AN IMPROVED APPARATUS OR MACHINE FOR CUTTING THE PILE OR CORDS OF FUSTIANS AND OTHER FABRICS MANUFACTURED OF COTTON, WOOL, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1834

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
WELLS, of Salford, in the County of Lancaster, Machine Maker, and GEORGE
SCHOLEFIELD, of the same Place, Mechanical Draftsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twentieth day of November, One thousand eight hundred
and thirty-four, in the fifth year of His reign, did, for Himself, His heirs
and successors, give and grant unto us, the said William Wells and George
Scholefield, His especial licence that we, the said William Wells and George
Scholefield, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we,
the said William Wells and George Scholefield, our executors, administrators,
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times during the term of years therein mentioned, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, our Invention of "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS OR
MACHINE FOR CUTTING THE PILE OR CORDS OF FUSTIANS AND OTHER FABRICS
MANUFACTURED OF COTTON, WOOL, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS;" in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, obliging us, the said William
Wells and George Scholefield, by an instrument in writing under our bands
and seals, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of our said In-
vention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the
same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the sail in part recited

page_text: 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, we, the said
William Wells and George Scholefield, do hereby declare that nature of our
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are
particularly described and ascertained in and by the Drawings hereunto
annexed, and the following description thereof (that is to say):-
Our Invention of an improved apparatus or machine for cutting the pile or
cords of fustians and other fabrics manufactured of cotton, wool, and other
fibrous materials, consists in the combination and arrangement of certain parts
or pieces of mechanism constituting a machine for cutting open the woven
ribs or cords of fustians and such sort of goods preparatory to their being
dressed with a pile upon the surface. In this machine is mounted a series
of knives formed exactly like those knives which are commonly used for
cutting the cords of fustians when the operation is performed by hand. In
the ordinary mode of working by hand a single cord only is cut open at one
operation, the skilful workman guiding the knife along the piece, and keeping
its point carefully in the cord, but in this machine a series of knives are
enabled to act simultaneously, and to cut many cords in width at the same
time from end to end of the piece without interruption, the corded fustian
being extended on rollers, and drawn progressively forward under the knives.
There is also a provision, that in the event of any one of the knives slipping
out of the cord in which it is intended to operate, or of passing through the
fabric, or of being, by any knots in the cords or other means, obstructed in its
work, that the operations of the machine will be instantly stopped, in order
that the error may be corrected before any further mischief occurs.
In the accompanying Drawings, Figure 1 is a side view or longitudinal
elevation of the machine taken geometrically; Figure 2 is a horizontal view
of the same, shewing the machine as it would appear from above; Figure 3
is an elevation of the machine taken at the right-hand end of Figures 1 and 2;
in all which Figures the several parts of the machinery are respectively
marked with similar letters of reference. A, A, A, is the standards and frame-
work supporting the machinery, which we prefer to make of cast iron; it is
braced together by transverse bars or stays B, B. Two cylinders or drums C
and D are mounted in the machinery turning on axles supported in plummer
blocks on the side rails near the ends of the frame. Round the periphery of
the drum C the whole length of the piece of corded fustian E, E, is to be
wound in the first instance, the end being then passed through the machine
and made fast to the drum D, the rotation of the drum D on its axis will

page_text: cause the length of the piece to be drawn forward under the cutting knives,
and be wound upon the periphery of the drum D, the rotary motion of the
drums being produced by toothed gear, described hereafter.
a is the
One of the cutting knives is represented detached at Figure 4, on a larger
scale than it could be shown in the Figure of the entire machine.
sharp steel point, formed as the cutting part of such knives usually are when
intended to be applied by hand to cutting open the cords of fustians; is the
shaft of the knife; and c is a socketed handle by which it is held in the
machine; being a spring rest, into which the end of the handle is inserted
for the purpose hereafter explained.
Figure 5 is a sectional representation of a part of the machine detached,
for the purpose of shewing the cutting operation more clearly than it could be
seen in the views of the entire machine. In this Figure one of the knives
is seen in operation, the fustian E, E, being stretched as in the machine,
Figures 1 and 2, under the roller F and over the roller G, for the purpose
of laying it and conducting it along under the knife at such an angle as may
be desirable for applying the points of the knives with the best effect to cut
open the cords as the fustian advances. A series of these knives (any con-
venient number) are placed side by side in the machine, extending longi-
tudinally in the way that one knife is shewn in Figures 1 and 2. The point
of each knife so placed is to be inserted into the rib or cord which it is
intended to cut open, and the binder part of each knife is let into the socket
or rest d of a circular spring j. A number of these circular springs equal to
that of the knives intended to be applied are to be fixed on a transverse
bar e, e, extending across the machine, as shown at Figure 3. The knives
being so arranged, the axle of the drum D is to be thrown into gear with the
driving machinery, and the drum C released, so as to run round freely. The
driving power being then applied, the drum D will revolve and wind the
fustian round it, which as it passes along will be operated upon by the
knives, and as many of the cords cut open lengthwise as there are knives
applied. The rotary speed of the drum D when drawing the fustian
forward under the knife should be about nine turns per minute. A certain
number of the cords having been thus cut from end to end of the piece,
the cylinder D is then thrown out of gear with the driving machinery, and
the cylinder C put into gear, for the purpose of drawing the fustian back
again and winding it on to the roller C, as before. The positions of the
knives are then adjusted at their points, and inserted into another series
of cords, and on the fustian being again advanced those cords will be cut open
in the same way. Thus by successive operations all the cords in the width of

page_text: the fustian will have been cut open, and the piece made ready for the future
processes of dressing and finishing. On the axle of each drum C and D there
is a toothed wheel f, f, which turns loosely upon the axle, but may be locked
thereto by a clutch J. A longitudinal shaft H is mounted in suitable
bearings by the side of the machine, to the end of which shaft is attached the
fast and loose pullies i and j. Upon this longitudinal shaft two worms or
endless screws h, h, are affixed, which respectively take into the teeth of the
loose wheels ff, on the axles of the drums C and D, and consequently when
the shaft II is made to revolve, the wheels f. f, are turned also, and whichever
of the wheels is locked to the axle of the drum C or D, that drum will
necessarily be made to rotate and to wind the piece of fustian round it, as
before described. In order to lock oither of the wheels f, f, to the axle of the
cylinder C or D, levers and are mounted upon fulcrum pins in brackets
extending from the further side of the framework seen in Figure 2, one end
of each lever being connected to a sliding clutch g on the axle of one of the
cylinders, and the other end of each lever attached to a sliding bar m, m,
extending transversely through the machine. By the workman applying his
hand to the end of the bar m in front of the machine and pushing the bar
inwards, the levers and will be moved and cause one of the clutches g to
lock the toothed wheel f fast to the axle of the drum D, and withdraw the
other clutch from the wheel on the axle of the drum C, which will set that
drum free. By these means the fustian will be advanced through tho
machine and drawn from the cylinder C on to the cylinder D, and the knives
be made to cut the cords or ribs open, as described. As the delivery
cylinder, whichever it may be, is thus allowed to turn freely, it is necessary
to apply to it a friction brake to keep the piece of fustian tightly distended
between the two drums. For this purpose a plain wheel I, I, is fixed
upon the axle of each drum, and circular friction brakes K, K, are mounted
so as to embrace each wheel. These circular friction brakes are made to open
with a hinge joint, and are drawn tight round the wheels by means of
weighted levers n, o. Straps are attached to these levers n, o, which are
passed over pullies and connected to the sliding rod m, so that as the rod m is
slidden inward for advancing the cloth, the lever n is allowed to descend, and
the circular brake is drawn tight round the friction wheel of the loose cylinder
C, and the lever o being at the same time raised, the brake is released from
the friction wheel of the cylinder D. When the rod m is drawn outwards tho
reverse takes place, that is, the wheel of the drum D is pressed by its friction
brake and the other is relieved. An auxilliary lever t, having a handle in front
of the machine, is connected to the sliding bar m, by which the workman may

page_text: instantly change the position of the clutch boxes and friction breaks. The
handle and sliding bar p, connected to the lever g, shifts the driving band to
and from the fast and loose pulleys. They are held in the driving position by
a lever r dropped into a notch in the bar p, and when this lever is raised a
weighted cord s, attached to the bar p and passed over a pulley, as shewu in
the end view, Figure 3, draws the bar back and causes the driving strap to
be shifted on to the loose pulley. As the fustian passes forward through the
machine under the knives, if the point of one of the knives happens to
penetrate through the fustian the knife necessarily falls upon a transverse bar
L, L, beneath the fustian. This bar L is affixed to the ends of arms or levers
M, M, extending from a shaft or axle N, N, which is mounted on standards
in the side frames of the machine, the bar L and arms M being balanced by
weights on the opposite side of the shaft N, at Q, Fig. 5, so as to enable the
bar L to be supported by very delicate spring catches in the standard pieces
affixed to the sides of the framework. This contrivance is best seen in the
detached longitudinal and transverse section of that portion of the machine
represented at Figures 5 and 6. In these Figures, L represents the edge of
the bars; 0, 0, are the standard pieces aflixed to the side rails A, A, of the
machine; w, w, are small hooks at the ends of the bar L, bearing upon and
upheld by the delicate spring catches v, v, attached to the standard pieces.
When one of the knives on penetrating through the fustian falls upon the
bar L, the weight of this knife causes the bar L to fall from the delicate spring
catches, when the teeth of a small ratched wheel P (see Figures 1 and 2),
which has been kept revolving upon a stud by a pulley and cord connected
with a pulley on the axle of the roller F, strikes against this fallen bar L with
such force as to cause a tail lever Q on the shaft N (see Figure 5), to knock
up the holding lever r, before described, and thereby allow the driving strap
to pass on to the loose pulley, when the movements of the machine instantly
cease. If any obstruction like a knot in the cord of the fustian should come
against the point of any one of the knives in operation as the fustian is con-
ducted forward, the resistance will force the knife back, and its spring holder J
receding by the pressure will cause the hinder part of the socket d to strike
against a transverse bar R. This bar R being connected by arms to an axle S
mounted on the standards w, the receding of the bar will cause an arm X
attached to the shaft S to lift up a tail lever y, extending from the back of
the shaft N of the balanced bar L (see Figure 5), by lifting which the tail
lever Q will be made to raise the holding lever r, and thereby cause the
driving strap to be shifted, as before, from the fast to the loose pulley. In
the event of the point of any of the knives jumping up out of the cord which it

page_text: was cutting, the force of the spring holder J would project the knife forward
and cause it to fall out of its socket d, when the weight of the knife handle,
as it falls, striking upon a transverse rod T (see Figure 5), supported by
arms U, U, from a shaft V, will cause the arm W to force back the lever
extending from the axle N, and thereby to raise the tail lever Q, which lifts
the holding lever 1, and allows the driving strap, as before, to pass to the loose
pulley.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Wells and George Scholefield,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, the Nineteenth day of May, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-five.
Inrolled the Twentieth day of May, One thousand eight hundred and
thirty-five.