IMPROVEMENTS IN COMBING WOOL. AND OTHER. FIBRES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Brookes, of 73, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex,. Patent Agent, for the, Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN COMBING WOOL. AND OTHER. FIBRES:"-A communication.
Sealed the 13th April 1858, and dated the 13th October 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Brookes at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 13th
October 1857.
I, WILLIAM BROOKES,, of 73, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent, do, hereby, declare the. nature, of the, said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN COMBING, WOOL, AND, OTHER FIBRES," (a communication,) to be
as follows:-
The improvements relate to. the adaptation and combination of parts by
which the combing of wool, and, other fibres may be effected.
The fibre to be combed is fed: between pairs of rollers, one of each of which
pair has rotary motion given to it whilst the other is capable of receiving
motion therefrom, in order to, nip and, draw, forward the fibre, but the upper
of each pair of rollers is carried by a frame, which has a lifting movement given
to.it, to raise those rollers from the fibre, when, by no nip thereof taking place
the fibre will remain stationary; and to assist the fibres in remaining stationary
as also to aid in, cleansing them, there are comb teeth which rise. into. the fibre
between and in front of these rollers,, by which arrangement the feeding of the

page_text: fibre to the combing means will be intermittent. The fibre is fed on to comb
teeth, and another set of teeth pointing in an opposite direction then penetrates
it, when comb teeth thus holding the fibre recede, drawing out a quantity from
that held by the feeding means, and which becomes cleansed at one end by
being drawn through fine teeth in front of the feed rollers. These holding
teeth then take the fibre to an endless comb with teeth pointing in a direction
radial from the axis of motion, and they are drawn off therefrom by suitable
means. The holding combs are carried by arms actuated so as to govern their
action in entering and leaving the fibre.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Brookes in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
13th April 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BROOKES, of 73, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of
Her reign; did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Brookes, Her special licence that I, the said William
Brookes, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Brookes, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN COMBING WOOL AND OTHER FIBRES," (a communication,) upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Brookes, my exe-
cutors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,
or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Brookes, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-

page_text: formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
The improvements relate to the adaptation and combination of parts by:
which the combing of wool and other fibres may be effected.
The fibre to be combed is fed between pairs of rollers, one of each of which
pair has rotary motion given to it, whilst the other is capable of receiving
motion therefrom, in order to nip and draw forward the fibre; but the upper.
of each pair of rollers is carried. by a frame which has a lifting movement
given to it to raise. those rollers from the fibre, when by no nip thereof taking,
place the fibre will remain stationary; and to assist the fibres in remaining
stationary, as also to aid in cleansing them, there are comb teeth which rise
into the fibre between and in front of these rollers, by which arrangement the
feeding of the fibre to the combing means will be intermittent. The fibre is
fed on to comb teeth, and another set of teeth pointing in an opposite direction
then penetrates it, when comb teeth thus holding the fibre recede, drawing
out a quantity from that held by the feeding means, and which becomes
cleansed at one end by being drawn through fine teeth in front of the feed
rollers. These holding teeth then take the fibre to an endless comb, and they
are drawn off therefrom by suitable means. The holding combs are carried
by arms actuated so as to govern their action in entering and leaving the fibre.
But that the nature of the said Invention as communicated to me may be
clearly understood, I will describe the Drawings hereunto.annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shows in plan, and Figure 2 in longitudinal section, a machine
to comb wool or other fibrous materials according to the Invention; Sheet 3
shows in detail and to a larger scale, some of the parts composing the machine.
In these different Drawings the same letters represent the same parts. A, B, C,
and A, B, C, are three pairs of rollers having rotary motion given to them
by means of suitable. pinions a, a, a, Figure 1, fixed upon their axes; the
lower rollers A, B, C, have a continuous rotary motion and turn in fixed
supports, but the upper rollers A', B', C', are capable of rising so as to be
thrown out of gear by means of the rising apparatus, which I will now describe.
On the axis e is fixed the cam E, which, by means of the truck E¹, gives an
ascending movement to the fork piece F, which carries at its upper end the
framing T, which, by means of the small columns b, b, is attached to the cross
pieces T', and raises them in its ascending motion. The upper cylinders turn
upon these cross pieces T, and by this means are thrown out of gear during a
part of the revolution of the cam E. The fibrous material intended for

page_text: combing passes between the rollers A, B, C, and A', B, C, and when they
are in contact they cause it to advance by friction, just to when the cam E
raises the frames Tand T, and with them the upper rollers A, B, C. There
will thence be no more friction between the rollers; the fibrous material from
the feeding means will cease to advance, and combs P, P¹, fixed to the framing
T and raised with it, will penetrate into the fibre and will stop its movement
still more; the comb P¹ is finer than the other combs P, and serves not only
to stop the fibre in its passage, but also to withdraw in part the noil; the
combs P, P¹, remain in the wool during all the operation of the drawing, other-
wise to prevent the staples seized from drawing the adjoining ones by the
adherence which exists between two staples of wool. The wool thus advanced
by the feeding means undergoes the operation of the drawing means which I
am about to describe.
The drawing means is composed of two parts, which may be named the
upper part and the lower part; they are both guided in their movements by
a frame c, c, c, provided with grooves and fixed to the principal framing of
the machine. The grooves c¹, c³, c³, should guide the upper part of the
drawing means, and the grooves c, c³, serve to guide the lower part of them.
The upper part is composed of a rectangular framing D, D, D, shown also
in the Sheet of details. Trucks D¹, D', D¹, connect this framing in the
upper groove c¹, in which they have a horizontal to-and-fro movement, which
is communicated to the framing D, D, by a connecting rod D³, and a cross
piece D2, fixed upon the upper part of the framing D, D. A swinging
frame H, shown more clearly in the Sheet of details, is attached upon the
front of the framing D, and carries trucks H³, which take into the grooves c², c³;
and there are combs G attached to the frame H, which are held in the frame
with compartments G¹, which communicates with one end of the levers G³, the
other extremities of which are attached to the framing D by springs G³, G³,
and which turn upon an axis G, supported by the framing D, and having
arms G5, G5, which come in contact with the stops G, G. The lower part
of the drawing apparatus, shown also in the Sheet of details, is composed of
three bars S, S, S, holding to the frame L, which carries the trucks 1,,
taking into the grooves c, c, which direct the movements of it. The operation
of the drawing is as follows:-The wool brought by the feeding means is
presented above the bars S, S, S; at this moment the motion of the feeding
means ceases, as has been described. The upper part of the drawing means
advances the rollers D, D¹, D, D¹, follow the groove c¹; but the trucks H¹
meet with the stop V in the groove c³, and remount in the groove c², carrying
with them the combs G, which follow the groove c², till encountering. the

page_text: opening e, they fall in the lower groove at the same time that the combs G
fall down upon and between the bars S, S, S, in seizing the wool advanced by
the feeding means. As soon as the wool is forced into the teeth of the comb
G by the bars S, S, S, the return of the frame D takes place. The comb G
takes with it the bars and the wool abandoned by the feeding means. The
trucks 1, P, during this motion are in the different grooves c', c; arrived .at
R, V, a spring causes the trucks to fall into the groove c; at the same time
the bars S, S, S, leave the teeth, and allow the frame H to continue its motion,
whilst a weight acting upon the bars S, S, S, causes the lower parts of the
drawing means to resume the position shown in the Drawing as soon as the
frame D or H has arrived near to the extremity of its course. The levers G³
touch the stops Go, cause the levers G2 to fall, and at the same time the box G¹,
which causes the wool to fall upon two rows of teeth of a jointed comb K, K,
moving in one sense horizontally around pulleys K', K2, K³, K', which have
a suitable rotary motion. The levers a carry a brush Y; on one side it is
governed by springs attached to the other side, in such a manner that the
brush may occupy normally the position which is shown in the Drawing.
These levers are fixed to an axis 12, moveable in supports attached to the
frame D, moving in a horizontal plane, and it carries two levers Q, Q, the
horizontal frame moving in consequence of the rotation of the governing
shafts. The levers Q, Q, come against the screws Z¹ of the stop Z at the
moment when the brush Y comes to Y¹, above the point where the wool has
been deposited by the drawing comb G, G¹. The frame continues again a
little on its course, then the axis 12 is caused to turn upon itself, that is to
say, that the brush Y is obliged to descend, and to pile in the teeth the wool
which had been deposited above at the preceding part of the stroke. At the
least return of the frame D towards the position that it occupies, the contact
ceases between Q and Z; the equilibrium is re-established, and the lever x
retakes its horizontal position. An ordinary drawing-off apparatus withdraws
the long wool from the teeth K, K, while the noil remains in the teeth, and
a simple movement of a comb acted upon by lever forces it out.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, and the manner which
is preferred of putting the same into practice, I wish it to be well understood
that I do not confine myself to the precise details above described and repre-
sented in the Drawings hereunto annexed, for they may be varied without
departing from the nature of the Invention; but that which I claim as the
Invention is,-
Firstly, the manner of feeding the wool or other fibrous material before

page_text: being combed, so that that feeding may be intermittent, and that it may cease
at the point where the seizing takes place, substantially as described.
Secondly, the manner of seizing the wool or other fibrous material issuing
from the feeding means, as described.
Thirdly, the manner of leaving the wool or other fibrous material by the
feeding means at the moment when the seizing takes place, substantially as
described.
Fourthly, the manner described for abandoning the wool or other fibres by
the two taking parts, and for depositing it upon a continuous comb.
In witness whereof, I, the said. William Brookes, have hereunto set 1
my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
B. J. B. MILLS,
73, Chancery Lane, London.
WILLIAM BROOKES. (L.S.)