IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR USE IN THE FELTING OF HAT BODIES OR OTHER FELTED ARTICLES
Year: 1881

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Giles Atherton at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 14th December 1881. A communication
from abroad by George Yule of Newark, New Jersey in the United States
of America.
GILES ATHERTON of Stockport in the County of Chester, Hat Manufacturer.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR USE IN THE FELTING OF HAT BODIES OR
OTHER FELTED ARTICLES." [A communication from abroad by George Yule of
Newark, New Jersey in the United States of America.]
My Invention relates to the apparatus wherein rollers are employed in the felting
or "planking" of hat bodies and other articles. In the first place the back bed
roller is arranged to be higher than the front roller. In the second place the upper
roller or rollers is or are loaded by means of a lever upon which is mounted or
fitted to slide a movable weight which can be shifted along the lever by means of
a screw or by other suitable means so as to vary the downward pressure of the said
roller as may be required. By preference the lever is so formed as that the weight
can be moved to one side or the other of the fulcrum. The said upper roller or
rollers is or are mounted in a hinged frame which is raised for the insertion and
removal of the goods by means of a treadle lever which is connected by means of
links with the said frame. The downward movement of the frame is regulated by
means of stops which by preference are made of vulcanised caoutchouc and are
arranged to be raised and lowered as required either separately or together or the
parts which come into contact with these stops are arranged to be adjustable. In
one arrangment the said parts screw up and down and are connected together by
means of bevel wheels and a cross shaft or the said parts are acted upon by
connected screws or racks. In another arrangement two connected wedges or
inclines which can be held in the adjusted position by means of a catch or by other
suitable means are employed.
In the third place the frame in which the rollers are mounted is arranged to be
raised and lowered in order that the goods may be immersed in the liquid in the
kettle during the felting operation or during a portion of the operation. The frame
or frames may be fitted to slide up and down upon the side standards or fixed
framing and the rollers be actuated by means of a vertical shaft and a sliding bevel

page_text: wheel or by other suitable means or the rollers may be mounted upon a lever frame
which vibrates upon a fulcrum to raise and lower the rollers. An apparatus may
be single having only one set of rollers or be double having two sets of rollers in
which latter case one set may be arranged to ascend as the other set descends. The
raising and lowering of the rollers or frames may be effected by hand or.by means
of a treddle lever or cams or parts of the apparatus may effect the said movements.
To check the outward splashing of the liquor the upper sides of the "kettle"
be curved or inclined inwards. In the fourth place the rollers of a felting machine
are enclosed to some extent so as to retain steam about the rollers and work. The
steam is introduced directly into the enclosed space or is discharged from perforations
in the rollers or in one or more of thein. In some cases the articles are steamed in
a chest which is provided with a removable rack of linked perforated shelves.
may
According to a remaining part of the Invention a receptacle for water for use
in cooling the hands of the operator is formed in or below the plank or is let into
a hole therein or is placed in position below an opening in the plank so as to be
conveniently accessible and yet not be in the way of the operator.