A NEW FILE-CUTTING MACHINE
Year: 1869

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Edward Thomas Hughes at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 30th January 1869.-A communication to me from abroad by
Hermann Moritz and Jacob Reinach, of Berlin, in the Kingdom of
Prussia, Manufacturers.
I, EDWARD THOMAS HUGHES, of the Firm of Hughes and Son, Patent
Agents, 123, Chancery Lane, London, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "A NEW FILE-CUTTING MACHINE," a communication
to me from abroad by Hermann Moritz and Jacob Reinach, of Berlin,
in the Kingdom of Prussia, Manufacturers, to be as follows:-
The combinations of the various mechanical motions of the file-
cutting machine are as nearly as possible similar to the operation of
hand file cutting. The chief driving axle, set in motion by straps from
any suitable motor, drives by two tappets the tilt hammer which is
fixed to its axle. This hammer actuates the chisel which strikes its
blows upon the file. The said file rests on a lead cushion on an anvil
which is moved by cog and bevil wheel gear by a screwed axle. To
withdraw the anvil the driving strap is pushed upon a disc, whereby the
motion is transferred to other axles by a toothed wheel and toothed shaft
which are fixed to the said anvil. The vice jaws for holding the file

page_text: must be previously separated from the screw mandril, which is brought
about by raising a weight and a chase in connection therewith. The
strap, pulley, and toothed wheel can be joined and separated by a
coupling through the mechanism explained hereafter. In the first case
the anvil moves backwards, in the other case the strap pulley runs free
and serves as a loosening disc. The anvil however can then be displaced
by the overhung crank on the axle.
We will now proceed to a detailed description of the mechanism.
To produce an equal depth of cutting the force of the blows must be
variable according to the breadth of the filc, and this is effected by dis-
connecting the tilt hammer in the following manner:-The position of
the vertical chase upon which the axis of the hammer rests may be
changed in the frame of the machine by screw axles, that is to say,
from the hand crank wheel which carries the motion forward through
bevil wheels upon suitable axles. By displacing the chase the tail of
the hammer is brought nearer to or more distant from its tappet, and
thus the stroke can be increased, or by a further sinking of the frame the
force of the hammer and tappet may be completely neutralized. The
back stroke of the hammer is prevented by two spiral springs above
the axes, which are compressed by the hammer, in one case when it is
lifted and again when it falls; one of these springs is subject to regu-
lation to the required extent by a hand crank and spiral axle, the other
spring may be regulated by raising and sinking the chase as a screw
on the end of the axle turns a screw on a screwed axis as in a box.
To obviate the difference in the fall of the hammer originating from the
file becoming thinner in the course of cutting the anvil moves in an
inclined slide, so that when it is in its highest position the file is
thinnest. In order to cause the file to remain continually in its position
on the lead cushion its pivot rests in a part of the frame which is
forked round the anvil, and is caused. to revolve. The latter is com-
bined by levers with the axis and is lifted in the progress of the work
by a slanting lever on the axis resting against a roller, and is thus
lowered. This is likewise effected by a stop or rod by which through
another axis and lever the roller is depressed. The rollers lifted verti-
cally by steps serve to hold the file. The placing of the chisel, the
motions of which are very similar to those of hand-file cutting, forms
the most essential part of the machine. The chisel is held in the required
angle to the vertical line by the pincers, which are lined with india-

page_text: rubber; they push to and fro with the sliding piece in the box. The
axis of motion in conjunction with the cylindrical rod, where the bow
is fixed, forms or produces the angle for the lower blows. For the upper
blows the apparatus is revolved round the the angle and again fixed. The
length of the rod is adjustable in the pipe which revolves in the tubular
bearing of the axis. By turning the axis round an angle the chisel is
raised, and this is effected by a cam on the main axle, which moves a
lever having its fulcrum on an axis and transfers this motion by a lever
to the shaft and the chisel mechanism. A spiral spring in the case
drives the whole apparatus back again. The shifting motion of the
sliding piece which is all important to the action of the chisel proceeds
from cams, because by the rods the axis and tubular shaft are turned,
and this revolution is conveyed to the sliding piece by the levers. With
the upper blows the pivot of the angle lever is removed. The angle of
Oscillation of the axis may be regulated by a little wheel, and the
horizontal displacement of the chisel mechanism is effected by turning
the crank wheel which is fixed on its axle, the said axis being pushed
forward in a horozontal direction. The latter is moved forward verti-
cally, and and with it the entire chisel-holding apparatus, by raising its
resting pieces, which are moveable in the slide frame, by turning the
axle by means of bevil and toothed wheels. The mechanism thus
described works as follows:-The hammer having struck the chisel, and
the said chisel having struck its ow, the combination of the horizontal
motion of the chisel by shifting the sliding piece and lifting the whole
chisel holder by turning the axle causes the said chisel to leave the
cut without damaging it. The imperfections of the old file-cutting
machines consist principally in their not attaining the object. Before
the next blow the anvil with the file has advanced the length of one
cut, and the edge of the chisel has become placed on the file where the
new out is to be made. Should the edge of the chisel become oblique
or slanted a proper position on the file is produced by turning the shaft
by the lever, and fixing the latter in the required position.
This machine is constructed for cutting arm as well as smooth files,
as for the latter it is only necessary to employ different wheel gear.