IMPROVEMENTS IN CUTTING THE PILE OF VELVETS AND OTHER PILE FABRICS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Pierre Adolphe Melchior Maury, of Paris, in the
French Empire, Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CUTTING
THE PILE OF VELVETS AND OTHER PILE FABRICS."
Sealed the 23rd April 1858, and dated the 28th October 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Pierre Adolphe Melchior
Maury at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition;
on the 28th October 1857.
I, PIERRE ADOLPHE MELCHIOR MAURY, of Paris, in the French Empire,
Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN CUTTING THE PILE OF VELVETS AND OTHER PILE FABRICS," to be as
follows:-
My Invention consists in the employment of stationary cutters equal in
number to the loops in the breadth of the fabric to be cut, and carried by a
suitable holder placed across the fabric, which is made to move over a table
beneath. The cutters are each provided with a small guide point, which
enters the loop in front of it as the fabric moves forward, and guides the loop
on to the cutting edge, which is fixed upward. In advance of the cutters is
placed a fan or blower for driving off the dust produced by the cutting, rapid
rotary motion being communicated to the fan by gearing from the shaft which
gives motion to the fabric or otherwise. The fabric is unwound from a roller

page_text: at one end of the table over which it moves, and after being cut is wound upon
a second roller driven at the same surface speed as the former at the other end
of the table. The table beneath the fan and cutters is made as smooth as may
be, and may, if desired, have a slab of marble or other hard and smooth
substance inserted in it.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Pierre Adolphe Melchior Maury in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 28th April 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PIERRE
ADOLPHE MELCHIOR MAURY, of Paris, in the French Empire, Merchant, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Pierre Adolphe Melchior Maury, Her special licence, that I, the said
Pierre Adolphe Melchior Maury, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Pierre Adolphe Melchior Maury, my executors,
administrators, 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 CUTTING THE PILE OF VELVETS AND OTHER
PILE FABRICS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Pierre
Adolphe Melchior Maury, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 Pierre Adolphe Melchior Maury, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say:
My Invention consists in the employment in the place of cutters worked by

page_text: manual labor of stationary.cutters equal in number to the loops in the breadth
of the fabric to be cut, and carried by a suitable holder placed across the
fabric, which is made to move over a table beneath... The cutters are each
provided with a small guide point, which enters the loop in front of it as the
fabric moves forward; and guides the loop on to the cutting edge; which is
fixed upward. In advance of the cutters is placed a fan or blower for driving
off the dust produced by the cutting, rapid rotary motion being communicated
to the fan by gearing. from the shaft which gives motion to the fabric or
otherwise. The fabric is unwound from a roller at one end of the table over
which it moves, and after being cut is wound upon a second roller driven at
the same surface speed as the former at the other end of the table...The
table beneath the fan and cutters is made as smooth as: may be, and may,
if desired, have a slab of marble or other hard and smooth substance
inserted in it.
In the Drawings hereunto annexed I have represented the best method
with which I am acquainted of carrying my Invention into effect. Figure 1
is a side elevation, and Figure 2 a plan, of the apparatus which I employ!
a is the framework upon which is supported in bearings the toothed wheel b,
which either has driving pulleys for receiving a driving strap fixed upon its
axis if steam is to be the motive power employed; or has a cranked handle c
attached to it in order that it may be driven by hand. The wheel bis in
gear with a smaller toothed wheel d, keyed upon the axis of a roller e; and
upon the same axis is fixed a second toothed wheelf, which through the
pinion g imparts a rotary motion to the fan or blower h. The wheel 6 is also
in gear at its lower part with a toothed wheel o; which is connected with a
grooved pulley 9, upon which rests a lever 1, carrying at the end a counter-
balance weight q'. A similar arrangement of apparatus is fitted at the other
end of the framework a upon the opposite side. At each end of the frame-
work are placed two rollers i, k, and l, m, which are so disposed that the two
former i, k, receive the uncut fabric, and the two latter the cut fabric. From
the roller & the uncut fabric passes over the table or frame to the pressing
roller c, beneath which it passes and thence on to the roller 7, which, like the
roller k, is furnished at each end with pins or teeth, which enter the fabric
and enable the said rollers to exert a suitable tension upon the fabric. The
roller e may be provided with a regulating screw or other contrivance for
varying its pressure as may be desired. In advance of the roller e are placed
the stationary knives or cutters s, which are of the form shewn separately in
Figure 3. These knives or cutters are placed side by side and screwed firmly
together at their ends by the screw t. In the plate a is a slot which is

page_text: traversed by the projection y upon the case v, and through the projection y is
passed a screwz, which, according as it is turned in one direction or the other,
causes the projection y, and therefore the case v which carries the knives.or
cutters, to advance or recede, as the case may be. In order that the knives or
cutters may be caused to enter more or less deeply into the fabric, it is only
necessary for the screw a¹ to be screwed or unscrewed, as may be necessary,
which causes the plate b¹ to act as a lever fixed at or near the middle of the
screw. c. The knives or cutters may thus be more or less inclined at will:
The effect of the fan or blower h is to drive off the dust produced by the
cutting of the loops, and thus to prevent impediments to the continuous
working of the apparatus. It may, however, become necessary to stop the
motion of the apparatus either because of accidents happening to the cutters
or because of the fabric hanging and accumulating at the cutters, or because
of the fabric containing defects. In the first case the rocking levers d' by
being moved about the centre e¹ will cause the near ends of the rocking
levers which carry the projecting rod g¹ to descend, and the rod g¹ will by
means of the lever k¹ cause the lever to engage with the studs or pins m¹ on
the fly wheel n¹, and thereby stop the apparatus. In the case where the fabric
may contain inequalities or other defects, these by passing under weighted
levers o' will raise them, and, as in the preceding case, depress the levers f¹,f',
and thereby stop the apparatus. When the apparatus is driven by steam
power, the lever l' may advantageously be replaced by an ordinary break.
The counterbalance levers o¹ oscillate upon an axis which is pivoted upon one
of its supports, and may therefore be raised at pleasure. By employing
concave guides t', t', which enter the loops, as shewn at Figure 4, I can effect
the cutting by means of discs or circular cutters, which cut the loops from
above, as shewn in the same Figure.
.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I do not confine myself to
the precise arrangements or details herein-before set forth, as they may be
considerably varied without departing from my Invention; for example, instead
of employing a flat horizontal bed or table, I sometimes employ tables of other
forms and in other positions; but what I do claim is,-
First, cutting the pile of velvets and other pile fabrics by means of stationary
cutters arranged and operating as herein-before described.
Second, the general arrangement and construction of apparatus for cutting
the pile of velvets and other pile fabrics, as herein-before described, and
illustrated in the Drawings hereunto annexed.
Third, the method of so connecting and fitting the cutters in such manner

page_text: that both lateral and vertical motions may be given to them, as herein-before
described.
Fourth, the several methods of throwing the apparatus out of action, as
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Pierre Adolphe Melchior Maury, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of April, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
CH. ARMENGAUD, J*, Ing" Civil,
PRE ADPHE MAURY. (L.S.)
23, Boulev de Strasbourg, Paris.