IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY: FOR FOLDING, PILING, MEASURING, "AND "EXAMINING TEXTILE FABRICS AND OTHER LIKE MATERIALS, AND IN "APPARATUS "CONNECTED THEREWITH.
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
"Lake, "& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings; London,
"for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY: FOR FOLDING,
PILING, MEASURING, "AND "EXAMINING TEXTILE FABRICS AND OTHER LIKE
MATERIALS, AND IN "APPARATUS "CONNECTED THEREWITH. -A communi-
cation from abroad by William Frederick' Jobbins, of the City and
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 20th October 1873."
1. (
119
1.
1.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
5. Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN]
,, MACHINERY FOR
FOLDING, PILING, MEASURING, AND EXAMINING TEXTILE FABRICS AND OTHER LIKE
MATERIALS, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," a communication, to
be as follows: bez so
T
** IP
F 7
My said Invention relates to stationary, traveling, or suspended
rolling, folding, splitting, laying, piling, and measuring and- examining
widge
1."
1 hers by sul
",
113

page_text: machines with duplicate check or measure folds or layers, sliding
regulators for giving a straight edge to the material, and examining
frame for unrolling and re-rolling or folding by one motion.
In practising the said Invention I construct frames to be used alone
or in combination for folding or unfolding, or unfolding and refolding,
by one motion, in combination with a pivot and slide; also in com-
bination with a suspender a lock or catch and slides or wheels for the
regulation of the straight edge to the material; with traveling
wheels or slides, whether made to run on the board or at its sides, or
under the same, and with a jointed rod for contraction of the machine,
and its removal when a roller is used. I also use a roller with a slide or
or boards with
hinge bar and grapnels for holding other frames
expanding frames; and another roller for refolding with motion from the
above mentioned roller, or when any larger number are used in com-
bination for unfolding and refolding. A sliding regulating arm with
tipped or moveable end is used for the protection of finished goods when
doubling to a straight edge, and stationary or sliding devices with rollers
and plates with tensions are arranged to receive the material from the
unfolders or folders and deliver it to a board splitter or regulating arm.
A spring or slide roller or plate and "contraction joints serve for
smoothing the material as laid. A foot or key with a spring or slide
motion for unlocking and relocking clamps form the means by which
the material to be laid is received and held in its place on the folding
board I use jointed arms, by which the machine can be so contracted
that when secured by fastenings the frame can be reduced or increased
to suit any width of goods, and is thus enabled to run the material off
on a perfectly straight line and thus secure the correct operation of the
other parts of the said machine. A carrier with a shelf' provided with
expansion joints, by which unfolded goods can be folded and measured
when used, is arranged with the aforesaid frames; and suspended or
elevated rails or grooves are used with contracting slides, regulating
groove, and jointed expansion rods.
The said machinery also comprises a bracket or arms with upright rails
or slides, a tressle with a regulating level bar and arms, springs, or
screws, and a tressle shelf with suitable supports.
.
L
. I also use a frame furnished with pins or clamps, to which can be
attached measures in combination with a folding board, and I combine

page_text: an upper tension bar and lower receiving arm with upper and lower
straight edge, with fastenings, a traveling arm and groove or rail on the
said frame for holding and cutting off the material folded or measured.
This part of the said machinery has a pin and clamp with screws,
springs, slides and joints, a second clamp with upright slides and
springs, a screw plate and bracket, and arms with roller points, thumb
lock, and pivot, or hinge slide plates. There are also a straight line and
measure plate with slides and a bracket or spring arm.
I also employ cross gauges with slides for setting to measure any
given lengths by standard with the arms, and an expanding board with
springs and receiving arms.
The folder has expansion arms, a tell-tale plate, an operating wheel
arm, and the same is used in combination with the board. The said
folder is constructed to work with the onerating har placed under the
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Scal Patent
Office on the 20th April 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special
licence that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake,
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

page_text: 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 FOR FOLDING, PILING, MEASURING, AND EXAMINING
TEXTILE FABRICS AND OTHER LIKE MATERIALS, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THERE-
WITH," a communication to me from abroad by William Frederick Jobbins,
of the City and State of New York, United States of America, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Robert Lake,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my;
or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 William Robert Lake, 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, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawing, forming a part of this Specification:-
This Invention relates to machinery and apparatus whereby the
folding, piling, measuring, and examining of textile fabrics, including
the rolling, splitting, and laying of the same, are conveniently,
expeditiously, and economically effected.
The said Invention is carried into practice in the manner illustrated
in the accompanying Drawing, in which Figure 1 is a transverse section
of my improved folding board and package carrier herein-after described;
Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same, shewing the said package carrier
in section; Figure 3 is a plan or top view of the same. The remaining
Figures illustrate details and modifications of my Invention, and are
herein-after fully described. Similar letters indicate corresponding parts
throughout the Drawing.
A designates a box or frame, which may be suspended from the
ceiling when intended to be used either as a stationary or travelling
machine. It may also be stationary on the board or furnished with the
necessary wheels, grooves, or slides for moving to and fro over the said
board. It is also furnished with pivots g, on which the inner frame or
package carrier B may revolve, so that when the goods to be folded are
faced materials, such as woollen cloths, by reversing the machine for

page_text: the return lay the nap or pattern of the goods runs in the same.
direction as the former layers. I thus ensure the piling of the material
in a suitable manner to receive the design of the garment to be produced;
and by the turning of the machine at the top instead of the bottom all.
disturbance of the material in paying itself out is avoided. The said
frame A supports the inner frame or package carrier B, and when for
stationary use may be suspended from two gudgeons r, and when for
travelling, with material requiring to be reversed or turned, it can be
suspended on the pivot g, the gudgeons being turned out of the way.
When suspended at g it is held securely in the frame by the catch c.
This frame is also furnished with two pivots 14 and 15 to receive a
roller 16 that fits the centre of a roller package or an expander 17,
shown in dotted lines Figure 1. The said expander fits a flat packago
or is furnished with the necessary holdfasts or screws to hold securely
the board or roller on which the material has been wound at the mills.
Beneath the pivots 14 and 15 is situated a rod 7 tipped with an india-
rubber or metal roller for the protection of faced goods, and which will
catch in the centre of double width material if such is paid out from the
package. The said rod can be adjusted for goods of different width. In
combination with this rod can be used another rod 11 for carrying a knife,
which serves to split the double width material as the same is paid out.
When the machine is used for single width material the rods 7 and 11
are taken off or turned out of the way. Across the said package carrier
or inner frame extend plates or rollers, as shewn at 9 and 10, furnished
with adjusting springs or screws 12 and 13 for the purpose of smoothing
the material and regulating its fold when double width material is fed
out. To the plates or rollers at 9 and 10 I annex a measuring dial. One
or more of the rollers may be covered with any suitable rough material
to prevent the slipping of the material being measured. A belt is
employed, by which the actions of the various rollers and plates are
effected by one movement of the handle. If desired a treadle may be
used instead of the said handle. From the lower part of the package
carrier extend fingers 32, which form the bearings for a roller 29, that
serves to smooth each width as laid on the board, also for the swivel
plate T (shewn detached in Figure 1°) which when swivelled behind
the roller forms a straight edge at the groove t for the severance of each
lay of cloth as piled on the board, thus ensuring that all lays shall be.
of the same length. These fingers 32 also move the clamps 5, open and
closed, by which means each layer of material is received and securely.

page_text: retained on the board. The roller 29, plate T, and fingers 32 are raised
or lowered by spring slides or screws 30 and 31 to accommodate the
increasing pile of goods, and they may be faced with india-rubber,
leather, or other suitable material. The box or frame A may also be
suspended from a bracket P, shewn in Figure 4, which may be fast in
the wall or may be arranged to slide in suitable grooves. The package
carrier or inner frame B may also be suspended from a carriage E,
Figure 5, which travels on rails secured to the ceiling over the folding
board. It may also have the rails suspended on a frame over the
board.
D, Figure 6, is a receiver or hopper, which is used principally for
loose or unfolded goods, and from which the goods are fed, folded in
single or double width, as desired. This hopper is so constructed that it
can be expanded or contracted for goods of different width, and it is
provided with sockets to engage with the pivots 14 and 15 of the
aforesaid package carrier, so that it can be inserted in this package
carrier in place of the roller 16 or expander 17.
O, O, Figures 1 and 2, represent tressels or stands, which may be used
to support the folding, board F or the frame A, when stationary, when
the latter is not erected on or suspended over the board. They are
provided with screws 44, by which the same can be raised to any level
of board, and by which any unevenness of floor may be corrected. The
said tressels are provided with brackets 45 for the support of suitable
shelves.
The folding attachment F for an ordinary folding board consists of a
simple frame of wood or metal, best seen in Figure 3. In the sides of
this frame I secure a series of revolving clamps 5, Figures 1, 2, and 3ª,
or those shown on the boards F and M may be used. Each of them has
three or more arms provided with rollers 6. When the feet 32 of the
package carrier or inner frame strike these clamps they turn on their
vertical spindles, and their arms are brought to bear successively upon
the material as the same is spread upon the folding board. The said
revolving clamps are self-adjusting by means of springs or screws 5*,
Figure 1, or grooves, so that they accommodate themselves to the
increasing thickness of the pile. The frame F is fastened to the folding
board by any suitable means, the said board being furnished with
grooves f, as shown in Figure 3, in which the clamps 5 can be adjusted
to meet the varying width of the goods to be folded, and avoid the

page_text: narrowing of the frame B at the regulators b. On one or both ends of
this frame is secured a straight edge stretcher and cutter G, which
serves to retain the ends of the material as the pile increases, and
wherein I secure a knife H, which serves to cut the material at any
desired place and secures a regular and perpendicular cut. By the
combined action of the said package carrier B and folding frame F the
material is perfectly laid and the operation is so simple that any boy or
girl of ordinary intelligence can perform the work, which now requires
adult labor, and furthermore, much time is saved. To the sides of the
folding frame may be secured a measuring plate I, Figure 7, which is of
advantage for long layers of linen, muslin, and the like, and having
measures marked thereon, the length of each layer is shewn, the same
being checked by the dial plate e on frame B; therefore the correct
measurement is ascertained both by flat and circular measurement.
For measuring, doubling, and folding face goods in flat layers I use
cross gauges J, K, Figure 8, with slides, grooves, and measures, as
therein shown, by which they can be set to measure folds of any
dimensions, from a few inches to several yards each layer. With these
gauges I use an upright L, Figure 9, which is regulated by the
slides J, K, and as the unfolded goods are fed to it from the rack D,
Figure 6, the arm a carries the material and lays it under one of the
arms or clamps 5 on either end of the board M, Figure 10. This board
can be used in or out of the frame J, K, and it is so constructed that it
can be lengthened or shortened to suit the size of fold to be produced;
and for its perfect adjustment it may be furnished with measures on
cither side. The said board rests upon springs, so that it becomes
depressed exactly as the thickness of the folded package increases by
each successive layer. For this reason the upright L requires only two
folding arms. The folding of the material may however also be accom-
plished by the frames N, which extend at right angles to each other
from a rock shaft d, that has its bearings in journal boxes secured to the
under surface of the board M. These frames may be extended to
suit the length of the fold desired, and as the material to be folded is fed
between them and an oscillating motion is imparted to the rock shaft d
the successive layers are produced and the length folded is adjusted on
the dial plate h.
My packing carrier or frame B may also be used with advantage for
examining goods The frome Ris so constructed that it can be

page_text: .
or contracted to suit goods of difierent width, and the pivot 49 slides in
a slot in the frame A, so that the frame B may be moved to the desired
position over the folding board. In the upper part of the frame B are
bearings for a roller 48, which may be connected by a belt and pulleys
with the roller 16 or 29, so that if double width material is paid out
from the roller 16 one-half of this material may be removed by the
roller 48 while the other half is paid out; or when used for examining
goods if the roller 48 should occupy the place of roller 29, and both
should be connected with a belt while the material is unwound from the
roller 16 and examined, the motion thus imparted will rewind it on
roller 48, thus saving one-half the usual labor; and if swung on
bracket P or furnished with (an expander it will not occupy one-fourth
the space now required for an ordinary examining table.
I may use cither a plain roller or a clamp, a screw, a slide, or a
pressure device for holding or receiving the goods upon any suitable
blocking board or roller; and I may employ the ordinary blocking
board now in use if desired.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the
same, I wish it understood that I claim,-
First. The inner frame or package carrier with its various attachments,
as herein specified.
Second. The combination of the two frames with each other and with
à folding board or frame, as herein described.
Third. The combination of the package carrier, carriage, and folding
frame, as herein set forth.
Fourth. The guide and cutter in the said package carrier, substantially
as above described and for the purpose specified.
Fifth. The feet smoothing roller and swivel plate in combination with
a folding frame and revolving clamps with their slides or grooves, sub-
stantially as herein set forth and for the purpose specified.
Sixth. The travelling bracket in combination with the said package
carrier and folding board or frame, as herein described and for the
purpose specified.
Seventh. The carrier constructed as described arranged in combination
with a suitable folding board for the purpose specified.

page_text: bination with a package carrier and folding board for the purpose
specified.
Ninth. The clamp constructed with an upper tension bar and lower
receiving bar in combination with the aforesaid folding frame, sub-
stantially as described and for the purpose specified.
Tenth. The straight line and measure plate in combination with
the folding frame, substantially as described and for the purpose
specified.
Eleventh. The cross gauges in combination with the standards, sub-
stantially as set forth and for the purpose specified.
Twelfth. The expanding board with supporting springs and retaining
arms or clamps, substantially as described and for the purpose specified.
Thirteenth. The oscillating folder in combination with the said folding
or expanding board, substantially as set forth and for the purpose
specified.
Fourteenth. A take-up roller in combination with the roller 16 and
package carrier for rewinding one-half of a double width piece while the
other half is paid out to the folding board, and also for examining goods
as described.
Fifteenth. The pivot 49 moving in a slot in its support in combination
with an expanding and contracting frame and the pivot or turn plate g
in the frame A or B, for the purpose specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of April, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
freem
Witness,
JAMES EDWARDS,
8, Southampton Buildings,
London.
W. ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.)