IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING OR SHEARING, CROPPING, AND FINISHING CLOTH AND OTHER ARTICLES MANUFACTURED FROM WOOL OR OTHER RAW MATERIALS
Year: 1828

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
MARSHALL, of Fountain Grove, in the Parish of Huddersfield, in the County
of York, Shear Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth,
in and by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing
date at Westminster, the Twenty-sixth day of April last past, did, for Himself,
IIis heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said William Marshall,
my exors, admiors, and assigns, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I, the said William Marshall, my exors, adors, and
assigns, and every of them, by myself and themselves, or by my and their
deputy or deputies, servants or agents, or such others as I, the said William
Marshall, my exors, adfiiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term of
years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within that part of His United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ire-
land called England, His Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING OR
SHEARING, CROPPING, AND FINISHING CLOTH AND OTHER ARTICLES MANUFACTURED
FROM WOOL OR OTHER RAW MATERIALS;" in which said Letters Patent there
is contained a proviso obliging me, the said William Marshall, by an instru-

page_text: ment in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's Iligh Court
of Chancery within two calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being
thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Marshall, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention by
the followin description thereof, and the manner in which the same is to be
performed and carried into effect is described and clearly shewn by the
Drawings hereto annexed, reference being thereto had, and the figures and
letters marked thereon, the same letters and figures representing the same
parts throughout, as follows (that is to say):
:-
Fig. 1, Sheet 1, represents a side elevation, Fig. 3 a plan, and Fig. 2 an
end elevation of my Invention of Improvements in Machinery for Cutting or
Shearing, Cropping, and Finishing Cloth and other Articles Manufactured
from Wool or other Raw Materials, and on Sheet 2, Figures 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
represent various detached parts of my machinery, as herein-after described.
The properties of this machine, and the manner in which it acts, may be
divided into three movements,―
Firstly, the movement producing the cutting action of the shears or knives;
Secondly, the traverse of the cloth during the process of cutting; and,
Thirdly, the presenting a fresh portion of cloth to the cutters when they
shall have finished that part which they had been adjusted to cut or dress.
The last of these movements is effected by the opperator or attendant of
the machine, but the two former are effected by the machine itself, which is
driven by a strap or otherwise from any adequate or first mover, the driving
strap passing over the fast pulley A, Fig. 1, Sheet 1, which pulley is firmly
attached to the shaft B. By means of the revolution of this shaft the first
motion, or that of the shears or cutters, and the second motion, or gradual
traverse of the cloth beneath them, is effected.
The first of these motions I shall proceed to describe. Annexed to the
pulley A, and fast on the shaft B, is a pulley C, which, by means of a strap D,
drives the small pulley E. This last pulley is connected to the shaft F, which
carries at its opposite extremity a wheel marked G, as seen at Figures 2 and
3. On the face of this wheel G is placed an eccentric pin marked H,
Figures 2 and 3, and to this pin H is attached a small bar or connecting
rod I. K is a cylinder of wood or other material, moving freely on its

page_text: axis, . In the lower side of this cylinder K the cutter or moving blade
of the shears 0, 0, is firmly fixed in a spiral position, as shewn in the Draw-
ings; see Figures 2 and 6. On the opposite side of the cylinder K a small
projecting piece marked L is firmly placed, by means of screws or otherwise,
and to this projection L the rod I, already described, is connected by a strap or
piece of leather, which, ticing to a similar strap on the opposite end of the rod 1,
holds the centres of the eccentric pin H and the piece L at an equal distance
during every part of the revolution of the wheel G. Now it is obvious that
the eccentric II, revolving round the centre of the wheel G, must alternately
advance and recede from the centre of the cylinder K and the centre of L, to
which it is connected by the rod I being eccentric to the centre of K, to which
it is attached. The revolution of the wheel G must cause a vibrating or back
and forth motion of the cylinder K. M is a ledger blade or stationary cutter,
firmly attached to the carriage N, N, N, N. To this ledger blade or cutter
the spiral knife 0, 0, which is fixed in the cylinder K, is adjusted, and
brought into a proper position for cutting by means of the set screws P, P, P,
which adjust the axis of the cylinder K, in which the knife O, O, is fastened,
by forcing back the springs Q. Q, in which the centres of K are supported,
see Figures 2 and 6, and when so adjusted the vibrating motion of the
cylinder K, as already described, effects the cutting action of knives O, O,
and M, M. It must be remarked, that the whole of the cutting machinery is
supported by the carriage N, N, N, N, which vibrates on its centres R
and R', and it is by means of the centre of R' (which can be varied by
elevating or depressing the part S, as shewn in Fig. 4,) that the carriage
N, N, N, N, is kept parallel to the surface of the cloth to be cut or dressed.
Tis a lever supporting a weight t, by means of which the carriage N, N, N, N,
is elevated or risen from the cloth when required, as berein-after described.
The carriage U, U, U, U, which effects the second motion, is supported by
wheels, which run on two straight edges or railroads, of any convenient length,
which are shewn broken off at W, W, W, W, and it is by means of the
traverse of this carriage that the cloth is regularly passed beneath, and
subjected to the action of the cutters or shears already described. At the
opposite end of the shaft B is fixed a series of pulleys marked X, in one of
which (according to the speed required) is placed the band Y, sec Figures
2 and 3. The band Y drives pulley Z, on the centre of which is attached the
pinion 9, which, gearing into wheel 10, imparts motion through the shaft 11
to the rack pinion 12, see Figures 1 and 2, and thereby traverses the rack 13
along with the carriage U, U, U, U. The end of the shaft 11, at which the

page_text: rack pinion is placed, is supported on a lever 14, which, vibrating on its
fulcrum 15, see Fig. 1, Sheet 1, is capable of being thrown out of gear from
the rack 13 as soon as the cloth shall have traversed its proper distance beneath
the shears, and thereby end the traverse motion of the carriage U, U, U, U.
The third motion, or that by which a fresh or successive portion of cloth is
presented to the cutters, and which, as before stated, is effected by the operator,
is, by means of the cylindrical rollers 16, 163, being relieved from the dogs or
clicks 17, 17, and the cloth wound over the frame U, U, U, U, until a
fresh portion is presented to the shears; and then, by replacing the clicks 17, 17,
it is held stationary on the carriage U, U, U, U, while under the operation of
shearing. Beneath the cloth thus stretched on the carriago U, U, U, C, and
immediately under the edge of the cutter M, M, is placed the cylinder or roller
18, see Fig. 5, Sheet 2, firmly supported by the carriage 19 and the brace 20.
The surface of this cylinder or roller is covered with woollen cloth or any similar
substance, and elevated slightly above the level of the upper edge of the
carriage U, U, U, U, by which means the cloth under the cutter is brought in
contact, and firmly supported during the action of the knife O, O; sce
Figures 1 and 2, Sheet 1. This slight elevation of the cloth by means of
be more clearly seen in Fig. 1, Sheet 1, where,
the cylinder or roller 18 will
as well as in Fig. 3, the cloth is tinted red.
In the construction of this machine there are also three distinct or separate
parts,
Firstly, the railroad, as shewn broken off at W (but which would require
to be about fourteen feet long for a machine of these dimensions), along with
the driving shaft B and its appendages;
Secondly, the carriage U, U, U, U, and its appendages; and,
Thirdly, the vibrating carriage N, N, N, N, which carries the cutting
apparatus already described.
Now, to render the construction of the machine more clear, I have on
Sheet represented detached or separate parts of this machinery.
Fig. 4 represents an elevation of a part of the machine seen on the opposite
side to Fig. 1, where the pulley X and the cross band Y will be more clearly
seen than in Fig. 2.
Fig. 5 represents an end view, similar to Fig. 2, with the vibrating carriage
N, N, N, N, and the traversing carriage U, U, U, U, removed to shew the
construction of the cylinder or roller 18, and its supports along with the gearing
of the traversing carriage U, U, U, U, as already described.
Figures 7 and 8 represent side and end views of the carriage U, U, U, U,
where, in addition to the parts already described, is a ratchet wheel and

page_text: catch 21 connected with the roller 22, by means of which the cloth is tightened
or stretched by the straps 23 and cross piece 24; see Fig. 3, Sheet 1.
Fig. 6 is a plan of the under side of the vibrating carriage N, N, N, N, for
the purpose of shewing the set screws P, P, by which the knife O, O, is
adjusted, and also the spiral direction in which it is placed in the cylinder K.
In opperating with this machine, the first step is to see that the pinion 12 is
out of gear, which is effected by pressing back the spring 25, which, relieving
the lever £6, Figures 1 and 3, and allowing it to raise by action of the
weight 28, which, being connected by the rod 29, draws the lever 14 in a
perpendicular direction, and the pinion 12 being supported on the lever 14,
the rack 13, and the carriage U, U, U, U, is liberated. That carriage is
then run out in the direction of the black arrows, see Figures 1 and 3, and a
piece of cloth wound regularly on to one of the rollers 16, the end being
hooked in the groove represented thereon to pins or tenter hooks placed
therein for that purpose. The other end of the piece of cloth is then passed
over the upper side rails of the carriage U, U, U, U, and attached in a
similar way to the other cylinder 16, as shown by the red tint in the
Drawings 1, 2, and 3, Sheet 1. The carriage U, U, U, U, is now returned,
so as to bring the selvage of the cloth over the cylinder or roller 18, and the
catches 17 being then returned to the ratchets, the cloth is tightened or
stretched by means of the handles 30, 30, and also stretched in an opposite
direction by attaching the hooks connected with the part 24 and those at the
opposite end of the frame U, U, U, U, as seen in Fig. 3, and tightened by
revolving the roller 22, which is likewise held by ratchets and catch 21, as
seen in the Drawings. At this period the vibrating carriage N, N, N, N,
which carries the cutters, may be supposed to have been in the position shewn
by the red outline in Fig. 1, which position it would always assume in conse-
quence of the weight t and lever T overbalancing it when not held down by
the catch 31, as seen in Fig. 1. The vibrating carriage N, N, N, N, is now
put down by hand, and held in contact with the cloth by catch 31; but
the strap D does not impart motion to the pulley E, nor does the pinion 12
impart motion to the rack 13 until the lever 26 is also depressed by band,
and held down by catch 25 holding on the part 27, as seen in Figures 2 and 8,
this throwing the pinion 12 into gear, and also tightening the strap D by
means of the tightening pulley 32, puts both the cutter O, O, in motion, and
the traverse of the carriage U, U, U, U, in operation. The part K, vibrating
rapidly by means of the movements already described, and the carriage
U, U, U, U, at the same time traversing slowly in the direction of the red

page_text: arrows, Fig. 1, and along with it the cloth tinted red, is carried over the rest
cylinder or roller 18, where it is submitted to the action of the cutters or
shears until the carriage U, U, U, U, has travelled so far that the selvage of
the cloth arrives at the edge of the cutter M. As soon as this takes place
the screw 33, which is placed horizontally in the end of the part 24, see
Figures 1 and 3, comes in contact with the spring catch 31, and, forcing it
back, relieves the vibrating carriage N, N, N, N, which, by means of the
preponderating weight t and lever T is risen from the cloth, and at the same
time the catch 25, which is acted on by the part 34, is also forced back, and,
relieving the lever 26, the preponderating weight 28 disengages the pinion 12
from the rack 13, and the traverse of the carriage U, U, U, U, instantly
ceases. The carriage U, U, U, U, is then run back in the direction of the
black arrows, a fresh portion of the cloth is passed from one of the cylinders
16 to 16, in the method already described, and the operation is renewed.
In using this machine it is essentially necessary occasionally to oil the edges
of the knives or cutters O, O, and M, M, for which reason I have represented
an oil bottle and brush in the most convenient position in Fig. 2.
Having thus described my Improvements for Cutting or Shearing, Cropping,
and Finishing Cloth and other Articles Manufactured from Wool or other
Raw Materials, I shall conclude by stating I do not claim any separate or
well-known part or portion of such machinery; but I do claim such arrange-
ment and combination of parts as herein-before described, and likewise such
obvious modifications of any machine as, converting the vibrating motion of the
part K into a rotatory motion, the attaching of an additional connecting rod
to the eccentric II, as shewn in the dotted lines at Fig. 3, by means of which
another set of knives similar to M, M, and O, O, may be worked, and thereby
constitute a double machine, and also that modification by which the cloth or
fabric would be submitted to the action of the knives in a direction from end
to end, instead of crosswise, as in the machine already described, all these
being variations that I have already tried and approved of, but too obvious to
require a minute description; and lastly, I do declare that the speeds of the
various parts of my machinery herein-before described, as well as the means
of producing the various movements may be modified and varied by the sub-
stitution of other well-known movements than those which I have used, all
which variations and modifications, together with the proportion of the dif
ferent parts, as well as the material to be used in constructing those parts,
must depend on the nature of the work for which the machine may be
required, and may be attained with facility by any person of competent skill,

page_text: d fit to be intrusted with the direction and construction of machinery of
is and a like description.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Marshall, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Nineteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight.