Improvements in and relating to Feed-mechanism for Planing- machines and other Machine-tools.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 9th Feb., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 9th Nov., 1893-Accepted, 3rd Feb.. 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Feed-mechanism for Planing-
machines and other Machine-tools.
I, ARTHUR JAMES SMITH, of Kingston-on-Thames, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows :-
:~
My invention relates to planing-machines and other machine-tools, and is chiefly
designed to provide for the recurrent automatic reversal of the feed-motion of the
cutter-head or tool-holder in machine-tools in which a rectilinear reciprocating
motion is imparted to the said cutter-head or tool-holder.
My said invention is also designed to provide for automatically feeding the
cutter or cutters towards the work after each cut has been completed.
In planing-machines as hitherto constructed no provision is made for auto-
matically reversing the transverse feed-motion of the cutter-head or tool-holder
when the same reaches either end of its travel, such reversal being usually effected
by hand. Moreover, in such machines, the feeding of the cutter or cutters towards
the work, after each cut is completed, is usually effected by hand.
Now according to one part of my invention, I so construct a planing-machine
that it will operate automatically in such a manner that two or more successive
cuts over the entire part of the work to be planed, can be made by the cutter or
cutters without the necessity for adjusting or feeding the cutter-head or tool-holder
by hand. This improved planing-machine is adapted, for example, for cutting
entire pigs or ingots of lead into curled strips or cuttings to be used in the
manufacture of white-lead.
An important feature of my said invention is the provision of adjustable self-
acting devices comprising springs arranged to be compressed by the cutter-head or
tool-holder and to be automatically released to permit their action when the said
cutter-head or tool-holder has moved through a predetermined distance. The
action of the machine can, therefore, be very effectually regulated by the
adjustment of the said devices.
For effecting the automatic reversal of a reciprocating cutter-head or tool-holder
of a planing machine, a lathe or the like, I find it advantageous to employ devices
constructed as follows, riz.;-I arrange parallel to the feed-screw or leading-screw
of the machine, a sliding bar provided with adjustable collars or projections between
which and lugs or projections on the cutter-head or tool-holder are arranged
suitable springs. These springs are compressed by the said cutter-head or tool-
holder as the latter approaches the ends of its stroke or travel, the said sliding bar
being restrained from movement by means of a catch or detent, until the cutter-
head or tool-holder has completed its stroke or travel; the said catch or detent is
then released by coming in contact with a projection on the said cutter-head
or tool-holder, and the spring, which has been compressed, reacts and rapidly effects
the reversal of the motion of the feed-screw or leading-screw by operating upon
suitable reversing-gear through the medium of the said sliding bar.
I find it advantageous, in the case of the transverse feed-screw of a planing-
machine, to provide reversing-gear constructed as follows, that is to say;-on one
end of the feed-screw 1 fix side by side two ratchet-wheels the teeth of which are
nclined in opposite directions; these wheels are arranged to be alternately
operated by racks mounted in and forming opposite sides of a frame which is
igidly attached to or formed integrally with a reciprocating rod. The said
eciprocating rod is suitably connected with the table or other reciprocating vart

page_text: of the machine so that it will be operated at the termination of each movement of
the table.
The said racks are alternately brought into engagement with the ratchet-wheels
respectively, by means of suitable springs so arranged in combination with the said
frame that, when the latter is moved in one direction, it may yield to allow either
rack to pass freely over the teeth of the corresponding ratchet-wheel, and, when
the said frame is moved in the reverse direction, the said rack will act like a pawl
to partially rotate the said ratchet-wheel. The said springs are attached to the
aforesaid sliding-bar, and the said reciprocating rod extends through a slot in this
bar and into the space between the said springs, so that, when the said sliding-bar
is moved in either direction, one rack will be moved into gear and the other out of
gear with the said ratchet-wheels.
This arrangement may be adapted for moving a feed-screw rapidly through a
predetermined angle at each end of the travel of the cutter-head or tool-holder, for
instance, for effecting the vertical feed of the cutter in a planing-machine. In this
case, it is only necessary to fix one ratchet-wheel on the feed-screw, and to
provide spring racks fitted to slide on stationary guide-rods which are secured to
suitable portions of the framework of the machine, the said spring racks being
controlled by catches or detents similar to those above mentioned, attached to the
cutter-head or tool-holder and arranged to be released at the proper times by
suitable studs or projections on the frame of the machine.
In adapting a planing-machine according to my said invention, for cutting up
lead for use in the manufacture of white-lead, I provide a cutter-head capable of
holding one or more cutters which are set at an angle of about thirty degrees to
the horizontal, and I provide a pan or receptacle suitably attached to the cutter-
head so that the cuttings made by the said cutters will rise into the said pan or
receptacle.
I do not confine myself to the special devices above mentioned for reversing the
transverse feed-motion in a planing-machine, or for automatically feeding the
cutter or cutters towards the work, as it is obvious that I can employ other suitable
devices for these purposes without departing from the nature of my said invention.
It will be readily seen that my improved feed-mechanism can be applied either
to planing-machines as above mentioned or to other machine-tools, such as lathes,
shaping-machines, and the like.
Dated the 9th day of February 1893.
D. YOUNG & CO.,
11 & 12 Southampton Buildings London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Feed-mechanism for Planing-
machines and other Machine-tools.
I, ARTHUR JAMES SMITH, of Kingston-on-Thames, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement :-
My invention relates to planing-machines and other machine-tools, and is chiefly
designed to provide for the recurrent automatic reversal of the feed-motion of the
cutter-head or tool-holder in planing-machines and other machine-tools in which a
rectilinear reciprocating feed-motion is imparted to the said cutter-head or tool-
holder.
.
My said invention is also designed to provide for the automatic feeding of the
cutter or cutters, after each cut has been completed, for the purpose of adjusting
the said cutter or cutters for a succeeding cut.

page_text: According to one part of my said invention, I so construct a planing-machine that
it will operate automatically and continuously in such a manner that two or more
successive cuts over the entire part of the work to be planed, can be made by the
cutter or cutters without the necessity for feeding the cutter-head or tool-holder or
reversing the feed-motion thereof by hand. This improved planing-machine is
adapted, for example, for cutting entire pigs or ingots of lead into curled strips or
cuttings to be used in the manufacture of white-lead; also for planing or facing
the surfaces of girders and other articles which require two or more successive cuts
with the same cutter or cutters; and also for shredding gutta-percha to facilitate
the purification thereof to adapt it for use as an electrical insulator and for like
purposes.
Another important feature of my said invention is the provision of improved
adjustable self-acting devices comprising springs arranged to be compressed by the
cutter-head in its reciprocating movement and to be automatically released to
permit their action, when the said cutter-head has been fed across the work through
the required distance to complete a cut, either for the purpose of feeding the cutter
to the work or for effecting a reversal of the feed-motion, as the case may be. The
operation of the machine can be very effectually regulated by the adjustment of
the said devices, and the machine will operate automatically, thus obviating the
necessity of having an attendant to watch the machine and feed the cutter or
cutters to the work or reverse the feed-motion by hand.
In the accompanying drawing I have shown how my said invention may be
conveniently and advantageously carried into practice:
Figure 1 is a front elevation of a planing-machine provided with my improved
feed-mechanism, the bed being shown in transverse section.
and
Figure 2 is a side elevation, partly in section on the line x, x, Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a plan, partly in horizontal section,
Figure 4 is a side elevation, and
Figure 5 a plan, both drawn to an enlarged scale, illustrating details of construction,
Figure 6 is a side elevation illustrating a modification of my invention.
Like letters indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawing.
A is the bed of the machine, B is the reciprocating table or platform of the
same, which is operated in any convenient manner and to which the work E is
bolted or otherwise suitably secured. C is the cutter-head or stock which slides on
guides C' and is fed to and fro relatively to the work by a feed-screw or leading-
screw a working in a screw-threaded block or nut a¹ on the said head or stock. Dis
the vertical slide or tool-holder which is provided with suitable guides and is moved
up and down by means of a feed-screw or leading-screw b attached thereto and
extending through a rotary nut c working between the two jaws c', c', of a bracket ².
The nut c is provided with a hand-wheel d whereby it may be operated by hand to
adjust the cutter or cutters at starting. It is also provided with a ratchet-wheel e
whereby it may be worked automatically as hereinafter described.
F is a sliding reversing bar arranged parallel to the feed-screw or leading-screw a
and provided with adjustable pieces or collars f, between which and lugs or
projections g on the cutter-head C are arranged suitable springs h, which springs
will be alternately compressed by the said cutter-head in the latter part of its travel
in either direction. At each side of the machine is provided. an adjustable spring
catch or detenti, adapted to engage with the corresponding collar fso as to restrain
the bar F from longitudinal movement until the cutter-head C has completed its
stroke or travel, when the said catch or detent will be released by the projection g
on the cutter-head coming in contact with the inclined piece of the said catch
or detent i.
Each catch or detent i is secured in place by a screw-bolt p passed through a
slot in the said catch or detent, so that the position of the latter can be readily
adjusted.
On one end of the feed-screw a are fixed side by side two ratchet-wheels k, k³,

page_text: Figures 1 and 4, the teeth of which are inclined in opposite directions; these wheels
are arranged to be operated respectively by racks 1, l, attached to opposite sides
of a frame m formed with or attached to a reciprocating rod m¹. The said
reciprocating rod is suitably connected with the table B or other reciprocating part
of the machine so that it will be moved up and down at the termination of each
longitudinal movement of the said table. The upper end of the rod m' extends
through a slotted guide o and between two inclined springs n, n¹ secured in a slot F
in the enlarged end F¹ of the sliding-bar F, so that, when the said sliding-bar is
moved in either direction, one of the racks 2, will be moved into gear and the
other out of gear with the corresponding ratchet-wheels k, k, thus reversing the
feed-motion of the cutter-head C. The said racks 1, 1 are sometimes secured to
screws or rods-12 fitted to slide in holes in the sides of the frame m, suitable springs /³
being arranged between the said racks and the frame, as shown in Figure 6.
When the cutter-head is fed across the work in either direction, and comes in
contact with one of the springs h, it compresses this spring, the collar being held
by the catch or detent i as shown at the left hand side of Figure 1, until the said
lug g acting upon the inclined end of the said catch or detent, disengages the
latter from the collar f; the spring / then reacts and moves the bar F so as to
..reverse the cross feed. In the reverse motion of the cutter-head C, the other spring /
and detent i are operated in like manuer, and so on.
In some cases the parts are so arranged that the springs will be extended instead
of compressed by the cutter-head and will then be permitted to react for the purpose
above specified.
A suitable automatic device is preferably provided for stopping the machine as
soon as the desired number of cuts have been taken off the work.
For automatically effecting the vertical feed of the cutter, I provide spring
racks q, q' which are adjustably secured to separate sliding-bars F3, F4 working in
guides attached to the frame of the machine; the said spring racks being con-
trolled by catches or detents i, similar to those above mentioned, attached to the
cutter-head C and arranged to be released at the proper times by suitable studs or
projections g on the said guides r.
In some cases, it may be advantageous to arrange the spring racks q, q', to
slide on stationary guide-bars, and to provide the said racks with adjustable
collars to engage with the corresponding catches or detents i, so that the
said catches or detents will move the racks q, q' on the said guide-bars and
compress the springs until the said catches or detents are released by the
projections g¹.
In the accompanying drawing I have shown a planing-machine constructed
according to my said invention and adapted for cutting up lead to be used in the
manufacture of white-lead, or for similar purposes, in which machine the cutter-
head is provided with several cutters s, of which there may be two or more, the
said cutter-head being arranged to be fed to and fro relatively to the work and the
reversal of the feed-motion being automatically effected when the cutter-head has
been fed through a distance equal to that between two adjacent cutters. The
machine is thus made to perform a much larger amount of work in any given time
than is practicable when only a single cutter is used.
For cutting up lead for use in the manufacture of white lead, the cutters s are
preferably set at an angle of about thirty degrees to the horizontal, and a pan or
receptacle t is suitably attached to the cutter-head C for the purpose of collecting the
cuttings made by the said cutters, which cuttings will rise into the said pan or
receptacle.
It will be readily seen that my improved feed-mechanism can be applied either
to planing-machines as above mentioned or to other machine-tools, such as lathes,
shaping-machines, and the like.
In constructing a machine to operate automatically and continuously as above
described, I do not confine myself to the use of the special devices above described
for reversing the feed-motion or for automatically feeding the cutter or cutters to

page_text: the work, as it is obvious that I can employ other suitable devices for these purposes
without departing from the nature of my said invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
First. A planing-machine or other machine-tool in which suitable provision
is made whereby the operations of feeding the cutter-head or tool-holder to
and fro relatively to the work, reversing this feed-motion and feeding the cutter
or cutters to the work at either end of the feed-motion of the said cutter-
head or tool-holder, are automatically performed, substantially as hereinbefore
described.
Second. The combination, in a planing-machine or other machine-tool, of auto-
matic devices for feeding the cutter-head or tool-holder to and fro relatively to the
work and adjustable automatic devices for reversing this feed-motion, substantially
as, and for the purposes, set forth.
Third. A planing-machine or similar machine-tool in which the cutter-head is
provided with two or more cutters and in which suitable provision is made for
automatically feeding the said cutter-head to and fro relatively to the work and for
automatically reversing the feed-motion and feeding the cutters to the work when
the said cutter-head has moved through a distance approximately equal to that
between the two cutters or between two adjacent cutters, for the purposes above
specified.
Fourth. An adjustable automatic device for reversing the feed-motion of the
cutter-head or tool-holder, in a planing machine or other machine-tool, which
device comprises a sliding reversing-bar provided with adjustable projections or
collars, catches or detents to engage with the said bar, and springs which are
compressed (or extended) by the cutter-head or tool-holder and which, by their
reaction, move the said sliding bar when released from the said catches or detents,
substantially as, and for the purposes, set forth.
Fifth. The modification of my adjustable automatic device whereby I adapt the
same for feeding the tool to the work, substantially as set forth.
Sixth. The improved mechanism comprising the ratchet-wheels on the feed-screw
or leading-screw the reciprocating frame provided with the racks to engage with
the said ratchet-wheels, and an adjustable automatic device for moving the said
frame so as to put the said racks into and out of gear with the ratchet-wheels
respectively, substantially as, and for the purposes, set forth.
Seventh. A planing-machine provided with my improved mechanism constructed
substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawing, and operating
as, and for the purposes, above specified.
Dated the 9th day of November 1893.
D. YOUNG & Co.,
11 & 12, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.