IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR DRESSING AND FINISHING WOVEN GOODS OR FABRICS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Godfrey Pattison, of the City of Glasgow, in the
County of Lanark, Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR DRESSING AND FINISHING WOVEN GOODS OR FABRICS."-A
communication.
Sealed the 3rd April 1855, and dated the 5th February 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Godfrey Pattison at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th February 1855.
I, GODFREY PATTISON, of the City of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark,
Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR DRESSING AND FINISHING WOVEN GOODS OR FABRICS
be as follows:-
The goods generally known as printed jaconets, book muslins, lawns, and
some other woven fabrics, require a peculiar flexibility of texture, which is
imparted to them after the starch has been applied, and while they are being
dried, by straining them obliquely in opposite directions alternately, so that
the threads of the warp and weft respectively, which at first cross each other
at right angles, are worked to and fro so as to cross each other obliquely in
opposite directions alternately, this operation being repeated until the fabric

page_text: is entirely dry. One of the methods of effecting this operation is to make the
two selvedges of the piece of cloth move longitudinally with different and
variable speeds, that is to say, either both selvedges may be made to vibrate
longitudinally backwards and forwards, the one moving forwards while the
other moves backwards, and vice versa, or they may advance alternately, each
selvedge standing still while the other advances.
The nature of my Invention consists in improved mechanism; whereby the
alternate movement of the selvedges is effected at the same time that the
cloth is dried, by being passed round the outside of a stationary can or hollow
drying cylinder, heated by being filled with steam or hot air, or otherwise.
At each end of such cylinder is placed a disc, or wheel, or revolving frame,
rotating round an axis in the same straight line with the axis of the cylinder,
and having attached to its circumference on the face next the cylinder, by
longitudinal bars parallel to the axis, adjustable by screws or otherwise, a hoop,
concentric with the cylinder, and having on its circumference teeth for catching
hold of and carrying forward the cloth. The adjustable bars serve to place
the hoops at a distance apart corresponding with 'the breadth of the piece of
cloth. Each of the two hoops is carried round by means of a circular ratchet,
acted upon by a pall having à reciprocating motion, and the two palls are so
regulated as to move always in opposite directions to each other, so that when
the circular ratchet at one end of the cylinder, with its hoop carrying one
selvedge of the cloth is being moved forward by the forward motion of its pall,
the ratchet at the opposite end of the cylinder with its hoop carrying the other
selvedge stands still while its pall is moving backward, and so on, alternately.
The cloth may be fed on to the pair of hoops by a pair of oblique stretching
wheels or otherwise:
:
My Invention farther comprises the application of a pair of revolving
brushes to press the selvedges of the cloth on to the teeth of the hoops.
My Invention farther comprises the application of an alternate take-up
motion to deliver the fabric from the machine. Each selvedge of the cloth
is drawn off from the hoop, whereby it is carried by a pair of rollers, having
an intermittent motion, corresponding precisely with that of the hoop: The
space between the two pairs of rollers which thus, draw off the two, selvedges
alternately is occupied by a roller in several segments, which are free to move
independently of each other, and thus to assume the speed of the parts of the
fabric in contact with them.
די

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Godfrey Pattison in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
3rd August 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GODFREY
PATTISON, of the City of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, Merchant, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of February, in the year of our Lord Eighteen
hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself,
Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Godfrey Pattison,
Her special licence that I; the said Godfrey Pattison, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Godfrey Pattison, 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, and Channel Islands, and Isle
of Man, in such manner as to me and my foresaids should, in my and their
discretion, seem. meet, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
DRESSING AND FINISHING WOVEN GOODS OR FABRICS," (of which Invention I was
in possession in consequence of a communication from a foreigner residing
abroad,) upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Godfrey Pattison,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same was 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 Godfrey Pattison, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof (that is to say) :-
The goods generally known as printed jaconets, book muslins, lawns, and
some other woven fabrics, require a peculiar flexibility of texture, which is
imparted to them after the starch has been applied, and while they are being
dried, by straining them obliquely in opposite directions alternately, so that
the threads of the warp and woof. respectively, which at first cross each other
at right angles, are worked to and fro so as to cross each other obliquely in
opposite directions alternately, this operation being repeated until the fabric is
entirely. dry. One of the methods of effecting. this operation is to make the

page_text: two selvages of the piece of cloth move longitudinally with different and
variable speeds, that is to say, either both selvages may be made to vibrate
longitudinally backwards and forwards, the one moving forwards while the
other moves backwards, and vice versa, or they may advance alternately, each
selvage standing still while the other advances.
The nature of the Invention consists in improved mechanism, whereby the
alternate movement of the selvages is effected at the same time that the cloth
is dried, by being passed round the outside of a stationary can or hollow drying
cylinder, heated by being filled with steam or hot air, or otherwise. At each
end of such cylinder is placed a disc, or wheel, or revolving frame, rotating
round an axis in the same straight line with the axis of the cylinder, and
having attached to its circumference on the face next the cylinder, by
longitudinal bars parallel to the axis, adjustable by screws or otherwise, a
hoop or ring, concentric with the cylinder, and having on its circumference
teeth or pins for catching hold of and carrying forward the cloth. The
adjustable bars serve to place the hoops or rings at a distance apart corre-
sponding with the breadth of the piece of cloth. Each of the two hoops or
rings is carried round by means of a circular ratchet, acted upon by a click or
pall having a reciprocating motion, and the two palls are so regulated as to
move always in opposite directions to each other, so that when the circular
ratchet at one end (at one end) of the cylinder, with its hoop or ring carrying
one selvage of the cloth, is being moved forward by the forward motion of its
pall, the ratchet at the opposite end of the cylinder with its hoop or ring
carrying the other selvage stands still while its pall is moving backward, and
so on, alternately. The cloth may be fed on to the pair of hoops by a pair of
oblique stretching wheels or otherwise.
The said Invention further comprises the application of a pair of revolving
brushes to press the selvages of the cloth on to the teeth or pins of the hoops
or rings.
The said Invention farther comprises the application of an alternate take-
up motion to deliver the fabric from the machine. Each selvage of the cloth
is drawn off from the hoop, whereby it is carried by a pair of rollers having
an intermittent motion corresponding precisely with that of the hoop. The
space between the two pairs of rollers which thus draw off the two selvages
alternately is occupied by a roller in several segments, which are free to move
independently of each other, and thus to assume the speed of the parts of the
fabric in contact with them.
The details of the mechanism whereby the Invention is to be performed or
carried into effect may be varied, according to circumstances; but the Drawing

page_text: hereto annexed, and which I shall now proceed to describe, represents the best
mode with which I am at present acquainted of performing and carrying into
effect the said Invention.
Figure First represents a side elevation of a finishing machine; Figure
Second, a front elevation, viewed from the direction from which the cloth to be
finished is supplied to the machine; and Figure Third, a plan. The different
parts of the machinery are distinguished in the Drawing by letters of reference,
and when any particular part of the machinery is visible in more than one
Figure, the same letter is affixed to such part in each Figure in which it
occurs. The same letter is occasionally repeated more than once in the same
Figure, either at different points of the same part of the machinery, or on two
or more similar parts of the machinery, and in such cases the letter so repeated
in the Drawing is not repeated in this Specification; and I wish it to be
understood, that when a particular letter of reference is mentioned once in this
Specification, such mention is to be held to refer at once to every part of the
Drawing at which the same letter occurs, unless otherwise specified. Dotted
lines are used to indicate the position and form of parts which in the actual
view of the machine are concealed by other parts.
A is the framework of the machine; B, a stationary hollow drying can or
cylinder, heated by steam, introduced and discharged through its hollow
bearings C; D, are a pair of revolving frames, one at each end of the drying
cylinder, composed in the machine now used by me, and herein described, of
radiating arms, whose length is adjustable by means of sliding pieces d, bolted to
their ends through slots. These revolving frames rotate independently on hollow
bearings round the bearings of the drying cylinder. E are a pair of metallic
hoops or rings, one encircling each end of the drying (machine) cylinder, and
each provided with teeth, or a circle of tenter pins, for the purpose of holding
and carrying round the selvages of the fabric to be finished. Each of these
hoops is supported and made to revolve by horizontal bars or bolts e, projecting
from the ends of the sliding pieces d, bolted to the ends of the radiating arms
of one of the revolving frames D, and by shifting these horizontal bolts the said
hoops can have their distance apart varied at pleasure, according to the width
to be given to the cloth when finished. Fare a pair of circular ratchets, one
fixed to each of the pair of revolving frames D. An alternate intermittent
motion is given to these ratchets, and consequently to the revolving frames D
and the hoops E, which by their tenter pins carry the selvages of the cloth in
the following manner :-G is a shaft, having a cone of pulleys g, driven by the
prime mover, and capable of being engaged and disengaged in the ordinary
. manner by a clutch, or any other suitable mode of engaging and disengaging.

page_text: This shaft carries two eccentrics H, placed in opposite positions. The throw
of these eccentrics is adjustable by screws in the usual and well-known manner.
K are the eccentric rods, each of which works an oscillating arm L backwards
and forwards, and each of these arms oscillates freely on the hollow bearing of
the drying cylinder, and carries a spring click or pall.M, which takes hold
of the teeth of one of the ratchets F, so that during each half revolution of the
shaft G, one of the hoops E, with the selvage carried by it, is made to advance
a certain distance, while the other stands still, and so on, alternately. The
distance through which the selvages advance at each revolution of the shaft G
is adjusted at the discretion of the superintendent of the machine., by means of
the adjusting screws of the eccentrics, and in. the machine at present used by
me it can be fixed at various amounts, varying from eight inches up to eighteen
inches; that which we have hitherto found to give on the whole the. best
practical results is twelve inches. The speed of the shaft G is capable of being
varied by cones of pulleys in the usual manner, so as to cause the cloth to be
delivered at various rates, ranging, from about eleven yards to about twenty-
two yards per minute, in the machine now used by me. The direction of
rotation of the hoops E round the drying cylinder is indicated by an arrow in
Figure First. N is a spring .catch, which prevents rotation in the reverse
direction; O is the piece of cloth being finished, moving in the directions
indicated by arrows; R are a pair of tenter wheels, having their rims set with
tenter pins. These wheels receive upon their pins the selvages of the cloth
from a stretching rail S, over which it is guided by two attendants. The
selvages pass below these tenter wheels, and are delivered by them on to the
pins of the hoops E. q are a pair of rotating brushes, to press the selvages
down upon the pins of these hoops. Each of the tenter wheels R is provided
with a pulley r, over which a weight and straps can be hung when required
to moderate the speed of the wheels by friction. The tenter wheels are carried
by a pair of brackets Q, which are fixed by bolts passing through slots or
elongated openings to a pair of lower brackets P; which lower brackets are
. themselves fixed by bolts passing through slots to the frame of the machine.
By shifting and adjusting those brackets the tenter wheels can be. placed at
any required distance from each other and from the drying cylinder; they can
also be placed at any required degree of obliquity, so that their rims shall
be further apart at the side next the drying cylinder than they are at
the side next the stretching rail by any required amount: The effect of
this obliquity of the tenter wheels is, that in passing from the stretching rail
round the tenter. wheels to the hoops E, the selvages of the cloth are drawn
apart from each other, and the piece of cloth is thus increased in width,

page_text: tightened, and smoothed previous to being passed round the drying cylinder.
T is a light drum, of tin plate or other suitable material, of a barrel shape,
hung by its axis in a stirrup t from the end of a lever U, by means of which
its elevation can be adjusted: This drum is free to rotate and to swing or
vibrate in any direction, so as to accommodate itself to the movements of the
piece of cloth, and it can be removed when so desired. Its use is to press
down the middle of the piece of cloth between the two tenter wheels, and
thus render the tension of the cloth more uniform than it would otherwise be..
The apparatus for taking up and delivering the finished cloth from the
machine is as follows:-Each of the pair of oscillating arms. L gives a
reciprocating motion, by means of a rack V, at the end of a nearly horizontal
rod, to a pinion w, turning freely on a fixed shaft v. Each of the pair of
pinions w has fixed to it a ratchet wheel, seen in the Drawing, in connection
with the pinion. ✗ are two rollers covered with blanketing, turning freely on
the shaft v, for drawing off the two selvages from the hoops E. Y are two
auxiliary rollers, also covered with blanketing, between which and the rollers X
the selvages pass. Each of the rollers X carries upon its end a spring catch
a, taking hold of the teeth of the ratchet wheel, moved by the contiguous
pinion w, so that when the rack V at one side of the machine is pushed
forward, the roller ✗. at that side revolves, and when the same rack is
drawn back the roller stands, still. Thus, each of the rollers X, with its
contiguous roller Y, receives an intermittent motion, corresponding exactly
with that of the hoop off which it draws one of the selvages, so that the selvages
are drawn off and delivered from the machine alternately, with a motion corre-
sponding with that which they have while passing round the drying cylinder.
The space between the two rollers X is occupied by a roller Z, divided into
four or any other convenient number of segments, each of which revolves
freely and independently on the same shaft v, so that each such segment takes
the velocity of the part of the cloth which comes in contact with it.
The cloth, after being taken from the starching machine and before being
supplied to the finishing machine, herein described, may, if necessary, be passed
round an auxiliary drying can of the usual construction, so as to be partially
dried before being finished. At present I use for this partial drying a can
of about three feet in diameter. After being delivered from the finishing
machine by the rollers X, Y, Z, the cloth may be conducted in any direction
which is most convenient for the purpose of being lapped or folded in the
usual manner.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and the best mode
of performing the same with which I am acquainted, I wish it to be understood

page_text: that I do not confine myself to the details of that method, as those details may
be varied; and I declare that I claim,--
First, the combination of a stationary drying cylinder with a pair of hoops,
rings, discs, or wheels, having an alternate intermittent rotatory motion, for
the purpose of effecting an alternate oblique strain of the texture of a woven
fabric at the same time that it is being dried, as herein-before described.
Secondly, I claim the adaptation to the purpose of drawing off and delivering
.such woven fabric from the said hoops, rings, discs, or wheels of rollers, having
an alternate intermittent rotatory motion corresponding with that of the hoops,
rings, discs, or wheels, in combination with a roller divided into segments, as
herein-before described.
Thirdly, I claim the combination of oblique tenter wheels for stretching the
woven fabric with and their adaptation to the said hoops, rings, discs, or wheels,
as herein-before described; but I do not claim such oblique tenter wheels as
an independent Invention.
Fourthly, I claim the application of a pair of rotating brushes to press the
selvages of the woven fabric on to the teeth or pins of the hoops, rings, discs,
or wheels, as herein-before described; but I do not claim rotating brushes as
an independent Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said Godfrey Pattison, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourth day of July, in the year of our Lord
Eighteen hundred and fifty-five.
GODFREY PATTISON. (L.S.)