IMPROVEMENTS IN FIXING AND FINISHING THE FOLDS OF PLAITED FABRICS, AND IN APPARATUS OR MACHINERY THEREFOR."
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Phillips Thompson, of the Firm of Wm. P.
Thompson and Co., Agents for Foreign Patent Solicitors, of 6, Lord Street,
Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, and of 323, High Holborn, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN FIXING AND FINISHING THE FOLDS OF PLAITED FABRICS, AND IN
APPARATUS OR MACHINERY THEREFOR." A communication from abroad by
(Mrs.) Mary F. Sallade, of New York, in the State of New York, America.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Phillips Thompson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 20th June 1881.
WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, of the Firm of Wm. P. Thompson and Co.,
Agents for Foreign Patent Solicitors, of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, and of 323, High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN FIXING AND FINISHING THE FOLDS OF PLAITED FABRICS,
AND IN APPARATUS OR MACHINERY THEREFOR." A communication from abroad
by (Mrs.) Mary F. Sallade, of New York, in the State of New York, America.
This Invention relates to machines for pressing and finishing plaits or flattened
folds in textile fabrics.
It has for its object the finishing of plaits formed by the plaiting machines now
in use, in which the plaited folds in the fabric aro gathered by means of a blade
having a reciprocating movement.
It consists primarily in subjecting the plaited fabric so soon as folded, under
moderate pressure and in connection with one or more thicknesses of suitable
absorbent material, to the heat and moisture of free steam. It consists secondarily
of suitable apparatus as hereinaftor fully described for effectuating this end.
In the accompanying Drawings the details of the apparatus employed for
folding the fabric so as to form plaits therein, are not fully shown, but only so
much thereof as will illustrate the manner of combining my attachments for
perfecting the plaits with the reciprocating knife or blade common to such machines,
the attachment being adapted for use in combination with any of the plaiting
Pine G/1

page_text: machines now known to the art in which the blades are formed by a gathering
blade having a reciprocating movement.
In Fig. 1 of the 'Drawings, which illustrates in vertical section one of the forms
of apparatus adapted for effecting this Invention, A represents the reciprocating
blade of a plaiting machine operating in the usual manner to move upon the
plate B to and from the rollers C, C; said rollers are made to rotate intermittently
in connection with the movements of the blade A by the mechanism of the plaiting
machine, which does not in itself constitute part of this Invention.
The plaiting machine (represented in Fig. 1 by the parts A, B, C, C,) is secured
upon one end of a table D, and at its opposite end a pair of rollers E, E¹, are
mounted in suitable bearings parallel to the rollers C, C, in such manner as that
the axis of the roller E shall rotate in front and slightly above the roller E', the
two being brought very nearly in contact, as shown in the Drawing, Fig. 1.
Two endless bands F, F¹, of heavy muslin or other soft textile material are
carried separately over the rollers E, E¹, and thence back over the rollers C, C', of
the plaiting machine; the upper band F over the upper rollers E and C, and the
lower band F' over the rollers E' and C¹.
The bands are kept closely stretched upon and over the machine rollers C, C',
by means of a series of three small tension rollers G, G, G, secured in a frame H
and placed in front of the rear rollers F, F', so that the bands in passing together
to said rollers may be carried over the two outer and under the one central tension
roller, as shown in Fig. 1. The frame H is pivotted at one end to a suitable
support I and supported at the other by a swinging leg J, which being placed at an
angle permits the free end of the frame to be elevated or depressed as required to
take up more or less the slack of the bands and to produce more or less tension
thereon. The bands are made to revolve by the intermittent movement of
the rollers C, C', and move in unison therewith, and being brought together in
passing over said rollers are then kept together until they pass out from the
rollers E, E. The bands are supported in their upper and lower reaches by the
small rollers K, K.
M, Fig. 1, is a pan or vessel so supported in front of the rollers C, C, of the
plaiting machine as that the endless bands shall after leaving said rollers pass
together over the upper edges of the vessel in close contact therewith. A table N
is fitted to one end or into the bottom of this vessel M, and connected to a suitable
steam generator P by means of which the vessel M may be kept charged with
steam.
In the operation of this apparatus the material X to be plaited is fed in under
the plaiting blade A, and folded thereby in front of the rollers C, C', in the usual
manner. The fold is formed while the rollers are stationary, the blade in its
forward movement catching the cloth and pushing it into a plait against the upper
rollers. So soon as this is accomplished, the rollers are made to turn and the plait
is drawn in between the endless bands on the rollers and enfolded between them,
whilst the blade is simultaneously lifted and retracted in readiness to form another
fold.
The plaited material thus enclosed between the two belts or bands F, F, is
carried forward with an intermittent movement over the vessel M and is there
subjected momentarily, whilst thus blanketed and confined between the matorial
composing the belts, to the action of the hot vapour or steam arising from said
vessel. After leaving the vessel the fabric remains confined between the bands
until they pass between the rollers E, E', during which interval the operation of
fixing the plaits is fully completed. The bands in passing back from the rollers E
to the rollers C are fully exposed to the air and are thus dried. The effect of the
slight moisture and of the heat thus applied to the plaited fabric in connection with
a moderate degree of pressure serves to set and permanently fix the folds and to
impart a finish thereto not to be obtained in any other manner, whilst the
blanketing of the fabric so protects it as that the most delicate materials, such as
velvets, ribbons, et cetera, are not affected and changed by the process.

page_text: Fig. 2 of the Drawings illustrates by a vertical longitudinal section taken
centrally through the apparatus a modification of the Invention, in which but one
endless band is employed, Fig. 3 being a plan view thereof with the endless band
and the rollers carrying said band removed. The Invention in this case involves
the combination with the actuating roller C of the plaiting machine and with a
single endless band carried over it, of a smooth bearing plate made to extend from
beneath said roller and the plaiting knife back over the steam chest to the rear roller,
the band being led over said plate in contact therewith from the one roller to the
other. The use of a second pressure roller C³, Fig. 1, and of a lower endless band F',
and of auxiliary rollers, as shown in Fig. 1, is thus dispensed with and the apparatus
thereby simplified and reduced in cost.
In the apparatus shown in Figs. 2 and 3, D' is the frame which supports the
several parts of a plaiting machine. The reciprocating plaiting blade of this
machine is designated by the letter A', and the actuating pressure roller by the
letter C". The reciprocating plaiting blade and the actuating roller move in
harmony, the latter having an intermittent movement which takes place at each
forward movement of the blade. The mechanism for actuating the feed roller and
plaiting blade constitute no part of my 'Invention, being common to the plaiting
machines heretofore in use, and it requires therefore no special description here.
An endless band or belt F of some textile material or absorbent fabric is led over
the roller C" and thence back over a second roller O", whose journals are supported
in boxes sliding in horizontal ways formed at the upper end of pillars H, H, to
permit an adjustment of the tension of the belt upon the rollers by forcing the
roller C outward. This adjustment is obtained by set screws W, W, working
against the sliding journal boxes of the roller, as shown in the Drawing, Figs. 2
and 3.
A metallic bearing plate R of the same width as the rollers is extended from the
one roller C¹ to the second roller C, its ends being made to curve down under
said rollers, as shown in the Drawings. The reciprocating blade A¹ plays upon the
curved surface of the front end of this bearing plate R instead of upon a lower
roller, as in the usual form of plaiting machines, the lower roller being wholly
dispensed with in this apparatus. A steam chest or box M' is placed under the
plate R a short distance in the rear of the pressure roller C" at a level above that
of the lower edge of said roller, and the plate R is bent upwards over the box and
is made to form a continuous curve from the one roller to the other, so that the
belt carried over the plate is kept in constant contact therewith. That portion of
the plate covering the box fits tightly thereon and is finely perforated (see at R,
Fig. to admit of a free escape of steam through the plato from the vessel beneath.
Steam is supplied to this chest M¹ from a suitable generator by means of a
tube N'. The endless band or belt F is carried back over the plate R with an
intermittent motion cominunicated thereto by the intermittent movement of the
front roller C¹³, and bears closely upon said plate or upon the interposed fabric by
reason of the upward bend or curve in the plate, as shown in the Drawing, Fig. 2.
In the operation of this improved apparatus, the fabric to be plaited (see X,
Fig. 2.) is fed in under the folding blade A' upon the front edge of the bearing
plate R, and being caught by the blade in its reciprocating movement is folded and
carried fold by fold in under the endless band F upon the roller C. The folded
fabric is now caught by the band and carried with its plaits closely folded and
pressed down upon the plate R along over the entire length of the plate, and is
then delivered therefrom out from under the rear roller C¹, as shown at all, Fig. 2.
In its course over the plate R the plaited fabric is carried slowly over the
perforations R' therein, and subjected to the action of the steam issuing therefrom.
This bot steam serves to set the plaits so that they will remain fixed when the
process is completed, the operation being assisted by the heat of the plate delivered
from the steam.
The endless band F bearing upon the fabric not only keeps it in contact with the
plate throughout its entire length with a moderate pressure, but serves also to

page_text: absorb all excess of moisture in the presence of the steam, so that none is deposited
upon the goods to stain them.
The distance between the rollers as well as the length and width of the
intermediate bearing plate R may be varied, the width of the rollers and the
general proportions of the several parts of the apparatus not being material to the
Invention.
The use of the fixed plate R in combination with the feed rollers C and folding
blade A by obviating the necessity of a second roller beneath the roller C, reduces
proportionally the cost of this machine. The plates are secured as fully by the
operation of the endless belt F, or its equivalent, in combination with the fixed
plate R, as by means of a second roller.
Having now described the Invention exactly as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent with orders to file, I wish it to be understood that what I
believe to be new and desire to claim under Letters Patent is,-
First. The process herein described for fixing and finishing the folds of a plaited
fabric by exposing the folded fabric in combination with one or more bands or
thicknesses of suitable absorbent material to the heat and moisture of steam,
substantially as set forth.
Second. The combination with the forming or pressing rollers C, C1, of a plaiting
machine (see Fig. 1) and with a suitable steaming device al of endless bands of
absorbent material carried separately over and actuated by said rollers to pass
together from between them and over the steamer M, substantially in the manner
and for the purpose herein set forth.
Third. The combination with the folding blade B' and feed or pressure roller Cl
of a plaiting machine (see Figs. 2 and 3) and with an endless band F of absorbent
material passing over said roller, of a stationary plate R extending under the roller
and folding blado so that the latter may work thereon, substantially as and for the
purpose herein set forth.
Fourth. The combination with a stationary perforated plate R in a plaiting
machine (sec Figs. 2 and 3) and with an endless absorbent band F moving over
and upon the face thereof, of a steam supply pipe or vessel M' arranged to produce
an emission of steam through the perforations in said plato, substantially as and
for the purpose herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Phillips Thompson, have hereunto
set my hand and scal, this Twenticth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty one.