Improvements in the Manufacture of Solid Colour Floor Cloths, and in Machinery Employed in such Manufacture.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Mar., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 7th Apr., 1894-Accepted, 12th May, 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Solid Colour Floor Cloths, and
in Machinery Employed in such Manufacture.
We, JAMES SALTER FARMER, of Sir James Farmer and Sons Limited,
Adelphi Iron Works, Salford, in the County of Lancaster, Engineers, and
HERBERT LUSHINGTON STOREY and ISAAC HENRY STOREY, both of the Firm
of Storey Brothers and Company, White Cross Mills, Lancaster, in the said
County, Manufacturers of Oil Cloths, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
Our invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of solid colour floor
cloths, such as linoleum, kamptulicon, corticine, and the like, in connection with
which we have already been granted two Patents numbered respectively 9222
of 1892 and 23983 of 1892.
The chief object of our present improvements is to enable such floorcloths to be
made by machinery in greater widths, say for example up to four yards or more in
width, and of any convenient length, without necessarily employing very wide
cutting out rollers.
We effect this object by travelling the canvas or other foundation fabric length-
wise over a table through our improved machine by means of grip chains or other
appliances having an intermittent motion and arranging the cutting out rollers to
travel to and fro transversely over the fabric whilst stationary, and deposit upon it
the tesseræ or pieces of combined pigment and composition of materials of which
the solid colour floor cloth is composed.
We employ a separate pair of cutting out rollers for each colour in the finished
design, and traverse the several pairs of rollers by preference simultaneously across
the fabric to deposit their respective tesseræ thereon and when this has been done
the foundation fabric is moved forward either by hand or otherwise the exact
distance required ready for the next traverse of the series of rollers. The grip
chains or other appliances carry the floor cloth forward into a press and whilst the
fabric is stationary the press is arranged to nip the cloth with the requisite amount
of pressure for closing the seams between the tesseræ.
The cutting out rollers are supported in pairs in carriages which are free to
move in slideways placed across the macbine at right angles to the path of the
fabric, and are traversed to and fro by right and left hand screws or any other
suitable mechanism. One cutting out roller in each pair is rotated on its axis by
rack and pinion or other gearing and it drives the other roller by means of
gearing.
A sheet of the combined pigment and materials is fed to each pair of the cutting
out rollers on each side of the machine either by hand or automatically, and in
order to support the sheets as they follow up the pairs of cutting out rollers a series.
of flexible metal or other strips or bands are connected to the travelling carriages
on each side of the nip of each pair of rollers, and are passed round guide pulleys
down under the table over which the foundation fabric is travelled intermittently
so as to form practically endless bands.
On each side of the machine there is a suitable knocking off or reversing
mechanisin for each travelling roller carriage by means of which the motion of
the carriage at the end of each traverse is stopped or automatically reversed
as required.
Dated this 1st day of March 1894.

page_text: :
:
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Solid Colour Floor Cloths, and
in Machinery Employed in such Manufacture.
We, JAMES SALTER FARMER, of Sir James Farmer and Sons Limited,.
Adelphi Iron Works, Salford, in the County of Lancaster, Engineers, and.
HERBERT LUSHINGTON STOREY and ISAAC HENRY STOREY, both of the Firm
of Storey Brothers and Company, White Cross Mills, Lancaster, in the said
County, Manufacturers of Oil Cloths, 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 :-
Our invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of solid colour floor
cloths, such as linoleum, kamptulicon, corticine, and the like, in connection with
which we have already been granted two Patents numbered respectively 9222
of 1892 and 23983 of 1892.
The chief object of our present improvements is to enable such floorcloths to be
made by machinery in greater widths say for example up to four yards or more in
width, and of any convenient length, without necessarily employing very wide
cutting out rollers.
We effect this object by travelling the canvas or other foundation fabric length-
wise over a table through our improved machine by means of grip chains or other
applicances having an intermittent motion and arranging the cutting out rollers
to travel to and fro transversely over the fabric whilst stationary and deposit upon
it the tesseræ or pieces of combined pigment and composition of materials of which
the solid colour floor cloth is composed.
We employ a separate pair of cutting out rollers for each colour in the finished
design and traverse the several pairs of rollers by preference simultaneously across
the fabric to deposit their respective tessere thereon and when this has been done
the foundation fabric is moved forward either by hand or otherwise the exact
distance required ready for the next traverse of the series of rollers. The grip
chains or other appliances carry the floor cloth forward into a press and whilst the
fabric is stationary the press is arranged to nip the cloth with the requisite amount
of pressure for closing the seams between the tesseræ.
The cutting out rollers are supported in pairs in carriages which are free to
move in slideways placed across the machine at right angles to the path of the
fabric and are traversed to and fro by right and left hand screws or any other
suitable mechanism. One cutting out roller in each pair is rotated on its axis
by rack and pinion or other gearing and it drives the other roller by means of
gearing.
A sheet of the combined pigment and materials is fed to each pair of the
cutting out rollers on each side of the machine either by hand or automatically
and in order to support the sheets as they follow up the pairs of cutting out
rollers a series of flexible metal or other strips or bands are connected to the
travelling carriages on each side of the nip of each pair of rollers and are passed
round guide pulleys down under the table over which the foundation fabric is
travelled intermittently so as to form practically endless bands.
On each side of the machine there is a suitable knocking off or reversing
mechanism for each travelling roller carriage by means of which the motion of
the carriage at the end of each traverse is stopped or automatically reversed
as required.
And in order that our invention may be fully understood and readily carried

page_text: into effect we will describe the accompanying four sheets of drawings reference
being had to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Fig. 1 is a side view of our improved machine partly in section and Fig. 2 is a
transverse section taken on the line A B, Fig. 1.
In the drawings,-1 represents the base of the machine frame, on to which are
fitted adjustable transverse frames 2 and 3. The frame 2 supports in suitable
fixed bearings 4 on either side of the machine a pair of screws 5 with right and
left hand threads respectively which pass through nuts in a carriage 6 mounted in
slideways 7 on the frame 2. The carriage 6 carries a pair of cutting out
rollers 8, 10, which are constructed for cutting out the tesseræ from a sheet of
combined pigment and materials as described in our aforesaid Patent No. 9222 of
1892, and to the top roller 8 is secured a box wheel 8* constructed in two parts
for taking up backlash and also arranged for adjustment on its axis to insure
correct register in the ordinary manner well understood by calico printers and
others; this wheel 8" gears into a rack 9 secured to the frame 2 and therefore
rotates the top cutting out roller 8 when the carriage 6 is traversed by the
screws 5. The bottom roller 10 is driven from the top roller by the box
wheels 8 and 10" and the intermediate gears 11, 12, which are mounted on studs
carried by the carriage 6. The cutting out rollers have recesses 13 of the shape
required and the recessed portion in one roller comes opposite a solid portion in
the other roller; in each recess 13 of the rollers is a plate of metal to which is
secured a button beaded stud 14 that passes through a hole in the shell of the
roller. Two stationary shafts 15 are held in bearings 16 bolted to the roller
carriage 6 and on these shafts which pass through the top roller 8 are secured
curved brackets with cam surfaces 17 which extend right across the roller. A
similar bracket 17 is secured upon a stationary shaft 16 which passes through the
bottom roller 10 and these plates and studs are operated by the cam surfaces to
expel the material from the recesses 13.
We do not however desire to confine ourselves to this particular mode of
expelling the tesseræ from the recesses 13 in the rollers as any other convenient
and suitable means may be employed.
In the case of the top roller, the brackets 17 acting upon the heads of the
studs 14 move them outward and force out any material from the recesses 13 into
the troughs 18 provided for the purpose and secured to the carriage 6 while
brushes 19, fixed or rotary, take off the tesseræ and clean the plates, while the
tesseræ expelled from the bottom roller 10 are deposited upon the foundation
fabric 28.
To the roller carriage 6 are secured two transverse bars 20 to which endless
bands of sheet metal or other substance 21 are connected; these bands 21 pass
over and round guide pulleys 22 and under a table 23 which supports the
foundation fabric and is mounted upon standards 24 adjustable by screws 25.
The transverse frame is so fitted on to the frame 1 that its position can be
accurately adjusted relatively to the frame 3 by screws 26 which pass through
nuts 27 on the frame 2 so that the tessera deposited by each pair of rollers will
fit between those deposited by a previous pair or pairs of rollers.
The edges of the foundation fabric 28 turn over the table 23 and are gripped by
means of the clamps 29 which are pivoted on the chains 30 which pass over
carrier chain wheels 31, see Fig. 1. These chains 30 extend beyond the depositing
machine to a press, which is not shown but may be of any suitable construction to
press and consolidate the fabric at one point whilst the rollers are depositing
tesseræ thereon at another point as described. The wheels for driving the chains
are placed beyond the pressing machine and may be turned by hand or otherwise
in order to actuate the chains and feed the foundation fabric through the machine
intermittently as required. The driving pulleys 32 and 33 driven by crossed and
open belts respectively and a double clutch 34 may be placed at any suitable
position on the driving shaft 35 on which they are mounted as well as bevel
wheels 36 which gear into and drive bevel wheels 37 on the screws
for traversing

page_text: the roller carriage 6 across the machine, suitable means to be described hereafter
being employed to stop and reverse the carriage after each traverse.
The machine shown is a two colour machine, and consequently there are two
pairs of cutting out rollers 8, 10, and two roller carriages 6, the second carriage 6
being carried by the frame 3 and driven by a pair of right and left hand screws 5
as described. In a three colour machine there would be three such carriages and
pairs of rollers and for more than three colours there would be an additional
travelling roller carriage and pair of cutting out rollers for each additional
colour.
Fig. 2 represents a roller carriage at its extreme right hand position, the
machine having been brought to a stand by means of a stop piece 53 on the
carriage 6 having come into contact with a stop piece 54 secured upon a rod 38
and moved the latter far enough to swivel an elbow lever 39 which acts upon a
rod 40 pivoted at 41 to a lever 42, fulcrumed on a shaft 43 on which are fixed
clutch forks 44, the oscillating movement imparted to the shaft 43 by the lever 42
when the rod 38 was moved by the stop piece 53 on the carriage as described
moves the lever 42 into the vertical position shown in Fig. 1 and takes the
clutch 34 out of the pulley 32 and stops the machine. The attendant now pushes
a sheet of the prepared coloured material 52 into the nip of the cutting out
rollers 8, 10, and to start the machine puts his foot on a treadle 46 and depresses
it thereby raising a rod 47 pivoted to an elbow lever 48 which is fulcrumed at 49
and at the other end is slotted and fits over a stud 50 in the rod 38 so that the
upward movement of the rod 47 causes the rod 38 to move still further to the
right hand, Fig. 2, thus actuating the elbow lever 39, rod 40 and lever 42 which
oscillates the shaft 43 and by the clutch forks 44 moves the clutch 34 into the
pulley 33 and so gives motion to the driving shaft 35 whereby the screws 5
traverse the roller carriages 6 from the right to the left of the machine.
As the carriages 6 begin to move the pairs of cutting out rollers 8, 10, are
rotated by means of the racks 9 and gearing described and as they turn on their
axes they draw with them the sheets of material 52 which as they leave the guide
tables 51 are supported by the endless bands 21. The recesses 13 in the
rollers 8, 10, thus become charged by the time that the carriages 6 come over the
foundation fabric 28 stretched on the table 23. Then by the action of the cam
surfaces 17 the tesseræ from the bottom rollers 10 are simultaneously deposited
upon the foundation fabric 28 while the tesseræ in the top rollers 8 are expelled
into the left hand trough 18 (Fig. 2). When the carriages reach the opposite
side of the machine they are stopped automatically by the stop piece 53 coming
into contact with the stop piece 55 on the stop motion rod 38 and by moving it a
certain distance to the left draws the clutch 34 out of the pulley 33 and so stops
the machine.
Then the attendant having placed fresh sheets of material 52 on the guide
tables 56 and fed them into the nips of the pairs of cutting out rollers 8, 10, and
also having moved the foundation fabric 28 forward by means of the chains 30,
puts his foot on the treadle 57 and by the connecting rod 47 and elbow lever 48
moves the stop motion rod 38 and so thrusts the clutch 34 into the driving
pulley 32 and reverses the motion of the screws 5 thereby traversing the carriages 6
and cutting out rollers 8, 10, in the opposite direction across the machine until
they again reach the position shown in full lines Fig. 2.
The cutting out rollers traverse at each side of the machine some distance
beyond the foundation fabric 28, on the table 23, in order that the rollers may be
charged with the coloured material before the lower roller on the return traverse
reaches the fabric 28 upon which it deposits its tesseræ and leaves sufficient
material on the margin to be trimmed off afterwards.
At the left hand side of the machine, as shown in Fig. 2, the cutting out
rollers 8, 10, traverse a little beyond the rack 9 so that the upper roller 8 can be
raised and each roller left free to be turned round by hand independently of the
other for cleaning purposes when necessary.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. The combination with a foundation fabric, and means for supporting and
travelling the same intermittently lengthwise through the machine, of pairs of
cutting out rollers arranged to travel to and fro transversely over the fabric whilst
stationary and deposit thereon the tesseræ of combined materials of which the
solid colour floor cloth is composed substantially in the manner and for the purposes
specified.
2. The combination and general arrangement of parts embodying our improve-
ments in machinery for producing solid colour floor cloths substantially as and for
the purposes herein described with reference to the drawings annexed.
Dated this 6th day of April 1894.
H. B. BARLOW & GILLETT,
17, St. Ann's Square, Manchester, Agents for Applicants.