Improvements in Stiffening Blades for Corsets and the like, and in the Method of and Apparatus for Manufacturing the same.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 15th May, 1889-Accepted, 15th June, 1889
"
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Stiffening Blades for Corsets and the like, and in
the Method of and Apparatus for Manufacturing the same.
A communication from abroad by IRA DE VER WARNER, of Bridgeport, in the State
of Connecticut, United States of America, Manufacturer.
1, PHILIP MIDDLETON JUSTICE of 55 and 56 Chancery Lane in the County of
Middlesex, Fellow of the Institute of Patent Agents do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement
The object of this invention is to produce straight, thin, flat, flexible and elastic
blades, which will answer as substitutes for blades of whalebone, and can be used in
the same manner by pushing them endwise into the pockets in corsets, dresses, etc.
Heretofore many efforts have been made to produce stiffening bades from bundles
of fibres or splints, and very serviceable blades have been made capable of excellent
use when sewed into pockets in corsets and dresses, but up to the date of this invention
no such blades have been made having the smooth, flat surface of whalebone blades
and capable of being pushed end wise into narrow pockets in dress materials. This
invention consists of means fully set forth hereinafter, whereby small twisted and bent
fibres may be so bound together as to produce the flat blades of the character
required.
In making the improved blades the fibres of what is known as
" Ixtile" or
Tampico" prepared from the Mexican Agave are preferably employed. These
fibres in their natural condition are not perfectly straight, but are bent or twisted to a
certain extent, so that when bound together by means of external threads wound
round the same, cords are formed which are twisted and bent and incapable of being
used as, substitutes for whalebone blades in many instances.
In order to make use of the material specified and overcome the objections incident
to the waved and bent character of the fibres, the latter are bundled together and
wound with outside wrapping cords, plaited or otherwise applied as usual to form
round cords or bundles, but instead of binding the bundles while supported loosely
as usual, they are subjected to tension longitudinally so as to draw and hold each
fibre straight and, parallel to the other fibres, and the fibres are then bound together
while,so straightened. There may be one or two or more bundles of fibres drawn taut and
bound together at the same time, forming what may be termed a compound bundle,
and this is afterwards coated with a suitable cement dried and subjected to great
pressure while, heated, whereby the fibres are condensed and flattened, and the surface
rendered smooth and uniform and blades are produced which are elastic, straight,
smooth, and constitute, admirable substitutes for whalebone blades.
In manufacturing the improved stiffening blades an apparatus is made use of for
applying tension, to the bundles and winding the same, which apparatus is termed the
winding apparatus, and which is illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying
drawings. A cementing apparatus is also made use of for applying cement to the bundles,
which is, illustrated in Figures 3, 4 and 5. A drying apparatus is further made use of
for drying the cement prior to winding the bundles, which apparatus is illustrated in
Figure 3, and finally a pressing apparatus whereby the bundles are subjected to great
pressure while. heated and. are reduced to the form of smooth, flat, straight blades,
such pressing apparatus. being illustrated in Fig. 6.
In Figures 1 and 2 which represent the winding machine the frame A has a
table 2 supporting one or more winding machines D, each machine having two heads
supporting bobbins from which threads pass to the bundles a that extend through a
hollow, hub i, round which the heads revolve in opposite directions. The heads are
driven by bands 13, 14, frou pulleys upon a shaft 15, which in turn is driven by a
helt on a drive wheel 20.

page_text: Each bundle of fibres a is wound upon a reel B, two or more of which are
arranged side by side and at the side of each wheel is a grooved pulley 3; over
which passes a strap 4, connected at one end to a spring secured to an eye bolt on
the floor and supporting at the other end a weight 6 capable of being increased or
diminished. By means of the weighted strap or band so much friction is applied to
each wheel B, that the bundle a cannot be drawn from said wheel without considerable
resistance so that the said bundle is straightened and held straight during the drawing
of the same through the winding machine D.
The draft upon the bundles is effected by means of a reel C, to which a slow
uniform movement is imparted by means of a belt 7 passing from a pulley 8 upon
the shaft 15, round guide pulleys 9 and round a grooved pulley cat the side of the
reel C.
As shown in Figure 2, two bundles a, a, of fibre are drawn from two reels B. B,
through the winding machine D, but any suitable number of bundles may be carried
through the winding machine at one time, so as to be bound tightly together side
by side, forming a compound bundle of any desired width. By thus applying
tension to independent reels each bundle is drawn taut and straight, thereby
straightening the fibres in said bundle and by binding several bundles together
while thus straightened, all the fibres are held in straight lines parallel to each
other and are prevented from recovering their original crooked shape."
After each reel C has been filled, such reels are removed from the binding
machine and are placed together in a frame M, Figure 3, with friction straps 4
extending over the pulleys, and weighted so as to create a friction tending to
retard the rotation of the wheels, and the compound bundles a from the series of
reels are drawn together, as shown in Figure 3, towards the cementing device K
which is in line with the recls.
The cementing device K is shown: in detail in Figures 4 and 5, and is provided
with a trough 12 containing paste or cement, and with a cross bar 13, under
which the bundles a are passed, and with an inclined plate 15, supporting sponge
or other material 14, and below the trough 12 is a steam chamber 20, or other
heater whereby the cement is maintained fluid.
As each bundle a passes through the trough 12 it becomes coated with the
cement, but as it passes over the sponge 14 the cement is wiped from the bundle,
leaving only a mere superficial film, the surplus running back into the trough.
In line with the cementing device K and reels is a drier I consisting of a
series of steam or hot water pipes 18 arranged parallel to the path of the bundles,
and enclosed in a trough supported by standards 17, and open at the 'top and
ends for the escape of moisture. The drier is of such length that by the time
the cords pass from the same they are perfectly dry.
In line with the reels C, cementer, and drier, is a series of winding reels D,
each receiving one of the compound cords and each driven from a driving shaft 8
by means of any suitable devices, (worm-wheels, worms and driving belts being
those shown).
The material thus formed consisting of two or more bundles arranged side by side
in straight lines, bound together by winding threads and cemented, is relatively thick
as regards its width, as illustrated in the enlarged view Fig. 7, and while suitable as a
stiffener for many purposes, is not compact, thin, smooth and dense like a whalebone
blade, and therefore is unsuitable for many purposes for which whalebone blades are
employed.
In order to impart to the bundle the characteristics of a whalebone blade it is
subjected to an extremely heavy pressure while heated, whereby the bundles are
flattened and extended laterally, rendered smooth, dense and elastic, the heat having
the further effect of tempering the Ixtile fibres.
For the purpose of thus compressing the bundles any suitable heated press may be
made use of, as for instance, a press as shown in Figure 6 consisting of two hollow
dies 20, 21, each receiving steam or hot water from pipes 22, one of the dies being
nxed, and the other vertically movable and operated by toggle links from a hydraulic

page_text: engine 23, whereby great pressure is applied simultaneously with the heating of the
fibres. By this means the bundles are reduced to the form of a flat, smooth, straight,
elastic blade, as illustrated in Figure 8, said blade having the characteristics of whale-
bone and capable of being employed for the various purposes for which whalebone
blades are used.
While for the purpose of illustrating the invention, tension devices, cementing
devices, a drier, and winding devices of certain forms are shown, the forins of these
and of the press may be materially altered without departing from the main features
of the invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. A stiffening blade consisting of straightened bundles of fibres arranged side by
side and bound together and flattened, substantially as set forth.
2. The within described stiffening blade, consisting of two or more straightened
bundles of fibres confined firmly together and flattened under heavy pressure, as set
forth.
3. The improvement in the art of manufacturing stiffening blades, consisting in
applying tension to bundles of fibres, binding them under tension and then flattening
the same, substantially as set forth.
4. In the manufacture of stiffening blades, subjecting bundles of fibres to tension to
straighten the same, cementing and drying, and then flattening under heat and
pressure, substantially as set forth.
5. An apparatus for manufacturing stiffening blades consisting of holding and
winding reels, tension devices for maintaining the bundles of fibres taut in their
passage from the holding to the winding reels, and thread winding devices, substan-
tially as set forth.
6. The combination with the winding, cementing and drying devices of a machine
for making stiffening blades, of a press and a beater, substantially as specified.
Dated this 15th day of May 1889
PHILIP M. JUSTICE.