US755248A - Device for grooving or tapping rubber or other sap-yielding trees. - Google Patents

Description

No. 755,248. YPATBNTED MAR. 2 2,'1904- 4 0. A. SANBORN. DEVIGEFOR GROOVING OR-TAPPING RUBBER OR OTHER SAPYIELDING TREES.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 22, 1903. R0 MODEL.

' z EBEETs-EBEE L .No. 755,248; R IAIBNTED MAR. 22, 1904.

' 0. A. SANBORN. DEVICE FOR. GROOVING 0R TAPPING RUBBER OR OTHER SAP YIELDING TREES.

APPLICATION nun we. 22, 1903. R0 MODEL.

2 BEEETS$HBBT 2.

UNITED STATES Fatented March 22, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE...

CORA A. SANBORN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

DEVICE FOR GROOVING R TAPPING RUBBER OR OTHER SAP-YIELDI NG TREES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 755,248, dated March 22, 1904.

Applicati fil d August 22, 1903 Serial No. 170,387- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CoRA A. SAN ORN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago,

' in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Devices for Grooving or Tapping Rubber or other Sap-Yielding Trees, of which the following is a specification.

The common method at present in vogue for drawing the sap from rubber-trees is carried out by cutting or slashing a vertical groove or channel in the bark of the tree, with oblique bran ch grooves or channels on either side thereof and leading thereto, the sap running down said branch and main channels being collected in a receptacle at the foot of the vertical groove. Heretofore such tapping of these trees has been performed by very crude instruments,

the device most commonly employed for the.

purpose being the native cutlass machete) of those tropical countries to which the rub-- servation and proper guidance of the exudingv sap, a further object of the invention being to provide such an instrument in which the cutting-blades may be readily interchanged for the purpose of cutting either the main vertical groove or the right or left hand branchgrooves, as desired or necessary.

To these and other minor ends the invention consists in a novel instrument for the purpose described possessing the structural and functional characteristics hereinafter more particularly described, and pointed out in the claims. p I

My invention in the preferred form is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, where- Figure 1 is a top plan or back view of the complete instrument. Fig. 2' is an end view thereof looking in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a bottom plan or face view of the upper end or head of the instrument. Fig. 4 is a side or edge view of the parts shown in Fig. 3 as the latter appears viewed from the left-hand side thereof. Fig. 5 is a detail edge view of a knife or gouge adapted for the formation of the vertical or central groove or channel. Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view of one end of the knife-holding head-stock, more particularly illustrating the means for engaging the ends of the knifeblade. Fig. 7 is an elevational view of the lower or trunk portion of a tree, illustrating the formation of the grooves or channels cut therein by the tool of my invention. Fig. 8 is a detail fragmentary view, on an enlarged scale, illustrating the peculiar engagement of the point of the gouge with the groove cut thereby; and Fig. 9- is a similar detail in cross-section directly above the point of the In its general aspects my invention comprehends the employment of a head or stock adapted to carry a knife or gouge suitably positioned relatively thereto to create a groove or channel of the desired formation, with guide-wheels or rollers which engage the bark of the tree on either side of the gouge and limit the depth of the incision and with a handle by which the instrumentmay be grasped and drawn over the bark of the tree by the hand or. hands of the operator. In its most complete and preferred form the head or chuck of the tool is adapted to receive knives or goug'es of difierent angles adapted to the cutting of the central vertical channel and of the right and left'hand oblique branch channels.

Referring to the drawings for a more particular description of the mechanical features of the invention, 10 designates the main crosshead of the tool, having mounted .on its opposite extremities rollers 11, while centrally therefrom extends a main handle 12 and at right angles 'to the latter a longitudinallybored short handle or knob 13. In the bore of the latter is inserted an externally-threaded stem 14:, carrying on its inner end directly behind the head 10 a knife-holder or chuck 15, which is rendered adjustable toward and from the cross-head 10 by an ordinary milled th umbnut 16 engaging the threaded stem l t and confined'in a slot in the knob or short handle 13.

17 designates a locking-pin, which may be fast in either the cross-head 10 or the bladeholder 15, slidably engaging an aperture in the other and serving to prevent relative angular movement between the cross-head and blade-holder, at the same time permitting in and out adjustment of said parts relatively to each other.

It is the design of the present invention that the chuck or blade-holder 15 shall be adapted to receive gouges formed on different angles and adapted to the several different cuts or channels involved in the complete tapping of the tree. Accordingly I so form the ends of the holder 15 that they shall present sockets 15, Fig. 6, open at their lower and closed at their upper or outer ends and adapted to engage slidingly and interlock with backwardlybent or doubled lips on the ends of the angular knives or gouges.

In Figs. 1 to L, inclusive, I have illustrated in connection with the knife-holder and its carriage a knife or gouge adapted for the formation of right-hand oblique or branch channels, such as are shown at B, cut in the bark of a rubber-tree, (designated byA.) This blade, as shown, comprises in the main two straight cutting- blades 18 and 19, which meet at their outer ends in a comparatively sharp angle or point 20, and, as shown in the several figures of the drawings, these blades are angularly set relatively to each other not only in planes longitudinally of the cross-head, but also in planes transverselythereof, as best shown in Figs. 3 and 4, whereby in the operation of the instrument the cutting edge of the shorter blade 19 is always slightly in the lead of the cutting edge of the larger blade 18. The blades 18 and 19 may be themselves comparatively narrow; but at their inner extremities they are preferably widened to correspond with the full depth of the sockets 15" of the knifeholder, and these inner ends are suitably bent outward and backwardly, as shown at 18 18 and 19 and 19", entering the sockets from the under side of the knife-holder and embracing the inwardly-bent flange constituting the inner side wall of the socket and abutting at their upper ends against the upper closed ends of said sockets, thus preventing any possibility of the gouge being separated from its holder when in operation, but permitting its ready detachment for the substitution of a gouge of 'a different form. Another constructional peculiarity of the blades 18 and 19 resides in the fact that they are, at least throughout the bark penetrating portions thereof, formed with upwardly convergent or retreating sides and an inwardly-retreating line of junction, as is more particularly illustrated in the detail views Figs. 8 and 9. An important advantage flowing from this peculiarity of construction is set out later in the description of the operation.

For the purpose of cutting a lefthand branch groove or channel, such as is illustrated at C in Fig. 7 a knife or gouge similar in all respects to that last described will be employed, except that the blades 18 and 19 will be oppositely inclined relatively to their positions, as shown in Fig. 2, and the cuttingpoint 20 will lie back of the opposite end of the cross-head 10.

For cutting the main Vertical channel (indicated at D in Fig. 7) a gouge of the general form illustrated in Fig. 5 will be employed, this gouge comprising a pair of substantially duplicate blades 21, disposed at approximately a right angle to each other and meeting in a gouging-point 22, while their outer free ends are outwardly and backwardly bent, as at 21 and 21", to interlockingly fit the sockets of the knife-holder in the manner already described in connection with the obliquely-cutting gouges.

The piercing points of the several cutters or gouges are preferably located in approximately a plane which is normal to the handle 12 and coincides with the axis of the rollers 11, as best shown in Figs. 3 and 4:, thus bringing said rollers into the most favorable position to resist the penetrating tendency of the point of the gouge and confine the penetration to the distance between said point and the point of tangency of the roller on the bark of 'the tree.

The operation of the device will be readily understood from the foregoing description in connection with the illustration afforded by the drawings. When a tree is to be tapped, the tool is equipped with the form of gouge shown in Fig. 5, and by first regulating the depth of penetration of the gouge to a depth slightly less than the thickness of the bark in order not to kill the tree the tool is applied to the surface of the tree and drawn straight downwardly, thus at a single operation effecting the cutting of the main vertical channel D. That done, this gouge is slipped out of the holder and another of the form shown in Figs. 1 to 4 or its converse is inserted, and having been properly adjusted as to depth by manipulating the thumb-nut 16 the right or left hand oblique branch channels B and C may be formed each by a single stroke in the same manner.

From the foregoing it will be seen that by my present invention I provide an eflicient and easily-manipulated tool by which the rcwould tend to sear over and heal the walls of the groove and materially check the flow of sap. This construction also renders the gouge self-penetrating under the pull imparted to the handle. It will also be observed that the tool cuts the branch channels with both walls thereof inclined upwardly at different degrees of inclination from the line marking the convergence of said walls or the base of the channel, whereby the stream of sap flowing therethrough is retained and prevented from overflowing the side of the channel and running to waste down the bark of the tree.

Where the gouges are not set too deep, the instrument can ordinarily be effectively manipulated by simply drawing it downwardly by the handle 12; but Where the gouges are set deeper, as in tapping older trees having thicker bark, the shorter handle or knob 13,

which may be grasped by the other hand of the operator, will be found a valuable adjunct in the manipulation of the instrument.

It is evident that the novel implement herein described and shown as constituting an embodiment of my invention might be varied to a considerable extent in respect to the specific details of structure and relative arrangement of the parts without departing from the principle or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof. Hence I do not limit the invention to such detail features except to the extent that they are made the subject of specific claims.

I claim.

1. In an instrument for the purpose described, the combination with a cross-head and an operating-handle, of a V-shaped gouge secured to said cross-head, and guides carried by the cross-head adapted to engage the surface of the tree on either side of the gouge to limit the penetration of the latter, substantially as described.

2. In an instrument for the purpose described, the combination with a cross-head and an operating-handle, of a V-shaped gouge secured to said cross-head, and rollers mounted on the ends of the cross-head and adapted to engage the surface of the tree on either side of the gouge to limit the penetration of the latter, substantially as described.

3. In an instrument for the purpose described, thecombination with a cross-head and an operating-handle, of a gouge-holdermounted on said cross-head, and a gouge, said gougeholder and gouge being provided with integral interlocking parts, respectively, substan-- tially as described.

' 4:. In an instrument for the purpose described, the combination with-a cross-head and an operating-handle, of a gouge-holder mounted on said-cross-head, and a gouge, said gougeholder and gouge being provided with integral interlocking parts, respectively, and guides carried by the cross-head adapted to lie in contact with the surface of the tree on either side of the gouge to limit the penetra tion of the latter, substantially as described.

.5. In an instrument for the purpose described, the combination with a cross-head'and a main operating-handle extending downwardly therefrom, of an auxiliary handle ex' tending outwardly or rearwardly therefrom, substantially at right angles to said main handle, a gouge-holder having a stem mounted in said cross-head and auxiliary handle, and a gouge removably carried by said gouge-holder, substantially as described.

6. In an instrument for the purpose described, the combination with a cross-head and a main operating handle extending downwardly therefrom, of an auxiliary handle extending outwardly or rearwardly therefrom, a gouge-holder having a stem mounted in said cross-head and auxiliary handle, means for effecting the longitudinal adjustment of said stem in its support, and a gouge removably carried by said gouge-holder, substantially as described.

7. In an instrument for the purpose described, the combination with a cross-head and a main operating handle extending downwardly therefrom, of a transversely-slotted auxiliary handle extending outwardly or rearwardly therefrom, a gouge holder having a threaded stem mounted in said cross-head and auxiliary handle,a gouge removably carried by said gouge holder, an internally-threaded thumb-nut mounted on said threaded stem and confined in the slot of the auxiliary handle, and means for preventing the rotation of the gouge-holder while permitting its in and out adjustment relatively to the cross-head, substantially as described. V

.8. In an instrument for the purpose described, the combination with a cross-head and guide-rollers rotatably mounted on the opposite ends thereof, of an operating-handle extending downwardly from said cross-head, a gouge-holder mounted in said cross-head and adjustable toward and from the same in a direction substantially at right. angles to the handle, and a generally V-shaped gouge removably carried by said gouge-holder and having its penetrating point disposed substantially in a plane determined by the axis of said guide-rollers and the points of tangency of the latter upon the object subjected to the operation of the device, substantially as described.

9. In an instrument for the purpose described, the combination with a V-shaped the point of the gouge, of means Connected thereto to render the same manually operable I in grooving the bark of a tree, substantially 1 as described.

CORA A. SANBORN. Witnesses:

SAMUEL N. POND, FREDERICK O. Goonwm.

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