IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR STRETCHING TEXTILE FABRICS AS THEY ARE WOUND INTO LAPS OR ROLLS AFTER THE PROCESSES OF BLEACH- ING AND DYEING OR OPERATIONS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Thomson, of Clitheroe, in the County
of Lancaster, Calico Printer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR STRETCHING TEXTILE FABRICS AS
THEY ARE WOUND INTO LAPS OR ROLLS AFTER THE PROCESSES OF BLEACH-
ING AND DYEING OR OPERATIONS CONNECTED THEREWITH."
Sealed the 16th June 1854, and dated the 16th December 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Thomson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 16th December 1853.
I, HENRY THOMSON, of Clitheroe, in the County of Lancaster, Calico
Printer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS POR STRETCHING TEXTILE FABRICS
AS THEY ARE WOUND INTO LAPS OR ROLLS AFTER THE PROCESSES OF BLEACHING
AND DYEING OR OPERATIONS CONNECTED THEREWITH" to be as follows:-
My improvements refer to a method of obtaining an equally
distended lap or roll of textile fabrics after they have been subjected
to a bleaching or dyeing process, or to any of the operations, such as
washing or scouring, connected therewith, and consists particularly in

page_text: the application of a pair of rollers in front of the lapping apparatus
placed at an angle, to each other, so as by their revolution to stretch
the goods out evenly previously to their being wound. These rollers
may be combined with ordinary machinery in several ways. In order,
however, to illustrate their action I will describe a general arrangement
I propose using, and which, as a combination, I claim as my Invention.
The plaits of fabric are placed upon the floor, and the end conducted
upwards over a roller, at which situation there is a platform for an
attendant, who draws out the cloth by hand; after this the goods pass
.downwards to a "scrimping" apparatus formed of the usual rails, and
from thence are conducted over the rollers placed at an angle to each
other, as above described; the operation of winding is then performed
in any ordinary manner.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Thomson in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 16th June 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
HENRY THOMSON, of Clitheroe, in the County of Lancaster, Calico
Printer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto me, the said Henry Thomson, Her especial
licence that I, the said Henry Thomson, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Thomson; my execu-
tors, 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
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR STRETCHING TEXTILE FABRICS AS THEY ARE
WOUND INTO LAPS OR ROLLS AFTER THE PROCESSES OF BLEACHING AND DYEING

page_text: OB OPERATIONS CONNECTED THEREWITH," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Henry Thomson, by an instrument 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 Henry Thomson, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement and accompanying Drawings (that
is to say) :-
My improvements refer to a method of obtaining an equally
distended lap or roll of textile fabrics after they have been subjected to
a bleaching or dyeing process, or to any of the operations, such as
washing or scouring, connected therewith, and consists particularly in
the application of a pair of rollers in front of the lapping apparatus
placed at an angle to each other, so as by their revolution to stretch the
goods out evenly previously to their being wound. Also my Invention
consists in a certain combination of apparatus for effecting the like
object. And in order that my Invention may be fully understood, and
have appended to this my Specification an illustrative Drawing which
I will now proceed to describe. Fig. 1 is a side view of the machinery,
and Fig. 2 a plan view thereof. The goods, from the processes above
mentioned, are placed in folds upon a platform a, and conducted from
thence over a roller b, situate at the upper part of the building; this
roller is represented nearer to the machino than its real situation for
the convenience of bringing it within the Drawing; I generally place it
about thirty feet from the floor, but it may be more or less. Beneath
the roller b is a platform c, upon which an attendant stands and draws
out the fabric by hand as it passes upward. The cloth, in descending,
is conveyed between rails d, and from thence under a rod e, to the
upper surface of two rollers f, f; these rollers are mounted to turn
freely in bearings, and are placed at an angle to each other, so that
their revolution, caused by the passage of the cloth over them, will tend

page_text: to open it out towards the selvages. The fabric then passes under and
over crimping bars 9, 9, and beneath a roller h, upon the periphery of
which there are formed right and left spiral threads; to this roller a
rapid rate of revolution is imparted, and the cloth is thereby further
distended, so as to be wound evenly into a lap upon the roller i, to
which rotatory motion is communicated by the surface drum j. Motion
may be communicated to the various parts in any usual manner; the
arrangement shewn in the Drawing is as follows:-The main shaft is
at k, actuated by connexion of the wheel with the driving power, and
capable of being disengaged by a clutch box m. Upon the shaft is
placed the surface drum j, and its other end is provided with a pulley n,
driving, by means of a crossed strap, a smaller pulley o, upon the shaft
p of which is a pulley q, communicating motion by means of a strap to
the screwed roller h.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it
to be understood that I claim as secured to me under the above in part
recited Letters Patent, and for the purposes above set forth, the
general arrangement of machinery or apparatus above described, and
particularly I claim,―
Firstly, the use of the platform c and roller b, whereby an attendant
may open out the goods as they pass to the machine.
And, secondly, I claim the use of rollers placed at an angle to each
other, so as to distend the goods towards their selvages before their
arrival at the lap roller.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Thomson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Fifteenth day of June, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
four.
HENDY THOMSONL
HENDY THOMSON
THOMSON (..)