IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING BUNGS OR SHIVES FOR CASKS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Robinson, of Rochdale, in the County of
Lancaster, Engincer, and John Smith, of the same Place, Engineer,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING BUNGS
OR SHIVES FOR CASKS."
Scaled the 27th March 1874, and dated the 29th September 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Robinson and
· John Smith at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 29th September 1878.
0
WC, JOHN ROBINSON, of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, and JOHN SMITH, of the same Place, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR CUTTING BUNGS OR SHIVES FOR CASKS," to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists in an arrangement whereby in one machine
the cylindrical section of timber is cut out and the necessary conical
form added. For these purposes we employ a hollow cylindrical saw
and subsequently a rotatory cutter or cutters which produce the conical
form.

page_text: The arrangement we propose is as follows:-In a suitable frame we
mount two spindles which as the timber is fed close upon it and hold it
firmly for the action of the cylindrical saw which is mounted concentric
to the said spindles. The saw is then caused to advance and sever a
cylinder of the timber, and the spindles being then traversed convey the
said cylinder to a block provided with rotatory cutters which shave off
the timber into the required conical form. This having been done the
spindles move back and by separating allow the finished bung or shive
to fall into any receptacle.
The timber may be fed by hand against a suitable "fence" but wo
propose also to make the said feeding self-acting by placing the timber
upon a chain or other travelling surface to which an intermittent motion
is given by means of suitable gearing so as to cause it to advance in
successive distances for the operations of the saw, and the timber may
in either case be in lengths from which several bungs are to be cut, or
in shorter pieces one for cach of the articles to be produced.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said John Robinson and John Smith in the Great Scal
Patent Office on the 28th March 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, wc, JOHN
ROBINSON, of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, and
JOHN SMITH, of the same Place, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her, most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of September,
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-seventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, givo
and grant unto us, the said John Robinson and John Smith, Her
special license that we, the said John Robinson; and John Smith,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, tlie
said John Robinson and John Smith, our exccutors, 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

page_text: of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING BUNGS
OR SHIVES FOR CASKS," upon the condition, amongst others, that we, the
said John Robinson and John Smith, by an instrument in writing
under our hands and scals, or under the hand and seal of one of us,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said In-
vention, 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 Smith, do hereby declare the
nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement (and accompanying Drawings,) that is to say) :-
Our Invention consists in an arrangement whereby in one machine a
cylindrical section of timber is cut out and the necessary conical form
added, for which purpose we employ a hollow cylindrical saw and
subsequently in the same machine a rotatory cutter or cutters.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 shews the machine in side
elevation; Fig. 2 in end view, and Fig. 3 in plan view.
Figs. 4 and 5 are detached views of the rotatory cutter which gives
the conical form, and Figs. 6 and 7 are detached views hereafter to bé
referred to.
At 1 is the framework of the machine upon which are pedestals 2, 3,
carrying a revolving tube 4 which is driven by a strap passing over a
pulley 5, and upon this tube is mounted a hollow cylindrical saw 6, the
tube 4 being carried by its bearings so that it may be caused to slide
to and fro therein. Upon the said tube is a grooved boss 7 embraced by
a fork on the end of a lever 8 capable of turning upon a centre 9, and
upon this centre is another lever 10 the lower end of which is provided
with a pin situated within a slot formed in a rod 11 the other end of
which is connected to an excentric 12 mounted upon a shaft 13. Upon
this shaft 13 is another excentric 14 the rod 15 of which is formed with
a slot 16 in which there is a pin projecting from a lever 17 capable of
turning upon a centre 18, which centre carries another lever 19 con-
nected at top by a link to a rod 20 capable of sliding within the tubo 4,
and the other end of this rod is furnished with projecting points which
:

page_text: act as one portion of a clamp for contreing the bung or shive as
hereafter to be described; the lever 17 is provided with an arm 21-which
carries a weight 22 thereby tending to turn the said lever in the direction
of the arrow, and consequently tending to slide the rod 20 in the
-direction of the arrow marked thereon. The tube 4 has a tendency to be
slidden in the direction of its arrow-by a weight 10*.
Upon the frame 1 are pedestals 23, 24, supporting a tubular shaft 25,
"which is driven by a strap passing over a pulley 26, and upon this shaft
is mounted a rotatory cutter block 27 shewn detached upon an enlarged
scale at Figs. 4, 5. This block is formed with two projecting parts 27*,
:28, curved on their inward parts to leave a space for the bung or shive,
and upon them are mounted cutters 29, 30. The former of these (29) is
not to turn the general surface of the bung or shive but only the
bevilled part 40, Fig. 6, but the latter gives the general taper form 41,.
42. Two cutters only are shown but more may be fixed to the blook.
⠀ At 31 is a rod capable of sliding within the tubular shaft 25. and
carrying at one end projecting points which constitute the second part of
the clamp for holding the timber to be operated upon. The other end
of this rod 31 is connected by a link to a lever 32 turning on a centre 33,
which also carries another lever 34 having a suspended weight 35. 2
At 30 is a driving pulley the shaft of which has a pinion 37 taking
into a wheel 38 upon a shaft 39 provided with a bevil pinion 40 in gear
with a wheel 41 upon the above mentioned excentric shaft 13.
. According to the method of cutting the bungs or shives now to be
described the timber is first of all cut into strips of the required 2
thickness and of a width corresponding to the extremo diameter of the
bung or shive; a strip so cut is shewn at Fig. 7 and the dotted circles
thereon represent the manner in which it is to be separated into tho
required articles, the circles being successively cut out.
According to the positions of the parts shown in the Drawing a bung 3
or shive has just been cut and has been discharged from the operating
parts and I will suppose for convenience of description that a fresh strip
of wood is to be operated upon and the first bung or shive cut therefrom.
The attendant places the strip upon a support 42 and slides it forward
until its end arrives in contact with a stop 43 and this forms a gauge as 3
will be described for successive bungs or shives to be cut from one strip
of wood. The pulley 36 being now caused to revolve will, through the

page_text: medium of the gearing 37, 38, 40, 41, drive the shaft 13, the pulleys 5,
26 being also caused to revolve by an overhead shaft or other suitable
means, and thus drive the two tubes 4, 25. The first effect will be that
the excentric 14 moving in the direction of the arrow will thrust forward
the connecting rod 15 in the direction of its arrow, whereby the end of
the slot therein will be moved away from the pin projecting from the
lever 17 and thus allow the weight 22 to turn the said lever upon its
centre 18, and thus cause the other lever 19 to turn in the direction of
the arrow, the consequence of which will be that the rod 20 will be
borne forward and and the projecting points will be brought to press upon
the strip of timber, its other side being forced against the projecting
points on the end of the rod 31 which is prevented from sliding in its
tube by the more heavily weighted lever 34, and thus the strip of wood
becomes held in a clamp constituted by the points on the rods 20, 31.
Immediately following this movement the excentric 12 by revolving will
act by the end of the slot in the rod 11 upon the pin which projects
from the lever 10, and by thus acting upon the said lever will cause the
other lever 8 to turn in the direction of its arrow and thrust forward the
tube 4 and consequently hollow cylindrical saw 6, whereby the said saw
by its rotation and forward motion will cut out a cylindrical piece of
timber.
.
The above described operations will have taken place without the end
of the slot 16 in the rod 15 having arrived in contact with the pin in the
lever 17, but when they have been accomplished then the end 10*
arrives in contact with the said pin and by pushing it forward causes the
lever 19 to turn further in the direction of the arrow by the force of the
motive power against the resistance of the weight 35, it being at liberty
to do so by reason of the severance of the circular piece of timber, and
this movement carries the said severed piece gradually between tho
cutters 29, 30. The latter of these cutters first acts upon it and by its
rotation brings it to the required conical form, and when it arrives at the
other cutter 29 the bevil edge 40 of Fig. 6 is produced.
The excentric shaft 13 will now have performed a half revolution and
its further movement will withdraw the end of the slot in the rod 11
from the pin projecting from the lever 10, and the weight 10* will then
be at liberty to draw back the saw 6 into the position shown. At the
same time the end 16* of the slot in the rod 15 will be withdrawn from
the pin carried by the lever 17, and the weight 35 which has been

page_text: i
raised by the motive power will be at liberty to fall, and through the
levers 32, 34, thrust forward the rods 31, 20, the said weight 35 being as
before stated of greater power than that shewn at 22. .
.!.
By these movements the the bung.or shive will have been forced from
the cutter block and then the outward end of the slot in the rod 15 will 5
have arrived in contact with the pin projecting from the lever 17, and
by drawing it forward will turn the lever 19 in the direction contrary to
that of the arrow and so slide back the rod 20 somewhat further,
whereby the bung or shive becomes liberated from the clamp and is free
to fall down an incline 50 into any convenient receptacle. The parts
1
are now in the positions shewn in the Drawings, and another bung or
shive has to be cut from the strip of timber, which strip after tho
aforesaid severance is of the shape shown at Fig. 8. In order that this
may be done the attendant simply pushes forward the strip of wood ...
against the stop 43 which is not of the same, width as the said strip but. 1
simply a small rod which will lie in the extreme periphery of the circle,
as seen in Fig. 8, and the gauge for the next cut is therefore adjusted
as well as if the severed part left a straight line.
;
4
The headstock 23, 24, is mounted so as to capable of sliding on the
frame 1 by means of a pulley handle 51, on the shaft of which there is a 20
screw taking into a nut 52 on the said headstock, any desired position
being secured by a tightening bolt 53. This is for the purpose of
adjusting the cutter block in reference to the saw 6 which at times must¯¯
of course be sharpened and thus made shorter.
The saw is adapted to the tube 4 by means of a wedge shaped end 2
driven into a similar formed recess, as is now the case when saws of this
description are used, and it is provided with a perforation 54 for the
passage of sawdust.
The above description has referred only to cutting a number of bungs
or shives from a strip of wood, but sometimes it may be desired to work 3
up picces of timber large enough for one bung or shive only, as in the
case of end pieces of the aforesaid strips; under these circumstances we
use a holder of suitable form, an arrangement of which adapted for end
pieces of the strips is shewn at Figs. 9, 10. It consists of a lever 60
mounted on a centre carried by a bracket 61 which is attached to the 3
top of the pedestal 23. The lever 60 has a recess 62 which in this case
is formed with a semicircular part 63 corresponding to the half of a bung

page_text: or shive which has been cut. In this the odd piece of timber is placed,
the lever being turned up for that purpose, and when it is turned down
the proper position is attained for the above described operations. In
this case the stop 43 is of course removed. In the above description I
have referred to the timber being fed by hand, but it will be obvious
that a travelling apparatus similar to many arrangements in common
use for similar purposes may be employed so as to make the feed self-
acting.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature. of our said Inven-
tion and the manner in which the same is to be performed, we desire
it to be understood that we claim as secured to us under the above in
part recited Letters Patent, and for the purpose above set forth, the com-
bined use of the cylindrical saw and cutter block, substantially as
described, also the use of the sliding rods 20, 81, for conveying the
circular piece of timber to the rotatory cutters, and then discharging
the finished bung or shive.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Smith, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of March, in the year of
our Lord. One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
tho finished bung or shive.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Smith, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of March, in the year of
our Lord. One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.