of a series of tubular
punches fitted into a holder carried by the ram or bolt of the machine, the parts of
the said compound punch or cutter tool being constructed, arranged, and working
substantially as herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawings.
Secondly. The combination or arrangement of parts substantially as herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings for giving the reversing
intermittent longitudinal motion to the block on which the wadding or other non-
metallic material is cut or punched; also the arrangement or combination of parts
herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings for giving the
cross or transverse motion to the said block at each end of its path.
Thirdly. The arrangement or combination of parts substantially as herein-beforo
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings for pressing or holding
down on the cutter block the wadding or non-metallic material to be cut or punched,
and for giving the required advance or feed notion to the said wadding or material
on the block after each operation of the compound punch or cutting tool; also the
arrangement or combination of parts for accurately guiding or directing tho
wadding or material through the machine.
Lastly. The arrangement or combination of parts substantially as herein-before

page_text: described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings for giving the lifting
motion to the ram or bolt carrying the compound punch or cutting tool, and for
disengaging the said ram or bolt from the lifting mechanism.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Blakemore Allport, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
SAMUEL BLAKEMORE ALLPORT. (L.S.)