CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SHEARING AND CROPPING, AND DRESSING AND FINISHING WOOLLEN AND OTHER CLOTHS
Year: 1838

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, SAMUEL
WALKER, of Millshaw, in the Borough of Leeds, Cloth Manufacturer, and
FREDERICK ROSENBORG, of Hull, Gentleman, both in the County of York, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Gracious Majesty Victoria, Queen of the United
Kingdom, of Great Britain and Ireland, did, by Her Royal Letters Patent
under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at Westminster, the
Twenty-second day of February, in the first year of Her reign, give and grant
unto us, the said Samuel Walker and Frederick Rosenborg, in conjunction
with John Clay, of Cottingham, in the same County, Gentleman, Her especial
license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that we, the said John Clay,
Samuel Walker, and Frederick Rosenborg, or such persons as we may at any
time agree with, and no others, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within that part of Her Majesty's Dominions called England, Her
Principality of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, our Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SHEARING AND CROPPING,
AND DRESSING AND FINISHING WOOLLEN AND OTHER CLOTHS;" in which said Letters
Patent there is contained a proviso, obliging us, the said John Clay, Samuel
Walker, and Frederick Rosenborg, or one of us, by an instrument in writing
under our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, to describe,
ascertain, and make known the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in

page_text: Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said grant.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
Samuel Walker and Frederick Rosenberg, do hereby declare the nature of
our said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by the
following description thereof, reference being made to the Drawings hereto
annexed, that is to say:-
Our improvements in machinery or apparatus for shearing or cropping, and
dressing and finishing woollen and other cloths, consist in certain mechanical
apparatus to be adopted to any of the cropping or shearing machines of the
construction or class commonly called or known by the name of "Lewis's cross
cutters," in which the cloth is distended in a horizontal position by habits
or hooks inserted into the lists or selvages of the cloth, for the purpose of
keeping it properly stretched out whilst the carriage with its rotary cutter
passes over the breadth of the cloth, or the frame with the cloth passes under
the cutter, and the operation of shearing or cropping the pile is performed.
These improvements are designed to effect in such machines, by mechanism
alone, the business of habitting and unhabitting the selvages of the cloth
before and after what is technically called each "board," that is, each operation
of the rotary cutter during its progress across the breadth of the distended
cloth; also to conduct the cutter carriage back ready to recommence cutting,
to bring forward successive portions of the cloth from time to time ready to
be shorn, to put the cutter and its appendages in their proper positions, and to
throw certain of the operative parts of the machinery into and out of gear
when required, without the necessity of manual assistance. The mechanism
for performing these objects may be constructed in several ways, and indeed
must be in some degree varied to suit the different modifications of this class of
cross-cutting machinery; we have, therefore, considered it sufficient to exhibit
our improvements in connection with an ordinary Lewis's machine, intending
hereafter to point out those parts of the mechanism which we consider to be
essentially new in the principle of their adaptation to the class of machinery
for shearing cloths above alluded to.
In the accompanying Drawings, Figure 1 represents in elevation one side of
a machine for shearing cloth from list to list by means of a rotary cutter, the
oll part of the machine being exhibited in outlines, but our improvements
appended thereto are shaded and coloured; Figure II. is an elevation of the
end of the machine; and Figure III. is a horizontal view of the principal
parts of the same as seen from above, the cutter carriage being removed in
this Figure, and some of the old parts left out, to shew the new parts more dis-

page_text: "
tinctly. It is to be observed, that the construction and operation of the
carriage and the cutting parts of the mechanism are exactly the same as in
ordinary cross-cutting machines on Lewis's principle, consequently it will not
be necessary for us to explain the whole of the machine in detail, as it is
already well known to workmen in the shearing business; we shall therefore
confine our description as much as may be practicable to the new parts, and
in doing so commence by explaining the construction and mode of working
the nippers or fingers which we employ to take hold of the lists or selvages of
the cloth, in place of the ordinary habitting hooks used for distending the cloth
whilst under the operation of shearing. Figures IV. and V. represent the
nippers detached from the machine upon an enlarged scale in two different
positions, that is, open and closed. Each pair of nippers is formed by two
chaps a and b, the lower chap (seen in a plan view at Figure VI.) being
affixed to a horizontal bar c, the upper chap 6 rising and falling upon a hori-
zontal rod or axle d, to which it is to be connected by a pin inserted into the
rod or axle d, and passed through a vertical slot in the boss of the chap. The
bar c has sockets formed at its ends, which slide upon horizontal rods c, e,
fixed to the framework, and extending longitudinally along the sides of the
machine, as seen in Figures I. and II. Small standards f. f, rising from the
bar c, support the axle d, and together constitute a frame in which the several
pairs of nippers are mounted, such a frame of nippers being applied at each
end of the machine, as represented in Figures I. and III., in order to take
hold of the list or selvages at both edges of the cloth. The manner in which
these nippers are worked and made to act upon the edges of the cloth will be
best understood by reference to Figure VII., where the connecting parts are
shewn detached from the machine, and upon the same enlarged scale as
Figures IV. and V., but the general arrangements and positions of the operating
parts of the mechanism are more completely set out in Figures I., II., and III.
A is the main driving shaft, from which all the movements of the carriage B
and its rotary cutter are derived, Supposing that a piece of cloth has been
wound upon the cloth beam C, and its end carried over longitudinal perch
rods e, e, and connected to the taking-up roller D, as in ordinary cross-cutting
machines, the lists or selvages of the cloth would rest upon temporary beds 9, 9,
shewn in Figure III., and edgewise in the auxiliary sectional Figure III.*.
drawn immediately above. These temporary beds are formed of strips of tin,
or other suitable material attached to slight frames at each end of the machine,
which are brought under the sides of the cloth for the purpose of supporting
it when the lists or selvages are free from the nippers or habits. It will be
seen that these strips of tin aro bent so as to constitute suitable guides

page_text: for conducting and holding the edges of the cloth in order that the nippers
may be enabled with certainty to take hold of the lists or selvages, but
we do not confine ourselves to the particular construction of bed repre-
sented, as temporary beds for the like purpose might be made in several
clifferent ways. These temporary beds are seen in their advanced positions
in Figure III., but may be withdrawn when the nippers have taken hold of
the cloth. They are mounted on sliding rods, which move in sockets or boxes
affixed to the under part of a back bar E, fixed to the longitudinal rods e, e,
and are brought forward into those positions by weighted cords passed over
pullies, which hold them in those situations until the carriage of the cutter, as
it traverses over the cloth, comes into contact with the bottom rail of either of
the beds, when the carriage forces the bed back, in order to allow the rotary
cutter to approach the list of the cloth without obstruction. The lists or selvages
of the cloth being supported upon the beds in the way described, the series
of nippers at both ends of the machine, with their chaps open, must be moved
forward in horizontal directions in the spaces between the strips or openings of
the beds sufficiently to far to enable their chaps when collapsed to take hold
of the edges of the cloth. These movements of the nippers are effected by the
mechanism now about to be described. On the main driving shaft A there is
a bevel pinion F, see Figure VIII., which is a partial horizontal representation
of that end of the machine shewn at Fig. II. This pinion F takes into
another pinion G, and, as the main shaft goes round, communicates rotary
motion through the wheels H and I, to the shaft K, which extends along the
middle of the machine. The shaft K passes freely through an eccentric
roller h, seen in Figures II. and VII., and from the under part of the hoop i, i,
which embraces the eccentric roller, a rod k extends down to the junction of
a pair of equal levers 1, 1, (see Figure II.) mounted on fulcrum pins in curved
bracket arms m, m, affixed to the back horizontal bar E. The levers 1, 1,
are placed rather obliquely, as may be perceived in Figures I. and VII., in
order that their outer extremities may be connected to the lower ends of
upright rods G, G, each of which upright rods passes through a slot in a tail
lever n, affixed to the horizontal rod d, that carries the upper chaps 6 of the
nippers; and near the top of each upright rod G there is a nut o, intended to
bear upon the tail lever n, and press it down when the rod G descends, for the
purpose of lifting or opening the upper chaps, which would be otherwise kept
close by their weighted cords. Let it now be supposed that the cutter
carriage B is in the act of retreating from the left-hand end of Figure 1, in
order to take its position at the right-hand end of the machine, preparatory to
commencing the operation of cutting or cropping the pile. The contrivance

page_text: by which the carriage is made to traverse being a distinct mechanism, will be
described hereafter. The first thing to be done as respects the habitting
operation, or hooking of the selvages of the cloth, is to open the chaps of the
nippers. For this purpose a cam piece i, having two inclined plains, is
fixed upon that part of the under frame of the cutter carriage called the
"nose of the spectacles," as seen at i in Figures I. and II., in order that
as the carriage retreats the cam i may come in contact with the latch
lever j, affixed to a longitudinal cranked bar L, L, (see Figure III.*), the
end or pivots of which bar are mounted in bearings in the standard frame,
as shewn at Figures II. and III. The latch lever j, when the cam i
passes under it soon after the commencement of the backward movement
of the cutter carriage, raises the cranked part of the bar L into the position
shewn by dots in Figures II. and VII., and the cranked part of the bar L,
in thus rising, lifts a rod 2, which is hooked upon it. The lower part of this
rod is attached to the clutch lever S (see Figure VIII.), consequently the
tail of that lever S is at the same time raised, and the clutch t con-
nected to its reverse end, and keyed to the groove of the bar K, is slidden
upon the bar into gear with the clutch box u, which is affixed to the back of
the excentric roller h. By these means the excentric roller h becomes locked
to the rotary shaft K, and is thereby made to revolve with it. The cranked
part of the bar L in rising also acts against the under side of an arm V,
extending nearly at right angle from the tail of lever M, mounted in arms
affixed to the frame c of the nippers. The lifting of the tail of this lever M
causes the rack or teeth at its reverse end to take into a worm N, connected
to the shaft K by a key in the longitudinal groove, as represented in Figure
VII. In the lever M, near its tail end, a tumbler P is mounted upon a pin
or axle, on which pin, when the lever M is raised by the means described, the
tumbler P is by a weighted arm made to fall over into the position shewn by
dots in Figure VII. It will now be perceived that as the shaft K revolves, the
excentric roller h, revolving with it, will raise the hoop i and rod k, and thereby
lift the inner ends of the levers 7, 1, at their junction in the middle, as shewn
by dots in Figure II., causing the outer ends of the levers 7, 7, to be depressed,
and to draw down the perpendicular rods G, G, which will open the upper
chaps of the nippers, as before described, and they will be kept at this open
position by means of a spring catch a, which at that time is enabled to fall
into a nick in an excentric or snail piece fastened on the middle of the rod d.
As the cutter carriage B continues retreating, the cam i will slide from under
the latch lever j (see Figure III.*), when the cranked part of the bar L will
necessarily fall, an: with it the rod t and clutch levers (see Figure VII ),

page_text: by which means the clutch t will be withdrawn from the clutch box u, and the
excentric roller h, being then unlocked from the shaft K, will, with its rod k,
become inactive; but the teeth of the lever M remaining in gear with the
worm N, as the shaft and worm goes round the lever N, with the tumbler P.
and the frame of nippers, and their appendages a, b, c, d, f, n, w, and a, will
be carried onward, sliding upon the longitudinal bars e, e. As the frame of
nippers is thus moving onward, a nut Q. at the outer end of a rod w, jointed
to the spring catch lever a, comes against a stop R, affixed to the bar E, and
thereby causes the spring catch to be drawn from the nick of the snail piece
upon the shaft d, when the upper chaps 6 of the nippers are by their weighted
cords made instantly to fall upon the cloth resting upon the lower chaps a, in
order to take hold of the list or selvage. Immediately after the nippers have
collapsed, the elevated tail * of the tumbler P is brought in contact with a top
piece S, fixed by adjustable screws under the bar E, when the progress of the
lever M will cause the tumbler to fall over again into its former position, and
thereby lift the toothed end of the lever M out of the worm N. The frame
of nippers being then at liberty, a weighted cord T, T, T, will now gradually
draw it back, the nippers allowing the cloth to slip between their chaps until
the list or thick selvage has passed under the small nib y, near the end of the
upper chap, when the nib y will be allowed to fall into a corresponding
mortice in the lower chap a, and a small pin z, at the extremity of the upper
chap, will enter the list or selvage near its edge, and hold the cloth securely.
In order that the selvage of the cloth may be habitted at equal distances from
the edge, each of the upper chaps of the series of nippers is enabled to fall
independently of the other chaps of the series by means of its own weighted cord,
which brings down the chap, and causes the pin to take hold the instant that
its nib y has passed the list or selvage. The edge or selvage of the cloth
being thus securely held by the series of habitting points z, as described, the
further descent of the weighted cord T will draw the frame of nippers further
back, and cause the cloth to become sufficiently distended. The habitting
apparatus for taking hold of the list or selvage of the opposite edge of the
cloth is the same in its construction and movements as that above described, but
the parts are necessarily reversed, that is, the other worm N must have what
is termed a left-hand thread, and the appendages be made to correspond in the
way shewn at the right-hand end of the machine in Figure I.; both of the
habitting apparatus being driven by the same shaft K, continued through tho
middle of the machine, and the clutches, excentric rollers, rods, and levers all
thrown into operation by the same cranked bar L, acted upon through the
latch lever j, by the inclined plane i, affixed to the travelling cutter carriage.

page_text: We now proceed to describe the manner in which the working parts of the
machine are driven. Instead of applying the driving band to a rigger upon
the main driving shaft A, we employ an additional shaft U, U, upon which
three pullies or riggers V, V 1, and V2, are mounted. The middle rigger V
is a dead pulley turning loosely upon the shaft U; the pulley V 1 also turns
loosely upon the shaft, but has a pinion attached to it, which takes into a
carrier wheel W, having a pinion attached to it taking into the wheel X, upon
the main driving shaft A; the other pulley V 2 is fixed upon the end of the
shaft U. It will hence be perceived that when the driving strap is passed on
to the pulley V2, that the shaft A will be made to revolve by means of the
train of wheels; at the opposite end of the shaft A, cord pullies Y and Y* are
attached, the former for giving rotary motion to the cutter, the latter for
bringing forward the cutter carriage B in the usual manner. The pulley Y,
however, it is to be observed, is not fixed to the shaft U, but is only locked thereto
by a spring catch when the carriage advances, in order that the cutters may
remain still while the carriage recedes. As the carriage B advances from
right to left in Figure I., over the cloth, in the act of cutting the pile, imme-
diately before the cutter arrives at the list or selvage of the cloth, a pendant
arm 1 strikes against a stop 2, fixed upon the sliding rod 3, and by pushing
that rod forward throws over a tumbling lever 4, which, by means of a forked
guide 5, shifts the driving strap from the pulley V 1, and thereby stops the
carriage and the cutter upon the shaft U, to which the pulley V 2 is attached;
there is affixed a pinion 6, also taking into the wheel X, upon the main shaft,
consequently when the driving strap has passed on the pulley V 2, the main shaft
A will be made to revolve in the opposite direction, and by means of the right
cord and pulley Y to cause the cutter carriage to be conducted back to the
hand of Figure I. When the carriage has arrived at the right-hand list the
pendant arm 1 strikes against another stop 7 on the sliding rod 8, and by
pushing that rod back draws over the tumbling lever 4, and throws the
driving strap again on to the pulley V 1, which bring forwards the carriage and
actuates the cutter, as before described. As soon as the cutter has finished a
"board," and is beginning to recede, a fresh portion of the cloth must be
brought up to be shorn; this is effected by the following means:-It being
already understood that a piece of cloth has been wound lengthwise upon the
beam or roller C, and its forell extended over the longitudinal perch rods e, e,
and connected to the roller D, it is only necessary to say that the cloth in its
progress is to be conducted round a roller Z, which we call the measuring
roller, from whence it is taken up the roller D. The axle of this roller D
is supported in slotted bearings, and is made to turn and wind up the

page_text: cloth by the friction of its surface against that of the measuring roller Z, to
which rotary motion is given by the mechanism about to be described. As the
carriage receeds, that is, passes from left to right, in Figure I., a crooked arm 8,
affixed to the lower part of the carriage, strikes against a latch 9, and thereby
raises the longer arm of a lever 10; at the reverse end of this lever a perpen-
dicular rod 11 is attached by a joint, the upper end of which rod is connected
also by a joint to a forked lever 12, carrying the axle of a coupling wheel 13,
working into a pinion 14, fixed on the shaft of the wheels G and H. By the
descent of this lever 12, the coupling wheel 13 is brought down into gear with
a wheel 15, fast on the shaft of the measuring roller Z, and hence it will be
perceived that when these wheels are thus in connection the rotary motion
derived from the main shaft A will turn the measuring roller, and thereby
draw forward the cloth, which becomes wound upon the beam D, as before said.
In order to regulate the exact quantity of cloth thus brought forward, a catch
lever 16 takes hold of the lever 10, and keeps it in that position as long as the
cloth is required to be winding onward; a lever 17, connected to the forked
lever 12, carries a wheel 18, which, when the levers are brought down as
described, takes into a pinion 19, fixed upon the shaft of the measuring roller Z.
When the required length of cloth has been brought forward by the measuring
roller, a stud or tappet 20, on the arm of the wheel 18, strikes against the catch
lever 16, and pushes it from the lever 10, by which means a weighted lever 21
is enabled to raise the rod 11 and lever 12, and thereby to throw the wheels
13, 15, 18, and 19 out of gear. It is to be here observed, that in order that
the stud 20 may always rest in a proper position to be brought into operation,
the wheel 18 is weighted on one side. When the carriage B receeds after the
completion of each cut or "board," it is necessary to raise the rotary cutter
from the cloth on the beds; this we effect by the following means:-As the
carriage approaches the list in finishing the cut, a latch lever 22 escapes over
a stud 23, fixed in the stationary frame, and on the return or retrogade move-
ment of the carriage, this latch lever 22 is caught by the stud 23, and with the
arm 24, to which it is attached, is thrown up into the position shewn by dots
in Figure I. This arm 24 is affixed at top to a transverse shaft, which has a
tappet or heel upon it immediately under the handle of the cutter, consequently
by this movement of the arm 24 the cutter is lifted. In order to keep the
cutter thus raised from the cloth as the carriage runs back, a small wedge 25
is brought under the cutter frame by means of a weighted lever 26, in which
position the cutter remains until a rod 27 at the end of the wedge comes into
contact with a stop 28, when the wedge is pushed back from under the cutter
frame the moment when it arrives at the list and is about to commence cutting

page_text: a fresh "board."
After the whole length of the piece of cloth has been shorn
by a succession of "boards" or operations, it is necessary that the working
parts of the machine should be stopped altogether, which is done when the
cloth has been all drawn off the cloth roller C, and the end has arrived at the
perch rod e. At the end of the beam C a small right angle lever 29 is
attached by a joint, as shewn in Figure VIII., one arm of which lever is
confined in a recess in the beam when the cloth is wound upon it, but as soon as
all the cloth is unwound from the beam a spring throws out the lever into the
position shown in the Figure. As the beam C thus goes round, the end of this
lever 29 is brought against a stud in a transverse sliding rod 30, by which
means the rod is moved in a lateral direction. The right-hand end of the
rod 80 is formed with a crank-shaped staple, as shewn in the auxillary
Figure VIII., upon which a longitudinal lever 81 bears, and when the rod 30
is thus shifted the lever 31 falls into the mortice. This lever 31 is connected
to the tumbler lever 4 above described, by means of which the driving strap is
shifted, and the effect of this falling of the lever 31 is such as to bring the
tumbler lever into a perpendicular position, and consequently the driving strap
upon the dead pulley V, when all the evolutions of the machine will neces-
sarily become suspended.
Having now described the parts, objects, and operations of our improve-
ments in machinery or apparatus for shearing or cropping, and dressing and
finishing woollen and other cloths, we desire it to be understood that the par-
ticular features which we claim as new in their adaptation to these purposes
are,-
First, the temporary beds for supporting the edges of the cloth.
Second, the nippers for habitting the cloths, with the contrivance by which
they are made to take hold of the lists or selvages at a certain distance from
the edge, whether the same be worked by our machinery or by hand.
And, third, the arrangement of mechanism by which the several parts are
made to work, and the whole is kept in action from the commencement of
shearing the piece of cloth until the whole length of cloth has been shorn
without the assistance of manual labor.
In witness whereof, we, the said Samuel Walker and Frederick Rosen-
borg, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-first day of
August. One thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight.
SAMUEL (L.s.) WALKER.
FREDERIC (L.s.) ROSENBORG.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-first day of August, in
the second year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said Samuel
Walker and Frederic Rosenborg came before our said Lady the Queen in
Her Chancery, and acknowledged the instrument aforesaid, and all and every
thing therein contained and specified, in form above written. And also the
instrument aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made
in the fifty-fifth year of the reign of His late Majesty King George the
Third.