Improvements in Apparatus for the Manufacture of Mosaic Floor Cloth.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 31st Jan., 1899--Accepted, 18th Mar., 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for the Manufacture of Mosaic Floor
Cloth.
I, FREDERICK WALTON, of 114, Holborn, in the City of London, Manufacturer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement;-
Machines at present in use for the manufacture of mosaic floor cloth are necessarily
very large and costly as they have to be made wide enough to produce a continuous
web of about two yards in width; my invention relates to apparatus so constructed
and operating as to greatly reduce the size and cost of the machinery, as will now
be described.
Along horizontal guides a number of plates which are preferably for the sake
of lightness, made of aluminium are caused to travel in close contact with each
other, end to end, each plate having length equal to the width of the floor cloth
to be made say two yards and having breadth equal to one repeat of the pattern,
say half a yard; each plate has a number of pins projecting from its surface.
Over these plates revolve with equal surface speed as many cylinders as there are
colors in the pattern, each cylinder having projecting from its periphery knives
arranged according to several repeats of the pattern and having over it a pressing
cylinder so that a coloured sheet of linoleum material as it passes between the
pressing cylinder and the cutting cylinder is cut into tesseroe which occupy the
spaces between the knives on the periphery of the cylinders.
Each cylinder is provided with means of extruding and removing such of the
tesseroe as are not required for the pattern, and for pressing those tesseroe that are.
required on to the pins of the plates below.
These plates as they travel under the successive cutting cylinders receive from
each tesseroe of one clour, cach plate as it leaves the last of the cutting cylinders
having on it the differently coloured tesseroe constituting as many repeats of the
pattern as can be accommodated in its length.
As the plates continue their travel a revolving knife severs the web of tesseroe
at the junctions of the successive plates leaving the foremost plate with its charge
of tesseroe free to be removed.
These plates are then successively placed with their sides, not their ends, in
contact on a pair of travelling bands by which they are led under a heated sheet.
of backing fabric coated with cementing material and a drum which may be
furnished with projecting pins the backing fabric and the surface of the drum
travelling at the same rate as the plate.
The tesseroe being held on the backing by the cement are removed from the
plates which are then taken to receive fresh charges of tesserne, while the backing.
with the tesseroe on it is carried by the drum to a set of heated and pressing rollers
of known kind by which the tesseroe are caused to cohere and to adhere to the
backing.
The cutting cylinders above referred to are constructed and arranged generally
as those hitherto in use, but they are very much shorter and are provided with

page_text: 1
certain additional and modified details for more effectually separating the tesseroe
where they are cut and for more simply and economically effecting extrusion of
the unnecessary tesseroe. Also the cylinder and parts connected therewith for
removing the tesseroe from the plates and attaching them to the backing generally
resemble the apparatus for the same purpose hitherto in use with certain modifica-
tions for rendering these appliances more effective.
The machinery above described in general terms will now be described in detail
with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Fig. 1 is a side view of the apparatus for cutting tesseroe of five different colours
and placing them on on the transfer plates.
Figs. 2, 3 and 4 are drawn to an enlarged scale, Fig. 2 being a transverse section
and Fig. 4 a longitudinal section of one of the cutting cylinders and its adjuncts
and Fig. 3 being an end view of the same.
Fig. 5 is an entire transverse section and Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are part transverse
sections of four of the cutting cylinders shewn in Fig. 1 adapted for different sizes
of the tesseroe.
Fig. 9 is a side elevation of the machine for fixing the tesseroe on the backing.
Fig. 10 is an example of one repeat of a pattern of five colours distinguished by
different directions of hatching lines.
Fig. 11 is a section and Fig. 12 a plan of part of one of the transfer plates and
of the drum over which it passes under each cutting cylinder.
Each cutting cylinder a has cutting blades b projecting from its surface to a
height corresponding nearly with the thickness of the sheet of material which it
has to cut. The spaces between the blades have bottom plates c each of which is
provided with a stem d but these stems are in some of the cylinders a different
from those in others of the cylinders in order to suit the forms of the tesseroe which
each of the cylinders has to deliver as parts of the pattern or has to discharge
as forming no parts of the pattern.
Within each of the cylinders a which is hollow are mounted three rollers, one e
for extruding all the tesseroe not required for the pattern one of for pressing on
the transfer plates all the tesseroe required for the pattern and one g for pushing
out all the bottom plates c to have their surfaces greased by an external roller h
which is covered with felt served with oily material to prevent the tesseroe from
adhering to the plates. Outside the cylinder a there is a pressing cylinder i and
a stiffly bristled revolving brush j for pressing the cut tesseroe into the spaces
between the cutting blades and a rapidly revolving stiff brush & for throwing off
the tesseroe that are not required. On one end of the cylinder a is fixed a worm
wheel gearing with a worm m, that extends along the whole row of cutting
cylinders a driving them all at the same speed.
The
On the other end of a is a toothed wheel n, which gears with a wheel o on the
shafts of the pressing roller i driving it at the same surface speed as a.
wheel also gears with a pinion on a short shaft on which is fixed a pinion p
gearing with a pinion q fixed on the shaft of the internal roller e which is thus
caused to revolve as many times during one revolution of a as there are repeats of
pattern on a. The other internal rollers f and 7 do not require to be driven but
it is preferred to drive them by a chain frome e as shewn in Fig. 2.
The external greasing roller and brush j have on their shafts, pinions gearing
with the wheel n, and the revolving brush k is driven rapidly by a band from any
convenient motor.
As has been stated above, the stems d of the bottom plates c are varied to suit
different forms of the tesseroe which are cut out of the sheet of material as it passes
between the cylinder a and the pressing roller i, the tessere so cut being pressed
into the space between the cutting blades b, by the revolving stiff bristled brush j,
When the tesseroe are brought round between the internal roller e and the
external revolving brush k those that are not required for the pattern are extruded
and cleared away by the bristles of which throw them over on to inclined
guides down which they slide to either side of the machine. The extrusion of the

page_text: innecessary tesseroe is effected by the roller e acting on the spring stems of the
bottom plates c. For certain sets of patterns it is desirable to employ stems d all
of equal length as shown in Figs. 5 and 6 and to make the roller e either with
projecting pegs s as shewn in Fig. 5 arranged to meet some of the stems d and push
them outwards to extrude some of the tesseroe or with recesses t as shewn in Fig. 6, so
hat all the stems d are pushed out extruding tesseroe except those which enter
the recesses in e. The two arrangements shown in Figs. 5 and 6 are best adapted
for use when there is a large quantity to be manufactured to one pattern to which
the roller e can be suited without any change of the stems d; and in order to adapt
for manufacture of several different patterns,
the arrangement shewn in Fig.
the roller e preferably made with a large number of holes all over its surface
so that the pegs s can be screwed into different holes to suit the different patterns.
As shown in Fig. 7 the roller e is a plain roller, acting only on those of the stems d
which are longer than the others for the extrusion of terresoe. This however
requires the roller f to be driven and to be made with recesses to receive the ends
of the longer stems which would otherwise be forced too far out by f. In this case
a roller such as y has to be made of elastic material to yield to the longest stems
of the plates. For very small tesseroe the arrangement shewn in Fig. 8 is preferred,
both the rollers c and f being plain rollers, and the stems & of the plates of such
of the tesseroe as have to be rejected having added by them sliding sleeves u with
In this case none of the internal
springs interposed between them and the plates c.
rollers e, f, g, require to be driven the rejection of tesseroc depending on the
Of the five sets of tesseroe cutting
selection of stems d with spring sleeves u.
apparatus shown in Fig. 1 some have their stems d and rollers e and f arranged
in one of the four ways described, some in another of these ways according to the
exigencies of the pattern. In all cases the tesseroe which are not ejected by the
action of the rollers e are pushed by the action of the roller f on to pegged transfer
plates such as will be presently described in their proper positions according to
the pattern. Also in all cases the plates c are pushed out by the rollers g a little
beyond the cutting blades of the cylinder a to be greased by the roller h for the
purpose of preventing adhesion to them of the tesseroe next pressed on them by
the pressing roller i.
The five sets of tesseroe cutting apparatus are mounted on a suitable base & hav
ing bearings for the shafts of rollers w one under each of the cutting cylinders a;
The rollers and the pulleys
and of pulleys one at each end of the base v.
have on their shafts worm wheels all driven at the same speed by worms on a longi-
tudinal shaft y. Around the pulleys passes a steel band z which at intervals
apart equal to the length of each of the transfer plates 1, has a taper stud 2 pro-
jecting from its under side, with a stem projecting upwards.. Each of the pulleys
and of the rollers has across one part of its periphery a groove 3 which receives
the studs 2 of the band.
These plates 1 partly shewn in Figs. 11 and 12 are preferably made of aluminium
for the sake of lightness and are provided all over their surface with sharp slightly
As the steel band is caused by the
projecting pins each plate having a hole 4.
5 pulleys a to travel from right to left transfer plates 1 are successively placed length-
wise on the band at the right hand end of the machine shown in Fig. 1, the hole 4
of each plate being placed on one of the stems of the studs 2 of the band. As plate
after plate is put on the band with their ends in contact they are carried onwards
between the several cutting cylinders a and the corresponding rollers w below them,
o the plate receiving from the cutting cylinders tesseroe of different colours pressed
upon the pins which hold them in position, until after passing the last of the
cutting cylinders a the transfer plate presents itself at the left end of the machine
quite covered with tesseroe forming a complete pattern. Just beyond the last
cutting cylinder a on the left is mounted a pair of cutting rollers 5 the upper
55 carrying a blade which cuts the material on the two adjacent plates exactly on the
line where their ends meet leaving the most advanced plate free to be removed
with the tesseroe on it, to the finishing machine shown in Fig. 9 which is a machine

page_text: now known, and used somewhat modified and will now be described. Hitherto the
main drum 6 of this machine has been provided with projecting pins in order to
raise the tesseroe out of the transfer plates 1 as they passed beneath the drum and
carry them round with the backing fabric 7 to the final pressing apparatus above.
This providing of the drum 6 is now rendered unnecessary by mounting a heated
roller S and a pair of pressing rollers 9 at the receiving end of the machine. The
backing fabric 7 which has been previously served on its under surface with suit-
able cement in passing under the hot roller 8 has its cement so softened that the
tesseroe on the transfer plate 1 in passing under the rollers 8 and 9 are caused to
adhere to the backing and are raised by it off the pins of the transfer plates and
around the drum 6 up to the final pressing apparatus which causes the tesseroe
to cohere together and to adhere permanently to the backing. It is to be under-
stood that the transfer plates 1 are placed on the band of the machine shewn in
Fig. 9 sideways, the side of each plate in contact with the side of the next.
From the above description it will be seen that by moving the transfer plates in
the direction of their length which is four times their breadth the cutting cylinders
and their adjuncts which are the most complex and expensive parts of the machinery
require to have a width only about one fourth of that which they have in existing
machines of the like kind, also that the sheets of material from which the tesseroe
are cut need have only one fourth of the width which they now have, and that the
roller apparatus for producing these sheets is correspondingly reduced. Thus by
depositing the tesseroe on long narrow transfer plates moving lengthwise, and then
removing the tesseroe from the same plates moving sideways, while floor cloth
of full width is produced the size and cost of the principal parts of the machinery
are very much reduced.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this in-
vention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
1. In apparatus for the manufacture of mosaic floor cloth, in combination with
a range of tessere cutting cylinders and their internal and external rollers, a roller
under each of the cutting cylinders, a pair of pulleys and a travelling band adapted
to lead transfer plates under the successive cutting cylinders, and a pair of cutting
rollers adapted to sever the tesseroe at the meeting line of the plates substantially
as described.
2. In apparatus for the manufacture of mosaic floor cloth, in combination with
the drum for removing the tesseroe from the transfer plates and the band for
causing the plates to travel under the drum, a heated roller and a pair of pressing
rollers adapted to cause the tesseroe to adhere to the backing substantially as
described.
3. For operating with plain internal rollers of the cutting cylinder, not requiring
to be driven, a modification of the stems of the bottom plates which consists in
fitting with springs and sliding sleeves substantially as described.
Dated this 31st day of January 1899.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.