A MACHINE FOR FELTING THE ROVING STUBS AND THREADS OR YARNS OF WOOL AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Achille Mercier, of Louviers, in the Department of
the Eure, in the Empire of France, Engineer, for the Invention of
"A MACHINE FOR FELTING THE ROVING STUBS AND THREADS OR YARNS OF
WOOL AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS."
Sealed the 29th May 1860, and dated the 1st December 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Achille Mercier at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st December 1859.
I, ACHILLE MERCIER, of Louviers, in the Department of the Eure, in the
Empire of France, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "A MACHINE FOR FELTING THE ROVINGS, STUBS, AND THREADS OR
YARNS OF WOOL AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
Firstly, I propose giving an exceedingly rapid come-and-go movement to the
friction rollers of my improved machine by means of a shaft composed of
excentrics placed at different points of one circumference, and regularly divided
by the centres of the divers excentrics. This entirely novel mode of placing
excentrics around one circumference will permit an exceedingly rapid come-
and-go motion to be communicated to the friction rollers without the least
vibration, and with a regular resistance rendered by these means as gentle as
possible. Secondly, I purpose using endless friction cloths of great thickness
for guiding the threads, which will allow their being guided by their centres in
their circular march by means of battens or other analogous mode entering into

page_text: grooves made in each of the supporting rollers. By the great thickness which
I give to these cloths (which I render still stronger in their width by interweaving
with them galvanized iron or copper wire), I avoid the inconvenience of main-
taining them on each side to prevent their deviation or their following the
come-and-go motion given to the friction rollers, which act upon the endless
and thick web as they would upon a card or board. Thirdly, I propose to
employ arched guides fixed to two guards placed beneath large friction rollers,
and allowing to circulate between their guards the battens or other guides
conducting the endless cloth or web, which thus upheld in its middle by the
small supporting rollers, cannot follow the come-and-go movement of the large
friction rollers. Fourthly, I purpose (giving) a rotation more or less accele-
rated to each of the large friction rollers, in order to produce upon the threads
or rovings submitted to their action a stretching or tension more or less con-
siderable, and which may be varied at will by means of the pinions commanding
these rollers. This difference of rotation given to the friction rollers, the
circumferences of which travel quicker than the cloth or web with which
they are constantly in contact, has for object to produce a regular and
maintained tension upon the threads or rovings, preventing any reunion or
marriage between them. Fifthly, I propose employing a cylinder furnished
either with a stuff brush (or other material), which in rotating will transmit to
the endless cloth or web, with which it is constantly in contact, the warm water
contained in a reservoir in which the cylinder dips. This warm water, by the
moist heat which it transmits to the endless web and also to the friction rollers,
has the effect of hastening the felting of the threads or rovings submitted to
their action, and further to increase the heat of the web and the friction rollers,
and consequently their felting power. Steam pipes may be placed above and
beneath the web and between the small and large rollers, and some of these
pipes should be pierced with small holes to project the steam on the endless
web and the rollers, or a large steam chest may be placed horizontally beneath
the small rollers and as close to them as possible in order to heat the entire
felting apparatus, or the water in the above-mentioned reservoir may be
heated by a steam pipe pierced with small holes placed at the bottom of the
reservoir. Sixthly, I propose applying in ny machine several modes of
tension or stretching, such as fluted cylinders rotating at different rates of
speed, and between which a certain degree of torsion is given to the threads,
rovings, or stubs, by means either of torsion tubes or of friction bands or straps,
or by other methods stretching the threads more or less before submitting them
to the action of the felting roller. Seventhly, I purpose winding the rovings
or felted threads on horizontal bobbins or on vertical (spindles) armed with

page_text: small wings, giving to these felted threads more or less torsion, further
increasing their solidity. By the use of these winged spindles I can unite two
or more felted threads, making twisted threads of several shades. Eighthly, I
propose passing the felted threads over steam pipes in order to dry them before
passing on to a reel with wings, horizontal bobbins, or spindles with small
wings. To dry this thread upon the reel I further employ the following
means I remove the reel from the machine (replacing it by another) placing
it upon a special frame, where I make it rotate with great rapidity, thereby
quickly freeing the threads from all humidity. To further hasten the felting I
sometimes place several steam pipes beneath the reel, in which case I enclose
the reel in a box containing the pipes.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed,
by the said Achille Mercier in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
31st May 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ACHILLE
MERCIER, of Louviers, in the Department of the Eure, in the Empire of
France, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS er most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Achille Mercier, Her special licence that I, the said Achille
Mercier, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Achille Mercier, 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 "A MACHINE FOR
FELTING THE ROVINGS, STUBS, AND THREADS OR YARNS OF WOOL AND OTHER FIBROUS
MATERIALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Achille
Mercier, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Achille Mercier, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and
forming part of this my Specification, and to the figures and letters of reference
marked thereon.
Firstly, I give an exceedingly rapid come-and-go movement to the friction
rollers of my improved machine by means of a shaft composed of excentrics
placed at different points of one circumference and regularly divided by the
centres of the divers excentrics. This novel method of placing excentrics
around one circumference permits a rapid come-and-go motion to be commu-
nicated to the friction rollers without the least vibration and with a regular
resistance, rendered by these means as gentle as possible. Secondly, I use end-
Jess friction cloths of great thickness for guiding the threads, their thickness
allowing them to be guided in their circular march by means of tension rollers
with guards and a wooden groove, in which the cloths pass before coming into
contact with the tension rollers. By the great thickness which I give to these
cloths (which I render still stronger in their width by interweaving with them
galvanised iron or copper wire); I avoid the inconvenience of maintaining
them at each side to prevent their deviation or their following the come-and-go
movement given to the friction rollers, which act upon this endless and thick
web as they would upon a card or board. Thirdly, I give a different and
more or less accelerated rotation to each of the large friction rollers, in order
to produce upon the threads or rovings submitted to their action a stretching
or tension more or less considerable, and which may be varied at will by
means of the pinions commanding these rollers. This difference of rotation
given to the friction rollers (the circumferences of which travel quicker than
the cloth or web with which they are constantly in contact), has for object the
production of a regular and sustained tension upon the threads or rovings, pre-
venting any reunion or marriage between them. Fourthly, I employ a cylinder
furnished with a brush of cloth or other material, which in rotating will
transmit to the endless cloth or web (with which it is constantly in contact)
some of the warm water contained in a reservoir in which the cylinder dips.
This warm water, by the moist heat which it transmits to the endless web and
also to the friction rollers, has the effect of hastening the felting of the threads
or rovings submitted to their action. Fifthly, further to increase the heat of
the web and the friction rollers, and consequently their felting power, steam
pipes are placed above and beneath the web and between the small and large
rollers, and some of these pipes should be pierced with small holes to project

page_text: the steam upon the endless web and the rollers; or a large steam chest may
be placed horizontally beneath the small rollers and as close to them as possible,
in order to heat the entire felting apparatus; or the water in the above-
mentioned reservoir may be heated by a steam pipe pierced with small holes
placed at the bottom of the reservoir. Sixthly, I apply in my machine several
modes of tension or stretching, such as fluted cylinders rotating at different
rates of speed, and between which a certain degree of torsion is given to the
threads, rovings, or stubs, by means either of torsion tubes or of friction bands
or straps, or by other methods stretching the threads more or less before sub-
mitting them to the action of the felting rollers. Seventhly, I wind the felted
rovings or threads on horizontal bobbins or vertical spindles with small
wings, giving to these felted threads more or less torsion, thereby further
increasing their solidity. By the use of these winged spindles I can unite two
or more felted threads, making twisted threads of several shades. Eighthly, I
pass the felted threads over steam pipes, in order to dry them before passing on
to a reel, horizontal bobbins, or spindles with small wings. To dry these
threads as they wind upon the reel or spindle, I place beneath it one or more
steam pipes, above which I even establish a degree of ventilation. These pipes
are placed in a box open at the top, and in which turn the wings of the spindle
or reel, the result being that the threads dry as they are wound.
In the accompanying Drawings, Figure 1 shews a single machine (which
may equally be made double) in plan; Figure 2, transverse section of the same
through the line C, D; Figure 1 and Figure 3, longitudinal section through
the line A, B, Figure 2. E, Figures 1, 2, and 3, cross pieces; II, supports of
the shaft carrying the excentrics; I, Figures 1 and 2, lower rollers, supported
at each end, serving to communicate motion to the endless cloth O, and give it
a circular march, which it retains without deviation by means of the two tension
rollers with guard P and the grooved guides, through which this cloth passes
without power to double; J, Figures 1, 2, and 3, upper friction rollers covered
with cloth or other matter suitable to felting. These rollers are equally sup-
ported at their ends, and have besides their rotary motion a very rapid come-
and-go movement in the direction of their length, communicated to them by
the shaft of the excentrics and the double rods M attached to each of the five
spindles, which form five excentrics, having for centre the same circumference,
and have each a different centre borrowed from the same circumference, per-
mitting an exceedingly rapid come-and-go movement to be given to the rollers
without shock to the machine and with as gentle a resistance as possible to the
motor. These rollers have also a rotary motion proportioned to the degree of
stretching it is desirable to give to the threads being felted. The rotary speed

page_text: of the exterior surface of each of the rollers is constantly greater than that
given to the endless cloth with which they are continually in contact, and this
difference of speed is indispensable, in order to give the threads after stretching
a degree of tension which will prevent their nearing or marrying each other.
The rotation is communicated to the rollers by gearing placed upon each. K,
Figures 2 and 3, cast-iron cylinders, hollow, and fixed or turning, heated by
steam (or gas), and over which pass the cloths to be heated. These pipes are,
if fixed, provided with (moveable pipes or) sheets of zinc, copper, (or other
suitable metal,) to prevent any rust reaching the cloths, (their sticking to the
fixed cylinders when the machine is stopped, or wearing by friction upon these
cylinders when the machine is working). N, Figure 1, fast and loose pulleys;
O, Figures 1 and 2, endless cloths of very great thickness, woven, or of several
thicknesses of cloth, glued together with caoutchouc, gum, or otherwise.
These cloths are guided and upheld to insure their regular march in the direc-
tion of their length, by passing through the grooves formed in the centre of
the boards Q and beneath the double guard tension rollers P. R, Figures 1
and 2, beams supporting the bobbins S, which hold the threads. These bobbins
or spools are so arranged that two may be used, if desired, carrying threads of
different colour, which may unite and form by felting, jasped or different colored
threads. These beams may be replaced by reels, bearing thread in hanks, or
by bobbins, or spools of thread already spun, which it is desired to stretch and
felt. T, Figure 2, trough filled with warm water, in which plunges a brush or
a roller covered with cloth, which, turning with more or less speed, propor-
tionately damps the endless cloth with which it comes constantly in contact.
The water in the trough may be heated by a steam pipe pierced with small
holes, and placed at the bottom of the trough. This warm water gives to the
endless cloth and to the friction rollers a humidity and heat suitable to the
felting of the threads submitted to their action. P, Figure 2, tension roller
with variable pressure, so as to give to the cloth more or less tension against
the friction rollers, but always regular during the working of the machine. U,
Figures 1 and 2, spindle or reel, on which roll the felted threads, also index.
To dry these threads, they may be passed over a tube heated by steam, or
placing the reel when filled (and replaced in the machine by another) on a
special framing, and making it turn with great rapidity, the ventilation result-
ing therefrom will quickly dry the felted threads. The threads may also be
made into banks and passed on to bobbins placed horizontally, and to which
rotation is given by any suitable means, or upon a spindle with wings, which by
their rotation will stretch the felted threads and increase their solidity. By

page_text: this last means twisted thread of several colors may be produced if two or three
felted threads of different colours be united on the same spindles.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the means by which
I carry it into practical effect, I desire it to be understood that I do not con-
fine myself to the precise details herein given and shewn in the Drawings; but
I claim as of my Invention,-
Firstly, the method of imparting a different come-and-go movement to each
of the friction rollers.
Secondly, the use of thick cloths of any description guided at their ex-
tremities, the cloths remaining free to expand or contract according to their
degree of humidity.
Thirdly, the use of a groove or slide and tension rollers with guards, between
which the cloths circulate without being able to deviate from their path.
Fourthly, the different rotary speed given to the friction rollers, in order to
obtain more or less stretching and at the same time a regular tension upon the
threads during the felting, and prevent entanglement.
Fifthly, the transmission of more or less warm water to the endless cloths
and friction rollers by means of a brush or roller moving in the warm water,
with more or less speed, and in contact with the endless cloth.
Sixthly, the application of any method of stretching previous to the intro-
duction of the threads or rovings to the felting machine.
Seventhly, the application to this machine of spindles with small wings, hori-
zontal or vertical, rewinding the felted threads, and giving them a suitable
stretching to increase their solidity, and capable, when required, of twisting
together several threads to make a many-colored thread.
Eighthly, the application of the double method of drying the threads after
felting by means of steam pipes placed beneath the reel and in a trough X.
In witness whereof, I, the said Achille Mercier, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twelfth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
JULES COCHE,
à Louviers.
ACHILLE MERCIER. (L.S.)