CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR DRESSING WOLLEN CLOTH
Year: 1834

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
BEARD, of the Parish of Leonard Stanley, in the County of Gloucester, send
greeting.
WHEREAS I did by my Petition humbly represent unto His most
Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth, that after considerable study
and expence I had invented "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
DRESSING WOLLEN CLOTH;" and Ilis said Majesty being willing to encourage
all inventions which may be for the public good, was graciously pleased to
issue is Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain,
bearing dato at Westminster, the First day of September last (One thousand
eight hundred and thirty-four), in the fifth year of His reign; whereby His
said Majesty did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Beard, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, that I, or they, or
such others as I or they should at any time agree with (and no others)
from time to time and at all times during the term of fourteen years from
the date of the said Letters Patent, should and lawfully might make, use.
exercise, and vend, my said Invention within England and Wales, and the
Town of Berwick, in such manner as to enjoy the whole profit, benefit, and
advantage arising by reason of the said Invention; and to that end Ilis said
Majesty strictly commands all Iis subjects whatsoever, that they shall not,
either directly or indirectly, practice the said Inv. ntion, nor any part thereof,
nor make any additions thereto nor subtractions therefrom, whereby to

page_text: pretend himself or themselves to be the inventor or inventors thereof. And
whereas the said Letters Patent contain a proviso obliging me, the said
John Beard, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly
to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be enrolled
in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent,
as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at
large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the
said John Beard, do hereby describe and ascertain the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the
following description thereof, and by the aid of two Sheets and Drawings
hereunto annexd, that is to say:-
My improvements are applicable to that class of machinery for dressing
woollen cloth which is commonly known by the term gig mills, and which
operates on woollen cloths to raise the woolly fibres above the surface of the
cloth, so as to form a pile, which is afterwards to be rendered even by
cropping or shearing. This raising of the pile is usually performed by means
of the plants called teazles, which in ordinary gig mills are applied around the
circumference of a cylindrical revolving barrel, which is turned rapidly round
by the power of mill work, and the cloth is brought in contact with the
teazles by stretching or extending it over suitable guide rollers, which are so
disposed in respect to the revolving barrel that the cloth, in applying to and
bearing against the teazles upon the cylindrical surface of the said barrel, will
be deflected or bended out of the plane which its surface would naturally
assume in consequence of its extension between the said rollers, wherefore it
is the tension of the cloth, and that alone, which produces the requisite
pressure against the moving tenzles to cause their points to act upon
the surface of the cloth. By suitable motion of the said rollers over
which the cloth is extended it is moved slowly along in the direction of the
warp threads or lengthways of the piece of cloth, in order to bring every part
of its surface in succession in contact with the moving teazles, which act by
their hooked points, moving rapidly along the surface of the cloth in the
direction of its warp threads to draw out the ends of the woolly fibres so as to
form a pile on the surface of the cloth. And whereas the action of the teazles
in such gig machinery is always operative in the direction of the warp length-
ways of the piece of cloth, and is not made to act in any degree transversely,
the woolly fibres are not so easily or effectually raised as may be done by

page_text: working the teazles successively in different directions over the surface of the
cloth. And also, whereas the tension which is given to the cloth by extending
it over rollers, as aforesaid, is liable to be less at the lists or selvedges of the
piece of cloth than it is at the middle of the width thereof, the action of tho
moving teazles is liable to be greater upon the middle part of the cloth than it
is upon the borders thereof towards the lists, and hence the pile is not raised
as it should be with uniformity over every part of the surface of the cloth.
My said improvements are intended to remedy the aforesaid defects of the
machinery now commonly used for dressing woollen cloth, and are effected by
applying two pairs of revolving gig barrels, on which the teazles (or substi-
tutes for teazles) are fixed, the axis of each such barrel being in an oblique
direction, in respect of the lengthway of the cloth instead of being transversely
across the same (at right angles thereto) as is the usual mode, and the two
oblique revolving gig barrels, which constitute each such pair, being applied
obliquely across the two halves of the width of the cloth, with contrary obliqui-
ties, and revolving in contrary directions to each other, so that the motion and
action of the teazles upon the cloth will take place in a direction outwards or
from the middle of the cloth towards the edges or selvedges thereof, one
barrel of each pair operating in that manner upon one half of the width of the
cloth, and the other barrel of the same pair operating upon the other half,
whereby the action of each barrel will counteract the tendency of the action of
the other barrel to displace or wrinkle the cloth sideways, but the concurrent
action of the two barrels will be to keep the cloth extended out to its
proper width during the action of the teazles upon it, and that action being
obliquely across the width of the cloth will raise the pile more regularly and
completely than a mere longitudinal action alone can do. And the second
pair of revolving gig barrels, which I apply obliquely across the two halves of
the width of the cloth, as aforesaid, are so placed in the machinery as to
operate on the cloth at a different part of the length thereof from that on
which the first pair operated, so that the cloth in moving slowly along
endways after the usual manner of gig mills will first receive the concurrent
action of the teazles of one pair of oblique barrels, and afterwards the
concurrent action of the other pair, but the two pairs of barrels are so
arranged in the machinery in respect to each other that the oblique direction
in which the teazles of one barrel operate upon that half of the width of the
cloth to which it belongs will be nearly at right angles to the oblique direction
in which the teazles of the corresponding barrel of the other pair operate upon
the same half of the width of the cloth, wherefore by the action of all the
four revolving gig barrels every part of the cloth will be operated upon in two

page_text: contrary directions, first one way and then the other by the teazles (or
substitutes for teazles) with which the barrels are furnished, those directions
being in all cases obliquely to the direction of the warp threads, or length
of the picce of cloth. And if the cloth during the progress of dressing
the same is submitted to the action of the ordinary gig mill, wherein the
teazles will operate in the direction of the length of the cloth, such of
the woolly fibres as will be most easily raised in that direction will begin
the formation of a pile in the usual manner, and then after a short con-
tinuance of that action, by subjecting the same cloth to the further action
of machinery constructed according to my improvements, other woolly fibres
will be raised by virtue of the oblique action of the teazles in addition to
those which were raised by the ordinary gig mill, so as thereby to increase the
woolly pile and render the fibres equally full in every direction, and uniformly
raised over every part of the surface of the cloth, which are the desirable
conditions for efficient dressing of woollen cloth. The cloth, after having
been dressed in that manner, may be again dressed in the common gig mill
with longitudinal action, and that may be followed by a repetition of the
dressing with oblique action by machinery constructed according to my im-
provements; but the manufacturer who adopts the same must exercise his
judgment respecting the periods in the process of dressing woollen cloth, when
the same is to be used in alternation with the use of the ordinary gig mill either
preceding or following the same, and with such repetitions and with or without
intervening croppings or shearings of the pile as will best suit the kind of
cloth which is to be dressed, and as will produce the degree of fulness of pile
which is intended to be raised. And in lieu of depending upon the tension of
the cloth to produce the pressure with which it is to be acted upon by the
teazles of the several revolving gig barrels, narrow supporting beds or cushions
are applied behind those parts of the cloth where the said teazles perform
their actual operation upon the front side of the cloth, that is to say, in oblique
directions across the width of the cloth, proceeding from each list and reaching
to the middle part thereof, corresponding to the directions of the axes of the
several revolving gig barrels, whereof (as before mentioned) the two which
have been designated as a pair have contrary obliquities, and the supporting
beds for them have likewise contrary obliquities. And the several supporting
beds are so applied in the machinery as to be capable of adjustments to suit
the width of the cloth, and to regulate the degree of force with which the
cloth shall be pressed against the teazles. and also to regulate the pressure at
the lists or edges of the cloth suitably to the pressure at the middle part
thereof, in such manner that the effect of the teazles may be rendered uniforu

page_text: at those different parts of the cloth. Or else in case that the previous opera-
tion of the ordinary gig mill has raised the pile more in the middle part of the
cloth than at the lists or edges thereof (as is frequently the case), than by
adequate adjustment of the supporting beds of machinery, which is constructed
according to my improvements, they may be caused to press the edges of the
cloth so much more forcibly towards the teazles than they press the middlo
part thereof, as may in the judgment of the workman be adviseable, in order
to correct the deficiency of the ordinary process. And the said supporting
beds are also capable of being put back, so as to retreat from the teazles to
such a distance therefrom as is suitable for leaving an interval or space for the
introduction of the cloth into the machinery; but nevertheless when the beds
are pressed up again behind the cloth they will preserve the adjustments
before mentioned, by which they had been previously adapted to the width of
the cloth, and to the required equality or proportion of pressure at the middle
and at the lists thercof. The supporting parts of the said beds may be
cushions of woollen cloth softly stuffed with wool or curled horse hair, or they
may be wooden rails studded with bristles, which present their ends to the
cloth in the manner of brushes; but the particular kind of stuffing or means
of forming the said beds so that they shall present a soft yielding surface to
bear behind the cloth at the moment when (and places where) it is receiving
the action of the teazles, is not of itself a part of my improvements. And
for the more complete explanation of the manner of carrying my said improve-
ments into effect, I have hereunto annexed two Sheets of Drawings, wherein
a machine for dressing woollen cloth, which is constructed according to my
improvements, is represented.
Sheet1 contains an end elevation and a front clevation of the whole
machine. The fixed framing which supports the moving parts is marked
A, A, A; it should be made of cast iron. Each end frame may be in ona
piece, and the two end frames may be put together by horizontal rails B, B,
at top, and C, C, at bottom. At the front and back of the framing the two
pairs of revolving gig barrels are placed, one pair marked D, E, and the other
pair marked F, G; the axes of each pair of barrels D and. E, or F and G,
are in the same plane; but those planes are inclined from the vertical towards
each other at the upper part, as is plainly shewn in the end elevation.. Tho
cloth passes up one of the reclining planes at one side of the machine, in
order to be subjected to the action of one pair D, E, of revolving barrels, then
passes horizontally over across the upper part of the frame, and. down the
other reclining side of the machine, in order to be subjected to the action of
the other part F, G, of revolving barrells. The cloth is conducted over two

page_text: horizontal leading rollers H, I, at one side of the machine, and then over two
others K, L, at the other side. The inclined axes of the revolving barrels arc
formed with pivots at each end of each axis, and those pivots are received in
suitable bearing steps, which are affixed to the framing, viz', the steps for
sustaining the pivots at the lower end of each axis are borne in brackets a, b,
and c, d, which are firmly affixed to the inclining sides of the main frame.
The bearings for the other pivots at the upper end of each axis are sustained
in brackets, which are affixed to a strong bridge or bearing bar, one M. in
frout, and the other N at the back of the machine, each bar being fixed
nearly at the middle of the width thereof. The upper end of each bridge
Mor N is firmly screwed to the middle part of the horizontal top rail B,
and the lower end of the same to the middle part of the lower rail C. The
revolving gig barrels of each pair D and E, or F and G, are placed one
higher up than the other, the uppermost crossing obliquely beyond the end of
the lowermost, in the manner represented in the front elevation, in order
that the teazles with which each one is furnished on its circumference may
operate quite to the middle of the width of the cloth. All the four gig barrels
are made to revolve in such a direction, that each one will extend the cloth
at the selvidge towards which it inclines, so that the concurrent action of the
pair will extend the cloth to its full width. The revolving barrels are put in
motion by bevil cog wheels fixed on the lower end of the axis of each one,
and turned by equal bevil wheels e, f, fixed on the lower ends of two axes
O and P, which extend upwards at each side of the machine to the upper
part, where other bevil wheels g, h, are fixed on the two axes O and P, to
receive motion from corresponding bevil wheels i, k, fixed on a horizontal
axis Q, which is impelled from the first moving power of a water wheel or a
steam engine, by an endless belt or strap acting on the first motion pulley 1;
and a loose pulley is fitted on the extreme end of the axis Q, at the side of
pulley, to receive the said strap, when the machine is intended to stand still.
The bevil cog wheelwork, and their axes above described, are precisely the same
at the opposite side of the machine, as is sufficiently shewn by the end view;
but in place of the first motion pulley, the upper horizontal axis R (which corre-
sponds to the axis Q) is turned by a crossed endless strap m, which communicates
motion from a pulley n, on the end of the axis Q, to another pulley p, on
the end of the axis R. The motion for drawing forwards the cloth with
a slow progressive motion is derived from a small pulley g, on the extreme
end of the first motion axis Q, by means of a crossed endless strap which
turns a larger pulley r, on the axis of which is a toothed pinion to
turu a spur wheel s, fixed on the extreme end of the axis of a horizontal

page_text: roller S, which is thereby turned slowly round in the direction shown
by the arrow in the end elevation. And there is another like roller T,
placed parallel to and in contact with the roller S, the two being connected
so as to turn round together a pair of spur wheels fixed on the axis of
each roller. The cloth passes over the roller S, and under the roller T,
and is nipped between them, by which means the cloth is drawn forwards.
as they turn round; the cloth is thus drawn under the roller I, and over
the roller II, and in so drawing it becomes extended in an inclined plano
at ono side of the machine, and whilst it is moving in that plane, slowly
downwards behind the two revolving barrells F, G, it receives the action
of the teazle, which are fixed around their circumferences; all this
is shown in the front elevation. The progressive drawing forwards of
the cloth also draws it over the rollers K and L, at the opposite side of
the machine, extending it in an inclined plano between those two rollers,
and whilst it is moving slowly upwards in that plane behind the two revolving
barrels D, E, it receives the action of their teazles. The cloth passes
under the roller L, and then half round a roller V, which has a smaller
roller placed over it and resting by its weight on the roller V. Tho
cloth passes between the rollers V and t, and round over the latter, being
slightly held between the two, and the roller V is retarded by the friction
occasioned by a loaded lever W, which presses upon a sheave at one end
of the roller V, and by increasing or diminishing the weight on that lever,
the tension of the cloth can be regulated at pleasure. The ends of the
piece of cloth are sewn together after it is introduced into the machine,
so that it circulates continually through the course above described. The
remaining part of the length of the piece of cloth in addition to the
length which is extended in the upper part of the machine is collected
into folds in a concave receptacle W, at the lower part of the machine,
from the lower part of which the retarding. rollers V, t, draw it
away as fast as they require it, and it is redelivered into the upper
part of the same concave receptacle W by another roller X, which takes
the cloth from the roller T as fast as the two rollers S, T, draw the cloth
through the machine in the manner before explained. The roller X is
supported by brackets which project out from the frame, and it is turned
by an endless strap, shewn by dotted lines in the elevation, which strap
passes over a pulley a, fixed on the axis of the roller X, and under another
like pulley fixed on the axis of the roller S.
It now remains to explain the manner of applying the supporting beds behind
the cloth, in order to bear it up against the action of the teazles. Those beds

page_text: are sustained by inclined rails z, y, which are situated exactly behind the
two revolving gig barrels D, E, being affixed at their upper ends to a
horizontal cross rail Z, which extends from one end frame A to the other,
near to the roller II, and their lower ends are affixed to the inclining
sides of the end frames A, A. This is more plainly shewn in a separate
Figure in Sheet II. The said inclined rails z, y, act as braces to strengthen
the framing, at the same time that they contain the supporting beds. The said
beds are not fixed immediately to the inclined rails x, y, but each one is fitted
thereto in the manner represented by the separate Figures in Sheet II.
A flat sliding bar 1, 1, is fitted against the inclined rail z, with dovetailed
bearing pieces 2, 2, to form dovetailed grooves, in which the slider can be
moved endways by means of a rack 3, 3, which is formed at one edge of the
middle part of the sliding bar I, 1, and a pinion 4 on the end of a short
axis 5, which is fitted into bearing socketts fixed to the middle part of the
inclined rails or y; wherefore by applying a key or handle to a square
on the end of the axis 5 and turning the same round, the sliding bar 1 can
be moved endways, and the supporting bed will move with it. The sup-
porting bed Y is connected with the sliding bar 1, 1, by links 6, 7, which
operate in the manner of a
parallel ruler to keep the bed Y always parallel
to itself, when it is moved by turning the connecting link 6 and 7 about their
joints, which is done in order to advance the bed Y towards the revolving
gig barrel so as to press the cloth in contact with the teazles thereof, or else
to withdraw them therefrom, in order to allow the cloth to be introduced into
its intended course through the machinery. The links 6 are double, or one
at each side of the bed Y, and the links 7 are the same, as is plainly shewn
in the Figures. The two links 6 are both fixed on the ends of a short
axis, which is fitted into a socket formed on the sliding rail 1, 1, and a handle
lever 8 is also fixed on the extreme end of the same axis, so that by moving
that handle one way or the other the parallel ruler action will carry the bed Y
towards the revolving gig barrel to which it belongs, or withdraw it therefrom.
An arched rack 9 with notches is placed so as to catch the handle lever 8 and
letain it wherever it is placed, and by setting that lever a notch further
the bed Y may be pressed with more or less force against the cloth, or vice
versa, as is required. And in order to cause the bed to bear up the cloth
more at one end than at the other when required, the joint pin by which the s
links 7 are connected to the slider 1, 1, is not fixed fast to that slider, but is
fitted on a screw 10, which is applied in a socket through the slider 1, 1, and
the extreme end of the screw which passes through an open slit in the
inclined rail has a square at the extreme end, which can be turned by a

page_text: key, so as to cause the screw 10 to set the joint pin of the links 7 further
from or nearer to the slider 1, 1. But that adjustment will not interfere
with the parallel ruler action by which the bed is withdrawn from behind the
cloth or advanced again thereto, although tho said adjustment will increase or
diminish the pressure which the upper end of the bed will exert behind the
cloth when the bed is so advanced thereto. The supporting bed Y is made
with sides like a trough to receive the stuffing of wool or horsehair, or the
bristles which from a brush surface is before mentioned. The teazles may
be fixed into the revolving gig barrels in the usual manner of other gig
barrels, and in like manner any substitutes for teazles which are or may be
used in other revolving gig barrels may be used in machinery constructed
according to my said improvements; and so any kind of soft stuffing or
yielding substance which is or may be used for supporting cloth whilst it
is operated upon by teazles may be used in the above machinery, for my
improvements do not relate to those particulars.
The mode of using the machinery above described requires but very little fur-
ther explanation after what has been stated. The cloth having been subjected
to the common gig mill, and being in a proper state of wetness, is introduced
into the machine when the main drawing strap is upon the loose pulley and the
machine is standing still, and when the supporting beds Y are withdrawn by
turning their handle lever 8 into a suitable position. The course which the
cloth is to take over and amongst the several rollers of the machine has been
explained, and is represented by a strong dotted line. In the end elevation the
ends of the piece of cloth are sewed together, and after it is stretched smooth
behind the gig barrel D, E, and F, G, the supporting beds are advanced to
press the cloth in contact with the tenzles by turning the handle lever 8 of
cach bed. And if requisite, the pinion is turned by applying a key to its
axis 5 in order, by the rack 3, to move the bed endways, in the direction of its
length, as much as may be necessary to adjust the bed to suit the width of the
cloth, which being done with all four beds, the machine may be put in motion,
and the teazles upon the pair of revolving barrels D, E, will act on the cloth
each one in a contrary oblique direction from the middle of the cloth towards
the edges, in order to raise the woolly fibres into a pile, as is shewn in the
front elevation, that is, obliquely across both the warp and the weft threads of
the cloth, and the action of the other pair of revolving barrels F, G, will be
exactly the same, excepting that their teazles will act nearly at right angles
across each of the said oblique directions, but, nevertheless, each one will act
in a direction outwards from the middle of the cloth towards the lists; that is
fully explained by the small separate Figure in Sheet II.

page_text: Having now described my said improvements, I, the said John Beard, do
hereby declare that the new Invention, whereof the exclusive use is granted to
me by the said Letters Patent, consists in the arrangement berein-before
described of four revolving gig barrels, or two pair placed obliquely across the
cloth which is to be dressed, each such barrel reaching obliquely over one
half of the width of the cloth, and the other fellow barrel of the same pair
reaching over the other half of the width with contrary obliquities, so that
the teazles (or substitutes therefore) will act obliquely outwards from the
middle part of the cloth towards the edges thereof, and also so that the teazles
of one pair of such revolving gig barrels will, in so acting obliquely outwards,
act transversely across or nearly at right angles to those oblique directions in
which the other pair of revolving barrels acted on the cloth in the manner
herein-before described; and also consists in the application to such pairs of
revolving gig barrels of the supporting beds herein-before described, which, by
sliding endways, are capable of adjustment to suit the width of the cloth, and
by setting screws are capable of giving a greater pressure at the edges of the
cloth than at the middle part thereof.
In witness whereof I the said John Beard. have hereunto set my hand