IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING TIMBER FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF SHUTTLES AND BOBBINS
Year: 1884

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
We THOMAS PICKLES, Manufacturer, of Albion Mills, Burnley, Lancashire, and
BENJAMIN BLAKEY, Grocer, of Barrowford in the same County, do hereby declare
the nature of said Invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING TIMBER FOR THE
MANUFACTURE OF SHUTTLES AND BOBBINS, to be as follows :-
The object of our Invention is to cheapen the manufacture of shuttles and
bobbins by employing compressed soft wood as a substitute for box wood and
other hard and expensive woods.
We propose to cut the soft wood to be formed into shuttles and bobbins into
blocks of suitable size and then place such blocks into moulds or dies; a ram or
piston actunted by hydraulic, steam, or other power, is then employed to compress
the timber to the required density or size.
The timber may be compressed by rollers, or in any other suitable manner.
The blocks after being compressed, are passed through the ordinary operations
for shaping and finishing the shuttles or bobbins.
H. B. BARLOW,.
Agent for Applicants,
4, Mansfield Chambers,
, St. Ann's Square, Manchester,

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
15
We, THOMAS PICKLES, Manufacturer; of Albion Mills, Burnley, Lancashire; and
BENJAMIN BLAKEY, Grocer; of Barrowford, in the same county, do hereby declare
the nature of our invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING TIMBER FOR THE
MANUFACTURE OF SHUTTLES AND BOBBINS," and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
The object of our invention is to improve and cheapen, or improve or cheapen
the manufacture of shuttles and bobbins used for textile purposes, by employing in
such manufacture compressed soft or other wood in lieu of box wood or other hard
or comparatively hard woods now employed for that purpose.
To accomplish this and to effect our improvements, we cut the soft or other
wood, intended to be formed into shuttles or bobbins, into suitably sized blocks,
and then place such blocks into moulds or dies fitted into a frame of the requisite
strength and form.
A ram or piston, actuated by hydraulic, steam, or other power, is also provided in
the apparatus, and is employed to transmit the desired pressure to the blocks of
timber, for the purpose of compressing the same to the required density or size.
In place of a piston or ram being employed, the timber may be compressed by
means of rollers, provided they be constructed of sufficient power and strength.
We are aware that wood has been previously compressed to a certain extent in
connection with a special treatment of wood by boiling, or steaming, and the
saturation of the same by glue or other substances, as described in specification
number 355 of 1876 of Patent granted to Alfred Melville Clarke, but that is
entirely different to this..our present invention, which consists in the application
per se of a sufficient pressure to wood, for the preparation of the same for the
purpose named, which has been previously simply dried. In the case of the patent
above referred to a pressure of 5 tons is named as sufficient, and is so in the case of
wood which has been steamed or boiled as therein described; but we have
discovered that by an application of say 10 tons or more to the square inch, upon
dry wood, no other treatment is required to bring the wood to the density and
toughness desired for the purposes of the manufacture of shuttles and bobbins.
The blocks of timber, after compression, are formed, by being passed through the
ordinary or other operations, by hand or machine, or both, for bringing them to the
required shape and finish, into shuttles and bobbins.
The form of the block, and the moulds or dies, to be used in connection with
the same during compression, may be varied; together with the relationship of the
one to the other, and other forms of mechanism may be employed for the purpose
of compression without departing from the peculiar character of the invention.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is
1. The preparing, by the process of compression, under sufficiently high pressure
of soft or other woods of the requisite dryness by any convenient mechanisms, such
as have been described, for the purpose of manufacturing from such woods so com-
pressed, shuttles or bobbins, or both, as used for textile purposes, substantially as
herein before described.
2. The manufacture of shuttles or bobbins, or both, for textile purposes, from
wood which has been previously prepared by drying and compression, by any
convenient mechanism, in manner substantially as hereinbefore described.