IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FELT
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Rostron, of Myrtle Grove, Waterfoot,
near Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Felt Manufacturer,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY EMPLOYED IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF FELT."
Scaled the 7th February 1873, and dated the 22nd August 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Rostron at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd August 1872.
I, EDWARD ROSTRON, of Myrtle Grove, Waterfoot, near Manchester,
in the County of Lancaster, Felt Manufacturer, do hereby. declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY EMPLOYED IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF FELT," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in an improved mode of imparting the
requisite lateral to-and-fro motions to the top rollers of the hardening
machines employed in the manufacture of felt. In hardening machines
of the usual construction the to-and-fro motions aro imparted to the top
rollers by eccentrics on a side shaft, the roller being connected to the

page_text: eccentric by a forked bracket resting on the axle of the top roller; this
fork fits between shoulders on the axle, and is liable to work loose and
cause backlash, the weight of the bracket on the end of tho roller also
causes the selvage of the felt to be thinner than the other portions.
Now my Invention consists in connecting the eccentric to the end of t
the roller axle by an eccentric shackle placed under the axle of the top
roller. A screw is tapped into the end of the axle, which screw can bo
tightened up when required against the end of the shackle, thereby
preventing backlash, and communicating the desired positive to-and-fro
motion end wise to the top roller. By placing the shackle below no
pressure is given to the top roller, and conscquently the selvage of the
felt is not made thinner than the other parts.
My Invention may be modified by using a wedge or key instead of
the screw in the end of the axle of the top. roller as above described.
1
SPECIFICATION 'in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edward Rostron in the Great Seal Patent-Office on.
the 20th February 1873.
--TO ALL -TO-WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
ROSTRON, of Myrtle Grove, Waterfoot, near Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Felt Manufacturer, send greeting.
:
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Edward Rostron, Her special licence
that I, the said Edward Rostron, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward Rostron, my execu
tors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and
no others, from time to time and 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 EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FELT," upon the -condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Edward - Rostron, my executors .or.
:

page_text: 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 Scal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the dato
of the said Letters Patent.
:
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward Rostron, 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 (that is to say) :-
"
This Invention consists in an improved mode of imparting the requisitò
lateral to-and-fro motions to the top rollers of the hardening machines
employed in the manufacture of felt. In hardening' machines of the
usual construction the to-and-fro motions are imparted to the top rollers
by eccentrics on a side shaft, the roller being connected to the eccentric
by a forked bracket resting on the axle of the top roller; this fork fits
between shoulders on the axle, and is liable to work loose and cause
back lash. The weight of the bracket on the end of the roller also
causes the selvage of the felt to be thinner than the other portions.
Now my Invention consists in connecting the eccentric or crank to
the end of the roller axle by an eccentric shackle placed under the
axle of the top roller. A screw is tapped into the end of the axle.
or into tlic shackle, which screw can be tightened up when required
against the end of the shackle or against the end of the axle, thereby
preventing backlash, and communicating the desired positive to-and-fro
motion endwise to the top roller. By placing the shackle below no
pressure is given to the top roller, and consequently the selvage of the
felt is not made thinner than the other parts.
My Invention may be modified by using a wedge or key instead of
the screw in the end of the axle of the top roller, as above described.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood I will
proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, in which
Fig. 1 is an end view, Fig. 2 a side view, and Fig. 3. a plan of part
of a felt hardening machine to which my improvements are applied.
Fig. 4 is a side view, and Fig. 5 a plan of the improved shackle for
connecting the eccentric or crank shaft to the top roller.

page_text: In Figs. 1, 2, and 3, a, a, are the bottom rollers, and b, b, the top
rollers between which the endless belt and the fleece of fibres to be
felted pass in the usual manner; c is the ordinary side shaft on which
are eccentrics or cranks; and d, d, are the improved shackles, one end
of which is provided with a brass or other step d¹ fitting on the crank
shaft, and held in position by the block d', in which is the regulating
screw d³. The other end of the shackle is forked to receive the
shoulders on the axle of cach top roller. The shackle is guided in the
bracket e, which is bolted to the side frame of the machine. The top
rollers b are placed in the forked end of the shackles & from above, and
as the weight of the shackle is entirely supported in the guide bracket
it is evident that no part of the weight of the shackle will be given to
the top roller, and consequently the pressure on the end of the top roller
will not be greater than at any other part, thereby insuring a uniform
thickness in the felt. In order to prevent the backlash or play between
the shoulders of the top roller and the forked end of the shackle I apply
a regulating screw d³ to the block d², and the head of this screw is
tightened against the end of the axle of the top roller; or the screw
may be tapped into the end of the said axle and tightened against tho
shackle; in cither case a lock nut is employed to fix the screw when it
has been set. I wish to remark that instead of the regulating screw d³
a wedge or key may be used to prevent the backlash.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described the
manner of performing the same, I declare that I claim as my Invention,
the improved shackle shown and described for connecting the eccentric
or crank shaft to the axles of the top rollers, and the mode of preventing
the play or backlash in the top roller.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Rostron, have hereto set
my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of February One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-three.