IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF DRIVING BELTS
Year: 1884

page_text: I FREDERICK WALTON of Heatham House Twickenham in the County of
Middlesex Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of my invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF DRIVING BELTS" to be as follows:-
This invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of driving
belts and by my improvements I produce a driving belt for machinery which is
not liable to stretch and which is not affected by moisture.
For this purpose I employ thin bands of tempered steel. These bands are
warped on the beam, of an ordinary loom and I weave across and between them a
weft the weft which I prefer being linen or jute around which is spun or twisted
a woollen covering the linen being used to give the strength necessary to hold the
strands of steel in position and the wool is employed to obtain the surface most
suitable to ensure the perfect adhesion of the composition which I employ to
protect the steel strands-the application of which I will now describe.
I take oxidised oil-gums or resins-oxide of zinc and pigments and mix them
as follows:-
I put the foregoing ingredients into a steam pan with the exception of the
pigment and oxide of zinc and I stir them under steam heat until they combine
into a flexible cement-a process well understood.
I take this cement and combine with it the color and the oxide of zinc in a
roller mixing machine and then I roll it into sheets or strips. I place a strip of
the necessary thickness on each side of the belt and then I put the belt so prepared
into a press such as is used for the manufacture of india rubber belting taking care
to carefully dress the belt with French chalk. The pressure is then applied under
heat until the composition is forced into the fibrous covering and becomes partially
vulcanized or hardened. After the belt is removed from the press it is put in an
oven heated by steam or otherwise and allowed to remain from ten to sixty hours
or more until the surface covering of the belt becomes very hard and tough.
The composition can be applied to the belts by means of a wire covering
machine such as is used for electric cables or with rollers but in such case I mix
with the composition about 10 per cent of oil in a semi-oxidized condition to make
it more plastic-it also requires more stoving and it may be partially stoved
before it enters the belting press.

page_text: To increase the toughness I sometimes use animal or other fibres or add a little
india rubber or gutta percha but the latter materials are too expensive for ordinary
belts. These belts will not stretch in use and have a very high breaking strain.
The method I prefer to adopt in joining them is to stretch the belt over the two
driving pullies or riggers by means of an ordinary belt stretcher-the ends are
then cut so that they butt together—a piece of similar belting from six to twelve
inches long is applied over this butt joint and a fine steel bradawl or pointer is
inserted into the belt between the strands of the steel so as to make holes to
receive staples of flat iron or other metallic wire which are forced through the two
thicknesses or plies of belt and folded or clinched over on the other side.
In this way a very strong and flexible joint is secured from five to ten or more
rows of staples may be inserted and shellac, marine glue or other cement may be
used in addition to the staple fastening.

page_text: I FREDERICK WALTON of Heatham House Twickenham in the County of
Middlesex Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of my invention for
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF DRIVING BELTS" and in, what manner
the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement :—
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of driving
belts for machinery which are not liable to stretch and which are not affected by
moisture. For this purpose I employ thin bands of tempered steel preferably
about 1/8 inch in width and No 31 guage in thickness. These bands are warped
on the beam of an ordinary loom and I weave across and between them a weft-the
weft which I prefer being of linen or jute around which is spun or twisted a
woollen covering-a process which is well known. The linen is used to give the
strength necessary to hold the strands in position and the wool is employed to
obtain the surface most suitable to insure the perfect adhesion of the composition.
which I employ to protect the steel strands the application of which I will now
describe.

page_text: In order to further toughen the covering used I employ an oven containing a
number of shelves of iron so arranged that I can spread out a sufficiently long
length of belt placing one belt above the other with a small space between. I place
the belt in this oven carefully chalked and pass hot air through the same at a
temperature varying from 150 to 200 degrees Fahrenheit according to the nature
of the composition. In some casos where I use a composition of solidified oil made
by hard boiling, some time is required to oxidize the material sufficiently hard say
from 10 to 50 hours I may here state that a composition made from this solidified
oil obtained by hard boiling can be used.
As these compositions are softer they can be applied either by rollers or by
means of a machine such as is used for covering' telegraph wires but I prefer in
most cases to use the press to finish off the belts. The method I prefer to adopt in
joining these belts is as follows, I stretch the belt over the two driving pulleys or
riggers by means of an ordinary belt stretcher-the ends are then cut so that they
butt together and a piece of the same belt from 6 to 12 inches long is applied over
this butt joint and a fine steel brad-awl or pointer is inserted in the belt between
the strands of the steel so as to make holes to receive staples of flat iron or other
wire which are forced through the two thicknesses or plies of belt and folded or
clinched over on the other side. The joint may be equally made by using a copper
wire and sewing the belt in such a way as is done with a leather lacing with an
ordinary leather or rubber belt. By the foregoing methods a very strong and
flexible joint is made. Where staples are used from 5 to 10 or more rows of staples
may be inserted and shellac marine glue or other similar cement may be used in
addition to the staple fastening.
The tempered steel bands may be either round wire or flat; by weaving them
together as described each individual band is protected from friction in work.
I am aware that belts composed of wire and flat steel have been made before, this
therefore I do not claim generally. The steel bands which I employ aro tempered
or elastic and of such a thickness only as will admit of a belt passing round a pulley
without the spring or elasticity of the steel being impaired.-The composition of
the covering material employed admits of variation.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed; I declare that what
I claim is :-
1. The manufacture of driving belts with thin bands of tempered steel woven
together with a fibrous weft and covered with a plastic composition made with
oxidized oil and other materials substantially as described.
2. The manufacture of driving belts with thin bands of tempered steel woven
together with a fibrous weft and covered with the plastic composition herein
described and hardened and toughened by stoving as set forth.
จ
TELL
of December 1884