IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR COVERING ROLLERS USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COTTON AND OTHER TEXTILE MATERIALS WITH LEATHER, CLOTH, OR OTHER SUBSTANCES
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Wild, of Salford, in the County of
Lancaster, Iron Moulder, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR COVERING ROLLERS USED IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF COTTON AND OTHER TEXTILE MATERIALS WITH
LEATHER, CLOTH, OR OTHER SUBSTANCES."
Sealed the 25th January 1854, and dated the 29th July 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Wild at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 29th July 1858.
I, WILLIAM WILD, of Salford, in the County of Lancaster, Iron
Moulder, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "In-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR COVERING ROLLERS USED IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF COTTON AND OTHER TEXTILE MATERIALS WITH LEATHER,
CLOTH, OR OTHER SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of two machines, which may either be em-
ployed separately or in conjunction, the one for placing the leather or
other material upon the rollers, and the other for rounding off the
edges thereof.
The first machine embraces distinct operations constituting features

page_text: of novelty which I claim as my Invention. The leather or other
material is fed into the machine at intervals from a crcel or other
apparatus upon which it is wound, and in suitable lengths for each
roller. These lengths are severed by a cutting instrument, and in such
manner that bevilled ends are formed, which, when lapped upon cach
other around the roller, form an even periphery; these detached lengths
are deposited upon an axis having apertures therein corresponding to
the form of the rollers to be covered. The rollers are placed upon
an inclined plane so as to be capable of running down it, and they are
received at bottom by notched discs, which at stated intervals carry
them forward and deposit them upon the severed lengths of leather or
other substance; a plunger now descends, and presses the rollers so
placed, and the covering material, into the aperture of the axis, by
which operation the leather, &c. becomes partially lapped around the
periphery of the roller.
The next operation is to bring the ends of the lengths of covering
material together, and to cement them. This is done by the advance of a
spring blade, which forces down one projecting end, and while it is held
there a vessel is applied so as to deposit a portion of cement upon the
bevilled edge, after which another spring blade forces down the second
projecting end of the covering material upon the first, and the two are
held together until the joint becomes hard. The spring blades now
retreat, the axis containing the covered roller is turned round, and a
descent of the plunger forces the roller therefrom. In order to ensure
sufficient pressure upon the covering material while in the recess of the
axis, I make one side thereof nioveable, and force it inward by a
strong spring. The rollers thus covered may be discharged into a skip
or other receptacle, or they may fall on to an inclined plane, to be fed
If this
into the machine constituting the other part of my Invention.
plan be not adopted I place the rollers by hand upon an inclined planc
so as to allow them to roll onward and be received by the notches of
revolving discs, which at regular intervals deliver their axes to a holder,
and which holder is capable, when desired, of turning upon a centre.
Behind the rollers so held are situate straps passing over pullies, one
of which is capable of being moved backward or forward so as to cause

page_text: the said straps to move, when desired, in contact with the rollers, and
thereby cause them to revolve, during which revolution a series of
burnishers are brought to bear against the ends of a number of rollers
at the same time so as to effect a rounding of the edges of the covering
materials. When this has been effected the roller holder turns down-
ward and discharges the rollers into a skip or other receptacle. The
driving strap then moves backward, and allows another roller or series
of rollers to lie fed into the machine from the inclined plane.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Wild in the Great Seal Patent Office,
on the 28th January 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
WILLIAM WILD, of Salford, in the County of Lancaster, Tron Moulder,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victòria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the seven-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Wild, Fler special licence
that I, the said William Wild, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Wild, 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 OR APPARATUS FOR COVERING ROLLERS USED IN THE MANU-
PACTURE OF COTTON AND OTHER TEXTILE MATERIALS WITH LEATHER, CLOTH,
OR OTHER SUBSTANCES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said William Wild, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, 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

page_text: Six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Wild, 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 Drawings (that is to
say):
My Invention consists of two machines, which may either be emi-
ployed separately or in conjunction, the one for placing the leather or
other material upon the rollers, and the other for rounding off the
edges thereof. My first machine, viz., that for covering or coating
rollers with leather or other suitable substance for the use of cotton
spinners, is represented in the accompanying Drawings in three dif-
ferent positions. Fig. 1, being a top or horizontal view of the com-
plete machine; Fig. 2, a transverse section of the saine, taken vertically
through about the middle of the machine; and Fig. 8, an end elevation
of the machine, shewing more particularly the actuating agents by
which the internal parts of the machine are driven. In all these
Figures similar letters of reference indicate the same parts.
The leather or other suitable material for covering or coating rollers
being cut into strips is wound upon a creel placed above the machine,
as at a, from which the strips are passed down and conducted between
a series of long feeding rollers b, b, extending longitudinally through
the machine, and mounted in slotted standards, and kept pressed
together by set screws. The downward course which the strips take
between the feeding rollers will be seen in Fig. 2. These feeding
rollers have interrupted rotary motions, in order to feed into the ma-
chine certain lengths of the strips of leather at intervals sufficient at
each movement to bring into operation a length of the strip equal to
the circumference of a roller intended to be coated or covered.
The auxilliary, Fig. 4, represents in section (taken in the same line
as Fig. 2,) a detached portion of the principal working parts of this
roller covering machine. It will be perceived that the strips of leather
has by the rotation of the feeding rollers b, b, b, been brought down,
and that the lower parts of the strips has by the curved edge of the

page_text: slide c, been conducted over the stationary trough or box d, intended
to receive the roller about to be covered. This having been done, the
roller is allowed to run down a stationary inclined plane e, and to
descend into the recess in the box d, having a portion of the strip
of leather under it. The roller is then forced down into the box,
as shewn in Fig. 2, by a descending plunger or presser f, and be-
comes partly enveloped by the strip of leather which is intended to
cover it. There are a series of rollers placed upon the inclined
plane e, ready to be covered in succession, and these are allowed,
one at every operation of the mechanism, to escape down the incline
by the partial rotation of a star wheel y. The roller having been
thus inserted in the box d, the strip of leather thereby becomes tightly
distended, when a knife fixed in a longitudinal bar h, (see Fig. 2,) is
made to traverse and to cut off the end of the strip of leather against
the edge of the slide c, in a bevilled direction. The edges of the
portion of leather thus cut off from the strip, and partially em-
bracing the roller in the box, have now to be brought together for
the purpose of uniting their bevil edges. This is done by the advance
of a sliding presser i, which lays one edge of the leather evenly on the
roller, as shewn in Fig. 2.
The next operation is the application of glue or other cenient to
the edge of the leather, which is effected by the oblique descent of
a trough k, see Fig. 2, through apertures, in the lower part of which
the glue or other cement passes in small quantities, and thus deposits
the adhesive matter on the bevilled edges of the leather. T'he
cement having been thus applied to one edge of the leather, the
trough k, then rises in its grooved frame, and a similar sliding presser l,
on the opposite side of the machine advances to bring up the other
bevilled edge of the leather into contact with the former. This
presser remains upon the joint of the leather for a minute or two,
and the roller having been made. warm before introduction to the
machine, the cement will be kept in a sufficiently liquid state to
produce perfect adhesion of the bevilled edges while the presser 1,
remains bearing upon the joint. The roller having thus become
coated round its periphery with leather or. other suitable material is

page_text: now to be discharged from the trough d. This is effected by the
descent of a bar m, extending longitudinally through the machine,
which bar forms one side of the box d. The descent of this bar m,
is produced by the depression of a lever n, to which its lower end is
attached, the lever being acted upon by a cam below. On the descent
of the bar m, the roller is allowed to fall out of the box d, laterally,
and to roll down an inclined plane into a basket or other receiver.
The process above described is now repeated by the machine, and
another roller or succession of rollers brought into operation by the
star wheel y, as described, are one after another coated or covered with
leather or other material in like manner.
This machine or system of mechanism may be actuated by a great
variety of mechanical agents or contrivances; that which I have found
convenient for the purpose is exhibited in the Drawings. The driving
power of steam or other first mover is applied by band or otherwise to
the main horizontal transverse shaft p, at the end of the machine, and
by means of mitre wheels its rotary motion is connected with a longi-
tudinal shaft, which is in gear with another transverse shaft 7, at the
opposite end of the machine to the driving shaft. There are also
vertical-shafts s, and t, connected by bevil gear with the preceding, and
these by similar means at their upper ends drive two other horizontal
longitudinal shafts u, and v. Upon the shaft r, see Fig. 3, there is a
cam wheel acting against a vertical sliding rod w, which carries a rack
taking into a toothed pinion on a stud set in the framework. This
pinion, by means of a clutch behind it, gives rotary motion to a train
of wheels affixed to the axles of the feeding rollers b, b. On the rising
of the sliding rod and rack w, this train receives a certain amount of
rotary motion just sufficient to conduct the strip of leather forward, as
above described; but on the descent of the sliding rod and rack w,
effected by a spring, the clutch is released, and hence the intermitted
rotary motion of the feeding rollers. The slider c, is moved to and fro
at intervals, forward by canis on the shaft u, and backward by a spring.
The plunger f, is brought down by a spring, and raised by a cam a, on
the shaft . The knife h, is traversed by means of a cam y, on the
shaft, which acts against a right-angled lever. The pressers i, and 7,

page_text: are moved forward by cams on the shafts, and v, and drawn back by
springs. The trough, is raised and depressed by a lever and arm,
acted upon by a can on the shaft v. The star wheel g, is made to
turn a portion of a revolution at intervals by means of a catch lever
taking into a ratchet on the axle of the star wheel, the catch lever
being attached by a joint to an excentric stud or arm fixed on the
shaft v.
Having now described my machine for coating or covering rollers
for the use of cotton spinners and others, I desire it to be understood
that I claim the several mechanical contrivances shewn in the Drawings
for effecting that object, whether separately or in combination. But I
lo not claim, nor intend to confine myself to the mode or arrangement
of the gear or driving parts, by which these operating or working por-
tions of my mechanism are or may be actuated.
My second machine for rounding off the ends of the leather or other
material after it has been secured upon the rollers in the way above
described may be placed in connection with the former machine, and act
simultaneously with it, or be used separately. Fig. 5, of the accompany-
ing Drawings represents the rounding off' machine as it would appear in
horizontal view taken from above. An inclined plane, as at e, Fig. 2, is
to be adapted to this machine, and placed above with star wheels, as at g,
made to turn at intervals for the purpose of delivering the rollers in the
same way as before described. This inclined plane is not shewn in Fig. 5,
but it is to be understood as being so placed that the axle or ends of
cach covered roller A, A, as it descends from the star wheel, may fall
into corresponding notches in the periphery of a pair of disc wheels B,
B, which discs turn at intervals in vertical directions. In this ma-
chine there is mounted a pair of parallel drums, one above, the other
below, carrying a series of endless straps or bands C, C, which straps
are severally made to press against the periphery of the rollers when
held in the disc wheels. These endless straps are in constant rotary
motion, and by the friction of their surfaces give to each roller a very
rapid rotation upon its axis. A series of friction sticks or spring
fingers D, D, are attached to a sliding plate E, E, which moves to and
fro in the same manner as the slide 7, in Fig. 2. When the several

page_text: rollers A, A, have been deposited in the discs, as described, the sliding
plate advances and brings the ends of the friction sticks into close
contact with the ends of the rollers, and being there held by the pres-
sure of springs F, F, the edges of the leather covering as the rollers
rapidly revolve arc, by the heat of the friction, contracted and made to
lay close to the ends of the rollers. It is not necessary for me to
describe the means by which this machine is driven, for, the operations
of the parts being understood, it will be obvious that they may be
actuated by various kinds of arrangements of gear. This machine
inay, if required, take up the rollers as they descend from the former,
which I should prefer, but the rollers may, if desired, be supplied on to
the inclined plane c, of a distinct machine, like that explained in refer-
ence to Fig. 5, and by the operations of a star wheel the rollers may
be fed in and acted upon in the way described above. I would here
wish it to be understood, that the particular features of novelty which
I claim as my Invention in respect of the last-described machine
shewn at Fig. 5, are the adaptation of disc wheels to receive the axles
of the rollers, and the application of spring fingers or spring lever
friction sticks, for the purpose of effecting the ending or finishing of the
covered rollers by self-acting mechanism.
In witness whercof, I, the said William Wild, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twenty-sixth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
WILLIAM WILD. (L.S.)