IMPROVED MACHINERY APPLICABLE TO THE CUTTING OF LEATHER AND OTHER LIKE USES
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY APPLICABLE TO THE
CUTTING OF LEATHER AND OTHER LIKE USES."-A communication from
abroad by Caleb Griffin, of Boston, United States of America.
Sealed the 11th November 1862, and dated the 16th May 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 16th May 1862.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY APPLICABLE TO THE
CUTTING OF LEATHER AND OTHER LIKE USES," to be as follows:-
The chief object of this Invention is to provide a machine, at small cost
and of simple construction, for cutting leather into soles for boots and shoes.
The machine may be described as consisting of one or a pair of knives made of
thin steel, and held fast between clamps so shaped as to give the knives a wavy
instead of a straight edge (when released from the clamps the knives can be
sharpened as readily as a straight-edged cutter.) These knife clamps are
carried by rocking arms in the upper part of the framing of the machine, and

page_text: they are connected respectively by pairs of pendent rods with pairs of spur
wheels mounted on opposite sides of the machine, and near the bottom of the
side frames or standards. In gear with these wheels are spur pinions keyed
to the opposite ends of the driving shaft, which shaft may conveniently be
actuated by a treadle and crank. Each knife clamp is provided with a guide
arm, which carries at its lower end a stud that works in a curved or irregular
slot formed in one of the side frames, the object being that, as the knives are
brought into action, they shall rock upon their centres or supports, and thereby
present their edges at right angles, or nearly so, to the work. This rocking
or vibrating motion also serves (where two knives are employed) to enable the
knives to clear each other when passing in opposite directions. The knives
are made adjustable in their supports to enable them to cut soles of larger or
smaller size at pleasure. The soles when cut are discharged on to a shute,
and a gauge is provided for facilitating the proper feeding-up of the leather.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 15th November 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs, and, successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said Alfred Vincent
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVED MACHINERY APPLICABLE TO THE CUTTING OF LEATHER, AND OTHER
LIKE USES," being a communication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, by an instrument in writing
.1
1. "

page_text: under my hand and seal, 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby declare
the nature of the 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 Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
The object of this Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign cor-
respondent, is to provide a machine, at small cost and of simple construction
and operation, for cutting leather into soles for boots and shoes.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 represents the improved machine in
perspective view; Fig. 2, a plan; Figs. 3 and 4, side elevations; and Fig. 5,
a rear end view of the same; Fig. 6 represents a vertical cross section taken
centrally through the machine; and Fig. 7 represents an under side or edge
view of the knife, together with the frame to which it is secured, detached
from the machine.
The Invention relates more particularly to the operation of the knife, and it
consists in communicating to it a vibrating motion in the arc of a circle, or in
a curve approximating thereto.
The improvement further consists in combining with the knife certain
devices, by means of which, though vibrating in the arc of a circle, it is still
made to enter or cut the leather at right angles to the plane of the latter, as
fed up to be cut into soles, the same devices materially assisting where'
two knives are used in. causing them to pass clear of each other whilst tra-
versing in different directions.
The main frame A consists of two plates of metal of suitable size and
shape. for supporting the operative parts of the machine, and connected
respectively above and below by cross bars a and b. The 'machine is fitted' in
front with a platform or table B. On the lower part of the machine, and in
suitable bearings formed in the side plates A is mounted the crank shaft C,
which carries a fly wheel D. To the crank c of this shaft is connected a
treadle E in any suitable manner by means of its lever F, the rear end of the
treadle being pivoted on one of the lower cross bars 6'. Immediately at the
rear end of the table B a curved or other suitably shaped slide or shute G is
placed and secured to the two side plates of the machine for the purpose of

page_text: receiving the soles, which as they are cut by the knives, are precipitated on
the shute by the advance of the leather as it is fed up to be cut. On the
upper edges of the side plates A are formed lugs d, to which are pivoted
arms H, H, whose other ends are pivoted respectively to cither end of the
cutter head I. Where one knife only is intended to be used, but two arms
are required one at each end of the knife head, but where two knives are
intended to be used on the machine, two other arms J and J, similarly
arranged and attached will be used, one on either side of the other knife-
lead K, as in the other case, and as represented in the Drawing. In the
bars I and K, forming the cutter heads I and K, two slots e are formed, one
at either end, by means of which and screws f passing through into the
knife holder, the knives when adjusted are attached securely to it, the slots
allowing the knives to be adjusted to cut either a large or small sole, as
required, according to whether they are set farther from or nearer to their
centre of motion. The size of either the heel or toe may also be increased or
diminished by the same means and in the same way without increasing or
diminishing the size of the other, or if it be required to diminish the toe and
increase the heel, and vice versa, this may be effected by passing a pin through
the centre of the knife head and holder, and turning the latter horizontally.
The knife L may either be made directly in the proper shape to cut out the
side of a sole, or it may, as represented on the Drawings, be made out of a
thin sheet of steel, and bent and held in form between two clamps i and i,
suitably shaped for that purpose by means of screws passing through the
clamps i and i that form the knife holder. This latter plan is deemed the
best and most practical form or mode of making the knife, for so soon as
the clamps are removed, the steel blade, by virtue of its elasticity, straightens
itself, thereby enabling the operator readily to sharpen its edge when dulled
by use. On one end of the cutter heads I and K, and for which a journal m
is formed, is mounted and depends an arm M, on the lower extremity and
inner side of which is formed or otherwise secured a pin or stud which
takes into a slot N of peculiar form made in the side of the plates A. This
slot, as the knife is made to vibrate, is, so arranged and shaped, that during
the first part of the descent of the knife, the latter, by means of the arm M,
is turned in towards the centre of the arc, in which the knife vibrates, whilst
during the latter part it is made to enter the leather at right angles to its
upper side, this peculiar motion being alone as a whole communicated to each
knife, when two are used, in order to prevent them or their heads being
brought in contact with each other whilst vibrating in different directions, as
n,

page_text: it is necessary for the proper and efficient working of the machine that the
one knife should be ascending whilst the other is descending, and vice versa,
that is, where the knives are so made and arranged as to cut but one sole at
a time, and each sole of equal width, or nearly so. But where but one knife
is used in the machine, or two knives so arranged as to cut two soles at a
time, then a slot of sufficient size and shape alone need be formed and
arranged as will cause the knife to enter the leather at right angles to its
surface; but as the machine, as a rule, will be made with two knives, the
slots will be arranged and formed substantially as represented in the
Drawings.
Motion is communicated to the knives respectively through crank rods o
mounted on the journals m at the opposite ends of the cutter heads I and K,
and connecting at their lower ends with crank pins p secured to spur
wheels P, which gear into driving pinions Q, mounted on the opposite ends of
the crank shaft C, carrying the fly wheel D. This arrangement of gearing, it
may be remarked, is only necessary where two knives are intended to be
used, as where but one is employed all that is necessary to do to impart the
necessary motion to the knife is to attach a crank at either end of the driving
shaft C and mount the rods on them. Immediately at the rear of the bed
or table B is arranged a gauge R, which can be adjusted so as to cause the
knife or knives to cut a wide or narrow sole as required, by simply forcing the
leather up against the gauge after every stroke of the knife or knives when
the gauge has been adjusted. This adjustment is effected by so securing the
gauge to the cross bar a¹ that it may be slidden towards or from the rear end
of the table, as required, and held in that position by means of a set of
screws passing through the upper side of the bar a¹ to press against the
shank of the gauge.
The operation of the machine, as represented in the Drawing, is effected as
follows: The leather cut to a proper width is placed upon the table B and
the gauge R and knife or knives L adjusted to the width of sole required;
the leather is then forced up against the gauge, and a vibrating motion in the
arc of a circle or a curve approximating thereto round the axis towards and
from the table is imparted to each knife frame by means of the spur wheels P
and connecting rods O through the driving pinion Q, shaft C, and treadle F, or
equivalent device in such manner that when one knife is at its lowest position
the other shall be at its highest,, and so that each knife will be brought in
succession upon the cutting block and table, and sever a sole, and be again
raised during the descending movement of the other.

page_text: Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of improved machinery
applicable to the cutting of leather and other like uses, as communicated to
me from abroad, and having explained the manner of carrying the same into
effect, I wish it to be understood that, under the above in part recited Letters
Patent, I claim mounting and operating the knife or knives in the manner
and for the purpose above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of November, in the
year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)