IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING WOOD
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Newcomb and Thomas Henry Newcomb,
both of Old Kent Road, in the County of Surrey, Engineers, for
the Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING WOOD."
Sealed the 16th February 1875, and dated the 19th August 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Newcomb
and Thomas Henry Newcomb at the Office of the Commissioners
of Patents, with their Petition, on the 19th August 1874.
We, THOMAS NEWCOмB and THOMAS HENRY NEWCOMB, both of Old
Kent Road, in the County of Surrey, Engineers, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING
WOOD," to be as follows:-
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This Invention relates to improved arrangements of machinery for
cutting, planing, or slicing wood by means of a reciprocating knife or
knives mounted upon a slide which is moved to and fro in suitable
guides by a crank pin working in a slot formed in the slide which
carries the knife or knives. A knife is mounted at each end of the slide
so as to cut at opposite ends of its movement.

page_text: The wood to be cut is fed forward up to the knife in boxes or holders
by means of rollers having serrated or holding surfaces, being actuated
by a lever and ratchet with suitable driving gear, to which motion is
given after each successive cut to feed the wood forward the required
distance for the next cut, the distance it is so fed being capable of
adjustment so as to determine the thickness of the piece of wood cut off
at each stroke.
The apparatus for feeding the wood forward may be greatly varied.
The axis which carries the crank and pin to actuate the cutter slide is
mounted in bearings upon a suitable frame, a fly wheel, and driving
pulleys being also mounted upon the crank axis.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Newcomb and Thomas Henry Newcomb
in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 19th February 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, THOMAS
in
NEWCOMB and THOMAS HENRY NEWCOMB, both of Old Kent Road,
the County of Surrey, Engineers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto us, the said Thomas Newcomb and
Thomas Henry Newcomb, Her special license, that we, the said
Thomas Newcomb and Thomas Henry Newcomb, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Thomas
Newcomb and Thomas Henry Newcomb, our executors, admini-
strators, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
For Cutting Wood," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the
said Thomas Newcomb and Thomas Henry Newcomb, our executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our or their

page_text: hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us or them,
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 Thomas Henry Newcomb, on
behalf of myself and the said Thomas Newcomb, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to improved arrangements of machinery for
cutting, planing, or slicing wood by means of a reciprocating knife or
knives mounted upon a slide which is moved to and fro in suitable
guides by a crank pin working in a slot formed in the slide which carries
the knife or knives. A knife is mounted at each end of the slide so as
to cut at opposite ends of its movement.
The wood to be cut is fed forward up to the knife in boxes or holders
by means of rollers having serrated or holding surfaces, being actuated
by a lever and ratchet with suitable driving gear, to which motion is
given after each successivo cut to feed the wood forward the required
distance for the next cut, the distance it is so fed forward being capable
of adjustment so as to determine the thickness of the piece of wood cut
off at each stroke.
The apparatus for feeding the wood forward may be greatly varied, or
it may be self-feeding.
The axis which carries the crank and pin to actuate the cutter slide
is mounted in bearings upon a suitable frame, a fly wheel and driving
pulleys being also mounted upon the crank axis.
And in order that our improvements may be clearly understood, and
readily carried into practice, we will proceed to describe the Drawings
hereunto annexed.
Figure 1 shews a side elevation; and Figure 2, a plan of a machine
for cutting wood arranged and constructed in accordance with our:

page_text: improvements. a is a reciprocating cutter bar or slide, on each end of
which a knife or cutter a¹, a¹, is mounted. The bar or slide a is
mounted and moves to and fro in guides a³, a², fixed to the framing of
the machine, as shown; a³ is a slot formed in the cutter bar or slide a,
in which the crank pin and friction roller 61 carried by the crank axis b
works so as to move the bar or slide a to and fro. Motion is communi-
cated to the axis 6 by a driving pulley and fly wheel 32, as shown, or
otherwise, as may be found most convenient. c, c, are boxes or troughs
in which the blocks of wood to be cut are placed to be fed forward up to
the cutters after each successive cut, as follows:-d, d¹, are feed rollers
formed with serrated or grooved surfaces which grip the sides of the
blocks of wood in the boxes c near to the cutter bar a. An alternate
step-by-step movement is given to the feed rollers d, d, by means of the
cam surface 6 fixed on the inner circumference of the driving pulley 62,
which in its revolution acts on friction rollers d², d³, carried by one of
the arms of the cranked levers d³, d³, mounted on axes d'. The lever
arms d³, d³ are connected by links do, do, to the levers d', d', upon the
axes of the feed rollers d, d. Upon the levers d', d', drivers d³, d³,
(kept in position by springs) are mounted, one end of each of which
enters into the teeth of the ratchet wheels do, do, fixed on the axes of
the feed rollers d, so as to impart motion thereto each time the arms d³
of the cranked levers d³, d³, are acted upon. The feed rollers d, d,
communicate motion to the feed rollers d', d', by the toothed gear d*, d*,
as clearly shown in the Drawings. The cranked levers d³, d³, are con-
nected together by the link d³×*, so as to place the friction rollers d³, d³,
alternately in a position to be acted upon by the cam surface 6³.
Figure 3 shows a vertical section; and Figure 4, a plan of a similar
machine to that previously described for cutting or planing wood in
accordance with our Invention (the position of the crank being
different), the reciprocating cutter bar or slide a and cutters a', a¹, being
arranged in a horizontal position in place of vertical, as in Figures 1
and 2.
In this arrangement the wood to be cut is rendered self-feeding by
being placed in the vertical boxes or hoppers c, c, above the cutter
slide a, thus dispensing with the feed apparatus previously described
with reference to Figures 1 and 2.
After each cut, as the cutter moves back, the block of wood descends,
and is supported on arms or fingers a*, a*, fixed upon the cutter bar a,

page_text: which fingers or supports are capable of adjustment so as to determine
the thickness of the slice of wood to be cut off each time the cutter
moves forward.
Corresponding parts in each of the Figures are marked with similar
letters of reference.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention, and the manner
of performing or carrying the same into practice, we would remark that
we do not intend to confine ourselves to the exact details herein-before
described, so long as the main features of our Invention are retained;
but what we claim is, the improved arrangement of machinery for
cutting wood, in which a cutter or cutters are carried by or form part
of a reciprocating bar or slide, which is moved to and fro, or actuated
by a crank or its equivalent, substantially in the manner herein-before
described, and represented in the Drawings hereunto annexed.
-
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Henry Newcomb, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of
February, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-five.
THOS. H. NEWCOMB. (L.S.)
0 Witness,
J. G. TONGUE,
Patent Agent,
34, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane,
10
5
London, W.C.