AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS POR PREPARING OR SLIVERING THE SHORT DRAFTS OF DRESSED SILK WASTE OR OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Greenwood, of Leeds, in the County
of York, Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF
AND APPARATUS POR PREPARING OR SLIVERING THE SHORT DRAFTS OF DRESSED
SILK WASTE OR OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS."
Sealed the 27th April 1869, and dated the 11th March 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Greenwood at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 11th March 1869.
I, THOMAS GREENWOOD, of Leeds, in the County of York, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PREPARING OR SLIVERING THE SHORT DRAFTS OF
DRESSED SILK WASTE OR OTHER FIBBOUS MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to enable better yarn to be manufac-
tured from silk waste and other short fibres than has heretofore been
effected. To accomplish this I use a machine having a travelling
endless sheet which carries the fibrous material to a fine porcupine

page_text: roller. This roller is partially covered by a shell fitting closely over the
points of the pins of the feed roller. Close to this porcupine feed roller
is a cylinder of much larger diameter, the circumference of which is
covered with fine combs, having steel needle pointed pins set slightly
tangentially. On the side of the cylinder opposite to the feed roller is
mounted in a rocking frame a pair of fluted rollers, over one of which
passes an endless leather sheet having the usual tightening roller.
These fluted rollers are geared together and are turned round by a hand
wheel, and are so arranged that the pair of fluted rollers can be brought
close to or moved a short distance from the combs on the large cylinder.
Before putting the machine in motion the fluted rollers are moved away
from the cylinder; the fibrous material is fed-in-by-means- of tho-
porcupine feed roller and the shell or cover on to and between the needle
pointed teeth of the cylinder until a sufficient quantity of fibre has
accumulated thereon to form a lap or sliver. The machine is then
stopped, and the lap is broken, and one end withdrawn from the teeth of
the cylinder; this freed end of the lap is then fed into the bite of the
fluted rollers which are now turned by the hand wheel (a slow.axial
motion being at the same time given to the cylinder) until the whole of
the sliver or lap is withdrawn or stripped from the teeth of the cylinder.
The lap or sheet sliver thus formed is now ready to undergo the action
of the drawing frame preparatory to its being spun into a yarn.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Greenwood in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 11th September 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
GREENWOOD, of Leeds, in the County of York, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of March, in the year.
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Thomas Greenwood, Her special licence that
I, the said Thomas Greenwood, my executors, administrators, and assigns,

page_text: or such others as I, the said Thomas Greenwood, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF
AND APPARATUS POR PREPARING OB SLIVERING THE SHORT DRAFTS OF DRESSED
SILK WASTE OR OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Thomas Greenwood, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their
bands 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 KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Greenwood, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in:
and by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing:
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that
is to say):-
The object of this Invention is to enable better yarn to be manufac-
tured from silk waste and other short fibres than has heretofore been
effected. To accomplish this I provide a novel arrangement of
mechanism which will enable me to accumulate the fibrous material
fed thereto and form it into a lap or sliver and then strip it off the
retaining surface and deliver it out of the machine ready for under-
going the operations of the drawing frame.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 shews in side elevation the
improved apparatus whereby the above-named operations are effected,
and Fig. 2 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale of the parts for
supplying the fibres to the retaining or accumulating surface. This.
surface consists of fine combs surrounding a drum or cylinder A, and
furnished with steel needle-pointed pins set tangentially. The cylinder
A is keyed to a shaft B, which turns in bearings in the framing of the
machine. On this shaft are mounted the fast and loose driving pulleys,
and from it the motions of the lapping portions of the machine

page_text: are taken.
C is a travelling endless feed sheet which carries forward the
fibrous material to a fine porcupine roller D, mounted in suitable
bearings in the framing. This roller works close up to the comb
cylinder A, and delivers the fibres as it takes them from the sheet C
on to the cylinder. The roller D is partially covered on its under side by
a shell E fitting closely between it and the cylinder so as to ensure the
proper delivery of the fibre from the pins of the feed roller to the comb
cylinder. At the back of the cylinder is mounted a rocking frame F,
the fulcrum of which is carried by bracket pieces attached to the main
framing. This frame F carries at its upper part a pair of fluted
rollers G, and over the lower roller passes an endless leather sheet G
These fluted rollers are
provided with the usual- tightening roller.
intended to strip off from time to time the lap or sliver formed on the
cylinder A, and deliver it out of the machine. They may be geared
together or may work by friction of contact. They are rotated by means
of a hand wheel H when it is desired to strip the comb cylinder, and for
this purpose the rocking frame is first moved inwards or towards the
combs on the large cylinder. The frame F carries a spur pinion 2 in
gear with a pinion 1 on the axle of the lower fluted roller, and into
this pinion 2 gears a pinion 3, also carried by the rocking frame F. On
the boss of the pinion 3 is a pinion 4, which is intended to gear into and
drive a spur wheel 5 affixed to the cylinder shaft. By this means a slow
rotary motion may be imparted to the cylinder when it is desired to strip
it of the accumulated fibres. The rollers are worked into and out of
their working position by the lever I, which has its fulcrum on the main
framing, and is linked as shewn to the rocking frame. I' is a notched
bar for retaining the lever (and consequently the frame) when it has
drawn forward the rocking frame to bring the rollers G into their
working position. K is a link rod extending from the rocking frame F
to a pendent rocking frame L hinged to the front of the framing, and
carrying a cylindrical brush M. This brush bears against the comb
cylinder, and is intended to press the fibres as they are received on to the
cylinder down between the needle-pointed pins with which its periphery is
covered. By this connection of the brush M with the frame F it will be
manifest that it will be lifted out of action as the frame advances with the
stripping rollers G to the cylinder and returned to its working position when
the stripping rollers are thrown out of action. For driving the feed sheet
or apron the following arrangement of gearing is provided-On the

page_text: driving shaft B is a sliding clutch which carries a spur pinion 6. This pinion
gears into a wheel 7 carried by a radius arm N supported by the shaft B,
and capable of being made fast (when adjusted in position) to the main
framing by a screw bolt passed through a segment slot in the radius arm.
On the boss of the wheel 7 is a pinion 8 which gears into and drives a
large wheel 9 on the axle of the fixed roller of the feed sheet C. A spur
pinion 10 on this axle gearing into a pinion 11 on the axle of tho
porcupine roller D serves to drive that roller in the direction of the
arrow, Fig. 2, the cylinder A at the same time rotating in the direction
of the arrow. of the same Figure. It will now be understood that before
putting the machine in motion the fluted rollers are moved away from
the cylinder to the position shewn in the Drawing. Motion is now given
to the driving shaft B through the driving band and pulley, and the
fibrous material is fed in by means of the endless sheet and taken up by
the porcupine roller, which by the aid of the shell or cover E will
continue to lay it between the needle-pointed teeth of the cylinder (the
rotary brush meanwhile pressing it down and giving it compactness)
until a sufficient quantity of fibro has accumulated thereon to form a lap
or sliver. The driving power is then thrown off and the machine is
stopped. The lap is now broken transversely and one end is lifted and
withdrawn from the teeth of the cylinder. The rollers G are now
advanced, and the gearing of the rocking frame set in motion by the
hand wheel H, and caused to impart a slow rotary motion to the cylinder
through the spur wheel 5 so soon as the freed end of the lap is laid into
the bite of the fluted rollers. The rotation of the hand wheel being
continued the rollers G will take up the lap as it is presented to them by
the slow axial motion given to the cylinder until the whole of the sliver
or lap is withdrawn on stripped from the teeth of the cylinder. The lap
or sheet sliver thus formed is now ready to undergo the action of the
drawing frame preparatory to its being spun into a yarn.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of an improved
method of and apparatus for preparing or slivering the short drafts
of dressed silk waste or other fibrous materials, and having explained the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that
under the above in part recited Letters Patent, I claim,―
First. Forming laps or slivers of short drafts of dressed silk waste
and other short fibres for the drawing frame in the manner above
described.

page_text: Secondly. The means above described whereby I am enabled to
accumulate the fibres supplied to the preparing machine and deliver
them therefrom in the form of a lap or sliver for the purpose above set
forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas. Greenwood, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Eighth day of September, in tho
year of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and sixty-nine.
THOMAS GREENWOOD. (L.S.)