IMPROVEMENTS IN DRYING. STOVES, AND IN MACHINERY TO BE USED THEREWITH."
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Worrall, of Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster; Dyer, and John Kershaw, of Wadsworth, in tho
Parish of Halifax, and County of York, Spinner, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN DRYING. STOVES, AND IN MACHINERY TO BE
USED THEREWITH."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Worrall and
John Kershaw at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
thicir Petition, on the 16th December 1868.
We, JAMES WORRALL, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Dyer, and JOHN KERSHAW, of Wadsworth, in the Parish of Halifax,
and County of York, Spinner, do hereby declare the nature of the said.
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN DRYING STOVES, AND. IN. MACHINERY TO BE.
USED THEREWITH," to be as follows:-
The chief objects of this Invention are to facilitate the operation of

page_text: machine when at work. To prevent the cloth when lowered from resting
on the staves the machine is provided with a second and smaller card
roller which is driven from a pulley on the main card roller, and which
delivers the cloth into the space between the staves.
As an improvement upon the ordinary drying stove I propose to have
at either end of the drying chamber (which will be immediately above
the heating apparatns) a cool chamber from one of which the wet piece
goods are taken into the stove while the dried goods are delivered into
the other.
In order to ensure rapid drying I propose to disturb. the pendant
laps by traversing under them transverse bars carried by rods which
receive an endway motion through a horizontal rotating endless chain.
This chain carries a pin which works up and down in a vertically
slotted plate carried by one of the rods. By the action of this chain the
transverse bars will be moved to and fro and caused to gather up the
laps in groups and let them fall back singly, thus momentarily
opening a wide space between the laps to receive the hot air and
thereby facilitating the circulation of the air in the drying chamber.
In some cases we substitute for the fixed bars over which the laps arc
hung rollers fitted with spur gears, which take into au euilless or other
chain that is held at tension at opposite ends of the drying chamber
by chain wheels. By giving a to-and-fro axial motion to this chain all
the rollers will move simultaneously and will thus constantly change
the position of the cloth on the rollers, exposing it the more effectually.
to the heated atmosphere. A segment rack, a self-acting clutch.
arrangement, or any other well-known mechanical device may he
employed for giving this reverse axial motion to the chain wheels.
When rollers are used in place of rails they may be made (when once
laden with cloth) to draw in a fresh supply of wet cloth, the same
being attached to the length that is on the rollers and they may also
discharge the dried cloth out of the drying cliamber. A roller also
mounted in the delivery chamber may be employed for withdrawing the
cloth when dry from the drying chamber..

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Worrall and John Kenshaw in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 16th June 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, wc, JAMES
WORRALL, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Dyer, and JOHN
KERSHAW, of Wadsworth, in the Parish of Halifax, and County of York,
Spinner, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reigu, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said James Worrall and John Kershaw,
Her special licence that we, the said James Worrall and John Kershaw,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, or-such-others_as_w.c,__
the said James Worrall and John Kershaw, our executors, adminis--
trators, 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 DRYING
STOVES, AND IN MACHINERY TO BE USED THEREWITH," upon the condition
(amongst others) that wc, the said James Worrall and John Kershaw,
our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
our, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the samic was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the
Great Scal Patent Office within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said James Worrall and John Kershaw,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer
tained in and by the following statement, reference being had to the
Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thercon (that is to say):-
The chief objects of this Invention are to facilitate the operation of
arranging the piece goods to be dried in suspended laps in the stove and

page_text: removing them when dry, and replacing them with a further supply of
wet goods without the use of skilled labor, whereby the necessity for
workmen to enter the heated stove will be to a great extent if not
wholly avoided, while the work will be far more efficiently and economi-
cally performed than heretofore. Drying stoves as commonly constructed
consist of a closed chamber heated from below and having two stories
above the heating apparatus for receiving the piece goods, which goods
are hung upon transverse rails in laps of uniform length. The placing
of the goods is effected by skilled workmen, who when the goods are
dry enter the stove to withdraw them and introduce fresh goods to the
action of the heat. Before, however, workmen can enter the stove,
the heat of the stove has to be materially reduced, and even then the
heat is detrimental to the health of the workmen engaged in placing or
removing the piece goods.
In applying our Invention to stoves of the ordinary construction, we
fit both stories with a railway to receive severally a lapping machine
provided with flanged wheels to run thereon. In the frame or carriage
of this machine we mount transversely a card roller of a length almost
sufficient to extend across the stove from one side to the other. One
end of the cloth or other fabric to be introduced into the stove is led
over this card roller, and by its rotation the cloth is lowered down for
a certain distance between the transverse bars or rollers, which are
intended to keep it suspended in the form of loose laps. The machine
commences its operation at the far end of the stove or the opposite end
to that which it enters, and retreats step by step as it lays the cloth over
the transverse bars or rollers.
In the accompanying Drawings Sheet I. shews the mode of adapting
the Invention to a drying stove of the common construction.
The Figures in Sheet II. shew the arrangement which we adopt when
fixed transverse bars are used for supporting the laps of cloth.
In Sheet III. we have shewn our Invention in its most complete
statc.
Sheet IV. shews on an enlarged scale the machine which we employ
for placing the goods to be dried upon the transverse bars or rollers.
which hold the woven fabric in open laps for the hot air to circulate
through the same.

page_text: This lapping machine is shewn in partial front elevation at Fig. 1 and
in side clevation at Figures 2 and 3; Fig. 2 representing the right-hand
side, and Fig. 3 the left-hand side of the machine. It may be described
as consisting of a frame or carriage A, A, mounted on flanged wheels B,
which run upon rails C extending longitudinally through the building.
Turning in suitable bearings in the frame A is a card roller D, the shaft
of which is fitted with two band pulleys e, f. The pulley e receives an
endless band E, which is supported by tension and guide pullies, as
shewn complete in Sheet III., and receives rotary motion from any
prime mover. This band E (see Fig. 2, Shect IV.), is held in contact
with the pulley by means of guide pulleys e¹, e³, mounted on the
frame A. From the pulley proceeds a driving hand f¹ to a pulley ƒª
keyed on the axle of a small card roller F, which is mounted at the
lower part of the carriage. The use of this small card roller is to assist
-in-delivering the cloth (as it comes off the roller D) into the drying
chamber, that-is-to say, it will keep the-cloth-straight_as it leaves the
roller D, and also remove the tendency which the-cloth-has-to.accumulate
above the suspending bars or rollers. These bars or rollers shown
at L, L, are mounted in suitable bearings affixed to the side walls of
the stove; G.and H are pairs of catches or pawls pendent from the
carriage and intended to-arrest-the-backward motion of the lapping
machine, so as to give to the carriage a step-by-step backward motion-
suitable to the action of the machine. These pawls fall by their own
weight into racks I, I, supported on the base of the track rails and
provided with teeth of a length corresponding to the distance between
the centres of the transverse supporting rails or rollers L. It is by the
alternate dropping and raising of these catches into and from the rack
teeth that the traverse of the machine under the action of the running
band E will be permitted and arrested. Gearing into a pinion d on the
shaft of the card roller D are two tappet wheels g, h, which serve to
lift in succession their respective catches out of contact with the rack
and permit of the further backward traverse of the machine. The
forward traverse of the machine to take up the position for placing the
cloth to be dried may be effected by pulling upon an end chain attached
to the front of the machine. The catches or pawls G are extended
forwards for the purpose of carrying a transverse plank or bar G', which
as the carriage recedes is depressed (simultaneously with the rising or
release of the pawls G) for the purpose of laying the wet cloth over the

page_text: suspending bar or roller next that which last received the lap. When
this is done the plank or bar G₁ will rise, it being lifted by a counter-
balance weight, with which the pawls Gare provided. As it is not
desirable that a hard substance should bear against the wet cloth, we
fit on the edge of the bar cushions of india-rubber, as shown at G³,
Fig. 1, which when brought down upon a bar or roller I will hold the
cloth thereon. It will now be understood that when the card roller D
has turned down the required amount of cloth to form a lap of the
desired length, the tappet wheel will lift the catches G out of the
rack teeth, thus allowing the machine to traverse until it is stopped by
the catches I striking against the teeth of the rack. Simultaneously
with the rise of the catches G will be the descent of the bar G with its
clastic cushions G2, which will be held down upon the roller or bar
immediately below it until the tappet has passed over the catch. Thus
the cloth will be held firmly and prevented from slipping on the roller
until a sufficient quantity has been turned down between the next
adjacent rollers for forming a lap. When this has been effected, the
tappet will have passed over the catch G, and its counterpoise weight
will bring back the catches ready to catch the next tooth in the rack.
At the same time the catches H will be lifted by means of a stud on
the wheel, thereby allowing the machine again to traverse until
stopped by the catches G. A repetition of these motions will be main-
tained until all the bars or rollers are charged with laps of cloth.
Referring now to Sheet I., Fig. 1 shews in partial longitudinal
sectional clevation a drying stove of the common construction fitted
according to our Invention, that is, with the means for working our
automatic lapping machine, and also with means for keeping the cloth
when suspended in motion in the drying stove; and Fig. 2 is a sectional
clevation taken at right angles to Fig. 1, shewing the arrangement for
driving the lapping machine, and also actuating the rollers which carry
the suspended cloth for keeping the same in motion. The stove has two
stories, one above the other, and each provided with elevated track
rails C, C, for the wheels of a carriage A to travel over. The cloth to
be dried is introduced into the stove by a carriage M, which receives it
in the form of a pile. The end of the cloth is drawn over a guide
roller m, and thence conducted to the card roller D of the lapping
machine, by which the cloth is disposed in the form of suspended laps in

page_text: the drying stove, as indicated by the red lines, the ends being secured
by being passed over carded surfaces or otherwise to prevent the dis-
arrangement of the fabric by its own weight. It has been stated that it
is requisite to give motion to the cloth while hanging to facilitate the
action of the heat upon it. For this purpose the rollers L, which
support the cloth are in this arrangement caused to turn on their axes.
This motion we obtain from the shaft which gives motion to the band E,
by which the lapping machine is actuated. N, Fig. 2, is the driving
shaft upon which a band pulley n is mounted loosely, but capable of
being made fast thereto by means of a sliding clutch. Around this
pulley is passed the band E, which gives motion to the top lapping
machine, the lower lapping machine shown at Fig. 1 being driven by
a second band E. The shaft N is also provided with a broad beit
pulley n, from which depends an endless belt n that drives a pulley n
on a stud axle nt. From the pulley ³ depends a chain or belt n³, which
is_hald at tension by a pulley on a stud axle nº, and which is intended
to carry a stud or pin n. This pin works in a transverse slot formed in
a plate carried by an endless chain or belt L, which is held at tension
by two pullics ", ', keyed to the axles of chain wheels mounted
respectively in line with the suspension rollers L, L, of the upper and
Tower stories of the building. Each-of-these-rollers-(which-are-mounted-
in bearings, as shewn at Fig. 2) is fitted with a chain wheel, and over
these wheels and the wheels pass endless chains for the purpose of
driving them all simultaneously and thereby giving motion to the
suspended cloth. This action takes place only when the lapping
machine is out of action, and for that reason the clutch arrangement
for the pulley is used. When, however, the machine is in action the
rollers must be still, and for this reason the belt n which transmits
motion from the driving shaft is provided with a loose pulley, on to
which it is shifted when the rollers are required to remain quiet. Thus
its continued rotation will leave the pulley n³ quiescent. It will now be
understood that when motion is transmitted from the shaft N to the
band or chain 225 its pin 2 will through the slotted
reciprocating motion to the band or chain L', and thereby cause the
horizontal chains to impart a reciprocating axial motion to the rollers I.,
whereby the laps of cloth which they carry will be kept in motion in
the drying chambers. When fixed bars are used, as at present, to hold
the laps of cloth we give motion to the cloth by the means shewn in
plate / give a

page_text: Sheet II., where Fig. 1 is a partial longitudinal section of a drying stove
constructed according to our Invention, but fitted with the ordinary fixed
bars, which are less costly if not so efficient as the arrangement of
reciprocating rollers just described. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the
stove, and Fig. 3 is a plan view of the same. Upon track rails below
the hanging cloth a carriage A is mounted, having flanged wheels to
keep it on the track. The carriage consists of a skeleton frame with
raised transverse bars, which as the carriage is moved to and fro will bear
against the laps of cloth and set them swinging, thus causing the air
to circulate frecly through the pores of the fabric. To prevent the
shifting of the cloth under the action of the transverse bars pressing
pieces B armed with pins are let down upon the suspending bars. These
pressing pieces are attached to longitudinal bars, which are suspended
from the ends of chains C that depend from pullics C' on longitudinal
shafts C. When by turning the pullies C¹ the pressing picces B arc let
down and allowed to rest on the suspending bars the cloth will be effec-
tually prevented from shifting. The carriage A is actuated by a rack
and pinion a, a', and to give it a reciprocating motion a movement well
known in spinning machinery is adopted. On the shaft of the pinion a¹
two bevil pinions a², a³, are loosely mounted, and between them slides a
clutch working on a feather on the shaft. A bevil pinion a driven from
any first mover gears into these pinions, which are alternately locked by
the sliding clutch. The finger which slides the clutch projects from a
boss mounted loosely on a stud axle and having a tappet projection a³.
On the same stud axle is mounted a lever a, which carries two pivotted
catches a, a. This lever a extends to a rod a carried by the rack and
fitted with two stop pins. Supposing now the clutch to be in action
rotary motion will be given to the shaft of the pinion a', and so to the
rack a and carriage A. When, however, the carriage has moved so far
that a pin on the bar a strikes the lever a the boss carrying the projec-
tion as will be struck by one or other of the catches a', as, and turning
on its centre the clutch finger which it carries will shift the clutch into
gear with the opposite pinion, and a reverse motion will be given to the
carriage. We prefer to open the laps by the above-described means once
in a minute, and thus to allow the steam to escape and the heat to get in
between the laps. The shaft for carrying and operating the pressing
blades extends through the side wall of the drying stove, and fitted to its
end is a ratchet wheel, into the teeth of which takes a pawl. By this

page_text: means the attendant can let down the pressing pieces or suspending bars
when the cloth is arranged thereon, or keep them clear of the bars when
the placing or removal of the cloth is taking place.
In Sheet III. we have shown in longitudinal elevation our improved
construction of drying stove with the lapping machine and means of
moving the cloth applied thereto. In this instance it will be seen that
at each end of the stove we provide a room adjoining, into one of which
the wot piece goods are brought to be attached to the lapping machinc,
while into the other the cloth when dried is delivered. This is the
arrangement we propose to adopt when constructing new drying stoves.
Both of these end rooms will be cool and present no inconvenience to
the attendants engaged in carrying out the drying process. The
mechanism employed being precisely the same as that already describal,
both as respects the lapping machine and the means for imparting a
reciprocating-axial motion to the suspending rollers, no further
explanation of their action-will be needed. It may however be proper-
to remark that when rollers are used in place of suspending bars they
may be made (when once laden with cloth) to draw in a fresh supply of
wet cloth, the same being attached to the length or lengths suspended
on the rollers, and they may also discharge the dried cloth out of the
drying chamber. A roller also mounted in the delivery-room-or-chamber
may he employed for withdrawing the cloth when dry from the hot
stove. When drying narrow picce goods, such as velvets it is desirable
in order to prevent the selvages from cockling or creasing to connect
together the adjacent edges of these pieces by means of wires, thus
virtually forming a broad sheet composed of narrow pieces. This is
important as the traverse of the fabric over the reciprocating rollers is
liable to produce creases.
Having now set forth the nature of our Invention of "Improvements
in Drying Stoves and in Machinery to be used therein and having
explained the manner of carrying our Invcution into effect, we wish it
to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent we
claim,―
First. Constructing and fitting drying stoves in the manner and for
the purpose described with reference to Sheet III. of the Drawings.
Secondly. The means above described for keeping the suspended cloths

page_text: or fabrics in motion in the stove and for traversing the same through
the stove when required.
Thirdly. The construction of lapping machine above described.
In witness whereof, we, the said James Worrall and John Kershaw,
have hereunto set our lands and scals, the Fifteenth day of
June, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-nine.
JAMES WORRALL. (L.S.)
JOHN KERSHAW.
(1.S.)
JAMES WORRALL. (L.S.)
JOHN KERSHAW.
(L..S.)