AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR SHEARING OR CROPING WOOLLEN OR OTHER CLOTHS THAT MAY REQUIRE SUCH A PROCESS
Year: 1815

page_text: 'PRICE'S
SPECIFICATION:
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, STEPHEN
PRICE, of Stroud, in the County of Gloucester, Engineer, do send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twelfth day of August, in the fifty-fifth year of His reign,
did give and grant unto me, the said Stephen Price, my exors, admors, and
assigns, His special licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the
said Stephen Price, my exors, admors, and assigns, during the term of years
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention
of "AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR SHEARING OR CROPING WOOLLEN OR OTHER
CLOTHS THAT MAY REQUIRE SUCH A PROCESS;" in which Letters Patent there is
contained a proviso obliging me, the said Stephen Price, under my hand
and seal, to cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in His
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within two calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in and
by the same (relation being thereunto had) may more fully and at large.
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Stephen Price, do hereby declare that my said machine acts in manner
following:-
' It shears or crops the cloth in the direction of the length of the piece
beginning at one end and continuing regularly to the other. For this purpose
the cloth is conducted through the machine by the motion of rollers, and is

page_text: drawn over a bed or support, which lies beneath the stationary or fixed blade
of the shears or cropper (which answers to what is called the ledger blade in
the common shears) so that the cloth passes between the said bed and the
said stationary blade. The moving blade of the shears is fixed on the cir-
cumference of a cylinder situated above the said- fixed blade, and revolving
upon an axis, so that the edge of the moving blade is carried against the edge
of the fixed blade, and cuts away all the wool of the cloth which rises above
the edge of the fixed blade; several moving blades are fixed upon the same
cylinder to act in succession against the fixed blade, and the said moving
blades are placed obliquely to the axis of the cylinder, or in such manner as
to form or portion of a spiral, whilst at the same time, every portion of the said
edge being equidistant from the said axis, it is manifest that, in the revolution
of the said cylinder, every part of the said edge will be brought.in succession
into contact with the fixed blade, thus cropping off in its revolution all the
wool which, by the progression of the cloth over its bed, is brought against the
fixed edge. By the time that the revolving edge has been in contact with the
whole length of the fixed edge, and is ready to quit the latter (or sooner or
later, according to the number of edges revolving with the cylinder), the
revolving edge next in succession is brought into action, and in like manner
the rest in succession are brought into action, and the whole continued are -in
action as long as may be wanted. The cloth is stretched in width by what I
call stretching bands, which I shall hereafter describe, and the bed or support
on which the cloth is cut can be adapted in length to the breadth of the
piece of cloth between the lists or ferrels, so that the cloth only will be
supported or borne up to the edge of the fixed blade, whilst the lists, being
depressed below the level of the bed by guards, will escape the action of
cropping.
Having now described the action of my machine, I shall proceed to an
explanation of its construction. In the Drawings, No. 1, Fig. 1, hereunto
annexed, A, A, is the cylinder with the blades (or any convenient number)
fixed upon its circumference; a, a, Fig. 1, shews that the edges thereof are
placed at such a degree of obliquity to the axis of the cylinder that, at the
same instant that the one end of one ceases to cut against the edge of the fixed
blade, the following blade will begin its action at the other end of the
cylinder. The fixed blade, which cannot be seen in Fig. 1, is situated
horizontally with its edge parallel to the axis of the cylinder, and in a line
beneath the centre thereof (see R, Fig. 5) the cloth passes immediately
beneath its edge, being supported upon the bed B, B; o, o, the red line in
Figure 2, shews the passage of the cloth through the machine. The cloth is

page_text: first wound upon a large roller D, from which it passes upwards and over the
inclined feeding table, where it is properly extended in width by means of the
stretching bands, so as to take out all creases. After passing under the fixed
blade, and being shorn, the cloth descends and goes between a pair of drawing
rollers E and F, whereof the upper is turned slowly round by a train of
wheelwork to draw the cloth, which is afterwards gathered upon the roller G
which is made exactly the same as the roller D, so that, when the whole piece
has passed through and is wound upon G, the latter can be made to change
places with D, and the cloth will be ready to go again through the machine.
The lower drawing roller F is made to press against the upper roller E, being
supported on a lever r adjustable by a screw to hold the cloth tight between
the two rollers, or the rollers may be covered with some substance to prevent*
the cloth from slipping, such as plush or fish skin. The train of wheelwork
which turns the roller E consists of a wheel H, worked by a pinion h; on the
axis of the latter is a wheel K, turned by a pinion 2, which at the opposite
end of its axis has a wheel L, turned by a strap from wheel M; on the end
of the axis of the cylinder A, A, the wheels L, M, have different runs for the
band to give different motions, and draw the cloth quicker or slower through
the machine. The gathering roller G is turned by a wheel 6 upon the end'
of it, rubbing against a wheel y on the end of roll E, and communicating
just as much force as will gather the cloth on the roller G, and for this
purpose the roll G must be pushed towards E by the action of a weight or
spring. There is likewise a lever which bears upon the edge of the wheel b
of the roller D to cause such a degree of friction as will make the cloth draw:
tight over the feeding table.
The Drawing No. 2 exhibits the parts of the machine. Fig. 8 shews the
stretching bands for extending the cloth on the feeding table to its full breadth.
d, d, is an iron frame secured to the frame of the machine and supporting
the feeding table. Across this frame are two endless straps or bands m, m.
each extended between small wheels n, n, shewn in Fig. 2 and 5 (one of
these is shewn separately in Fig. 6). The bands have sharp projecting pins'
fixed in them to receive the lists at the edges of the cloth. The bands are
carried round over their wheels by the motion of the cloth through the machine.
The bands respectively travel in a direction rather oblique to this motion,.
as shewn in Fig. 3, and, being confined sideways in grooves in their frames,
they extend the cloth in width, because where the bands are nearest together-
the lists are stuck on the pins, but, as the bands proceed diverging from each
other, the cloth is extended in proportion to their obliquity which can be
varied as may-be found necessary, the frames containing the wheels n, n, of:

page_text: the endless straps being fixed by a screw e, e, through each. In order to
adapt the distance between the two extending bands to the width of the cloth,
the said screws e, e, are fixed into slides T, T, which. by means of a screw V,
cut right-handed at one end and left-handed at the other, cause the sliders
T, T, and the two stretching bands to advance or to recede mutually from!
each other. The feeding table may be fixed in any convenient manner to the
iron frame d, d, between the two stretching bands and on a level with them,
so that the cloth will be drawn regularly over it by the motion. To the
upper extremity of the frames containing the band wheels n, n, thin pieces of
plate f, called guards, are fixed, and project forwards so as to turn down upon
the lists of the cloth, and depress them so low that they will escape the action
of the shearing; but to allow this depression, a portion O, Fig. 1, of each end
of the bed B is capable of being let down, so that the lists will not be borne up.
to the edge of the fixed blade. This is explained in Figures 4 and 5, Fig. 5
being a transverse section, and Fig. 4 a longitudinal section of one end. B,
Fig. 4, represents the same part of the bed as is marked by B in Fig. 1 ; it is
formed of metal, and screwed in pieces to a cheek or bar P, Fig. 5. Each
end O of the bed is formed by a number of narrow thin pieces or plates;
called sinkers, contained between the cheek P, Fig. 5, and another cheek N,
as it were, in a trough, out of which they can be raised to form a con-
tinuation of the bed B, or into which they may be suffered to sink down
(as shewn towards the end), and thus allow the lists to be depressed. They
are borne up by the sliding piece g at each end, sliding horizontally in the
said trough formed between N and P, so that it can be brought between any.
number, the end of 9 being made of a wedge form, to slide under and raise
them up. Each of these sliding pieces 9 has a pin which passes through a slit
in the front cheek N, and connects with the sliding pieces i, i, Fig. 1, on
the front side of the bed cheek N. The last-mentioned sliding pieces have.
each a notch to receive a piece a, which projects at right angles from the list.
guards f, as shewn in Fig. 5. By this means the length of the elevated part
of the bed is adjusted to the same width to which the stretching bands extend
the cloth; and if this width is altered by turning the screw V, the same altera-
tion takes place in the length of the elevated part of the bed. The sliding
pieces 9, which raise up the sinkers, are each contained in a kind of trough or
socket u, v, in which it slides horizontally. The socket v, v, is fixed to the
inside between the two cheeks N and P, being screwed to the cheek P. This
method affords means to bring the tops of the sinkers to a correspondence
with the fixed blade by elevating or depressing one or both ends of the socket v.
and sliding pieces g, the holes through which the screws pass being made,
g

page_text: oblong for that purpose. To render the bed somewhat elastic several thick,
nesses of flannel or cloth. are covered over it, being fastened in front to the
cheek N, under a plate. R, Figs. 1 and 5, and on the other side of the bed the
covering is attached to a plate S, Fig. 5, which is bound to draw the covering
tight, but can be immediately. released and turned up, if it is required to
examine the bed. R, Fig. 5, is a transverse section of the fixed blade, and
Fig. 7 a plan of the fixed blade, shewing how its edge is presented to the
bed and to the blades a of the cylinder A. It is held down by clamps, pieces,
and screws 1. upon a hollow bar S, which extends from side to. side of the
machine. This bar is attached to the frame of the machine by a hinge p;
Figs. 2 and 5, at each end, on which the whole can be turned up to sharpen
the edge of the blade R; but when put down horizontal, as in Fig. 5, it is
retained by bolts l, l, Fig. 7, which, being turned sideways by their projecting
handles, catch under a cross bar of the frame, as shewn in Fig. 2. On the
front side of the bed is another hollow bar W, Fig. 5, and to this small
pieces of metal w are clamped, as shewn in Fig. 8, which spring downwards
upon the cloth (see Fig. 5) and hold it gently down upon the bed before it
comes to the fixed blade. This bar is fixed with hinges and bolts in the same
manner. as the bar. S. The section, Fig. 5, also shews that the moving
blades a are fixed to the cylinder a between clamps held fast by screws, as
represented, which admit of regulating the blades, so as they will all cut
properly against the fixed blade when the cylinder revolves in the direction of
the arrow. The blades of the cylinder may be placed at a greater degree of.
obliquity than expressed in the Drawing if found requisite.. Thus the end of
one moving blade may be made to quit the fixed blade at the time when the:
succeeding blade is in contact at half the length of the fixed blade, and another
third blade is just. beginning to touch the fixed blade at the opposite end;.
in this way
two blades will always be in action against the fixed blade at the
same time. Before the bars S or W can be turned upon their hinges p the
cylinder and its bearings must be raised up out of the way by means of the:
racks I, Fig. 2, each of which racks is worked by a pinion of two leaves, fixed,
upon a common axis J, which, being turned by a handle at the end, elevates.
the cylinder, and exposes the lower blade and springs w. The bearings of the
cylinder come down to rest upon the points of.screws 14, Fig. 2, by which!
they can be regulated to make the revolving blades act against the lower
blade. In order to introduce the end of the piece of cloth into the machine:
the bed B, with its cheeks N and P, can be lowered down from its position..
For this purpose the end pieces ✗, which unite the cheeks, are fitted into the
frame of the machine between projections which form dovetail grooves, and

page_text: •
admit of a vertical motion. This motion is produced by rods 8, jointed t
each of the sliders ✗, and also to levers 4, which move on. a center pin at th
bottom part of the machine. From the upper end of the levers 4 two rods 5
Fig. 1, proceed, and, being racked, engage the teeth of a pinion 6. The axi
of this pinion has a handle 7, Fig. 2, which is detained by a spring-catch
but when this is released, and the handle turned, it draws the levers 4 from
their vertical position into the direction of the dotted lines, Fig. 1, which
causes the sliders to descend both together, and to. lower down the bed B
When restored to the position in the Drawing the levers 4 are upright, and
form a firm support to the bed. The lovers r which support the lower
drawing roller F are suspended by rods from the sliders X, and therefore,
when they descend, they let down the lower roller F at the same time that the
cloth can be passed between the roller E and F. The bed can be adjusted to
a parellelism with the fixed blade R by elevating either end at pleasure by
means of nuts 8, the screws of which are formed on the lower ends of pieces Z.
These are fitted between pieces which project from the slider X, and allow the
pieces Z to rise and fall independent thereof. The pieces Z support the bed
by a pivot 10 at each end of the bed, and, by. means of two screws 9, 9, the
bed can be inclined upon the pivot, and thus cause the upper or most elevated
part, over which the cutting is performed, to approach or recede at pleasure
from the edge of the fixed blade R. There is likewise another adjustment for
the height of the bed. The nuts 8. take their bearing upon a bar Y, extended
across the machine. Beneath this is another bar 12, which is fixed to the
two sliders X, and a wedge 11 is interposed between Y and 12, at each end of
the wedges, being connected together by a plate of metal, can be moved end-
ways by the screw 13, Fig. 1, therefore this moves the wedges and elevates or.
depresses the bed a small quantity, but equally, at each end.. This adjustment.
is used when a thicker or thinner piece of cloth is to be cut, being more
convenient than turning the nuts 8, because it cannot put the bed out of
parellelism. Two small guides 15 may be added to the feeding apparatus for
the purpose of conducting the lists of the cloth in a regular manner to the
endless stretching bands, and make the lists catch themselves upon the pins.
The guides are formed of small pieces of metal 15, Figs. 2, 3, and 6, fixed to
the frames which contain the wheels n, n, of the stretching bands, and
descending below the ends of the said frames, as shew in Fig. 6. Each of
these has a piece 16 fixed opposite to it, so as to leave a narrow opening
between them through which the lists of the cloth pass, and are thus held
down against the bands m, m, so that their pins must penetrate the lists. The
position of these guides 16 is such that they will gather the cloth a little in.

page_text: breadth by receiving the lists and bringing them rather nearer together than
the full breadth of the cloth, thus delivering the lists in the most favorable
situation to be caught upon the pins of the stretching bands when they are at
the least distance from each other. The breadth of the opening between
15 and 16 is adjustable by screw to the thickness of the lists, so that it cannot
come through the opening doubled, but the list will be spread flat and fair to
Jead upon the oms. The guides are each fixed to the frames by means of two
small brackets 17, through which the ends of piece 15 pass, and are fitted
with nuts by which the guide may be drawn to the right or left, to regulate it
according to the breadth of the lists.
-
Having now described my said improved machine, I do hereby declare that
the particulars which I claim an exclusive right to use in machines for
shearing cloth are as follows:-
First, in the method of construction employed in making the bed or support
on which the cloth is shorn, so as to be adjustable to different breadths, by
means of the sinking pieces O and the sliding pieces g under them, at the ends
of the said bed or support.
Secondly, the whole contrivance and construction of the stretching bands
and feeding table.
Thirdly, so connecting the apparatus of the stretching bands and feeding
table with the movements of the sinking pieces O, that the action of both
may be coincident, as above described.
Fourthly, in the row of pieces of metal w acting as springs, Figs. 8 and 5,
which press
the cloth gently down upon the bed before it arrives at the fixed
blade to be shorn, by which I am enabled to bring the cloth with safety nearer
to a level with the upper surface of the fixed blade, so as to shear it closer
than could otherwise be done without endangering the cloth.
Fifthly, in the arrangements of the parts of the machine as described, and as
shewn in the Drawings, and in the means for adjusting the different parts
to the best positions for working. On this, however, I must remark, that these
may be modified in various ways, at the option of the mechanic, without
destroying their efficacy, my object having been to give such a description of
these arrangements as may enable any competent workman to construct such
an organized machine as shall possess the properties which I have described
and exemplified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Stephen Price, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Eleventh day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifteen.
STEP (L.s.) PRICE.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Eleventh day of October,
in the year of our Lord 1815, the aforesaid Stephen Price came before our
said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to
the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Eleventh day of October, in the year of our Lord One