Iм- PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR MANGLING AND CALENDERING. WOVEN AND OTHER FABRICS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Wilson, of the Firm of Messieurs
Nasmyth, Wilson, and Company, of Patricroft, near Manchester,
in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR MANGLING AND CALENDERING.
WOVEN AND OTHER FABRICS."
Sealed the 27th October 1871, and dated the 17th May 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Wilson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th May 1871.
I, ROBERT WILSON, of the Firm of Messieurs Nasmyth, Wilson, and
Company, of Patricroft, near Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "In-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR MANGLING AND CALENDERING
WOVEN AND OTHER FABRICS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in certain improved arrangements of machinery
connected with revolving mangles and calenders, by which the motions

page_text: of the machines are regulated, the cloth rollers (a pair of which are
applied to each mangle) changed, stripped, and replenished, with fresh
cloth alternately and without being disengaged from the machine.
During the operation of calendering the cylinders and rollers revolve
in one direction, but in order to produce the mangling finish the direction
of the motion of the cylinders and cloth roller must be frequently
reversed, and in order to produce the best results the reversion of motion
should be effected more frequently at the end than at the beginning of
the operation. The machine is driven by friction cones and pulleys, one
of the latter being driven by an open and the other by a crossed strap.
The friction cones are brought alternately into connection with the
pulleys by a lever actuated by the rams of two small hydraulic cylinders
and the valves for admitting the water or other liquid to and shutting
it off from these cylinders is worked and reversed by two tappets put in
motion by a friction pulley driven by a revolving cone, and as the
friction pulley is traversed along the cone by a screw towards the larger
end the friction pulley is driven quicker and the valve is reversed more
frequently, and in the same proportion is the motion of the machine also
reversed with the cylinders and cloth roller. The traverse of the friction
pulley along the cone is indicated by a pointer which travels along a
graduated plate which indicates the amount of surface motion of the
cylinders, and the frequency of reversing of the machine's motion. The
position of the pointer however may be varied and fixed for any amount
of surface motion, and time of reverse required, and when a given
amount is needed to suit the stage of the process or nature and quality
of the fabric operated upon. But as in some cases or during some
portion of the process the machine may require to be worked and
reversed by hand, the self-acting hydraulic power can be disengaged
instantly and the hand motion as quickly applied without stopping the
machine, which is done by putting the hydraulic power catch out of
gear, and at the same time dropping into gear the hand motion catch
and vice versa in changing from the hand motion to the self-acting
hydraulic power motion. In order that the two cloth rollers may be
changed, the finished fabric stripped off, and the roller replenished with
fresh cloth to be mangled, and placed in the machine alternately with
the other roller, a travelling carriage mounted on wheels is attached to
the machine, and the cloth rollers are hung on the opposite ends of the
two levers of a swing frame, the fulcrum shaft of which rests in the

page_text: travelling carriage, and has adjustable bearings to regulate the height
according to the diameter of the cloth rollers (which are of different
diameters in pairs of equal diameters to each other) to suit the quality
of the cloth or finish required. When the cloth on the roller in the
machine is finished the carriage with the swing frame and rollers is
moved outwards to draw the cloth roller out from between the cylinders
of the mangle, and this is effected by two pinions and two wheels, one
of each on each end of the carriage. In each of the wheels is fixed a
crank pin in a boss near the rim, and to which is attached a connecting
rod from a bracket and joint pin on the machine frame. The two
pinions are fixed on a cross shaft one on each end, and by causing the
wheels to revolve a half turn the carriage is moved outwards sufficiently
to allow the swing frame to be turned half round on its centre shaft,
and so to bring the fresh cloth roller into position for being introduced
between the cylinders of the mangle, which is done by moving the
carriage forward with the reverse motion of the wheels and connecting
rods, and which at the same time brings the finished cloth roller into
the proper position for being stripped of the finished cloth on to a
stripping roller (with which it is removed) and while the process of
mangling is proceeding with the fresh supplied roller, this newly stripped
roller is being replenished with fresh cloth to be treated in its turn as
before, when the fabric on the other roller in the machine has been
finished. The stretching rails as usually arranged, and by which the
cloth is put straight and tight on the rollers, in this case forms part of
the travelling carriage. The necessary pressure may be applied to the
cylinders and cloth rollers by the same hydraulic power as that employed
for the reversing motion or otherwise.
0
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Wilson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 16th November 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
WILSON, of the Firm of Messieurs Nasmyth, Wilson, and Company,
of Patricroft, near Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer,
send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Robert Wilson, Her special licence
that I, the said Robert Wilson, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Robert Wilson, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 MACHINERY
AND APPARATUS FOR MANGLING AND CALENDERING WOVEN AND OTHER FABRICS,'
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Robert Wilson,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands 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 Robert Wilson, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement (that is to say) :-
During the operation of calendering the cylinders and rollers revolve
in one direction, but in order to produce the mangling finish the
direction of the motion of the cylinders and cloth roller must be
frequently reversed, and in order to produce the best results the reversion
of motion should be effected more frequently at the end that at the
beginning of the operation.
Now my Invention consists in certain improved arrangements of
machinery connected with revolving mangles and calenders, by which
the motions of the machines are regulated, the cloth rollers (a pair of
which are applied to each mangle) changed, stripped, and replenished
with fresh cloth alternately and without being disengaged from the
machine.

page_text: And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into operation, I will proceed to describe the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, reference being had to the figures and letters marked
thereon.
Fig. 1 is an end elevation partly in section; Fig. 2, a side elevation;
and Fig. 3, a plan of a machine for mangling and calendering to which
my improvements are applied; Fig. 4 is a side view of my improved
driving apparatus.
a is the lower cylinder or roller revolving in fixed bearings, and 6 the
upper cylinder or roller revolving in movable bearings, which are guided
in vertical slots in the standards; c is the cloth roller which is placed
between and turned round as usual by the friction of the rollers a and b.
To the axles of the rollers a and bare fixed the toothed wheels a¹ and b¹,
the motion of the former being transmitted to the latter by the carrier
wheels fixed on the shaft d which passes through segmental slots in
the standards; the shaft d is connected to the axle of the roller 6 by the
links e, consequently as the roller is raised or lowered to admit or
remove the cloth roller c, or in proportion to the varying diameter of the
cloth roller the wheels remain at a uniform depth of gear, and if the
rollers a and b are of the same diameter and the wheels a¹ and b¹ have
the same number of teeth, it is evident that the surface speed of the two
rollers will be equal. The roller is raised and lowered, and the requisite
pressure given to the cloth roller by water under pressure acting on
pistons in the cylinders k, or by screws or weighted levers.
The parts above referred to are made in the manner described in
the Specification of Letters Patent granted to me in conjunction with
William Martin, junior, on the Fourteenth day of August One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-six, Number 2078, or in any other convenient
manner.
My present improvements consist principally of two parts, namely, the
machinery for giving motion to the rollers a and b, and the machinery
for supporting the cloth rollers, for changing their position, and for
stripping and replenishing them.
The driving machinery consists of the two internal friction pulleys f;f",
see Figs. 2, 3, and 4, one of which is driven by an open and the other by
a crossed strap from the same driving shaft as usual. These pulleys are
loose on the shaft h, but are connected to it when required by the doubl

page_text: 22
friction cones g, g¹, which are brought alternately into contact with the
inside of the pulleys f, f¹, by the forked lever j, the action of which will
be described hereafter. To the shaft h is keyed a pinion h¹ gearing into
the wheel on the shaft i, to which is also fixed the pinion & gearing
into the wheel a³, keyed on the axle of the bottom roller a. The lever j
is moved to and fro on its fulcrum to bring the friction cones g, g',
alternately into contact with the interior of the pulleys f, f¹, by means
of the two small hydraulic cylinders 1, P, the rams of which act on the
slide m; this slide has two projections, between which the lever j fits.
The valves for admitting the water or other liquid to and shutting it off
from the cylinders 1, 1', are worked and reversed by the two tappets 1,
which are put in motion by the small friction pulley n; this pulley rests
upon and is turned round by the cone o, which is driven from the main
gearing by a strap passing around the speed pulleys p fixed on the
shaft p', on which is keyed a mitre wheel p² gearing into a similar wheel
on the axle of the cone o. The friction pulley n is connected to the
shaft n¹ by a key and groove, and it is traversed along the said shaft by
the screw n², which takes into a screw nut let into or forming part of the
frame in which the pulley n revolves; this screw n² is turned round by
a bevel pinion o' on the axle of the cone o; this pinion gears into a
similar pinion o², which with the spur pinion o³ revolve on a fixed stud,
and the pinion o³ gears into the wheel n³ on the end of the screw n². To
the shaft n' is fixed the worm n'. which gears into a wheel q¹ on the
upright shaft q, to the lower end of which are fixed the tappets ; these
tappets act on the levers q³, which are connected by the rods q² to the
levers of the valves for admitting and shutting off the water or other
fluid to the cylinders 1, 1. When the mangle is started the friction
pulley n is near the small end of the cone o, consequently the pulley n
is revolving at its slowest speed, and the rollers of the mangle revolve
the greatest portion of time in one direction before they are reversed, but
as the pulley n is gradually moved by the screw n° towards the larger
end of the cone the speed of the pulley n is gradually increased; this
increase in the speed of the pulley n causes the valves to be reversed
more frequently than before, thereby reversing the direction of motion of
the rollers of the mangle and the cloth roller in a gradually reduced
portion of time. . The traverse of the friction pulley n along the cone o
is indicated by a pointer, shewn best in Fig. 3, which travels along a
graduated plate, and indicates the amount of surface motion of the

page_text: rollers, and the frequency of reversing of the machine's motion. The
position of the pointer may however be varied and fixed for any amount
of surface motion and time of reverse required; and when a given
amount of motion is required in either direction a clutch is thrown out
of gear to arrest the motion of the screw, and the reversions then take
place at equal times.
In some cases, or during some portion of the operation, the machine
may require to be worked or reversed by hand; when such is the case
the self-acting hydraulic power, above described, is instantly disengaged
by turning down the handle; this action turns the sliding piece m
one-fourth round, thereby allowing the projections on the slide m to
pass through a slot in the lever J and setting it at liberty, at the same
time the small hand wheel is turned round to allow the clutch /* to
drop into gear with the pinion r¹, the starting lever j can then be
worked by the hand wheel », fixed on the upright shaft to which the
spur pinion is connected by the clutch, the pinion gearing into
the toothed segment j¹ at the end of the starting lever j. In changing
back from the hand motion to the self-acting motion the handle r² is
raised, as shewn in Fig. 2, and the hand wheel is turned in the reverse
direction to disengage the pinion r³, and these operations can be per-
formed without stopping the mangle.
My improved machinery for supporting the cloth rollers c, c', for
changing their position, and for stripping and replenishing them con-
sists of the following parts:-The frames t of the travelling carriage are
supported on wheels which run on rails let into the floor. The
carriage t is connected to the standards of the mangle or calender by
means of the side connecting rods u, one end of each of which is jointed
to a projection from the standards, and the other ends are jointed to
crank pins in the face of the wheels u', which are turned half round
when required by the pinions u² and crank us. The cloth rollers c and c¹
revolve in bearings in the levers & the fulcrum shaft ³ of which is
supported in adjustable blocks fitting in segmental slots in the frames t.
To the shaft is fixed the spur wheel c which is turned half round
when required by the pinion c³ and handle cª. The object of supporting
the shaft in adjustable bearings is to regulate its height to suit the
various diameters of the cloth rollers which are made by preference of
brass, wrought or cast iron, and it is found very beneficial to be able

page_text: to vary the diameter according to the cloth or finish required, namely,
the finer the quality and finish of the cloth the smaller should be the
diameter of the cloth roller, and the contrary in operating upon coarser
goods with inferior finish. The under side of the outer ends of the
levers are supported on the blocks which fit in the upright arms
of the elbow levers t, the horizontal arms of which are weighted; these
elbow levers vibrate on their fulcrum shaft to allow the swing frame
supporting the cloth rollers to be turned half round when the cloth on
the roller c is finished.
The Drawings represent the parts in the positions they occupy when
the operation of mangling commences, and the mode of operation is as
follows: The small friction pulley n is now near the smaller end of
the cone o and consequently the rollers a and b perform the greatest
portion of motion in one direction before the valves of the cylinders 1, 1,
are reversed, and the reversing of the valves becomes more frequent as
the pulley n approaches the larger end of the cone, as before described,
but if the cloth is not wound sufficiently tight on the cloth roller when
introduced to the machine, the rollers a and b must first be put in
motion and revolve in the proper direction until the cloth is found
to be sufficiently tight. The cloth on the roller c¹ is supposed to have
been mangled and in order to strip it the end of the piece is taken
over the roller v, to which motion is given by a strap passing over the
pulley v¹, see Fig. 3. This pulley is brought into operation when required
by a friction clutch box actuated by the lever v². When the cloth
roller c¹ has been stripped fresh cloth is wound upon it in the following
manner :—The cloth plaited down, as shewn in Fig. 1, or in any other
form is laid upon the table w, and after it has been distended by passing
over and under stretching bars of the usual description it is wound on
the cloth beam, which is turned round by a strap passing around the
pulley w¹, see Fig. 3. This pulley is on the shaft w², which can be moved
endwise in its bearings by the lever w³, so as to bring the box at the
end of the shaft on to the square end of the axle of the cloth roller, or
to release it. When the box is on the end of the axle and the strap
is on the driving pulley w¹ the cloth roller c¹ winds on the cloth, and
when the cloth roller is full or replenished the driving strap is moved
on to the loose pulley by the lever wo', and a break is applied to the
driving pulley by the lever w³; a small hand wheel w is fixed to the

page_text: end of the shaft w¹ to adjust the box on to the end of the cloth roller.
During the operations of stripping and replenishing the cloth roller c¹
the cloth on the roller c is being mangled, and when the mangling is
complete the attendant stops the machine by bringing the starting
lever j into its central position, as shewn in Fig. 3; he then turns the
handle until the wheels u' have performed half a revolution to move
the carriage t back and to withdraw the cloth roller c from between the
rollers a and b; he then turns the handle cº to cause the swing frame c³
to perform half a revolution in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1, and
during this operation he moves the lever to remove the blocks from
under the ends of the levers c², and to allow the cloth roller c to assume
the position of c¹, after which the levers regain their former position,
and the blocks come again under the ends of the levers c². The
attendant by turning the handle ³ in the contrary direction brings
the carriage t back towards the side of the mangle and inserts the
fresh cloth roller between the mangle rollers a and b, when the operations
proceed as before. The handle x is fixed on a cross shaft, to which are
keyed two arms supporting a curved plate x¹, the object of which is to
bring the end of the fabric from the last stretching bar up to the cloth
roller around which it is lapped.
When using the machine for calendering fabrics a paper or other
bowl is put in the place of the metal cloth roller c, and by driving the
rollers a and b in one direction the fabrics are passed through in the
usual manner.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention and described the
manner of performing the same, I wish it to be understood that I do
not intend to limit myself to the details given as the same may be
varied without departing from the peculiar character thereof; and I
declare that I claim,-
First. The self-acting machinery or apparatus for reversing the
direction of motion of the machine and cloth roller, and for effecting
the said reversion more frequently towards the end than at the beginning
of the mangling operation when required, and also for varying the time
of reversing if necessary, as shewn and described.
Secondly. For using cloth rollers of different diameters in the same
machine for the purposes described.

page_text: Thirdly. Supporting the cloth rollers on a carriage which is moved
from and brought towards the machine in the manner and for the
purposes described.
And, lastly. The improved arrangement of machinery by which the
position of the cloth rollers is changed, the cloth rollers stripped and
replenished with fresh cloth alternately and without being disengaged
from the machine, as shewn and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Wilson, have hereto set
my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of November One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-one.