IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR . CUTTING CLOTH AND OTHER TEXTILE FABRICS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Barlow, of the Office of Patents, 89; Chancery
Lane, London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
. CUTTING CLOTH AND OTHER TEXTILE FABRICS."-A communication.
Sealed the 26th August 1856, and dated the 29th February 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Barlow at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 29th
February 1856.
I, CHARLES BARLOW, of the Office for Patents, 89, Chancery Lane, London,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR CUTTING CLOTH AND OTHER TEXTILE FABRICS, to be as follows:
A, B, are a pair of rollers supported by a suitable framing; upon the upper
roller, are fitted a number of pieces of steel c, c, the upper edges of which are
sharpened to form a knife or cutter; these cutters are curved and fastened to
the roller so as to form the outline of the different parts of a coat or other
garment. The cloth or other fabric is passed through the machine-from
suitable rollers or other feeding apparatus. In passing through the rollers' the
knife edges cut the cloth out according to the form in which they are placed.
In this manner a great number of garments may be cut in a very short time
and with little labour.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Barlow in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
29th August 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
BARLOW, of the Office of Patents, 89, Chancery Lane, London, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the 29th day of February, A.D. 1856, in the 19th
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Charles Barlow, Her special license, that I, the said Charles
Barlow, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Charles Barlow, 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, & Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR CUTTING CLOTH AND OTHER TEXTILE FABRICS," the same being a
communication from David D. Deming, of New York, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Charles Barlow, 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 Charles Barlow, do hereby declare
the nature of the 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 of reference marked thereon, & making a part of this Specification.
The nature of the said Invention or machine consists in arranging upon or
attaching to a cylindrical or other surface knives or cutters in any desired
shape or pattern, and so that they can be changed in position to vary the
pattern, and which shall cut with great exactness and rapidity, and leave the
fabric cut in a condition suitable for immediate manufacture.
The machine as generally constructed consists of two cylinders A and B,
one above the other, as represented in the Drawing, though their relative
position may be varied, which run in parallel contact but in opposite directions;
and they are so adjusted or situated that while they shall run in contact they

page_text: shall not interfere with each others revolutions. These cylinders will be
larger or smaller according to the size of the pattern, or the number of the
patterns upon the cutting cylinder, which may be of iron, or any material
sufficiently firm and strong to attach the cutting knives, and these strike
against the other cylinder, which may be of wood, or covered with raw bull's
bide, or of any substance which will allow the knives to strike against it without
injuring their cutting edges. The knives c¹, c', are firmly sccured to the
cylinder A, when of iron, by means of nuts working in slots in the cylinder, so
that they can be moved and the pattern varied; or the part or handle to
which the blade is attached may move upon the surface of the. cylinder, being
fastened in any desired place by a screw entering the cylinder, and working in
a slot in such handle so as to allow it motion; and in order to move the
blade, as the pattern is thus enlarged or diminished by sliding such handle, it,
the blade, is fastened to the handle by one or more screws working through a
slot in the blade, and thus allowing motion. The blade will generally be
fastened to the end of its handle, and will be of course at right angles to the
surface of the cylinder. When the knives or blades are made as described
they will have the same curve with the cylinder, and they may jut against each
other at their ends, or may lap by, just as desired. Or these knives or
blades may be jointed together in a continued series, and having lateral
motion, as well as around the cylinder, so that they can be arranged in any
desired pattern, in which plan of construction they should have sharp points or
projections upon their under surfaces, and the cylinder should be of some
yielding substance or covered with bull's hide, so that such points will penetrate
and firmly support the knives. The axles of the cylinders A and B run
in boxes in the posts H, and over the axle of the cylinder A is a wedge W,
or its equivalent, by which the upper cylinder may be caused to press upon
the lower one more or less closely as desired, or as may be necessary to
cause the knives to cut properly. In order also to prevent any liability
of the upper cylinder, when of iron or any heavy material, pressing too
heavily upon the lower one, its axles may be made to run upon helical
springs a, of such an elasticity as to prevent a too close contact. A single
cylinder may contain the pattern of any garment, or more than one set
of patterns, or different cylinders having different patterns may be substituted
one for another. These cylinders may be moved by any convenient power,
and they may move with such rapidity as to cut a garment every second;
a number of thicknesses of cloth can also be cut at the same time, and of
course an increased number of articles produced.
The cloth, or material to be cut, H", before it reaches the knives c', c', may be

page_text: made to pass between the two rollers c, d, to remove any folds, wrinkles; and
inequalities in it, or the same end may be gained by causing it to pass rather
tightly over a single roller; and the material to be cut may be taken directly
from. the peice, or may be wound-upon-a drum or cylinder by machinery, or
otherwise, and drawn therefrom.
Instead of arranging the knives upon and attaching them to a cylindrical
surface.they may be placed upon an arc of a circle, so situated in respect to a
bed-peice, which will be equivalent to-the-secondary cylinder, that the knives
will: cut as the arc passes over such bed. peice. The cylinder, however, is
decmed preferable, because of the great velocity which can easily be given it,
and the great quantity of work which consequently can be performed in a
given time. The particular form of construction-of-the machine is, however,
of comparatively little importance; its distinguishing feature consisting in
cutting:.any fabric in any desired pattern in a complete manner, and with
great rapidity, and exactness.
What is claimed as new in this Invention and desired to be secured by
Letters..Patent is; the application and use of fixed knives or cutters arranged
in any desired pattern, and upon a cylindrical surface, for cutting cloth or other
fabrics; and which.are adjustable so that the pattern can be changed or varied
at: pleasure, substantially as before described, and-by which articles may be cut
with great-rapidity and suitable for manufacture.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Barlow, 'have 'hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of "August, A.D. 1856.
CHAR
TARLES DARDOWY