IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CERTAIN BOWLS OR ROLLS
Year: 1843

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
HESFORD, of Great Bolton, in the County of Lancaster, Millwright, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters.
Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at Westminster,.
the Second day of May, in the sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself,
Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said James Hesford,
my exors, adñiors, and assigns, full power, sole privilege and authority, that
I, the said James Hesford, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said James Hesford, my exors, adññiors, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during
the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within that part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland called England, Her Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CERTAIN
BOWLS OR ROLLS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that
if I, the said James Hesford, should not particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, by an instrument in writing under my hand. and seal, and cause the

page_text: same to be enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of those Her Letters
Patent, then those Letters Patent, and all liberties and advantages whatso-
ever thereby granted, should utterly cease, determine, and become void, as
in and by the said Letters Patent, on reference being thereunto had, will more
fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that my Invention consists in the manufacture of bowls
or rolls, such as are commonly used by bleachers, calenderers, and others, for
mangling, callendering, and squeezing cloth and other fabrics and substances.
They have been made of many descriptions of material, and the ordinary modes
of making them are well known. But to explain the nature of my Invention, it
will be desirable here to set forth the mode of making them, and afterwards to
set forth my improvements. I will therefore explain the mode of making a
paper or cotton bowl. A wrought-iron centre or shaft is procured and turned
in the body on which the paper or cotton has to be placed; two ends or plates
of iron are provided, one of which is keyed or locked on one end of the barrel
of the shaft, the neck or journal projecting beyond it. The shaft or centre is
then placed perpendicularly in a hydraulic press, having the one end down-
wards, and if paper be used, it is cut into circles, having a hole through the
centre of the size of the shaft on which it is to be placed; if cotton or other
material, it is prepared in a similar way. It is then placed in layers upon the
shaft, and when a quantity is heaped on it as high as the shaft, the press is
brought into action and the quantity compressed till it occupies only a small
portion of the shaft or centre; after which further quantities are put on as often
as necessary, till so much has been put on and such pressure been applied,
that the shaft is filled, and the material sufficiently hard for the required
purpose; after which the other end or plate is keyed on the shaft to keep the
material from expanding. The roll is then taken out of the press, put into a
lathe and turned to the required diameter. Bowls have also been made from
boards sawn the lengthway of the grain, in the usual way, and then cut into form
like paper, and placed on the centre and pressed; but they prove imperfect,
from those parts of the surface of the bowl which exhibited the grain ends of
the boards being hard and cutting the cloth, whilst the other parts were soft,
so that uniformity could not be secured. They have also being made of boards
so formed and laid as to present the end of the grain or fibre of the timber
throughout the surface of the bowl, but they proved injurious to the fabrics
operated on by them from the hardness of the end of the grain of the timber.
Bowls have also been very commonly made of the trunk of trees, so that the

page_text: grain of the timber ran in the direction of the length of the bowl. The mode
in making these is as follows:-The trunk is bored through its length, and the
centre or shaft fitted into it and fastened by hoops and wedges, but no pressure
is applied to the ends of the bowl to compress the timber lengthwise, and no arti-
ficial density of the timber is procured, nor is the natural porosity of the timber
diminished. Bowls, thus formed, are found to be liable to split, from the
changes of temperature and alternate moisture and dryness, and much difficulty
is experienced in finding timber of sufficiently large size perfectly sound during
its whole length, there being only few descriptions of timber (such as sycamore
and beech) suitable for bowls thus made. It will be evident that bowls made
thus from the trunk of a tree present the edge or side of the grain throughout
the surface of the bowl. The object of my Invention is to secure this result, of
presenting the edge of the grain or fibre of the timber throughout the surface
of the bowl in the same manner as is done in bowls made from the trunk of a
tree, but at the same time to procure a greater hardness of material without
liability to cut the cloth or fabric operated on, and also prevent the bowl thus
made from splitting. This object is effectually attained by cutting the timber
into thin sections or layers transversely to the grain or fibre, and arranging
such layers either in entire rings or in segments around the shaft, and subject-
ing them to pressure, as in making paper or cotton bowls, always taking care
that the grain or fibre of the several layers shall run parallel to the shaft round
or upon which they are pressed. It must be observed that each of the sections
or layers should be planed or otherwise made smooth and true on both faces,
otherwise, after being pressed, the junctions of the several layers shew them-
selves, and will mark the cloth, as the minute fibres produced on the flat sur-
faces of the layers by sawing them are thrown outwards when the pressure is
applied.
I have hereunto annexed, a Sheet of Drawings to explain my manu-
facture, having letters to distinguish the several parts of the bowl, the same
letters referring to similar parts wherever they are found in the. several
Figures.
Figure 1 is a representation of a bowl when finished ready for use;
Figure 2 is a section of such bowl along its centre. Figure 3 is a plan of one
of the rings of timber used in making the bowl. Figure 4. is an edge view of
one of such rings; and Figure 5 is a plan of one of such largers made of seg-
ments. In these Drawings, A represents the iron centre or shaft; B, the ends
or iron plates, fastened in their places on the shaft A by the keys or lockings
C, to prevent the timber from expanding after having been pressed; and D,

page_text: the rings. The centre having been accurately turned on its body, and having
one of the ends keyed on, is placed in the press, and a number of layers of
timber, formed either of entire rings, or of rings formed by segments, are put
upon the centre, the hole through such rings fitting accurately to the diameter of
the body of the shaft, and the formation of the bowl is proceeded with as in the
ordinary manner of making bowls by pressure. For general purposes, a
pressure of four hundred and fifty tons will make one of my bowls sufficiently
hard, but a greater or less pressure can be given, according to the purpose for
which the bowl is required. I find the rings or segments answer best if made
about three-eighths of an inch thick, but these will vary according to the
degree of pressure, and consequent hardness required, and the nature of the
timber employed. The rings should, as before observed, be planed smooth on
both their surfaces before being put on the centre, and if segments be used
the several segments should fit each other on their edges. Bowls or rollers
made according to the method above described may be advantageously used in
many other processes where a hard and yet smooth surface is desired, and of
any variety of diameter for which suitable timber can be procured.
Having now described the nature of my Invention I wish it to be under-
stood that I do not claim as my Invention the mode of making bowls by
pressure, as above described, nor the use of timber as a material, nor do I
limit myself to the precise form, proportion, or dimensions of the several
materials I use, nor to any particular sort of timber; but I claim as my Inven-
tion the manufacture of wooden bowls, by constructing them in manner before
mentioned, with rings or segments, or partly with one and partly with the other,
cut in layers transversely to the grain of timber used, and so arranged, that
when the bowl is made and turned, the grain of the several layers shall run in
the direction of the length of the bowl.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-
third day of October, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
Signed, sealed, and delivered, (being first
duly stamped), by the within-named
James Hesford, in the presence of
JAMES (L.S.) HESFORD.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-third day of October, in
the year of our Lord 1843, the aforesaid James Hesford came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to
the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twenty-sixth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-three.