IMPROVEMENTS IN THE DRESSING AND CLEANING WORSTED, AND WORSTED MIXED WITH COTTON, AND OTHER FABRICS, AFTER THEY HAVE. BEEN WOVEN
Year: 1849

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ACKROYD, of Birkenshaw Mills, near Leeds, in the County of York, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Nineteenth day
of December, One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine, in the thirteenth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said William Ackroyd, my exors, adñors, and assigns, Her
especial licence, full power, sole privilego and authority, that I, the said
William Ackroyd, my exors, adiňors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Ackroyd, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times 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, the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE DRESSING AND CLEANING WORSTED, AND WORSTED MIXED
WITH COTTON, AND OTHER FABRICS, AFTER THEY HAVE. BEEN WOVEN," communicated
to me from abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that
I, the said William Ackroyd, shall cause a particular description of the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Ackroyd, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:-
It is well known that woven fabrics made of worsted, or worsted mixed with
cotton, and also other fabrics, usually have knots, inequalities, or projections,
which are ordinarily picked off by hand.
Now the Invention consists of so arranging machinery, that fabrics requiring
such a description of dressing and cleaning may, after they come from the
loom, by being passed through such machinery, have the knots, irregularities,
or projections rubbed off by rough surfaces, as hereafter described. And in
order that the Invention may be most fully understood, and readily carried
into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto annexed, in the
various Figures of which the same letters of reference are used to indicate
similar parts.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shows a front view; Figure 2 a transverse section; and Fig. 8 an
end view of a machine arranged suitably for carrying out the Invention. a
is the main or driving shaft, which receives motion from a steam engine or
other power by a strap acting on the fixed drum 6 on the axis a. Motion is
communicated from the shaft or axis a to pulleys c, c, by means of straps d, d,
put in motion by the drums or pulleys e, e, fixed on the main or driving shaft
a. The pulleys or drums c, c, are fixed on the axes of the cylinders f,f; the
cylinders are coated with ground glass, in like manner to glass-paper, or other
fine sharp grit which is used for like purposes to glass-paper may be employed
for this, the object being to obtain a sharp cutting surface, which will rub
or grind off the knots or projecting inequalities which come on the surfaces of
woven fabrics. The fabric to be operated on is wound on the roller g, which
is to have friction applied to retard the unwinding, as is well understood, or
the fabric may be fed into the machine in any convenient manner. The fabric
is conducted from the roller g, between the rollers h, one of which is pressed
up against the other, then the fabric passes over the roller i, and thence under,
and is operated on by one of the cylinders f; it then passes over the supporting
roller j, which is capable of adjustment in order that the degree of contact and
pressure of the cylinder f on the fabric may be adjusted. The fabric then
'passes, under the other cylinder f, .and is again opereated on; the fabric then

page_text: passes over the roller k, and is wound on to the roller 7, there being a pressing
roller working with the roller 1, as shewn; and the parts are arranged
suitably for keeping the fabric distended transversely, as is well understood.
Motion is communicated to the roller 1 from the main or driving shaft by
means of the wheels m, n, o, p, as will readily be understood on examining the
Drawings. is a cover, through which streams of air are forced, so as to drive
off the matters cleaned or dressed off the fabrics.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I would remark that I do not confine
myself to the details as herein shown and described, so long as the peculiar
character of the Invention is retained.
But what I claim is, the combining parts into a machine in such manner
that woven fabrics, such as herein mentioned, may, after they come from a
loom, be dressed and cleaned, & thereby made free from surface knots and
inequalities, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Ackroyd, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty.
WILLIAM (L.S.) ACKROYD.