IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS POR CUTTING THE PILE OF FUSTIANS AND OTHER PILE FABRICS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Burley, of King Cross Road, near Halifax,
in the County of York, Mechanic, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS POR CUTTING THE PILE OF FUSTIANS AND OTHER PILE FABRICS."
Sealed the 18th June 1858, and dated the 24th December 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Burley at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 24th.
December 1857.
I, GEORGE BURLEY, of King Cross Road, near Halifax, in the County of
York, Mechanic, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CUTTING THE PILE OF FUSTIANS AND OTHER PILE
FABRICS," to be as follows:-
The improvements relate to apparatus for cutting the pile of fustians and*
such like fabrics where the fabric the pile of which has to be cut is con-
ducted by mechanical means in connexion with the cutters employed, and
especially to apparatus such as for which Letters Patent were granted to
Joseph Burley, dated the 15th of November 1852, and consist, first, in the
application of varying pressure upon the fabric as drawn from the supply
beam, in order that that pressure may be varied as the diameter of the roller
is varied by the fabric being drawn off thereform, and thereby regulate the
tension to the piece.
Also to the application of an extra drag roller with a roughened surface
produced by a coating of card teeth or other suitable material, and the:
application thereto, as also to other retarding roller of additional retarding
means to give increased tension to the the fabric when required, and which is
brought into operation by lever or other suitable means by the operator as he
may see requisite.

page_text: Also to the application of stopping apparatus capable of being acted upon
by the wires or other means used to connect the separato lengths of fabric, or
at the end of the pieco so as to stop the machine at those times.
Also to the application of lover or such like operating means by which n
sideway motion for adjustment may be given to the frame carrying the cutting
knives by the attendant during the operation of cutting.
Also to using vulcanized india-rubber or such liko elastic means, to which
to attach the separate supports of the respective knives in such manner that,
by the extension of such means, an uniform separation of the respective
supports may be effected, and a consequent variation in the distance apart of
the respective knives given. This part of the improvements is also applicablo
particularly when cutters are used to cut up the pile longitudinally of the
fabric during the process of manufacture.
Also to forming the knife rods with slots or openings capable of receiving
the supports thereto within them, and so arranging the parts that the knives
may be brought much closer together than in the arrangement described in
the Specification of Patent granted to Joseph Burley referred to.
Also to the application of a small supporting lever to the guard to the
cutter described in the said former Specification, in order to prevent the points
of the guard from being caught by the projecting fibres of the fabrics during
ordinary working, and yet admit of those points acting as soon as the point of
a knife passes through the cloth.
Also to means for facilitating the joining together of the respective pieces.
For this purpose I apply a bar with points thereto, on to and partly around
which the ends of the adjoining pieces are laid, and there secured by side
pieces aided by studs and wire or such like holding means.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Burley in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 23rd
June 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE 30
BURLEY, of King Cross Road, near Halifax, in the County of York, Mechanic,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by. Her Letters.
Patent, bearing dato the Twenty-fourth day of December, in the year of our:
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of 85
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant untol

page_text: me, the said George Burley, Her special licence that I, the said George
Burley, my executors administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said George Burley, 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 CUTTING THE PILE OF FUSTIANS AND OTHER PILE FABRICS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Burley, 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 per-
formed, 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 Burley, 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
thereof, that is to say:-
The improvements relate to apparatus for cutting the pile of fustians and
such like fabrics, where the fabric the pile of which has to be cut is con-
ducted by mechanical means in connection with the cutters employed, and
especially to apparatus such as for which Letters Patent were granted to
Joseph Burley, dated the 15th of November 1852, and consist, first, in the
application of varying pressure upon the fabric as drawn from the supply
beam, in order that that pressure may be varied as the diameter of the roller
is varied by the fabric being drawn off therefrom, and thereby regulate the
tension to the piece.
Secondly, the improvements relate to the application of an extra drag
roller with a roughened surface produced by a coating of card teeth or other
suitable material, and the application thereto, as also to other retarding
roller of additional retarding means to give increased tension to the fabric
when required, and which is brought into operation by lever or other suitable
means by the operator, as he may see requisite.
Thirdly, the improvements relate to the application of stopping apparatus
capable of being acted upon by the wires or other means used to connect the
separate lengths of fabric, or at the end of the piece, so as to stop the
machine at those times.
Fourthly, the improvements relate to the application of lever or such like
operating means, by which a sideway motion for adjustment may be given to

page_text: the frame carrying the cutting knives by the attendant during the operation
of cutting.
Fifthly, the improvements relate to using vulcanized india-rubber, or such
like elastic means, to which to attach the separate supports of the respective
knives in such manner that, by the extension of such means, an uniform sepa-
ration of the respective supports may be effected, and a consequent variation
in the distance apart of the respective knives given. This part of the improve-
ments is also applicable particularly when cutters are used to cut up the pile
longitudinally of the fabric during the process of manufacture.
.
Sixthly, the improvements relate to forming the knife rods with slots or
openings capable of receiving the supports thereto within them, and so
arranging the parts that the knives may be brought much closer together
than in the arrangement described in the Specification of Patent granted to
Joseph Burley referred to..
Seventhly, the improvements relate to the application of a small supporting
lever to the guard to the cutter described in the said former Specification, in
order to prevent the points of the guard from being caught by the projecting
fibres of the fabric during ordinary working, and yet admit of those points
acting so soon as the point of a knife passes through the cloth.
Eighthly, the improvements relate to means for facilitating the joining
together of the respective pieces. For this purpose. I apply a bar with points
thereto on to and partly around which the ends of the adjoining pieces are
laid, and there secured by side pieces aided by studs and wire, or such like
holding means.
But that the nature of these my improvements may be more fully under-
stood and readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings
annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shows a side view. Figure 2 a plan, Figure 3 an end view, and
Figure 4 a longitudinal section, of apparatus according to my present improve-
ments, and on comparing it with the Specification of Patent granted to the
said Joseph Burley before referred to it will be found that many of the parts
are similar to what are therein explained, and like parts are marked with
corresponding letters of reference whereever they occur.
In order to give a varying pressure to the fabric as it is being drawn from
tho supply beam, according to the first part of the Invention, I canso it to be
peted upon by the rubbing surface A affixed to the outer end of a pair of
springs A', by which the pressure. on the fabric will be the greatest at the

page_text: first when the diameter of the surface of the fabric is the greatest, and as
the diameter of the surface of the fabric on the supply beam i is decreased by
the drawing-off of the fabric therefrom the pressure of the surface A will be
diminished.
In order to obtain additional tension upon the fabric as it passes under
operation, according to the second part of the Invention, I cover the roller j
with card teeth or otherwise roughen it on its surface, and I apply thereto
additional retarding means by a lever B, one end of which is attached to the
weighted end of the cord or band j*, which acts upon the surface of the
pulley to give friction thereto, and the other end of this lever B is by a
link B connected to the inner end of the lever C, which turns upon a pin C',
and at its other end is connected to the bar C, which extends across the
machine, and is the means by which the lever B is caused to act upon the
weighted cord j. I also apply additional retarding means to the roller f by
a lever C acting at one end upon the weighted cord or band C passing partly
around the pulley C affixed to the axis of the roller f; the lever C³ is con
nected at its other end to the link C, which is connected to the lever C',
which turns upon a pin C³, and is also connected to the bar C, by which the
levers B and C are caused to act simultaneously. The object of this part of
the improvements is that the operator may have the facility of varying the
tension on the fabric as he may see it to be requisite during the operation of
the cutters.
In carrying out the third part of my improvements there is an arm D from
an axis D', which is supported in bearings carried by the framing, and the
outer end of this arm D is in position to be acted upon by the ends of wire
or such like connecting means to the separate lengths of fabric, or which may
be applied to the end of the fabric for the purpose of acting upon to lift that
end of such arm when the fabric has been thus far operated upon, and then
another arm D, affixed also to the axis D', will act upon the lower end of
the bent lever E, which turns upon. the axis E', and at its other end acts
upon the handle of the stop rod to lift the catch of that stop-rod from the
stop to stop the motion of the machine, as explained in the said former
Specification. F is a lever capable of turning upon the fixed stud F¹, with
one end formed into a handle whilst the other end is formed with a slot to
embrace the stud F standing upwards from the frame carrying the cutting
knives, by which, according to the fourth part of the improvements, facility is
given for the attendant to adjust that frame during the operation of cutting.
Figures 5 and 6 show a plan and a side view of parts on a larger scale to
illustrate the fifth part of the improvements, which is also shown in operation

page_text: by Figures 7 and 8. In each of these Figures G, G, are the supporting
means to the knife rods, one to each knife rod, and these supports G,
whilst they aro capable of sliding freely in the groove formed, as shown for
them in the compound bars, are affixed individually to the pieces of vul-
canized or prepared india-rubber H, I, whose ends are attached to cords or
bands,, which pass over guide pulleys H, H, and at their other ends
are affixed to the small drum or cylinder Ho affixed to an axis H', which is
supported so as to be capable of rotation in the frames S', S, whilst it has
affixed upon it a ratchet wheel II, the teeth of which are acted upon by the
spring click or stop H to prevent that drum unwinding except when the
click or stop H is removed therefrom for that purpose, and the axis His
formed square at the end or otherwise, so that it may receive a key or other
means adapted to effect tlio winding-up of the cords II by the rotation of the
drum or cylinder H. In order that this part of the improvements may be
more fully understood, I will suppose that the cords II are slack, so that all
the supports G for the knife rods are close together, and they are capable of
being so drawn by the tension of the india-rubber bands II, II, to which cach
is attached, but that it is desired to separate them a uniform distanco apart.
For this purpose I give rotary motion to the drum H³ in the direction adapted
by means of the cords F' to extend the india-rubber bands H, and to an
extent suitable to the distanco apart required of the respective knife rods.
By these means I obtain a facility for readily and uniformly varying the
distance apart of the respective cutting knives to the rows of pile to be cut.
And I would here state, that although I have explained vulcanized india-
rubber as the material which I have found best adapted for the purpose, I do
not confine myself thereto as other elastic media may be employed to connect
the separate supports of the knife rods.
And I would also state that this part of the improvements is also applicable
particularly when cutters are used to cut up the pile longitudinally of the
fabric during the process of manufacture.
According to the sixth part of the improvements, which is shown by
Figures 7, 8, and 9, the knife rods mare each formed with a slot I to
receive a stud G³ from its carrier G, and there are holes I' through from side
to side of the rod me to receive an adjusting pin 12, to adjust the distance of
the point of the knife. By these means facility is given for the rods me
coming close or nearly so to each other. J, more clearly shown by Figures 8
and 9, is a short supporting lever according to the seventh part of the
Invention, by which, in placo of the end of the guard m* resting on the upper
part of the cutter m, as explained in the former Specification referred to

page_text: where the points thereof were found often to be acted upon by the loose
fibres of the fabric, they are now lifted a sufficient distance to be out of the
way of those fibres, yet, in the event of the point of a knife passing through
the fabric, such fabric will then act upon the lever J, to admit of the guard m*
coming into operation, as indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 8. The
short supporting lever J at its lower end, where it rests upon the cutter m, is
forked, so as also partly to embrace that cutter, and the side pieces are
somewhat elastic, and have lumps or projections J' on their inner surface
(more clearly shown by the enlarged view, Fig. 9*) to enable them better to
hold to the knife during working, and yet be readily released therefrom in
case of the knife passing through the fabric as stated.
Figure 10 shows a plan view, and Figure 11 a section of parts, according
to the eighth part of the Invention. k represents a portion of the ratch cloth
or apron used to connect the one end of the fabric to be treated. This is
secured to a bar L, by being passed partly round that bar and embraced by
the strip of leather M, M, held by rivetting, and N is part of one end of the
fabric to be secured thereto; and this is effected by the end of the fabric N
being passed over tho pins O₁ on the bar O, and there held by the folding
over of the two surfaces of leather P, P', which are held together by pins Q,
through which passes a rod or wire R.
Having thus described the means which I adopt in carrying out my improve-
ments, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself to the precise
details herein shown and described, as these may be varied, so long as the
peculiar character of any part of the improvements be retained substantially
as explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Burley, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
BENJ J. B. MILLS,
73, Chancery Lane, London.
GEORGE BURLEY. (L.S.)