IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR DRYING, STRETCHING, AND TENTERING WOOLLEN.OR OTHER CLOTHS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George: Shaw Harwood; of Bradford, in the County:
of York, Agent, for the Invention. of "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR DRYING,
STRETCHING, AND TENTERING WOOLLEN.OR OTHER CLOTHS."-A communication.
from abroad by Charles F. Bennett, of, the State of Connecticut, one of
the United States of America.
Sealed the 7th June 1861, and dated the 12th December 1860:
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Shaw Harwood at
the Office of the Commissioners of. Patents, with his Petition, on the
12th December 1860.
I, GEORGE SHAW HARWOOD, of Bradford, in the County of York, Agent,
do hereby declare the nature of the said.Invention for,"" IMPROVED MACHINERY
FOR DRYING, STRETCHING, AND TENTERING. WOOLLEN OR OTHER CLOTHS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention of improved machinery for drying, stretching, and tentering
woollen or other cloths relates, first, to an improved cloth carrier or drying
drum, which is composed of two closed heads, a wheel or open head, and two
sets of peripheral bars, or the equivalents therefor, arranged and applied
together and to a central shaft, so as to enable the cloth carrier to receive and
act upon either a very wide piece of cloth or two pieces of narrow cloth.
Another improvement consists in so arranging the hot air conduit with

page_text: respect to the cloth carrier as to open into the periphery of the latter and be-
tween the terminal rollers or guides for directing the cloth upon and off the
carrier. The blowers are situate below the cloth carrier, and they force the
air into a heating chamber or box, which is divided by a horizontal perforated
plate. This plate serves to spread the stream of air which again unites before
it is discharged into the cloth carrier. Combined with the heads of the carrier
and their hubs are two series of radial rods or struts disposed and provided
with screws and nuts. for the purpose of adjusting the heads in case they
should not run true or should at any time become warped by heat. Applied
to the periphery of each head of the carrier is a fillet of wire card clothing
or its equivalent, and outside this fillet an air-stopping flanch, the same serving
to support the selvage of the cloth, allowing the air to pass under the selvage,
and retaining such air and preventing it from escaping from the periphery of
the carrier..
One
The Invention also relates to a combination of mechanism for producing the
approach and retreat. of the spreading rollers to and from each other, these
rollers being used to maintain the tension laterally of the fabric under operation.
Annular grooves are turned on the inner ends of the spreading rollers, which
are mounted loosely on a horizontál shaft at the front or feeding end of the
machine. Into these grooves project the forked ends of rock levers, which
are connected together by a swivel link and by means of jointed arms.
of these rock levers is coupled by a rod to a horizontal rocking arm, the
fulcrum of which is formed by an adjustable hand lever. The inner end of
this rocking arm enters a cam groove, the rotation of which imparts a reci-
procating motion to the arm, and thereby, though the action of the forked rock
levers causes the spreading rollers to move endwise to and fro on their shaft,
and thus stretch the cloth as it is being delivered on to the cloth carrier or
drying drum.
And, lastly, the Invention relates to the substitution of cold for hot air for
the purpose of drying cloth. This is effected by placing an exhausting fan on
each side of the cloth carrier, the same being mounted on the axle of the cloth
carrier and driven at great speed. A central aperture is made in the sides of
the cloth carrier opposite to the fans, so that when the carrier is covered with
cloth the fans will exhaust the air from the cloth carrier, and cause a strong
current of cold air to rush through the cloth.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Shaw Harwood in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
12th June 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
SHAW HARWOOD, of Bradford, in the County of York, Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing. date the Twelfth day of December, in the year of our.
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said George Shaw Harwood, Her' special license that I, the said
George Shaw Harwood, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said George Shaw Harwood, 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 DRYING, STRETCHING, AND TENTERING WOOLLEN OR
OTHER CLOTHS," being a communication from abroad, upon the .condition
(amongst others) that I, the said George Shaw Harwood, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain 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 George Shaw Harwood, 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 Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
The cloth-drying engine as herein-after described contains some features
common to others in use (that is to say) it has a revolving cloth carrier con-
structed in such manner as to have its outer heads adjustable relatively to one
another; and furthermore it has rollers for leading the cloth to and from the.
periphery of the cloth carrier, and it also has an apparatus for discharging air.
into the cloth carrier.
The nature of my Invention of "Improved Machinery for Drying, Stretching,
and Tentering Woollen or other Cloths " consists, first, in an improved cloth
carrier as composed of two closed heads, a wheel or open head, and two sets

page_text: .
of peripheral bars, or the equivalents thereof, arranged and applied together
and to a central shaft, substantially as described, the purpose of such being to
enable the cloth carrier to receive and act upon either a very wide piece of.
cloth or two pieces of narrow cloth.
Also in a particular arrangement of the hot air conduit with respect to the
cloth carrier, viz, so as to open into the periphery of the latter and between
the terminal rollers or guides for directing the cloth upon and off the carrier.
Also in arranging and combining with the heads of the carrier and their
hubs two series of radial rods disposed and provided with screws and nuts, and
each being for the purpose of adjusting the head in case it should not run true
or should at any time become warped by heat.
Also in the application and arrangement of wire card clothing or its equi-
valent, and an air-stopping flanch, with the periphery of each head of the
carrier, the same being to support the selvage of the cloth allow the air to
pass under such selvage, and to retain such air and prevent it from escaping
from the periphery of the carrier.
Also in a peculiar arrangement of the air blower, its conduit and air-heating
chamber, relatively to the cloth carrier.
Also in combining an air separator or foraminous partition with the carrier,
its air blower and air-heating chamber.
Also in an improved mode or means of adjusting the fulcrum of the lever
by which the forked levers of the spreading rollers are operated.
Also in a combination of mechanism for producing the approach and retreat
of the spreading rollers and a combination therewith of a means or mechanism
for adjusting the fulcrum of the main actuating lever of the forks of the
spreading rollers."
In the Drawings hereunto annexed, Fig. 1 is a top view; Fig. 2, a rear
elevation; Fig. 3, a side elevation; Fig. 4, a longitudinal section; and Fig. 5,
a transverse section of it. A'denotes the frame for supporting the principal
operative parts of the machine; B is the cloth carrier, it being constructed
with two circular closed heads a, b, an intervening wheel c, and two sets of
peripheral bars d, d, d, d, e, e, e, e, arranged relatively to one another as
"represented.
.
The two heads a, b, turn and screw respectively on two reversed screws f, g,
which are cut on their supporting shaft C. The wheel c revolves freely on the
shaft, but does not screw on it. It maintains its place in the middle of the
shaft in consequence of a pin or screw h being extended through its hub i, and
into a groove ke formed transversely around that part of the shaft on which the
wheel rests. Each head a, b, carries a series of the peripheral bars, each of

page_text: which projects from it at a right angle to it, and passes through the wheel c
near its circumference, each bar of one series being arranged close to one of
the other series, as shown in the Drawings.
.
Furthermore, there is applied to the inner end of the hub of each head
a, b, a series of radial rods m, m, m, m, which at their outer extremities are
provided with screws a', and respectively extend through studs n, n, n, n, pro-
jecting from the inner surface of the head. Each screw a' is furnished with
two nuts b, c, arranged on opposite sides of its stud. These devices enable
the bead to be properly adjusted, in case. it should not run truly, or should
become warped by beat. A hand wheel o is fixed to the screw shaft,C, for the
purpose of enabling a person to put the shaft in rotation while the heads a, b,
and wheel c are kept from revolving on the shaft. Under these circumstances
the two heads a, b, may be caused simultaneously either to approach towards
or recede from the wheel c. Having been adjusted at a proper distance apart,
each head may be held in place on its shaft C, by turning up against such
head a clamp nut p, which is screwed upon the screw of the head. Thus we
have the means of adapting the carrier to support a very wide piece, or two
separate narrower pieces of cloth, as circumstances may require. The manner
in which the cloth is extended about the carrier and between the introduction
and draft rollers thereof is exemplified in Figure 4; each head or part a, b, c,
of the carrier is furnished with a flanch 9 projecting from its. periphery.
Against this flanch and on the circumference of the said part a, b,'or c, a strip
of wire card clothing. ", such as is applied to the rollers of a carding engine is
affixed, its teeth being placed very close together, and so as to support on their
points the selvage of the cloth, whose outer edge should either rest in contact
or lap over the flanch. The card clothing while serving to hold the selvage'in
place will allow.the hot air from the inner part of the carrier to penetrate
between them and act against the selvage, the flanches q, 9, operating at the
same time to prevent the escape of such heated air from the carrier. The
conduit for the induction of hot air into the carrier B is shown at D, as pro-
ceeding from an air heater or box E, and opening into the circumference of
the carrier directly between the two inner terminal rollers F, G, of the intro-
ducing and draft mechanism. The box or air chamber E has a foraminous
diaphragm or partitions, extended across it horizontally, the purpose of such
partition being to separate into numerous small streams the air which may be
received into the box, and prior to the discharge of such air into the carrier."
The eduction conduit t of each blower extends along underneath the carrier to
its fan blower H. I would remark that any suitable means of heating air;
may be applied to or used within the box E; it may have a heat radiator of

page_text: any proper description placed within it, or heat may be applied to its external
surface, the whole being so as to heat the air while it may be passing through
the box. Each blower and the box E are placed at opposite ends of the
frame A, and with respect to the carrier, as shown in the Drawings. The set
of rollers marked F, I, K, are those by which the cloth is led to the carrier,
while those marked G, L, M, N, O, P, are such as lead and draw it away
from the carrier. Furthermore, between the rollers K and I there is a shaft
R, on which is placed a pair of stretching rollers R', R'. When but one piece
of cloth is run upon the carrier only one pair of the stretching rollers are
employed, but when two separate pieces of cloth are upon the carrier a pair
of stretching rollers to each piece should be used. The external surfaces of
the rollers are to have wire card clothing or its equivalent applied to them.
The inner end of each roller R¹ has a groove u, for receiving the forked end
of one of two levers S, T, whose fulcra v, w, are at. their lower ends. These
levers are connected by a third lever V, which turns on a stationary fulcrum x,
and has one of its connections or joint pins.y, z, extending through a slot a¹,
formed in one of the levers. A connecting rod 6' is jointed to the latter lever,
and to a fourth lever c', the whole being arranged as shown in the Drawings.
This fourth lever c³ rests on a shelf c*, and has its front end extending into a
cam groove d¹, formed in and around the periphery. of. a wheel V.. .An
adjustable fulcrum.or lever W extends through a slot a³, formed in the shelf,
and one 6s formed in the lever c', see Figures 1 and.3. By means of the cam
wheel V, the lever c¹, and the forked levers S, T, arranged, connected, and
applied to the stretching rollers, as specified and represented, we are enabled to
stretch the cloth widthwise while passing toward the carrier, and by means of the
adjustable fulcrum lever W, and the slots of the lever c and its shelf, we can
vary the stretching more or less as circumstances may require. Between the
carrier and the rollers N, O, P, there is a cylindrical brush X, against which
the cloth passes before being led to the roller N. The office of the brush X
is to raise the nap of the cloth and prepare it for being sheared. On a shaft
E¹, arranged as shown in Figures 3 and 5, is a loose pulley f¹, and three fast
pulleys.g, h', . An endless band i should proceed from the pulley h¹ to a
pulley ', which by a train of gears l¹, m³, when in revolution imparts rotary
motion to the roller P. The brush X derives its rotary motion from an endless
band ', which works not only around a pulley m², fixed on the shaft of the
brush, but a pulley. n', carried by a shaft o', provided with one loose and three
fast pulleys p¹, q¹, n, s, and arranged as shown in the Drawings. This shaft o¹
also carries another pulley r³, around which and the pulleys, and the blower
shaft pulleys a', a', endless' belts s', s', operate. The cam. wheel shaft V is

page_text: driven by another endless band u', which works not only about the pulley g'
fixed on the shaft e', but a pulley v' fixed on the inner side of the cam.
From the above it will be seen that when the two shafts e¹ and o¹ are put
in revolution, the draft rollers as well as the widthwise stretching mechanism
will be set in operation.
.
The advantages of my arrangement of the air conduit relatively to the cir-
cumference of the rotary cloth carrier is, that by such the air on entering the
carrier is first brought in contact with the most wet portion of the cloth; and,:
furthermore, by this arrangement we are able to dispense with a tubular axle'
(for the carrier B) to receive the air and discharge it radially in divided?
currents. By my arrangement, although the air while passing through the
foraminous partition of the air box is divided into minute currents, it' is united'
over the partition into one uniform current, the object of the partition being
to simply uniformly spread the air, so that it may pass in an even sheet upon
the cloth: By the arrangement of the blower, its, eduction conduit,.and air
box together and relatively to the cloth carrier, such blower is not only dis-
posed to the best advantage for being operated, but it is caused to draw in
much of the spent heated air, or that which escapes from the carrier and
through the cloth at or near its dryest parts.
I do not claim a revolving cloth carrier composed of two circular heads
applied to a central shaft and furnished with devices, by which the distance of
one from the other may be regulated as required. I claim my improved cloth
carrier as composed of the two closed heads a, b, a wheel or open head c, and
two sets of peripheral bars d, d, d, d, e, e, e, e, or their equivalents, arranged
and applied together and to a central shaft, and provided with adjusting screws
(or equivalent devices) substantially as and for the purpose specified.
I also claim the arrangement of the hot air conduit D, with respect to the
cloth carrier B, viz., so as to open into its periphery, and between the terminal
rollers or guides F, G, for directing the cloth upon and off the carrier, as
specified.
I also claim the arrangement and combination of the two series of adjust-
ing rods m, m, m, and screws with the carrier heads a, b, and their hubs, the
same being for the purpose and to operate as specified.
I also claim the application and arrangement of wire card clothing or its
equivalent, and an air-stopping flange to the periphery of each head of the
cloth carrier, substantially as and for the purpose as described.
And in combination with the cloth carrier B, and its air blower II, and
heating box E, I claim the air-separating foraminous partition-s arranged in
the box, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

page_text: I also claim the arrangement of the air, blower H, its conduit t, and air-
heating box or chamber E, together and relatively to the cloth carrier B.
I also claim the improved mode or means of adjusting the fulcrum, by which
the forked levers of the spreading rollers are operated, the same consisting in
a lever W, and slots of the lever c¹ and its shelf, the whole being arranged as:
specified.
I also claim the combination for effecting the approach and retreat of the
spreading rollers, the same consisting of the forked levers S, T, their connec-
tion lever U, the lever c, and cam wheel V, arranged, applied, and operated
together, substantially as described.
And in combination with the said mechanism for effecting the retreat and
approach of the spreading rollers; I claim a means or mechanism for adjusting.
the fulcrum of the lever c', such being the moveable rod or lever W, and the
slots of the lever c¹ and its shelf, as described..
In witness whereof, I, the said George Shaw Harwood, have hereunto 1
set my hand and seal, the Tenth day of June, in the year of our Lord.
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
1
GEORGE SHAW HARWOOD.
(L.S.)