US229759A - Island - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) 3 Sneets-Sheet 1.

J. J. SCHOLFIELD. Art of Putting up Fabrics. No. 229,759. Patented July 6,1880.

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(No Model.) J. J. SOHOLFIELD. 3 Sheets-shew; 3.

Art of Putting up Fabrics. No. 2292759. Patented July 6, 18810.

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N PEI'ERS. PHO'lO-LITHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. D C,

UNITED STATES To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH J. SGHOLFIELD, of Providence, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Art of Putting up Fabrics which are made, bought, or sold by linear measure into merch antable packages and purchasers parcels, for storage, transportation, sale, or delivery, of which the following is a specification.

Webs of valuable fabrics seem to become, as soon as manufactured, a constant temptation to depredation, not only to those who would take them bodily, but also to a more numerous class who occasionally clip off a garment pattern, which, if not done on too large a proportion of webs, commonly escapes detection. A knowledge of this practice of petty depredation has led to another practice, its equivalent, but even more pernicious, which consists in constructively cutting off a pattern surreptitiously, although the web suffers no actual curtailment, and exists in its original integrity and amplitude.

The constructive clipping is done in this way: A dishonest merchant purchases a lot of webs from a manufacturer. The purchaser, on receiving and opening the goods, falsely claims that they fall short of the measure charged in thebill, and demands repayment for the fictitious deficiency. But however confident the manufacturer may be that his goods were in the first instance accurately measured and ticketed, he cannot prove that a mistake was not made in both or'either of these operations, nor that the goods were not clipped before .leaving his warehouse, nor while in transit to the merchant who alleges error and claims a drawback; and since there is the possibility of inadvertent overcharge in all such cases, and it actually exists in a few, the manufacturer cannot be sure that the claim is not honestly'made, and he usually feels constrained to refund the alleged overcharge.

These reclamations have become so frequent and dishonest claimants simulate honesty so skillfully that impostnre is seldom detected, so that manufacturers have come to regard such claims asan inevitable discount upon prices, which theyallow the more grudgingly because it operates as a discrimination against PAT NT OFFICE.

JOSEPH J. SOHOLFIELD, OF PROVIDENGE, RHODE ISLAND.

ART OF PUTTING UP FABRICS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 229,759, dated July 6, 1880.

' Application filed May 4, 1880. (No model.)

"integrity and upright dealing and in favor of dishonesty and fraud.

Numerous plans have heretofore been devised for putting an end to this pernicious state of things, but its continuance proves their failure, and an eflicient remedy still remains a desideratum, which it is the object of my invention to supply.

My remedy consists in putting up each piece of fabric with a certificate of its identity and linear measure annexed to one or both of its ends, such certificate to be authenticated by a signature, sign, stamp, or mark, and its annexation to the fabric to be secured by a seal, rivet, lock, or other efficient means. And as a further and additional precaution against error and fraud, I combine such annexed certificates with the automatic measurement of each web and the automatic registry of its measure upon its own selvage by a method which excludes error.

As a less perfect but still highly efficient, and, so far as I know, a sufficient, method of guarding against errorin measurement or pre tification and billing of goods, I make on the ticket to be tagged to the fabric, on the certificate or certificates to be annexed to the selvage, and on the stub to be preserved as the original record from which entries on books and items of bills are to be derived, a simultaneous tally in duplicate, triplicate, quadruplicate, or quintuplicate, as the case may require, of the number of the piece of fabric, the number of yards it contains, the number of its style or quality, the number of the case in which it is packed, or any other mark or sign for the identification of the piece of fabric and record of its measure, or for any other purpose, such multi ple tallying of each number or mark renderin g it hardly possible to make any error therein without instant detection.

The measurement of the fabric being thus certified or authenticated by the manufacturer To guard still further again st errors in the ceror other seller of the frabric, if any overcharge of length should be made in billing, the error could be shown by the buyer after receiving the goods by cutting out the piece of the selvage to which the certificates to the terminal and initial symbol of notation are annexed and sending them with the bill for overcharge to the seller of the goods, who would, of course, take the certificates as a sufficient voucher that the piece of goods delivered contained no greater length than they specify, and would rectify the mistake without dispute andas an act of manifest justice.

In the accompanying drawings, which make part ofthis specification, Figure 1 represents, in perspective, a web of fabric measured,and its measure in linear yards and fractions thereof registered upon one of its selvages with the initial and terminal notations of registry, each covered by a certificate of the measure and identifying-marks of the web eyeleted to the selvage, and with a ticket certifying the same facts tagged to the end of the package in the usual way. Fig. 2 represents, in plan, the certificates and ticket shown in Fig. 1, but before they are severed and respectively annexed to the web. Fig. 2 represents a fragment of the web with the initial certificate doubled round the selvage and sealed thereto by eyelets. Fig. 2 represents, by a similar view, the terminal certificate, also doubled round the selvage and sealed thereto by eyelets. Fig. 3 represents, in perspective, a hook consisting of two series of alternating leaves, each leaf of one series cousistingof a blank tally-check certificate, a blank certificate of measure and identity, and a blank tally-stub certificate, each of these certificates being united to its neighbor by a series of narrow strips between the holes of a line of perforations to admit of their ready separation when required for use. The other series of leaves are shorter than the triple'certificate leaves, and each leaf con tains a blank initial-measure certificate connected with a margin at a line interrupted by a series of small perforations, the ruled faces ot the short and long leaves being toward each other. Fig.4 represents,in perspective,ashort and a long leaf detached from the book, but in the position they would occupy before detachment when arranged to have their blanks filled, the blank initial certificate being turned back upon its margin to bring its cohnnns and headings into line with those of the long leaf, that all entries common to both may be tallied consecutively and continuously. Fig. 5 represents,in plan,one of the single'certificate short leavesof the book detached and with its ruled side uppermost. Fig. 6 represents, in plan, one of the triple-certificate long leaves of the book with its ruled side uppermost. Fig. 7 represents, in plan, one of the eyelets for sealing the certificate to the salvage, with a legend stamped upon its head. Fig. 8 represents an axial section of the eyelet shown in Fig. 7. Fig. 9 represents, in plan, the end of the shank of the eyelet after it has been headed down upon the certificate, with certain radial authenticating-marks impressed upon it in the process of spreading over and heading down or sealing its end, or preparatory or supplemental thereto. Fig. 10 represents, in perspective, the end of a punch for making the radial impressions shown in Fig. 9. Fig. 11 represents the annular imprint of astamp surrounding a registry-symbol of measure. Fig. 12 represents, in plan, an empty seal-case and notation-cover to be used in sealing up and covering any registry-symbol, or to identify the ends of the fabric. Fig. 13 represents a section of the empty seal-case at the line as a: of Fig. 12. Fig. 14 represents a similar section, showing the case filled with sealing-cement and attached to the salvage ofa piece of cloth, the cement having the impression of a seal on its surface. Fig. 15 represents a group of punch-holes or brand-marks in the cloth, associated with a registry-symbol of measure.

In the drawings I have represented afew of the multitude of forms of certification, open or closed, in which my invention may be applied to fabrics as a test and guarantee of delivery to a purchaser of the full quantity of fabric sold to him.

An autograph, emblem, mark, stamp, cipher, or seal made by writing, printing, stamping, branding, sealing, punching, orotherwise upon the fabric itself, or upon a ticket, card, label, plate, disk, eyelet, or rivet, made of paper, cloth, leather, india-rubber, metal, or other suitable material, annexed, attached, or secured to the fabric in any suitable way, to denote, attest, or identify a piece of fabric, aml indicate or certify to its linear measure, may, any or all of them, be employed in reducing my invention to practice; but as they are means well known in the arts of communicating and authenticating ideas and facts, they will require no particular description in order to be understood aml applied after I shall have described the manner of application and effect of the typical instances or forms repre sented in the drawings.

The first step toward making up a piece of fabric into a package or parcel of certified length is to affix an initial certificate to the end of the piece at which the measurement and registry are to begin. Snell a certificate, I, is shown in Fig.2, before annexation to the selvage. It is applied to the cloth by first folding it at the line a, Fig. 2, between the headings and numbers which are to be on the inside of the fold. The edge of the selvagc at the end of the web is now inserted between the folds of the certificate, and holes are punched through the selvage coincident with the holes ccccin the certificate. Eyeletsd d are then passed through the holes in the leaves of the certificate and the included selvage, and their shanks are headed down firmly upon the certificate by means of an eyelet-fastener having a tapering spindle-spreader and curved flange-header, such as shown in Fig. 10, provided with narrow chisel-edge radial ribs, the

impression of which-upon the end of the shanks will make a corresponding series of marks upon the turned-down end or counter-head of the blank.

The initial certificate I of measure, the terminal certificate T of measure, and the ticketcertificate O of the same, as shown in Fig. 2, may be made on a small sheet of stout tough paper, with tally columns and divisions for identity-marks and the length of the fabric printed with appropriate headings common to all, and with lines of punctures where the certificates are to be severed. These blank divisions of the-columns, when the certificates are used, are filled with numbers repeated in the several certificates of the series. First, the number of the case in which the piece of fabric to be immediately measured, certified, and packaged'is to be placed for storage or sale is entered under the appropriate head. Next is entered the number corresponding to the style of the fabric, which includes the width, weight, material, or color, and mode of weaving, as plain, drilled, ribbed, figured, 850; next the number of the piece in consecutive order of this style of goods which has been meas- A ured,packaged, and certified. The filling up of the initial certificate is now complete, and is to be severed and affixed to the end of the web, as before described. This being done, the fabric must next be measured, and the linear yards, or other units if preferred, and the usual subdivisions .thereof registered upon the selvage in the customary way. This can best be done by means of the automatic machine which I have invented for that purpose, and which is the subject of another patent. The length in yards of the piece-in this instance thirtyone and one-eighth yards-is now to be entered upon the terminal certificate T and check-oer tificate O. The repetition of an entry in a column extending across the several certificates I term tallying, and as such consecutive repetition of a number or other symbol, that can all be seen at once by the eye, is a great safeguard against errors of entry, I deem it an important element of my improvement. The terminal certificate is now ready for annexation to the selvage of the piece at the terminal end of the registry, as the initial certificate was annexed to the opposite end, by means of eye-- lets. The annular heads of these eyelets may have the name of the manufacturer or any other appropriate legend or mark stamped or otherwise made upon their surface, and their edges may be milled, scalloped, or have-slender serrations formed on them when made or afterward, preparatory to or while being set in the cloth by the fastening mechanism, in a manner similar to that in which the opposite end or counter-head of the shank is marked, as aforesaid, so that force could not be applied vto either end of the eyelet to loosen it and remove the certificate to another part of the selvage having a shorter length registered upon it without such defacement as would show that the rivets had been tampered with. This is an essential matter, as the guarantee to make good any short measure will always be upon the express condition that the certificates and seals thereof shall be returned in their complete integrity unopened and untampcred with as true and genuine vouchers of error.

When it so happens that the terminal certificate is attached at the end of the selvage at the fraction of a yard distant from the last yard-notation, in cutting off the certificate to authenticate a claim of short measure as much of the selvage must go with the certificate as is necessary to include the nearest yard-notation, that it may appear on what yard and fraction thereof in the registry the certificate was attsched.

The initial certificate may be annexed to the first yard-notation, or to the first one-eighth of a yard registry-mark, if preferred, and in that case the yard-tally should not be left blank, but there should be entered upon it in the column under the heading-yards the numerals 1 or 5-, as the case may be, but I prefer, as a general rule, to annex it to the extreme'end of the selvage.

The certificates will, of course, be varied in the number, kind, and arrangement of their identification-marks and rulingto suitthe business and views of difierent manufacturers and merchants. Some will prefer to have the certificates large and of heavy strong paper for heavy goods. Others will require light, small, neat, and even artistically-decorated certificates for laces and other fine and costly goods. Some will prefer the series of certificates tied in bunches or put up in parcels orboxes, while others would prefer to have the certificates bound in books, with a stub-certificate added, to be preserved as a record of the measure and identifying marks of every piece of goods measured, packaged, certified, and cased. In such a case each book would be numbered as shown in Fig. 3, and each certificate in the book would hear a corresponding number, so that whenever afterward a certificate should be presented it could instantly be referred to its proper stub, the bound stubs being filed away in numerical order, as of course they would be, as original records of a manufactory ora counting-house. Such abound book is represented in Fig. 3. It is composed of a series of short and another of long alternating leaves.

.The long leaves have at their outer ends an eyelet hole which doubles their thickness. This increase of thickness at that end is compensated by the short inter-leaves at the stub end. A short leaf precedes each long one, and the ruled faces of the leaves are laid together, because then they admit of all the tally-numbers and marks being brought into line, as shown in Fig. 4. The headings of the stubcolumns are in this position of the leaves covered, but that causes no inconvenience, as the headings of the turned-over initial certificate replaces them at the left end of the columns during the tallying.

The stamp whose annular imprint is shown in Fig. 11 maybe an ordinary engraved or letter-type printing-stamp with the name of the manufacturer upon its face, or it may include his name and the date of stamping like an ordinary post-ofiice orcounting-house stamp, and a stamp of this kind may be used to certify the registry at both extremities of a piece, or to seal or mark authentically the extremities of a measured piece which is not registered.

The punched holes shown in Fig. 15, in association with a registration-number, may conveniently be made by means of a compound stamp punch and die, each punch having its own die or matrix, and being interchangeable with either ofthe other of the series in the stock or head in which they are held, so that their transposition, under the law of permutation, will make a great number of changes relative to each other and to the margin and registratation mark with which it may be associated. The number of such changes may be increased by so setting each punch in its socket that it may be turned on its axis to set it in two or more definite positions therein. This seal may also be used as a brand on such fabrics as would receive an impression advantageously in that way.

The seal-case and seal shown in Figs. 12, 13, and 14 are to facilitate the use of cement seals. The case consists of a rim, 0, and a central disk,s, connected with the rim by slender arms t. The disk is for the purpose of being laid close upon the cloth to cover the notation-symbol or other point which the seal is designed to authenticate. The rim stands up from the cloth to contain the cement in a fluid state and prevent it from spreading until it sets. The open spaces between the disk and rim permit the cement to attach itself to the surface of the cloth, and if a vacuum should be maintained beneath these open spaces for a. moment while the cement was in a fluid state it would penetrate the interstices of the fabric more thoroughly and attach itself thereto more firmly.

The cement used should be tough, strong, and set quickly. Good sealing-wax answers a very good purpose, but would be better if less brittle. The rim of the case supports the wax, and in a large measure compensates its brittleness. The upper or under edge of the rim should have a narrow tlange turned inward. In applying this case it should be laid with its central disk fiat upon the face of the cloth on the point to be authenticated. The case should then be tilled with fluid cement, which, when sufticiently stiffened to receive a good impression, should have a seal applied with such device or legend thereon, depressed or in relief, as may be deemed most suitable.

The seals and methods of authenticating registry-marks and the ends of fabric may be arranged in positions relative to such marks or ends, and the key to the relation may be kept secret until it is necessary to disclose it in exposing a spurious claim for. short measure. The sealed certificates annexed to the ends of the cloth may have a secret mark as a counter-check, and such mark may be the relation of a punch-hole, a brand, or of a seal to the certificate of measure. Such mark or counter-check and its key should be noted on the stub of the certificate-book as a record of convenient reference.

If it were required to make up a retail-customers parcel of a piece of cloth-say nine and one-quarter yards long, cut off from a remnant of twentytwo and one-half yards of a registered web -the customers pieeein that case would have a terminal registry of twentytwo and one-half yards and an initial registry of fourteen less three-quarters of a yard, and if sealed at both ends of its registered selvage with the stamp-seal, as shown in Fig. 11, or with the punch-seal shown in Fig. 15 in case of any mistake in cutting ofl' the piece, by which less than nine and one-quarter yards went into the customers parcel, the seal at each end, with as much of the selvage as necessary to include the next notation -mark, which, in this case, would be 22 for the terminal and 14 for the initial seal, would he evidence of the mistake, and might be cut out and returned to the merchantif a reclamation for overcharge only was wanted; but if the full measure of cloth was required, then the piece could be returned and the seals would show that the measure was originally short. If the web from which the piece was cut was unregistered, the seals at the ends of the selvage untampered with would in that case show the measure to have been originally short,and on the return of the piece to the merchant would demonstrate to him that it had not been clipped while in possession either of the customer or of the carrier.

1 claim as an improvement in the art of making up fabrics into merchantable packages and into purchasers parcels- I. An improvementiu the art of making up fabrics into mcrchantable packages and into purchasers parcels, which consists in annexin g to each piece of fabric one or more closed or sealed certificates of its identity and linear measure, substantially as described.

2. In a piece of fabric packaged or parceled, and having its linear measure registered upon its surface, as described, one or more certificates (virtual or actual) annexed to the fabric, in connection with the notation-symbols of its measurement, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name.

JOSEPH J. SCHOLFIELD.

Witnesses:

E. E. MASSON, W. B. MASSON.

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