IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING FUSTIAN AND LIKE FABRICS
Year: 1865

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Benoni Collins and John Butterfield
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the
8th July 1865.
We, BENONI COLLINS, Manager, and JOHN BUTTERFIELD, Merchant, both
of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING
FUSTIAN AND LIKE FABRICS," to be as follows:-
Fustian is woven so that the weft will form a series of cords upon the face
of the fabric, these cords running in the direction of the warp threads, each cord
being cut open after the cloth is woven, so that the end of the cut weft will
produce the pile surface required. This cutting of the weft has been dono
hitherto by hand, as no machine has been yet brought into use capable of
performing the operation in a satisfactory manner.
The object of our Invention is to cut the weft cords to form fustian and
like fabrics by self-acting machinery, and our Invention consists in a
combination and arrangement of mechanism for this purpose, by which we
simultaneously cut all or several of the cords in the fabric to be operated upon
at the same time. The fabric to be eut is first stretched to take out the
creases, and is wound upon a suitable roller; this roller, with the cloth upon
it, is then placed in the machine for cutting, friction being put upon the
roller to keep the cloth in tension. From the roller the cloth passes over oue
or more rollers or surfaces to another roller, upon which it is wound, this
roller being weighted against one or more friction drums or rollers, which will

page_text: cause the cloth to be wound upon its roller at a uniform speed. Parallel to
one of the rollers, or to a rail, or other surface, over which the cloth passes,
a bar is placed, which is arranged so that it can be adjusted to and from the
roller or rail, and to this bar a holder is secured, which carries as many
knives as there are cords in the width of the fabric to be cut, these knives
being placed at the same distance apart as the cords, and by means of the
adjustments to the bar the points of the knives can be made to enter just
below the weft cords, but so as, not to cut the body of the fabric. Each
knife is intended to cut the centre of its cord as it passes over the roller or
surface, and to bring and keep the cloth so that the centre of each cord will
come opposite its knife. A guide is used acting upon the face of the fabric;
this guide is formed by a rail or roller, which is grooved upon its surface
with grooves corresponding in pitch to that of the cords of the fabric to be
operated upon, so that when this guide is pressed against the face of the
fabric it will fit the cords, and guide them to the roller or surface upon which
they are cut. Guiding surfaces may also be placed between the knives so as
to press upon the grooves between the cords of the fabric. The guiding
surfaces may be made of a series of separate edges adjustable in their distance
apart, and the knives also may be made adjustable in their distance apart by
wedges, blocks, or other suitable means.