IM- PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING AND MARKING OR BRANDING MATCH SPLINTS OR OTHER ARTICLES
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Clayton Mewburn, of 169, Fleet Street, in the City
of London, Patent Agent and Consulting Engineer, for the Invention of " IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING AND MARKING OR BRANDING
MATCH SPLINTS OR OTHER ARTICLES." A communication from abroad by
Jean Gabriel Pernet-Jouffroy, of Chalon-sur-Saone, France.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Clayton Mewburn
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 21st March 1879.
JOHN CLAYTON MEWBURN, of 169, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent and Consulting Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING
AND MARKING OR BRANDING MATCH SPLINTS OR OTHER ARTICLES." [A com-
munication from abroad by Jean Gabriel Pernet-Jouffroy, of Chalon-sur-Saone,
France.]
In the Specification of Letters Patent granted to Gabriel Pernet-Jouffroy on the
27th July 1877, No. 2872, there is described a mode or system of cutting and
stamping or marking match splints in the same machine, these operations being
both carried out by means of suitable apparatus, the cutting operation by means of
blades or knives, and the stamping or marking by means of rollers, pads, or other
devices. The said Specification specially describes a machine which effects the
cutting and branding or marking in a spiral manner on a cylindrical block of wood.
The wood may also be cut spirally by means of an endless or reciprocating saw, and
the thin sheet thus obtained is engaged between two printing or impressing rollers
and the match splints are then cut.
The present Invention consists in the application or adaptation of the Invention
above referred to to existing machines for cutting splints in particular, the mode of
marking or branding by the printing of figures, signs, or inscriptions, can be applied
to a block of wood cut into splints and marked or branded horizontally, vertically,
or obliquely, whether the block be movable and be marked or branded by fixed
tools, or whether the block be fixed and the knives or cutters be moved against the
wood; and if the wood be cut in a circular manner it may be acted upon circum-
ferentially or radially.
The adaptation of the means of marking or branding to ordinary machines for
cutting match splints may be effected in various ways. I proceed to describe by
way of example an arrangement which is found to answer well.

page_text: The cutting apparatus is composed essentially of a cutter frame having a
reciprocating rectilinear motion, the cutting of the matches taking place only in its
return movement. This cutting frame carries, first, a series of horizontal knives
which cut two faces of each splint, and secondly, a vertical blade behind the
horizontal knives which separates or cuts off the splints from the blocks of wood.
The apparatus for marking or branding the splints is composed of a printing
or impressing cylinder situated between the horizontal knives and the vertical
blade, the spindle of this cylinder, which is vertical, is carried by the cutter frame
and follows its movement. The cylinder has engraved thereon in intaglio or in
relief the characters for branding or marking the splints.
The printing is produced while the cutter frame is in its return movement when
the splints have already had their horizontal faces cut, and immediately before they
are cut off by the blade. The cylinder marks or brands by rolling in contact with
the surface of the wood against which it is pressed. It may be preceded by a
rubbing roller to drive forward or remove any excess moisture. The rotary move-
ment which the cylinder requires is obtained by means of a fixed rack with which
gears a toothed wheel concentric with the cylinder, this wheel is keyed on the
spindle of the cylinder and gives rotation thereto so that the cylinder rolls against
the wood as soon as it is in contact with it in a determined position of the cutter
frame in relation to the frame of the machine, it is always the same generatrix of
the cylinder corresponding to one tooth of the toothed wheel which is in contact
with the wood. It suffices to have placed the cylinder at starting in the suitable
position to ensure that the printing is made regularly in all the movements of the
cutter frame.
An inking apparatus composed of an ink reservoir and three or more distributing
rollers, one of which is in contact with the cylinder, distributes ink over the surface
of the latter during the rotation. The inking apparatus may be provided with
combs or brushes to clean the cylinder. By means of mechanism which can be
arranged in various ways the inking apparatus may if required be prevented laying
ink on the cylinder when the latter does not print during the movement of the
cutter frame. The rack before mentioned which ensures in an invariable manner
the rotary movement of the cylinder and its proper position at every point of its
travel is not indispensable and can in some cases be dispensed with and a regulating
tappet or other suitable device be substituted. The cylinder then rolls against the
wood under the action of the friction caused by the pressure which it exerts upon
the surface to be printed. It is necessary in this case at the moment when the
cylinder is going to print to bring it into such a position that it will print properly;
this is effected by means of two ratchet wheels whose teeth are set in opposite
directions and which are keyed on the spindle of the cylinder, a paul fixed to the
cutter frame acts against the spindle and allows the cylinder to turn only in the
direction in which it should print. The other ratchet comes against a spring fixed
to the frame of the machine at the end of the course of the cutter frame; this spring
acts upon a tooth of the ratchet so as to cause the cylinder to turn until the
preceding paul comes against a tooth of the ratchet and stops the movement of the
cylinder which is thus suitably placed to print upon the wood.
This arrangement can be adapted without much change to all splint cutting
machines which have a blade or cutter with a reciprocating rectilinear movement in
whatever plane the blade or cutter moves and whatever be the modes of cutting,
by, knives, lancets, saws, or otherwise..
Instead of branding or marking, the splints with ink or color as before described
an indelible branding or marking may be produced by means of irons or blocks
raised to a sufficient heat to carbonize. the surface of the wood.
The Invention is not limited to match splints, it can be applied to spills, wood
for pencils, and other like purposes.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said John Clayton Mewburn in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th September 1879.
JOHN CLAYTON MEWBURN, of 169, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent and Consulting Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING
AND MARKING OR BRANDING MATCH SPLINTS OR OTHER ARTICLES." (A com-
munication from abroad by Jean Gabriel Pernet-Jouffroy, of Chalon-sur-Saone,
France.)'
In the Specification of Letters Patent granted to Gabriel. Pernet-Jouffroy on the
27th July 1877, No. 2872, there is described a mode or system of cutting and
stamping or marking match splints in the same machine; these operations being
both carried out by means of suitable apparatus, the cutting operation by means of
blades or knives, and the stamping or marking by means of rollers, pads, or other
devices. The said Specification specially describes a machine which effects the
cutting and branding or marking in a spiral manner on a cylindrical block of wood.
The wood may also be cut spirally by means of an endless or reciprocating saw,
and the thin sheet thus obtained is engaged between two printing or impressing
rollers, and the match splints are then cut. But the said system of stamping or
marking is applicable to all existing machines for manufacturing matches, and
without modifying their cutting mechanism. It is the application or adaptation of
the mode or system of stamping or marking to existing machines for cutting splints
which forms the subject of the present Invention.
The mode of marking or branding by the printing of figures, signs, or inscriptions
can be applied to a block of wood cut into splints and marked or branded
horizontally, vertically, or obliquely, in fact, on any plane. The block may either
be movable, and be marked or branded by fixed tools, or it may be fixed, and the
knives or cutters, and the marking or branding devices be moved against the wood.
If the wood be cut in a circular manner, it may be acted upon circumferentially or
radially.
It will be understood that this adaptation of the means of marking or branding
to ordinary machines for cutting match splints, give rise to arrangements of the
details which vary with the particular type of machine. It is unnecessary to
describe all, but in order that the Invention may be well understood, I proceed to
describe by way of example, and with the aid of the annexed Drawings, the
adaptation to several of these machines.
In principle, this application consists in the addition to the cutting mechanism of
the marking or branding apparatus, this being arranged so as to perform its work
either before, during, or after the cutting. The apparatus which I apply specially
to machines with scoring knives or lancets and vertical blades, is shown in Sheet 1
of the Drawings, Figure 1 being an elevation, Figure 2 a plan, and Figure 3 a
transverse section.
This apparatus is composed of a cylindrical barrel A, bearing the figures or signs
which produce the marking by printing or impression; on the spindle of this barrel
is mounted a star a which forms an abutment corresponding with a tappet fixed to
the carriage of the machine, and arranged so that at each departure the beginning
of an impression or inscription coincides with the beginning of a match, or with.
the beginning of the first match cut. Against the barrel A turns an inking roller
B, which is caused to bear against the barrel with an elastic pressure by the action
of coiled, flat, or other suitable springs (Figure 3). The inking roller B is of
caoutchouc, it becomes charged with ink by contact with a bronze or other metal
roller C; this roller is mounted on a fixed axis, that is to say, is not capable of
being displaced transversely, but movable in the direction of its length. The effect
of this longitudinal movement is to regulate the layer of ink which is deposited
thereon, owing to the resistance which the caoutchouc rollers offer. A pressing

page_text: .
roller D transfers the ink from the ink trough to the roller C, and distributes it
equally by rolling it. The roller D is movable, and turns tangentially to the ink
trough E and to the roller C; it is of caoutchouc like the roller B.
The ink trough
is cylindrical, it gives ink to the pressing roller D by rotation. The ink trough is
composed of a metallic cylinder F (see the detached views on a larger scale given in
Figures 4 and 5, which are vertical and horizontal sections), which forms an outer
casing, it has a longitudinal slot c, whose height is equal to that of the superposed
figures or signs for marking or branding the number of matches which the machine
cuts. This trough E is open at the upper part, its lower end d has an axis on
which is fixed a wheel e (Figure 3), which gives to the trough the necessary rotary
motion, or the trough may be actuated by the barrel A. It is within the cylinder
E that are placed the movable ink troughs or holders F; they consist of a tube
closed at the bottom, and formed with vertical openings f, varying in number
according to the height of the figures or signs on the barrel A. This cylinder is
closed at top by a cover g, or it may contain a metal cylinder which, by constant
pressure on the ink contained in the holder F, causes a more or less prompt flow of
this ink. Owing to this construction of ink trough with movable holder, the ink
can be changed during the working of the machine, and also a continuous inking
can be insured without stopping the machine. The holders may be filled away
from the machine. The printing can be done in several colors.
On each side of the barrel A are placed combs P, one of which is seen in elevation
in Figure 6, and in plan in Figure 7. These combs are for removing from between
the figures or signs particles of wood or bodies liable to spoil the impression, which
is therefore always neat and regular.
All the apparatus, the barrel, rollers, combs, and ink trough are held between
two plates or cheeks G, which connect them and form a homogeneous whole, which
is fitted to the machine for cutting. the matches. This adaptation is made without
its being necessary to make any change in the cutting mechanism. Besides, the
apparatus is fixed with springs interposed, so that there is a certain elasticity which
allows the barrel to follow as required the bends or flaws of the wood in cutting,
with the view of producing a regular, uniform, and continuous impression.
According to the arrangement of the machine I can also give motion to the barrel
by means of a rack. The rack is then fixed on the frame of the machine, and the
star a previously described on the barrel A is replaced by a toothed pinion which
gears with the rack. The printing apparatus may be placed before or behind the
cutting or scoring knives.
Figures 8 and 9 show in vertical section and plan the adaptation of the mode of
marking or branding to machines for operating on sheets of wood or veneers, as
well as suitable means for cutting the splints for matches. The block of wood A,
which is of cylindrical form at first, can be held at its ends by clamps or grippers a,
and turns with a continuous movement. For this purpose the clamps a bear against
the axes of wheels H, which by the intermediate wheels G and endless screws F
cause the screws E to turn. On each of these screws E is mounted a nut D, which
advances gradually as the screw turns, the two nuts producing the forward move-
ment of the carriage carrying the cutting blade B, which cuts the block A in a
spiral manner. The gearing and the screws E are calculated so that from the
rotation of the block A and the advance of the cutting blade a proper spiral is
obtained to give a suitable thickness to the matches. As regards the cutting of the
sheet of wood into splints or strips it is effected by means of knives C, which act
on the block A, or by means of knives C', which cut the sheet as soon as it is
detached from the block, or by means of cutting wheels K, K¹, placed at a certain
distance from the block A, or behind the printing apparatus. The printing
apparatus X is like that already described, the only difference is that the inking
rollers and the barrel are horizontal. The length of these parts is equal to the
breadth of the sheets cut from the block. In the arrangement shown the motion
is derived from a shaft N, which carries a hand wheel V, and the wheels R, which
drive the wheels G. These produce the movement of the block of wood and the

page_text: advance of the blade carrier D. One of the clamps a is movable, and is worked by
means of a screw b so as to tighten the block A. The splints or strips cut longi-
tudinally, and marked or branded, can be cut transversely to the length of the
matches which it is wished to obtain by means of a blade knife or cutting
wheel.
I will now describe with reference to Figures 1 to 5, Sheet 2, the adaptation of
the system to machines with hand planes. Figure 1 is a side view of the plane
and of the printing apparatus; Figure 2, a plan; Figure 3, a section through X, Y;
Figure 4, a section through O, V; and Figure 5, a section through T, U. The
body R of the plane contains the roller A, which bears the figures or signs; the
spindle o of this roller is supported in bearings a guided in grooves of the plane,
and acted on by springs r, which produce an elastic pressure. Against the roller A
turns the inking roller B, likewise acted on by springs r. The ink is distributed
on the roller B by the roller C, which takes it from the trough D. The cutting of
the wood is effected by two blades, one, F, horizontal, and the other, G, vertical. The
position of the blade F is regulated by the screw f, and that of the blade G by the
screw h. The printing apparatus can be placed either before or behind the cutting
blades, so that the matches may be cut either after or before being marked or
branded.
Figures 6 to 8, Sheet 2, show the Invention adapted to another machine.
Figure 6 is a perspective view, showing a double machine. On the left side of this
machine I have supposed that the marking or branding is made on only one face
of the splints, while on the right side both the top and bottom faces are marked.
Figures 7 and 8 represent in longitudinal and transverse sections the apparatus
for cutting and the apparatus for marking or branding.
The block is held at bottom by an abutment B, and pushed against the draw
plate (filière) C, which can be single or double, of any suitable form, and comprise
any suitable number of holes. The draw plate C is carried by a carriage which
rests on the frame E of the machine. Beyond the draw plate is the printing
apparatus supported by a frame F, which can be permanently fixed or not. This
printing apparatus comprises a cylinder or barrel G, which bears the engraved
characters G. Below the cylinder G is a cylinder G", fixed or movable, intended
to prevent the splints getting out of shape; this lower cylinder can be replaced by
a simple table. The cylinder or table can if required be a prolongation of the
guiding plates H, H, H", &c., these guiding plates being either solid or having
openings to allow waste of all kinds to fall through. Combs I serve to clean the
characters; they can be rigid or supple plates or even brushes, and replaced if
required by revolving cylinders, which expel the detritus. The ink trough J can
be of any suitable kind, and be provided with a fixed or automatic regulator. The
ink is distributed by the roller K, taken up by the roller K¹, respread by the roller
K", and finally the inking of the characters or forme is effected by the roller K¹¹¹.
These rollers may be made of any suitable composition, gelatine, india rubber, gutta
percha, silk, felt, &c., or metal, plain or striated, fixed or movable laterally or
longitudinally. The doors or openings L serve for examining, cleaning, unmounting,
and replacing the parts. Stays N connect the sides of the apparatus, and allow of
its being unmounted. The journals of the barrel G rests in guide bearings O, on
which press the springs M, which may be helical springs or others. These springs
regulate, while making it elastic, the pressure of the characters on the splints or
articles P to be marked or brauded; these springs may be fixed or movable. The
apparatus shown in Figures 7 and 8 is intended to mark or brand on one face only,
and is the apparatus supposed to be seen at the left side of Figure 6, but it can
without difficulty be arranged for printing simultaneously on both the upper and
lower faces. For this it suffices to place a barrel and an inking apparatus above
and below the draw plate (filière), an arrangement which is shown at the right
hand side of Figure 6. This mode of simultaneous printing on both the upper and
lower faces is particularly applicable to double machines, that is to say, machines

page_text: which cut simultaneously two superposed rows of splints or articles to be marked
or branded.
When the marking bas to be made on splints or articles with plane surface the
marking cylinders or rollers have rectilinear generatrices. When the splints or
articles are of circular section I employ fluted cylinders, as shown in Figures 1 to 4,
Sheet 3. The barrel A has flutes perpendicular to its axis. If the marking is pro-
duced on only one face of the splint the barrel A will have concave flutes, as in
Figures 1 and 2. The number of these flutes will equal that of the splints issuing
from the machine which makes them. If the splints have to be marked on two
faces I arrange two barrels A and B, Figures 3 and 4. The concavities are less
than the diameter, and the characters which they bear are of suitable cavity to
produce a neat impression. The diameter of the barrel or barrels should in all cases
be such that the development of their circumference is exactly equal in length to a
given number of splints.
I will now describe the system of marking or branding as applied under an
improved form to the spiral acting machine specially described in the Specification
of the Letters Patent of 27th July 1877, already herein referred to. The object of
the improvement is to make the cutting and marking coincide in a complete
manner. In the machine as described in the said Specification the cutting tools
and the marking roller were diametrically opposite with respect to the block of
wood which was being cut. This necessitated perfect harmony between the action
of the two tools in order that the marking might be produced exactly between the
lines of cut. By the present improved arrangement the printing barrel is arranged
below the cut of the knives. In Figures 5 and 6, Sheet 3, which represent this
arrangement, the roller b serves only as a drawing roller. The roller A is the
printing roller; F and Gare the inking rollers. The printed block D is cut by the
blades E, and R is the receiver for the cut splints. For the working of the machine
it suffices to withdraw the printing barrel by a suitable movement at the moment
of the descent of the blades in order to allow them a clear passage.
I can also make the printing apparatus a fixture to the cutting apparatus, as
shown in elevation and plan in Figs. 7 and 8. In this case the printing barrel A
follows the movements of the blade carrier B. With this arrangement as with
that preceding the cutting or contour of the block is spiral.
In the arrangement shown in Figures 9 and 10 the marking or branding and the
cutting of the splints are produced according to the radius, and not according to
the circumference. In this arrangement the printing barrel A and the inking
rollers F and G are in one with the carriage B which carries the blades E, and they
follow its movements. The drawing roller is placed at a suitable distance from the
point of cut. The blades may evidently be of any required number.
This Invention can likewise be applied to the machine known as the "American"
machine, in which the cutting of the splints and the placing in frames are effected
simultaneously. For this machine the marking or branding apparatus is applied
under the same conditions as for the machine shown in Figures 6 to 8, Sheet 2.
The branding or marking apparatus can in fact be applied to any machine
employed in making matches, and at any stage of the manufacture; for example,
the matches when in the dipping frame, and therefore perfectly separated from each
other, can be very conveniently submitted to the action of a printing roller placed
in a suitable position; or the matches after dipping can be held on grooved tables
to which the printing tools are applied. A similarly grooved table is placed upon
the first, and one or both can be perforated with figures or signs. The marking is
produced by a brush or otherwise.
Instead of branding or marking the splints with ink or color, as before described,
an indelible branding or marking may be produced by means of irons or blocks
raised to a sufficient heat to carbonize the surface of the wood; or the marks can
be embossed thereon by suitable tools, as will be well understood.
The Invention is not limited to match splints; it can be applied to spills, wood.
for pencils, and other like purposes,

page_text: And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I declare that I do not claim as part of the present
Invention the cutting and marking or branding of match splints or other articles
simultaneously, or in the same machine, as this was described in the Specification
of former Letters Patent, as herein before stated; but I claim as the present
Improvements in Machinery for Cutting and Marking or Branding Match Splints
or other Articles,"
First. The adaptation or application to ordinary machines for cutting match
splints or other articles of means or apparatus for marking or branding the said
splints or articles, substantially in the manner herein before described, with the aid
of the annexed Drawings.
Second. The particular combination of marking or branding apparatus, with
machines having scoring knives or lancets and vertical blades, substantially as
hereinbefore described, and represented in Figures 1 to 7, Sheet 1.
Third. The particular arrangement of the marking or branding apparatus herein-
before described, and represented in Figures 1 to 7, Sheet 1, and especially the
arrangement of the ink trough with movable ink holders, and the actuating of the
printing barrel by a star or by a rack and pinion, as described.
Fourth. The particular combination, substantially as hereinbefore described and
shown, of marking or branding apparatus with cutting machines, such as that illus-
trated in Figures 8 and 9, Sheet 1.
Fifth. The particular combination, substantially as hereinbefore described and
shown, of marking or branding apparatus with cutting machines, such as that illus-
trated at Figures 1 to 5, Sheet 2.
Sixth. The particular combination, substantially as hereinbefore described and
shown, of marking or branding apparatus with cutting machines, such as that
illustrated at Figures 6 to 8, Sheet 2, whether such machines be single or double.
Seventh. The particular arrangement, herein before described with reference to
Figures 1 to 4, Sheet 3, for marking or branding articles of circular section by means
of fluted cylinders.
Eighth. The several arrangements of apparatus or machines for cutting and
marking or branding splints or other articles, as hereinbefore described with
reference to Figures 5 to 10, Sheet 3.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Clayton Mewburn, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of September, One thousand eight
hundred and seventy nine.
J. C. MEWBURN. (L.S.)