IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR STRETCHING AND DRYING FABRICS, AND IN DRYING WOOL AND OTHER FIBRES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Lee Norton, of Belle Sauvage Yard, Ludgate
Hill, in the City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINES FOR STRETCHING AND DRYING FABRICS, AND IN DRYING WOOL AND
OTHER FIBRES."
Sealed the 15th. November 1859, and dated the 30th May 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Lee Norton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 30th May 1859.
I, JAMES LEE NORTON, of Belle Sauvage Yard, Ludgate Hill, in the City
of London, do hereby declare, the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN. MACHINES FOR STRETCHING AND DRYING FABRICS, AND IN DRYING WOOL AND
OTHER FIBRES," to be as follows:-
This Invention is applicable to such stretching and drying machines as are
constructed with two endless chains furnished with points to receive the selvages
of the fabric, and, in which such endless chains having received the fabric
separate so as, to stretch it to the desired extent, and afterwards carry it
through a drying chamber.
In such machines as heretofore constructed, the endless chains have been
caused to pass over rollers to and fro, either in a horizontal or a vertical
direction. When the chains are arranged to travel to and fro in a horizontal
direction, the machine occupies a very considerable space, or else a consider-

page_text: able number of rollers must be employed, and when the chains are arranged
to travel in a vertical direction, the machine must either be made incon-
veniently high, or, as before, a large number of rollers must be employed.
Now, according to my Invention, I cause the endless chains to travel to and
fro in an inclined direction, preferring an angle of 45 degrees or thereabouts
to the horizontal. By this arrangement, with a given length of chain and
number of rollers, I am able to construct a machine of less height or covering
less space than would be requisite were the, chains arranged to travel either
horizontally or vertically. In forming the chains of such machines, the points
to receive the selvages are not fixed directly to the chains by drilling holes in
the same as heretofore, but are held together by casting metal on to them,
and the cast block so obtained is fixed by screws or otherwise to the chain.
I prefer to arrange the points in two rows, the points in one row being
opposite the points in the other row.
In order to heat the drying chambers I employ a series of closed metal
cylinders, to which steam is admitted; through these cylinders a number of
tubes pass, the arrangement being somewhat similar to a tubular steam boiler.
Air is caused, either by forcing or exhausting apparatus, to enter the drying
chamber through these tubes, and in passing through them the air becomes
heated. A flue or passage conducts away the air which has been moistened
and partially cooled by contact with the fabric. In order to dry wool and
other fibres I employ a stretching and drying machine, in which the chains
travel in a horizontal direction, and pass over rollers at the ends of the machine,
as in some descriptions of stretching and drying machines heretofore con-
structed, and to prepare the machine to receive the fibre, I place an endless
reticulate fabric on the chains, and spread the fibre at one end of the machine
uniformly on the endless fabric as it travels, and the dry fibre is discharged at
the other end. Thus, by furnishing stretching and drying machines with an
endless fabric, which can be placed on the chain when the machine is required
for drying fibre, and readily removed from it when it is required for stretching
and drying fabrics, the machine is rendered applicable to both purposes.
When a larger drying surface is required, an additional endless sheet is fixed
below the sheet attached to the stretching points, so that the wool or other
fibre is delivered from the sheet attached to the points to the endless sheet
below, which travels in a reverse direction.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Lee Norton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
30th November 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
LEE NORTON, of Belle Sauvage Yard, Ludgate Hill, in the City of London,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
James Lee Norton, Her special licence that I, the said James Lee Norton,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
Lee Norton, 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 Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINES FOR STRETCHING AND DRYING FABRICS, AND IN DRYING WOOL AND
OTHER FIBRES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James
Lee Norton, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Lee Norton, 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:-
This Invention is applicable to such stretching and drying machines as are
constructed with two endless chains furnished with points to receive the
selvages of the fabric, and in which such endless chains having received the
fabric separate so as to stretch it to the desired extent, and afterwards carry it
through a drying chamber.
In such machines, as heretofore constructed, the endless chains have been
caused to pass over rollers to and fro, either in a horizontal or a vertical
direction. When the chains are arranged to travel to and fro in a horizontal
direction the machine occupies a very considerable space or else a considerable

page_text: number of rollers must be employed, and when the chains are arranged to
travel in a vertical direction the machine must either be made inconveniently
higb, or, as before, a large number of rollers must be employed. Now according
to my Invention, I caused the endless chains to travel to and fro in an inclined
direction, preferring an angle of 45°, or thereabouts, to the horizontal; by this
arrangement, with a given length of chain and number of rollers, I am able to
construct a machine of less height or covering less space than would be
requisite were the chains arranged to travel either horizontally or vertically.
In forming the chains of such machines the points to receive the selvages are
not fixed directly to the chains by drilling holes in the same as heretofore,
but are held together by casting metal on to them, and the cast block so
obtained is fixed by screws or otherwise to the chain. I prefer to arrange the
points in two rows, the points in one row being opposite the spaces between
the points in the other row.
In order to heat the drying chambers, I employ a series of closed metal
cylinders to which steam is admitted; through these cylinders a number of
tubes pass, the arrangement being somewhat similar to a tubular steam boiler.
Air is caused, either by forcing or exhausting apparatus, to enter the drying
chamber through these tubes, and in passing through them the air becomes
heated. A flue or passage conducts away the air which has been moistened
and partially cooled by contact with the fabric. In order to dry wool and other
fibres, I employ a stretching and drying machine, in which the chains travel in
a horizontal direction and pass over rollers at the ends of the machine, as in
some descriptions of stretching and drying machines heretofore constructed,
and to prepare the machine to receive the fibre I place an endless reticulate
fabric on the chains, and spread the fibre at one end of the machine uniformly
on the endless fabric as it travels, and the dry fibre is discharged at the other
end; thus by furnishing stretching and drying machines with an endless fabric,
which can be placed on the chain when the machine is required for drying fibre
and readily removed from it when it is required for stretching and drying
fabrics, the machine is rendered applicable to both purposes. When a larger
drying surface is required, an additional endless sheet is fixed below the sheet
attached to the stretching points, so that the wool or other fibre is delivered.
from the sheet attached to the points to the endless sheet below, which travels
in a reverse direction.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood, and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto
annexed.

page_text: Figure 1 is a side view of one of the side frames of a stretching and
drying machine constructed according to my Invention. These frames are
made of cast iron, and are furnished with webs or flanges so arranged as to.
give sufficient strength and to allow the bearings for the axes of the rollers
to be conveniently and firmly fixed. Of these roller axes I employ, by preference,
eight at the lower part of the machine a', a², to as, six at the top b', b², to be,
and one marked c at the end at which the fabric enters. The side frames are
by preference supported on foundations of brick or stone, and the distance
between the frames is regulated according to the width of fabric the machine
is desired to take. Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of the machine, shewing
the direction the endless chains take in passing through the machine; a portion
of one of these chains is shewn at Figures 3 and 4, and a portion of one of
the troughs in which they work at Figure 4. On each of the axes a¹, a³,
,, and c, two chain rollers or wheels are mounted, one to gear with the
chain on one side of the machine, and the other with the chain at the other
side of the machine, and the spaces between the chain wheels are occupied by
telescopic rollers which serve to support the fabric; the chain rollers at one
side of the machine are fixed on their axes, and at this side of the machine the
guide troughs, Figure 4, are bolted to the side frame, and they are so arranged
that as the chain passes off' either of the rollers it enters one of these guide
troughs which leaves the chain to the next roller, and there terminates; when
the chain has passed round this roller it enters another guide trough, so that
the chain is continually supported and guided by the troughs, except just as it
is passing the rollers. At the other side of the machine the chain rollers are
not fixed on their axes but are capable of sliding on them longitudinally in
order that the distance between the chains may be adjusted to the width of
fabric to be operated on; the axes, however, are so formed, that the chain
rollers, in whatever position they may be, are compelled to turn with the axes;
the guide troughs also on this side of the machine are not bolted to the side
framing, but are each fixed at their ends to the two longitudinal bars d, d,
which are supported by and are capable of sliding on transverse bars which
connect the two side frames, or they may be supported by the screws if
preferred. The bars d, d, are caused to slide in order to adjust the distance
between the chains by the following arrangement of mechanism as is shewn at
Figure 5; e, e, c, e', e¹, el, are axes passing through the machine, and also
through the bars d, d; they are carried in bearings in the side frames.
these axes screw threads are cut which receive screw nuts fixed in the
On

page_text: bars d, d. The axes e, e, e, e¹, e¹, e¹, at their ends and exterior to the frame
receive bevilled wheels fiff,f,f',f¹; g and g¹ are horizontal axes, one at the top
and the other at the bottom of the machine, they each have mounted on theni
three bevilled pinions, the pinions one one axis gear with the bevilled wheels
ff, f, and those on the other axis with the wheels f', f', f. On the axis h
are mounted two bevilled pinions, one gearing with one of the wheels f, and
the other with one of the wheels f', and this axis has a hand wheel on its
upper end, by turning which it will be seen all the axes e and e' are caused to
revolve at the same speed; the revolution of these axes causes the nuts upon
them to travel along the screws, and the nuts being attached to the bars d, d,
these are carried with them, and may thus be set in any desired position
parallel to the side frames. The gear for driving the chain rollers is placed at
the opposite side of the machine to that occupied by the gearing for adjusting
the width between the chains. The upper rollers b, b, to be, are alone directly
driven, their axes have each spur wheels at their ends, and in the spaces
between the spur wheels intermediate wheels are placed gearing with the spur
wheels on either side of them to communicate the power from one axes to
On the
another, and to ensure all the axes revolving at the same speed.
axis 6 a larger spur wheel is also mounted, which works with a pinion i, and
on the same axis with this pinion is a cone pulley, which is driven by a strap
from another cone pulley kept in motion by any suitable motive power. By
shifting the strap along the cones the speed of the machine may be regulated,
as is well understood. In addition to the chain rollers already described, the
endless chains pass over two other rollers on the axis j, which is carried by
brackets fixed to the front of the machine, and this axis may be arranged so
that its distance from the front of the frame may be adjusted to obviate
any inconvenience which might arise from the chain becoming slack.
Figures 3 and 4 clearly shew the construction of the chains; it will be seen
that two rows of points are employed, and that these points are not, as here-
tofore, fixed in the metal of the chain itself, but are cast in a softer metal, by
préference, a hard pewter; in order to [cast the pewter around the points, a
metal mould is employed, and the strips of pewter, with the points in them,
are attached to the links of the chain by screws. This is an important point
in the manufacture of stretching and drying apparatus. The fabric is fed on
to the machine by hand as the chains pass over the rollers on the axis j, and the
selvages are pressed on to the pins of the chains by the small rollers k, k, which
are padded with india-rubber or arranged with a stiff brush for the purpose.
The fabric in passing to the rollers on the axis j passes around the bars 1, 1, in
the, manner shewn, by which tension is put on the fabric; these bars are all

page_text: mounted in a frame, which may be set at any desired inclination, and by
adjusting this inclination the tension of the fabric may be increased or diminished
as may be desired, When the fabric has passed through the machine it is
stripped from the chains by the rollers m, m. The machine is enclosed in an
iron or other casing, which in the Drawings is represented by the lines n, n,
and heated air is forced into this casing by.a fan; the openings for admitting
the air are arranged at each side of the machine at the bottom of the two side
frames, and flues or ventilators are provided for the escape of the damp air at
the top of the casing. For a machine of the size shewn, I employ a fan
of, say, 30 inches diameter, and driven at, say, 800 revolutions per minute, and
I prefer to heat the air by passing it through a steam heating apparatus, such
as is known as Hawksley's patent apparatus, and I employ for a machine of
the size shewn, an apparatus containing 200 tubes, each one inch diameter
and 9 feet long, and surrounded with a casing containing steam of about 25 to
30 lbs. on the square inch, more or less. Figure 6 is a longitudinal section of
a machine such as I prefer to employ when it is desired that the same
machine shall be employed both for streching and drying fabrics, and for
drying wool and other fibres. The machine is very similar to machines now
employed for stretching and drying fabrics, and consists of an endless chain a, a,
passing over two rollers b, b, one of which is driven by suitable gearing; the
fabric is fed on to the chain in the manner already described, and is by it
carried through the casing c, in which heated air circulates; the roller d is for
the purpose of preventing the escape of heated air from the casing between
the upper and lower part of the chains; the fabric is carried back by the chains
to the end of the machine at which it enters, and is stripped from the chains by
the rollers e, e. In order to prevent the fabric falling off the pins of the chains
when the chains have passed over the end roller, and the points of the pins are
downwards, the points are made to travel in contact with small padded rollers
placed at short distances apart; apparatus is applyed for adjusting the distance
between the chains, such as has been already described; f, f, and g, g, are
endless aprons which are added to the machine to render it suitable for
drying wool and other fibre; they are made of strong and loosely woven fabric
fixed to endless chains working over chain wheels at each side of the machine,
which chains are supported and travel on fillets cast on to the sides of the casing
of the machine, and are kept apart at any distance required by transverse bars
fixed in the chains at intervals. When the machine is to be used for drying
fibre an endless cloth of a similar fabric is run on to the chains a, a, the fibre is
spread by hand on to this cloth at the front of the machine, and is carried by
it into the heated chamber; and when it gets to the further end thereof, it

page_text: falls over on to the upper apron f, and is taken by it back to the front of the
machine, when it falls on to the lower apron g; and is carried again to the
back of the machine, and is discharged in the manner shewn. The endless
aprons are driven by gearing applied to the axes of their rollers exterior to the
casing.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Lee Norton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
JAMES LEE NORTON. (L.S.)