CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFAC- TURING WOLLEN CLOTH, AND CLOTH MADE PROM WOOL AND OTHER MATERIALS
Year: 1841

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
HIRST and JOSEPH WEIGHT, of Leeds, in the County of York, Clothiers, 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 Seventh day of October, in the fifth year of Her reign, did give
and grant unto us, the said William Hirst and Joseph Weight, our exors,
adñiors, and assigns, Her special licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that we, the said William Hirst and Joseph Weight, our exors, adñiors, and
assigns, and every of them, by ourselves or themselves, or by our or their
deputy or deputies, servants, or agents, or such others as we, the said William
Hirst and Joseph Weight, our exors, adñiors, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times hereafter
during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, our Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFAC-
TURING WOLLEN CLOTH, AND CLOTH MADE PROM WOOL AND OTHER MATERIALS;"
in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging us (or
one of us), the said William Hurst and. Joseph Weight, by an instrument in
writing under our hands and seals, particularly to describe and ascertain the

page_text: nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, and cause the same 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, we, the said
William Hurst and Joseph Weight, do hereby declare the nature of our
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are
fully described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof,
reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures
and letters marked thereon, that is to say:-
Our Invention relates to a certain method or methods of manufacturing
cloth from wool, or wool and other materials, by a new process, or of attaching
a layer of wool, or wool and other materials, either on one or both sides of
any other wove fabric, or between two folds of any other wove fabric, and
consists in causing a layer of wool, or wool and other materials, to pass from
the roller on which it is wound between two perfectly flat boards or "platons,"
equal in width to the intended cloth, assuming such width to be equal to the
widest cloth capable of being made in such machine, and from two or more
feet the reverse way; the lower board or "platon " being stationary, and the
upper board or "platon" having an up-and-down and "shoggery," or oscil-
lating motion. The proposed cloth is drawn between the flat boards or "platons,"
by the action of a receiving roller placed on the opposite side of the board to
the roller charged with the "bat" or wool; the receiving roller may be worked
continuously, or at intervals, when the cloth to be manufactured shall require
more than the ordinary action of the upper flat board or "platon," to give it
the required tenacity; and, further, to a method of preserving an uniform thick-
ness of cloth during the whole time of "winding-off" or "feeding," from the
roller charged with the "hat or wool. We would here remark that in the
manufacture of cloths of wool, or wool and other materials, it is necessary that
the motion imparted to such cloths during the process of "felting," should be
in a direct line with the fibres of wool, or wool and other materials, so used,
and which we accomplish in the following manner.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 represents an elevation of the machine; Figure 2, a plan of the
same; Figure 3, an end view; Figure 4, a transverse section, and all drawn
to a scale of cne and a half inch to a foot. A, A, the framing; B, B, castings

page_text: "
machine a shaft D extends, and fixed upon the ends of which are excentrics
ór cranks E, connected by the rod F to a pin G, fixed to the upper "platon
or board H; at the ends of this "platon" are fixed the brackets I, I, for sup-
porting the roller K, and receiving roller L; around this roller we place old
cards, for the purpose of ensuring the advance of the endless band or canvass M,
to tighten which a roller N is used, working in a liquor trough O, having its
carriers with set screws P for adjusting the same; Q, a roller, fixed upon the
shaft R; upon the end of this shaft a pulley S is fixed, connecting with
another pulley T, by a band U passing around them for the purpose of
winding off the wool, or wool and other materials, from the roller V working
in slots in the frame; W, an endless band for conducting the "bat" or wool, or
wool and other material, from the roller V to the "platons" or boards, and from
thence to the "winding-on" roller K. This endless band is advanced by the
receiving roller X, fixed upon the shaft Y, being furnished with old cards, as
in the other receiving roller L, together with a roller Z for tightening the
band. a, the driving shaft, upon one end of which is fixed the bevil wheel b,
taking into a corresponding bevil wheel c upon the shaft d; this bevil wheel
is made to slide upon a feather let into the shaft, or otherwise, and furnished
with a levere for the purpose of throwing the receiving rollers L and X out
of gear, when required to impart more motion than usual to the upper
"platon" or board H; upon each end of the shaft d are fixed worms working
in worm wheels f, f, and keyed upon the ends of the shafts of the receiving
rollers L and X; upon the other end of the driving shaft a is fixed the spur
wheel g, taking into the wheel h, fixed on one end of the shaft D. The
operation of the machine is as follows:-Having first charged the roller V
with "bat" or wool, which has previously undergone the well-known process
of "scribbling" and "carding," or wool and other materials, the driving
shaft a being set in motion will actuate the bevilled wheels b and c, together
with the worms and worm wheels f,f; these wheels being keyed upon the
shafts of the receiving rollers L and X, will cause the endless band W to be
advanced, conducting upon it the "bat" or wool, or wool and other materials,
to be used in "felting," which, previous to entering between the "platons" or
boards C and H, passes over a trough i, to receive the condensed water, and
confine the steam issuing from the perforated steam pipe * contained therein;
the steam from this pipe being for the purpose of setting into motion the fibres
of wool, or wool and other materials, in passing over and thereby causing them
to intermix or to become entangled prévious to their entering between the
"platons" or boards C and H, where they receive the necessary pressure and
other motion of the upper "platon" or board H, according to the required

page_text: substance of the cloth. As this "bat" or wool, or wool and other materials,
passes between the boards or "platons" in one direction, the upper "platon"
or board C, with the endless band M passing over its under surface, moves in a
contrary direction, which, together with the up-and-down-and "shoggery," or
oscillating motion, produces the desired effect of felting, We would here remark,
that according to the substance of the cloth to be manufactured, it is necessary
that the upper "platon" or board H should be weighted to the extent which
practice may suggest. The operation of felting being completed, the cloth so
manufactured is conducted by the endless band W to the "winding-on" roller k,
which is driven by the band W acting against the surface of the finished cloth
upon the "winding-on" roller k. Across the whole width of the band M is
placed a doffing bar 7 suitably driven; and for the purpose of beating off
the fibres of wool, or wool and other materials, which may adhere to the
band M.
Having now described the nature of our said improvements, and the manner
in which the same are to be performed, we wish it to be perfectly understood.
that we claim as our Invention,―
Firstly, the mode herein-before particularly described of manufacturing
cloth from wool, or wool and other materials, together with the machinery
employed therein, as shewn by the Drawings hereunto annexed.
Secondly, the attaching a layer of wool, or wool and other materials, either
on one side or both sides of any other wove fabric, or between two or more
folds of any other wove fabric, and such our Invention being to the best
of our knowledge and belief entirely new, and never before used within
that part of Her said Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland called England, Her said Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, we do hereby declare this to be our Specification of the same,
and that we do verily believe this our said Specification doth comply in all
respects fully, and without reserve or disguise, with the proviso in the said
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent contained; wherefore we do hereby
claim to maintain exclusive right and privilege to our said Invention.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Sixth day
of April. One thousand eight hundred and forty-two.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the within-
named William Hirst, in the presence of
JAMES STOTT Sol Leeds
W (L.s.) HIRST.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Sixth day of April, in the year
of our Lord 1842, the aforesaid William Hirst came before our said Lady
the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid,
and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of
the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Seventh day of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and forty-two.