felt together, without the usual auxiliaries of spinning and weaving, or the use of any adhesive mixtures.

Secondly. This invention consists in an improved machine for raising the pile of woollen cloths, manufactured by the above process, or produced by the ordinary operations of spinning and weaving.

The material having been willied, picked, and scribbled, in the usual way, is weighed out into quantities for producing any required thickness and width of goods, and taken to the apparatus, shewn in Plate I., at fig. 1.

This machine consists of a common wool carding-engine, which, to produce broad cloths, should be made from 72 to 84 inches wide. a, a, a, and b, b, b, are two long revolving aprons of linen cloth, (or other suitable material,) passing over the rollers or drums c, d, e, f, which receive a rotary motion from the doffers of the card. These aprons

are supported by a slight flooring g, g, and, together with the drums, revolve in opposite directions, as represented by the arrows, so that the two inner surfaces of each apron move in the same direction with uniform speed, and with nearly the same velocity as the doffer of the card, as regards their surfaces.

The material is taken off from the doffers, by the usual comb crank motion, in an attenuated sliver, and passes forward between the two revolving aprons a, b, until it arrives at the further end thereof from the card. A direction is then given to the sliver, so that it shall pass up and over the upper apron a, a, and wind itself upon this apron, one sliver over the other, until the bat has become of sufficient thickness. As, in many manufacturing premises, these two long extended aprons could not be so conveniently used for want of room, the patentee sometimes extends them backwards and forwards, as shewn in the longitudinal section, fig. 2, or they may be arranged perpendicularly, if desired.

Another mode of producing a bat, for the finer and lighter descriptions of goods, is shewn at fig. 3.

It is still produced from successive folds of the sliver, but in this modification there are several slivers taken off from

the doffers of different carding-engines, and simultaneously received upon the same aprons, and enter into the composition of one and the same bat.

For this purpose, any of the several arrangements of aprons found most convenient for adaptation to certain premises may be equally applied, it only being necessary to extend the lower aprons along and under two, three, or more carding engines, one standing behind or after the other, as shewn at fig. 3: the lower apron b, b, extends under the cylinders and doffers of three carding-engines. Under each of these carding-engines is a flooring h, h, h, for preventing the dirt and dust from falling upon the bat, but between each carding engine, there is a transverse opening for allowing the slivers to fall upon the apron, which, as in the other cases (with the one sliver), are carried forward to the lower end of the apron frame, as before described.

It is necessary that these aprons should be kept uniformly extended throughout their whole lengths, whether arranged as in fig. 1, or wound in other directions. In order to effect this, the patentee employs the following means, shewn upon an enlarged scale, in the detached sectional view, fig. 4. Upon the two edges of the apron a, a, a, are sewn cords or strips of leather i, i, against which, longitudinal guides or slips of wood k, k, are brought in contact, by means of the forked arms 1, 1, and set screws m, m, thereby preventing the apron from contracting. Another plan of effecting this object, is shewn at fig. 5; the apron a, is here kept distended by means of friction. rollers k, k, working against the cords or strips of leather i.

The bat, by either of the foregoing operations, having acquired its requisite thickness, is then cut across its width, as represented at A, figs. 1, and 2, and the end being passed over the roller n, it is wound firmly upon it by contact of the roller with the apron a. When the last end of the severed bat reaches the roller n, it brings with it the sliver, which is continuing to proceed from the carding engine, and this sliver is, as before, passed up over the apron a, a, and another bat is then commenced..

The continuous bat, having been obtained, as before des

is furnished with There are several

cribed, and received upon the roller n, is then taken to another machine, represented at fig. 6, called the hardening machine, and placed in the situation marked o. p, p, is the frame-work, in which are mounted the two series of rollers q, q, q, and r, r, r. These rollers are wrapped round with an elastic cloth, and the lower set a travelling apron, as represented at s, s. pipes connected with a steam boiler, brought up and inserted between some of the lower rollers, and under the aprons, represented at t, t, which pipes extend from side to side of the apron, and are finely perforated upon their upper sides, to allow the escape of steam upwards, for the purpose of moistening and warming the bat of wool as the first stage of the felting process, called hardening, com

mences.

The upper tier of hardening rollers receives an alternating motion endwise, by means of a cranked shaft running along the side of the machine, upon which there are as many cranks or excentrics, having a short throw of about half an inch, and connected with each upper roller by shackle bars or slide rods. The hardening rollers receive also a slow progressive motion from the main shaft, on the other side of the machine, by means of suitable gearing, consequently moving the apron between the rollers in the direction of the arrows. There are, likewise, inserted between the rollers and under the apron, several heaters u, u, u, formed of hollow metal, and connected by stop-cocks with the boiler which supplies the perforated pipes with steam; these heaters are for the purpose of increasing and regulating the heat applied to the bat, and assisting the incipient process of felting.

As before stated, the roller n, with its bat, being brought from figs. 2, or 1, is placed in the position o, fig. 6, and the end thereof being entered between the front rollers of the hardening machine, it is gradually passed through them, and by means of the alternating motion of the upper rollers acting against the resistance offered by the lower ones, (which do not alternate,) and aided by the moisture and heat, the bat arrives at the other end of the machine in a

consolidated firm state, where it is again wound upon a roller y, by friction of contact with the apron s, s; and when the whole bat, intended to form a piece of cloth, is finished and wound upon it, it is removed to the next operation; the machine for effecting which, is shewn at figs. 7, and 8. The frame-work of the machine is shewn at a, a, a, upon which are mounted two tiers of rollers b, b, b; the upper tier having rotary motion communicated to it, by means of bevil gear, as shewn in the drawing, which, by means of spur wheels, communicates a similar motion to the lower tier.

Each set of upper rollers should be weighted upon the lower ones, for the purpose of accommodating a certain degree of pressure, to the different degrees of thickness of various goods submitted to their action. c, c, is a cistern, lined with lead, for holding a supply of hot water or soapsuds, and in which the lower rollers can be more or less immersed by regulating the quantity thereof. Upon the bottom of this cistern there are several coils of metal pipe, perforated in many places, and connected by a stop-cock with a steam-boiler, for heating its contents. d, d, d, are friction rollers or drums, over which an upper and a lower endless apron e, e, are passed, for conducting the bat or cloth, from end to end, and through the machine; such bat, together with its roller n, having been placed in the situation marked B, fig. 7. The aprons e, e, move by the friction of the rollers a, b, in the direction of the arrows, passing in together between the front rollers, receiving the bat between them, and liberating it as it arrives at the lower end, one apron turning upwards, and the other downwards.

In order to give the two tiers of rollers a reciprocating or backward and forward motion, and at the same time to allow the bat, or, as it may now be called, the cloth, (alternately pressed and liberated between their inner surfaces,) gradually to move in a forward direction, through the machine, the following contrivance is applied :-f, is a pulley, receiving its motion from any convenient part of the running gear; to this pulley is affixed a crank-pin g, working a connecting-rod, attached to the lever h, h, which lever

turns loosely upon the main shaft i. A toothed wheel j, j, is mounted fast upon the shaft i, taking into a small pinion k, which turns in a socket, formed in the lever h, h. Upon the axle of the pinion k, is also mounted a toothed wheel i, i, working into another or small toothed wheel m, m, which, together with a pulley l, is mounted loosely upon the main shaft i. It is evident, that if the pulley 7, and wheel m, were to be fastened to any adjoining part of the machine, and the main shaft only to turn within them, a mere reciprocating motion would be given to the felting rollers of the machine, without their progressing or moving the cloth at all forward.

To effect, therefore, the required progressive motion, a small pulley n, is fastened to the pulley ƒ, having a band o, o, passed over it around the pulley l, l, which, notwithstanding the constantly reciprocating motion, is adding thereto a progressive movement, in order to carry the cloth through the machine.

By the reciprocating motion of this machine, the felting action is produced in each direction, longitudinally; but in order that this effect may take place in other directions, the cloth is taken from the apparatus, just described, and placed in another similar felting machine; but, instead of being entered as before, the piece is first passed between two feeding-rollers p, p, one of which is shewn in fig. 8, placed at an angle of about forty-five degrees with the feedingapron. These two rollers have a velocity from three to four times that of the feeding-apron, by which means the cloth is thrown in regular folds as it enters, laying at nearly the same angle as the position of the rollers. This arrangement causes the action to take place diagonally across the piece of cloth, and after having passed through in this direction, it is reversed, and when again passed, it will be seen that the action is nearly at right angles with the last.

In this way it may now be run through the machine several times, and some descriptions of cloth should be, for a time, milled in the common clothier's fulling stocks, and again passed through the felting machine, figs. 7 and 8.

The machinery or apparatus above described, is that