CERTAIN IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE DRESSING OR FINISHING OF WOOLLEN AND OTHER CLOTHS AND FABRICS REQUIRING SUCH A PROCESS
Year: 1838

page_text: LEWIS AND FERRABEE'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
LEWIS, of Brimscomb, in the County of Gloucester, Clothier, and JOHN
FERRABEE, of the Thrupp, in the same County, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS, we did, by petition, represent unto Her most Excellent
Majesty Queen Victoria the First, that we had invented "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE DRESSING OR FINISHING OF WOOLLEN AND OTHER CLOTHS AND FABRICS
REQUIRING SUCH A PROCESS;" and Her said Majesty being willing to encourage
all useful inventions, did issue Her Letters Patent under the Great Seal
of Great Britain, bearing date at Westminster, the Fifth day of March, in
the first year of Her reign, whereby the property in our said Invention is
secured to us, the said William Lewis and John Ferrabee, in the usual way,
provided we duly specify the said Invention, and cause the Specification
thereof to be enrolled as required by and in the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the proviso referred to, we,
the said William Lewis and John Ferrabee, do hereby declare that the nature
of our said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed,
are described and ascertained in manner following, that is to say:-
Our improved machinery is applicable to those processes in dressing woollen
cloths, commonly called raising (or rowing) and brushing, which consist in
passing the cloth over and in contact with a cylinder covered with teazles,
wire cards, or brushes, or a mixture of those substances, for the purpose of
raising the knap or pile, and laying it smooth in one direction, from one end
of the cloth to the other, and the said processes are performed by us in the

page_text: following manner :-The cylinder B, Figs. 1 and 3, furnished with teazies or
other suitable materials, is mounted in the frame A, A, and connected by the
horizontal shaft a to the gearing driven by a steam engine or other first mover.
The cloth k is passed over the horizontal guide rollers N, K, L, h, h, and M,
and in contact with the outer surface of B, the two ends of the cloth are then
sewn together in the usual manner for what is termed perpetual rowing or
raising; a rapid rotary motion is then to be given to B in the direction of the
arrow 1; the axis B carries a toothed pinion C, Figs. 2 and 3, which drives
the wheel D fixed on the short horizontal revolving axis b in a cannon
bearing. On the same axis 6 is fixed a bevil wheel G driving a similar wheel
fixed on the lower end of the oblique shaft Q, and on the upper end of the
shaft Qis a bevil pinion H working into the bevil wheel I fixed on the
horizontal axis of the delivering roller K, which turns with it, and by these
means the cloth k is brought from the lower end of the inclined scray lover
the guide rollers, before described, and moved in the direction of the arrow 2.
A rigger E fixed on the axis 6 gives motion to an endless strap or belt O,
which drives another rigger F, fixed on the horizontal axis of the tension
roller M, which draws the cloth from the lower guide rollers h, h, and delivers
it in folds on the inclined scray l, where it slips gradually to the bottom, passing
continually in one direction against the acting surface of the cylinder B, as
long as it is found necessary. The velocity of M is somewhat greater than
that of K, for the purpose of keeping the cloth at a proper tension against the
cylinder B, but in order to prevent too great a strain the strap 0 is made
slack, so as to allow the rigger E to slip rather than drive the strap with
more than the necessary force, and to insure its acting constantly with a
sufficient force, the strap is tightened by a tension pulley P working on the
axis C, which is fixed in the lever f, carrying an adjustable weight g, by which
the attendant can give the proper degree of tension as required for the
different kinds of cloth to be dressed. Instead of the bevil wheels G, H, I,
and the oblique shaft Q, another rigger similar to E on the same axis, and
another endless strap or belt R, as shown more plainly in Fig. 2, may be
used with advantage to drive k by means of a rigger F 2, similar to F.
The machine, as above described, is found to be convenient when the teazles
or other substances are required to be frequently taken out, changed, or
replaced; but when a brush is used or wires instead of teazles, it will be more
advantageous to adopt the arrangement shown in Fig. 4, where the desired
effect is produced by the several movements explained by the same letters
We do not confine
of reference as those made use of in Figs. 1, 2, 3.
ourselves to the precise manner shewn of delivering the cloth to the

page_text: operating cylinder, or of conducting it through the machine, for the same
effects may be produced in a variety of ways; but we claim as our Invention
the described method of dressing woollen or other cloths, by moving the
dressing cylinder and the cloth in the same direction continually, and of
regularly delivering the cloth to the cylinder, instead of allowing it to be
dragged through or between tension bars or rollers, or from a roller having a
break attached to it, in the common way, by which methods it is always
liable to irregular and injurious strains, as well as irregular action on the
face or pile.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Lewis and John Ferrabee,
have hereunto severally and respectively set our hands and seals, this
Third day of May, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight.
operating cylinder, or of conducting it through the machine, for the same
effects may be produced in a variety of ways; but we claim as our Invention
the described method of dressing woollen or other cloths, by moving the
dressing cylinder and the cloth in the same direction continually, and of
regularly delivering the cloth to the cylinder, instead of allowing it to be
dragged through or between tension bars or rollers, or from a roller having a
break attached to it, in the common way, by which methods it is always
liable to irregular and injurious strains, as well as irregular action on the
face or pile.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Lewis and John Ferrabee,
have hereunto severally and respectively set our hands and seals, this
Third day of May, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight.
W
(L.S.) LEWIS.
JOHN (Ls.) FERRABEE.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Third day of May, in the
first year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said William
Lewis and John Ferrabee came before our said Lady the Queen in Her
Chancery, and acknowledged the instrument aforesaid, and all and every
thing therein contained and specified, in form above written. And also the
instrument aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made
in the fifty-fifth year of the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the Fourth day of May, One thousand eight hundred and
thirty-eight.