IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS TO BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF LINOLEUM FLOORCLOTH
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Walton, of Staines, in the County of
Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS TO BE
USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF LINOLEUM FLOORCLOTH."
Sealed the 5th November 1872, and dated the 3rd September 1872.
о
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Walton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 3rd September 1872.
I, FREDERICK WALTON, of Staines, in the County of Middlesex, do
p hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS TO BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF LINOLEUM FLOORCLOTH," to be
follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus to be
used in the manufacture of linoleum floorcloth. For this purpose the
oxidised oil and the resins used in the manufacture are stirred together
in a cement pan" which is an horizontal cylinder or vessel con-
taining inclined stirrers mounted upon an axis. When the mixture
66

page_text: or
"cement" has thus been prepared a door at the end of the cement
pan is opened and the stirrers drive the material out into an upright
receiver of a cylindrical form. There are two. such cement pans and
receivers employed, and the receivers contain pistons which when forced
downwards cause the cement to be delivered into a mixing machine
where ground cork is worked up with it to form the linoleum com-
pound. By working the two receivers alternately the cement is
delivered continuously and at uniform speed into the mixing machine.
A proportionate quantity of ground cork is also continuously delivered
into the barrel of the mixing machine.
The cork is prepared by means of a pair of hard rollers; the rollers
have screw threads or cutting edges upon them, on one the twist is
right handed, and on the other it is left handed. The rollers are driven
at different surface speed, and they shear the cork between them.
From this machine granulated cork is taken to another machine con-
sisting of a cylinder or drum driven at a high speed. On the periphery
of the cylinder or drum are wooden slats into which steel pins are
driven from the under side. The granulated cork is forced by feed
rollers down a trunk; the trunk is somewhat larger at the lower end
than at the upper, and it terminates in close proximity to the pins
on the drum. The pins cut up the granules of cork until they are
sufficiently small, and the ground or finely divided cork is thrown off
at the periphery of the rapidly revolving drum.
Slices of cork may
also be presented by hand to the action of the pins upon the drum.
When the pins become worn so as not to project sufficiently from the
slats in which they are set the slats are taken off and by a drift or
punch applied at the back the pins are forced out a distance sufficient
to compensate for the wear.
In place of using a drum with pins upon it, as above described, the
drum may be built up of a number of segments of thin steel similar to
saws, and having saw-like teeth on their edges. These segments are
strung upon bolts which bind them together, and in this way a toothed
drum is built up. The cork in the state in which it comes from this
machine is passed into the mixing machine already mentioned. This
machine consists of a barrel with an axis passing through it. The axis
is of octagonal form, and it is covered from end to end of the barrel with
rings, each having two cutters formed upon it. These rings and cutters
are all similar the one.to the other, and the cutters are arranged spirally

page_text: around the axis%; there are also two rows of cutters fixed within the
barrel, one row on each side, and the cutters upon the axis pass between
them. The lower part of the barrel is steam jacketed. The axis of this
mixing machine is driven at a slow speed by spur wheels, and the
› materials, when thoroughly mixed are delivered in a plastic state at the
end of the barrel on to a travelling apron.
The axis of the mixing machine is so arranged that it can be
accurately adjusted and retained in position in a longitudinal direction,
so that the cutters may not come in contact the one with the other
although passing each other with very little clearance.
.
The mixing machine supplies two machines by which the plastic
material is reduced into sheets. In these machines the material from
the mixing machine is carried by aprons or endless sheets slowly forward
between flat plates which are inclined the one to the other.
The upper
plate vibrates about a joint at its further end so as alternately to
approach and recede from the stationary plate; the linoleum compound
is carried into the space between the plates, entering at the widely open
mouth and being discharged through the narrow delivery orifice near or
immediately beneath the joint about which the upper plate vibrates. At
each motion of the plate the material receives a pressure, and so is
gradually squeezed together, spread out and reduced in thickness until it
is able to pass out from between the plates at the delivery orifice; the
sheet thus produced which is still considerably thicker than the linoleum
floorcloth into which it is to be manufactured is passed down between a
pair of rollers, around which the woven fabrics to form the back and
face of the fabric are also passed. The nip of the rollers reduce the
sheet of linoleum compound to the thickness required, and causes it.to
adhere firmly to the back and face fabrics. By thus supplying the
rollers with a continuous sheet of the linoleum compound, the delivery
of the floorcloth from the rollers is also rendered continuous, and at the
same time the strain on the back and face fabrics is much less than it
would be if the dough were fed to the rollers in a mass or lump. The
linoleum floorcloth travels continuously away from the rollers, first
through a pair of smoothing rollers, and then under a spreader which
covers the back fabric with a waterproofing composition which in
consequence of the admixture of naptha is semi-fluid whilst hot. The
spreader consists of a bar with a straight edge resting upon the fabric.
.

page_text: When one bay of a drying house has been filled the printing machine
is moved laterally along rails to bring it opposite the next bay, which is
then similarly filled. To move the machine from one drying house to
another, the machine is put upon a turn table in the printing room and
turned round and moved laterally along rails until it faces one of the
empty bays of another of the drying houses, which then receives the
floorcloth as it is printed.
When the printing is quiet dry the linoleum floorcloth is taken out of
the drying house and passed through a machine by which the selvages
or edges which have been perforated in the printing machine are cut off.
This machine consists of two endless travelling bands with pegs upon
them. The pegs enter the holes in the fabric, and they carry the floor-
cloth regularly forward between two pair of circular shears, which
remove the superfluous material. The floorcloth is lastly taken through
a washing machine. In this machine there is a table which supports
the fabric whilst it is sprinkled from a rose with soap and water, and the
floorcloth then passes beneath a rapidly revolving cylindrical brush.
When the floorcloth is thus thoroughly cleansed, the water is removed
from the face by a drum on which rubbers of vulcanized india-rubber are
fixed. The rubbers coming into close contact with the fabric stop back
the water whilst the floorcloth travels on to a roller on which it is
wound. Both the cylindrical brush and the rubbers act upon the floor-
cloth in the direction opposite to that in which it is travelling beneath
them, and the rubbers are set upon the drum in inclined positions so as
to drive the water to either side of the table. It runs into troughs
which lead it into a cistern from which it is pumped up to be again
used.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Frederick Walton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 3rd March 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
WALTON, of Staines, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,

page_text: 3
give and grant unto me, the said Frederick Walton, Her special license
that I, the said Frederick Walton, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Frederick Walton, my executors,
administrators, and 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 APPARATUS
TO BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF LINOLEUM FLOORCLOTH," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Frederick Walton, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or
one of their bands and seals, 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 Frederick Walton, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus to be
used in the manufacture of linoleum floorcloth. For this purpose the
oxidized oil and the resins commonly used in this manufacture are
stirred together in a cement pan
"which is marked a in Figures 1 and
2 of the annexed Drawings. In these Drawings Figure 1 is a plan
and Figure 2 an elevation (both partly in section) of the apparatus for
producing the linoleum sheet; the cement pan a is an horizontal
cylinder or vessel containing inclined stirrers at mounted upon an axis
a² which is driven at a slow speed in any convenient manner; the cement
pan is steam jacketed at the lower part and is provided with a hopper a
through which it is fed; when the mixture or cement has been prepared
a door at at the end of the cement pan is opened and the stirrers drive
the material out into an upright receiver 6 of a cylindrical form; there are
two such cement pans and receivers employed; the receivers are steam
jacketed and they contain pistons 6' which can be forced downwards by
the worms and pinions 63 working as nuts upon the piston rods which
have screw threads cut upon them; the axes of the worms b³ can be
rotated in either direction by means of driving straps; the piston b¹

page_text: when it descends causes the cement to be delivered through a steam
jacketed pipe 6 into a powerful mixing machine c where ground cork
is worked up with it to form tlie linoleum compound; by working the
two receivers 6 alternately the cement is delivered continuously, or
nearly so, and at uniform speed into the mixing machine; a proportionate
quantity of ground cork is also continuously delivered into the barrel
of the mixing machine.
The cork is prepared by means of a machine shewn by the Figures 3
and 4; Figure 3 is an elevation, and Figure 4 a plan of a portion of the
machine which consists of a pair of hard rollers a, a; the rollers have
screw threads or cutting edges upon them, and they are driven at
different surface speeds; b is the main shaft; a spur wheel b¹ upon it
drives the spur wheel a' upon the end of one of the rollers a; the pinion b³
upon the main shaft also drives an intermediate wheel c, on the axis of
which is a pinion gearing with a wheel a³ upon the end of the other
roller a, which thus receives motion at a slower speed than the other,
and in the opposite direction; the rollers a, a, can be set close up, the one
to the other, by the set screws which the Drawing shews, and they shear
the cork which is placed between them. A hopper may be placed over
the rollers, or the sheets of cork may be presented to the rollers by hand.
'
From this machine the granulated cork is taken to another machine,
shewn in sectional elevation at Figure 5, and in plan at Figure 6. This
machine consists of a cylinder or drum a driven at a high speed; on the
periphery of the cylinder or drum are wooden lats a', into which steel
pins are driven from the under side. The granulated cork is forced by feed
rollers down a trunk c. The feed rollers are grooved or roughened on their
surfaces, and they are geared together and driven at a slow speed by the
pulleys and driving bands, which the Drawing shews. The trunk c is
somewhat larger at the lower end than at the upper, and it terminates in
close proximity to the pins on the drum a; The pins cut up the
granules of cork until they are sufficiently small, and the ground or
finely divided cork is thrown off at the periphery of the rapidly revolving
drum. Slices of cork may also be presented by hand to the action of
the pins upon the drum; a door is provided in the drum case at d for
this purpose.
When the pins become worn so as not to project
sufficiently from the lats a¹ in which they are set the lats are taken off,
and by a drift or punch applied at the back the pins are forced out a
distance sufficient to compensate for the wear.

page_text: In place of using a drum with pins upon it, as above described, the
drum may be built up of a number of segments of thin steel, similar to
saws, and having saw-like teeth on their edges. These segments are
strung upon bolts which bind them together, and in this way a toothed
drum is built up; such a construction is shewn at Figure 7. a, a, are
saw-like segments of steel, and b, b, are bolts holding them together, the
one to the other, and clamping the whole between two end discs fixed
upon the axis.
The cork in the state in which it comes from this machine is passed
into the mixing machine already mentioned, and shewn at c, in Figures 1
and 2. This is done by means of a feeder, seen in section at Figure 1°.
It consists of a hopper to receive the ground cork, and at the bottom of
the hopper is a meter for regulating the supply of ground cork to the.
mixing machine. The meter consists of cross arms mounted upon an
axis and contained within a cylindrical case. It is driven by a band
passing around a pulley upon its axis. It delivers the cork down a
trunk into the barrel of the mixer at a point immediately over that at
which the cement enters:
The mixing machine consists of a barrel c¹ with an axis c' passing
through it; these parts are shewn in section at Figure 8. The axis c²
is of octagonal form, and it is covered from end to end of the barrel
with rings c³ equally spaced by means of washers placed between them.
Each ring has two cutters formed upon it, one of these rings is shewn
separately at Figure 9. These rings and cutters are all similar, the one
to the other, and the cutters are arranged spirally around the axis with
the washers between them to maintain spaces or intervals of the same
width as the teeth, or thereabout. There are also two rows of cutters c*
fixed within the barrel; they are similarly spaced, one row on each side,
and the cutters upon the axis pass between them. The lower part
of the barrel is steam jacketed. The axis c³ of this mixing machine is
driven at a slow speed through spur wheels, and the materials when
thoroughly mixed are delivered in a plastic state at the open end of the
barrel on to a travelling apron d., The axis c³ of the mixing machine c
is so arranged that it can be accurately adjusted and retained in position
in a longitudinal direction so that the cutters may not come in contact
the one with the other, although passing each other with very little
clearance. At one end the thrust of the axis is taken upon a hardened
steel pin supported by a standard c provided for the purpose, and the

page_text: pin is adjustable by means of nuts on a screw thread cut upon it; the
other end of the axis is somewhat similarly supported and adjusted, as
the Drawing shews. c are driving pulleys which receive the driving
belt by which motion is given to the mixing machine; upon this axis
is a pinion c gearing with a spur wheel upon the intermediate axis c³, on
which is the pinion c³ driving the spur wheel c" fixed upon the axis c³.
The mixing machine supplies a machine e by which the plastic
material is reduced into sheets. In this machine the material from the
mixing machiné is carried by aprons or endless sheets e¹, e¹, slowly
forward between flat plates e² and e³, which are inclined the one to the
other; these plates are cast hollow. and are heated by steam. The upper
plate e³ vibrates about a joint e** at its further end so as alternately to
approach and recede from the stationary plate e³%; it receives its motion
from an axis e* and cam eð.
The linoleum compound is carried by the endless sheets e¹, which may
be of wire gauze, into the space between the plates e² and e³, entering
at the widely open mouth and being discharged through the narrow
delivery orifice nearly beneath the joint about which the upper plate
vibrates. The endless sheets e¹ receive motion from a ratchet wheel ex
upon the axis of one of the rollers of the upper sheet, and this axis is
geared with one of the axes of the lower sheet. An eccentric upon the
axis e* actuates a pawl which drives the wheel e*. At each motion of
the plate e² the material receives a pressure and so is gradually squeezed
together, spread out, and reduced in thickness until it is able to pass out
from between the plates a³ and a³ at the delivery orifice. The sheet thus
produced, which is still considerably thicker than the linoleum floorcloth
into which it is to be manufactured, is passed down between a pair of
rollers f,f¹, around which the woven fabric to form the back of the
fabric is also passed, being drawn from the fabric roll f³..
The nip of the rollers reduces the sheet of linoleum compound to the
thickness required, and causes it to adhere firmly to the back fabric.
The rollers and 1 are heated by steam. The roller f¹ can be set
nearer to or further from the roller ƒ by means of the hand wheel ƒ³.
Upon the axis of this wheel are worms driving worm wheels fixed upon
screws acting upon the bearings of the roller f' which are able to slide
in suitable guides. By thus supplying the rollers f,f, with a continuous
sheet of the linoleum compound the delivery of the floorcloth from the

page_text: rollers is also rendered continuous, and at the same time the strain on
the fabric is much less than it would be if the dough were fed to the
rollers in a mass or lump.
The linoleum floorcloth travels continuously away from the rollers,
first through a pair of cold smoothing rollers ff, and then around a
guide roller f, and under a spreader which covers the back fabric with
a waterproofing composition, such as is now commonly used for this
purpose, and which, in consequence of the admixture of naptha, is semi-
fluid whilst hot. The gearing by which this machine is driven is as
follows is an axis which receives the main driving strap ; a pinion
upon it drives a wheel upon the axis. f, on which is a pinion giving
motion to a wheel upon the axis ƒ³, which also carries a pinion driving a
large wheel ƒª upon the axis of the roller; ff, f, are wheels which
gear the rollers fand f' together on the other side of the machine; the
axis f", by a belt and pulleys drives the axis f", which in a similar
manner actuates the axis f; this axis passes through the machine,
and at its further end has a pinion upon it, and so drives a train of
wheels fs, the last of which is upon the axis of one of the smoothing
rollers f^; fare wheels by which the smoothing rollers are geared
together; the axis f" also by a belt and pulleys drives the axis f¹, on
which there is a pinion gearing with a spur wheel upon the axis e of
the cam e³.
'
The spreader is shewn separately to a larger scale by the Figure 10;
it consists of a bar with a straight edge g resting upon the fabric; the
bar is hollow at g', and heated by steam within it, and it is concave so
that its other edge g² also comes nearly in contact with the fabric; so a
chamber or cavity 9" is formed beneath the bar in which the water-
proofing composition is enclosed and kept hot. The floorcloth is drawn
up the incline i (see Figure 2), and as it thus travels on the back becomes
sufficiently hard for the trade mark to be printed upon it, and this is
done at intervals by the printing roller h which is provided with suitable
inking rollers which the Drawing does not shew. x, x, are a pair of
cold flatting rollers, placed immediately before the printing roller.
In order to allow time for the waterproofing compound to become
quite hard the floorcloth is led into a drying room. Figure 11 is a
sectional elevation and Figure 12 a sectional plan of the drying room.
a is a roller exterior to the drying room, and near the top thereof. The

page_text: linoleum sheet is hung over the roller which is driven by the pulleys and
belts, shewn in the Drawing, at such a speed as to ensure the sheet being
brought forward as rapidly as it is produced; the sheet is then led over
the roller b, and thence in a zig-zag course up and down in the drying
room, being still carried forward continuously by the revolving sup-
porting rollers b', b, aided by an endless wire rope c, c, at each edge of
the floorcloth, and the edges or selvages are attached to these ropes ;.
the ropes c, c,, pass around the rollers b, b', ', and the pulleys c¹, c¹, in
an endless course, as the Drawing shews, and the floorcloth is attached
to them as it rises together with the ropes to the roller b.
Any convenient and simple method of attachment may be resorted to;
as for example, hooks may be attached at intervals, or twine may be
passed with a packing needle through the edges of the linoleum sheet
and tied to the ropes.
The rollers b, U', have all bevelled wheels upon their axes, gearing
with similar wheels upon an axis d, which is driven by a pulley d¹ and
driving belt ď. A current of air is maintained in the drying room by
means of a fan, if necessary. At the end of the drying room the floor-
cloth is wound upon a roller e, which is driven by a belt e¹; the belt e¹
runs at a speed greater than. is required to drive the roller e, and by
slipping upon its pulley compensation for the varying diameter of the
work roll is effected; the attachments between the floorcloth and the
selvage ropes are cut or removed as the roller e is approached; when a
long length is thus accumulated and the roller e is full the floorcloth is
cut across, and the roller with the material upon it is taken away to the
printing machine, which applies the colors to the face of the floorcloth.
The printing machine is fully described in the Specification of a
former Patent granted to me, dated the 25th day of January 1871,
No. 199. This machine is erected in a printing room in the centre of a
cruciform building, of which a plan is shewn by Figure 13. On each of
the four sides of the printing room a is a drying house b, and in each
drying house there are three bays b¹, b², b³. In each bay a long length
of floorcloth can be hung to dry; as much as the machine can print in
two or three days. As the fabric is delivered from the printing machine
which is indicated at c, it is carried to the top of the drying house, it
hangs in a long bite over a pulley and then rises and passes over a drum,
and from thence horizontally to the far end of one of the bays, of which

page_text: a sectional elevation is shewn by Figure 14. The floorcloth is
supported at long intervals by cross bars d, d, which by endless chains
e, e, passing around the drums f, f, are carried along horizontally in
guides towards the far end of the drying house.
Figure 15 is a transverse section to a larger scale of the drum fat the
receiving end of the bays, together with cross bars d, d, and endless
chain e and other parts connected therewith. Figure 16 is a portion of
an end elevation. The drum f is driven at such a speed as to take
forward the fabric as rapidly as it is delivered from the printing machine.
The bars d are of sheet iron of trough like form, and at their ends these
troughs are fixed upon hollow castings d¹ into the interior of which the
catches enter; the lip of the casting is notched to make way for the
arm of the catch; the endless chains e thus hold the bars d, which work
in the guides g by means of catches h, and the chains drive the bars
forward until the catches h are released; this takes place as each bar
comes up with the bar in front of it, the edge of the casting d' of the
stationary bar depressing the arm of the catch against the resistance of
its spring, so the bars close up to each other and are stopped in
succession; as the bars thus approach each other the floorcloth
between them hangs loosely, and finally it forms a series of folds
extending from top to bottom of the drying house. The bars are
inserted as they are required by the workman into the guide grooves g ;
the drying house having been filled, the floorcloth remains in it until
the paint is quite dry and the material is fit for use.
'When one bay of a drying house has been filled the printing machine c
is moved laterally along rails c¹ to bring it opposite the next bay, which
is then similarly filled.
To move the machine from one drying house to another the machine
is put upon a turntable c* in the printing room, and turned round and
moved laterally along rails until it faces one of the empty bays of
another of the drying houses, which then receives the floorcloth as it is
printed.
When the printing is quite dry, the linoleum floorcloth is taken out
of the drying house and passed through a washing machine%; Figure 17
is a longitudinal section of this machine. The selvages or edges of the
fabric which have been perforated in the printing machine are received
on to two endless travelling bands a, a, with pegs upon them. The
a¹

page_text: pegs enter the holes in the fabric, which is pressed on to them by the
top roller b, and they carry the floorcloth regularly forward through the
washing machine. In this machine there is a table c which supports
the fabric whilst it is sprinkled from a rose d with soap and water, and
the floorcloth then passes beneath a rapidly revolving cylindrical brush e.
When the floorcloth is thus thoroughly cleansed, the water is removed
from the face by a drum f on which rubbers f¹ of vulcanized india-
rubber are fixed. The rubbers coming into close contact with the fabric
stop back the water whilst the floorcloth travels on. Two pair of
circular shears then remove the perforated edges, and the floorcloth passes
to a roller on which it is wound. This roller may be driven by a loose
driving belt. Both the cylindrical brush e and the rubbers f¹ act upon
the floorcloth in the direction opposite to that in which it is travelling
beneath them, and the rubbers are set upon the drum in inclined positions,
forming angles midway along the roller, so that they drive the water to
either side of the table, where it runs into troughs g, which lead it into
a cistern h, from which it is pumped up to be again used; i, i, are the
circular shears. This machine is movable from place to place upon
wheels. The machine is driven by a band k passing around a pulley,
upon the axis of which there is a pinion driving a spur wheel m upon
the axis of one of the rollers upon which the bands a, a, are mounted,
and so these bands are caused to draw forward the fabric through the
machine. The wheel m drives a pinion n, actuating other pinions *, **,
upon the axis of the circular shears i. The brush e and the drum fare
connected by a belt passing round pulleys upon their respective axes,
and the axis of the brush e has also a large pulley e¹ upon it receiving
a driving belt. 'e³ and f* are casings over the brush and rubbers to
intercept any water they may throw up. The water passes into
gutters e** and f**, and thence into the side troughs g.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
of nonfouming the
como
I would have it undouband
T

page_text: 3rd. The machinery for reducing the compound into sheets, sub-
stantially as described in respect to Figures 1 and 2.
4th. The construction of the spreader for covering the back fabric
with a waterproofing composition, substantially as described in respect
to Figures 10.
5th. The arrangement of the drying room and apparatus, substantially
as described in respect to Figures 11 and 12.
6th. The arrangement of the printing house and drying houses, sub-
stantially as described in respect to Figures 13 and 14.
7th. The arrangement of the apparatus for carrying the floorcloth
forward along the drying house, and hanging it in bites, substantially as
described in respect to Figures 14, 15, and 16.
8th. The arrangement of the washing machine, substantially. as
described in respect to Figure 17.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Walton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of January, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.
FRED, WALTON. (L.S.)