CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN CUTTING OR DIVIDING TIMBER PROVISIONAL SPFICATION AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS CONNECTED THERE WITH
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Jex Long, of Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, Timber Merchant and Match Manufacturer, for
the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN CUTTING OR DIVIDING TIMBER
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Jex Long at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th November 1865.
I, JOHN JEX LONG, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Timber Merchant and Match Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN CUTTING OR DIVIDING TIMBER
AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS CONNECTED THERE WITH," to be as follows,
that is to say:-
This Invention, which consists of a novel arrangement and construction of
certain parts of mechanism, has for its essential object the cutting or dividing
of timber with great rapidity and perfection into small pieces or splints, such
[Price 8d.]

page_text: as those used for the manufacture of lucifer matches, pencils, and other
generally similar purposes.
The apparatus consists of a strong iron frame, in the lower portion of
which the main shaft revolves by means of a belt actuating a pulley fixed
thereon. At one end of the shaft a fly wheel is fixed, whilst at the other end
a crank or cam is attached, and a connecting rod extends from this to the
moveable block or frame, carrying the knife or knives by which the vertical
cut on the wood to be divided is made. As the cam or crank revolves its
eccentric or circular motion is converted by means of the connecting rod into
a vertical reciprocating motion of the knife or knives. On the top of the
framework or other shaped slides are fixed, and on these travels the
saddle or table carrying the pieces or blocks of timber to be divided. The
table is furnished with two gutters or boxes, into which the blocks of timber
previously cut to the required shape and size are placed; the table is caused
to travel horizontally on the slides, and thus the faces of the two blocks being
cut are alternately brought in front of the knife or knives. The horizontal
movement is imparted to the table by means of a cam fixed on to the main
shaft; the cam is grooved, and into this groove enters an antifrictional roller
on a stud projecting from the side of a strong lever; therefore as the cam
revolves the lever is caused to vibrate, and its upper end being coupled to the
table carrying the two blocks of wood imparts the necessary reciprocating
horizontal motion to it. Attached to that portion of the framework in which the
vertically acting knives are located is a projecting set or sets of knives, which
cut into the blocks of wood as these alternately travel before them; by these
means the wood is first divided into a number ofhorizontal strips, needing only
the downward motion of the knife to separate them in the form of rectangular
bars from the block or blocks of timber. The splints are thus all produced in
a state fit to be used for any of the purposes herein-before described. As
soon as one downward cut has been made the table travels back to its former
position, and the other block is similarly treated. It should be mentioned
that the table is fitted with two sets of forwarding gear, by means of which,
as soon as one set of splints have been cut off, the block of wood is forced on
a distance sufficient to allow an equivalent portion to be divided or cut off for
the next lot of splints. There are many kinds of forwarding gear which
will fulfil the conditions required.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Jex Long in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
11th May 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
JEX LONG, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Timber
Merchant and Match Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Jex Long, Her special license that I, the said John Jex Long, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Jex Long, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVE.
MENTS IN CUTTING OR DIVIDING TIMBER, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS
CONNECTED THEREWITH," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
John Jex Long, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 John Jex Long, 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 follow-
ing statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to
the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention, which consists of a novel arrangement and combination
of certain parts of mechanism, has for its object the cutting or dividing of
timber with great rapidity and perfection into small pieces or splints, such a
those used for the manufacture of lucifer matches, pencils, and other generally
similar purposes.
The apparatus consists of a strong iron frame, in the lower portion of
which the main shaft revolves by means of a belt actuating a pulley

page_text: fixed thereon. At one end of the shaft a fly wheel is fixed, whilst at
the other end a crank or cam is attached, and a connecting rod extends
from this to the moveable block or frame, carrying the knife or knives
by which the vertical cut in the wood to be divided is made.
As the cam
or crank revolves its eccentric or circular motion is converted by means
of the connecting rod into a vertical reciprocating motion of the knife or
knives. On the top of the framework V or other shaped slides are fixed, and
on these travels the saddle or table carrying the pieces or blocks of timber to
be divided. The table is furnished with two gutters or boxes, into which the
blocks of timber previously cut to the required shape and size are placed; the
table is caused to travel horizontally on the slides, and thus the faces of the
two blocks being cut are alternately brought in front of the knife or knives.
The horizontal movement is imparted to the table by means of a cam
fixed on to the main shafts; the cam is grooved, and into this groove enters
an autifrictional roller on a stud projecting from the side of a strong lever;
therefore as the cam revolves the lever is caused to vibrate, and its upper end
being coupled to the table or saddle carrying the two blocks of wood imparts
the necessary reciprocating horizontal motion to it. Attached to that portion
of the framework in which the vertically acting knife or knives are located is
a projecting set or sets of knives, which cut into the blocks of wood as they
alternately travel before them; by these means the wood is first divided into
a number of horizontal strips needing only the downward motion of the knife
to separate them in the form of rectangular bars from the blocks of timber.
The splints are thus at once produced in a state fit to be used for any of the
purposes herein-before referred to. As soon as one downward cut has been
made the table travels back to its former position, and the other block is
similarly treated. It should be mentioned that the table is fitted with two
Bets of forwarding gear, by means of which as soon as one set of splints have
been cut off the block of wood is forced on a distance sufficient to allow an
equivalent portion to be divided or cut off for the next lot of splints. There
are many kinds of forwarding gear which will fulfil the conditions required.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the system, mode, or manner in or
under which the same is or may be used or practically carried into effect,
reference being had for more complete elucidation to the two Figures upon
the explanatory Sheets of Drawings which I have hereunto appended, that is
to say-
Figure 1 is an end elevation of my improved machine for cutting and

page_text: dividing a brock of wood into spinters for making matches; Figure 2 is a side
elevation corresponding to Figure 1.
The machine is set in motion by the belt A actuating the fast pulley of the
set of fast-and-loose pulleys on the shaft B. The pinion C on the main
shaft B actuates a corresponding spur wheel on the cam shaft D. Each half
of the cam E on the shaft D is provided with a groove, in which the antifric-
tion rollers carried on studs in the lever E' revolve as the machine is in
motion. The lever E¹ vibrates on a bolt G as its centre, fixed to the bed or
framing of the machine. The upper end of the lever E¹ is connected by a
similar joint to a short connecting rod, by which it is coupled to the saddle
H, so that as thecam E revolves it communicates a horizontally reciprocating
motion to the saddle H. The main shaft B is furnished at its front end with
a disc crank I, from which the connecting rod K passes, and is coupled to
the kuife frame or plate L, which as the crank revolves is caused to recipro-
cate in the vertical slides M. One side of the frame on which the saddle
H, reciprocates is furnished with two inclined or wedge-shaped projections
N, against which the levers O strike and pass over during each stroke of
the saddle. Both sides of the saddle are furnished with the levers and other
arrangements shown at Figure 2 for propelling the timber Y to be divided
by the knives or cutters against the face plate % at the commencement of
each stroke, and it is to be understood that the horizontal dividing or cutting
of the blocks is effected only as the block of wood to be divided approaches
to its position under the vertically cutting knife; after the splints are removed
the block returns clear of the dividing knives. As the short end of the lever O
passes over the projection N it draws the upper and longer end forward, toge-
ther with the bar P coupled to it; the latter end of the bar P is furnished
with adjusting nuts and screws for regulating the tension of the spring Q; the
position of the inner nut also regulates the extent of travel in a backward
direction both of the bar P and the lever O. The bar P is provided with a
detent or fall R, which is forced in a downward direction by the spring S
into the teeth of the ratchet wheel T, thus each time the lever O passes over
the projection N and the rod P' is impelled forward, the ratchet wheel T is
caused to revolve in a proportion corresponding to the extent of motion of the
lever O. A detent spring e is attached to the saddle for the purpose of firmly
holding the ratchet wheel T. The use of this last-mentioned arrangement
is to propel the blocks of wood to be divided against the cutters, and this pro-
pelling is effected in the following manner:-The shaft carrying the ratchet
wheel T is furnished at its inner end with a pinion U, the pitch line of which is

page_text: shown dotted in Figure 2; this pinion gears into the tooth wheels Vand V¹,one
on each side of it, which in turn also gear into similar tooth wheels W and W'.
The shafts of the wheels V, V, and W, W', carry on them the toothed pro-
pelling rollers X,and these acting upon the pieces of wood Y cause them to be
brought forward at the beginning of each stroke against the face plate Z to
an extent necessary to allow the next cut of the knives to be made. In order
to cut both blocks of wood that are being divided, the vertical cutting knife,
actuated by the disc crank off the main shaft, moves at double the rate of
the travel of the saddle, so that the knife is ready to make the cutting stroke
immediately that either one or the other of the two blocks of wood Y come
in position in front of the cutting frame. The machine is furnished with
two sets of knives a, a, for cutting or dividing the blocks of wood horizontally;
these knives a, a, are stationary and enter the blocks of wood as these pass
by them, and they project to an extent corresponding to the depth of cut
required. Thus it will be seen that before the downward or cutting stroke
of the knife is made the blocks of wood are already divided horizontally, there-
fore when the cut of the vertically acting knife is made the wood comes off in
rectangular bars at the front of the machine suitable for the purposes to which
they are to be applied. The front ends of the troughs carrying the blocks of
wood may be furnished with pinching screws for the purpose of more securely
holding the wood as its length becomes reduced. Each set of little knives a, a,
are fitted into a metallic block which slides in a recess in the main framing,and
the block is furnished with a hole through which an ordinary excentric passes,
the short shaft carrying the eccentric being provided with handles b, b1, by
which the knife holding box d is drawn back when required behind the level
of the face plate; such is necessary when a hard knot occurs in any of the
blocks of wood being acted upon, in which case the vertically acting knife is
used to remove the knotty portion in flakes, and as soon as this is effected the
horizontally dividing knives are again thrown into action. The advantages
resulting from the machine as herein-before described are that, owing to the
blocks of wood being first divided horizontally and then detached by the
vertically cutting knives, the splints are obtained in a rigid parallel condition.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is or may be used or practically 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,-
First, the combination and general arrangement of mechanism by which

page_text: the blocks of wood are divided horizontally and cut off in strips, splints, or
bars, as herein-before described, or any mere modification thereof.
Second, the use and employment of the moveable knife box for holding the
knives which divide the wood horizontally, as herein-before described, or any
mere modification thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Jex Long, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Tenth day of May, One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-six.
JOHN JEX LONG. (LS.)