Improvements in Plate Steam Presses for Fabrics.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Mar., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 29th Dec., 1890-Accepted, 31st Jan., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Plate Steam Presses for Fabrics.
I, GIOVANNI Cucco, of the firm of Ingegnere Giovanni Cucco & Co., of
Biella, Italy, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention relates to an improved construction of steam presses operating
with a fixed and a moveable plate for pressing and finishing fabrics, whereby such
presses are rendered self acting, that is to say, the moveable plate is automatically
lowered so as to press the fabric by means of its steam-heated surfaces and is then
automatically raised again to permit of the shifting of the fabric.
The press consists of the fixed lower plate carried by feet and a moveable upper
plate, these being constructed as in ordinary plate steam presses. In a transverse
beam of the framing works the screw spindle by means of the rotation of which in
one direction or the other the upper plate is raised or lowered.
In
On the upper end of the screw spindle is fitted a worm-wheel by means of a
key and groove so that while the screw is rotated by the wheel it can at the same
time move up and down through it. With the worm wheel is geared a worm loose
on a horizontal shaft. The worm receives rotary motion in one direction or the
other by frictional contact with a bevil toothed wheel fixed on the said shaft.
gear with opposite sides of the bevil wheel are two other bevil wheels on a shaft
so arranged as to impart motion alternately in opposite directions to the first bevil
wheel and through this by means of the friction clutch to the worm on the shaft
thereof. For this purpose the shaft carrying the two bevil wheels is driven by
fast and loose pullies and belt from a mill shaft. Another shaft arranged parallel
to the last named one is driven by a pulley and belt and carries mechanism for
actuating at certain intervals of time two cams which effect the shifting of a bar
on which is fixed the fork for shifting the belt from one pulley to another, thereby
producing at the requisite intervals of time the alternate rotation in opposite
directions of the screw spindle of the press and consequently the up and down
motion of the plate. By an adjustment of the before mentioned mechanism the
duration of the rotation of the screw spindle, and consequently the height to which
the plate is raised every time, can be varied according to the nature of the work
to be done. The frictional contact of the clutch connecting the worm with its bevil
wheel can also be regulated so as to vary the maximum degree of pressure to be
exercised by the press, as, when such degree is obtained, the frictional clutch will
slip and prevent any further rotation of the worm and worm wheel.
The mechanism so far as it has been described serves for pressing manufactured
or cut articles. For treating fabrics in the piece the following additional mechanism
is employed.
A vertical shaft carries at its upper end a toothed pinion gearing with a rack
formed on the end of the bar carrying the strap fork, so that when this bar is
moved longitudinally by the before mention cams at each up and down motion of the
plate as described, the vertical shaft is rotated, and produces by means of a
gripping device and an endless band passing over a pulley, a rotation of the feed
rollers by means of which the fabric is drawn the required distance through between
the two plates of the press after each pressing operation, for bringing a fresh portion
between the press.
By airanging feed rollers on each side of the press plates and rotating them
simultaneously by the above described means, any stretching of the fabric while
it is being fed forward is avoided, which is of importance, more particularly for
kuitted fabrics.

page_text: By means of the above described invention the operation of pressing and finishing
good, whether in the piece or manufactured or cut, is greatly improved and
facilitated, more particularly when employed in the hosiery trade, both as regards
the uniformity and perfection of the work, and as regards the quantity of finished
material turned out in a given time, resulting consequently in a considerable economy
in labor and material.
Dol 1
Ր
1. 1000
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Plate Steam Presses for Fabrics.
I, GIOVANNI Cucco, of the firm of Ingegnere Giovanni Cucco & Company,
of Biella, Italy, Engineer, 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 :--
My invention relates to an improved construction of steam presses operating with
a fixed and a movable plate for pressing and finishing fabrics, whereby such presses
are rendered self-acting, that is to say, the movable plate is automatically lowered
so as to press the fabric by means of its steam-heated surfaces and is then
automatically raised again to permit of the shifting of the fabric.
To enable my invention to be fully understood I will describe how it can be
carried into practice by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :-
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a plate steam-press for pressing and finishing
fabrics, constructed with my improvements:
1
1
2
Figure 2 is a plan of the mechanism for raising and lowering the movable plate: 2
Figure 3 is a section on the line, Figure 2:
Figure 4 is a plan of the mechanism for operating the feed-rollers:
Figure 5 is a side view of part of the same:
Figure 6 is a section on the line y y, Figure 4:
Figure 7 is a similar view to Figure 4 but illustrating a modification of the said 3
mechanism.
Similar reference letters indicate similar or corresponding parts throughout the
drawings.
The press consists of the fixed lower plate a carried by feet and a moveable upper
plate, these being constructed as in ordinary plate steam presses. In a transverse 3
beam e of the framing works the screw-spindle d by the rotation of which, in one
direction or the other, the upper plate is raised or lowered.
On the upper end of the spindle d is fitted a worm-wheel d¹ by means of a key
and groove so that while the screw is rotated by the said wheel, it can at the same
time move up and down through it. With the worm-wheel d¹ is geared a worm e
loose on a horizontal shaft e', the said worn receiving rotary motion in one direction
or the other by frictional contact with a bevel toothed wheel e² fixed on the said
shaft, the said contact being maintained by a spring es pressed against the wheel e²
by nuts . In gear with opposite sides of the bevel-wheel e² are two other bevel-
wheels on a shaft, the wheel being connected to a pulley /³ through the
medium of the said shaft, while the wheel is connected to another pulley f
through the medium of a sleeve f. By moving the belt, which operates the
pulleys, from one pulley to the other by the means hereinafter described, motion
will be imparted alternately in opposite directions to the bevel-wheel e² and through
this by means of friction to the worm e. The pulley serves to lower the plate b,
and the pulley to raise the said plate. is a loose pulley. Another shaft
arranged parallel to the shaft 12 is driven by a pulley and belt continuously
while the press is in operation, and carries a double cam which effects the shifting
of a bar and thereby a fork thereon for shifting the belt from the pulley³ to
g

page_text: the pulley and vice versa, thereby producing at the requisite intervals of time the
alternate rotation in opposite directions of the screw-spindle of the press and
consequently the up and down movement of the plate 6. The cam g² is provided
on opposite sides with two cam-surfaces ³, which serve to operate the bar h
through the medium of arms h2, h3 respectively. The said arms are arranged on the
bar in the positions shewn, so that, when one cam is moved into engagement with
one cam-surface, the other arm is moved out of engagement with the other cam-
surface and rice versa, each of the said arms being moved into engagement with its
cam-surface alternately so as to move the bar h to and fro. The movement of the
arms h2, h3 is effected by a cam i which oscillates the bar through the medium of
another arm provided with a roller, bearing on the cam i, the said cam being
rotated through the medium of either of two ratchet wheels, attached thereto
and pawls 3, operated from an eccentric on the shaft The ratchet wheel is
of smaller diameter than the ratchet wheel 2 in order to rotate the cam i quicker
than when rotated by the said wheel so that by operating the said cam by either
of the said wheels, the duration of the rotation of the screw-spindle d and
consequently the height to which the plate is raised every time, can, to a certain
extent, be varied according to the nature of the work to be done. The frictional
contact of the worm e with the bevel-wheel e² can also be regulated by means of
the nuts e so as to vary the required degree of pressure to be exercised by the
press, as, when such degree is obtained, the wheel e² will slip instead of imparting
any further movement to the worm e and worm-wheel d¹.
9.
By this arrangement, assuming that the plate has been brought down on the
plate a by its pulley 3, the cam i will then lift the arm so as to move the arm 42
out of engagement with the cam-surface g³ and move the other arm h³ into engage-
ment with the cam-surface, as shewn in Figure 2, the said cam-surface then
acting upon the said latter arm so as to move the bar and consequently the belt,
which is driving the pulley 3, onto the pulley thereby causing the screw-
spindle d to turn in the direction of the dotted arrow in Figure 2, and raise the
plate b. By the time the plate breaches its highest position, the cam will allow
the arm to fall, thereby moving the arm 2 into engagement with the cam-surface g³
so as to be acted upon and return the belt to the pulley 3, thereby causing the
screw-spindle d to turn in the reverse direction to that last described and lower the
plate to press the fabrics required and so on.
The mechanism so far as it has been described serves for pressing manufactured
or cut articles. For treating fabrics in the piece the following additional mechanism
is employed.
3
A vertical shaft carries at its upper end a toothed pinion gearing with a rack
or series of grooves & formed on the end of the bar so that when this bar is
moved to and fro by the cam-surfaces g³, g to produce each up and down motion of
the plate as described, the shaft is partly rotated in either direction and
produces, by the means hereinafter described, a rotation of the feed-rollers / by
means of which the fabric is drawn the required distance through between the two
plates a and of the press, after each pressing operation, so as to bring a fresh
portion of the fabric between the said plates. For effecting this movement of the
feed-rollers, the shaft is provided on its lower end with an extension, which,
when the said shaft partly rotates in the direction of the arrow Figure 4, moves
against the end of a clutch lever attached to a clutch-box m forming part of a
pulley loose on the shaft of one of the feed-rollers . This movement of the
extension causes the clutch-lever to move the said box into engagement with
another clutch-box m² attached to the shaft and thereby allow the said shaft and
consequently the rollers to be rotated by the pulley me' which is rotated continuously
during the operation of the press. In order to stop the movement of the rollers
before the plate is lowered to press the fabric, I arrange an endless belt n which
passes around a pulley n¹ on the clutch-box m² and round another pulley n² on one
of the feed-rollers, hereinafter described, at the back of the machine. This belt is
provided with projections n³, one of which comes against a projection on the

page_text: clutch-lever and moves the latter so as to disengage the clutch-box m from the
clutch-box m² thereby stopping the feed-rollers l.
By arranging feed-rollers o, o at the back of the press and rotating them simul-
taneously with the front ones 1, by means of the belt n, any stretching of the fabric
while it is being fed forward is avoided, which is of importance, more particularly
for knitted fabrics.
I form the extension 2 on the shaft in two pieces j and hinged together, as
shewn in Figure 4. The piece of the extension and the end of the clutch-
lever are each formed with an angular side, as shewn in Figures 5 and 6, so that
when the said extension moves in the opposite direction to that described, the
angular side of the piece will first come into contact with the angular side of the
lever, thereby moving the said piece on the hinge without affecting the lever j³.
It will then move out of contact with the said angular side and resume its normal
position by gravity.
which
In the modification illustrated in Figure 7 I dispense with the belt n and
pulleys and for driving the feed-rollers and o and use a shaft and bevel-
wheels instead, and in order to operate the clutch-lever to disengage the
clutch-box m from the clutch-box m², I arrange on the shaft pa worn
engages with and rotates a worm-wheel g' provided with an extension 2 which
serves to strike the clutch-lever and thereby move it so as to disengage the said
clutch-boxes m, m².
, Figure 1, is a bar which extends along the front of the machine below the
rollers and is carried by links s hanging loosely on the ends of the shaft . The
said bar is caused to oscillate by means of a rod t driven by a crank (not shown)
on one of the rollers o, the said bar by its oscillation moving the fabric as it is
fed out of the machine so that it will be delivered in folds as will be obvious.
By means of the herein described press the operation of pressing and finishing
goods whether in the piece or manufactured or cut, is greatly improved or
facilitated, more particularly when employed in the hosiery trade both as regards
the uniformity and perfection of the work, and as regards the quantity of finished
material turned out in a given time, resulting consequently in a considerable
economy in labour and material.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
1. A plate steam press for pressing fabrics in which the movable plate is caused
to move up and down automatically substantially as described.
2. In a plate steam press for pressing fabrics, means substantially as described
for imparting an automatic up and down movement to the movable plate.
3. In a plate steam press for pressing fabrics the combination with means for
imparting an automatic up and down movement to the movable plate, of means for
intermittently operating the feed-rollers, substantially as described.
4. The modified arrangement of mechanism for intermittently operating the
feed-rollers in a plate steam press for pressing fabrics, substantially as described
and illustrated in Figure 7 of the accompanying drawings.
5. In a plate steam press for pressing fabrics means for varying the degree of
pressure exercised by the press, substantially as described.
6. The improved plate steam press for pressing fabrics substantially as herein-
before described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated the 29th day of December 1890.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.