Improvements in Apparatus for Manufacturing Mosaic Floor Cloth.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Jan., 1897-Accepted, 6th Feb.,
1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Manufacturing Mosaic Floor Cloth.
I, FREDERICK WALTON of No. 114 Holborn, in the City of London,
Manufacturer, 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 :-
In my previous Specification No. 16043 of 1890 I have described apparatus for
manufacturing mosaic floor cloth wherein a drum, having a number of projecting
pins had arranged around part of its circumference several sets of cutting
cylinders and pressing rollers to cut tesseræ from travelling sheets of variously
colored floor cloth material to force the tesseræ required for the pattern on to a
backing fabric travelling round with the drum and to reject the tesseræ not
required and return them to be again converted into sheet. My present invention
relates to improvements in apparatus of this kind whereby I render it more
efficient.
Each sheet of coloured floor cloth material passes between a cutting cylinder
and an iron pressing roller by which the whole sheet is cut into tesseræ filling all
the spaces in the circumference of the cutting cylinder. As this turns round,
the stems of the plates which form the bottoms of the tesseræ spaces from which
tesseræ are to be rejected are acted upon by pins projecting from an internal
eccentric cylinder so as to push these tesseræ quite out of the spaces which
they occupy, these tesseræ being cleared away by an external revolving brush.
As the cutting cylinder continues to revolve until it comes to the line of contact
with the main drum, all the plates are pushed out by the passage of these stems
or pins over an internal cylinder, the tesseræ which remained in the spaces after
passing the brush being thus pressed on to the backing fabric carried on the main
drum. At a farther part of the revolution of the cutting cylinder all the plates
are pushed by an internal cylinder acting on their stems and pins, a little beyond
the surface of the cutting cylinder and meet a revolving roller covered with plush
or equivalent material served with a lubricant such as pétroleum spirit the plates
being thus lubricated so that the tesseræ do not adhere to them.
The sheet of mosaic floor cloth in passing from the main drum is pressed by
rollers against a heated roller, a continuous apron of vulcanised caoutchouc being
interposed between the pressing rollers and the sheet. To prevent the sheet from
adhering to the roller its surface is lubricated with paraffin wax applied by a
roller of felt or like material served with the lubricant.
Figure 1 is a transverse section.
Figure 2 is a longitudinal section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1, and
Figure 3 is an end view of a cutting cylinder provided with internal eccentric
cylinders for moving the bottom plates of the tesseræ spaces.
Figure 4 is a part section showing one form of spring stem for some of the
bottom plates, and
Figure 5 is a part section shewing another form of the spring stem for others
of the bottom plates acted on by pushing pins.
Figure 6 shews a modification.
The cylinder A as described in my previous Specification No. 1477 of 1894
consists of an inner shell a and an outer shell a' in which are held the cutting
blades a². Each space enclosed by the cutting blades has a central hole and also

page_text: two or more smaller, holes all passing through both shells, and the plate a³ which
forms the bottom of each of those holes from which tesseræ are to be extruded as
forming no part of the pattern has attached to it a long stem a passing through
both shells and projecting inwardly beyond the inner shell, as shewn in Figure 4,
but in this case there are no pushing pins. The plate as on the other hand which
forms the bottom of each space containing tessera that are to form part of the
pattern has attached to it a short stem a as shewn in Figure 5 and has arranged
under it two or more pushing pins a' which pass through the smaller holes of both
shells projecting inwardly beyond the inner shell. The stems of both kinds a
and a are fitted to slide through bushes as which are driven into holes of the
outer shell a¹ with certain tightness, but not such as to prevent them from being
withdrawn when force is applied and they are made with collars and have springs
so arranged as to draw them inwards. The pushing pins a which are not attached
to the bottom plates are made with small collars at their heads to prevent them
from falling out wheu they are brought by revolution of the cylinder A to an
inverted position. When the cylinder A as described in my former Specification
No. 13921 of 1893 has its cutting blades arranged to form elementary tesseræ
which can be combined in many different ways to form various patterns it is not
necessary to employ a different cylinder for every different pattern but only to
provide a suitable pegged cylinder as will hereafter be described and to re-arrange
the bottom plates and stems, putting the plates with long stems in the spaces from
which tesseræ have to be rejected, and bottom plates with short stems and with
pushing pins in those spaces which are to contain tesseræ forming parts of the
pattern.
Within the cylinder A are mounted three cylinders B. C and D having
bearings formed in the ends of A as shewn in Figures 2 and 3. The tw.
cylinders C and D are free to revolve and are driven only by the frictional
contact of the stems a¹ and pushing pins a7, but the cylinder B is driven at a
definite speed relatively to A, for which purpose a countershaft E, mounted in
bearings on the bearing F, of the cylinder A has at its one end a pinion e gearing
with a wheel e' on the cylinder A and at its other end a wheel gearing with a
wheel on the projecting end of the shaft of the cylinder B. The cylinder B
has arranged all over its periphery screw threaded holes in any of which can be
screwed pegs b, these pegs being in such positions that as the cylinders A and B
revolve each peg comes in line with one of the long stems at the meeting ends of
the peg and the stem moving at the same rate. In the same way as many different
patterns can be provided for by various arrangements of the stems at and pushing
pins a' in the cylinder A, so these different patterns can be provided for by corre-
sponding arrangements of the pegs b on the cylinder B without requiring a separate
cylinder for each pattern.
Touching the cylinder A is mounted the pressing cylinder P, preferably made
of cast iron. At the one side of A is mounted a revolving brush G, on the other
side of A is mounted a lubricating cylinder H, which is clothed with plush or such
like fabric and occasionally served with a little lubricant such as petroleum spirit.
K is the main drum of the machine carrying on it the backing fabric L through
which project numerous pins fixed on the drum. The cylinder A is driven by
gearing from the drum K at such speed that the two circumferences move at
equal speed; the revolving brush G is driven at a considerably more rapid speed
while the lubricating cylinder H is driven by gearing from A at a surface speed a
little greater than that of A. The apparatus operates in the following manner.
As the parts revolve in the direction of the arrows, a sheet of coloured floor cloth
material passing between the pressing cylinder P and the cutting cylinder A is
entirely cut into tessera which occupy all the spaces of A that pass the line of
contact of the two cylinders. All the longer stems a come in their turn to be
acted on by the pegs b pushing them outwards and so extruding all the tessera
that are not required for the pattern, thus being swept away by the brush G.
The tesseræ occupying the spaces which have bottom plates with the short

page_text: stems aⓇ and under them the pushing pins a' remain in those spaces, the pushing
pins a being so arranged as not to be acted on by the pegs b, but when these pins
come in contact with the cylinder C they are pushed outwards, pressing the
tesseræ on the backing L ou which they are held by the pins of the drum K
projecting through the backing. As the front pushing pins a' of each tessera-
space are acted on by C a little before the hinder pins, the tesseræ is pressed out
of the space and on to the backing, first in a slightly inclined attitude, being
afterwards flattened down on the backing when the hinder pushing pins are acted
on. The long stems a' are also pressed outwards by C, but as the spaces to which.
they belong are empty, no effect is produced. The cylinder C has its surface not-
quite in contact with the inner surface of A, so that the bottom plates are not.
pushed out by C beyond the edges of the cutting blades of A. When-the long
stems a' and pushing pins a' come in contact with the cylinder D, which is in close
contact with the interior of A the bottom plates of the tesseræ spaces are all
pushed out so that their faces are a little beyond the edges of the cutting blades
and they are lubricated by contact with the cylinder H, the lubrication of their-
surfaces preventing adhesion of the tessera to them.
Instead of employing bottom plates with long stems and a pegged cylinder B for
pushing out the tessera that are to form no part of the pattern, the bottom plates-
for these tessere may be made with stems as shewn in Figure 6 and springs which
are sufficiently. strong to extrude the tesseræ, the pegged cylinder B being in this.
case dispensed with.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-.
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim in respect of apparatus for manufacturing mosaic floor cloth is :-
1. The cutting cylinder having bottom plates for its pattern spaces which receive-
tessera to be rejected provided with long stems and those for the spaces which.
receive tesseræ to be used made with short stems and pushing pins substantially as.
described.
2. In combination with a cutting cylinder such as above referred to an internal
eccentric cylinder with pegs arranged to act on the long stems, an external brush.
to remove the rejected tesseræ, an internal eccentric cylinder acting on the pushing
pins to press the tessere on the backing another internal eccentric cylinder acting
on the long stems and pushing pins, and an external lubricating cylinder, arranged
and operating substantially as described.
3. The construction of the pegged cylinder with screw threaded holes arranged
over its periphery at intervals corresponding with the centres of the tesseræ spaces
of the cutting cylinder so that pegs can be fixed on the cylinder to suit various.
patterns, substantially as described.
4. In substitution for the pegged cylinder and long stemmed bottom plates for
effecting extrusion of the rejected tessere the bottom plates with spring stems.
substantially as described with reference to Figure 6.
•ני
T 1
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant..