US40027A - Improvement in manufacture of match-sticks - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

S. O. ELLIS, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.

IMPROVEMENT IN MANUFACTURE OF MATCH-STICKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 40,027, dated September 22, 1863.

To all whom, it may concern,.-

Be it it known that I, S. O. ELLIS, of Jersey City, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Manufacture of Match- Sticks; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure l represents a longitudinal vertical section of my invention, thc plane of section being indicated by the line x Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the cutters detached, showing their position in relation to each other. Fig. 3 is a plan or top view of the card. Fig. et is a side elevation of a matchstick made according to my invention.

Similar letters of reference in the several views indicate corresponding` parts.

The object of this invention is to produce match-sticks, the transverse section of which presents the shape of a circle, square, or any other desirable form, of wood without splitting or shaving, and without reference to the direction in which the grain of the wood runs, by the action of rotary cutters acting upon the wood at dierent points, and in such a manner that by the action of said cutters the grain is crowded down in raising the shaving and thereby the toughness of the sticks is improved and the surface of each stick is rendered even and smooth without reference to the direction in which the grain of the wood runs and perfectly parallel from end to end.

To enable those skilled in the artto make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe it with reference to the drawings.

The cutters A A, which I use for the purpose of producingmy match-sticks, are made of segmental pieces of steel, each provided with a series of V-shaped ridges, a a', as clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The points of these ridges project beyond the edges of the cutters, and the position of these ridges in relation to each other is such that when the cutters are placed in line, one opposite the other, as shown in Fig. 2, the ridges a of the cutter A are between the ridges a of the cutter A. The cutters are secured in a rotary cylinder of iron or any other suitable material, one opposite the other, as shown in Fig. l,

and in such a position that the planes passing through the ridges of one cutter are parallel with and between the planes passing through the ridges of the opposite cutter. The points of the ridges project beyond the circumference of the cylinder, so that they act on a piece of' wood or card, B, passing under the cutters in a direction opposite to that in which the cylinder rotates.

The points t of the cutter A produce the notches a* in the card, (see figure,) and the points a ot' the cutter A produce the notches ai. These notches do not pass clear through the thickness of the card, and in order to complete the match-sticks the card has to be turned over, so that the cutters act on it from the opposite side, or two sets of cutters have to be made to act on the card simultaneously, one from above and the other from below. The match-sticks thus produced are either round or square or of any other desirable form according to the shape of the cutters. In all cases, however, the action of the cutters on the wood is such that the same in raising the shaving crowd the grain down, and the toughness of the sticks produced surpasses considerably that of sticks produced by ordinary means. The rotary cutters act on the wood independent of the direction in which the grain runs, and the surface of the sticks is rendered smooth and even. In this respect my match-sticks are essentially different from and superior to those produced in the ordinary manner, either by splitting or shaving. Those produced by splitting can only be made of choice pieces of wood, and their surface is rough and uneven, and those produced by shaving or by reciprocating cutters become weak and brittle whenever the direction of the grain differs somewhat from the direction in which the cutter moves. By such cutters the grain is raised and small pieces of wood are liable to come off of the surface of the sticks rendering the same rough and uneven; and, furthermore, the splints coming oft' from the sticks, drop into the composition and cause much trouble and unnecessary labor in dipping.

Sticks made in the ordinary way arc irregular in thickness, some thicker than thc others, or the same stick thicker in one place than in the other, according to the direction of the grain, and this irregularity in the thickness renders it very difficult to faste 11 the same in what I claim as new7 and desire to secure by the dipping-frames. On turning the frame up Letters Patent, sthe sticks are liable to slip and some drop out The employment 0r use of rotary cutters entirely, causing much loss ot' time. Mysticks A Af, substantially such as herein specified, are of a. uniform thickness throughout, and for the purpose of producing match-sticks. can be fastened in the frames With the greatest llitnesses: S. C. ELLIS. ease and perfectly secure. M. S. PARTRIDGE,

Having thus fully described my invention, i DANIEL ROBERTSON.

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