CERTAIN IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CUTTING OR SHAPING LEATHER, PAPER, LINEN, LASTINGS, SILKS, AND OTHER FABRICS
Year: 1842

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
MANSELL, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Agent, send,
greeting.
Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Third day of December, in the sixth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Thomas Mansell, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Thomas Mansell, my exors, adñors, and assigns, or such
others, as I, the said Thomas Mansell, my exors, aduiors, or assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CUTTING OR
SHAPING LEATHER, PAPER, LINEN, LASTINGS, SILKS, AND OTHER FABRICS;" in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Thomas Mansell,
shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Thomas Maxwell, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon
(that is to say):-
My Improved Machinery for Cutting Leather, Paper, Linen, Lastings, Silks,
and other Fabrics, consists of a press of the kind commonly called a "fly
press." To the bolt of this press I affix by screws, or in any other convenient
manner, a hollow tool, the edge of which is sharp and of a shape correspond-
ing to that of the pieces of leather; paper, linen, lastings, silk, or other fabric
to be produced. On the bed of the press is fixed a plate of hardened steel.
This plate is made flat by planing, and is carefully adjusted, so that when the
hollow tool attached to the bolt of the press is brought down upon the plate
every part of the sharp edge of the former is in close contact with the latter.
The leather or fabric to be cut is to be laid on the steel plate, and the tool
being brought down upon it cuts it to the required shape. Several thicknesses of
leather or fabric may be laid together, and cut at the same time, and the press
may either be worked by hand or machinery.
My improved machinery for shaping the fronts of Wellington, Clarence,
and Blucher boots, is represented in Figures 1, 2, and 3 of the accompanying
Drawing; Figure 1 representing an end view, Figure 2 a side view, and
Figure 3 a plan. a, a', are two uprights, which with the cross piece & constituto
the frame of the machine; c is a pinion turned by the winch d. The leaves of
the pinion c gear into the teeth of the wheel e; f is the axis of the wheel e;
g, g, are pinions fixed on the axis f; h, h', are the supports or bearings of the
axis. The leaves of the pinion g' gear into the teeth of the rack a con-
cealed in the upright a', and the pinion g gears into a similar rack concealed
in the upright a; i is a plate of strong sheet zinc, of the form repre.
sented, the ends of this plate pass through slots in the uprights a, a¹, and are
attached to the racks in the uprights a, a'. By turning the winch d the
racks and the plate of zinc i are elevated or depressed; j, j', are two frames
of cast-iron of the form represented, each of these frames turns on an axis as
seen at k, k. By means of the mechanism at the bottom of the machine, the
lower ends of the frames can be made to approach to or recede from each
other. This mechanism consists of two screws 1, 1, one right-handed, the
other left-handed, these screws are attached. by joints m, m', to the frames
jj; n, n', are two boxes, one of which is cut with a right and the other with

page_text: a left handed screw; the screws 1, 1, work in these screw boxes; the screw
boxes are fastened together by the flanges o, o'¹, and are kept in their position
by the projections p, p, on the cross piece b. By turning the flanges o, o¹, with
the hand, the screws 1, 1, enter or leave the boxes n, n¹, and thus cause the
opening or closing of the frames j, . The upper surfaces 7, 9, of the frames
jj, are highly polished, as are also the internal faces of the said frames.
The operation of the machine is as follows:-A piece of leather, cut of the
proper shape for the front of a boot, is well soaked in water, a small quantity
of "dubbing" (a compound of oil and Russia fat) is spread on that part of the
front corresponding to the instep, and the leather thus prepared is laid on the
upper surfaces of the frames j, j', the distance of the frames having been
previously adjusted by the screws 1,, to suit the kind of leather employed; if
the fronts are of "kip" the frames must be at a greater distance from each
other than when fronts of thin calf, morocco, or patent leather are to be
operated on. The winch d is then turned in the direction of the arrow,
Figure 1; the zinc plate i is thus made to descend between the frames j,j',
and carrying the leather with it stretches it so as to give it the proper form for
a boot front. When the zinc plate has descended below the edge j" of the
frames, the front must be removed from it, and the winch d worked in a
direction contrary to that indicated by the arrow, Figure 1; the zinc plate i is
thereby again elevated to the position shewn in Figure 2. The front need
only be passed through the machine once; I prefer, however, to pass it
through twice, and in this case, when passing it through the first time, the
frames j,j, should be so wide apart as to allow the zinc plate with the leather
to be passed between them by the exertion of a moderate force; and when
passed through the second time, the screw boxes n, n¹, should be turned, so as
to bring the upper part of the frames so close together as to require con-
siderable force to pass the zinc plate and leather between them. After the
removal of "Wellington" fronts from the machine, they should be fixed on
the "wood blocks" until dry; other fronts will not require such treatment.
In shaping fronts made of the leather commonly called patent leather it is
necessary, in order to prevent the cracking of the leather, to warm it, this may
be done by bringing the leather near to a fire, or by immersing it in warm
water. The latter mode is preferable.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I claim
exclusive right to,-
First, the mode of cutting leather, paper, linen, lashings, silks, and other
fabrics herein-before described.