IMPROVEMENTS IN THE OF ROLLERS USED IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING HEMP AND FLAX
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Sir Peter Fairbairn, of Leeds, in the County. of
CONSTRUCTION
York, Knight, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
OF ROLLERS USED IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING HEMP AND FLAX."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Sir Peter Fairbairn at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th August 1860.
I, Sir PETER FAIRBAIRN, of Leeds, in the County of York, Knight, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF ROLLERS USED IN-MACHINERY FOR PREPARING HEMP AND FLAX,"
to be as follows:-*
This Invention relates to a novel mode of covering the drawing and pressing
rollers of machinery for preparing hemp and flax with leather, the object
being to render such rollers better able than heretofore to withstand the
cutting action of the fibres. To this end I propose to apply the leather to
the rollers, so that the acting surface will exhibit the cross grain of the leather,
and will allow of considerable wear before requiring to be re-covered. The
leather used for covering the rollers I stamp out with a suitable tool from
stout hides in the form of rings or segments of circles according to the
diameter of the roller to be covered, and these rings or segments I string on
or place around a spindle until the several thicknesses thus brought together
equal the length of the roller required to be made. I then, by means of

page_text: -clamping plates and nuts, bind the whole together firmly, and finish off the
roller by turning it down in a lathe. By this means any thickness of leather
covering can be obtained, and great facility is afforded for applying the leather
to the rollers.
•
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by William Henry Gaunt, of Leeds, in the County of York, Solicitor,
one of the Executors under the last Will and Testament of the said
Sir Peter Fairbairn, deceased, in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th February 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY GAUNT, of Leeds, in the County of York, Solicitor, one of the
Executors under the last Will and Testament of Sir Peter Fairbairn, of
Leeds, in the said County of York, Knight, who departed this life on the
Fourth day of January, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto him, the said
Sir Peter Fairbairn, Her special license that he, the said Sir Peter Fair-
bairn, his executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as he, the
said Sir Peter Fairbairn, his 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF ROLLERS USED IN MACHINERY FOR PRE-
PARING HEMP AND FLAX," upon the condition (amongst others) that he, the said
Sir Peter Fairbairn, his executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under bis, 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.
•
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Henry Gaunt, as such
Executor as aforesaid, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention,

page_text: and in what manner the same is to be performed, 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).
This Invention relates to: a novel mode of covering the drawing and. pressing
rollers of machinery for preparing hemp and flax with leather, the object
being to render such rollers' better able than heretofore to withstand the cutting
action of the fibres.
The covered rollers of preparing machines have hitherto been generally
made by stretching leather around the periphery of iron or wooden rollers, so
that the face of the covering leather was presented to the hemp or flax fibres.
Instead of thus disposing the leather, it is now proposed to apply the leather
to the rollers so that the acting surface will present the cross grain of the
leather to the staple under operation. This arrangement will also permit of
considerable wear taking place in the covering leather before the roller will
require to be re-covered. The leather used for covering the rollers is stamped
out with a suitable cutting tool from stout hides in the form of rings or seg-
ments of circles according to the diameter of the roller to be covered, and
these rings or segments are strung on or placed around the periphery of a
flanged roller in a sufficient number of layers to produce by their combination
a breadth of covering equal to the length of the roller required to be made.
The mode preferred for carrying out this Invention I will now explain with
reference to the accompanying Drawing, in which Figures 1 are side and edge
views of a ring of leather composed of segments, and Figures 2 are side and
edge views of a ring stamped out in one piece; Fig. 3 represents a pair of
the improved drawing rollers mounted on a spindle A, one of the rollers being
shewn partly in section the better to explain its construction; and Fig. 4 is
an end view of the improved roller with a portion of the end plate broken
away. The roller consists of a metal core a, made slightly conical, and
formed with a flange b at its base. Projecting from the core is a boss to
receive an annular plate c, which when applied forms the second flange of the
roller. The leather rings are cut to fit the core a, and they are slipped on as
shewn at d (Fig. 3), so as to cover the whole surface of the core. The
annular plate c is then applied, and by means of clamping screws e, e, which
are passed through the plate c, and core and flange a, b, the plate c is caused
to bind the layers of leather firmly together, the same being thus gripped
securely between the flanges of the roller.
The roller thus constructed is finished by turning down the leather covering
in a lathe to produce a smooth surface. By this means it will be readily

page_text: understood that any desired thickness of leather covering can be obtained, and
that great facility is afforded: for applying the leather to the rollers.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "Improvements in the
Construction of Rollers used in Machinery for Preparing Hemp and Flax,"
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 covered rollers in the manner and for the purpose above
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Gaunt, 'have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-sixth day of February, in the year 1
of our Lord One' thousand eight hundred and sixty-one:
W. HENRY GAUNT. (L.s.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
said William Henry Gaunt, in' the
presence of
THOMAS TURNER, Solicitor,
Leeds.