IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR STRETCHING WOVEN FABRICS
Year: 1885

page_text: I JACOB SALTER of 3 Plymouth Street Lower Broughton Manchester in the
County of Lancaster Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR STRETCHING WOVEN FABRICS" to be as
follows:-
$5
My said Invention relates to the means or apparatus employed to increase or
restore the width of woven fabrics. In a machine constructed in accordance with
my improvements the cloth to be stretched is supplied from a beam or roller
supported in bearings on the front of the machine or it might be from a receptacle
placed in front of the machine to a pair of nipping rollers from which the cloth
passes on to the rollers which perform the stretching operation. The said stretching
rollers are arranged on each side of a central set of guiding rollers which serve to
hold the cloth at or about the centre and assist to keep the piece straight and to
prevent it from being pulled more to one side than to another. The stretching
rollers are arranged with their axes in an angular position so that in operation
they tend to lead or draw the fabric from the centre of the machine, the two sets
of stretching rollers being arranged to pull on the cloth at exactly opposite angles,
whereby the fabric passing through them is equally stretched from the centre
towards each selvedge. To prevent the rollers from increasing the adjusted extent
of entering contact with the piece and thus applying too great a stretching strain
I provide means for raising and putting a strain or drag upon the cloth at a point
near to the inner ends of the stretching rollers and a certain distance inward from
the selvedge. By thus impeding the entry of the cloth at this point the selvedge
is fed with a little more freedom so that by adjusting the height of the said
obstruction or drag so as to increase or diminish the strain on the cloth at this
point the cloth can be so drawn through the machine so as to preserve the angle of
stretch at which it is started. To constitute an adjustable drag which will not
glaze or otherwise injure the fabric I prefer to employ a revolvable cone which is
placed in front of each of the two sets of stretching rollers, the axis of the cone
being capable of being raised and lowered at the end which is of the greatest
diameter that is to say at the end which is nearest to the inner ends of the
stretching rollers. The periphery of the cone at its largest end raises and strains
the cloth at the required point and as the cone revolves with the cloth as it passes

page_text: over it, no injury is done to the fabric. When the piece of cloth has passed through
the stretching rollers and has attained the desired width it is led straight to a
batching beam or roller at the back of the machine upon which it is wound or it
The machine
may be passed between nipping rollers and folded into a receptacle.
is actuated by a pulley on the axis of a roller which drives the batching beam by
frictional contact. Teeth are formed on the said roller which gear with similar
teeth formed on the end of one roller in' each of the two sets of stretching rollers
the remainder of the stretching rollers being driven by frictional contact with each
other or with the cloth which passes between them. The fabric is thus drawn from
the front to the back of the machine. The batching roller is supported in inclined
slotted bearings which allow it to rise as the cloth is wound thereon. Where the
cloth is delivered into a receptacle one of the last pair of nipping rollers might act
as the driving roller. In order to vary the amount of stretch I provide means for
altering the angle of the sets of stretching rollers. These stretching rollers are
preferably carried in frames or turn tables which can be simultaneously set to the
desired angle by a hand wheel, screw and levers or other suitable means and degrees
of the circle may be marked on the said turn tables. As the sets of stretching
rollers are turned in one direction or the other the back roller with which they gear
is correspondingly advanced or retracted to keep the driving teeth in gear. To
prevent oil from dropping on the cloth being stretched, I prefer to use plumbago
bearings for certain of the journals or such plumbago bearings might be used
throughout the entire machine.

page_text: Improvements in Apparatus for Stretching Woven Fabrics.
I JACOB SALTER of 3 Plymouth Street Lower Broughton, Manchester in the
County of Lancaster, Engineer do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR STRETCHING WOVEN FABRICS" 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:
My said Invention relates to the means or apparatus employed to increase or
restore the width of woven fabrics. In a machine constructed in accordance with
my improvements the cloth to be stretched is supplied from a beam or roller
supported in bearings on the front of the machine or it might be from a receptacle
placed in front of the machine to a pair of nipping rollers from which the cloth
passes on to the rollers which perform the stretching operation. The said stretching
rollers are arranged on each side of a central set of guiding rollers which serve to
hold the cloth at or about the centre and assist to keep the piece straight and to
prevent it from being pulled more to one side than to another. The stretching
rollers are arranged with their axes in an angular position so that in operation
they tend to lead or draw the fabric from the centre of the machine, the two sets
of stretching rollers being arranged to pull on the cloth at exactly opposite angles,
whereby the fabric passing through them is equally stretched from the centre
toward each selvedge. When the piece of cloth has passed through the stretching
rollers and has attained the desired width it is led straight to a batching beam or
roller at the back of the machine upon which it is wound or it may be passed
between nipping rollers and folded into a receptacle. The stretching rollers are
preferably carried in frames or turo-tables which can be set to the desired angle.
To prevent oil from dropping on the cloth being stretched I prefer to use plumbago
bearings for certain of the journals or such plumbago bearings might be used
throughout the entire machine.
And in order that my said invention may be properly understood I will now
proceed more particularly to describe the same with reference to the accompanying
sheet of drawings which illustrates a stretching apparatus constructed in accordance
with my invention.
Fig. 1 of the said drawings is partly a side elevation and partly a sectional view
of the machine while Fig. 2 is a plan with minor parts of the apparatus removed
for the sake of clearness of illustration. The apparatus is supported on a table a.
upheld by two end frames b 'only a part of one of the said frames being shown at
Fig. 1. The cloth or fabric a. to be stretched is led in the direction indicated by
the arrows from or over a beam or roller c. supported at the front of the machine
by bearing brackets d. The fabric next passes between two nipping rollers e. and f.
which revolve in inclined bearings in a bracket g. secured to the frames b. or table a.
On leaving these nipping rollers the fabric next passes through the central rollers
h, h¹, h, that is to say it passes over the rollers h. h¹ and beneath the roller h. The
roller h¹ is preferably made shorter than the others as shown in the drawings and
an endless band or apron i. extends between the roller h¹ and a carrying roller h³
which apron is for the purpose of supporting the cloth as it passes over the driving
roller. Immediately after it enters the central holding rollers h, h³, h³ the cloth
also engages with the stretching rollers k. k¹ of which there is a pair on each side

page_text: of the central rollers as clearly shown in the plan view Fig. 2.
These stretching
rollers are set at an angle and are mounted in a frame l. which is pivotted at its
inner end by an adjustable stud m to the table, the other outer end being capable
of being set to any desired angle by means of the screw and hand wheel n or it
might be by any other suitable and convenient means. Instead of having a separate
screw and wheel for each frame l, I might provide means whereby the actuating of
one hand wheel or lever would result in the simultaneous setting of the stretching
rollers to any required angle. In the plan view one of the adjustable frames
only is shown. The stretching rollers are driven from the driving roller j. by
means of teeth t. formed on the roller j. and gearing with similar teeth in the
ends of the stretching rollers k. In order to keep the teeth properly in gear at
varying angles of the stretching rollers the pivot stud m of the frame l. is made
adjustable. The upper rollers are shorter than the rollers k. and these upper
shorter rollers are made so as to accomodate themselves to fabrics of varying
thickness and are adjustable on their spindles so as to suit varying widths of
fabric. By virtue of the inclined position of the stretching rollers the fabric is
stretched from the centre towards the selvedges the increase in width being
indicated by the dotted line ¹ in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The central rollers
h. h h serve to hold the cloth in the centre so as to prevent it from being pulled
more to one side than to the other by the stretching rollers, the central rollers
being allowed to engage with and nip the cloth firmly before it is seized by the
stretching rollers. After leaving the stretching rollers the cloth is led over the
carrying roller h³ and is or may be rolled upon the batching beam o. or otherwise
it may be carried forward and folded by a suitable apparatus. The machine is
driven from the fast and loose pullies p. on the shaft q. of the driving roller j. and
a pulley r. on the same shaft drives the batching beam o. by means of a band 8. as
shown at Fig. 2. As the fabric is drawn through the apparatus it gives motion
to the other parts. The method of driving may however be varied. To prevent
the cloth or fabric from being discoloured or soiled by oil from the bearings I prefer
to use plumbago bearings for the journals of the guiding and stretching rollers or
such plumbago bearings might be used throughout the entire machine. In my
provisional specification I referred at length to cones or fixed shoulders which I then
thought it advisable to introduce beneath the cloth in its passage from the nipping
rollers to the stretching rollers in the position for example indicated by the dotted
lines u. on one side of the plan view Fig. 2 I have however since found that such
guiding shoulders or cones are not absolutely necessary and I therefore disclaim
their use as essential parts of my apparatus although their application might under
certain circumstances be advisable.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is :
1. The general arrangement construction and combination of parts composing
the apparatus for increasing or restoring the width of woven fabrics substantially
as herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
2. The stretching rollers carried in frames capable of being adjusted to any
desired angle and operated and actuated substantially as and for the purpose
hereinbefore described and indicated.
Dated thin and
ST1000