US53289A - Improvement in wood-splitters - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES GEORGE B. FOWLER,

PATENT OFFICE..

OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 53,289, dated March 20, 1866.

To all whom fit may concern Beit known that I, GEORGE B. FOWLER, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Machine for Splitting Kindling-Wood 5 and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable those skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a side view of my invention; Fig. 2, a horizontal section of the same, taken in the line m x, Fig. l; Fig. 3, a transverse vertical section of the same, taken in the line y y, Figs. l and 2.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

This invention is designed for splitting small pieces of wood into ne strips suitable for kindling res; and it consists in having a knife attached to or formed on a lever provided with a handle and a shifting fulcrumpin, the several parts being constructed in such a manner that the wood may be split when placed upright on the base of the machine, or when laid horizontallyT thereon, and also broken transversely after being split.

The object of the invention is to obtain a small device for household purposes, one which may be used by a domestic for reducing or splitting a small stick into fine portions which will readily ignite.

A represents the base of the machine, which has an upright, B, attached to one end of it, said upright being slotted vertically to receive one end of a lever, O, through which and the upright B a pin, D, passes. The upright B has a series of holes, a, made in it, one above the other, through any of which the pin D may pass, according to the height it is desired to have the lever G, and the 1ever O has two or more holes, b, made in it,

4through any of which the pin D may pass, ac-

cording to the leverage required.

The lever O is provided with a handle, E, at its outer end, or-said end may be soformed that it will serve for a handle. This lever may be constructed of iron, and it has aknife, F, secured to it in any proper manner. The preferable Inode would be to have the knife secured to the lever in such a manner that it may be detached when necessary for the convenience of sharpening or for having a new one attached in its stead. The knife extends down from the under side of the lever O, and it has two cutting edges, c d, one, c, at its lower part or edge, and the other, d, at its front part, as shown in Fig. 1.

The side of the upright B which faces the knife F is hollowed out, as shown at ctx, (see Fig. 3,) so as to form a concave surface, and this surface extends nearly the whole height or length of the upright The Lipper surface of the base A, from about its center to its outer end, is cut down so as to be about one-half the thickness ofthe other part, as shown at e.

The wood to be split is placed endwise on the base A, underneath the knife F, the lever O being adjusted higher or lower in the upright B to suit the length of the sticks, and adjusted longitudinally according to the leverage required. The sticks are split one at a time by pressing down the lever O, the stick being held by one hand and the lever operated by the other. The small pieces are then broken or cut into two or more parts transversely by placing them horizontally against the upright B, between it and the cutting-edge d of the knife, and pressing down the lever C.

In the event of the sticks being too long to split in an upright position they may be placed horizontally on the base A with one end bearing against the lower part of the upright B; and in order to prevent the hand coming in contact with the base A under the low downward movement of the lever O, the upper surface of the base is cut down, as previously described.

The device may be constructed at a very moderate cost and will prove to be a valuable acquisition for the purpose, dispensing with the use of the hatchet in the house, which frequently destroys a hearth, cuts the carpet, oil-cloth, or ooring, besides occasioning considerable noise and loosening the plastering of a ceiling below it.

In order to prevent the cutting-edge c of the knife F from coming in contact with the base A, I have a slit, bx, made in the latter, into which the knife enters when the lever O is forced down to its fullest extent.

Having thus described my invention, I wish it to be understood that Idonot claim, broadly, with the lever G, when used for the purpose a knife attached to a lever for splitting kindof a wood-splitting device, in the manner and ling-Wood, for that has been previously used; for the purpose herein specified. but GEO. B. FOWLER.

I do claim as new and desire to secure by Vitnesses: Letters Patent- The double-edged knife F, in Combination M. M. LIVINGSTON, ALEX. F. ROBERTS.

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