IN MACHINERY FOR BENDING TIMBER
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Unsworth Rothwell, of Rochdale, in the
"IMPROVEMENTS
County of Lancaster, Joiner, for the Invention of
IN MACHINERY FOR BENDING TIMBER."
Sealed the 12th January 1875, and dated the 14th July 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Unsworth
Rothwell at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 14th July 1874.
I, JAMES UNSWORTH ROTHWELL, of Rochdale, in the County of
Lancaster, Joiner, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR BENDING TIMBER," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in bending timber into arches or other forms
by the action of rollers and in conjunction with a template. The
machine I propose consists of three rollers, one of them above, below;
or by the side of a pair. The timber having been steamed is passed
between these rollers, and is by them forced against a template of the

page_text: form the timber is desired to assume. The template I propose to use
is.composed of a chain or is otherwise made elastic, so that it may be
adapted to suit different curves.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Unsworth Rothwell in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 14th January 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
UNSWORTH ROTHWELL, of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent bearing date the Fourteenth day of July, in the year.
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said James Unsworth Rothwell, Her special
license that I, the said John Unsworth Rothwell, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
Unsworth Rothwell, my 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR BENDING TIMBER," upon
the condition (amongst others that I, the said James Unsworth
Rothwell, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, 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 I, the said James Unsworth Rothwell, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement and accompanying Drawing:-
My Invention consists in bending timber for arches by the action of
rollers.

page_text: In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 represents the machine in end
elevation, and Fig. 2 is a side view thereof.
At a is the frame provided at its base with a V guide b, upon which
are mounted two pedestals c, each of them carrying a roller d, and
these pedestals are provided with nuts e situate in recesses formed in
the V bed. The nuts é arc tapped right and left handed, and within
them are right and left-handed screws, upon the shaft of which there
is a pulley handle g. The upright part of the frame a is formed on
each side with a slot h, within which are sliding blocks i capable of
being adjusted upwards or downwards by means of screws k, and within
these blocks is mounted the axle of a roller 7 provided with a winch
handle m.
The timber to be bent is in the first place steamed in the ordinary
manner, and its end being introduced between the three rollers d, d, l,
the winch handle m is turned and the timber will thus be drawn
forward and will be bent into a curve, as shewn at n, and when the
whole has been passed through, the curve may be maintained until the
timber is dry by laths of wood fastened as is now practiced.
-
In order to alter the curve produced the roller 7 is moved upward or
downward, so as to project more or less below the level of the tops
of the rollers d, which may be adjusted by screws f for different.
thicknesses of timber, but these said rollers d may themselves be
traversed to alter the curve produced. At o are links jointed to
each other at p, at which situations they are provided with rollers q,
and the chain thus formed is carried at its upper end by a chain r
fastened to the frame a, and at its lower end it is jointed to the
bracket c. The joints p are provided with nuts, by which the links may
be retained in any desired position, so that the surfaces of the rollers q
form a curve or template capable of adjustment. As the timber is
passed forward it travels against the rollers q, which serve as a support.
for it, but by adjusting the positions of the said rollers, as above
described, the curve the timber is to take may be modified. There are
two sets of links o, one on each side of the machine, and the rollers
extend from the one to the other.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my said Inven.
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it
to be understood that I claim as secured to me under the above in part

page_text: recited Letters Patent, and for the purpose above set forth, the use of
the rollers d, d, l, together with the flexible guide or template o, p, q,
substantially as described..
In witness whereof, I, the said James Unsworth Rothwell, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of January, 5
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five
JAMES U. ROTHWELL. (L.S.)