IMPROVED MACHINERY APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING THIN STRIPS OR FILAMENTS FROM VARIOUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1864

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Coles, James
Archibald Jaques, and John Americus Fanshawe at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 4th June 1864.
We, GEORGE COLES, of Gresham Street West, in the City of London,
Merchant, JAMES ARCHIBALD JAQUES, Chemist, and JOHN AMERICUS FAN-
SHAWE, Engineer, both of Tottenham, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY
APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING THIN STRIPS OR FILAMENTS FROM VARIOUS SUBSTANCES,"
to be as follows:-
Our Invention of "Improved Machinery or Apparatus for Producing Thin
Strips or Filaments from various Substances," relates to a novel arrangement
of machinery, whereby natural or artificial skins of leather, or sheets or skins
made from gelatinous or gummy substances or compositions may be divided
into thin strips, shreds, or filaments.
As an example let us suppose that it be desired to divide a thin sheet of
[Price Sd.1

page_text: india-rubber, or caoutchouc, or gutta percha,, or any compound or preparation
into thin filaments or threads. The sheet of caoutchouc or other substance
having been properly prepared of the required thickness, according to the
desired fineness of thread, one end of the sheet is secured to a roller forming
part of our improved machine. Care must be taken that the sheet be kept
properly extended and passed. over a supporting roller, which may, if desired,
be grooved round its periphery. The closeness of these grooves must depend
upon the gauge or fineness of the filaments or threads to be cut.
This sup-
porting roller is mounted in bearings at the ends of a pair of levers, which
are mounted on centres, so that they may be vibrated thereon, in order to
raise or lower the supporting roller as may be required.
Immediately above
this supporting roller, over which the sheet to be divided passes, is mounted
in suitable bearings a shaft or axle, which carries a series of circular cutting
discs, which are set close enough together to cut the sheet of caoutchouc or
other substance or compound into threads or filaments of the requisite fineness.
This shaft, which may be termed the rotating disc shaft has a rapid rotary
motion communicated to it by means of any suitable gearing, while the sheet
is drawn forward by the holding roller over the surface of the supporting
roller: the thin sheet of caoutchouc or other substance having been wound
on a beam and secured thereon by its inner end.
The operation of the machine is as follows:-The outer end or beginning
of the sheet is first secured, as already mentioned, to the draught roller,
whereby it may be pulled forward under the cutters. Upon setting the
rotating discs into rapid rotary motion, the supporting roller may be raised by
depressing the outer ends of the levers, in which it is mounted, until the
supporting roller brings the sheet into contact with the cutting edges of the
rotating discs, when the sheet will be cut up or divided into thin filaments,
shreds, or threads while the supporting roller is kept up. If, however, at any
time during the operation it be desired to stop the cutting operation, this may
be done without stopping the rotation of the cutter shaft by merely depressing
the supporting roller, when the sheet will be lowered out of the action. of the
cutters.
An obvious modification of this is to mount the supporting roller in fixed
bearings, and the cutter shaft in moveable bearings in the end of vibrating
levers, so that the cutter shaft may be raised or lowered as may be required
to bring the cutters into contact with the sheet to be operated upon while the
supporting roller remains stationary. It will be evident that this mode of
dividing or cutting up sheets or skins into thin filaments or threads may be
employed to cut up various kinds of tissues or fabrics into narrow strips or

page_text: Fanshawe in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 3rd December 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, GEORGE
COLES, of Gresham Street West, in the City of London, Merchant, JAMES
ARCHIBALD JAQUES, Chemist, and JOHN AMERICUS FANSHAWE, Engineer, both
of Tottenham, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Iler Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of. June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight-hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
George Coles, James Archibald Jaques, and John Americus Fanshawe, Iler
special license that we, the said George Coles, James Archibald Jaques, and
John Americus Fanshawe, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as we, the said George Coles, James Archibald Jaques, and John
Americus Fanshawe, our executors. administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY
OB APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING THIN STRIPS OR FILAMENTS FROM VARIOUS SUB-
STANCES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said George Coles,
James Archibald Jaques, and John Americus Fanshawe, by an instrument in
writing under our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one or more
of us, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the
same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said George Coles and James Archibald
Jaques, on behalf of ourselves, and of the said John Americus Fanshawe, do
hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-

page_text: Our Invention of "Improved Machinery or Apparatus for Producing Thin
Strips or Filaments from varions Substances," relates to a novel arrangement
of machinery whereby natural or artificial skins of leather, or sheets or skins
made from gelatinous or gummy substances or compositions may be divided
into thin strips, shreds, or filaments. As an example, let us suppose that it
be desired to divide a thin sheet of india-rubber, or caoutchouc, or gutta
percha, or any similar or analogous compound or preparation into thin
filaments or threads. The sheet of caoutchouc or other substance having
been properly prepared of the required thickness, according to the desired
fineness of thread; the sheet is placed in one of our improved machines in
which it is stretched or extended while under the cutting operation, one end
of the sheet being secured to a roller (forming part of our improved machine)
and which has a quicker motion given to it than the roller on which the sheet
of rubber is wound. It is important when operating upon an elastic substance
like caoutchouc that the sheet should be kept properly stretched or extended
while subjected to the cutting operation, otherwise the threads when produced
will be gouty or of unequal thickness in some places. In practice we find
it advisable to stretch the caoutchouc to its full extent or nearly so while it is
passing over a supporting roller, which will hold it up against the rotary
cutters, which are secured on a shaft immediately above. This supporting
roller may, if desired, be grooved round its periphery, but this is not always
absolutely necessary. The closeness of these grooves must depend upon the
gauge or fineness of the filaments or thread to be cut, and they must of course
correspond in number and gauge with the rotary cutters or discs on the cutter
shaft above.
In the accompanying Drawing we have shewn three different arrangements
of machinery, but all constructed on the same principle.
Fig. 1 represents a longitudinal section of a machine in which the supporting
roller a, over which the sheet of caoutchouc b passes, is mounted in bearings
at the ends of a pair of levers c, which are mounted on centres c¹ in short
standards fixed on the stationary framing of the machine, so that they may be
vibrated thereon in order to raise or lower the supporting roller a as may be
required. The levers c are connected by means of links to other levers c
on the axle of the hand lever d, which rocks on the centre d' as its fulcrum.
The supporting roller a may therefore be raised or lowered by the workmen
while the machine is in motion, so that by lowering the roller a the sheet of
caoutchouc will be withdrawn from the action of the cutters, or by raising the
roller the sheet will be brought in contact with the cutters, Above the
supporting roller a, over which the sheet to be divided passes is mounted in

page_text: suitable bearings a shaft or axle e, which carries a series of circular cutting
discs e', which are set close enough together to cut the sheet of caoutchouc or
other substance or compound into threads or filaments of the requisite fineness.
This shaft e*, which may be termed the rotating disc shaft, has a rapid rotary
motion communicated to it by means of any suitable gearing, such as that
shewn in the Drawing, while the sheet of caoutchouc is drawn forward by the
nipping rollers over the supporting roller a, over the surface of which it is
stretched or extended by the drawing action of the rollers f, f. In order to
facilitate the cutting operation the rotary cutters or discs e are kept wet by
allowing water to drip from a pipe e on to them, as is usual in this class of
machinery. It will be seen that there are two pairs of nipping rollers, one
pair f, f, is placed in front of, and the other pair g. g, behind the supporting
roller a, and both pair nip or hold the thin sheet of caoutchouc or other
substance firmly, and keep it in a stretched or extended state while passing
over the supporting roller a. The sheet of caoutchouc is stretched or extended
to the required degree by giving to the rollers f, f, a quicker motion than the
rollers, g. This object is effected by preference by means of toothed wheels,
as indicated in the Drawing. Although both pair of rollers are nipping rollers,
the rollers, f, may, for distinction be called the stretching rollers, while the
rollers g. g, act as holding rollers. The sheet of caoutchouc to be operated
upon is wound on a beam h, and secured thereon by its inner end.
beam is provided with suitable gear for letting off the sheet at the proper
speed, and we would here observe that if desired the elastic sheet of caoutchouc
may be wound on the beam in a stretched or extended state, and led from
thence to the rollers g, g, and f, f, which will then only act as holding or
nipping rollers, in which event they must of course both be driven at the same
speed or nearly so. In operating with this machine the outer end or beginning
of the sheet is passed between the nipping and stretching rollers, and
between the supporting roller and cutting discs, and is then secured to the
draught roller, on which the threads when cut are to be wound. The sheet
will thus be pulled forward under the cutters e, by the nipping rollers, , and
the draught roller. It will of course be obvious that while the sheet is being
arranged in the machine ready for the cutting operation the supporting
roller must be let down by raising the hand lever d, so that the outer end of
the sheet may be drawn through the machine, and when the rotating discs e
are put into rapid rotary motion the supporting roller a must be raised by
depressing the outer ends of the levers c in which the roller a is mounted.
The supporting roller will then raise or lift the sheet and bring it into contact
with the cutting edges of the rotating discs e, when the sheet will be cut up
The

page_text: or divided into thin filaments, shreds, or threads, and this cutting operation
will continue so long as the supporting roller is kept up in its elevated
position, so as to keep the sheet in contact with the cutting discs. If, how-
ever, at any time during the operation it should be desired to stop the cutting
operation this may be done without stopping the rotation of the cutter shaft e¹
by merely lowering the supporting roller a, and with it the sheet b, which will
thus be moved out of the way of the cutters.
The cutting of india-rubber thread is an operation so well known, and the
different speeds at which the discs or cutters should be rotated in proportion to
the speed at which the sheet is fed forward are matters so well understood by
thread manufacturers that we have not considered it necessary to enter into any
of these well-known details. The amount to which the sheet should be stretched
or extended while under the cutting operation may be left to the discretion
and judgment of the manufacturer, it will only be necessary, therefore, for us
to state that the extent to which the sheet may be stretched may be varied by
changing the toothed wheels, whereby the rollers f. f. and g, g, and the draught
roller are driven.
Instead of the bearings of the supporting roller a being made moveable up
and down and the bearings of the cutter shaft e* stationary, as in the arrange-
ment just described, the supporting roller may be mounted in fixed bearings,
and the cutter shaft in moveable bearings in the end of vibrating levers, so
that the cutter shaft may be raised or lowered as may be required to bring
the cutlers into contact with the sheet to be operated upon while the
supporting roller remains stationary. This arrangement is shewn in the
sectional view, Fig. 2, in which in order to avoid useless repetition, similar
letters are placed upon and indicate corresponding parts in Figures 1
and 2.
Fig. 3 represents a front elevation, and Fig. 4 a vertical section, of another
modification, in which the supporting roller a is mounted in stationary
bearings, as in Fig. 2. The bearings of the cutter shaft e* are moveable in a
vertical direction, as in the same Figure, but instead of placing these moveable
bearings in the ends of vibrating levers, whereby they may be raised and
lowered when required, this vertical motion is obtained by means of the
vertical screws i, which pass through female screws in the ends of the trans-
verse piece of the framing. Each of the screws i, i, carries at its upper end a
toothed wheel, into which gears a central spur wheel k, on the axle of which
is a winch handle , whereby it may be turned in either direction so as to raise
or lower the bearings of the disc axle e*, and consequently the cutting discs e
mounted thereon. The screws i, i, should be cut with a moderately quick

page_text: thread, so that one or at most two turns of the winch will be sufficient to
withdraw the cutting discs from the sheet of caoutchouc.
It will be evident that the machines above described for dividing or cutting
up sheets or skins into thin filaments or threads may be employed to cut up
various kinds of tissues, such as natural or artificial skins or leather into
narrow strips or bands, the width of the strips or bands being determined by
the distance at which the cutting discs are placed from each other on their
shaft or axle.
Having now described our improved machinery or apparatus for producing
thin strips or filaments from various substances, and having explained the
manner of carrying the same into effect, we claim as the Invention secured to
us by Letters Patent as aforesaid, the mode herein set forth of producing
threads or filaments from sheets of caoutchouc or compounds of caoutchouc or
other fabrics or tissues while in a stretched or extended state; we claim
particularly the mode herein set forth of mounting the axle of the cutting
discs and the axle of the supporting rolier, so that either the cutting discs may
be capable of being lifted by the workman away from the sheet or brought
into contact therewith, or the sheet with the supporting roller may be lowered
away from and out of contact with the cutting discs, or brought up against
them, as may be required, in order that the cutting operation may be either
arrested or commenced, or continued at any time without stopping the
machine.
In witness whereof, we, the said George Coles and James Archibald
Jaques, have hereunto set
hereunto set our hand and seal, the Third day of
December, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-four.
GEO. COLES.
(L.S.)
JAS. A. JAQUES. (L.S.)