IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR COMBING AND HECKLING FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Tongue, of Wakefield, in the County of
York, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
COMBING AND HECKLING FIBROUS MATERIALS."
Sealed the 1st December 1865, and dated the 7th June 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Tongue at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 7th
June 1865.
I, WILLIAM TONGUE, of Wakefield, in the County of York, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR COMBING AND HECKLING FIBROUS MATERIALS," to be as
follows:-
The first part of my Invention relates to the mode of arranging and con-
structing heckle sheets to be used in combination with self-acting combing
and heckling machinery, by means of which a series of heckle bars of
successive degrees of fineness are brought into operation upon fibrous
materials.
In carrying out this part of my improvements, a heckle sheet is formed
with a series of heckle bars having rows of pins set therein, the bars being
fixed upon a flexible sheet of leather or other suitable material, some or all
of such bars projecting beyond the edges of the flexible sheet in such manner

page_text: that the teeth of wheels fixed at each end of a roller (over which the sheet
passes) take into the spaces between the projecting ends of the heckle bars so
as to communicate motion to the endless sheet, and by this means bring into
operation the coarser and finer teeth in correct succession as desired; the
roller and wheels for driving the sheet have a regular motion imparted to
them by gearing so as to effect this object. The heckle bars are fastened on
to the flexible sheet by means of screws, the projecting heads of which are.
arranged in longitudinal succession so as to travel in annular grooves formed
around the rollers over which the heckle sheet passes, the larger diameters of
such rollers forming the supporting or carrying surface of the endless flexible
sheets, thus allowing the projecting heads of the screws to pass freely around
the rollers without causing any irregularity in the movement of the travelling
endless sheet. The ends of the heckle bars are controlled in their move-
ment by suitable guides which act against the projecting ends of the heckle
bars, and prevent any endway movement of the flexible sheet.
The second part of my Invention consists in the arrangement of the
transferring comb or instrument by means of which a cleaned tuft of fibrous
material presented by a nipper or other holding instrument may be taken from
such instrument and be carried to a travelling pointed surface and deposited
thereon with the long end of the tuft pointed towards the drawing-off
rollers or apparatus. The tuft of fibrous material is first caused to enter
into and amongst the teeth of the carrying comb, and upon the nippers
which carry the tuft being opened the carrying comb is caused to move
away from the nipper towards the travelling pointed surface, and is at the
same time caused to make a complete revolution so as to throw the tuft
of fibrous material over and on to the travelling pointed surface. The carry-
ing comb has also attached to or combined therewith a plate which assists in
turning over the tuft of fibrous material, and this plate is also caused to
deposit the tuft upon the travelling pointed surface when carried by the comb
into a suitable position, and I prefer to combine a circular rolling dabbing
brush with the travelling pointed surface in combination with the transferring
instrument; previously described, which brush is caused by a rotating or
oscillating movement to roll repeatedly along the pointed surface whilst tra-
velling underneath such circular brush in such manner as to press the fibres
into and among the teeth of such travelling pointed surface, the brush being
so supported as to adjust itself to that surface.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Tongue in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 7th
December 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
TONGUE, of Wakefield, in the County of York, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Tongue, Her special licence that I, the said William Tongue,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Tongue, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR COMBING AND HECKLING FIBROUS MATERIALS," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said William Tongue, my executors 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 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 NOW YE, that I, the said William Tongue, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
thereof, that is to say:-
The first part of my Invention relates to the mode of arranging and
constructing heckle sheets to be used in combination with self-acting combing
and heckling machinery, by means of which a series of heckle bars of
successive degrees of fineness are brought into operation upon fibrous
materials.
In carrying out this part of my improvements, a heckle sheet is, by prefer-
ence, constructed as shown by the several Figures in Sheet A of the Drawings
hereunto annexed, such heckle sheet being formed with a' series of beckle
bars D having rows of pins set therein. The bars D' are fixed upon a flexible
sheet of leather D or other suitable material, some or all of such bars D' (by
preference every alternate bar) projecting beyond the edges of the flexible

page_text: sheet d, in such manner that the teeth of wheels D' fixed at each end of the
roller d³ (over which the sheet passes) take into the spaces between the pro-
jecting ends of the heckles bars D₁ so as to communicate motion to the
endless sheet D, and by this means bring into operation' the coarser and finer
teeth in correct succession, as desired. The roller d' and wheels D for
driving the heckle sheet D have a regular motion imparted to them by
suitable gearing, as was fully described in the final Specification of a Patent
granted to me, dated December 9th, 1864, (No. 3065), so as to effect this
object. The heckle bars D' are fastened on to the flexible sheet D by means
of screws D³, the projecting heads of which are arranged in longitudinal
succession so as to travel in annular grooves De formed around the rollers
over which the heckle sheet D passes, the larger diameter of such rollers
forming the supporting or carrying surface of the endless flexible sheets D,
thus allowing the projecting heads of the screws to pass freely around the
rollers without causing any irregularity in the movement of the travelling
endless sheet D. The ends of the heckle bars are controlled in their move-
ment by suitable guides against which the projecting ends of the heckle bars
travel, and thus prevent any endway movement of the flexible sheet D. I
have not thought it necessary to show the application of guides, such as
above described, as any competent workman will readily adapt the same to
the particular class of machinery to which my improvements are applied.
The second part of my Invention consists in the arrangement of the trans-
ferring comb or instrument by means of which a cleaned tuft of fibrous
material presented by a nipper or other holding instrument may be taken from
such instrument and be carried to a travelling pointed surface and deposited
thereon with the long end of the tuft pointed towards the drawing-off rollers
or apparatus. The tuft of fibrous material is first caused to enter into and
amongst the teeth of the carrying comb, and upon the nippers which carry
the tuft being opened the carrying comb is caused to move away from the
nippers towards the travelling pointed surface, and is at the same time caused
to make a complete revolution or thereabouts so as to throw the tuft of
fibrous material over and on to the travelling pointed surface. The carrying
comb has also attached to or combined therewith a plate which assists in
turning over the tuft of fibrous material, and this plate is also caused to
deposit the tuft upon the travelling pointed surface when carried by the comb
into a suitable position, and I prefer to combine a circular rolling dabbing
brush with the travelling pointed surface in combination with the transferring
instrument, previously described, which brush is caused by a rotating or
oscillating movement to roll repeatedly along the pointed surface whilst

page_text: travelling underneath such circular brush in such mauner as to press the fibres
into and among the teeth of such travelling pointed surface, the brush being
so supported as to adjust itself to that surface.
And in order that the second part of my improvements may be most fully
understood and readily carried into practice, I will proceed to describe Figures
6 and 7, Sheet B, of the Drawings hereunto annexed, which show this part
of my improvements applied to an arrangement of machinery for combing
fibrous material such as was described in the Specification of the Patent
before referred to; at the same time would remark, that I do not confine
myself to the application of this part of my Invention to this particular
arrangement of machinery, the same being applicable to other arrangements
of machinery wherein detached portions of fibrous material are presented with
the longer end of such tuft or detached portion of fibre projecting from the
nipper or holding instrument. I is the transferring comb carried by the
levers i, i, and the bar which carries the transferring comb I is constructed
to revolve in bearings formed in the levers i, i¹; is is a fixed toothed quadrant
into which the wheel 23 (fastened on one end of the tranferring comb bar)
gears, so that in moving from the nipping head E to the travelling pointed
surface K the transferring comb and bar I will be caused to perform a revo-
lution or thereabouts, by which means the tuft of fibrous material carried by
the transferring instrument I will be thrown on to the endless travelling
pointed surface K with the long end of the tuft nearest to the drawing-off
rollers k, and by means of the stop coming in contact with the finger i* the
plate will be caused to throw the tuft of fibrous material from the teeth of
the transferring comb I on to the pointed travelling surface K. The plate i³ is
carried by brackets i attached to the transferring comb bar I with which the
plate is rotates so as to assist in turning over the tuft of fibrous material.
After the transferring comb I has deposited the tuft on the travelling sheet K,
as above described, it returns to the position first described preparatory to
receiving another tuft of fibrous material.
Motion is communicated to the endless travelling pointed surface K, the
drawing-off rollers k, and the rolling brush 3 by means of the trains of
toothed wheels indicated by dotted lines. The travelling pointed surface K
moves at such a speed that the successive tufts deposited upon it by the
transferring comb I are partly laid over each other so as to form a continuous
sliver, and they are pressed into and among the teeth of the endless travelling
pointed sheet K by means of the rolling brush k³. The brush k³ is carried by
levers moving on studs carried by arms fixed on the rotating axis ko, and
the brush is drawn outwards from the axis by means of springs on the

page_text: rods k', so that the brush can be pressed towards the axis k, and when by
the rotation of the axis the circular brush is brought in contact with the
travelling pointed surface K it will be caused to roll along such surface for
a certain distance, and thus press the fibrous material into and among the
teeth of the travelling sheet K, which at this point is supported by a fixed
bed or surface.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Tongue, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
J. G. TONGUE,
34, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, W.C.
WILLIAM TONGUE. (L.S.)