IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR FEEDING WOOL, COTTON, OR OTHER "
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Philip Charles Evans, Cloth Manufacturer, of
Brimscombe Mill, in the County of Gloucester, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR FEEDING WOOL, COTTON, OR OTHER
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Philip Charles Evans
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 28th October 1874.
I, PHILIP CHARLES EVANS, Cloth Manufacturer, of Brimscombe Mills,
in the County of Gloucester, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR FEEDING WOOL, COTTON, OR
OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS TO SCRIBBLING, CARDING, OR OTHER MACHINES," to be
as follows:-
This Invention has principally for its object to improve the action of
what is now well known as "Evans and King's first feed" apparatus
for wool, cotton, or other fibrous materials, the earliest form of which is
described in the Specification of Letters Patent granted to the present

page_text: аррио
(No. 184).
The present improvements are to some extent designed to meet the
different requirements as regards details and minor features of the
apparatus occasioned by differences in the nature, quality, or condition
of the fibrous materials operated upon; and some of the improved
arrangement may in some cases be advantageously used without the
weighing details, when the extreme accuracy obtainable by weighing is
not required.
One improved arrangement is for the better supplying of the fibrous
materials in a gradual manner from a heap to the weighing scale. One
portion of the bottom of the hopper into which the fibrous materials are
put is occupied by three horizontal rollers, arranged nearly in a hori-
zontal linc. These rollers turn all in one direction, and so as to carry
the fibrous materials above them towards the part of the hopper bottom
not occupied by them. Above the last of the three rollers there is a
larger roller with blades or spikes, which turns so as to move the fibrous
materials between it and the roller below, and the materials issuing from
between these rollers is beat off by a rapidly revolving fan so as to fall
into the weighing scale below. Another roller with blades or spikes
revolves above the fan, and serves to take in surplus materials and
gather them towards the feeding part. The three lower rollers may caoh
be spiked or plain, according to circumstances.
In a second improved arrangement the fibrous materials are separated
from a heap by an endless spiked apron, placed in an inclined position
in the hopper and carried and moved by rollers at its ends. Above the
upper end of the apron there is a revolving fan, which detaches the
materials so that they fall into the weighing scale, and there is another
revolving fan at the inner side of the first mentioned, and which
revolving in the backward direction keeps back any fibrous materials in
excess. Below the second or regulating fan one or more comparatively
small fluted rollers are applied to press the fibrous materials against the
feed apron with the view of rendering the quantity taken up by the
apron more regular; or an endless apron or lattice may be applied
instead of the roller or rollers for the same purpose.
A further important improvement consists in placing a comparatively
small roller, which may be plain, fluted, bladed, or spiked, between the

page_text: regulator fan and the beater-off fan. This additional roller prevents the
fibrous materials from lapping round the fans, and with it the regulator
or back fan may rotate in the forward direction.
A very regular feed is obtained by this arrangement, and it may in
some cases bc.used without the weighing details, the apron being then
by preference led in a downwardly inclined direction from its top roller
to and round a third roller placed close up to the taker-in rollers of tho
picking, oiling, scribbling, or other machine, whilst a plain roller or
board is placed above this third roller to regulate the upper surface of the
stream of fibrous materials. An unspiked or plain apron or lattice may
be used in this last described arrangement if its lifting surface is inclined
sufficiently from the vertical.
When the weighing scale details are dispensed with there may be sub-
stituted for them, to act along with either the hooked or the plain
primary feed apron or lattice, a pair of rollers, between which the fibrous
materials pass, and which move more or less apart with the varying
thickness of the materials. This movement apart of the rollers acts
through levers to vary the position of a driving belt on a pair of conical
pulleys, and thereby varies the rotatory speed of the rollers between
which the fibrous materials pass, and so compensate for any inequality
of thickness.
When the apparatus is intended for long wools or similar fibrous
materials there may be substituted for the beater-off fan a curved tooth
comb or set of such combs for taking the wool off the lifting apron or
roller. The comb is or the combs are made to vibrate by means of a
revolving crank, eccentric, or cam, and the curved teeth are arranged to
enter between the hooks or spikes of the apron or roller. The revolving
cranks, eccentrics, or cams may be applied so as to make the teeth move
in oval or other curved paths instead of simply vibrating.
A board employed in Evans and King's first feed apparatus for
periodically moving forward to a certain position the quantities of
fibrous materials delivered from the weighing scale is by the present
Invention arranged to swing forward by its own weight or by the weight
of parts attached or connected to it, and it is gradually moved back by a
pin, cam, or eccentric on any suitable part (oue of the forwarding apron
rollers for example) which revolves in concert with the carding or other
machine with which the feeding apparatus is connected.

page_text: The present Invention also comprises the following improvements in
connection with the weighing scale :-
The knife edges of the scale are formed on the ends of steel rods, and
steel studs are bored out like thimbles to receive the knife edges, the
outer ends of the knife edges being bevilled to points to bear with the
least possible friction against the inner ends of the bores, which are
made square.
The hooked or star wheel, which acts on the drawing-down rod of the
scale, has combined with it at the part where the pin of the rod enters, a
small pulley of vulcanised rubber, which assists in taking in the pin, 1
and renders the action more certain.
A small bell-crank or tumbling lever catch is provided instead of the
spring previously used for holding up the scale on its return up after
being emptied, and after the scale is quite at rest this lover catch is
turned out of the way by a pin on the rod, which periodically restarts 1
the supplying apparatus.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Philip Charles Evans in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 27th April 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS. SHALL COME, I, PHILIP
CHARLES EVANS, Cloth Manufacturer, of Brimscombe Mills, in tho
County of Gloucester, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Philip Charles Evans, Her
special licence that I, the said Philip Charles Evans, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Philip Charles
Evans, my executors, administrators, 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

page_text: and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR FEEDING WOOL, COTTON, OR OTHER FIBROUS
MATERIALS TO SCRIBBLING, CARDING, OR OTHER MACHINES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Philip Charles Evans, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or
one of their hands 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 Philip Charles Evans, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the samo
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement in writing, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, that is to say:-
My said Invention has principally for its object to improve the action
of what is now well known as "Evans and King's first feed" apparatus
for wool, cotton, or other fibrous materials, the carliest form of which is
described in the Specification of Letters Patent granted to me and to
Henry James Hogg King, and dated 20 January 1869 (No. 184).
My present improvements are to some extent designed to meet the
different requirements as regards details and minor features of the
apparatus occasioned by differences in the nature, quality, or condition
of the fibrous materials operated upon; and some of my improved
arrangements may in some cases be advantageously used without the
weighing details when the extreme accuracy obtainable by weighing is
not required.
And in order that my said Invention and the manner of performing
the same may be properly understood, I hereunto append two Sheets of
explanatory Drawings, to be herein-after referred to, and representing
various portions and modifications of the "first feed" apparatus as made
with my present improvements. In these Drawings the same reference
numerals are used to mark the same or like parts wherever they are
repeated.
One of my improved arrangements is shown in vertical section in
Figure 1, on Sheet 1 of the Drawings, and is designed for the better sup-
plying of the fibrous materials in a gradual manner from a heap to the
weighing scale 1. One portion of the bottom of the hopper 2 into which

page_text: the fibrous materials are put is occupied by three horizontal rollers 3, 4, 5,
which turn all in one direction, indicated by arrows, so as to carry the
fibrous materials above them towards the side beyond the innermost
roller 5. Above this roller 5 there is a roller 6 fitted with blades or
spikes, and which turns so as to move the fibrous materials between it
and the roller 5 below, and the materials issuing from between these
rollers are beat off by a rapidly revolving fan 7 so as to fall into the
weighing scale 1 below. The fan 7 is of a kind used for beating off the
materials from the spiked roller used in some existing modifications of
the "first feed" apparatus. Another roller 8 with blades or spikes
revolves above the fan 7, and serves to take in surplus materials and
gather them towards the feeding part. The three lower rollers 3, 4, 5,
may be either spiked or plain, according to circumstances, the arrange-
ment shown in the Figure being found to answer in practice. The
scale 1 and the various details for stopping the fan 7 for emptying the
scale and for other operations may be the same as in any suitable
existing modification of the "first feed" apparatus.
In a second improved arrangement, shown in side elevation in
Figure 2, with internal parts indicated by dotted lines, the fibrous
materials are separated from a heap by an endless spiked apron 9,
placed in an inclined position in the hopper 2 and carried and moved by
rollers 10, 11. Above the upper end of the spiked apron 9 there is a
rapidly revolving fan (like that shown in Figure 1), which detaches the
materials so that they fall into the weighing scale 1, and there is another
revolving fun 12 at the inner side of the first-mentioned fan 7, and
which revolving in the backward direction keeps back any fibrous
materials that may be in excess. Below this second or regulating fan 12
one or more comparatively small fluted rollers-13 are applied to press
the fibrous materials against the spiked apron 9, with the view of ren-
dering the quantity taken up by the feed apron more regular; or an
endless apron or lattice may be applied, as shown at 14, in Figure 3,
such apron being furnished with plain lags, spiked lags, blades, strips of
leather, or brushes, and being used instead of or in addition to tho
roller 13. Just above the roller 13 I for some kinds of wool fix a narrow
board 15 (Figure 2) across the hopper 2, with the view of forming a
reserve of wool.
A further important improvement, shown in Figure 4, consists in
11
1

page_text: bladed, or spiked, between the regulator fan 12 and the beater-off fan 7.
This additional roller 16 prevents the fibrous materials from lapping
round the fans, and with it the regulator or back fan 12 may rotate in
the forward direction, as indicated by the arrow. The fan 12 running
in this direction throws the wool against the roller 16, and any surplus
wool not taken in and carried forward is thrown back into the hopper,
and the wool in the hopper is in consequence kept open and loose. For
somo kinds of work however it is best to run the fan 12 in the other
direction, and in either case I fit one or two of the blades of the fan with
a row of spikes or strips of leather, or one blade with spikes and another
with strips of leather or with narrow brushes.
A tolerably regular feed is obtainable by the arrangements described
with reference to Figure 4, and they may in some cases be used without
the weighing details, the apron 9 being then by preference led as shown
in Figure 10 on Sheet 2 of the Drawings, in a downwardly inclined
direction from its top roller 10 to and round a third roller 17, placed
close up to the taker-in rollers 18 of the picking, oiling, scribbling, or
other machine, whilst a plain roller 19 is placed above this third roller 17
to regulate the upper surface of the stream of fibrous materials. An
unspiked or plain apron or lattice (9) may be used in this last-described
arrangement if its lifting surface is inclined sufficiently from the vertical.
The hopper 2 is in Figure 10 shown with a hinged back 20, admitting
of the capacity of the hopper being enlarged when from the looser
condition of the wool it may be desirable to put a greater bulk in the
hopper.
The arrangement described with reference to Figure 10 may be
modified and for some purposes improved by increasing the length of
the apron 9, and by introducing one or more additional fans like the
regulator fan 12, and one or more additional intermediate rollers 16.
In some cases, when the weighing scale details are dispensed with,
there may be substituted for them and be combined with either the
hooked or the plain primary feed apron or lattice (9), self-acting cor-
rective apparatus of a well-known kind, and comprising a pair of rollers,
between which the fibrous materials pass, and which move more or less
apart with the varying thickness of the materials. This movement apart
of the rollers acts through levers to vary the position of a driving belt on
a pair of conical pulleys, and thereby varies the rotatory speed of the

page_text: rollers between which the fibrous materials pass, and so compensates for
any inequality of thickness.
When the "first feed" apparatus is intended for long wools or similar
fibrous materials there may be substituted for the beater-off fan (7) a
curved tooth comb or set of such combs 21 for taking the wool off the
lifting apron, or off a spiked roller when such roller is used for lifting
the wool out of the hopper. One arrangement of the comb or set of
combs 21 is shown in Figure 11, on Sheet 2. The comb 21 is fixed on
a rocking shaft 22, and is made to vibrate by means of a connecting
rod 23, actuated by a revolving crank, eccentric, or cam, and the curved
teeth 21 are arranged to enter between the longitudinal rows of hooks or
spikes of the apron 9, or roller. The revolving cranks, eccentrics, or
cams may be applied so as to make the teeth 21 move in oval or other
curved paths instead of simply vibrating. Thus, as shown in Figure 12,
a shaft 22 on which comb teeth 21 are fixed may be held in eccentric
eyes in a pair of discs 24, revolving simultaneously one at each side of
the machine, and a rod 25 fixed to the comb may be fitted to work in an
oscillating guide 26; or, as shown in Figure 13, alternate teeth or
alternate sets of teeth 21 may be formed or fixed on separato rings
adapted to separate oppositely placed eccentrics 27, 28, fixed on a
revolving shaft 29, the rings being provided with rods 25 working in
guides 26. In one case all the teeth will act simultaneously, and in the
other different teeth will act at different times.
A board 30, Figure 2, Sheet 1, employed in Evans and King's "first
feed" apparatus for periodically moving forward to a certain position the
quantities of fibrous materials delivered from the weighing scale 1 down
upon the forwarding apron 31 is by my present Invention arranged to
swing forward by its own weight or by the weight of parts attached or
connected to it, and it is gradually moved back by a pin, crank, or
eccentric on any suitable part which revolves in concert with the carding
or other machine with which the feeding apparatus is connected. Onc
mode of carrying out this improvement is shown in Figure 5, Sheet 1,
which Figure may be regarded as a view of the left-hand or further side
of certain parts shown partially in Figure 2. The swinging board 30
has attached to it a metal arm 32 curved to give it weight and leverage,
and this arm 32 is acted on by each in its turn of a series of pins on a
disc 33 fixed on the shaft 34 of one of the rollers of the forwarding
apron 31. Each pin on the disc 33 in coming round gradually presses

page_text: back the arm 32 until it gets above the part of the arm on which it acts,
and then the weight of the arm makes the board 30 move forward and
push the wool before it.
In Figure 6 a modified arrangement is shown, and one which I prefer.
In this modification a weighted bell-crank arm 32 is fixed to the axle of
the board 30, and is connected by a slot and pin to a bell-crank lever 35,
which last is acted on by the pins on the revolving disc 33. It is some-
times more convenient to put the disc 33 and also the restarting cam on
a different shaft from that of tho feed apron roller.
My present Invention also comprises the following improvements in
connection with the weighing scale 1 :—
The knife edges of the scale are formed as shown in Figures 7 and 8,
Sheet 1, and on the ends of the steel rods 36 fixed to the scale, whilst
steel studs 37 fixed to the standards are bored out like thimbles to receive
the knife edges, the outer ends of the knife edges 36 being bevilled to
points to bear with the least possible friction against the inner ends of
the bores in the studs 37, such bores being made square at their inner
ends.
The hooked or star wheel 38, shown in inside face view in Figure 9,
and which acts on the drawing-down rod 39 (Figure 2) of the scale 1, has
combined with it at the part where the pin of the rod 39 enters or drops
in a small pulley 40, formed with an outer ring of vulcanised rubber,
which assists in taking or guiding in the pin, and renders the action
more certain. In addition to this I continue the rim of the casing in
which the star wheel 38 works completely round, but with the part 41
near and above the pulley 40 at a sufficient distance from the wheel to
allow of the movements of the pin of the drawing-down rod 39, although
otherwise preventing that rod from getting out of place.
A small bell-crank or tumbling lever catch 42, Figure 2, is provided
instead of the spring previously used for holding up the scale 1 on its
return up after being emptied, and after the scale is quite at rest this
lever catch 42 is turned out of the way by a pin 43 on the rod 44, which
periodically restarts the supplying apparatus. On the scale 1 descending
the rod 44 also descends with its pin 43, and on the scale reascending
the lever catch 42 is free to turn by the weight of its horizontal limb,
and to get under the arm 45 of the scale..

page_text: It is to be understood that any details of the apparatus not described
or delineated herein are to be constructed or arranged as in suitable
existing modification of tho "first feed" apparatus.
any
Having thus particularly described my said Invention and the manner
of performing the same, I have to state that I do not restrict myself to 5
the precise details hercin described or delineated, but that what I believe
to be novel and original, and claim as the Invention secured to me by
the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
1. The arranging or combining together of a series of rollers and a
beater-off fan for supplying fibrous materials from the bottom of a hopper 1
to a weighing scale or forwarding apron, substantially in the manner
herein-before described with reference to Figure 1 of the Drawings.
2. Combining with or adapting to the inclined primary feed apron (9)
the herein-before described improved arrangement of beater-off fan (7)
regulator fan (12), and fluted. roller or rollers (13), and with or without 1
the other improved details hercin-before described with reference to
Figures 2 to 9 of the accompanying Drawings.
3. The introducing of the spiked or other roller (16) between the
beater-off and regulator fans (7, 12), and the introducing of additional
fans and rollers, as herein-before described.
4. The applying of one or more fluted rollers (13), or of an endless
lattice (14), or of both, as and for the purposes herein-before described.
5. The constructing or arranging of the parts when without weighing
details, substantially as herein-before described with reference to
Figure 10 of the Drawings.
6. The substituting of self-acting corrective speed regulating apparatus
for the weighing details, and combining of such apparatus with any of
the improved arrangements herein-before described.
2
2
7. The employing of curved tooth combs for taking the fibrous mate-
rials off the hooked lifting apron (9) or off a hooked roller, such combs 3
having vibrating motions or motions in oval paths, as herein-before
described with reference to Figures 11, 12, and 13.
8. The arranging of the forwarding board (30) to act by the weight of
itself or parts connected to it being moved backwards by revolving
eccentric pins or cams, substantially as herein-before described.
3

page_text: 9. The constructing and combining of the knife edges and supports of
the weighing scale 1, substantially in the improved manner herein-
before described with reference to Figures 8 and 9 of the Drawings.
10. The combining of the rubber pulley (40) with the star or hooked
wheel (38), and the enlarging of the rim of the star wheel case to enclose
the pin of the drawing-down rod (39), as hercin-before described with
reference to Figure 7 of the Drawings.
11. The applying of a bell-crank lever catch (42) for temporarily sup-
porting the weighing scale (1), as herein-before explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Philip Charles Evans, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of April, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.