IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLERS FOR COTTON GINS AND OTHER MACHINES
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Theodore Bourne, of the City, County, and State
of New York, United States of America, now residing at 34, Woburn
Place, Russell Square, London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ROLLERS FOR COTTON GINS AND OTHER MACHINES."-A communication from
abroad by Franklin Hadley Lummus, of the City, County, and State of
New York, United States of America.
Sealed the 27th January 1865, and dated the 30th July 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Theodore Bourne at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 30th
July 1864.
I, THEODORE BOURNE, of the City, County, and State of New York, United
States of America, now residing at 34, Woburn Place, Russell Square,
London, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN ROLLERS FOR COTTON GINS AND OTHER MACHINES," to be as follows:-
Rollers made of metal or other hard unyielding material are apt to injure
cotton and other fibres and substances with which they come in contact. To
obviate this difficulty wooden rollers covered with leather, or rollers made
entirely of india-rubber; have been used, neither of these however comprise the
requisite degrees of elasticity and inflexibility which a roller should possess in
order to be most useful.

page_text: This Invention combines the advantages of both leather and india-rubber,
possessing the needed degrees of hardness and also of elasticity essential to a
good roller. It employs a roller made of wood or of any suitable material,
turned off in the usual manner. Grooves, intersections, or depressions are
then made upon the surface of the roller in any desired width or direction to
serve as receptacles for rings; pieces or strips of india-rubber or other elastic
substance, or alternate strips or rings of india-rubber or other elastic sub-
stance and leather, or other suitable material may be placed upon the roller.
Thus prepared the roller is then covered with leather or any suitable covering,
and is grooved and prepared for use in the customary manner.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Theodore Bourne in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th January 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THEODORE
BOURNE, of the City, County, and State of New York, United States of
America, now residing at 34, Woburn Place, Russell Square, London, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Theodore Bourne, Her special license that I, the said Theodore Bourne, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Theodore
Bourne, 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 and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLERS FOR
COTTON GINS AND OTHER MACHINES," a communication to me from abroad by
Franklin Hadley Lummus, of the City, County, and State of New York,
United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Theodore Bourne, 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

page_text: 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 Theodore Bourne, do hereby declare the
nature of the, said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say):
.. Rollers made of metal or other hard unyielding material are apt to injure
cotton and other fibres and substances with which they come in contact. To
obviate this difficulty wooden rollers covered with leather; or rollers made
entirely of india-rubber, have been used, neither of these however comprise
the requisite degrees of elasticity and inflexibility which a roller should possess
in order to be most useful.
:
This Invention combines the advantages of both leather and india-rubber,
possessing the needed degrees of hardness and also of elasticity essential to a
great roller. It employs a roller made of wood or of any suitable material,
turned off in the usual manner. Grooves or intersections. are then made upon
the surface of the roller in any desired width or direction, to serve as recep-
tacles for rings; pieces or strips of india-rubber or other elastic substance, or
alternate strips or rings of india-rubber or other elastic substance and leather
or other suitable material may be placed upon the roller.. Thus prepared, the
roller is their covered with leather or any suitable covering, and is grooved
and prepared for use in the customary manner.
One of the advantages gained by this mode of construction is, that from
the elasticity produced beneath the outer surface of the roller, the fibre passes
with more case and less danger of breaking, and a greater quantity of fibre
can pass through in a given time than by the old mode.
And in order that this Invention may be fully understood, and readily
carried into operation, I will proceed to describe the accompanying Drawing,
which represents one of the improved rollers suitable for a cotton gin.
Fig. 1 is a transverse section, and Fig. 2 a longitudinal section.
a is the axle of the roller, and b the roller itself, which may be made of wood
or other suitable material; in the circumference of the roller annular grooves c
are turned, and these grooves are filled up by the rings d, which are made of
india-rubber, or of any other suitable elastic or yielding substance. When
the rings d are made of india-rubber, they may be easily expanded and slipped
over the ends of the roller into their respective grooves. When the rings are
all in their places, and the circumference of the roller is true, it is then covered
with leather or other suitable covering, which is grooved in the ordinary

page_text: manner.. By this means a roller is produced, the surface of which is suffi-
ciently inflexible, yet elastic and easily yielding to the pressure of fibrous
materials, such, rollers being peculiarly adapted for separating the fibres of
cotton from the seeds when applied to cotton gins, but they may also be
applied to other machines in which a partially yielding surface is desirable.
I wish to observe that although I have shewn the elastic and rigid portions
of the roller in alternate annular rings, I do not. bind myself to that par-
ticular arrangement, as the elastic and rigid portions may form spiral lines
over the surface of the roller, or they may be placed longitudinally, or in
any other direction, the breadths of the elastic and rigid portions may also
be varied.
Having thus stated the nature of the Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, as communicated to me by the within-named Franklin
Hadley Lummus, I.declare that I claim, the mode of constructing rollers for
cotton gins and other machines, and the use thereof, the surfaces of which
rollers are alternately elastic and inflexible, in the manner and for the purposes
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Theodore Bourne, have hereto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of January, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-five.
THEODORE BOURNE.
(L.8.)