IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON- STRUCTION OF SAWING MACHINES
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Griffith Owen, of Boston Lodge, in the County of
Merioneth, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON-
STRUCTION OF SAWING MACHINES."
Sealed the 1st March 1861, and dated the 18th September 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Griffith Owen at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 18th
September 1860.
I, GRIFFITH OWEN, of Boston Lodge, in the County of Merioneth, Engi-
neer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SAWING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of
machinery or apparatus for sawing stone, slate, slabs, iron, and other hard sub-
stances, and consists in making the middle part of the bed plate which carries
the pedestal of the saw spindle and the feed motion of cast iron in one solid
frame, supported by stands, to which framing are attached the remaining parts
of the bed. The feed motion consists of eccentrics fitted on the saw spindle or
on another spindle attached to it, so as to impart as nearly as possible a uni-
form or regular motion to ratchet wheels by the aid of palls, whereby motion
5 may be transmitted by means of a clutch or coupling box to a spindle and
roller which carry the feed chain, in the ordinary manner, fixed to the table;

page_text: the back or return motion of the table is derived from a spur pinion on the
saw spindle gearing into a spur wheel, which gives motion to the spindle and
roller by a clutch box or an endless strap and pullies, in the ordinary way.
The feed motion above described is equally applicable to the ordinary wood
and iron sawing machines now in use.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Griffith Owen in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th
March 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GRIFFITH
OWEN, of Boston Lodge, in the County of Merioneth, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Griffith Owen, Her special license that I, the said Griffith
Owen, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Griffith Owen, my executors, administrators, or 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SAWING MACHINES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Griffith Owen, my executors or administra-
tors, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, or under the
hand and seal of one of them, 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 immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Griffith Owen, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
My said Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of

page_text: machinery or apparatus for sawing stone, slate, slabs, iron, and other hard
substances. In carrying out my Invention I make the middle part of the bed
plate which carries the pedestal of the saw spindle and the feed motion of cast
iron in one solid framing, supported by stands, to which framing are attached
the remaining parts of the bed. The feed motion of my improved machine con-
sists of eccentrics fitted on to the saw spindle or on to another spindle con-
nected with it, so as to impart as nearly as possible a uniform or regular
motion to a ratchet wheel or wheels by the aid of palls, whereby motion may
be transmitted by means of a clutch or coupling box to a spindle and roller
which carry the feed chain in the ordinary manner fixed to the table. The
back or return motion of the table is derived from a spur pinion on the saw
spindle gearing into a spur wheel, which gives motion to the spindle and roller
by a clutch box or an endless strap and pullies in the ordinary way. The feed
motion above described is equally applicable to the ordinary wood and iron
sawing machines now in use.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the same
letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout both Figures.
Fig. 1 of my Drawings represents a side elevation of a sawing machine con-
structed and arranged according to my Invention; Fig. 2 is a corresponding
plan of the same; and Fig. 3 is a detail of a portion of the feed motion.
The middle part A, A, of the bed of the machine is composed of cast iron,
supported upon the standards B, B, and having the remaining parts C, C, of
the bed also constructed of cast iron bolted thereto; D, D, are a series of anti-
friction rollers or pullies carried by the bed, upon and over which the platform
or table E traverses when feeding the material up to the saw and returning
again for a fresh load; F are the flanges for the circular saw, the periphery of
which may be serrated or otherwise, according to the nature of the substance
to be operated upon; it is fixed on to the end of the spindle G working in
suitable bearings g, g, in the bed. This spindle is driven by a bolt and driving
pullies G' in the usual manner, and carries one, two, or more eccentrics H, H,
which actuate the palls I, I; each pall being formed with an ordinary eccen-
tric ring, which fits easily round the periphery of its corresponding eccentric ;
consequently on rotating the saw spindle, the eccentrics will impart a vibrating
or to-and-fro longitudinal motion to the two palls. These palls take into the
teeth of a ratchet wheel K carried by the shaft L, which also carries the feed
roller M, and cause that wheel and roller to rotate. The eccentrics are so
disposed that one pall is in full action whilst the other is being drawn back

page_text: preparatory to making another stroke, and consequently the motion of the
ratchet wheel is continuous, as one or other of the palls is always in action.
The eccentrics may be made to slide along the saw spindle, and two or more
ratchet wheels of different sizes may be fitted side by side on the shaft L, as
shewn in the Drawings, whereby the speed of the feed motion may be regulated
at pleasure, by causing the palls to operate upon a larger or smaller wheel.
The ratchet wheels are fitted loosely upon the shaft L, and are brought into
gear therewith during the time the feed motion is required, by means of the
clutch box or lever handle N. On the outer end of the shaft L is fitted a spur
wheel O and clutch box P, the former gearing into the pinion Q fast on the
saw spindle.
When the platform or table E is to be run back the clutch N is thrown
out of gear
and the clutch P thrown into gear by means of the handle P¹,
when the shaft L and roller M (the latter carrying the ordinary feed chain m)
are reversed, and the table is run back with a quick motion to its original
position. The positions of the clutches are now changed, so as to bring the
clutch N into gear and the clutch P out of gear, when the slow feed motion
through the palls and ratchet wheels will recommence.
Fig. 3 shews a mode of imparting a continuous motion to the ratchet
wheel K, by means of one eccentric working two palls which are jointed to
the bell-crank lever K¹ working on a fixed centre at L'.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that what I consider to be novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is, the general construction, arrangement,
and combination of machinery or apparatus for sawing hard substances, as
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Griffith Owen, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of March, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-one.
GRIFFITH OWEN. (L.S.)