IMPROVEMENTS IN HACKLING MACHINES
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Barbour, of Belfast, in the County of Antrim,
Ireland, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN HACKLING MACHINES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Barbour at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 2nd December 1878.
JAMES BARBOUR, of Belfast, in the County of Antrim, Ireland.
IN HACKLING MACHINES."
"IMPROVEMENTS
These improvements consist, firstly, in the use of a pair of small rollers as
holders to the material whilst it is subjected to the action of the hackles on short
sheets, wherein the pins penetrate at some distance from the edge of the ordinary
holder.
These rollers have a surface speed given to them corresponding exactly to the
vertical motion of the material in the channel which carries the holders, this motion
being communicated by any suitable means, but preferably by a pair of sheets of
leather or other suitable substance which are attached to the channel. The rollers
are pressed together and the sheets pass between them, and so drive the rollers in
one direction or the other as the holder and material rises or falls, the material to
be operated upon being between the sheets. This method of supporting the material
during the process of hackling is applicable to all hackling machines where the
ordinary holder does not come close to the point at which the pins penetrate the
material..
The second part of this Invention consists in arranging the hackles of intersecting
hackling machines in sections or groups of two or more tools upon sheets which are
of different lengths (the shortest at the feed end, and the longest at the finishing
end), the same being intended to act upon merely a small portion of the strick at a
time.
Instead of the pins becoming gradually finer from beginning to end of the
machine, as is usually the case, they are divided into a series of groups corresponding

page_text: with the sections of groups of tools, each group of the two or more tools practically
finishing the portion of the strick it is intended specially to operate upon, the effect
of this arrangement being to finish the portion of material submitted to the action
of the hackles in sections, commencing at the end of the strick.
The third part of this Invention consists of a new arrangement of "short sheet"
of hackling tools for finishing the ends of the strick, and which is applicable to
existing machines.
This new arrangement of short sheet finishing tool with its stripping apparatus,
whether brushes and doffers or stripper bars, will be driven independently of the
rest of the machine, and its speed can therefore be adjusted relatively to the speed
of the other hackle sheets. Where doffers and brushes are used, in order to simplify
the mechanism the doffers are moved by a catch or pawl working into a ratchet
wheel on the doffer to which an intermittent motion is thereby given.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said James Barbour in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 31st May
1879.
JAMES BARBOUR, of Belfast, in the County of Antrim, Ireland.
IN HACKLING MACHINES."
"IMPROVEMENTS
The nature of these improvements will be understood from the following descrip-
tion, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing, in which the same letters
of reference always apply to the same parts.
These improvements relate to what are known as intersecting vertical sheet
hackling machines, and consist, firstly, in the use of a pair of small rollers as
holders to the material whilst it is subjected to the action of the hackles on short
sheets, wherein the pins penetrate at some distance from the edge of the ordinary
holder.
Fig. 1 is a cross section of so much of a sheet hackling machine with my first
improvement applied thereto as will serve to explain its use. a, a, are the holders,
which serve to hold the flax firmly while under the action of the hackle pins, while
at the same time they permit-of-its-rising and falling with the trough-or-channel-
which carries the ordinary clamping holders.
These rollers are mounted in bearings carried by brackets attached to the framing,
and these bearings are adjustable for the purpose of regulating the nip of the
rollers upon the stricks of flax or other material submitted to the action of the
machine. These rollers a are preferably made with an elastic surface, and they
have a surface speed given to them corresponding exactly to the vertical motion of
the material in the trough or channel which carries the ordinary holders d. Motion
may be communicated to these rollers a by any suitable means, but I prefer a pair
of sheets b, of leather or other suitable material, attached to the rising and falling
channel.
The rollers a are conveniently pressed together by springs, or weights may be
employed for that purpose. The sheets 6 pass between the rollers a, and so drive
them in one direction or the other as the holder d and material rises and falls, and
with a surface speed corresponding with the vertical motions of the fibrous material
presented to their action. Thus the rollers a serve to hold the material while
under the action of the hackle without interfering with its rising and falling
motion.
The second part of this Invention consists in arranging the tools or hackles of
intersecting hackling machines in sections or groups of two or more upon sheets
which are of different lengths, being shortest at the feed end and longest at the
finishing end, in order that a small portion only of the strick of. material may be
acted upon at a time, the succeeding sections or groups of tools being upon gradually
increasing longer sheets, according to the number of tools in the machine. Instead
of the pins or tools becoming gradually finer from beginning to end of the machine,
as is usually the case, they are divided into a series of groups corresponding with
the sections or groups of tools, each group, consisting of two or more tools, being
designed to finish the portion of the strick it is intended specially to operate upon.
This arrangement will be clearly understood by reference to Figures 2 and 3, Fig. 2
being a side view of the sheets of a six-tooled hackling machine divided into three
groups of two tools each, and Fig. 3 an end view of the same.
The third part of this Invention consists of a new arrangement of short sheets of
hackling tools for finishing the ends of the strick, and which is applicable to
existing machines. This is illustrated at Fig. 4, which is a partial side elevation of
the delivery end of the machine, and also in the sectional elevation, Fig. 1.
A separate plate or framing e is attached to the outside of the main framing
of the hackling machine. This separate framing e carries a pair of sheets f, which
are shorter than those in the machine, and are driven independently by a grooved

page_text: pulley or plain pulley and belt g from the main shafting, not from the machine.
The doffers h are moved by a catch or pawl h' working into a ratchet wheel on the
doffer.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improvements in Hackling
Machines," and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to
be understood that without limiting myself to the exact arrangements of parts
described I claim,-
First. The use of holding rollers actuated by the rise or fall of the channel in
vertical sheet hackling machines, for the purpose above set forth.
Secondly. The dividing of the tools into a series of groups or sections of hackles,
each group completing a portion of the work on the strick, as above described. .
Lastly. The application to hackling machines of the arrangement of finishing
tools above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Barbour, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, the Twenty ninth day of May, in the year of our Lord One thou-
sand eight hundred and seventy nine.
JAMES BARBOUR. (L.S.)