A CERTAIN ENGINE OR MACHINE FOR OPENING OF ALL KINDS OF VELVERETS AND OTHER GOODS MADE CAPABLE OF BEING OPENED AFTER SUCH GOODS HAVE BEEN CUT
Year: 1794

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
BROWN, of the Parish of Saint Giles in the Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present Majesty King George-the Third, by His Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at Westminster,
the Fifteenth day of July last past, hath given and granted unto me, the said
James Brown, my executors, administrators, and assigns, special licence, full
power, sole privilege, and authority to make, use, erercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, during the term of
years therein expressed, my Invention of "A CERTAIN ENGINE OR MACHINE
FOR OPENING OF ALL KINDS OF VELVERETS AND OTHER GOODS MADE CAPABLE OF
BEING OPENED AFTER SUCH GOODS HAVE BEEN CUT;" in which said Letters Patent
there is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said James Brown; by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, to cause a particular description of
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, 'to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within four
calendar months next after the date of the said recited Letters Patent,
as in and by the same (relation being thereunto 'had) may more fully and at
large appear.
...
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Brown, in compliance with the
said proviso, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and the..

page_text: manner in which the same is made and to be performed, is particularly
described and ascertained in the following description thereof, that is to sny :-
The frame of the engine or machine may be made of wood, or any other
strong substance proper for the purpose, to be composed of four pieces, con-
sisting of two sides and two ends; the two sides to be six inches wide, three
inches thick, and forty inches long; the two ends to be of equal dimensions
and twenty-two inches long, and may be put together either by screws or other-
wise, so as it be made firm, and supported upon four pieces of wood or feet.
elevated about three feet high from the floor, with six cross bars, one inch and
a quarter thick and four inches broad, fitted into the frame between the two
sides, and also a strong beam and roller. The roller may be inade from three
to six inches dinmeter and twenty-two inches long, and placed near to one end of
the frame, and flush or even with its top. The beam may be made of wood, or
any other strong hard substance, about six inches square and twenty-two inches
long, and is to be fitted very firm into the frame, flush or even with its top
also, and as near to the roller as it can be put, so that it may be just free.
The six bars are fitted into the frame at equal distances from each other, so that
the space between the beam and the first bar, and the space between the end of
the frame and the last bar, and the spaces between each other, may be equal.
When a piece of velveret is placed into the machine for the purpose of being
opened, it first must be put between each of the bars, then over the beam, and
lastly over the roller, which roller may be covered with fish skin, or other
rough substance capable of drawing or passing the piece of velveret through the
machine when it is in motion, which is to be performed by means of a winch,
fitted upon the axis of the roller. When the machine is in motion, the friction
of the piece upon the six bars causes it to be strained very tight upon the
beam, and the piece as it passes over it becomes opened (as hereafter is more
particularly described), and which is done by means of another beam fitted
upon the frame so as the piece of velveret may pass between the two beams.
The uppermost beam is made moveable by means of screws fitted at cach
end, so as to lie adjusted at a proper distance from the lower beam. Into the
uppermost beam, which must be made with a true and flat surface, either of
brass or any other strong hard substanco, is fitted a number of pointed wires or
needles, having all the same projection. In order to work the machine, the
velveret must be first cut licfore it can be opened, and then introduced into the
machine, as above described, with its cut side uppermost, after which it must
be passed through, by means of turning the winch fitted upon the axis of the
roller, before mentioned; then the projected pointed wires or needles fitted
into the moveable beam, above mentioned, by adjusting of which beam, are

page_text: made to penetrate so deep into the piece of velveret that it becomes opened in
passing them. The same effect may be also produced, or nearly so, by means
of a roller, substituted for the moveable beam, with a number of pointed wires
or needles fitted into it, so as to have all the same projection from its centre,
and capable of being adjusted in the same way; but then this roller must
have a circular and much more quick motion than the roller that draws the
piece through. This machine may be made upon a greater or less scale, and
may be composed of many other kinds of materials, and still produce nearly the
same effect. I have only described one roller for the purpose of drawing the
piece through, which should be covered with fish skin, or other rough substance,
as before mentioned; but two or more rollers may be introduced, with their
surfaces either rough or smooth, and yet produce nearly the same effect. A
greater or less number of bars may also be introduced. A roller may also be
substituted instead of the fixed beam for the piece to pass over, and produce
nearly the same effect. This machine may be put in motion either by steam,
water, horse, wind, or hand labour.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Brown, have hereunto set my hand
and scal, this Fifteenth day of November, in the thirty-fifth year of
the reign of His Majesty King George the Third, and in the year of
our Lord One thousand seven hundred and ninety-four.