IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF DRIVING BANDS, WIRE ROPE, AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the
County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF DRIVING BANDS, WIRE ROPE, AND OTHER SIMILAR
ARTICLES." A communication from abroad by Joachim Antoine Joseph
Liebermann, of Paris, in the Republic of France.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 22nd June 1880.
JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF DRIVING BANDS, WIRE
ROPE, AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES." A communication from abroad by Joachim
Antoine Joseph Liebermann, of Paris, in the Republic of France.
This Invention relates to the manufacture of driving bands or belts for machinery,
wire ropes, or cables for naval purposes, harness, and other similar articles, and it
consists in the employment for this purpose of a fabric or material composed of
wires intertwined or interlocked after the manner of what is known in France as
"tissu allemand," which is composed of a series of wires coiled in a helical form
resembling helical springs, and connected together side by side by causing the coils
of each helix to engage with the coils of the adjacent helices.
In carrying out this Invention a fabric or material of any desired length and
breadth is manufactured of helices of iron, steel, or copper wire, or wire of any
suitable metal or alloy of metals, by causing the coils of each of the said helices to
interlock or intertwine with the coils of the adjacent helices, in the manner
hereinbefore described.
The diameter of the wires composing the helices is selected in proportion to the
strains to which the material is to be exposed, and the said material may be rolled
or flattened if required before being used.
The material manufactured, as herein before described, is then cut into strips of
suitable width corresponding to the strain to which it is to be exposed, by cutting
through the wires in a direction at right angles to the axes of the helices with
a suitable tool, after which the ends of the wires are secured at the edges to prevent
the helices from becoming displaced.

page_text: In order to unite the extremities of a belt for machinery manufactured according
to this Invention the extremities of the said bolt are brought together, and a helix
similar to those employed in the manufacture of the belt is caused to interlock its
coils with the coils of the helices at each extremity of the belt simultaneously,
after which the ends of the wire forming the helix are secured at the edges, and a
joint is thus made which cannot be distinguished from the other parts of the belt.
If preferred, however, the extremities of such belts may be united by means of any
of the devices ordinarily employed and which are applicable to the purposo.
The edges of the ropes or bands are turned over to render them more even and
prevent accidents; a special tool may be employed for turning over the edges.
Theso wire ropes or bands may be covered with leather, cloth, or any other
suitable material, more particularly in the case of driving belts or bands, in order
to increase the adhesion to the drums or pulleys.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 17th
December 1880.
JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF DRIVING BANDS, WIRE
ROPE, AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES." A communication from abroad by Joachim
Antoine Joseph Liebermann, of Paris, in the Republic of France.
The said Invention relates to the manufacture of driving bands or belts for
machinery, wire rope, or cables for naval or mining purposes, harness, and other
similar articles, and it consists in the employment for this purpose of a fabric or
material composed of wires coiled in a helical form resembling helical springs, and
connected together side by side by causing the coils of each helix to engage with
the coils of the adjacent helices.
This description of fabric or material possesses great power of resistance against
tensile strains in the direction perpendicular or at right angles to the axes of the
helices, and consequently is especially adapted for the purposes before mentioned,
and in general for any purpose for which flat ropes, belts, or bands are ordinarily
employed.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose shall refor
to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed.
Fig. 1 of the accompanying Drawings represents a wire coiled or twisted in
the form of a helix adapted to be employed in the manufacture of the fabric.
Figure 2 represents the two extremities of a band of the fabric, showing the
method of joining such ends together by means of a wire coiled in the same form
as the wires employed in the manufacture of the said fabric.
Figure 3 is a view of the fabric after it has been rolled so as to flatten the coils
of wire and prevent the helices from shifting longitudinally.
This fabric is composed of a series of wires A twisted into the shape shown in
Figure 1, which wires are rotated in such a manner as to cause their coils to
interlock, as shown in Figures 2 and 3, and form a fabric or flexible sheet of any
desired length and breadth, and possessing great power of resistance to tensile
strain in the direction of the arrows.
Any description of wire may be employed for the purposes of the said Invention,
that is to say, the wire may be of any suitable metal or alloy of metal, but it is
preferred to use iron or steel wire in the manufacture of driving belts or bands for
machinery.
The fabric manufactured as hereinbefore described is cut into strips or bands of
any required width by circular cutters or shears or any other suitable appliance,
and is rolled or otherwise submitted to a gentle pressure in order to flatten the
coils and prevent the wires from working out endwise.
The diameter or thickness of the wire employed is selected in proportion to the
strain to which the fabric is destined to be exposed. Any number of lengths of
the fabric may be connected together end to end by screwing or intertwining a
wire A twisted, as hereinbefore described, so as to cause it to engage with the
wires at the extremities of the bands, as shown in Figure 2, in order to form a
band or rope of any desired length.
These bands may be protected, according to the purpose to which they are to
be applied, by coating them with any suitable metal, such, for example, as copper,
zinc, tin, and the like by the galvanizing process, or they may be simply painted or
varnished.
When it is desired to manufacture endless bands of the improved material or
fabric, the extremities are simply brought together and united by inserting a

page_text: twisted wire A in the coils at the extremities, as hereinbefore described with
reference to Figure 2.
When the ends are united in this manner it is impossible to distinguish the
joint from the other parts of the belt, which constitutes a considerable advantage,
especially when the belt or band is used for driving pulleys of small diameter.
The extremities may however, if preferred, be united by means of screws, rivets,
or stitches in the usual manner.
The edges of the bands may be finished by clipping or trimming them with
shears and afterwards rendering the edges smooth and even, either by folding or
turning them over, or by binding them with an edging or binding of loather, india
rubber, or other suitable material.
In order to prevent these bands from slipping over the drums or pulleys, the
latter may be covered with leather, india rubber, gutta percha, canvas, cloth, or
other suitable material attached to their periphery by cementing or otherwise.
This may be readily effected by employing a band of cloth tarred or pitched on
one side only, and wrapping the same round the circumference of the pulley with
the tarred side inwards; the wires of the belt then slightly indent the surface of
this cloth and the belt is thereby prevented from slipping.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the naturo of the said
Invention, and the mannor in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and original,
and therefore clain as the Invention secured to me by the hereinbefore in part
recited Letters Patent is,-
The production of driving bands, wire rope, and other similar articles employed
in the transmission of power, or exposed to tensile strain, substantially in the
manuer herein before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to this my Speci-
fication set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of December, One
thousand eight hundred and eighty.
Signed and sealed by the said
John Henry Johnson in the
presence of
CHA³. MILLS.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)
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