IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR OPENING OB EXPANDING FABRICS DURING THEIR PASSAGE THROUGH MACHINERY EMPLOYED IN PROCESSES OF FINISHING
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Horatio Stead, of the Firm of Elkanah Hoyle and
Sons, of Halifax, in the County of York, Millwrights and Machine
Makers, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR OPENING
OB EXPANDING FABRICS DURING THEIR PASSAGE THROUGH MACHINERY EMPLOYED
IN PROCESSES OF FINISHING."
Sealed the 18th September 1866, and dated the 21st March 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Horatio Stead at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 21st
March 1866.
I, HORATIO STEAD, of the Firm of Elkanah Hoyle and Sons, of Halifax,
in the County of York, Millwrights and Machine Makers, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
OPENING OR EXPANDING FABRICS DURING THEIR PASSAGE THROUGH MACHINERY
EMPLOYED IN PROCESSES OF FINISHING," to be as follows:-
In the various processes of finishing woven fabrics it is desirable to have
the said fabrics straight or free from folds or creases breadthwise during their
passage through the several machines or apparatus employed for that purpose;
and this Invention consists of a series of beams or bars of wood or other
suitable material, each having a slot hole at or near its middle; these beams
or bars are mounted side by side in a frame upon a fulcrum or pin, which is
passed through the slot holes and fixed in the frame, so as to render them
capable of oscillation and of being moved endwise. Near one end of the series

page_text: of beams is a rotary shaft, having an equal number of eccentrics or cranks
thereon, which by means of suitable connecting straps attached give motion
to the beams. The eccentrics or cranks are arranged on the shaft in different
relative positions so as to move the said beams alternately in different direc-
tions, so that while one or more is or are moving outward from the fulcrum
in one direction, others will be moving outward in the opposite direction.
Hence fabrics passing over this apparatus will be opened or expanded thereby.
To produce a greater hold on the fabrics vulcanized india-rubber or other
suitable substance may be applied to the surfaces of these beams, or they may
be notched to make them hold better on the fabrics.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Horatio Stead in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th September 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HORATIO
STEAD, of the Firm of Elkanah Hoyle and Sons, of Halifax, in the County
of York, Millwrights and Machine Makers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Horatio Stead, Her special licence that I, the said Horatio
Stead, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Horatio Stead, 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR OPENING OR EXPANDING FABRICS DURING THEIR
PASSAGE THROUGH MACHINERY EMPLOYED IN THE PROCESSES OF FINISHING," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Horatio Stead, 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 immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Horatio Stead, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement and accompanying Sheet of Drawings (that is to say):-
In the various processes of finishing woven fabrics it is desirable to have
the said fabrics straight or free from folds or creases breadthwise during
their passage through the several machines or apparatus employed for that
purpose; and this Invention consists of a series of beams or bars of wood or
other suitable material, each having a slot hole at or near its middle; these
beams or bars are mounted side by side in a frame upon a fulcrum or pin,
which is passed through the slot holes and fixed in the frame, so as to render
them capable of oscillation and of being moved endwise. Near one end of
the series of beams is a rotary shaft having an equal number of eccentrics or
cranks fixed thereon, which by means of suitable connecting straps attached
give motion to the beams. The eccentrics or cranks are arranged on the
shaft in different relative positions so as to move the said beams alternately
in different directions, so that while one or more are moving outward from the
fulcrum in one direction others will be moving outward in the opposite direc-
tion. Hence fabrics passing over this apparatus will be opened or expanded
thereby. To produce a greater hold on the fabrics vulcanized india-rubber or
other suitable substance may be applied to the surfaces of these beams, or they
may be notched to make them hold better on the fabrics.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
In order that this my said Invention may be clearly understood I have
given reference to an accompanying Sheet of Drawings, wherein Fig. 1 repre-
sents a side view of a series or set of six of these beams or bars, and a section
of the frame in which they are mounted; Fig. 2 is a plan of the same, shewing
also driving pullies applied thereto; and Fig. 3 is an end view of the same,
with a cross section of the frame taken through the line A, B, in Figs. 1
and 2; C, D, E, F, G, and H, are the beams, each having a slot hole in
the middle, through which a pin I passes, and on which they are capable of
sliding and oscillating. An eccentric J is fitted into the under side of each
beam near ono end and kept in place by a strap K, in which the eccentric can
rotate. These eccentrics are fixed on a shaft L, and set at different points of
the circumference, so as to produce a succession of throws at regular intervals
as the shaft rotates. It will be evident and readily seen that as the shaft L
turns in the direction indicated by the arrow the eccentrics will cause the
beams to slide and oscillate on the pin I, and as one end of each beam is

page_text: 1.
lifted the other will be depressed; also, that as each beam is lifting it will at
the same time be moved outward from the pin, and in like manner when
being, depressed it will be drawn in again, and so on with each beam in succes-
sion; when the ends thereof are rising they will be moved outward and
thereby act in opposite directions on a fabric passing or being drawn over
them, tending to push or carry the edges of the fabric from each other, or to
open or expand it at each outward movement of each beam. To prevent
slipping, or to enable the said beams to bite and hold better on the fabric I
fix strips of vulcanized india-rubber or other suitable material on the top
edges of the beams at each end, as shewn at Fig. 4, or I notch the edges, as
shewn at Fig. 5.
Although I have shewn and described a series of six beams, I do not, how-
_ever, restrict or limit myself to the precise number of beams or bars, as it will be
evident more or less in number may be employed according to requirement;
nor do I confine myself to the particular means or mode of working them, as
herein shewn and described, as other mechanical equivalents may be adapted
to produce the same or similar motion thereof; what I claim as my Inven-
tion is, the construction, application, and method of operating apparatus for
opening or expanding fabrics, substantially as herein shewn and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Horatio Stead, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of September, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-six.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named Horatio Stead, in
the presence of
W. TASKER,
Patent Agent,
Halifax.
HORATIO STEAD. (L.s.)