IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ARRANGEMENT AND CON- STRUCTION OF GUILLOTINE MACHINES FOR CUTTING PAPER, CARDBOARD, LEATHER. CLOTH. AND OTHER SIMILAR MATERIALS."
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Somerville and George Crombie, of
Edinburgh, in the County of Mid Lothian, North Britain, Engineers,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ARRANGEMENT AND CON-
STRUCTION OF GUILLOTINE MACHINES FOR CUTTING PAPER, CARDBOARD,
LEATHER. CLOTH. AND OTHER SIMILAR MATERIALS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Somerville
and George Crombie at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 29th January 1874.
We, GEORGE SOMERVILLE and GEORGE CROMBIE, both of Edinburgh,
in the County of Mid Lothian, North Britain, Engineers, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
ARRANGEMENT AND CONSTRUCTION OF GUILLOTINE MACHINES FOR CUTTING PAPER,
CARDBOARD, LEATHER, CLOTH, AND OTHER SIMILAR MATERIALS," to be as follows,
that is to say:
This Invention which relates to improvements in the arrangement
and construction of diagonally operating guillotine machines for cutting
paper, cardboard, millboard, leather, linen, cloth, or other substances

page_text: or fabrics has for its object to obtain a smoother or steadier action of the
knife, and thereby render the operation thereof free from the jerks and
"cutting in" which obtain with such machines as are ordinarily con-
structed. The frame or head in which the knife is fixed is secured by
pillars to an under beam or frame placed below the table of the machine,
which pillars are so arranged as to rigidly maintain the positions of the
frames when the cutting operation is being performed. In the lower
beam a slide set at the same angle as the travel of the knife is placed
for the crank by which the knife is operated, and in the under side of
the said beam a slide guide is also placed which is similarly set relatively
with the knife.
Besides the guide last referred to each end of the head or knife holder
works in a guide formed in the adjacent side frame of the machine, so
that by this arrangement the knife in performing the diagonal cut
through the thickness of material being operated upon is held or guided
at three points, and a perfectly steady action of the knife is thereby
secured.
The machine which is arranged to work with the pull of the crank in
the same direction as the travel of the knife is operated by wheels and
pinions, or by worm wheels and screws actuated from a hand lever or
pulley in the ordinary manner of operating such machines.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Somerville and George Crombie in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 28th July 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, GEORGE
SOMERVILLE and GEORGE OROMBIE, both of Edinburgh, in the County of
Mid Lothian, North Britain, Engineers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the a
37th year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said George Somerville and George
Crombie, Her special license that we, the said George Somerville and
George Crombie, our exccutors, administrators, and assigns, or such

page_text: Between the side frames or standards A which are constructed sub-
stantially similar to those of other machines of this description is placed
the table B secured to the standards A by bolts b, Figure 1. The knife d
which is attached to the knife holder D in the usual manner moves up
and down in the spaces formed for its reception in the upper parts of
the frames A in a diagonal direction over the said table B upon which
the material to be cut is placed. The knife holder D is connected at
both ends to a beam E placed under the table B by pillars or rods e, e,
and forms with the pillars or rods and the beam E a rigid frame. A
jaw F is cast on the under side of the beam E to receive a rod f which
is preferably made rectangular and extends across the machine, as shewn
at Figures 2 and 3, and is held at its ends in brackets G bolted to the
under side of the end frames C. The jaw F being cast on the beam E in
the angle of operation of the knife d ensures the accuracy of the
diagonal cut during the working of the machine. In the top side of the
beam E is formed a recess which receives the slide H in which the crank
pin is supported. When the crank pin h has been adjusted in the
slide H the recess is closed by the cover g which is then securely bolted
to the beam E. The recess in which the slide H moves is so formed
that the latter when in motion travels in a plane at right angles to the
diagonal plane through which the knife d travels, so that the force
exerted by the crank I in actuating the machine is at all times in the
direction of the operation of the knife. A clean and regular cut is thus
obtained in the material operated on. By so arranging the mechanism
the frame consisting of the knife holder D, the pillars e, e, and beam E
is guided at three points, namely, at each end of the knife holder D by
the standards A, and at the lower side of the beam E by the jaw F
sliding on the square side bar f. Great steadiness of motion is thus
obtained, trembling or vibration of the knife d being prevented, and the
danger of "cutting in" obviated. The knife holder D is furnished at
the back with two diagonal grooves c, c, as shewn in dotted lines more
particularly at Figure 1. The grooves c, c, fit on to the rectangular
blocks a, a, loosely placed on the pins passed through lugs k, k,
cast on the standards A. The holes in the lugs k, k, through
which the pins i are passed are made rectangular, and corresponding
rectangular shoulders being formed on the pins i they are thus firmly
held when the nuts are screwed up. In the lug on the right
hand standard of the machine the rectangular hole is cut with its
greatest dimensions horizontally, but in the left hand standard the hole

page_text: is cut with its greatest dimensions vertically. By this means the knife
edge can be adjusted parallel with the surface of the table.
The crank
shaft K is driven by means of the toothed wheel L gearing into the
tangent screw formed or placed on the shaft m which is rotated by the
hand wheel M placed at the side of the machine and supported in
brackets n and o bolted to the side frames C as shewn. The tangent
screw is adjusted to the toothed wheel L by means of the adjusting
screw p working in the bracket n. The usual screw arrangement R is
employed to maintain a pressure on the flat face of the knife holder D,
and the fence P which guides the operator in cutting several uniform
breadths of material actuated by the hand wheel Q is of the form
commonly adopted in similar machines.
It is to be understood that in lieu of operating the machine manually
by the wheel M a pulley may be fixed upon the shaft m and the
machine actuated by steam or other power.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of our
said Invention, and the system, mode or manner in or under which the
same is or may be used or practically carried into effect, we would observe
in conclusion that what we consider to be novel and original and there-
fore claim as the Invention secured to us by the herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent is, the arrangement and construction of diagonally
operating guillotine machine illustrated on the appended Sheet of
Drawings, or any mere modification thereof wherein the motion of the
knife is guided at three places, and a steady even cut is thereby obtained,
substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, we, the said George Somerville and George
Crombie, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-
seventh day of July, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-