IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING CORK
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Seithen, of Earl Street, in the City of London,
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING
CORK."
Sealed the 30th April 1858, and dated the 3rd November 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Seithen at the
.. Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 3rd
November 1857.
I, JOHN SEITHEN, of Earl Street, in the City of London, Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MA-
CHINERY FOR CUTTING CORK," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in the employment of an endless or band knife, made
to rotate or move over and round pulleys, and of a drum on one side, or two
drums one at each side of the machine for holding the cork to be cut. When
there are two drums the same knife cuts the corks presented to it by the two
drums. Each drum is fitted with one, two, or more carriers for holding the
cork, and by the motion of the machinery each carrier is caused to rotate, and
consequently the cork carried by it is also rotated. While one cork is being
cut another is placed in one of the carriers, and as soon as the cork being cut
is completed, the drum is moved sufficiently round to present another cork to
the knife. Each drum is so connected to the machine that the attendant can
regulate and alter at will the distance at which the drum and holders are to
be held from the knife, whereby the diameter of the cork can be determined.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Seithen in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
3rd May 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
SEITHEN, of Earl Street, in the City of London, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Seithen, Her special licence that I, the said John
Seithen, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Seithen, iny executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 CORK," upon the condition (amongst others). that I,
the said John Seithen, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 John Seithen, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say:-
.
My Invention consists in the employment of an endless or band knife, made
to rotate or move over and round pulleys, and of a drum on one side, or two
drums, one at each side of the machine for holding the cork to be cut. When
there are two drums, the same knife cuts the corks presented to it by the two
drums. Each drum is fitted with one, two, or more carriers for. holding the
cork, and by the motion of the machinery such carrier is caused to rotate, and
consequently the cork carried by it is also rotated. While one cork is being
cut another is placed in one of the carriers, and as soon as the cork being cut
is completed the drum is moved sufficiently round to present another cork to
the knife. Each drum is so connected to the machine that the attendant can

page_text: regulate and alter it will the distance at which the drum and 'holders, are to
be held from the knife, whereby the diameter of the cork can be determined.
The cork is first cut into square and oblong pieces, in the manner described
in the Specification of my former Patent, dated 9th July 1855; it is then
placed into this machine and cut into corks and bung's.
Figure 1 of the Drawings hereunto annexed is a side elevation, and
Figure 2 a plan, of my cork-cutting machine; Figure 3 is an end view of the
same; Figure 4 is a section through the line a, b, of Figure 1; Figure 5 is a
section through the line c, d, of Figure 2, and e, f, of Figure 3. The same
letters refer to similar parts in all the Figures."
A, A, is the main framework of the machine supported on the bed. B;
C, C', are spindles working in sockets, formed in or bolted to the bed at g,g.
On the spindle C the pulley D is keyed, and round this pulley a strap or .belt
E passes, which is guided over a pulley F, working in bearings in the frame-
work A, and thence over another pulley F on the shaft G, to which motion
is communicated through the connecting rod H, jointed to the treadle or lever
I; J is a fly wheel on the shaft G.
On the upper part of the spindles C, C', the drums 0, 0¹, are fixed; P-is
an endless band knife, which passes round the drums, and is formed of a thin
band of steel.
I cause the upper ends of the band knife to be kept continually sharp by
means of the grindstone Q on the shaft G, or I employ two grindstones Q, Q',
one on each side of the knife. The drum C¹ will revolve by friction from the
band knife, but I also employ a centre piece, shewn at C", Figure 4, to assist
in causing the drums to revolve, whereby a considerable degree of friction is
prevented, and the knife is kept continually stretched. The lever R regulates
through the shaft R¹ and connecting rod R" the distance at which the grind-
stone is to be kept from the knife. T, T, are metal pieces bolted to the frame-
work A, for preventing the knife bending as the cork is cut. Instead of the
long spindles C, C, with the other appliances for driving the drums, I some-
times key to the shaft Ga cog wheel, which gears into teeth fornied on the
inside of the drum:
To the opposite side of the treadle I to which the connecting rod H is
jointed, I connect another connecting rod K, which communicates motion
through the crank K' to the pulley L on the opposite side of the shaft G to
that on which the pulley F¹ is keyed. Round the pulley L a belt or strap. L'
passes to a larger pulley L" on a shaft M, working in bearings in the frame
A. On this shaft M a cogged wheel M', also a pulley M", round which a
belt M passes to a pulley N, working in bearings on the shaft N in the

page_text: upper part of the frame A¹. The strap which passes round these pulleys
drives, as will be hereafter explained, the skeleton drums which hold the cork
to the knife. The cogged wheel M gears into a similar wheel P¹ on the shaft
O; which drives on the opposite side the pulley N¹ through the pulley O¹ and
strap 01
The frame A works in sockets h, h, in the lower. frame A.
.In.the outer sides of the frame A¹, I form bearings, in which the shafts I, I,
work. On these shafts the discs k, k, are attached, and round the circum-
ference thereof I form bearings, in which spindles or rods 2, l, work; these
spindles carry small rollers ", 1, (made by preverence of wood) studded with
pins, which, as the strap or belt M₁ passes, grip. the strap and cause the
pulleys to revolve, carrying with them the spindles and cork carriers herein-
after mentioned. Over the rollers , , I place wooden blocks ¹¹, 7", also
studded with pins. When the rollers I, I, are stationary, the pins in the blocks
,, grip the straps M, and cause the discs and all parts connected to them
and forming the skeleton drums to revolve. On the shafts i, i, the collars m, m,
are screwed, through which the rods l, l, work; these rods carry at their ex-
tremities bits or holders n, n, between which the cork to be cut is placed. In
order to draw away the rods 1, 1, from one another to permit of the admission
of the cork, the bent spring rod or lever o shewn in Figure 1, which presses
against the rollers ', ', is pushed back; this rod is jointed at p and connected
to the lever p¹. I sometimes cause the separation of the cork holders by
means of the rods,, attached to weights q, q, which, as the skeleton
drums revolve, cause the rods 1, 7, to be drawn back or pushed forward at the
proper time for placing in a fresh cork or releasing that just cut. The dis-
tance at which the cork to be cut is kept from the knife is regulated by the
right and left handed screws ",", attached to the frame A¹, and working in
bearings formed in the upper part of the main frame A. The screws are
driven by the pulleys s, s, round which a strap t passes, which by being drawn
in either direction causes the frame A¹, and consequently the skeleton drums
together with the parts connected, to become further from or nearer to, as the
case may be, the endless band knife P, so that the size and shape of the cork
can be regulated as desired by the attendant. Instead of the attendant
drawing the strap t with his hand, I have fitted a lever S, which is on the shaft
N" and clips or grasps the strap t, and passes, as shewn in the Drawing, to
the front of the machine, where it is connected for the sake of convenience by
a chain to the lever p¹. In the frame A, holes w, w, are provided, through
which the cork shavings pass. In the end of the discs k, k, I form notches
or slots, into which a weighted lever u, shewn in dotted lines, Figure 1, enters,
for the purpose of preventing the skeleton drums revolving whilst one cork is
:

page_text: being cut. The lever is worked by an attendant at the front; or I effect this
object by placing an eccentric v, Figure 3, on the shaft M, which acts on the
lever u. The machine is double acting, as will be clearly understood on
reference to the Drawings.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,―
First, the general arrangement of machinery for cutting corks, herein-before
described, and illustrated with reference to the Drawings annexed.
Second, the construction of what I term skeleton drums in cork-cutting
machines, consisting of sets of cork holders, which have a separate rotary
motion communicated to them, and which are also caused to rotate with the
said drums, in the manner and for the purposes herein-before described and
represented in the Drawings annexed.
And, third, the employment of an endless band knife, made to rotate over
and round pulleys, and of a skeleton drum on one side, or two such drums,
one at each side of the machine for holding the cork to be cut, in the manner
herein-before described and illustrated in the Drawings annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Seithen, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Third day of May, One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-eight.
JOHN SEITHEN. (L.S.)