Improvements in Machines for Attaching Silicate Cotton, Asbestos, Hair, and similar Materials to Metallic or other Woven (or Textile) Backing.
Year: 1895

page_text: This Print is in accordance with the Original Specification as it stands after
Amendment (under Section 11 of the Patents, &c., Act, 1883), as required by
the decision of the Comptroller General of the 6th day of August 1896.
Date of Application, 21st May, 1895
Complete Specification Left, 21st Feb., 1896-Accepted, 4th Apr. 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Attaching Silicate Cotton, Asbestos,
Hair, and similar Materials to Metallic or other Woven (or
Textile) Backing.
We, D. ANDERSON AND SON, LIMITED, of Lagan Felt Works, Belfast,
Ireland, Manufacturers, and HENRY GREGG, Managing Director of the above-
named Company, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
:-
This invention relates to improvements in machines for attaching silicate cotton,
asbestos, hair and similar materials either in teats or pads, or in a continuous feed,
to a metallic or other backing, by means either of wire or yarn or of both,―when
laid thereon by hand or by mechanism adapted to that purpose.
Our improvements are capable of adaptation either to hand-driven or to power
machines.
In carrying out our invention we propose to construct our improved machine
preferably of two side frames connected together by means of a horizontal table of
any desired width and arranged at a suitable height for the operator. The backing
upon which the material is to be secured, is arranged upon a spindle beneath the
table whence it passes in an upward direction through an opening in the front end
of the table, around a toothed roller, and across the table to the back of the
machine, where it is received and wound upon a drum or cylinder of suitable
dimensions and width. Above this table and beyond the toothed roller we arrange
a device consisting of a number of curved needles attached at a convenient distance
apart to a horizontal cross-bar arranged so as to be capable of sliding in grooves
or guides having a quadrant form, arranged at each side of the table. This
cross-bar is attached by means of connecting rods at each end to suitable cranks
worked from the main driving shaft by means of pulleys or of other suitable
mechanism and which by their rotation cause the rod to reciprocate in its guides,
and by this means to drive the needles in a curved path through the backing.
These needles are made hollow so as to permit of the binding wire or yarn
passing within them instead of outside as hitherto.
In the case of a hand machine we arrange beneath the table for a shuttle-needle
or pusher carrying a loop of wire to travel to and fro across the needles. In
this case the method of attaching the silicate cotton or other material to the
backing is as follows:-
The ends of the binding wires which issue from the eyes of the needles are in
the commencement of the operation held back by the hand of the operator until

page_text: two or more bindings have been effected. A teat or pad of silicate cotton, hair or
other similar material having been placed across the backing and the machine set
in motion, the cross-bar carrying the curved needles is caused to descend and the
needles driven through the material and backing. At this moment the shuttle-
needle is caused to travel across the table below the backing, and through the
sheds or openings formed between the wires and needles after they have passed
through the backing owing to the curvature of the needles. Before the return of
the shuttle-needle a hook is caused to engage with the looped end of wire upon the
shuttle-needle so as to retain it within the sheds during the withdrawal of the
shuttle-needle-at the same time the operator bends the end of the loop thus
formed over the edge of the backing.
When the needles rise the loop is drawn close up against the underside of the
backing thus serving to secure the teats or pads firmly to the backing.
The shuttle-needle may be operated by means of a cord passing over a pulley
arranged to be partly rotated by a treadle or crank movement in combination with
a counterweight or equivalent device.
In order to secure the end of the loop during the withdrawal of the shuttle-needle,
we arrange a device consisting of a pivoted cam furnished with ratchet teeth upon
its periphery and a retaining pawl. This cam, which carries the hook for engaging
in the loop as mentioned above, is arranged so as to be capable of turning upon
its axis through a horizontal arc of sufficient extent to permit of the engaging and
withdrawing of the hook.
The shuttle-needle is carried upon a bar furnished with suitable guide rods
arranged to pass through the side frame of the machine. One of these guide rods
is caused to come into contact with the retaining pawl of the cam during the travel
of the shuttle-needle and thereby to effect its release, whereupon the cam is caused
to partially rotate by means of a spring suitably arranged and secured thereto for
the purpose. Upon the withdrawal of the shuttle-needle the cam is caused to return
to its original position by means of a cord and tappet motion operated by the bar
carrying the shuttle-needle or by gear in connection with the needle bar.
In the case of a power driven machine instead of the shuttle-needle above
described, we propose to arrange for a gripper or equivalent device to travel to and
fro across the needles and beneath the table. The gripper consists of two arms-
one fixed and the other movable-hinged together near the gripping end somewhat
similar to a pair of pincers. The fixed arm which is nearer to the underside of
the table, terminates in a nose projecting slightly beyond the end of the pivoted
arm and having a passage bored through it longitudinally for the purpose of
allowing it to pass over the end of a wire. In order to grip the wire, the meeting
parts or jaws are formed with a V-shaped channel and a corresponding wedge
respectively, to engage when closed. Normally the jaws are kept closed by means
of a suitable spring inserted between the long arms of the gripper, but on the
completion of its double stroke the jaws are caused to open and release the wire by
means of any suitable device arranged so as to operate the movable arm.
Lateral guide rods carried upon a cross-piece to which the fixed arm of the
gripper is secured are arranged to pass through supports provided in or on the side
frame to guide the gripper in its horizontal path, and reciprocal movement is
imparted to it by means of a crank and connecting rod, or other suitable transmitting
medium operated from the driving shaft.
In operation a pad of silicate cotton, asbestos, or other similar material having
been placed across the backing and the machine set in motion, the curved needles
are driven through the backing whereby sheds or openings are formed between
the wires or yarn and the needles. At this moment the gripper is caused to travel
across the table and through the sheds and seize the end of a wire, pulling the
same back with it through the sheds in its return stroke. When it has reached
the limit of its backward traverse the gripper is opened by a suitable cam or tappet
operating the movable arm as previously mentioned, and at the same time the wire
is cut by a pair of scissors or other cutting device at the side furthest removed

page_text: from the then-position of the gripper. The upper needles then rise and draw the
needles tight around the wire thus left in contact with the backing which is
immediately moved forward by means of suitably arranged feed mechanism to the
extent of the breadth allowed for each teat or pad.
By this operation the stitch will be formed on the underside of the backing by means
of a single wire, instead of as in the case of the shuttle-needle arrangement-by a
double wire.
To regulate the tension of the needle wires or of the yarn, in the case of either
a hand or a power machine, we arrange for them to pass over a spindle having a
number of grooves corresponding to the needle wires; this spindle is connected to
a sliding bar capable of being moved in a forward and backward direction by means
of cranks and connecting rods operated by the shaft which communicates motion to
the needle bar. By this arrangement the tension of the wires or yarn is effectually
maintained during the upward and downward stroke of the needle-bar, inasinuch
as the sliding motion of the spindle compensates for any tendency of the tension to
lessen, which would otherwise occur during the upward stroke.
We may also arrange in connection with an improved machine for a shuttle
adapted to be worked either by hand or power to be used in lieu of the before
described devices for carrying wire or yarn through the sheds formed by the
operation of the curved needles, suitable guides being arranged on the underside of
the table to carry the shuttle and regulate the direction of its travel.
Dotad this Tant fund
1005
Improvements in Machines for Attaching Silicate Cotton, Asbestos,
Hair, and similar Materials to Metallic or other Woven (or
Textile) Backing.
We, D. ANDERSON AND SON, LIMITED, of Lagan Felt Works, Belfast,
Ireland, Manufacturers, and HENRY GREGG, Managing Director of the above-
named Company, 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 relates to improvements in the machines invented by James Croft
Sewell, for which invention a Patent No. 16973 of 1894 has been granted to him
for attaching silicate cotton, asbestos, hair, and similar materials either in teats or
pads, or in a continuous feed, to a metallic or other backing, by means either of wire
or yarn or of both, when laid thereon by band or by mechanism adapted to that
purpose.
Our improvements are capable of adaptation either to hand driven or power
machines.
In order that our invention may be more clearly understood reference is had in
the following description to the accompanying drawings, upon which-
Figure
is a side elevation of our improved machine shewing the side to the left
of the operator,
Figure 2 being a plan of the table of the machine, and
Figure 3, a similar view with the table removed shewing the mechanism for
operating the shuttle needle.
In carrying out our invention we propose to construct our improved machine
preferably of two side-frames A connected together by means of a horizontal

page_text: table B, of any desired width and arranged at a suitable height for the convenience
of the operator, as shewn on Figure 2.
The backing upon which the material is to be secured, is arranged upon a
spindle beneath the table, whence it passes in an upward direction through an
opening formed in the front end of the table B around a toothed roller D, and
across the table to the bacl. of the machine, where it is received and wound upon
a drum or cylinder E of suitable dimensions and width. Above the table B and
at a short distance back from the toothed roller D, we arrange a device consisting
of a number of curved needles F attached at a convenient distance apart to a
horizontal cross-bar G arranged so as to be capable of sliding in grooves or
guides H having a quadrant form arranged at each side of the table. The cross-
bar G is attached by means of connecting rods I at each end of it to suitable
cranks worked from the main driving-shaft by means of pulleys or of other suitable
mechanism, by the rotation of which the rods 1 are caused to impart a recipro-
cating movement to the cross-bar G in its guides H, and thereby to drive the
needles F in a curved path through the backing passing under them from the front
to the back of the table B.
The needles F are made hollow, having an eye at their points, so as to permit
of the binding wire or yarn passing within them instead of outside as hitherto.
In the case of a hand machine we arrange beneath the table B for a shuttle
needle, or pusher K, having an eye at its point through which the wire or varn
runs, thus causing a bight, or a loop of wire or yarn, to travel to and fro across the
net dles F. In this case the method of attaching the silicate cotton, asbestos, hair,
or other material to the backing is as follows:-
The ends of the binding wires or yarn which issue from the eyes of the needles F
are in the commencement of the operation held back by the hand of the operator
until two or more bindings have been effected. A teat or pad of silicate cotton,
asbestos, hair, or other material having been placed across the backing and the
machine set in motion, the cross-bar G carrying the curved needles F is caused to
descend, and the needles F driven through the material and backing to the under-
side of the table. At this moment the shuttle needle K is caused to travel across
the table B below the backing, and through the sheds or openings formed between
the wires thread, or yarn, and the needles F, after they have passed through the
backing, owing to the curvature of the needles. Before the return of the shuttle
needle K, a hook L is caused to engage with the bight of the wire or yarn at the
point of the shuttle needle K so as to retain it within the sheds during the with-
drawal of the shuttle needle; at the same time the operator bends the end of the
loop thus formed over the edge of the backing.
When the needles F rise the loop is drawn close up against the underside of the
backing, thus serving to secure firmly thereto the teats or pads of silicate cotton,
asbestos, hair, or other material under operation.
The shuttle needle K may be operated by means of a cord M passing over a
palley N, arranged to be partly rotated by a crank or treadle movement in com-
bination with a counterweight T or equivalent device. In order to secure the end
of the loop during the withdrawal of the shuttle needle K, we arrange a device
consisting of a pivoted cam 0,-see Fig. 3-furnished with ratchet teeth upon its
periphery and a retaining pawl P. The cam O which carries the hook or bight-
catcher L for engaging in the loop, as mentioned above, is arranged so as to be
capable of turning upon its axis through a horizontal are of sufficient extent to
permit of the engaging and withdrawing of the hook L.
The shuttle needle K is carried upon a bar Q furnished with suitable guide
rods R arranged to pass through the side-frame A of the machine. One of the
guide rods R is caused to come into contact with the retaining pawl P of the
cam O during the travel of the shuttle needle K and thereby to effect its release,
whereupon the cam 0 is caused to partially rotate by means of a spring S suitably
arranged and secured thereto for the purpose. Upon the withdrawal of the
shuttle needle K the cam () is caused to return to its original position by means of

page_text: a cord and tappet motion, operated either by the har Q carrying the shuttle
needle K, or by gear arranged in connection with the needle-bar.
This cam may
be arranged to operate in the contrary direction so as to relieve it of its hold of
the bight, when the backing is moving forward for another stitch.
In the case of a power-driven machine, we may either use the shuttle needle
above described, or we may otherwise arrange for a gripper or equivalent device
to travel to and fro across the needles and beneath the table. The gripper
consists of two arms, one fixed and the other movable, hinged together near the
gripping end, somewhat similar to a pair of pincers. The fixed arm which is
nearer to the underside of the table, terminates in a nose projecting slightly
beyond the end of the pivoted arm, and bored with a passage lengthwise for the
purpose of allowing it to pass over the end of a wire. In order to grip the wire,
the meeting parts or jaws are formed with a V-shaped channel and a corresponding
wedge respectively, to engage when closed. Normally the jaws are kept closed
by means of a suitable spring inserted between the long arms of the gripper, but
on the completion of its double stroke the jaws are caused to open and release the
wire by means of any suitable device operating the movable arm.
Lateral guide rods carried upon a cross-piece to which the fixed arm of the
gripper is secured may be arranged to pass through supports provided in or on
the side-frame to guide the gripper in its horizontal path, and reciprocal move-
ment may be imparted to it by means of a crank and connecting rod or equivalent
device operated from the driving shaft.
In operation a pad of silicate cotton, asbestos, hair, or other material having
been placed across the backing, and the machine set in motion, the curved
needles F are driven through the backing, whereby under the table sheds or
openings are formed between the wires or yarn and the needles F. At this
moment the gripper is caused to travel across the table B and through the sheds,
and to seize the end of a wire pulling the same back with it through the sheds in
its return stroke. When it has reached the limit of its backward stroke the
gripper is opened by a suitable cam or tappet operating the movable arm
previously mentioned, and at the same time the wire is cut by a pair of scissors
or other cutting device at the side furthest removed from the then-position of the
gripper. The upper needles F then rise and draw the wires or yarn tight around
the wire thus left in contact with the backing, which is immediately moved
forward by means of suitably arranged feed mechanism to the extent of the breadth
allowed for each teat or pad.
as
By this operation the stitch will be formed on the underside of the backing by
means of a single wire, instead of-as in the shuttle needle arrangement-by a
double wire or double thread of yarn.
To regulate the tension of the needle wires or of the yarn, in the case of either
a band or a power macl ine, we arrange for them to pass over a spindle U having
a number of grooves corresponding to the needle wires or yarn threads; this
spindle U is connected to a sliding bar V capable of being moved in a forward or
backward direction by means of cranks W and connecting rods X operated by the
shaft which communicates motion to the needle bar. By this arrangement the
tension of the wires or yarn is effectually maintained during the upward and
downward stroke of the needle bar G, inasmuch as the sliding motion of the
spindle U compensates for any tendency of the tension to lessen, which would
otherwise occur during the upward stroke.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is :-
1. In a machine for attaching silicate cotton, asbestos, hair, and other materials
to metallic or other woven (or textile) backing the hollow curved needles F
secured upon a horizontal cross-bar G operated reciprocally in a curved pa'h,
for the purpose and as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

page_text: 2. In a machine for attaching silicate cotton, asbestos, hair, and other materials
to metallic, or other woven (or textile) backing, the combination of a shuttle
needle K reciprocated in suitable guides, with a hook L, operated by a cam O,
and ratchet mechanism or equivalent devices for the purposes, and as described
with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Dated this Tanto first day of Fahrmar 1806