IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY SUITABLE FOR CUTTING INDIA-RUBBER FILLETS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Macmillan Dunlop, of Manchester, Engineer,
for the Invention of."IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY SUITABLE FOR CUTTING
INDIA-RUBBER FILLETS."
Sealed the 15th August 1861, and dated the 23rd February 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Macmillan Dunlop
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 23rd February 1861.
I, JOHN MACMILLAN DUNLOP, of Manchester, Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY SUITABLE FOR
CUTTING INDIA-RUBBER FILLETS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery suitable for
cutting india-rubber fillets. For these purposes the machinery is arranged to
cut fillets from circular flat discs of india-rubber by cutting from the peripheries
towards the centres of the discs. The machine is constructed with a view to
use a circular cutter or knife, which is fixed on an axis, and by preference on
a horizontal axis (though that is not essential), so that the circular knife or
cutter will revolve in a vertical plane. This axis is driven by an endless strap
or band acting on a drum or pulley. And from this axis rotatory motion is,
by suitable gearing, communicated to a roller, which by constantly acting on
the periphery or peripheries of the disc or discs which is or are being cut

page_text: gives a uniform surface speed to such disc or discs notwithstanding the
diameter of the disc or discs constantly becoming less and less, and the cut is
made by the edge of the circular knife or cutter at the part near where the
roller is pressing on the disc or discs,. that is,. at a point between the place of
contact of the roller and the centre of the disc or discs, according to the thick-
ness which is being cut off. The axis on which the disc or discs of india-
rubber is or are placed, is moved progressively towards the pressing and
actuating roller by gearing, which receives motion suitable for keeping the
periphery or peripheries of the disc or discs in contact with the actuating
roller.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,. filed
by the said John Macmillan Dunlop in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 23rd August 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE. PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
MACMILLAN DUNLOP, of Manchester, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS. Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the. twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Macmillan Dunlop, Her special licence that I, the said John
Macmillan Dunlop, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Macmillan Dunlop, 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 SUITABLE FOR CUTTING INDIA-RUBBER
FILLETS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Macmillan
Dunlop, 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 calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Macmillan Dunlop, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same

page_text: is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery for cutting
india-rubber fillets. For these purposes the machinery is arranged to cut
fillets from circular flat discs of india-rubber by cutting from the peripheries
towards the centres of the discs. The machine is constructed with a view to
use a circular cutter or knife which is fixed on an axis, and by preference on
a horizontal axis (though that is not essential), so that the circular knife or
cutter will revolve in a vertical plane. This axis is driven by an endless strap
or band acting on a drum or pulley, and from this axis rotatory motion is, by
suitable gearing, communicated to a roller, which, by constantly acting on the
periphery or peripheries of the disc or discs which is or are being cut, gives a
uniform surface speed to such disc or discs notwithstanding the diameter of
the disc or discs constantly becoming less and less, and the cut is made by the
edge of the circular knife or cutter at the part near where the roller is pressing
on the disc or discs, that is, at a point between the place of contact of the roller
and the centre of the disc or discs, according to the thickness which is being
cut off. The axis on which the disc or discs of india-rubber is or are placed,
is moved progressively towards the pressing and actuating roller by gearing,
which receives motion suitable for keeping the periphery or peripheries of the
dise or discs in contact with the actuating roller.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed more
fully to describe the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a plan, and Figure 2 a side view of machinery arranged accord-
ing to my Invention; Figure 3 is an end view of some of the parts.
A, A, A, are three (or it may be other number of) circular discs of india-
rubber, which are to be cut into tapes or fillets by a cutter, cutting from the
peripheries towards the centres of the discs; C is the first motion shaft which
receives its motion by a strap acting on the pulley D, keyed on to the shaft C,
the speed of which may be from 1,000 to 1,500 revolutions per minute; this
first motion shaft C carries the circular cutter B, of about 12 or 14 inches
diameter; it is a steel disc, sharp at its edges. The shaft C runs in the bear-
ings E, E', secured to and supported by the foundation plate of the machine ; it
is extended beyond the bearing E¹, and has a worm or screw F cut on the end
of it, as shown on the plan, Figure 1. This worm or screw F gears into the worm
wheel G, and through the intermediate spur wheels H, I, and K, communicates
motion- to the spur wheel L, seen in Figure 2. This spur wheel L is keyed

page_text: on the bottom end of the contact roller shaft M. By these means a regular
and uniform number of revolutions of the contact roller, in proportion to the
number of revolutions of the circular cutter, is effected. The circular discs of
rubber A, A, A, are placed on the square part of the vertical shaft N. This
square extends from the under side of the nut O to the top of the collar N¹,
the discs being secured in their position by the nut O. The shaft N revolves
in a bearing bored in the slide P, the slide P moving freely in a groove Q, in
the foundation plate of the machine, in which it is well fitted. On the bottom
end of the vertical shaft N is keyed a mitre or bevil wheel R, gearing into a
mitre or bevil wheel S, keyed on the end of the horizontal shaft T, below the
foundation plate of the machine. The shaft T is carried by two bearings; one,
U, is a fixed bearing, it being screwed to the bed plate of the machine; the
other V, is attached to or may form part of the slide P; and therefore as the
slide P is moved backwards or forwards in the groove Q, the shaft T and
the wheel S will be kept in the same relative positions to the slide P and the
vertical shaft N, and they will move laterally with them. On the end of the
shaft T, outside the foundation plate, is a wheel W, in the centre hole of which
is fixed a fast key; this key works into a groove in the shaft T, thereby turn-
ing the wheel W, but at the same time allowing the shaft T to move endways
through the wheel W. The wheel W is kept in its position (that is, from
traversing with the shaft T) as shewn in the Drawing, by means of a fork
screwed to the foundation plate, and taking into the groove turned in the boss
of the wheel W, so that the shaft T turns the wheel W and slides through its
centre freely.
The spur
wheel W gears into and drives a spur wheel X on the end of the
screw Y; the screw Y has a fixed bearing in the foundation plate of the
machine; it screws into a nut in the slide P, and it will cause the slide P'to.
move backwards or forwards in the groove Q, according to the direction (right
or left) in which it is turned; the end of the screw Y where the wheel X acts
has a groove, into which a fast key in the wheel X takes. The wheel X has
a handle or handles Z, by which it is moved endways on the screw Y in and
out of gear with the wheel W on the shaft T, and by which the screw is
turned, and thereby the slide P moved, so as to bring the discs A, A, A, into
contact at their peripheries with the contact roller M when commencing to
cut. When the discs are thus brought into contact with the contact or feed-
ing roller M, the wheel X is moved on the screw end Y till it gears into the
wheel W, and the machine will then be ready for cutting. The position of the
wheel X, when out of gear with the wheel W, is shown in Figures 1 and 2,
being sketched in red lines.

page_text: Having now described the different parts of the machine, I will show how
it operates.
The three or more discs of rubber A, A, A, (the number may be varied
according to their thickness,) are put on the vertical shaft N, and made secure
by screwing down the nut O; the wheel X, being out of gear with the wheel
W, and in the position shown in red lines, it is turned by the handles Z, and
by it and the screw Y the slide P is moved in the groove Q till the rubber
discs A, A, A, come into contact with the contact or feeding or regulating
roller M, as seen in Figure 1. The wheel X is then put into gear with the
wheel W and the machine started, by motion being given to the shaft C by
the strap acting on the pulley D; the shaft C then gives a uniform motion to
the contact roller M through the worm or screw F, the worm wheel G, and the
intermediate spur wheels H, I, K, and L. The contact roller M, being in
contact with the rubber discs A, A, A, causes them to revolve at a uniform
surface speed, and to deliver a regular and uniform length to be cut by the
revolving cutter B. The number of revolutions of the discs A, A, A, being in
direct proportion to their diameters, as the discs are reduced in diameter by
cutting, the number of their revolutions in relation to the number of revolu-
tions of the cutter shaft C, will be increased in the same proportion as the
diameters are reduced by cutting.
The vertical shaft N having thus an increasing speed given to it in propor-
tion to the reduced diameters of the discs A, A, A, causes the screw Y also to
revolve at a corresponding increased speed by means of the bevel wheels R and
S, the shaft T, and the spur wheels W, X; therefore as the discs A, A, A, are
reduced in diameter by cutting, they are kept in contact with the contact roller
M at a uniform pressure by the slide P, which carries the discs A, A, A, up to
the contact roller M, moving at an accelerated speed in direct proportion to
the reduced diameters of the discs.
The thickness of the fillets or strips of india-rubber to be cut by the machine
is regulated or determined by the distance of the cutter B from the periphery
of the contact roller M, and this distance may be made more or less, accord-
ingly, either by moving the cutter B to or from the contact roller M, or the
contact roller M to or from the cutter B; the wheels W and X being so
regulated and proportioned, that when a thick or thin fillet is to be cut, their
5 diameters will be such as will give a corresponding speed to the screw Y,
thereby keeping the discs A, A, A, uniformly in contact with the contact roller
M; thus, for a thick fillet the wheel X would be made smaller in diameter,
and the wheel W larger in diameter, and for a thin fillet the reverse.
The contact roller M is fluted on the periphery in lines parallel to the axis,

page_text: so as to give it more certain action on the rubber discs to turn them round, and
I prefer to make this roller of brass. I construct a water trough under the
foundation bed of the machine, which is kept constantly supplied with water,
and into which the lower part of the cutter revolves, so that it is kept well
lubricated when at work.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Macmillan Dunlop, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of August, in the year of our
JOHN M. DUNLOP. (L.S.)