IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND. APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WATERPROOF AND OTHER
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Briggs, junior, of the City of Manchester,
Canvas Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
AND. APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WATERPROOF AND OTHER
Sealed the 24th August 1866, and.dated the 16th March 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Briggs at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 16th
March 1866.
I, THOMAS BRIGGS, junior, of the City of Manchester, Canvas Manufacturer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY AND APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WATERPROOF AND
OTHER FABRICS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists, first; in combining the usual coating machine for
spreading the oil or other water-repelling or other material on the fabric to
be made waterproof or otherwise coated with a machine, as hereafter
described, by which the fabric is drawn through the coating machine and
suspended in the drying stove, in order to economise the labor now required
for performing those operations separately and by hand. It has heretofore
been customary to draw the fabric through the coating machine by manual
labor, but by combining the two machines, as above referred to, the fabric is.

page_text: drawn through the coating machine by the first part of a machine, the second
part of which suspends it in the drying stove.
Another part of my Invention consists in certain improvements in the
arrangement and construction of machines above referred to for drawing out,
suspending, and drying fabrics, in which screws are employed for traversing
the rods supporting the fabric. The first part of the machine consists of 2
screws, one with a right-hand, and the other with a left-hand thread; these
screws are turned-round simultaneously by a cross shaft with mitre pinions
gearing into pinions on short upright shafts, which are connected to the
'screws by other mitre pinions; by this means the cross shaft is kept out of
the way of the fabric coming from and drawn through the coating machine.
The length of the two screws above referred to is equal to twice the depth of
the fold to be suspended in the stove. Beyond the two first screws are other
.screws, placed by preference on a lower level, and revolving much slower than
the former. When the end of the fabric has arrived at the drawing out
machine it is secured to a rod formed of two parts, one having a tongue, and
the other a groove; the two parts are held together by a catch; by this
means the fabric is securely held, and this first rod is carried by the first
screws to their other ends, from whence it is guided into the threads of the
slow moving screws above referred to; another rod is at the same time
introduced to catch hold of the fabric at the feeding end of the screws, to
carry forward another length of the fabric, and so the operations proceed, the
slow screws hanging the fabric in narrow folds in the drying stove, while the
quicker screws and rods draw it out through the coating machine. The
distance between the hanging and coating machine must be such as to allow
the attendants sufficient space to remove the superabundant oil or water-
repellent or other material, and to spread it evenly, if necessary, on to the
fabric.
My Invention also consists in supporting the screws on antifriction rollers,
that one wouined Jonathof

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Thomas Briggs, junior, Her special license that I, the said
Thomas Briggs, junior, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Thomas Briggs, junior, 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, and Isle.
of Man, an Invention for ".IMPROVEMENTS. IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS
EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WATERPROOF AND OTHER FABRICS," upon
the condition (amongst others). that I,. the said Thomas Briggs, junior, my.
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, 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 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 Thomas Briggs,. junior, 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 (that is. to say):
In manufacturing waterproof and other coated fabrics it has heretofore been.
customary to draw the fabric-through, the coating machine by hand; now the
first part of my Invention consists in combining the usual coating machine,
with a machine by which the fabric, is drawn, through the coating machine.
and suspended in the drying stove, the object being to economise time and
labour and to improve the quality.
The second part of my Invention consists in certain improvements in the
arrangement and mode of constructing maobines for drawing out, suspending,
and drying fabrics, in which screws are employed for traversing the rods
supporting and holding the fabric...
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into operation I will proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet of Drawings,
reference being had to the figures and letters marked thereon.
.
Figure 1 represents a longitudinal section through an ordinary coating,
machine, which is shewn in combination with my improved machinery for:

page_text: drawing out and suspending fabrics. Figure 2 is an end view, and Figure 3
a transverse section of my improved machine for drawing out and suspending
fabrics. In Figure 1, a represents the trough of the coating machine con-
taining the water-repelling or other material with which the, fabric is to be
coated. 6, 6, 6, are the usual scrapers and rails over and under which the
fabric passes. The fabric on leaving the trough of the coating machine is
taken to the first traversing rod c of the hanging machine, the peculiar
construction of which is shewn on an enlarged scale in Figure 4; the lower:
part of the rod is made with a groove and the upper part has a tongue, and
the two parts are held together by spring studs, c¹ as shown in Figure 5, the
ends of the spring studs catch into the cast-iron shoes fixed to the ends of the
lower part of the rod c, and these shoes rest upon the angle iron rails d, d
which are placed near to and parallel with the right and left-handed screws
e, e; the length of these two screws, which I call the drawing out screws, is:
equal to about twice the depth of the fold of the fabric to be suspended in the
stove. Beyond the screws 6 and within the stove are the screws fif These:
screws call the hanging screws, and they are placed on a lower level and:
revolve much slower than the screws e; the guide bars d of the screws are
connected to those of the screws f by the diagonal stays d³, see Figure 1; the
screws are made of any length which may be required, and when the.stove. is
full the fabrics are left suspended until they are dry. The dried fabrics are
taken from the end of the stove, and brought over guide rollers 9, 9, and,
formed into a batch at h, or the fabric may be otherwise disposed of. The
axles of the screws e and of revolve in bearings fixed to wall plates or other
framing, and the screws are supported at suitable distances by the antifriction
rollers, k; these rollers are of sufficient length to support at all times two
or more threads of the screws; by this means any required length of screws.
may be used and the friction is reduced. The screws are turned round
simultaneously by means of the shaft i, which is driven by steam or other
power; to this shaft is fixed a bevel wheel gearing into the pinions 7 on the
diagonal shafts j; to the lower ends of these shafts are fixed the pinions,
gearing into pinions e² fixed to the screws e, the screws fare turned once
round for about every seventy-two revolutions of the screws e, or more or less
according to the length of the screws and their pitch, by means of the
traversing rods c, which in traversing along the rails d act alternately on the
three pair of levers 7; each pair of levers is fixed to a cross shaft m. To
the first and second shafts m are fixed the levers 11, which are connected by
the chains n to the rods n', and on the third shaft m are placed the pulleys o;
the chains n connected to the rods n¹ pass around the pulleys o, and the ends

page_text: of the chains n are connected to the segments p which vibrate on the axles of
the screws f; to these segments are jointed catches p', taking into ratchet
wheels ffixed to the axles of the screws f. By this arrangement each pair
of levers, when acted upon by the traversing rod c, imparts one third of a
revolution to the screws f. The last pair of levers is connected by the long
links to the levers r, which are fixed to the cross shaft, supported in
bearings fixed to the uprights s at the front of the machine. The levers r
vibrate between the guide rails d, and to them are fixed the spring catches
in which the upper part of the rod c is placed by the workmen; to the levers ?:
are fixed projecting. arms, to which are jointed the pressing links s¹,
the other ends of which are jointed to the levers t, fixed to the cross
shaft t¹ ;. on this cross shaft are fixed the levers ; which are jointed to;
fulcrum studs & passing through brackets fixed to the uprights s, the long arms;
of the levers are weighted to allow the cross shaft to yield in case of any,
inequality in the thickness of the rods c or of the fabric that is secured between.
the two parts of the rods; the yielding of the shaft t¹ also prevents the rods,
being held too tightly between the pressing links and the rails d. The
mode of operation is as follows:-The end of the fabric after it has passed
through the coating machine is laid over the lower part of the first rod c,
which is placed by the attendants on the prolonged ends of the guide rails d
and within the levers r, the upper part of the rod c is then placed by the
attendants within the spring catches 2 and under the pressing links s¹. When,
the parts are in the positions shewn at the front of the machine the second,
traversing rod c is near the last pair of levers 7, consequently when the screws e
in revolving bring the second rod c against the said last levers they will,
gradually move in the direction of the arrow in Figure 1, and as they move.
their motion is transmitted by the long links 2 to the levers r, and as these
levers oscillate on their shaft, the pressing links s' are gradually lowered, and
press the top part of the rod c down the spring catches until the said top.
part comes immediately above, and is ultimately forced on to the lower part
of the rod c; the spring studs c¹ then shoot into the cast-iron-ends of the lower,
rod c, thereby securely holding the fabric. The motion of the levers and r
continues until the first rod c is brought a little beyond the ends of the screws e,
so that as the screws rotate the threads catch hold of the ends of the rod and
traverse it gradually along the rails d, thereby drawing the fabric through the
coating machine. While the first rod is being brought forward by the levers r.,
the second one has reached the end of the rails d, and drops down the:
brackets d'on to, the rails of the screws f, and as soon as the second rod
passes beyond the ends of the last levers 7. they and the levers r regain the:

page_text: positions shewn in full lines, being brought back by the weights, suspended
to segments or pulleys on the shaft r³. As the first rod c progresses along the
rails d' the ends of it come in contact with the first pair of levers 7, and these
levers in oscillating impart motion to the rods n' which are connected to the
levers by short chains n; the ends of the rods n are connected to the
chains n³, passing over pulleys o loose on the fulcrum shaft of the third pair
of levers 7, and as the chains n³ are fast to the segments p it is evident that
the lateral motion of the rods n¹ imparts by the catches p¹ a partial rotary
motion equal to one-third of a revolution to the screws f. As soon as the
ends of the first pair of levers are liberated by the traversing rod c passing
under them, the levers 2 regain their original position, being brought back by
the counterweight ; the segments p and catches p¹ are also brought back to
their former positions by the weights p' and the catches p', which are acted
upon by springs, take into fresh teeth of the ratchet wheels f, so that when
the traversing rod c comes against the second pair of levers they act in the
same manner as the first pair, and impart another third of a revolution to the
screws f; and when the rod c arrives at the third pair of levers the arms m³
fixed to the shaft m acting on studs projecting from the pulleys o, cause the
said pulleys to perform a portion of a revolution on the shaft m and move
the catches p¹ sufficiently to impart the last third part of a revolution to the
screws f. When the rod c has descended the inclines d', the ends of the rod
are caught by the screws f, and the rods are then traversed slowly by the
screws until the stove is full. When the fabric is coated with the usual
waterproofing material it is requisite to leave it in the stove for two or three
days, and when the fabric is sufficiently dried the operation of winding the
dried fabric on to the batch roller h may be performed while the machine is
at work to suspend a fresh supply in the stove. I wish to observe that various
modifications may be made in the construction of the machine without
departing from the peculiar character of the Invention; for instance, instead
of placing the lower part of the traversing rod c on to the rails d by hand, as
described, it may be placed on levers which are fixed on a cross shaft under
the levers r, and thus raised by power. There may also be four pair of
levers instead of three, as shewn. When four pair are used I intend to use
the last pair only for actuating the levers 7, and the first three pair would
then be employed to drive the screws f, as described; or the screws f may be
driven by worm wheels, and gearing instead of by ratchet wheels, as shewn
and described.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described a convenient
mode of carrying the same into operation, I wish to observe that I make no

page_text: claim to screws for traversing rods in drying stoves, as attempts have before
been made to use screws for the same purpose, but what I claim is,-
First, combining a coating machine with a machine for drawing out by
means of rods, and suspending the fabric, as described.
Secondly, the general combination and arrangement of the parts of the
machine for drawing out and hanging fabrics in drying stoves, as shewn and
described.
Thirdly, the improved mode of constructing the traversing rods for securing
and suspending fabrics, as shewn and described.
And, fourthly, the improved mode of supporting screws for traversing
rods in drying stoves, as shewn and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Briggs, junior, have hereto set
my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of September, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-six.