AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR STRETCHING AND DRYING FABRICS
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Bernoulli Barlow of 17 St Anns Square Manchester
in the County of Lancaster Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent. for
an Invention of AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR STRETCHING AND DRYING
FABRICS " communicated to him from abroad by Monsieur Emile Welter of
"
Mulhouse Alone in the Emnies of Conmanu
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Bernoulli Barlow
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 26th May 1883.
"
HENRY BERNOULLI BARLOW of 17 St Ann's Square Manchester in the County
of Lancaster Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent AN IMPROVED MACHINE
FOR STRETCHING AND DRYING FABRICS" A communication to me from abroad by
Monsieur Emile Welter of Mulhouse, Alsace in the Empire of Germany.
This invention relates to machines for stretching and drying fabrics and in
performing the Invention the bottom and side of the machine are enclosed and the
fabric is introduced at one end near the bottom of the machine. Channels conduct
either hot or cold air which may be forced by a blast into the machine below the
fabric. The fabric traverses over guide rollers from end to end of the machine
one or more times before it passes into the upper part of the machine at the end
where it entered at this point clips or pegs made as usual take hold of the
fabric and stretch and carry it forward between presser rollers, preferably driven
by friction wheels, the speed of which can be regulated by a screw and nut under
the control of the attendant
One or more layers or rows of heating pipes are used and they project beyond
the width of the fabric at each side so that their joints or connections may not
interfere with the heating surface presented to the fabric.
Steam may be passed through some or all of these pipes or hot air may be used.
To dry the edges of the fabric where held by the clips I employ near the outlet
of the machine a copper or other cylinder and admit steam into it; the fabric
passes over and comes in contact with this cylinder: when it is not required to
n
3

page_text: dry the edges of the fabric separately, the cylinder can be used to cool the fabric
by circulating cold water through it.
The fabric receives a preliminary drying before it is taken hold of by the clips
but retains sufficient moisture to be stretched by tension. The fabric after passing
between the presser rollers is traversed along the upper part of the machine and over
the copper cylinder previous to passing out of the machine in the finished state.
In this machine the attendant can watch the operation and readily alter the
speed of the presser rollers and other parts to suit the fabric being treated.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Henry Bernoulli Barlow in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
26th November 1883.
HENRY BERNOULLI BARLOW, of 17 St Ann's Square, Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent "AN IMPROVED MACHINE
FOR STRETCHING AND DRYING FABRICS" A communication to me from abroad by
Monsieur Emile Welter, of Mulhouse, Alsace, in the Empire of Germany.
This invention relates to machines for stretching and drying fabrics and in
performing the Invention the bottom and sides of the machine are enclosed and
the fabric is introduced at one end near the bottom of the machine. Channels
conduct either hot or cold air which may be forced by a blast into the machine
below the fabric. The fabric traverses over guide rollers from end to end of the
machine one or more times before it passes into the upper part of the machine at
the end where it entered at this point clips or pegs made as usual take hold of
the fabric and strech and carry it forward between presser rollers, preferably
driven by friction wheels, the speed of which can be regulated by a screw and nut
under the control of the attendant. One or more layers or rows of heating pipes
are used and they project beyond the width of the fabric at each side so that their
joints or connections may not interfere with the heating surface presented to the
fabric.
:
Steam may be passed through some or all of these pipes or hot air may be used.
To dry the edges of the fabric where held by the clips I employ near the outlet
of the machine, a copper or other cylinder and admit steam into it: the fabric
passes over and comes in contact with this cylinder: when it is not required to
dry the edges of the fabric separately, the cylinder can be used to cool the fabric
by circulating cold water through it.
The fabric receives a preliminary drying before it is taken hold of by the clips
but retains sufficient moisture to be stretched by tension. The fabric after passing
between the presser rollers is traversed along the upper part of the machine and over
the copper cylinder previous to passing out of the machine in the finished state.

page_text: In this machine the attendant can watch the operation and readily alter the
speed of the presser rollers and other parts to suit the fabric being treated.
And in order that this Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect I will proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet of Drawings reference
being had to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Figure 1 is an elevation of the improved machine with one 'side removed and
Fig. 2 a plan with the top casing removed.
In these views A is the frame or casing: the fabric a to be stretched and dried is
introduced at A¹ at one end of the machine near the bottom. Channels b conduct
cold dry air which is drawn into the machine as required and heated by two layers
or rows of heating pipes d with ribs or vanes which intersect or project between
one another these pipes & project beyond the width of the fabric at each side so
that their joints or connections may not interfere with the heating surface
presented to the fabric: steam may be passed through some or all of these pipes &
or hot air may be used.
The lower chamber is so arranged that the hot air passes twice horizontally
through it and after drying the fabric a passes away through the chimney c.
The
lateral divisions or walls of the machine hold the valves or registers by which the
draught of air is regulated and the walls of the chamber are constructed with ribs
or projections to increase the radiation of the heat and give a greater heating
surface.
The fabric a traverses over guide rollers. B from end to end of the machine and
back again twice before it passes into the upper part of the machine at A2 at the
end where it entered at this point A clips or pegs of the usual construction take
hold of the fabric a and stretch it and carry it forward to the other end of the
machine e is a copper or other metal cylinder placed near the finishing end or
outlet of the machine and used to dry the edges of the fabric where it has been
held by the clips or pegs: the copper cylinder e is heated by steam or in other
convenient manner; when it is not required to dry the edges of the fabric
separately, the cylinder e can be employed to cool the fabric by circulating cold
water through it.
The shaft C is driven by the pulley w keyed or secured to it and a friction
wheel n, also secured to the shaft C drives a friction wheel m connected to the
shaft D by a feather key: secured to the shaft D is a bevel wheel D¹ which gears
into and drives a bevel wheel f' keyed to the shaft fon which is a right and left
hand screw thread g and g¹: these screw threads g g respectively, gear into and
drive the worm wheels kk secured to the vertical shafts h h to the upper end of
each of the shafts his secured a chain wheel E which carry the chains for
traversing the clips and fabric a through the machine: The screw thread or
worm gl also gives motion to a worm wheel secured to a horizontal shaft 1: a
bevel wheel o fixed on the shaft gears into and drives a bevel wheel p secured to
the axle of the cylinder e: at the other end of the shaft is secured a spur wheel r
which gears into and drives a wheel secured to the shaft S: a friction wheel n¹
is secured by a feather key to the shaft S and drives by friction the wheel m¹
secured to the tension cylinder or roller u on and above the roller u and rather to
one side of it rests the presser roller t. To regulate or adjust the speed of the
rollers t and u a screwed shaft v is employed which has a small hand wheel at one
end and upon which is a nut v with a clip passing into a groove in the boss of the
friction wheel n¹. The fabric a enters the machine at A' passes under and over
the guide rollers B to the lower side of the tension roller u, round and between it
and the presser roller t and enters the upper part of the machine at A³ where clips
or pegs take hold of the fabric and stretch it as it passes through the machine,
where it is held extended until the drying is completed: the fabric then passes
under and round the cylinder e and out of the machine at AP. The speed of the
tension cylinder u may be varied by the hand wheel on the shaft which alters
the position of the friction wheel n³ according to the nature of the fabric under
treatment.

page_text: Having stated the nature of this Invention and described the manner of
performing the same
I declare that I claim
1. The improved machine for stretching and drying fabrics, substantially as herein
shown and described.
2. The combination of heating pipes provided with ribs or vanes intersecting or
projecting between one another, arranged transversely in the machine and joined
at their ends which project beyond the edges of the fabric, the said machine being
formed by a bedplate and side walls and closed on the top by the fabric as it passes
along the upper part, with the channels for admitting cold air, substantially as and
for the purposes herein shown and described.
3. The copper cylinder e in the place of a tension roller either to dry the damp
edges of the fabric or to cool the warın fabric as it leaves the machine, substantially
in the manner herein shown and described.
4. The arrangement of parts for transmitting motion to the chain wheels E by
the vertical shafts hand to the cylinder e by the shaft of which the rotary
movement is regulated by the friction wheels m and n as well as the arrangement
of the adjustable friction wheels m' and n¹ for controlling the speed of the tension
cylinder u placed at the end of the machine where the fabric passes from the lower
to the upper part, substantially as herein shown and described.
5. In a drying or stretching machine the arrangement and process by which the
fabric is subjected to a preliminary drying and only receives the finishing drying
while it is being stretched on the clips or pegs, substantially as herein shown and
described.
In witness whereof I the said Henry Bernoulli Barlow have hereunto set my
hand and seal this twenty fourth day of November One thousand eight hundred
and eighty three.
H. B. BARLOW (L.S.)