IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WOVEN TEXTILE AND LOOPED FABRICS, AND IN THE MACHINERY EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1852

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HODGSON, of Skircoat, in the County of York, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent, under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Thirtieth day of Sep-
tember, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the sixteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Hodgson, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said William
Hodgson, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Hodgson, my exors, adñiors, 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 Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in the Islands of
Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark, and Mark, and also in all Her said Majesty's
Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF WOVEN TEXTILE AND LOOPED FABRICS, AND IN THE MACHINERY
EMPLOYED THEREIN ;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that
I, the said William Hodgson, shall cause a particular description of the nature
of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by
an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be enrolled in Her
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and

page_text: immediately after the date of the said in part 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 Hodgson, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the present Specification thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed (that is to say) :-
My Invention consists in the manufacture. of woven textile and looped
fabrics direct from the sliver, as it issues from a carding engine, or from any
other machine capable of producing a sliver, without the intervention of
spinning machinery; and the manner in which the same may be performed is
represented in the Drawings hereunto annexed, and in the following description
thereof.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of part of a carding engine. The nature
of this machine and the several parts thereof being well understood, it will not
be necessary to enter into any explanation thereof. Figure 2 is a side
elevation of the machine, (and Figure 2 a longitudinal section of the same,)
by which the sliver (colored red) as it comes from the carding engine is
formed into a cloth. A, A, is the general framework of the machine. B is a
roller covered with cards. This roller is mounted in the framework A, and is
driven by the spur wheels C, C, which are set in motion by the toothed wheel
D, driven by the spur wheel E, on the back end of the carding engine. The
card roller B receives the sliver as it comes from the doffer of the carding
engine, and carries it over to certain combs herein-after more particularly
described, and which I term condensing combs F, F, which strip the roller B,
and prepare this portion of the sliver to be formed into a thread. These
combs take up a sufficient quantity of wool from off the end of the sliver
to form a thread proportionate to the quality and weight of the cloth desired
to be produced. The wool or other fibrous material, as it is taken up by the
combs F, F, is first divided from off the end of the sliver by the action of a
set of combs G, which have an up and down motion communicated to them by
a cam on the shaft a. The method of forming the portion of the sliver thus
divided off and received on to the condensing combs into a thread is effected in
the following manner, and by an arrangement of apparatus separately repre-
sented in plan in Figure 3, and edge view in Figure 4. F, F, are the
condensing combs, which are secured to the frames or carriers G2, G, by
means of the screws b, b. These carriers are cast in a piece with the
end frames G', G. H, H, are two pullies which are centred in the frames

page_text: G, G', and carry the endless strap or belt H', which is caused to revolve by the
train of wheels.c, c, set in motion by the bevil wheels d, d'. The bevil wheel
dis stationary, being fixed to the framework A. The end of the shaft a is
passed through the hollow boss of the bevil wheel d', and is caused to
revolve by the spur wheel I keyed upon it, and impart to the frames Ga
rotary motion, carrying with them the strap pulley II, train of wheels c, c, and
bevil wheel d, which having a motion round the stationary wheel d' similar to
the sun and planet motion, causes the spur wheels c, c, to rotate, and give
motion to the pulleys H upon their spindles, which causes the strap to traverse
along the edge or teeth of the condensing combs F, F. By these means; a
compound motion is communicated to the strap H', one a rotary motion.
around the shaft a, and the other a transverse motion acros the width of the
machine. The result of these two motions is as follows:-The portion of the
sliver-severed by the combs G is received upon the teeth of the condensing
combs F, F, with the fibres all laid in the direction of the length of the
machine, or at right angles to the comb frame. By the action of the strap:
H the fibres are laid along the edge of the condensing combs F, parallel to
the length of the comb frames, in the form of a roving; this roving is carried
over by the revolution of the shaft a, and delivered on to the roller K
(Figure 2), which strips it from off the condensing combs F, places the roving
upon the point of the dish L, and carries it down upon the guides M; this
action of the roller serves to impart to the roving a partial twist or roll,
so as to unite the fibres together, and render them sufficiently strong
for the next operation. On the opposite side of the comb frame is
another set of condensing combs, and while one set of condensing combs is
receiving the portion of sliver for being formed into a thread, as before
described, and delivering it to the roller K, the opposite set of condensing
combs is receiving a fresh portion of the sliver, and laying it in the form
of a roving, so that the operation is rendered continuous. The revolution
of the roller K delivers the thread upon the points of the fingers or hooks N.
These hooks N work in between the metal guides M, there being one hook
to each guide. The method of fixing these hooks in their carrier or bed is
shewn in full size in Figure 5. Figure 6 represents a full size diagram of the
position in which the thread (colored red) is delivered to the hooks N, and
also the position of the working parts of the machine for forming the loop.
The carrier or bed is supported in the bearing c, Figure 2, which is itself fixed
to the needle bar f. The bearing e is slotted, as shewn in the side elevation,
Figure 2, to allow of its being adjusted to any desired height by the adjusting
screw e. On motion being communicated to the carrier by means of a rod
.

page_text: worked by the cam O (shewn full size in Figure 7), upon the shaft O', it
moves backward, and places the thread upon the inclined portion m of the
guide M, in the position indicated in the diagram, Figure 8.
P is a finger
shewn separately in Figure 9, fixed to the carrier P, supported in the end of
the rod P³, suspended from the end of the short arm of the bell-crank lever P³,
centred upon the shaft p. The long arm of the lever is bent, as shewn in
Figure 2, and carries a friction roller P, which is raised and lowered by the
cam Ps; mounted upon the shaft O'. Figure 10 represents a full size view of
the cam P³. The lower end of the rod P is connected by the link Po to the
long arm of a bell crank P', the short arm of which receives motion from the
shaft P: The lower part of the link P has fixed to it a connecting rod p',
the other end of which is fixed to the carrier P¹. On compound motion being
communicated to the finger P, through the cam P³, shaft Ps, and rods con-
nected therewith, the finger P takes the thread, as shewn in Figure 8, from
the guide M, and places it under the barbs of the needles S, as shown in
Figure 11. Q is a presser bar fixed to the carrier P¹, and on the top of the
finger P. The object of this presser bar is to press down the barbs of the
needles S, after the thread has been laid under them, as represented in
Figure 11, and allow of the work being brought over the thread by the action
of the fingers R. These fingers R are fixed in a carrier r in the manner
represented in Figure 12. The ends of the carrier r are fixed in the one end
of bent levers R¹ (one only of which is seen in the Drawing), which are free
to move to and fro upon pins fixed on each side of the framework. R is a
connecting rod which connects the carrier r with the long arm R³, of a crank
centered at 2; the short arm R' of the crank carries a friction roller 2, worked
by the cam R³, shewn full size by the dotted lines at Figure 10. The raised
part of the cam R³ comes into action just as the sunk part of the cam P³
reaches the friction roller P. The action of this cam R5, by its revolution
with the shaft O, is to cause, through the intervention of the cranks R', R*,
and rod Re, the fingers R to bring forward the work over the barbs of the
needles, and at the same time to place the bar T directly beneath the ends of
the needles, so as to receive the pressure of the presser bar in its action upon
the needles. The fingers P continue their forward motion, and form the loop
upon the ends of the needles, when it rises clear of the needles by the action
of the small part of the cam P³, and proceeds forward ready to receive a fresh
thread, as indicated in Figure 13; at the same time the fingers R are con-
tinued in their backward motion by means of the action of a cam, represented
in Figure 14, acting upon the end of a rod in connexion with the carrier 1.
This motion of the fingers carries the work over the ends of the needles, and

page_text: a fresh loop or length of loops is formed upon the needles. The fingers R and
bar T then return to their former position, carrying back the work with thein,
as represented in Figure 6. The space between the bar T and carrier » is for
allowing the cloth or work to fall down between them, the bar T being, sup-
ported by its two ends to the carrier by the screws t. The work, as it is
formed upon the needles, is wound upon the cloth beam U; this. cloth beam
is caused to revolve by means of the ratchet and toothed wheels W, W, set
in motion through the intervention of the rod X, lever Y, and cam Z, in tho
ordinary manner. The spur wheel C, mounted on the spindle of the pulley H,
can be changed for a larger or smaller wheel when it is desired to increase or
diminish the speed of the strap H when making a finer or coarser cloth, and
the centre of the intermediate wheel is also made to shift to suit such an
arrangement.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First, the manufacture of woven textile and looped fabrics direct from a
sliver without the intervention of spinning machinery..
And, second, I claim the condensing combs and the several fingers, guides,
and needles, arranged and combined for the purposes herein-before stated and
described, as my improvements in machinery for effecting this object.
In witness whereof I, the said William Hodgson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of March, in the year of our Lord
.One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.