Improvements in Machines for Cutting and Laying up Cloth or other Fabrics.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 19th June, 1897
-Complete-Specification Left, 19th Apr., 1898- Accepted, 11th June, 1898
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Cutting and Laying up Cloth or other
Fabrics.
I, WALTER BEECROFT, of the Firm of Thomas Beecroft and Company, of Swine-
gate, Leeds, in the County of York, Clothiers' Engineers, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention refers to apparatus for cutting and laying up cloth or other
fabrics, and the object of my invention is to construct. the said apparatus in such
a manner that the cloth or other fabric may be cut and fed to the table in a more
efficient manner than heretofore.
According to my invention, the cloth is fed to the laying up table through a
pair of rollers which are driven at the required speed by adjustable friction or.
other gearing, and the front of the cloth is received on a hinged feed plate which
is made to rise and fall at the required time by means of cams or other mechanical
motions. The driving gear for the rollers may be composed of a friction disc
which is operated by a friction roller, and the latter is mounted on a shaft which
is driven by means of worm gearing. The shaft is carried on a rocking frame
which enables the worm gearing to be thrown out of action by means of cams or
other suitable mechanism, thus enabling the rollers to be driven for periods inter-
mittently to suit the requirements of the feed of the cloth to the laving up table:
A short distance beyond the edge of the hinged table a band knife is provided,
the edge of the said knife being protected by means of a movable guard which is
kept upwards by a spring or by other suitable means; and above the guard a
descending plate is mounted in slides in the frame in such a manner that on the
said plate being lowered it comes in contact with the guard and depresses same,
thus exposing the knife and causing it to pass the joining line of the descending
plate and guard. The descending plate may suitably be actuated by two eccentrics
situated one on each side of the machine, the said eccentrics being mounted on
a shaft which is coupled at the required moment to a rotating shaft by a clutch
in such a manner that the eccentric shaft is rotated swiftly for one revolution.
The cloth is fed to a hinged feed plate through the rollers, the front edge of the
cloth projecting over the front edge of the feed plate, and as the latter rises to
a central position between the knife guard and the descending plate, the grippers
of the machine enter between the said guard and plate and gripping the front
edge of the cloth draw same over the laying up table, the rollers during this
operation feeding the cloth forward, thus relieving it from the strain of being
drawn out from the piece by tension. On the release of the cloth by the grippers,
the rollers cease to move, and the clutch coming into action the eccentrics lower
the descending plate, which nips the cloth between itself and the guard, and the
continuation of the movement brings the cloth in contact with the travelling
band knife which severs the cloth.
.
If the front edge of the laid up cloth requires clamping in position after it is
cut, a straight gripping edge may be provided, having a vertical movement which
>

page_text: causes it to rise and grip the front edge of the cloth against the table after each
piece is severed by the knife.
D
101
1007
BREWER & SON,
London and Leeds, Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in Machines for Cutting and Laying up Cloth or other
Fabrics.
I, WALTER BEECROFT, of the Firm of Thomas Beecroft and Company, of Swine-
gate, Leeds, in the County of York, Clothiers' Engineers, 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:-
"This invention. refers to apparatus for cutting and laying up cloth or other
fabrics, and the object of my invention is to construct the said apparatus in.such
a manner that the cloth or other fabric may be cut and fed to the table in a..more,
efficient manner than heretofore.
In order that my invention may be clearly understood, I will proceed to describe
same with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which similar letters of
reference refer to like parts in all the figures.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a machine constructed according
to my invention, and Figures 2 and 3 are respectively a front view and a section
of the same machine. Figures 4, 5 and 6 are detail views.
According to my invention, A is the laying up table to which the cloth is. fed
through a pair of feed rollers B. The rollers B are driven intermittently through
the medium of a friction disc C which is operated by a friction roller D, and the
latter is mounted on a shaft E which is carried in bearings in a rocking frame F.
The rocking frame F is hung on the shaft B¹ carrying the lower roller B, and G
is a worm wheel mounted on the shaft. E which gears with a worm G¹ carried on
the main shaft H of the machine. J is a rocking shaft carrying a lever J1 which
engages at the required time with the rocking frame F, in such a manner as to
move the worm wheel G away from the worm G and thus throw the feed rollers B
out of action. The rocking shaft J is actuated by a lever J2, which latter receives
motion from a cross shaft K through. the medium of a cam K', and the said cross
shaft is geared to the main shaft H through worm gearing K, auxiliary
shaft K³, and spur wheels K and H¹, in such a manner that it completes one
revolution to every cycle of movements effected by the machine. L is a hinged
feed plate which is supported at its free end on links L' and L2, and L³ is a cam
which is carried on the cross shaft K, the rotation of the latter causing the hinged
feed plate L to rise and fall at the required time,.as seen particularly at Figure 5.
M is a band knife carried on flanged wheels M³, which are driven at a fast speed
from the main shaft H through gearing M2, .and N is a movable guard which is
kept upwards to protect the knife M by springs N¹; and above the guard N a
descending plate P is mounted in slides P¹, in such a manner that on the said
plate P being lowered it comes in contact. with the guard N and depresses same,
thus exposing the knife M and causing it to pass the joining line of the plate P
and guard N, as shewn particularly at Figure 4. R is a loose spur wheel which
is carried on a shaft R¹, and the said spur wheel gears with the continuously
rotating spur wheel' K+, and S is a clutch which on being actuated by a rod Si,
which is withdrawn with every revolution of the cross shaft K by means of the

page_text: cam Sa particularly seen at Figure 6, causes the shaft R¹ to make one revolution
and actuate two eccentrics T at either side of the machine and thus through the
medium of the connecting rods T to lower the plate P, with the result above
described. U are the grippers on the carriage of the machine, for drawing the
cloth out over the table A.
The cloth is fed to the hinged plate L through the rollers B, the front edge of
the cloth projecting over the front edge of the feed plate L, and as the cam L³
rotates-the-feed-plate L is raised to a central position (as seen at Figure 3) between
the knife guard N and the descending plate P. The grippers U now enter
between the said guard N and plate P, gripping the front edge of the cloth and
drawing it over the laying up table; and during this operation the rollers B are
kept in motion by the friction gearing C, D), thus relieving it from the strain of
being drawn out from the piece by tension. When the cloth has been drawn
out to the required length, the grippers U open and release it, and at the same
time the position of the cam K¹ causes the frame F to be rocked, thus removing
the worm wheel G from the worm G¹ and stopping the rotation of the rollers B.
The rod S is now withdrawn by means of the cam S2 (see Figure 6) thus
releasing the clutch S and coupling the shaft R¹ with the loose spur wheel R
for the period of one revolution; and this action causes the eccentrics T to be
actuated with the result that the descending plate P is lowered until it nips the
cloth against the movable guard N, and the continued movement of the plate P
and guard N carry the cloth down into contact with the band knife M as seen at
Figure 4, which severs the said cloth instantaneously. The remainder of the
revolution of the eccentrics T carry the descending plate P back to its normal
position, when the apparatus is ready for another drawing out and cutting off
operation.
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. The feed rollers B, driven intermittently through suitable gearing, sub-
stantially as and for the purposes set forth.
2. The combination of the grippers U, the rollers B, friction disc C, friction
roller D, shaft E, rocking frame F, worm wheel G, worm G¹, and a suitable throwing
out motion, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
3. The hinged feed plate L, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
4. The combination of the hinged feed plate L, links L' and L2, and the cam L³
on shaft K, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
5. The band knife M, guard N, and means for depressing the said guard N
and bringing the cloth in contact with the band knife M, substantially as and for
the purposes set forth.
6. The combination of the band knife M, guard N, "descending plate P,
eccentrics T and rods T", and the. shaft R' having a single revolution imparted to
it at the required time, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
7. The combination of the table A, rollers B, friction disc C, friction roller D,
shaft E, rocking frame F, worm wheel G, worm G¹, main shaft H, rock-
ing shaft J, lever J, lever J, cross shaft K, cam K', worm gearing K³, auxiliary
shaft K3, spur wheels K and H¹, hinged plate L, links L' and L³, cam L³, band
knife M, flanged wheels M', gearing M³, movable guard N, springs N¹, descending
plate P, spur wheel R, spur wheel K', clutch S, rod $¹, cam S2, shaft R₁,
eccentrics T, connecting rods T¹, and grippers U, substantially as and for the
purposes set forth.
BREWER & SON,
London and Leeds, Agents for the Applicant.