IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY TO BE USED IN FINISHING CLOTHS OR FABRICS HAVING NAP OR PILE ON THEIR SURFACES
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Curtis and Jonathan Haigh, of Leeds, in the
County of York, Cloth Finishers, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY TO BE USED IN FINISHING CLOTHS OR FABRICS HAVING NAP OR
PILE ON THEIR SURFACES."
Sealed the 17th July 1860, and dated the 19th January 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Curtis and
Jonathan Haigh, at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 19th January 1860.
We, THOMAS CURTIS and JONATHAN HAIGH, of Leeds, in the County of
York, Cloth Finishers, do hereby declare the nature of our Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY TO BE USED IN FINISHING CLOTHS OR FABRICA
HAVING NAP OR PILE ON THEIR SURFACES," to be as follows (that is to say):-
Our said Invention consists in constructing machinery for finishing cloths or
fabrics having nap or pile on one of their surfaces by producing raised patterns
upon I such surfaces by the action of brushes operating through the orifices in
perforated plates or materials brought into contact with the surfaces of the
cloths or fabrics so as to raise the nap or pile and give it a different direction
from that which it previously possessed. For this purpose we construct a
machine with a revolving brush or similar instrument, and a circular or other
endless plate or sheet perforated so as to produce the required patterns by the
brush or other instrument acting through those perforations, and having motion.

page_text: given to such circular or endless plate or sheet, together with a piece of cloth
or fabric in contact with it, so as to cause the uncovered parts of the cloth or
fabric to be subjected to the action of the brush or other similar instrument, we
place a roller or some other support to keep the cloth and perforated plate or sheet
up to the brush during its operation, and we also use rollers or cylinders for
conducting the cloth to and from the part of the machine in which it is subjected
to the action of the brush or other instrument,
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Curtis and Jonathan Haigh, in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 18th July 1860,
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, wc, THOMAS
CURTIS and JONATHAN HAIGH, of Leeds, in the County of York, Cloth Finishers
and Co-partners, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters Patent, under
the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Irleand, bearing
date the Nineteenth day of January in the year of our Lord One thou-
sand eight hundred and sixty, granted unto us, the said. Thomas Curtis and
Jonathan Haigh, our executors, administrators, and assigns, the sole privilege
to make, use, exercise, and vend our Invention therein intituled "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY TO BE USED IN FINISHING CLOTHS OR FABRICS HAVING
NAP OR PILE ON THEIR SURFACES," within the said United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, during the term
of fourteen years thence next ensuing, subject to a certain (amongst others)
that we should particularly describe. and ascertain the nature. of our 'said
Invention, and in what. manner the same is to be performed; by an instru-
ment in writing under our hands. and seals, or under the hand. and seal of
one of us, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent. Office
within six calender months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
.
NOW. KNOW YE, that we, the said Thomas Curtis and Jonathan Haigh,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to. be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following
Specification thereof, reference being. had to, the accompanying Drawings
(that is to say):-
Our said Invention consists in constructing machinery for finishing cloths
or fabrics having nap or pile on one of their surfaces, by producing raised

page_text: patterns upon such surfaces by the action of brushes contained in such
machinery, which brushes operate through orifices in perforated plates or
materials brought into contact with the surfaces of the cloths or fabrics during
the operation, so as to raise the nap or pile on those portions of the surfaces
which are operated upon, and give it a different direction from that which it
previously possessed. For this purpose we construct a machine with a revol-
ving brush or similar instrument, and a circular or other endless plate or slicet,
perforated in such a manner as to allow of the production of the required
patterns by the brush or other instrument acting through those perforations.
Motion is given to the circular or other endless plate or sheet, together with a
piece of cloth or fabric in contact with it, so as to cause the pile on the
uncovered parts of the cloth or fabric to be subjected to the action of the brush
or other similar instrument. We place a roller or some other support in the
machine in such a position as to keep the cloth and perforated plate or sheet
up to or against the brush during its operation, so as to ensure the action of
the brush upon those parts of the nap on the surface of the cloth which are
left exposed to its action by the perforations made in the endless plate or sheet.
We also mount rollers or cylinders in proper positions in a machine con-
structed in manner aforesaid, for conducting the cloth or fabric to and from the
part of the machine in which it is subjected to the action of the brush or other
instrument in manner above mentioned.
In the accompanying Drawings we have shewn figures of a machine con-
structed according to our Invention herein-before described.
Figure 1 is a view of one side of the machine, and Figure 2 is a view of
the opposite side'; 'Figure 8 is a plan or top view of the machine, and Figure 4
is an elevation or view of tho end of the machine at which the cloth or fabric
is delivered after undergoing the finishing operation. In these Figures similar
parts are marked with similar letters of reference.
A is a roller upon which the cloth is wound previous to its being passed
through the machine, and in Figures 1 and 3, a pulley a, a, is shewn, which is
used for turning the roller A, when cloth is wound upon it. B is a roller,
mounted and revolving in fixed bearings and cloathed with cards such as are
used in scribbling wool, and over this roller the cloth is drawn into the machine.
At one end of the spindle of this roller a' pulley b is fixed, as shown in Figure 3,
and over this pulley is suspended a break cord with a weight, in order to keep
the cloth tight up against the revolving brush C herein-after mentioned.
The cloth also passes through between a pair of break rods or rollers g, g,
(shewn in Figure 3,) which are placed between the roller A and the roller B.
These break rods or rollers are fixed a short distance apart from and parallel

page_text: to each other by means of a boss at each end, into which the ends are fixed.
Each boss is furnished with a pin which has a bearing in the framing of the
machine, and the pin on one side of the machine passes through the framing
and has a notched or catch wheel 9' fixed upon the end of it, into which the
catch g³ takes, and by means of which the break rods or rollers may be set in
such a manner as to produce the intended amount of resistance to the passage
of the cloth. C is a cylindrical brush mounted and revolving in fixed bearings
in the frame of the machine. We prefer to have a brush of this description in
a machine made according to our Invention, in order to smooth the nap or pile
upon the surface of a piece of cloth before it is submitted to the operation by
which a portion of the nap or pile is raised as herein-after mentioned, and
this cylindrical brush revolves so as to smooth the pile or nap in the direction
in which it has been previously laid, or in the direction in which it is intended
to be laid, and we prefer to introduce the cloth with its pile or nap in such a
direction that the cylindrical brush may revolve in the direction shown by the
arrow, for the purpose of smoothing the nap or pile or laying it. One of the
spindles of the cylindrical brush C has a pulley n fixed upon it, in order that
motion may be given to the brush by a strap, as shewn in Figure 1. D is a
guide roller for guiding the cloth or fabric as it passes from the cylindrical
brush C to the fixed cylinder E; with it is an exterior revolving and perforated
cylinder e, e, and the roller D is placed in such a position with reference to
the cylinders E, and e, e, as to cause the cloth to be in contact with a con-
siderable portion of the perephery of the perforated cylinder e, e. E is a fixed
cylinder of metal or other proper material, having a wide longitudinal slot
made along the under side of it, so as to allow a revolving cylindrical brush
which is mounted within the cylinder E to operate through the orifices in the
revolving cylinder e, e, upon the surface of the cloth as it passes beneath the
brush. On the exterior of the fixed cylinder E is a cylinder e, e, made of thin
metal, wire gauze, or other convenient material, having perforations made in
it of such forms and dimensions as may be necessary to allow the revolving
cylindrical brush just mentioned to produce the intended patterns or figures
on the surface of the cloth or fabric operated upon. The cylinder e, e, is
carried round by the motion of the cloth passing under it, and it is thus caused
to revolve around the fixed cylinder E, with the same surface speed as the
cloth which passes under the cylinder, and with the same surface speed as the
rollers Band D, and it is kept in proper position whilst revolving by the guards
, e', shewn in Figure 3. Within the fixed cylinder E is mounted in suitable
bearings, a revolving cylindrical brush, in such a position that when revolving
the brush shall be enabled to operate upon those parts of a piece of cloth

page_text: passing under the fixed cylinder where there are orifices in the perforated
revolving cylinder e, e, and where the cloth consequently is not protected from
the action of the brush. Within the cylinder E, and at each end of it, is fixed
a cross bar i, i, and each cross bar has attached to it a vertical sliding pieco
o, o, in a grove with a regulating screw r. The bearings of the cylindrical
brush, which revolves within the cylinder E, are placed in these sliding pieces,
and, by means of the regulating screws, the sliding pieces may be raised or
lowered for the purpose of adjusting or regulating the position of the brush
within the cylinder E, in such a way as to cause it to operate in the required
manner upon the cloth. The ends f, f, of the spindle of the cylindrical brush
mounted and revolving within the cylinder E are shewn most clearly in
Figures 3 and 4, and at one end of the spindle a pinion is fixed which receives
motion from a spur wheel, as shewn in Figure 3, so as to cause the brush to
revolve with great velocity in order to raise the pile or nap on the uncovered
parts of the cloth above mentioned, and it revolves in such a direction as to
enable it to raise and lay, or give a direction to the nap or pile on those parts
of the cloth in a direction opposite to the direction in which it has previously
been smoothed or laid by the action of the brush C, and if the brush C has
motion given to it in the direction indicated by the arrow, the brush revolving
within the cylinder has motion given to it in a contrary direction. K is a
cylindrical roller of about the same length as the cylinder E, and it is mounted
and revolves in bearings under and parallel with that cylinder. The bearings
of the roller K are fixed in the short ends of a pair of levers L, L, which are
fixed upon a shaft tp, extending across the machine, and the end of which is
shewn in Figure 1. The shaft P is mounted in bearings at each side of the
machine so as to act as a fulcrum pin for each of the levers. To the longer
arm or end of each. of the levers L, L, a weight Q is suspended, so that the
levers may cause the roller K to be pressed upwards towards the cylinder E,
and against the cloth passing through between the roller K and the cylinder E.
The roller K is in this way caused to press the cloth upwards against the
perforated revolving cylinder e, e, whilst the machino is in action, so as to
secure a steady and equable action of the brush revolving within the cylinder
upon the uncovered parts of the cloth..
When the machine is not in action the weighted ends of the levers L, L;
may be elevated and supported by turning the eccentrics x, x, which are
placed at the sides of the machine under the weighted arms of the levers.
These as eccentrics are fixed upon a shaft which passes across the machine and
is mounted and turns in bearings in the framing, so that the eccentrics may
both be turned together upwards or downwards as may be desired. G is a

page_text: drawing. roller mounted and revolving in fixed bearings in the frame of the
machine, and cloathed with cards such as before mentioned so as to enable it
when in motion to draw the cloth through the machine. This roller has
motion given to it by a spur wheel fixed on the end of its axle, and a tram of
wheels connected with the spur wheel as shewn in Figure 1. H is a roller
over which the cloth passes after leaving the roller G, and a series of endless
bands or cords pass over these two rollers, and not only give motion to the
roller H, but also strip the cloth. off the cards on the roller G at that part of
its revolution when the cloth ought to quit that roller for the purpose of being
carried forward to the roller H. I is a cutting frame (of an ordinary
description) for laying the cloth in folds as it passes out of the machine, and
this frame receives motion as shewn in Figure 2. The length of.the rollers,
revolving brushes, and cylinders. must be. regulated according to the width of
the cloths or fabrics which the machine shall be intended to be capable of
operating upon; that is to say, the rollers, revolving brushes, and cylinders,
must be sufficiently long, and the width of the machine must be sufficiently
great to enable the machine to operate upon the widest cloth or fabric which
it shall be intended. to. be capable of finishing in manner herein described.
Motion is given to the machine by means of the fast pulley and gearing con-
nected therowith, as shewn in. the Drawings, and connected with the other
parts of the machine already described. When this machine is in action the
cloth or fabric to be operated upon is drawn off the roller A, and into the
machine by the revolution of the drawing roller G, through between the break
rods g, g, and, over the roller B, from whence it passes under the cylindrical
brush C, by the action of which the nap or pile of the cloth or fabric will be
all laid smoothly and evenly in one direction. The cloth then passes over the
guide roller D and under the cylinder. E, and the revolving perforated cylinder
e, e, which is carried round by the cloth passing under it. As the cloth passes
under the longitudinal slot in the cylinder E, the brush revolving with great
velocity within the cylinder, acts upon those parts of the surface of the cloth
which are left uncovered by reason of the perforations made in the revolving
cylinder e, e, and raising up the pile or nap upon those parts of the cloth lays
it in a direction opposite to the direction in which it had previously been
smoothed or laid by the action of the brush C, and thus produces patterns or
figures upon the surface of the cloth corresponding with the perforations made
in the revolving cylinder e, e. The cloth then is drawn forward by the roller G,
passes over that roller and the roller H, and out of the machine, where by the
action of the cuttling frame it is laid in folds as shewn in Figure 1.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said

page_text: Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, we declare
that we do not claim any of the mechanical elements or parts of which the
machine above described and shewn in the said Drawings is composed as
being separately or apart from the application and combination thereof in
manner and for the purposes aforesaid any portion of our said Invention; nor
do we claim as any part of our Invention comprised in the said Letters Patent
the raising or producing of patterns upon the surface of a cloth or fabric by
raising nap or pile on such surface by means of a brush or similar instrument,
whilst there is interposed between the cloth or fabric and the brush or other
instrument a piece of their material having perforations made in it according
to the patterns to be produced, and so as to permit the action of the brush or
similar instrument upon the parts where the patterns are to be produced, and
at the same time protect the residue of the cloth or fabric from its action, that
being the Invention secured to us by other Letters Patent heretofore granted
to us, but not carried into effect by any machinery such as we have now
invented, and for which we have obtained the Letters Patent herein-beforo
recited, and we declare that what we do claim as our Invention comprised in
the said Letters Patent is the combination of parts forming or constituting a
machine with a revolving brush or similar instrument, and a circular or other
endless plate or sheet perforated so that patterns may be produced upon the
surface of a piled or napped cloth or fabric by the brush or similar instrument
acting through those perforations as the circular or endless plate or sheet with
the cloth or fabric in contact with it pass, and the cloth becomes subject to
the action of the brush as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands and seals, the
Seventeenth day of July, One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the said
Thomas Curtis and Jonathan Haigh in
the presence of
JNO. M. BARWICK, Solicitor,
Leeds.
(L.B.)
THOMAS CURTIS.
JONATHAN HAIGH. (L.S.)