The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1895-04-24
a New Cotton Gin.

tention every year from the cotton
manufacturers, and their desire fo1
improvements on existing methods Of
ginning, particularly, has awakened
the interest Of inventors and set them
to work to try to displace the old saw
| gin with one that will do as much
work in less destructive way. The
Boston Journal of Commerce states
that new machine is now on e1hibi-
tion in Boston which promises well,
as it has all the merits of roller gin
without it's small capacity, and is
more economical in respect Of the
power required to operate it. The
ideal gin, We are told, is one that
would hold the seed, seize the cotton
and draw it thoroughly from the seed
without breaking or crimping it and
would change the relation Of the fbres
one to the other as little as possible.
The roller gin, which most nearly ap-
proaches the ideal, Consists Of roll
er working against knife edge, the
roller drawing the cotton away from
the seed, and some means are provided
for the removal of the seed' as fast as
separated from the lint Machines of
this kind have been introduced, but
have had the defect of not working as
rapidly as the saw gin. The Journal
adds:
"The roller gin exhibited in Boston
this week is something similar to that
just described. The cotton is fed to
the knife edge and is caught between
the knife edge and a rapidly revolving
rubber roll. This roll draws the cot
ton down; the seed cannot follow, but
is struck by fat strip that works
very rapidly up and down against the
side of the knife edge opposite the
roller, thus practically forcing the seed
from the cotton as we'll as having the
roller draw the cotton from the seed.
The motion of the fat striker is very
rapid, and upon this rapidity depends
the speed with which the cotton is
ginned. In estimating the value of
this machine the natural question is
as to how closely it approaches the
ideal condition stated above. The
fibre is certainly not torn. but is con-
siderably crimped by the action Of the
striker in bending it over the knife
edge, and the speed of the crank mo
tion given the striker must be limited.
The nearest approach to the ideal cot
ton gin that we recall was seen in the
Osgood gin that attracted so much at
tention ten or twelve years ago. In
this gin the cotton was seized by a
covered roller against knife edge,
but instead of striking downward upon
the seed and thus bending and crimp-
ing it, the teeth of a rapidly revolving
band saw struck the seed and drew it
away from the cotton in the opposite
direction without bending or cutting
it. This was the ideal machine Of the
inventor, and in the working model he
had proved it to be capable Of practi-
cal operation. Unfortunately the ma
chinists who built the machine en-
tirely failed to comprehend its princi.
pie and did not follow the model of
the inventor, and the machine they
built was not success, and with the
death soon after of the man who was
backing the invention the proper ma
chine was not built. If it could have
been done there can be no question the
attempt would have been successful,
and rapid working gin that would
not injure the fibre would have been
the result. The gin now being ex-
hibited differs little from the Osgood
gin in principle, and from mechapi-
cal point of view the reciprocating
motion of the seed disengager can
never be as rapid as the band saw
method, nor can it as surely knock the
seed from the cotton without bending.
If there is any disposition on the part
of Southern growers to use roller
gin, the patents on the Osgood gin
probably having expired, practical,
rapid working roller gin that will pre-
serve the staple could readily be built
by any mechanic who understands the
problem and what is sought to be ac-
complished. The machine exhibited,
however, must give a more satisfactory
product to the spinner than the saw
gin"
There ought to be enough suggestion
and inducement in all this to put
Southern "inventors and intelligent
mechanics and farmers of an inventive
turn of mind to work on the problem.
Northern inventors as q class labor
under the great disadvantage Of know
ing nothing of the condition Of cotton
in the seed, as few of them have ever
seen a lock of the fibre as it comes
from the boil and goes to the gin
Any inventor in the South can inspect
a gin in operation in his near neigh
borhood and study at his leisure all
the conditions and difficulties of the
problem, and with such advantages in
his favor some Southern inventor
should be able to make satisfactory
gin, if anyone can. All efforts so far
appear to have followed the lines
marked out by the inventor of the
roller or "knife'' gin, and to have
failed despite their abundant prom
ises. Possibly better success will re-
ward the bold genius who strikes out
in an entirely new direction, and there
is reason to believe that success is
we'll worth working for, and that the
reward will be handsome one when
it is earned.-Ne,vs and Courier.