CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR AND IN THE PROCESS OF RAISING THE PILE ON WOOLLEN CLOTHS AND OTHER FABRICS, AND ALSO IN PRESSING THE SAME
Year: 1825

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
LORD. of Leeds, in the County of York, Merchant and Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of that part of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland called England, bearing date at Westminster, the
Eleventh day of August, One thousand eight hundred and twenty-five, and in
the sixth year of His reign, give and grant unto me, the said Samuel Lord,
JAMES ROBINSON, and JOHN FORSTER, all of Leeds aforesaid. Copartners, Mer-
chants and Manufacturers, our exors, admors, and assigns, Iis especial licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that we, the said Samuel Lord, James
Robinson, and John Forster, and us only, or our exors, adñors, and assigns,
during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, our Invention of " CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR AND
IN THE PROCESS OF RAISING THE PILE ON WOOLLEN CLOTHS AND OTHER FABRICS,
AND ALSO IN PRESSING THE SAME," in which said Letters Patent there is con-
tained a proviso that if we, the said Samuel Loid, James Robinson, and John
Forster, or one of us, shall not particularly describe and ascertain the nature of
our said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an
instrument in writing under our hands and scals, or under the hand and seal
of one of us, and cause the same to be inrolled in Ilis Majesty's High Count of
Chancery within two calendar months next and immediately after the date

page_text: of the said Letters Patent, that then the said Letters Patent, and all liberties
and advantages whatsoever thereby granted, shall utterly cease, determine,
and become void, as in and by the same, relation being thereunto had, will
more fully and at large appear.
NO KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Samuel Lord, do hereby declare that the nature of our said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described and
ascertained in manner following, that is to say:-
Our Invention of Certain Improvements in Machinery for and in the
Process of Raising the Pile on Woollen Cloths and other Fabrics, and also in
Pressing the same, consists,―
First, in the construction and employment of a peculiar kind of gig mill,
containing two cylinders or gig barrels intended to revolve in opposite direc-
tions, which are so contrived that one cylinder shall be in operation raising the
pile of the cloth in one direction while the other cylinder remains stationary,
and affords time for changing the teazle rods, that is, removing the spent
teazles and replacing fresh ones. By this contrivance, also, the ends of the
piece of cloth which have been sewn together to form an endless web for the
purpose of passing over the gig cylinder in one direction do not require to be
cut and resewn as in other gig mills when the direction of raising the pile is to
be changed, as it will only be necessary, in the improved gig mill, to shift two
rolleis, which will enable the cloth to be removed from one cylinder and to be
immediately brought in contact with the other cylinder, there to be raised in a
contrary direction.
The improvements in pressed woollen cloths and other fabrics, which form
the second head of the Invention, consist in the construction of hollow plates,
and in heating the said plates by steam after they are placed in the
press, also
of cooling the plates with water when the desired heat and pressure has been
given to the goods, which contrivances admit of regulating the temperature of
the plates suitable to circumstances, and to the different kinds or qualities of
goods to be pressed,
These improvements will be more evidently seen by reference to the
Diawings hereunto annexed, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of the
improved double gig and its appendages, and Figure 2 is a horizontal view of
the same. looking down upon the gig cylinders in which the gear for putting
the machinery in and out of action is seen, the same letters referring to similar
paits in both Figures. A and B are the two gig cylinders supported in iron
framework, on the peripheries of which cylinders are placed the rods or frames
that hold the teazles as usual. These cylinders are made to revolve by

page_text: means of clutches C, C, that slide upon their axles and lock to the large
toothed wheels D, D, which take into each other and are actuated by suitable
gear connected to a steam engine or other first mover. It will be seen in the
Figure that the axle of the cylinder A is locked to the wheel D by its clutch
C, and is, therefore, revolving with it, while the clutch C of the cylinder B being
withdrawn, that cylinder is stationary. The red line shews the cloth in an
endless web passing over a seriers of rollers as guides or conductors. The
roller E is for the purpose of giving tension to the cloth and pressing it against
the periphery of the gig cylinder. This pressure, and the extent of action of
the gig against the cloth, may be increased or diminished by lowering or
raising the rack F which supports the roller E, and is moved by a pinion G.
The pinions II, H, slide loosely upon the axle of the gig cylinders, but tuin
with them when locked by their clutches, as at I. These pinions, and tho
toothed wheels K, K, and L, take into each other and revolve together, the use
of which is to give rotatory motion to the roller M (shown by dots in Figure 1,
but hidden by the roller N in Figure 2). On the top of the roller M is the
1oller N, which is turned by friction. These two 1ollers draw the cloth over
the gig cylinder, and also drive the bands which actuate the guide rollers
above. It will be now perceived that when the gig cylinder A is in action the
cloth will be drawn from the scray Q, passed under the tension roller E, over
the gig cylinder A, and through the drawing rollers M and N, from whence it
will proceed up to the conducting rollers, and after passing along the top will
fall down on to the scray R, and so continue an endless rotation in one direc-
tion. When the cloth has been sufficiently operated upon in this direction it
1s to be withdrawn from the gig cylinder A and brought into contact with the
cylinder B by removing the tension roller E and placing a similar roller at O
in the bearing at the top of the rack P, which being drawn down with the
cloth under it, holds the cloth against the periphery of the cylinder B in the
same way as described when in connection with the cylinder A. The clutches
being now shifted, the cylinder B is put in motion and the pile of the cloth is
raised the contrary way to the foregoing, the cloth now being drawn from
the left.
A more particular description of the construction and action of this gig mill
is, I conceive, unnecessary here, as gig mills are well known in the woollen
manufacturies, and our claim of Invention extends no further than to the
mounting of two ordinary gig cylinders in the manner above described and
exhibited in the Drawing, Figures 1 and 2, with the appendages for throwing
the gig cylinders in and out of gear, and the necessary rollers for guiding and
shifting the cloth from one cylinder to the other, in order that the endless web
of cloth may have its pile raised in both directions, without the trouble of

page_text: cutting the stitches by which it has been tacked together, and resewing s
ends.
Our improvements, as respects pressing woollen cloths and other articles,
consist in the employment of hollow plates, boxes heated by steam, and after-
wards cooled by water. These hollow plates may be vanously constructed,
and the steam and water conducted into them in several ways. One method,
which we consider to be convenient and well adapted to the purpose, is shewn
in the Drawing at the Third and following Figures.
Figure 3 represents one of these hollow plates, the top part being removed
to shew the interio It is made by two plates of iron about an eighth of an
inch thick, which are to form the upper and under surfaces; the edges are
made by a 11m of iron, about a thud of an inch broad and three quaiteis deep,
within which are the cross ribs to support the top and bottom plates. These
are united together by being notched into each other, and there are parts
of the 11bs between the junctions cut away to allow the steam and water to flow
over the interior surface of the hollow plate or box, the whole being covered
by the top plate, and the joints made steam tight. The form of the cross ribs
are shown in the detached Figures 4 and 5, on the side of the plate. In any
convenient place on the side of plate we introduce a small tube (a), through
which the steam is to be conducted to the interior; and in another convenient
place, also on the side of the plate, we introduce the tube (6) with its stopcock,
through which the steam or water is to be discharged.
Figure 6 represents an ordinary press, in which woollen goods and other
articles are usually pressed between heated iron plates. In this press we have
introduced our improved hollow plates as at c, c, c, c, c, and also our mode of com-
municating the steam thereto. d, d, is a pipe leading from a steam boilet at
any convenient distance. e is a cold-water pipe leading from a reservoir above;
at the junction of these pipes there is a three-way cock, by which either steam
or water may be turned into the lower part of the pipe d. On the side of the
pipe & there are a series of jointed tubes f, f, f, which are to be united to the
small tubes a, a, on the side of the hollow plate, by means of cylindrical pieces
screwing or sliding over the ends of the two tubes, which contrivance is com-
monly called a union Joint In this way the steam from the main pipe is to be
admitted into the hollow plates, and as the plates descend by the closing of the
press the joints allow the tubes f, f, to elongate. Before the steam
is admitted we open the cocks of the tubes b, b, in order to allow the steam
to blow through and discharge any water that might have condensed within.
These cocks being closed the plates become heated by the steam, and the
degice of temperature may be known by placing a thermometer upon a
small projection made ou the front of several of the plates for that purpose.

page_text: When a sufficient heat has been given to the goods pressed, and it becomes
desireable to cool them speedily, we turn off the steam by means of the three-
way cock, and admit cold water into the lower part of the pipe d, which, flowing
through the jointed tubes f and a, fills all the plates and runs off at the
cocks b, b, which in a few minutes renders the plates perfectly cold. As it is
desireable to prevent the water from flowing on to the goods, we place a tin
vessel, as g, on the side, having apertures with lips on the edge, into which the
ends of the tubes b are to be introduced. This vessel may communicate with
a drain, or it may be sufficiently capacious at bottom to hold the water
discharged.
I have thus described the improved apparatus invented and employed by us
for pressing woollen cloths and other articles, but I wish it to be understood
that we do not confine ourselves to the particular construction of apparatus
here set forth, as the principle will admit of extensive variation; but we rest
our claim of Invention in the employment of hollow boxes or plates, heated by
steam and cooled by water, for the pressing of woollen cloths and other articles
as aforesaid, which apparatus and process, besides producing the desired object
with greater expedition and better effect, admits of regulating the heat to any
required temperature, and with uniformity throughout the whole series of
plates, which cannot be done by the ordinary mode of heating the plates in an
oven, and besides which the expence of erecting and licating an oven is saved,
as a very small boiler, placed in any convenient part of the premises, will
answer the purpose.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Lord, have hereunto set my hand
and seal this First day of October. One thousand eight hundred and