A NEW OR IMPROVED CIRCULAR SAW BENCH
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Middleton, of Birmingham,
in the County of Warwick, Engineer, for the Invention of
"A NEW OR IMPROVED CIRCULAR SAW BENCH."
Sealed the 11th May 1853, and dated the 12th November 1852.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said. William Edward
Middleton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 12th November 1852.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD MIDDLETON, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED CIRCULAR SAW BENCE" to
be as follows:-.
It consists in an improved method of causing the deals to be fed
or driven against a circular saw or saws by pressure rollers, either
by.being placed so as to grip the deals on their widest face or on
their edges.
To accomplish this, I fix upon the saw spindle a pulley, from
which bands of leather or gutta-percha pass to other pullies upon
another shaft or shafts, having a pinion working into spur wheels

page_text: of such size as, with the diameter of the rollers, to give whatever
speed to the deals being fed may be required. Upon the shaft on
which the spur wheel is fixed are also bevil or other wheels to give
motion to the feed rollers, whereby the deal is griped and driven
forwards to the saw. I use four rollers, which may be either plain
or grooved; two of the rollers are carried in a frame attached to the
fence or guage, so that by moving the fence or guage the rollers
are also moved, and always kept in the desired position with the
fence or guage; the other two rollers are carried by a moveable
headstock or frame moved by a screw or other mechanical con-
trivance, so as to set them to any required distance from the fence
or guage. A screw, with springs attached, or other mechanical con-
trivance, is used to allow the rollers to give way to any inequality
in the thickness or depth of deals that may require sawing.
Upon the shaft carrying the pinion that works into the spur
wheel is a clutch, by which I can stop or start the feeding
apparatus without stopping the revolution of the saw spindle;
by which clutch I also bring into action other wheels to reverse
the motion of the rollers so as to bring back the deals from the saw
when required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, filed by the said William Edward Middleton in the
Great Seal Patent Office, on the 11th May 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
WILLIAM EDWARD MIDDLETON, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in
the sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said William Edward
Middleton, Her special license that I, the said William Edward

page_text: Middleton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Edward Middleton, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 "A NEW OR
IMPROVED CIRCULAR SAW BENCH," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Edward Middleton, 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 William Edward Middleton, 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):
My Invention consists in a new or improved method of causing
deals or battens to be fed or driven against a circular saw or saws,
by pressing rollers, the said rollers either being placed so as to grip
the deals on their widest face or on their edges.
Figure 1, represents my invention in plan; Figure 2, represents
the same in side elevation; and Figure 3, represents the same in
end elevation. a, is the circular saw; b, the deal or batten to be
cut; c, d, rollers at the ends of the table e, for facilitating the
motion of the deal or batten; f, h, i, l, are rollers working on
vertical axes; two of the said rollers, f, h, move one side, and two,
i, l, on the opposite side of the deal or batten; and the said deal or
batten b, is held and carried forward by the said rollers, as herein-
after explained. The said rollers are grooved, as shown in the
Figures 2, and 3; the faces of the said rollers are, however, cylin-
drical, excepting when the said grooves are cut. I sometimes use
cylindrical rollers without the said grooves, but 1 prefer rollers

page_text: with grooves. The rollers of each series are worked by being geared
to the pinions g, k, and the said pinions are actuated by the shaft
m, (see Fig. 3,) the said shaft m, being geared to the shaft of the
saw a, as shewn, or in any other convenient manner.
n, o, (shewn
in dotted lines,) are bevil toothed wheels on the lower ends of the
roller shafts. p, q, are bevil toothed wheels on the shaft m; the said
wheels p, q, engaging in the wheels n, o, the said wheels p, q,
are capable of a sliding motion on the shaft m; and between the
shoulders r, 8, of each of the said wheels p, q, a loose collar of steel
works, having a hole on the upper side thereof, into which said hole
the ends of the shafts of the rollers f, i, enter. By this arrangement
the wheels p, q, are kept constantly engaged with the wheels n, o ;
and when (as herein-after explained) one or both series of rollers
are moved, so as to separate them or bring them nearer each other,
the bevil wheels p, q, slide upon the shaft m, and remain in gear
with the wheels n, o. t, is a guage or fence, against which the deal
or batten is pressed by the arm u. The said guage or fence can be
moved to a greater or less distance from the plane of the saw, so as
to determine a greater or less thickness in the boards to be cut. The
motion of the said guage or fence t, is effected by the handle v; and
the bearings of the rollers f, h, being on the base of the said guage
or fence, the said rollers f, h, are carried with the said guage or
fence in its motion.
The rollers i, l, are made to press against the deal or batten b, in
the following manner:-10, is a slide working in the dovetail .x,
sec Figure 2; the whole of the mechanism connected with the
rollers i,, is fixed on this slide, and can be made to advance
or recede by the handle y, and screw 5. z, is a bridle connected
with the bearings of the rollers i, l. The short arm 1, (Figure 3,)
of the weighted lever 1, 2, bearing against pins 3, 4, on the said
bridle, presses the said bridle, and through it the rollers i, l, against
the deal or batten b. When it is desired to withdraw the rollers i, l,
by the screw 5, it is necessary to lock the bridle z, so as to prevent
the action of the weighted lever 1, 2; in order to effect this the
screw 6, is withdrawn until the shoulder 7, of the said screw bears

page_text: against the shoulder 8, of the bridle z, when the said bridle is fixed,
and the weighted lever 1, 2, prevented from acting. I have already
explained that the deal or batten b, is pressed against the fence or
guage t, by the arm u; the said arm is fixed upon the pillar 9, and is
forced against the deal or batten b, by the spring 10; the said arm
may be drawn back by the handle 11, and held back by the pin 12.
Engaging behind the fixed arm 13, 14, 15, are fixed and loose
pullies on the spindle of the saw a; and 16, is a clutch box for
throwing the rollers f, h, i, l, into and out of gear with the saw
spindle so as to stop the feeding of the deal b, when desirable,
without stopping the saw a.
In putting my Invention into operation, the arm u, is fastened
back, and the bridle z, locked in the manner herein-before explained.
The fence or guage t, is set to thickness of the boards to be cut, and
the deal or batten b, is introduced between the rollers f, h, and i, l.
The bridle z, is unlocked, so as to allow the weighted lever 1, 2, to
force the rollers i, l, against the deal 6, and compress it between the
said rollers and the rollers f, h. The arm u, is allowed to press the
end of the deal b, against the fence or guage t; and the axis m, by
which the rollers are actuated, is thrown into gear by the lever 17,
and clutch box 16. By the rotation of the rollers f, h, i, l, the deal ō,
is fed or carried to the saw a, and the sawing of the said deal
effected. By the different sized pulleys 18, I can give whatever
speed I wish to the rollers f, h, i, l; and I sometimes attach
mechanism at or near the clutch box 16, for the purpose of
reversing the motion of the rollers, so as to bring back the deal
when necessary.
-
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be
understood that I do not limit myself to the precise method of
carrying my Invention into effect herein described, as the same may
be varied without departing from the nature of my said Invention;
for example, although I prefer the use of two pairs of rollers, I do
not confine myself thereto, neither do I limit myself to the use of
grooved rollers, as plain or fluted or otherwise figured rollers may

page_text: be substituted; neither do I limit myself to the method described of
actuating the several parts of my Invention. But I claim the
feeding or supplying of deals or battens to the saws of circular
sawing machines by gripping or pressing the same between a pair
or pairs of rollers to which a rotary motion in opposite directions is
communicated.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Middleton,
have hereunto set my hand and scal, this Eleventh day of
May, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-three.
WILLIAM EDWARD MIDDLETON. (L.S.)
Witness,
JAMES MURDOCH.