IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFAC- TURING AND FINISHING OF WOOLLEN AND SOME OTHER CLOTHS
Year: 1837

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
WALTON, of Sowerby Bridge Mills, in Worley, in the Parish of Halifax, in
the County of York, Woollen Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS His late most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-first day of March, in the seventh year of His
reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said James Walton, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said James Walton, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said James Walton, my exors, admors, or assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFAC-
TURING AND FINISHING OF WOOLLEN AND SOME OTHER CLOTHS;" in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said James Walton, shall
cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in His said Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, reference being thereunto, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James Walton, do hereby declare the nature of my Invention, and the manner

page_text: count ammesed, and to the figures and retters marked thereon (that is to
say):-
My Invention relates,-..
First, to that part of the process of manufacturing woollen cloths which
consists in preparing the sheet of wool into cardings or slivers previous to
the process of spinning, as hereafter described.
Secondly, to a mode of combining the machinary for raising or brushing the
pile or nap of woollen and other cloths; and,
Thirdly, to a mode of cropping or shearing woollen and other cloths
requiring that process.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING MARKED A.
Figure 1 represents part of a carding engine having some of my improve-
ments applied thereto; Figure 2 is a section of Figure 1; and Figure 3 is
a plan of Figure 1. In each of these Figures the same letters indicate similar
parts. a, a, are a series of endless straps of leather or other suitable matérial
moving on the roller 6 and on the pulleys c, c, the 'pulleys c being set at an
angle, in order to separate the breadths of cardings one from the other as
they are carried on by the endless straps a, a. On the straps a, a, rest a
series of spindles, one to each strap; these spindles do not require to turn, but
are held at an angle by suitable holders, and press on the endless straps 'a, a;
and the holders of the spindles should be such as to allow of the 'angle at
which the spindles are held being varied. d, 'd, are a series of circular knives,
which I prefer to be of hardened steel; the edges of these knives rest on the
roller e, which has hardened surfaces to receive the knives d; d; a slow motion
is communicated to the roller e, hence the "knives 'also receive a rotatory
motion, they being slightly pressed on the surface of the' roller e. The con
tinuous broad sheet of wool or other "material as it comes off the cylinder is
divided by each of the knives, and the breadths produced are carried forward
by the straps or bands a, a, and coming under the spindles, the breadths of
cardings 'take'a spiral direction around the spindles, and are then rolled or
condensed by any of the known" means, they will then be ready for spinning.
The Drawing shows an arrangement of three rollers'f, 9, 9, for receiving
the cardings to roll and condense them, the roller having a rotatory motion
thereto gives rotatory' motion to the rollers g,"g, and the rollers g, g, are
to "have a to and fro "movement in the way of their length, as is "well
understood; and it will be evident that the slivers or breadths of carding

page_text: 1: 1
as cut may be rolled without being caused to take a spiral direction; the
spindles and bands or moving surfaces would then be dispensed with, but
moving surfaces will be required to roll the carding; but I prefer, that the
spiral direction should be given to the threads. It will be found that.such
spiral curling or direction to the fibres will be more or less as the angle of
the spindles is less or more acute with the line of the axis of the straps or
مان
337
"A
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING MARKED B.
1-
According to the ordinary processes of raising, brushing, and shearing the pile
or nap of woollen and other cloths, the cloth is continually carried forward, and
the raising cylinder and also the shearing or cropping cylinder revolve on
stationary bearings; hence the cloth in being raised or cut, should there be
any imperfection in the raising cylinder, there will be an imperfection in the
raising, and such is the case in the event of any imperfection of any part of
the cutting cylinder, the cutting will be imperfect to that part of the cloth
which in passing through the machine may come in contact with and be
acted on by the imperfect part. These observations relate particularly to the
ordinary raising machines or gig mills; but so far as the shearing machines
now in use, the observations relate only to such machines as are not constructed
according to an Invention for which His late Majesty King William the
Fourth granted me His Royal Letters Patent, bearing date at Westminster,
the Twenty-third day of October, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-five,
and to which a Specification was duly enrolled; for, according to that
Invention, in place of the cloth only having a continuous forward movement,
there was a means described for giving, in addition to such forward movement,
an excentric motion to the bed on which the cloth was moving, by which
means the bed, together with the cloth, had an additional movement
communicated thereto, as was fully explained in the said Specification. And
in such Invention the bed and the cloth thereon (owing to the operation of
the excentrics applied thereto) in every point of its surface continued to
describe circles, by which means the cloth was carried laterally along the
length of the cutting cylinder, and in addition thereto was carried back in the
way of the length of the cloth, as will readily be traced in the Drawing of
the said former Specification, and will clearly be understood by the
by the description
there given.
1:
Now the object of my present improvements, (in respect to shearing the pile
or nap of woollen and other cloths), relate to so combining the machine that
the cloth, in addition to the onward or forward progress, shall, in respect of the

page_text: cutting edges of the cutting cylinder, have a movement in the machine that
the cloth shall be brought again and again under the cutting operation (in
addition to its ordinary onward movement), in such manner that the part
which at any one moment may be operated on by the cutting edges shall by
the working of the machine come again to the cutting cylinder; but as such
cylinder is constantly revolving, any point on the surface of the cloth which at
any moment has been touched by a particular part of the cutting cylinder,
will not be operated on at the same point of the surface by the same part of
the cutting edges of the cylinder. It should, however, be remarked, that the
only difference in the present Invention, so far as it relates to shearing or
cropping, is, that the cloth at all times continues to move in one straight line,
and according to my former Invention it moved in a curved line produced by
the application of excentrics. I would remark, that although I have above
spoken of the cloth having such movements, I mean it relatively with the
movement of the axis of the shearing machine; for the relative movements in
respect to the surface of the cloth and the surface of the cutting cylinder may
be either obtained by giving movement to and fro to the bearings of the axes
of the cutting cylinder, or by giving the necessary movement to the cloth
itself. And I prefer giving the additional movement to the cutting cylinder,
whereby the same is made to traverse, or swing to and fro, in addition to
having a continuous rotatory motion.
I will first describe the improvements so far as they relate to shearing or
cutting. Figure 1 is an end elevation of a cropping or shearing machine,
having my improvements applied thereto. Figure 2 is a cross section
In each
of the working parts taken through the middle of the machine.
of the Figures the same letters indicate similar parts. a is the framing of
the machine. b, a rigger or driving pulley. c, a band pulley for turning the
cutting cylinder. d, a strap pulley for driving the shank shaft e, which gives
motion to the draw roller by the wheel g. h is a connecting rod, one end of
which works on a crank pin on the face plate or crank e, and the other on a
stud fixed in the cutter carriage i, which is suspended by rods k, which work
on the axes l. The cutting cylinder is of the ordinary construction, and the
cloth is supported by the bed m, which is made to rise and fall by the
excentric pullies n, which are worked by the lever o. p, p, are tension
rollers for holding the cloth, two of which rollers fall with the bed, for the
more convenient putting the piece of cloth into the machine. 9 is the cutting
cylinder. r, brush which is firmly fixed in the cutter carriage i for setting up
the pile or nap as the carriage swings to and fro. s is a rack which runs the
whole length of the machine underneath the bed, on which the bow of iron t

page_text: slides freely; it is moved by the pinion u and handle v. From the ends of
the bow a piece of elastic steel, or some other metal or cloth, is tightly
stretched over the face of the bed, as seen at w, Figures 6 and 7, which cau
be moved according to the breadth of the cloth to cover the list or selvage,
and prevent the nap from being cut off when it is desirable to do so. The red
lines shew the lists or selvage of the piece, and the arrows point the direction
in which it moves.
Having described this part of my Invention, I will describe its manner of
operation. The bed m and rollers p are lowered, which is performed by
bringing the lever o into the position shewn in Figure 11; the end of the
cloth is then passed through the tension rollers, and over the bed to the
drawing roller f, which is covered with cards, plush, or cloth; the bed is then
raised to the position shewn in Figure 1, and the machine is ready for work.
When the machine is put in operation, the cutter q and setting-up brush r will
move with the carriage i to and fro over the surface of the cloth as it passes
over the surface of the bed, as represented by the dotted lines shown in
Figure 2, which will bring the cutting and setting-up parts several times over
the same part of the cloth.
Figure 3 is an end elevation, Figure 4 is a front elevation, and Figure 5
is a plan of a machine on the same principle, but differently arranged.
a is the framing of the machine. b, driving pullies. c, band pullies for
driving the rotatory cutters. d, band pullies for driving the drawing roller.
e, cranks for giving motion to the cutter carriage f by the connecting'
rods 9. h, elastic bed. i, rotatory cutting cylinder. j, drawing roller. k,
slides in which the bed rises and falls. 7, shaft on which are two cams
for lifting the bed. m, screws for adjusting the bed to the cutting blades.
n, shaft for working these screws, which are connected by the mitre wheels o.
p, lever for raising and lowering bed. The only difference betwixt this
machine and the one described above is in the cutter carriage moving on
wheels, on edge rails, on the top of the frame, by which the cutting edges
move parallel to the bed, instead of describing an arc of a circle, as when
suspended, as before described.
Figure 8 is an end elevation of a machine for shearing or cutting the
pile or nap of wollen or other cloths, and the same machine may have
means for raising the pile or nap of the cloth in order to the same being
cropped. Figure 9 is a section of some of the parts taken through tho
middle of the machine. Figure 10 is a front elevation with the drawing
rollers and part of the geering removed. a. is the framing. b, the driving
pulleys which run loose on the shaft or axis of the cylinder c, which I call

page_text: the bed. of the machine. d, a band pulley, which is cast with one of the
driving pulleys, or has it otherwise fixed to it. e, a strap pulley which is fixed
to thesa me, so that they all three move together on the shaft of the
cylindrical bed. f, frame of cast iron, which is bored to work loose on the
shaft of the bed; there is one at each end of the bed connected by three cross
bars g.
On the top of the frame fare applied the cutter h and the raising
cylinder i. is a mangle movement or rack which works the cutter and
raising cylinder to and fro concentric with the bed (or this may be worked
with a crank or eccentric disc). I is a shaft, on one end of which is a pinion
which works in the rack, and on the other end a strap pulley is applied,
which is driven from the pulley e.. m, drawing rollers which are driven by the
band pulley n. o, tension rollers, one of which rollers is adjusted by the
screw p to regulate the tension of the cloth. q is a roller covered with cards,
or set with bristles, the surface of which runs about twice the speed of the
surface of the raising cylinder, for clearing the raising cylinder of flocks, which
are deposited in the box or casing. From the above description it will be seen
that this machine, though varying in the arrangement, has the same principle
of action that of the rotatory cutter moving to and fro, and repeating the cut
of the cloth several times, but at all times varying the point of cutting surface
in such manner that the same point of cutting surface does not act on the
same point of surface of the cloth.
Having thus described my improvements to shearing machines, and partly
described the improvements in raising and brushing the pile or nap in combi-
nation with the shearing at Figures 8, 9, and 10, this part of my improve-
ments, under a varied form, is shewn in the further Figures of the Drawing;
the combination of the parts I will now proceed to describe.
Figure 11 is an end elevation of a machine for raising the pile or nap, and
for brushing and cleansing woollen and other cloths. Figure 12 is a plan or
bird's-eye view. Figure 13 is a section of some of the working parts. a is s
the framing of machine; b, driving pulley and slip box to stop or start the
machine; c, band pulley for turning the raising cylinder d, which is covered
with cards or teazles, the arrangement of which will be best seen in Figure 12,
where d, d, d, d, represent a fillet card lapped round the cylinder in a spiral
direction, and e, e, e, e, is a guard or rib betwixt the rows of fillet, which stands
nearly as high as the points of the card (to prevent it taking too keen hold of
the cloth) which is covered with a thin sheet of zinc, or some other smooth
metal, to reduce the friction on the cloth; and for fine cloths I have found it
desirable, in place of such metal surfaces, to use a spiral brush between the
spiral fillet of cards; f is a cylinder covered with cards for stripping the flocks

page_text: out of the cards on the cylinder d; 'g, g, are casings to catch the flocks; his
the frame in which the raising cylinder is suspended, which is connected by
the bars i,, which serve to support the cloth when raising, by the tension or
stretch of the piece; is an elastic bed; it is represented as lowered down
out of use; when it is desirable to use it, it may be raised by the eccentric
land lever m, and the cylinder adjusted to it by the screwsin. This machine
may also be used to rise or brush on a solid bed (which is a tbar of wood.or
metal slightly curved on the fface) over which the cloth moves betwixt it rand
the cylinder, as represented by the dotted diagram tato, Figure 113. p, crank
shaft which is turned by a strap from the pulley q;r, draw, roller which is
driven 'from the crankshaft; 6s, tension rollers; ct,radjusting (screw; u, sus-
pension rods, on which the raising apparatus swings; v, connecting rods for
giving-motion-to h...
A
.:. * :
In constructing raising machines, according to this part of my Invention,
considerable expence will be saved in consequence of the smallness of the
raising cylinder required,-and-consequent small space of room occupied by a
machine capable of raising a given quantity of work. It will be evident, from
the above description, that the object of my Invention (so far as it relates to
raising-and-cropping or shearing the pile or nap of woollen and other cloths
requiring-such-processes) is to obtain a certain relative movement of the cloth,
with respect to the raising and cropping cylinders, in order to the coloth
coming-repeatedly under operation of-the-raising and cropping cylinders,; in
place of continuing to move forward-under cylinders which are stationary.as.to
position; and it will be evident, that whether the cylinders move.to.the cloth, or
the cloth to the cylinders, it is not material; and my only reason for. recom-
mending the cylinders, whether of the raising or cropping machines, having the
to and fro movement applied thereto, in preference to the cloth having such
additional movement, is, that it may be done with greater facility; and there
may be many means of obtaining such relative movement of the cloth and
cylinder, and I have shewn the best I am acquainted with; at the same
time I would have it understood that I do not confine myself to the precise
arrangements shewn and described; nor do I claim any of the parts separately
of which the machinery is composed. And further, I would remark, that is not
necessary that the raising cylinder or the cropping or shearing cylinder should
be placed, and work directly across the width of the piece of cloth they may
be set angularly or otherwise, provided the machine is ctherwise arranged, to
carry out the object of my improvements. But what I claim as my In-
vention is,
First, the mode herein described of obtaining continuous breadths of card-

page_text: ings of wool, by means of revolving cutting knives acting on revolving
surfaces, as above described. And further, I claim the giving to the fibres of
breadths of cardings of wool a spiral direction by means of continuous moving
surfaces combined with spindles, as above described..
Secondly, I claim the mode of raising the pile or nap of woollen and other
cloths requiring such process, by means of giving an additional movement to
the raising cylinder or to the cloth acted on by the same, whereby the cloth
in passing through the machine has each part of its surface repeatedly acted
on by different parts of the raising cylinder above described.
And thirdly, I claim the mode herein described of shearing cloth by means
of the additional movement given to the cutting cylinder or to the cloth, as
above described..
In witness whereof, I, the said James Walton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven.