IM- PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING AND SHAPING SLATE." PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING AND SHAPING SLATE
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Boggett, of Lindsey Houses, Chelsea,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING AND SHAPING SLATE."
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING AND SHAPING SLATE."
Sealed the 10th February 1871, and dated the 16th September 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Boggett at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th September 1870.
I, WILLIAM BOGGETT, of Lindsey Houses, Chelsea, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven..
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING AND SHAPING SLATE," to be
as follows:
My improvements in cutting and shaping small thin slates, such as
are used for roofing, are as follows:-A bed plate is prepared of the size
and shape the slates are desired to be, its top sides being bound with a
steel band to act as a cutting edge; upon this bed plate the uncut slate
is placed; suspended over it is a hollow iron frame of the same size, to
which angular knives are affixed corresponding with the cutting edges

page_text: of the bed plate, so that upon the descent of the frame its knives and
the bed plate edges act as shears and cut the slate into the desired shape
at one operation. The cutter frame may be worked by a lever, screw
press, or otherwise, and by manual or other power.
According to another part of my improvements for cutting and
shaping large slates or slabs I make use of two "parting tools," one of
them being affixed to each side of the usual planing machine. The
operation of these tools is so regulated as to act simultaneously with the
planing of the surface and part it off to the desired width. When these
operations are completed a cross action of the machine actuating a similar
tool working at right angles to its length squares the ends of the slab to
its proper length.
filed by the said William Boggett in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 16th March 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BOGGETT, of Lindsey Houses, Chelsea, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Boggett, Her special licence
that I, the said William Boggett, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Boggett, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR CUTTING AND SHAPING SLATE," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Boggett, 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

page_text: in like manner to shears with the cutters c.
Within the cutter frame a
pad or pressing block e is arranged for holding the slate firmly down
upon the bed plate whilst the cutting operation takes place. The pad
or block e is formed with a curved rod e¹ which passes up through a
cross bar be fixed on the frame b, the pad e being constantly pressed
downwards by india-rubber (or other) springs e² attached to the bar b²,
and to the rod e¹, as shown, so as to force the pad below the edges of
the cutters c when the frame 6 is raised in order that the pad may
(as the cutter frame descends) first come into action to hold the slate
firmly in position upon the bed plate. Manual or other power may be
employed to actuate the lever a, or a similar arrangement of the frame
and bed plate can be worked by a press or other means if desired.
In cases where it is required to cut the slates with smooth edges an
outer matrix_is_employed_to_support-the-slates,-as-shown-in-plan-at
Figure 3, in which arrangement of the bed plate d the knives descend
into grooves d' corresponding in outline with the shape of the slate to be
cut.
According to another part of my improvements for cutting or shaping
large slates or slabs I make use of two " parting tools," one of them
The
being affixed to each side of the ordinary planing machine.
operation of these tools is so regulated as to act simultaneously with
the planing of the surface of the slab and part it off to the desired width.
When these operations are completed a cross action of the machine
actuating a similar tool working at right angles to its length squares
the slab to its proper length.
Figure 4 shows part of a side view, and Figure 5 part of an end view
of an ordinary planing machine for planing the surface of slabs of slate.
Figures 6, 7, and 8 show separate views of the method of mounting
and actuating the tools or cutters for grooving and parting off the sides
of a slab of slate simultaneously with the planing of its surface; Figures 5
and 9 showing the method of mounting and actuating the tools for
grooving and cutting off the ends of the slab after being planed. A is
a parting off or squaring tool, one of such tools being mounted in
horizontal and vertical slides on each side of the planing machine for
grooving and parting off the sides of the slab simultaneously with the
planing of its surface. The tool A is carried by the horizontal slide A',
being moved to and fro in guides by means of the screw A² at the lower
end of the vertical slide B to adjust the position of the tool A to the

page_text: width of the slab to be cut. The vertical slide B is actuated so as to
raise and lower the tool A. by means of the hand wheel B', bevil gear B³,
and screw axis B³, by which means the tools A (one on each side of the
machine) can be caused to descend and part off the sides of the slab
simultaneously with the planing of its surface. The vertical slides B
are mounted so as to move up and down in guides on the fixed vertical
standards C, on each side of the machine in which the surface slide and
planing tool is also mounted. D (Figures 5 and 9) is a transverse slide
arranged with self-acting reversing motion for actuating the drop tool
holders and grooving tools D¹ for cutting in either direction across the
slab to square off the ends, each end of the slab of slate being moved by
the table into a position under the drop tools D¹ to be square off after
the surface has been planed. D is a screw axis by which the tool
holder is caused to traverse from side to side of the machine by means
of the toothed wheel D³, actuated by the pinion E³ on the driving axis E
with fast and loose driving pullies E¹, E², one of the driving straps being
straight and the other crossed for reversing the revolution of the screw
axis D and traversing motion of the tool holder. The shifting of the
driving straps from the fast to the loose pullies is effected by means of
stops I fixed on the bar F (and weighted lever F* therewith), which slides
to and fro in eyes or guides F2 on the guides of the slide D, the forks for
shifting the driving straps being connected to the sliding bar F by a
jointed arm F³ to accommodate the parts to the vertical movement of the
slide D.
Figure 9 shows the mode of arranging the gear for driving the screw
axis D, and the manner in which the wheel D³ and pinion E³ are kept
in gear during the feed or vertical movement of the slide D. The driving
axis E revolves in brasses fitted into slots in brackets E on the main
frame, the axis E being guided and moved to and fro in such slots by
means of bossed plates or arms E³ connecting the axes D and E together,
thereby retaining the wheel D³ and pinion E³ together.
Figure 10 shows a plan of the hand wheels and bevil gear for raising
and lowering the several slides which carry the planing, parting, and
transverse cutters; the vertical screw axis C* is actuated by the hand
wheel C** and bevil gear to raise and lower the surface slide and planing
tool, the screw axis B³ is actuated by the hand wheel B' and bevil gear
to raise and lower the slides B and parting tools A, and the screw
axis D is actuated by the hand wheel D** and bevil gear to raise and

page_text: lower the transverse slide D and cutters D' for cutting off the ends of
the slab.
Having thus described the nature of my improvements, and the
manner of carrying the same into practice, what I claim is,-
First. The arrangement of apparatus for cutting slates of any desired
form at one operation, substantially in the manner herein described and
shown in reference to Figure 1, 2, and 3 of the Drawings hereunto
annexed:
Secondly. I claim the application of "parting tools "A to ordinary
planing machines for cutting off the sides of the slabs of slates simul- 1
taneously with the operation of planing the surface, and also the means
herein described for cutting off the ends of such slabs, substantially in
the manner herein-before described and shown in the accompanying
Drawings-or-any-modification thereof..
In witness whereof, I, the said William Boggett, have hereunto set 1
my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Boggett, have hereunto set 1
my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
Witness,
J. G. TONGUE,
Patent Agent,
WILLIAM BOGGETT. (L.S.).
34, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, W.C.