IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CUTTING
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Alfred Warrington and Charles Harwood,
both of the City of London, in the County of Middlesex, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CUTTING
Sealed the 4th January 1876, and dated the 2nd November 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Alfred
Warrington and Charles Harwood at the Office of the Com-
missioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 2nd November
1875.
We, THOMAS ALFRED WARRINGTON and CHARLES HARWOOD, both of
the City of London, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS FOR CUTTING CORK AND OTHER LIKE SUBSTANCES," to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for its object certain improvements in machinery
or apparatus for cutting cork and other like substances with greater
facility than heretofore known.

page_text: We construct our machine with a bed plate of cast iron or other
suitable material, having on the upper surface at one end two bearings
carrying a hollow spindle with cutting tool and pulley, by which motion
is imparted to the cutting tool. The cutting tool is held in its place in
the hollow spindle by a small catch, which is opened and shut by a a
trigger.
Pieces of metal are cast on or attached to the middle of the bed plate
on its upper surface to act as a guide to the "quarters" or pieces of
cork to be operated upon by the cutter, the centre of the guide being
in a line with the centre of the cutting tool.
The end of the guide nearest the spindle and cutting tool is enlarged
to allow free passage to the debris of the cork as it is cut away. At
the same end of the guide are fixed one or any number of small blades
for the purpose of splitting the part of the cork cut away into separate
pieces, thereby preventing undue friction to the spindle and cutting
tool.
"
The "
quarters or pieces of cork of the requisite dimensions are
placed in the guide, and are advanced by means of a sliding head fitted
with a split nut, which grasps a screw situated slightly below the bed
plate.
The sliding head is so constructed as to receive the end of the cutter,
and is fitted with a rotating disc; this disc when the cut is completed
forces the end of the cork cut into the cutter and revolves with it. The
sliding head is also fitted with stones or other sharpener regulated by
a set screw for sharpening the cutter without removing it from the a
hollow spindle.
To prevent the sliding head from feeding too far forward and breakage
to the machine the split nut is so constructed that by means of pro-
jecting pieces attached to it coming into contact with a pin fixed to the
under side of the bed plate below the cutting tool the nut is opened, a
and the feed stopped at the moment the cut is completed, at the same
instant a piu or wedge drops between the two pieces and keeps them
and the split nut apart; the head is then free to be drawn back by the
operator, the guide being again filled, the pin or wedge raised by a
lever, the jaws or split nut are brought together by means of a spring,
and the feed advanced by aid of the feed screw as before.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Alfred Warrington and Charles Harwood
in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 27th April 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, WC, THOMAS
ALFRED WARRINGTON and CHARLES HARWOOD, both of the City of
London, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Thomas Alfred Warrington and Charles
Harwood, Her special licence, that we, the said Thomas Alfred War-
rington and Charles Harwood, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said Thomas Alfred Warrington and Charles
Harwood, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 OR APPARATUS FOR CUTTING CORK AND OTHER
LIKE SUBSTANCES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
Thomas Alfred Warrington and Charles Harwood, our executors or ad-
ministrators, by an instrument in writing under our, 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 we, the said Thomas Alfred Warrington and
Charles Harwood, do hereby declare the nature of our 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 accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings:
This Invention has for its object certain improvements in machinery
or apparatus for cutting cork and other like substances with greater
facility than heretofore known.

page_text: We construct our machine with a bed plate a of cast iron or other
suitable material, having on the upper surface at one end two
bearings b, b, carrying a hollow spindle with cutting tool and pulley c,
by which motion is imparted to the cutting tool d. The cutting tool d
is held in its place in the hollow spindle c by a small catch e, which is
opened and shut by a trigger f.
"
Pieces of metal 9, 9, are cast on or attached to the middle of the bed
plate on its upper surface to act as a guide to the "quarters or pieces
of cork to be operated upon by the cutter, the centre of the guide being
in a line with the centre of the cutting tool.
The end of the guide nearest the spindle and cutting tool is enlarged
ath to allow free passage to the debris of the cork as it is cut away.
At the same end of the guide are fixed one or any number of small
blades i, i, i, i, for the purpose of splitting the part of the cork cut
away into separate pieces, thereby preventing undue friction to the
spindle and cutting tool.
"
The "
quarters or pieces of cork of the requisite dimensions are
placed in the guide, and the piece of cork being cut may be held down
by means of a roller 1 forced against it by a spiral spring. The pieces
are advanced by means of a sliding headj fitted with a split nut k,
which grasps a screw situated slightly below the bed plate.
The sliding head j is so constructed as to receive the end of the cutter,
and is fitted with a rotating disc m; this disc when the cut is completed
forces the end of the cork cut into the cutter and revolves with it. The
sliding head jis also fitted with stones or other sharpeners n, n, regulated
by set screws o, o, for sharpening the cutter without removing it from
the hollow spindle.
To prevent the sliding head from feeding too far forward and breakage
to the machine the split nut is so constructed that by means of pro-
jecting pieces p, p, attached to it coming into contact with a pin q fixed
to the under side of the bed plate below the cutting tool the nut is
opened, and the feed stopped at the moment the cut is completed, at
the same instant a pin or wedge drops between the two pieces and
keeps them and the split nut apart; the head is then free to be drawn
back by the operator; the guide being again filled, the pin or wedge
raised by a lever 8, the jaws or split nut are brought together by means

page_text: of a spring t, and the feed advanced by aid of the feed screw as
before.
Fig. 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a side elevation of the
machine; Fig. 2 is a plan; Fig. 3 is a section through A, B; Fig. 4 is
a section through C, D; and Fig. 5 a section through E, F.
What we consider to be new and desire to secure by Letters Patent
is as follows: The guide for the squares or pieces of cork, the knives
for splitting the cork to prevent undue friction, the slide with its disc
and split nut arrangement for feeding the pieces of cork forward, the
method for sharpening the tool, and the general arrangement of cork
cutting machine, substantially as described and illustrated by this
Specification and accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, the said Thomas Alfred Warrington and
Charles Harwood, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this
Twenty-fifth day of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-six.