IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR FOLDING. FABRICS AND INSERTING CARDBOARD OR OTHER SUBSTANCES BETWEEN THE FOLDS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Tonge, of the City of Manchester, Manu-
facturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR FOLDING.
FABRICS AND INSERTING CARDBOARD OR OTHER SUBSTANCES BETWEEN THE
FOLDS."
Sealed the 13th March 1866, and dated the 5th October 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Tonge at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 5th October!
1865.
I, RICHARD TONGE, of the City of Manchester, Manufacturer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
FOLDING FABRICS AND INSERTING CARDBOARD OR OTHER SUBSTANCES BETWEEN THE
FOLDS," to be as follows:-.
My Invention consists of a swing frame or pendulum vibrating on a fixed
centre or a sliding frame for guiding the fabric to be folded on to a moveable
table, the level of which is lowered gradually as the folds accumulate; near
to this table is another table supporting the cardboards or other substances,
which are moved by hand, or by the swing frame above referred to, or by other
suitable mechanism, from the table on which they are piled into the fold of the
fabric that has been laid on the table. The table upon which the fabric is
folded is placed, within a box or between uprights, and it is supported by
india-rubber or other suitable springs which yield as the folds of fabric and
the cardboards accumulate upon it, or in some cases the moveable table may

page_text: be dispensed with, and the fabric may rest on the bottom of the box, the sides
or frame holding the cardboards in their places. The cardboards are laid
upon moveable tables hinged to each side of the table or box on or in which
the fabric is folded, and after every fold has been deposited on the centre
table one of the side tables is turned over by hand, or by a rack and pinion
or other equivalents, to deposit its cardboard on to the fabric; the cardboards
are held down when laid in the fabric by light spring catches or other equiva-
lents on each side of the box or frame...
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Tonge in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 31st
March 1866.
1
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
TONGE, of the City of Manchester, Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Richard Tonge, Her special license that I, the said Richard Tonge,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Richard Tonge, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from, time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR FOLDING FABRICS AND INSERTING CARDBOARD OR OTHER
SUBSTANCES BETWEEN THE FOLDS," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Richard Tonge, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 six calendar months next and im-
mediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Richard Tonge, 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, that is to say:-

page_text: My Invention consists of a swing frame or pendulum vibrating on a fixed
centre or a sliding frame for guiding the fabric to be folded, on to a moveable
table, the level of which is lowered gradually as the folds accumulate thereon ;
near to this table is another table supporting the cardboards; or other sub-
stances, which are moved by hand or by suitable mechanism from the table"
on which they are piled into the fold of the, fabric. that has been laid upon.the.
table:.
And in order that my. Invention may be fully understood and readily carried.
into operation, I will proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet of Drawings,
reference being: had to the figures and letters marked thereon:-
Figure 1 is an end, view, Figure 2 a side view, and Figure 3 a plan of my
improved machinery for folding fabrics, in which the sheets of cardboard.or
other substances are placed by hand between the folds of the fabric; Figure 4.
is a transverse, section of a machine in which the folding of the fabric and the
inserting of the sheets of cardboard are performed by self-acting machinery.
In Figures 1, 2, and 3, a is the table upon which the fabric is folded; this-
table is placed within the box or uprights 6, supported on the stand or framing
c; to the under side of the table a are fixed studs a¹, and other studs. 6¹ are
fixed to the cross rails of the box b; the table a is supported by the india-
rubber springs & suspended to the studs 6', and passing under the studs a¹ ;.
these springs yield as the folds of fabric and the cardboard accumulate,
upon the table; the cardboards are held down or prevented to rise by the-
catches e jointed to the box b, and acted upon. by the springs f. The fabric
to be folded is brought from the roller g, and passes between. the guide.rods h,,
which are connected to the bushes i, sliding to and fro on the side bars j. fixed,
to the ends of the box 6, and the requisite motion is given to the guide rods. h.
by the driving shaft k, furnished with a fast-and-loose pulley, as shewn in
Figure 2.; to the shaft k is fixed the pinion k', gearing into the wheel ¹ on.
the, crank shaft 1, the cranks of which are connected by the links nɩ to the
cross shaft n; the ends of this shaft are fixed in the side levers o, which vibrate.
on studs o'; the upper portions of the levers o are tubular, and, in. them fit, the
rods o³, connected above to the sliding bushes i; by this means a regular to-and-
fro motion is given to the guide rods h, and in order to give a short dwell. at
each end. of the traverse to allow the attendant time to insert the cardboard,
the links m are made with slots where they fit on the cross shaft n. The:
Drawing represents. the various parts of the machine in the positions they
occupy when a certain depth of fabric and cardboard has accumulated..on the:
table a. The cardboards are laid on convenient tables, and an attendant,
stands near each side of the machine; as soon as the guide rods h have arrived.

page_text: at the left-hand side of the machine, as shewn in Figure 1; the attendant at
the right-hand side lays a sheet of cardboard on the fabric,"
and
*presses it
down under the catches e, the springs fallowing' the catches to yield while
the cardboard is introduced. While the cardboard is being put on the fold
of fabric the guide rods are gradually approaching the right-hand side of the
machine, and on the return stroke of the guide rods a fresh fold, of fabric is
being laid ready for the next cardboard, which is put in from the left-hand
side; these operations are repeated until the required length of fabric has been
folded, the table a is then pushed down until the studs a' are caught by the
hooks P; the attendants then remove the 'pile of fabric with the cardboards:
through the end of the box which is left open for that purpose, and by turning
the handle q' on the shaft q, the hooks p are all liberated, the levers Iq being
connected by links to the hooks 'p, and the table is raised by the springs'd
until it comes against the catches e; the parts are then in position' for beginning-
to fold a fresh piece. By means of this improved machine a great saving' in
time and labor is effected.
In Figure 4, in addition to the machinery above described for traversing the
guide rods h to and fro, I apply to each side of the box b a moveable table r
these tables are hinged to the fixed studs ; to the frame of each table is cast
or fixed a lever connected by the links to the levers t; these levers vibrate
on studs t, and they are actuated by the double crank shaft u and links v
This machine may be worked by one attendant,' who stands at the end-of the
box or frame b, and supplies the cardboards alternately to each moveable>
tabler; as soon as one of the tables r has been lowered, the pressure of the
table on the pile of fabric lowers slightly the table a (which is suspended in
springs, as shewn and described in reference to the previous Figures), and dis-
places the catches e to allow the edges of the cardboard to pass under them, so
that when the table 7 rises again, the cardboard remains down to retain * the
fold of the fabric; it.is evident that the tables r act alternately, and that the
riperations are repeated until the required length of fabric is folded, or until
the table a is completely down. In some cases I intend to dispense with the
moveable table a and the machinery for moving the guide rods and the tables
7, and only make use of the box or frame b, the sides or uprights of' which
would guide the cardboards and the fabric as they accumulate upon the
bottom of the box or frame.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described the manner
of performing the same, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself
to the details given, as the sliding frame or guide rods for guiding the fabric
muy be worked in various other ways, and in lieu thereof a pendulum or swing

page_text: frame may be used; the moveable tables r may also be moved by racks and.
pinions, or other equivalents, or by hand.
I declare that I claim the general combinations and arrangements of
machinery described for folding fabrics and inserting cardboard or other sub-.
stances between the folds, and particularly the mode of suspending the table a..
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Tonge, have hereto set my
hand and seal, the Seventeenth day of March, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-six.
RICHARD TONGE. (L.s.)