US89624A - Improved machine for trimming cue-leathers - Google Patents

Description

ii'nird tendra t @Wina IMPROVE!) MACHINE FOR TRIMMING- CUE-LEATHERS.

The Schnule referred-to in these Letters Patent and making part o! the Same.

To all whom it mwy concern:

Beit kngwn that I, J AMES E. BoYLn, of ANew York city, of NewYork county, in the State of New York,

have invented certain new and useful Machines for Trimming Cue-Leathers; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this application.

My invention relates to a new and useful machine or contrivance for trimming off the leather tips of billiard-cues. K In the preparation of billiard-cues a leather tip is glued on to the-end of the stick or cue, generally by means of an adhesive material or wafer, which forms part of the tip as supplied by the manufacturer or im-4 porter. These tips or cue-leathers are always larger vin diameter than the end of the cues, and, after having been glued on, and becoming fast, they are cut away, or trimmed down to about the diameter'of the cue, and are then sand-papered and finished up into shape to suit the players.

It has been customary previous tomy invention to thus trim or cut down the leathers by hand with an ordinary knife, as is well known to billiard-room keepers and others, and where there lis any considerable number of cues to be tipped and trimmed, this cutting of the leathers is a very laborious and timeconsuming operation. l

This process of trimming the tips by hand with a knife is not only tedious, and requires much time, but in the practice of it, it is almost impossible to trim the leathers to a perfect circle, conforming to the diameter of the cue, and have them in good shape.

' To overcome the diiiiculties encountered, and provide some economic and eicient means of trimming oi the leathersafter they havebeen glued to the sticks, ,has long been looked upon as a great desiderf atum, and it has been suggested to perform this trimming operation bymeans of a device something after the fashion of a pencil-Sharpener; but in .practice it has been found thatwith any such devices as have been tried, the leathers are torn oif from the cues by the strain and pressure of the cutters.

My invention has for its objects to provide ameans for efficiently cutting the leathers down tothe diameter of the stick to which they are secured, and one by.

which this operation may be expeditiously performed without severing or loosening the tip; and to these ends My invention consists in a machine or apparatus which is composed of a suitable device for exerting a pressure upon the tip, to hold it. fastron the stick, and knives or cutters for trimming away the circumference of the tip while it is so held, as will be hereinafter more fully described.

To enable those skilled in the artto make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe more fully the construction and operation of a machine embodying my invention, referring by letters to the accompanying drawings, in whichv Figure 1 isa side view, or elevation of a machine, made according to my invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of the same; and

Figure 3, a cross-section atx x, g. 2.

In the several figures the same parts are designated bythe same letter of reference.

A represents the bed or base of the machine, which I propose to make of cast-iron, and in which are formed or secured three stands, B, O, and D, in the first of which, B, are pivoted the vibratory cutter and guidingarms E, and which is formed' with a hole suciently large to permit the ready insertion and withdrawal of the cue F, and whicha'cts as a guide to the latter, as l clearly seen at fig. 2. l

The stand C is provided with a cap, c', and said stand and cap are cut out, (as seen at iig.' 3,) so as to.

allow the passage of the cue-end, and so las to form slots or guides, in which are arranged and Work the cutter-ends of the bars or arms E, and on the stand D is-arranged an adjustable and removable or press-- ure-bar, G, which is held in place when adjusted by a thumb-screw, b, as and for purposes to be presently explained.

At the vibratory end of each of the arms E is formedVV or properly secured 'a knife-edge or cutter-blade, d, as clearly shown, and around the said arms Eis arranged a rubberband, or collar, as seen at j; which serves to clasp and force toward each other the said arms with a strong spring pressure.

These arms E are pivoted on bolts m in the housings formed in the stand B, as clearly shown, and are so formed, (see fig. 2,) that where the rubber springcollar f is forced up over them, as seen, they will be forced toward each other, and consequently the knives d, forced against the tip o, introduced between them.

When the machine is not lin operation the spring"- collar f is moved along into the position shown in red in the drawings, that is, -beyond the shoulder i, and the pressure on the arms vthus taken oli, and the collar relieved of tension or strain.

The operation of cutting or trimming the tip with the described apparatus may be thus explained:

The cue, with its leather glued on in the usual manner, is inserted by the operative through the hole in stand B, and along between the four arms E, unt-i1 the tip comes between the knives d and but up against the stop or mandrel, as clearly shown in the drawings. The rubber collar being adj usted so as to exert its full pressure on the arms E, the operative forces and holds the cue endwise hard up against the stop, and at the.

same time turns or rotates itin the direction indicated by the arrow in fig. 3. As the cue and its tip are thus moved, the cutters or knives d penetrate and turn or cut off the leather tip, while by the pressure of the cue endwise, as described in the direction indicated by the arrow at fig.' 2, the tip is rmly held and clamped between the ends of the stick (to which it is glued) and the stop Gr. The apex of the leather or tip being convex, and the bearing surface of the stop being dat and smooth, there is no tendency created practically to displace the leather from the cue, and the clamping or pressure exerted on the leather between the stick-end and said stop, tends to and does eifectually insure the retention of theleather on the cue while being cut away on its circumference by the knives d.

I have thoroughly tested and worked a machine constructed according to my invention,and have found that a man can trim down into much better shape .and condition the same number ofcue-tips in one hour than he could imperfectly trim in the customary way in a whole day.

The knives d may, of course, be made removable, and of ne steel, while the arms are made of baser metal.

It will be understood that when the .cue with its tip is introduced into the machine, the arms E are spread apart, and also the knives (I, and that when the tip has been cut down to the exact diameter of the cue, the arms E, near the cutters d, come into contact with the wood, and act as stops, so that the knives cannot cut further. By this means it will be seen the leather will be always cut down to the size of the cnc, no matter what may be the diameter of the latter, andno matter whether the diameter of the tip exceeds much or little, to start with, the diameter of the stick.

Theobject and advantage of having the stop G adjustablc, are that it may be set back in the direction indicated by arrows, as one portion of the edges of' the knives wears away, so as to bring another portion into use by allowing the tip to be in a different position, as indicated by the red dotted lines at 'fig.l.

By this means, and having the cutting-faces or edges of knives d pretty long, it will be seen the latter will last a long time before requiring sharpening. By makextricating a tip in the event ofionelcoming on" and dom occur, though it is apt to in case the tip is not properly fastened to the stick.

In lieu of the four arms and knives, as shown, a different number may of coarse be used ,without departing from the spirit of my invention, andV instead the inverse of this operation may be adopted, or the knives may be arranged around and connected to the stop or mandrel. It will be understoodthat'a great variety-oi` changes may be made in the details of construction and ar, rangement of the devices, and various modications adopted, all involving, however, the gistpof my invention, which rests in the idea of combining with the cutting-devices or mechanism, a means for clamping the leather ,endwise on the cue while beingcut, as I have hereinbefore explained.

Having fully explained my invention, and described which I have very successfully practised it,

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The employment, in combination with` a cuttingmechanism or device, adapted to cut or shave around the circumference of the leather, of a rest or stop-surface, against which the leather may be forced and held tov insure its retention on the cue while being revolved, substantially as set forth.

i In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this 14th day of April, 1869.

,.I. E. BOYLE. [1.. s] Witnesses:

CHAs. A. SCOTT, J. N. MCINTIRE.

ing the stop removable, a ready means is aiorded for lodging between the cutters, which, however, will selvof making t-he knives stationary andturning the cue,`

the mode in which I propose to carry it out, and in

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