Iч- PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BLOCKS OR PULLEYS BY MACHINERY
Year: 1866

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Edward Gedge at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 26th
June 1866. A communication from abroad by Arsène Bonnardel, of
No. 15, Passage des Petites Ecuries, Paris, France.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD GEDGE, of the Firm of John Gedge and Son, of
No. 28, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Iч-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BLOCKS OR PULLEYS BY MACHINERY," (a
communication to me from abroad by Arsène Bonnardel, of No. 15, Passage
des Petites Ecuries, Paris, France) to be as follows:-
The first operation consists in cutting the wood by the aid of a belt or strap
saw into a flat piece of the ordinary dimensions. This first operation produces
the blocks or pulleys in the rough, to which pieces the desired shape is still
to be given; these blocks being suitably sawn may be immediately arranged
on the machine by which the simple or double grooves are to be made
operation is performed by means of two steel tools with double and single
grooves fixed on two tool-holding shafts, the one turning to the right, the
other to the left, and the piece must be seized by hand guides or wooden tools
this

page_text: acting loosely on the block, and presenting it to the steel tools above mentioned,
The grooves being made, the blocks are fixed by means of press screws on the
platform of the mortising machine in the requisite position for piercing and
making the mortise, which operation is effected by means of a bit fixed on the
puppet placed at the desired height by the aid of a screw. The platform is
furnished with a rack and receives a come-and-go motion which permits the
tool to hollow out the mortise in the direction of its length by means of toothed
gearing moved by the hand. The sliding frame on which this platform is
adjusted is moved by a crank, and regulates the depth of the mortise by means
of a guide. The holes for the axles are pierced in like manner, excepting as
to changing the bit and the inutility of the come-and-go movement given to
the platform in the preceding case. The oval form of the blocks being traced
by means of a model or mould which determines its outline, the belt or strap
saw is again used to effect this operation, which consists in giving two saw
strokes following the indicated line; this cutting is done instantaneously, and
presents no difficulty; thus rounded the blocks return to the groove-making
machine, which this time only rounds off the outer angles of the block and
planes its surface as may be desired by means of a steel tool and a wooden
one, which moved by hand serves to seize the pulley to conduct it in the
direction of its rounding against the tool holder, while the steel tool turning
with great speed removes as much wood as necessary, and gives to this block
the complete form prescribed by the model. It will thus be seen that the
blocks are shaped with perfect regularity, and further that the block coming
from the machines after this operation only requires mounting.
The blocks containing several sheaves which are used for the standing
rigging or shrouds of ships ("baraquettes") are made by nearly the same
series of operations as the preceding manufacture. It is firstly the belt or
strap saw which is used to cut the wood into a flat piece of the requisite
size, after which first operation the mortise is made by placing the blocks
successively on the bed plate of the mortising machine, where they are fixed
by press screws; the operation then goes on as described for the previous
blocks. The mortises being made the pieces are arranged successively on the
platform of the planing machine, so that the required grooves may be hollowed
by means of steel tools, one of which further serves to round off the angles,
and that at one pass this tool being fixed on a transversal shaft turning with
great speed is supported by brackets with racks which can rise regularly by
means of pinions to be moved to the desired height. The next operation is
the piercing of the holes for the rivets and the bolts which serve to fix the

page_text: metal work. For this purpose the blocks are placed on the mortising machine,
and by the aid of bits set on a puppet the holes marked according to the
metal work to be fitted to the block in conformity with the model are
successively pierced. The last operation which completes the manufacture
of these blocks consists in mounting them with the metal work and sheaves.