Improvements in Stone-cutting Machines.
Year: 1891

page_text: [Communicated from abroad by DAVID RETTIGER, of Strong City, Kansas.
United States of America, Inventor.]
Improvements in Stone-cutting Machines.
I, REGINALD WALTER BARKER, of Monument Chambers, King William
Street, London, Middlesex, Patent Agent, 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 improvements in stone-cutting machines in which a
revolving cylinder or cylinders having steel cutters is used in combination with a
longitudinally-movable carriage, the objects of my invention being, first, to reduce
stone from the rough quarry-face to a finished surface, either planed or molded,
more rapidly and perfectly than has heretofore been possible with the expenditure
of the same amount of energy; second, to adjust the cutters or chisels so as to do
the greatest amount of cutting with the least wear on the machinery and the least
frequent sharpening and replacing of chisels; third, to so arrange the chisels that,
as they become of various lengths from sharpening or wear, they may be readily
and quickly set with the cutting-edges at proper distances and the butt-ends be
made solid against the cylinder by means of wedges; fourth, in one operation to
cause the surface of a rapidly-moving stone to be first scabbled off, making spawls
large enough to be merchantable, and then planed smooth or molded, (for such
purpose a machine may consist of any number of cylinders); fifth, to afford
facilities for the proper adjustment of chisels independently of each other, so that
a broken chisel may be speedily removed and replaced without disturbing any of
the others; sixth, to provide for an automatic adjustment of the speed of the stone
to the resistance met with, so that extreme pressure or extraordinary resistance
suddenly applied or met with in the process of cutting will be met by an automatic
temporary halt or reduction of speed in feeding and a slight rebound of the chisels;
seventh, to provide a means for raising and lowering the cylinders to suit any
thickness of stone by means of worm-gears operated by friction-feed; eighth, to
provide a certain steady uniform method of feeding by a combination of a cogged
rail attached to the feeding-car and a set of friction-pulleys.
To these ends my invention consists in the peculiar combination and novel
arrangements of the several parts of the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying
drawings, all of which will hereinafter be fully described in the annexed Specifi-
cation, and particularly pointed out in the claims.
Referring to the drawings,
Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section on the line 11, Fig. 6.
Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section on the line 2 2, Fig. 6.
Fig. 3 is a detailed section of a portion of the metal cylinder, showing chisels as
set for cutting moldings.
Fig. 4 is a section of a portion of the metal cylinder, showing the chisels set for
scabbling or planing.
Fig. 5 is an elevation of one side of the machine.
Fig. 6 is a top view of the machine.
Fig. 7 shows a part of the cylinder-shaft beam, with adjustable journal-box of one
cylinder in each beam.
Fig. 8 is a horizontal view of the adjustable journal-box in the cylinder-shaft
beam.
Fig. 9 is a detailed section of the cast-iron slot in the car, showing the manner
of holding the stone in place in connection with the rod and wedge shown in

page_text: ;
Fig. 10 illustrates some of the chisels used in connection with this machine.
In the accompanying drawings, A indicates the upper longitudinal beams
B, the supports; C, the sills; D, the cross-beams, which are bolted together and
constitute the framework of the machine, which is securely anchored in a heavy
stone foundation.
F' denotes a longitudinal beam secured centrally under the reciprocating car F, the
outer edges of which are formed with longitudinal runners' F', which ride upon the
rollers vv, journaled in the stone base, as clearly shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings.
The beam F is formed with a cogged rail or rack f, which meshes with a cogged
wheel, fixed on a transverse shaft g, journaled under the car, upon the outer end
of which is fixed an iron friction-pulley G, which is revolved in reverse directions
by means of the adjustable paper friction-pulleys H H', which are arranged to be
alternately brought in contact with the pulley G, such operation being accomplished
by means of a lever and bar attachment 1. (See Fig. 6.) When the pulley G is
held free of the pulleys H H', the car remains stationary, and the movement of the
car in either direction corresponds with the movement of the pulley G through the
medium of the cog-wheel and rack ff. The pulley H, Fig. 6, is revolved by
means of a straight belt h from the counter-shaft a', and the pulley H¹ is revolved
by means of a crossed belt ¹ from the same shaft, such shaft being driven by the
belt S', which connects its pulley t¹ with a pulley t on the main or drive shaft A¹,
provided with a fly-wheel F and driven in the usual manner.
Cast-iron or steel cylinders E are provided, of which any number may be used,
though the drawings show only four, said cylinders being supported in vertically-
adjustable iron beams K K, provided with bearing-boxes for the cylinder-shafts.
Said beams K (see Fig. 1) are arranged so each set of beams will carry a pair of
cylinders. One of such cylinders has its bearings so arranged that it may be
slightly raised or lowered without interference with the other cylinder on the same
beam. This lowering and raising of the cylinder is accomplished by means of the
set-screws k, operating on the cylinder-shaft boxes k' k', which move up and down,
being flanged over both sides of the machine, and each beam bears one end of
two cylinders. These beams are sustained by the screw-rods L, held in place by
cast-iron tracks fastened on the posts B, which serve to guide the beams K K.
These rods have their threads arranged to be screwed through the internally-
threaded worm-wheels M M M M, which, when turned in either direction, raise
or lower the rods L L, and therefore the cylinder-shaft beams K, and with them
the cylinders.
The wheels M have bearings on the cast-iron crown-plate, which sustains the
weight of the cylinders, said wheels being operated by the worm-gears N on the
transverse shafts r, which are provided with cog-wheels J", which engage with
cog-wheels J' on the outer ends of the shafts and q', which are connected by a
belt O, as shown in Fig. 6, whereby when the shaft q' is revolved in different
directions the shaft q will revolve in the same direction with it. To provide simple
means whereby the shaft y' may be reversed or remain idle, I provide two
pulleys, fixed on the counter-shaft a', which are connected with loose
pulleys on the shaft 71 by means of a straight belt and a crossed belt,
respectively, as shown in Fig. 6. is a double pulley beveled on each side
toward the loose pulleys and attached to a shifting-lever, ✗, by means of
which it may be jammed into contact with and render fixed either of the loose
pulleys, according as it is desired to raise or lower the cylinders E. When
the lever X is adjusted centrally between the pulleys " " the shaft will be
stationary.
Each of the cylinders E has one end of its shaft projected and provided with a
cog-wheel, each of which is connected by means of a sprocket-belt b with a series
of sprockets a on the power-shaft A', only two of such belts 6 being shown in
Fig. 5 and none in Fig. 6, so as to avoid confusion in the drawings. A series of
tighteners d are provided, one for each belt b, which consist each of a heavy beam
pivoted at its lower end and having a sprocket-wheel at its upper end, which works

page_text: in the sprocket-chain belt. These tighteners are kept in position against the said
belts by means of cords n n, passing over pulleys m¹ m² and provided with counter-
weights, as shown. The tighteners serve to take up slack of the chain belt and
operate as a sort of automatic check when the chisels strike a flinty substance-
ie. by the use of the tighteners the chain belts may be run slack, so as to afford
them an opportunity to give when the resistance suddenly becomes greater than
the normal.
Each of the cylinders E is of cast-iron or steel, made with pockets to receive
the chisels. These pockets are arranged tangentially to the drum and are formed
by chiseling them out to the required arrangement, such pockets being also so
arranged that the cutting force transmitted longitudinally through chisels as the
points or edges thereof come in contact with the stone.
TT indicate the chisels, which are of different shapes, according to the degree
of hardness of the stone, the character of the cutting required, or the detail_of
molding to be cut. Each of the chisels is formed with a slotted upper end t,
through which pass the holding-bolts U, which are threaded into the cylinder, as
shown, their outer ends being also threaded to receive the lock-bolts UI, whereby
the chisels are rigidly held in their respective pockets.
V indicates wedges placed between the butts of the chisels and the shoulder of
the pocket to hold the chisels solidly against the cylinder whenever they have been
shortened by sharpening, said wedges being securely held in place by means of the
elongated washers W, which are held by the nutted bolts U and lap the pockets in
the cylinders, as clearly shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings.
In Fig. 10 various shapes of cutters or chisels are shown, the one marked t being
used for molding.
The use of the paper friction-pulleys forms an automatic check in that the
chisels striking a particularly flinty stone feeding is temporarily stayed. The
lever X controls the raising and lowering of cylinders to suit the thickness of
the stone to be faced, dressed, or molded. The rear post has a scale-plate Z, which,
with the aid of a pointer on the end of the adjacent bearing-box of the cylinder,
shows the thickness to which the stone is being cut. The direction of the car in or
out is governed by the adjustment of lever Y
"
The duty of the studs or bolts U which hold the chisels in place in relation to
the force from the heavy iron cylinder communicated to the butt of the chisel
from the shoulder of the pocket parallels somewhat the action of a workman's
hand in holding a chisel, which is being struck upon the end by a heavy hammer.
It merely affords direction and support therefor.
Z' indicates a wedge at the back of the stone, which, together with the rod u,
fastened at the front of the car, is used to hold the stone steady on its car and
against the chisels and prevent it from bounding.
From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawings, the
advantages and complete operation of my machine will readily appear.
The arrangement of the machine is practical. It is strongly yet compactly
built and will effectually accomplish in a simple manner the work for which it is
constructed.
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 :-
1. The combination, with the reciprocating car, a cog-and-gear mechanism for
operating it, and a drive shaft for operating such mechanism, said shaft provided
with a friction-pulley G, of a set of friction-pulleys H H', arranged to engage the
opposite sides of the pulley G and to be alternately thrown into or out of engage-
ment with said pulleys, lever mechanism for forcing such wheels into frictional
contact with the wheel G and arranged relatively, whereby the said pulley G is
caused to slip and rebound slightly when the chisels strike flinty portions of the
stone and great resistance is met, substantially as and for the purposes described.

page_text: 2. The combination of the reciprocating car, rack-and-gear mechanism for
operating it, a series of cylinders transversely of the car carrying chisels arranged
tangentially, sprocket-wheels on the shaft of the cylinders, the main drive-shaft,
chain connections between the shafts and sprockets, the tighteners d, engaging said
chains, and the friction-pulley devices for operating the rack-and-gear mechanism
of the car, all arranged substantially as shown and described.
3. The combination of the cutting-cylinders having their shafts provided with
sprocket-wheels, the drive shaft, the chain connections between the drive-shaft and
sprocket-wheels, and the tighteners d, having toothed wheels pressing against the
said chain connections, all substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
Dated this 27th day of October 1891.
REGINALD W. BARKER.