Iм- PROVEMENTS IN COMBING WOOL AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES, AND IN MACHINERY FOR THAT PHRASE
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Alfred Cowper, of Great George Street,
Westminster, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN COMBING WOOL AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES, AND IN
MACHINERY FOR THAT PHRASE"
Sealed the 24th June 1856, and dated the 27th December 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Alfred Cowper
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 27th December 1855.
I, EDWARD ALFRED COWPER, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN COMBING WOOL AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES,
AND IN MACHINERY FOR THAT PURPOSE, to be as follows:-
I construct a machine with a series of taking combs, mounted on a revolving
cylinder or wheel, and as it revolves the combs become filled with wool from
one or more feeding apparatus, either on passing it or them once or several
times, and taking a little each time. The wool is carried past working combs
or card surfaces by which it is cleaned, and it is then removed or doffed off
the taking combs by a comb or combs, which move sufficiently quick to
overtake the taking combs. This quick moving comb or combs is or are
worked by cranks, or cams, or wheelwork, or otherwise, and the wool is by
this means deposited in a receiving comb, from which it is drawn off. The
taking combs may revolve with uniform velocity, or they may be made to stop
or to move slower when passing the aforesaid quick moving comb than at
other parts of their revolution, so as to facilitate the removal of the wool.
Or, instead of the quick moving comb, the taking combs themselves have an

page_text: intermittent rotary or reciprocating motion, by which they are made to draw
back suddenly on passing the receiving comb, so as to deposit the wool in it.
Or the wool is removed from the combs by brushes mounted on the wheel
itself, which lift the wool off the taking combs, and deposit it in the receiving
comb, from which it is afterwards drawn off, as before: Guard plates are
introduced to prevent the clean end of the wool being carried over the
receiving comb.
I have described the Invention as applied to the combing of wool, but it
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by. the said Edward Alfred Cowper in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 25th June' 1856.
:
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
ALFRED COWPER, of Great George Street, Westminster, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
.::
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Edward Alfred Cowper, Her special licence that I, the said Edward
Alfred Cowper, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such, others
as I, the said Edward Alfred Cowper, 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 COMBING WOOL, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES, AND IN
MACHINERY FOR THAT PURPOSE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Edward Alfred Cowper, 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.
1.
•
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward Alfred Cowper, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and
to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say :-..
:
:
I construct a machine with a series of taking combs, mounted on a revolving
cylinder or wheel, and .as it revolves the combs become filled with. wool from
one or more feeding "apparatus, either on passing it or them once. or. several
times; and taking a little each time. The wool is carried past working combs
or card surfaces by which it is cleaned, and it is then removed or coffed off
the taking combs by a comb or combs, which move sufficiently quick to over-
take the taking combs. This quick moving comb or combs is. or are worked
by cranks, or cams, or wheelwork, or otherwise, and the wool is by this means
deposited in a receiving comb, from which it is drawn off. The taking combs
may revolve with uniform velocity, or they may be made to stop or to niove
slower when passing the aforesaid quick moving comb than at other parts of
their revolution, so as to facilitate the removal of the wool. Or, instead of the
quick moving comb, the taking combs themselves have an intermittent rotary
or reciprocating motion, by which they are made to draw back-suddenly on
passing the receiving comb, so, as to deposit the wool in it.. Or the wool
is removed from the combs by brushes mounted on the wheel itself; which
lift the wool off the taking combs, and deposit it on the receiving comb, from
which it is afterwards drawn off, as before. Guard 'plátes are introduced to
prevent the clean end of the wool being carried over the receiving comb.
I have described the Invention as applied to the combing of wool, but it
may also be applied to the combing of cotton and other fibrous' substances:::
Figure 1, Sheet I. of the accompanying Drawings, is a' section of a combing
machine constructed according to my Invention; Figure 2 is a plan of 'the'
sámé: The samé letters refer to similar parts in each Figure. The franiing
ánd such other parts. of the machine are omitted as are not required for
explaining the nature of the Invention. A is a cylinder which carries the
taking combs B, B, which are supplied with the wool. or other fibrous sub-
stance by: the feeding apparatus C, C: The wool is carried by the taking
combs B; B, past the cylinders D, D, which are covered with wire cards or
with' working combs, by which' the end of the wool is' commbed' and' cleaned.
The wool is then removed from the combs B by means of a comb E, which
moves at a greater velocity than the combs B, and overtakes them: The
comb E is mounted on a light frame F, which is connected to two'cranks G, G;
at the upper end, and' to two other cranks at the lower end, one of which is
shewn at H in Figure 1. The comb E enter's the clean part of the fringe of
wool and lifts it off the comb B, and on arriving in the position shewn' by the

page_text: dotted lines it deposits the fringe in the receiving comb I, into which it is
forced by the brush J, driven by an excentric K and rod L, or in any other
suitable manner. The comb I is a travelling receiving or chain comb, which
receives and carries away the fringe of wool with the clean part of the fringe
projecting from one side, while the uncleaned portion, which had previously
been in the comb B, projects from the other side of the comb I. The
cleaned fringe is drawn off from the comb I by drawing-off rollers, leaving the
noil in the comb I, from which. it is removed by noil lifters or brushes, or
otherwise, as is well understood. The card rollers or working combs D, D,
revolve slowly, and are doffed or cleaned in the ordinary manner. The
speeds of the quick moving or overtaking comb E and the cylinder A are
so proportioned that each taking comb B is stripped of its wool as it passes;
or the speeds may be so proportioned that each taking comb B may pass the
overtaking comb E once, twice, or more times before being stripped of its
wool, so that every second or third comb, for example, may be so stripped, and
the total numbers of combs B are then so arranged that all of them in turn
may be successively stripped in successive revolutions of the cylinder A. In
this way the machine may be made to take a portion of wool from the feeding
apparatus and to clean it on the card surfaces or working combs D, D, and
then take a fresh portion of wool from the feeding apparatus and clean it on
the card surfaces, and thus accumulate two, three, or more portions of wool,
which are then removed by the comb E.
Figure 3 is a section of a portion of a combing machine thus arranged and
adapted for taking four portions of wool in succession on each of the combs B.
The cylinder A carries fifteen of these combs B, and makes four revolutions
in the same time that the overtaking comb E makes fifteen revolutions. The
wool is thus removed from every fourth comb as it passes, and all the combs B
are thus stripped of their wool in succession. M is a cam, shewn by dotted
lines, and which makes five revolutions in the same time that the cylinder A
makes four revolutions, and in the opposite direction. This cam has three
sudden rises or inclines, connected by three long descents, as shown in the
Drawing; it acts against two rollers N, N, which are connected to sliding
bars which carry the bearings of the card rollers or working combs D, D.
A similar cam with rollers and slides is placed at each side of the machine.
The rollers N are kept in contact with the cams by springs or weights. The
.card rollers D, D, are thus moved outwards a little as the largest or quadruple
portions of wool pass them, and are then allowed gradually to approach the
comb cylinder as the triple and double and single portions of wool successively
pass them. Each successive portion of wool is thus properly cleaned, and

page_text: when four portions have been accumulated on a comb, that comb is stripped
by the overtaking comb E, which places the wool in the travelling receiving
comb I, as before. In like manner the machine may be arranged to take more
or less than four successive portions of wool on each comb.
Figure 4, Sheet II., is a section, and Figure 5 is a plan, of portions of
another of my improved machines.. A is the cylinder carrying the combs B, B,
as before. The overtaking comb E is arranged so as to strip the wool from
each comb B as it passes. The machine, however, is supplied by several
feeding apparatus C, between which are the combs or card surfaces D, D.
Each comb B is thus supplied with several portions of wool, each of which is
successively combed or carded or cleaned by the rollers D, D, and the whole
is then stripped or removed by the comb E and placed in the travelling
comb I, from which it is drawn off by the drawing-off rollers 0, 0, as
before.
Figure 6 is a section, shewing the drawing-off-rollers O, O, and the travelling
receiving comb I. The details of this travelling or chain comb I are not
shewn in the Drawing, as such combs are in use in other combing machinery,
and are well known. In lieu of fixing the combs B upon the cylinder A,
and causing them to move at a uniform velocity, they may be attached to
radial arms or levers having a variable motion, and so arranged as to move
slower or to stop on arriving opposite to the comb E, so as to facilitate the
removal of the wool. Or in lieu of employing the comb E, the combs B
may have an intermittent or reciprocating motion, which they are made
to draw back suddenly on passing the receiving comb I so as to deposit the
wool in it.
Figure 7, Sheet III., is a section, and Figure 8 is a plan, of portions of a
machine so constructed. The combs B, B, are mounted separately on levers
P, P, carried by the wheels A. The levers P have short arms Q, carrying
rollers R, which run in a groove in a fixed cam S; the greater portion of this
cam is concentric with the cylinder. The combs B are thus carried by the
cylinder at a regular velocity past the feeding apparatus C, C, and card rollers
D, D, of which several may be employed, as in the machine shown in Figures
4 and 5. The lever P of each comb B carries a projection p, which comes
in contact with a fixed pin T, by which the lever is thrown back from the
position 6 to those indicated by the dotted lines b' and 63 on passing the travel-
ling receiving comb I. The wool is thus deposited in the comb I, into which
it is pressed by the brush J, and from which it is drawn off by the drawing-off
rollers O, which are shewn in plan in Figure 8, and in section in Figure 9.
When the comb B has reached the position 62, the projection p escapes past

page_text: the pin T. The form of the cam S is so arranged as to allow of the motion
occasioned by the action of the pin T, and then to cause the lever P to return
to its original position before arriving at the feeding apparatus.
Another mode of removing the wool from the combs B is by means of
brushes mounted on the wheel or cylinder itself, which brushes lift the wool
off the combs B and deposit it on the travelling receiving comb I, from which
it is afterwards drawn off, as before.
Figure 10, Sheet IV., is a section, and Figure 11 is a plan, of a machine
which is arranged to act in this manner. A is the cylinder or wheel carrying
the combs B, B, which take the wool from the feeding apparatus C, C, and
carry it past the card or comb rollers D, D, as before; U, U. are brushes; and
V, V, are curved plates, which support the wool, and apply it to the card
rollers D, D. Each brush U and plate V are attached to a slotted bar W,
which slides upon a pin w, and is jointed to a bent lever X, which carries a
roller guided by a fixed cam Y. This cam is concentric with the cylinder A,
except on that side which is nearest to the travelling receiving comb I. This
part of the cam is made of such a form as to cause the lever X to advance
the bar W, with the brush U, and thus lift the wool off the comb B, and then
to project outwards into the successive positions 61 and 62, so as to place the
wool in the receiving comb I.
The wool is followed up by the brush J, which presses it into the comb I.
This comb carries away the wool, which is drawn off from it by drawing-off
rollers, as in the machines herein-before described, excepting that the drawing-
off rollers are placed on the contrary side of the comb I. The brush U and
plate V, after passing the comb I, are again returned into their original
positions by the action of the cam Y.
In the various machines herein-before described a current of air may be
applied, if required, to assist in directing the fringe of wool into the desired
position for placing it in the comb I. The number of combs may be varied;
and machines may be constructed with only one revolving taking comb, if
required. I consider it preferable, however, to employ several taking, combs,
as the machine is thus rendered capable of doing a larger quantity of work
at each revolution.
In the preceding description I have alluded more particularly to the
combing of wool, but the Invention is also applicable to the combing of other
fibrous substances.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that what I claim
is

page_text: First, the constructing machinery for combing wool and other fibrous
substances, by the combination of one or two or more feeding apparatus and
a revolving taking comb or combs, and one or two or more card surfaces or
working combs, with an overtaking comb and a receiving comb and drawing-
off rollers, in manner herein-before described in reference to Figures 1 and 2,
Sheet I., and Figures 4 and 5, Sheet II.
Second, the constructing machinery for combing wool and other fibrous
substances, by the combination of feeding apparatus and a revolving taking
comb or combs, and one or more card surfaces or working combs, with a
receiving comb and drawing-off rollers, the whole being so arranged that each
taking comb may pass the overtaking comb once or twice or more times,
before being stripped, as herein-before described in reference to Figure 3,
Sheet I.
Third, the constructing machinery for combing wool and other fibrous
substances, by the combination of one or two or more feeding apparatus and
card surfaces or working combs, and a receiving comb and drawing-off rollers,
with a revolving taking comb or combs, having an intermittent or retrogressive
motion, as herein-before described in reference to Figures 7 and 8, Sheet III.
Fourth, the constructing machinery for combing wool and other fibrous
substances, by the combination of one or two or more feeding apparatus and
card surfaces or working combs, and a receiving comb and drawing-off rollers,
with a revolving taking comb or combs mounted on a wheel, which also
carries a brush or brushes, by which the fibrous substance is removed from
the taking comb or combs and placed in the receiving comb, as herein-before
described in reference to Figures 10 and 11, Sheet IV.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Alfred Cowper, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
CHARLES COWPER,
EDWARD ALFRED COWPER. (L.S.)
20, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, London.