IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING FOREIGN MATTERS FROM THE DROPPINGS FROM CARDING MACHINES AND FOR RETURNING THE RESIDUE THEREUNTO
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Wright, of 42, Bridge Street, Blackfriars, in
the City of London, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING FOREIGN MATTERS FROM
THE DROPPINGS FROM CARDING MACHINES AND FOR RETURNING THE RESIDUE
THEREUNTO." A communication from abroad by James Fitton and
Francis Edward Fullerton, of Cavendish, in the County of Windsor, in
the State of Vermont, United States of America.
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COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said James Wright at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and Declaration, on
the 2nd November 1861, pursuant to the 9th Section of the Patent
Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
WRIGHT, of 42, Bridge Street, Blackfriars, in the City of London, Civil
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
METHOD OP AND APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING FOREIGN MATTERS PROM THE DROPPINGS
FROM CARDING MACHINES AND FOR RETURNING THE RESIDUE THEREUNTO," and have
petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made solemn
Declaration that it has been communicated to me from abroad by James
Fitton and Francis Edward Fullerton, of Cavendish, in the County of Windsor,
in the State of Vermont, United States of America.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Wright, do hereby declare that
the following Complete Specification, under my hand and seal, fully describes
and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, in and by the following statement, that is to say:-
My Invention relates to the employment of the means described or their
substantial equivalents in combination with a carding mechanism, such as is
used in preparatory and also in finishing carding operations for the purpose
of catching all the droppings which fall from the carding mechanism and of
returning thereunto the fibrous portion while foreign matters, such as sand,
dye stuffs, and such like, are separated from the droppings and are removed
from the action of the carding mechanism.
The object of my Invention consists not only in the separation of the fibrous
portion of the droppings from other matters mixed with them, but in the saving
and mixing with the whole of the fibrous matter carded much of the short
staple, which is more apt to fall from the cards than the long staple, and which
would otherwise be wasted or would have a much less value when separated
from the long staple than it would have when mixed with it.
In order to shew the general principles of my Invention, and the method
which I adopt in carrying them into practice, I have appended to this Speci-
fication the accompanying Drawings, it being understood that so long as I
retain the characteristic features of the Invention, modifications and variations
may be used in applying the details to suit varying circumstances of different
cases.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
These represent in sectional elevation so much of a carding machine as is
necessary to show to illustrate the construction and operation of my improve-
ments or combination, which is also shewn in section, as before mentioned.
To the frame of the carding engine or machine, and beneath the carding
mechanism, two rollers, a and b, are mounted in suitable bearings, so that one
or both can be driven from some rotating part of the carding machine by
means of belting or gearing. An endless apron is stretched over these rolls,
and is made to move by them in a reverse direction to the rotation of the main
cylinder of the carding engine, but at a much less rate of speed. This apron
I prefer to make of leather straps placed at some distance apart, to which lags
of wood d are fixed. The lags are flat or nearly so upon their surfaces next
the belts, but their opposite surfaces are convex, and the lags are so disposed
as to leave openings between each. A roll e, which should be provided
with means for vertical adjustment, is placed under the upper part of the
apron nearest to the tangent point of the apron to the main card cylinder,

page_text: by which the apron in its movements is kept at this place almost in contact
with the card teeth upon the main cylinder. If the apron is not made long
enough to extend fully under all parts of the machine from which droppings
are likely to fall, chutes f, f, may be arranged, similarly to those shewn
in the Drawing, to direct the droppings upon the apron. The position
of the apron, whether inclined or horizontal is a matter of indifference,
may be governed by the requirements of each case. If it is deemed desirable
to have the apron concentric with the drum or main card cylinder or nearly
so for a short distance instead of tangential rollers, as shewn, any suitable
arrangement of guide rolls E may be adopted which will best effect such a
purpose. My Invention is best adapted to carding machines, which are
employed to card wool or other fibrous materials which are bearded in their
formation. It is this peculiar formation which causes the fallen fibres to cling
to the apron in its movements, while the absence of this peculiarity, and the
greater specific gravity of most matters mixed with the material being carded,
causes them to fall through the interstices of the apron or to drop from it in its
inverted position or when passing around the rolls a and b.
which grows upon sheep will be separated by my Invention from the wool, as
by its greater specific gravity and its lack in some degree of the bearded
formation, it is apt to fall from the carding mechanism upon the apron and
from thence to the floor. As the apron passes the main cylinder the fibrous
material upon it is caught by the teeth of the card cylinder, the points of
which are represented by a red line in the Drawing, and is conveyed to the
carding mechanism, by which it is incorporated with the material being carded
and much of the short fibre worked into the yarn spun from the carding which
would have been lost or else worked into goods of greatly inferior quality.
. Having now described my Invention, and how the same is carried out in
practice, I wish it understood that what I require secured to me by the before
in part recited Letters Patent is, the combination with a carding machine of
an apron arranged and operating substantially as here within described and
illustrated in the Drawings appended hereto.
Much of the hair
In witness whereof, I, the said James Wright, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of October, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-one.
JAMES WRIGHT. (L.S.)