IмMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR BEETLING COTTON AND OTHER FABRICS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Chambers, of Hampson Mill, near Bury, in
the County of Lancaster, Bleacher, for the Invention of "IмMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR BEETLING COTTON AND OTHER FABRICS"
Sealed the 20th March 1855, and dated the 7th October 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Chambers at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th October 1854.
I, WILLIAM CHAMBERS, of Hampson Mill, near Bury, in the County of
Lancaster, Bleacher, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR BEETLING COTTON AND OTHER FABRICS" to be
as follows:
My Invention consists in an improved combination of machinery for
beetling fabrics, as is usually done by upright stampers. The fabrics to be
acted upon are wound on two rollers, to which a slow rotary and traverse
motion is given in the ordinary manner. The beaters, which I prefer to make
of metal, are fixed in two series upon vertical helves. The helves of one
series of beaters are fixed on one shaft, and those of the other series on
another shaft. I prefer to place the shafts one above the other. To each shaft
is fixed a lever, to which motion is given by steam or other power. The
rollers on which the cloth or fabric is wound are placed parallel to each other,
and at such a distance apart, that when motion is given to the beaters, one
series strike against the fabric on one of the rollers, and the other series on
the fabric on the other roller. By this improved machinery, the fabrics when

page_text: beetled are of the full width required, as in the present mode of operation,
and a considerable saving in time and power is effected. The beaters may be
made to act on a single cloth roller, if preferred, and the helves of the beaters
may be placed horizontally.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Chambers in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
7th April 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CHAMBERS, of Hampson Mill, near Bury, in the County of Lancaster, Bleacher,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Chambers, Her special license that I, the said William
Chambers, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said William Chambers, 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR BEETLING COTTON AND OTHER FABRICS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Chambers, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, 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 I, the said William Chambers, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
Specification thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings
(that is to say):-
:-
My said Invention consists of an improved combination of machinery for
beetling cotton and other fabrics, which are wound upon rollers, and subjected
to the action of two series of beaters acting alternately upon the fabrics.
I have in the said Drawing given Figures for shewing how my improved

page_text: machinery may be constructed, similar parts in each of the Figures being
marked with similar letters of reference.
Figure 1 of the said Drawing is a front view, and Figure 2 a side elevation,
of my improved machine for beetling. A and A' are two rollers, placed on
the left-hand side of the machine on which the fabrics to be beetled are wound.
B and B are similar rollers on the right-hand side of the machine. These
rollers are supported in the bearings C, C, which are raised and lowered by
means of the racks D, attached to the bearings, the pinions E gearing into
the racks, shafts F, on which are fixed the pinions E, and wheels G. These
wheels are driven by the pinions H and hand wheels I, to which motion is
given when required by the attendants. In order to facilitate the raising of
the rollers A, A, B, and B', counter weights are attached to cords passing over
the grooved pulleys G¹, cast or fixed to the wheels G. The beaters L and M,
which I prefer to make of metal, but which may be of wood or other material,
are fixed alternately on the shafts L' and M', as shown best in Figure 2,
the helves of the beaters M. being cranked, in order that they may clear the
shaft L. To the shaft L' is keyed the lever L², which is connected with the
crank N¹ of the driving shaft N by the connecting rod O, and the lever. M² on
the shaft M is in like manner connected to the crank N¹ by the connecting
rod O¹. As it is desirable to impart an elastic stroke to the beaters, I attach
to each connecting rod two blocks or washers, of vulcanized india-rubber or
other suitable elastic material, marked O'. These washers are placed at such
a distance apart on the connecting rods, that when the crank N' is up, the
lower washers come in contact with the swivel blocks in the levers L and M²;
and when the crank N¹ is down, the upper washers come in like manner in
contact with the upper part of the swivel blocks. The beaters L and M may
also be driven by shafts with wipers placed in any convenient position, the
wipers acting on levers corresponding to those marked L and M. I have in
this instance represented a small steam engine at P for communicating motion
to the shaft N, and thence to the various parts of the machine, but any other
mode of driving the shaft N may be adopted. The requisite rotary motion is
imparted to the rollers A and B by the pinion N, fixed on the shaft N ; this
pinion gears in the wheel Q', fixed on the shaft Q, to which is also fixed the
pinion Q, gearing into the wheel R¹ on the shaft R. To this shaft is fixed a
long pinion R, gearing into the intermediate wheel S¹ on the shaft S; this
intermediate wheel gears into the wheels A and B, which are fixed on the
respective axes of the rollers A and B. By this series of wheels and pinions.
a slow rotary motion is given to the rollers A and B; the lateral motion which
it is also customary to impart to the said rollers is obtained in the following

page_text: manner-Upon the shaft R is fixed a disk R³, the circumference of which is
set in a diagonal direction. This disk takes into a grooved pulley S², fixed on
the shaft S, or to the boss of the wheel S'; consequently as the shaft R revolves,
the disk imparts a lateral motion to the shaft S, and as the teeth of the wheel
Senter between the flanges of the wheels A and B, the lateral motion of the
shaft S is communicated to the rollers A and B. The winding and unwinding
of the fabrics to be beetled on to and off the rollers A and B is effected in
the following manner :-Upon the shaft N are fitted loose the bevel wheels
N³ and N, cach of which has a friction box attached to it. The sliding double-
friction cone N, which is connected to the shaft N by a groove and key in the
ordinary manner, is moved into contact with either of the friction boxes on
the wheels N³ and N by a lever, which is brought within convenient reach of
the attendant. Both the wheels N and N gear into the wheel T', fast to the
shaft T, to which is also fixed the pulley T, from which a strap descends to
the pulley U', for driving the cross shaft U; to the other end of this shaft is
fixed another pulley U, which communicates motion to the upper shaft V, by
a strap passing over the pulley V. On each of the shafts U and V are fixed
two friction pulleys, marked U and V2, which come in contact with the backs
of, and impart motion to, the wheels A2 and 132, thereby causing them to revolve
when required.
The mode of operation is as follows:-When the machine is first started, the
rods o and o¹ may be disconnected from the levers L and M2, in order that
the fabrics may be wound on the lower rollers A and B without imparting
motion to the beaters. The attendant, by moving the double-friction cone N³
into contact with the friction box of the wheel N, gives motion to the shafts
T and U, and to the friction pulleys U, which, acting on the backs of the
wheels A and B, as shewn in Figure 2, communicate the requisite revolving
motion for winding the fabrics on the lower rollers A' and B'. As soon as a
sufficient quantity of fabrics has been thus wound on the lower rollers, the
attendant stops the shaft U, by disconnecting the friction cone N; the rollers
A and B are then raised into the positions occupied in the Drawing by the
rollers A and B, by the attendants turning the hand wheels I; the connecting
rods O and O are then connected to the levers L2 and M², in order to give
motion to the beaters L and M, which then commence striking against the
fabrics, and as the rollers on which the fabrics are wound rotato slowly and
move laterally (as in other machines for beetling), it is evident that every
portion of the fabrics is subjected to the blows of the beaters. By thus causing
the beaters to act alternately on the fabrics wound on each of the rollers, the
effect produced is similar to that obtained by the ordinary upright stampers,

page_text: and the fabrics when beetled are found to be of the same width as they
were before the process of bleaching had been performed. During the beetling
of the fabrics on the rollers A¹ and B', fresh fabrics may be wound on the
rollers A and B, which are then in the position indicated by the dotted circles
in Figure 1. This is effected by putting the friction cone N³ again into contact
with the wheel N, and thereby giving motion to the shafts U and V, the
latter of which, by means of the friction pulleys V, acting on the backs of
the wheels A and B, communicates the required motion. When the beetling
of the fabrics on the rollers A' and B' is completed, the attendants stop the
machine, and then, by acting on the hand wheels I, lower the rollers A and B
into their original positions. The machine is then again started to set the
beaters at work, and the friction cone N³ is brought into gear with the
wheel N³; by this means the rollers A' and B', which are then down, are
made to revolve in the proper direction for unwinding the fabric that had been
beetled. When the finished fabrics are unwound, the friction cone N³ is
moved to the wheel N, and fresh fabrics are wound on the rollers A' and B'.
In this manner the operations succeed each other continuously.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described the manner
of performing the same, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself
to the details set forth, as the same may be varied, and the beaters, instead of
acting alternately on fabrics wound on two rollers, may be made to operate on
a single roller; and I would also remark that I do not claim the application
of two rollers on which the fabrics to be beetled are wound, as compound
beetling machines have before been used; but what I do claim is,
―
First, the application of two series of beaters acting alternately on fabrics
wound upon one or two rollers.
And, secondly, the general combination and arrangement of machinery shewn
and described for beetling fabrics.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Chambers, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
WILLIAM CHAMBERS. (L.B.)
Witness to the signature of William Chambers,
H. B. BARLOW,
Manchester.