A NEW OR IMPROVED CUTTING OUT MACHINE FOR WOVEN FABRICS, LEATHER, PAPER, SHEET METAL, AND OTHER MATERIALS,
Year: 1883

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Lorentz Albert Groth at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 12th October 1883. Communicated
to him from abroad by Gustav Fraenkel, of the firm of Rosenberg and
Fraenkel, of Berlin in the German Empire.
LORENTZ ALBERT GROTH, K.G.V. Civil Engineer and Managing Director of
The Universal Inventors and Patentees Financial Company Limited, 30 Finsbury
Pavement London E.C. A NEW OR IMPROVED CUTTING OUT MACHINE FOR
WOVEN FABRICS, LEATHER, PAPER, SHEET METAL, AND OTHER MATERIALS," &
conmunication to me from abroad by Gustav Fraenkel, of the firm of Rosenberg
and Fraenkel, of Berlin in the German Empire.
The object of this invention is a cutting out machine constructed somewhat like
an eccentric or hydraulic press.
The peculiar features of the machine are as follows: the press plate is suspended
from two or more vertical guide rods which are carried by two or more single
aimed press standards, the space for working in front of the machine being thereby
left perfectly clear. The workman stands in front of the table of the machine and
sets in motion a treadle placed at the side of the machine; the wooden table upon
which the material rests, moves under the press plate, and such movement is
repeated after every cut, a distance corresponding to the length of such cut
The downward movement of the press-head or plate, is produced by the
rotation of a shaft, which carries a crank or ecentric at each end; these cranks
or eccentrics are connected by rods with levers which work the press plate guide
rods
This crank or eccentric shaft is worked from the fly wheel shaft by means of
spur gearing.
If the machine is arranged to work by hand hydraulic pressure the press plate
guide rods are formed into hydraulic rams working in cylinders carried by the press
standards as frames
The knife frame is a further important part of the machine, this frame carries
the knives and is attached to the upper press plate.
The knives are either inserted into grooves in the frame or fastened with screws
by means of angle or T shaped frames. The knife frame is also fastened to the
press plate by means of screws.

page_text: The knives consist of a number of separate pieces, either flat, bent waved or
angular, so that by combining these shapes, all patterns may be produced that can
be cut out of the respective materials. The patterns are so grouped that are so
grouped that the division of two adjacent figures is one line and that this line corre-
sponds to one of the knife edges. Hitherto cutters have been made made consisting
of one knife which enclose a certain figure; several of these cannot however be
used at the same time, because their wedge shaped section, causes a great waste of
material even when their backs touch each other consequently only one such cutter
can be employed at a time.
The use of one cutter after another under the press leads to a waste of time and
in fact, hand cutting is preferable to it. Moreover such cutters can only be used
in certain branches such as leather work, whilst in others which are much subjected
to the influence of fashion, for instance shirts, collars, cuffs and so forth where a
change in shape occurs sometimes every fortnight a constant changing of the
cutters becomes necessary and the expense of the operation becomes so heavy, that
its advantages are thereby neutralized, and it can only be used where the business
is so large as to make the extra cost of little consequence. All these drawbacks
are entirely avoided by the use of the present invention, based as it is upon the
employment of a combination of knives of different shapes. to suit any pattern.
A large number of these knives and of any desired length, are included in the
requisites for the working of this machine and the shapes of the separate knives
vary from straight lines and easy bends to curves of a very short radius; angular
knives of all sizes are also used.
These knives are inserted in grooves in grooves in the knife frame and are
tongued together in order to provide a continuous cutting edge.
It will be seen that in this way the cutting machine used in a certain business
not only can be made into a universal cutting machine but can also be used as a
punching or embossing machine if the proper dies are employed
The knife frames are of very simple and inexpensive construction they can be
kept in stock and there is no difficulty in suiting them to modern patterns. They
are a part of the machine which lasts for a certain time somewhat similar to the
firebars of a steam boiler or the needle of a sewing machine and for that reason
their construction is the simplest possible.
These knife frames are provided with ribs containing grooves corresponding to
the outlines of the required pattern; in these grooves the knives are inserted and
kept in their respective positions by means of small flat springs, which are rivetted
to the sides of the said knives
There are sufficient knives of different shapes to enable all required patterns to
be cut out. In order to prevent the materials from sticking between the knives
when a large number of layers of any material is being cut out, templates of sheet
metal corresponding to the patterns and attached to spiral springs are used; these
templates and springs push the material out from between the knives, when the
press head or plate rises; they also keep the material in position during the
cutting.
Another improvement consists in the employment of a spring on the frame of
the machine, which keeps the treadle raised up, whilst a balance weight attached
to the circumference of the fly wheel assumes the lower position
When therefore the machine is at rest the connecting rod stands in the proper
position to commence work, the centrifugal force of the fly wheel is balanced by
the spring and the workman can manage the machine easily