IMPROVEMENTS IN SOAP CUTTING MACHINES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Horner and Henry Starkey, both of Leeds,
in the County of York, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SOAP
CUTTING MACHINES."
Sealed the 2nd June 1871, and dated the 8th December 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Horner and
Henry Starkey at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 8th December 1870.
We, JAMES HORNER and HENRY STARKEY, both of Leeds, in the
County of York, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
“IMPROVEMENTS IN SOAP CUTTING MACHINES," to be as follows:—
The Invention relates to machinery for cutting bars of soap to any
required size, such as pounds, half pounds, and quarters, and consists of
a table on which are mounted a number of frames placed one behind the
other and working in bearings or centres.
On the lower part of each frame are arranged a number of bosses, to
which are fastened wires, which are carried to the upper part of the
frame, and there "tuned" or tightened by being fastened to couplings

page_text: which are made to slide in hollow bosses arranged on the upper part of
the frame. The wires can be set to any required degree of tightness by
means of screws to which the couplings are attached. The frames
containing the wires being brought down by the attendant, for which
purpose handles are provided at a convenient distance from the bearing 5
or centre, the wires pass through the soap, cutting it thereby to any
required size. As many frames as required may be brought down
together to suit the sizes of soap required to be cut, the pitch of the
wires in each frame beeng different.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Horner and Henry Starkey in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 7th June 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JAMES
HORNER and HENRY STARKEY, both of Leeds, in the County of York,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-.
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said James Horner and Henry Starkey,
Her special licence that we, the said James Horner and Henry Starkey,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
James Horner and Henry Starkey, our 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 SOAP CUTTING MACHINES,”
upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said James Horner
and Henry Starkey, our executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under our, or their, or one of their hands and scals, 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.

page_text: KNOW NOW, YE, that we, the said James Horner and Henry Starkey,
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, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, that
is to say:
"
The Invention relates to machinery for cutting bars of soap to any
required size, such as pounds, half pounds, and quarters, and consists of
a table on which are mounted a number of frames placed one behind the
other and working in bearings or centres.
On the lower part of each frame are arranged a number of bosses, to
which are fastened wires, which are carried to the upper part of the
frame, and there "tuned" or tightened by being fastened to couplings,
which are made to slide in hollow bosses arranged on the upper part of
the frame. The wires can be set to any required degree of tightness by
means of set screws, to which the couplings are attached. The frames
containing the wires being brought down by the attendant, for which
purpose handles are provided at a convenient distance from the bearing
or centre, the wires pass through the soap, cutting it thereby to any
required size. As many frames as required may be brought down
together to suit the sizes of soap required to be cut, the pitch of the
wires in each frame being different.
:
And in order that our Invention may be more completely understood
we 'annex'a Sheet of Drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a front elevation
showing the frames open preparatory to cutting; Fig. 2. is a side
elevation; Fig. 3 is a plan; Fig. 4 is a front elevation- shewing the
frames closed after cutting; Fig. 5 is a cross section of a frame with
fixed cutters; Fig. 6 is a front elevation, and Fig. 7 is a cross section of
the frame with adjustable cutters.
a is a table, which by preference is made of cast iron, on which are
mounted a number of frames b, c, and d, one behind the other, as shewn,
and working in bearings or centres e, f, and g. On the lower part of
each frame a number of bosses are arranged, to which the wires i
shewn in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7 are fastened. These wires are carried
to the upper part of the frame and thero tuned or tightened, having
previously been fastened to the couplings j, which are made so as to
slide in the hollow bosses & arranged on the upper part of the frames, as
shewn at 7. The wires can be set to any degree of tightness by means
1

page_text: of the set screws m, to which the couplings are attached, as shewn at n
in Figs. 1, 5, and 7. The bosses h and the coupling bosses k may be
fixed in position, as shewn in Figs. 1 and 5, or they may be adjustable,
as shewn in Figs. 6 and 7. The frames b, c, and d being brought down
(a bar of soap being placed on the table a), the wires are made to pass
through the bar of soap, thereby cutting it to any required size, the sizo
of course being regulated by the frame or the number of frames that are
brought down and passed through it. When the frame b is required the
frames c and d are put down below the table (before the cutting com-
mences), as shewn in dotted lines in Fig. 2, the wires or cutters i
entering the recesses o. When the frames b and c are required the
frame d alone is put down below, when all the frames are required they
are passed through the soap together. The handles p are employed by
the attendant for the purpose of bringing the wires into operation.
.. Having now described the nature of our said Invention and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, we do not limit ourselves
to the exact details or configuration of parts we have explained and
shown, as the same may be varied or modified without departing from
our Invention; but what we do claim and desire to be secured to us by
Letters Patent is, the arrangement, construction, and combination of 2
machinery substantially as and for the purposes herein shewn and
described.
In witness whereof, I, the 'said James Horner, for myself and on
behalf of the said Henry Starkey, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Sixth day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand 2
eight hundred and seventy-one.