CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ROPES AND BELTS BY. MACHINERY, AND ALSO IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
Year: 1820

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HARVEY, of Belper, in the County of Derby, Rope Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth did,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of that part of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twelfth day of October, in the first year of His reign, give.
and grant unto me, the said William Harvey, my exors, admors, and assigns,,
His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
William Harvey, my exors, admors, and assigns, during the term of years.
therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Inven-
tion of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ROPES AND BELTS BY.
MACHINERY, AND ALSO IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY;" in which said Letters.
Patent there is contained a proviso that if I, the said William Harvey, shall
not particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing,
under my hand and seal, and cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's.
High Court of Chancery within two calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent, that then the said Letters Patent,,
and all liberties and advantages whatsoever thereby granted, shall utterly cease,.
determine, and become void, as in and by the same (relation being thereunto,
had, may more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Harvey, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by the Drawings hereunto annexed, and the following
description thereof (that is to say) :-
My Invention of certain Improvements in the Manufacture of Ropes and
Belts by Machinery, and also Improvements in the said Machinery, consists
in connecting several ropes or lays of rope together by means of bolts or pins
of copper, brass, zinc, tin, or any other metal (iron excepted), or mixture of
metals least likely to corrode or rust, which ropes or lays of rope so connected
are to form flat belts or bands for the purpose of raising coal or ores up the
shafts of mines, and for raising of heavy articles generally, or square ropes for
cables, and for the standing rigging of ships. Also in the contrivance and dispo-
sition of machinery calculated to perforate holes through the said lays of rope,
in order to pass the said metallic bolts through them for the purpose of con-
necting the lays together. For the making of flat belts or bands, two, four,
or more lays of rope are placed side by side, observing that every lay is twisted
the reverse way to that which is placed next it. These lays are then pressed
together, both laterally and downward, and when thus confined a bodkin or
piercer is passed through the several lays of rope, and into the hole thus made
is put a bolt or pin of copper, brass, or other metal (iron excepted) or mixture
of metals least likely to exidize or rust, and thereby injure the hemp; and
when the pin is passed through the several lays of rope it is rivetted so as to
confine the several lays of rope firmly together. In making square ropes for
cables and the standing rigging of ships, two, four, six, eight, or more flat
ropes, bands, or belts (as above made, are placed in the press edgeways,
and when perforated in a cross direction or through the respective bands by
the bodkin or piercer, metallic bolts or pins, such as above mentioned, are
passed through the lays and bands, and riveted so as to confine them together,
forming a square or any other shaped compact rope of several lays firmly
connected. The machinery which I use for the purpose of piercing the lays
of rope as above, consists of a moveable carriage, shewn in the Drawings, in
which Fig. 1 is a plan view, or as seen when looking down upon it, the
presser being removed for the purpose of shewing the piercer or bodkin.
Fig. 2 is a side view or elevation of the machine complete, and Fig. 3 is an
end view of the same. The several lays of rope intended to be connected and
formed into a flat band being distended along the rope walk side by side in
any length, the carriage is then to be brought under them, and the lays of
rope a, a, Figs. 2 and 3, so disposed as to rest upon the plate or table b,-b;
h

page_text: the check c is then brought up so as to press the lays of rope laterally, by
turning the winch d, which sends forward the screws e, e, (as seen more clearly
in the plan view, Fig. 1,) and of consequence pressing the check c against the
ropes laterally so as to compress and confine them within the checks c and f.
This being done, a bar is then placed across the top of the lays of rope, and
by means of the flyers g, g, turning the screw h, which descends upon the bar,
the lays of rope are pressed downwards and completely confined, as seen in
Fig. 3. The ropes being thus placed, in order to be pierced, a bodkin or
piercer i, passing through a hole in the check f, is fixed in the socket k of the
slider ; the winch m is now turned, which, by means of the pinion n taking
into the cog wheel o, and the spur wheel p, upon the same arbor, taking into
the rack of the slider 1, advances the bodkin or piercer, and forces it directly
through the several lays of rope, by which they become perforated with a
hole to receive the bolt or pin before described. The winch d. and
flyers g, g, are then turned back for the purpose of releasing the ropes,
and the carriage is to be moved forward as many inches as the bolts or
rivets are intended to be apart (six or eight inches I propose for four lays of
rope, and so in proportion), and which advance of the carriage may be effected
and regulated (if desired) by a contrivance similar to that shewn at
r, s, t, in Fig. 5, hereafter to be described. The bolts or pins are now to be
passed by hand through the perforations of the ropes, and their ends rivetted
so as to attach the several lays of rope together. Another contrivance for
perforating the lays of rope is also shewn at Fig. 4, a plan view of the
apparatus upon a carriage, in which the bodkin or piercer i is forced through
the lays of rope by means of a lever q, q, which turns a pinion taking into a
rack, and by the advance of the lever the bodkin or piercer is forced through
the lays of rope. Fig. 5 shews a side view of the carriage of Fig. 4, in which
r is a spur wheel, taking into a cog wheel s, attached to one of the rollers or
wheels upon which the carriage moves; by turning the winch or handle t, so as
to pass one, two, or more teeth, the carriage may be advanced as many
inches as the intended distance between the respective bolts. Though I have
described the above machines and their action as my Invention, and most
approved mode of perforating the lays of rope, yet I do not confine myself
strictly to the form and arrangement of the respective parts, which may be
varied and changed in many ways, so as to answer the desired purpose; and
though I have described the mode of connecting lays of rope beside each
other for the purpose of forming flat bands, yet I do not claim the Invention of
attaching them together by any other mode except by means of bolts or pins
of copper, brass, tin, zink, or any other metal (iron excepted), or any mixture

page_text: of these metals which is least likely to become corroded or rust; and this mode
of forming flat bands or square ropes for the purposes above mentioned con-
stitutes the Invention of which I claim the exclusive use and patent right.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Harvey, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Ninth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and twenty.