IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MAKING PLAITS OR FOLDS
Year: 1875

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Lloyd Wise at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th September 1875.-A communication from abroad by Oscar
Bauer, Mannfacturer, of Johann-Georgenstadt, in the Kingdom of
Saxony, German Empire.
I, WILLIAM LLOYD WISE, of Chandos Chambers, Adelphi, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-*
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MAKING PLAITS OR
FOLDS," (a communication to me from abroad by Oscar Bauer, Manu-
facturer, of Johann-Georgenstadt, in the Kingdom of Saxony, German
Empire,) to be as follows:-
This Invention of improvements in machinery or apparatus for
making plaits or folds relates to a machine working in combination with
a sewing machine of the Wheeler and Wilson type, or of other con-
struction for forming plaits or folds of the kind known as "ruches
volants," ΟΣ "box plaits," which plaits or folds are sewn down by the
sewing machine.
The folding machine is in mechanical combination with the sewing
machine, so that when the latter is set in motion by treadle or otherwise
the folding machine will begin to work,

page_text: The plaits or folds are produced by the folding machine in the
following manner:-A strip of linen or cotton cloth, or of any other
suitable material, is passed between suitable tension rods or wires, thence
underneath a folder (which I will call the first folder) and its holder
between a couple of pressing rollers and underneath another folder
(which I will call the second folder) and its holding piece, so that the
_strip_may_be_taken hold of by the latter. The sewing machine being
now set in motion actuates through a pinion and spur wheel the main
shaft of the folding machine and the cams carried by said shaft. One
of these cams will move a lever so that an adjustable bar on said lever
will by a small roller at its end cause the second folder to be pressed
down on to the lower roller and stop the strip. Then another cam will
press against an antifriction roller turning on an adjustable arm or lever
so that the latter will give a slight turn to a shaft working in suitable
bearings. By this movement two arms mounted on the said shaft are
moved in an upward direction and the prolongation of the second folder
with its folder swinging between a couple of pointed screws is moved in
a forward direction. During this a third cam has acted against an
antifriction roller on one end of a lever whose other end carries another
roller. By this action a rack 'resting on the last mentioned roller is
pressed upward and into the teeth of a spur wheel on the axis of the
lower pressing roller. This serves for setting in motion the said
pressing roller, which at its other end carries a spur wheel, taking into a
similar wheel fixed to the upper pressing roller, from which arrangement
a uniform turning of the two pressing rollers results. Another cam
turning with the main shaft then presses upward an antifriction roller
on a lever, whereby a small shaft turning in suitable bearings is caused
to make a semi-rotation and so to move in a backward direction an arm
fixed to said shaft, thereby causing a piece fixed to the arm and hinged
to the rack to follow-the-same direction, by which movement through
the spur wheel on the axis of the lower pressing roller that roller is
=caused-to-feed-the-strip forward on the edge-of-the-second-folder, which
at the same time advances to the roller, thereby pushing the first half
fold thus formed between the two pressing rollers. At this moment the
lever herein-before mentioned, as actuating the adjustable bar, begins.
to move in a backward direction, whereby the second folder is released
from pressure and is slightly elevated by a spiral spring so that the fold
lies free. Now a device fixed to the cam whereby the rack is brought
into opération as herein-before mentioned presses the antifriction roller
..

page_text: of its lever downward, thereby causing the small shaft connected to the
rack to make, another semi-rotation in the reverse direction to that
already mentioned, whereby the arm with the rack is caused to move in
a forward direction. By this forward motion of the rack the pressing
rollers are turned backward for a short distance and the half fold
between them is transferred to the middle and pressed or smoothed.
At the same time the second folder, somewhat elevated, returns to its
original position. Immediately after this a cam on the main shaft
presses a lever upward to a spring which is fixed to the prolongation of
the first folder. By this motion the said prolongation, with the folder
itself hinged in the pointed set screws, is pressed down forward to the
lower pressing roller, and the material underneath the folder is kept
steady on the roller.
The prolongation of the first folder is hinged or swings between the
pointed set screws in a frame, the side parts of which pass through the
bed plate, below which they are fixed to a slide moving horizontally on
rails. On the slide a small lever is mounted, which bears at its rear
end a small adjusting screw. This small lever also carries at its fore
end an antifriction roller, which by means of a spiral spring always
bears against the side face of a cam on the main shaft. When this
small lever is moved forward by the said cam the small set screw carried
by the lever pushes against a bracket, thereby causing the slide and its
appurtenances to move in a forward direction; thus, the first folder in
its down pressed position, as above specified, is moved forward to the
middle of the pressing rollers, thereby feeding between them as much of
the strip as is necessary to form the second part of the plait or "ruche."
Immediately after this has been accomplished the lever herein-before
mentioned as pressing the spring fixed to the prolongation of the first
folder returns to its original position, thereby liberating from its
pressure the said folder, which becomes somewhat elevated by means of
a spiral spring. Then the cam herein-before mentioned as operating the
rack presses the antifriction roller of its lever with the adjoining
parts. upward, thereby causing the rack to move backward, and the
pressing rollers to rotate; the second part of the "ruche or plait is
grasped by the rollers and moved, and thus the finished "ruche” or
plait appears well pressed underneath the second folder. During this
operation the slide with its appurtenances is drawn back by a spring to
its original position, and when the pressing rollers have moved the
33

page_text: Every “ruche” or plait when made as above described, and moved
underneath the second folder, is fed under a pressure foot of the sewing
machine, and caused to pass up to the needle, which sews the folds
down and delivers the strip in its finished plaited state.
In order to guide each width of material during the folding operation
the tension rods or wires are provided with adjustable guide rails, and
to protect the material from being touched by the prolongation of the
first folder a small rail is screwed down on the bed plate for keeping
down the material. The lower pressing roller turns in two hanging
bearings, which are fixed to the sides of the bed plate. Above these
bearings are the standards or frames for the bearings of the upper
pressing roller, which bearings are made adjustable.
In order that more or less pressure may be given to the folds between
the pressing rollers a spring is provided above the adjustable bearings,
the pressure of which spring may be regulated by a set screw passing
through the cross head of the frames or standards.
For the purpose of ensuring that the second part or half of the
"ruche"
or plait shall be of the same size as the first, an adjusting
screw acting indirectly on the slide is mounted on the bed plate, and in
order to prevent-this adjustable screw altering its position during the
folding operation a safety spring is caused to bear against it. A small
lever having its fulcrum at its rear end is provided at its fore end with a
leather surface, so that the backward movement of the slide-may-be-