Improvements in or applicable to Planing Machines.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 29th July, 1890
-Complete Specification Left, 15th Apr., 1891-Accepted, 16th May, 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or applicable to Planing Machines.
I, WILLIAM FORD SMITH, of the firm Smith & Coventry Limited, Gresley
Iron Works, Salford, Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer and
Director of the said Company, do hereby declare the nature of the said invention
to be as follows:-
My improvements are or may be applied to and combined with planing machines
made according to the improvements in planing machines described in the Speci-
fications of two Letters Patent granted to myself and Arthur Coventry numbered 290
and dated the 31st day of January 1872, and numbered 5917 and dated the 12th day
of December 1882.
One part of my invention relates to a combination and arrangement of mechanism
for giving motion to the table, that is, giving a slow motion for cutting and a quick
return motion, for which purpose two belts are used, one open and the other crossed
both belts working alternately upon the same fast driving pulley, upon each side of
which there is a loose pulley.
Two belt carrying slides in suitable bearings are used one placed over the other
so as to be freely moved to and fro end ways. Each belt guide carrying slide has a
slotted arm secured to it in which a belt guide can be adjusted and secured in any
required position to suit the line in which the driving belts pass between the
driving pulleys, and the fast pulley on the first motion shaft of the planing machine.
Each sliding belt guide carrier has a stud secured in it and there is a segmental
plate secured on a vertical shaft in suitable bearings, and this segmental plate has a
notch at each end of it, one side of each notch, having a finger extending beyond
the face of the segment which comes between the two sliding belt guide carriers,,
and each notch and finger on the said segmental plate alternately engages with its
corresponding stud in the said slides. The shaft carrying the segmental plate is
oscillated by connection with mechanism acted upon by the table at each end of its
to and fro movement. The arrangement described causes one belt to be traversed
from the fast pulley on to its loose pulley before the other belt is traversed from its
loose on to the fast pulley and so on alternately.
There is some amount of shock when the table of the planing machine has arrived
at the end of its cutting stroke and is reversed, and this shock increases accordingly
as the return stroke is increased in speed, and the more this return speed of the
table and greater the work performed, as less time is occupied and lost by the return
stroke.
To reduce or neutralize this shock I arrange the "fast driving" pulley on the
first motion shaft of the planing machine so as not to be absolutely fast upon the
shaft, but so as to be connected with two discs or pulleys within, and one upon each
side of the "fast pulley" and connect each of these inner pulleys (which are fast on
the first motion shaft) with the "fast pulley" by a spiral spring one end of which is
secured to the inner pulley and the other to the "fast pulley" but so that the spiral
spring for each inner pulley coils the one in a reverse direction to the other. With
this arrangement the "fast pulley" when the belt acts upon it to rotate it in the
reverse direction has to wind up to some extent one spiral spring and unwind the
other and this gives a little time, and provides elasticity which receives and checks
the momentum of the table and gearing.
Other forms and arrangements of springs may be used to effect this object without
departing from my invention.
1000

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION,
Improvements in or applicable to Planing Machines.
1, WILLIAM FORD SMITH, of the firm. Smith & Coventry Limited, Gresley
Iron Works, Salford, Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer and
Director of the said Company, 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 improvements are or may be applied to and combined with planing machines,
made according to the improvements in planing machines described in the Speci-
fications of two Letters Patent granted to myself and Arthur Coventry numbered 290
and dated the 31st day of January 1872 and mumbered 5917 and dated the 12th day
of December 1882.
One part of my invention relates to a combination and arrangement of mechanism
for giving motion to the table, that is, giving a slow motion for cutting, and a quick
return motion, for which purpose two belts are used, one open, and the other crossed,
both belts working alternately upon the same fast driving pulley upon each side of
which there is a loose pulley.
Two belt carrying slides in suitable bearings are used one placed over the other,
so as to be freely moved to and fro endways. Each belt carrying slide has a slotted
arm secured to it in which a belt guide can be adjusted and secured in any required
position to suit the line in which the driving belts pass between the driving pulleys,
and the fast pulley on the first motion shaft of the planing machine.
Each sliding belt guide carrier has a stud secured in it and there is a segmental
plate secured on a vertical shaft in suitable bearings, and this segmental plate has a
notch at each end of it, one side of each notch, having a finger extending beyond
the face of the segment which comes between the two sliding belt guide carriers,
and each notch and finger on the said segmental plate alternately engages with its
corresponding stud in the said slides. The shaft carrying the segmental plate is
oscillated by connection with mechanism acted upon by the table at each end of its
to and fro movement. The arrangement described causes one belt to be traversed
from the fast pulley on to its loose pulley before the other belt is traversed from its
loose on to the fast pulley and so on alternately.
There is some amount of shock when the table of the planing machine has arrived
at the end of its cutting stroke, and is reversed, and this shock increases accordingly
as the return stroke is increased in speed, and the more this return speed of the
table and greater the work performed, as less time is occupied and lost by the return
stroke.
To reduce or neutralize this shock 1 arrange the "fast driving" pulley on the
first motion shaft of the planing machine so as not to be absolutely fast upon the
shaft, but so as to be connected with two discs or pulleys within, and one upon each
side of the "fast pulley" and connect each of these inner pulleys (which are fast on
the first motion shaft) with the "fast pulley," by a spiral spring one end of
which is secured to the inner pulley and the other to the "fast pulley" but so
that the spiral spring for each inner pulley coils the one in a reverse direction to
the other.
With this arrangement the "fast pulley" when the belt acts upon it to rotate it
in the reverse direction has to wind up to some extent one spiral spring and unwind
the other and this gives a little time, and provides elasticity which receives and
checks the momentuun of the table and gearing.
Other forms and arrangements of springs may be used to effect this object without
departing from my invention.
Fig. 1 is an elevation on that side of the machine opposite to that upon which the
driving pulleys are placed, of the parts of a planing machine having my improvements
applied thereto.

page_text: Fig. 2 is an end elevation, parts connected with the driving pulleys being shown
in section.
Fig. 3 is a plan view of parts of the driving pulleys and connected mechanism,
and
Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the driving pulley and connected parts.
a, is a part of the framing or bed, of the planing machine.
, the upright on one side of the machine in Fig. 1, and a', the parts of those
uprights in Fig. 2 for carrying the ordinary cross slide.
b, is the reciprocating table in Fig. 2, part of it being shown in Fig. 1.
, is the toothed rack under the table which is in gear with a spur wheel, on a
shaft 3, in bearings in the bed of the machine. This spur wheel 2, is shown partly
in dotted line in Fig. 2 and by a dotted circle in Fig. 1.
c, is the first motion driving shaft of the machine in suitable bearings which has a
spur pinion upon it that gears with a spur wheel c', (see Fig. 1) on a shaft c², in
bearings upon the bed, this shaft c², has a spur pinion that gears with the spur
wheel, before referred to.
, is a vertical shaft in suitable bearings on the framing or bed of the machine
(see Fig. 1).
Its upper end has the ordinary lever d', with two projecting horns (see Fig. 3)
which the ordinary tappets adjustable in an under-cut slot, along the side of the
table, can operate upon, one adjustable tappet acting upon one horn of the lever d³,
in one direction of the movement of the table, and the other tappet upon the other
horn in the reverse direction of the movement of the table and this produces the
oscillations to and fro in the shaft d, in the ordinary manner.
To a stud in an arm from the lever d', one end of a connecting rod 3, is jointed
the other end of which is jointed to an handle army upon the lower end of a shaft e,
in suitable bearings (partly shown in Fig. 1 and in Fig. 3) to work the feed of the
cutters in an ordinary manner.
The lower end of the vertical shaft d, has an arm d³, secured to it, having a stud
in it to which one end of a rod d, (passing under the bed) is jointed, the other end
of which is jointed with an arm 1, secured upon the lower end of a vertical shaft f,
in bearings in a bracket a², secured to the bed (see Figs. 2 and 3).
It should be noted that in Fig. 3 the vertical shaft d, is not shown in its true
position in relation to the shaft, and the lever handle g, for actuating the belt
guides by hand for want of space on the sheet, the connecting rod d', is shown broken
and in two parts. These remarks also apply to the connecting rod d², between an
arm on the vertical shaft. d, and the lever handle g; on the shaft e, for actuating
the belt guide to stop and start the machine when required, or for operating the
machine by hand when required.
At the upper end of the vertical shaft, a lever or segmental plate, is secured,
which is curved on its edge to a radius struck from the axis of the vertical shaft f
as a centre, and this curved edge when in about its middle position of oscillation
will be clear of two studs 2, and 3, in the slide bars h, and h', mentioned
below.
In this segmental plate, there are two notches (see Fig. 3) which the said studs.
can enter and from the outer side of each notch there is a tooth projecting beyond
the curved edge.
This segmental lever plate 2, comes between two bars h, and h², arranged
in suitable bearings one over the other on the framing in which they can slide
to and fro.
To each slide bar h, and h an arm h, and h³, is secured, and one of these arms is
on the driving side of an open belt, and the other on the driving side of a cross
belt.
By driving side is meant that side of each endless belt which is passing to the
pulleys upon which the belts work.
These belt arms are made to a curve annular to the belt pulleys and have each a
slot in them for the screw of the belt guide 4. This slot permitting the belt guides h®,

page_text: to be adjusted to the line or angle in which each belt passes from the pulleys
on the driving shaft (generally placed over-head) to the fast and loose driving
pulleys.
The fast and loose driving pulleys are for two belts, one say the open belt, from
a small pulley for giving the slow speed to the table for cutting and the other (say
the crossed belt) from a larger pulley for the quick return stroke of the table of the
machine.
There are three pulleys, the two narrow outside pulleys k¹, are loose pulleys
proper, and the middle broad pulley k, is loose to a certain extent.
It is loose upon
the boss of a disc or pulley 2, keyed on the shaft c, and the arms or the disc carry-
ing the broad middle pulley come between the disc or pulley, and another similar
disc or pulley, secured upon the boss of the pulley k
One end of a spiral spring, is attached to the periphery of one disc or pulley
(say the pulley ³, see Fig. 4) and the other end of it is jointed or attached to a
stud, secured in the disc carrying the broad middle pulley .
A similar spiral spring is connected between the other pulley ³, and the broad
driving pulley, but is coiled in the reverse direction, and thus when the one belt
passes on to the middle pulley k, its action is to unwind one spring and wind up the
other, and this gives time to gradually stop the momentum of the table b, and
gearing, and start it into motion again in the reverse direction.
As shown in Fig. 3 both driving belts are supposed to be on the narrow loose
pulleys, and the segmental lever 2, is shown in the middle position of its
oscillation and when it is moved in either direction one slide bar h, or h¹, will be
moved to guide the belt controlled by it on to the middle pulley k, while the other
slide will remain stationary.
When the segmental lever /2, has arrived at one extreme of its oscillation one of
the studs 2, or 3³, will have entered into the notch for it in the lever, and when
the reverse oscillation takes place this notch will slide its bar h, or h³, (as the case
may be) until the belt has passed off the middle pulley k, on to its loose pulley k',
and then the stud will get clear of the notch and the slide bar will then remain
stationary then the projecting tooth of the other notch will act upon the stud in the
other slide bar to move the driving belt from its loose pulley on to the middle
pulley and so on alternately, as long as the machine is working automatically.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. The combination and arrangement of the mechanism for actuating the belt
guides substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore described and illustrated
by the drawings.
2. The combination of the vertical shaft, segmental lever, slide bars h, and /',
curved arms, and 46, and guides, substantially as and for the purpose
hereinbefore described and illustrated by the drawings.
3. The combination and arrangement of belt pulleys with spiral or other springs
or elastic arrangements substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore described
and illustrated by the accompanying drawings.
Dated this Fourteenth day of April 1891.
PETER J. LIVSEY,
Agent.