Improved Machinery or Apparatus for Stretching Fabrics.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application. 13th Nov., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 7th Aug., 1890-Accepted, 18th Oct., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improved Machinery or Apparatus for Stretching Fabrics.
I, CHARLES LAVAL, of 2 Boulevard de Strasbourg, Paris, in the Republic of
France, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said invention to be as
follows:-
This invention relates to improved machinery or apparatus for stretching fabrics, in
which the widening or stretching of such fabrics is fixed or rendered permanent, and
the said improved machine consists of any ordinary stretching apparatus combined
with and placed in a bath of hot water, so that the fabric is subjected to the action of
the hot water while held stretched by such stretching apparatus, whereby a much
greater widening is effected and maintained than can be done by any ordinary
stretching machine without the bath of hot water or by the use of a hydro-fixer without
a stretching machine.
Dated this 12th dow of Nau 1040
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Machinery or Apparatus for Stretching Fabrics.
I, CHARLES LAVAL, of 2 Boulevard de Strasbourg, Paris in the Republic of
France, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
sheet of drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is
to say :-
This invention relates to improved machinery or apparatus for stretching fabrics, in
which the widening or stretching of such fabrics is fixed or rendered permanent, and
the said improved machinery or apparatus consists of any ordinary stretching
apparatus, combined with and placed in a bath of hot water, so that the fabric is
subjected to the action of the hot water while held stretched by such stretching
apparatus, whereby a much greater widening is effected and maintained than can he
done by any ordinary stretching machine without the bath of hot water, or by the use
of a hydro-fixor without a stretching machine.
In an ordinary mechanical stretching apparatus, operated by the ordinary means,
the stretching chains are guided so as to diverge, and the fabric enters the machine at
the point where the distance between the said chains corresponds to the original width
of the fabric. The latter is subjected, little by little, to the widening action resulting
from the progressive increase in the distance apart of the chains up to a point where
the chains cease to diverge; at this point there is a hinge like that shown for example
at Y in the drawing hereto annexed; from this point the chains run parallel to one
another for the remainder of the length occupied by them in the machine. These
chains are adjusted to and maintained at the required distances apart by screws the
first of which, C, which is placed at or near the point of entrance of the fabric into the
machine, is actuated by separate gearing, and all the others C₁, C², C³ 0, 0³, are
actuated by another set of gearing. Mechanical stretchers thus constructed have not,
so far as I am aware, been heretofore employed in hot water. The widening heretofore
obtained has been small, and when certain limits have been exceeded, the widening
obtained has afterwards disappeared to a great extent, and the attempt to stretch

page_text: beyond a certain point is likely to produce fraying of the fabric. With my improved
apparatus there is no fear of such damage, although greater widths can easily be
obtained and maintained, and the length of the fabric remains unaffected.
In the drawings hereto annexed,
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation,
Figure 2 a general plan, and
Figure 3 a transverse vertical section of one example of a stretching machine
constructed in accordance with my invention.
A stretching machine, having chains A A¹ moving in the usual way, is mounted
inside a tank B containing hot water. The fabric is delivered on to the pins or tenters
on the chains A A¹ as usual through the guides K and K and is held on these pins
or tenters by means of several pairs of circular brushes E. At the end of its traverse,
the fabric is removed from the pins by the action of circular discs Land L' and of
several rollers M M³ M² placed near the bottom of the tank B containing the hot
water; then it leaves the tank and is guided by other rollers N N1 N2, the last two of
which NN are immersed in a tank Ŏ containing cold water; finally it is taken by a
drawing-off cylinder H which delivers it to a folder J composed of two copper
rollers PP, which have a circular movement to assure the forward movement of the
fabric, and a to and fro motion to fold the fabric while depositing the same on the
receiving table below.
As the tank B is of considerable length, and expands proportionately to the heat
imparted to the water contained therein, it is preferably placed on rollers D interposed
along with suitable bearing plates between it and cross pieces of the frame carrying
the apparatus.
In order to adjust accurately the stretching chains A A¹ I employ, with the shaft
of the end chain wheels Q', movable bearings R acted on by screws S which may be
operated by crank handles, hand wheels, or otherwise.
To prevent bubbles of air or steam from affecting the proper motion of the fabric, I
apply a receiver T having an opening t through which any such air or steam is drawn
off by a pipe U.
The driving shaft Q, of the chain wheels A A', carries a toothed wheel V which
receives motion from an ordinary well-known differential apparatus, or the said shaft
may he driven by any other means capable of imparting thereto, at the pleasure of
the operator, the various speeds required. The shaft Q also carries a chain wheel X
which imparts motion to the folder J and drawing-off cylinder H.
Having now described the nature of the said invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is :-
First. The application and use in connection with machines for stretching fabrics
of a bath of hot water for the purpose of obtaining at one operation the stretching
or widening of the fabric, and the fixing of such stretching or widening, substantially
as herein before described and illustrated in the drawings.
Second. In machines for stretching fabrics combined with a bath of hot water,
forming the subject of the first claiming clauses thereof, the application and use, at
the point of entry of the fabric into the stretching apparatus, of several pairs of
brushes for the purpose of holding the fabric on the pins of the endless chains; of
circular discs at the end of the traverse of the fabric in the bath of hot water for the
purpose of detaching the fabric from the said pins; of rollers placed after and in line
with the aforesaid discs in the tank of hot water for the purpose of guiding the
fabric to the outlet, and of a tank of cold water through which the fabric is conducted
in its passage from the stretching apparatus to the folding apparatus, substantially as
hereinbefore described, and illustrated in the drawings.
Third. The arrangement of the tank of hot water on rollers which allow of the
expansion and contraction of the said tank, substantially as hereinbefore described, and
illustrated in the drawings.
Fourth. The means for adjusting the stretching chains, consisting of the application
to the shaft of the chain wheels placed at the end of the hot water tank opposite to

page_text: the end at which the fabric enters, of adjustable bearings, substantially as bereinbefore
described, and illustrated in the drawings.
Fifth. The application and use of a special receiver for collecting and removing the
bubbles of air or steam, substantially as hereinbefore described, and illustrated in the
drawings.
Sixth. The improved apparatus for stretching fabrics arranged and constructed
substantially as hereinbefore described, and illustrated in the drawings.
Dated this 7th day of August 1890.
C. LAVAL.
Per W. H. Beck,
115, Cannon Street, London, Agent.