IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CHAIRS, SOFAS, AND OTHER ARTICLES OF CABINET FURNITURE
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Matthew Pollock and John Pollock, both of
Beith, in the County of Ayr, North Britain, Cabinet and Chair
Manufacturers, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CHAIRS, SOFAS, AND
OTHER ARTICLES OF CABINET FURNITURE."
Sealed the 26th February 1872, and dated the 2nd September 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Matthew Pollock
and John Pollock at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 2nd September 1871.
WC, MATTHEW POLLOCK and JOHN POLLOCK, both of Beith, in the
County of Ayr, North Britain, Cabinet and Chair Manufacturers, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR Apparatus emploYED IN THE Manufacture of Chairs, Sopas, and
OTHER ARTICLES OF CABINET FURNITURE," to be as follows, that is to say :-
-
This Invention, which relates to improvements in machinery or
apparatus employed in the manufacture of chairs, sofas, and other

page_text: .
articles of cabinet furniture wherein pieces of wood are joined together
by mortising and dowelling consists of a compound mortising and dowel
hole boring machine. That part of the machine by which the mortise is
cut consists of a revolving shaft fitted with bits, whose diameter is equal
to the width of the mortise desired to be cut. The shaft referred to is
carried in bearing blocks situated in a race, and it is caused to reciprocate
in the race through a distance equivalent to the length of mortise
required by means of a connecting rod, one end of which is coupled
thereto whilst its other end is attached to a crank upon a revolving
shaft situated at or near one end of the machine. This crank is
preferably arranged with an adjustable throw, so that the range of the
reciprocating spindle, and with it that of the mortising bits, are capable of
being adjusted to any required length of mortise. At opposite sides of
the machine a table is situated upon which a leg or other part of a chair
or other piece of furniture is placed and secured thereto by a cramp,
that part wherein it is desired to make the mortise being brought in
front of the bits, and being pressed against them by means of a screw an
accurately situated mortise is speedily formed, corresponding in width
to the diameter of the boring bit and in length to the distance through
which it reciprocates. That part of the machine by which the dowel
holes are bored consists of revolving bits, which are carried in brackets
situated upon compound slides arranged upon the upper part of the
framework, by means of which the bits can be brought into any position
to suit the dimensions and nature of the piece of work or to the width
of holes required to be bored, the bits being forced or drawn against the
wood to be operated upon by hand levers, which are actuated by an
attendant.
It is to be understood that the machine herein described is preferably
duplex, so that two similar pieces of work may be operated upon simul-
taneously, but when a less expensive machine is required it may be
arranged as a single machine.
In order to finish the joints of the work after it has been mortised and
the dowel holes cut in the manner herein-before described, the back legs
and rail are put together by the tenons of the latter being entered into
the mortises of the former, and then are cramped together in that part of

page_text: corresponding to the length of the back rail of the chair, sofa, or other
similar piece of work. The back whilst being operated upon is brought
against the saws by a guide plate or slido set at right angles to the
plane of action of the disc, cutters, or saws.
This machine is also applicable to cutting and boring the dowel holes
in back stays for chairs, having a compound boring apparatus attached
thereto, the action of which is similar to that already set forth with
reference to the boring of the dowel holes in the legs of furniture, the
bits being placed at the same distance apart, so that the dowel holes in
both legs and back stay correspond; the same saws which cut the joints
for the back also cut the ends of the back stay to bring them to the
required length.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Matthew Pollock and John Pollock in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 1st March 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, wc, MATTHEW
POLLOCK and JOHN POLLOCK, both of Beith, in the County of Ayr,
North Britain, Cabinet and Chair Manufacturers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the 36th.
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and.
grant unto us, the said Matthew Pollock and John Pollock, Her special
license that we, the said Matthew Pollock and John Pollock, our execu-
tors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Matthew
Pollock and John Pollock, our 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS
EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CHAIRS, SOFAS, AND OTHER ARTICLES OF CABINET

page_text: FURNITURE," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
Matthew Pollock and John Pollock, by an instrument in writing
under our hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the samo was
to bo 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 we, the said Matthew Pollock and John
Pollock, do hereby declare the nature of our 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 :—
Our said Invention relates to improvements in machinery or apparatus
employed or to be employed in the manufacture of chairs, sofas, and
other articles of cabinet furniture wherein the picces of wood of which
the said furniture is composed are held together by dowelling and
mortising; part of the said mechanism being adapted for finishing
the joints of the woodwork after the mortises and dowel holes have
been cut.
And in order that our said Invention may be properly understood we
now proceed more particularly to set forth the system, mode, or manner
in or under which the same is or may be used or practically carried
into effect, that is to say :-
On the Sheet of Drawings hereunto appended Figure 1 is a front
clevation of our improved mortising and dowel hole boring machine
employed in the manufacture of chairs, sofas, and other articles of
cabinet furniture; Figure 2 is a plan thereof, whilst Figuro 3 is an end
clevation of the same. As shewn in these Drawings, but more particularly
by Figure 2 thereof, that part of the machine used for the mortise cutting;
operations is constructed with a revolving shaft A, the extremities of
which are fitted with bits B, whose diameter is equal to the width of the
mortise desired to be cut. The revolving shaft A referred to is rotated
at a high velocity by means of the pullics a, a, and it is carried in the
bearing blocks situated in a race C, shewn more particularly in the
plan and end clevation, Figures 2 and 3. The shaft A, together with
the bits B, are caused to reciprocate in the race C through a distance

page_text: equivalent to the length of the mortise required by means of a con-
necting rod D, one end of which is coupled theroto whilst its other end
is attached to a crank E on the revolving shaft c carried in bearings
supported by the bracket F, which is bolted to the framing G of the
machine, as shown at Figures 2 and 3. The said crank E is preferably
constructed with an adjustable throw d, so that the range of the
reciprocating spindle or shaft A, and with it the mortising bits B, aro
capable of being set to any required length of mortise. The revolving
shaft c, to which the crank E is attached, is driven by a belt passing
over the pulley H. The tables I, upon which are shown in dotted lines
the front and back leg of a chair respectively about to be operated upon
by the mortising bits B, are carried by the brackets K' bolted to the
framing G of the machine, and these are adjusted to the required height
or level by means of the screws and band wheels L, shewn at Figures 1
and 3, the screws L being kept in their position when adjusted by
means of the pinching screws v. The tables I are situated upon
horizontal slides f, and by means of the screws and nuts placed under
the tables I these are caused to travel to or from the mortising bits B
by the operator turning the handle g in a right or left-hand direction
after the manner of operating the slide rest of a self-acting lathe, as may
be required. The legs or other parts of a chair or other piece of furni-
ture when placed upon the tables I to be operated upon are secured
thereto by cramps K, cach of which consists of a horizontal shaft m
furnished with a feather, which fits into a corresponding groove in the
cycn at the head of the bracket o to allow of the position of the shaft
m being altered. At the end of each shaft m a vertical screw p is carried,
this being furnished with a hand wheels for operating it, and upon
tightening the screw pupon the leg or other part of a chair or other
piece of furnituro placed upon the table under it the same is firmly held
in that position, those parts wherein it is desired to cut the mortises
being brought in front of the bits B, and being pressed against them by
means of the screws worked by the handles g acting upon the tables I
as herein-before described, accurately situated mortises are speedily
formed, corresponding in width to the diameter of the mortising bits B
and in length to the distance through which the bits reciprocate in the
race C. That part of the machine by which the dowel holes are bored
consists of revolving bits L driven at a high velocity by means of the
pullies, the bits L being geared together in pairs or other numbers as
may be required by means of the spur pinions t, shewn at Figures 1 and

page_text: 2, and these are carried in the brackets & situated upon the horizontal
compound slides M, which are carried and adjusted as regards their
height or level by means of the vertical screws N passing through the
brackets O bolted to the framing G of the machine, and when so
adjusted these are kept in their positions by the pinching screws e. The
compound slides M, as shewn at Figures 1, 2, and 3, are acted upon in
one direction by the screws to and in a direction at right angles thereto
by the land levers wo', so that the boring bits L can be brought into any
position to suit the dimensions and nature of the piece of work about
to be bored, the bits being pressed or drawn against the wood by an
attendant actuating the hand levers 10'.
It is to be understood that in place of arranging the machine so that
two pieces of wood may be operated upon simultaneously, as herein-
before described, when a less expensive machine is required it may be
arranged as a single machine.
Figure 4 on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto appended is a side or end
clevation of a machine for finishing the joints of the work after it has
been mortised and the dowel holes cut in the manner hercin-beforo
described. Figure 5 is a plan thereof, whilst Figure 6 is a front
elevation of the same. As shown by these Figures, that part of the
machine for cutting the back stay joints consists of two circular saws A
carried upon the transverse hollow shaft a, through which a right and
left-handed screw 6 passes, whereby the saws A arc adjusted to any
distance apart corresponding to the length of the back stay of the chair
or other similar piece of work being or about to be operated upon. The
hollow shaft a is carried in bearings B, which are situated in brackets C,
bolted to the framing D of the machine. The saws A are driven by
means of belts passing around the pullies C. The horizontal table or
guide plate E, upon which is shown in dotted lines the back of a chair
about to be operated upon, is situated upon the slide F, which is carried
upon the framing D, shewn more particularly at Figure 6. Tho
horizontal cramp G is constructed in the same manner as an ordinary
window sash cramp and is bolted to the bracket H, on which is carried
the vertical cramp I the said vertical cramp I being constructed in pre-
cisely the same manner as those herein-before described as applied to the
mortising and dowel hole boring machine, illustrated at Figures 1, 2,
and 3.

page_text: The back legs and rail of the chair or other similar piece of furniture
after being put together by the tenons of the latter being entered into
the mortise holes of the former are placed in the cramps G and I so
that the back rail joints are thus tightly cramped together, and as the
table or guide plate E is moved forward by means of an attendant
pushing on the handle K, those parts of the back of the chair or other
similar piece of furniture marked p at Figure 5, whereat a joint is
situated, are brought in contact with the saws A, which cut or face
these portions to the requisite degree and angle. The table or guide
plate E is provided with two pins x, which act as guides for the back of
the chair or other similar piece of furniture when being cramped by the
cramp G and the back stay rail joints cut by the circular saws A. The
pins x are situated in the slots y, in which they can be adjusted to suit
the width of the back of the chair or other similar piece of furniture
about to be operated upon. The back stays of chairs may also be cut to
the required length by the saws A by fixing the pieces of wood of which
they are to be formed upon the table E by the cramp I and then
pushing the table forwards so that the saws A cut the ends of the piece
of wood, after which the table A is pushed further forwards until the
back stay thereon, cut to the required length, is brought between the
boring bits L. The revolving bits Lare driven at a high velocity by
means of belts passing around the pullies m, and they are geared
together in pairs or other numbers as may be required in the same manner
and at the same distance apart as those herein-before described and
marked L in the machine, illustrated by Figures 1, 2, and 3, so that tho
dowel holes in both legs and back stay correspond. The bits Lare
carried in brackets h situated upon the horizontal slides M. which aro
supported and adjusted as regards their height or level by means of tho
vertical screws N situated in the brackets O attached to the framing D
of the machine, the said vertical screws N being actuated by means of
the hand wheels P, and when adjusted maintained in their positions by
the pinching screws v. The boring bits L are pressed or drawn against
the wood until operated upon by means of the shaft w, upon which is a
right and left-handed screw, as shewn at Figures 5 and 6, operated by
the hand wheel W. The table or guide plate E of the above-described
machine is made in halves or two parts, and can be removed from the
machine when necessary.
Having now described the nature of our said Invention, and the
system, mode, or manner in or under which the same is or may be used or

page_text: practically carried into effect, we would observe in conclusion, that what
we consider novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to us by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, –
-
First. The general arrangement and combination of parts constituting
the machines herein-before described and shewn upon the annexed Sheet
of Drawings.
Second. The arranging in one machine of apparatus for cutting
mortises and boring dowel holes, substantially as herein-before described
and illustrated at Figures 1, 2, and 3 of the annexed Sheet of
Drawings.
Third. The arrangement in one machine of apparatus for cutting the
faces of the joints made with the back legs and back stays of chairs and
other similar articles of furniture and for cutting the ends of the upper
back stay and boring the dowel holes therein, substantially as herein-
before described and shewn at Figures 4, 5, and 6 of the annexed Sheet
of Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, the said Matthew Pollock and John
Pollock, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-
ninth day of February One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
two.