CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF TEXTILE GOODS OR FABRICS, AND IN CERTAIN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1850

page_text: SLACK'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
SLACK, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Manager, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twenty-first day of February, One thousand eight hundred and
fifty, and in the thirteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said John Slack, Her especial license,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said John Slack, my
exors, adiñors, and assigns, and such others as I, the said John Slack, my
exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time 'agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England and
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF TEXTILE GOODS OR FABRICS, AND IN
CERTAIN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH;" in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said John Slack, shall cause a
particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being
thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Slack, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described and
ascertained in and by the Drawings hereto annexed, and the following expla-
nation thereof, that is to say:-
My improvements consist in submitting textile goods or fabrics to a process
of stiffening during the ordinary operation of the loom in which they are
woven. In order to accomplish this I place suitable machinery or apparatus
in connection with the loom, for the purpose of conveying a solution of "gum
substitute" or other appropriate mucilaginous substance to the said goods or
fabrics, previously to or as they are in progress of being wound upon the cloth
beam; and in order to exemplify my Invention, I have appended to this my
Specification certain Drawings of a loom, with the improvements applied
thereto, and which I will now proceed to describe.
Fig. 1 is a transverse vertical section, and Fig. 2 a front view of the same,
in both of which Figures similar letters of reference denote the like parts.
The ordinary cloth beam is shewn at a, a, mounted, and caused to take up the
work as produced by any of the usual methods; beneath this is placed a
trough b, b, within which a roller of wood or other suitable material c, c, is
mounted, turning in bearings formed therein. To each end of the trough
b, b, is connected, by means of a hook, one end of two levers d, d, which
levers turn upon the fulcrum pins e, e, carried by means of brackets attached
to the framework of the machine. The levers d, d, are connected together by
a transverse rod f, and carry at their backward ends weights g, g. By this
arrangement the roller c, c, will be kept in contact with the fabric as it is in a
progress of being wound upon the cloth beam. The trough b, b, is to be
supplied with the solution of gummy substance intended to afford the required
stiffness, so that as the cloth beam revolves in the ordinary action of taking
up the work, the roller c, c, by being kept in contact therewith, will also be
caused to turn in its bearings, and convey the stiffening matter from the
trough 6, 6, and press it into the manufactured material. When it is desired
to free the roller c, c, from contact with the fabric upon the cloth beam, it
will merely be necessary for the workman to raise the weighted ends of the
levers d, d, retaining them in that position by means of a hook or other
suitable apparatus connected to the framework of the machine. The sub- 3
stance used for imparting the required stiffening should be of a consistency
adapted to the quantity which it is desired that the roller shall convey to the
fabric, and may be composed of gum, "gum substitute," or any of those sub-
stances usually employed for such purposes, varying of course in purity, &c.,

page_text: according to the nature of the fabric under operation. Such matters, however,
form no part of my Invention, and will be readily understood by all competent
persons. In order to prevent dust, lint, or other impurities from falling into
the trough b, I attach a piece of cloth, wood, or other suitable material to the
framework of the machine, so as to form a screen as shewn at h, Fig. 1.
It will be evident that many modifications of the apparatus I have described
may be employed for effecting the object of my improvements; for instance,
two or more rollers may be employed to transfer the mucilaginous substance
to the fabric; or, if thought desirable, the woven goods may be conveyed
through a vessel containing the gummy solution, and pass from thence to the
ordinary cloth beam. I do not, therefore, confine myself to the precise
arrangement described. That which I claim as my Invention, secured to me
under the above in part recited Letters Patent, is the stiffening of textile
goods or fabrics by the application of a gummy or gelatinous substance or
substances, effected through the agency of suitable machinery or apparatus
operating in connection with the machinery by which the said goods or fabrics
are manufactured.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Slack, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Fifteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord One