AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF DRIVING BELTS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clissold, of Dudbridge, in the County of
Gloucester, Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF DRIVING BELTS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clissold at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd May 1860.
I. WILLIAM CLISSOLD, of Dudbridge, in the County of Gloucester, Engi-
neer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF DRIVING BELTS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to prevent the slip so common when driving
machinery by means of belts, and thereby to render belts applicable in situ-
ations where hitherto they could not be advantageously applied. To this end
I propose to form belts with inclined or bevilled sides, which shall fit into
V-grooved pullies, and thus by their friction on the sides of these grooves main-
tain a firm hold, instead of relying as heretofore upon the tension to which they
are brought and maintained. Leather belts with inclined edges or bevilled sides
I propose to make by placing layer upon layer, or leather and cloth alternated,
until a suitable thickness is obtained for filling the V grooves of the pullies
over which they are intended to work to the required depth; and these layers
1 secure together by lacing, rivets, cement, or other suitable appliance. The
edges are then to be trimmed to the required bevil.
I
In the case of gutta percha or india-rubber belts, they may be cast or
moulded to the required sectional shape and covered or not with other material,
as thought desirable.
When great resistance is to be overcome, I propose to use these belts in

page_text: duplicate on the same pullies, such pullies being made with double V grooves,
or I make the belts with two or more sets of bevilled edges, using pullies
made with grooves to correspond. In such case the bevilled sides will be
formed by AA-shaped projections standing up from a common broad base.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Clissold in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd November 1860.
•
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CLISSOLD, of Dudbridge, in the County of Gloucester, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Clissold, Iler special license that I, the said William
Clissold, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said William Clissold, 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF DRIVING BELTS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Clissold, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Clissold, 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 Drawing hereunto annexed, and to
the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
The chief object of this Invention is to prevent the slip so common when
driving machinery by means of belts or bands, and thereby, among other
advantages, to render belts applicable in situations where hitherto they could
not be beneficially applied. To this end, I propose to form belts of a wedge

page_text: shape in cross section, or with inclined or bevilled sides cut to an angle, to fit
V-grooved pullies. Thus by the friction of the edges of the band against the
sides of the driving grooves a firm hold will be maintained, instead of the ten-
sion to which the band is brought and maintained being relied upon as here-
tofore to effect that object.
In the accompanying Drawing I have shewn the manner in which I prefer
to construct my improved driving belts or bands when employing leather in
their manufacture, which material, from its limited thickness, necessitates the
piling up of several layers to obtain the requisite breadth of friction surfaces.
Fig. 1 is a side view of a portion of the improved construction of belt, shew-
ing the mode of arranging the layers of leather, so as to distribute the joints
equally throughout the whole length of the belt. The belt (which I prefer to
make endless, or without a visible coupling of the ends) is formed of strips of
leather cut of varying widths for the different layers, and of any suitable or con-
venient length, and the adjoining ends of the strips are cut square, so as to make
butt joints, which joints are distributed at equal distances apart, or nearly so,
throughout the whole length of the belts. The several layers are united
together by means of metal screws, and the ends of the compound strip thus
composed are brought together and lapped, as shewn in the Figure, and
secured by metal screws passed through the over and under lapping layers.
The edges of the endless belt are next to be chamfered off, and the band will
then present the appearance in plan view of Fig. 2, and in cross section of
Fig. 8, which latter Figure shews the improved belt as applied to a V grooved
pulley. The construction of the belt admits of various modifications, as, for
example, I propose to place leather and cloth alternately layer upon layer
until a suitable thickness is obtained for filling the V grooves of the pullies,
over which the belt is intended to work to the required depth, and these layers
1 secure together by lacing, rivets, cement, or other suitable appliance. The
edges are then to be trimmed to the required bevil, as before stated.
Fig. 4 shews a similar arrangement of layers of leather to that exhibited at
Fig. 1, but with the ends of the strips bevilled to form a lap joint.
At Fig. 5 the layers are arranged so that not only will lap joints be formed
at the junction of the strips but the several layers will run through the belt or
band from the back to the front thereof. This arrangement will, without
impairing the strength of the belt, increase its lissom or pliable quality. The
wedge-shaped belt, constructed as above described, offers peculiar facilities for
shortening or elongating it, for by removing the pins which couple one set of
strips together another set of strips may be introduced into the belt, or the abut-
ting strips at the ends of the now divided band may be shortened in amount,

page_text: equal to the distance between one, two, or moro screws, and then the junc-
tion made good by the same holes being again used for the insertion of the
SCIews.
My improved wedge-shaped belt may also be made of vegetable gums,
treated in any of the well-known manners for increasing their tenacity and
rendering them permanently elastic. When using gutta percba or india-rubber
prepared by the vulcanizing process for the manufacture of the improved belt,
the compound may be brought to the required sectional shape, and covered or
not with other material, as thought desirable, by pressing, rolling, or other
suitable means.
When great resistance is to be overcome, I propose to use these belts in
duplicate on the same pullies, such pullies being made with double V grooves;
with the same object, I construct the belts with two or more sets of bevilled
edges, using pullies grooved to correspond therewith, as shewn in the sectional
view, Fig. 6, wherein the bevilled sides stand up from a common broad base.
The belt is to be so proportioned with respect to the pullics over which it
works, that the inner face of the belt shall run clear of the pulley, as shewn in
Fig. 3. By this means the belt as it wears away at its sides by continued use,
will sink deeper into the groove of the pullies and still retain a secure holding
on the inclined sides of the groove.
Having now explained the nature of my Invention of "An Improvement in
the Manufacture of Driving Belts," and explained the manner of carrying the
same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited
Letters Patent I claim, constructing driving belts of a wedge or taper form in
cross section, suitable for working in conjunction with grooved pulleys, in the
manner above explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clissold, have hereunto set my
band and seal, the Twentieth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
JAMES APPERLY,
Dudbridge, Glo'stershire.
WILLIAM CLISSOLD. (L.S.)