IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR PLAITING OR FOLDING
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edwin John Grabham, of Shepherdess Walk, in
the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR PLAITING OR FOLDING
Sealed the 8th February 1870, and dated the 13th August 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edwin John Grabham
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patouts, with his Petition,
on the 13th August 1869.
I, EDWIN JOHN GRABHAM, of Shepherdess Walk, in the County of
Middlesex, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR PLAITING
OR FOLDING TEXTILE FABRICS, PAPER, AND OTHER LIKE MATERIALS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements in machinery or
apparatus employed in plaiting or folding textile fabrics, paper, and
other like materials, whereby two different kinds of plaiting or folding,
Price 8d.1

page_text: may
namely, the ordinary or single plaiting and the double or box plaiting,
be produced in one and the same machine by a simple adjustment.
According to this Invention two parallel shafts are employed, the first
one constituting the driving shaft of the machine, and carrying the
cams requisite for actuating what is known as a four-motion feed for
propelling the material along as fast as the plaiting or folding is effected.
The second shaft carries the cams requisite for actuating the plaiting
instruments, which consist of reciprocating knives working either singly
or conjointly according as a single or a double or "box plait" is required.
For the purpose of enabling these knives to be so worked as to produce
either single plaiting or box plaiting in one and the same machine I
employ a double system of gearing between the two, the one system
being in action whilst the other is out of action.
According to one system of gearing which is in action when inaking
single plaits both the shafts revolve at the same speed, the gearing then in
action being the same size on each shaft, but when double or box plaiting
is to be produced the second shaft is slid in its bearings longitudinally,
so as to throw out of action the equal-sized gearing and bring into action
another system of gearing, which causes the second shaft to revolve at
half the speed of the driving shaft. This longitudinal adjustment of the
second shaft also brings into action an additional cam or cams for
actuating the second one of the two reciprocating or folding knives. In
readjusting the second shaft back again to make single plaiting one of
the knife-actuating cams or set of cams is thrown out of action, the
speed of the two shafts is made uniform, and a single plaiting is pro-
duced. The material operated upon is plaited between two smooth
pressing surfaces, one of which is held against the other by springs or
weighted levers, and the front edges of both the surfaces are bevilled
slightly to facilitate the entrance of either or both the knives between
them. The four-motion feed herein-before referred to works through slots
or openings in one of these pressing surfaces, and carries the fabric
along, it being timed to suit the action of the knife or knives. Either
or both the pressing surfaces may be heated by gas or otherwise in order
to preserve the plaits or folds in the material. The materials plaited as
above described may if desired be run through sewing machines for the
purpose of securing the plaits by stitches.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edwin John Grabbam in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 12th February 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWIN
JOHN GRABHAM, of Shepherdess Walk, in the County of Middlesex,
Mechanical Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
third year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Edwin John Grabham, Her special
license that I, the said Edwin John Grabham, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigus, or such others as I, the said Edwin John Grabham,
my executors, administrators, or 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 "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR PLAITING OR FOLDING TEXTILE FABRICS, PAPER,
AND OTHER LIKE MATERIALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Edwin John Grabham, my executors or administrators, 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 Edwin John Grabham, 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 accompanying
Drawings and to the letters and figures marked thercon, that is to
say:
My said Invention relates to certain improvements in machinery or
apparatus employed in plaiting or folding textile fabrics, paper, and
other like materials, and consists of a peculiar arrangement of machinery
whereby two different kinds of plaiting or folding, namely, the ordinary
or single plaiting and the double or box plaiting, and of any desired

page_text: width, may be produced in one and the same machine by a simple
adjustment, such folds or plaits being subsequently secured together or
not as required by stitches introduced by hand or by a sewing machine.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose
shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed two Sheets of Drawings,
the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the
Figures.
Figure 1, on Sheet 1 of the Drawings, represents a longitudinal
vertical section of a folding or plaiting machine constructed in accord-
ance with this Invention; Figure 2 is a corresponding plan of the upper
surface thereof; Figure 3 is an elevation of the folding or plaiting
end of the machine; and Figure 4 is a similar view of the opposite
or driving end.
Figures 5 and 6, on Sheet 2, represent full-sized sectional views
detached of the plaiting or folding mechanism in the act of making
single and double or box plaits respectively, the fabric being shewn by a
red line.
A and B are two parallel shafts working in bearings in the standards
C, C, the first shaft A constituting the driving shaft of the machine,
and carrying the cams D, D, and E, herein-after fully referred to, for
actuating what is known as a four-motion top feed for propelling the
material along, and for flattening the plaits as fast as the plaiting or
folding is effected. The second shaft B carries the cams F, F¹, requisite
for actuating the plaiting instruments, which consist of two reciprocating
knives G, G¹, working either singly or conjointly according as a single
or a double or "box plait " is required, as herein-after explained. These
knives are carried on vibrating levers H, H', and are pivotted therein
at a, a', and acted upon by helical springs all, all, so as to cause the
upper knife G to bear at its edge upon the inclined surface b, and the
lower knife G¹ to bear at its edge upon the under side of the upper knife
and upon the inclined surface when that knife is withdrawn. This
will be their action when both knives are in operation for making a box
plait, but when a single plait only is required then the lower knife G¹
and its spring are thrown out of action.
For the purpose of enabling these knives to be so worked as to
produce either single plaiting or box plaiting in one and the same
machine I employ a double-system of gearing I, II, and K, K, on the

page_text: two shafts A and B respectively, the one system being in action whilst
the other is out of action, as shewn in Figure 2. According to one.
system of gearing (I, I¹,) which is in action only when making single.
plaits, but which is shewn out of action in Figure 2, both the shafts A
and B revolve at the same speed, the gearing then in action being of.
the same size on each shaft, but when double or box plaiting is to be.
produced the second shaft B is slid in its bearings longitudinally by
means of a clutch lever I, so as to throw out of action the equal-sized
gearing I, I, and bring into action the other system of gearing K, K',.
as shewn in Figure 2, which causes the second shaft B to revolve at
half the speed of the driving shaft A. This longitudinal adjustment of
the second shaft also brings into action an additional cam F¹ for
actuating the lower one G¹ of the two reciprocating plaiting or folding
knives. In readjusting the second shaft B back again to make single
plaiting the knife actuating cam F is thrown out of action, whilst the
other cam F being broader still remains in action, and the speed of the
two shafts is made uniform by bringing the gearing I, I, into action,.
and throwing the unequal sized gearing K, K', out of action, whereupon
single plaiting is produced by the operation of the upper knife G alone.
The material operated upon is plaited between two smooth pressing
surfaces M, M', one of which M¹ is held against the other by springs N, N,
or by weighted levers, and the front edges of both the surfaces are bevelled
slightly, as shewn at b, b, to facilitate the entrance of either or both the
knives between them. The top four-motion feeding surface O, herein-
before referred to, is provided with a series of parallel serrated ribs c,
which work through slots or openings d in the upper pressing surface M,
and carries the fabric along, it being timed to suit the action of the knife
or knives. Either or both the pressing surfaces may be heated by gas.
or otherwise in order to preserve the plaits or folds in the material. In
my Drawings I have represented gas jets e situate beneath the lower
surface M' for the purpose of heating the same. The materials plaited
as above described may, if desired, be subsequently run through sewing
machines for the purpose of securing the plaits by stitches.
Having described the essential elements of the machine I will now
refer to the minor details by which such elements are put into operation.
The to-and-fro horizontal motion is imparted to the feeding surface O by
the cam E, which acts against an adjustable arm P, hinged to the top
of the vertical rocking lever Q, carried on the rocking shaft R. S is an

page_text: adjusting screw, and T is an india-rubber spring for varying the distance.
of the arm P from the cam E, with a view to changing the throw of
the feeding surface according to the breadth of plait desired. The
rocking shaft R carries two lever arms U, U, which are connected by
the side rods V, V, with the ends of the shaft W. This shaft is carried
in blocks X, which slide to and fro under the action of the cam E along
slots Y made in the standards C. The feeding surface O is connected
to the shaft W by the two levers Z, Z, which may either bo fast on the
shaft W (in which case it would have to rock in its sliding blocks X),
or they may be fitted loosely on such shaft, in which case it might be
fixed in the sliding blocks. The front end of each of the levers Z is
jinted at f to the feeder O, whilst their rear ends project over the
cams D, D. These cams serve to depress or bring the feeder O down
upon the fabric, after which the feeder moves forward horizontally and
draws the plaited fabric along with it to the required distance by the
action of the cam E. The feeder is then raised slightly so as to clear
the fabric by the action of the springs g, in which elevated position the
feeder makes its return stroke by the action of the springs h, h, for that
purpose. By varying the extent of the horizontal forward motion of
the feeder O any width of plait may be obtained, and by varying the
throw of the knife or knives G, G₁, any amount of overlap in the plait
may be produced. This adjustment of the throw of the knives is effected
by the adjustable stop screws i, , which allow the knives to recede
The forward motion in
more or less and thereby vary their stroke.
making the plait is transmitted to each knife through the rodsk and k¹,
which are connected respectively to the oscillating levers H and H
carrying the knives, and to the vibrating levers and on the rocking
shafts m, m, which carry respectively the vibrating levers n, n¹, acted
The backward or
upon by the cams F, F¹, hereiu-before referred to.
return stroke of each knife is effected by the helical springs o o!... When
making very narrow plaits or plaits with small overlap it is necessary,
in order to ensure the plaits or folds being caught with certainty by
the feeding surface, that the knives should enter well in between the
two pressing surfaces M, M', and to effect this each of the vibrating
levers n, n¹, is provided with an adjustable arm p, p, similar to that
adopted for the feed motion, which arms are adjusted nearer to or further
from the cams F, F, by the adjusting screws q, q'. The effect of this
adjustment is not to vary the throw of the knives but simply to advance
them nearer to or remove them further from the feeding surface. The

page_text: machine is represented as being driven by hand, a winch handler being
fitted on to the driving shaft A provided with a fly wheels for that
purpose, but it may, if desired, be driven by a band and pulley actuated
by steam or other power.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider
to be novel and original and therefore claim as the Invention secured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First. The production of both single plaiting and box plaiting in one
and the same machine by a simple adjustment of the cam shaft which
actuates the plaiting or folding knives, substantially as hercin-before
described.
Second. The combination of two systems of gearing for driving the
cam shaft which actuates the plaiting or folding knives at different
speeds in relation to the feed actuating shaft according as single plaiting
or box plaiting is required to be produced, as herein-before described.
Third. The sliding of the knife actuating shaft in its bearings for the
purpose of actuating at will either one or both the reciprocating plaiting
or folding knives, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edwin John Grabham, have to this
my Specification set my hand and seal, the 10th day of February
E. JO. GRABHAM. (L.S.)