MEASURING FABRICS, WHICH HE PROPOSES DESIGNATING THE AUTOMATON MEASURER, OR DRAPERS ASSISTANT
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Adkins, of Smallbrook Street, Birmingham,
in the County of Warwick, Draper, for the Invention of "MEASURING
FABRICS, WHICH HE PROPOSES DESIGNATING THE AUTOMATON MEASURER, OR
DRAPERS ASSISTANT."
Sealed the 17th October 1856, and dated the 19th April 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Adkins at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 19th
April 1856.
I, WILLIAM ADKINS, of Smallbrook Street, Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Draper, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention for
"MEASURING FABRICS, WHICH I PROPOSE DESIGNATING THE AUTOMATON MEASURER, OR
DRAPERS' ASSISTANT," to be as follows, that is to say :-
My Invention consists of a stand suitable for placing on a counter, and is
fitted with a handle, and with side bearings, between which a roller or a flat
board may be placed, as required, either being put in motion by the handle,
before referred to; and between the side frames, guide rollers are fitted, termi-
nating with one with a given or exact diameter, say, a quarter of a yard in
circumference, and in connection with this roller; by means of a ratchet and an
eccentric, its number of revolutions is registered, in the following manner :-
The fabric to be measured is passed between the guide rollers, placing a suf-

page_text: ficient number to make the fabric (requiring measurement) to be strained out,
and which fabric is then passed over the top measuring roller, from whence it
is brought down and secured to the roller or board on which it is to be placed,
and which roller or board being set in motion by the handle before referred
to, the fabric will be rolled up, and its exact measure registered; this process
may be reversed simply by putting a roll of silk into the machine, bringing the
end over the measuring roller and next under or between the guide rollers,
and in this condition the silk or other fabric may be measured from the roll
with the greatest accuracy, and if such fabric be narrow, such as ribbons, a
number may be measured simultaneously.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Adkins in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
18th October 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ADKINS, of Smallbrook Street, Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Draper, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Adkins, Her special license, that I, the said William Adkins, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Adkins, my executors, administrators, or 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 "MEASURING FABRICS, WHICH I
PROPOSE DESIGNATING THE AUTOMATON MEASURER, OR DRAPERS' ASSISTANT, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Adkins, 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 Adkins, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-

page_text: formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, that is to say:-
The object of my Invention is to provide a neat and portable machine
whereby the wholesale or retail venders of woven fabrics may expeditiously and
smoothly roll, block, card, and accurately measure such fabrics as he or they
may deal in; and which machine will be found of the greatest possible assis-
tance in large or small drapery establishments, not only enabling the proprietor
to check or ascertain the quantity of goods delivered to him as set down in the
invoice or bill of parcels of such goods, but also to put them into a neat con-
dition for stock, either for retail or wholesale purposes, likewise in measuring
out such goods when required in long lengths, and also for stock-taking; it is
evident that such a machine must be of the most valuable assistance, as it
enables one individual to measure or run through more goods than could be
done by six individuals (in the same space of time) using the ordinary means,
and that, too, with the measurement so accurately recorded that a mistake
is impossible, provided due attention is paid to the circumference of the
measuring roller, and that the dial or indicator is duly divided in accordance
with the said roller. But as my Invention will be best understood by referring
to the Drawings hercunto annexed, I will proceed to describe the same, obser-
ving, that small instances where the same parts are represented in various
views, they are marked with the same letters of reference.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Figures 1, 2, and 3 are front and opposite end views of my machine,
drawn to a scale of 3 inches to the foot. A and B are the end standards;
united together with five rails, marked C, D, E, F, and G, which may be made
with brass tubing, drawn over iron rods tapped at the ends, so that the stand-
ards A and B may be united and firmly secured by nuts, as here shewn; H is
a board to which the standards are fixed, by screws passing through the flanges,
shewn at I, I; J is the measuring roller, fitted at the ends with caps and
ferules which may at all times form an accurate guage for the size of the
roller which they clip, the right-hand axes of which passes into the box of
the indicator, marked K, and is connected by a train of wheels with the bands.
placed in front of the dial plate, shewn in a front view at Figure 3, the action
of which will be hereafter described; L, L, are supports, united to the
machine by the rail, marked F, passing through them, holes being formed at:
their bottom ends, marked S¹, S', for that purpose, and connected at the top by
the straps M and N, the latter being connected at each end of the rail D,
whilst M, M, is united to the supports L, L, by the rail O, extending from

page_text: end to end, passing through them, and secured by nuts; and P, P, is also a
rail, which may be applied or removed at pleasure by simply pushing it
through the holes in the standards L, L; this rail extends from end to end,
the use of which will be hereafter described; and it is evident that the sup-
ports L, L, working on the rails F, may be folded up until the stretching rod
O is laid in right over the stretching rail of the machine marked D.; or, on
the contrary, they may be allowed to drop down until the straps M and N
assume a straight line from D to O. The support L, L, are capable of being
slided along the rails F and O (on which they work), and adjusted in any
desirable position by thumb screws, marked Q, Q, Q, Q. The use of this
appendage is for receiving or supporting the piece of fabric that is intended to be
measured; and, inasmuch, as woven fabrics vary in width, and the style of
blocking, rolling, carding, &c., I have so constructed my machine that it may be
adjusted to suit the various widths; as also, after passing over, the measuring
roller may be laid regularly and smoothly around a large or small roller, flat
board, or in any other form that the goods, that may be being measured,
are or may be usually made up; as, for instance, the machine as now
arranged has a flat piece of wood fixed between the forked centres, marked R
and R', (which piece of wood is three-quarters of a yard long,) ready for
receiving any description of fabric of that width, such as damask, mareens, &c.,
say, in the following way:-The fabric to be measured may rest on or over
the rail O, which is here shewn partially extended, or the rod P may be with-
drawn and passed through the roll or otherwise folded goods intended to be
measured, and again placed into the position here shewn, from whence it will
work off in the process of measuring; or, the goods may be laid on the counter
beneath, and the end of it being passed under the rod G, and carried up on the
outside of the rod F, between the guides S, S, outside the rod E, inside the rod
D, and over the measuring roller J, and down inside the rod C, between the
guides T, T, and from thence to the board, on which it must be wrapped slowly
by the band for one or two turns; when the further operation may be continued
by turning the handle U, until the whole piece intended to be measured
is wrapped upon the board; that donc, its exact length in yards will be indi-
cated by the long hand on the dial, and the odd portions (if any) by the short
hand. It will be observed that the guides S, S, and T, T, are retained in
their respective positions by thumb screws, thus admitting of their being moved
and adjusted on the rails (over which they work) in any desired position; and
it will be further observed that the forked centre R¹, portably placed in the
socket V, is pressed forward (for retaining or liberating the board) by the
lever W, and the screw X is for retaining the socket V in any desired

page_text: way
position in which it may be placed by the lever. The vertical rail Y, to which
these parts are attached, may be moved backwards or forwards on the rails C
and G, and retained in any desired position, by the thumb screws Z, Z; thus it
is evident that fabric of any description and width, not exceeding the length-
of the machine, may be by its means measured and wrapped or rolled up
in a neat and regular manner; and the machine being exceedingly portable
and light, it must be a great acquisition to vendors and dealers in general
fabrics, from broad cloth down to ribbon and lace. The machine may be
affixed to a stand, or placed on a counter or table, on which it may be held by
a couple of screw clamps, such as are exhibited. at Figure 4.
Figures 5 and 6 represents a full size front and side view of the forked
centres, as exhibited in Figure 1 at R and R', observing, that R must be fitted
with a square pin, as at A', to fit into a square hole formed in the socket or
mandril to which the handle is attached, so that the handle cannot be turned
without giving motion to the forked centre thus connected with it, while the
one marked R¹ terminates with a round pin, such as exhibited in the detached
end view at Figure 6, which fits in a corresponding hole in the sliding mandril
or socket V, thus admitting of its freely revolving as the board is turned round
by the action of the handle. In some instances a simple centre (such as I
have shewn in a front and side view at Figures 7 and 8, drawn full size,) may
be applied to the socket V, the point or centre being pressed up against the
board or roller on which the fabric may be in course of measurement; and
again, the forked centre, represented in front and side views at Figures 9 and
10, may be advantageously used, as applied in the place of R, when rollers are
being used for receiving the measured goods. Figures 11 and 12. represent
an edge and back view of an adjustable centre to be fitted in the socket of the
handle, as in the place of R, for blocking and measuring ribbons or fabrics of a
comparatively narrow width, usually made or blocked up on short rollers.
B¹, B', is a disc of metal, to which is attached square pin, marked C¹; and
D¹, D', are fixed collars, in which reversed threaded screws work, and on the
reversed screws are placed the clips or jaws E', E', and it is evident that by
turning the screws by the thumb piece F¹ the clips or jaws will advance to or
recede from the centre, so that rollers of any size may be securely held in a
strictly central position; and in order to complete the action of measuring and
neatly blocking such goods, it is necessary to provide a disc or flange for the
other end of the roller to abut against, and which I have exhibited in an edge
and back view at Figures 13 and 14, the pin marked G¹ being made tho
proper size for fitting into the socket or mandril V. By this means it is
evident that the vertical bar Y, Figure 1, has only to be passed along the rails

page_text: Cand G towards the handle, until the face of the disc, Figure 13, is brought in
contact with the roller secured between the jaws E' and E', before described at
Figure 11, when the apparatus will be complete, and ready for measuring such
fabrics.
Figures 15 and 16 represent an end and front view of an apparatus for
carding and measuring lace, fringe, gimp, &c., which are usually wrapped on
cards or thin boards. H, H, is a bar, with a square shank in the centre, at
right angles with the lengthway of the bar; this shank fits into the square hole
in the socket connected with the handle, or, as before stated, in the position of
the forked centre R, Figure 1. I', I', are arms, which slide on the bar II',
and which may be adjusted and secured by the thumb screws J¹, J¹. The
parts K, L, and K', L', are composed of thin pieces of tempered steel,
between which the card or thin board is placed on which the fabric is intended
to be carded; and it is evident, that if this apparatus were fixed in the machine
and put in motion by the handle, the goods intended to be carded may be done
in a very rapid and neat manner, and its due length defined on the indicator.
Figures 17 and 18 is a lengthway and end view of a bar of iron, the square
of which should not be less than the square hole in' the socket connected with
the handle, while the extreme left-hand end is made round, as at T¹, for fitting
into the socket or mandrel V. The use of this bar is for winding goods upon
during the process of measuring, and to be afterwards withdrawn from such
rolled up and measured goods.
In conclusion, I will observe, that it may be necessary in some instances to
apply the handle, say, in the centre of the circle at W¹, Figure 3, or on the
end of the rail, marked E, or in any other suitable position; and by the appli-
cation of one or more cog wheels, in connection with a pinion fixed to the
mandrel, to which the handle is now attached, it is evident that any desired
velocity can thereby be given to the board, roller, or other apparatus that may
be placed in the machine, and on which the measured goods may be intended
to be wrapped. And, again, should it be desirable to work such machine by
the foot, a stand, suitably arranged for that purpose, with a strap or band
passing over a pulley applied in the place of the handle, may be easily and
readily adapted to it.
:
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same may be carried into effect, I wish it understood that I do not
confine myself to the particular shape or size of the various parts of which
the machine as here represented may be composed, nor to the principle of
measuring fabrics by means of an indicator attached to a roller of a given size,
as such kind of machines are already in use, but of a heavy, ponderous, and

page_text: exclusive kind, suited to the measuring of particular descriptions of goods, the
manufacturers of which may desire to measure and fold up before sending
out; but what I do claim as my Invention is, the general arrangement, as
herein exhibited, and the adaptability of the various parts, by which means
any description of woven fabrics may be accurately measured, and folded
up in any of the various ways in which such general drapery, fancy goods, or
woven fabrics are or may be folded or blocked for sale.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Adkins, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeeth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
JAMES S. COCKINGS,
Patent Agent,
Birmingham.
WILLIAM ADKINS. (L.S.)