IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR FOLDING Pree Goony
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Worrall, of Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Dyer, and John Kershaw, of Wadsworth, in the
Parish of Halifax, and County of York, Spinner, for the Invention
of "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR FOLDING Pree Goony "
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Worrall and
John Kershaw at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 25th September 1869.
We, JAMES WORRALL, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Dyer, and JOHN KERSHAW, of Wadsworth, in the Parish of Halifax,
and County of York, Spinner, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR FOLDING PIECE GOODS," to be
as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to effect the folding of piece goods
automatically, instead of as heretofore requiring the assistance of
attendants to place and withdraw the tension rods or wires over which
the folds are laid. The fabric to be folded is-led up over guide bars or
rollers and brought down to a pair of pendent horizontal rollers mounted

page_text: in vertical bars, which are free to slide in guides in the framing of the
machine to vary the position of the rollers vertically as desired. These
rollers deliver the fabric to the table intended to receive it, lapping it
over the rods or wires as they are applied to the fabric. This table
is mounted in a carriage which traverses to and fro under the delivery
rollers, and by means of a rack and pinion or their equivalent the table
is raised to receive the cloth and gradually lowered as the folds of cloth
accumulate thercon. At either side of the table and at a suitable height
above it there is mounted the automatic apparatus for putting in and
withdrawing the tension wires. These wires instead of severally
extending across the fabric or the whole length of the folds are caused
to advance from opposite selvages and meet in the middle of the fabric,
by which means their withdrawal without creasing the fabric is readily
effected. The apparatus is in duplicate, the same arrangement being
provided on both sides of the table, therefore the same description will
apply to both. Mounted parallel with the delivery rollers are two tubes
on opposite sides of the carriage to receive two tension rods or wires, and
in these tubes are two continuous lateral openings. At the inner ends
of the wires are studs which project beyond the lateral openings. These
tubes are capable of receiving an axial motion so as to bring the rods
or wires alternately to the proper level for insertion into the cloth.
A pulley mounted loosely on each tube and connected therewith by a
pawl and ratchet serves to impart this intermittent axial motion. The
rods or wires are thrust out by the contractile force of elastic bands
attached thereto and to some fixed point, and they are withdrawn from
the cloth by the sweep of rigid arms, which strike against the studs on the
ends of the wires and press them back again into their receptacles.
These arms are mounted on the carriage and fixed to their fulcrum ends
are segment racks which take into a spur pinion carried by a spur wheel
also mounted in the carriage. This spur wheel gears into a straight
rack affixed to the framing of the folding machine, and as the carriage
is traversed to and fro the rack will give an axial motion to the spur
wheel, which through its pinion will actuate the arms and cause them
alternately to act upon their respective rods and draw the same out of
tlic folds of the cloth. A cam plate on the carriage regulates the height
of the delivery rollers, and it allows them at the end of each traverse
to descend sufficiently low to enable the wires (from opposite sides or
selvages, to advance over the face of the cloth and take up such a
*position that by the return motion of the carriage the rollers will, lay

page_text: the cloth over the wires. These operations being repeated at opposite
ends of the pile and the wires being withdrawn in consecutive order the
pile will be built up in a rapid and uniform manner, the wires entering
and leaving the cloth at opposite sides without other help from the
5 attendant than is required for gradually lowering the table.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Worrall and John Kershaw in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 25th March 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, wc, JAMES
WORRALL, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Dyer, and JOHN
KERSHAW, of Wadsworth, in the Parish of Halifax, and County of
York, Spinner, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said James Worrall and John Kershaw,
Her special licence that we, the said James Worrall and John Kershaw,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
James Worrall and John Kershaw, our 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 "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR FOLDING PIECE GOODS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said James Worrall
and John Kershaw, our executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under our, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
ticularly 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.
par-
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Worrall, on behalf of myself
and of the said John Kershaw, do hereby declare the nature of our said

page_text: Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement,
reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
-
The object of this Invention is to effect the folding automatically of
piece goods, more particularly cut pile fabrics, without risk of injury to
the goods from crushing or creasing the same, and without requiring as
heretofore the assistance of attendants to place and withdraw the tension
rods or wires over which the folds are laid. The fabric to be folded is
led up over guide staves, bars, or rollers, and brought down to a pair of
pendent horizontal rollers, which deliver the fabric to a traversing table
intended to receive it and lap it over the rods or wires as they are
applied to the fabric. At either side of the table and at a suitable
height above it there is mounted automatic apparatus for putting in and
withdrawing the tension rods, which rods instead of severally extending
across the fabric or the whole length of the folds are caused to advance
from opposite selvages and meet in the middle of the fabric, by which
means their withdrawal without creasing the fabric is readily effected.
In the accompanying Drawings we have shewn our improved folding
machinery in several views. Fig. 1 is a plan view of the machine;
Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional elevation taken in the line 1, 2, of
Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section taken in the line 3, 4, of
Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is a partial longitudinal section shewing the change
in the position of the working parts.
A, A, is the main framing of the machine, supporting a fixed table B
on which the fabric to be folded is laid in a heap. The framing A
carries at its upper part adjustable guides and fixed staves for supporting
and guiding the fabric as it advances towards the folding apparatus. Ois
a counterbalanced rocking frame mounted on the main framing and
carrying at its upper end a guide roller for leading down the cloth, while
at its lower end is a pair of delivery rollers 0, 0, between which the
fabric passes to the folding table; this folding table is shewn at D. It
is fitted with a loose board, which may be removed from the machine
with the folded piece upon it and replaced by another before the folding
recommences. The table is mounted in a carriage E which runs upon a
railway F secured to the framing, and it has a vertical sliding motion
in the carriage, it being held up to position by coiled supporting springs
which yield as the folds of the fabric accumulate, and thus allow the

page_text: upper surface of the folds of cloth to maintain an uniform level. On the
upper part of the carriage is fitted a frame E' of cast iron in which the
apparatus for working the folding rods or wires is mounted. A traverse
motion over the railway F is given to the carriage E from a spur
wheel G through a crank rod H, which connects with a crank pin on
the wheel and is jointed at its other end to the carriage. A spur pinion
on the driving shaft I gears with the wheel G and imparts thereto a
rotary motion which it receives from a belt from any first mover passing
over a belt pulley on the shaft I. The rods or wires over which the folds
are lapped are mounted at a distance apart determined by the breadth of
fold required. The apparatus for carrying and operating them is
provided in duplicate, and as the wires are divided into two lengths
which are caused to advance to and recede from each other, the same
arrangement is provided on both sides of the carriage frame E. This
apparatus is shewn on an enlarged scale at Figures 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9.
Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the apparatus; Fig. 6 is an end view looking
towards the tail or hooked ends of the rods or wires; Fig. 7 is a cross
section taken in the line 1, 2, of Fig. 5, and shewing the mode of giving
an axial motion to the apparatus; Fig. 8 is a cross section taken in the
line 3, 4, of Fig. 5, and shewing the mode of depressing the rods or
wires (when they have received a fold or lap) on to the pile of fabric;
and Fig. 9 is a cross section shewing the mode of connecting with the
rods the bowles which are acted upon to withdraw the rods from the
folded pile.
Referring now to Figures 1 and 2 for the position and arrangement
of this apparatus in the machine and to the detail views for the
construction of the parts, it will be seen that mounted parallel with
the delivery rollers O¹, C', are two cylinders L, L, on opposite sides
of the carriage. In these cylinders are formed two tubular passages to
receive each a tension rod or wire a, a. The cylinders serve at once to
support and guide the wires, and to raise and lower them to the proper
positions for receiving the folds and depositing them upon the pile.
Through the tubular passages continuous lateral openings are made at
opposite sides of the cylinders, and through these openings hooks and
studs carried by the wires project. The cylinders are each mounted in
a swivel ring 6 (see Fig. 6), and are capable of turning therein so as
to bring the two rods or wires which they carry alternately to the proper
level for receiving the lap. On each cylinder is mounted loosely a

page_text: pulley c, and it is connected with the cylinder by a pawl and ratchet,
(see Fig. 7). These pullies serve to impart an intermittent axial motion
to the cylinders in the manner to be presently described. The rods a
are severally thrust out of their cylinder by the contractile force of an
elastic band d attached to the end of the rod and to some fixed point on
the cylinder, and they are withdrawn from the cloth by the sweep of
rigid arms M, M (Fig. 1) which strike against the bowles a¹ of their
respective rods and press them back from the pile of folded fabric into
their receptacles. These arms M, M', are mounted on short axles fitted
to the carriage casting E', and fixed to their fulcrum ends are segment
racks or pinions 1 which take into a spur pinion 2 carried by a spur
wheel 8 also mounted on the carriage; this spur wheel gears into a
straight rack 4 affixed to the framing of the folding machine, and as the
carriage is traversed to and fro the fixed rack will give an axial motion
to the spur wheel 3, which through its pinion will actuate the arms and
cause them alternately to act upon their respective rods or wires and
draw the same out of the folds of the cloth. The intermittent axial
motion given to the tubes L, L, and rods a, a, is derived from the
traverse of the carriage E. This will be best explained by reference
to Fig. 2, where c, c*, are the band pullies that convey the axial
motion through a pawl and ratchet teeth (as shewn at Fig. 7) to the
cylinders L, L. Around the pullies c, c*, are respectively passed the
bands 5, 5*, which are led over or around guide pullies 6, 6*, the lower
and pendent end being attached to a weight, while the upper ends
of the bands are made fast to a sliding piece 7, 7*, which severally project
down through a slot in the upper part of the casting E¹. Affixed
to opposite sides of the main framing are adjustable stop pieces A*
against the opposite ends of which these sliding pieces 7, 7*, alternately
strike as the carriage with its table is moved to and fro under the delivery
rollers.
In Fig. 2 the crank rod H is shewn as at the end of its stroke. The
carriage in moving away from the delivery rollers C has caused it will
be seen one of the sliding pieces 7 to be arrested by the stop piece A*.
The effect of this was to pull round the band pullies 5 and cause them
to give a half turn to their respective cylinders L. This was done while
one rod only of the cylinders was in the work, the second, shewn in
place at Fig. 2, having been advanced after the axial motion was

page_text: effected. In making this half turn the cylinders L brought down their
rod with its lap upon the pile, it being free to fall by reason of the
vertical slot in the casting E¹ through which it projects. To ensure
this action of the rods in their turn, and thus to enable them to
lay the laps or folds which they bring down properly on the pile the
contrivance shewn at Fig. 8 is provided. It consists of a cam plate e
affixed to the casting E', against which strike tappets d', d', projecting
laterally from the inner end of the cylinders L. As therefore the
cylinders receive a half turn their uppermost tappet will strike the
cam plate e and be thereby depressed, the swivel joint of its ring
bearing allowing for this motion. This depression of the tube will
bring down the rod upon the pile, where it will hold the fold without
injury to the fabric while the act of forming another fold is proceeding,
and thus a suitable resistance will be created to the drag on the
fabric caused by the traverse of the carriage to and fro under the
delivery rollers. Supposing now the second rod to be inserted as shewn
at a, Fig. 2, the next operation is to lap the fabric over it, and to this
end the carriage is drawn forward to the position shewn at Fig. 4. It
is also necessary to depress the rocking frame O which carries the
delivery rollers in order that it may lay the fabric in the position to
allow of a rod at the other end of the carriage being shot in over
the fabric, as shown at a** in Fig. 4°. This rocking of the frame C is
effected by the following means:-ff, are inclined guides made fast to
the inner face of the sides of the casting E', and forming as it were
continuations of these guides are two switches 9, 9', which are held up
respectively to ledges of the casting E by coiled springs connected at
their opposite ends to crank arms made fast to the switches. The
rocking frame C (which is counterbalanced to give it a tendency to rise)
is fitted with studs or pins h which during the to-and-fro traverse of the
carriage are caused to move under and over the guides and switches f, f¹,
and g, g'.
Supposing now the carriage to be moving in the direction of
the arrow, Fig. 2, the studs will bear against the ledge of the casting E¹
until they strike the switches g; they will then depress those switches,
and passing over their points will move down the inclines presented to
them by the switches g' and guides f, thereby depressing the frame O
as shewn at Fig. 4. The continued traverse of the carriage will bring
the studs to the end of the guides f" as shewn at Fig. 4*, at which
time the frame will be out of the way of the rods a** (Fig. 4*), which

page_text: .
are now free to take their place, as shewn, ready to receive a lap of fabric
upon them. This being done the studs h will escape past the guides f¹,
and the traverse motion of the carriage being now reversed the frame O
will rise and take up ultimately the position shewn at Fig. 2 ready for
repeating the lapping or folding action above explained. It is necessary
however here to remark that before the studs h attain the position shewn
at Fig. 4 the withdrawal of the lower rods a of the cylinders L at the
rear end of the carriage and the depression of the upper rods by the
turning of the tubes as described will have taken place. Thus the
forward traverse of the carriage will have caused the sweeps M to act
on the bowles of the lower rods a and withdraw them from the pile,
thrusting them back into their tube receptacles. While this is being
effected the sliding pieces 7* will strike the stop plates A", and through
their straps and pullies will give a half turn to their respective cylinders
thereby allowing the rods to fall and drop upon the pile of fabric. To
allow of the sweeps M, M³, in their return motion (to take up a position
for repeating their action upon their respective rods) passing the
obstructions offered to them by the bowles of the rods, they are fitted at
their extremities with switch pieces, which yielding in one direction will
escape past the obstruction, but when brought to act upon the rods will
force them out of the fabric as above explained. It will now be
understood that these operations being repeated alternately at opposite
ends of the pile and the rods being withdrawn in consecutive order the
pile will be built up in a rapid and uniform manner, the rods a entering
and leaving the fabric at opposite selvages (without any help from the 2
attendant) and thus putting a slight lateral strain on the fabric sufficient
to remove all tendency to creasing.
Having now set forth the nature of our Invention of "Improved
Machinery for Folding Piece Goods," and explained the manner of
carrying the same into effect, we wish it to be understood that under the a
above in part recited Letters Patent we claim,-
First. The arrangement of machinery above described for effecting
automatically the folding of piece goods without injury to the pile or
face of the fabric.
Secondly. The application to folding machinery of divided tension
-rods for receiving and holding down the laps, as above described.

page_text: Thirdly. The carrying apparatus above described for advancing the
rods to receive the laps or folds and withdrawing them from the folded
pile,
In witness whereof, I, the said James Worrall, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Nineteenth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.