IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING INDIA- RUBBER
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Macmillan Dunlop, of Manchester, Engineer,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING INDIA-
RUBBER."
Sealed the 6th November 1866, and dated the 21st May 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Macmillan Dunlop
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 21st May 1866.
I, JOHN MACMILLAN DUNLOP, of Manchester, Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING
INDIA-RUBBER," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery for cutting
india-rubter.
In order to cut sheet india-rubber into thread the sheet india-rubber is
wound round a cylinder and the succeeding coils are cemented together with
cement as heretofore. An ordinary lathe is employed, to which is applied
a back shaft parallel with the bed of the lathe; this shaft receives motion
by a band or strap from the overhead shaft, or it might be driven from the
beadstock of the lathe. The back shaft by a screw or worm gives motion to
a worm wheel on another or cross shaft at right angles to the back shaft, such
cross shaft having a worm or screw thereon which takes into and gives motion

page_text: to a rack fixed on the cutter slide, or such cross shaft may give motion
to an intermediate shaft between it and the slide which carries the knife or
cutter up to the cylinder on which the sheet india-rubber is wound, so as to
cut in a direction from the surface of the india-rubber up towards the centre
of the cylinder on which it is wound. One end of the cross shaft is arranged
to drop so that the screw or worm descends away from the teeth of the rack
(or intermediate motion) of the cutter slide so soon as the cutter has cut
through the coils of india-rubber on the cylinder. Immediately after the
dropping of the worm or screw out of gear a cam or an eccentric is brought
into action to move back the cutter slide. On the dropping of the worm or
screw out of the teeth of the rack or intermediate motion a partial rotation is
given to a cross shaft, by which not only is the cam or eccentric brought into
action as above mentioned, but the lathe is stopped by throwing off the band
or strap from the fast to the loose pulley on the overhead shaft and by putting
on a break. The same motion which moves the cutter slide back by means
of the eccentric or cam gives the traverse of the cutter slide by its screw and
ordinary division wheel, which are caused to rotate a distance requisite for
cutting the thickness of thread desired.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Macmillan Dunlop in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 20th November 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
MACMILLAN DUNLOP, of Manchester, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS IIer most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Ier heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Macmillan Dunlop, Her special licence that I, the said John Mac-
millan Dunlop, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said John Macmillan Dunlop, my executors, administrators, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING INDIA-RUBBER," upon the condition (amongst

page_text: others) that I, the said John Macmillan Dunlop, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their
hands and seals, 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 John Macmillan Dunlop, 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 has for its object improvements in machinery for cutting
india-rubber.
In order to cut sheet india-rubber into thread the sheet india-rubber is
wound round a cylinder, and the succeeding coils are cemente together with
cement as heretofore. An ordinary lathe is employed to which is applied a
back shaft parallel with the bed of the lathe; this shaft receives motion by a
band or strap from the overhead shaft, or it might be driven from the head-
stock of the lathe. The back shaft by a screw or worm gives motion to a
worm wheel on another or cross shaft at right angles to the back shaft, such
cross shaft having a worm or screw thercon which takes into and gives motion
to a rack fixed on the cutter slide, or such cross shaft may give motion to
an intermediate shaft between it and the slide which carries the knife or
cutter up to the cylinder on which the sheet india-rubber is wound so as
to cut in a direction from the surface of the india-rubber up towards the
centre of the cylinder on which it is wound. One end of the cross shaft is
arranged to drop so that the screw or worm descends away from the teeth of
the rack (or intermediate motion) of the cutter slide so soon as the cutter has
cut through the coils of india-rubber on the cylinder. Immediately after the
dropping of the worm or screw out of gear a cam or an eccentric is brought
into action to move back the cutter slide. On the dropping of the worm or
screw out of the teeth of the rack or intermediate motion a partial rotation is
given to a cross shaft, by which not only is the cam or eccentric brought into
action as above mentioned, but the lathe is stopped by throwing off the band
or strap from the fast to the loose pulley on the overhead shaft and by putting
on a break. The same motion which moves the cutter slide back by means
of the eccentric or cam gives the traverse of the cutter slide by its screw and
ordinary division wheel, which are caused to rotate a distance requisito for
cutting the thickness of thread desired.

page_text: Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed more
fully to describe the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shows a side elevation, and Figure 2 shows an end elevation of
a lathe for cutting india-rubber, having my improvements applied thereto.
A is a worm gearing into the rack B on the cutter slide. The worm A is
kept in gear with the rack B by the catch lever C, which at the proper
moment is moved from under the worm shaft bearing D, and this is done by
the lug F when the cutter slide has moved through the proper space. G is
an adjusting screw for adjusting the point at which the lug F shall act on the
lever C to move it from under the bearing D. The removal of the worm
out of gear with the rack B allows the cutter slide to be moved back; this is
done by a spring H, or it may be done by other means, such as by a cam on
the shaft K, or otherwise. And I would state that I make no claim to the
means or apparatus employed for bringing back the cutter slide. An adjusting
screw and wheel I regulates the stopping of the cutter slide in its return
motion; the shaft L connects the starting handle M with the balance weight N,
and gives motion to the connecting rod O, which is coupled with the belt fork
and break in order to stop the lathe. P is the shaft of the worm A, and it
is by preference driven by a suitable worm R on the shaft K, on which is a
pulley S, which receives motion by a strap from the countershaft or in any
convenient manner; T is a bracket fixed to the lathe bed which carries the
shafts before mentioned; U is a swivel bearing to permit the rise and fall of
the worm A, the shaft of this worm being guided by the link W. The same
motion which moves back the cutter slide actuates the feed by means of the
lever X and connecting rod Y. One end of the connecting rod Y is attached
to the headstock or other fixed point. The other end of the connecting rod Y
is attached to one end of the lever X whilst the other end of this lever carries
a driver Z which actuates the ordinary ratchet wheel, and the extent of
movement of the driver Z is regulated by the distance from the centre at
which the connecting rod is attached to the lever, which distance is capable of
adjustment.
.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I claim the combined
arrangement by which a worm is made to gear with and actuate the cutter
slide by a rack, and then to separate from such rack and admit of the cutter
slide being moved back, and combined therewith the stopping of the lathe and

page_text: the actuating the ordinary ratchet wheel by the moving back of the cutter
slide as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Macmillan Dunlop, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
JOHN M. DUNLOP. (L.s.)