IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SHEARING MILITARY HAT TUETS AND OTHER AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Marie Murat, of 51, Rue de Malte, Paris,
in the Empire of France, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SHEARING MILITARY HAT TUETS AND OTHER
in the Empire of France, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SHEARING MILITARY HAT TUETS AND OTHER
SIMILAR ARTICLES."
Sealed the 18th February 1862, and dated the 21st August 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Marie Murat
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st August 1861.
I, JOSEPH MARIE MURAT, of 51, Rue de Malte, Paris, in the Empire of
France, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS.
IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SHEARING MILITARY HAT TUFTS AND OTHER
SIMILAR ARTICLES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a machine for shearing or cutting the balls or
tufts (pompons) worn by soldiers; also muffs and other articles manufactured.
of wool, silk, or other materials. The article to be sheared is held by pincers,
or nippers, or by a mandril or like agent fitted in a tube at the end of a
horizontal spindle, caused to revolve slowly (preferably by means of cord and
pulley), so that the article to be sheared has only a rotary motion round its
horizontal axis. The tool carrier or holder consists of a horizontal shaft,
carrying a regular prism having six sides or faces, on each of which is a blade
or cutter. The tool carrier spindle, which I prefer to support at two places,
is caused to rotate rapidly by strap and pulley (or otherwise). The blades or
cutters in rotating come nearly in contact with a plate which is fixed, and
supports the threads or filaments of wool or other material to be cut. This

page_text: plate or counter lam is fixed on the carriage. The tool holder is placed on a
carriage, which is moved along by a screw or otherwise, or it may be moved
round the article to be cut, preferably by causing it to revolve by a handle on
a circular bed or way. The machine will cut articles in straight, or cylindrical,
conical, or spherical forms.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Marie Murat in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 21st February 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
MARIE MURAT, of 51, Rue de Malte, Paris, in the Empire of France, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Joseph Marie Murat, Her special licence that J, the said
Joseph Marie Murat, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Joseph Marie Murat, my 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 King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and. Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SHEARING
MILITARY HAT TUFTS AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Joseph Marie Murat, 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 Joseph Marie Murat, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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 accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-

page_text: This Invention relates to a machine for shearing the cylindrical, conical,
and spherical tufts (pompons) worn on military hats, which tufts when
spherical are sometimes also called balls. The machine is also applicable to
I
shearing other similar articles, mostly manufactured by trimming dealers.
may here mention that these tufts are usually made of coloured wool, but
sometimes of silk and horsehair. The article to be sheared is held in a tube
at the end of a horizonal spindle, caused to revolve slowly by means of cord
and pulleys, so that the article to be sheared has only a rotary motion round
its horizontal axis. The tool carrier or holder is mounted on a horizontal
shaft, and consists of a regular prism, having six sides or faces, on each of
which is a blade or cutter. The tool carrier spindle, which I support at two
places, is caused to rotate rapidly by strap and pulley. The blades or cutters
in rotating come nearly in contact with a fixed plate or counter lam, which
supports the thread or filaments of wool or other material to be cut. This
plate or counter lam is fixed on a carriage. The tool holder is also placed on
this same carriage, which is moved along by a screw, or it may be moved
round the article to be cut by causing it to revolve (by a handle) in a circular
path. The machine will shear cylindrical, conical, and spherical articles.
The tube in which the shank or stem of the tuft or other article to be sheared
is held has flexible or resilient sides, and turns very slowly on its horizontal
axis, its motion being of course communicated to the tuft. The tool carrier
instead of having, as before stated, only six sides, or forming a hexagon, may
have more or less sides, or may consist of a polygonal body, and has the
knives or cutters fixed on it, as before stated, and the horizontal spindle on
which it is mounted is supported in two bearings or at two parts of its length.
The rotary motion communicated to this spindle must be very rapid, as other-
wise the shearing operation would not be effectively performed. The two
other motions which the tool carrier can receive in addition to this accelerated
rotary motion, are imparted to it hand and at a much less velocity than
that of its rotary motion. These additional motions are, first, a forward and
backward travel in a straight horizontal line, which is in a direction parallel to
the axis of the tuft, if the tuft be cylindrical, but oblique to the axis thereof, if
the tuft be conical; the other motion is a circular horizontal travel, or travel
round a vertical axis, which is adopted if the tuft be spherical or ball-shaped ;
these motions are communicated to the carriage on which the tool carrier is
fixed, the tool carrier thereby partaking of them. Thus it will be observed
that while the tuft has only a slow rotary motion on its horizontal axis, the
tool carrier has a very rapid rotary motion on its borizontal axis, and either a
travel in a right line or a circular travel, as explained. The counter lam is

page_text: attached to the carriage so as to be opposite the tool carrier, or in such
position that the filaments of the tuft to be cut shall bear against it when the
cutters ccme round to cut them, the cutters coming nearly but not quite in
contact with the counter lam. The edge of the counter lam is horizontal, and
the edges of the cutters are oblique, so that the cut is gradual instead of being
sudden. The horizontal shaft on which the tube for holding the tuft is fixed
Zay receive its motion from the driving pulley through an intermediate
oothed wheel and pinion, as afterwards explained. When the position of the
tuft is to be altered, or when the tuft is to be removed or put in place, the
shaft can be raised, being furnished with arrangements berein-after described
for that purpose.
Figure 1 is a front view, Figure 2 is a top view, and Figure 3 side view, of
a machine constructed according to my Invention.
A, A, is the framework; L, the tuft to be sheared; I', the tube which
receives the tuft, and preferably consists of steel split at a part of its length,
so that it may be springy, and retain the tuft securely, that is to say, it yields
to allow the stem, tang, or shank of the tuft to be forced into it, and then
closes tightly round it. I is the spindle, on the end of which the tube I' is
fixed; it is supported in two bearings j, j', and is also attached to a frame
G, G, Gu, turning on pivots g, g, so that by moving this frame on its axes
the shaft I may be lifted away from its bearings or depressed therein when
required; K is a toothed wheel on the shaft I, in gear with a pinion K,
which receives motion by driving strap or cord from the train of pulleys 1, 1, M,
whereof M is the main driving pulley or fly wheel. Rotary motion is thus
communicated to the tube I and tuft L; pulley and strap may be substituted
for the wheels I, K; B is the tool or cutter carrier, consisting of a six-sided
body on the sides or facets of which are screwed cutters a, a, a, a, &c., one
cutter on each side; the cutter carrier B is mounted on the spindle B',
supported in bearings 6, 61, and carrying pulleys c, c, to which rotary motion
is transmitted from the pulley M by driving cords or straps passing over
intermediate pulleys c¹, r, 71, thereby transmitting rotary motion to the tool
carrier B; P is a carriage, on which the cutter carrier B is firmly fixed;
V is the counter lam, also secured on the carriage P¹ opposite the cutter
carrier B, so that the projecting ends of the filaments of the tuft L may bear
against or rest on it when to be cut by the blades a, a¹, a", as these latter
revolve. F is a screw for adjusting the carrier B, or bringing it nearer to or
farther from the tuft as required; this screw F, which works in a nut in the
thickness of the carriage P', only moves the heels of the tool carrier, but does
not shift or disturb the position of the carriage P' itself. e is a screw, which is

page_text: used for moving the tool carrier longitudinally parallel to the axis of the tuft
when shearing cylindrical tufts, and in a direction converging to the axis of the
tuft when shearing conical tufts; E is the handle by which the screw is turned
in the required direction, and the carriage thereby caused to travel forward or
backward accordingly. For spherical or ball-shaped tufts the carriage P¹ is
moved in a horizontal circular path round the tuft on the way or bed P by
turning the handle f. The machinery is set in motion by pressing the foot on
the treadle m, m, which through the crank m', communicates motion to the
pulley M, and thence to the parts in connection therewith. The handles E
and fare worked by hand; the pulley M may be worked by steam or other
motive agent.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same may be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First, the general arrangement and combination of parts constituting the
machine for shearing, herein-before described.
Second, the arrangement and combination of parts constituting the apparatus
herein-before described, for carrying and actuating the tools or cutters, whereby
three motions may be imparted to the tool carrier, viz., a rapid rotary motion,
a travel in a right line parallel to or converging towards the axis of the tuft
(or other article to be sheared), and a circular travel or revolution round the
tuft, as herein-before described.
Third, the arrangement and combination of parts constituting the tuft
carrier berein-before described, in which a horizontal shaft, resting on two
bearings and connected to a frame, by which it may be raised to place and
remove and shift the tuft, has at one end a flexible, elastic, or spring-like tube
for receiving the tuft to be sheared.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Marie Murat, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of February, in the of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
year
0
Witness,
BRESSON,
Ingenieur Civil,
à Paris, Rue de Malte, 51.
J. M. MURAT. (L.S.)