IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR STRETCHING AND FINISHING WOVEN FABRICS
Year: 1854

page_text: Sealed the 22nd August 1854; and dated the 2nd March 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Hugh Ellis and John
Ellis at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition,
on the 2nd March 1854.
We, HUGH ELLIS and JOHN ELLIS, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR STRETCHING AND
FINISHING WOVEN FABRICS" to be as follows:-
We propose to make the frame revolve on its axis to take up the fabric,
and we adjust the dimensions of the frame to the required extent for stretching
by set screws, as shewn in the accompanying outline Drawing.
The said Drawing also shews clearly the general arrangement and construc-
tion of our machine, as will be clearly understood by any person conversant
with mechanical matters.
•

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed by
the said Hugh Ellis and John Ellis in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 1st September 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, HUGH
ELLIS and JOHN ELLIS, both of Salford, in the County of Lancaster, Engineers
and Millwrights, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Royal
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
us, the said Hugh Ellis and John Ellis, Her special licence that we, the
said Hugh Ellis and John Ellis, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said Hugh Ellis and John Ellis, our 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 AND FINISHING WOVEN FABRICS," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that we, the said Hugh Ellis and John Ellis, by an
instrument in writing under our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal
of one of us, 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 Royal Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Hugh Ellis and John Ellis, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement (that is to say):-
Our Invention relates to the construction and arrangement of a machine or
apparatus to stretch or keep to a proper tension woven fabrics, either in a wet
or dry state, as prints, &c., and consists of a revolving framework or drum,
made to revolve on its axis, with set screws to adjust it to the required
dimensions, so that as the frame or drum revolves it takes up the piece goods,
stretches and smooths them out, and delivers them to a roller in a level or
finished state, and if the goods are wet they will be dried by the same process.
By the peculiar arrangement and construction of this machine we also avoid
the possibility of oil or lubricating matter touching the goods. These improve-

page_text: ments will be clearly understood by reference to the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings, in which the same letters of reference are used to represent the
same parts in each Figure. Fig. 1 is an end elevation of our improved machine
or apparatus, shewing the mode of applying it; Fig. 2, a front elevation;
Fig. 3, a plan; Fig. 4, a view of the stretching frame or drum drawn to an
enlarged scale; Fig. 5 is an end view thereof; Fig. 6 is an end view of a frame
or drum to be used for drying or other similar machines when the goods.
require to be stretched; and Fig. 7 is an end view of the same. a represents
the platform upon which is placed the pieces of cloth or material to be acted
upon; is an elevated position of the same, in which a person opens out the
material, which is then carried over the roller c, and also over and under the
cross bars d, and under the bar or rod e, at the back of the machine or appa-
ratus, of which shews the main side frames. The cloth or material then
passes over the rollers g, which are placed diagonally, and also over the
diagonally grooved stretching bar h, and under the two bars i and j; it is then
carried to the stretching frame or drum k, and passes from thence to the taking
up roller l, the shaft of which rises in the groove or slot m, as the material is
lapped on. The stretching frame or drum k can be furnished with a driving
pully n, and acted upon by a clutch or other convenient contrivance. The
frame or drum k, drawn on an enlarged scale at Figs. 4 and 5, consists of a
number of slides o, slightly grooved and made of brass or other suitable
metal or material not easily oxidised, working in the grooves p, attached to the
dises q, the bosses of which are made fast to the driving shaft 1. When the
machine is in motion the slides o turn round with the discs q, and the slides
are continually moving laterally outward from the bottom to the top, and
inward from the top to the bottom, of the frame or drum ; this is acconiplished
by having the lugs or snubs s at both ends of the slides q, having between them
the rims of the wheels t placed at any required angle, and as the drum revolves
the slides o are drawn out and in, as before described. The bosses of the wheels
t are larger than the shaft r, to allow of their angular positions, which are ad-
justed by means of the set screws and nuts u, the bearings of which are attached
to the framework of the machine. In Figs. 6 and 7 the parts of the frame or
drum are so arranged that no grease or lubricating matter can possibly come
in contact with the material passing over them during the process of stretching.
In these Figures a represents the driving shaft to which the wheels bare keyed,
which wheels have angular spaces in their peripheries in which the slides c
work; these slides are moved outward and inward by the snugs d turning
round the wheel e, which can be placed at any angle that may be required and
adjusted by the set screw f.

page_text: Having thus fully described the nature and particulars of our said Invention,
we desire it to be distinctly understood that we do not confine ourselves to the
exact details herein set forth, as such may be varied or modified without
departing from the principle thereof. But we claim as our Invention, and
which, to the best of our knowledge and belief, has not been hitherto used
within this realm, the general arrangement and construction of the machinery
or apparatus for stretching and finishing woven fabrics, as herein described
and illustrated in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, by which the motion
is obtained from the axes of the roller, instead of from the piece itself, as
hitherto accomplished; and also the peculiar form or mechanism of the slide of
the frame or drum, by which the oil or lubricating matter used for the machine
is prevented from touching or damaging the goods.
In witness whereof, we, the said Hugh Ellis and John Ellis, have here-
unto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-fifth day of August, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the within-named
Hugh Ellis and John Ellis in the presence of
E. J. HUGHES, -
Patent Agent,
HUGH ELLIS. (L.S.)
JOHN ELLIS. (L.S.)
Manchester.