OR IMPROVED APPLIANCES OR APPARATUS FOR TRIMMING THE EDGES OF STRAPS, BANDS, AND OTHER ARTICLES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Lott, of Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, for the Invention of “NEW OR IMPROVED APPLIANCES OR
APPARATUS FOR TRIMMING THE EDGES OF STRAPS, BANDS, AND OTHER
ARTICLES."
Sealed the 26th August 1873, and dated the 3rd May 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Lott at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
3rd May 1878.
I, JAMES LOTT, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "NEW OR IMPROVED APPLIANCES
OR APPARATUS FOR TRIMMING THE EDGES OF STRAPS, BANDS, AND OTHER ARTICLES,"
to be as follows:-
Heretofore difficulty has been experienced in "trimming" by hand
the edges of straps, bands, and other articles requiring to be trimmed or
rounded off at the edges and ends. It has moreover been necessary to
use several tools to do the work; at the same time considerable care and
skill is required, while much time is also occupied in the process, whereas

page_text: by my Invention I have produced appliances or apparatus whereby the
trimming is effected quickly and in a much more effective and workman-
like manner than heretofore.
The first part of the Invention consists of a pronged frame. Between
the prongs there are two jaws mounted and free to move on a fixed pin 5
or bar, motion being communicated to the jaws by a right and left
handed screw or mechanical equivalent. In this way the distance apart
of the jaws can be regulated to the greatest nicety. Also held in the
frame and behind the jaws there is a knife or cutting edge which is
shaped to correspond with the shape to which it is required to trim the 1
edge of the strap or other article. The cutter is retained in the frame in
slots, and held in position by the handle of the apparatus which screws
into the back of the frame, and is caused to abut against the cutter;
thus by screwing the handle the cutter is held in position, but if
preferred, the cutter may be adjusted in the frame without being in 1
connection with the handle, and the handle instead of being screwed into
the frame as aforesaid may be fixed thereto.
The second part of my Invention consists of a clamp, jaws, or frame
for holding the leather to be trimmed. I provide a fixed frame with a
flange extending throughout its length, which may be made in one or in 2
several lengths, and be used according to the length of leather required
to be trimmed. On the fixed frame there is a movable frame which is
retained by springs against the flange on the fixed frame. Provision is
made for compressing the springs as well as for dividing the frames and
for keeping them in position. The material to be trimmed is placed 2
between the frames just described, and in order to provide for different
breadths of material I place in the frame and between the clamps a strip
of material, say, a strip of wood or metal of such thickness as may be
sufficient to raise the material to be trimmed to the required height.
The material to be trimmed being placed in the clamp just described the 3
springs are released, and the frames are brought together with tho
material between them, which is thus evenly held and tightly gripped
throughout its length; thus tightly held the tool first described is run
over such parts as may be required to be trimmed, and the material is
thus quickly and efficiently trimmed and ready to be blackened or 3
otherwise treated, as required..

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Lott in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 3rd November 1878.
.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES,
LOTT, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give`
and grant unto me, the said James Lott, Her special licence that I,
the said James Lott, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said James Lott, 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 "NEW OR IMPROVED APPLIANCES OR APPARATUS
FOR TRIMMING THE EDGES OF STRAPS, BANDS, AND OTHER ARTICLES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Lott, my exe-
cutors 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 immediately after.
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Lott, 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 of reference marked thereon, that is to say :-
1
.Heretofore difficulty has been experienced in "trimming" by hand
the edges of straps, bands, and other articles requiring to be trimmed or
rounded off at the edges and ends. It has moreover been necessary to
use several tools to do the work; at the same time considerable care and
skill is required, while much time is also occupied in the process. Now

page_text: according to my Invention I accomplish the required work by special
new appliances or apparatus, whereby it is effected very much quicker
and in a much more effective and workmanlike manner than heretofore.
The first part of the Invention consists of a pronged frame. Between
the prongs there are two jaws mounted and free to move on a fixed pin &
or bar, motion being communicated to the jaws by a right and left
handed screw or mechanical equivalent. In this way the distance apart
of the jaws can be regulated to the greatest nicety. Also held in the
frame and behind the jaws there is a knife or cutting edge which is
shaped to correspond with the shape to which it is required to trim the 1
edge of the strap or other article. The cutter is retained in the frame in
slots, and held in position by the handle of the apparatus which screws
into the back of the frame, and is caused to abut against the cutter;
thus by screwing the handle the cutter is held in position, but if
preferred, the cutter may be adjusted in the frame without being in 1
connection with the handle, and the handle instead of being screwed
into the frame as aforesaid may be fixed thereto.
The second part of my Invention consists of a clamp, jaws, or frame
for holding the leather strap or other article to be trimmed. I provide a
fixed frame with a flange extending throughout its length, which may 2
be made in one or in several lengths, and be used according to the
length of leather strap or other article required to be trimmed. On the
fixed frame there is a movable frame which is retained by springs
against the flange on the fixed frame. Provision is made for compressing
the springs as well as for dividing the frames and for keeping them in 2
position. The material to be trimmed is placed between the frames just
described, and in order to provide for different breadths of material I
place in the frame and between the clamps a strip of material, say a strip
of wood or metal of such thickness as may be sufficient to raise the
material to be trimmed to the required height.
3
And in order that my said Invention may be more fully understood,
I shall now proceed to describe the same with reference to the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings, of which Figures 1 to 12 illustrate the first
part of my Invention, and represent various views of my new cutting
tools for trimming or rounding the edges and ends of bands, straps, and 3
other articles, and Figures 13 to 24 illustrate the second part of my
Invention, and represent various views of my new or improved apparatus
for holding the said straps, bands, or other articles while being trimmed.

page_text: Figure 1 is a plan; Figure 2, vertical longitudinal section; Figure 3,
side elevation; Figure 4, vertical cross section; and Figure 5, end
elevation of my trimming tool or appliance, which consists of a pronged
frame a, which may be conveniently made of brass. Between the two.
prongs of the frame a there are two jaws b, b, mounted on and free to
move on a fixed pin or bar c, motion being communicated to the
jaws b, b, by turning a right and left hand screw d in one direction or
the other (the screw being for that purpose formed with a head e, with .
milled edges or other means for taking hold of it). The jaws b, b, are
brought nearer together or moved further apart, and adjusted to the
greatest nicety, as required, in accordance with the thickness of the strap
or other article which is to be trimmed on the edge.
Instead of the right and left hand screw which I have found to
answer, other mechanical equivalent means may be employed for that
purpose.
For convenience of adjustment in the vertical direction, the jaws with
their screws & and pin c are mounted in slides k, and fit in corresponding
dovetail-shaped recesses in the inner sides of the prongs. These slides k
are fixed in their position by means of a screw 2 on each side. By
releasing the screws the whole of this part of the apparatus can bo
raised or lowered to some slight but sufficient extent, the frame a being
formed with slots where the screws pass through the same for that.
purpose, as shewn on Figs. 3 and 5.
f is a knife or cutter which is held in the frame a behind the jaws b.
This knife is illustrated separately by Figs. 6, 7, 8, and 9, Figure 6
being a longitudinal section, Figure 7 a plan, Figure 8 a back end
elevation, and Figure 9 a front end elevation. The cutting front edge is .
shaped to correspond with the shape to which it is required to trim the
edge of the strap or other article.
For harness work, several cutters made to correspond with different
thicknesses of straps would be required, all however made to fit the
same pronged frame, and inserted in the same, as required. The cutter
is retained in the frame in slots, as shewn more particularly at x, x,
Fig. 4.
:
:
The cutter is held firmly in position by the handle g, the lower part
of which is screwed for that purpose, as shewn, passing through the '
back of the frame and caused to abut against the cutter f, thus holdin'

page_text: it in position. By running the screwed end of the handle back a short
distance the cutter may be drawn out for the purpose of grinding or for
exchanging it for another size cutter, as required. The cutter may,
however, conveniently be held in its place by other means than the one
just described.
can
serves to
One such other mode is here shewn on Figs. 10, 11, and 12, of which
Figure 10 is a plan of a trimming tool of a slightly modified form,
Figure 11 a vertical longitudinal section of the same, and Figure 12 a
side elevation. The handle g is here firmly secured to the pronged
frame a, which is made somewhat longer than in the tool first described
in order to facilitate the action of the screw h. This screw h
hold the cutter f in position. It passes through the nut i, which is
made so that it can turn on joint pins from the two sides j, j, forming a
jaw or hinge on the back part of the top of the frame a. To release
the cutter f the screw / is screwed back a turn or two; its lower end
then be swung up free of the cutter, and the latter can be removed.
A much simpler trimming apparatus than those above described might
be constructed while still retaining some of the features of this part of
the Invention. Such an apparatus would be made with jaws fixed or
immovable as to their distance apart in combination with the knife or
cutter as described, the other part of the apparatus remaining substan-
tially the same. For each thickness of strap to be trimmed on the edge
a separate apparatus with its particular cutter would be requisite, thus
necessitating several such apparatus instead of one suitable for all
thicknesses (because of the adjustable jaws and the facility for inserting
different cutters). As will be observed the Invention when carried out
in such manner would not be so beneficial as when carried out as herein-
before particularly described and shewn, but I deem it useful to state
the fact.
The second part of my Invention consists of apparatus in the form of
a clamp or jaws or frame for holding the straps or other articles while
they are being trimmed on the edges.
Figure 13 is a plan of such a clamp frame; Figure 14 is a cross section
through C, C, Fig. 13; and Figure 15 is an end elevation of an apparatus
stated codian to mo Taonation

page_text: according to the length of the strap or other article required to be
trimmed. On the fixed frame a there is also a movable frame or flange c
which is retained by springs d against the fixed flange 6 when allowed
to do so. As shewn here the movable flange c is drawn back against
3 the pressure of the springs and held in that position by means of the
special contrivance for that purpose, consisting in a spindle e running
the length of the bottom of the fixed frame a, which is hollowed out for
that purpose; the plates f, f, retain the spindle e in its recess. This
spindle has spurs or levers g which work in slots in the sliding flange c.
The spindle e has a handle h, which is fitted with a pin or screw k
working in a slotted link or lever j, turning loosely on a bolt or pin i.
The slot in the link has a notch for the pin k to fall into, thus forming a
stop and retaining the sliding flange in the position shewn. By raising
the slotted link ; the lever is released, and the pressure of the spring
> forces the loose flange c against the fixed flange 6 or against any strap
or other object placed between the two flanges. In order to provide for
different breadths of material a strip / of wood or metal is fitted in the
flange 6, and can be pushed forward so as to make the space between
the loose and the fixed flange of less depth to the extent of the height:
or thickness of the strip 7. The levers m are for taking hold of the.
strip 1, and may be made to fit and fall into notches in the fixed flange b
and the loose flange c, as shewn, all according as to whether the strip
is respectively out of use or in use. The screws n which pass through
slots in the piece a, and are screwed into the piece c, serve to guide the
one on or against the other, the slot being narrower than the head of the
screw.
Figure 16 is a plan; Figure 17 an end view; and Figure 18 a cross-
section of a jaw frame or clamp of a somewhat different form. a is the
lower part of the frame as before; b, the fixed flange forming one side
or part of the jaw; and c is the movable flange forming the other side
or part of the jaw. This latter is guided by means of the guide rods p
working in the eyes q, and also by means of projections on the under
side of the movable flange c working in recesses in the bottom part a,
as shewn. The springs & tend to push the movable flange c against the
fixed flange 6 or against an object placed between them, as before
described with reference to Figures 13, 14, and 15. The jaw is opened by .
means of the levers. which turn on fulcrum pins s; t, t, are screws for .
fastening the frame down on to a table, bench, or trestles. For a great ..

page_text: length of frame the levers 7 may be arranged to stand the same way,
and be joined by a rod, so that they partake of the same movement when
one of them is actuated.
•
.
Figure 19 is part plan, and Figure 20, cross section of clamping
apparatus of a multiple kind, drawn to a smaller scale. There are in
this arrangement two fixed flangės 6 and 6¹, and two sliding flanges
c and c³, which latter are united and worked by the same draw bars u,
which again are actuated from the spurs g on the spindle e by means of
lever and slotted link arrangement, as described with reference to Figs.
13 and 15, but not shown here; or by other equivalent, means. When:
the sliding flanges are thus drawn back two jaws are formed, namely,
between b and c, and between 6¹ and c³; the first one is shallower than¸
the other. The sliding flanges may be joined to and guided in or on
the frame in many different ways, and not necessarily as here shewn
and described, which modes, however, have been found simple and
suitable.
Figures 21 and 22 shew in plan and end view, respectively, another
mode of guiding a sliding bar 7, such as shewn at Fig. 15, for making
the jaw shallower. In this case the bar may be made of metal; 6 repre-
sents the fixed flange, and 7 the sliding bar.
In order to accommodate the jaws to various widths of the straps or
other articles to be trimmed on the edge, flanges of different depths may :
be used, as described with reference to Figs. 19 and 20, or sliding pieces
may be employed, as already described with reference to the piece 7,
Figs. 13, 14, and 15%; or loose filling-in pieces may be employed in order
to insert them in the jaws to make them of the required depth.
In order to facilitate the trimming of "closed round work," such as
round reins, I employ grooved pieces for resting the said round work in
the grooved part thereof, as shewn in full size by Figs. 23 and 24, the
former being an end elevation, and the latter a side elevation.
The material to be trimmed on the edge being placed in any of the
clamps or jaws above described, the springs d, d, are released, and the
material is thereby pressed by the springs and held between the fixed
flange 6 or 6¹, and the sliding or movable flange c or c³, and thus evenly
gripped throughout its length and tightly held in place. The cutting tool
above described can then be applied. It must of course first be properly
.

page_text: And, eighthly. The application of the herein described means for
arranging the jaws or clamps for various sizes of articles to be trimmed.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Lott, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.