Year: 1899

page_text: A communication from abroad by MATTHEW PRIOR, of 12, Patten Street, Water-
town, Massachusetts, United States of America, Manufacturer of Cotton
Machinery.
1
I, ALFRED GEORGE BROOKES, of 55 and 56, Chancery Lane, in the County of
London, Chartered Patent Agent, 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;―
In ginning cotton with a roller gin, perhaps the feature of most importance is
the roller, which pulls the cotton over the knife and comb, and accordingly, my
present invention is an improved roller particularly adapted for use in the common
English gins for meeting the special requirements demanded of such gins.
The gins above referred to, require a roller which has a gentle gripping surface
not sufficiently tenacious to tear the fibre, but yet holding the cotton firmly
enough to compel its forward movement with the roller; and while the ginning
surface of the roller must be gentle and mild in its effects on the cotton, yet the
roller must be practically solid and unyielding while also not being liable to clog
and fill up with lint, cotton, tcetera, and it must have endurance and great
wearing qualities, all of which features I have combined in my present invention.
In general terms, my new roller comprises a surface on any usual or suitable
core or support, said surface being made up of a multitude of threads or fibres
set on end and containing interspersed here and there among them a relatively
small proportion of horse hairs or hair cloth threads, all these threads being
massed together solidly and held firmly in mutually supporting position so that
they present a virtually hard surface composed of the threaded ends, preferably
this surface will be made by winding the core with one or more strips of the
proper fibrous material stitched lengthwise and pegged to the core, and the strips
and surface may also be held still more solidly and rigidly by means of a suitable
cementitious substance.
The details of my invention will be more fully set forth in the following
description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings illustrative of a
preferred embodiment thereof, and the invention will be more particularly defined
in the appended claims.
In the drawings, Fig. 1 illustrates in plan view the manner in which I form the
material from which the roller is made.
Figs. 2 and 3 show in perspective a portion of a strip viewed from opposite

page_text: Fig. 4 is a sectional perspective of my improved roller.
Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section showing a fragment of the roller, the section
being taken on the line 5, Fig. 4.
From extensive experience in practical ginning operations of different kinds of
cotton, I have discovered that I can produce superior results in ginning certain
kinds of cotton, particularly the long staple varieties, such as the Sea-Island
cotton, with a roller which is less harsh and tenacious than the rollers at present
in use, and accordingly, my present invention has for its object the production
of a practical, commercial roller surface, meeting the various requirements which
I have already outlined.
I have found that by providing a small proportion of horse hairs standing
radially of the roller. interspersed among a large number of similarly positioned
threads or fibrous filaments, such as those from which light duck or drilling
is woven, and so mounting and securing these assembled threads that they cannot
bend or yield laterally to any appreciable extent, that the long staple cotton is
greatly improved in quality, both of the cotton itself and of the output; and in
providing this surface I arrange a series of layers of hair cloth and light duck
or drilling (or similar fabric) in a pile, superposing a layer a of hair cloth and
then one or more (two being shown) thicknesses a¹ of duck or drilling, then
another thickness of hair cloth and some more thicknesses a³ of duck or dril-
ling, and again a layer at of hair cloth and one or more layers a³ of duck or
drilling, and stitch these layers together by a plurality of rows of stitches a³, a²,
as shown in Fig. 1, and then cut the stitched layers into longitudinal strips s
along the lines indicated at 6, 64, 68, the result being a strip as shown in Figa, 2
and 3.
This strip may be of any length desired and preferably of considerable thick-
ness, being held together by a plurality of lines of stitches passing transversely
therothrough as shown.
The strip having been formed as stated, is applied to a suitable core or sup-
port, being preferably wound thereon in a spiral form, as shown, the pitch of
winding being varied if desired to suit the particular circumstances of use.
As the strip is placed on the core of the roller, it is secured thereon preferably
by means of wooden pegs p, which are preferably of soft wood, these pegs being
driven through the fabric into the core or body of the roller and standing approxi-
mately flush with the ginning surface of the roller, so as to support and give
added rigidity to the fibrous surface while at the same time they were off in use
as fast as the fibrous surface wears away,
The successive windings of the strips are crowded solidly against each other
and then pegged in place, so that when the roller is completed the threads are
mussed together with extreme firmness and rigidity and offer a hard, dense,
wearing surface, which wears away very slowly and is at the same time of exactly
the character which I have discovered is needed for this kind of cutton.
Preferably, also, I interpose a layer 9, of glue or similar adhesive substance,
which absolutely prevents any possible shifting of the covering.
It is also desirable to permeate or immerse the strips in a cementitious substance
preferably silicate of soda, and this may be done either before the strips are
wound, or after they are put in place, the silicate of soda or other similar sub-
stance serving to stiffen the fibres and cause them to adhere to each other just
enough to prevent any possible buckling or matting of the surface under hard
improper usage.
One advantage of winding the strip as shown in Fig. 4, is that the entire roller
may be made without any joint, inasmuch as it is entirely feasible to make the
strip of any length desired; and also this form of winding gives a spiral tendency
to the cotton which takes the place of the expensive grooving which is now
necessary in the English gins.

page_text: The spiral arrangement also gives a slightly rougher effect, and seems to handle
the cotton better.
My improved ginning surface is intended to replace the present walrus hide
surface which is not only expensive and hard to get, but has many objectionable
features.
1
In using a walrus hide roller (the common English gin roller) there is a con-
stant and considerable slip of the roller against the cotton, creating a great
. friction which heats up the roller and the cotton, making the latter quite hot,
with the result that it puts a gloss on the cotton and like wise straightens the
fibre, both these results being very detrimental and injurious to the cotton; and
it has been my correspondent's endeavour to devise a special roller to obviate
these serious difficulties of the common roller, without incurring other difficulties.
In further explanation of the last mentioned difficulty of the common roller,
I might say, that in spinning cotton the natural kinks or wrinkles of the fibre
are availed of for the best results, and if these kinks are smoothed out by the
roller, the cotton cannot be spun as well, this being also proved by the fact that
undeveloped cotton will not spin as well as the matured cotton, for the reason
that it does not have the kinks or wrinkles which are found in matured cotton,
and inasmuch as the ordinary cotton roller smooths down the fibre, it is much
more seriously objectionable than might at first be supposed.
My new roller, however, does not permit any slip relatively to the cotton, such
as I have explained as taking place with the walrus hide rollers, and not only
does this roller attain the object which I have aimed at, viz.; that of leaving the
cotton fibre in its natural condition and preventing the straightening and injury
of the cotton fibres, but also because there is no slip, it gives a greatly increased
production or output. In other words, my roller gives better quality and greater
quantity of output.
While my invention is particularly adapted and intended for the English gins,
I wish it understood that I am not restricted thereto, as my invention may be
used in other places; nor am I restricted in all respects to the details of con-
struction herein explained, inasmuch as various changes and substitutions aside
from those already alluded to may be resorted to without departing from the
spirit and scope of my invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the 'nature of the said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
1. The herein described cotton gin roller, comprising a core having a cylin-
drical surface covering composed of a multitude of fibrous filaments set on end
radially of the roller and having a sprinkling of horse hairs positioned throughout
the fibrous mass, the whole being solidly bound into unyielding position, and
presenting the fibres and hair ends at the surface to receive the cotton, substan-
tially as described.
2. The herein described cotton gin roller, having a ginning surface_composed
of alternating layers of hair cloth and fibrous material such as described, stitched
together in strips and secured compactly and solidly together with the horse hairs
and threads extending radially of the roller, substantially as described.
3. The herein described cotton gin roller, having a ginning surface composed of
alternating layers of hair cloth and fibrous material such as described, stitched
together in strips and secured compactly and solidly together with the horse hairs
and threads extending radially of the roller, said strips being fastened to the
roller by wooden pegs driven into the roller and projecting out into the strips a
considerable distance, substantially as described.
4. The herein described cotton gin roller, having a ginning surface composed of
alternating layers of hair cloth and fibrous material, such as described, stitched
together in strips and secured compactly and solidly together with the horse hairs

page_text: and threads extending radially of the roller, said surface being permeated with
silicate of soda, substantially as described.
5. A cotton gin roller provided with a ginning surface constructed and operating
substantially as herein described and for the purpose specified.
Dated the 5th day of January 1899
WM. BROOKES & SON,
55 and 56, Chancery Lane, London, Agents for the Applicant.