IM- PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS POR CUTTING AND SHAPING
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Hopkins, of Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS POR CUTTING AND SHAPING
Sealed the 9th December 1853, and dated the 13th June 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Hopkins
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 18th June 1858.
I, ROBERT HOPKINS, do hereby declare the nature of the said In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CUTTING
AND SHAPING CORK WOOD AND OTHER SIMILAR SUBSTANCES " to be as
follows:-
The object of this Invention, as its title imports, is to cut cork wood
into corks or bungs for wine and other bottles, or phial corks or bungs
for barrels, or for shaping cork to any shape that my apparatus will per-
form. And as I have experimented with said apparatus I think it best
to file tracings thereof with this my Provisional Specification as the
clearest information for Her Majesty's Attorney or Solicitor General,
to whichever my petition may be referred. In the tracing Figure I,
represents a plan of my machine; Figure 2, an elevation thereof. In
Figure 1, A, is a pulley on the shaft B, on which shaft are seen two

page_text: pulleys C, C, and a worm wheel G, which gives motion to the tangent
wheel H, keyed on shaft I. On shaft I, is fixed two cam discs L, L,
also a crank K. The pulleys C, C, communicate by means of straps
or cords with the pulleys D, D, fixed on spindles E, E, which turn the
knives F, F. In Figure 2, the crank K, communicates with the rod M,
giving it a horizontal movement. On the rod M, are fixed two catches
R, which catch the levers S, and draw back the finger rods , to admit
of another cork being put forward, by which time the catches R, have
passed the levers S, leaving the fingers u, to be pressed forward by the
springs v, to catch the cork, and hold it while the knives F, cut it; the
knives F, on spindles E, have a horizontal as well as a circular motion.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Hopkins in the Great Seal Patent
Office, on the 12th December 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
ROBERT HOPKINS, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Mecha-
nical Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of June, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Robert Hopkins, Her especial
license that I, the said Robert Hopkins, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said. Robert Hopkins,
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
of IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CUTTING AND SHAPING
CORK WOOD AND OTHER SIMILAR SUBSTANCES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Robert Hopkins, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain

page_text: the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the sanie
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 Royal Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robert Hopkins, 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 (that is to say):
My Invention consists of a machine or apparatus to cut or form
cork wood or other similar materials into corks or bungs, instead of
forming or shaping them with knives by hand as is now generally done.
This my machine may be turned or worked either by a foot treddle,
hand wheel, or steam power, and may consist of one cutting apparatus
or single action, or two or more of the same. I have shewn it with
double action or double cutting apparatus in the accompanying Sheet
of Drawings, on which the same letters of reference are used to
represent similar parts where different views or diagrams are shewn.
Fig. 1, is an elevation of my improved machine with double apparatus
or action; Fig. 2, an end clevation thereof, shewing the motions and
connections of the hoppers; and Fig. 3, is a plan of the whole. In
Figs. 1, and 2, a, represents the standards or feet of the machine;
and in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, b, the table or framework on which all the
parts of the machine are fixed; c, the pillars which carry the feceding
hoppers; d, the pieces of wood or material in the hopper, which are
previously cut to the required size by a circular saw or other con-
venient contrivance; E, the cutting tool or knife for making taper
corks; F, the cutting tool for making parallel corks; G, the
feeding hopper for the cutter F; h, the feeding hopper for the
cutter E. The pieces of material already cut as aforesaid are put in
at the top of the hoppers, and the finger rods take them out at the
bottom; when the hoppers are moved forward on their axes i, and when
they are moved back again, another piece drops down in the place of
the one last taken out. The cutting tools E, and F, have a horizontal
as well as a circular motion, the circular motion being given to them
by the pullies m, fixed to the shaft k, which is driven by the pulley 1.
The strap n, passes over the pullies m, and also over the pullies o

page_text: fixed to the hollow spindles P, through which the finger rods M, are
guided to hold the material till cut. The cutters E, and F, are also
fixed to the spindles P, and consequently receive a circular motion
with them. The horizontal motion is communicated from the crank
Q, which is fixed to the shaft r, and is turned round by the tangent
wheels,
which is also fixed to the shaft r, and worked by the worm
t, fixed on the end of the shaft K. The crank Q, acting on the rods
moves them forwards alternately, and they being connected to the
splindles P, by the links v, guided in the collars w, the said spindles
with the rods u, are moved backwards and forwards alternately. When
the crank Q, has moved the rod v, of the cutter F, forward, it passes
off the end of the rod u, and clears it, leaving the spring a, to push it
back to admit of another piece of the material. The crank Q, is then
in a position to act on the lever y, which is fixed to the rod r, and con-
nected to the rod u, by the links A. On the shaft, is fixed the cam
B, with the groove C, into which works the two levers D, and E, which
are fixed respectively to the shafts F, and G, and connected to the
feeders G, and h, by the connecting rods K, and L. The cam B, is so
adjusted with the movement of the crank Q, that the hopper only brings
forward one piece of the material at the time required. The hopper G,
in Fig. 2, is shewn forward ready to deliver a piece of the material to
be cut, and the hopper h, is shewn back after having fed a piece to be
cut. At the time the spindle with the tool F, is moved back, the finger
rod M, is drawn back, and the cork just made drops out, and another
piece is fed in from the hopper G, and held in its place by the action
of the spring N, on the fixed collar O. The backward motion of the
rod M, is got from the catch P, fixed to the shaft r, acting on the lever
Q, and connected to the collar O, of the finger rod M, by the lever R,
with the fulcrum S. The catch P, also serves to draw back the finger
rod M, of cutter E, at the time the cutter E, is back by the lever Y
which is fixed to the rod S. At the opposite end is the lever T, fixed
to the shaft U, Figs. 1, and 3; on which is also fixed the lever V, and
connected to the collar O, thereby giving an alternate motion to the
finger rods M, that is to say, whilst the cutter F, is making a cork, the
hopper h, is feeding one in, and vice versa. The cutters F, and F, have
each a side cutter 2, to cut off the surplus of the material, and lessen

page_text: the friction of the cutters. The taper cutting tool F, has two arms W,
which are guided in the ring X, which revolves in the standard Y. The
arms W, are made to a taper outside, and with a spring, so that when
they are pressed forward through the ring X, they are compressed to a
smaller diameter, thereby cutting the cork smaller or taper as it goes
forward. The face of each of the cutters is nearly circular and trian-
gular on the edges, with a short parellel bearing on the inside next to
the cork. The cutting tools F, are fixed to the chuck Z, which is
screwed to the spindles P, and are also circular on the face, and trian-
gular on the edge, with the side cutters 2, and a short parellel bearing
next to the cork.
Having thus fully described the nature and particulars of my said
Invention, and the manner of carrying the same into practical effect,
I desire it to be distinctly understood that I do not confine myself
to the exact details herein described, as such may be varied or modi-
fied without departing from the principle thereof. But I claim as
of my Invention, and which to the best of my knowledge and belief
has not hitherto been used within this realm, the general arrange-
ment and construction of the machine (or apparatus), with the
feeding apparatus and peculiar form of the cutting tools, with the
application of the finger rods, as guided through the hollow spindles
either with single, double, or compound action, as herein described and
illustrated in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, 1, the said Robert Hopkins, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of December, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by
the within named Robert
Hopkins in the presence of
E. J. HUGHES,
ROBERT HOPKINS. (L.S,)
Patent Agent, Manchester.