Stretching Woven and Felted Fabrics.
Year: 1888

page_text: Stretching Woven and Felted Fabrics.
I, THOMAS WILLIAM STEAD, of the firm of Elkanah Hoyle and Sons Limited, of
Waterside, Halifax in the County of York, Ironfounders and Machine Makers do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows :-
In machines for tentering and stretching fabrics, clips are employed for taking
hold of the selvedge of the fabric. The clips have hitherto been composed of an
upper and lower jaw, one kept in contact with the other by spiral or other form of
springs. To the use of springs there are several objections, as, in addition to the cost,
care is required to fix theu, besides which they frequently break, rendering the
clips of no use until the defective springs are replaced.
My invention in clips consists in suitably hingeing the upper jaw, whilst the opposite
ends of such hinged jaw is weighted so that when the fabric is placed between the
jaws the weighted end of the hinged one gives sufficient nip to the jaws to take firmly
hold of the fabric. The jaws are so shaped and the upper one so hinged that when
the jaws have hold of the fabric there is no slipping of the said fabric, as the grip of
the jaws become firmer upon increased tension of the fabric. These clips are attached
to endless chains, and at a point just before the outlet of the machine the weighted
jaw comes in contact with a plate or cam for the purpose of opening the jaws, to
release their hold of, the fabric, while at the inlet end of the machine the weighted jaw
passes under an inclined plate for the purpose of closing the jaws and nipping the
fabric.

page_text: Stretching Woven and Felted Fabrics.
I, THOMAS WILLIAM STEAD, of the firm of Elkanah Hoyle and Sons, Limited, of
Waterside, Halifax, in the County of York, Ironfounders and Machine Makers,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:-
In machines for tentering and stretching fabrics, clips are employed for taking hold
of the selvedge of the fabric. The clips have hitherto been composed of an upper and
lower jaw one kept in contact with the other by spiral or other form of springs. To
the use of springs there are several objections, as in addition to the cost, care is
required to fix them, besides which they frequently break, rendering the clips of no
use until the defective springs are replaced.
My invention in clips consists in suitably hingeing the upper jaw, whilst the
opposite end of such hinged jaw is weighted so that when the fabric is placed between
the jaws the weighted end of the hinged one gives sufficient nip to the jaws to take
firmly hold of the fabric. The jaws are so shaped, and the upper one so hinged that
when the jaws have hold of the fabric there is no slipping of the said fabric, as the
grip of the jaws becomes firmer upon increased tension of the fabric. These clips
are attached to endless chains, and at a point just before the outlet of the machine the
weighted jaw comes in contact with a plate or cam for the purpose of opening the
jaws, to release their hold of the fabric, while at the inlet end of the machine the
weighted jaw passes over an inclined plate for the purpose of opening the jaws and
admitting the selvedge of the fabric, and when the weighted end is clear of the
inclined plate, the jaw falls on the fabric and holds it, throughout the length of the
machine.
Such being the nature of my invention, I will now proceed to describe the annexed
sheet of drawings illustrative thereof, wherein Fig. 1 is end view of one of my
improved clips, and Fig. 2 plan view of three of such clips. The improved clip com-
prises a lower jaw A projecting from a horizontal part B which by means of a pin C
is connected to another corresponding part D in such manner as to form a chain.
The upper jaw E of the clip is hinged at e, the upper end of which is weighted as
shewn at F. The selvedge of the fabric A to be stretched or dried is placed between
the jaws, and it is nipped by the weighted end of the said upper jaw; when it is
apparent that any increased drag or tension on the fabric will increase the keenness of
the nip.
It will be understood that the hinged jaw closes by its own weight, but in order to
automatically open the jaws as they enter the machine so that the selvedge of the cloth
can be inserted therein, I employ an inclined plate G at the entrance end of the
machine (see Fig. 3) so that as the weighted end of the jaw passes over the said
inclined plate, the jaw is opened thereby, and when the weighted end of the jaw has

page_text: got to the end of the inclined plate, the jaw falls by its own gravity so as to nip or
take hold of the fabric. A corresponding inclined plate H is fixed at the exit end of
the machine, so as to open the jaw for the purpose of releasing its hold of the selvedge
of the fabric.
By constructing clips such as those herein shewn and described, they are made self
acting both in the opening and closing operations. They are also simple in
construction, and not liable to become deranged.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
Firstly. An automatic clip for tentering and stretching woven and felted fabrics,
such clips being caused to close by the weighted end of the moving part, arranged
substantially as herein shown and described.
Secondly. The use of inclined planes or cam surfaces for opening and closing the
hinged jaws in manner substantially as herein shewn and described.
TASKER & CROSSLEY,
Halifax, Agents.
Dated this 6th day of December 1888.
TASKER & CROSSLEY,
Halifax, Agents.