Improvements in Multiple Folding Apparatus, specially applicable for Folding Woven Fabrics in the Manner generally known as Accordeon Plaiting or Pleating.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Jan., 1895-Accepted, 23rd Feb., 1895
[Communicated from abroad by Mrs. JANET WALKER, of Adelaide Street,
Brisbane, Queensland, Dressmaker.]
Improvements in Multiple Folding Apparatus, specially applicable
for Folding Woven Fabrics in the Manner generally known as
Accordeon Plaiting or Pleating.
1, PETER SMITH of 4 West Regent Street, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Merchant, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed; to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-.
My invention relates more particularly to that class of folding machines which
are used for producing small regular folds usually known as plaits or pleats, and
consists essentially of a rectangular frame provided with suitable grooves to receive
a number of thin metal strips or knives, which can be pressed tightly together by
screws from the front acting against a removable gate at the back of the machine.
The grooves are so adjustable that one set of knives can be used to make folds of
various widths. The knives are removable and can be inserted one by one in the
frame while a piece of woven fabric is folded in a zig-zag fashion between them so
as to pass under one blade and over the next. A special feature of my invention is
the use of broad knives even for the narrowest folds. This entirely obviates the
difficulty of extreme weakness of the blades while also allowing the use of one set.
of knives for all breadths of folds.
In order to regulate the width of the folds or plaits the knives are provided
with projections which fit into lateral grooves in the sides of the frame, the grooves
being formed by projecting strips of metal which can be removed and replaced by
other strips of metal of various thickness, thereby rendering one machine capable of
working plaits of various depths. These lateral strips are held in position by
screws, which when loosened allow the upper strips to be moved laterally into such
a position as to permit the removal of the upper knives. By withdrawing the
screws the lower strips can be removed and replaced by others so as to alter the
width of the folds or pleats-by using a thick lateral strip at one side and a thin
strip at the other side the knives may be so inclined to one another as to
produce shaped pleats. Thus the use of the various lateral strips renders my
improved apparatus capable of making various depths of pleats and also V-shaped.
pleats suitable for circular work.
In dealing with very fine fabrics, I insert two or more thicknesses of the
fabric in order to obtain the necessary body of material to take the folds or
creases.
To impress the folds on the fabric I apply pressure on the folded fabric and
knives and then subject the whole to heat from any convenient source, such as a gas
heater placed below the frame. The upper knives are then removed and the fabric
and lower knives again clamped up and subjected to heat.
In the accompanying drawings I have shown how my invention can be carried
out. On the figures the same numerals refer to the same parts.
]
Figure represents the frame in perspective with back gate 2 and knives in
position.
Figure II represents a cross section of the frame parallel with the gate, showing
the upper and lower knives in position.
Figure III represents one knife blade separately, and shows the projections at

page_text: :
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the end for insertion in the lateral grooves of the frame, and also the nicks 26
provided for the purpose of lifting the upper knives out singly.
Figure IV is a section at right angles to the gate, showing the zig-zag. method of
folding the fabric over and under the knives, and the method of applying the
pressure.
.
Figure V shows the method of applying my invention to circular work with
V-shaped plaits.
:
Figure VI shows the gas appliance applied for warming the apparatus.
Figure VII is a plan of the upper lateral strip 16 showing the method of
slotting to facilitate the removal of the knives without extracting the holding down
screws.
1..
1 is the metal frame; 2 is the removable gate; 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14,
are the removable knives; 15, 16, are the lower and upper lateral strips which
form the lateral grooves for receiving the projections: made on the knife blades ;
17, 17 are the screws which hold down the lateral strips. 18, 18 are the screws
for pressing the knives and fabric together against the gate 2. 19 is a gas heater
for heating the folded fabric. 20, and 21 Fig. 5 are respectively an upper and a
lower knife adjusted for circular work by means of the thick lower lateral strip 22
at one side and the thin strip 25 at the opposite side. 24 and 25 are slots in the
upper lateral strips for facilitating the release of the upper knives without with-
drawing the screws 17, 17:
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-
The knives and gate having been removed, the woven fabric X (Fig. 4) is
inserted against the stiff plate 14, knife 13 is then inserted below, knife 12 above,
and so on until the frame is full, the fabric being stretched over each knife upwards
and downwards while the next knife is inserted, the floor of the frame being cut
away as shown in Fig. IV for the purpose. The removable gate is next inserted
and, the whole clamped up by the screws 18, 18. A gas appliance 19 or other
source of heat is then placed below the frame and warmth applied in order to
impress the fold on the fabric.
The screws 18 are then screwed back to remove the pressure from the knives and
abric, and the screws 17, 17 are loosened to allow the upper lateral strips, 16, 16
10 be slid back until the screws in slots 25 leave the slots and allow the strips 16, 16
to be rotated on the screws in slots 2+, and uncover the projections on knives 4, 6,
8, 10, 12, and 14, which can then be lifted out one by one.
The remaining lower knives and the fabric are then clamped up tightly and
again heated. The last process makes a sharp crease at the lower points of the
zig-zag formed by the fabric, thereby rendering the pleat more permanent and of
Letter appearance.
In the case of circular pleating the cycle of operations is identical, but the
'knives are inclined to each other as in Fig. V.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
consider novel and desire to claim is :-
1. In multiple folding machines the combination of a rectangular frame, a
number of knives guided in grooves therein and a removable back gate substantially
as described and for the purpose herein before set forth.
2. In multiple folding machines of the class set forth the combination of a
: rectangular frame and of a number of knives guided in grooves formed by four
lateral strips of which two are varied in thickness to adjust the width of the fold
or plait substantially as herein before described with reference to the drawings
annexed.
3. In multiple folding machines of the class set forth the combination of a
rectangular frame 1, with upper and lower sets of knives fitted therein and slotted
upper strips 16 arranged so as to facilitate the removal of the upper knives;
substantially as herein before described with reference to the drawings annexed.

page_text: 4. The general arrangement and combination of parts of the machine sub-
stantially as herein before described and shown on the drawings annexed.
Dated this 21st day of January 1895.
H. D. FITZPATRICK,
70, Wellington Street, Glasgow, Agent.