AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE KNIVES USED FOR SHEARING WOOLLEN CLOTHS AND CLOTHS MADE OF WOOL AND OTHER MATERIALS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Holroyd, of Leeds, in the County of York,
Cloth Dresser, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE KNIVES
USED FOR SHEARING WOOLLEN CLOTHS AND CLOTHS MADE OF WOOL AND OTHER
MATERIALS."
Sealed the 8th April 1859, and dated the 11th October 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Holroyd at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th October 1858.
I, JAMES HOLROYD, of Leeds, in the County of York, Cloth Dresser, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE
KNIVES USED FOR SHEARING WOOLLEN CLOTHS AND CLOTHS MADE OF WOOL AND
OTHER MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates principally to the knives or cutters of a certain kind
of cloth shearing machine commonly known as "the perpetual cutting
machine," but may also be applied to other cloth shearing machines wherein
spiral cutter or cutters is or are used or employed. In the spiral cutters
hitherto employed the edge has invariably been plain and straight; now this
Invention consists in grooving, indenting, or incising such cutters, whereby
a serrated edge is obtained, and the object of this Invention is to produce a
peculiar novel effect or appearance upon the surface of the cloth when
finished.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Holroyd in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
9th April 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
HOLROYD, of Leeds, in the County of York, Cloth Dresser, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said James Holroyd, Her special licence that I, the said James Holroyd,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
Holroyd, 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE
KNIVES USED FOR SHEARING WOOLLEN CLOTHS AND CLOTHS MADE OF WOOL AND
OTHER MATERIALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said.
James Holroyd, 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 James Holroyd, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement in writing, that is to say :-
My Invention of "An Improvement in the Knives used for Shearing
Woollen Cloths and Cloths made of Wool and other Materials," relates
principally to the knives or cutters of a certain kind of cloth shearing machine
commonly known as the "perpetual shearing machine," wherein the nap
previously produced on such cloths by the " "gig mill" or other raising
machine is shorn to a level surface by means of a fixed cutting blade and a
revolving spiral knife placed (in contact with and parallel to each other) over
the cloth in the direction of its width, and beneath and in contact with which
the cloth passes in a longitudinal direction over another steel blade' placed
immediately below the cutters. But my Invention may also be applied to

page_text: other cloth shearing machines wherein a spiral cutter or cutters is or are used
or employed. In the spiral cutters and fixed blades hitherto employed in
such cloth shearing machines the cutting edge has invariably been plain and
straight; now my Invention consists in grooving, indenting, or incising such
spiral cutters, whereby a serrated cutting edge is obtained, or if preferred the
fixed cutting blade may be grooved or indented instead of the spiral blade,
and the object of my Invention is to produce a peculiar novel effect upon the
surface or nap of the cloth when finished. The said grooves or indentations
may be produced in any suitable manner, but perhaps the most convenient
way of making them is by grooving or indenting the face of the spiral cutting
blades or fixed blade in a vertical direction, so that upon bevilling off the
edge from the back to produce a cutting surface a serrated edge is obtained.
The spiral cutting blade or fixed blade may be closely and equally grooved or
indented from end to end, or by alternating a group of indentations and a
plain surface or edge, or by other modifications, a variety of novel effects may
be produced on the surface of the cloth when finished.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention of "An
Improvement in the Knives used for Shearing Woollen Cloths and Cloths
made of Wool and other Materials," together with the manner of carrying the
same into practical effect, I desire it to be understood that I claim as my
Invention, grooving, indenting, or incising the spiral cutting knives or the fixed
blade (or both) used in cloth shearing machines, so as to produce a serrated
cutting edge thereon, in contradistinction to the plain or straight cutting edge
hitherto invariably used, without reference to the form, number, or arrange-
ment of such grooves, indentations, or incisions, nor to the particular means by
which the same may be produced.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Holroyd, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
JAMES HOLROYD. (L.S.)