A НACKLING MACHINE OF A NEW CONSTRUCTION
Year: 1835

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
KAY, of Pendleton, in the County of Lancaster, Flax Spinner, send greeting.
WHEREAS His Majesty King William the Fourth, by His Letters Patent
under the Great Seal, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-fourth day
of February, in the fifth year of His reign, did, for Himself, His heirs
and successors, give and grant unto me, the said James Kay, my exors,
aduiors, and assigns, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and autho-
rity, that I, the said James Kay, my executors, admors, and assigns, and
every of them, by myself and themselves, or by my and their deputy or
deputies, servants or agents, or such others as I, my exors, adññiors, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times thereafter, during the term of fourteen years from the date of
those Letters Patent, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend my Invention of "A НACKLING MACHINE OF A NEW CONSTRUCTION,
within that part of His Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland called England, His Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed; in which Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me
particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, and to cause the same to be enrolled in His
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, 1, the sand
James Kay, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascer-
tained in and by the following description thereof, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:-
The objects of my Invention are to split and divide the fibres of flax and
other like fibrous substances more readily and perfectly than by the usual
methods, and to leave in an available and useable condition as hackled
materials a large portion of what is now tangled and removed as tow and
waste. My mode of effecting these objects is by combing the flax or other
fibrous substance with a quick and short stroke, with the points of a great
number of needles, not arranged perpendicularly to the fibres (which is effected
or approximated to by the common method of hackling), but inclined to the
said fibres at certain angles, at which I find that the said needles are less
liable to tear and break the said fibres. The following are the mechanical
means which I adopt for giving the proper motion to the needles, and for
subjecting the flax or other fibrous substance to their action:-I form the
hackles or combs of much more numerous and of finer and shorter needles
than in the usual way. I place them in three rows, making the needles in
the first row shorter than those in the second, and those in the second rather
shorter than those in the third; and I make each alternate needle shorter
than those on each side of it, in order that they may penetrate the strick (or
portion of matter to be hackled) to various depths. The needles are set
in a stock or pierced plate of brass or other metal, which is screwed
to an iron spindle having a flat side which forms a back to support them. I
put one of these hackles or combs in each of three longitudinal openings left
in a hollow cylinder of brass or other metal, having end plates in which the
pivots of the spindles rest. The position of the needles in that part of the
revolution of the cylinders in which they are acting on the flax or other fibrous
substance is regulated by tappets or tail pieces fixed at one end of the spindles,
and working against the outside of a small fixed common-shaped curb, placed
in front of and the inside concentric with the axis of the cylinder, in such a
manner that the needles may be retained at an angle of fifty-five degrees to
the horizon when they enter the fibres, which is gradually diminished to an
angle of twenty-five degrees when they leave them. I consider these angles
to be the best, though a little greater or less will produce nearly the same
effect. As soon as the tappets escape the curb the needles rest on the edges of
the segments of the cylinder, which are chamfered off to receive them. Note.

page_text: That in describing the above angles as being of so many degrees to the
horizon, I consider the strick to be working upwards and downwards, as in
the machine to which reference is herein-after made. I place eight of these
cylinders in a cast-iron frame, four in a row one above another as close as
they can work, and four in another row opposite to the intervals between the
former, and very near to them, and so that the needles in one cylinder may be
opposite the segments in those next to it. I cause the four cylinders in the
left-hand row to revolve sunwise, and the four in the right-hand row to revolve
in the opposite direction, by a series of spur wheels or other known mechanical
means, at a quick speed. The speed of one hundred and forty revolutions of
each cylinder in a minute will answer for the purpose of hackling flax. Each
row of cylinders is fixed to a moveable iron plate. The one plate is capable of
being moved in slots laterally, whereby the rows of cylinders may work nearer
to or farther from one another; and the other plate is capable of being moved
by slots vertically, so that the stocks of needles in one of the rows of cylinders
may follow closer after those of the other row of cylinders, or less close after
them, according to the fineness or coarseness of the substance to be hackled.
The first motion may be given in any usual way. Having secured a strick of
flax or other like substance in a holder, I cause the said strick to descend
between the two rows of cylinders, to rest a short time between them, and
then to be drawn up again quickly, and I repeat this operation as often as
required. This motion is given by placing the holder in a cradle, which is
moved up and down by jointed rods on each side of the frame. The higher
of these rods is in nearly a vertical and the lower in a horizontal position. A
roller or camb bowl on the lower rod is worked by a crank with a slow motion.
The return of the cradle and rods is assisted by a weight attached to one side
of a large wheel on the same axis as the camb. The cradle has on each side
of it a socket working upon two iron pillars, which guide the motion of the
cradle up and down. The strick may be removed by a boy without stopping
the machine, and may be transferred by hand to successive machines with
finer hackles, till it is completely finished. For flax I consider five needles
to an inch to be a good number to commence with, and twenty-eight to finish
with; and for ordinary work the length of needles may vary from one quarter
of an inch to three quarters of an inch. Behind each row of cylinders I cause
several brushes to revolve upon a strap or endless chain, to clear the needle
points of any tow or dirt which may adhere to them, and the brushes are
again cleared by rubbing against a coarse comb. The common holder may
be used, but I prefer either of the two following improved forms:-For the first

page_text: I place a grooved eccentric roller in a small iron frame somewhat loose in the
pivot holes, so that it may be pressed forward by strong steel springs, and
accommodate itself to different thicknesses of the strick. Nearly in contact
with it I place another grooved roller, not eccentric, in open slots, so that it
may be easily removed. The slack side of the eccentric roller being brought
forward, I place the flax against it, and put the moveable non-eccentric roller
in front; I then turn the eccentric roller by a handle which brings the fuel
side forwards, and nips the strick, so that the more it is pulled the more firmly
it is held. The distance between the two rollers must be such as to admit
the strick when the rollers are slackened, and not let it escape when they are
tightened.
The second improved holder is formed by two limbs of iron, the lower
being a plate having two projections or jaws forming open pivot holes or
slots, in which pivot holes or slots two pivots of the upper limb work, forming
a leverage which may be in the proportion of three to one. The shorter end
of the upper limb is grooved at the extremity, and the longer end has a screw
through it, which, while it closes the shorter and grooved end, and there
pinches the strick laid between the two limbs, also pinches the strick at the
lower end of the lever, by depressing a steel bar laid in a socket or bed formed
in the lower limb. The lower limb has grooves corresponding to the grooves
of the end of the upper limb. The holder is held in the cradle by two pro-
jections in the lower limb. This holder does not require so much care in the
spreading of the strick evenly as the former.
The accompanying Drawings of a machine which I have erected for
hackling flax, and the annexed references and explanations, will illustrate and
explain the foregoing description, though I do not confine myself to any
particular dimensions.
My Invention, then, consists of the hackling machine of a new construction,
herein described.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and scal, this Twentieth
day of August, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and thirty-five.
Figure 1 shews a cylinder with its combs of needles, and is drawn upon a
scale of six inches to the foot. a, a, and b, b, are two of the combs or stocks
furnished with needles. The upper comb a, a, is seen sideways, and the
lower comb b, b, with the needles turned forwards. The needles of the second
and third rows are to be understood as placed not exactly behind those of the

page_text: first, but those of the second row are placed at one third, and those of the
third row at two thirds of the interval between two needles of the first row,
so as to divide the distance as equally as may be. c, c, are two of the tappets;
d is the common shaped curb by which the tappets are regulated; e, e, are
banking pins which prevent the tappets from moving too far outwards; f, f
is a segment of a hollow cylinder screwed on an iron end plate; g. 9, are
steps or pieces of brass carrying the pivots of the spindles; h, h, are the two
ends of the axis of the cylinder.
cylinder, and is drawn to the full
is the end plate of iron; f.ff.
Figure 2 is a view of one of the ends of a
size. h is the axis of the cylinder of iron;
are the segments of the brass cylinder; g, g. 9, are the steps or pieces of brass
to carry the pivots of the spindles; c, c, c, are the ends of the spindles with their
tappets fixed on with nuts; m and n are steps or pieces of brass forming a
bush in which the axis works; d, the regulating comma-shaped curb, and o, a
step. These are of steel, and are made or cast in one piece. m, n, d, o, are
distinct from the cylinder. Figure 3 is a view of the other end of the cylinder,
to which the same letters refer as in Figure 2, but the parts not belonging
to this end are not shown in this view. This view is also drawn to the full
size. Figure 4 is a front view of the comma-shaped
curb d and step o,
Figure 5 is a view of
fastened by the screws s, s, to the stop m in Figure 2.
the whole machine. Figure 6 is a view of the other side; and Figure 7 is a
front view of the machine. The letters refer to the same parts in the Figures
5, 6, and 7. The scale is four inches to a foot. A, A, A, A, is the cast-
iron frame; P, P, are cast-iron pillars on which the cradle slides up and
down by sockets; E is the cradle; H is the holder; F is the strick of flax to
be hackled; R, R, are the jointed rods; K, K, are the combs to raise the
rods; L is a wheel on the same axis as the camb, weighted on one side, and
driven by an intermediate wheel and pinion from the spur wheel No. 1, in
Figure 7. B, B, B, B, are the brushes to clear the needles; s, s, are the
endless chains or straps carrying the brushes; M, M, are the rollers on which
the endless chains or straps revolve; N, N, are the returning rollers; D is
the comb by which the brushes are cleared; T, T, are the horizontal slots for
bringing the cylinders nearer to each other; W, W (shewn partly by dots),
are the vertical slots in the other plate for elevating or depressing the cylinders
fixed thereto. The plates are secured in the slots by screws, as appears from
the Drawings. C, C, C, C, in Figure 7, are four of the cylinders. The first
motion is given by fast and loose driving pullies G, G, on whose axis is a
driving pinion 1, which drives the stud wheel 2, on the axis of which is a

page_text: pinion 3, not shewn in Figure 5 or 7, but shewn dotted in Figure 6, which
pinion drives the large lifting wheel 4, having on its centre the camb 5, which
raises the lever 6 by a small roller or camb bowl 7, and raises the upright
rod 8, which raises the holding plate or cradle 9, on which is placed the
holder 10. The holding plate or cradle slides up and down by sockets upon
the pillars 11, 11. On the axis of the driving pulley is another wheel 12,
which drives the spur wheel 13, on the axis of which is the lowest cylinder 14.
A wheel 15, not shewn in Figure 7, but shewn in Figure 5 on the off end of
the lowest cylinder, drives a carrier wheel 16, which moves the brush roller
wheel 17. The same carrier wheel (16) also drives the wheel 18 of the second
near cylinder 19. The wheel 18 drives a carrier 20, which turns the wheel 21
of the third near cylinder 22. The wheel 21 moves the carrier 23, which
drives the wheel 24 of the fourth near cylinder 25. The axis of 12 has upon
wheel 27, which turns a
it the lowest off cylinder 26, and at the off end a
carrier 28, which turns the wheel 29, on the axis of which is the second
off cylinder 30. The wheel 29 turns a carrier 31, which turns the wheel 32
on whose axis is the third off cylinder 33. The wheel 32 turns the carrier 34,
which turns the wheel 55, which has on its axis the fourth off cylinder 36.
The wheel 34 also turns the upper off brush wheel 37. The like motion
might be given by bevel geer or other known mechanical contrivances.
Figure 8 is given to shew the action of the needles upon the strick, and the
manner in which the cylinders are fixed in the moveable plates. Figure 9 is
an end view, and Figure 10 is a bird's-eye view of the holder first within
described, on a scale of six inches to a foot. is the iron frame; b is the
moveable roller; c is the eccentric roller; d is the spring; e is the handle.
Figure 11 is the end of the eccentric wheel of the holder first above described,
and is drawn the full size. Figure 12 is a perspective view of the holder
secondly above described. A is the lower limb or plate; B, the strick of flax
to be hackled; C is the upper limb; D, the screw; E, the handle of a small
fly wheel for turning the screw; F, the steel bar. Figure 13 is the lower
limb or plate, and is drawn to the full size. Figure 14 is the upper limb, and
is drawn to the full size. Figure 15 is the iron bar, drawn to the full size.
Figure 16 is the screw, drawn to the full size. Figure 17 is the fly wheel to
assist in driving the screw, drawn to the full size.
the camb which makes the strick ascend more quickly than it descends, which
motion I find answers for ordinary flax. A person acquainted with ordinary
mechanics will find no difficulty in varying the shape if a quicker or slower
motion upward or downward is required. This Figure is drawn to the full
Figure 18 is the shape of

page_text: size. The camb shewn in Figures 5 and 6 makes the motion upward and
downward more nearly equal.
JAMES KAY.
JAMES (L.S.) KAY.