IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR FOLDING CLOTH INTO LENGTHS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Julius Homan, of Milk Street, Cheapside, in the
City of London, Manufacturing Outfitter, for the Invention of "IMPROVED
MACHINERY FOR FOLDING CLOTH INTO LENGTHS."
Sealed the 14th July 1857, and dated the 15th January 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Julius Homan. at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th January 1857.
I, JULIUS HOMAN, of Milk Street, Cheapside, in the City of London,
Manufacturing Outfitter, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR FOLDING CLOTH INTO LENGTHS," to be as
follows:-
The object of this Invention is to fold up cloth into uniform lengths of lap
ready to be cut up into garments by means of the mechanism now employed
for that purpose. To this end I provide an expanding reel to receive and
wind up the cloth into given lengths of folds. This reel I construct with two
cross bars, which I secure to a central shaft by means of two pairs of radial
screws, which constitute arms for the support of the bars and stand in a line
parallel with each other. One pair of these screws I fit with bevil wheels,
the bosses of which are tapped to admit of their working up and down on the
screws; but the bosses of these wheels are secured, so as to prevent their
moving except in the direction of their axis. The rotation, therefore, of the

page_text: wheels will force out or draw in the screws with the cross bar which they
carry, and thereby contract or expand the diameter of the reel. The position
of the other cross bar may be adjusted in like manner, if required, but I prefer
to do that by hand before starting the machine. At either end of the central
shaft (within the framing) is a projecting bracket piece for carrying a short
arbor. To one end of each arbor is keyed a bevil wheel, that gears into the
bevil wheel on the adjacent screwed or threaded arm, and to the other end a
spur pinion is keyed. These pinions (one on either side of the reel) work
close to the standards supporting the reel, and attached to the standards are
segment-shaped brackets, provided with radial holes to receive pins or stops
which are intended to act upon the spur pinions as they are carried round by
the revolution of the reel shaft. This arrangement is for the purpose of effecting
a gradual contraction of the reel as the operation of folding up the cloth
proceeds, the amount of contraction being proportioned to the thickness of the
cloth wound upon the reel. When a thin cloth is being wound up, a pin is
inserted in the segment brackets, in a position that will insure the axial
rotation of the spur pinions to the amount of, say, one tooth. When a thicker
cloth is under operation the stop pins are arranged to rotate the spur pinions
the distance of, say, two teeth, and so on. This axial motion of the spur
pinions is transmitted through the bevil gearing to the screws carrying the
adjustable cross bar, and thus the bar, as the folding proceeds, is drawn
gradually inwards, in exact proportion to the accumulation of the cloth upon
the reel. When a sufficient length of cloth has been wound up, the reel is
unshipped and the cloth slipped off the bars. This machine provides also for
the measuring of the cloth, by simply counting, by suitable wheels acted on by
a tappet on the reel shaft, the number of revolutions made by that shaft.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Julius Homan in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
15th July 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JULIUS
HOMAN, of Milk Street, Cheapside, in the City of London, Manufacturing
Outfitter, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her reign,.

page_text: did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Julius Homan, Her special licence that I, the said Julius Homan, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Julius
Homan, 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 and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR FOLDING
CLOTH INTO LENGTHS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Julius Homan, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Julius Homan, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to tho
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
The object of this Invention is so to fold up lengths of cloth by mechanical
means that it will be laid in uniform lengths of lap ready to be cut up into
garments by the mechanism now generally employed for that purpose in large
manufacturing establishments. To this end I provide a reel capable of
expansion and contraction to receive and wind up the cloth, which reel, by
contracting in proportion as the cloth accumulates upon it, will take up an
equal amount of cloth at each revolution, and thereby arrange the cloth in
folds of equal lengths.
In the accompanying Drawing I have shewn an arrangement of self-acting
mechanism whereby I am enabled to carry out the object of my Invention.
Fig. 1 shews, in sectional elevation, the recling apparatus supplied with
cloth from a table, which is provided with rollers for guiding it to the reel;
and Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. a, a, are the side frames of the reeling
apparatus, fitted with bearings to receive the central shaft 6 of the reel. On
this shaft, which is composed of two parts that lock into each other and are
keyed together, bosses c, c, are formed, to receive the radial arms d, d, of the
reel; these radial arms are rods, which pass freely through their respective
bosses, and are tapped at their opposite ends with right and left-handed screws,
to receive the tapped lags of the cross bars e, e. An axial motion is given
to the rods d, d, for the purpose of moving out or drawing in the bars e, e",

page_text: and so expanding or contracting the reel, by the following means:-Affixed to
one of the side frames a is a ring f, pierced with radial slots to receive
adjustable tappets or clicks g, which as the reel is rotated take into the teeth
of a ratchet wheel h and drive it round the distance of one tooth. This wheel
is mounted on an arbor carried by a bracket piece i, attached to the shaft b,
and on the other end of the arbor is a bevil wheel k, which gears into a bevil
wheel l, mounted on the radial rod d; when, therefore, an axial motion is
imparted to the ratchet wheel, that motion will be communicated through the
bevil gearing to the rod d. In order to communicate the like motion to the
other radial rod d*, a hollow shaft m is mounted loosely on the shaft & (which
is made in two parts, as above mentioned, to receive it), and bevil wheels are
keyed to the opposite ends of this hollow shaft, the one in gear with the bevil
wheel 1, and the other in gear with a corresponding bevil wheel, with which
the radial rod d is provided. The reel is driven by means of a band from
any first mover, passing over a pulley n on the shaft b and in order to regülate
the movements of the reel, a brake o, actuated by a treadle p, is provided to act
upon the pulley n and arrest its rotation. The radial rods d, d*, carry a cross
bar 9, which itself carries a pair of guides 1. Into these guides are inserted
adjustable pointed wires or rods s, which are held in position by binding
screws, and project through a slot formed in the cross bar e, which is formed
of two plates brought near together, thus making virtually a slotted bar
through its whole length. These pointed rods or wires are intended to strike
into the cloth as the reel rotates, and thus hold the cloth firmly as it is lapped
upon the reel. Supposing, now, the cloth which is intended to be operated
upon to be guided under and over friction rollers, as shewn at Fig. 1, and
attached to the reel by the insertion therein of the pointed wires s, it will be
readily understood that if the tappets in the ring fare adjusted so as to impart
a proper amount of axial motion to the ratchet wheel h, the bars e, e*, will
(as the reel is rotated and the folding proceeds) be drawn gradually inwards in
exact proportion to the accumulation of the cloth upon the reel. When a
sufficient length of cloth has been wound up, the rotation of the reel is stopped
by the attendant, and the cloth is disengaged from the reel by running a knife
across the folds of cloth, the slotted bar e forming a guide for the knife to cut
through the folds in a direct line. It will be understood that any desired
length of folds may be obtained (within the scope of the machine) by setting
the bars e, e, apart any required distance before starting the machine. A less
or greater number of tappets 9 will require to be brought into action to effect
the contraction of the reel, according to the thickness of the material under
operation.

page_text: I would remark that, if desired, the machine may be caused to register
the length of cloth wound upon the reel, by indicating the number of
revolutions which it has performed.
I would also further remark that the mechanical details for effecting the
gradual contraction of the reel may be indefinitely varied, but I prefer the
arrangement above set forth, as it has proved both simple and efficient in
action. The reel may also be provided with two or more pairs of expanding
and contracting bars, if thought desirable, and operated in like manner to
those represented in the Drawing. The advantage of increasing the number
of bars above two will be that a longer lap may be produced without
increasing the space which the machine would occupy.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "improved machinery
for folding cloth into lengths, and explained the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited
Letters Patent I claim the arrangement of machinery above described, for
lapping cloth in folds of equal length, for the purpose above set forth; and
particularly I claim giving to the cross bars of reels employed for this
purpose a progressive motion towards the axis of the reel.
In witness whereof, I, the said Julius Homan, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, the Fifteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
THOS NOLAN,
66, Chancery Lane.
JULIUS HOMAN. (L.S.)