IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PLAITING OR FOLDING AND MEASURING WOVEN FABRICS.
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry Hacking and Thomas Hacking,
both of Bury, in the County of Lancaster, Machine Makers, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PLAITING OR FOLDING
AND MEASURING WOVEN FABRICS.'
"
Sealed the 26th August 1873, and dated the 19th March 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry Hacking
and Thomas Hacking at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 19th March 1873.
We, WILLIAM HENRY HACKING and THOMAS HACKING, both of Bury,
in the County of Lancaster, Machine Makers, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PLAITING
OR FOLDING AND MEASURING WOVEN FABRICS," to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists in certain improvements in folding and
measuring machines, and relates, first, to the relieving motion, and
secondly, to the material used for retaining the cloth when plaited.

page_text: In the Patent granted to Samuel Cook and William Henry Hacking,
dated 13th June 1861, No. 1522, for a relieving motion applicable to
folding machines, the said motion was so arranged that the table on
which the cloth was folded could not descend very far in consequence
of the quadrant shaft being placed under and coming in contact with
the table, thus preventing the folding of long pieces or fabrics of great
thickness.
The first part of our Invention relates to an arrangement of parts,
whereby the defect thus described is remedied, and the folding machine
is made more generally applicable to all classes of goods. To effect
this object we place the quadrant or weight shaft at the back of the
machine and not under the table. The relieving rope or strap is then
attached to the ordinary relieving arms over pulleys affixed to the under
side of the table, then under pulleys placed on the rocking shaft of the
machine and then attached to a pulley fastened on the weight or
quadrant shaft above referred to, this pulley being of the requisite size to
take up the relieving rope as the table descends. By this means we are
enabled to allow the table to descend any required distance, using the
relieving motion at the same time, and to plait pieces of any length and
cloth of any thickness.
The second part of our Invention relates to the material for holding
the cloth when plaited, and the means used for attaching the same to
the machine. We employ for the purpose of holding the cloth when
plaited a strip of thin vulcanized india-rubber moulded on coarse sacking,
cloth, or other suitable mould to give it a rough surface when made. This
rubber is backed with strong canvass and attached to the ordinary holding
rail of the machine. Vulcanized rubber thus made and applied we find
more advantageous than corrugated or other class of rubber as it is more
durable and less liable to be pulled to pieces.
In attaching the rubber to the ordinary holding rail we first fix the
rubber to a strip of wood by means of wire in a manner similar to
that employed for the purpose of fastening bristles to a brush.
This is found to give much greater security and firmness to the
rubber than can be attained by the old plan of using tacks, sprigs, or
nails.

page_text: Another part of our improvement consists in the employment of
holding rails set with bristles or fibre in the form of a brush in place of
the ordinary card or india-rubber.
A further improvement consists in our arrangement of that part of
the machine called the swivelling motion.
In one arrangement we employ a lever and bowl working on an inclined
plane and connected with the swivelling arms.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Henry Hacking and Thomas Hacking
in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 17th September 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
HENRY HACKING and THOMAS HACKING, both of Bury, in the County of
Lancaster, Machine Makers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said William Henry Hacking and Thomas
Hacking, Her special licence that we, the said William Henry Hacking
and Thomas Hacking, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as we, the said William Henry Hacking and Thomas Hacking,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR PLAITING OR FOLDING AND MEASURING WOVEN FABRICS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said William Henry
Hacking and Thomas Hacking, our executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under our, or their, or one of our or their hands

page_text: and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed,
and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said William Henry Hacking and
Thomas Hacking, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement (that is to
say) :-
Our Invention consists in certain improvements in folding and
measuring machines, and it relates, first, to the relieving motion;
secondly, to the swivelling motion; and thirdly, to the materials used
for retaining the cloth when folded or plaited.
And in order that our Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into operation we will proceed to describe the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings reference being had to the figures and letters marked
thereon.
In the Patent granted to Samuel Cook and William Henry Hacking,
dated the Thirteenth day of June One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
one, No. 1522, for a relieving motion applicable to folding machines, the
said motion was so arranged that the table on which the cloth was
folded could not descend very far in consequence of the quadrant or
weight shaft being placed under and coming in contact with the table,
thus preventing the folding of long pieces or fabrics of great thickness.
The first part of our Invention, which is illustrated by Fig. 1, relates to
an arrangements of parts whereby the defect thus described is remedied
and the folding machine is made more generally applicable to all classes
of goods. To effect this object we place the quadrant or weight shaft at
the back of the machine, and not under the table, as described in the
Specification of the Patent above referred to.
The table A of the folding and measuring machine is made to slide up
and down in a vertical direction by means of the bracket B, and the
pillar C, which is attached by means of brackets to the machine side, D is
the ordinary rocking shaft of the machine, and E, E, E', E2, are the
relieving arms or levers attached to the same, these arms are made to

page_text: actuate the table A, at the required time in the ordinary manner; F¹, F³,
represent two ropes; the end of one rope F¹ is attached to the stud
G', fixed in the relieving arm E¹, and passes over the pulley H³, which
is placed on the under side of the table A, and thence under the pulley
I, placed upon the rocking shaft D, and from thence it is taken to the
large or taking-up pulley J, to which the other end of the rope is at-
tached. In like manner one end of the relieving rope F's is attached to
the stud G³ in the relieving lever E', and passing over the pulley H³ and-
under the pulley I is likewise attached to the large pulley J; K represents
the quadrant or weight shaft, having affixed to it the weight quadrant L.
The table is kept tight against the card rails by means of the chain M,
which is attached at one end to the bracket B, and after passing over the
pulley N the other end is attached to the quadrant L. At another point
in the quadrant L a second chain O is attached carrying the weights
P, P. The table A descends as the plaited cloth accumulates thereon,
and in so doing it draws with it the chain M, which causes the quadrant
shaft K to revolve. As the quadrant shaft K revolves the large pulley
J being keyed upon it, revolves also, thus winding up the relieving
ropes F¹ and F³ in proportion to the descent of the table.
From the above details it will be seen that the table A can be made
to descend to any required distance without coming in contact with the
quadrant shaft, the relieving ropes actuating it in the usual manner
during the whole of its descent.
Our improvement in the swivelling motion of folding and measuring
machines is illustrated by Fig. 2; in this view A represents the plaiting
knife bracket; B, the side arm; C, the crank arm, and D, the crank placed
in the usual way. E represents a shaft going across the machine carried
in the bracket F. Upon the shaft E is fixed the lever G, on the end of
which is placed the small bowl H which runs in the groove of the cam I
and causes the lever G to vibrate as the cam revolves.
Upon the
shaft E is also placed another lever J connected to the swivelling
arm K, which is attached at the upper extremity in the ordinary manner
to the knife bracket A. As the lever G is moved up or down by the
cam I, the shaft E makes part of a revolution, thus causing the lever J
to raise or drop the swivelling arm K in the manner required to give
the right oscillation to the knife bracket. By this means the difficulty
of regulating the swivelling arm to suit various lengths of plait is over-

page_text: come, as the cam is made to give the requisite oscillation to the knives
whatever the length of the plait may be.
The third part of our Invention relates to the material for holding the
cloth when plaited and the means used for attaching the same to the
machine. We employ for the purpose of holding the cloth when plaited
a strip of thin vulcanized india-rubber moulded on coarse sacking cloth
or other suitable mould to give it a rough surface. The rubber is
backed with strong canvass and attached to the ordinary holding rail of
the machine, vulcanized rubber thus made and applied we find more
advantageous than corrugated or other class of rubber, as it is more 1
durable and less liable to be pulled to pieces.
In attaching the rubber to the ordinary holding rail, we first fix the
rubber to a strip of wood by means of wire in a manner similar to
that employed for the purpose of fastening bristles to the back of a
brush. This is found to give much greater security and firmness to 1
the rubber than can be attained by the old plan of using tacks, sprigs,
or nails.
Another part of our improvement consists in the employment of
holding rails set with bristles or fibre in the form of a brush in place of
the ordinary card or india-rubber.
Having thus stated the nature of our Invention and described the
manner in which the same is performed, we declare that we claim,-
First. The mode described and shewn in the Drawing or any
modification of the same, of applying the relieving motion to machines
for folding and measuring, by means of which the table can be lowered
to any required distance and still be operated upon by the relieving
arms during the whole time, thus allowing pieces of any length or
thickness to be plaited with ease.
Secondly. The arrangement of the cam and levers described and shewn
in the Drawing or any modification of the same, by which means the
swivelling of the knives is accomplished to suit different lengths of
plaits with having to refix the swivelling arms.
Thirdly. The use of vulcanized india-rubber mounted on strong canvass
as described.
Also the manner of attaching rubber of any kind or
other material by means of wire as described.

page_text: And lastly. The use of bristles or fibres in the form of a brush when
applied to the holding rails of machines for folding and measuring
woven fabrics in lieu of the ordinary card or india-rubber.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Henry Hacking and
Thomas Hacking, have hereto set our hands and seals, this
Sixteenth day of September, One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-three.
WILLIAM HY. HACKING. (L.8.)
THOMAS HACKING.
(L.S.)