IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY GUIDING OPENING AND STRETCHING FABRICS
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Kerr of Church in the County of Lancaster for
an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY GUIDING
OPENING AND STRETCHING FABRICS
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Kerr at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 12th April 1883.
JAMES KERR of Church in the County of Lancaster " IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY GUIDING, OPENING AND STRETCHING FABRICS
"
My Invention relates to apparatus of the class described in the Specification of
Letters Patent No 84 granted to me as of the 8th day of January 1879 but the
apparatus there described is so arranged that the fabric travels over a pair of
Rollers fixed on a frame which is pivotted in the centre when swerving from its
normal path and thereby pressing with more force upon one Roller than upon the
other causes the frame to move backward and thus bringing a fixed check or brake
to act upon that Roller. I find that it is more advantageous to keep the guiding
Rollers in their fixed position and to bring the brake to the Rollers The improved
apparatus is arranged as follows. The fabric to be guided, stretched and opened
or either one or the other is made to pass over or under at least two Rollers, which
may be cylindrical or conical, smooth, fluted or grooved. The Bearings of the
Rollers are mounted firmly in a convenient manner so that they are free to move
round their axes which may be in a straight line or form an obtuse angle with one
another. At each side of the fabric when travelling in its normal direction is
placed a stud against one or other of which studs the fabric presses when swerving.
By this pressure the stud acts upon an arrangement which causes the Brake to
impinge upon the Roller nearest to it and thus forces the fabric to return to its
normal path. The pressure of the fabric upon the stud having been removed the
said arrangement removes the brake from the roller and leaves it free to revolve.
The brakes can be worked conveniently by electricity and electro-magnetism in
the following manner. At each side of the fabric when moving in its normal path

page_text: is placed a metallic tongue or contact piece which by the pressure of the fabric
when swerving against it, is brought into contact with a metallic stud. The
tongue and the stud are separated except when brought into contact as described.
The former is connected with one pole of a galvanic battery or other source of
electricity the latter with the other pole and the conducting wire from either one
or the other is connected with the coils of an electro-magnet. The armature of the
said magnet is connected with one arm of a lever whose other arm bears the brake.
The bearing of the fulcrum of the lever the bearings of the Roller and the electro-
magnet are rigidly fixed in their positions relatively with each other. If the
fabric leave its course and swerves to one side the circuit is closed on that side
and the electromagnet excited the armature attracted and the brake brought to
bear upon the roller on the side to which the fabric has swerved. The cloth is
caused to return to its normal path by the retardation of the one roller and the
free revolution of the other and the metallic tongue or contact piece also returns
to its normal position thereby breaking contact and interrupting the current
liberating the armature and also the brake so that the roller can again move freely.
The same provision is made for the Roller on the other side to operate in the same
way when the fabric swerves to that side.
The arrangement may be varied, for instance the circuit may be closed whilst
the fabric is in its normal course and interrupted by swerving from the same.
In that case the excited electromagnet is made to keep the brake off the Roller
and the brake made to act upon the Roller by other forces for instance by
gravity.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said James Kerr in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 5th October
1883.
JAMES KERR of Church in the County of Lancaster “IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY GUIDING OPENING AND STRETCHING FABRICS."
My Invention relates to apparatus of the class described in the Specification of
Letters Patent N° 84 granted to me as of the eighth day of January in the year of
Our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy nine.
At
The apparatus there described is so arranged that the fabric travels over a pair
of rollers fixed on a frame which is pivotted in the centre so that when the fabric
swerves from its normal path and presses with more weight upon one roller than
upon the other the frame moves backward until the motion of the roller is retarded
or stopped entirely by a mechanical self acting check or brake brought into play
by the deflection of the said roller-I find that it is more advantageous under
certain circumstances to keep the guiding rollers in a fixed position (that is to say
capable only of revolving) and to bring the check or brake to the rollers. The
apparatus constituting my present Invention is arranged to act on this principle
and to be operated through the medium of electricity. The fabric to be guided
stretched and opened (either one or more of these) is made to pass over, or under,
at least two rollers, which may be cylindrical, or conical, and smooth, fluted, or
grooved The bearings of the rollers are mounted firmly in a convenient manner at
an obtuse angle and so that the said rollers are free to move round their axes.
each side of the fabric when travelling in its norinal direction is placed a stud or
its equivalent against the one or the other of which studs the fabric presses when
swerving. By this pressure the stud acts upon an arrangement which causes the
brake to impinge upon the roller at the side to which the fabric has swerved and
the said roller is thus retarded, or stopped entirely, the effect being that the fabric
immediately returns to its normal path and the roller whose motion had been retarded,
or stopped, is once more free to revolve The operations described are brought about
by electricity and electro-magnetism in the following manner. At each side of the
fabric when moving in its normal path is placed a metallic tongue or contact piece
(which I will call an automatic connector) which, by the pressure of the fabric
when swerving against it, is brought into contact with a metallic stud or
second contact piece. The two contact pieces are separated except when brought
into contact as described. The one contact piece is connected with one pole of a
galvanic battery or other source of electricity and the second contact piece is con-
nected with the other pole and the conducting wire from either one pole or the other
is connected with the coils of an electro magnet-The armature of the said magnet
is connected with one arm of a lever whose other arm bears the brake-The
bearings of the fulcra of the levers, the bearings of the rollers, and the electro-
magnets, are all firmly fixed in their positions relatively with each other-If tho
fabric leave its course and swerve to one side the contact pieces on that side are
pressed together and the circuit is closed on that side the electro-magnet becoming
excited, the armature attracted, and the brake brought to bear upon the roller at
that side to which the fabric has swerved The fabric is caused to return to its
normal path by the retardation of the one roller and the free revolution of the other
roller and the contact pieces are then allowed to separate and return to their
normal position thereby interrupting the current and liberating the armature and
also the brake so that the roller can again move freely-The same provision is made
for the roller on the other side to operate in the same way when the fabric swerves

page_text: to that side The arrangement may be varied; for instance, the circuit may be
closed whilst the fabric is in its normal course and interrupted by its swerving
from that course In that case the electro-magnet is made to keep the brake off
the rollers and the brake made to act, when released, upon the roller by any
suitable means; for example, by weights, or springs, but the arrangement first
described will be found most convenient
And in Order that my said Invention may be fully understood I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same and for that purpose shall refer to
the several figures on the annexed sheet of drawings the same letters of reference
indicating corresponding parts in all the figures.
Figure 1 is a front elevation and Figure 2 is an end elevation (in a plane at
right angles with the axis of the roller A) of apparatus arranged according to my
Invention Figure 3 is a plan of the "automatic connector" The rollers A and B
are carried upon the frame C (which may be made of timber or any other suitable
material) in bearings on brackets D D D in which they are free to revolve around
their axes which are set at an obtuse angle to each other as shewn clearly in
Figure 1-At the outer end of each of the said rollers is fixed a brake pulley I
into which the end of the brake lever E can engage to retard or stop the roller-
The said lever E is capable of turning on the centre pin F curried by the
bracket D' (or D³). The other end of the said lever is formed with an armature G
in proximity to the electro magnet H (or H¹) around which the current from the
galvanic battery J is caused to flow when the circuit is completed-The contact
making arrangement K which I call the "automatic connector" consists (in the case
of each roller) by preference of two separate and insulated strips or tongues N. O
of copper or other conductor which are fastened upon the block L which may be
adjusted along the slot M, to suit the width of the fabric, and be fastened by a
bolt and nut or in other convenient way
A wire leads from the strip or tongue N to the electro magnet (H or H¹) round
which it is coiled afterwards passing to one pole of the galvanic battery J the
other pole of the said battery being connected by means of a wire to the other
strip or tongue O so that to complete the circuit to magnetise one or other of the
electro-magnets it is only necessary to bring the ends of the one or the other set of
metal tongues NO into contact-The fabric while passing over the rollers A B in
its normal or central position will travel between the two automatic connectors
not touching either of them (as shown in dotted lines in the drawing) but when
the said fabric swerves from this normal path; say towards the roller A, the edge
of the fabric will touch the automatic connector and press the tongue O against
the tongue N-The current will then flow around the electro magnet H thus
attracting the armature G of that magnet and causing the brake to bear upon the
brake pulley I which will stop or retard the revolution of the said roller A and
cause the other roller B which is revolving freely to draw the fabric to its normal
position Should the fabric move from its normal position towards the roller B
the same action as above described will take place at this side of the apparatus the
electro-magnet H' operating upon the brake lever at that side to retard or stop the
roller B while the roller A revolving freely will draw the fabric towards its central
position again-This action is repeated each time the fabric swerves from its normal
or central position-The apparatus may be placed so that the fabric passes over it
vertically horizontally or in an inclined path and the number of rollers may be
varied as desired
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect I would observe in conclusion that I wish it to be understood that I do not
limit myself to the exact details given as the same may be varied or modified
without departing from the nature of my Invention but what I consider to be
novel and original and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
hereinbefore in part recited Letters Patent is :-
First In apparatus for automatically guiding opening and stretching fabrics

page_text: the use of an arrangement whereby the swerving of the fabric from its normal
path causes an electric circuit to be completed to operate means for retarding or
stopping the guiding opening or stretching roller or rollers substantially as herein-
before described and explained with reference to the accompanying drawings
Second In apparatus for automatically guiding opening and stretching fabrics
the combination of the "automatic connectors "
or contact making devices, (acted
upon by the fabric swerving from its normal path) the electric Battery and electro-
magnets, brake-levers acted upon thereby, and rollers provided with brake pulleys,
all being combined and operating substantially as herein before described and
illustrated in the accompanying drawings
In witness whereof I the said James Kerr have to this my Specification set
my hand and seal this twenty seventh day of Sept. One thousand eight hundred
and eighty three
TARA TAR