IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MULTIPLYING POWER BY LEVERAGE, AND IN SHEARS OR CUTTERS AND PUNCHES WHEREIN SUCH APPARATUS IS EMPLOYED
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Denton Abel, of No. 28, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR MULTIPLYING POWER BY LEVERAGE, AND IN SHEARS OR
CUTTERS AND PUNCHES WHEREIN SUCH APPARATUS IS EMPLOYED."
communication from abroad by Jules Truffault, of Paris, France.
A
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Denton Abel at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 10th February 1880.
CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of No. 28, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MULTIPLYING POWER
BY LEVERAGE, AND IN SHEARS OR CUTTERS AND PUNCHES WHEREIN SUCH
APPARATUS IS EMPLOYED." [A communication from abroad by Jules Truffault, of
Paris, France.]
According to the present Invention a lever working on a fixed fulcrum is caused
to impart motion to another lever that is required to exercise power by means of
two toothed racks with ratchet teeth so arranged that as the first named lever is
moved in one direction the one rack in bearing against a stop on the second lever
moves this so as to exert power, while when the first lever is moved in the contrary
direction so as to draw the rack back again, the second lever is either supported
in its raised position by the second rack or is raised or moved still further thereby.
Such apparatus may be applied to a great variety of uses in which multiplication
of power is required, such as for shears, cutters, punches, and other machinery;
railway and other breaks, and the like. By way of example I will describe its
application to shears or cutters and punches for cutting metal.
According to one arrangement sbears are constructed of two limbs or levers
pivotted together near one end, at which the cutting edges are formed by sloping
inwards part of one face thereof. The long limb of the lower lever has formed at
its end a handle, and has pivotted to it a hand lever, the short end of which carries
a rod formed with a toothed rack or ratchet teeth that are in gear with a stud on
the long limb of the upper lever. A second rod with ratchet teeth is also pivotted
to the lower lever and bears against a second stud on the upper lever. Thus on
moving the hand lever in one direction its rack pushes upwards the upper lever of
the shears and so closes the jaws thereof to a certain extent; on moving the hand
lever in the contrary direction its rack rod is drawn backwards away from the stud
Dine S31
.

page_text: on the upper lever of the shears, which however is supported in its raised position
by the second rack rod, so that when the motion of the hand lever is again reversed
it raises the upper lever still further by means of its rack rod.
According to another modification both the rack rods are connected to the hand
lever one on each side of its fulcrum, so that as it is moved to and fro each rack
alternately pushes the lever of the shears upwards, while the other one recedes.
For cutting larger pieces of metal the shears are constructed of two hollow arms
pivotted together and actuated by the before described mechanism, while between
their front ends is placed a pair of loose jaws pivotted together at the back and
having cutting edges formed on their front faces, the hollow arms being made to
bear with noses against recesses formed immediately over the cutting edges of the
inner jaws which are kept in contact therewith by a caoutchouc or other spring.
For lightness and strength the inner jaws are made of a troughshaped section.
According to another arrangement applicable to a large punching or shearing
machine the lower lever of the machine is replaced by a strong bed plate or frame,
to which is pivotted the punching or shearing lever. The before described two
rack rods are carried by a hollow sleeve, which is pivotted to the framing at a
point between the rode. Into this sleeve is passed the one end of a lever which has
an articulated joint allowing its other part to be moved into any convenient angular
position, its fulcrum being for this purpose made capable of shifting on the frame.
On imparting a reciprocating motion to the before mentioned sleeve by means of
the lever its rack rods effect the motion of the punching lever as above described.
According to another arrangement only one rack rod is employed, this being
connected to the punching or shearing lever, while the hand lever carries a pawl
in gear therewith, so that as the hand lever is moved in one direction it pushes the
rack rod and with it the punching lever upward by means of the pawl, while on
withdrawing the pawl on the backward motion of the lever the rack is held in the
raised position by a second fixed pawl.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Charles Denton Abel in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
9th August 1880.
CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of No. 28, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MULTIPLYING
POWER BY LEVERAGE, AND IN SHEARS OR CUTTERS AND PUNCHES WHEREIN
SUCH APPARATUS IS EMPLOYED." A communication from abroad by Jules Truffault,
of Paris, France.
According to the present Invention a lever working on a fixed fulcrum is caused
to impart motion to another lever that is required to exercise power by means of
two toothed racks with ratchet teeth so arranged that as the first named lever is
moved in one direction the one rack in bearing against a stop on the second lever
moves this so as to exert power, while when the first lever is moved in the contrary

page_text: direction so as to draw the rack back again, the second lever is either supported in
its raised position by the second rack or is raised or moved still further thereby.
Such apparatus may be applied to a great variety of uses in which multiplication
of power is required, such as for shears, cutters, punches, and other machinery,
railway and other breaks, and the like. By way of example I will describe its
application to shears or cutters and punches for cutting metal.
According to one arrangement shears are constructed of two limbs or levers
pivotted together near one end at which the cutting edges are formed by sloping
inwards part of one face thereof. The long limb of the lower lever has formed at
its end a handle, and has pivotted to it a hand lever, the short end of which carries
a rod formed with a toothed rack or ratchet teeth that are in gear with a stud on
the long limb of the upper lever. A second rod with ratchet teeth is also pivotted
to the lower lever and bears against a second stud on the upper lever. Thus on
moving the hand lever in one direction its rack pushes upwards the upper lever of
the shears and so closes the jaws thereof to a certain extent; on moving the hand
lever in the contrary direction its rack-rod is drawn backwards away from the stud
on the upper lever of the shears, which however is supported in its raised position
by the second rack-rod, so that when the motion of the hand lever is again reversed
it raises the upper lever still further by means of its rack-rod.
According to another modification both the rack-rods are connected to the hand
lever one on each side of its fulcrum, so that as it is moved to and fro each rack
alternately pushes the lever of the shears upward, while the other one recedes.
For cutting larger pieces of metal the shears are constructed of two hollow arins
pivotted together and actuated by the before described mechanism, while between
their front ends is placed a pair of loose jaws pivotted together at the back and
having cutting edges formed on their front faces, the hollow arins being made to
bear with noses against recesses formed immediately over the cutting edges of the
inner jaws which are kept in contact therewith by a caoutchouc or other spring.
For lightness and strength the inner jaws are made of a trough shaped section.
According to another arrangement applicable to a large punching or shearing
machine the lower lever of the machine is replaced by a strong bed plate or frame,
to which is pivotted the punching or shearing lever. The before described two
rack-rods are carried by a hollow sleeve which is pivotted to the framing at a
point between the rods. Into this sleeve is passed the one end of a lever which has
an articulated joint allowing its other part to be moved into any convenient angular
position, its fulcrum being for this purpose made capable of shifting on the frame.
On imparting a reciprocating motion to the before mentioned sleeve by means of
the lever its rack-rods effect the motion of the punching lever as above described.
According to another arrangement only one rack-rod is employed, this being
connected to the punching or shearing lever, while the hand lever carries a pawl
in gear therewith, so that as the hand lever is moved in one direction it pushes the
rack-rod and with it the punching lever upwards by means of the pawl, while on
withdrawing the pawl on the backward motion of the lever the rack is held in the
raised position by a second fixed pawl.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 is a side view, Fig. 2 a transverse section, Fig. 3 a plan, and Fig. 4 a
sectional plan on the line C, D, in Fig. 1, of a shearing apparatus according to this
Invention. It has two limbs A and B jointed together at O. On the upper limb A
are fixed two studs c, c¹, which engage respectively with the ratchet teeth of two
racks b, b¹, pressed against the studs by springs. The rack b' is jointed to the
limb B, and the rack b is jointed ato to the short arm of a lever L which is
pivotted at a on the limb B. The lever L and a tail L¹ projecting down from the
limb B form a pair of secondary limbs pushed apart by a spring and closed together '
by the grasp of the hand. By alternately grasping and releasing the limbs L, L',
the rack 6 acting on the stud c moves the limb A step by step, the stud c¹ preventing

page_text: its return. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section, Fig. 6 a front view, and Fig. 7 a back
view of a modified form of shears operated in a similar way. In this case the two
limbs A and B jointed together at O hold between them a pair of internal limbs f,f³,
which are jointed together at g and are pushed apart by a piece of caoutchouc h,
for which a spring might be substituted. The limbs f, f¹, shewn to an enlarged
scale in elevation at Fig. 8, and in section at Fig. 9 terminates in shearing jaws e, e¹,
and engage by hollows j, j, with projecting ribs i, i, at the ends of the limbs A
and B. The limb A has on it two triangular studs c, c¹, engaging with teeth of
the curved racks b, b', that are pressed against the studs by springs d, d', and are
jointed at o, o¹, to opposite arms of a lever L which is pivotted at a to the limb B.
This limb being supported on a strut L' the reciprocating movement of the lever L
causes the step by step movement of the limb A bringing together the shearing
jaws e, e¹. Instead of employing two racks as above described the movement may
be effected with one rack, as shewn in the part side view Fig. 10, two levers L, L',
having pawls y, y¹, engaging with teeth of the rack b. For a powerful machine
for punching, shearing, rivetting, and such like operations, the apparatus may be
arranged as shewn in the side view Fig. 11 and plan Fig. 12. In this case the
Jimb A carrying the punching or other tool p is jointed at O to the framing B of
the machine which may be considered the other limb. On the bed plate B is
pivotted at ja lever k having jointed to its opposite arms l, l, the two racks b, b',
to act on the studs on A, from which they can be disengaged by pushing a rod t, u,
by its handle x. The lever khas jointed to it at m the arm of a lever n the
fulcrum q of which can be shifted to various positions 8 to suit the convenience of
the work.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, I
claim,―
First. The use for multiplying power by leverage of a lever acting in combination
with two racks and studs on another lever so as to move the latter step by step,
substantially as herein described.
Second. The construction of shearing machine with power multiplied by leverage,
as herein described with reference to Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4.
Third. The modified construction of shearing machine with power multiplied by
leverage, herein described with reference to Figs. 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9.
Fourth. The construction of a machine for punching, shearing, and such like
operations with power multiplied by leverage, as herein described with reference to
Figs. 11 and 12.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Denton Abel, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty.
CHAS. D. ABEL. (L.S.)