CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR FINISH- THE D.CY
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Thorp, of Collyhurst, near Manches-
ter, in the County of Lancaster, Dyer, Bleacher, and Finisher, for
the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR FINISH-
THE D..
Sealed the 19th December 1858, and dated the 21st July 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Thorp
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 21st July 1853.
I, WILLIAM THORP, of Collyhurst, near Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Dyer, Bleacher, & Finisher, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR FINISHING AND EMBOSSING PLAIN & FANCY WOVEN FABRICS" to be as
follows:-
The ordinary callender machine is not well adapted to the finishing of

page_text: a certain class of fabrics, such as merinos, coburgs, orleans, alpacas,
woollen cloths, damasks, lustres, delaines, twills, mohair, worsted and
cotton checks, plaids, waistcoatings, fancy silks, crapes, & other similar
fabrics; & this Invention is intended more particularly for that class
of goods, one of its objects being the better regulation of the pressure
required to be put upon the fabrics when under operation, from the
smallest to the greatest amounts; this I accomplish by changing the
perpendicular position of the ordinary callender to an horizontal one
(making suitable modification in the framing steps & other mecha-
nis), so that the weight of cach roller is carried directly by the
framing, suitable mechanism being employed for effecting the necessary
pressure between the heated rollers & the paper roller or bowl, such
as screws, levers, & weights, counterpoise weights or springs. If
desired, in addition to the two ordinary heated rollers, the arrangement
described will enable me to add one or more other rollers under or over
the paper bowl or roller, the pressure of which against the paper bowl
may be regulated by counterpoise weights & levers, or levers & springs,
&c., as before described. When the machinery is required for embossing
purposes the plain rollers will only require changing for rollers with
the figured surface of the intended pattern to be embossed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Thorp in the Great Seal Patent Office, on
the 21st January 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
WILLIAM THORP, of Collyhurst, near Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Dyer, Bleacher, and Finisher, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the seventeenth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, ITer heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said William Thorp, Efer especial license that I, the

page_text: said William Thorp, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Thorp, my exccutors, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MA-
CHINERY FOR FINISHING AND EMBOSSING PLAIN AND FANCY WOVEN FABRICS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Thorp,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and scal, should particu-
larly 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 William Thorp, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the saine
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement and accompanying Drawings (that is to
say):
The machinery which forms the subject of this Invention is intended
more particularly to finish that class of fabrics which have hitherto
undergone that operation when folded by means of hot plates and
pressure, such as the fabrics known as merinos, coburgs, orleans,
alpacas, woollen cloths, damasks, lustres, delains, twills, mohairs,
worsted and cotton checks, plaids, waistcoatings, fancy silks, crapes,
and other similar fabrics, though the machinery is equally applicable to
the finishing of other fabrics, which can be finished by the calender
machine. My. Invention consists in combining one or more paper
bowls with rollers heated by steam, the axes of which are all placed
in the samo plane, which I prefer should be horizontal, as in that case
the weight of each bowl and roller rests wholly upon the framing of the
machine, which gives me the means by simple mechanism of effecting
any required degree of pressure between them, from the smallest to the
largest amounts, and thus to adapt it to the requirements of the fabric

page_text: to be finished; and as most of the fabrics which have been enuinerated
require only small amounts of pressure, this facility of the arrangement
becomes an important advantage. Moreover, in the use of this Inven-
tion for the class of fabrics referred to, I find that steam to heat the rollers
is essential to the production of good work. The Drawing annexed
hereto exhibits several views of a machine constructed according to my
Invention, which I have found most practicable and useful. Fig. 1, is
a plan view, and Figs. 2, and 3, are elevations of those sides of the
machine on which they are respectively drawn; and Fig. 4, is a
sectional elevation through the machine in the line a, y, on Fig. 1. In
the following description of the parts of the machine the same letters
and figures of reference will be employed on cach Figure on correspond-
ing parts of the machine. The parts operating on the fabrics to be
finished are the paper bowl B, and the hollow iron rollers C, and D ;
the journals of these rest respectively in bearings B', C', and D', which
are fitted in the horizontal oblong opening in the side frames of the
machine. The framing of the machine consists of two sides A, con-
nected together by the cross stays a, and a*, the side frames A, being
constructed so that a piece a', which forms a portion of one side of the
oblong opening, can be removed to give facility for taking out the paper
bowl or rollers. The pressure between the rollers and bowl is effected
by the levers E, which have their fulcrums on the framing at E', and
the ends of their upright arms have each screws E, inserted through.
them, the ends of which act against the bearings D', of the roller D;
these screws give the means for adjusting or removing the pressure from
between the bowl and rollers. As the bearings D', are free to slide in
the oblong opening, and as the paper bowl is at liberty in the same
direction, it will follow that the action of the levers E, will be to force
the roller D, and paper bowl B, against each other and against the
roller C, which will resist the action of the levers in that direction, as
its bearings abut against the end of the oblong opening. The pressure
between the rollers and the bowl may be increased or diminished by
adding to or removing weights from the lever E, which may be placed
on the tables screwed on the ends of the levers at E³. The steam for

page_text: heating the rollers C, and.D, has its inlet on one side, and the outlet
for steam and condensed steam on the other side in.the axes of the
rollers, the junction between the pipes supplying the steam on one side,
and the pipes conveying steam and condensed steam away on the other,
and the rollers being affected by means of stuffing boxes c, and d, of
ordinary construction, which admit of the rollers revolving while the
pipes are fixed. Motion for revolving the rollers is communicated
through means of the first pulley H', keyed on the shaft H, which is
secured in pedestals carried on brackets from the framing A, and a
pinion H³, keyed on the end of the shaft H, taking into a wheel C³,
fixed on the axis of the rollers C, from which roller it is transmitted by
a wheel C, to an intermediate, wheel 1', (revolving on a stud fixed in
the piece 1, which, is screwed to the framing,) which takes into a
wheel D, on the axis of the roller D. By this arrangement it will be
seen that the paper bowl is revolved by contact with the rollers C,
and D, which are precisely of the same diameter.
The manner in which I use the machine is as follows:-The fabric to
be operated upon (as shown in Fig. 4,) is placed on a roller F, sup-
ported in suitable bearings, and it is then passed over the cross stay u*,
over the top side of the roller C, under the paper bowl and over a por-
tion of the roller D, here the finishing operation is completed, and is
wound on another roller G, the ends of which are free in slots made in
the fixings G', screwed to the top of the framing, which keep the roller
in position, but allow it to rise as the fabric is wound on, which is done
by friction or contact of the surface of the roller D, revolving the
ruller G, the pressure for the purpose being effected by the weights G³,
which are hung upon the axis of the roller G.
It will be seen that the arrangement described gives every facility for
repeating the combination of a roller and paper bowl as often as
required, without disadvantage or inconvenience in the working.
-A series of rollers having between them paper bowls, all with their
axis in the same horizontal plane, may be placed in a frame similar to
that described for the combination of one paper bowl.and two rollers.
In fact, the same frame, lengthened sufficient to give additional room,

page_text: and strengthened to bear additional weights, is all that would be re-
quired, adding intermediate wheels to convey the motion from one
roller to another; in other respects the machine need only be a dupli-
cate of that already described. Some broad fabrics require finishing
doubled, but if such fabrics were put through the machine, shewn in
the Drawing, in the manner and arranged as described, one half the
fabric would have a different treatment to the other, as one half of the
fabric alone would come in direct contact with the bowl, and the other
in direct contact with the surfaces of the rollers C, and D, which would
give a different finish to cach half of the fabric. To obviate this difficulty
I employ in place of, say, the roller C, another paper bowl, leaving the
arrangement of the machine in other respects the same, and I pass the
cloth in the same manner as shewn in the Drawing, and already
explained, as far as the bowl B; but instead of passing it forward, as
shewn, between the roller D, and B, I pass it direct from B, on the
under side of D, and on to the roller G; by this arrangement it will be
seen that both halves of the fabric receives its pressure from two paper
surfaces. The heat required by the process is obtained from the roller
D, which works in contact with B; from B, it is transmitted to the
paper bowl supposed to be placed in the position of the iron roller C.
Should this heat not be found sufficient, other steam-heated rollers may
be employed, one placed below the proposed bowl, and another above
the bowl B. The lower one will require weighting by levers or springs
or other arrangement to press it against its paper bowl with sufficient
force to give adhesion to revolve it, or it may be revolved by geer
being weighted to give contact. The upper steam-heated roller may be
arranged in a similar manner.
The arrangement of the machine shewn in the Drawings is also well
adapted for fabrics requiring a finish known as the "linen" or "beetle
finish." The modifications for this purpose being the removal of the paper
bowl B, and the substitution of an iron one (though the paper bowl
would do, but as it would be liable to injury in the process it is better
to substitute an iron one for it), and the adding of a frame screwed to
the sides to support the beetles, and the mechanism to give them motion;.

page_text: or the beetles may be suspended in a frame independent of the machine
over the centre of the roller supposed to be in the place of B.
The beetles may be of the ordinary construction, lifted by tappets
spirally arranged so that they may fall on the cloth wound on the roller
in succession, and heat may or may not be used in the rollers C, and D,
as found best. The two rollers C, and D. will give facility, one for
winding the fabric on the middle roller, and the other by reversing the
motion of the machine for winding it off the roller on to a roller G.
Machines for embossing purposes require only the simplest combina-
tion of rollers; and in adapting the machine shewn in the Drawing and
herein-before described for this use it will only be necessary to substi-
tute for the paper bowl B, a roller having engraved, etched, drilled, or
otherwise indented in its surface the intended pattern to be embossed,
or the paper bowl may be removed, and a roller with the intended
pattern upon
it may
be substituted for one of the rollers C, or D.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, I wish it to bo
understood that I do not confine myself to the details herein given, as
they may be variously modified, yet the peculiar features of my Inven-
tion may be retained; for instance, the framing may be modified,
motion may be imparted to the rollers and bowls differently, and the
pressure may be put upon the rollers and bowls by levers and springs,
or compound levers, and the machine may be worked differently. But
I have described and shewn in the Drawings the simplest mode of
construction, the most useful combination, and the best method of
working I am at present acquainted with. But what I claim is,―Firstly,
the combination of rollers and bowls having their axes in the same
horizontal plane as herein-before described for the purposes of finishing
woven fabrics. Secondly, the manner and arrangement described for
finishing a folded fabric. Thirdly, the use of steam for heating the rollers
for finishing in the mode herein described the class of fabrics herein-
before enumerated, though I am aware steam is used in calender
machines for heating the rollers, but I believe it has never been used
in the finishing of the class of fabrics herein-before enumerated.
Fourthly, the machine shewn in the Drawing when combined with a
beetling apparatus for giving to fabrics the finish known as the

page_text: "beetle
or "linen finish," as herein described. Fifthly, the mechanism
as arranged and described, when used for embossing purposes.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Thorp, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Signed, sealed, and delivered
(being duly stamped) in the
presence of
PETER J. LIVSEY,
WILLIAM THORP. (L.S.)
of Manchester.

page_text: WHEREAS those parts of the Invention described in the said Specification
and claimed under the heads numbered respectively thirdly, fourthly, and fifthly
have not been found to be of sufficient utility, and the novelty of some of them
may be called in question, I have thought it desirable to disclaim and alter
the title of the Invention and certain parts of the said Specification.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, Henry Statham, do, with the leave of Her
Majesty's Solicitor-General, disclaim the words "and embossing," which occur
in the title of the said Letters Patent; and in page 8, line 80, of the copy of
the said Specification, printed by the Queen's printer, and published at the
Great Seal Patent Office, I disclaim the words "I prefer;" and in page 6,
lines 28 to 34 inclusive; and in page 7, lines 1 to 15 inclusive, and also the
words from and including the words "Thirdly, the use "in line 29, down to
the words "known as the " in line 85; and in page 8, lines 1 and 2. And the
said Specification when amended as proposed by me by Disclaimer and
Memorandum of Alteration, will read as follows:-
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
THORP, of Collyhurst, near Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Dyer,
Bleacher, and Finisher, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the seventeenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Thorp, Her especial licence that I, the said William Thorp,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Thorp, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR FINISHING, PLAIN AND FANCY WOVEN FABRICS," upon the con- 3
dition (amongst others) that I, the said William Thorp, by an instrument
in writing under my band and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, 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 8
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Thorp, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in. what manner the same is to be performed,

page_text: to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement.
and accompanying Drawings (that is to say) :-
:-
The machinery which forms the subject of this Invention is intended more.
particularly to finish that class of fabrics which. have hitherto undergone that.
operation when folded, by means of hot plates and pressure, such as the fabrics.
known as merinos, coburgs, orleans, alpacas, woollen cloths, damasks, lustres,.
delains, twills, mohairs, worsted and cotton checks, plaids, waistcoatings,
fancy silks, crapes, and other similar fabrics, though the machinery is equally
applicable to the finishing of other fabrics which can be finished by the.
calender machine.
My Invention consists in combining one or more paper bowls with rollers-
heated by steam, the axes of which are all placed in the same plane, which.
should be horizontal, as in that case the weight of each bowl and roller rests:
wholly upon the framing of the machine, which gives me the means, by simple
mechanism, of effecting any required degree of pressure between them from
the smallest to the largest amounts, and thus to adapt it to the requirements
of the fabric to be finished, and as most of the fabrics which have been
enumerated require only small amounts of pressure, this facility of the
arrangement becomes an important advantage; moreover, in the use of this
Invention for the class of fabrics referred to, I find that steam to heat the
rollers is essential to the production of good work.
The Drawing annexed hereto exhibits several views of a machine con-
structed according to my Invention, which I have found most practicable and
useful. Fig. 1 is a plan view, and Figs. 2 and 3 are elevations of those
sides of the machine on which they are respectively drawn, and Fig. 4 is a
sectional elevation through the machine in the line x, y, on Fig. 1 In the
following description of the parts of the machine the same letters and figures
of reference will be employed on each Figure on corresponding parts of the
machine. The parts operating on the fabrics to be finished are the paper
bowl B and the hollow iron rollers C and D.; the journals of these rest
respectively in bearings B¹, C, and D', which are fitted in the horizontal.
oblong opening in the side frames of the machine. The framing of the
machine consists of two sides A connected together by the cross stays a
and a*, the side frames A being constructed so that a piece a', which forms
a portion of one side of the oblong opening can be removed to give facility
for taking out the paper bowl or rollers. The pressure between the rollers and
bowl is effected by the levers E, which have their fulcrums on the framing at. E',
and the ends of their upright arms have each screws E' inserted through them,

page_text: 2
the ends of which act against the bearings D¹ of the roller D; these screws
give the means for adjusting or removing the pressure from between the bowl
and rollers. As the bearings D¹ are free to slide in the oblong opening, and
as the paper bowl is at liberty in the same. direction, it will follow that the
action of the levers E will be to force the roller D and paper bowl B against
each other and against the roller C, which will resist the action of the levers
in that direction as its bearings abut against the end of the oblong opening.
The pressure between the rollers and the bowl may be increased or dimi-
nished by adding to or removing weights from the lever E, which may be
placed on the tables screwed on the ends of the levers at Es. The steam for
heating the rollers C and D has its inlet on one side and the outlet for steam
and condensed steam on the other side in the axes of the rollers, the junction
between the pipes supplying the steam on one side and the pipes conveying.
steam and condensed steam away on the other, and the rollers being affected
by means of stuffing boxes c and d of ordinary construction which admit of
the rollers revolving while the pipes are fixed. Motion for revolving the
rollers is communicated through means of the first pulley H¹ keyed on the'
shaft H, which is secured in pedestals carried on brackets from the framing A,'
and a pinion F keyed on the end of the shaft II, taking into a wheel C² fixed'
on the axis of the rollers C, from which roller it is transmitted by a wheel C³ S
to an intermediate wheel I' (revolving on a stud fixed in the piece I, which is
screwed to the framing) which takes into a wheel D on the axis of the
roller D. By this arrangement it will be seen that the paper bowl is:
revolved by contact with the rollers C and D, which are precisely of the same
diameter.
The manner in which I use the machine is as follows:-The fabric to be
operated upon (as shewn in Fig. 4) is placed on a roller F, supported in suit-
able bearings, and it is then passed over the cross stay a* over the top side of
the roller C under the paper bowl, and over a portion of the roller D, here the
finishing operation is completal, and is wound on another roller G, the ends of
which are free in slots made in the fixings G' screwed to the top of the framing,
which keep the roller in position but allow it to rise as the fabric is wound on,
which is done by friction or contact of the surface of the roller D revolving
the roller G, the pressure for the purpose being effected by the weights G³,
which are hung upon the axis of the roller G..
It. will be seen that the arrangement described gives every facility for
repeating the combination of a roller and paper bowl as often as required
without disadvantage or inconvenience in the working. A series of rollers
Я
3

page_text: having between them paper bowls, all with their axis in the same horizontal
plane, may be placed in a frame similar to that described for the combination
of one paper bowl and two rollers, in fact the same frame lengthened sufficient
to give additional room, and strengthened to bear additional weights is all that
would be required, adding intermediate wheels to convey the motion from one
roller to another, in other respects the machine need only be a duplicate of
that already described. Some broad fabrics require finishing doubled, but if
such fabrics were put through the machine shewn in the Drawing in the
manner and arranged as described, one-half the fabric would have a different
treatment to the other, as one-half of the fabric alone would come in direct
contact with the bowl, and the other in direct contact with the surfaces of the
rollers C and D, which would give a different finish to each half of the fabric.
To obviate this difficulty I employ, in place of, say, the roller C, another paper
bowl leaving the arrangement of the machine in other respects the same, and
pass the cloth in the same manner as shewn in the Drawing, and already
explained as far as the bowl B, but instead of passing it forward as shewn
between the roller D and B, I pass it direct from B on the under side of D,
and on to the roller G. By this arrangement it will be seen that both halves
of the fabric receives its pressure from two paper surfaces. The heat required
by the process is obtained from the roller D, which works in contact with B,
from B it is transmitted to the paper bowl, supposed to be placed in the posi
tion of the iron roller C. Should this heat not be found sufficient, other
steam-heated rollers may be employed, one placed below the proposed bowl,
and another above the bowl B. The lower one will require weighting by
levers or springs, or other arrangement, to press it against its paper bowl with
sufficient force to give adhesion to revolve it, or it may be revolved by gear
being weighted to give contact. The upper steam heated roller may be arranged
in a similar manner.
I
Having now described the nature of my Invention, I wish it to be under-
stood that I do not confine myself to the details herein given, as they may be
variously modified, yet the peculiar features of my Invention may be retained;
for instance, the framing may be modified, motion may be imparted to the
rollers and bowls differently, and the pressure may be put upon the rollers and
bowls by levers and springs, or compound levers, and the machine may be
worked differently; but I have described and shewn in the Drawings the
simplest mode of construction, the most useful combination, and the best method
of working I am acquainted with; but-what I claim is, firstly, the com-
bination of rollers and bowls having their axes in the same horizontal plane,

page_text: as herein-before described, for the purposes of finishing woven fabrics;
secondly, the manner and arrangement described for finishing a folded fabric.
In witness whereof, I. the said William Thorp, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Signed, sealed, and delivered
(being duly stamped) in
the presence of
PETER J. LIVSEY,
•
WILLIAM THORP. (L.S.)
of Manches
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Statham, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-fifth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
HENRY STATHAM. (L.S.)
To the Commissioners of Patents for Inventions.
I hereby grant my fint giving leave to the above-named Henry Statham,
Assignee of the said Letters Patent, to file in the Great Seal Patent Office,
with the Specification to which the same relates, the above-written Disclaimer
and Memorandum of Alteration.
I hereby grant my fiat giving leave to the above-named Henry Statham,
Assignee of the said Letters Patent, to file in the Great Seal Patent Office,
with the Specification to which the same refates, the above-written Disclaimer
and Memorandum of Alteration.