IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING FUSTIANS AND CERTAIN OTHER FABRICS TO PRODUCE A PILED SURFACE
Year: 1850

page_text: SCHOFIELD AND HORABIN'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, THOMAS
SCHOFIELD, of Cornbrook Hulme, near Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Fustian Dyer and Finisher, and HENRY HORABIN, of Royton, near Oldham, in
the same County, Fustian Cutter, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-sixth day of
January now last past, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto us, the said Thomas Schofield and Henry Horabin, our exors,
admors, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Thomas Schofield and
Henry Horabin, our exors, admors, and 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, our Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING FUSTIANS AND CERTAIN OTHER
FABRICS TO PRODUCE A PILED SURFACE;" in which said Letters Patent is con-
tained a proviso, obliging us, the said Thomas Schofield and Henry Horabin,
by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals, or under the hand
and seal of one of us, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of our
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to causé
the same to be enrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within

page_text: At Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, the red lines 6 represent the piece of fabric to
be cut; the two ends of this piece must be stitched together, say, for instance,
at the place marked b¹; c is the driving roller, which is set in motion by the
driving shaft d in the following manner :-Upon the shaft d is fixed the driving
pulley d', which is turned round by a strap from the mill gearing; upon the
shaft d is also fixed the bevel wheel d³, seen best in Figure 6; the wheel d³
gears into the carrier wheels d³, which revolve on studs projecting from the
cross piece d', and this cross piece is fast on the boss of the spur wheel d³. The
carrier wheels d³ gear into the bevel wheel do, which revolves freely on the
projecting bush of the bearing e, and upon the boss of the wheel do is keyed
the friction pulley d'; see also in Figures 3 and 5. The spur wheel d³ gears
into the wheel c', keyed upon the shaft of the roller c, and as soon as the
friction clip on the pulley dis tightened by means that will be hereafter
described, the wheel d³ imparts motion to the roller c, and by it to all the
rollers over which the fabric is taken. The surface of the roller c may be
covered with cards or leather, or any other suitable material, to increase the
adhesion; and the fabric to be operated upon after passing round this roller is
taken over the guide roller f, thence under the guide roller g, and then to the
first of the series of bottom rollers h, from which it goes over the first of the
series top rollers i, it then passes over and under the whole or any part of
these top and bottom rollers until it is guided by the last roller h to the top
roller k, then to the moveable roller l, from which it descends to the roller m,
this roller guides it to the lower roller n, from which it passes over the roller o
and under the large roller p, from this roller it is carried over the stretcher q,
and thence passes to the driving roller c, thereby completing the circuit:
As it is necessary that the fabric to be operated upon should be in an uniform
state of tension, we have supported the series of top rollers i in the moveable
side beams ; the ends of these beams pass through slots in the pillars r.
and to them are suspended the bars, the lower ends of these bars are
furnished with the racks, and these racks are actuated by the pinions ?",
fixed on the shafts r³, revolving in bearings attached to the pillars r. Near
one end of the shafts are fixed the worm wheels, and the worms 1
fixed on the horizontal shaft r5, gear into the worm wheels 28. The shaft 75
also revolves in bearings attached to the pillars 7, and near one end of it is
fixed the cross handler. By this means, if the fabric under operation is-not
sufficiently distended, the attendant, by turning the cross handle 7, can elevate
the whole series of top rollers i; and as the bottom rollers h revolve in bearings
in the stationary beams h', it is evident that by so doing the fabric will be
tightened. As it frequently happens that one selvage of the fabric is longer

page_text: than the other, it is necessary to have the means of compensating for such
inequality; the method of effecting this is as follows:-The bearings r³, seen
best in Figures 4 and 5, of the shafts r³, instead of being fixtures, are made to
move up or down in grooves in the pillars r; they are provided with screw nuts
for the screws, to the upper end of which are fixed mitre pinions gearing
into similar pinions on the horizontal shaft. This shaft is continued along
the left-hand side of the machine, as seen in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 5, and is
furnished with a small handle or wheel, so that the workman may give
motion to it, when necessary, without leaving the position he occupies when
cutting. By turning the wheel 7-10 in different directions, the bearings r" will
be elevated or depressed, and with them the ends of the shafts ; and as the
racks take into and are supported by the pinions on the shafts ³, it is
evident that, by altering the position of the bearings ", a corresponding
change will be made in the level of the top rollers i, and the inequality in
the length of the selvages will thereby be compensated for. The top roller
is also mounted in an adjustable bearing, to enable the workman to regulate
the motion of the fabric whilst the machine is at work. The journals of the
roller revolve in bushes which take into sockets; one of these sockets is
fixed to the top of the pillar, and the other slides in a groove; from this
latter a stud projects, taking into a slot in the lever s, seen best in Figures
3 and 5. This lever vibrates on a fulcrum s¹, and to the lower end of it is a
swivel nut for the screw ³; the other end of the screw fits in a bearing
made in the stay t, and it is prevented from moving lengthwise by two
collars, shewn in Figure 5. To the end of the screw is fixed the wheel
handles, by turning which one end of the roller is made to move in one
direction or the other, as the fabric may require, by the action of the screw
s³, screw nuts, and lever s, above described. The roller p is taken round
by the fabric to be cut, as has been already mentioned; but as it is necessary
to prevent it from revolving too freely in its bearings, we have applied a
friction pulley p¹ to it, as shewn by the blue lines in Figure 1 and in Figures
2 and 3. To the frame side is fixed the stud p³, which serves as a fulcrum
for the two friction clips p³ and p*; to the upper one is suspended the link p³,
and to the lower one the link pº, and both these links are hinged below to
the double lever p', fixed to the same shaft as the lever p³, which is weighted
to suit the fabric under operation. The requisite friction is imparted to the
friction pulley d', before described with reference to the driving shaft d, by a
system of friction clips, links, and levers, seen in Figures 2, 3, and 5, and
similar to those above mentioned, but the weight is given by the workman
standing or treading upon the treadle u, fixed to the ends of the levers u

page_text: and . These levers are keyed on the cross shaft u³, and the latter is con-
tinued beyond the shaft, and furnished with a counterpoise t', by which the
treadle is always brought into the position shewn in Figure 5, when the
workman removes his feet from it. The cross bar v, see Figures 1 and 2, has
the two uprights & attached to it by set screws, and the distance between
them can be regulated to suit the fabric under operation.
Having now enumerated the principal parts of which our improved
machinery consists, we will proceed to describe how they operate during the
process of cutting. When the piece of fabric to be cut has been passed over
and under all the rollers, as shown by the red lines, the ends are united
together at the point 6'. The workman then elevates the series of top rollers i,
by turning the cross handle 6, and if requisite the wheel handle 710 and s*, so as
to bring the fabric to the proper degree of tension. He then moves the driving
strap from the loose to the fast pulley d¹, by means of the lever w, see
Figure 3, and introduces the point of an ordinary fustian cutter's knife into
the first race of the fabric to be cut, as at'a in Figure 1. When the
strap is
on the driving pulley d', it causes the shaft d to revolve, but does not set the
other parts of the machine in motion, because the treadle u is still supposed to
be elevated as in Figure 5, and the friction clips are held out of contact with
the friction pulley ; but as soon as the workman has set his cutting tool into
the first race, as above mentioned, he lowers the treadle u, as seen in Figure 1,
and by so doing tightens the clips on the friction pulley d. By this means
the bevel wheels d, which had before only been revolving round their own
axes, are carried round the driving shaft also, and take with them the spur
wheel d³, which gives motion to the roller c, by the wheel c, as before
described. The roller ć, by revolving, draws the fabric against the cutting
instrument, which is held by the workman, as shewn in Figure 1, and it con-
tinues to revolve as long as the workman keeps his foot on the treadle u.
When the place at which the two ends of the fabric are joined together comes
again at or near to the point 6', the workman takes liis foot off the treadle
and introduces the cutting instrument into the next race, and then starts the
machine again as before. These operations are repeated until the whole
breadth of the piece has been cut; and it is evident that as each race is cut
throughout the whole length of the piece without stopping, there will be no
inequalities arising from cutting certain portions at a time, as in the ordinary
mode. The distance between the stretcher q and the top of the roller c is left
sufficiently great to enable the workman to withdraw the cutting instrument
without damaging the fabric, in case the point of the instrument should catch
in the back of the fabric, or if, from any other cause, it would be requisite to

page_text: stop the machine before the whole of the race was cut. When the whole
piece of fabric has been cut the workman unstitches the ends, and places the
roller, shown in Figure 5, upon the inclined rails x. He then folds one
end of the fabric over the roller x, and wires the end of an uncut piece of
fabric to the other end. He then sets the machine to work, and the roller
bears against the roller c with sufficient friction to wind the cut fabric on to
the roller x, and to draw the uncut piece through the machine. We prefer to
make the roller & slightly conical, so that the fabric, when wound on it, may
more easily be removed.
We wish to remark, that although we have only described the workman as
holding a single instrument in one hand for cutting a single race at a time,
yet we propose to use instruments that shall cut two or more races at the
same time; and we also intend that the workman should hold either a simple
or compound instrument in each hand, so as to cut two or more races at a
time.
Having now fully described the nature and particulars of our said Invention
of "Improvements in Machinery for Cutting Fustians and certain other
Fabrics to produce a Piled Surface," we wish it to be understood that we do
not confine ourselves to the precise arrangements of the mechanical details
herein set forth, so long as the novel feature thereof be retained; but what we
do claim as of our Invention is, the machinery for moving or drawing the
fabric against or towards the cutting instrument, as herein-before described, or
any combination of machinery for effecting the same object. And such our
Invention being to the best of our knowledge and belief entirely new, and
never before used within that part of Her said Majesty's United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her Dominion of Wales, and
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, we do hereby declare this to be our Specifica-
tion of the same, and that we do verily believe this our said Specification doth
comply in all respects fully and without reserve or disguise with the proviso in
the said herein-before in part recited Letters Patent contained; wherefore
we do hereby claim to maintain exclusive right and privilege to our said
Invention.
In witness whereof, we, the said Thomas Schofield and Henry Horabin,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-second day of July,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty.
THOMAS (L.s.) SCHOFIELD.
HENRY
(L.s.) HORABIN.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-second day of July, in
the year of our Lord 1850, the aforesaid Thomas Schofield and Henry
Horabin came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and
acknowledged the Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein
contained and specified, in form above written. And also the Specification
aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made for that
purpose.
Enrolled the Twenty-fourth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty.