Improved Firelighter, and the Machinery for Manufacturing same.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 10th June, 1890
Complete Specification Left. 10th Mar., 1891-Accepted, 2nd May, 1891
DDOVISIONAT
SPECIFICATION
PROVISI
SPECIFICATION
An Improved Firelighter, and the Machinery for Manufacturing
same.
JOHN FINEY, of No. 26 Abingdon Road Southsea, in the County of Hants
Coal Merchant do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This my invention relates to various improvements in the cutting of woods
diagonaly by knives or cutters suitably arranged for same and then afterwards
being cut out or slotted as necessary, placed in position and then passed through a
machine or mechanism, so arranged with springs and gearing, as to press the whole
firmly and tightly together, thin edge to thin edge or otherwise as desired, which
may be in the shape of a crossed square or other patterns and afterwards be wholly
or partially coated with suitable combustible materials to form a compact and
reliable firelighter, finding by test that such diagonal cut pieces of woods give the
best results for firelighting, and cut up or split to advantage for same.
My invention consists :-
Firstly in such cutting knives or choppers to be suitably constructed and arranged
in a zig-zag or diagonal manner from one to the other, cutting vertically or
horizontally and acrostways, as many as may be required to be in use at any one
time, with suitable steel springs or indiarubber or any other suitable and flexible
material for the purpose, can be placed at the back or top of knives or cutters to
relieve the pressure and better prevent breaking of same. If forceing through a
knot or other obstruction, with a feeding arrangement for bringing forward
suitably cut blocks and arranged woods under the knives or cutters, by means of
ordinary feed rollers and or sections of troughs or trays interchangeable as may be
required for the better and quicker feeding of said knives or cutters and worked or
actuated by rachett eccentric or other suitable means, and or with hempen or steel
ropes on winding barrells or drums if required for such purposes, so as to feed
forward bodily and at a uniformly intermittent rate as required vertically or
horizontally, and thus cut up or split same into diagonal cut strips or sections as
be desired, and also to prevent such woods from going beyond reach of cutting
knives. A spring stop or catch can be fitted at end for prevention of same; also to
clear knives, should cut or split woods become jan
jammed in between said knives after
cutting, a self ejector can be fitted of required length and shape beyond or above
said knives for clearance of same, and if said knives or cutters are being worked in
a vertical way, then a catch or tray-to be suitably arranged, and worked by levers,
springs, catches or other device so as to come out at the right moment under said
knives or cutters, and thus catch and take away any woods on their being ejected,
such trough or catch tray passing away clear of knives again, as best adapted for
such purposes.
may
示
And secondly by means of stampers, dies, saws, or other cutters out, of suitable
shape, cutting vertically horizontally, or acrostways, with necessary driveing power by
hand or steam, and so arranged as to cut, stamp, or saw out, AV or kind of
shaped slots or openings in the aforesaid diagonal cut pieces of woods to corre-
spondingly fit into other diagonal cut pieces of woods, placed crossways or any
other suitable position for makeing said firelighters, and for the purposes of feeding
such diagonal cut pieces of woods to be stamped or cut out, "when not fed by hand."
into and under the aforesaid stamps, dies or other cutters, they may be placed as
many as necessary on their flats or edges, in a vertical case or trough of corre-
sponding size or dimensions to allow of their freely dropping down to be fed on
their flats or edges into and under such aforesaid stamps or cutters as may be in
use for the purpose, through a suitably placed and shaped diagonal trough or holder,
fixed in proper position for the purpose, feeding automatically" that is the lower
or bottom one first, from the vertical case or trough, and at the right moment, by
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page_text: -
means of suitably arranged levers, springs, joints, slides and or pushes, working
vertically, horizontally, and obliquely, as may be required, with the necessary stops
and catches to properly and intermittently feed the same, automatically in rotation
and at the right moment into and through the diagonal shaped troughs or holders
and under the aforesaid stampers or cutters out, and on leaveing of which, the said
diagonal shaped trough or holder, can be so shaped as to deliver the cut or stamped
out diagonal pieces of woods on its thick end or edge if so desired. After being
stamped or cut out on its flat, by twisting or skewing of such delivery guides all
of which can be more fully and explicitely explained hereafter, in the Complete
Specification.
Thirdly by endless chains or belts, mounted on suitable frame or table with
necessary gearing worked by hand or steam power, and or by endless link chains
of say about 6 and 3 inches each respectively, more or less as desired, being worked
over a drum or shaft of corresponding dimensions all around or only partially
around if preferred to give an intermittent motion to better facilitate the feeding of
same, by hand or automatically, such endless links, chains, or belts, fitted with
carrying cross frames, clamps, or carriages, which act as propellers or form
travelling compartments, running over rollers or other means if necessary for
steadiment of same, and passing through a compressor or sort of 3 or 4 sided
troughs or aperature of required strength length and proportions, regulated to same
if desired, so that when a certain number of diagonal cut and slotted out or notched
out when necessary as may be required to make up a fire lighter are placed in
position athwart and acrost or as may be otherwise desired, on the travelling cross
frames or carriages, they may be drawn, or carried up, or along through the
aforesaid compressor or kind of trough which shall have necessary guides inside
and outside, running longways and or sideways top or bottom as desired, also by
compressor springs, longways or athwartways at top or bottom as to be regulated
if necessary, which shall have the effect of tightening or compressing and clamping
the whole together, in their respective places, so that it does not readily fall apart
after passing through said compressor, when such diagonal cut and slotted pieces
are placed thin edge to thin edge, or otherwise as desired. Also to be fitted with
hand or foot lever, brake, or disconnector for stopping and regulateing of aforesaid
endless links or belts through the compressor when necessary and for the better
feeding of same, any or all of which relateing hereto, may be more fully and clearly
explained in the Complete Specification.
Fourthly to ensure quicker ignition and certain combustion, such firelighters may
be coated either wholly or partially with resin, oils, pitch, or other mixture of
combustible compounds, suitable for the purpose, and also for the quicker and better
partial coating of same when desired, a narrow toothed roller, or a long narrow
toothed appliance of proper length and shape for such purpose, to partially coat
numbers at one time may be used, such aforesaid teeth of suitable size and shape,
keeping a clear air passage for the proper burning or combustion of the aforesaid
firelighters.
Dated this 9th day of June 1890.
JOHN FINEY,
Coal Merchant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Fire-lighter, and the Machinery for Manufacturing
same.
I, JOHN FINEY of 26 Abingdon Road, Southsea, in the County of Hants, Coal
Merchant, 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 the manufacture of fire-lighters and to machinery or
apparatus therefor.

page_text: is secured in a holder C arranged to move up and down in suitable guides over a
bed-plate, along which the wood is fed in any convenient manner. The frame B is
preferably secured in the holder C in the following manner, that is to say, B' B' are
lateral projections or studs formed on or firmly secured to the said frame B, and
which when the latter is placed in the holder C, pass into and rest on the bottom of
inclined slots C' in the said holder. A wedge D is provided in the upper part of
the said holder for the purpose of tightly securing the frame B in place therein.
This wedge is secured by means of a screw-bolt E passing through it and screwed
into the said holder, and the said wedge bears against an inclined surface C² on the
said holder C. A plate or stop F is secured to the forward side of the frame B
beneath the knife or cutter A., to prevent over-feeding of the wood through the
space beneath the said knife or cutter when the latter is raised.
The knife-holder C may have the required movement imparted to it either by
manual or other power. It may, for example, be connected by a rod G to a
suitable crank driven by power transmitted from a steam-engine or other suitable
motor.
The knife or cutter is so arranged that it will descend a short distance into a
suitable opening as shown in (Figure 8) formed in the aforesaid bed-plate and
corresponding in shape to the transverse section of the cutter, a suitable recess is
also formed in the said bed-plate to admit the lower extremity of the frame B. The
wedge-shaped pieces or strips of wood ent, split, or severed, from the block or strip
of wood by the said knife or cutter are thus forced upward in the spaces between
the blades of the cutter, so as to leave the edges of these blades free to engage with
the said block or strip of wood in the next downward movement of the said cutter.
In such downward movement, the pieces or strips first cut, split, or severed, from
the block or strip will be further moved upward in the spaces between the blades
of the cutter, and the said pieces or strips will finally be thrown out or ejected
through the opening B2 above the cutter in the frame B.
The wood is fed to the knife or cutter with the grain placed vertically or in line
therewith, and through a suitable trough on the bed-plate of the machine, or through
or between suitable guides thereon. The said feeding may be effected either by
hand, or automatically by means of suitable feed mechanism.
To form the notches in the wedge-shaped pieces or strips a and to hold the
latter in position whilst the wedge-shaped pieces or strips a¹ are being driven into
or secured in the said notches I prefer to employ the apparatus shown in
Figures 9 to 13, that is to say, H is a metal or other frame open at the top and
bottom, and having internal grooves or notches II of a shape corresponding to that
of the transverse section of the said wedge-shaped pieces or strips a.
H is a plate
or bar one extremity of which is hinged or jointed at H³ to the frame H, and the
other extremity of which is adapted to be secured by means of a hinged or eye bolt I
and winged nut 1, or other suitable fastener, so as to enable the wedge-shaped
pieces or strips a to be firmly clamped or secured in position in the frame H as
shown in Figure 9.
JJ (Figure 11) are circular saws of any suitable description and intended to be
supported upon a spindle in the usual manner. The saws are arranged to project
a suitable distance through slots K' provided in a horizontal table K. KK are
strips or pieces secured to or formed on the table K and between which the frame H
is adapted to fit easily. By passing the said frame H across the table K and
between the strips or pieces K2 which form guides I am enabled to cut (with the
saws ) the right angled portions of the grooves or notches a² as shown in
Figure 11.
To cut the other or slanting portions of the said notches I provide the arrange-
ment shown in Figure 12 wherein the table K slots K' and guide strips or pieces K
are placed at a suitable angle. The circular saws J moreover are of different
diameter in accordance with their position on the saw spindle relatively to the
table K. To force or place the strips or pieces a in position in the notches a
Iturn the frame H containing the said notched pieces a over and then place the

page_text: strips or pieces a' loosely in position therein. The frame H is then passed through
a suitable press or under a ram L as shown in Figure 13 and the said strips a' are
forced or pressed firmly into the notches a².
I find it advantageous to form the pieces or strips a a¹ of the shape shown in
Figures 1, 2 and 3. I sometimes however form them of other suitable wedge-like
shape in transverse section.
It will be readily seen that the hereinbefore described knife or cutter blades can
be arranged to cut pieces or strips a a¹ of any desired wedge-like form in transverse
section; In the latter case the grooves or notches in the frame H are formed of a
shape corresponding with that of the transverse section of the said strips or
pieces aa', and the tables K of the saw benches are arranged at suitable angles to
enable grooves or notches of the requisite form being sawn out of, or formed in the
strips a
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I wish it understood
that I claim :-
First. A fire-lighter composed of wedge-shaped pieces of wood fitted together
substantially as hereinbefore described, and wholly or partially coated, or having
some or all of the spaces between them wholly or partially filled with inflammable
material.
Second. The herein described method of cutting or splitting the wood to form
wedge-shaped pieces for use in the manufacture of my improved fire-lighters.
Third. A knife or cutter so constructed that it will simultaneously cut or sever
two wedge shaped pieces from a strip or block of wood, substantially as and for the
purposes set forth.
Fourth. A frame arranged to be moved up and down and provided with a knife
or cutter such as I have hereinbefore described, and with a plate or stop beneath
the said knife or cutter, substantially as, and for the purposes, set forth.
Fifth. The hereinbefore described device for holding or clamping the strips or
pieces of wood in their proper relative position, for the purposes specified.
Sixth. The improved method of manufacturing fire-lighters consisting in cutting
or splitting wood to form V-shaped or wedge-shaped pieces or strips, cutting-or
forming V-shaped notches in some of the said pieces or strips, and then pressing
other pieces or strips into the said notches, substantially as described.
Seventh. The herein described method of cutting or forming the V-shaped
notches in the pieces or strips of wood by means of saw-benches one of which has
a horizontal table and circular saws of equal diameter, and the other of which
has an inclined table and circular saws of different diameters, as and for the purpose,
specified.
Eighth. The improved apparatus constructed and arranged to operate substan-
tially as described with reference to Figures 4 to 8 of the accompanying drawings
for the purpose above specified.
1
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.