IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PARQUETRY
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel William Worssam, of King's Road,
Chelsea, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel William
Worssam at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 18th November 1872.
I, SAMUEL WILLIAM WORSSAM, of King's Road, Chelsea, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PARQUETRY,”
to be as follows:-
Heretofore parquetry has usually been manufactured by hand; but
according to my Invention I employ a novel arrangement of machinery
for performing the operations of edging, grooving, and tongueing the
separate parts to form a square or other form, and of surfacing such
squares or other forms when made.

page_text: For the purpose of edging and grooving the separate parts I combine
on one machine two rotary cutters, one of which shall be for grooving,
and the other for edging, and the piece of wood to be acted upon I fix in
a holder on a table which is mounted in guides, so as to be enabled to
be moved up to and past the cutters, whereby the operations of grooving
and edging are effected at one traverse of the wood. Or, if desired, a
single cutter block with suitable cutters may be employed for effecting
the combined operations of grooving and edging, or of tongueing and
edging, in which case I employ a double set of tables and guides, so that
two operatives may work at the same time at one machine, one of such
tables being on one side of the cutter block, and the other on the other
side thereof, whereby the operatives can work without interfering with
each other in their work. The tables are provided with "fences," so that
either a single piece of wood, or a made-up square, or other form of
parquetry can be acted upon by the cutter or cutters.
For surfacing I take a square or other form of parquetry and fix it to
a revolving disc or plate fixed to an axis carried by a poppet head or
head stock in a somewhat similar way to a lathe mandril. In front of
this disc or plate I fix a cutter or cutters of a similar form to a plane
iron, and held at a suitable angle for acting upon the face of the work.
This cutter or cutters are fixed on a holder or slide which is mounted in
guides to permit it to be traversed across the face of the revolving disc
or plate, a screw or other well known means being employed to effect
the traverse of the cutter slide.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Samuel William Worssam in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 17th May 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
WILLIAM WORSSAM, of King's Road, Chelsea, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and

page_text: grant unto me, the said Samuel William Worssam, Her special license
that I, the said Samuel William Worssam, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Samuel William Worssam, 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
MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PARQUETRY," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Samuel William Worssam, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Samuel William Worssam, 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 thereof, that is to say :-
Heretofore parquetry has usually been manufactured by hand; but
according to my Invention I employ novel arrangements of machinery
for performing the operations of edging, grooving, and tongueing the
separate parts to form a square or other form, and of surfacing such
squares or other forms when made.
For the purpose of edging and grooving the separate parts I combine
on one machine two rotary cutters, one of which shall be for grooving,
and the other for edging, and the piece of wood to be acted upon I fix in
a holder on a table which is mounted in guides, so as to be enabled to be
moved up to and past the cutters, whereby the operations of grooving and
edging are effected at one traverse of the wood. Or, if desired, a single
cutter block with suitable cutters may be employed for effecting the
combined operations of grooving and edging, or of tongueing and edging,
in which case I employ a double set of tables and guides, so that two
operatives may work at the same time at one machine, one of such tables
being on one side of the cutter block, and the other on the other side
thereof, whereby the operatives can work without interfering with each

page_text: Figures 6, 7, 8, and 9 detail views thereof. In this case f is a rotating
spindle, on which is mounted the cutter block f¹ which is provided with
cutters to suit the work required to be perperfmed, whether tongueing
and edging, or grooving and edging. In connection with this rotating
spindle I employ a double set of tables g, capable of travelling upon suit-
able guides, so that two operatives may work at the same time at one
machine, one of such tables g being on one side of the cutter block, and
the other on the other side thereof as shown, whereby the operatives can
work without interfering with each other. The tables g are each pro-
vided with "fences" and cramps or holders, so that either a single piece
of wood, or a made-up square, or other form of parquetry, can be acted
upon by the cutter or cutters. These cramps or holders I by preference
form as shown of bars h which are pin jointed at h¹ to the tables g, and
are held down by pins or studs at h², such bars h being provided with
screws ³ for facility of adjustment to different thicknesses of work.
Other descriptions of cramps or holders may however be employed.
Figure 10 is a side elevation, Figure 11 is a front elevation, and
Figure 12 is a plan of machinery arranged for surfacing a square or
other form of parquetry.
The parquetry to be surfaced is fixed to a revolving disc or plate ≫,
which is fixed to an axis i carried by a poppet head or head stock j in a
somewhat similar manner to a lathe mandril. In front of this disc or
plate I fix a cutter or cutters k of a similar form to a plane iron, and
held at a suitable angle for acting upon the face of the work. This
cutter or cutters k are fixed on a holder or slide which is mounted in
or on guides on a slide m to permit the cutter or cutters to be traversed
across the face of the revolving disc or plate , and up to and away from
the work as required. This may be effected, as shown in the Drawings,
by means of a screw n, to which motion may be given in the direction
required by means of an open or crossed strap or band acting upon the
driving pulley o, or other suitable means may be adopted for giving
motion in either direction to the cutter or cutters k.
In some cases in addition to the finishing cutter k I mount a roughing
cutter in a second slide 7 on the slide m, so as to enable the workman,
first, roughly to surface the wood with the roughing cutter, and then to
finish it with the cutter k. Rotary motion is given to the disc or plate ¿¹
by means of a strap or band acting on one of the pulleys ³, or by other
suitable means.

page_text: Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the mode
in which the same may be carried into effect, I would have it understood
that what I claim is,-
First. The peculiar arrangement or combination of machinery, sub-
stantially as herein shown and described with respect to Figures 1 and 2,
for performing the combined operations of edging and grooving, or edging
and tongueing of parquetry.
Secondly. I claim the peculiar arrangement or combination of ma-
chinery, substantially as herein shown and described with respect to
Figures 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, for performing the combined operations of
grooving and edging, or of tongueing and edging, of parquetry, whereby
two operatives are enabled to work at one machine without interfering
with each other.
And, thirdly. I claim the peculiar arrangement of machinery for sur-
facing parquetry, substantially as shown and described with respect to
Figures 10, 11, and 12.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel William Worssam, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.