IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR GRINDING AND POLISHING CONCAVE SURFACES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for
Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR GRINDING
AND POLISHING CONCAVE SURFACES."-A communication from abroad
by William Cleveland Hicks, of the City and State of New York,
United States of America.
Sealed the 17th July 1868, and dated the 27th January 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 27th January 1868.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR GRINDING
AND POLISHING CONCAVE SURFACES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object to overcome all the practical
difficulties heretofore encountered in the operations of boring and
finishing the interior of cylinders, and to afford a means by which any
concave or cylindrical surface may be finished very readily to a state
of great perfection, both as to accuracy of curvature and smoothness

page_text: of surface, and to these ends the Invention consists in the employ-
ment of one or more rotating grinding wheels, or discs or cutters,
which are mounted on a horizontal shaft provided with suitable driving
gear. The whole of this mechanism is placed inside the cylinder, so
that the rotary grinding disc or discs may be made to rotate in contact
with the surface to be finished, while the surface or cylinder is made
to reciprocate during the grinding operation, so as to bring the whole
surface under the action of the grinding tools.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 27th July 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex; Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs, and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Edward Newton, Her special
licence, that. I, the said William Edward Newton, niy executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others, as I, the said William Edward
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with and no others, from time to time, and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR GRINDING AND POLISHING CONCAVE SURFACES,"
being a communication to me from William Cleveland Hicks, of the
City of New York, in the County and State of New York, United
States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,.
the said William Edward Newton, my executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office, within six

page_text: calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon
(that is to say):
Previous to this Invention it has been customary to turn out and
finish the interior or internal cylindrical surface of steam engine, pump,
and other cylinders with a suitable tool arranged upon an ordinary
boring bar (the cylinder to be operated upon being generally secured
to the carriage of a lathe, and the boring bar mounted and turned on
the lathe's centres).
It has been found exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, in practice
to turn out and finish with any very great degree of perfection the
interiors of cylinders by this well known and it may be termed
universally practised mode of operation.
The present Invention has for its object to overcome all the practical
difficulties heretofore encountered in the operations of boring and
finishing the interior of cylinders, and to afford a means by which
any concave or cylindrical surface may be finished very readily to a
state of great perfection, both as to accuracy of curvature and smooth-
ness of surface, and to these ends the Invention consists in the
employment of one or more rotating grinding wheels, or discs, or
cutters, which are mounted on a horizontal shaft provided with
suitable driving gear. The whole of this mechanism is placed inside
the cylinder, so that the rotary grinding disc or discs may be made
to rotate in contact with the surface to be finished, while the surface
or cylinder is made to reciprocate during the grinding operation, so
as to bring the whole surface under the action of the grinding tools.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 is an clevation of an apparatus
adapted to carry out the Invention; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical
section of the same; Fig. 3 is a vertical cross section at the line x, x,
of Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is a vertical cross section at the line y, y, of Fig. 1.
A is a shaft or bar, which should be mounted to turn freely on
centres b, b. This shaft A is provided with a pulley C, by which

page_text: through the medium of a driving belt the necessary rotatory motion
may be imparted to the shaft. If the shaft be placed in the centres
of an ordinary engine lathe it may be driven from the face plate of
such lathe in the manner usually adopted for turning work in a lathe.
At the end of the shaft A. (opposite to that at which it is coupled to
the lathe or receives its driving pulley C) is secured upon it a flanged
disc or collar D, which carries a driving pulley E formed and arranged
so as to drive from its internal surface a toothed wheel or pinion f
(either by friction or gear teeth). This pinion is keyed on to the end
of a small shaft G mounted to turn freely in boxes formed in the
stands h, h. This shaft G carries the grinding and polishing wheels
or discs i, i, which are intended to operate upon the cylindrical surface
to be finished up. The stands h, h, may (if deemed expedient) be so
arranged with the shaft or bar A as to be adjustable, in order that the
shaft G with its grinding wheels i, i, may be set nearer to or further
from the centre of motion of the bar A for the purpose of effecting a
greater or less degree of cutting or grinding of the stock that is being
operated upon. The pulley E is driven by a suitable belt k, and should
be made to rotate much more rapidly in the same direction than the
main shaft A.
In Figures 2 and 4 is shewn in blue lines at m the cylinder which
is supposed to be undergoing the operation of being ground and finished
at its internal surface. The blue lines at o represent the carriage to
which it is secured, and by which it is carried along by means of a
suitable screw or other feed in the direction of its own axis and that
of the main shaft A.
The operation of the apparatus is as follows:-The cylinder to be
finished (having been previously bored out very nearly true by means
of an ordinary boring bar and turning tool) is adjusted and secured
upon the reciprocating carriage o in such a manner as to be as nearly
as possible concentric with the circle in which the grinding wheel
travels. The main shaft A and the countershaft G being then each
set in motion, and the carriage o made to move along, the cylinder m
is carried along, while the rapidly rotating grinding wheels h, h, are
carried around within it and against its internal surface, whereby the
interior of the cylinder will be perfectly ground and finished in a very
short time. This operation may be repeated, and in order to give a
still higher finish to the cylindrical surface if desired other grinding

page_text: wheels of a little greater diameter (and if expedient of a different
material or character) may be employed. The shaft G may also be
adjusted so as to cause the wheels or discs to take a fresh bite, and
then the cylinder may be passed along again in contact with the
rotating grinders.
It will be seen and understood that by means of a grinding disc (or
series of them) or rotating cutters travelling around in a circular orbit
while rapidly revolving on its own axis, the concave surface with which
such grinder or cutter comes in contact will be ground or cut away in
a perfect circle, and by imparting at the same time a perfectly straight
reciprocating motion to the work the interior of the cylinder will be
ground or cut to a perfectly cylindrical shape, and at the same time
an exceedingly smooth or polished surface may be given, all of which
are desiderata long required and of the highest importance in many
kinds of work.
It will be understood that the details of construction of an apparatus
to carry out this Invention may be varied according to circumstances
and the character of the work to be done. In finishing up small
cylinders it is proposed to insert the main bar (such as scen at A) in
an ordinary engine lathe and to mount the cylinder upon the carriage
of the lathe.
In finishing the interior of very large cylinders it may be found
necessary to rig up the apparatus, so that while the cylinder remains
stationary the grinding wheels shall not only travel around within the
cylinder and rotate on their axes, but also travel along longitudinally
in the cylinder.
Various other modifications of the details of the apparatus may be
adopted to carry out the object of the Invention, which consists in
imparting to the grinders or rotary grinding wheels, roll, or disc, or
whatever may be employed as a grinder, at the same time with their
rotary motion a motion in the direction of the circle of the curved
surface, being operated on while the cylinder moves along, or the
grinders move along within the cylinder if preferred.
It may even be found expedient in some cases to rotate the cylinder
in lieu of having the grinders travel around within it, but all such
changes or transpositions of motions will not materially vary the effect
produced, and are only different ways of carrying out the Invention

page_text: and effecting the same relative motions of the grinding surfaces with
the surface being ground and finished.
Having now described the Invention that has been communicated
to me as aforesaid, and having explained the manner of carrying the
same into effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters
Patent as aforesaid, grinding or finishing up concave surfaces by means
of rotatory tools running in contact with the surface being operated
upon, while the said tools and surface are moved (by any suitable
mechanism) relatively to each other, as herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Twenty-third day of July,
in the year of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and
sixty-eight,