A NEW METHOD OF AND MACHINERY FOR COVERING SPRINGS USED FOR PETTICOATS AND OTHER ARTICLES
Year: 1861

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Frederick Tolhausen at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 31st December
1861. A communication from Antoine Rameau, residing at No. 35,
Boulevard Bonne Nouvelle, Paris, in the Empire of France.
I, FREDERICK TOLHAUSEN, Civil Engineer and Patent Agent, of No. 35,
Boulevart Bonne Nouvelle, Paris, in the Empire of France, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW METHOD OF AND
MACHINERY FOR COVERING SPRINGS USED FOR PETTICOATS AND OTHER ARTICLES,"
a communication from Antoine Rameau, a person resident at No. 35, Boule-
vard Bonne Nouvelle, Paris, in the Empire of France, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a novel mode of covering or clothing the springs
(of steel or other elastic material) or ribs used for petticoats, tournures, and
other articles of dress. The mode hitherto adopted consists in wrapping said
springs or ribs in a lace-like fabric woven around them, which is a process
both slow and expensive, and produces such thickness and asperities as will
often impede an easy passage through the sheaths on the petticoat or other
article. This improved method consists in coiling the thread round the spring
at a greater or less angle of inclination, further in dressing said thread before
or after coiling with the proper agglutinative or gelatinous matter, such as
gelatine or size, or dressing the spring previous to being coiled, so as to cause
the coils to stick together and form one solid body, like a woven fabric; and,
lastly, in passing the springs or ribs so coiled through a set of embossed rollers,

page_text: by which the cohesion of the coil is further improved upon, and the proper
gloss and fabric-like appearance is given.
The machinery I use for the purposes set forth is constructed and works as
follows: The spring or wire on leaving the drum passes through a bath of
the dressing solution, then enters a hollow rotating shaft, causing it to turn or
rotate. At the delivery end of the shaft I place one or several stationary
bobbins, from which the thread is unwound and coiled on the spring, and the
spring thus covered passes between a pair of embossed goffering rollers, above
alluded to. The whole machinery is worked by suitable wheel and worm and
wheel gearing from the same driving drums. This machinery is placed in a
horizontal position, but I also sometimes place it in a vertical position. In
this case the spring or wire is not made to turn, but is made to pass through
a central pivot piece fixed on a table; round this pivot I arrange a disc, being
set to turn, the spring or wire is coiled with thread in the manner required, it
then passes upwards through adjustable guides and goffering rollers similar to
those before described. Said disc is also provided with the usual contrivances
for giving tension to the threads, and for guiding them. There is also a con-
trivance for stopping the machinery in case any one of the threads breaks.
This stop motion consists of a vertical rod contained in a guide, having an
eyelet at its upper extremity, through which the thread passes, and by its
tension keeps the rod up against the action of a spring or weight, which urges
the rod downwards, thus when the thread is broken, said rod is caused to
descend by the action of the spring or weight attached thereto, and pushes
aside a click or catch which holds a swiveling arm or bracket on which the
driving gear is mounted, and said bracket is then thrown out of gear by the
action of a spring provided for that purpose, thus disengaging the wheel
gear and stopping the whole machinery.