IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PRODUCING ORNAMENTAL DESIGNS ON WOOLLEN AND OTHER FABRICS
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR PRODUCING ORNAMENTAL DESIGNS ON WOOLLEN AND OTHER
FABRICS." A communication from abroad by Max Strakosch, of Brunn, in the
Empire of Austria.
Sealed the 19th February 1878, and dated the 5th December 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Melville Clark at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 5th December 1877.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middle-
sex, Patent Agent. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PRODUCING ŎRNAMENTAL
DESIGNS ON WOOLLEN AND OTHER FABRICS" [A communication from abroad by
Max Strakosch, of Brunn, in the Empire of Austria.]
This Invention relates to machinery for producing designs on woollen and other
fabrics by raising the nap as in teaseling.
The machine comprises three principal parts, vis.,-
1st. A drum, upon which the fabric to be ornamented is stretched by a system of
tension rollers and brakes.
2nd. A stencil or pattern plate of sheet metal with the design cut out therein,
which is applied upon the fabric, and is fixed stationary.
3rd. A teaseling cylinder, receiving rotary motion as well as a to-and-fro
motion over a portion of the stencil pattern plate, whereby the nap of the fabric is
raised in the interstices of the stencil.
In order to detach the fabric from the stencil and shift it, so as to present a fresh
portion to the action of the teaseling cylinder, the drum is lowered slightly and
partially rotated by suitable mechanism. By varying the extent to which the
fabric is shifted the most varied effects may be produced with the same stencil or
pattern plate.

page_text: Instead of moving the drum intermittently it may be rotated continuously, in
which case a continuous striped design will be produced instead of a number of
similar designs separated by regular intervals.
I will now proceed to describe the machine more in detail.
The bearings of the drum are vertically movable, and the teaseling cylinder is
carried above the drum in arms jointed to a pair of oscillating frames mounted on
the journals of the drum, and operated by an adjustable crank to impart the
to-and-fro movement to the teaseling cylinder. The stencil pattern plate is curved
to correspond to the drum, and is fixed between the latter and the teaseling
cylinder above. The distance between the tenseling cylinder and the drum is
regulated by a screw adjustment, and during the to-and-fro movement of the
teaseling cylinder the drum is raised to press the fabric up against the stencil by
rollers on the oscillating arms running on fixed guides suitably curved and inclined,
so that when the teaseling cylinder arrives at the end of its course, the roller runs
down the incline, and the drum is lowered slightly to permit of the fabric being
shifted, as above mentioned, at the same time that the teaseling cylinder is raised
off the stencil by a friction roller running up an incline. At this moment the drum
is partially rotated by pawl and ratchet gear operated through an arrangement of
levers from an eccentric or crank of adjustable radius, so that the extent of the
movement imparted to the drum, and consequently of the fabric, may be varied;
and for the sake of greater precision five pawls and detents of different lengths are
provided.}
To produce striped patterns, the pawl and ratchet gear would be thrown out of
action and the drum rotated by wheel gearing. The teaseling cylinder is driven
by belting running on intermediate pulleys carried by a radius arm connected to
the bearings of the tenseling cylinder and partaking in its to-and-fro movement.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Alexander Melville Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
5th June 1878.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middle-
sex, Patent Agent. IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PRODUCING ORNAMENTAL
DESIGNS ON WOOLLEN AND OTHER FABRICS." [A communication from abroad by
Max Strakosch, of Brünn, in the Empire of Austria.]
This Invention relates to a machine for producing designs on woollen and other
fabrics by raising the nap as in teaseling.
In order that the Invention may be more readily understood, I will describe it
with reference to the accompanying Drawings, which show the two opposite end
elevations of the machine.
The machine comprises three principal parts, viz.,-
1st. A drum A, Figure 1, upon which the fabric V to be ornamented is stretched
by a system of feed and tension rollers a, z, provided with brakes.
2nd. A stencil or pattern plate B of thin sheet brass, with the design cut out
therein, beneath which the fabric is applied, and which is held stationary by being
lapped round rods 6 extending from end to end of the machine, and mounted in
lugs or ears on the framing.
3rd. A teaseling cylinder D, receiving rotary motion, as well as a motion back
and forth over a portion of the stencil pattern plate, whereby the nap of the
fabric is raised in the interstices of the stencil.
To repeat the pattern, the fabric is, after a certain number of these movements,
detached from the stencil and shifted, so as to present a fresh portion to the
action of the teaseling cylinder, for which purpose the drum is lowered slightly,
partially rotated, and then again raised by the mechanism hereafter described. By
varying the extent to which the fabric is shifted the most varied effects may be
produced with the same stencil or pattern plate, which is easy and inexpensive
to make.
Instead of moving the drum intermittently it may be rotated continuously by
means of spur gearing, in which case a continuous striped design will be produced
instead of repeats of the same design at regular intervals.
I will now proceed to describe the machine more in detail.
The bearings of the teaseling drum D are carried on the ends of a pair of arms c
pivoted on gudgeons c' carried in the ends of a pair of oscillating frames or levers H,
mounted loose on the journals of drum A, which are carried in bearings a fitted to
move up and down in guides in the end frames E of the machine. Screw stops e
on the frames H regulate the proximity of the teaseling cylinder to the drum.
The drum and teaseling cylinder are thus made to rise or fall together, but the
latter is free to be raised independently, as hereafter mentioned, and to be moved
back and forth through a short are over a portion of the circumference of the drum,
or rather, over the intervening pattern plate by the oscillation of the levers H on
the axes of the drum. This oscillating movement is imparted to the levers H by a
connecting rod Z from a crank pin & carried by a block, which is placed at any
desired radius on a spur wheel I by studs passing through radial slots in said wheel,
whereby the length of the arc through which the teaseling cylinder is moved may be
regulated at will. The wheel I is driven by a pinion 9 on the main shaft P.
Upon the lower arm of each frame H is mounted a roller f, which rollers, by the
oscillation of frames H, are caused to run upon guides a curved concentrically to
drum A for the greater part of their length, and terminating at one end in an
inclined plane. These guides are bolted adjustably to the end frames of the
machine, so that they may be set at the proper height, in order that when the
rollers run up the inclined plane on to the concentric part of the guides the
frames H, and with them the drum A and its bearings, will be slightly raised

page_text: bodily, and thus pross the fabric up against the stencil plate, so that its nap is
pressed through the apertures of the stencil to be acted on by the teaseling cylinder
the drum A remaining in this raised position so long as the rollers frun on the
curved portion of the guides g; but when they run a little way down the inclines
at the ends of said guides, the drum A is again dropped, and the fabric being no
longer pressed against the stencil is free to be shifted. The teaseling cylinder D is
now arriving at the end of its course, as shown in Figure 1, and it is then slightly
raised off the stencil by rollers & on tho under side of arms c running up small
inclines e on the frame. At this moment the drum A is partially rotated by
means of pawls 8 engaging a ratchet wheel N, Figure 2, fixed on one end of
drum A; the pawls s being pivoted on the end of an aim m, which is oscillated by
a link o and bent lever p, pivoted at p' to a standard, operated in one direction by a
crank pin carrying a friction roller and fitted in a radial slot in a disck keyed on
the axis of wheel I; the crank pin being made adjustable to any radius in said slot by
means of a screw in order to regulate the extent of motion of pawls 8, and con-
sequently of ratchet wheel N. The lever p is weighted to bring the pawls back.
8' are pawls to prevent the retrograde movement of ratchet wheel N.
The pawls 8 and &' are each five in number and of different lengths, in order that
the advance of the drum and fabric may be regulated with great accuracy for
spacing the patterns, so that by varying the amount of this advance different
designs may be produced with the same stencil plate. For striped patterns the
roller is brought to the centre of the crank disc, so that it will no longer act on
the pawl and ratchet gear; and the disc in this case drives by a band and
pulley ua pinion keyed on the axis of pulley u and gearing with a spur wheel o
on the end of the drum A.
?'
The teaseling cylinder D is driven by two belts from main shaft P, the first belt
running on a pulley L³ on said shaft and on a pulley L', and the second belt
running on a pulley L, which is fast with L, and a pulley m on the axis of the
teascling cylinder D. The pulleys L, L³, are mounted at the extremity of an
arm R pivoting on shaft P and connected at its upper extremity by a rod R¹ to the
axis of the teaseling cylinder D, and thus partaking in its oscillating movement,
whereby said cylinder continues to be driven whilst oscillating to and fro over
the stencil plate.
Having described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by the
horein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,—
1st. The general construction, arrangement, and operation of the machine for
producing ornamental designs on woollen and other fabrics, substantially as herein
shown and described.
2nd. The application and employment in a machine for producing ornamental
designs on woollen and other fabrics, as herein described, of a stationary stencil
plate not moving with the fabric, and bearing one example of the pattern only in
the direction of its length, as specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.