IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING UP OR REDUCING LOAF SUGAR
Year: 1868

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Weldon Symington at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 31st July 1868.
I, WILLIAM WELDON SYMINGTON, of Chard, in the County of Somerset,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING UP OR REDUCING LOAF SUGAR,"
to be as follows:-
In carrying out my Invention for the purpose of cutting up or reducing
loaf sugar to cubes of suitable size I provide two upright standards
Below this
connected above to form a bearing for a driving shaft.
driving shaft and between the upright standards of the machine is placed
a knife fixed to a suitable block working in guides in said standards
and having up-and-down motion imparted to it by a crank on the shaft
before mentioned, with which it communicates by means of a suitable
connecting rod. The shaft is provided with a fly wheel and receives
motion by means of a winch handle or by any suitable power.
the knife above mentioned and opposed to it is placed a second knife
also fitted to work in grooves between the upright standards, and to
which a slow up-and-down movement is imparted for a purpose herein-
after described by means of a transverse plate passing through the knife
Below

page_text: block. This transverse plate works in grooves in the standards and has
an inclined upper surface which is received in a corresponding groove in
the knife block. A vertical shaft communicates by bevil or endless
screw gearing with the driving shaft before mentioned, the lower end of
which vertical shaft terminates in a pinion gearing with an endless rack
placed on the transverse plate for imparting a to-and-fro motion to the
latter for raising or lowering the knife as the inclined edge of the plate
is moved back and forth in the slot in the knife block as before mentioned.
In front of the upright standards and at one end of the machine is placed
a tray mounted on a suitable framing on which the loaves of sugar are
placed before being operated on by the machine. Beneath this tray is
an endless chain passing round pullies mounted near either end, which
chain is provided with two or more fingers projecting upwards through
a à longitudinal slot in the bottom of the tray, which on the chain pullies
being rotated move in the direction of the vertical knives, carrying
with them the loaf or loaves placed on the tray. Motion is imparted
to the endless chain from the driving shaft by a suitable connecting
rod, one end of which is connected thereto by a crank pin and the other
to a bell crank placed loosely on the axis of one of the chain pullies
and provided with a pawl acting on a ratchet wheel keyed on said axis.
By this means alternate rotary motion is communicated to the bell crank,
causing it to rotate the ratchet wheel and consequently the chain pulley.
When the lower knife is in its lowest position and the upper knife is
raised a loaf of sugar is placed on the tray in front of a finger or feeder,
its base projecting over the edge of the lower knife, on which it rests:
At each revolution of the driving shaft the upper knife descends, detaching
a slice or disc from the end of the loaf, the latter being advanced by the
finger the thickness of a slice at each revolution. As the diameter of
the loaf decreases the lower knife is caused to rise by means of the
vertical shaft and inclined slide before mentioned so as to constantly
maintain the upper side of the loaf in a horizontal position for ensuring
a uniform penetration of the upper knife. When the entire loaf is thus
cut up the lower knife has arrived at its highest position, and the next
lcaf is immediately placed in position to be operated on by the knives.
This loaf is however inserted point first, the lower knife descending as
the loaf increases in diameter, and so on for the succeeding loaves. In
placing them on the tray therefore they must be laid base to base
and point to point, having a feeder between each. In order to
facilitate the passage of the loaves on to the lower knife one part of

page_text: the tray is mounted on a spring so that it may be depressed by the
weight of the loaf to the level of the knife edge. Behind the lower
knife block is a plate firmly attached to the standards carrying a raised
disc, the face of which is provided with a series of knives or cutters
projecting horizontally therefrom and placed at suitable distances apart
to form the cubes of sugar required, each row of cutters being formed of
a series of angular teeth. Below this disc is a hinged flap on which the
disc or slice of sugar is received when cut off from the loaf by the vertical
knives first described, the disc being thereby held in front of the cutters.
A second movable disc provided with cutters but placed at right angles
to those of the fixed disc is then brought up against the sugar, the
cutters of each disc penetrating it on either side and dividing it into
cubes of the size required. This movable disc is mounted on the end
of a sliding rod working to and fro in a suitable bearing and provided
with a crosshead to each end of which is attached a connecting rod
communicating with the driving shaft. By this means the movable disc
is advanced towards the fixed one immediately after the descent of the
upper vertical knife for cutting up the slice of sugar just produced by
said knife. The sugar thus cut up is received on a screen placed below
the hinged flap before mentioned, by which the small particles are
separated from the cubes. In order to maintain the slice of sugar in an
upright position when received on the flap previous to its being cut up
by the discs I provide a series of vertical wires secured to a suitable frame
attached to the standards at top and bottom, which wires on the advance
of the disc are received between the cutters of the latter.
Instead of transmitting to-and-fro motion to the sliding rod of the
movable disc direct from the driving shaft by means of a cross head and
connecting rod as described the latter may be attached to a second crank
shaft working in a suitable bearing in the rear of the sliding rod to
which it is attached by a connecting rod.
The machine may be driven by hand as before described, or I may
attach an oscillating steam cylinder to one of the standards of the machine,
the piston rod of which is placed in direct communication with the driving
shaft of the machine.