IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CUTTING THE PILE OF FUSTIANS AND OTHER FABRICS
Year: 1852

page_text: ETTERS
ENT to Christopher James Schonela, of Cornbrook
Hulme, in the County of Lancaster, Gentleman, for the Invention
of IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CUTTING THE
PILE OF FUSTIANS AND OTHER FABRICS."
Scaled the 23rd March 1853, and dated the 1st October 1852.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Christopher James
Schofield at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 1st October 1852.
I, CHRISTOPHER JAMES SCHOFIELD, do hereby declare the nature of
5 the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR
CUTTING THE PILE OF FUSTIANS AND OTHER FABRICS" to be as follows:-
The essential character of this Invention consists in a combination of
circular knives with others, somewhat similar to those now employed
for cutting fustians and other looped fabrics, acting in this case, how-
0 ever, more as guides. A number of straight knives or guides, according
to the number of loops to be cut at once, are mounted loosely upon a
transverse shaft; these knives or guides have indentations upon their
faces, within which are situate the series of circular knives, also
mounted loosely upon a transverse shaft.

page_text: In order to operate with this arrangement, the points of the straight
knives or guides are introduced into the loops, when the fabric being
caused to advance, or the knives and guides themselves carried forward,
the races will be gradually entered, the circular knives at the same
time pressing within the cavities of the others, severing the loops, and
thus effecting the operation required.
The guides or knives are mounted loosely upon their shafts in order
to admit of their cutting loops of different widths apart, and also to
allow a slight transverse motion for the purpose of self-adjustment to
any irregularity in the "races" and that this may be the more readily
accomplished, the shafts upon which the knives and guides are mounted
may be caused to revolve so as to prevent them from binding, and thus
allow a slight pressure to cause a sliding upon the axes.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Christopher James Schofield in the Great Seal
Patent Office, on the 31st March 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
CHRISTOPHER JAMES SCHOFIELD, of Cornbrook, Hulme, in the County of
Lancaster, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by
Her Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of October, in the six-
teenth year of Her reign, and in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-two, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Christopher James Schofield, Her especial
license that I, the said Christopher James Schofield, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Christopher
James Schofield, 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 the Isle of Man, an
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CUTTING
THE PILE OF FUSTIANS AND OTHER FABRICS," upon the condition (amongst

page_text: others) that I, the said Christopher James Schofield, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe 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 Christopher James Schofield, 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, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that
is to say):
:
My Invention relates to machinery Ог apparatus for cutting the pile
of fustians, cords, and other fabrics which are required to be cut in the
direction of the length of the piece of goods, and consists in the employ-
ment of a combination of circular knives with others acting as. guides
which enter the loops or floatings. The circular knives, and those
also which act with them, I mount loosely upon the shafts, in order that
a lateral motion may take place for the purpose of self-adjustment to
any irregularity of the "races," and for accommodating the apparatus to
loops of different widths apart. These are the peculiar features of my
Invention, and they admit of various combinations so as to constitute a
working machine. I will, however, describe an arrangement of
machinery which will serve as an example, and explain a method by
which my Invention may be carried into practical operation; but before
proceeding to the description thereof I will point out, by aid of figures
upon an enlarged scale, the action of the operating parts of machine.
Fig. 1, is a section of the knives and their immediate appurtenances,
and Fig. 2, a plan view thereof. Fig. 3, is a detached view of one of
the circular cutters, and Fig. 4, representations, in two views, of the
straight cutters or guides. The circular cutters a, are flat discs of
metal sharpened on their peripheries, and provided with central orifices,
by which they are strung upon a shaft b; this shaft is furnished with a
groove, into which parts c, projecting from the cutters a, are situate;
these instruments, therefore, although free to slide laterally upon their

page_text: shaft, are compelled to revolve therewith upon rotatory motion being
communicated. One of the straight knives or guides is shewn detached;
in two views. at Figs. 4; its upper face is provided with a slitt within
which a corresponding circular cutter acts. The fabric operated upon
passes over a breast beam (as shewn by the red color), where the
series of loops are passed over the knives or guides, the under sides
thereof resting upon the back of the cloth, as therefore it is drawn
forward the upper surface is brought into contact with the cutters a;
and the threads become severed. The straight knives or guides d, are
mounted upon centre pins fixed in bosses e, which are strung side
by side upon a shaft f. To these bosses are jointed projecting parts y,
carrying springs h, which bear upon the upper surfaces of the knives d;
and keep them steadily in contact with the back of the cloth, the
parts g, being prevented from turning upward by contact with the shaft b.
The bosses e, are elongated by a flat surface i, which rests upon and is
supported by the cloth as it passes onward. If during the operation of
the machine one of the knives or guides d, should enter the back of
the cloth so as to cut through it, then upon the slit thus formed
arriving beneath the piece i, that part will be deprived of its support,
and falling by its own gravity will arrive in contact with a constantly
revolving ratchet j, which, by causing it to turn still further upon the
shaft f, will effect a disengagement from the driving power, as hereafter
to be described, and the motion of the machine will be arrested.
Having thus pointed out the construction and arrangement of the
main operating parts, I will proceed to describe the arrangement of
machinery employed in conjunction therewith. Fig. 5, is a side view
of the machine; Fig. 6, a cross section, and Fig. 7, a plan view. The
main driving shaft is shewn at K, which by means of a strap 7, actuates
a shaft m. Upon this shaft there is a pinion n, taking into the teeth of
a wheel o, mounted upon an upright shaft p, which, through the agency
of a pinion g, drives a wheel r, mounted upon the shaft of a roller s,
covered with wire cards this roller is for the purpose of drawing the
fabric under operation through the machine. The pinion g, is mounted
so as to be capable of sliding upon the shaft p, although caused to
revolve therewith, and it is held in gear with the wheel, by means of

page_text: a fork t, attached to a rod i, which rod is prevented from falling by
means of a lever v, the end of which passes into a notch of the said rod.
The fabric to be cut is wound upon a roller w, from whence it is con-
ducted over a roller &, covered with wire cards; after this, over a guide
roller y, to the surface of two conical drums, ; after which it traverses
the breast beams 1, 1, before mentioned, and thence proceeds over the
surface of the wire card cylinders, to the winding-on roller 2. To the
axis of the roller a is attached a friction pulley 3, around which is
placed. the hoop of a brake 4, which is loaded with a weight 5, for the
purpose of retarding the cloth, so as to insure its tension at that position
when the loops are cut. The conical rollers,, are mounted in
bearings which are capable of sliding in the side framings of the
machine, and they are borne forward against the fabric as it passes
onward by means of weighted levers c, c; the effect of which will be,
that any slackness of the fabric towards the selvages thereof will be
taken up by the enlarged diameters, and the whole width kept properly
distended. The shaft
upon which the circular knives are strung is
mounted in bearings 7, 7, capable of being raised and lowered by set
screws 8, and of being adjusted horizontally by other set screws 9, 9.
Upon the axle of this shaft is a pulley 10, driven by a strap passing
from a pulley 11, which is affixed to the main driving shaft k, and thus
the series of circular cutters are caused to revolve. The shaft f. of the
straight cutters or guides d, d, is mounted in bearings capable of vertical
and horizontal adjustment by set screws 12. Upon this shaft is a
pulley 13, driven by means of a strap proceeding from a pulley 14,
upon the axle of the rollers; the shaft. f. is, therefore, by these means
caused to revolve, but as it turns quite freely in the bosses of the knives
or guides it will perform its rotary action alone, but by such motion will
afford to the knives or guides a facility for lateral motion which they
would not otherwise possess. The axle of the revolving ratchet i, is
provided with a pulley which is driven by means of a band which passes
around the guide roller 15. Another revolving ratchet 16, is affixed.
to a shaft which is caused to rotate by a band proceeding from a pulley
upon the axle m, before referred to; above tail pieces 17, of the series.
of Knife or guide sockets e, is situate a bar 18, resting lightly thereon,

page_text: and it is connected at its centre part to a hook 19, capable of turning
upon a centre 20, carried by the inward end of the lever v. The
operation of the machine is as follows:-The piece of cloth wound upon
the roller wis placed in the machine as shewn in the drawings, and
the fabric passed in contact with the various rollers a, y, z, before men-
tioned; the loops are then placed upon the knives or guides d, which
have in the requisite number been placed upon the shaft f. a similar
number of circular knives a, being also adapted within the slots of the
former, and the cloth is then conducted over the rollers 15, to the
roller 2. Motion being now communicated to the main driving shaft,
the fabric will be drawn onward, and the threads of the loops severed:
during this operation should one of the knives or guides d, enter the
back of the cloth, then the part i, not being supported will, as before
mentioned, fall downward, and by arriving in contact with the ratchet j,
will receive a further impulse around its shaft; this action will cause the
tail piece 17, corresponding to the knife or guide which has entered the
back of the cloth, to raise the bar 18, which rests thereon, thereby
depressing the hook 19, so as to bring it within range of the revolving
ratchet 16, which hook piece will then be drawn forward, causing the
lever, upon which it is mounted, to turn upon its centre so as to
withdraw the outward end thereof from the notch formed upon the rod u,
which being no longer supported will be free to fall, and with it the
pinion q, thus disengaging the driving power from those rollers which
draw the fabric through the machine. The strap 21, which drives the
roller 2, is adapted sufficiently loose to slip when necessary, so as only
to exert a winding-on power proportionate to the length of fabric
drawn forward by the surface roller s. Figs. 8, 9, 10, represent a
modification of my Invention, shewing another method of mounting the
straight knives or guides d. In this instance there are slots in them of
the shape represented at 22, Fig. 9; these slots are placed within slots
formed within bosses e, which are, as before, strung side by side upon
a shaft f; the lower part of these bosses have also other slots and pins 23,
within and upon which are mounted thin plates 24, one for each of the
knives or guides, to tail pieces 25, of which are affixed springs 26,
bearing in notches formed at the ends of the plates 24, thereby possessing

page_text: a tendency to turn the bosses e, upon their shaft. During
During the cutting
of the loops the pins will be situate within the horizontal parts of the
slots 22; but if it be desired to remove one of the knives or guides, it
may readily be done by aid of the vertical part of the slot. Should the
back of the cloth be entered, then the slit travelling onward will arrive
opposite to the end of the corresponding plate 24, which, being then no
longer kept back by the fabric, will be pressed forward by the spring 26,
and thus turn the socket e, and parts connected therewith into the.
position shewn by dots in Fig. 8; and by connecting the plate 24, or
another of those parts, so as to bring, the disengaging apparatus within
range of a revolving ratchet, as before described, the motion of the
machine may be arrested.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it
to be understood that I claim as secured to me the combination of
circular cutters with straight knives or guides for cutting the loops of
fustians and other fabrics in the direction of the length of the piece.
In witness whereof, I, the said Christopher James Schofield, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of March,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
three.
C. J. SCHOFIELD. (L.S.)