IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING CORKS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING
CORKS." A communication from abroad by Isaac Goodspeed, of Norwich,
in the State of Connecticut. United States of America.
Sealed the 17th April 1863, and dated the 22nd November 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 22nd November 1862.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING
CORKS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to cut by a machine directly from a slab of
cork wood, corks either of cylindrical form or of any degree of taper that
may be desired; and it consists, firstly, in the use of changeable patterns of
cylindrical or conical form attached to and concentric with the rotating shaft
or spindle which carries the cutters. The cutters are applied upon the exterior
of this pattern in such a manner as to be capable of a movement lengthwise
thereof, at the same time that they and the pattern have imparted to them a
rotary motion by the rotation of their carrying spindle. The slab of cork

page_text: wood being clamped against the end of the pattern or rotating spindle by a
back spindle or its equivalent, the cork is cut out from it by the combined
revolution and longitudinal movement of the cutters, the form of the cork being
cylindrical or more or less taper according to the form of the pattern. By
using a double pattern, that is to say, a pattern having one portion of a larger
radius than the other, so as to hold the knives at different distances from the
axis of their carrying spindle, two concentric cuts may be made in the slab at
once, one within the other, and a ring-shaped or shell cork suitable for lining
the neck of a bottle, cut without waste, the portion of the slab between
the two cuts making that cork, and the portion within the inner cut making a
solid cork or stopper. It also consists in the employment for holding the
knives to the pattern, and permitting their adjustment at different distances
from and at various degrees of obliquity to the axis of the rotating carrying
spindle of adjustable screw clamps attached to and carried by the said spindle.
And it further, consists in so combining the back spindle which holds the slab
up to its place in the cutting operation, and a slide which works upon the
rotating spindle and has the cutters attached to it with a lever controlled by
suitable stops upon the back spindle, that a pressure upon the said lever in one
direction will both cause the back spindle to hold the slab up to its place and
feed or press the knives up to their work, and a pressure upon the said lever
in the opposite direction will first draw back the back spindle and then draw
back the knives.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 22nd May 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her'special license that I, the said Alfred Vincent
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,. the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times

page_text: 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING CORKS," being a communication
from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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 Alfred Vincent Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
:-
The object of this Invention as communicated to me by my foreign corre-
spondent is to, cut by a machine directly from a slab of cork wood, corks either
of cylindrical form or of any degree of taper that may be desired; and it con-
sists, firstly, in the use of changeable patterns of cylindrical or conical form
attached to and concentric with the rotary shaft or spindle which carries the
cutters. The cutters are applied upon the exterior of this pattern in such
manner as to be capable of a movement lengthwise thereof, at the same time
that they and the pattern have imparted to them a rotary motion by the
rotation of their carrying spindle. The slab of cork wood being clamped
against the end of the pattern or rotating spindle by a back spindle or its
equivalent, the cork is cut out from it by the combined revolution and longi-
tudinal movement of the cutters, the form of the cork being cylindrical or
more or less-taper, according to the form of the pattern. By using a double
pattern (that is to say), a pattern having one, portion of a larger radius than
the other, so as to hold the cutters at different distances, from the axis of their
carrying spindle, two concentric cuts may be made in the slab at once, ono
within the other, and a ring-shaped or shell cork suitable for lining the neck
of a bottle cut without waste, the portion of the slab between the two cuts
making that cork and the portion within the inner cut making a solid cork or
stopper. It also consists in the employment for holding the cutters to the
pattern and permitting their adjustment at different distances from and at
various degrees of obliquity to the axis of the rotating carrying spindle of
adjustable screw clamps attached to and carried by the said spindle. And it
further consists in so combining the back spindle which holds the slab up to

page_text: its place in the cutting operation, and a slide which works upon the rotating
spindle, and has the cutters attached to it with a lever controlled by suitable
stops upon the back spindle, that a pressure upon the said lever in one direction
will both cause the back spindle to hold the slab up to its place and feed or
press the cutters up to their work, and a pressure upon the said lever in the
opposite direction will first draw back the back spindle and then draw back the
cutters.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 is a front view of a cork-cutting
machine in which the several improvements are illustrated; Fig. 2 is a central
longitudinal vertical section of the same, and Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical
section taken in the plane indicated by the line x, x, in Figures 1 and 2;
Fig. 4 is an inside face view of one of the cutters; Fig. 5 is an end view of
the same; Figures 6 and 7 illustrate the method of cutting ring-shaped or
shell corks. Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the
several Figures.
A is the bed plate on which are the two head stocks B and C, one of which
contains the bearings for the rotating cutter spindle D, and the other supports
the back spindle E, which only has a longitudinal movement. The rotating
cutter spindle D has firmly secured on it a pulley F for the reception of a
driving belt through which it receives rotary motion, and a disc G for carrying
the clamps by which the cutters J, J, are clamped to the pattern I. There is
also fitted to the spindle D in such a manner as to be free to slide longi-
tudinally upon it, a disc H, to which the heads of the cutters J, J, are con-
nected. The pattern I is secured to the end of the spindle D, next the back
spindle. The pattern I represented is of conical form, but it may be changed
for one of cylindrical form of any size, or for a larger or smaller one of conical
form, according to the form and size of the corks to be cut, as it regulates both
the size and form of the corks. It is secured to the end of the spindle
concentric with it by means of a screw a passing longitudinally through its
centre and screwing into a tapped hole in the end of the spindle, and it is
caused to turn with the spindle by means of a steady pin 6, which is fast in
the end of the spindle, and enters a hole in the butt end of the pattern. For
cylindrical corks the diameter of the cylindrical pattern should be the same as
the desired diameter of the corks, but for cutting taper corks the truncated end
of the conical pattern should be of the same diameter as is desired for the
heads of the corks, and the taper of the pattern the same as that desired for
the corks. The cutters J, J, of which there may be one or more, but of
which there are two represented in the Drawing, are made of long pieces of
steel plate curved transversely in the form of arcs of circles, and their cutting

page_text: edges are at the ends next the back spindle E. The radii of the arcs of their
inner faces should correspond nearly with the radii of the circles of the corks
to be cut, and hence two or more cutters or sets of cutters of different sizes
will be necessary for a machine to cut corks of greatly varying sizes, though
one cutter or set of cutters will serve to cut corks varying considerably in
size. The disc H to which the heads of the cutters are connected is bored
out cylindrically to fit easily and slide upon a cylindrical portion of the
shaft D, and its face is grooved radially for the reception of the plates K, K,
at the inner ends of which there are tongues to enter longitudinal grooves in
the shaft. These plates are secured to the disc by screw bolts c, c, and compel
it to turn with the shaft, but yet permit it to slide longitudinally thereon. The
plates are made with protuberances d, d, large enough to be drilled radially to
the axis of the shaft, and tapped for the reception of screw pins e, e, which by
entering holes f, f, provided in the cutters near the heads thereof, connect the
cutters with the disc H, the connection permitting the heads of the cutters to
come in contact with the plates K, K, that the said plates may press directly
upon the cutters to force them into the slabs of cork wood presented to the
action of the machine. The cutters pass freely through the openings 9, 9, in
the disc G, and fit into slight longitudinal grooves provided in the pattern for
the purpose of compelling them to rotate with the pattern and the spindle D.
L, L, are the clamps for securing the cutters to the pattern, made in the form
of portions of a longitudinally divided cylinder, to fit or nearly fit the exterior
surfaces of the cutters. They are pivoted on pins h, h, at the middle of their
length, carried by levers M, M, which are attached by fulcrum pins i, i, to
strong studs N, N, rigidly secured to the disc G. At their other ends the
levers M, M, are fitted with set screws j,j, which by being screwed down upon
the studs N, N, are made to set the clamps down upon the cutters, and so caused
to confine them to the surface of the pattern, but yet not to hold them so
tightly as to prevent them from sliding along the face thereof in the cutting
operation. The said clamps being pivoted at the middle of their length to the
levers are enabled to adapt themselves to the form of the pattern and keep
the cutters in contact with the whole length thereof, and so set them either
parallel with or at the required obliquity to the axis of the rotating shaft as
may be required by the form of the corks to be cut, the holes f, f, in the
heads of the cutters fitting the screw pins e, e, so loosely as to permit the
cutters freely to assume the requsite position. P is the lever for producing
the longitudinal movements of the back spindle E and of the cutters. This
lever has its lower end pivoted by a pin k to a collar l, that is fast on a
sliding rod Q, which is arranged parallel with and below the spindles D, E,

page_text: in guides in the headstocks B and C. The said lever has provided in it
an opening, through which the back spindle E passes, and on opposite sides of
this opening there are longitudinal slots m for the reception of a pin n, which
is inserted traversely through the back spindle, the said pin serving to connect
the latter spindle with the lever. The rod Q is connected with the hub of
the disc H by means of an arm R, which is rigidly secured to the said rod,
but which is furnished at the. upper end with a yoke fitting within a groove in
the said hub in such manner as not to interfere with the rotation of the
disc H and cutter spindle. The rod Q is fitted in front and behind the head-
stock C with two stop collars p and q, to limit its longitudinal movement, and
the back spindle E is fitted in front and back of the headstock with two similar
stop collars and s, to limit its longitudinal movement. When rotary motion
is communicated to the cutter spindle D, the discs G and H, the cutters, clamps,
and patterns all rotate with it; before the slab of cork wood S can be intro-
duced between the pattern and the back spindle, the upper end of the lever P
is taken-hold of by the operator and moved to the right, by which means the
back spindle E is drawn back till its stop r comes in contact with the head-
stock C, after which the continued movement of the lever moves the rod Q
to the left till its stop: comes in contact with the headstock C, and the said
rod is thus caused to draw back the disc H and the cutters until the points or
cutting edges of the latter are, brought over the pattern as shown in Fig. 1.
The slab S is then placed between the pattern and the back spindle, and by
moving the upper end of the lever to the left the back spindle is first brought
forward and caused to clamp the slab against the end of the pattern, as
shown in Fig. 1, and then the rod Q is moved to the right, causing the disc H
and the cutters to move in the same direction upon the cutter spindle, the
latter spindle having no longitudinal movement. This movement of the
cutters presses them into the slab, and feeds them as they cut thereinto by
their rotary motion until they have cut through the slab, which is made
known by the stop p coming in contact with the headstock C, and stopping
the further movement of the rod Q. The pins e, e, are relieved of strain in
the above operation by the plates K, K, coming in contact with the heads of
the cutters. The stops s and p should be so set as to limit the longitudinal
movements of the spindle E and rod Q in such a manner that the edges of the
cutters cannot be pressed against the end of the back spindle and be injured
thereby. When the cutters have cut through the cork the upper end of the
lever is moved to the right, and after having drawn back the spindle E till the
stop r comes against the headstock C; it, by its action on the rod Q, draws
back the disc H, and withdraws the cutters from the slab, leaving the cork t

page_text: (Fig. 2) free to be pushed out when the slab has been removed from the
pattern.
Fig. 6 is an end view of the pattern and the knives for cutting a ring.
shaped or shell cork, the cutter u nearest the axis of the rotating spindle
making a circular cut represented by the smaller circle in Fig. 7, and the
cutter furthest from the axis making a circular cut represented by the
larger circle in the same Figure. w (Fig. 7) represents the ring shaped or
shell cork; being the piece which comes out of the slab between the two
circular cuts, and y represents the smaller solid cork cut from the interior of
the shell cork.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "Improvements in
Machinery for Cutting Corks," and explained the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited
Letters Patent I claim the means above described for cutting cylindrical taper
and ring shaped or shell corks.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-second day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
0 Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)