IMPROVEMENTS IN BAND SAWING MACHINERY FOR SAWING WOOD, IRON, OR OTHER MATERIAL
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Martin Benson, of No. 9, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, London, for the In-
vention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BAND SAWING MACHINERY FOR SAWING WOOD,
IRON, OR OTHER MATERIAL."-A communication from abroad by John
Richards, of Philadelphia, Penslyvania, United States of North
America.
Sealed the 30th November 1869, and dated the 15th June 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Martin Benson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th June 1869.
I, MARTIN BENSON, of No. 9, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, London, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BAND SAWING MACHINERY FOR
SAWING WOOD, IRON, OR OTHER MATERIAL," a communication to me from
abroad by John Richards, of Philadelphia, Pensylvania, United States of
North America, to be as follows :—
The Invention of these improvements relates to band sawing
machinery for sawing wood, iron, and other material, for increasing
their efficiency, and to prevent the breaking of saws used by such

page_text: machines. A portion of the improvements are a guide or support for
such saws, and consists of rollers without grooves or flanges, the axis
revolving on pivots and arranged to adjust longitudinally so as to bring
any portion of the periphery of the rolls in position to receive the strains
at the back of the saw, combined with adjustable or stationary guides for
the side of the saw blade. One of the guides is placed above and the
other below the saw table; the one placed above is suspended to a
tubular stem or bar, thereby securing great strength and stiffness with
little weight. In connecting the guide to the stem it is made to partially
rotate for adjusting it to the line of the saw; the other roller guide is
attached to the saw frame at a suitable distance below the saw table, and
provided with means for adjustment in all directions to the line of the
saw blade. By means of these several improvements the flanges
commonly used on the wheel of band sawing machines as guides to
keep the saw on the wheel are dispensed with, which when used under
the most favourable circumstances are the principle cause of the saw
blade breaking.
This improvement further consists in means to adjust the relative
position of the axis of the wheels to govern the proper running of the
saw blade on the face of the wheels.
Another portion of the improvement consists in combining a lever
with the adjusting screw for the purpose of straining the saw band, the
lever being provided with a sliding adjustable weight to regulate such
strain, and so arranged that the tension on the saw shall be constant and
uniform when adjusted or regulated to any intensity of strain required,
and not changed or affected by the adjustment of the movable wheel.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Martin Benson in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 4th December 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MARTIN 30
BENSON, of No. 9, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of June, in the year of.

page_text: our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Martin Benson, Her special licence
that I, the said Martin Benson, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Martin Benson, 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
BAND SAWING MACHINERY FOR SAWING WOOD, IRON, OR OTHER MATERIAL,"
communication to me from abroad by John Richards, of Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, United States of America, upon the condition (amongst,
others) that I, the said Martin Benson, 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.
" a.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Martin Benson, 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 :-
This Invention relates to band sawing machines and to certain
improvements to prevent the breaking of saws and to increase their
efficiency and capacity for work of all kinds to which they are adapted,
and consists, first, in constructing the wheels of such machines without
flanges, the saw being kept in proper position on the face of the wheels
by an improved antifriction guide to be herein-after described, and by
changing the relative position of the axis of the wheels so as to cause
the saw to bear more or less against the guides of such adjustment..
When flanges are used on the wheels of these machines the saw in
bearing against the flanges on the top and bottom wheel and against
the guide above the table is supported on its back at three points,
and any variation from a true line through these three bearings produces.
a curvature of the saw blade in the direction of its thin section, and
soon causes it to break, but by constructing the wheels. as herein.

page_text: described no such curvature can take place as the saw has no bearing
at its back, except at or near the wood or other material being sawed,
no such curvature or bending of the saw is possible.
Secondly. This Invention consists in the use of an antifriction
roller guide for the back of the saw blade, and adjustable lateral
guides, composed of leaves or plates, arranged in such manner that
saws of different widths may be used, and the guides readily adjusted
to suit them. The roller at the back of the saw is plain, and flat on
its periphery, having no grooves or flanges, and is arranged to adjust
laterally, thereby presenting different parts of the periphery to the
saw as may be necessary from wear; its thickness must of course be
sufficient to allow of adjustment for this purpose, and the bearings
moveable in the line of its axis. The lateral guides consist of a number
of plates whose edges can be brought in contact with the sides of the
saw blade, their thickness being such that one set of plates shall not
in their thickness exceed the width of narrow saws, and their number
such that their aggregate depth will be sufficient to hold the widest
saw from twisting or turning with the work. These guide plates are
tapered on one edge and so held by screws working in slots that
they may be adjusted to and from the saw blade, and remain parallel
to its line of motion, and thus enable the operator to use one or more
pairs of the plates, as the width of the saw may require, the others
are set back sufficiently to avoid the teeth.
The mode of using this Invention will be better understood by
referring to the accompanying Drawings. Fig. 1 is a side elevation
of a band sawing machine; Figs. 2 and 3 are front and side views of
the top saw guide; Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view of the guide
roller, shewing the edges of the lateral guide plates; Fig. 5 is a longi-
tudinal sectional view of the guide roller, shewing the arrangements
of parts for longitudinally adjusting the rollers; and Fig. 6 is a front
view of the guide plates for the sides of the saw.
A, A', are the wheels constructed with their peripheries flat and without
flanges as before described. The axis of the top wheel A¹ is so arranged
by means of proper mechanical appliances that it can be adjusted to
change the plane of rotation, such devices can be arranged in any
well known manner, it being considered unnecessary to define any
special mode of accomplishing such adjustment. The means of straining

page_text: the saw will be better understood from the Drawings, the. tension
being regulated by a weight B and lever C, the lever liaving a fulcrum
connecting with the adjusting screw E, which is provided with proper
stops to regulate the range of movement of the lever C. M is the top
saw guide above and N the bottom guide below the table shewn in
enlarged elevation in Figs. 2. and 3. The top guide M.is arranged to
adjust to different heights above the table to accommodate the thickness
of the material being sawed, by means of the stem F in the usual
manner. The guide N is fixed to bracket G, and is similar in all
respects to the top guide, except the supports which connect it to the
machine.
Referring to Figs. 4 and 5, the guide plates O, O, and X, X, and
wheels or rollers S are made of any suitable material, or metal, by
preference hardened steel to resist abrasion. The axis of the rollers
$ has pivot points, running in the adjustable bearings, h, h³, these
bearings being held by set screws, d, d, in such manner as to allow
of their being set in either direction in the line of the axis, and thus
allow the saw to run on different parts of the periphery of the wheel
as before described. The guide plates O, O, are arranged to adjust
by means of the screw slots shewn in Figs. 2 and 6, by moving them
vertically they approach the saw blade by reason of the diagonal
bearing on their outer edge, as will be readily understood, the front
guide plates are in the position shewn in Fig. 2 and do not come in
contact with the saw, while the back part of plates X, X, only are
acting to keep the saw from twisting, and to keep it in a true vertical.
line.
I am aware that rollers have been employed to guide and support
the saws in band sawing machines, such rollers having either grooves
or flanges to guide the saw. I do not therefore claim broadly the
use of these appliances independent of the modification shewn and
described, but I claim,-
First. A band sawing machine with the wheels constructed without
flanges, the saw being guided as herein described, or other means
substantially the same.
Second. I claim the back supporting roller when constructed with
a flat or parallel periphery, and having an adjustment transverse to
the plane of its rotation, as herein-before described.

page_text: Third. I claim the adjustable lateral guides composed of two or more
plates, and having adjustments as herein described, or by other means
substantially the same.
In witness whereof, I, the said Martin Benson have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of December, in the 5
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.