A MACHINE FOR FULLING, THICKENING, FELTING, AND CLEANSING WOOLLEN CLOTH AND OTHER FABRICS REQUIRING THE PROCESS OF FULLING, THICKENING, FELTING, AND CLEANSING IN THE COURSE AND PROCESS OF THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF
Year: 1833

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
DYER, of Trowbridge, in the County of Wilts, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing
date at Westminster, the Thirteenth day of August, in the fourth year of His
reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Dyer, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said John Dyer, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and
such other persons as I might at any time agree with, and no others, during
the term of fourteen years from the date of such grant, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of.
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "A MACHINE FOR FULLING, THICKENING,
FELTING, AND CLEANSING WOOLLEN CLOTH AND OTHER FABRICS REQUIRING THE
PROCESS OF FULLING, THICKENING, FELTING, AND CLEANSING IN THE COURSE AND
PROCESS OF THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF;" in which said Letters Patent there is
contained a proviso obliging me, the said John Dyer, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, to particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
and to cause the same to be inrolled in His Majestie'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 thereto being
had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Dyer, do thereby exhibit and explain the nature of the said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be carried into effect, in manner
following, reference being had to the Drawings thereto annexed, that is to
say:
My Invention consists in adapting pressing rollers to be employed in a
machine instead of beaters, for the purpose of bringing the loose fibres of
woollen cloths into close contact, and causing such fibres to intermingle and
lap round each other, thereby producing the matting and thickening effect
commonly called fulling, felting, or milling.
Fig. 1 in the accompanying Drawings represents the front elevation of the
machine, that is the part at which the cloths are introduced. Fig. 2 is an
elevation of the right-hand side of the machine, at which the driving rigger is
attached. Fig. 3, the left-hand side of the same, exhibiting the driving gear;
and Fig. 4 the back end elevation or part where the cloths are delivered.
For the better illustration of the working parts, Fig. 5 is a longitudinal
section of the machine taken vertically, representing the position of the
pressing rollers, conducting roller, and the form of the curved trough by
which the cloth in a continuous and endless length is carried through the
machine and submitted to the pressing or squeering process. Fig. 6 is a
horizontal section of the machine, shewing the situation of such parts as are
not so well seen in the other Figures, in all which several views the respective
letters refer to the same parts of the machine. a, a, are the bed rollers or
bearing rollers, the axles of which are supported in plummer blocks fixed
upon the upper edges of the horizontal side frames of the machine; toothed
wheels bb, are also made fast to the axles of a, a, which are driven by an
intermediate pinion c fixed on the shaft of the rigger d. The vertical press-
ing rollers e, e, are suspended above and in positions coincident with the bed
rollers a, a, their axles being mounted in the forked carriages f. f, which are
enabled to rise and fall by means of guide shafts g, g, extending from the
upper part of each carriage and passing through sockets in the transverse
bars at top of the machine. On the axles of the pressing rollers toothed
wheels h, h, are also affixed, which are made coincident with and taking into
the teeth of the wheels b, b, below. These wheels h, h, and rollers e, e, are kept
in their correct positions by the ends of their axles working in vertical guide,
slots in the pendant arms i, i, affixed to the top rail of the frame. The
cloths to be submitted to the fulling, felting, or thickening process must
be passed between the bed rollers a and the pressing rollers e, as shewn
in the section Fig. 5. The peripheries of these rollers are not brought

page_text: into contact, but a small space is left between them, and the sides
of these spaces are enclosed by the straight horizontal boards j, j, which
are mounted in iron frames on each side, close to the rollers. These
straight horizontal boards are seen endwise in Fig. 1, and the back
parts of their iron frames are shewn at j, j, in Figs. 2 and 3. The iron
frames are formed by, flat plates with flanges within, and they are affixed
to the standard of the machine by bolts and nuts passed through the pillars.
One of these boards is represented detached at Fig. 7 for the purpose of
shewing the blocks of wood s, s, or other hard substance inlaid at those parts
where the cloth rubs with considerable friction as it passes the vertical rollers.
These blocks I find to answer very well if made of appletree wood.. They
must be occasionally replaced if worn, and be kept flush with the other
surface of the board. The flanges within the iron frames confine the boards,
and they are brought up to their proper positions against the sides of the
rollers (see Figs. 1 and 6) by wedges inserted between the board and its
iron frame. The pressing rollers e are enabled to rise with their carriages f
by the shafts g sliding upwards in their sockets whenever the substance of
the cloth requires more space; but the necessary pressure upon the cloth
according to its quality is constantly maintained by means of weighted
lever k, k, which are made to bear upon the shafts g of the forked carriages,
thereby causing the rollers e, e, to press upon the cloth with a certain uniform
force. It will now be perceived that in order to submit cloth to the opera-
tions of this machine it must first be placed in the trough below (having
been previously soap'd or not, as may be deemed most desirable), and the com-
mencement of the piece being introduced between the rollers, as described,
and brought out behind, the two extremities of the length of cloth must be
tacked together so as to form an endless piece. The rigger d on the driving
shaft being now made to rotate in the direction of the arrow shewn in
Fig. 2, the wheels and rollers a, a, b, b, e, e, and h, h, will then all turn on
their axles and conduct the cloth forward through the machine in a wisp or
wreathed form, that is, compressed together in width. If the cloth has not
been previously soapd or otherwise coated with a suitable adhesive matter, I
should now gradually distribute upon its surface such adhesive matter in a
liquid state as the cloth proceeds through the machine. The occasional
pressure to which every part of the cloth is subjected in passing between the
vertical rollers brings the loose ends of the fibres of the wool into contact
with each other, and being thus held by the adhesive material every suc-
cessive squeeze which the cloth receives from the rollers as it continues
travelling through the machine causes those fibres to be more intimately

page_text: connected, and to coil round each other and mat together, producing that
close intervention of the wool called fulling, felting, or milling. As this
part of the operation acts more immediately upon the fibres of the wool in the
breadth or cross direction of the cloth, I find it desirable to introduce other
rollers pressing laterelly and partially resisting the progress of the cloth, so as
to confine and push it up lengthwise. These rollers (made slighted bowl-
shaped) are shewn at land m in Figs. 4 and 5, turning upon vertical axles.
The roller is mounted in the machine at a short distance from the hinder
pair of vertical rollers a and e, its upright axle turning in fixed bearings.
The roller m is supported in a similar position on the other side of the machine
by its upright axle turning in the forked carriage n, which slides in grooves
in fixed bearings supported by the framework. At the back of the carriage n
there is a stem o passing through the framework, with a weighted lever p
acting against its outer end, which weighted lever tends to bring the.roller m
towards the roller l. By the lateral pressure of these rollers, therefore, the
progress of the cloth is impeded, and being thereby driven up into folds in the
excavated spacer between the hinder pair of vertical rollers a, e, and the
lateral rollers l, m, as shewn in the section Fig. 5, the cloth as it passes
between the two last-mentioned rollers is subjected to considerable pressure
in the lateral directions, which renders the operation more perfect by com-
pressing, and thereby felting, thickening, or fulling the cloth in its length
also. The peripheries of the bed rollers a, a, and of the pressing rollers e, e,
are to be made of wood. I find it convenient to use cast-iron circular
frames for the construction of these rollers, the frames having mortice
holes round their rims, into which holes I drive a series of plugs of
English oak, the grain of the wood standing radially, and when these
plugs are secured by lateral pins, I turn the outer part or peripheries
of each roller circular and true; they might, however, answer the pur
pose if slightly fluted. I have found that the most eligible dimensions for
these rollers is about eighteen inches diameter, and from two to three inches
thick, and that the second pair of rollers should be about half an inch thicker
than the first pair, in order to prevent wrincles in the cloth. The cogs of wheels
6 and require to be rather long, in order that they may remain in gear
when the axles of the wheels h are slightly raised by the substance of the cloth
passing between the rollers; and, in order to prevent noise, I prefer to make
the cogs of the wheels h, h, of wood. And I do not intend to confine myself to
two pair of rollers in a machine, as a greater number may be found to answer
the purpose. The lower part of the machine, forming the trough, is enclosed
by boards and shutters, as shewn, and the wheels in front are cased in at the

page_text: parts marked z, z, z, in Fig. 1, in order that the cloth may not be entangled
in the wheels, but be properly conducted between the rollers; that casing,
however, is removed in the Figure, for the purpose of shewing the wheels and
their axles in their proper positions. After the fulling, felting, or thickening
process has been sufficiently effected, I partially cleanse out the soap or other
material in connection with the cloth, by introducing a quantity of clean
water into the trough at the flap q behind, and then by giving the cloth a few
more turns through the rollers, a considerable portion of the foul matter will
be express'd, and run off from the trough through an aperture at bottom.
I do not, however, consider it eligible to employ this machine for the ultimate
cleansing of the cloths after fulling, as, when the foulest part of the matter has
been discharged, the cloth will be more conveniently and properly cleansed in
the ordinary washing machine.
Lastly, I wish it to be understood that tho' I claim as my Invention and
exclusive right, under the above recited Letters Patent, the particular arrange-
ment of machinery described, and its application to the purposes above stated;
yet I do not intend to confine myself to that precise disposition and arrange-
ment of the parts, but claim any and every variation therefrom in which
narrow rollers are employed, and also lateral pressure and resistance endwise,
to perform the operation of fulling, felting, or milling of woollen cloths and
other fabrics requiring such process.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Dyer, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Tenth day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-four.
JOHN (L.S.) DYER.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Tenth day of February, in
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