IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR POLISHING OR FINISHING TEXTILE FABRICS
Year: 1883

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Henry Johnson at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 24th July 1883. Communicated to
him from Eugèné Alexis Ruizand, a person resident at Villeurbanne (Rhone)
in the Republic of France
JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47 Lincolns Jun Fields in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR POLISHING OR FINISHING TEXTILE
FABRICS" a communication to me from Eugèné Alexis Ruizand a person resident
at Villeurbanne (Rhone) in the Republic of France
This Invention relates to improvements in machines for polishing or finishing
textile fabrics and it consists in the employment of polishing discs or burnishers
arranged as hereinafter described having a rapid rotary motion imparted to them
and being provided with blades or arms which act upon the surface of the fabric
and impart to it the desired polish or finish.
In carrying out this Invention a series of rotary burnishers carried on inde-
pendent axes are arranged upon a suitable supporting frame so as to rotate in planes
perpendicular to the direction in which the fabric is caused to travel the axes of
the discs being consequently parallel with the selvedge of the fabric.
These burnishers may be arranged in a single diagonal line drawn from edge to
edge of the fabric or in two such lines crossing one another at the centre of the
web or according to any other equivalent arrangement, whereby dragging action is
obviated and the fabric is polished in the direction in which it is manufactured.
Each burnisher is composed of a disc having arms or projections to which are
attached a series of polishing blades or plates. These blades are preferably secured
in position by means of a wedge introduced between the said arms or projections
and retained by means of a screw so that the blades are fixed to the disc without
having their strength or elasticity impaired by either holes or grooves and are thus
enabled to do their work under the most favorable conditions.
The polishing blades may consist of straight arms or of plates having their ends
bent so as to present a rounded surface which may be roughened or otherwise
according to circumstances
The disc carrying the polishing arms is cast in one with a small grooved pulley
over which is passed a gut or other cord driven by a grooved drum arranged at the
upper part of the frame above the discs and serving to impart motion to all the
burnishers simultaneously

page_text: The shaft of this drum is provided with a pulley driven directly by a suitable
driving belt and preferably provided with a friction clutch whereby the burnishers
are enabled to he brought gradually into action-The pulley on the drum shaft is
connected with another pulley on the same shaft carrying a belt which transn.its
motion through an intermediate pulley to a horizontal shaft which by means of
bevel gear at each extremity drives a couple of vertical shafts at opposite ends of the
machine These vertical shafts are provided at their upper extremities with bevel
gear which imparts motion to a pair of beams or rollers carrying the fabric that is
to be polished-Clutches on the shafts of these rollers enable the latter to be thrown
in and out of action alternately according to the direction in which the fabric is to
be caused to travel the said fabric being wound if required first on to one roller and
then on to the other alternately so as to be repeatedly subjected to the polishing
action of the burnishers which always rotate in the same direction It is evident
that the details of the arrangements herein before described for transmitting motion
to the various parts of the apparatus and for changing the direction of motion of
the fabric may be varied according to the dimensions and general arrangement of
the machine.