A MACHINE FOR DOUBLING, WINDING, PLAITING, AND MEASURING COTTON AND OTHER FABRICS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Hardcastle, of Bradshaw, near Bolton-le-
Moors, in the County of Lancaster, Printer, Dyer, and Bleacher, for the
Invention of "A MACHINE FOR DOUBLING, WINDING, PLAITING, AND MEASURING
COTTON AND OTHER FABRICS."
Sealed the 1st December 1857, and dated the 30th June 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Hardcastle at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
30th June 1857.
I, THOMAS HARDCASTLE, of Bradshaw, near Bolton-le-Moors, in the County
of Lancaster, Printer, Dyer, and Bleacher, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "A MACHINE FOR DOUBLING, WINDING, PLAITING, AND
MEASURING COTTON AND OTHER FABRICS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to supersede manual labour in the various
operations of doubling, winding, plaiting, and measuring cotton and other
fabrics. The fabric to be operated upon is taken over and under stretching
bars, by which it is distended. It is then taken partly round a disc, by which
it is doubled; the doubled fabric then passes between one or more pair of
rollers to fold the selvages together. One of these rollers is in connection
with a measuring apparatus, or the measuring apparatus may be attached to
any other convenient part of the machine. The fabric is then wound on a
creel or roller, or else. it is plaited down by a vibrating rail or other suitable

page_text: machinery. I wish to observe that the machinery for producing the various
operations of doubling, winding, plaiting, and measuring may either be used
in combination or otherwise.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Hardcastle in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
30th December 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, J, THOMAS
HARDCASTLE, of Bradshaw, near Bolton-le-Moors, in the County of Lancaster,
Printer, Dyer, and Bleacher, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Ier reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Thomas Hardcastle, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas Hardcastle, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas
Hardcastle, 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 "A MACHINE FOR DOUBLING,
WINDING, PLAITING, AND MEASURING COTTON AND OTHER FABRICS,"
upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Hardcastle, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Hardcastle, 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 (that is to say) :-
The nature of my said Invention consists in performing the various opera-
tions of doubling, winding, plaiting, and measuring fabrics by machinery,
instead of performing the said operations by manual labour, or partly by manual
labour and partly by machinery, as heretofore customary.

page_text: In order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me, reference
being had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, and to the letters and
figures marked thereon.
Figure 1 represents an elevation of the machine for doubling, plaiting, and
measuring fabrics. In this view one of the frame sides is omitted to shew
the construction of the working parts more fully. Figure 2 is a plan of the
machine. a represents a roller on which the fabric is wound previous to its
being placed in the machine. The fabric is guided over and under the
stretching bars b, b, by which it is distended to its full width. It then passes
over a roller c, under the roller d, and then over the disc e, by which it is
folded lengthwise of the piece.
On referring to Figure 2, it will be seen that the centre of the disc e is
placed exactly in the centre of the rollers c and d, and that the fabric is guided
at its selvages by the adjustable pieces f. f. These pieces can be set according
to the width of the fabric, thereby bringing the centre thereof in a line with
the centre of the disc e. The fabric then passes between the rollers g, g, by
which the selvages are folded together; the fabric thus doubled or folded is
carried forward by the rollers h, h, to one of which is attached a worm i,
gearing into a wheel j, furnished with an index plate k. The pointer / is fixed
to the framing. The circumference of the roller h may be one yard or any
other definite measure, consequently as the roller revolves each revolution
thereof moves the wheel j and index plate one tooth, thereby measuring the
quantity of fabric passing through the machine. This apparatus for micasuring
may be constructed in any approved manner, and applied to any other con-
venient part of the machine. When the fabric has passed through the rollers
h, h, it is delivered to the plaiting-down apparatus, consisting of the swing
frame m, to which a vibrating motion is given by the excentric h³, on the
roller h, the link m' fitting on a stud m³, fixed to one of the levers of the
swing frame m. I wish to remark that any other apparatus for plaiting down
may be used, or the fabric may be wound on a creel or roller connected to
the machine, instead of being plaited down, as shewn in the Drawing. The
requisito motion for driving the machine may be given by a driving belt
passing over a pulley on the shaft of the roller h, or in any other convenient
manner. The upper roller his pressed down on the lower roller h by screws
or weights, and the friction on the fabric suffices to draw the fabric off the
roller a and through the various parts of the machine. By means of this
machine a considerable saving is effected in manual labour, and the operations
are performed more accurately than heretofore. The feeding rollers may be

page_text: placed vertically, and the disc horizontally, or they may be placed at any
angle, or a fixed knife or sword of metal or other suitable material may be
employed instead of the disc e.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described the manner
of performing the same, I wish to observe, in conclusion, that the machinery
for producing the various operations of doubling, winding, or plaiting and
measuring, may be used in combination, as shewn and described, or otherwise,
and that, excepting as herein-after particularly referred to, I do not claim any
of the elements of the machine which I have described as forming any part
of my Invention separately or apart from the combination and application
thereof for the purposes above described; but what I do claim is, a machine
for doubling. winding, or plaiting and measuring fabrics, and particularly
the disc e, or any equivalent agent employed in its stead, when used in the
manner and for the purposes described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Hardcastle, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
THOS HARDCASTLE. (L.S.)