IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR COMBING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edouard Jules Joseph Lecceur, of Rouen, in France, but
now residing at Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR COMBING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS
MATERIALS."
ealed the 12th June 1877, and dated the 14th December 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edouard Jules Joseph
Lecoeur at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 14th December
1876.
EDOUARD JULES JOSEPH LECŒUR, of Rouen, in France, but now residing at
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
Manchester, in the County of Lancaster.
COMBING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS."
My Invention relates to that construction of machinery for which Letters Patent
were granted to Michael Henry, dated 20th February, 1873, No. 651, and also
to John Muir Hetherington, dated 21st January, 1876, No. 254, and my said Inven-
tion is also applicable in part to other combing machines in which rotatory clamps
are employed, and consists,-
Firstly. In a method of giving motion to the cylinder whereby each pair of
clamps makes a pause (or comparatively so) in its rotation when it has to
receive a tuft of material, for which purpose I drive the cylinder through
To
the medium of a pin which is caused to move along an inclined slot.
illustrate this I describe the following arrangement:-Upon a loose toothed wheel
driven from another by the motive power is an excentric pin, upon which is
mounted a crank and pin, the said pin extending through a slot in another loose
toothed wheel (also driven by the motive power) and into an inclined slot formed
in a disc fast with the nipper cylinder. The last mentioned wheel therefore drives
the cylinder, but, by means of a pin which the said excentric causes to move along
an inclined slot and the rotation of the cylinder, is therefore variable in speed and
arranged so as to travel at its lowest speed when a tuft is presented to a pair of
nippers or for other operations to be effected. By altering the angle of the slot or
slots any desired pause may be obtained, and the gearing is so arranged as to give a
number of pauses corresponding to the number of nippers on the cylinder. This
part of my Invention may be applied to other machines in which rotatory nippers
are used.
Secondly. My Invention relates to a method of arranging and working the

page_text: rotatory nippers of the said Michael Henry and of John Muir Hetherington. I
make one portion of the said nippers movable and the other fixed to the cylinder,
but tending to be drawn towards each other by springs. When the movable part
is to be opened a bowl carried thereby arrives against a cam, after which the teeth
of a mutilated wheel arrive into gear with a sector carried by the movable part and 5
continues the opened position for the requisite time, and when the said teeth are out
of gear the springs draw the two parts of the nipper together, an incline preventing
a too sudden closing.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Edouard Jules Joseph Lecour in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 14th June 1877.
EDOUARD JULES JOSEPH LECŒUR, of Rouen, in France, but now residing at
Manchester, in the County of Lancaster. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
COMBING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS."
My Invention relates to that construction of machinery for which Letters Patent
were granted to Michael Henry, dated the Twentieth day of February, One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-three, Number 651, and also to John Muir Hetherington,
dated the Twenty-first day of January, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
six, Number 254; and my said Invention is also applicable in part to other combing
inachines in which rotatory champs are employed, and consists,
Firstly. In a method of giving motion to the cylinder whereby cach pair of
champs makes a pause (or comparatively so) in its rotation when it has to receive a
tuft of material, and it is this part of the Invention which may be employed in other
machines in which rotatory champs are used.
Secondly. My Invention relates to a method of arranging and working the
rotatory champs of the said Michael Henry and of the said John Muir Hetherington,
and with this view I make one portion of the said champs, moveable and the other
fixed to the cylinder.
Before describing the construction and operation of those parts which constitute
my Invention I will, by aid of Fig. 1, refer to the general arrangement of the acting
parts of the machine, they being constructed on the plan of John Muir Hetherington,
above referred to. At 1 is the cylinder provided with the champs 2, 4, in this
instance one only of them being moveable, as will hereafter be described, those
shown at 2 having combs 3, as described in the Specification of the said John Muir
Hetherington. The cylinder 1 is a tube as before, and from this air is drawn as
formerly explained. At C are the feed rollers, and at D, the plate along which the
combed material is passed. The other parts shewn will be recognized as sub-
stantially the same as those exhibited in the Specification of John Muir Hetherington
aforesaid.
I refer now to Figs. 2 and 3, in order to explain the first part of my Invention,
the former of these Figs. being a longitudinal section of the cylinder, together with
parts connected therewith, and the latter an end view. At a is a bush running in
bearings carried by the framework of the machine, and fast with this is the cylinder 1,
the end portion only being shewn for the purposes of this part of my Invention.
Fast with this cylinder is a plate b which is connected by slots c and bolts d to a
flange e of the bush a. At f is a wheel mounted loosely on a stud of the plate b,
and driven by another, g, ou the axis of the driving shaft h. Upon the stud i is
mounted loosely a toothed wheel k driven by a wheel on the said shaft h, and
upon the wheel is an excentric m. The strap n of this excentric is provided with
a bowl o which projects through a radial slot p formed in the plate of the wheel f
which bowl also extends through an inclined slot q formed in the plate b, which
plate as before stated is fast with the cylinder 1, but the wheel fand wheel ki,
together with its excentric m, are loose with the said cylinder. The wheels are as

page_text: stated, driven separately but at an uniform speed, and the object to be attained
is to cause the plate b, and consequently the cylinder 1, to revolve at a variable
speed.
The operation is as follows:-As the shaft revolves it drives, through the
medium of the wheel g, the wheel through a slot in which as before stated the
bowl o extends, and so far no motion would be imparted to the cylinder 1, because
the said wheel is not directly connected thereto, but it has also been stated that the
bowl extends through the slot q which is fast with the cylinder 1, and the said
cylinder is thus caused to revolve, but if it were not for another consideration at an
uniform speed; as, however, this rotation takes place the wheel drives the wheel k
fast with the excentric m, the strap of which carries the bowl o, and the said bowl
is therefore caused to traverse the diagonal slot q, and in its inward motion depress
the plate b, so as to a given extent neutralize its forward motion and cause it and
consequently the cylinder 1 to make a comparative pause or dwell, and the gearing
is so arranged that the maximum of each pause occurs at the time that each of the
clamps is to receive a tuft of material. Fig. 1 shews three clamps carried by the
cylinder, and the number of teeth of the driving wheels are marked on the Draw-
ing, suitable for the said three clamps. The slots c and bolts & are for the purpose
of adjusting the diagonal slot y, and this slot may be formed more or less at an
angle or may be curved in order to obtain any required variation of speed of the
cylinder.
The second part of my Invention is shewn at Figs. 4 to 7, inclusive, but I shall in
the first place describe by reference to Fig. 4 the general arrangement and operation
of those parts which constitute my said Invention, and subsequently refer to certain
matters of construction, which parts however may be varied. At 1 is the cylinder
upon which are fixed the stationary clamps 2 with their combs 3, but as the Fig.
represents a section with the lower part taken on a different line to the upper part
only two of the said champs and combs are shewn complete. At 4 are the moveable
champs, free to slide a short distance upon the cylinder 1, and to each of these move-
able champs is attached a toothed segment 5, and to each of these segments is fixed
one end of a spring 6, the other end thereof being attached to a part projecting from
the cylinder 1. Each of the segments is provided with a lug 7 which carries a sot
screw 8, the other end thereof abutting at times against a part 9 of an adjoining
segment, as seen by reference to 9*. At 10 is a shaft constantly driven and pro-
vided with a mutilated wheel 11 moving in concert with the cylinder, and which
successively gears into the teeth of the segments 5, as will hereafter be seen, and
upon the said shaft is a cam 12, against which at certain times bowls 13 carried by
the segments 5 arrive.
The position for the reception of the tufts of material is shewn at A, and for their
delivery at B. According to the positions of the parts, as shewn, the champs 2, 4,
have received a tuft of material, have closed thereon, and have moved forward a
certain distance, such closing having been effected by the spring 6, and the champs
20, 40, have delivered a tuft of material at B by having been opened. The mutilated
wheel 11 is in gear with the segment 5ª, and is moving with it forward in the
direction of the arrows, and the set screw 8 abuts against the part 9. Under these
circumstances the spring 6 cannot draw forward the moveable champ 48, and the two
therefore remain a short distance apart. The champs 4b, 2b, are further apart than
those shewn at 4ª, 2a, a position which has been effected by the cam 12, as will
presently appear, and they are kept in this position by the segment 5ª being in
gear with the wheel 11. The parts being in these positions the revolution of the
shaft 10 will move the wheel 11 with the degment 5 and clamp 4b, the fixed
clamp 2b also moving forward and at the same speed, the two being carried by the
cylinder, and by the time the said segment is about to leave the teeth of the wheel 11
the open space between the clamps 4b, 2b, will have arrived opposite the point A,
where a tust of material is ready to be received and drawn in by a current of air,
as in the previously patented machines above referred to, and the segment 5ª
having now passed out of gear with the wheel 11 the spring of the inoveable

page_text: clamp 4b draws the said clamp quickly forward and closes upon the tuft, carrying
it forward to the position occupied by the clamps 2, 4.
A further revolution of the cylinder 1 will convey the closed clamps (which may
now be considered those shown at 2, 4) to the position B, where the tuft has to be
delivered, and this having been accomplished the cam 12 (moving with the wheel 11)
will have arrived in position to act against a bowl 13 and force the segment and
moveable clamp backwards against the force of its spring which tends to draw it
towards the stationary clamp, thereby opening the clamp and allowing the tuft to
be drawn out and carried forward in the manner described in reference to the
former Specifications aforesaid. A further revolution of the parts will now cause
the cain 12 to continue its action against the bowl 13 of the segment and then pass
away from it, but by so acting it has opened the clamps, as seen in the Drawing at
2b, 4b, and the open position is maintained as before observed by the segment 5
being in gear with the wheel 11. The clamps have now been described as having
performed an entire revolution and as having delivered a tuft of combed material,
and the same thing is successively accomplished by the two other sets of clamps,
each segment in its turn constituting a filling piece, as that shewn at 5ª does for the
set screw 8 to rest upon, so as to prevent the clamps from closing.
In order to avoid a too sudden closing of the clamp, each segment is provided at
its end with an incline 14, which by acting gradually against the last tooth of the
wheel 11 causes a comparatively gradual closing. The air is drawn into the cylinder
through the openings 15, substantially as in the Specifications of the former Patents
aforesaid, the fan being adapted to the hollow pedestals 16 which are in communi-
cation with openings 17 (sec the vertical section, Fig. 5. This Fig. 1 also shews how
the moveable clamps are mounted upon the cylinder. At 5, as before, is the
segment provided with a groove situate upon a flange 18 formed on the bearings 19,
and on the segments are brackets 20 which extend from the moveable clamp.
Extending from these brackets are pins 21 to which one end of the springs 6 is
attached, the other end being carried by a bracket 22 extending from the fixed
clamp (see the plan view, Fig. 6).
Fig. 7 is a section of the cylinder and fixed clamps, and shewing also a ring 23
attached to the said clamps, which ring is for the purpose of supporting those old
parts which are used for pushing forward the successive tufts of material when
deposited on the plate B.
In the above description I have spoken of several of the parts in the singular,
whereas they are in practice in duplicate, one on each side of the machine, as will
be readily understood, and they are so shewn in most cases.
I have shewn the stationary clamp provided with combs according to the Patent
of John Muir Hetherington aforesaid, but it will be evident that this arrangement
may be reversed so as to make the comb clamp the moveable part.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be understood that I
claim as secured to me under the above in part recited Letters Patent and for the
purposes above set forth,--
Firstly. Driving the cylinder by means of the vadial and excentric slots with a
bowl travelling therein, substantially as described.
Secondly. As an improvement upon the former Patents aforesaid, the use of
rotatory clamps or nippers, one part of which is fixed, and the other moveable.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edouard Jules Joseph Lecour, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven.
Th
חזתT TANA