It is well known that there are several serious drawbacks in the usual
plan of pressing woolen or worsted cloths and felts with press plates,
press papers, and presses. Three objections of great weight may be
mentioned, and events in Leeds give emphasis to a fourth. The three
objections are--the labor required in setting or folding the cloth,
the expense of the press papers, and the time required. The fourth
objection, about which a dispute has occurred between the press-setters
and the master finishers in Leeds, refers to the inapplicability of the
common system to long lengths. The men object to these on account of
the great labor involved in shifting the heavy mass of cloth and press
plates to and from the presses. A minor drawback of this system is
that it involves the presence of a fold up the middle of the piece. On
account of these drawbacks it has long been understood to be desirable
to expedite the process, and also to dispense with the press papers.
This is the main purpose of the machine we now illustrate in section, in
which the pressing is done continuously by what may be termed a species
of ironing. The machine consists of a central hollow cylinder, C,
three-quarters of the circumference of which is covered by the hollow
boxes, M, heated by steam through the pipes shown, and which are
mounted upon the levers, BB', whose fulcra are at bb. By means of the
hand-wheel, T, and worm-wheel, n, which closes or opens the levers, BB',
the pressure of the boxes upon the central roller may be adjusted at
will, the spring-bolt, F, allowing a certain amount of yield. The faces
of the press-boxes, MM, are covered by a curved sheet of German silver
attached to the point, Y. This sheet takes the place of the press papers
in the ordinary process. The course of the cloth through the machine is
as follows, and is shown by the arrows: It is placed on the bottom board
in front, and in its travel it passes over the rails, O, after which it
is operated on by the brush, Z, leaving which it is conveyed over the
rails, V and I, the rollers, K and P, and thence between the pressing
roller, C, and the German silver press plate covering the heated boxes,
M. Leaving these the piece passes over the roller, P, and is cuttled
down in the bottom board by the cuttling motion, F, or a rolling-up
motion may be applied. The maker states that arrangements for brushing
and steaming may also be attached, so that in one passage through the
machine a piece may be pressed, brushed, and steamed. The speed of the
cylinder may be adjusted according to the quality or requirements of
the goods that are under treatment. At the time of our visit, says the
_Textile Manufacturer_, printed woolen pieces were being pressed at the
rate of about four yards a minute, but higher speeds are often obtained.
Messrs. Taylor, Wordsworth & Co., who have erected many of these
machines in Leeds, Bradford, and Batley, inform us that they find they
are adapted for the pressing of a wide variety of cloths, from Bradford
goods and thin serges to the heavy pieces of Dewsbury and Batley. The
inventor, Ernst Gessner, of Aue, Saxony, adopts an ingenious expedient
for pressing goods with thick lists. He provides an arrangement for
moving the cylinder endwise, according to the different widths of
the pieces to be treated. One list is left outside at the end of the
cylinder, and the other at the opposite end of the pressing boxes. The
machine we saw was 80 in. wide on the roller, and it was one the design
and construction of which undoubtedly do credit to Mr. Gessner.
[Illustration]
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