Improved Apparatus for Cutting Weft Pile Fabrics.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Feb., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 10th Nov., 1894-Accepted, 15th Dec., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improved Apparatus for Cutting Weft Pile Fabrics.
We DUGALD SCOTT, Manufacturer, of 12 York Street Manchester, JOHN
JAMES MANN and JAMES HOYLE SMITH, Fustian Cutters, both of, Peel Mill
Adelphi Salford, all in the County of Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to the mounting of knives in their handles or holders and
relates to such knives as are held by their handles or holders during the operation
of cutting but are released or separated therefrom when their points pierce through
the back of the cloth and drop clear through the said cloth.
According to our present invention we propose to support the knife and its guide
between a pair of spring cheeks or grippers fixed to or near the end of the handle
or holder, and in some cases we prolong this end of the handle or holder near to the
point of the knife and we provide or form it there with a second pair of spring
grippers with their points or ends preferably curved or inclined upwards, so that
when the knife and guide pierce the back of the cloth it will be separated first from
one pair of the spring grippers and then from the second pair, and fall through the
hole and drop clear of the cloth at the back side thereof.
Or we prolong the front end of the knife handle or holder in the form of a fork,
and crank it upwards so as to form a fulcrum for a small lever or pusher, preferably
provided with a thin loose piece at its free end pivotted to it, projecting slightly
forwards, and resting in the groove of the guide. This lever or pusher when the
knife is cutting the pile properly is inclined forwards from its fulcrum towards the
point of the said knife but as soon as the latter cuts through the back of the cloth,
the said cloth passes along the knife, catches the loose end of the pusher and
carries it back, and the lever rocks on its fulcrum and helps to disengage the knife
from the spring grippers, and so assists it in dropping free of the handle or holder
and clear through the fabric.
Or instead of employing a pair of front spring grippers or a pusher, to keep the
point of the knife and guide straight we prolong the holder beyond the pair of
spring grippers and above the knife and guide and we provide this prolongation at
its end with a pair of downwardly projecting cheeks of suitable length forming a
notch or groove into which the knife and guide fit exactly.
If the knife goes through the back of the cloth the latter will automatically
remove the knife from this notch or groove aud from the spring grippers behind,
and so cause the said knife to be detached and fall clear through the cloth.
Or we may employ a pair of front spring grippers alone.
Another important part of our invention consists in applying a movable abutment
for the rear end of the knife instead of causing it to abut against a fixed part of the
handle or holder. This abutineut may move on a pivot or slide or otherwise, and
it is so mounted that should the knife pierce the cloth it is automatically brought
down to rest on the face of the fabric, and the rear end of the knife is therefore
brought close to the said fabric and will not be free from its abutment until it has
almost entirely passed through the cloth and there will be no tendency (shoull a
slow cloth speed be desirable) for the knife to stick in the back of the cloth and
not drop through clear of the same.
A simple and convenient arrangement of this movable abutinent is as follows:-
We employ a front pusher or lever as above described and we mount the spring
grippers, used as above described in conjunction with this pusher, upon pivots
forming them in one piece. with or attaching them to the abutment which is behind

page_text: the pivots, and thus forms part of a lever. Thus as soon as the point of the knife
pierces the cloth the spring grippers come down upon the face of the said cloth and
are raised on their pivots; this will cause the abutment for the knife to descend so
as to rest upon the cloth, and the rear end of the knife is thus lowered and will not
leave the abutment until the cloth reaches the latter and the knife will be sure to
fall clear of the cloth.
In order to prevent the abutment from accidentally rising again, we fix a sliding
or other spring ratchet upon the handle or holder so that it will move over the said
abutment when it is lowered and retain it in that position, this will in some cases
assist the descent of the said abutment.
Another part of our invention consists in applying to the handle or holder a small
spring or other mechanism to give the said knife an impetus when it pierces the back.
of the cloth to ensure its passing clear through the same, and such construction will
be of special benefit when the knife is cutting at a slow speed, when going over a
fault or otherwise.
For this purpose the rear end of the knife instead of abutting against a fixed part
of the handle as usual abuts against a hinged flap or hammer or other device held in
place by a light spring.
The knife is supported by a pair of grippers hinged like pincers and the upper
ends having a tendency to separate and release the knife. A yoke formed on the
releasing trigger holds these two ends together when the knife is cutting properly.
This trigger is held in place by means of a pusher or lever in the usual manner and
is connected at its rear end with the upper part of a lever pivotted to the handle or
holder.
This last named lever is held in place by the trigger against the action of a
strong spring and the lower end of the said lever is so curved forwards that when
the trigger is released, by the cloth displacing the pusher if the knife pierces the
back of the said cloth, the strong spring will bring the lower end of its lever
smartly against the back of the hinged abutment of the knife and thereby impart a
slight forward motion to the said knife, which has been released from its grippers,
and which will then be shot forwards clear through the hole in the cloth.
Dated this 9th day of February 1894.
GEO. DAVIES & SON,
4, St. Ann's Square, Manchester, Agents for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Apparatus for Cutting Weft Pile Fabrics.
We DUGALD SCOTT, Manufacturer, of 12 York Street Manchester, JOHN
JAMES MANN and JAMES HOYLE SMITH, Fustian Cutters, both of Peel Mill
Adelphi Salford all in the County of Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to the mounting of knives in their handles or holders, and
relates to such knives as are held by their handles or holders during the operation
of cutting, but are released or separated therefrom when their points pierce through
the back of the cloth and drop clear through the said cloth, such for example as
were described in the Specification of an application for a Patent No. 712, made by
us on the 12th day of January 1894.
In order that our invention may be clearly understood we have annexed hereunto
a sheet of drawings illustrative thereof, and have marked the same with figures and
letters of reference corresponding with those in the following description.
Fig. 1 is an underneath plan of one form of knife holder made according to our
present invention, Fig. 2 is an elevation of the same with the knite in place.

page_text: an elevation of a modincation, and Fig. 4 a section thereof taken through
the line A-B on Fig. 3.
Fig. 5 is a section shewing a further modification.
Figs. 6 and 7, 8, and 9 shew two other forms of our improved knife holder or
handle.
According to our present invention we propose to support the knife a and its
guide between a pair of spring cheeks or grippers c fixed to or near the end of
the handle or holder d, and in some cases we prolong this end of the handle or
holder near to the point of the knife as seen at Figs. 1 and 2, and we provide or
form it there with a second pair of spring grippers c with their points or ends
curved or inclined upwards as shewn so that when the knife and guide pierce the
back of the cloth, indicated by the dotted line x, it will be separated first from the
pair of the spring grippers c¹ and then from the second pair c and fall through
the hole and drop clear of the cloth a at the back side thereof.
Or we prolong the front end of the knife handle or holder d in the form of a fork,
as seen at Figs. 3 and 4 and 6 and 7, and crank it upwards so as to form a fulcrum
for a small lever or pusher e, preferably provided with a thin loose piece el at its
free end pivotted to it, projecting slightly forwards (see Fig. 3), and resting in the
groove of the guide b. This lever or pusher e, when the knife a is cutting the pile
properly, is inclined forwards from its fulcrum towards the point of the said knife
(see Figs. 3 and 6) but as soon as the latter cuts through the back of the cloth, the
said cloth passes along the knife, catches the loose or free end of the pusher e and
carries it back, and the lever rocks on its fulcrum and helps to disengage the knife a
from the spring grippers c, and so assists it in dropping free of the handle or holder d
and clear through the fabric.
Figs. 6 and 7 shew the spring grippers c fixed to an abutment + for the end of
the knife a and pivotted to the holder d, so that when the knife is released a small
spring can raise the grippers (see Fig. 7) and the disengagement of the knife will
be assured by the part d² of the holder d which is between the two grippers. This
construction will also bring the abutment d+ close to the cloth a, and ensure the
complete passage of the knife and guide through the said cloth.
Or instead of employing a pair of front spring grippers e' or a pusher e, to keep
the point of the knife a and guide 6 straight we prolong the holder d beyond the
pair of spring grippers c and above the knife a (see sectional view Fig. 5) and we
provide this prolongation at its end with a pair of downwardly projecting cheeks d³
of suitable length forming a notch or groove into which the knife and guide fit
exactly.
If the knife goes through the back of the cloth the latter will automatically
remove the knife from this notch or groove d³ and from the spring grippers e
behind, and so cause the said knife to be detached and fall clear through the
cloth.
Another part of our invention consists in applying to the handle or holder da
small spring or other mechanism to give the said knife an impetus when it pierces
the back of the cloth, to ensure its passing clear through the same, and such
construction will be of special benefit when the knife is cutting at a slow
speed, when going over a fault or otherwise. This construction is illustrated by
the elevation Fig. 8 and cross section Fig. 9 taken through about the line C-D
Fig. 8.
For this purpose the rear end of the knife instead of abutting against a fixed
part of the handle as usual abuts against a hinged flap g or hammer or other
device held in place by a light spring gl.
The knife a is supported by a pair of grippers / hinged like pincers (see Fig. 9)
and the upper ends having a tendency to separate and release the knife a. A
yoke formed on the releasing trigger i holds these two ends h¹ together when the
knife is cutting properly. This trigger i is held in place by means of a pusher or
lever k in the usual manner and is connected at its rear end with the upper part of
a lever m pivotted to the haudle or holder d.

page_text: This last named lever m is held in place by the trigger i and pusher k against
the action of a strong spring n, and the lower end m¹ of the said lever mis so
curved forwards that when the trigger i is released by the cloth displacing the
pusher k, if the knife pierces the back of the said cloth, the strong spring n will
bring the lower end m³ of its lever smartly against the back of the hinged
abutment g of the knife a and thereby impart a slight forward motion to the said
knife which has been released from its grippers hand which will then be shot
forwards clear through the hole in the cloth..
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is :-
1. The combination with the knife holder or handle of two pairs of spring
grippers, arranged one in front of the other for temporarily holding the knife and
guide during the cutting of the pile, substantially as herein before described and
illustrated by Figs. 1 and 2 of the annexed drawings.
2. The combination with the knife holder or handle of one pair of spring grippers
and a projecting crank for carrying the pivot of a disengaging pusher or lever,
substantially as herein before described and illustrated by Figs. 3, 4, 6 and 7 of the
annexed drawings.
+
3. The combination with the knife holder or handle of a pair of spring grippers
and a guide projecting in front thereof to direct the point of the knife and guide
substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated by Fig. 5, of the annexed
drawings.
4. The combination with the knife holder or handle of a movable abutment for
the knife, and a spring hammer or tappet, released by a suitable trigger by means
of the cloth when the knife passes through the fabric, substantially as and for the
purpose herein before set forth with reference to Figs. 8 and 9 of the annexed
drawings.
Dated this Ninth day of November 1894.
GEO. DAVIES & SON,
4, St. Ann's Square, Manchester, Agents for the Applicants.