IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR USE IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FELTED FABRICS AND THE LIKE
Year: 1884

page_text: I ALFRED JULIUS BOULT of 323 High Holborn in the County of Middlesex
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINES FOR USE IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FELTED FABRICS AND THE LIKE
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in these machines which are used for
interlacing the fibres of certain fabrics, for the purpose of felting them together and
strengthening the fabric and rendering it close in texture.
1
The Invention consists in certain improvements first in the mechanism for
vertically reciprocating the bar carrying the barbed or roughened needles that
enter the bat and web; secondly in the mechanism for feeding the needle bar
endwise back and forth to cause the needles to act successively at different points
on the web: thirdly in the mechanism for feeding or moving the web of cloth and
the superposed bat through the machine and winding up the completed product.
.On the frame of the machine there is a support for a web of cloth. Said support
is composed of a horizontal portion and an inclined portion pivoted to the frame
and secured by a slotted arm and set screw whereby the inclination of the said
portion may be varied. To it are affixed supports on which rests the ends of an
arbor on which is wound a bat of wool or other fiber to be incorporated into the
web. The web passes up the inclined portion and the bat is laid upon one side of
the web and drawn with it over a guide roller and over a perforated or slotted
horizontal bed or support. Over the bed there is a horizontal bar from which
project downwardly a gang of barbed needles which when the bar is depressed
penetrate the bat and web and enter the perforations or slots in the bed and rise
again when the bar is raised the barbs or roughened portions of the needles
catching the fibres and interlacing them as the needles pass and repass through the
material being operated upon and combining the bat with the web as will be well
understood. This machine may be used for concentrating a bat or web of one.
material only the action of the needles being the same as when used for uniting
the bat and web of different materials.

page_text: A perforated plate or horizontal rods just above the bat and through or between
which the needles pass, serves to prevent the bat rising with the needles when
being withdrawn.
The needle bar is supported by a carrier adapted to slide vertically in guides
and is reciprocated by eccentrics on a driving shaft journalled in the lower portion
of the frame and eccentric rods extending from said eccentrics to the carrier. The
needle bar is adapted to slide longitudinally in dovetail guides or lugs formed on
the carrier and is moved end wise automatically after each ascent of the carrier, so
that the needles will not descend at the same points twice in succession but will
occupy a different position laterally of the web at each descent.
.
The mechanism for accomplishing this result may be described as follows
A lever is pivoted to the frame and provided with a slot into which projects a
pin on one of the eccentric rods the movements of said rod causing said lever to
oscillate vertically.
A bell crank lever is pivoted to an arm on the frame and engaged at one end
with a bearing or rod affixed to the slotted lever above mentioned and at, its other
end with a link.
•
Another lever is pivoted to another arm affixed to the frame and provided at its
upper end with two pawls adapted to act in opposite directions and pivoted at its
lower end to the link above referred to.
There is a sliding bar provided with two ratchets having their teeth oppositely
cut; it is connected by a link with the needle bar. A tilting pivoted three armed
lever has two arms adapted to engage alternately with the pawls, and hold one
raised while the other is lowered and a third projecting downwardly between
adjustable studs or projections secured to an offset portion of the ratchet bar.
By this mechanism the needles are caused to move progressively first in one
direction and then in the other, each change being automatically effected. One
lever is provided with a pawl which engages a ratchet on a roll over which the bat
and web pass after being united by the needles. A pressure roll presses the united
bat and web against the roll just named and enables. the step by step rotation of
the latter caused by the lever pawl and ratchet to feed the material along.
There is a drum drived by a belt. from a pulley. on the arbor of the roll. A
winding arbor free to rise and fall in vertical guides has the end of the united bat
and web wound upon it, and rests on the drum the motion of which rotates the
arbor by friction and causes it to wind up the web at the same. rate that it is
delivered.
.
The perforated bed is supported by means of nuts which are vertically adjustable
on threaded standards affixed to the frame. The bed is thus enabled to be adjusted
or raised to compensate for wear of the needles..
Dated this 26th dow of February 120.1.

page_text: "
I ALFRED JULIUS BOULT of 323, High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINES FOR USE IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FELTED FABRICS AND THE LIKE
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This Invention relates to improvements in those machines which are used for
interlacing the fibres, of certain fabrics, for the purpose of felting them together and
strengthening the fabric and rendering it close in texture.
The Invention consists in certain improvements first in the mechanism for
vertically reciprocating the bar carrying the barbed or roughened needles that
enter the bat and web: secondly in the mechanism for feeding the needle bar
endwise back and forth to cause the needles to act successively at different. points
on the web: thirdly in the mechanism for feeding or moving the web of cloth and
the superposed bat through the machine and winding up the completed product. -
In the accompanying Drawings Figure 1 represents an end elevation of a machine
embodying these improvements. Figure 2 represents a front elevation of the same.
Figures 3. 4 and 5 represent detached portions enlarged.
In the Drawings, a represents the frame of the machine. b represents a support
for a web c of cloth. Said support is composed of the horizontal portion 2, and the
inclined portion 3 pivoted at 4 to the frame a and secured to the frame by a slotted
arm 5 and set screw 6 whereby the inclination of the portion 3 may be varied.
To the portion 3 are affixed supports 7 on which rest the ends of an arbor 8 on
which is wound a bat 9 of wool or other fiber to be incorporated into the web c.
The web passes up the inclined portion 3 and the bat is laid upon one side of the
web and drawn with it over a guide roller f and over a perforated or-slotted
horizontal bed or support g. Over the bed g is a horizontal bar h from which
project downwardly a gang of barbed needles i arranged when the bar is depressed
to penetrate the bat and web, and enter the perforations or slots in the bed g and
rise again when the bar h is raised, the barbs or roughened portions of the needles
catching the fibres and interlacing them as the needles pass and repass through
the material being operated upon and combining the bat with the web as will be
well understood. It will be seen that this machine may be used for concentrating_
a bat or web of one material only, the action of, the needles being the same as
when used for uniting the bat and web of different materials.
A perforated plate or horizontal rod y Figure 5 just above the bat and through
or between which the needles pass, serves to prevent the bat rising with the needles
when being withdrawn.
The needle bar is supported by a carrier J adapted to slide vertically in guides
in the frame a and is reciprocated by eccentrics m on a driving shaft n journalled
in the lower portion of the frame a and eccentric rods o extending from said
eccentrics to the carrier j and pivoted to the latter at p. The needle bar is adapted
to slide longitudinally in dovetail guides or lugs q formed on the carrier ; and is
moved endwise automatically after each ascent of the carrier, so that the needles
will not descend at the same points twice in succession but will occupy a different
position laterally of the web at each descent.
The mechanism for accomplishing this result may be described as follows:--
represents a lever pivoted at 8 to the frame a and provided with a slot t into
which projects a pin on. one of the eccentric rods o the movements of said rod
causing said lever to oscillate vertically. v represents a bell crank lever pivoted

page_text: at w to an arm x on the frame a and engaged at one end with a bearing or rod a¹
affixed to the lever r and at its other end with a link b¹.
c¹ represents a lever pivoted at d' to an arm e¹ affixed to the frame a and provided
at its upper end with two pawls f1 'g' adapted to act in opposite directions and
pivoted at its lower end to the link b. h¹ represents a sliding bar provided with two
ratchets having their (teeth oppositely cut as shown in Figure 4. Said ratchet
bar is connected by a link with the needle bar h.
represents,a tilting three armed lever pivoted at m to the lever c¹ and having
arins adapted to engage alternately with the pawls fg' and hold one raised
while the other is lowered and a third arm projecting downwardly between
adjustable studs or projections no secured to an off set portion of the bar h¹.
The operation of this mechanism.is as follows:-
The vertical oscillations of the lever 7 through the bell crank lever vand link b¹
cause the lever c¹ to oscillate on its fulcrum and the operative pawl thereof to
engage with the corresponding ratchet of the bar h¹ and thus move said bar step
by step in the direction indicated by the arrow in Figure. 4 (when the pawl f1 'is
operative and the other inoperative as shown) thus causing the needle bar to move
in the same direction, each movement taking place while the needles are withdrawn
from the bat and web.
When the movement of the bar h¹ brings the stud 'o' into contact with the arm
the lever is tilted so as to lift the pawl f¹ and allow the pawl g¹ to drop upon
the ratchet . The oscillations of the lever cl now move the bar h¹ and the needle
bar h step by step in the opposite direction until the stud n¹ tilts the lever l' and
thus restores the parts to the position shown in Figure 4.
The needles are thus caused to move progressively first in one, direction and
then in the other, each change being automatically effected. The lever is
-provided with a pawl a² which engages a ratchet b² on a roll c² over which the bat
and web pass after being united by the needles. e-represent a pressure roll which
•presses the united bat and web against the roll c² and enables the step by step
rotation of the latter caused by the lever r pawl a² and ratchet b² to feed the
material along.
f represents a drum driven by a belt from a pulley on the arbor of the roll c².
A winding arbor g² free to rise and fall in vertical guides h² has the end of the
united bat and web wound upon it and rests on the roll f2. the motion of which
rotates the arbor g2 by friction and causes it to wind up the web at the same rate
that it is delivered by the roll c².
The bed g is supported by means of nuts 2 which are vertically adjustable on
threaded standards j affixed to the frame a. The bed is thus enabled to be
adjusted or raised to compensate for wear of the needles.
.
Having now described this Invention as communicated to me
correspondent what I claim is :-
by my foreign
First. The mechanism substantially as described and illustrated for imparting the
reciprocating traversing motion to the needle bar, hand consisting essentially of:
(a) The vertically vibrating lever r bell-crank lever v horizontally vibrating
lever c¹ which provide the primary traversing motion to be imparted through the
sliding bar, h¹ to the needle bar h.
.:
(b) The pawls f¹ g¹ pivotted to the lever, c¹ and operating the sliding bar-h¹
(connected by link, with the needle bar ) by means of the ratchets j', as
described.
(c) The three armed lever having arms 1213 adapted to raise alternately the
pawls fg out of gear with the ratchets the necessary movement being.
imparted to the arm by the studs no upon the sliding bar -said, lever
being pivotted, upon and moving with the vibrating lever, c
Second. For imparting a reciprocating traversing motion the combination of the
vibrating lever c¹ pawls f g sliding bar, having ratchets three armed
lever, and adjustable stops n'o¹ the whole constructed and operating substantially
as and for the purpose described and shown.

page_text: •
Third. The mechanism substantially as described and illustrated for drawing the
web through the machine and winding it upon rolls and consisting essentially of
the combination of the pawl a² pivotted to the vibrating lever ratchet wheel 62
fixed to the roll c³ pressure roll e² and winding arbor g² free to revolve and rise and
fall-in vertical guides h² and driven from the roll f" which derives its motion from
the roll c3 as set forth.
Fourth. The combination with the bed g of the screwed standards and nut i²
for the purpose of adjusting the position of the bed to compensate for wear of the
needles or other cause substantially as described and shown.
Fifth. The combination with the vertically traversing carrier j of the needle bar h.
movably connected to and rising and falling with it, but capable of independent
traversing motion at right angles to that of the said carrier substantially as and for
the purpose specified and illustrated.