An Improved Machine for Plaiting Straw, Grass, and other Short Fibrous Materials.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 19th Aug., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 7th Apr., 1892-Accepted, 30th July, 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Machine for Plaiting Straw, Grass, and other Short
Fibrous Materials.
I, ARTHUR BARRETT, of Langley Street, Luton, in the County of Bedfordshire,
Plait Mill Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention consists of a frame in which is mounted a shaft having fixed on it
five or more cams according to the number of straws to be used in the machine.
Two of the cams actuate two spring pistons for moving the straws. Two others
give motion to two levers carrying on their upper end an instrument for bending
the straws into position and also to assist in feeding the formed plait through a
guide. And one cam is used to open the guide which is so constructed that the
plait can be formed within it and is opened and closed at intervals when the
machine is put in motion.
The machine can be put in motion by a handle on the shaft and the straws fed
in by hand or it can be driven by other motive power in which case the straws
would be fed in from a frame mounted on the top of the machine.
It will be understood that the foregoing is given by way of illustration and that
the shapes materials and parts may be varied in many ways within the scope of my
invention.
Dated this 19th doy of August 1801
J. P. BAYLY,
18, Fulham Place, W., Agent for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Machine for Plaiting Straw, Grass, and other Short
Fibrous Materials.
I, ARTHUR BARRETT, of Langley Street, Luton in the County of Bedford-
shire, Plait Mill Manufacturer, 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 consists of an improved machine for making straw plait similar to
that made by hand.
Hand made plait may be briefly described as follows, (the kind most commonly
used is made with seven straws), a sufficient number of straws are taken in the hands
and are twisted together and spread out like a fan leaving four on one side and
three on the other, the side on which there are four straws suppose it is on the
left, then has its outer straw bent under the second straw and over the two others
towards the other side there being now four straws on the right, then just such a
similar operation is performed again, the outer straw is turned under the second
and over the two other straws towards the left, and so the operation is repeated
alternately until each straw in its turn is used up and the end of the straw is then
"set out" and a new straw in its turn is "set in ;" and so a continuous length of
plait is made.
In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this Specification :-
Fig. 1 is a plan of the top of the machine;
Fig. 2, is a front elevation;
T
9

page_text: Fig. 7, is a side elevation of the adjustable crank disc and "Lagarousse"
levers;
Fig. 8, is an elevation of the folding levers and inclined plate ;
Fig. 9, is an elevation of the sliding bar in the frame with the base of the frame
and clips in section ;
Fig. 10, is an elevation and plan of the bottom sliding bar of the frame.. Several
of the aforesaid figs. are drawn to an enlarged scale.
Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the views.
These operations are imitated and re-produced in this machine in the following
manner-On the top of a small rectangular frame a near the centre is mounted
a holder and for the straws, which also forms a guide for the plait, one half j¹
Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6, of which is attached by passing over a centre pin 1 fixed to a
slide e fastened thereto by a set screw 4 to allow for opening and closing, as indi-
cated by dotted lines in Fig. 4. The plait guide is provided with a latch 2 to
keep the straws in position as they are passed over by the folding levers d'. . The
latch 2 is held in position by a flat spring 3.
Across the frame a near the end is fixed a shaft r which is called the main shaft,
along the length of this shaft is fixed a number of cams e', in this case for seven
straws six cams e¹ would be used.
Two rocking shafts m m are fixed in a direction from this shaft r towards the
plait guide and j and are actuated by two of the above cams e acting on
adjustable arms ss, and move through about the third of a circle which raises
the arms k, the said arms being returned to their normal position by the spiral
springs h.
The rock shafts m m are provided at the end near the plait guide j and ¹ with
an arm k carrying an adjustable support and folding lever d mounted on a
bracket 5 with a spiral spring Fig. 8, for the purpose of moving each outer
straw alternately under the second and over the two other straws-or more correctly
as the straws are now held in a more vertical position than hand work-the outer
straw is passed by the folding lever d' between the second and third and fourth
straws.
Two plungers n n attached to a shaft with a spiral spring o" and a sliding
block P in a frame (or spring pistons) are fixed in front of the plait guide j and.
Figs. 1, and 2, these are alternately moved forwards by two of the cams el pressing
against plates t t and are used to press the second straw towards an inclined plate i
Fig. 8, carried on a bracket secured by a fly nut c fixed immediately behind and
retained there by a pin f' rising by means of the rocking shaft m until the outer
straw is passed by it by the lever d¹ just described.
Every time the outer straw is passed over from either side the plaite guide j
and itself is opened to allow it to pass by the other straws by a came on the
main shaft acting on the slide e' previously mentioned.
Two rollers a¹ are fixed immediately under the plait guide j and j¹ to convey
the plait away as it is made, a feed motion is given to these by the shaft f of one
being continued outside the frame a having on its end a ratchet wheel a¹ on a boss a³
worked by Lagarousse levers gl on a rocking plate a carried on a pin a² or other
suitable means and a connecting rod as to an adjustable crank disc b¹ fixed on the
end of the main shaft r Fig. 7, so that a variable feed motion may be given to the
rollers a. One of which is adjustable by means of a slotted plate e and a set
screw d described in Fig. 1.
Another part of this machine consists in the apparatus o fixed to feet all and
bolted to the frame a for supplying the straws to the machine as they are used up.
This apparatus consists of a frame for holding a supply of straws and is mounted
on feet a and fixed to an inclination to suit the straws being plaited; this frame
is made so that the straws fall of their own weight on to the top of the two upper
sliding bars and are carried towards the front h¹ and under the flap 1, and onto

page_text: the plait guide and j', the front h' is made adjustable to a suitable height with a
flap to rise and fall to allow of different size straws to pass out at the bottom.
Three sliding bars as in Figs. 1, 2, and 9, move across the bottom of this
frame for bringing out the straws one by one by means of a pivoted lever and
the notch Fig. 9, through the narrow opening formed by the adjustable front h¹
and flap and passing them into the machine through a slot 6 Figs. 4, and 5, in
the plait guide and holding them in place by the head 7 of the bottom sliding
bar operated by a 'lever on the rock-shaft m', this lever k is described in
Fig. 10, and by dotted lines in Fig. 2, until they are plaited into the fabric. The
sliding bars retire into their normal position by the action of the spring 8
Fig. 10.
The other two sliding bars are moved to and fro by means of links n¹ attached to
short arms Figs. 2, and 9, on a rock-shaft m¹ the whole of these working parts
are mounted in the framework all of this part of the machine. Motion is communi-
cated to this rock-shaft m¹ from the main shaft by means of two segments or
segment wheels u and v one of these said segments u which is mounted immediately
over the main shaft r worked from a cam e' beneath, the other is centered on a
short counter shaft w fixed parallel to the main shaft r having a ratchet wheel a
with multiple palls y and z keyed thereon by its side, an interinittant motion is by
this means communicated to this shaft w and it can be timed to make a different
number of revolutions with respect to the main shaft.
On this counter shaft w is fixed a cam o' which acts on a lever with its adjust-
able end and this lever in turn presses on the end of the top sliding bar l', by
this means a new straw is carried out of the frame every time that the lever
moved forward.
is
The minute details of the mechanism of this machine can be arranged in the
usual well known methods, but the number of the parts can be varied to suit the
number of straws in use as occasion may require.
The machine can be turned by hand, by means of a handle g on the main shaft
or driven by any motive power in the usual way.
It will be understood that the foregoing is given by way of illustration and that
the shapes, materials and parts, may be varied in many ways within the scope of
my invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The combination of the mechanism in the machine for plaiting straw grass
and other short fibrous materials, substantially as herein described and for the
purpose set forth.
2. In a straw plaiting machine, the combination of a frame and the cams, mounted
on a shaft according to the number of straws to be used in the machine; two of
the cams actuate two spring pistons or plungers for moving the straws, and two
others give motion to two levers, and the folding levers for bending the straws
into position and to assist to feed, and the guide or holder operated by a cam, so
constructed that the plait can be formed within it and is opened and closed at
intervals when the machine is in motion, substantially as herein described and
according to the accompanying drawings.
3. In a straw plaiting machine, the combination of the rectangular frame,
holder or guide attached to a slide, with the main shaft and the cams, the two
rock-shafts, arm and folding levers, the two plungers or spring pistons, a pin on
the rock-shaft operated by the rock-shaft, with the two rollers and shaft; the
ratchet wheel and the Lagarousse levers, and the connecting rod and adjustable
disc fixed on the end of the main shaft, substantially as herein described and
according to the accompanying drawings.
4. The combination of the frame with its adjustable front and flap, the sliding
bars moving across the bottom, with links and short arms on a rock-shaft,

page_text: mounted on the top of the machine, and the two segment wheels and the cams,
with the counter shaft and ratchet wheel with palls and levers, for supplying
the straws to the machine, substantially as herein described and according to the
accompanying drawings.
Dated this 7th day of Anuil 1900
J. P. BAYLY,
18, Fulham Place, W., Agent for the Applicant.