IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR COMBING COTTON. WOOL FLAX, SILK, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS."
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Fothergill, Engineer and Machinist, and
William Weild, Engineer. both of the City of Manchester, and County
of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
COMBING COTTON. WOOL FLAX, SILK, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin Fothergill and
William Weild at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 11th April 1854.
We, BENJAMIN FOTHERGILL. Engineer and Machinist, and WILLIAM WEILD,
Engineer, both of the City of Manchester. and County of Lancaster, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
COMBING COTTON, WOOL, FLAX, SILK, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS" to be as
follows:-
These improvements are made upon the machine known as Heilman's
combing machine, and they consist of a new combination of mechanism, in
which some of the elementary principles of Heilman's combing machine are
retained. The distinctive features of the Invention consist in the combination
of two feeds, two pair of nippers, two combing drums or cylinders, and two
detaching combs, by which the combing of one portion of one of the fleeces is
effected, while the combed portion of the other fleece is detaching, the combed
detachments of both fleeces being united end to end (overlapping), and delivered
Price 8d

page_text: in one continuous sliver, the detaching of the combed fibres being effected by
one set of rollers mounted on an arm independent of and without contact
with the combing cylinders. The arrangements by which these purposes are
effected are described generally as follows:-The two feed rollers are mounted
on a double nipper bar, which, together with a double upper nipper and double
detaching comb, are mounted on the same axis. The nipping surface of the
nippers is arranged in the same arc, from sixty to ninety degrees apart, and
the combing cylinders or drums in the same arc (drawn from the centre or
axis on which the nippers and detaching comb is mounted), from one hundred
and twenty to one hundred and eighty degrees apart, the detaching rollers
being placed between them. The nippers have an oscillation on their axis
through the arc, whatever it may be, from sixty to ninety degrees; that is, they
have an arc of oscillation sufficient to bring each nipper alternately from its
point of combing on its combing cylinder to the point of detaching, and from
the point of detaching back to the point of combing. The detaching rollers
referred to as mounted on an arm are so arranged, that they may have, in
addition to revolving motion on their axis, a motion from and towards the
nippers, to give a facility to the rollers to take hold of the ends of the fibres
presented by the nippers, as well as to assist the detaching, and to leave
suflicient overlap for the next detachment of fibres.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Benjamin Fothergill and William Weild in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 10th October 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, BENJAMIN
FOTHERGILL, Engineer and Machinist, and WILLIAM WEILD, Engineer, both of
the City of Manchester, and County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself. Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Benjamin Fothergill and William Weild, Her especial licence that we, the
said Benjamin Fothergill and William Weild, our executors, administrators.
and assigns, or such others as we, the said Benjamin Fothergill and William
Weild, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the

page_text: 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
COMBING COTTON, WOOL, FLAX, SILK, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said Benjamin Fothergill and William
Weild, by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals. should par-
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same was to be performed, 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 we, the said Benjamin Fothergil and William
Weild, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed. to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement and accompanying Drawings (that is to say):--
...
These improvements are made upon the machine known as "Heilmann's
Combing Machine." patented in this country on or about the Twenty-fifth
February, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight Indred and forty-six.
and they consist in a new combination of mechanism, in which some of the
elementary principles of Heilmann's combing machine and its mode of action
are retained. The distinctive feature of the Invention consists in combining
mechanism, so that the combing of one portion of fibres is effected at the
same time that another portion which have been previously combed are being
detached, by which a larger production will be obtained from one machine
than can be obtained from one of Heilmann's machines of an equal number
of heads or deliveries. The manner in which we accomplish this is by a
combination of two feeds. two pairs of nippers, and two combing drums or
cylinders, a double detaching comb. and a set of rollers for detaching, mounted
on an arm. in a manner which will be more easily explained and better under-
stood by assistance of and by reference to the Drawings annexed hereto, which
represent in half natural size several views of the machine. which without
further preface we shall proceed at once to describe.
Fig. is a sectional elevation through the operating parts; Fig. 2. partly
a front view (of a machine of one head). some of the parts being supposed
removed; and Fig. 3. an end view on the right, looking at the front of the
machine. The same letters and figures of reference will be used on the same or
corresponding parts in each Figure of the Drawings. a. base of machine:
a. stands. in which operating parts are arranged and fixed; b. rollers, which
unroll the lap or sliver of material to be operated upon; c, an axis, which is
.

page_text: the centre of oscillation, common to the nippers, feed rollers, and detaching
comb; c is the central part of the double nipper, which is free on the axis c,
that passes through bosses formed on each sire of it, having oscillatory move-
ment imparted to it through the arms c; and is the outer jaw part of the
double nipper, the bars forming the nipping surface being connected together
at each side by parts c', having bosses through which the axis c passes, and to
which it is keyed. The nipping surfaces of one jaw of the nippers is fluted,
and the other is covered as in the usual manner. The feed rollers are
mounted on the frame or central part of the nippers, the bearings taking into
slots in the sides, and the necessary pressure between them in pince and feed
the material forward is obtained from springs d'. screwed to the arms c² at one
end, the other end pressing on a piece . formed of brass or other suitable
metal, which embraces the journals of the rollers. The feeding movement is
given to the feed rollers by two pawls (3). which are fixed on studs secured in
the stands a these pawls are retained against pins d'. fixed in the stands
(when not otherwise acted upon) by the force of a spring . of india-rubber
(or any other suitable spring), the ends being attached to each pawl, and the
feeding movement is effected by causing a tooth of the ratchet wheels d, fixed
upon the ends of one of the rollers forining each feed, to come against the ends
of the pawls at the latter end of each oscillatory movement of the nippers, and
the amount of feed-is regulated by using ratchet wheels with teeth of finer or
coarser pitches. according as a greater or less amount of feed is required. It
has already been explained, that the central nipper part c¹ is free on the shaft c,
and that the outer jaw part is secured on the shaft c; it will be seen, there-
fore, that a nipping or pincing action of the nippers may be obtained by a
force applied to the shaft c. acting in a direction opposite to the oscillation of
the central part of the nippers c'. the jaws of which thereby being caused
alternately to pince the material between them. one pair of nippers being
open when the other are closed. The restraining force here referred to is
applied during the extreme portion of each oscillation, and it may be obtained
from weights or springs in the following manner: A pin fixed in an arm
secured on the end of the shaft e is arranged so as to play between the prongs
of an elastic spring of the horseshoe form (which is secured to the framing).
say, during the central part of the oscillation of the shaft c, but so that it will
come in contact with and press upon one prong or the other during the
extremes of the oscillation. If a weight is employed, two studs may be
placed in the arm in the same arc, but as many degrees apart as will allow
of sufficient play before either stud will come in contact with one arm of a

page_text: T lever, which has its fulcrum on a stud fixed in the stands, both of the other
arms of the T lever being connected with a weight or with a weighted lever
at the same point; the connection may be by straps, one strap becoming slack
when the T lever is pressed one way, and the other when it is pressed the
other way; the methods above described for effecting the nipping pressure are
not shewn in the Drawings. The double detaching comb e is a bar, having
two rows of teeth, as shewn, and each end of it is secured to levers or arms e¹,
centered, as before mentioned, on the axis c. upon which it is free to oscillate;
the proper movements are imparted to the comb through an arm e from the
axis of the arms carrying the comb bar by cams e, which may be secured on
either of the combing drum shafts. The combing drum shafts are placed
in the same vertical line, and are revolved uniformly at the same speed, and
the combing drums and their construction and arrangement of combs (2)
is, similar to those now used in Heilmann's combing machines (except that a
detaching surface is not required), the comb teeth (2) extending over about
one-third the surface of the drums. The relative position of the comb surfaces
of the drums are as shewn in Fig. 1. are the circular revolving brushes,
arranged in the usual manner, to remove the short fibres and other matters
from the comb teeth, which they transfer to the endless sheets of card h, from
which they are stripped or doffed in the usual manner by dofling combs. ¡ are
rollers, mounted on a frame which oscillates on the axis ; they have an
intermittent forward revolving motion imparted to them to take up cach
detachment of fibres, and they are weighted, to pince the fibres between them
by means of hooks i, connecting straps, and weight are delivery balls or
rollers. The manner in which we give the proper motions to the operating
parts will be now explained. is the first motion shaft on which the driving
pullies are placed: ', a spur pinion on the shaft. drives a wheel on the
lower combing drum shaft, and a spur wheel on the lower combing drum
shaft geers into an equal wheel f' on the upper combing drum shaft; ² is a
spur wheel on the first motion shaft, which geers into and drives one (g) on
the upper circular brush shaft, and another on the first motion shaft drives
one g³ on the lower circular brush shaft. the
mediate wheel : motion is conveyed to
shafts h, which are fixed in brackets
shafts receive their motion from the
, motion being imparted to the rollers
sheet h passes) by worms on the shaft h', geering with worm wheels on the
card sheet rollers . Reciprocating motion to actuate the doffer combs !
two being geered by an inter-
the endless sheets of cards by
. secured to the stands a': the
combing shafts by bevel geer
(round which the endless card

page_text: and their corresponding lap unrolling rollers (b) is obtained from crank pins
on the end of the combing drum shaft f. the movement given by each pin
(5) being conveyed by connecting rods f to levers l'. having their fulcrums
on the shafts 12. on which the arms are secured which carry the doffer
combs ; and the movement of these shafts P is further transmitted by means
of arms and connecting rods to levers b', having their fulcrums on the
same centres as the ratchet wheels b2. which by spur wheels on their bosses
are geered with spur wheels on each of their respective rollers b; by this
arrangement the doffer combs have each one reciprocation, and the ratchet
wheels are each advanced one tooth (or more as may be arranged) by the
pawls b, centered on the levers 1. each revolution of the combing drums f
The nippers C, C³, require an oscillatory movement, so that one pair of nippers
shall be brought to the detaching rollers and then the other, and at the end of
each oscillation to remain at rest till the combing and detaching is effected; (that
is to say) they must be actuated so as to remain at rest, say, in the position in
which they are shewn in Fig. 1. during about one hundred and thirteen degrees
of the revolution of the combing drum shafts, and then move from that position
so as to bring the nippers which hold the fibres to be combed opposite the
detaching rollers, and consequently those nippers which were opposite the de-
taching rollers (i) to their combing drum, the movement occupying about sixty-
seven degrees of the revolution of the combing drum shafts, making a rest in
that position of equal extent with the first, and then a movement back to their
first-mentioned position. This is effected by a cam m, keyed on one of the
combing drum shafts, which has two portions of its path concentric. each por-
tion extending over one hundred and thirteen degrees, which gives the amount
of rest required, and two excentric portions (connecting the concentric portions)
of seventy-four degrees cach, which give the oscillatory movement required.
The friction bowl m¹ which takes into the path of the cam m, sec (front view).
is centred on an arm having its fulcrum on a shaft m³, which has its bearings
in the stands a¹. The motion thus imparted to this shaft (m³) is given to the
arm from the central part of each head of the machine (if of more than one
head) by an arm m and connecting rod m³. The intermittent forward
revolving motion given to the detaching rollers is obtained from a star wheel
arrangement. The pin plate n, which gives motion to the star wheel
n, is free on the axis of the oscillating or rocking frame : it has two
revolutions imparted to it for one of the combing drum shafts, by a spur
pinion n affixed to it, which geers directly into a whee! 3 on the lower
combing drum shaft. The star wheel n¹ is fixed on a shaft n. carried

page_text: in bearings on the rocking frame i', and by a spur wheel : on this shaft
(n) motion is given to a pinion, secured on the bottom or fluted de-
taching roller (d), the two being geered together by an intermediate wheel
n, on a stud in an arm n, which can radiate round the axis of the star wheel
shaft n, thereby giving a facility for regulating the motion of rollers by change
of wheels. Just before the detaching commences. the rocking frame will
be at its greatest distance from the nippers: the pin in the pin plate (n) is
arranged to begin to act on the star wheel (n) at the time the rocking frame
begins to move towards the nippers (. ) the advancing movement given to
the detaching rollers at the point of nip by the-rocking frame being at a speed
about uniform with the revolving motion given to the surface of the rollers by
the star wheel apparatus. The rocking frame obtains its movement from a
cam p on the lower combing drum shaft, which acts against a bowl p', fixed
on a stud in the side of the rocking frame, which moves towards and from
the nippers each detachment. When the cam employed for this purpose is a
single acting one, the friction bowl p' of the rocking frame may be kept
against it by weights or springs, which may be attached to an arm from the
fulcrum part of the rocking frame, projecting horizontally towards the back of
the machine. The detaching comb e (sometimes called the top comb) is
actuated, as before stated, by a cam e on the upper combing shaft of the form
shewn. The comb is drawn in Fig. 1 in its position for detaching; when this
is completed, and the nippers begin to move from the position shewn to their
other position, the detaching comb moves with them to such distance as will
bring the row of teeth on the upper side of the bar just below the line of
detaching, and immediately when this cominences the comb is struck upwards
into the combed portion of the fleece; when the detaching is finished, it moves
back with the nippers to a position a little above that in which it is represented
in Fig. 1(above the line of detaching) to be struck down into the fleece (as
shewn), when the detaching commences, as in the other case, these motions
being repeated each revolution of the combing drums. We have now described
the arrangement and combination of the mechanism, its motions, and the
manner in which the motions are obtained and imparted, and it now only
remains for us to trace the material to be operated upon through the machine.
The machine represented by the Drawings is intended to operate upon short
fibres, such as cotton, so that its operating parts (as in Heilmann's machine)
will require modifying to suit longer classes of fibres. The material to be
combed is prepared and formed into laps or slivers, precisely as it is done when
it is to be operated upon by Heilmann's combing machine. The laps are

page_text: placed on the lap rollers b, the slivers from the upper lap passing to the upper
feed rollers (d), and that of the lower lap to the lower feed rollers (d), in the
direction shewn by the double dotted lines, which represent guides of tinned
plate for the slivers to rest upon. From the feed rollers (d) each sliver passes
through and between its respective nippers, the ends protruding. In the
position shewn in Fig. 1, the machine is supposed to be combing the ends of
the sliver, pinced by and protruding from the upper nippers, from which will
be removed by the teeth of the combing drum all loose and short fibres and
other extraneous matters not held by the nippers; when this is accomplished
the nippers lower, presenting the ends of the protruding combed fibres to the
detaching rollers (e). At this point the rocking frame () is at its greatest
distance; it then begins to advance, the rollers revolving at the same time.
When the ends of the fibrés are within the nip of the rollers (i), the detaching
comb (e) is struck in (as before explained) to keep back those fibres not
pinced by the rollers, and comb the tail end of the fibres detached from the
fleece by the back movement of the rocking frame (i). During the time
these operations are being performed the machine is combing the ends of the
sliver protruding from the other nipper, and when complete, this nipper, by
the oscillation produced by the cam (m), presents to the detaching rollers (i)
the ends of the combed fibres protruding from it (one pair of nippers releasing
their hold of and the other pincing the fibres between them alternately, as
explained in describing the nipping action); and as a sufficient length of the
tail ends of the fibres detached by the detaching rollers is allowed to protrude
from them after being detached, the head end of each detachment of fibres
is spliced on or over laps on the tail end of the previously detached portion,
thus forming and delivering a continuous sliver, which is taken up at an uniform
speed by the delivery balls, which may be driven by geering from any con-
venient part of the machine. From the delivery balls (where one machine
consists of a number of heads) the slivers from each head may be collected
together and taken to a drawing box or head at the side of the machine in the
usual manner. The short fibres and other matters extracted from the fleece
by the teeth of the combing drums are transferred by the circular brushes to
the endless sheet cards, and are doffed from them into suitable receptacles, the
upper one into a receptacle of tinned plate z, fixed to the front of the machine.
We have now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our
Invention, and the manner in which it may be performed and carried into
effect, and wish it to be understood that we do not confine ourselves to the
details herein described and shown in the Drawings, which may be variously

page_text: modified and still retain the peculiar characteristics of our Invention, but
claim the combination of mechanism herein explained and shewn in the
Drawings annexed hereto, whereby the combing of one portion of fibres is
effected at the same time that another portion of fibres previously combed is
being detached or drawn from the fleece or sliver, and whereby the combed
detached portions are attached to each other and delivered in one continuous
sliver.
In witness whereof, we, the said Benjamin Fothergill and William Weild,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, the Ninth day of October,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
BENJAMIN FOTHERGILL. (L.S.)