IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLER FULLING MILLS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in
the County of Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of
Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN ROLLER FULLING MILLS."-A communication from Theodor Wiede, of
Chemnitz, and Ernest Pressprich, of Grossenhain, both in the Kingdom
of Saxony.
Sealed the 16th January 1857, and dated the 20th August 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th August 1856.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North
Britain, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLER FULLING MILLS," a communication from Theodore
Wiede, of Chemnitz, and Ernest Pressprich, of Grossenhain, both in the
Kingdom of Saxony, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improved constructions and arrangements
of roller fulling mills employed in the manufacture of woollen cloth, whereby a
smaller amount of driving power is required to produce a greater quantity of
work, and the cloth is less liable to be deteriorated in appearance or injured in
texture by being creased or cut by the fulling mechanism. According to this
Invention, the ordinary endless band of cloth is subjected to pressure alter-
nately in a horizontal and vertical direction. For this purpose four pairs of

page_text: fulling or pressing rollers are used, the first pair being arranged in a vertical
position, and the succeeding pairs are arranged horizontally and vertically
.alternately.
The carrying rollers, which direct the cloth to the first pair of fulling or
pressing rollers, may or may not be driven by the machine, or their speed may
be regulated according to the amount of shrinkage to be given to the cloth.
A gradual diminishing velocity is imparted to the succeeding pairs of fulling
rollers, by which means the cloth which is carried loosely is pushed lengthwise
between the pairs of rollers at the same time that it is subjected to pressure.
One roller of each pair is driven by gearing or bands, whilst the opposing
roller is held pressed against it by springs or weights, and is carried round by
the passage of the cloth over it.
The delivery rollers, of which there are four, are arranged in two pairs; one
pair having horizontal axes, and being placed one above the other, whilst the
other pair have vertical axes, and revolve in the space between the horizontal
rollers. These rollers are pressed together by springs or weights.
The vertical rollers serve to prevent the cloth from spreading. laterally
between the horizontal rollers. The delivery rollers revolve at a slower rate
than the last pair of fulling rollers, and are placed in close proximity to such
rollers, which latter press or push the accumulated cloth longitudinally in the
space contained between the last pair of fulling rollers and the delivery rollers;
but as a regular and constant delivery of such cloth is effected by the delivery
rollers, there is less liability of the folds of the cloth being unduly nipped or
squeezed.
The endless band of cloth passes through a hole in a lifter board, so that
should the cloth become twisted or entangled at any part, it will on passing the
lifter board raise it and immediately stop the machine.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 20th February 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN HENRY
JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex, and of
166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS, Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of August, in the year of our Lord

page_text: One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said John Henry
Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, tho
said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or 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 ROLLER FULLING MILLS," a communication from Theodore Wiede, of Chem-
nitz, and Ernest Pressprich, of Grossenhain, both in the Kindom of Saxony,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Henry Johnson,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 I, the said John Henry Johnson, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
The said Invention relates to certain improved constructions and arrange-
ments of roller fulling mills employed in the manufacture of woollen cloth,
whereby a smaller amount of driving power is required to produce a greater
quantity of work, and the cloth is less liable to be deteriorated in appearance
or injured in texture by being creased or cut by the fulling mechanism.
According to this Invention, the ordinary endless band of cloth is subjected to
pressure alternately in a horizontal and vertical direction. For this purpose
four pairs of fulling or pressing rollers are used, the first pair being arranged
in a vertical position, and the succeeding pairs are arranged horizontally and
vertically alternately. The carrying rollers, which direct the cloth to the first
pair of fulling or pressing rollers, may or may not be driven by the machine, or
their speed may be regulated according to the amount of shrinkage to be given
to the cloth. A gradually diminishing velocity is imparted to the succeeding
pairs of fulling rollers, by which means the cloth which is carried loosely is
pushed lengthwise between the pairs of rollers at the same time that it is
subjected to pressure. One roller of each pair is driven by gearing or bands,
whilst the opposing roller is held pressed against it by springs or weights, and

page_text: is carried round by the passage of the cloth over it. The delivery rollers, of
which there are four, are arranged in two pairs; one pair having horizontal
axes, and being placed one above the other; whilst the other pair have vertical
axes, and revolve in the space between the horizontal rollers; these rollers are
pressed together by springs or weights. The vertical rollers serve to prevent
the cloth from spreading laterally between the horizontal rollers. The delivery
rollers revolve at a slower rate than the last pair of fulling rollers, and are
placed in close proximity to such rollers, which fatter press or push the accu-
mulated cloth longitudinally in the space contained between the last pair of
fulling rollers and the delivery rollers; but as a regular and constant delivery
of such cloth is effected by the delivery rollers, there is less liability of the folds
of the cloth being unduly nipped or creased.
The endless band of cloth passes
through a lefter board, so that should the cloth become twisted or entangled at
any part, it will on passing the lefter board raise it and immediately stop the
machine.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all the
Figures.
Figure 1 of the Drawings represents a side elevation of the roller fulling
inil; Figure 2 is a corresponding plan of the same; Figure 3 is an elevation
of the opposite side of the mill; Figure 4 is a corresponding vertical section
of the same, taken along the line 1, 2; Figure 5 is a longitudinal vertical
section, taken through the centre of the mill; Figure 6 is a corresponding end
elevation; and Figure 7 represents a transverse and longitudinal section of one
of the fulling rollers detached. A is the main framing; and B, the driving
shaft, passing transversely through the trough C which contains the cloth;
D and D³ are fast and loose driving pullies, fitted on to one end of the driving
shaft, the opposite end of which carries a pair of spur pinions E, F. The
larger pinion E gears into the spur wheel G, which is fast on the axis of the
lower one of the first pair of horizontal fulling rollers H, H', the upper
roller of this pair being driven by the passing of the cloth. The cloth,
which is in the form of an endless band, is supplied to the fulling rollers by
the pair of carrier rollers I, 1'. The lower carrier roller I' may or may not
be driven, according as a greater or less shrinkage is required; when driven,
the cloth will be pushed forward or accumulated in a loose state between the
carrying rollers and the first pair of vertical rollers K, K¹, which rotate at a
słower speed than the carrier roilers, as I shall berein-after explain. The

page_text: carrier roller I is driven from a pulley L, or the axis of the roller H³, by
means of a slack band M, which is kept in a state of tension when the
carrier roller is to be driven by means of the tension roller N on the end of
the weighted lever O (Figure 1). A catch P serves to keep this lever elevated
when the tension is to be taken from off the driving band. The upper carrier
roller I rotates by frictioned contact with the cloth only, and is pressed thereon
by means of the helical spring I" and lever arms J" and K", (Figures 3
and 5,) the pressure being regulated to any desired extent by simply adjusting
the spring connection to one or other of the holes in the lever arm J". The
handle L" serves to take off this pressure when requisite. Motion is imparted
to the first pair of vertical fulling rollers (which revolve at a less speed than
the carrying rollers) from the spur wheel G, which gears into the correspond-
ingly sized spur wheel Q, fast on one end of the shaft R. On this shaft is keyed
the bevil wheel S, which gears into the smaller bevil wheel T, on the axis of
the vertical fulling roller K', the opposite roller being carried round with the
cloth. The vertical roller K is kept pressed against the roller K' by means of
the bow spring U (Figure 3). It will be obvious, on referring to the gearing
in Figure 1, that the horizontal fulling rollers H, H', will rotate at a lower
speed than the first pair K, K', by which means the cloth is kept compressed
longitudinally between the two pairs. From the rollers H, H', the cloth passes
to the second pair of vertical fulling rollers V, V₁; these rollers rotate at a still
slower speed than the preceding horizontal pair; they derive their motion
from the smaller pinion F on the main driving shaft, which pinion gears into
the spur wheel W, fast on the axis of the lower one of the second pair of
horizontal fulling rollers X, X'. This wheel W gears into the corresponding
wheel Y fast on the shaft Z, which carries a bevel wheel a, gearing into a
smaller bevil wheel b, on the axis V₁ of the opposite one of the pair of vertical
rollers V, V, the roller V being pressed against its neighbour. by the bow
spring c, as described in reference to the first pair of rollers K, K', carried
round by the passage of the cloth.
As the motion of the rollers X, X', is derived from the smaller pinion F on
the driving shaft, it follows that they revolve at a slower rate than the rollers
H, H', which receive their motion from the larger pinion E. The upper
rollers Hand X are pressed down upon their respective under rollers by the
bow springs d and d¹. As the rollers X, X', have to push the cloth endwise
between them and the horizontal delivery rollers e, e¹, I have geared the upper
roller X with the under one X' by means of the spur- pinions f, f, on their
respective axes. The delivery rollers e, e¹, are also geared together by the
pinions g, y; they receive their motion from the axis of the roller X', which

page_text: carries a small pinion h (Figure 3), gearing into the larger carrier wheel i,
running loose upon a stud, which latter wheel imparts motion to the wheel k,
fast on the end of the lower horizontal delivery roller e'. It will thus be
obvious that the delivery rollers rotate at a less speed than the preceeding pair
of fulling rollers, and that in fact each succeeding pair of rollers, from the
carrier or feeding rollers to the delivery rollers, revolves at a gradually de-
creasing velocity in relation to the preceeding pair, by which means the cloth is
well pressed lengthwise. 1, 11, are. two vertical rollers which revolve between
the delivery rollers, and serve to keep the cloth compact, and prevent it from
becoming flattened between the rollers e, e', by exerting a lateral pressure upon
it, at the same time that it receives a vertical pressure from the upper horizontal
roller e, which is held firmly down upon it by the two two bent arms or
links m, m³, connected at their lower ends to the lever arms n, n', on the
transverse rocking shaft o (Figure 5). This shaft has a curved lever arm p
fast on one extremity, which arm is acted upon by the adjustable helical
spring (Figure 1), in such a manner as to cause, by the turning of the rock-
ing shaft o, any desired amount of pressure to be exerted upon the upper
delivery roller e, as will be clearly understood on referring to the Drawings.
A catch serves to keep the lever arm p elevated when the pressure is to be
taken off the roller e. The vertical rollers 1, l', work in bearings in the forked
extremities of the levers s, s', and are kept pressed laterally against the cloth by
means of the weights t, t, which act upon the outer ends of the levers s. From
these last described rollers the cloth passes to the trough C, round the guide
roller u, and up through an aperture in the hinged lifter board v, by which
means, should the cloth become unduly twisted or entanged, it will be pre-
vented from passing through the aperture, and will consequently raise the
lifter board, and by means of any simple mechanical contrivance stop the
mill, by throwing the main driving belt on to the loose pulley. w is the
driving strap guide, which is carried by the curved rod a, fast on the shaft y,
which also carries an upright arm z, held in a vertical position by the weighted
hinged catch 1. A weighted lever arm 2, carrying an adjusting screw 3, is
also fitted on to the shaft y, by which means the shaft will be caused to turn
partially when the arm is released by raising the catch 1, and the driving
strap is thereby transferred to the loose pulley.
The rollers which I prefer using are made of wood and metal combined, as
shewn in Figure 7, the body of the roller consisting of a number of segments
of wood, built round the axis, and secured by long bolts, which pass longi-
tudinally through them and through the end plates when they are tightened up.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said

page_text: Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict
myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to
describe or refer. to, as many variations may be made therefrom without
deviating from the principles or main features of the said Invention; but what
I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,—
First, the general construction and arrangement of roller fulling mills, as
herein-before described.
Second, the system or-mode of fulling cloth, by passing it continuously
through a succession of vertical and horizontal fulling rollers, arranged alter-
nately and revolving at gradually reduced speeds from the carrier or feed
rollers to the delivery rollers.
Third, the combination of four delivery rollers, whereby the cloth is squeezed
both horizontally and vertically simultaneously.
Fourth, the application and use of the moveable lifter board for stopping
the mill, in combination with the peculiarly arranged fulling rollers, herein-
before referred to.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twentieth day of February, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-seven.
T HENDY JOHNSON
7
J.
TIENDV
H
JOHNSON. (1.5.)