Abstract: A skate for an end cutter for cutting sheet material such as cloth as the sheet material lies on a supporting surface having opposite sides, the end cutter comprising an elongated track extending across the supporting surface between the sides and having a longitudinal axis, an exposed surface over which the sheet material lies during cutting thereof, a slot extending along the length thereof and a guide surface spaced from the exposed surface facing the slot and extending along the track in a plane substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis thereof. The skate is elongated, slides along the track, and has an operative surface facing the guide surface of the track. A bracket extends from the skate through the slot in the track member, and a blade is carried by the bracket and extends into the slot for cutting sheet material lying on the exposed surface of the track as the skate slide therealong.

Abstract: In a cloth spreading machine having a motor-driven cradle for holding a roll of cloth and feeding cloth from the roll onto a supporting surface along which the machine travels, a first signal is provided which is proportional to the speed of travel of the machine, a second signal is provided which is proportional to the rate of feed of cloth from the roll, and a control responsive to the first and second signals provides a signal for controlling the speed of the cradle motor so that the rate of feed of cloth from the roll is substantially equal to the speed of travel of the machine along the surface. Sudden changes in tension on the cloth due to acceleration or deceleration of the machine cause movements in a dancer bar which are converted by a transducer to an input to the control for causing a relatively rapid compensating increase or decrease in the speed of the cradle motor.