IMPROVE- MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR JOINTING STAVES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Allen Ransome, of The Eukestons, Clapham
Common, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR JOINTING STAVES."
Sealed the 9th December 1875, and dated the 29th September 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Allen Ransome at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th September 1875.
I, ALLEN RANSOME, of The Eukestons, Olapham Common, in the
County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR JOINTING STAVES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery for
jointing staves. For this purpose the rough stave is clamped in a carrier
to which a rectilinear motion is communicated by a screw, causing it to
carry the stave between two rotary cutters revolving at high speed
which act upon the edges of the stave and reduce them to the form
required. Each rotary cutter is mounted in a frame carried upon a

page_text: pivot on which the frame can turn so as to cause the axis of the cutter
to incline more or less according to the bevil it is desired to give to the
edge of the stave. The frames have toothed arcs upon them which gear
with right and left hand screws, on turning which the axes of the
cutters on the two sides of the stave are caused to incline equally in
opposite directions. The cutter frames are adjusted as required and
then clamped fast to the frames. The cutting edges of the cutter are
parallel to the axis so that the bevil to which they cut the sides of the
stave is dependent on the inclination to which the axis is set.
The slides which carry the cutter frames can also be made to approach
to or recede from each other by means of right and left handed screws
to adjust the distance between the cutters without varying their inclina-
tion. The cutters with their frames and the slides all receive an up-
and-down motion whilst the stave passes between the cutters, the object
being to vary the width of the stave in different parts, making it wider
in the middle than at the ends. To effect this the stave carrier has
curved or cam surfaces fixed upon it, and the cutters and all the parts
in connection with them are suspended in guides by rods, which at their
upper ends are armed with small friction wheels bearing upon the
curved or cam surfaces.
In order to aid in placing the stave centrally upon the carrier
mechanical fingers are employed; they are mounted on toothed arcs
which gear together, and on the depression of a treddle they rise and
approach each other from either side until the stave becomes held
between them, and as it is thus held it is clamped in position.

page_text: the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in
the thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Allen Ransome, Her special
license that I, the said Allen Ransome, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Allen Ransome, 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 JOINTING STAVES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Allen Ransome, my executors or administrators,
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

page_text: The slides which carry the cutter frames can also be made to approach
to or recede from each other by means of right and left handed screws
to adjust the distance between the cutters without varying their inclina-
tion. The cutters with their frames and the slides all receive an up-and-
down motion whilst the stave passes between the cutters, the object
being to vary the width of the stave in different parts, making it wider
in the middle than at the ends. To effect this the stave carrier has
curved or cam surfaces fixed upon it, and the cutters and all the parts
in connection with them are suspended in guides by rods which at their
upper ends are armed with small friction wheels bearing upon the curved
or cam surfaces.
In order to aid in placing the stavo centrally upon the carrier
mechanical fingers are employed; they are mounted on toothed arcs
which gear together, and on the depression of a treddle they rise and
approach each other from either side until the stave becomes held between
them and as it is thus held it is clamped in nosition.
Figure 1 is a side elevation; Figure 2 is an end elevation; and Figure 3
is a plan of a machine for jointing staves constructed according to my
Invention.
a, a, is the frame and bed of the machine; b is a carriage or stave
carrier capable of sliding along the bed a; it is actuated by a screw c,
which at b¹ passes through a nut fixed to the carriage. The screw c is
carried in bearings on the frame, and has fixed upon it at one end the
bevilled pinion c', which engages with another pinion d' on the trans-
verse shaft d; dis a belt pulley fast on the shaft d; and d³, ď³, are
loose pulleys; these pulleys receive two driving belts, and one of the
belts is crossed; e, e, are the belt forks and gear by which either of the
belts can at pleasure be brought on to the fast pulley d² to drive the
machine; is a sliding rod passing along the bed of the machine; it is
attached to the belt gear e, and it receives upon it adjustable stops with
which corresponding projections from the carriage 6 come into contact
as the carriage approaches the ends of its travel, and so the machine is

page_text: I
caused to stop itself automatically; f',f', are starting handles, by which
also the sliding barf can be moved for the purpose of starting the
machine, and by the same handles the machine can if necessary be
stopped whilst the carriage is in any intermediate position; represents
3a rough stave in its place upon the carriage; h, h, aro mechanical
fingers which are employed to aid the hands of the workman in placing
the stave centrally. The fingers h, h, are fixed upon axes h¹, h¹, which
are geared together by toothed arcs h², h³, and are actuated by means of
treddles h³, h³, and counterpoises h', h'. The workman having laid the
rough stave on the carriage places his foot on the treddle, and so brings
the stave to its proper position, when he clamps it by means of the
clamping slide b³, which he forces down upon the stave by means of the
hand screw b³.
The cutters i, i, to operate on the sides of the stave, are fixed upon
axes i¹, i¹, which by means of belts passing around belt pulleys &³, 1ª, are
rotated at a high velocity. The bearings of the axes i¹, ³, are upon
frames k, k, which at k¹, k¹, are connected by studs to the slides 1, l.
The frames can turn about these studs, and they have teeth formed upon
them at *, which gear with right and left hand worms on the axis m,
so that when this axis is turned the frames and the axes of the cutters
are caused to incline equally and in opposite directions. The axis m is
carried in bearings on the saddle », on which in suitable guides the
slides 7, 1, are able to move horizontally to and from each other. Tho
position of the slides is adjusted by means of right and left handed
screws o carried by the saddle, as is shewn. The screws can be turned
by means of a handle o¹, and they engage with nuts fixed to the slides.
There is a pinion at o³, which when the screws are turned transmits
motion to the spur wheels p, and so to the axis m, and thus by turning
the handle o' the adjustments of the distance and the inclination of the
cutters are simultaneously effected. q, q, are champing screws, by which
the parts may be locked when the adjustments have been made. The
saddle is able to slide up and down in a vertical direction upon the
frame a, and its weight and that of the parts which it carries is in part
sustained by the counterweights, levers, and links r, r, but in addition
the saddle is suspended by the bars 8, 8, from the axis of a pair of small
rollers t, t, which bear upon the templates u, u. These templates are
firmly clamped upon the carriage 6, and as the carriage traverses it
carries the templates beneath the rollers. It will be seen that the

page_text: templates thus govern the rise and fall of the saddle, and they are so
formed as to lift the saddle to the extent required to give the proper
bulge or increased width to the middle of the stave.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, I would have it understood that I do
not confine myself to the exact details as represented by the Drawings;
but I claim, the construction of machinery for jointing staves, sub-
stantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Allen Ransome, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
six,