NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF WOODEN PILL BOXES, MATCH BOXES, AND OTHER SUCH LIKE ARTICLES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Harrison, of Nebthwait Mills, in the County
of Lancaster, Machinist, for the Invention of "NEW OR IMPROVED
MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF WOODEN PILL BOXES, MATCH BOXES,
AND OTHER SUCH LIKE ARTICLES."
Sealed the 23rd September 1857, and dated the 14th April 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Harrison at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th April 1857.
I, THOMAS HARRISON, of Nebthwait Mills, in the County of Lancaster,
Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "NEW OR
IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF WOODEN PILL BOXES, MATCH
BOXES, AND OTHER SUCH LIKE ARTICLES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of machinery constructed in in the manner herein-after
described for manufacturing wooden pill boxes and match boxes, and such
other articles in wood as are made by the processes of boring and turning.
The said machinery consists essentially of the following parts:-A pair of
hollow rolls or cylinders are situated parallel in a horizontal plane. The said
rolls are open at both ends, and have a rapid rotatory motion given to them.
A piece of wood, either' rough or dressed, is placed in each of the hollow
rolls or cylinders, the end of each piece of wood protruding from the said

page_text: cylinders. Pistons or plungers introduced at the other end of each cylinder
urge the pieces of wood forward at proper intervals. A cutting tool, advancing
against the rotating wood of which a lid is to be made, bores it out of the proper
size; the said tool rotires and a holder advances upon the lid; a cutting
tool approaches laterally and cuts off and shapes the outside of the lid. The
holder carries the lid opposite to the other hollow cylinder, containing the
wood of which the box is to be made, and which said box has been scooped
out, as described with respect to the lid. During the carrying of the lid
the holder is turned half round upon its axis, so as to present the lid with
its under side towards the box. The said lid is placed upon the box, and
a cutting tool advancing laterally turns the box and cuts it off. The holder
carries the lid and box down to a chuck, where they are finished, and pass
to a counting machine at the lower part of the machinery, by which the
number of boxes made is registered. The bearings of the moving parts are
where necessary made hollow, so that by the circulation of water through
them they may be kept cool. The motions of the several parts are com-
municated from a main shaft. by means of cambs, screws, and other mechanical
appliances, which I do not think it necessary here to describe.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Harrison in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
10th October 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
HARRISON, of Nebthwait Mills, in the County of Lancaster, Machinist, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Thomas Harrison, Hèr special licence that I, the said Thomas Harrison,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas
Harrison, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agreo
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 "NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINERY
FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF WOODEN PILL BOXES, MATCH BOXES, AND OTHER SUCH

page_text: LIKE ARTICLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas
Harrison, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 Thomas Harrison, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists of the machinery herein-after described, and illustrated
in the accompanying Drawing, for manufacturing wooden pill boxes and
match boxes, and such other articles in wood as are or may be made by the
processes of boring and turning.
Figure 1 represents in plan a machine constructed according to my Inven-
tion; Figure 2 represents a side elevation of the same; and Figure 3
represents a plan of the under side of the machine; Figure 4 represents a
vertical transverse section of the machine, taken through the line a, Figure 1,
the said section Figure 4 being viewed from the end 6 of the machine; and
Figure 5 represents the same section viewed from the end c of the machine.
The same letters indicate the same parts in the several Figures. d, e, are
hollow rolls or cylinders working in the bearings f, g, the said bearings being
made hollow, so that by the circulation of water through them they may
be kept cool. Rotatory motion is communicated to the said hollow rolls or
cylinders d, e, by a strap or band from a driving shaft situated over the
machine passing under or around the said hollow rolls or cylinders. The
hollow rolls d, e, may be covered with felt or leather, in order to give the
driving band a better hold on them. h, i, are rods or cylinders of wood, from
which the boxes and lids are made respectively. The rods h and i need not
be cylindrical, but I prefer to use rods of that figure. The ends of the rods
hi, i, are fixed in the chucks k, l, respectively, the said chucks being fixed on
the ends of spindles, which said spindles are carried by the slides m, n,
respectively. The said slides m, n, slide in dovetails on the bed o of the
machine, the motion of the said slides being effected in the manner herein-
after described. The front edge of each of the hollow rolls d, e, that is to
say, the edge turned towards the end 6 of the machine, is serrated, for the
purpose of giving the said hollow rolls hold upon the rods h, i, and communi-
cating thereto a rotatory motion. The ends of the rods h, i, protruding

page_text: through the front faces of the rolls d, e, are shaped into a box and lid
respectively in the following manner:-p is a slide, having motion in a
dovetail on the bed of the machine. The said slide p carries two cutters q, r,
which said cutters consist of closed tubes or cylinders, the front face of each
of which has a cutting edge or "lip" extending from the centre to the
circumference, or in the direction of a radius. The said cutters are fixed in
the holders s, t. By the advance of the slide p towards the hollow rolls d, e,
the cutters q, r, are brought to act respectively on the ends of the rods h, i,
and to cut or scoop out the insides of the box and lid respectively, the pro-
jection of the cutters 9 and 7 corresponding to the respective depths of the box
and lid. The slide p also carries lateral cutters u, u, the said cutters being
situated externally to the cutters 9 and r respectively, and having for their
object the turning of the tenon on the box, or the part on which the lid fits,
as well as the body of the box, and also the turning of the cylindrical surface
of the lid. On the retiring of the slide p and cutters q, r, the holders v, w,
approach the partially formed box and lid. The said holders v, w, are
fixed on either extremity of an arm a, which said arm is carried by
a shaft or axis y, to which shaft or axis a motion of partial rotation is given,
in the manner herein-after explained. The arm is in a vertical position
during the time that the cutters q, r, are engaged in hollowing out the box
and lid; but on the retiring of the cutters q, r, the arm a is brought
into a horizontal position by the partial rotation of the axis y and the holders
v, w, are brought opposite to the partially formed box and lid on the ends of
the rods and i respectively; the shaft y slides towards the rolls d, e, and
brings the holders v and w upon the box and lid respectively, the holder v
carrying a lid previously made, and placing the said lid upon the tenon of the
partially formed box; the holder wat the same time receiving the lid
formed on the end of the rod i ready to be carried by the rotation of the
shaft y to the box next formed; the cutter approaching laterally cuts off
the lid from the end of the rod i. During the rotation of the axis y the
holder w carrying the lid requires to perform a semi-rotation, so as to present
the open end of the lid to the box by the time the said holder w has arrived
in the position v.
The manner in which this rotation is effected is herein-
after explained. The lid being placed upon the box, the cutter 1 advances by
a lateral motion and turns the cylindrical outside of the box and lid, the said
cutter 1 having a motion during its action in a direction parallel with the
axis of the box. During the action of the cutter 1 the cutters 2 and 3
advance laterally, the cutter 2 being a little in advance of the cutter 3. The
cutter cuts down or finishes the top of the lid, and the cutter 3 cuts down

page_text: the bottom of the box and completely separates it from the rod h. The
cutters retire, and the shaft y slides towards the end 6 of the machine, it then
performs a partial rotation so as to bring the arm into a vertical position.
The axis y next performs another sliding motion towards the end 6 of the
machine, when the box and lid carried by the holder v coming against a fixed
rod, the said holder v passes from off the box and lid, which fall into a
receptacle placed to receive them, or the box and lid may fall into a counting
machine, by which the number made will be registered.
After leaving the holder v tho box may be received by a chuck on the end
of the spindle 4, and the bottom of the box may be further finished by another
cutting tool; but as the last-described turning of the bottom of the box is
only required where a high finish has to be given to the bottom of the box,
and may in most cases be dispensed with, I do not think it necessary to
describe in detail the arrangements whereby the said cutter is worked.
I will now proceed to describe the methods whereby I communicate to the
several tools and working parts of the machine the motions which I have
herein-before described.
The advancing motion of the rods h, i, is produced as follows:-On the
under side of the slides m, n, are scrow boxes 5 and 6 (see Figure 3), in
which screw boxes the screws 7 and 8 engage. An intermitting rotatory
motion is communicated to the screws 7, 8, in the following manner :-The
driving shaft 9 carries a bevil wheel 10, which engages in the bevil wheel 11;
a connecting rod 12 is attached by a pin 13 to the slot 14 of the wheel 11;
the rod 12 is also jointed to the arm 15, which said arm 15 carries a click
or pall 16 engaging in the ratchet wheel 17. The motion of the said ratchet
wheel 17 is communicated through the bevil gear 18, 19, to the toothed
wheel 20, and from the said toothed wheel 20 to the pinion 21 on the end
of the screw 7. The screw 8 is actuated in a similar manner. By the
motion of the wheel 11 an intermitting motion is given to the ratchet
wheel 17, and the rod of wood i is consequently made to advance in a manner
suitable for the operation to be performed thereon, herein-before described.
22 are loose pullics on the end of the screw shaft 7, and 23 are fixed pullies
on the same. Two bands from a driving shaft situated over the machine run
upon the pullies; one of the said bands is crossed and the other uncrossed,
and by throwing the said bands either on both the loose pullies, or on one of
the loose and one of the fixed pullies, any desired motion may be given to the
screw 7, or the said screw may remain unaffected by the driving band. In
this way the slide n may be moved on the bed o of the machine to any
requisite distance for the purpose of introducing fresh rods when the rod i

page_text: of
ม
is worked up, or rods of any desired length. When the click 16 is out
gear with the ratchet wheel 17 the screw 7 is free to move in either
direction. The motion of the slide p carrying the cutters q, r, is effected
by a crank 24 on the shaft 25 carrying tho bevil wheel 11. A connecting
rod 26 is jointed at one end to the under side of the slide p at 27,
and is connected at its other end to the crank 24. By the rotation of
the shaft 25 the reciprocating motion of the slide p is effected. The
rotatory motion of the axis y is 'effected by means which will be best under-
stood by reference to Figure 6, which represents the said shaft and parts
appertaining thereto separately. The said shaft y passes through the hollow
cylinder 28 carried by the slide p. "The upper half of the hollow cylinder 28
is removed in Figure 6 in order to show the groove 29 in the lower half of the
cylinder. A similar groove is formed in the upper half; a pin 30 on the shaft
y engages in the groove 29, and when a sliding motion is given to the shaft
the pin 30 enters one of the forked arms of the groove 29, and thereby com-
municates a partial revolution to the said axis y. When the pin 30 has
arrived at the end of one of the branches of the groove 29 it enters one of
the forked arms of the upper or removed half of the hollow cylinder 28, by
which the axis y is made to perform another partial rotation, and by the said
pin 30 being thus made to traverse the forked grooves in the two halves of the
cylinder 28, the axis y in performing a reciprocating sliding motion is made to
perform a rotatory motion, the said rotatory motion being performed in four
distinct quadrants, the rotation of the shaft y being arrested at each quadrant.
31 is another hollow cylinder, somewhat similar to the cylinder 28, but shorter;
the upper and lower halves of the hollow cylinder 31 having forked grooves,
one of which is shewn at 32 in Figure 6. A pin on the shaft y engages in
the grooves 32, and serves by its engagement in the said grooves to carry on
the rotatory motion of the shaft y when the pin 30 is at a dead point in the
groove 29, that is to say, at a point when there is nothing to direct the pin 30
into that one of the branched arms of the groove 29 in which it should engage.
The rotatory motion of the holders v, w, by which, as herein-before described.
the said holders perform a semi-rotation after having received the lids so as to
present the under surface of the lid to the partially formed box, is effected as
follows: The axis y passes through a tube 83, which tube has a feather 34,
which engages in a slot in the upper half of the brass or collar 35, and thus
prevents the rotation of the said tube 33. A bevilled pinion 36 is fixed on
the end of the tube 33, one half only of the pinion 36 being furnished with
teeth. The holders v, w, are carried by axes 37, the said axes having bevilled
pinions 38 on their ends. By the rotation of the shaft y, the pinions 38 are

page_text: the box, and the
made to engage with the pinion 36 at the proper times, and a semi-revolution of
the holders v and w is effected. In order to prevent the lid from being pushed
out of the holder when the said lid is being forced upon the partially formed
box, a small slide 39 is made to advance and support the said lid, the
advancing and retiring motion of the said slide 39 being effected by a pin on
its under side engaging in the inclined slot 40, which, said inclined slot is
formed on a fixed tube through which the axis 37 passes. The reciprocating
sliding motion of the shaft y by which the lid is put on
rotation of the said shaft y, as well as the rotation of the holders v, w, are
effected, is produced in the following manner:-41 is 'a pin carried by the
slide p, which said pin acts upon the lever 42, the upper. forked arm of which
engages with the shaft y at 43. The figure of the under side of the lever 42 is
such, that the pin 41 acting thereon produces the requisite sliding motion in the
shaft y. 44 is a small hooked spring fixed on the top of the cylinder 28, the said
spring engaging in the collar 45 when the slide has carried the cutters q, r, to
the limit of their motion. On the retiring of the slide p, the spring 44 engaged
in the collar 45 carries the shaft y by a sliding motion to such a distance.towards
the end 6 of the machine that there is room for the holders v, w, to perform
their rotation. By the said motion of the shaft y the lever 42 is brought into.
such a position that the pin 41 can pass under it and engage therewith.
The motions of the cutters, whereby the exteriors of the box and lid are
turned and the said box and lid cut off, are effected in the following manner:
46, 47, are slides carrying the said cutters; these slides work in dovetails on
the bed of the machine, and have motion in a horizontal plane, and at right.
angles to the axis of the shaft y. The motion of the said slides 46, and 47 is
effected by the motion of the slide p. 48 (see Figure 3) is a lever turning on,
the centre 49. The lever 48 is connected by a connecting link 50 with a bell-
crank lever 51 turning upon a centre 52. The said lever 51 is connected by
a link 53 to the slide 47. A pin 54 on the slide p engaging in the forked end.
of the lever 48 communicates motion to the said lever, and through it to the
slide 47. The parts by which the slide 46 is moved so nearly resemble the:
parts last described that I do not think it necessary to describe the same, as
I believe their action will be sufficiently understood by reference to the Draw-
ing. On the under side of the slide 47 is a bent rod .55, which, passing
underneath and across the machine, engages with the lever 56, and thereby,
raises the lever 57 carrying the cutter. 2, the said cutter. 2 being raised during.
the retiring motion of the slidės 46 and 47.
!
The cutter 1 has a sliding motion in the direction of the axis of the box.
as well as its motion on the slide 46. The first-mentioned motion is effected

page_text: by the holder 58 working on the dovetail 59. The motion of the holder 58
is produced from the rod 55 in the following manner:-A pin 60 on the rod
55 engages in a lever on the bottom of the vertical shaft 61, as represented in
Figure 3. The upper end of the shaft 61 carries an arm or lever, which
engages with the holder 58 at the point 62 in Figure 4. The reciprocating
motion of the slide 47 thus produces a reciprocating motion at right angles in
the holder 58.
In the machine as represented in the Drawing I have not thought it neces-
sary to represent in detail the clutch box by which the shaft 9 is thrown into
and out of gear, neither have I thought it necessary to represent the means
whereby the slide p may be temporarily disengaged from the crank shaft 25,
for the purpose of adjusting the tools actuated by the said slide, as I effect
these objects by means which are well understood, and which are no essential
part of my Invention.
Although I prefer to carry my Invention into effect in the manner herein-
before described, and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, yet I some-
times modify the same in the following manner, that is to say :-I make the
lids and boxes separately, separating the two hollow rolls d and e into two
Y, the lids
machines, and dispensing with all the parts carried by the shaft
being fitted on the boxes by hand. The slide carrying the cutting tools may
be worked by hand, and the screw whereby the rods of wood are made to
advance may also be worked by hand. Instead of a screw I sometimes use a
rack actuated by a pinion, for the purpose of urging forward the rod of wood
being made into boxes or the lids of boxes.
Although I have only described my Invention in its application to the
manufacture of boxes and lids, yet my said Invention may be applied to the
manufacture of such other articles as are or may be made by the processes of
boring and turning; but as I believe my Invention will be sufficiently under-
stood by the description herein-before given, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawing, I do not think it necessary to describe the various
modifications in the size and form of the cutting and boring tools, and other
working parts which are necessary in adapting my Invention to the various
purposes to which it may be applied.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described, and illustrated in the accom-
panying Drawing, as the same may be varied without departing from the
nature of my said Invention; but I claim as my Invention,―
Firstly, the general arrangement and combination of parts into a machine

page_text: for the manufacture of wooden pill boxes, match boxes, and other such
like articles, herein-before described, and represented in the accompanying
Drawing.
Secondly, the hollow rolls herein described, and marked d, e, in the accom-
panying Drawing, for communicating rotatory motion to rods of wood to be
formed into boxes and lids and other such like articles.
Thirdly, the mechanism herein-before described, and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawing, for feeding rods of wood to turning and boring
machinery.
Fourthly, the mechanism herein described, and represented in the accom-
panying Drawing, in connection with the shaft y, for the purpose of holding
the lids of boxes, and turning round and fitting the said lids upon their boxes,
and removing the boxes and lids from the turning machinery by which they
were formed.
Fifthly, the mechanism herein described, and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawing, in connection with the slide p, the said mechanism having for its
object the supporting and moving of the boring or cutting-out tools, and the
actuating of the turning tools, whereby the cylindrical figure of the box and
lid or other article is produced, as well as the cutting off of the said box and
lid or other article.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Harrison, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Ninth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
5 Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
THOMAS HARRISON. (L.S.)