Aphil I, 1908.J 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



217 



Some New Rubber Factory Appliances. 



SCHOFIELD PATENT BIAS SHEAil. 



THE Sclioheld Bias Shear (patented February 19, 1907 J, 

 illustrated on this page, is designed to cut all fabrics on 

 the bias, from the softest and finest to the heaviest cot- 

 ton duck used in vehicle tires or hose. The operation is entirely 

 automatic, the stock being stripped from the roll, fed to the ma- 

 chine, cut and dropped on a table, or carried by conveyor far 

 enough to be picked up and put into books. One belt drives the 

 entire machine. 



The cutters or knives are 75 inches long, and they will cut 

 up to 52 inch wide fabric on a 45° angle. This angle is not ad- 

 justable. The width of the strip between, and at right angles to, 

 the cut, can be regulated at will, from say 6 up to 36 inches. A 

 five-step cone pulley drive is provided, giving as a minimum lO to 

 12 strokes on the long cuts, increasing in number as the cuts are 

 shorter. Within reasonable limits the cutting speed may be in- 

 creased to any point at which the cut strips can be economically 

 handled. An unusual feature of the machine is its swinging upper 

 knife, which adjusts itself to the cut. The lower blade is firmly 

 fixed to the bed and the upper one is swung from an horizontal 

 shaft by two freely moving bearings. The blades are set at an 

 angle, not only vertically, as is usual in shearing machines, but 

 also horizontally in such a way that the cutting edges make an 

 angle in the horizontal plane ; or, looking down from above it 

 will be seen that the cutting edge of the knives cross each other. 

 This setting of the knives and the pivoting of the top one con- 

 fines the cutting to one point so that the action is precisely like 

 that of a pair of hand shears, the cutting is clean and free from 

 pulling, and so accurate as to width as to make unnecessary the 

 usual allowance for trimming when hand cut. The tendency of 

 the knives to self-sharpen keeps the cutting edges in good condi- 

 tion for a long period. Duplicate knives are inexpensive and can 

 be put in place easily. 



The feeding is accomplished by a sliding bar having on it a set 



of gripping fingers which reach in and under the top knife, taking 

 hold of the newly cut edge and drawing the material forward 

 until released by a cam. This sliding bar can be changed to five 

 different strokes on length of travel, and the release cam can be 

 adjusted to any desired point between each stroke, thus regulating 

 the width of the cut fabric to any point between 6 and 36 inches. 



The outside floor space occupied by this machine is 9 x 18 feet, 

 without allowance for frame work to carry stripping rolls, which 

 take up about 12 feet additional in length. 



For coated fabric some sort of a stripping device is necessary, 

 which would be driven from the countershaft included with 

 the machine, and this can be supplied in the form of a friction 

 let-oflf with a pair of stripping rolls controlled by a friction clutch 

 requiring more or less continued attention, or in place of the 

 friction clutch can be supplied a variable speed device regulating 

 more automatically the delivery of the goods to the cutters. The 

 grippers cannot be depended upon to strip from the roll, otherwise 

 the strength of the grip and the required pull would mutilate 

 the edges of the cloth. On some kinds of fabric, of course, no 

 stripping device is necessary. 



The particular machine illustrated here is fitted, when desired, 

 with a movable cementing device consisting of holder fitted with a 

 valve regulating the flow of cement, and roller which is adjustable 

 vertically to get any pressure desired, all sliding on two bars 

 the full width of the machine. It is stated that one man of ordi- 

 nary intelligence can operate the machine, the disposition of the 

 cut material governing the number necessary to handle that. The 

 makers of this machine, the Birmingham Iron Foundry (Derby, 

 Connecticut), are prepared to supply a larger machine to cut 

 fabric up to 60 inches wide and cutting stroke up to 60 inches. 



SOMETHING NEW IN BIAS FABRICS. 



F. VoLAND, a well known inventor, resident in Lyons, France, 

 is the inventor and patentee of a machine for taking any kind of 



Rear View of the Schofield Pate-nt Bias Shear. 



