AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPA- RATUS FOR FINISHING COTTON CORDS, MOLESKINS, BEAVERTEENS, VELVETEENS, TWILL-BACKS. AND TWILLS
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Worrall, of Manchester, in the County of Lanenstei',
Dyer, and John Kershaw, of Wadsworth, in the Parish of Halifax, and County
of York, Manager, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPA-
RATUS FOR FINISHING COTTON CORDS, MOLESKINS, BEAVERTEENS, VELVETEENS,
TWILL-BACKS. AND TWILLS."
Sealed the 31st January 1879, and dated the 27th August 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Worrall and John
Kershaw at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 27th August
1878.
JAMES WORRALL, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Dyer, and JOHN
KERSHAW, of Wadsworth in the Parish of Halifax, and County of York, Manager.
"AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR FINISHING COTTON CORDS, MOLE-
SKINS, BEAVERTEENS, VELVETEENS, TWILL-BACKS, AND TWILLS."
This Invention relates to an inproved mode of finishing the backs of cotton cords,
moleskins, beaverteens, velveteens, twill-backs, and twills by combing out or loosen-
ing the fibres on the back of the fabric during the process of drying, and while they
are damp or moist from the size or other liquid solution with which they have been
prepared. The backs of this class of goods have heretofore been raised before
drying and stiffening in a separate machine, and then passed through the drying
process, when they become hard and stiff, and the loose fibres were matted
together.
The backs of cotton cords and the above-named fabrics (more particularly cloth
of a coarse or open reed) absorb a large quantity of size, gum, or other stiffening
materials, which being of a glutinous and adhesive nature, causes the loose woolly
backs to become matted, fixed, and firmly cemented together, whereby much labour
and trouble is required to loosen, comb, or raise the woolly backs, so as to bring the
goods into a state fit for the market.

page_text: The ordinary way of finishing the back of the goods is to take the cloth after
being stiffened (and dried over steam cylinders) and pass it through a machine con-
sisting mainly of a set of card rollers running at a great speed for the purpose of
loosening or raising the wool or fibres. It has been found that the wool having
become matted and cemented together by stiffening and drying, the cards break and
tear off much of the wool or fibre from the body of the fabric instead of merely
combing it out and leaving it upon the backs of the fabrics. In many cases very
little is left on the backs, and the value of the goods is much deteriorated.
To remedy this we propose to loosen, comb, or raise the wool or fibre on the
backs while the fabric is in a wet, semi-wet, or moist state, during and whilst the
process of drying is going on.
In carrying out our Invention we combine the machinery for raising the wool or
fibre on the backs with the apparatus for drying, thus causing the two operations
to be effected in one machine instead of two, and thereby saving much manual
labor, and without injuring the fabric by breaking and tearing off the wool or fibre
as heretofore. The fibres are combed or raised from the back of the fabric by means
of card rollers, which are kept in constant rotation while the fabric is travelling
through the drying machine. The card rollers may be adapted to any convenient
part of the drying machine.
In order to give room for the card rollers to act the fabric is passed over or under
guide rollers or bars, and is kept at tension.
We find it convenient to use two card rollers in combination, but revolving in
opposite directions; but, if preferred, a series of single card rollers, arranged at diffe-
rent parts of the machine, may be used.
Some fabrics require to be operated upon on both sides, that is to say, on the
face as well as the back. For such fabrics the face pile may be combed out by
means of endless chains of brushes operating transversely on the fabric as it travels
along through the machine. In combination with the mechanism for drawing out
or combing the fibres on the face of the fabric we employ card rollers for combing
out the fibres on the back in the manner already explained.
In such a machine there will therefore be three operations carried on simul-
taneously, namely,-
1. Drying.
2. Raising the face pile by means of endless chains of brushes operating trans-
vorsely.
And, 3. Combing out or loosening the fibres on the back of the fabric by means
of rotating card rollers.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said James Worrall and John Kershaw in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 27th February 1879.
JAMES WORRALL, of Manchester in the County of Lancaster, Dyer, and JOHN
KERSHAW, of Wadsworth, in the Parish of Halifax, and County of York, Manager.
"AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR FINISHING COTTON CORDS, MOLE-
SKINS, BEAVERTEENS, VELVETEENS, TWILL-BACKS, AND TWILLS."
This Invention relates to an improved mode of finishing the backs of cotton
cords, moleskins, beaverteens, velveteens, twill-backs, and twills, by combing out or

page_text: loosening the fibres on the back of the fabric during the process of drying, and while
they are damp or moist from the size or other liquid solution with which they have
been prepared. The backs of this class of goods have heretofore been raised before
drying and stiffening in a machine provided for the purpose, and then passed
through the drying process, whereby the raised fibres became hard and were matted
together.
The backs of cotton cords and the above-named fabrics (more particularly cloth
of a coarse or open reed) absorb a large quantity of size, gum, or other stiffening
materiala.
The ordinary way of finishing the back of the goods is to take the cloth after
being stiffened (and dried over steam cylinders) and pass it through a machine
consisting mainly of a set of card rollers running at a great speed for the purpose of
loosening or raising the wool or fibres. It has been found that the wool having
become matted and cemented together by stiffening and drying, the cards break and
tear off much of the wool or fibre from the body of the fabric instead of merely
combing it out. In many cases very little is left on the backs, and the value of the
goods is thereby inuch deteriorated.
It is for the purpose of remedying this that we treat the back of the fabrics
while in a wet, semi-wet, or moist state.
In carrying out our Invention we combine the machinery for raising the wool or
fibre on the backs with the apparatus for drying, and thus effect the two operations
simultaneously in one machine.
In Sheet I. of the accompanying Drawings we have shewn an arrangement of
machinery for carrying out the Invention. This machinery consists of a modification
of the ordinary steam cylinder drying machine, one of the drying cylinders being
removed to make room for the dressing card rollers which are intended to operato
on the back of the fabric.
Fig. 1 shews in sido elevation so much of a drying machine with our improve-
ments applied thereto as will serve to explain the mode of carrying out our
Invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the saine.
Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the machine taken in the line 1, 2, of Fig. 1.
And Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation of the apparatus for dressing the cloth, the
section being taken in the line 3, 4, of Fig. 2.
A, A¹, is a series of steam drying cylinders around which the cloth to be dried is
laid, it being drawn from a roll B at the end of the machine, and carried forward by
the driven cylinders A¹.
The cloth, in passing over and under this series of cylinders, arrives at a guide
roller C, which leads it up to a guide roller C¹ mounted on side standards, and from
this roller it passes down to a guide roller C, from which it passes to another series
of drying cylinders. Between these guide rollers are situate two card rollers D, D¹,
to which rotary motion is imparted in opposite directions for the purpose of carding
or combing out the loose fibres on the back of the cloth. The cloth is beld against
these rollers by pressure rollers E, E, which are adjustable to ensure the proper ten-
sion to the cloth. The card rollers D, D', are geared together, and they receive
motion from a spur pinion d on a shaft d¹³, which is driven by a belt pulley and
strap d.
Below the card rollers D, D', is a pair of cleaning card rollers F, F¹, the axles of
which rest upon rock bars fat opposite sides of the machine. The fulcrum rod of
these rock bars is fitted with a hand lever, by depressing which one or other of the
rollers F, F, may be raised into contact with the card rollers D, D', for the purpose
of clearing them of any accumulation of fibres which they may have stripped from
the back of the cloth.
The axles of these rollers F, F', are squared to receive a winch handle, by means
of which rotary motion is imparted to the clearing rollers when in a raised position
in the direction of motion of the rollers with which they are respectively brought in
contact, and thus the fibres are reinoved from the carding or combing rollers.
In order to strip the clearers, and thereby retain their efficiency, bars G, G, are

page_text: provided immediately below those rollers, and covered with card cloth. By bringing
the rollers F, F', into contact with the clothed bars G, G, and giving them from
time to time a rapid rotary back motion, the fibres which they had taken from the
combing rollers will be removed.
It will be obvious that the object of our Invention may be carried out with other
arrangements of machinery than that just described.
In Sheet II. of the Drawings we have shewn the mode of adapting our Invention
to two other kinds of drying machines in common use.
Fig. 5 is a partial sectional elevation of vertical arrangement of steam drying
cylinders with the appliances for combing the back of the cloth constructed as
shewn in Sheet I. of the Drawings, but set horizontally instead of vertically.
A, A, are the drying cylinders; B is the web of cloth passing from cylinder to
cylinder, and by the aid of guide rollers C, which present the back thereof to the
card rollers D, D¹; F, F', are the clearing rollers lifted into action by the rock bar f,
and rotated when desired by crank handles as before explained; and G, G, are the
card-covered bars for stripping the clearers.
Fig. 6 shews a horizontal arrangement of a single row of steam drying cylinders.
In adapting the Invention to this machine the carding cylinders D are used
singly instead of in pairs, and crank levers f are used for lifting the clearing
rolls E.
Some fabrics require to be operated upon on both sides, that is to say, on the
face as well as the back. For such fabrics the face pile may be combed out by
means of endless chains of brushes operating transversely on the fabric as it travels
along through the machine, according to the arrangement described in the Specifi-
cation of our Patent of April 11th, 1872, No. 1070.
In combination with this mechanism for drawing out or combing the fibres on
the face of the fabric, we employ card rollers for combing out the fibres on the back
in the manner already explained.
In such a machine there will therefore be three operations carried on simul-
taneously, namely,―
(1.) Drying the cloth.
(2.) Raising the face pile.
And, (3.) Combing out or loosening the fibres on the back of the fabric.
Having now set forth the nature of our Invention of "An Improved Mode of and
Apparatus for Finishing Cotton Cords, Moleskins, Beaverteens, Velveteens, Twill-
backs, and Twills," and having explained the manner of carrying the saine into
effect, we wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters
Patent we claim,-
First. The treatment of the backs of the above-named fabrics whilst in a damp
state in the drying machine, in the manner and for the purpose above set forth.
Second. The application to drying machines of the means above described for
finishing the backs of the above-named fabrics during the process of drying.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Worrall, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, the Twenty-fifth day of February, in the year of our Lord One
Witness,
W. M. CROMPTON,
West View,
47, Howard St.,
Salford.
JAMES WORRALL. (L.S.)