A MACHINE FOR DRESSING HEMP, AND MAKING AND SPINNING THE SAME INTO ROPES AND CORDAGE
Year: 1793

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
FOTHERGILL, of Sunderland near the Sea, in the County of Durham, School-
master (being one of the people called Quakers), send greeting.
WHEREAS the present King George the Third, by His Letters Patent
under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date the Twelfth day of
April, in the thirty-third year of His reign, did give and grant unto me,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, His special licence that I, the said
Richard Fothergill, my executors, administrators, and assigns, during the term
of fourteen years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the Kingdom of Great Britain called England, the
Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of
"A MACHINE FOR DRESSING HEMP, AND MAKING AND SPINNING THE SAME INTO
ROPES AND CORDAGE;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso,
obliging me, the said Richard Fothergill, particularly to describe and ascertain
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in
the High Court of Chancery within one calendar month next and immediately
after the date of the said recited Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Richard Fothergill, do by these Presents describe and ascertain the nature of
my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as follows
(that is to sav):

page_text: The machine, to be the better understood, may, in idea, be divided into seven
parts the first part or operation being to bruise, clean, open, and free the
hemp from its native husk, so as to make it fit for the subsequent processes;
the second, third, fourth, and fifth parts or operations of the machine being
to dress and draw the hemp and make it fit for spinning; the sixth part or
operation being to spin the same into thread or yarn; and the seventh and last
part or operation of the machine being the twisting and making the thread
or yarn into ropes and cordage.
The first part of the machine is represented by the Drawing marked
No. 1, signed and exhibited by me, the said Richard Fothergill. A, B, C,
D. E. represent the frame; a, a, a, a, a, are fluted rollers, which may be
made of cast metal or wood, of about ten inches diameter and eighteen
inches in length, under which are an equal number of other fluted rollers
(b. b. b, b, b.) of the same materials and size, so as to fit each other. If the
upper rollers be of wood, they must be kept in close contact with the lower
ones by means of weights attached to them. c, c, e, e, e, are wheels, which may
be made either of cast metal or malleable iron, and are fixed firmly upon the
axles of the under rollers; f.f.f.f, are other wheels moving on round studs,
which studs are fixed into the iron plates 9, 9, 9, 9, and which plates are fixed to
the frame D; E; P is a platform on which the hemp h in its rough unmanu-
factured state is to be evenly spread, and by giving motion to any one of the
wheels e, the hemp will be taken through between the rollers 22,626, and
delivered at 2. What is done by these rollers may also be performed by
one largo fluted cylinder, acted upon by a proper number of small fluted
rollers.
The second part or operation of the machine is represented by the Drawing
marked No. 2, also signed and exhibited by me, the said Richard Fothergill.
A, B, represent two wheels, of about three feet diaineter and about twelve
inches in breadth, at the sides of which are circular edges (6), of mahogany.
or other fine-grained wood, placed to prevent the hemp from falling over the
sides of the wheels and getting entangled with the machinery, and also to keep
the hemp of an equal breadth upon the wheels, the edges projecting about
three inches above the superficios. These wheels are planted with teeth
(similar to those used in the common flax hockles), about two inches distance
from each other. f, g, h, represent wooden or metal rollers, which, with another
roller, under g, but prevented from appearing in the Drawing by the wheels
G. FI, act as feeders to those wheels, which are of the same size and
dimensions as the two other wheels, but have their teeth placed closer together;
C, D, F, I, c, n, o, p, x, x, represent pullies connected with the straps k, d, i,

page_text: to give the wheels and rollers their proper and different velocities; is a lever
or bar to unlock the pulley D, and thereby leave the rollers f, h, at liberty.
Behind the pulley c is another lever or bar to unlock the feeding wheel A,
and at the same time to lock it into the pulley x, x, represented by dotted
lines at the end of the axle a. The strap d leads down to a pulley of about
six inches diameter on the farthest end of the axle K, on which the pulley I-
and the two wheels G, H, are placed. The straps represented by S, S, 'from
pulley I, and the straps represented by the dotted lines y, y, lead to the mill.
The axle K is round, and longer by one-half than the breadth of the two
wheels G, H, for the purpose of allowing them to slide backwards and forwards
thereon, so that they may be alternately placed in a proper situation to feed
the wheel or cylinder A, in Drawing No. 3, next herein-after described. The
hemp, when brought from a, in Drawing No. 1, is put by the hand on the
wheel A, in Drawing No. 2, which (being locked to the pulley x, x,) by the
action of its teeth collects the hemp round itself till sufficiently filled. That
wheel is then unlocked from the pulley x, x, and locked to the pulley c, and
the hemp wound round. The wheel is then separated by the hand at an
aperture left in the rim of the wheel, as at e, for that purpose, is then brought
over the lower roller h, the upper roller f being first raised to admit it by
means of the bar t fixed into the pieces of wood V, V, into which the ends of
the axle of the roller fare introduced. This being done, that roller is lowered
to its former place, and the two hackling wheels G, H, are brought close to
the pulley I by means of the slides m, m, which pulley and its axle are now
supposed to be in motion by means of the mill. The pulley I has a projecting
bolt or catch placed on the inside of it at r, which, striking the bar q placed
between the wheel G and the pulley I on a socket surrounding the axle, 'gives.
motion to the wheel which collects the hemp from the rollers f, h, now sup-
posed to be connected with the mill, by locking the pulley D to the axle E;
whilst this process is performing, wheel B is collecting hemp in the same
manner that wheel A had done before. And when the hackling wheel G bas
collected all the hemp from the feeding wheel A through the roller f, h, it is
slid back from pulley I with the hemp upon it, and forces the other hackling
wheel H towards a smaller pulley at the opposite end of axle K, which pulley
has a bolt or catch on the inside that strikes a bar in the same manner as
pulley I, and the wheel I then collects the hemp from the wheel B through
the roller g and the roller under it, in the same manner that wheel G received
the contents of the wheel A through the rollers f, h.
The third part or operation of the machine is represented by the Drawing-
No. 3, separated from Drawing No. 2 by a dotted line. When wheel G.has.

page_text: C represents a wheel, with teeth and
F, r, two rollers (the lower one only
9 represents a pulley which connects
been slidden back on the axle, as before described, that wheel II may
be-filled
from wheel B, wheel G will be in a direct line with wheel A in No. 3, in
which & represents a small roller. A, a plain wheel, with circular edges on tho
sides of it, to prevent the hemp from falling off and to keep it collected. B, b,
represent two rollers, the upper one being kept in close contact with the other
by the weight C, and a similar weight at the other end. D represents a largor
wheel, without edges, but four of five inches broader than wheel A, planted
across and in regular rows with teeth of the same kind as beforo described.
L', represent lifters, fixed by screws, on which they move into each side of
the rim of the whcel D, and the lifters, which are opposite to one another, aro
connected 'by a thin lath, with holes in it to admit the teeth through them.
m.represents a piece of wood fixed firmly to the frame of the machine, and
which, as the wheel D moves round, raises the lifters, as expressed by tho
dotted lines at 1, and thereby delivers the hemp disentangled from the teeth
between the fluted rollers E, n, which are kept in close contact by two weights
attached to a lever at each end of E.
circular edges on cach side of the rim.
having circular edges at each end of it).
the machinery in Drawing No. 8 to the mill by the strap t,t. s represents
a lever or bar, which locks and unlocks pulley 9 to and from the machinery.
u, p, ‘o,'g, f, v, i, h, e, are pullies by which, and the straps going over them, the
different velocities of the wheels and rollers:are obtained. The rollers F, r, are
either turned by the hand, or .connected to the mill by a locking pulley-on.r.
When the wheel Gin Drawing No. 2 has received the contents of the feeding
wheel A through the rollers f, h, and is freed from the catch in the pulley 1,
and the hemp on wheel G is separated by the hand, as was before done with
the hemp from the wheel A, Drawing No. 2, and the small roller din Drawing
No. 9 is thrown back, as represented by the dotted lines a, (that roller being
bung on a pivot for the purpose,) the end of the hemp must be brought
over the wheel A in 'Drawing No. 8, which wheel the rollers 'B,16, and the
wheel:D, moving with an equal given velocity, the hemp is conducted regularly
to the fluted rollers E, 22, which two rollers moving with six times the velocity
that the wlicel D moves, will draw the hemp forward through the teethik, k,
over the laths of the lifters, and conduct it to wheel C, which has edges
and teeth, the same as wheels G.and H in Drawing No. 2. The rollers E, n,
moving with six times the velocity of the wheel D, will deliver the hemp to the
wheel C one-sixth part of its former thickness, and six times the same length;
and the same wheel moving with six times the velocity of the fluted rollers,
E, 2, will draw the hemp in the same proportion and hackle it at the sanie

page_text: time, and from the hemp being drawn so much, it will be disposed with more
regularity on the last-mentioned wheel than is done by any former part of
the machinery. When the hemp has been thus collected on wheel C, it is
taken therefrom. (by being first separated with the hand, as was before done
with the hemp on the wheels in Drawing No. 2), by means of the small
cylinders F, r, and is then to be deposited in a box ready for the next operation.
Wheel D in Drawing No. 3 may be of a smaller diameter, and placed higher
in the frame.
The fourth part or operation of the machine is only a repetition of the
process last before described on a machine of the same kind and dimensions
as Drawing No. 8, beginning at the wheel A with the roller d, and ending
with delivering the hemp at the rollers F,r; but in the fourth operation of tho
machine the wheel C is to move with only one tenth part greater velocity than
the fluted rollers E, n, which may be effected by changing the size of the
pullies.
The fifth part or operation of the machine is performed in the same manner
as the fourth operation, from wheel A with the roller d to the fluted rollers.
E, n, in Drawing No. 3; but when the hemp has passed through between those
rollers, it is received therefrom and thickened and compressed into a narrower
breadth by a triangular piece of wood or metal with raised edges, being as
broad as the rollers are long at the upper end, and narrowed regularly to
about two or three inches at the point; or such compression may be made by
rollers placed horizontally, vertically, or obliquely.
The sixth part or operation of the machine is the same as the fifth, but
performed upon narrower wheels and shorter rollers; and when the hemp has
passed through the triangular instrument for compressing it, or through the
rollers used for that purpose, it is put through the pipe of the spindle at a in,
Figure 2, Drawing No. 3, brought through one of the arms as at d, and
fastened to the bobbin f. 9. These spindles must be encreased according
to the number of threads intended to be spun at one time. m, n, represent
a toothed wheel on the top of the spindle for giving it motion, which is done
by connecting wheels with a pulley, as at p, in Drawing No. 3, the size of
which connecting wheels must be regulated by the coarseness or fineness of the
thread intended to be spun, and the wheel m, n, will also communicate motion to
other spindles by placing small wheels between them. In Figure 2, f, g, repre-
sents the bobbin; b, c, d, e, the arms of the spindle fixed firmly thereto; a, b, d,
the yarn leading (from the drawing or machinery, as before described,) through
the pipe or hollow pivot, (which is kept in the proper position by a bush placed
in the frame of the machine,) at the top of the spindle at a, over the circular ring

page_text: b, c, through the cud of the arm nt d, to the bobbin, which is raised or lowered so
as to receive the thread regularly, as expressed by the dotted lines.f, by means
of the bar i, which has an opening in it, as expressed by the dotted lines at i,
for the purpose of taking the spindle out of the frame and taking off tho
bobbin, and which bar is connected with levers and regulated by a wheel
nearly oval. represents part of the frame in which the bush k is fixed; h is
a friction pulley, to which the bobbin-is fixed, to prevent its being turned too
quickly by the thread. The dotted lines a represent the part of the frame in
which the hollow pivot of the spindle is placed.
The seventh part or operation of the machine is represented by the.
Drawing No. 4. A; B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, represent the frame.
Upon a cross bar between the middle of the 'rails F and G, (but which
is prevented from appearing in the Drawing by the cog wheel 3,) is erected.
a strong immoveable shaft of iron, the other end of which is - introduced
into the circular top or plain wheel 7, 1. On the said shaft near the
bottom is fixed the immoveablo toothed wheel 2, and under that wheel
is placed the said- moveable cog wheel 3, on a part of the said shaft, which
is round. Upon this wheel are placed three pillars, represented by 4, 5, 6,
supporting the circular top or plain wheel 7, 1, which is kept steady by:
tho iron shaft, on the upper part of which it moves. 8, 10, 12, represent
small wheels, the axles of which are received into holes near the outer edge of
the wheel 3, and move freely therein at equal distances from the pillars.
Between each of these smaller wheels and the immoveable wheel 2 are placed
connecting wheels, represented by 9, 11, 18. On the top of cach of the
wheels 8, 10, 12, aro fixed frames a, b, c, d, a, b, c, a, b, d, containing the
bobbins e, f; e,f,e,f, on which the threads or yarns are wound. 9, 9.9. are
springs, connected by a screw in the middle of cach to a cross bar (h, h, h,) in-
cach of the frames. From each end of these springs proceeds a cord, which,
after going round the head of the bobbin; is fixed at the other end by a staple
into the side of the frame, in order to retard the motion of the bobbins, and
keep the strands of the rope properly stretched. From the bobbins the yarn-
passes through a hole in the centre of the cross bars h, h, h, and round the
regulating pullies i, i, i, through tho hollow axle of the wheels j.j. and another
wheel of the same kind and size, but which cannot appear in the.Drawing;
and after. passing over the pullies k, k, and another of the same kind, but which
cannot appear, tho yarn proceeds to where the three strands unite to form the
rope at, which leads over the pulley M, and round the pulley N (which has an
indented groove) to L. O represents a pulley, which is carried round by the
strap V, V, from the mill. On the further end of its axle is fixed the double

page_text: spur wheel U, having one set of teeth pitched into the wheel P., (which gives
motion to the pulley N by means of the wheels Q, R, T, and the perpetual
screw S,) and the other set of teeth of the wheel U being pitched into the cog
wheel 3, which is by this means driven round on the upright iron shaft, and so
lays the strands of the rope together at l; and as this motion of the cog wheel
3 carries the connecting wheels round the fixed wheel 2, into which they aro
pitched, they will turn round in the same direction as the cog wheel 8, and
give motion to the spur wheels 8, 10, 12, and the frames connected therewith,
in a contrary direction, and thereby twist the strands which form the rope at l
and are drawn over the pulley M, as before described. In the groove of each
of the regulating pulleys i is a small friction wheel m, the axle of which moves
at n, n. This wheel is drawn close to the yarns or threads, to keep them from
sliding on the pulleys by the screws O, O. To one side of each of the
regulating pullies i are fixed small bevil wheels (one of which appears at t),
and these are pitched into three bevil horizontal wheels, represented by the
letter S. On the same axles are fixed three spur wheels 9, which wheels are
pitched into the three spur wheels j, which move on the hollow axles, before
mentioned. The last-mentioned wheels are pitched into one large spur
wheel (r), placed on a round part, near the top of the upright iron shaft, and
moving freely round the same. By means of these wheels the regulating
pullies i move with equal velocities. u is a screw, placed against the end of the
axle on which the wheel R is fixed, for pitching that wheel into the spur
wheel Q, which wheel may be greater or less, according to the size of the
rope or the tightness of the twist required.
The Drawings No. 1, 2, and 3 are upon a scale of one inch and an half to
a foot, and the spindle in No. 3 and the whole of Drawing No. 4 are upon a
scale of two inches to a foot. The pullies which in any part of the machine
are connected by straps, are intended to represent the means by which the
different parts of the machine have their connection, and proper degree of
velocity. It is to be understood that when the different degrees of velocity
proper for the wheels and rollers which act immediately on the hemp are
mentioned, the velocities of their respective superficies on which the hemp,
yarn, or ropes act are meant; when any part is mentioned as connected with
the mill, a reference is intended to any power given by hand, horse, water,
or steam, or by any other means.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Fothergill, have hereunto set my
band and seal, this Eighth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand seven hundred and ninety-three.
RICHARD FOTHERGILL. (L.S.)

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Eighth day of May,
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid Richard Fothergill came before
our Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of
the Statuto in that case made and provided.
i