Improvements in the Hellmann Combing Machine.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Oct., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 11th July, 1892-Accepted, 27th Aug., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Hellmann Combing Machine.
I, HUBERT LEOPOLD OFFERMANN of 20, Bismark Strasse, Leipsic, in the
Kingdom of Saxony, Manager of the Leipsic Wool Combing Works, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
In combing fibres by means of the Heilmann combing machine it is necessary,
in order to comb them clean, to set the upper nipper jaw as close as possible to the
points of the comb teeth, so that in combing a weak staple the fibres are easily
broken. The tuft or fleece should be pierced and combed out by the teeth of the
comb segment, only from the point where the top comb enters. The combing of
the tuft. between the point where the top comb enters and the point of nip of the
nipper is not only unnecessary but detrimental, because the fibres are firmly pressed
together at this point. When wool is combed, the distance between these two
points amounts to about seven or eight millimetres and as the feed is of the same
extent it follows that with comb segments as hitherto constructed, the wool between
these two points is combed twice, the first combing being performed under the above
mentioned undesirable conditions.
In the ordinary combing machines, the comb teeth move in a circle and must.
consequently always enter the tuft or fleece at a point situated between the line of
entry of the top comb and the point of nip, so that the impossibility of obviating
the above mentioned drawback with an ordinary comb segment will be evident. It
may, however, be avoided if the whole of the comb bars be made radially movable
and be so guided during the revolution of the comb drum that their teeth will not
describe a circle but will be retracted in passing beneath the nipper and only be
allowed to enter the tuft or fleece in the direction of the line of entry of the top
comb, the comb bars thus working like those of a gill drawing machine, and the
first detrimental combing of the tuft is avoided. A further important advantage
is that the point at which the first combing commences and the top comb subse-
quently enters the fleece can be considerably nearer to the nipper, the machine
being thus well adapted for working materials of short staple. This is extremely
important in view of the unsatisfactory yield of the Heilmann combing machine
as hitherto constructed for combing short stapled materials, especially short cotton
wool. The radial movability of the whole of the comb bars, furthermore, enables
the teeth to be automatically cleaned by means of knives attached to the backs
of the comb bars and the impurities to be removed by means of the cylindrical
brush.
The drum heads are fixed to the shaft and connected by leather covered segments
and are provided with more or less radial guide grooves wherein the ends of the
comb bars slide. The grooves open out at the periphery of the heads and are
closed by pivoted cover segments of angle iron secured by means of binding
Forews or in any other suitable way, so as to close the ends of the grooves and
form a stop to limit the outward motion of the comb bars which are pressed
outwards by springs. By unfastening and throwing back the covers of a comb
segment, the bars can be readily removed from the comb cylinder. At either end
of the cylinder, within the heads, guide cam bars are arranged connected rigidly
or adjustably to the machine frame, so that as the comb bars by the revolution of
the drum move under the guide cam bars they are moved in their grooves in such
manner that the points of the teeth perform the above described motion, that is to
say the comb bars are first caused to move inwards towards the axis of the drum,
until they arrive at the point where the entry of teeth in the direction of the plane
of motion of the top comb into the tuft is to be made. This entry is permitted

page_text: by the faces of the guide cam bars at this point being made parallel to the direction
of the teeth of the comb bar, which is about to move outwards. The teeth
therefore, penetrate the tuft by an outward motion in their own plane and in a
direction about perpendicular to the tuft and in order that the teeth may be held in
proper position during the further combing, the comb bars are still under the
control of the guide cams which press the comb bars inwards, until on quitting the
guide cams they are thrown outwards again by their springs against their cover
rims. By suitably shaping the guide cam bars, it is possible to guide the points of
the teeth immediately beneath the low jaw of the nipper and permit them to enter
the tuft very close up to the point of nip. By the motion resulting from the
combined circular and radial motion of the teeth the most advantageous action of
the teeth upon the tuft is attained. As the individual comb bars are moved radially
in succession, their outward motion on finally quitting the cam bars can be utilized
for cleaning the teeth by means of spring blades or scrapers fixed on the backs of
the comb bars and each bearing against the teeth of the succeeding bar, so that
the blade of one bar will scrape against the front of the pins of the next bar along
their whole length in the upward direction and thereby push any burrs or noil
which may be between the pins towards the points of the pins, thus loosening the
firmly adhering impurities and enabling them to be easily removed from the pins
by the brush cylinder.
In order that the spring blades may bear uniformly along their entire length,
they are perforated and slit at their upper edge.
Instead of the comb bars sliding in radial grooves in the heads of the cylinder,
they may be carried by pairs of arms pivoted within the cylinder in such manner
that they can move in a substantially-radial direction. Each of the comb bars is
carried by a pair of arms mounted on shafts parallel to the cylinder axis and
journalled in the ends of the cylinder. To make room for the arms, the cylinder
has end journals instead of a through shaft. Furthermore, every two consecutive
comb bars have the same centre of motion, the arms carrying one comb bar being
fast on the shaft whilst the arms of the other bar are loose on this shaft. The
arms and comb bars are pressed outwards by means of springs and the comb bars
are held in the forked ends of the arms and their ends pass through apertures in the
ends of the cylinder, so that the guide cam bars are situated and act on the comb
bars beyond the ends of the comb cylinder.
Dated this 24th day of October 1891
H. L. OFFERMANN,
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Heilmann Combing Machine.
I, HUBERT LEOPOLD OFFERMANN of 20, Bismark Strasse, Leipsic, in the
Kingdom of Saxony, Manager of the Leipsic Wool Combing Works, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
In combing fibres by means of the Heilmann combing machine it is necessary in
order to comb them clean, to set the upper nipper-jaw as close as possible to the
points of the comb-teeth so that in combing a weak staple the fibres are easily
broken.
The nature of the defects of existing machines will be more readily understood
by referring to Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings, forming part of this
Specification, from which it will be apparent that the tuft or fleece should only be
pierced and combed out by the teeth of the comb-segment A forwards from the
point where the top comb B enters, as indicated by the line -x, and that the
}

page_text: combing of the tuft by the comb-segment A between line x-x and the point of nip y
of the nipper C is not only unnecessary but detrimental, because the fibres are then
firmly pressed together at this point. In wool combing the distance between
lines x and y amounts to about seven or eight millimetres and as the feed is of
the same extent it follows that with comb-segments as hitherto constructed the wool
in its passage between these two points is twice combed, the first combing being
performed under the above mentioned undesirable conditions.
In the ordinary combing machines the comb teeth move in a circular path and
in order that their points which travel in the line - shall have completely
penetrated the tuft, or fleece at or before reaching the line of entry x-x of the top
comb B they must necessarily, owing to their circular orbit, enter the tuft or fleece
at a point z, in rear of the line of entry a za of the top comb B and between it and
the point of nip, so that the impossibility of obviating the above mentioned draw-
back with an ordinary comb-segment will be evident. It may, however, be avoided
if the comb teeth be mounted on radially-movable comb-bars so guided during the
revolution of the comb-drum that the teeth will not describe a circle but will be
retracted in passing beneath the nipper and only be allowed to enter the tuft or
fleece in the direction of the line of entry of the top comb, the comb-bars tbus
working like those of a gill drawing machine, and the first detrimental combing of
the tuft is avoided. A further important advantage is that the point at which
the first combing commences and the top comb subsequently enters the fleece, can
be considerably nearer to the nipper, the machine being thus well adapted for
working fibres of short staple. This is extremely important in view of the unsatis-
factory yield of the Heilmann combing machine as hitherto constructed for combing
short stapled fibres, especially short cotton wool. The radial movability of the
whole of the comb-bars, furthermore, enables the teeth to be automatically cleaned
by means of knives attached to the backs of the comb-bars and the impurities to
be removed by means of a cylindrical brush.
The feed parting and top comb mechanisms remain unaltered and it will be
sufficient for the purposes of this Specification to particularly describe only the
construction of the comb-drum and the parts operating in connection with the comb-
segment.
Referring then to the accompanying drawings,
Figure 2 is a cross-section of a comb-cylinder with two segments composed of
radially-movable comb-bars.
Figure 3 is a cross-section of a cylinder with one segment of different
construction.
Figure 4 shews the guide cam for the comb-bars, separately.
Figures 5 and 6 are longitudinal sections of the comb-drums shewn in Figures 2
and 3 respectively.
In Figures 2 and 3 the nipper B and the top comb C are partly shewn. They
are operated by known means.
The drum heads d (Figures 2 and 5) are fixed to the shaft a and connected by
leather covered segments 6 and are provided with more or less radial guide grooves f
wherein the ends e* (Figure 5) of the comb-bars e slide. These ends e* are of
rectangular section whilst the toothed portion of the bars is of the cross-sectional
form shewn in Figure 2. The grooves f open out at the periphery of the heads d
(Figure 5) and are closed by pivoted cover segments h of angle iron pivoted at i
(Figure 2). In Figure 2 the cover of one comb-segment is shewn open and the
other closed in which position it is secured by means of binding screws ², or in any
other suitable way, so as to close the ends of the grooves f and form a stop to
limit the outward motion of the comb bars e which are pressed outwards by springs
(Figure 5). By unfastening and throwing back the covers of a comb-segment A
the barse can be readily removed from the comb cylinder. At either end of the
cylinder within the heads d, guide cam bars K are arranged (as shewn in Figures 2
and 5) connected rigidly or adjustably to the machine frame so that as the comb
bars by the revolution of the drum move under the surfaces kº k¹¹¹¹ (Figure 4)

page_text: of the guide cam bars K, they are moved in their grooves f in such manner that
the points of the teeth perform the above described motion, that is to say the
faces force the comb-bars to move inwards towards the axis a of the drum
until they arrive at the point where the entry of the teeth into the tuft in the
direction of the plane of motion of the top comb C is to be made. This entry is
permitted by the faces of the guide cam bars K at this point being made
parallel to the direction of the teeth of the comb-bar which is about to move
outwards, as seen in Figure 2. In this figure the bars el to el are pushed inwards
whilst the bar el is just on the point of sliding outwards along the faces, the
drum rotating in the direction of the arrow. The teeth of bars and e¹ have
already entered the tuft and are combing it out. The teeth therefore penetrate the
tuft by an outward motion in their own plane and in a direction about perpendicular
to the tuft and in order that the teeth may be held in proper position during the
further combing, the comb-bars are still under the control of the surfaces k¹¹ k¹ of
the guide cams K which press the comb-bars inwards until on quitting the guide
cams at they are thrown outwards again by their springs g against their cover
rims h. By suitably-shaping the guide cam bars K it is possible to guide the points
of the teeth immediately beneath the lower jaw of the nipper and permit them to
enter the tuft very close up to the point of nip. By the motion resulting from
the combined circular and radial motion of the teeth, the most advantageous action
of the teeth upon the tuft is attained. As the individual comb-bars are moved
radially in succession their outward motion on finally quitting the cam bars at klll
can be utilized for cleaning the teeth by means of spring blades or scrapers m
fixed on the backs of the comb bars and each bearing against the teeth of the
succeeding bar. Figure 2 shews how the blade m of one bar el can scrape against
the front of the teeth of the next bar e" along their whole length in the upward
direction and thereby push any burrs or noil which may be between the teeth
towards the points of the teeth, thus loosening the firmly adhering impurities and
enabling them to be easily removed by the brush cylinder.
In order that the spring blades m may bear uniformly along their entire length,
they are perforated and slit at their upper edge (as shown at n Figure 5).
The construction of the comb cylinder shewn in Figures 3 and 6 only differs
essentially from that just described as regards the guiding of the comb-bars, which
instead of sliding in radial grooves in the heads of the cylinder are carried by
pairs of arms pivoted within the cylinder in such manner that the comb-bars can
move in a substantially radial direction. Each of the comb bars e, e', ell, etc., is
carried by a pair of arms 9, 91, 9", etc., mounted on shafts parallel to the cylinder
axis and journaled in the ends t of the cylinder. To make room for the arms q, the
cylinder has end journals instead of a through shaft. Furthermore, every two
consecutive comb bars have the same centre of motion, the arms carrying one comb-
bar, for instance 9, being fast on the shaft whilst the arms q¹ of the other bar are
loose on this shaft. The several pairs of arms q, q', etc., and the comb-bars are
pressed outwards by means of springs g (Figure 3) and the comb-bars are held in
the forked ends p of the arms 9 (Figure 3) and their ends e* pass through
apertures in the ends of the cylinder, so that the guide cam bars K are
situated, and act on the comb bars, beyond the ends of.the comb cylinder, as shewn in
Figure 6.
+
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is-
1. A Heilmann combing machine whose comb-drum is provided with comb-bars
movable in a substantially radial direction and controlled by guide cams in such
manner that the teeth are retracted within the drum in passing beneath the nipper
and are then projected outwards so as to penetrate the fleece in front of the nipper
in a direction approximately perpendicular to the tuft, as described.
2. In a Heilmann combing machine whose cylinder has comb bars movable in a

page_text: substantially radial direction as described, the combination therewith of scraping
or doffing knives placed upon the backs of the comb-bars so that the knife or blade
of one bar scrapes against the teeth of the following bar when the bars are moved
radially as described.
Laven is way of my 100.
H. L. OFFERMANN,
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.