Improvements in Feeding Mechanism for Machinery for Opening, Cleaning, and Preparing Cotton or other Fibrous Material.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 12th July, 1892
Complete Specification Left, 30th Mar., 1893-Accepted, 13th May, 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Feeding Mechanism for Machinery for Opening,
Cleaning, and Preparing Cotton or other Fibrous Material.
I, JAMES YATE JOHNSON, of 47 Lincolns Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (which has been com-
municated to me from abroad by James Charles Potter, of Pawtucket, in the
State of Rhode Island, in the United States of America Manufacturer of Cotton
Mill Machinery) to be as follows :-
:-
This invention has been devised with more particular reference to the needs of
machinery for opening and cleaning cotton, and it is in that connection that I
shall describe it; but it is also adapted to be used in any connection in which a
lifting apron or spiked apron is employed in connection with mechanism for
delivering the material carried by such apron to machinery for opening, cleaning
or otherwise treating the same.
Much of the material raised or taken by the spiked-apron is in the form of
bunches and the like, and the apron is liable to take more stock than it is
desirable to deliver to the opener or other machine; and to remedy this trouble it
has been essayed to use a comb, sometimes reciprocating and sometimes rotary, to
remove, surplus stock and to insure as far as practicable that the stock shall be
delivered in measurably uniform quantity. The rotary comb, however, soon
becomes clogged with the fibres which catch and gather upon it so as to be
practically incapacitated for work; and in case of the reciprocating comb, trouble
is also experienced from this cause (but not to so great a degree as in the other
case), while its action in travelling to and fro against the cotton tends to pack the
cotton and to condense the material to an undue extent. It has been essayed to
prevent the clogging of the rotary comb by combining with it a clearing belt
perforated to admit the teeth of the comb. This belt passes around and in contact
with the face of the comb-cylinder adjoining the lifting apron and thence runs
off from the cylinder so as to clear the teeth thereon, but this arrangement in
practice is not effective for the purpose. The teeth as they recede from the lifting
apron draw back slantwise through the holes or slots in the clearing apron and in
so doing they carry with them the cotton fibres which gradually gather on the
comb-cylinder and are packed thereon until in a short time the diameter of the
comb-cylinder is increased to such an extent that the comb-teeth are imbedded in
the cotton and do not project through as they are intended. Moreover in practice
the holes in the clearing belt through which the comb-teeth pass must be made
somewhat larger than the teeth and of a form approaching that of an elongated
slot and through these openings the cotton fibre will unavoidably pass and catch
and gather on the comb-cylinder.
In the device employed for the purpose according to this invention (a device
which I term "equalizing doffer" in view of the manner in which it operates and
the functions which it has) there are combined a rotary cylinder or shell and a
series of spikes or teeth, which, while they revolve with the shell, are so arranged
that during such revolution they alternately protrude from and withdraw within
the shell. They protrude from the shell to the greatest extent when they are
opposite to the lifting-apron and at the point where they are required to doff the
surplus stock therefrom and after that they gradually withdraw within the shell.
Each spike or tooth protrudes from its individual hole or opening in the shell;
which hole it exactly fits and fills so that at no time is there communication
through that hole between the outside and inside of the shell. This equalizing
doffer, which is of a length equal to the width of the lifting apron, is set opposite

page_text: to that apron at the point where it is required to act upon the stock, and the space
between said doffer and the lifting-apron is the throat through which all of the
material must pass on its way to the machinery for treating it. By so combining
the doffer teeth with adjusting mechanism that the teeth may be caused to project
a greater or less distance from the doffer-cylinder at this point-that is to say into
the throat-the delivery of the cotton through the throat can be correspondingly
varied, more cotton being delivered when there is less protrusion of the doffer-
teeth and vice versa. In this way the delivery of the cotton or other stock can'
be equalized and that delivery can be varied simply by the adjustment of the
doffer-teeth alone, and without that adjustment of other parts of the machinery
which heretofore has been required for the purpose.
This adjustment of the doffer teeth for the purpose above intimated can be
attained in a variety of ways. The preferred means employed for the purpose
according to this invention are as follows.
which
There is a hopper for the material and a power-driven horizontal apron
carries the material to a spiked lifting-apron, also power-driven. Thus far there
is nothing new in the mechanism. The cotton in the hopper is taken up by the
lifting apron and after passing over the top of that apron is delivered by suitable
intermediaries to the opener-apron whence it passes into the opener.
The intermediaries to which the cotton in this instance is delivered from the
lifting-apron to the opener-apron comprise a beater-clearer, a revolving cage and
stripper-rolls.
now pass to that portion of the machinery in which this present invention more
particularly lies.
The equalizing doffer is situated at or near the upper end of the lifting apron
and is supported in bearings in the hopper so as to be parallel with that portion of
the face of the lifting apron opposite which it comes, and at such distance there-
from as to leave between the doffer-cylinder or shell and apron a cotton delivering
throat of the dimensions desired.
The equalizing-doffer consists of a cylinder connected by heads to hubs which are
supported and revolve in bearings in the sides of the hopper. The hubs receive
and are fitted upon a central shaft upon which shaft the cylinder as a whole
revolves. The doffer-teeth or spikes are cylindrical solid steel pins with pointed.
outer ends. Each pin passes through and fits closely in a hole formed for it in the
shell. In the present instance four rows of teeth set at ninety degrees from each
other are used. The teeth of each row are made fast to a steel bar. To insure
the back and forth play of the doffer-teeth in the holes in the doffer-cylinder
through which they pass the following arrangement is used. Each bar is made fast
at each end to a horn on a saddle which saddle is placed on the shaft inside the
doffer-cylinder. In the saddle is a sliding-block of rectangular external_contour
which fits and can slide in ways or grooves formed for it in the saddle. The said
block is cored out to a true circle so as to fit upon an eccentric fixed on the shaft.
Each saddle has two horns so as to carry two bars, one on each side, the said bars
being those which pertain to diametrically opposite rows of doffer-teeth. The
other two rows of doffer-teeth, that is to say, those which are set quartering to the
ones just described, are carried by end-saddles and eccentrics in precisely the same
way, the only difference being that the two saddles which carry the last named
teeth are set quartering to those which carry the first named teeth.
Under this arrangement it will be noted that when the doffer-cylinder is revolved,
the teeth, their bars and saddles will revolve with the cylinder, but, in so doing, the
teeth, by reason of the revolution of their saddles upon the eccentrics will have a
back and forth movement of their own independent of the cylinder, the result being
that during the revolution of the cylinder the rows of doffer-teeth will successively
be projected to the full extent from the doffer-cylinder and will then be gradually
withdrawn until entirely within the outer periphery of the cylinder and will again
be gradually projected or advanced to the position from which they first started
Under all circumstances, whether projected or withdrawn to its fullest extent, the

page_text: tooth fills and closes the hole in the cylinder through which it passes. The
equalizing doffer is so placed that the doffer-teeth at the time they are most
protruded are opposite to the lifting-apron at the point where they are required to
do their work in the removal of surplus stock. By the time the tooth has travelled
45° from that position it has very nearly withdrawn into the cylinder and has
completely so withdrawn by the time it has reached 90°. Thus the whole back or
rear face of the doffer is smooth, unobstructed and presents no point where fibre
can catch to form any foundation for clogging.
With the parts organized as thus far described, the doffer will remove the same
amount of stock from the lifting-apron no matter what the width of the throat may
be because the quantity of stock which can pass is determined by the distance
between the projecting teeth of the doffer and lifting-apron and therefore if it were
desired to increase or lessen the delivery or the amount of stock removed from the
doffer it would be necessary to set the apron away from the doffer or to move
the doffer as a whole away from the apron; and this might be done if desired.
But it is much preferred for this purpose to make use of a simple instrumentality
consisting of the aforesaid shaft by the partial rotation of which the eccentrics
thereon can be so set as to vary the protrusion of the teeth from the cylinder at
the working point to any desired extent. To this end there is placed upon the
outer end of the shaft at one side of the apparatus, a lever which works in a slotted
sector made fast to the frame, and has a bolt which passes through the said slot
and is tightened therein by means of a nut so as to hold the lever in any adjusted
position. The shaft can of course turn in the hub of the cylinder when so actuated
by the lever. Such being the construction of the parts, then, whenever it is
desired to increase the delivery, all that is needed is to move the lever to the,
desired extent and then fasten the same in its adjusted position. By this movement
of the lever the shaft is revolved and the eccentrics thereon are moved corre-
spondingly, the result being that there will be only a partial protrusion of the
teeth at the time they come opposite the working point on the lifting-apron. In
this way a most delicate adjustment of the feed and delivery can be obtained and it
can be varied instantly and without disturbing the relation, or interrupting the
action of the doffer and apron.
In order to insure case and certainty of action of the reciprocating doffer-teeth
and to avoid danger of cramping, each steel bar is provided at each end with a
brass or other suitable bearing block which is swivelled to the end of the bar so
that may have a slight turning movement and it fits and is received in a radial
guide groove formed in the inner face of the cylinder-head.
By the described combination of the doffer-teeth with the saddles, the sliding-
block therein, and the eccentrics, absolute rectilinear reciprocation of the teeth, are
insured, without tendency to torsional action or strain.
. I do not restrict myself to the particular details hereinbefore set forth as the
same can be varied in many particulars without departing from the principle of
the invention, for example, in the manner of constructing and fitting together the
gangs of doffer-teeth, and in the special mechanism for imparting reciprocatory
movement to those teeth during the revolution of the cylinder.
The particular construction of the lifting-apron is not an essential. It is an old
device for the purpose, and for it may be substituted other suitable or old devices,
which before have been used for similar purposes, such for example as a single
large spiked drum, or a series or gang of small spiked drums, each of which takes
the cotton from its predecessor and delivers it to its successor and, therefore, in
using the term lifting-apron I do not limit myself to that specific instrumentality,
but intend any device having the function of that apron, and adapted to serve the
same purpose.
Dated this 19th dor of July 1800)

page_text: •
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Feeding Mechanism for Machinery for Opening,
Cleaning, and Preparing Cotton or other Fibrous Material.
I JAMES YATE JOHNSON of 47 Lincolns Inn Fields in the County of
Middlesex Gentleman do hereby declare the nature of this invention (which has
been communicated to me from abroad by James Charles Potter of Pawtucket in
the State of Rhode Island in the United States of America Manufacturer of
Cotton Mill Machinery) and in what manner the same is to be performed to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :—
This invention has been devised with more particular reference to the needs of
machinery for opening and cleaning cotton and it is in that connection that it is
hereinafter described but it is also adapted to be used in any connection in which a
lifting apron or spiked apron is employed in connection with mechanism for delivering
the material carried by such apron to machinery for opening cleaning or otherwise
treating the same.
Much of the material raised or taken by the spiked-apron is in the form of
bunches and the like, and the apron is liable to take more stock than it is desirable
to deliver to the opener or other machine and to remedy this trouble it has been
essayed to use a comb, sometimes reciprocating and sometimes rotary, to remove
surplus stock and to ensure as far as practicable that the stock shall be delivered
in measureably uniform quantity. The rotary comb however soon becomes clogged
with the fibres which catch and gather upon it so as to be practically incapacitated
for work and in case of the reciprocating comb, trouble is also experienced from
this cause (but not to so great a degree as in the other case) whilst its action in
travelling to and fro against the cotton tends to pack the cotton and to condense
the material to an undue extent. It has been essayed to prevent the clogging of
the rotary comb by combining with it a clearing belt perforated to admit the teeth
of the comb, the said belt passing around and in contact with the face of the
comb-cylinder adjoining the lifting apron and thence off from the cylinder so as to
clear the teeth thereon, but this arrangement in practice is not effective for the
purpose. The teeth as they recede from the lifting apron draw back slantwise
through the holes or slots in the clearing apron and in so doing they carry with
them the cotton fibres which gradually gather on the comb cylinder and are packed
thereon until in a short time the diameter of the comb-cylinder is increased to such
an extent that the comb teeth are imbedded in the cotton and do not project
through as they are intended. Moreover in practice the holes in the clearing
belt through which the comb teeth pass must be made somewhat larger than
the teeth and of a form approaching that of an elongated slot and through these
openings the cotton fibre will unavoidably pass and catch and gather on the
"comb-cylinder.
66
In the device employed for the purpose according to this invention (a device
which may be termed an equalizing doffer" in view of the manner in which it
operates and the functions which it has,) there are combined a rotary cylinder or
shell, and a series of spikes or teeth, which while they revolve with the shell, are
so arranged that during such revolution they alternately protrude from and with-
draw within the shell. They protrude from the shell to the greatest extent when
they are opposite to the lifting apron and at the point where they are required to
doff the surplus stock therefrom and after that they gradually withdraw within the
shell. Each spike or tooth protrudes from its individual hole or opening in the
shell, which hole it exactly fits and fills so that at no time is there communication
through that hole between the outside and inside of the shell. This equalizing
doffer which is of a length equal to the width of the lifting apron, is set opposite
to that apron at the point where it is required to act upon the stock, and the space

page_text: between the said Ɑoner and the miting-apron is the throat through which an of the
material must pass on its way to the machinery for treating it. By so combining
the doffer teeth with adjusting mechanism that the teeth may be caused to project
a greater or less distance from the doffer-cylinder at this point (that is to say into
the throat) the delivery of the cotton through the throat can be correspondingly
varied, more cotton being delivered when there is less protrusion of the doffer-
teeth and vice versa. In this way the delivery of the cotton or other stock can be
equalized and that delivery can be varied simply by the adjustment of the doffer
teeth alone and without adjustment of other parts of the machinery which heretofore
has been required for the purpose.
This adjustment of the doffer-teeth for the purpose above intimated can be
attained in a variety of ways. The preferred means employed for the purpose
according to this invention are represented in the accompanying drawings which
I will now proceed to describe.
Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of so much of a cotton opening and cleaning
machine as is needed for the purposes of explanation.
Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical section on enlarged scale of the equalizing-
doffer.
Figure 3 is a cross section on line 3, 3 of Figure 2.
Figure 4 is a top view of one of the saddles and Figure 5 is a face and side view
of the sliding block to fit that saddle.
A is a hopper for the material. B is a power-driven horizontal apron which
carries the material to the spiked lifting apron D which is also power driven.
Thus far there is nothing new in the mechanism. The cotton in the hopper A is
taken up by the lifting apron D and after passing over the top of that apron is
delivered by suitable intermediaries to the opener-apron N whence it passes into
the opener O.
The intermediaries to which the cotton in this instance is delivered from the
lifting-apron to the opener-apron comprise a beater-clearer E, a revolving cage M
and stripper-rolls H. These devices together with their accessories TPL and F
are not here claimed but are made the subject of another application for Letters
Patent of even date herewith. No. 12806.
The equalizing doffer constituting the essential feature of this invention is shewn
in Figure 1 at C. It is situated at or near to the upper end of the lifting apron D
and is supported in bearings in the hopper so as to be parallel with that portion of
the face of the lifting apron opposite which it is arranged and at such distance
therefrom as to leave between the doffer-cylinder or shell and the apron a cotton
delivering throat of the dimensions desired.
The equalizing-doffer consists of a cylinder a connected by heads a¹ to hubs a²
which are supported and revolve in bearings a³ (Figure 2) in the sides of the
hopper A. The hubs receive and are fitted upon a central shaft upon which
shaft the cylinder as a whole revolves. The doffer-teeth or spikes are shewn at c.
They are cylindrical solid steel pins with pointed outer ends. Each pin passes
through and fits closely in a hole formed for it in the shell a. In the present
instance four rows of teeth set at ninety degrees from each other are used. The
teeth of each row are made fast to a steel bar c¹ as shewn in Figures 2 and 3. To
insure the back and forth play of the doffer-teeth in the holes in the doffer-cylinder
through which they pass each bar is made fast at each end to a horn d¹ on a
saddled which saddle is mounted on the shaft 6 inside the doffer-cylinder. In the
saddle d is a sliding-block e of rectangular external contour which fits and can slide
in ways or grooves d² formed for it in the saddle. The block e is cored out to a
true circle so as to fit upon an eccentric b¹ fixed on the shaft b. Two saddles d and
block e are provided at each end of the cylinder a and each saddle has two horns
so as to carry two bars, one on each side, the said bars being those which pertain
to diametrically opposite rows of doffer-teeth as indicated in Figure 3. The other
two rows of doffer-teeth, that is to say those which are set at right angles to those
just described, are carried by the other two saddles and eccentrics in precisely the

page_text: same way, the only difference being that the two saddles which carry the last
named teeth are set at right angles to those which carry the first named teeth.
Under this arrangement it will be noted that when the doffer-cylinder is revolved
the teeth, their bars and saddles will revolve with the cylinder, but in so doing, the
teeth by reason of the revolution of their saddles upon the eccentrics will have a
back and forth movement of their own independent of the cylinder, the result being
that during the revolution of the cylinder the rows of doffer-teeth will successively
be projected to the full extent from the doffer-cylinder and will then be gradually
withdrawn until entirely within the outer periphery of the cylinder and will again
be gradually projected or advanced to the position from which they first started as
illustrated plainly in Figure 3. It will be understood by reference to Figure 3
that under all circumstances whether projected or withdrawn to their fullest extent,
the teeth fill and close the holes in the cylinder through which they pass. In
Figure 1 the equalizing doffer is so arranged that the doffer-teeth at the time they
are most protruded from the cylinder are opposite to the lifting-apron at the point
where they are required to do their work in the removal of surplus stock. By the
time the cylinder a has made a partial rotation and the teeth have travelled 45°
from that position they are very nearly withdrawn into the cylinder and are com-
pletely so withdrawn by the time they reach 90°. Thus the whole back or rear
face of the doffer is smooth, unobstructed and presents no point where fibre can
catch to form any foundation for clogging.
With the parts organised as thus far described the doffer will remove the same
amount of stock from the lifting-apron no matter what the width of the throat may
be because the quantity of stock which can pass is determined by the distance
between the projecting teeth of the doffer and the lifting-apron and therefore if it
were desired to increase or lessen the delivery or the amount of stock removed
from the doffer it would be necessary to set the apron away from the doffer or to
move the doffer as a whole away from the apron and this might be done if desired.
But it is preferred for this purpose to adjust the shaft b axially in its bearings
so as to alter the position or set of the eccentrics thereon as to vary as required
the extent of protrusion of the teeth from the cylinder at the working point.
To this end there is placed upon the outer end of the shaft at one side of the
apparatus a lever which works in a slotted sector m made fast to the frame a
bolt passing through the said slot and being tightened therein by means of a nut
holding the said lever in any adjusted position. The shaft can of course turn in
the hub of the cylinder when so actuated by the lever. Such being the construction
of the parts, then, whenever it is desired to increase the delivery, all that is needed
is to move the lever to the left from the position shown in Figure 1 to the desired
extent and then fasten the same in its adjusted position by means of the bolt and
nut as described. By this movement of the lever the shaft bis revolved and the
eccentrics thereon are moved correspondingly the result being that there will be
only a partial protrusion of the teeth at the time they come opposite the working
point on the lifting-apron. By this means a most delicate adjustment of the feed
and delivery may be very readily effected without disturbing the relation or
interruping the action of the doffer and apron.
In order to insure ease and certainty of action of the reciprocating doffer-teeth
and to avoid danger of cramping each steel bar c¹ is provided at each end with a
brass or other suitable bearing block which is swivelled to the end of the bar so
that the said bar may have a slight turning movement therein. These blocks fit
and slide in radial guides or grooves a' formed in the inner face of the cylinder-
heads.
By the hereinbefore described combination of the doffer-teeth with the saddles,
the sliding-block therein, and the eccentrics, absolute rectilinear reciprocation of
the teeth is ensured without tendency to torsional action or strain.
Having now described this invention and the way of carrying the same out in
practice it is to be understood that the invention is not restricted to the particular
..details herein before described and illustrated as. they may be varied in many

page_text: particulars without departing from the principle of the invention for example in
the manner of constructing and fitting together the gangs of doffer-teeth and in the
special mechanism for imparting reciprocatory movement to those teeth during the
revolution of the cylinder. It is also to be understood that the particular con-
struction of the lifting-apron shewn and described is not an essential feature. It is
an old device for the purpose, and it may be substituted for other old or suitable
devices, which before have been or may be used for similar purposes, such for
example as a single large spiked drum or a series or gang of small spiked drums,
each of which takes the cotton from its predecessor and delivers it to its successor
and therefore in using the term lifting apron the invention is not limited to that
specific instrumentality but any device having the function of that apron, and
adapted to serve the same purpose may be employed.
But what I claim is.-
1st. The combination with the lifting-apron or its equivalent of the rotating
doffer-cylinder its doffer-teeth and mechanism whereby the said teeth during their
revolution with the cylinder are alternately projected from and withdrawn within
the latter, substantially as hereinbefore described.
2nd. The combination with the lifting-apron or its equivalent of the rotating
doffer-cylinder the reciprocatory doffer-teeth revolving with the cylinder and
alternately projected from and withdrawn within the latter during such revolution
and means for varying the protrusion of the teeth at the working point, or point
where they operate on the stock on the apron or the like substantially as and for
the purpose herein before described.
3rd. The combination of the doffer-cylinder the doffer-teeth, the doffer-supporting
bars the saddles, their sliding blocks, and the stationary eccentrics on which the
said blocks are mounted, substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore
described.
4th. The eccentrics & their shaft 6 and means for adjusting the same, in combina-
tion with the doffer-cylinder a and the doffer-teeth c and their supporting frames
mounted on the said eccentrics substantially as hereinbefore described.
Doted this 20th day of ML 1902
J. H. JOHNSON & Co.,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents.