Improvements in Stone-sawing Machines.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 26th Aug., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 26th Apr., 1894-Accepted, 7th July, 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Stone-sawing Machines.
I EDWARD THOMAS HUGHES, of 38, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (a
communication to me by James Peckover, of Harrisburg, Dauphin County,
Pennsylvania, U.S. America, Inventor) to be as follows:-
The object of my invention is to so construct a stone-sawing machine as to
facilitate the feeding of the stone to the saw, to provide effective means for the
delivery of the abrading material to the kerf in the stone, and to prevent the
cutting away of the side walls of the kerf and consequent undue widening of
the same by the blade of the saw.
According to my invention I mount the base of the machine so that it is
somewhat higher at the rear than at the front end or in other words, inclined in
respect to the horizontal so as to provide a slight forward pitch, and to suitable
bearings in this base frame are adapted a series of rollers upon which rests the
block of stone to be cut, the angle of inclination of the base of the machine being
such that gravity will aid in the forward movement of the block toward the saw,
or the angle may be such that gravity will cause such forward movement, the
roller simply serving as supports.
The rollers however, are, by preference, rotated in their bearings so as to aid in
the forward movement of the stone. Intermittent movement is imparted to the
foremost roller from a crank on a shaft, this crank being connected by a rod to a
bell-crank lever hung to the base of the machine and carrying a pawl which acts
upon a ratchet wheel secured to said foremost roller.
To said roller is also secured a sprocket-wheel and to the teeth of the latter is
adapted a chain which is adapted also to the teeth of other sprocket-wheels secured
respectively to the other rollers of the set, so that the block of stone which is
being sawed always rests upon one or more of the rotating rollers.
Projecting upward and rearward from the front end of the base frame of the
machine are saw-supporting beams, the upper ends of which are suitably braced
by means of struts, these beams carrying rollers upon which rest the opposite
side bars of the saw frame, reciprocating motion being imparted to said frame from
a rotating crank through the medium of a suitable connecting-rod. Brackets on
the side beams carry other rollers which bear upon the outer faces of the side bars
of the saw-frame and thus maintain the saws at all times in the bottoms of the kerfs
which are being formed in the stone.
The saw blades are suitably secured to the top and bottom bars of the saw
frame and each of said blades has riveted or otherwise secured to one face of the
same dovetailed or undercut bars between which are confined the steel bits or teeth
of the saw, these bits or teeth projecting in advance of the front edge of the saw
blade.
In the opposite edges of each of the saw teeth are formed notches and in the
bars are guided teeth or catches which are acted upon by springs tending to
project them, the engagement of these catches with the notches in the teeth serving
to retain the latter in their proper position on the blade, while at the same time
they permit the teeth to be moved forward to new positions as their projecting ends
become worn.
In order to provide for the automatic feeding of the water and sand, or other
abrading material to the stone as it is being sawed, I mount upon any convenient

page_text: portion of the framework of the machine a sand box or trough in which the sand
is supported upon a perforated plate or sieve beneath which are a series of
pockets each containing a nozzle for the upward discharge of water derived from
a supply pipe. These nozzles are constructed in substantially the same manner as
a fish-tail gas burner, that is to say, with openings inclined toward each other so
that the water issues from each nozzle in the form of a thin sheet or spray which
is projected upward against the sieve and slowly washes down through said sieve
the sand or other abrading material supported thereupon, the mixture of sand and
water finding its way through suitable directing pipes or spouts to the various
kerfs which are being formed in the stone.
Each nozzle should be fitted with a stop-cock for regulating or shutting off the
flow of water, as may be desired.
Beneath the saw frame is a pit into which the sand, water, and detritus from the
kerfs is permitted to run, the sand settling in the bottom of the pit and the water
being permitted to escape through any suitable overflow passage.
In front of the machine is a frame carrying rollers which receive and support
the stone as the latter is fed forward beyond the saws.
Dated this 26th day of August 1893.
HUGHES, SON & Co.,
38, Chancery Lane, London, Agents for the Applicant.
improvements in Stone-sawing Machines.
I EDWARD THOMAS HUGHES, of 38 Chancery Lane, in the County of London,
Patent Agent (a communication to me by James Peckover, of Harrisburg,
Dauphin County, U.S. America, Inventor) 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 :-
The object of my invention is to so construct a stone sawing machine as to
facilitate the feeding of the stone to the saws to provide effective means for the
delivery of the abrading material to the kerf in the stone and to prevent the
cutting away of the side walls of the kerf and consequent undue widening of
the same by the blade of the saw. These objects 1 attain in the manner hereinafter
set forth, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which :-
Figure 1 is a side view of a stone-sawing machine constructed in accordance
with my invention. Fig. 2 is a front view of the same, and Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
and 8 are detached views illustrating details of construction or special features of
my invention.
A' A and E represent the base of the machine as being set level. In practice it
is preferable to elevate the rear end, sufficiently for the stone to feed itself to the
saw or saws, by its own gravity. The stone is indicated by the dotted lines rat
the rear of the saw frame.
The rollers a' in front of the saw-frame and the rollers a in the rear of said
frame are secured to sills A by suitable bearings; and f¹ represent sprocket
wheels. The sprocket-wheel is firmly secured to a roller a and the wheel f¹ to a
roller a¹. e represents a ratchet-wheel suitably fixed to the sill A and is operated
by the saw-frame D through the medium of the connecting-rod e³ and finger e.
The pinion e must project outwardly from the ratchet-wheel sufficiently for a
toothed-wheel to be fixed on such pinion. The pinion f³ is a prolongation of the
roller a and must be prolonged far enough through f to admit of a toothed-wheel
being fixed on it, and these said toothed-wheels must gear, or engage with, each
other, and must be secured to their respective pinions in a manner that will admit
of them being readily removed and changed, so that the speed of the roller a may
be increased, or reduced, to suit any degree of hardness of the stone to be sawed,.

page_text: and also to insure a positive and uniform motion of the stone through the saw-
frame.
The sprocket wheel is connected with sprocket-wheel f¹ by a link-belt f
so that the speed of the roller a' is equal to that of the roller a, consequently, the
speed of the stone will be maintained after it has passed from the roller a secured
to the sprocket-wheel f
A rope a², which may be of hemp, rubber, or any yielding material, is closely
wound around the extreme rollers of the series a, a similar rope being wound
round the extreme rollers of the series a¹. The said ropes guide the stone straight,
prevent it sliding, and permit any little inequalities on the stone's surface resting:
on said rope to adjust themselves to the yielding nature of said ropes, thereby
ensuring straight sawing which the hard unyielding nature of the metal rollers.
would not allow of.
The frame B is rigidly secured to the sills A A' and is further strengthened by
the struts B. Rollers g g' are suitably secured to the frame B, similar rollers g² g³.
being also secured thereto. g3 is not shewn but it takes the position relative to
that does to g'. The saw-frame D is free to slide between the rollers g g' and g² g³·
and is securely held in position by them.
g
Pulley c, and crank discs h, are firmly fixed on the shaft b, and reciprocating
motion is imparted to the saw-frame D by the said crank discs h through the medium
of the connecting-rod h¹.
G is a hopper for holding the abrading material and is the full width of the
frame B unto which it is firmly fixed. The bottom of said hopper is in the form
of a sieve n having a suitable mesh, to conform to the different qualities of sawing
desired.
S' is the main water pipe extending the full width of hopper G and secured
thereto. Any number of branch supply pipes p may be secured to the main S',
and each branch p must be supplied with a stop-cock p¹ for regulating and shutting
off the flow of water. Fig. 3 is a full-sized elevation of the nozzle S supplied to
each of the pipes p; Fig. 4 is a plan of same and Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation,
on line 3, 4, shewing the two small outlets inclined towards each other in the
manner of a fish-tail gas-burner. The nozzles S, to be most effective, should be:
placed from 4 to 6 inches below the sieve n, because, the water in being discharged
from said nozzles, with sufficient force, forms a fine sheet, or spray, and has more
room to spread than it otherwise would have if placed nearer the sieve, through the
meshes of which it flows upwards in amongst the abrading material, which it
wasbes down through the said sieve from a greater area, more effectively than a jet
of water can be made to accomplish. As the abrading material is washed down
from the hopper, it falls on to the tray t which extends the full width of the hopper,
such tray t being secured by a swivel to the brackets which are firmly fixed to
frame B and struts B' so that the said tray can be readily adjusted to any angle.
On the tray t, movable channels are suitably fixed for the purpose of collecting and
conveying the water and the abrading material to the kerfs, to be, or are being,
formed in the stone by the action of the saw or saws on the said abrading
material.
A pit K is formed below the sill A' into which the abrading material falls as it
escapes from the kerfs. It will be readily seen that suitable machinery can be
added to operate an endless-chain, having buckets are attached thereto, to pass
through the pit K and lift up the abrading material and deposit it back in the
hopper G.
The saw-frame, and the method of securing the saws in such saw-frame, are cach
the same as are generally used in sawing stone. Fig. 6 is an elevation of a
sufficient portion of a stone saw to illustrate this part of my invention with the aid
of Figs. 7 and 8. Fig. 7 is a plan of Fig. 6, while Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional
view shewing the method of holding the teeth in position. F is the portion of a
saw-blade, to which are rivetted dove-tailed, or undercut bars i. The teeth ¹ can
be made of any convenient size, and notches m are formed in each edge of such

page_text: teeth. In the bars i, suitable grooves are made for the catches m' and the
springs m² which operate the catches m'. The catches m¹ engaging with the
notches m hold the teeth in position on the blade F, while at the same time, they
permit the teeth to be moved forward to new positions as the projecting ends
become worn.
As the effective thickness of the saw blades is that of the portions to which the
bars are applied, it will be seen, that the projecting teeth are thinner than the
total thickness of the blade with its bars, so that the water and the abrading
material must be fed into the base of the kerf at the top of the stone, directly at
the point of contact of the teeth with the stone. The abrading material being
thus acted upon by the teeth of the saw, no portion of said abrading material has of
necessity to pass between the sides of the saw-blades and the walls of the kerfs, as
is the case, where the saw works horizontally; hence, in my improved stone-sawing
machine there is very little friction due to the movement of the saw in the kerf, and
the latter is not unduly widened by the action of the abrading material between the
side walls of the kerf and the thick portions of the saw-blade. The same method
of feeding the abrading material to, and the same method of constructing, a circular
stone-saw, can be used or adhered to, without departing from my invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is :-
1. In stone-sawing machines rollers protected by ropes, the stone resting directly
on said ropes to prevent such stone sliding out of position while being carried
through the saw-frame and being sawn, substantially as specified.
2. In stone-sawing machines, the combination of nozzles discharging water up-
wardly through a sieve, in and amongst the abrading material, thereby washing
it down through the sieve; said nozzles, having outlets constructed in them in such
a manner as to discharge the water in the form of a fine sheet or spray, substantially
as specified.
3. A stone-cutting saw having a blade or body, with undercut recesses therein,
and cutting-bits or teeth, confined within said recesses and projecting beyond the
front edge of the blade, said blade projecting laterally beyond the teeth on both
sides of the latter, substantially as specified.
4. A stone-cutting saw consisting of blade or body, with recesses therein,
notched cutting bits or teeth, adapted to said recesses, and bolts or catches, operated
by springs for retaining the teeth in said recesses but permitting forward movement
of the teeth to compensate for wear, substantially as specified.
Dated this 26th day of Anril 1894.
HUGHES, SON & Co.,
38, Chancery Lane, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.