IMPROVED ROLLERS TO BE USED IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF SILK, COTTON, WOOLLEN, AND OTHER FABRICS
Year: 1850

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENT SHALL COME, we, THOMAS
RICHARDS, WILLIAM TAYLOR, and JAMES WYLDE the younger, all of the
Falcon Works, Walworth, in the County of Surry, Cotton Manufacturers,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by
Her Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Second day
of March, One thousand eight hundred and fifty, in the thirteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
us, the said Thomas Richards, William Taylor, and James Wylde, our exors,
admors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that we, the said Thomas Richards, William Taylor, and James
Wylde, our exors, admors, and assigns, and such others as we, the said Thomas
Richards, William Taylor; and James Wylde, our exors, admors, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at
all times 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, and in the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney,
Sark, and Man, and in all Her said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations
abroad, our Invention of "IMPROVED ROLLERS TO BE USED IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF SILK, COTTON, WOOLLEN, AND OTHER FABRICS;" in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso that we, the said Thomas Richards,
William Taylor, and James Wylde, or some or one of us, should cause a

page_text: particular description of the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under
our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, to be
inrolled in Her said 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
Thomas Richards, William Taylor, and James Wylde, do hereby declare
that the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, are fully described and ascertained in and by the following
Specification thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say-
Materials previous to being spun or drawn generally contain a portion of
some deliquescent salt, which either becomes imbedded in or deposited upon
the surface of rollers covered with leather. In damp weather the salt attracts
moisture, which causes the fibres to "lap." Now our Invention consists in
manufacturing the drawing rollers of cotton, silk, woollen, and flax spinning
machinery, and the drawing rollers of other machinery employed in the manu-
facture of such fabrics as paper, felt, wadding, and the like, by covering the
peripheries of cylinders composed of any suitable material with tubes of
vulcanized or metallo-thionized india-rubber, whereby we obtain a repellent
surface, or one not liable to absorb or attract moisture, so that any fibrous
substance undergoing the process of being drawn, either for the purpose of
spinning, drawing, or extending its length, is not liable "to lap," or to be
drawn round the roller, and whereby the fibres are delivered in an unbroken
and uniform state. We find that the surface of the vulcanized or metallo-
thionized india-rubber is more fitted for the purposes of drawing when
subjected to the following preparatory process previous to being put upon
the rollers-The india-rubber tubes or pipes by which the rollers are to be
covered after having been subjected to the vulcanizing or metallo-thionizing
process are to be boiled for a time, varying from four to six hours in an alka-
line solution, preferring caustic soda or caustic potass) to which we add flower
of sulphur. The alkalies have a tendency to render the caoutchouc more
solid, while the sulphur gives to the surface a certain degree of roughness,
which renders it better adapted for the operation of drawing.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section and Figure 2 a cross section of a
spiuning frame drawing roller, shewing the manner in which a roller is
covered with vulcanized caoutchouc, as also the means employed for retaining

page_text: that covering in its place. A, A, is the roller. B, B, the vulcanized caoutchouc
covering. That part of the roller intended to be covered is included between
two "ruffs" or collars C, C, which serve to retain the caoutchouc in its place.
These collars are somewhat less than the diameter of the india-rubber, so that
the latter may project from one sixteenth to one eighth of an inch, which will
be found sufficient for most purposes of spinning or drawing. D, D, is a
director composed of two thin pieces of metal, a plan of one of which
is given in Figure 8. We employ this director for putting the india tubes
upon the rollers. It is inserted into the end of the tube as represented in
Figure i, whereby the mouth of the tube becomes distended, and is easily
drawn into its place on the roller, the director is then removed.
Having now described the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we claim as
constituting our said Invention is the construction of drawing rollers to
be employed in the manufacture of silk, cotton, woollen, and other fabrics,
by covering the peripheries of cylinders, composed of any suitable material,
with tubes of vulcanized or metallo thionized caoutchouc, prepared and fitted
as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Richards, for myself and on
behalf of the said William Taylor and James Wylde, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Second day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifte
THOMAS (L.B.) RICHARDS.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Second day of September,
in the year of our Lord 1850, the aforesaid Thomas Richards came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Speci-
fication 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.