AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR SHEARING WOOLLEN AND OTHER CLOTHS
Year: 1809

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ISAAC
KELLOGG, late of Connecticut, in North America, but at present residing in
Addle Street, in the City of London, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of His United Kingdom, bearing
date at Westminster, the Twenty-first day of August, in the forty-ninth year of
His reign, give and grant unto me, the said Isaac Kellogg, my exors, adiñors,
and assigns, His especial licence, full power, sole priviledge and authority, that
I, the said Isaac Kellogg, my exors, admors, and assigns, shall and lawfully
might, during the term of years therein mentioned, make, use, exercise, and
vend; within England, Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, the Inven-
tion of "AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR SHEARING WOOLLEN AND OTHER CLOTHS;" in
which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said
Isaac Kellogg, by an instrument 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 performed, to be inrolled in His Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within two calendar months 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 in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Isaac Kellogg, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and

page_text: the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained as follows, that is to say:-
"
The principle upon which my said machinery is constructed is to cut off the
nap" or superfluous wool of the cloth upon a great number of very small
under blades or wires, and the manner of performing the same I have ex-
hibited and displayed in the Drawings, and explanations thereof, hereunto
annexed, and marked respectively Figure 1st, Figure 2nd, Figure 3rd,
Figure 4th, Figure 5th, Figure 6th, and Figure 7th, as well with regard to the
parts of said machine, with their situations and uses as to several different
constructions of machines on the aforesaid principle, and in all the Figures the
same capital letters of the alphabet denote the same things, or things which
answer the same purposes, and the same letters in small characters denote
some small appendages of the principal part denoted by the capital letter.
Figure 1st represents several different kinds of under blades or wires in
small sections, mark'd A, B, C, D, E. A represents a section of small stcel
wires (for which steel knitting needles are used), which, being tinned at the
ends, are placed in mould, and small blocks of pewter, or some other metal
which will adhere to the tinned ends of the wires cast upon them, which blocks
support the wires at equal distances, parallel and on a plane with each other;
at the end of one of these blocks is a head, and through the other, near the
end, are two mortices, by means of which the wires may be strained by wedges,
in order to increase their stiffness. B represents another section of wires,
resembling the former, but placed at greater distances apart, and designed to
operate in an oblique direction upon the cloth; C is another section of under
blades, resembling B, but instead of wires small strips of plate steel are used.
D represents another kind of under blades, which aro small pointed blades,
supported only at one end, and having cutting edges on one line of the angles,
or it may have cutting edges on both sides, as represented by E, in either of
which cases the cutting edges form an angle with the direction in which the
cloth moves, so as to pass over tho whole, or nearly the whole, of its surface;
such a number of these sections of under blades or wires are to be placed
together, on a plane with each other, as will equal or exceed the width of the
cloth as he shear'd.
Figure 2nd represents a plan or perpen licular view of the "reed," which is
composed of a number of sections of wires, as before described by A, placed
together between the planes of two oblong frames of iron, or some other sub-
stance of sufficient strength, the length of which exceeds the width of the
cloth, and the width of which are suitable to tho length of the blocks or
sections of wires; and the sectious of wires being held at one end by their

page_text: napper
heads and receiving wedges through the mortices at the other end, are strain'd
across said frame to any degree of tension required; the two parts of the iron
frame are held together by screw bolts passing through them, and the whole
resembles, in some measure, a weaver's reed. On the plane of this "reed"
operate the "napper" and "cutters" or upper blades. The ".
"G is a
small cylinder, extending across the reed lengthwise, and is set with card or
brush, the teeth of which penetrate between the wires of the reed, and operate
upon the cloth to raise the nap; through the pivot boxes or puppets g, g, of
this cylinder are screws, placed in some convenient manner to raise or lower it
at discretion. The cutters I, I, I, &c., are small blades of steel, having hard
blunt smooth edges, their form and dimensions may be various, but their edges
must conform to the plane of the reed, and form an angle with the wires; these
cutters are pressed down upon the wires by springs J, J, J, &c. which pass
through or are so connected with the rod K that they may be pressed upon the
cutters (with slides or screws) with more or less force, as may be found neces-
sary to cut the nap. This "connecting rod" connects all the cutters and
springs, presses them upon the reed, and gives a vibrating motion to them, as
herein-after described; thus the cutters passing over the wires (which are, in
preference, ground to a flat surface in that part where the cutters operate), form
as many lines of collision as the number of wires in the reed, each of which
operates in effect as a pair of small scissors to cut the nap with which it comes
in contact. Thus are constructed the "reed," "cutters," and "napper," which
constitute the shears of this machine.
Figure 3d represents a front view of the shears, together with the super-
structure which keeps the connecting rod in its proper place, and presses it
down upon the springs; L, L, L, are sections of friction wheels, in the centres or
points of which are edges 1, 1, 1, which operate on small plates of iron, in which
are notches to receive said edges, by which means the rod moves with dimi
nished friction; the middle one of these "friction pieces" stands on a projec-
tion, which projects forward as far or farther than perpendicular over the
cutters, and that part of the superstructure M against which this operates has
two screws m, m, through it, by which it may be mov'd downward to increase
the pressure upon the cutters, when required. N, N, N, represent an open pair
of "clasps," which are narrow strips of board set with ribs of wire in an oblique
direction, tending from the centre towards the list as the cloth moves, that is,
to increase its width to prevent its entering under the shears in wrinkles;
these clasps are pressed together and connected by a spring and catch at each
end, n, m, n, n, and are made a little crooked, so as to press the cloth hardest
in the middle between the lists; O is an "urger," connected with a spring.o,

page_text: which is fasten'd to the "connecting rod," and by which motion is given to it,
as hereafter described.
Figure 4th represents a perspective view of a machine in operation, as seen
from the left-hand front corner, and shews the relative situation and connection
of its parts. The cloth to be shear'd is first rolled upon a cylinder P in the front
part of the machine, which has a crank p, by which it may be turned to coil
the cloth, against the pivot of this cylinder operates a leaver or some other force
to cause friction or resistance, to strain the cloth lengthwise; from this "winding
cylinder" the cloth proceeds over a bed (the front of which is seen at Q in
Figure 3rd), which is, in preference, made elastic in the middle or that part
over which the cutters operate, cither by metallic springs under a thin strip of
wood, or by stuffing of hair, wool, or some other clastic substance; across the
ends of this bed are framed two arms, on the front ends of which are handles
9. 9, and through the back ends are pins or joints upon which the arms can
turn and permit the bed to rise and fall from the reed; by this bed the cloth is
pressed against the reed, and held in that position during the operation by hold-
fasts or props, placed under the arms of the bed, as represented by Z; these
props turn on pins at the lower end, and when turned from their perpendicular
position will permit the bed to fall from the reed to introduce the cloth, or for
other purposes; and from thence it passes partly round and between two
cylinders R, R, near the centre of the machine, represented in the general
view at Figure 5th. These cylinders give motion to the cloth, and are called
"drawing cylinders;" motion is given to these cylinders by a cog wheel 8 on
the extended axis of one of them, which is connected with a pinion S on the
first moving axis T; the second drawing cylinder is moved by its pressure
against the first, or by a small tooth wheel on one of its ends, connected with
another tooth wheel on the corresponding end of the moving cylinder. The
cloth is pressed between these cylinders by leavers U, U, operating on each
of the pivots of one of them, to the end of which leavers are connected small
strips of timber u, u, with cach end of another piece, of timber, called a "scale
beam," V, which extends horizontally across the front of the machine, and is
pressed downward and held by a point or fulcrum in its centre V, by which
means an equal force is applied to each leaver, and thus cach list of the cloth
receives an equal pressure. In the above manner, the cloth proceeds from the
winding cylinder between the clasps, and over the bed, and under the reed, and
between two drawing cylinders, which draw it with an uniform motion, and
from which it is folded into some receptacle below. While the cloth proceeds
the cutters and napper operate continually, and their motions are given in the
following manner, that is to say A rotatory motion is given to the napper G

page_text: by a belt or band passing over a pulley on one end of its axis, and from thence
on a larger pulley H on the first moving axis T, which may be turned by hand,
water, or other powers; and a vibrating or alternate motion is given to the
connecting rod and cutters, or upper blades, by a crank W, in the axis of which
is a fly-wheel X; motion is given to this crank by a belt passing over a small
pulley x; and from thence over a larger pulley Y; on the first motion to this
crank is fixed a, sweep Y, which is connected by a joint to an arm extending
from the axis, and which turns on pivots at its ends, and to which is attached
the "urger O, which gives motion to tho connecting rod, and, of course, to
the cutters, as by the Drawings are made manifest.
Figure 5th represents a plan or perpendicular view of the machine, with the
relative situations of the parts before described and specified, especially the
drawing cylinders, which are not seen in the perspective view, but are referr'd
to by the letters R, R, and the reed represented in this Figure is constructed
with oblique wires, as represented by B in Figure 1st, but is in all other
respects similar to that described by Figure 2d and Figure 3d.
Figure 6th represents a set of under blades of the kinds described by D or E
in Figure 1st, and they may operate on a fixed bed, resembling that before
described, but much narrower, and the cloth may be drawn in the same manner,
and motion may be given to the upper blades by a crank placed as before
specified, or any other common method of giving a vibrating motion; or, instead
of a fixed bed, may be substituted a cylinder, rendered elastic by a covering of
cloth, or some other elastic substance, so that the part of the cylinder which
presses against the under blades is continually depressed, and presents a flat
surface to the shears; on the end of this cylinder is a tooth wheel, by which
motion may be communicated in various ways; the cloth, being introduced
between the cylinder and the shears, will adhere more closely to the cylinder
than to the shears, and thus the motion of this "cylindric bed" draws the cloth.
This kind of bed may also be adapted to the oblique wires or under blades
described by B and C in Figure 1st, and more fully represented in Figure 5th,
and still more plainly shewn in Figure 7th.
Figure 7th represents a part of a reed of oblique wires, without the napping
cylinder, and instead of it may be substituted a long narrow brush, which
extends across the reed before the cutters, and moves with them in a lateral
manner; this brush may be fixed to the connecting rod, and supported in
various ways, at the discretion of the workman; or, if these oblique under
blades are placed at a suitable distance apart, and the bed made quite elastic,
the motion of the cutters will raise the nap sufficiently (especially after the
first cropping), and thus render any kind of cropper unnecessary; but in all cases

page_text: when the under blades are placed at greater distances apart than the distance
of the clips should be, the cutters should be made to perform a proportionably
greater number of clips, or vibration, while the cloth is proceeding the length
of them.
Figure 6th also represents a.reed of small under blades, supported at one
end as described by D, in Figure 1st, and across their points extends a small
bar or rod to prevent their rising above level; these points are slender, in order
to divide the nap, but not so sharp as readily to penetrate the cloth, and they
are set so obliquely that, as the cloth passes under them at right angles with
the whole reed, some one of their edges shall pass over the whole, or nearly
the whole surface of the cloth.
And I furthermore declare that the above specified are my most approved
methods of executing machines on the principle firstly described and ascer-
tained, although the form and proportions of the work may be varied in many
ways, and the motion of the cutters, napper, and cloth may be given many
ways, on well-known principles, by any competent workman, without further
instruction than are herein-before given.
In witness whereof, I, the said Isaac Kellogg, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twentieth day of October, in the year of our Lord One