IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CUTTING VELVETS OR OTHER SIMILAR PILED FABRICS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Brown, of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Silk Manufacturer, and Peter McGregor, of the same Place,
Manager, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS
Sealed the 20th March 1855, and dated the 8th December 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Brown and
Peter MacGregor at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 8th December 1854.
We, THOMAS BROWN, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Silk
Manufacturer, and PETER MACGREGOR, of the same Place, Manager, do hereby
declare the nature of our said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS FOR CUTTING VELVETS OR OTHER SIMILAR PILED FABRICS" to be as
follows:-
Our Invention applies solely to cutting such velvets or similar piled goods
or fabrics as are woven with a double cloth, and consists in the employment or
use of a revolving circular "knife" or cutter, furnished with an inner and
outer "guard" or "guide," the revolving knife being opposed to the pile, and,
operating between the two cloths, separating them when cut; the outer
"guard" or "guide'
"guide" being adjustable to any degree of width, to suit the

page_text: "
different thicknesses of fabric under operation; the inner "guard" or "guide"
is also adjustable to suit the various depths of "pile." The double cloth is
drawn from a roller by means of two other rollers, furnished with an ordinary
"taking-up" motion, and on to which the two piled fabrics are wound after
the operation of separating or cutting is completed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Brown and Peter McGregor in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 8th June 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, THOMAS
BROWN, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Silk Manufacturer, and
PETER MCGREGOR, of the same Place, Manager, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty, by Her Letters Patent, bearing
date the Eighth day of December, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
Thomas Brown and Peter McGregor, Her especial licence that we, the
said Thomas Brown and Peter McGregor, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said Thomas Brown and Peter
McGregor, our 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CUTTING VELVETS OR OTHER SIMILAR PILED
FABRICS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Thomas Brown
and Peter McGregor, by an instrument in writing under our hands and
seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of our said Inven-
tion, 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 we, the said Thomas Brown and Peter McGregor,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement and accompanying Drawings (that is to say):-
Our Invention applies solely to cutting such velvets or similar piled goods
or fabrics as are woven with a double cloth, and consists in the employment

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or use of a revolving circular knife or cutter, furnished with an inner and
outer "guard" or "guide," the revolving knife being opposed to the pile,
and, operating between the two cloths, separating them when cut; the outer
guard" or guide being adjustable to any degree of width, to suit the different
thicknesses of fabric under operation; the inner "guard" or "guide" is also
adjustable to suit the various depths of "pile." The double cloth is drawn
from a roller by means of two other rollers, furnished with an ordinary
"taking-up" motion, and on to which the two piled fabrics are wound after
the operation of separating or cutting is completed.
In order that our Invention may be the better understood and explained in
detail, we have hereunto attached a Sheet of Drawings, made upon a scale
of about two inches to the foot, and having on each Figure similar letters of
reference marked upon corresponding parts of the machinery or apparatus.
Fig. 1 represents a longitudinal or side view of our improved machinery or
apparatus; Fig. 2 being a plan or top view of the same; Fig. 3 exhibits a
sectional diagram, showing distinctly the action of the circular knife between
the two interior "guards" or "guages," and against the pile of the woven
fabric, as well as the outer or exterior guides, over which each separated cloth
passes. a, a, represents a framing of metal; and b, b, the piled fabric, woven
with a double cloth, previous to its being cut; c, c, represents the fabric after
being cut or divided, which is spread by an attendant in even layers on the
table d, d, as it is given off from the "taking-up" rollers e, e; from the driving
pulley fa rapidly revolving motion is imparted through the bevil gearing g
and h to the circular "knife" or cutter j; simultaneous with this motion the
bevil wheel k upon the driving shaft gives motion to the wheel 1, and thence,
through the worm m and worm wheel n, to the vertical shaft o of the "taking-
up" motion. Upon this vertical shaft is mounted two bevil wheels p and q,
gearing into corresponding bevil wheels vand s, which respectively actuate the
"taking-up" rollers e, e. It will now be evident, (the surfaces of all the rollers
employed being "carded," or otherwise being rendered capable of producing
friction, or being furnished with projecting pins or points,) that the machine
having been put in motion the knife will be caused to revolve rapidly, the
taking-up rollers e, e, will cause the fabric to be drawn from between the
tension rollers t, u, and the pile to be presented continuously to the edge of
the rapidly revolving circular "knife" or "cutter," the fabric being kept per-
fectly and evenly distended widthwise by the exterior guages v and w, the
interior guages x and y being regulated according to the depth of the pile of
the fabric, and thus, by the "taking-up" rollers causing the continuous progres-
sion of the cloth, the operation is continued until the entire fabric is divided

page_text: or "cut.",, are weights to increase the tension of the cloth, if required;
is a tension rod; a' is an adjusting screw for the circular knife; and 6', a
slotted bearing, by which the adjustment may be perfected; c¹, c¹, are whet-
stones, through which the knife or cutter passes in its revolutions, and by
which the sharpened edge of the knife or cutter is maintained.
Another means by which the same end may be obtained, as before described,
is by employing, instead of a circular revolving knife, a segmental knife or
cutter, to which may be imparted an alternating or reciprocating motion,
readily attained by a slight modification of the machinery.
Having now described the nature of our Invention, and the manner in
which the same may be put into practical effect, we wish it to be distinctly
understood that we claim,-
First, the application, employment, and use of a circular knife, revolving
rapidly for the purpose of cutting such piled fabrics, as herein-before
described.
Secondly, encasing such knife within stationary and adjustable guages.
And, thirdly, in the employment and use of exterior guides or "guards," as
also herein particularly described and set forth, and fully illustrated in the
accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, we, the said Thomas Brown and Peter McGregor,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Sixth day of June, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
THOMAS BROWN