THE MANUFACTURE OF IMPROVED BE MACHINERY OR OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Spencer Thomas Parmelee; of Edinburgh, in the
County of Mid Lothian, North Britain, for the Invention of "THE
MANUFACTURE OF IMPROVED BE
MACHINERY OR OTHER PURPOSES."
Sealed the 30th September 1858, and dated the 10th April 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Spencer Thomas Parmelec,
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
10th April 1858.
I, SPENCER THOMAS PARMELEE, of Edinburgh, in the County of Mid
Lothian, North Britain, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"THE MANUFACTURE OF IMPROVED BELTING FOR M INERY OR OTHER PURPOSES,"
to be as follows (that is to say) :-
My Invention; which has reference to the manufacture of an improved
description of belting, to be employed for the general purposes of communi-
cating motion to or from machinery, traces, girthings, or otherwise, consists in
forming the said belting.of two or more layers of woven material, cut into
strips of any required width, and spread or coated on both sides with india-
rubber, gutta percha, or a combination of both, and submitted to heat and
pressure, so as to cause the said layers to be united, and the materials to be
more effectually consolidated than hitherto, for which purpose I cause the said
materials to be placed between the peripheries of two revolving cylinders

page_text: united by an endless metallic band, in such manner as to admit of the belting
being passed between one of the cylinders enclosed within a heated chamber
and the endless metallic band, the said cylinders being provided with one or
more grooves corresponding to the required width of the belting, which is
thereby more perfectly vulcanized, and the surfaces rendered smoother than
hitherto. In place of the above mentioned apparatus a press of any required
length may be employed for the like purposes, by causing consecutive portions
of the materials to be surrounded by and receive pressure from metallic
surfaces heated by steam or otherwise, which are brought in contact with the
materials under operation by a screw covering, or in lieu thereof the belting
or otherwise with intervening metallic bands or strips may be coiled or wound
upon a drum or cylinder, and secured there to through the medium of a
circumferential metallic clasp or band and moveable side places, the whole of
which is then placed within a heated chamber for the purpose of vulcanizing
the belting.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Spencer Thomas Parmelee in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 9th October 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SPENCER
THOMAS PARMELEE, of Edinburgh, in the County of Mid Lothian, North
Britain, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of April, in the year of our Lord One thou-
sand eight hundred and fifty-eight,in the twenty-first year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Spencer
Thomas Parmelee, Her special licence that I, the said Spencer Thomas Par-
melee, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Spencer Thomas Parmelee, my 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
aud Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "THE
MANUFACTURE OF IMPROVED BELTING FOR MACHINERY OR OTHER PURPOSES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Spencer Thomas Parmelee,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument. in writing under my,
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and

page_text: 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 Spencer Thomas Parmelee, 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 the Drawings therein referred to (that is to say) :-
My Invention, which has reference to the manufacture of an improved
description of belting to be employed for the general purposes of communi-
cating motion to or from machinery or for tracings, girthings, or otherwise,
consists in the said belting being formed of two or more layers of woven
materiai,such as cotton or linen canvass cut into strips of the required dimen-
sions for the belting, the said strips being previously spread or coated on both
sides with india-rubber, gutta percha, or a combination of both, which are
prepared in the ordinary manner by being ground and compounded with the
requisite materials for that purpose. The strips or layers of the material
aforesaid are then laid together,so as to make the belting of as many plies as
required, which may be done by hand labor upon a long table, or by means
of a two-cylinder machine so constructed with guides as to bring the different
plies parallel one to the other and press the same into close union, the belting
thus formed being subsequently submitted simultaneously to heat and
pressure,as herein-after moro fully described, and thereby caused to be more
effectually consolidated and vulcanized than by the process at present in
use; to effect which object I cause,-
Firstly, the said belting to be placed between two revolving cylinders united
by an endless metallic band, in such manner as to admit of the belting being
passed between the periphery of one of the rollers enclosed within a heated
chamber and the endless metallic band, the said cylinders being provided
with one or more grooves corresponding to the required width of the
belting.
Secondly, in lieu of the above-mentioned apparatus I employ a metallic
press, the bed of which is grooved internally in width, corresponding with
the belting, or furnished with shifting plates grooved in like manner, in which
a portion of the belting is laid, and covered with a metallic surface plate, so
as to surround that part of the belt within the press; pressure by means of
screws and heat, by steam or otherwise, is then applied till the belting. is
sufficiently cured, when the next portion thereof has to be placed within the
press for the like purpose, and operated on in like manner.

page_text: And, thirdly, the belting or otherwise with intervening metallic bands or
strips of the same width as the belting, may be coiled or wound upon a shaft
or cylinder, and secured thereto,and the requisite pressure supplied through
the medium of a circumferential clasp or band and moveable side plates; the
belting may then be subjected to heat, as aforesaid, by placing the apparatus
within a chamber for that purpose.
But in order that my said Invention may be more fully understood, and
readily carried into effect, I now proceed to describe it by the aid of the
accompanying Drawings, reference being had to the letters and figures
thereon marked (that is to say) :-
Fig. 1, Sheet 1, represents an end or front view of the machinery or appa-
ratus described under the first head of my Invention; Fig. 2, a side elevation
with the furnace complete; Fig. 3, a back view; Fig. 4, a top or plan view;
Fig. 5, a longitudinal vertical section taken through the dotted line in Fig. 1;
Fig. 6, a horizontal section taken through the dotted line in Fig. 2; Fig. 7,
a horizontal section of the furnace taken through the dotted line in Fig. 5,
showing the arrangement of the fire bars; Fig. 8, a transverse vertical
section of the same.
Fig. 9, Sheet 2, a side elevation of the press referred to under the second
head of my Invention; Fig. 10, an end view; Fig. 11, a top or plan view;
Fig. 12, a transverse vertical section taken through the dotted line in Fig. 9;
Fig. 13, a side elevation of the apparatus mentioued under the third head
of my Invention; Fig. 14, a front view thereof with a portion of one of the
side plates removed; and Fig. 15, a vertical section taken through the dotted
line in Fig. 14. In each Figure the same letters of reference denote similar
corresponding parts.
A, A, standard framing secured to the flooring or otherwise, upon which
the working portions of the machinery are mounted; B, B, cylinders or
drums coupled. or united, as aforesaid, through the medium of the endless
metallic band C, C, in such manner as to revolve vertically upon horizontal
shafts D and D', as represented; E, E, side flanges or shoulders forming
grooves F, F, on the peripheries of the cylinders of corresponding width to
the belting, and in which the endless band revolves; G, G, tension bearings,
moving longitudinally in side slot openings H,H,formed in the framing for
supplying the necessary running pressure to the said metallic band by means
of screw and nut movements 1, 1, actuated by winch handles J, J; K, K,
fixed bearings, in which the shaft of the enclosed cylinder revolves; L, L,
worm or screw wheel secured to the shaft of the outer cylinder for giving
motion to the same through the intervention of the wormed shaft or tangent

page_text: a, a, shaft
motion M, M; N and N1, fast and loose strap wheels for actuating the same
by means of the strap or band O, O; P, P, plummer block bearings, in which
the said wormed shaft revolves; Q. Q, roller upon which the belting to be
operated upon R, R, is wound; S. S, corresponding roller mounted in like
manner upon the standard framing, round which the vulcanized belting T, T,
is coiled through the medium of the winch handle U, U, or strap gearing
from the shaft D; V, V, fixed bearings in which the said rollers revolve;
W, W, case or chamber enclosing and supplying the requisite heat to the
belting under operation X, X, for the purpose of vulcanizing the same;
Y, Y, friction rollers secured to the front of the heated chamber for the
purpose of directing through the openings in the chamber to and from the
enclosed cylinder; Z, Z, flues passing vertically through the vulcanizing
compartment for the purpose of increasing the surface heat.
or chimney through which the smoke and heat ascends; b, b, the furnace ;
c, c, fire bars; d; d, furnace door; e, e, ash-pit; ff, lower chamber in which
the furnace is placed for communicating heat to the vulcanizing compart-
ment; y, y, doors opening into the said chambers or compartments;
h, h, the flooring; i, i, joists or girders;, j, metallic bed or press in which
a portion of the belting is placed for the purpose of being vulcanized;
k, k, grooved or channelled plate in which the belting is laid, and covered
with the metallic surface plate l, 1, as aforesaid, for the purpose of sur-
rounding the belting with smooth inetallic surfaces; m, m, chain or rope
for inserting or withdrawing the grooved plate, as represented by the dotted
portion in Fig. 9, through the medium of the rollers n, n, and winch handles
o, o; p, p, friction rollers on which the grooved plate travels; bearings
in which the same revolver, pipes communicating with the interior of the
press for the purpose of charging the same with steam; s, s, screws for sup-
plying the necessary pressure to the belting under operation; t, t, nuts
through which the said screws work; u, u, crossheads or standards carrying
the said nuts; u, v, screw heads in which levers are placed for actuating the
screws and supplying the requisite downward pressure, as aforesaid; w, w
shaft or roller on which the belting under operation is wound; x, x, metallic
band or strip separating each coil or convolution of the belting, so as to
interpose smooth metallic surfaces between the sides thereof; y, y, circum-
ferential clasp or b.nd for supplying the requisite pressure to the same; z, z,
side plates for presenting metallic surfaces and supplying pressure in like
manner to the edges of the belting through the medium of the screws and
nuts z', z¹; z, z2, lug openings against which the screw heads and nuts work.
In conclusion to the foregoing description it may be necessary to observe,

page_text: that in operating upon the belting by the machinery or apparatus described
under the first head of my Invention, I cause the chamber to be heated to the
required temperature by means of the furnace or otherwise. I then place one
end of the belt to be vulcanized between the enclosed cylinder and the metallic
band, to which a slow revolving motion is communicated by means of the
driving rigger and intermediate gearing,so that on the belting traversing one
half of the circumference of the pulley or cylinder it becomes vulcanized, the
motion and corresponding heat being maintained until the whole length of the
belting is finished or vulcanized, and the necessary pressure given to the
belting through the medium of the screw and nut movement, as aforesaid.
In operating upon the belting through the medium of the apparatus
described under the second head of my Invention, I place a portion of the
belting to be vulcanized between the grooved plate and metallic covering, so
that that part of the belting within the press shall be entirely surrounded, as
represented. The covering is then brought in close contact with the belt by
means of the screws s, s, and retained in that position until the said portion
of the belting is vulcanized, which is then removed from the press through the
medium of the chain or rope m, m, and winch handle o, o, as above mentioned
and consecutive portions thereof operated on in like manner, until the entire
length of the fabric has been vulcanized.
By the third and last mode of operating I cause the belting to be wound
tightly round the shaft or cylinder with a thin metallic band of corresponding
width, and around the periphery of the coil thus formed I place the circum-
ferential baud or clasp; the sides plates are then brought in close contact
with the edges of the belting and the band or clasp by means of the screws
and nuts, and the whole apparatus placed within a heated chamber for the
purpose
of being vulcanized.
I would also remark that the belting should be subjected to a temperature
of about two hundred and seventy degrees Farenheit, and exposed to the
action of the heat for four to eight hours, depending upon the thickness and
width of the belting, as also upon the size of the coil mentioned and referred
to under the third head of my Invention.
Having now fully described and ascertained the nature of this my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed and carried
into effect, I would have it clearly understood that I do not intend to confine
myself to the precise details herein-before set forth, as the cylinders men-
tioned under the first head of my Invention, and the press referred to under
the second head, may contain any suitable number of grooves, and admit of
a corresponding number of belts being vulcanized by one operation, or the

page_text: same may be otherwise varied without departing from the general principle
of this my said Invention; but that which I do claim as new and of my said
Invention, is,
Firstly, for the modes herein described of submitting belting to pressure
between smooth metallic surfaces during the process of heating or vulcanizing
the same, so as to obtain greater solidity and uniformity in the belting, and
render the surfaces thereof more even and regular than hitherto.
And secondly, for the general construction and employment of the
machinery or apparatus above referred to, in the manner and for the purposes
herein-before set forth and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Spencer Thomas Parmelee, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
SPENCER T. PARMELEE. (L.B.)