Improvements relating to the Cutting of Wood for Matches, Tooth- picks, and the like, and to Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1892

page_text: .Date of Application, 21st Dec., 1892-Accepted, 8th Apr., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to the Cutting of Wood for Matches, Tooth-
picks, and the like, and to Apparatus therefor.
I, LADISLAV VON KRALJEVIC, of 8 Hauptplatz, "Essegg, in the Empire of
Austria, Chief Forester, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My invention relates to a method of and apparatus for cutting wood for matches,
tooth-picks and the like.
The aforesaid method consists substantially in cutting barked stems of trees to
the form of blocks of definite length; clamping such blocks in a device similar to
a lathe and cutting channel-shaped notches of suitable depth all round the surface
of the blocks at definite distances; then cutting the desired outlines or straight
lines in the surface of the wood by means of cutters arranged on a roller; and
finally making, by means of a cutter arranged obliquely, a cut to a definite depth
perpendicularly to the plane of the cut made by the cutter, on the said roller so as
to produce small bars or pieces of any desired form.
The apparatus constructed for carrying this method into practice is.illustrated in
the accompanying drawing.
Figure 1 is a front elevation of the machine, partially shown in section.
Figure 2 is a vertical section on the line xx, Figure 1.
Figures 3 to 8 represent several details.
Upon the main frame AI arrange in guides a and a³ the frames C and D.
Through the arms C' and d³ of the said frames pass the screws a' d' which engage
by means of the bevel wheels a' d' on the one hand with the toothed wheel G¹
upon the driving shaft G and on the other hand with the toothed wheel G³ upon
the journal G. The frame C carries a roller B which is provided on its surface
with cutters arranged radially to the axis of the shaft. These cutters form
straight, parallel, curved, crossed or closed lines according to the form of the
article to be produced, Figures 4 and 5.
The cutter roller B rests in bearings of downwardly extending arms of the
frame C. These bearings may be lowered or raised by adjusting screws in order
to give the roller the desired direction.
Through the journal G2 extends a bolt g' guided in a square hole in the
aforesaid journal and the free end of which is provided with three or more
pins g, whilst the other end of the bolt surrounds a collar on the adjusting
screw passing through the journal G. The driving shaft G terminates
in a cone G which is likewise provided with three or more pins. The above
described arrangement serves for clamping the block of wood to be cut to
pieces, which is fixed in the axial direction of the driving shaft by means of the
adjusting screw 9' and the bolts g' provided with pins and connected with the
said screw.
The frame D is moved, similarly. to a slide rest, in the horizontal direction by
means of the screws d¹ passing through the arms D', being adapted to slide in the
dove-tail grooves a³ of the main frame A. At the front surface of the frame D
are arranged the cutters d d³ or d. The cutter blade d is placed tangentially,
and the cutters d³ and d' more or less radially, to the axis of the block of wood
in the frame D. The cutter d is carried together with the cutters d' or d by the
cutter frame D which is advanced towards the centre of the block of wood by
means of screw d² working in a fixed nut D¹ and driven from the shaft G by bevel
gearing. Therefore in the time during which the block of wood makes one
revolution, the cutter d is advanced towards the centre of the wood block for a

page_text: distance equal to the thickness of the tooth-pick, match splint, or the like, and
therefore the wood is peeled off the block spirally the distance between two
consecutive convolutions of the spiral being always the same. The cutters d' have
for their object to make cuts 68 all round the surface of the clamped block of wood
certain distances apart corresponding to the length of the pieces to be produced
and to definite depths, Figure 6. The cutters d' serve for notching the surface of
the block of wood H, and this notching, as shown in Figures 4 and 7, constitutes
the formation or sharpening of the opposite points of the tooth-pick. For
making tooth picks the cutters d' first cut circumferential grooves into the block
of wood which correspond to the bevels Figures 4 and 7; then the cutters bon
rollers B cut the contour of the tooth-picks into the block of wood, that is to say
elongated hexagons the acute corners of which come exactly into the centre of the
grooves cut in by cutters d (see Figure 7) and finally cutters d separate them from
the block by peeling off a spiral layer as above stated. The edges of the cutters d
are obviously in the level of the bottom of the grooves cut into the blocks by the
cutters d'.
The screws a¹ a¹ and d¹ d¹ are supported in the arms a a³ and d³ d³.
I fill the intermediate spaces between the several cutters on the roller B
with indiarubber or other elastic material, for the purpose of producing an
uninterrupted surface of contact of the roller B with the block of wood H.
The operation of the machine is as follows: Between the end G of the driving
shaft G which is provided with pins and the bolts g' of the journal G2 which are
likewise provided with pins the block of barked wood is clamped by means of the
adjusting screw g. The row of cutters dd's or d' of the frame D is caused by the
adjusting device D³ to approach the block of wood, then the surface of the roller
is brought in contact with the surface of the block of wood by the adjusting
device c². As soon as the driving shaft G is set in rotation by steam or hand
power the clamped block of wood will also commence to rotate in the direction
indicated by the arrow. At the same time the screws are turned upon their axes
by means of the bevel wheels G³ G¹ a² a' d' d³, so that the frames C and D are
caused to approach the block, which forward movement takes place proportionately
to the rotary movement of the driving shaft. In the manufacture of tooth picks
the cutters d' act first, and forms an obtuse angle at its point as seen in Figure 4
the block of wood is notched all round, this notching corresponding to the pointing
of the tooth pick, Figures 4 and 7.
In the manufacture of matches, small plates and other plain pieces, the cutter d'
comes into action in lieu of the cutter d.
Under certain circumstances the employment of these cutters may however be
dispensed with. Then the roller B acts upon the surface of the block of wood.
By these rollers cuts of definite forms are made in the surface of the block of
wood, Figure 4.
By the cutter blade d touching the block of wood tangentially a layer is finally
severed.from the surface of the block of wood, which layer corresponds in thick-
ness to the forward movement of the frame D. The small bars or plates, separated
for instance in the form of matches, Figure 8, or tooth picks, Figure 7, drop into
the funnel T.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
First. A method of manufacturing tooth picks from a block of wood,
characterized by the notching of the upper layer of wood, the radial cutting of
the outlines of a tooth pick, and the cut made tangentially to the axis of the
block of wood and transversely to the plane of the previous cut, in order to produce
a series of such picks, or by making a simple cut all round the block of wood,
instead of the notching, in order to produce a series of matches, bars or plates,
substantially as hereinbefore described.

page_text: Second. For carrying out the method characterized in the first claim, an
apparatus comprising a roller B provided with cutters 6 and adjustably supported
in a frame C which is guided in vertical slots a in the main frame A, a series of
cutters d guided in a frame D embedded in the grooves a³ of the main frame, two
pairs of screws a'a' d' d' actuated through the medium of gear wheels a'a' d' d'G'G'
by the driving shaft G, for the purpose of effecting the automatic and continual
downward movement of the roller and the forward movement of the series of
cutters dd, in order to cause radial cuts to be made by the cutters b, and then, by
the tangential action of the cutter d upou the rotating block of wood clamped in
the apparatus, removing layers spirally from the surface of the block of wood cut
to obtain small bars or plates, substantially as described and represented.
Third. For carrying out the method characterized in the first claim, an apparatus
having cutters d with cutting edges on either side of the centre or point thereof,
and which, being fixed in the frame D, forms a groove all round the rotating block
of wood, which groove is designed to form the points of the tooth picks to be
obtained, substantially as described and represented.
Fourth. For carrying out the method characterized in the first claim, an
apparatus having cutters d which being fixed in the frame D, make cuts all round
the rotary block of wood, which cuts cross those made by the cutters on the roller
in the axial direction of the block of wood on the surface of the latter, the
distances of such transverse cuts corresponding to the length of the small bars
or plates to be produced, substantially as described and represented.
Fifth. For carrying out the method characterized in the first claim, an
apparatus provided with roller B which has the intermediate spaces 63 between its
several cutters 6 filled up with indiarubber or other suitable material, in order to
obtain an uninterrupted contact of the said roller with the block of wood H,
substantially as described and represented.
Dated this 21st day of December 1899
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.