IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR DOUBLING, FOLDING, OR PLAITING CLOTH
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Tomlinson Pendlebury, Blacksmith, of Elton,
near Bury, in the County of Lancaster, and George Pendlebury,
Maker-up, of Tottington-lower-end, in the said County, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR DOUBLING, FOLDING, OR PLAITING
CLOTH."
Sealed the 15th August 1862, and dated the 19th February 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Tomlinson Pen-
dlebury and George Pendlebury at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 19th February 1862.
We, JOHN TOMLINSON PENDLEBURY, Blacksmith, of Elton, near Bury, in the
County of Lancaster, and GEORGE PENDLEBURY, Maker-up, of Tottington-
lower-end, in, the said County, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR DOUBLING, FOLDING, OR PLAITING
CLOTH," to be as follows:-
Our first improvement consists in placing on each end of a sliding table
one or more pairs of jaws, each jaw is attached at one end to a lever having
its fulcrum between the points of attachment, the said lever being moveable
about the said fulcrum; each pair of jaws is connected together by a cross
bar hung upon, studs or centres, the upper jaw being longer than the lower
jaw. A tappet is fixed on the said lever or on a shaft forming the said
fulcrum, and is acted upon by another tappet actuated by a spring for the

page_text: purpose of keeping the said jaw or jaws open or shut, as required, another
tappet being situate on the said shaft for the purpose of opening or closing the
said jaws as needed. Above the sliding table is placed a shaft having a longi-
tudinal aperture, the sides of the said aperture being for the purpose of
holding the cloth in the right position for the jaws to take hold of it. At the
ends of the said aperture a wheel is attached, the said wheel being moved by
a rack actuated by some part of the machine. On the ordinary doubling
table a lever carrying a roller or rollers is so placed that when the lever
moves upon its fulcrum the said roller or rollers are elevated or depressed.
The last-named roller or rollers come in contact with another roller, whose
circumference projects a little above the surface of the said doubling table.
At the other end of the said doubling table to that where the sliding table is
situate a fixed or revolving disk, or a projecting arm acts upon the cloth in
the middle of its width, and doubles the same, the said cloth being then passed
through or between the before-named rollers, and through the before-named
longitudinal aperture, and over the edge of one of the said sides, forming the
aperture, is secured by the jaws and drawn along until the sliding table arrives
near the end of its stroke, when the rack and wheel before named being acted
upon by a projecting stud or other part of the machine cause the shaft con-
taining the aperture to so move that the cloth which is doubled or folded over
one of the sides, before mentioned, shall be so situate that the said jaw or
jaws which are now open being acted upon by a catch, and one of the before-
mentioned tappets, shall shut or close and secure the cloth at or near the end
of the stroke of the said sliding table; the said sliding table will now return
and carry the cloth along with it, and another part of the said cloth being
folded over, the other side forming the aperture before mentioned will by a
similar motion to that before named be brought in a position for the jaws at
the other end of the sliding table to secure it, and when the jaws open the
cloth is brought down on the table in any convenient manner. The edges of
the said sides are notched to enable the jaws to secure the cloth. Instead of
the said sliding table we also use a stationary table, the jaws with their appen-
dages being fixed at the ends of the said stationary table, and the said shaft
containing the longitudinal aperture is made to slide so as to carry the cloth
to the said jaws, and the sides forming the said aperture are brought into a
proper position to deliver the cloth to the jaws by means of one or more
catches, as required. The mechanism or apparatus at the other end of the
doubling table, and the rollers on the said table being the same.
Another of our improvements is as follows:-We use a box or frame,
in the interior of which a moveable table is placed, the said table being

page_text: acted upon by a spring or springs, or a weight or weights; on each side
of the said box or frame a pair of oscillating levers carrying cross-bars,
which pass across the said box or frame, are actuated by a rack and
wheel, or by racks and wheels, the said rack or racks being actuated by a
revolving crank or cranks. The said cross-bars or plates swivel on axis
situate in the said levers. The cloth to be plaited, doubled, or folded is
passed between the said cross-bars or plates, which being put in motion lay
the said cloth on the moveable table, the cloth being retained on the tablo
by catches or projecting arms acted on by springs or weights, and the
cross-bar or plate swivelling, as before named, is drawn from between the
folded cloth, and the other bar or plate now carries the cloth to the other end
of the moveable table; and a similar operation is there performed by similar
mechanism or apparatus. As the number of folds increase the, said moveable
table descends by the action of the oscillating levers, and is retained by a
catch and ratchet or other contrivance, which is liberated as soon as the piece
or pieces are finished, the table then rises, and the cloth is ready for removal.
The cross-bars or plates are notched to allow the said catches or arms to
retain the cloth. The cross-bars or plates and the oscillating levers before
mentioned are so arranged that when one of the cross-bars or plates has the
cloth folded upon it, the other comes to the level of the moveable table
before it and acts upon a catch or projecting arm and lifts the catch or arm
holding the cloth, and thereby liberates the same before the next fold is
pressed upon the table. The table, herein called the moveable table, is
attached to the sliding table, when necessary.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Tomlinson Pendlebury and George Pendlebury in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th August 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
TOMLINSON PENDLEBURY, Blacksmith, of Elton, near Bury, in the County of
Lancaster, and GEORGE PENDLEBURY, Maker-up, of Tottington-lower-end, in
the said County, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said John Tomliuson Pendlebury and George Pendlebury, Her special
licence that we, the said John Tomlinson Pendlebury and George Pendlebury,

page_text: our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said John
Tomlinson Pendlebury and George Pendlebury, our 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 MACHINERY FOR DOUBLING, FOLDING, OR PLAITING CLOTH,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said John Tomlinson Pen-
dlebury and George Pendlebury, our executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under our, 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 we, the said John Tomlinson Pendlebury and
George Pendlebury, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement and accompanying Drawings
(that is to say) :-
Our first improvement consists in placing on each end of a sliding table ones
or more pairs of jaws, each jaw is attached at one end to a lever having
its fulcrum between the points of attachment, the said lever being moveable
about the said fulcrum; each pair of jaws is connected together by a
cross-bar hung upon studs or centres, the upper jaw being longer than the
lower jaw. A tappet is fixed on the said lever or on a shaft forming the
said fulcrum, and is acted upon by another tappet actuated by a spring for
the purpose of keeping the said jaw or jaws open or shut as required, another
tappet being situate on the said shaft for the purpose of opening or closing
the said jaws as needed. Above the sliding table is placed a shaft having a
longitudinal aperture, the sides of the said aperture being for the purpose of
holding the cloth in the right position for the jaws to take hold of it. At the
ends of the said aperture a wheel is attached, the said wheel being moved by
a rack actuated by some part of the machine. On the ordinary doubling
table a lever carrying a roller or rollers is so placed that when the lever
moves upon its fulcrum the said roller or rollers are elevated or depressed. S
The last-named roller or rollers come in contact with another roller, whose
circumference projects a little above the surface of the said doubling table.
At the other end of the said doubling table to that where the sliding table is
situate a fixed or revolving disk or a projecting arm acts upon the cloth in

page_text: the middle of its width, and doubles the same; the said cloth being then
passed through or between the before-named rollers, and through the before-
named longitudinal aperture, and over the edge of one of the said sides forming
the aperture, is secured by the jaws and drawn along until the sliding table
arrives near the end of its stroke, when the rack and wheel before named
being acted upon by a projecting stud or other part of the machine cause the
shaft containing the aperture to so move that the cloth which is doubled or
folded over one of the sides before mentioned shall be so situate that the said
jaw or jaws, which are now open, being acted upon by a catch and one of
the before-mentioned tappets, shall shut or close and secure the cloth at or
near the end of the stroke of the said sliding table. The said sliding table
will now return and carry the cloth along with it, and another part of the
said cloth being folded over the other side, forming the aperture before men-
tioned, will, by a similar motion to that before named, be brought in a
position for the jaws at the other end of the sliding table to secure it, and
when the jaws open the cloth is brought down on the table in any convenient
manner. The edges of the said sides aro notched to enable the jaws to secure
the cloth.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation, with one side of the frame and other portions of
the mechanism removed; Fig. 2 is an end view of the same machine. The
machine as here shown has four pairs of jaws, the front pairs are shown in
Fig. 2, and one front pair and one back pair is shown in Fig. 1. The table
over which the cloth passes is shown at a, and the framing is shown at b, b₁.
The sliding table c is shown in section in Fig. 1, and an end view of the same
is given in Fig. 2, d, d₁, da, da, being the bars between which it slides; e, e
and e, e, show the jaws in Fig. 1, and es, e, the position of the jaws in Fig. 2.
Cross bars for coupling each pair of jaws are shown at f, f, Fig. 1, and
at ff, Fig. 2. Each pair of jaws is attached to a lever as shown at g, I₁,
Fig. 1, and 9 93, Fig 2. Two of the said levers have the shaft h for a
fulcrum, and the other two have the shaft h, for a fulcrum. Each of the
before named levers have a projecting point or tappet, as shown at.i, i₁, Fig. 1,
and , i, Fig 2. k, k₁, k, show three of the four arms carrying the rollers
1, 1, 1, which are pressed against the tappets i, i, i, by springs, two of which
are shown at m, m₁, Fig. 1. One of the jaws of each pair has an arm con-
nected by a slot and pin to the under side of the table for the purpose of keeping
the said jaws firm in their required positions. Two of the said arms are
shown at es, c, Fig. 1. A tappet is fixed on the shaft h, and a similar
tappet n, is fixed on the shaft h₁, as shown in the Figs. The tappet ",
acts upon the catch o, and the tappet n₁ acts upon the catch o, for the

page_text: purpose of opening the jaws; and two studs p, P₁, are acted upon by the
tappets n, n₁, for the purpose of closing the said jaws. The shaft having the
longitudinal aperture is shown at q, and the sides r, ₁, of the said aperture
are shown in Fig. 1, one side ri being shown in Fig 2. s is a wheel fixed
on the shaft containing the said aperture, and t is a rack which works in the
said wheel. A projecting stud u is fixed on the said rack, and is acted upon
by two other projecting studs v, v₁, fixed on the movable table c. A spring w
is attached to the rack t to keep it in the position shown when not acted upon
by the studs v, V₁. A lever x carrying a roller y is movable on centres fixed
in the studs, ₁. A shaft & passes across the machine and carries the
'roller y₁, and the wheel t₁, and pullies t₂, t₁. A wheel u₁, which gears into the
wheel t₁, is fixed on the shaft u₁. On the said shaft u, is fixed a crank w₁,
to which the table c is attached by means of the connecting rod a₁. When
the machine is set in motion the cloth m passes through the rollers y, y₁,
over the end of the table a, and through the before named longitudinal
aperture over the edge of the cross bar r forming the side of the said aperture,
and is secured by the jaws e, e₁, Fig. 1. The table c is now moving towards
the left hand, or the wheel u, is moving in the direction pointed out by the
arrow, Fig. 1, and as soon as the table gets to the end of its traverse, the
stud v, will have acted on the stud u and caused the rack to bring the cross
barr into an horizontal position, and the tappet n, will have acted on the
stud p₁, and caused the jaws e, es, to secure the cloth in the notches shown
at x, x, Fig. 2. When the said table begins to return the tappet n will
come in contact with the catch o, and cause the jaws e, e₁, to open, and the
cloth which was before secure in the said jaws will now fall upon the table c,
or may be brought down in any convenient manner. A similar operation will
be performed to the one just named when the sliding table c moves to the
other end of its traverse, and the plaiting, folding, or doubling of the cloth
continued as required. When the cloth is to be doubled lengthwise before
it is plaited, folded, or doubled crosswise, the said doubling lengthwise is per-
formed by the revolving disk or projecting arm before mentioned and then
passed through the rollers y, y₁. Instead of the said sliding table we also use
a stationary table, the jaws with their appendages being fixed at the ends of
the said stationary table, and the said shaft containing the longitudinal aper-
ture is made to slide so as to carry the cloth to the said jaws, and the sides
forming the said aperture are brought into a proper position to deliver the
cloth to the jaws, by means of one or more catches as required. The
mechanism or apparatus at the other end of the doubling table and the
rollers on the said table being the same.

page_text: Another of our improvements is as follows:-We use a box or frame,
in the interior of which a moveable table is placed, the said table being
acted upon by a spring or springs, or a weight or weights on each side
of the said box or frame, a pair of oscillating levers carrying cross bars
which pass across the said box or frame are actuated by a rack and wheel,
.or by racks and wheels, the said rack or racks being actuated by a re-
volving crank or cranks. The said cross bars or plates swivel on axis
situate in the said levers. The cloth to be plaited, folded, or doubled is
pressed between the said cross bars or plates, which being put in motion lay
the said cloth on the movable table, the cloth being retained on the table by
catches or projecting arms acted on by springs or weights, and the cross bar or
plate swiveling as before named is drawn from between the folded cloth, and
the other bar or plate now carries the cloth to the other end of the moveable
table, and a similar operation is then performed by similar mechanism or
apparatus. As the number of folds increase the said moveable table descends
by the action of the oscillating levers, and is retained by a catch and ratchet
or other contrivance which is liberated as soon as the piece or pieces are
finished, the table then rises and the cloth is ready for removal. The cross bars
or plates are notched to allow the said catches or arms to retain the cloth.
The cross bars or plates and the oscillating levers before mentioned, are so
arranged that when one of the cross bars or plates has the cloth folded upon
it the other comes to the level of the moveable table before it, and acts upon a
catch or projecting arm and lifts the catch or arm holding the cloth, and
thereby liberates the same before the next fold is pressed upon the table.
The table herein called the moveable table is attached to the sliding table
when necessary.
Figs. 3, 4, and 5, show this arrangement. Fig. 3 is a side elevation with
one of the frame sides and other portions removed, and some of the parts in
section. Fig. 4 is an end view of a portion of the machine, and Fig. 5, a
plan of a portion of the mechanism.
The letter a, shows the box in which is contained the movable table b, a
pair of springs are placed underneath, and on each side of the said table as
shown at c, two pair of oscillating levers are used as shown at d, d₁, Fig. 3
and d, d, Fig. 4, and carry the knives or cross bars e, e. Two links f, fi, are
used for the purpose of keeping the said cross bars at a proper distance
assunder. Two racks 9, 91, and two wheels h, h₁, for the purpose of moving
the oscillating levers before mentioned, the said wheels are attached to the
said oscillating levers by two studs i, ₁₁. The said racks are attached to two

page_text: connecting rods, one of which is shown at k, Fig. 3, the said rod is attached
to the crank 1, fixed on the shaft m, which also carries the roller 'n. The
frame side is shown at o, and two rollers which rest on the roller n, are shown
at p, q, and x, shows a section of the table for receiving the cloth from the
roller q. The catches or arms for securing and holding the cloth are shown
at r, r₁, Fig. 3, and at r, 12, rs, Figs. 4 and 5, and the springs t, t₁, and tappets s, &₁,
are for holding the said catches or arms in the position required. The arms
or catches are fixed on the shafts u, w₁, and actuated by means of two levers
and rods catching upon a stud. fixed on the sliding rack. One lever wand
rod v is shown in Figs. 4 and 5. Two other catches for the purpose of closing
the grip, that is, the catches or arms, are acted upon by two studs, 1. One
of the catches last named for closing the grip is shown at x, Figs. 4 and 5,
and fixed on the shaft u. Two clasp bars n₂, n,, with curved arms attached
to the shafts 3, 4, and actuated by a stud o₂, fixed on the sliding rack which
acts on the catch rods v, vs, and the levers as, a. A tappet x acted on by
a spring y, serves to retain the clasp bars in the position shown at n, and
are brought in that position by springs, one of which is shown at k₁, attached
to a cord or chain 03. The movable table is held in position by means of
racks shown in section at each end of the box a, Fig. 3. When the machine
is put in motion the cloth m, to be plaited, folded, or doubled is passed over
the roller p, and underneath the roller n, then over the roller q, and over the
table, and over the edge of the knife or cross bar e, and is then secured by
the grip the oscillating lever d then brings the cloth m down to the
grip, which closes and is secured at the points r₂, 1, 7, Fig. 4, but before
the knife or cross bar e arrives at the said grip, the clasp bar n, is brought
on to the movable table 6 by the action of the stud o, on the rod v, and
lever a,, and when the oscillating levers return, the cross bar or knife c₁ brings
along the cloth and delivers it to the grip r, but before the cross bar e, arrives
at the said grip, the clasp bar n, is raised by the action of the stud on the
sliding rack acting on the rod v, and lever a, for that purpose, and the cloth
is first raised a little from the grip, and then by the action of the spring and
cord or spring and chain before named, the clasp bar secures it upon the
movable table, the grip r, now closes and secures another fold, and the
oscillating levers return, and a similar operation is repeated. As the folds
increase upon the table b, the action of the before named clasp bars presses it
down and the ratchet teeth shown at each end of the box a, secures it by
means of catches for that purpose, and when the piece is finished the catches
acting on the said ratchets are liberated, and the machine stopped, when the

page_text: table rises to its original position and the folded material is ready for removal.
The dotted line circle containing the arrow and the smaller dotted circle show
the position of a pair of spur wheels for driving the inachine.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention, and the manner in
which the said Invention is to be performed, we wish it to be understood that
what we claim is,-
Firstly, the sliding table and jaws, and the apparatus and combination of
parts for folding, plaiting, or doubling tho cloth, as herein set forth and
illustrated.
Secondly, the oscillating levers actuated by a rack and wheel for the
purpose herein set forth and illustrated.
Thirdly, the movable table and combination of parts as herein set forth
and illustrated.
Fourthly, the apparatus for producing the "grip, and the combination of
parts, as herein set forth and illustrated.
Fifthly, the apparatus and combination of parts for securing the cloth
during the time it is being plaited.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Tomlinson Pendlebury and George
Pendlebury, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Sixteenth day
of August, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-two.
Witness,
THOMAS BALDWIN,
Bury, Lancashire.
JOHN T. PENDLEBURY. (L.S.)
GEORGE PENDLEBURY. (L.S.)