Improvements in Apparatus for Stretching and Calendering Machine Belting.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Jan., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 1st Oct., 1891-Accepted, 7th Nov., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Stretching and Calendering
Machine Belting.
I FRANK REDDAWAY of Cheltenham Street Pendleton, in the County of
Laucaster Manufacturer of Machine Belting do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows :-
:-
My invention has for its object more particularly to stretch endless belts or
bands used in the transmission of rotary motion.
Belting has been stretched by being drawn forward by means of two sets of
rollers revolving at different speeds but so far as my knowledge extends machines
for stretching endless belts have not existed prior to my invention. To effect such
stretching I employ a machine of such a length as to be able to operate upon belts
when fully extended. The bight of the belting at one end is passed over a
calendering roller which is one of a pair of rollers and the bight at the other end
is passed over a stretching roller. The said stretching roller is moved from
the calendering roller so as to stretch the belt. During such stretching I prefer
that the calendering rollers shall revolve so that the belt is calendered and
stretched simultaneously.
away
The calendering may continue for as long a period as is considered to be
desirable and the stretching roller be moved at suitable intervals until the
stretching is considered to have been carried to a desirable extent.
It is necessary
to mount the calendering roller in a special manner in order that the belt may be
got into position. I mount the bearing for one axle of the roller upon a hinged
frame which can be turned out of the way for the introduction of the belt. When
turned inward the said frame can be united with the headstock or main framing by
means of removable coupling screws or by suitable means. The stretching roller.
is arranged to be readily dismounted so that it can be passed through the bight of
the belt and be again mounted. The said stretching roller is mounted upon a
carriage which is either adapted to be secured in any required position upon the
longitudinal frames of the machine or is adapted to slide thereon. In the one case
the said carriage is moved into a suitable position and is secured in such position
by means of bolts. The roller is mounted upon a supplementary carriage
which is fitted to slide upon the main carriage and is arranged to be moved thereon
by means of racks and pinions or of screws. The belt is stretched by turning the
rack pinion shaft a ratchet wheel or ratchet wheels preventing back movement or
the actuating screws may be coupled together by means of a cross shaft and bevel
gearing. In a case wherein the carriage would slide upon the longitudinal frames
the rack pinions would gear with racks fixed to such frames or the said carriage
might be actuated by means of a screw. In either case the carriage might be
actuated by hand or by power as preferred. I may arrange for the stretching
carriage to raise a load or the arm of a loaded lever on the attainment of the
desired strain so that a known strain may be put upon the belt. The same
machine may be adapted to stretch lengths of belting by applying drawing
rollers at the end of the framing which is furthest from the said calendering
rollers.
Dated this 31st day of December 1890.
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James' Square, Manchester, Agents.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Stretching and Calendering
Machine Belting.
I FRANK REDDAWAY of Cheltenham Street, Pendleton, in the County of
Lancaster, Manufacturer of Machine Belting, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement and accompanying
drawings :-
My invention has for its object more particularly to stretch endless belts or
bands used in the transmission of rotary motion.
Belting has been stretched by being drawn forward by means of two sets of
rollers revolving at different speeds but so far as my knowledge extends machines
for stretching endless belts have not existed prior to my invention. To effect such
stretching I employ a machine of such a length as to be able to operate upon belts
when fully extended. The bight of the belting at one end is passed over a
calendering roller which is one of a pair of rollers and the bight at the other end
is passed over a stretching roller. The said stretching roller is moved away from
the calendering roller so as to stretch the belt. During such stretching I prefer
that the calendering rollers shall revolve so that the belt is calendered and
stretched simultaneously.
The calendering may continue for as long a period as is considered to be
desirable and the stretching roller be moved at suitable intervals until the
stretching is considered to have been carried to a desirable extent.
To render my invention clearly understood I have attached hereunto a sheet of
illustrative drawings to which I will now refer :-
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my improved stretching machine the framing of the
machine being broken so that the drawing may occupy less space.
Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the upper part of the machine.
Fig. 3 is a plan of Fig. 1.
The framing of the machine consists of end standards a connected by
longitudinal rails a¹ feet a² and stays a³. Standards a are situated at each end of
the machine-although the standards of one end only are shown in the drawings.
Between the standards a a 1 mount calendering rollers 66 which are driven by the
gearing X to revolve at the same speed. The top roller b6 can be raised and
Lowered by operating hand wheels c which turn screws and so raise or press
down the bearings of the roller b. The lower roller has one of its bearings in a
block 63 which is carried on a pivotted portion d of the frame a. The portion d
is pivotted at e and is held when in position by the bolts. When required the
bolts can be slackened and the portion d swung round by the handle g leaving a
gap in the side of the standard a opposite the end of the roller b¹ so that the
bight of the endless belt can be passed through the gap and slipped over the
roller as shown for example in Fig. 2. The bearing block 62 is pivotted loosely
on the portion of the frame so as to permit of the journal or axle end of the
roller entering and leaving the block easily. The opposite bearing of the roller b
is purposely lengthened and supported by the bracket i so that the roller 6' may
preserve its position when temporarily deprived of the support of the bearing
block b². When the bight of the belt / has been thus placed over the calendering
roller and the pivotted portion d swung into place again, the other end of the
belt is placed over the stretching roller which is carried in crescent shaped beds
or bearings k. These bearings which are so shaped for convenience in lifting the
stretching roller in and out, are formed on a carriage which rolls to and fro on
bowls n on the top of a flange on a secondary carrier or sole m which is bolted to
the top of the rails a¹ and which can be adjusted on the said rails to suit different
lengths of belting. Bottom bowls n' are carried beneath the flanges and prevent

page_text: the carriage from rising. The carriage carries a shaft o fitted with pinions p at
each end which engage with racks on the top of the sole m. Another shaft r
also mounted in the carriage has a pinion s which gears with a spur wheel t on the
aforesaid shaft o. A capstan or other handle u on the shaft r enables me by the
said gearing to traverse the carriage to and fro. When an endless belt has been
placed in position as shown for example in Fig. 2 and the calendering rollers bb
adjusted and set in motion, the stretching can be effected by turning the handle u
so as to traverse the carriage and roller ; in the direction of the arrow Fig. 2
whereby the endless belt can be stretched to any desired extent. Pawls vv
engage with the racks and prevent any backward movement of the carriage_l.
In cases where the endless belt is longer than the length of the machine I pass the
belt over the carrier rollers w which are indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1 and
then bring it over a roller or rollers at the other end of the machine back to the
stretching roller thus looping the belt up as it were to compensate for its extreme
length. In such a case the stretching carriage would of course be moved in a
direction contrary to that indicated in Fig. 2 and the pawls might be made double
so as to act on the other side. During the stretching the calendering rollers
revolve so that the endless belt is calendered and stretched simultaneously.
Although I have described a form of apparatus which I have actually made and
which works in a perfectly satisfactory manner it will be evident that many,
modifications might be made in the details of the machine without in any degree
departing from the spirit of my invention. For example the sliding stretching
carriage might be moved by means of a screw or screws instead of by racks and
pinions as described; the pivotted portion d might be slid out or be removed
bodily and the design and arrangements of the parts might be varied. The
sliding carriage might be actuated by hand or by power. I may arrange for the
stretching carriage to raise a load or lever or ring or bell or otherwise signal
when a predetermined strain has been put upon the belt.
The apparatus described and illustrated may be adapted to stretch lengths of
belting by applying drawing rollers at the end of the framing which is furthest
from the calendering rollers.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is :-
1. The general arrangement construction and combination of parts comprising
the improved apparatus for stretching and calendering endless belting substantially
as herein before described and shown.
2. In apparatus for stretching and calendering endless belting rendering a
portion of the frame opposite one of the calendering rollers removable so as to
enable the belting to be passed upon the roller substantially as described and as
illustrated.
3. In apparatus for stretching endless belting the sliding carriage mounted on a
secondary adjustable sole and arranged to be operated so as to stretch the belting
and fitted with a stretching roller capable of being readily mounted and dismounted
from the carriage so as to facilitate the application and removal of the belting
substantially as described and shown.
Dated this 30th day of September 1891.
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James' Square, Manchester, Agents.