Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 25th May, 1886.
Complete Left, 25th Feb., 1887.
Complete Accepted, 25th Mar., 1887.
..
We JOHN HAWTHORN and JOHN PEMBERTON LIDDELL of the firm of John
Hawthorn and Company of Newtown, Now Mills, in the County of Chester,
Engineers do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
Our said Invention relates to apparatus employed to increase or restore the width of
woven fabrics as is well understood. In our improved apparatus we employ a series
of rings or circular sections arranged together so as to compose a flexible or
collapsable combination roller, similar to the expanding apparatus for which we in
conjunction with another have obtained Her Majestys Letters Patent No. 1111 of
the year 1881. In the said former invention each of the said rings or circular
sections formed a wheel which revolved in bearings on the central axle, and it has
been found that in many cases the oil or lubricant from these bearings is apt to reach
and injure the fabric being stretched. In our present invention although we retain
the said series of rings or circular sections to compose the expanding roller, such
rings have no central bearing upon the axle but are hung or supported from each
other by means of springs which allow the rings to rotate at the required angle of
inclination while in the absence of bearings no lubricant is required and consequently
there is no danger of soiling the fabric. The combination roller composing our
stretching apparatus is mounted upon a hollow shaft the series of rings, being
supported between the adjustable ends of the roller and a pulley or ring forming the
central ring of the series and keyed to the axle or shaft. The rings on each side of
the said central fixed pulley are capable of being canted by the adjustable ends to any
desired angle. In accordance with the method which we at present prefer for
securing the rings to each other, we employ U shaped springs of flat steel, the free
ends of each spring being attached to snugs on the various rings and preferably
bedded on rubber pads. The various rings may be connected together by the springs
at four, six or any greater or less number of points and we prefer to stiffen the springs
by making them shorter as they approach the respective ends of the roller. The
adjustable roller ends are formed and fitted as follows: The central hollow shaft is

page_text: supported in bearings at each end in a bush of cast iron the extension of the said
bush projecting inwards from each end so as to form a hollow boss or sleeve of a
square section around the shaft. At the end of this square extension are pivotted
parallel links or arms which are formed on or attached to what might be termed the
boss of the adjustable roller end, which thus moves on the said pivots. The square
sleeve extension passes through the correspondingly formed roller end boss, the boss
having sufficient clearance to permit of a certain amount of oscillation from the
aforesaid pivots. Between one side of the square sleeve extension and the interior of
the boss we place a sliding bar which is extended in the form of a bolt which is
secured to a nut on a central screw which extends through the hollow shaft. By
turning the said central screw the sliding bar is drawn forward or pushed backward.
A fixed stud projecting from the roller and boss traverses in an inclined slot in the
aforesaid, sliding bar with the result that as the sliding bar is moved in one or the
other direction the roller end is moved on its pivots by virtue of the action of the
stud on the inclined slot, the roller end being thus caused to assume any desired
angle. The effect of thus canting the pivotted roller ends is that on one side of the
expanding roller the rings are pressed together and caused to approach each other or
come into close contact while on the other diametrically opposite side of the roller
the rings are pulled' apart the aforesaid flat springs permitting this alternate com-
pression and extension as the roller revolves. A recessed flange bolted to each outer
ring of the roller revolves on a turned disc or ring which projects from the aforesaid
roller end boss so that at whatever angle the roller end boss is set the end ring and
consequently the remaining rings of the series up to the central pulley are compelled
to assume angles proportionate to their distance from the centre ring so that a fabric
led on to the roller at that part of its circumference where the rings are compressed is
gradually stretched as it is carried round the roller to the point in the circumference
where the rings are furthest apart. It will be understood that an adjustable disc and
boss of the described nature is employed at each end of the expanding roller, both
ends being simultaneously canted in opposite directions by the action of the central
Screw. The edges of the various rings are preferably formed with teeth which inter-
lock or work into each other (as in the case of our said former invention and Letters
Patent) whereby the fabric is prevented from entering between the rings. To ensure
uniform extension of the springs and separation of the rings we apply bridles
between the members of each spring so that no spring can be expanded more than to
a certain fixed extent. It will be obvious that springs other than those of the flat
U shaped description might be employed to unite the rings and that such might be
used either with or without auxilliary means for driving, but we at present consider
those described to be the most useful type.
ว
Data tha L... 1000
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James Square, Manchester,
Agents.

page_text: Improvements in Apparatus for Stretching or Expanding Woven
Fabrics.
We JOHN HAWTHORN and JOHN PEMBERTON LIDDELL of the firm of John
Hawthorn and Company of Newton, New Mills in the County of Chester, Engineers,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following state-
iment and accompanying drawings:-
Our said Invention relates to apparatus employed to increase or restore the width
of woven fabrics as is well understood. In our improved apparatus we employ a
series of rings or circular sections arranged together so as to compose a flexible or
collapsable combination roller similar to the expanding apparatus for which we in
conjunction with another have obtained Her Majestys Letters Patent No. 1111 of the
year 1881. In the said former invention each of the said rings or circular sections
formed a wheel which revolved in bearings on the central axle and it has been found
that in many cases the oil, or lubricant from these bearings is apt to reach and injure
the fabric being stretched. In our present invention although we retain the said
series of rings or circular sections to compose the expanding roller such rings have
no central bearing upon the axle but are hung or supported from each other by means
of springs which allow the rings to rotate at the required angle of inclination while in
the absence of hearings no lubricant is required and consequently there is no danger
of soiling the fabric.
And in order that our said invention may be properly understood we will now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, reference being had to the annexed
sheet of drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon to be as follows:--
Fig. 1 of the said drawings is a sectional view of the flexible roller composing our
improved stretching apparatus, while the remaining figures are detail views showing
parts of the apparatus drawn to a larger scale. As clearly shown at Fig. 1 the roller
consists of a series of rings a suspended by means of connecting U shaped springs b
between the central ring a' and the end rings a the said end rings being cast in one
with or fixed to the rings c which revolve upon the discs d. The outer confining
elges of the rings e are removable so as to admit the discs d and are secured to the
rings c by bolts as shown. The said discs d are formed with rectangular bosses e
(as seen more clearly at Figs. 2, 3, and 4) which are capable of adjustment upon the
sleeves in the manner hereinafter described.
The rings a are turned on their

page_text: h.
periphery with grooves of a saw-tooth section as clearly shown at Fig. 1 and the
edges of the periphery of each ring are formed with teeth to engage with the
neighbouring rings as shown at Fig. 5. The use of the saw-tooth grooves is to
cause the rings to grip the cloth, while the teeth y prevent the cloth from getting into
the spaces between the rings. The various rings a composing the roller are con-
nected as already said by means of. the flat U shaped springs & which are made of a
suitable breadth. The contact between the tails of the springs and the projections or
snugs cast on the inner circumference of the rings a is buffered in each case by a
layer of rubber interposed between the tail of the spring and the projection or snug
The rings a may be connected by two, three, four, or any greater number of springs b
and these springs are made shorter and stiffer as they approach the respective ends of
the roller. The central hollow shaft is supported in bearings at each end in a bush i
of cast iron, a projection extending inward from the bush i so as to form a hollow
sleeve which surrounds the central hollow revolving shaftj for a certain distance as
shown. The rectangular bosses e of the discs d are pivotted by studs upon the
hollow sleeves by means of parallel links g as clearly seen at the enlarged plan view
Fig. 3. The width of the rectangular bosses e is such as to allow the hollow sleeve j
which is square at this part to pass through them and also to admit sliding bars or
plates on one side, while the depth of the said bosses permits of a certain amount of
oscillation in a direction at right angles to the axis of the studs k. From the fore-
going description it will be evident that as the ends a² are moved downward toward
the position shown at Fig. 1 one side of the stretching roller will be expanded while
the other diametrically opposite side will be compressed. When the ends a² are in
the position shown at Figs. 2, 3, and 4 the roller is perfectly straight. The means for
thus curving the roller to any required extent are as follows. The plates which have
been described as sliding between one of the flat sides of the squared portion of the
sleeves and the bosses e are each formed with an inclined slot m most clearly
indicated in dotted lines at Fig. 2. Opposite to this slot we screw a stud through
the side of the rectangular boss e the reduced end of the studentering the slot m
in the plate. Tails mare formed on the plates and are attached by means of jamb
nuts o to nuts which engage with right and left hand screws formed at the ends of
the central bar g The said bar is formed with squared ends by which the bar
q
can be turned through the medium of a key or handle the result being that the nuts
are simultaneously traversed toward or away from each other the slotted plates being
similarly moved. As the position of the slots in the said plates becomes thus
changed, the position of the studs becomes correspondingly altered and the
rectangular bosses e with their connected dises d and end rings a² are canted so as to
expand or curve the roller to the desired extent. The play of the U shaped springs b
might if desired be limited by bridles. The bushes from which the sleeves are
extended are supported in pillow blocks which rest on end frames, not shown in the
drawing, or on any other suitable supports. The central bar is enclosed in a
hollow shafts and the shaft is in its turn surrounded by the hollow revolving shaft.j
upon which the contral ring a of the series is fixed. When the roller is in use the
whole of the rings revolve, the central rings a revolving with the shaft while the
end rings a² and rings e run on the discs d. The embracing edges of the rings c are
made deep as shown and we preferably use plumbage as a lubricant. The bearing of
the shaft is isolated and boxed in by the enclosing sleeve so that no lubricant has
access to the rings a and consequently the cloth being stretched is not damaged. by
stains or marks. Instead of connecting the ring by flat U shaped springs as
described we might connect the said rings by means of spiral or other springs capable
of extension and compression.
1
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is:-
1) The canoral arrangement construction and combination of parts forming our

page_text: improved apparatus for stretching or expanding woven fabrics substantially as
described and shown.
(2) In apparatus of the indicated nature connecting the various rings composing
the stretching roller, with the central and end rings by means of flat U shaped
springs or their equivalents, so as to form a flexible roller substantially as and for the
purposes herein before described and illustrated.
(3) The sliding plates with inclined slots for canting and adjusting the end rings
of a stretching roller simultaneously, arranged and operated substantially as herein-
before described and shown.
Q
DUTTON & FULTON,
1. St. James Square, Manchester,
Agents.