IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FELTED CLOTH
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Cheesman Wagstaff, of Cannon Street, in the
City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF FELTED CLOTH."-Partly a communication.
Sealed the 26th June 1857, and dated the 27th December 1856. -
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Cheesman Wagstaff
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with bis Petition, on the
27th December 1856.
I, JOHN CHEESMAN WAGSTAFF, of Cannon Street, in the City of London,.
do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF FELTED CLOTH," to be as follows:―
This Invention consists in a method of accumulating a series of layers of
a "bat or fleece" (produced by a carding engine or otherwise), and the
object of the Invention is so to cross the layers of the bat or fleece that the
cloth made therefrom shall be equally strong in every direction.
For this purpose the bat or fleece is wound on a drum of greater length
and circumference than the length and width of the piece of cloth which it
is desired to make. This drum is supported by a carriage, which runs
backwards and forwards on a railway in the direction of the axis of the drum.
Thus, by these combined motions of the drum, the bat or fleece is wound
thereon so as to cross the fibres in the way desired.
Or, in place of winding

page_text: the bat or fleece on the drum before mentioned, it may be deposited on an
endless apron, carried by rollers, which are mounted on a carriage travelling
towards and away from the point at which the bat or fleece is fed to the
machine, and the endless apron travels in a direction at right angles to the
motion of the carriage which carries it, and thus a similar crossing of the
fibres is obtained.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Cheesman Wagstaff in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 27th June 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
CHEESMAN WAGSTAFF, of Cannon Street, in the City of London, send
greeting:
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of.December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Cheesman Wagstaff, Her special licence that I, the said
John Cheesman Wagstaff, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said John Cheesman Wagstaff, my exccutors, 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 THE MANUFACTURE OF FELTED CLOTH," (partly
a communication,) upon the condition (amongst others) that I; the said John
Cheesman Wagstaff, 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 John Cheesman Wagstaff, 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 thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention consists in a method of accumulating a series of layers of

page_text: T
a "bat or fleece" (produced by a carding engine or otherwise), and the
object of the Invention is so to cross the layers of the ebat or fleece that the
cloth made therefrom shall be equally strong in every direction.
A
For this purpose the bat or fleece is wound on a drum of greater length
and circumference than the length and width of the piece of cloth which
it is desired to make. This drum is supported by a carriage, which runs
backwards and forwards on a railway in the direction of the axis of the
drum. Thus, by these combined motions of the drum, the bat or fleece is
wound thereon so as to cross the fibres in the way desired. Or in place
of winding the bat or fleece on the drum before mentioned, it may be
deposited on an endless apron, carried by rollers, which are mounted on a.
carriage travelling towards and away from the point at which the bat or
fleece is fed to the machine, and the endless apron travels in a direction at
right angles to the motion of the carriage which carries it, and thus a similar
crossing of the fibres is obtained.
And in order that the said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto
annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shows a plan, Figure 2 a side elevation, and Figure 3 a
transverse section, of a machine constructed according to the Invention, for
receiving a bat or fleece of wool from a carding engine, and winding it spirally
around a roller, so that the fibres of the successive layers will be caused to
cross each other. a, a, is the framing or carriage, supported on the grooved
rollers or wheels a¹, a³, which are caused to travel to and fro on the fixed
rails b, b, in front of the carding engine, as hereafter described; c, d, are
rollers, turning in bearings on the end framings a, a, of the carriage, and
these rollers support and give motion to the drum or roller e, upon which
the bat or fleece of fibre is wound. Rotatory motion is communicated to the
roller c in the following manner: -f is an axis, turning in bearings on the
side framing of the carding engine, from which it receives motion by a strap
or band in any convenient manner. The drum or pulley f', fixed on the axis
f, gives motion by an endless strap or band to the pulley g', which gives moţion
to the axis g, turning in bearings on the end frames a, a, the axis g having
a longitudinal groove in it, into which a projection on the inner circumference
of the boss of the pulley g¹ enters to give rotary motion to the axis, which
is thus capable of sliding to and fro through the boss of the pulley g¹. 92 is
a pulley fixed on the end of the axis g, which by an endless band gives-motion

page_text: to the pulley g³, fixed on the axis of the roller c.
Direct motion may in a.
similar manner be given to the roller d if required; the roller e receives
motion by surface contact. A to-and-fro movement is given to the carriage
a in the following manner:-h and i are pulleys fixed on the axis f, which
give motion by endless bands to the pulleys j, k, which turn freely on the
axis l, until one or other is put in gear with the sliding clutch to give.
motion to the axis 1, on one end of which is fixed a bevil pinion m, which
takes into and drives the bevil wheel n fixed on the axis o, upon which is
fixed the drum or pulley o¹, around which the cord p passes, and is connected
at each end to the end framings a, a, of the carriage. The sliding clutch
is changed from one of the pulleys j and k to the other (to reverse the.
motion of the carriage) by the lever q, which is acted upon by the bent
springs or stops r, r, fixed to the side framing of the carriage. These stops.
come in contact with the said lever when the carriage has moved nearly to
the extent of its motion in one or other direction. The bat or fleece of fibre
is conducted from the doffing cylinder of the carding engine between the
roller c and the drum or roller e, upon which it is wound spirally, layer upon
layer, in opposite directions, and when a sufficient thickness of fibre has been.
accumulated thereon it is cut or separated longitudinally and taken from
the roller to be felted.
Figure 4 is a plan, Figure 5 a side elevation, partly in section, and
Figure 6 is an elevation, also partly in section, of a machine arranged accord-
ing to my Invention, and in which the bat or fleece is deposited on an endless
apron, so as to obtain a similar crossing of the fibre to that obtained in the
machine already described.
a, b, are two rollers, mounted at the extremities of a wooden frame c, and
which carry between them the endless apron d; and e, f, are two other rollers,
also carried by the frame c, and having between them an endless apron g,
formed of wooden bars g', attached at the two ends to metal bands 9². The
rollers a and e, at one end of the frame c, are geared together, and are driven
by the pinion h, which receives motion from one of the wheels of the carding
engine for supplying the bat or fleece to the machine. The frame c is mounted
on wheels i, which run on the rails j, and in this way the frame c traverses
backwards and forwards a distance equal to its width, the motion being given
by the spur wheels k, k, taking into racks 7, 1, fixed to the frame. The axis
which carries the spur wheels k has also mounted on it a mangle wheel m,
and this is driven by the pinion n, receiving motion from the main driving axis
in any suitable way; and the axis which carries this pinion is capable of
working up and down in a guide (shown at Figure 7), to enable it to drive

page_text: both on the inside and the outside of the teeth of the mangle wheel m. 0, 0,
are rollers, carried by a projecting bracket or arm from the carding machine,
and between which the bat or fleece produced by it is passed on to the endless
apron d. From the description already given, it will be seen, that while the
bat or fleece is being delivered on to the apron d, this is receiving two motions,
one in the direction of its length and the other in the direction of its breadth,
and by the combined motions the bat or fleece is laid on the apron in a series
of layers, each layer being arranged in the way shown by the Diagram,
Figure 8. p, p, are rollers for supporting the top apron d; and q, q, are
rollers for pressing the fibre down upon it. The lower apron 9 is for the
purpose of preventing the accumulated layers of fibre from falling away from
the top apron when they pass underneath. r, r, are rollers for supporting the
under apron g. When a sufficient thickness of fibre has been accumulated on
the apron d (or on the drum e, as first described,) it is taken from the machine
and is felted in the ordinary way.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Cheesman Wagstaff, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
S. CARPMAEL.
JOHN C. WAGSTAFF. (L.S.)