IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING OR SHEARING IRON AND OTHER METALS
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Walter Williams, junior, of West Bromwich,
in the County of Stafford, Iron Master, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING OR SHEARING IRON AND
OTHER METALS."
Sealed the 28th March 1853, and dated the 31st January 1853.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Walter Williams at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
and Declaration, on the 31st January 1853, pursuant to the
9th section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
I, WALTER WILLIAMS, junior, of Westbromwich, in the County
of Stafford, Iron Master, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING OR SHEARING
IRON AND OTHER METALS," and the manner in which the same is to be
performed, to be as follows, that is to say :-
My Invention consists in a peculiar arrangement and combina+
tion of mechanical parts forming in the whole a machine applicable
to the cutting plates of iron or other metel, such, for instance, as
boiler plates, and will be more readily understood on reference to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon, similar letters denoting similar parts.

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1, is a front elevation of the machine. Figure 2, a plan.
Figure 3, an elevation of one end. Figure 4, an elevation of the
opposite end.
I now proceed to describe the machine: (✗) is the cast iron bed
plate, to which are secured the standards or holsters (P), the car-
riage (V), and the general framework of the machine. On the shaft
(A), connected by drum, crank, or any suitable means with the
steam engine, is hung the screw wheel (B), working into a toothed
wheel (C), revolving on an axle suspended in proper bearings at
(B) from the under side of the bed plate. On this axle is a double
throw crank (D), to the arms of which are attached pins (D¹), work-
ing in the guides (E) on the ends of the blades F. These blades slid-
ing in carriages (Z), also secured to the under side of the bed plate,
have cut through them the S shaped slots or grooves shewn at (F¹),
which act as levers for raising and lowering the cutters G; straps
or bands of iron (H) secured to the back of the cutters & con-
nect them with the blades F by the pins (H¹) passing through
both the bands (H) and the slots (F), consequently motion im-
parted to these sliding blades is communicated to the cutters (G)
vertically. The length of these slots also governs the length of the
stroke; motion being given to the shaft (A) is communicated through
the two wheels (B and C) to the double throw crank (D); and an
alternating or reciprocating movement being thus given to the blades
(F), the same mortion in a vertical direction is given to the cutters
(G), the one rising as the other falls. The vertical position of these
cutters is maintained by causing them to work in slides formed on
the one side by the bands or straps H, and on the other by allowing
the end of the cutting jaw G to project over the side of the standard,
as shewn at (Y), (Figures 3, and 4). By this arrangement of these
cutters the strain at the cutting point is thrown from the jaw G,
back on to the holster .P. The falls into the spaces G¹.
scrap
The next part of the machine consists of two pairs of cutting rol-

page_text: lers N, hung on parallel shafts M, in bearings between 'the-holsters!
These rollers are adjusted and kept in position by the screws T
passing through the heads of the holsters, and also derive: their mo-
tion from the main shaft (A); through: a,toothed wheel. I, working
into a large wheel K, which drives, the two smaller wheel's Lon
the shafts (M). (Q) are four sliding screws passing through the
holsters, and terminating at one end in small screw wheels (Q¹),
working into a worm on either end of the two shafts (Q2) at the end
of the machine. These are for the purpose of adjusting the guage
of the rollers; (0) are two guards connecting the holsters and car-
rying the bridge guides (0¹); (R) are two top guards secured to the
rollers, and forming guides for the plate during the process of cutting,
as well as to keep the rollers in their exact position; (U) are two
loose crabs sliding on the main shaft (A) for the purpose of throw-
ing either part of the machine out of motion. The plate having
been placed under the cutting jaw G on one side of the machine
is first shorn at one end, and then passed between the cutting rollers
by which the sides are cut; it is then shorn on the remaining end
by the second cutting jaw on the opposite side of the machine. In
many instances I prefer employing the shears alone, dispensing with
the cutting rollers, and as this simply requires the holsters to be
somewhat stronger further detail is unnecessary.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be clearly
understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details, nor do
I claim the use of the cutting rollers save. in combination with the
rest of the machine, as I am aware that rollers have before been
used for the purpose of cutting metals, and as I have before stated
in many
instances I prefer employing the shears alone; but what I
claim as my Invention is, the peculiar construction and application
of the slots herein mentioned operating with the parts in immediate
connection therewith as levers in raising and lowering the shears,
whereby an access of power is gained, together with the general
arrangement and combination of the remaining mechanical parts

page_text: herein-before set forth for the purpose of cutting or shearing iron
and other metals..
In witness whereof, I, the said. Walter Williams, junior, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of
January, One. thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
WALTER (L.S.) WILLIAMS, JUN³.