An Improved Machine for Splitting Fire Wood.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Dec., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 12th Aug., 1895-Accepted, 26th Oct., 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Machine for Splitting Fire Wood.
I, SAMUEL BURR JOYCE Engineer The Grotto Kings Street Thetford Norfolk
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This machine consists of a strong wooden frame upon which is fixed a heavy
fly wheel, and upon two arms of this wheel me fixed two knives for splitting the
wood one on each arm. The wood to be split is put into a box provided for that
purpose and is automatically fed by means of rollers worked by cams and levers
toward the knives as they revolve with the wheel There is also provided a lever
to hold the blocks of wood down ught whilst bong split which is worked
automatically by a cam and spring, and a spring is also provided to keep the wood
in place against the side of the box in case it should not fill the whole of the space
therein. There is also a lever provided to stop the feed if required Two sets of
knives go with the machine, a pan of plain ones and a pan of corrugated ones, the
latter split the wood into small pieces the first time it goes through, in using the
plain ones the wood must be fed through twice.
Dated this 28th day of December 1894.
An Improved Machine for Splitting Fire Wood.
SAMUEL BURK JOYCE Engmeet The Grotto, Kings Street, Thetford Norfolk
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 aud by the
following statement :-
My improved machine for splitting fine wood consists of a strong wooden frame
upon which is fixed two beatings for carrying a shaft, and on the front end of the shaft
is fixed a heavy fly wheel, and on two opposite aims of this wheel are fixed two
knives for splitting the wood one on each arm.
There are also two sheet non
guards fixed to the aforesaid wheel and are so placed that one end butts up to the
back of one knife and the other cud laps over the blade of the other knife, thus
forming a mouth similar to that of an ordinary plane.
The wood to be split is cut into blocks the desired length and then put into the
feed box, and is automaticaly pressed forward (by means of a weight and sliding
bar connected by a cham) until it is stopped by the sheet on guards.
When the wheel evolves the knife being nearer the inside of the machine than
the sheet iron guaid by the desired thickness of the wood to be split, it cuts off
the piece that projects from the inside edge of the blade and when the back of the
knife has passed the block, the block is again pressed forward to the sheet iron
guaids ready for the next knife
In this case where two plain knives are used, the slices of wood cut off must be
fed through the machine again, put into the feed box side by side and a sping and
lever is provided to keep them upright against the side of the box, but when one
plain knife and one grooved huife are used, the guards nie so placed that the
grooved knife cuts out V shaped pieces and the plain knife cuts off the V shaped
pieces that were left on the block by the grooved knife, and so the block is divided
into small pieces at one operation.

page_text: In order that my said invention may be more fully understood and readily carried
into effect I will proceed to describe the drawings hereunto annexed.
Figure (1) is a front elevation of a fire wood splitting machine constructed
according to my invention.
Figure (2) is an end elevation of the same.
Figure (3) 18 a plan of the same.
Figure (4) 15 an elevation of the grooved knife.
Figure (5) is a plan of the grooved knife.
To the beams A are fixed the bearings B which carry the shaft C, on the front
end of which is fixed the fly wheel D, and E and F are the two knives for splitting
the wood and are fixed to the arms G and II by means of bolts and nuts.
The sheet ion guards I and J extend from the back of the kmfe E at I to the
front of the knife F at K and from J to L.
The sheet iron guards can be adjusted to any desired distance from the knives
by the setscrews M N O P and Q R S T which secure them to the wheel D.
The blocks to be split are put into the box U and are pressed toward the
knives E and F by the arm V which is held in the sliding socket W and is actuated
by the weight X which is connected to the sliding socket W by the chain Y.
When the sliding socket W has gone to the end of its journey, the arm V can be
removed by lifting the knob Z, the sliding socket W is then brought to the other
eud of the feed box U by pulling the lever A' which is moveable round a pin in
the centre of the side of the feed box U and actuates the chain Y of which one
end is attachel to it, and will pass under any blocks that may be put into the feed
box U without touching them, and then the arm V is dropped into the sliding
socket W and the feed is continued as before.
The lever B' is to keep the blocks firm against the side of the feed box U, and
to prevent them from kicking when the knives E and F strike them, and is at
liberty to move round the pin C' but is held back by the spring D' which is fixed
to the levci E and that is moveable round the pin and held in the catch
biacket G so that by moveing the lever E' into different notches in the bracket G¹
'the tension on the lever B' is altered to suit the condition of the blocks to be split.
Figme is a grooved knife which can be placed on the fly wheel D when it is
required to split the blocks into small pieces at one operation as heretofore
described and consists of an iron plate cut the shape as shown in the annexed
drawings and faced with steel on the cutting edge the grooves are forced out so as
to project on the back of the knife and taper up into the plate again at about
three inches from the cutting edge the groves form an angle of 90°. The side
edge Hand the outside edge I are parts of true circles.
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. A fire wood splitting machine that splits the wood by means of knives fixed
upon a fly wheel as heretofore described.
2. A fire wood splitting machine with sheet non guards fixed to a fly wheel to
prevent the blocks of wood from coming between the spokes of the fly wheel and
to determine the thickness of the piece to be split off.
3. A hre wood splitting machine in which the feed motion is caused by a sliding
socket diawn by a weight.aud chain at one end and a lever and chain at the
other end.
4. A fine wood splitting machine with a grooved knife, the outside and inside
edges of which are parts of true cncles and the grooves V shaped.
Dated this 10th day of August 1895.
SAMUEL BURR JOYCE.