Improvements in the Mounting and Lubricating of Comb Motions for Carding Engines.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Jan., 1887
Complete Left, 5th Oct., 1887
Complete Accepted, 8th Nov., 1887
Improvements in the Mounting and Lubricating of Comb Motions
for Carding Engines.
We GEORGE ASHWORTH and ELIJAH ASHWORTH of the firm of Ashworth Brothers
of the Moss. Brook Works Collyhurst, Manchester in the County of Lancaster,
Engineers do hereby declare the nature of this Invention to be as follows:-
Our Invention relates to the means whereby rapid vibratory movement is imparted
to the doffing combs of carding ongines. The parts whereby the said movement is
directly obtained are ordinarily enclosed in a metal box. Owing to the high speed of
movement of the parts which are in frictional contact it is of great importance that
the bearings and rubbing surfaces shall be well lubricated. In the present practice
oil holes are provided whereby oil is introduced into the bearings but we have found
that these holes also give access for the entrance of grit and dirt into the hearings
and into the oil in the box or enclosed space the oil being thereby rendered less
efficient as a lubricant and the wear of the parts being increased. To remedy this
defect we close the box so that it shall be as air-tight as is practically possible the
ordinary oil holes in the shell of the box not being provided and we provide means
whereby a supply of oil or other suitable lubricant can be introduced into the box and
We also provide
whereby the amount of contained oil can be readily ascertained.
means for preventing the access of oil to the comb. In the shell of the box we form
an opening through which oil can be introduced and we provide a plug to close this
opening an extension of the plug of smaller diameter dipping into the oil and serving
as a gauge whereby the depth of oil in the box can be ascertained at any time or we
provide a gauge hole or a gauge cock in the side of the box. The intention is that
the oil shall be maintained at such a level as that the vibrating arm within the box
shall dip into the oil so as to effect the lubrication of all the bearings by the splashing
of the oil but it is important that there shall not be an excess in the supply of oil as
such excess would interfere with the rapid movements of the vibrating arm and we
therefore provide means whereby the level of the oil can be readily ascertained. The
oil is permitted to work its way through the bearing of the revolving excentric shaft.

page_text: We prefer to employ a well known arrangement wherein a conical bearing is set up
by means of a screw thread. The exuding oil is caught by a dripper and into the
same dripper we also convey any oil which is intercepted in its attempted escape from
other parts of the box. Between the rocking shaft bearing and the aperture in the
outer wall of the box we form a well to intercept the oil which passes outwardly
through such bearing. In the face upon which the lid of the box fits or in both box
and lid we form a deep channel which extends around the box from one side of the
well to the other and drains into the said well. From the said well we establish a
communication by means of passages and a spout with the aforesaid dripper the
intention being to convey all exuding oil into such dripper. We prefer to make the
said dripper of a cylindrical form so that it may be turned on its exterior and we
form a bored opening in an excentric position on one end the said hole being made of
a size to suit the boss of the crank spindle bearing or the regulating collars of the
said bearing or we form the said dripper in one piece with or attach it to the band
pulley or the said spindle so that it shall revolve and we provide a spout or tube to
intercept oil from the revolving contents of the dripper and convey such oil back to
the interior of the box. When using a non-revolving dripper we prefer to provide it
with a discharge tap. We may also connect the said dripper with the interior of the
said box by means of a pipe or passage which is provided with a tap or valve which
can be opened at intervals whenever it is desirable to permit the return of oil from
the dripper to the box. To still further check the escape of oil through the aperture
through which the rocking shaft passes we reduce the size of such aperture by the
application of thin sheet steel outside the box the thin edge of the steel being brought
as close as conveniently possible to the shaft above and below or below only. We
may also provide the shaft with a thin collar or with a suitably shaped collar and
groove the shaft between such collar and the thin edge.
Dated this 4th day of January 1887.
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James Square, Manchester,
Agents.

page_text: for Carding Engines.
We GEORGE ASHWORTH and ELIJAH ASHWORTH of the firm of Ashworth Brothers
of the Moss Brook Works, Collyhurst, Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineers, 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 and accompanying drawings
-
Our Invention relates to the means whereby rapid vibratory movement is imparted
to the doffing combs of carding engines. The parts whereby the said movement is
directly obtained are ordinarily enclosed in a metal box. Owing to the high speed of
movement of the parts which are in frictional contact it is of great importance that
the bearings and rubbing surfaces shall be well lubricated and that the lubricant should
be prevented from escaping from the box and bearings. In the present practice oil
holes are provided whereby oil is introduced to the bearings but we have found that
these holes also give access for the entrance of grit and dirt into the bearings and
into the oil in the box or enclosed space the oil being thereby rendered less efficient
as a lubricant and the wear of the parts being increased. An additional disadvantage
of the present arrangement is that the oil is apt to escape past the bearings and find
its way to the comb shaft and comb. To remedy these defects we close the box so
that it shall be as air-tight as is practically possible, the ordinary oil holes in the shell
of the box not being provided and we provide means whereby a supply of oil or other
suitable lubricant can be introduced into the box and whereby the amount of contained
oil can be readily ascertained. We also provide means for preventing the access of
oil to the comb.
And in order that our said invention may be properly understood we will now
proceed more particularly to describe the same with reference to the annexed three
sheets of drawings which fully illustrate our invention.
Fig. 1 sheet 1 is a longitudinal section of our improved comb motion. Fig. 2 is
a cross section at right angles to Fig. 1. Fig. 3 sheet 2 is a plan view with the box
cover removed. In the said Figs. the box which contains the motion consists as
shown of a hollow pedestal a provided with a cover b which is secured to the box by
four screws c. c. c. c. The box a contains a certain amount of oil which is indicated
by the shade lines, the said oil being introduced to the box through a hole in the
cover b.
To close this hole and also to provide a means for gauging the amount of
oil in the box we introduce a plug d having a reduced extension d' which dips into
the oil in the box and affords a ready means of ascertaining the depth. Instead of the
gauge plug we may use a gauge hole or cock in the side of the box. The oil is
maintained in the box at a suitable level so that the vibrating arm e within the box
shall dip into the oil and effect the lubrication of all of the bearings by the splashing

page_text: 9
of the oil. The gauge d is provided as a guide to maintain the oil at the proper level
as it is important that there should not be an excess of oil in the box lest such
excess should interfere with the rapid vibratory motion of the arm e. The arm e is
actuated in the ordinary manner from a short spindle driven from a pulley g on the
end as shown. The neck 1 of the spindle is made conical and the sliding block h
in the arm e is also formed with inclined bearing surfaces so that by adjusting the
bush screwed into the side of the box and jambed by the nut the wear of these
parts can be taken up. By the splashing of the arme the oil is thrown up to lubricate
the bearings e of the arm. The oil works its way through the bearings and enters
the channel which is formed partly in the upper side of the box a and partly in the
underside of the cover bas shown. This channel j runs entirely round the top of the
box as seen in the plan view Fig. 3 so as to insulate the bearings e¹ and receive all of
the oil which may work between the cover and the box. At the aperture marked k
on the left hand side of Fig. 1 there is formed an annular recess or chamber which
receives the oil from the bearings e¹ and from the channel j. From the bottom of
this chamber we lead an inclined passage or passages formed by boring through
the thickness of the sides of the box a. The oil which flows into the chamber escapes
therefrom through this passage m and thence through a spout n in the side of the
box see Fig. 3 into a drip box o which is secured by a screw p to a boss on the side
of the box a. A tap is placed on the drip box to draw off an accumulation of oil
but instead of this discharge tap we might connect the foot of the drip box o with the
interior of the box a by means of a pipe with a tap which could be opened at intervals
to allow the oil to return from the dripper to the interior of the box a. The oil which
exudes past the spindle is also caught by this drip box o which is thus a receptacle
for all of the oil escaping from the box a." As shown in the drawings the drip box o
is cylindrical in form for convenience of turning and finishing and a hole is bored in
an excentric position in its end to allow the spindle to pass through. The drip box
may however be of any other suitable shape and instead of securing it to the side of
the box we might form it in one with or attach it to the pulley gas shown at o¹ in
Figs. 5 and 6 sheet 3 of the drawings so that it shall revolve. As shown in the said
Figs. the revolving drip box o¹ is made as light as possible and its revolution is utilised
to return the oil through a pipe or spout s the curved open end of which is so shaped
and situated in the revolving drip box as to intercept the oil as it is carried round and
convey it back to the interior of the box a as clearly shown by the arrows in Fig. 6.
In order to bring the drip pipe n closer to the centre of the spindle and thus enable
us to reduce the diameter of the revolving drip box o² we divert the oil passage m in
the manner shown at Fig. 5. To enable us to slip the revolving drip box over the
head of the return oil pipe s we make the said pipe capable of being turned on its axis
so as to turn the upwardly curved end of the pipe into such a position as to clear the
edge of the drip box o¹. When the drip box o' has been slipped past the end of the
pipe we can then turn the pipe into the position shown in the Figs. on sheet 3 by
applying a wrest or key to the squared or polygonal portion of the pipe. The pipe
is secured in its adjusted position by a set screw t. When it is wished to remove the
pulley and drip box the set screw t is slackened and the pipe s turned so as to permit
the drip box to pass over its head. To cover in the revolving drip box and thus keep
dust from the drip box and bearings we apply a cylindrical cover u which is secured
to the boss q by a set screw e as seen at Figs. 5 and 6. This cover confers a much
neater appearance upon the apparatus and boxes the parts securely in, leaving only
the pulley exposed just as in the case of the fixed drip box o. To still further check
any possible escape of oil at the aperture & through which the rocking comb shaft w
passes (the said shaft being indicated by dotted lines at Fig. 1) we reduce the size of
such aperture by the application of a guard r made of thin sheet steel and attached
outside the box a as clearly seen at Fig. 1. This guard a rises above the outer lip of
the chamber and forms a step which prevents the oil from overflowing and running
down the side of the box. This guard may be applied both to the box and to the
cover. Fig. 4 sheet 2 shows an additional precaution which may be taken to prevent
the oil from working along the rocking shaft. At the aperture & the rocking shaft w

page_text: is grooved and behind the groove is a sharp projection or ruff y. Any oil which
might pass the ruff y enters the aforesaid groove and falls into the chamber 1. The
thin steel guard is also applied in this case.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said Invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we claim is :-
(1) The general arrangement and combination of parts composing the complete
improved comb motion substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the
accompanying drawings.
(2) In comb motions of the indicated nature the employment of the dip gauge
plug d or a gauge hole or cock for ascertaining the level of the oil in the hollow
pedestal or box a containing the parts of the motion substantially as described and
shown.
(3) In comb motions of the indicated nature the chamber or well arranged to
receive the oil draining from the bearings of the rocking shaft and from the channel j
in conjunction with the inclined passage m or passages whereby the oil is conveyed
to a drip box or receptacle oor of substantially as described and shown.
(4) The drip box or receptacle o constructed and attached in the indicated manner
or in a manner substantially the same and arranged to receive the oil coming from
the chamber or well and also the oil exuding from the bearing of the spindle f the
said drip box being provided either with a discharge tap or having communication
with the interior of the box a so as to return the oil thereto substantially as described
and shown.
(5) The drip box of formed in one with or attached to the driving pulley g so as
to revolve therewith in combination with the spouts for returning the oil to the box a
substantially as described and shown on sheet 3 of the drawings.
(6) In comb motions of the indicated nature providing a fence or guard either
alone as shown at Figs. 1 and 3 or in conjunction with the ruff and groove shown at
Fig. 4 for the purpose of preventing the oil from having access to the comb or from
running over the side of the box substantially as described and shown.
Dated this 4th door of October 1887
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James Square, Manchester,
Agents.