IMPROVED BANDS FOR TRANSMITTING MOTION TO MACHINERY
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Stevens, of 31, Charing Cross, in the County
of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVED BANDS
FOR TRANSMITTING MOTION TO MACHINERY."-A communication from
abroad by Jean Joseph Thiberge, of 42, Rue Laffitte, Paris, in the
Empire of France.
Sealed the 26th September 1861, and dated the 18th April 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Stevens at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 18th
April 1861.
I, CHARLES STEVENS, of 31, Charing Cross, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Im-
PROVED BANDS FOR TRANSMITTING MOTION TO MACHINERY," and that it has been
communicated to me from abroad by Jean Joseph Thiberge, of 42, Rue
Laffitte, Paris, in the Empire of France,' to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to improvements in bands for transmitting motion to
machinery. The bands are woven of cotton, or cotton & thread mixed, that-
is, the main warp & the weft may be of cotton, or cotton may be used for one
& thread for the other; their object is to supersede the running straps
generally used at present for the transmission of movement, which they equal
in strength, whilst they wear quite as long, & are considerably cheaper. Their
durability can be greatly increased by simply saturating them with oil, or any
other fatty substance. They may be woven of any width, & more or less
strong, to suit the different purposes for which they may be employed.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Stevens in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 17th
October 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
STEVENS, of 31, Charing Cross, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent,
-send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Charles Stevens, Her special licence that I, the said Charles Stevens,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such other as I, the said
Charles Stevens, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVED
BANDS FOR TRANSMITTING MOTION TO MACHINERY," a communication to me from
abroad by Jean Joseph Thiberge, of 42, Rue Laffitte, Paris, in the Empire of
France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles Stevens,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Stevens, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, that is to say:-
My Invention relates to improved bands for transmitting motion to
machinery, my mode of manufacture enabling me to obtain bands equal in
strength and durability to leather at a much lower price, and of any required
length, so necessitating but one join. The bands are woven of cotton and
thread, or entirely of cotton. The strength is obtained by the mode in which
the warp is prepared, the slay arranged, and the shuttle worked. The warp is
prepared as follows:-The cotton best suited is that known as No. 10 or
No. 12, well twisted in 16 or 20, and stretched; it must also be drawn in the
warping, so that all the threads of the warp are perfectly stretched. In

page_text: placing the warp on the beam, the threads must pass round several bars or
rests, so as to be stretched as much as possible; twenty-four threads go to the
centimetre (about 1 of an inch) of the width of the piece to be woven. The
slay must be close and strong, so that eight or nine threads of the warp can
pass in each chamber, and the slay must be of exactly the same width as is to
be given to the piece. The four blades or lames work two-and-two on two
cylinders, on which they roll by means of straps. The first and second blades'
are on the first cylinder, the side where the workman is placed, the third and
fourth blades are on the second cylinder, which follows the first. The blades
are worked by treadles by means of cords, each blade corresponding to its
treadle, thus the first blade is attached to the first treadle, the second to the
second, and so on.
The following is the way in which the threads of the warp are arranged so
as to produce the crossing:-Taking the first eight threads on the left of the
warp, it is the fourth and eighth thread which depend on the fourth blade, the
first and fifth on the third blade, the third and seventh on the second blade,
and the second and sixth on the first blade; thus the order of the blades must
always be followed, three, one, two, four, so that all the threads of the
warp pass.
The following is the mode of manufacture, the shuttle being on the right of
the driver:
1stly, press with the feet on the third and first treadles, drive the shuttle to
the left, give a blow with the driver so that the slay strikes the thread of the
weft, pass the shuttle in the middle of the opening of the warp, striking with
the driver, so that the front of the shuttle strikes the thread of the weft one or
more blows according to the size of the tissue.
2ndly, press on the fourth and first treadles, pass the shuttle to the right,
strike the thread of the weft with the slay, and give one or more blows on the
thread of the weft with the front of the shuttle.
3rdly, press on the fourth and second treadles, pass the shuttle to the left,
strike the thread of the weft with the slay, then with the shuttle.
4thly, press on the third and second treadles, pass the shuttle to the right,
strike with the slay, then with the shuttle.
It will be seen from the above that the treadles to be lowered for effecting
the crossing are in the following order :-
1stly, the third and first treadle.
2ndly, the fourth and first do.
3rdly, the fourth and second do.
4thly, the third and second do.

page_text: The same order is always to be continued. At each opening the shuttle is
passed, and the thread of the weft is drawn, the thread of the weft is driven
with the slay, and then again struck one or more blows with the sharp part of
the shuttle to give greater consistency to the piece. The shuttle is of wood,
but furnished in front with a piece of iron, so as to resemble the blade of a
knife; it is with the sharp part that the thread of the weft is struck each time
of passing.. The weft consists of five threads of warp twisted together, and
well stretched; twenty-five threads of this weft must enter in about 4 inches
(10 centimetres) of the length of the piece. At each retaking of the weft,
care must be taken to make the join of the two ends come in the middle of
the piece, so as to preserve its good appearance. The thickness of the piece
woven must be from 0.16685 of an inch (five millimétres) to 0-18653 of an
inch (five and a half millimêtres). The beam near the knees of the workman
rolls up the stuff made at each throw of the shuttle by means of weights,
which draw on the pullies at the ends. The weights must increase by degrees
as the length of the stuff increases. The beam of the warp resists the
unrolling by means of two, four, or six cotton cords, according to the width of
the piece, each passing two or three times round the ends of the beam, and
stretched by weights. The two beams turning and pulling in contrary
directions again stretches the threads, and it is only by the blow of the shuttle
that the piece is formed and the strength given to it. Should there be a
default of force, the jacks or catches are let go which hold the beam, the
work is drawn back, and the weights are slightly increased which hold back
the warp, and then the former degree of tension is given to the work by
means of the shuttle.
!
Having thus described my Invention, what I claim and desire to secure by
Letters Patent is, the mode of weaving herein-before described, by which
means I obtain my improved bands or straps for communicating motion to
machinery and other purposes.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Stevens, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
CHARLES STEVENS. (L.S.)