AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR PLAITING OR DOUBLING STRIPS OR SHEETS OF CLOTH, PAPER, AND OTHER MATERIALS
Year: 1868

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by George Slater at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 29th
December 1868.
I, GEORGE SLATER, of Lamb's Passage, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVED MACHINE FOR PLAITING OR DOUBLING STRIPS OR SHEETS OF CLOTH, PAPER,
AND OTHER MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to machines which are more especially designed
for forming plaits in strips or shects of linen, calico, and other textile
fabrics, for the skirts of ladies dresses, shirt frouts, and other articles,
and the said Invention consists chiefly in the peculiar method in which
a pair of rollers are caused to operate in combination with a folding
bar or plate to feed forward the fabric and form the plaits or folds
transversely in the same, and it also consists in the mechanism for
giving the required motion to the various parts of the machine. The
said rollers are formed with suitable journals which are fitted to turn
in bearings in a vibrating or oscillating frame, whose axis or centre
of motion is the axis of the lower roller, or some point below the same.
The two rollers are geared togetlier and the lower roller is connected
by suitable gearing with the driving shaft; the said shaft is provided
with a crank which is connected by a rod to the vibrating frame which

page_text: is thus by the rotation of the said driving shaft caused to vibrate and
give to the upper roller a reciprocating motion upon the lower roller
while the two rollers rotate on their axes. The folding plate is fixed
in front of the vibrating frame with its edge resting upon the lower
roller, and in such a position that as the frame moves towards the said
plate or bar a fold of the fabric is carried over its edge; this fold is
then compressed between the two rollers, and the plait thereby formed
is held between the rollers while the frame moves back and carries
the fabric forward far enough to form another plait. The journals of
the lower roller are extended beyond the vibrating frame and rest in
bearings supported in standards outside the said frame, these standards
and the other parts of the machine being fixed on a bed plate of cast
iron or other suitable material. The two sides of the vibrating frame are
firmly secured together at a suitable distance apart by tie rods or bars.
The bearings of the upper roller are adjustable in the frame, and are
held in place by screws or other suitable means. The rollers are
preferably hollow or tubular so that they may be heated by gas or other
means. I prefer to construct the sides of the frame with arms extending
below the axis of motion of the frame, the two arms being connected
by tie rods. The connecting rod may be fitted upon one of these tie
rods in the centre of the frame or two connecting rods and two cranks
may be employed, the said rods being then arranged outside the frame.
The end of the connecting rod which takes hold of the tie rod is formed
with an elongated hole or slot, so that the frame will remain stationary
at the moment when the plait is removed from the folding bar. I use
wheels or pinions of different sizes to vary the relative speed of the
rollers, and the vibrating frame to form a greater or lesser number of
plaits in a given length of material, and the cranks are formed with
slots, so that the connecting rods may be adjusted nearer to or farther
from the centre of the crank to increase or diminish the throw or travel
of the vibrating frame, and thereby vary the width of the plaits.
The connecting rods are made in two parts which are connected together
in such a manner that the said rods can be lengthened or shortened
to adapt them to the varied throw of the cranks. The folding bar
or plate is hinged or jointed to a table or board over which the fabric
passes to the rollers. An aperture must be left between the edge of
the table and the back edge of the folding plate, so that the fabric
may pass below the said plate to the rollers. It may be necessary
to apply pressure to the folding bar at the moment of forming the

page_text: plaits. For this purpose I prefer to employ either a spring or lever
which is raised when the plait is formed to release the plait and allow
the cloth to move forward by the vibrating frame or other working
part of the machine. If desired the top and bottom rollers may be
of different diameters. Instead of being connected to the driving
shaft by toothed gearing, which gives them a continuous rotary motion,
the rollers may be driven with an intermittent motion by means of
a ratchet wheel and pawl.
My Invention also relates to means for forming continuous folds or
plaits lengthwise in sheets or strips of cloth or other material, and this
part of the said Invention consists in the peculiar construction of dies
or folders for forming the plaits or folds and in their combination
with the pressing rollers. The said dies or folders consist of two parts
between which the cloth or other material is drawn by the rollers,
the dies giving the desired form or figure to the plaits which are then
compressed between the rollers. I prefer to support the dies in two
blocks or plates which are arranged in front of the rollers and parallel
to the same, and which are secured together with the dies between
them by screws or otherwise. These plates are formed with a dovetail
or other groove and the dies are fitted to slide in the said groove. By
this means I am enabled to insert and remove the dies with great
facility to vary the form or figure of the plaiting as desired.
dies may be formed in several parts so that the form of any part of
the plait or fold may be varied without changing the remainder. I
prefer to employ a plate or bar for the cloth to pass over between
the dies and the rollers, which plate as well as the said rollers may be
heated by gas or otherwise. When it is desired to adjust the machine
for plaiting lengthwise of the fabric I fix the vibrating frame in a
vertical or other convenient position by means of screws or other
fastenings; I then remove the folding bar or plate from the table
and fix thereon the plates and dies; the cloth or other fabric to be
plaited is coiled around a roller whence it is passed over the table to
the dies, the desired tension upon the said roller being produced by a
spring or weight.
The