CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MEASURING, FOLDING, PLATING, OR LAPPING GOODS OR FABRICS
Year: 1840

page_text: MACKINLEY'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
MACKINLEY, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engraver, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date, at West-
minster, the Tenth day of November, in the fourth year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs, and successors, give and grant unto me, the said William
Mackinley, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that
I, the said William Mackinley, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and
such others as 1, the said William Mackinley, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no other, from time to time
and at all times during the terms of years therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England and Wales, and
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, .my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MEASURING, FOLDING, PLATING, OR LAPPING
GOODS OR FABRICS;" in which said Letters, Patent is contained a proviso, that
I, the said William Mackinley, shall cause a particular description of the
nature of my said Invention, and, in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months, next and immediately after the date of the said. in, part recited Letters
Patent, as in and by the same, reference, being thereunto had, will more, fully
and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, ¡I, the said
William Mackinley, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,

page_text: and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the Drawings hereto annexed, and the following
explanation thereof, that is to say:―
.
My improvements in machinery or apparatus for measuring, folding, plaiting,
or lapping goods or fabrics, consists in a certain novel arrangement of
mechanism or construction of apparatus designed for the purpose of measuring,
folding, plaiting, or lapping goods or fabrics whilst they are being made up
or packed into pieces or parcels, and thus put into a marketable condition.
The principal object of these improvements is to substitute the agency of
mechanism in order to perform these operations, and capable of being worked
by steam or any other power, instead of effecting the same by manual labor,
as, hitherto done. The advantages derived from my improvements will be
evident from the accuracy with which the goods are measured and folded
or made up, and the great saving of time and labor in performing the
operation, particularly in heavy goods, such as fustians, &c. But in order
that my Invention may be perfectly understood, and the machinery or
apparatus together with its operations fully detailed, I have attached to these
Presents a Sheet of Drawings containing several views of the mechanismı
employed, and drawn upon a scale of about 1 inch to the foot, and have
marked the same with figures and letters of reference, placing similar letters
upon corresponding parts of the machinery in all the Figures. Fig. 1 is a
side elevation of my improved machine for measuring or folding goods;
Fig. 2, a similar view, taken in section longitudinally through about the
middle of the machine; Fig. 8 is a plan or horizontal view of the machine as
seen from above; Fig. 4 is an end view of the same; and Fig. 5, another
sectional view, taken transversely through the machine at about the line A, B,
in Fig. 1. a, a, a, a, are the side standards or framings of the machine;
b, b, the end or cross framings of the same; c, c, c, c, is a carriage or framing
supported upon flanched rollers or wheels d, d, d, d, which run upon the
ailways formed by the planed upper edges of the side frames a, a. It will
be seen that this carriage is furnished with two bevilled boards or leaves e, e,
ff, their tapered edges being opposed to each other, and being hinged or
jointed by the links 9, 9, 9, 9, to the bearing or standards h, h, h, h, fixed
upon the carriage c; these boards are used alternately over and under the cloth
for the purpose of folding or laying it, as will be hereafter explained. There are
also two other bevilled boards or leaves i, i, j, j, which are hinged or jointed
o the cross framing 6, b, by means of the links k, k, k, k; these boards are
furnished with a strip of fish skin or other rough surface, and are employed
for the purpose of holding or retaining the plaited or folded cloth, as will also

page_text: upon
be hereafter explained. To the side frames a, a, are, screwed slight standards
1,1, supporting the guide rails m, m, m, which conduct the cloth to be folded..
into the machine. It will be seen in Figs. 1 and 2, that the cloth goods or.
fabrics to be measured, folded, plaited, or lapped is represented by the red.
line C, and is proceeding or passing into the machine in the direction of the..
arrows. The operation of the machinery is effected by passing the strap n, n;.
around the driving pulley o, which is keyed upon the shaft p, p, supported in
the pedestals or bearings g, g; at the reverse end of this driving shaft, is a
crank plate or wheel r, r, with its crank pins, which imparts, by means of the
connecting rod t, a reciprocating motion to the radial arm u, which vibrates
its fulcrum V, supported by the lower frame w; the upper extremity of
the vibrating arm is connected by the links x, x, to the carriage c, c, and thus as
it vibrates, traverses this carriage to and fro upon its railways. The first fold
or layer of the cloth C, being laid evenly upon the bed or table y, y, by means
of the board f, upon the first traverse of the carriage c, it is held or retained
by the boards i and falling upon it; and as the carriage c returns, the
board e now falls upon and passes over the cloth, and lays down another fold
upon the table y, and as the carriage c runs up towards the end of its traverse
a catch piece 7, fixed upon the under side of the carriage, strikes upon
the
tappet 1, and its tail piece acts upon the lever 2 under the board j, and thus.
lifts the board slightly upwards in order to allow the cloth to be passed under it;
when upon the tappet 1 being released, the board j falls, and immediately retains
the folded cloth, whilst the carriage c returns, and the board f now falling and
passing over the cloth again, in its turn lays down another fold or plait, whilst
a similar catch piece 3, upon the reverse end of the carriage, strikes the
tappet 4, whose tail piece acts similarly upon the lever 5 under the board i,
and lifts it from the cloth until the folding board f has completed its operation
and laid down another fold of cloth, which is also immediately retained by
the descent of the retaining board i; and so on, each fokling and retaining
board acting alternately as the operation of the machine proceeds. Now, as
the cloth begins to accumulate upon the bed or table y, the table is caused to
descend simultaneously with the folding operation, that is, to lower itself a
space equal to the thickness of the cloth after every fold or layer has been put
upon the table. This is accomplished by means of a tappet roller 6, placed
under the carriage framing c, c, which, upon every traverse of the carriage
striking against the lever 7, connected to the ratchet or pall 8, thus. pulls the
ratchet wheel 9 round the space of one tooth at every complete alternate
traverse of the carriage c, c.
Now this ratchet wheel 9 is keyed fast upon
one end of the longitudinal shaft 10, and upon this shaft there is also a small

page_text: roller.or boss 11 (seen most clearly at Fig. 5) to which the ends of the two
cords 12, 12, are attached, these.cords pass under suitable guide,pullies 13, 13,
and their other ends are attached to the under side of the bed.or.table y, y,
so that as these cords are wound, upon the roller 11, by the rotation of the
shaft 10, the table twill, consequently, descend gradually as the cloth accu-
mulates upon its surface; or this descent.of the table:y may be accomplished
by racks and pinions, or any suitable contrivance, its upward 'tendency and
necessary tension being equally maintained by the cords and weights 14, 14,
the whole being set in. or out-of action by traversing the strap rod 15,.15.
In witness' whereof, I, the said William Mackinley, 'have hereunto set my
'hand and seal, this Seventh day of May, 'in the year of our 'Lord-One
thousand eight hundred and forty-one.
. JOHN BARLOW, JT, &
Master
Extra in Chancery.
WILLIAM (L.B.) MOKINLEY.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Seventh day of May,
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid William Mackinley came 'before
our Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of
the Statute in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the Tenth day of May, in the year above written.