IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR WASHING, SCOURING, AND FELTING OR FULLING
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Hargrave, of Kirkstall, in the County of
York, Worsted Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY
FOR WASHING, SCOURING, AND FELTING OR FULLING."
Sealed the 8th August 1854, and dated the 14th June 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Hargrave at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th
June 1854.
I, JOHN HARGRAVE, of Kirkstall, in the County of York, Worsted Manu
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED
MACHINERY FOR WASHING, SCOURING, AND FELTING OR FULLING," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved arrangement of machinery for
effecting the above operations. In a suitable trough or vessel a number of
stampers or squeezers (actuated by cams, excentrics, or otherwise,) are mounted.
The stampers are caused to strike upon a table placed below them, which
table may be heated by steam, if required. The material to be operated upon
is conducted (when requisite) into the trough and under the stampers or
squeezers by endless sheets, which pass over suitable guide rollers. These
sheets may be used when wool or yarn is required to be washed or scoured,
The
but when operating upon cloth the sheets may be dispensed with.
material, when it leaves the stampers or squeezers, is carried onwards to a pair
of ordinary squeezing rollers.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Hargrave in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
14th December 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HARGRAVE, of Kirkstall, in the County of York, Worsted Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Hargrave, Her special license that I, the said John
Hurgrave, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said John Hargrave, 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
"IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR WASHING, SCOURING, AND FELTING OR FULLING,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Hargrave,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 John Hargrave, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
:-
This Invention consists of an improved arrangement of fulling mill, appli-
cable to the washing or scouring of wool, yarn, or other materials, and also to
the felting or fulling of woollen cloth.
The Figures in the accompanying Drawing represent the machine as fitted
for washing or scouring wool, two endless aprons being employed for con-
ducting the loose fibres into and through the machine; when, however, the
operation of felting or fulling cloth is required to be carried on, the endless
aprons are removed. Fig. 1 shows the machine in longitudinal sectional
elevation, and Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. It consists mainly of a set

page_text: of stampers or beaters, which are mounted in the cistern intended to contain
the washing or scouring liquid, and when set in motion will thereby be caused
to act more efficiently than heretofore upon the goods brought under their
operation.
In these Figures. A is the cistern, carried by supports B, B. A table C is
placed within the cistern, for the purpose of carrying cross bars a. a, which are
arranged at a uniform level, and are intended to support the material to be
washed or fulled while under the action of the reciprocating beaters or
stampers b, b. These beaters are mounted in a strong sliding frame D,
carried by connecting rods K, K, which are attached at their lower ends to
the crank pins of a crank shaft h, beneath the cistern A, and at their upper
ends to a rod, which passes through the cross heads of the sliding frame.
The vertical position of this frame is secured by means of guides E, E,
bolted to the sides of the cistern. The beaters or stampers have a slight inde-
pendent motion in their frame, to allow for any inequality of thickness in the
material subjected to their operation. For this purpose, they are rendered
capable of sliding in their sockets, and they are kept down to their required
position by means of coiled springs c, which press upon adjustable collars
carried by the stampers. F, F, are carrying rollers, mounted in suitable
bearings, and intended to conduct the endless aprons in the desired direction.
G, G, is a pair of heavily weighted expressing rollers, for expressing the liquid
out of the wool or other material as it passes from the machine. H, H, is
a pair of compound levers, for weighting the rollers G, G. In front of these
rollers a pair of stripping rollers I, I, fitted at their periphery with radial ribs,
is provided, for the purpose of stripping the wool from the aprons.
Rotary motion is communicated to the machine by a band from any first
mover passing over driving pulleys J, J, mounted upon a suitable shaft, which
carries also the spur wheels d and e (see the plan view, Fig. 2). The wheel d
takes into the intermediate wheel f, which gears with the wheel g on the end
of the crank shaft h, before mentioned. The rotation of this shaft will,
through the connecting rods K, K, impart the required vertical reciprocating
motion to the stamper frame D, and put the stampers into action. The
wheel e takes into a stud wheel i, which carries a pinion upon its boss, and
this pinion takes into and drives a large spur wheel k, keyed to the axle of the
lower weighted roller G. By gearing the two rollers together, rotary motion
is transmitted from the lower to the upper roller, or it may revolve by friction
of contact. The axles of the weighted rollers G, G, are each provided at their
other ends with a spur wheel 1, for the purpose of driving (through intermediate
wheels m) the wheels n on the ends of the ribbed stripping rollers I, I. o is

page_text: the upper, and of the lower endless apron, on which the wool or yarn to be
scoured is laid. These aprons are supported by their carrying rollers F, F,
and are passed through the machine between the supporting bars a, a, and the
beaters or stampers b, and around the weighted rollers G, respectively. By
the rotation of these rollers in the direction of the arrows, the aprons will be
traversed forwards, and the material to be operated upon, after, passing.
between the pair of guide rollers F*, F*, will be enclosed between the aprons,
which will carry it down into the liquor in the cistern, and present it to the
action of the beaters; after which, it will be drawn up out of the liquor, and
in passing between the rollers G, the liquor will be expressed from the now
washed or scoured material. The aprons will then separate, and by the
assistance of the stripper rollers (which will strip the material from the
aprons) the washed material will be delivered out of the machine. A sliding
journal is provided at p, for adjusting the tension of the lower apron o*.
I have stated that when the machine is required to be employed for felting
or fulling cloth, the endless aprons are dispensed with. In operating upon
the cloth I prefer to arrange it in layers; I then pass it through the machine
by means of the carrying or guide and pressing rollers. I would remark that
the bars a, a, may be made hollow, and provided with suitable connections
for imparting heat thereto by means of steam, if required.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improved Machinery
for Washing, Scouring, and Felting or Fulling," and explained the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above
in part recited Letters Patent I claim, the arrangement of machinery above
described, or any mere modification thereof, whereby the material to be
operated upon may be subjected to the action of the beaters on its passage
through the vessel containing the washing or scouring liquor.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Hargrave, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Thirteenth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
JOHN HARGRAVE. (L.S.)