IMPROVEMENTS IN CARPET LININGS, AND IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME
Year: 1867

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Robert Lake at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 25th October
1867. A communication from abroad by George Washington Chipman,
of Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office," No. 8,
Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Consulting Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CARPET LININGS, AND IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING
THE SAME," a communication, to be as follows:-
This Invention has reference to the manufacture of that class of carpet
linings in which a sheet or layer of loose, coarse, fibrous, wadding material is
confined to one surface of a sheet of coarse paper or between two sheets of
such paper, the object of the Invention being to form the lining in such
manner that it may be freely handled and used without danger of relative
displacement of the wadding and paper, such linings being used to underlie
carpetings for the purpose of protecting them from wear.
The said Invention consists partly in the arrangement of mechanism through
which the fibrous material is formed into a bat by being fed up to the surface
of a card cylinder, the teeth of which carry the filaments to the surface of a
lap-forming cylinder, upon the rotating gauze surface of which it is drawn and
formed into a sheet, leaving the cylinder in this form and passing thence

page_text: between presser rolls and between the sheets of paper passing between such
rolls.
The said Invention also consists in forming such lining of two strips of
paper (receiving the batting between them), one of which strips is wider than
the other, so that when they come together with the lining between them the
opposite edges of the wide strip overlap the adjacent edges of the other strip
in such a manner that they may be folded over and cemented to the said over-
lapped edges.
The said Invention also consists in the means for applying cement to the
edges of the wide strip, and in the mechanism for effecting the folding over of
the cemented edges, also in a carpet lining in which the loose fibrous material
is secured to a sheet of paper or between sheets of paper by cement applied
over the surface of the paper.
Also in a carpet lining having the paper and loose fibre united in a
paper-making machine, or while the paper is in a pulpy or semi-pulpy
condition. .
Also in a carpet lining having the loose filling secured between sheets of
paper by cementing together the outer contiguous edges of the paper.
Also in a lining having the loose filling secured to or between sheets of
paper by rows of stitches or "quilting."
And lastly, in a lining made of the general size and form of steps of
stairs to be used as a carpet pad or lining.
The journals of the various rolls are supported upon a suitable frame. The
material from which the batting is formed is wound upon a roll or fed from
some other source into the machine and to a fluted feed roll; the material
is caught by this roll and carried against the teeth of a card cylinder; the
latter has a rapid rotation imparted to it, and strips off the filaments of the
fibrous material, which as the card cylinder rotates are drawn against the
surface of a rotary screen or drum (by rarefaction or exhaustion of the air
within the drum) in such a manner as to suck down the fibres from the card
teeth and cause them to lie upon the surface of the screen, forming a fleecy
sheet, the fibres of which cling together sufficiently to allow the sheet or lap
to be fed from the drum over a feed roll and between the surfaces of the two
strips of paper which with the lap or sheet of fibrous material forms the
lining. The sheets or strips of paper are composed of a wide strip and a
narrow strip, the former coming from a paper roll and the latter from a similar
roll. The wide strip as it is unwound from its roll passes under a guide roll,
thence over a cement cylinder or fountain, thence under a guide roll, and thence
between feed rolls over one of which it receives the lap or sheet of fibrous
:

page_text: material. The narrow strip passes directly from its roll over the lap sheet,
being compressed against the same, and the wide paper by a weighted or
metal presser roll over one of the feed rolls. In passing over the cement
cylinder the edges of the under strip on its under surface have cement applied
to them as follows:-The cement cylinder is filled or partially filled with
mucilage or cement, and upon a shaft extending through the same are placed
two wallowing rolls which project up through the upper surface of the cylinder
at such distance apart as shall cause them to roll in contact with the under
surface of the paper at the opposite edges thereof as the paper is fed along,
thereby applying to the said surface a border of cement.
As the paper in
passing on joins the narrow strip the cemented surfaces project beyond the
edges of the narrow strip and in this condition the paper and enclosed fibrous
lap pass to an inclined plate, at each end of which is a guide or groove. The
latter receives the projecting edge, and as the lining is fed along turns this
edge over (by the formation or twist of the guide groove) so that as the lining
reaches a pit or receptacle these edges will have been turned over upon and
cemented to the upper surface of the narrow sheet. After being cemented
the lining may be again passed through presser rolls to compress the cemented
edges together or may pass directly into the box or baling pit. The projecting
edges may however if preferable be turned or folded over against the narrow
strip by hand. Two creasing drums or cylinders may be employed to fold the
finished lining as it comes from the cement rolls the cylinders acting upon and
feeding the lining through between them and each cylinder having teeth
extending the length of the cylinder and operating in connection with
corresponding recesses in the other cylinder. The teeth and recesses of
each cylinder alternate so that they act successively to crease the lining in
opposite directions, the lining being thereby delivered folded and ready for
baling. The folding may also be effected by an attendant who slips over the
end of the lining as it comes into the pit a sort of spatula or folder with
which he lays the lining upon the bottom of the box with the folder on top,
while with another folder he then folds down the next part of the lining across
the box with the folder on top; he then withdraws the first folder by slipping
it out endwise and folds the next part, and so on until the whole length is
folded, as will be readily understood. The card cylinder and the screen or
lap forming mechanism may be arranged separately from the mechanism which
unites the lap or sheet of filling and the sheet or sheets of paper. The con-
finement of the paper and lap together may be effected as described or they
may be kept from relative displacement by either of the following methods :-
The lining may be placed on each side by a sheet of paper, and each or either

page_text: 'of these sheets of paper has applied to its surface a coating of cement of such
nature and consistence that the filling and paper are joined thereby. One
sheet of paper only may be used, but a sheet on each side of the filling is con-
sidered preferable. With one sheet the lap or batting may be united to the
paper in a paper making machine, the said sheet while in a pulpy or semi-pulpy
condition being brought into contact with the lap, which is pressed against and
'made to adhere to the paper by virtue of the soft condition of the paper which
'as it dries retains the fibres of the filling pressed against or into it as will be
'readily understood. The filling may be placed between two paper sheets the
outer edges of which are pasted together by cement. This formation is
similar to one before described except that the sheets of paper are all of the
same width and the under surface of one sheet is pasted at its edge to the
opposite surface of the other. The sheets of paper may also be confined to
the filling by rows of stitches no cement being used. In this formation the
filling may be surfaced with only one sheet of paper, but two sheets are con-
sidered preferable. The sewing mechanism may be directly connected with
the mechanism which unites the lap and paper sheets together. In my
improved stair carpet pad the filling is enclosed between sheets of paper and
the layers of paper and filling are enveloped in a covering of thin textile fabric,
the whole being connected by quilting stitches which give proper compactness
to the pad and keep the filling in place.