CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN CARDING ENGINES
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Bradbury, of Pendleton, in the County of
Lancaster, Mechanic, and William Bradbury, of Oldham, in the same
County, Mechanic, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
CARDING ENGINES."
Sealed the 11th March 1863, and dated the 6th October 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Bradbury and
William Bradbury at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 6th October 1862.
We, JOHN BRADBURY, of Pendleton, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanic,
and WILLIAM BRADBURY, of Oldham, in the same County, Mechanic, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
CARDING ENGINES," to be as follows:-
The Invention relates to that portion of the carding engine used for carding
cotton and other fibrous substances known as the doffer, and consists in the
peculiar arrangement and combination of two grooved cams with double-bell
crank levers for giving motion to the doffing comb which is secured at its
extremities to the levers, the grooved cams acting upon the extremity of the
vertical part of the levers, the third extremity opposite to the doffing comb
serving as a balance, the lever being made adjustable (so as to set the comb)
in the middle of its horizontal length, that is, immediately beneath the vertical
part of the lever.
The chief feature in the Invention being the use of grooved cams having
antifriction bowls running in them and combined with the double bell crank

page_text: levers in contradistinction to the use of face cams or eccentrics, and connecting
rods to connect the vibrating levers with them, our Invention effecting a con-
siderable improvement npon the doffing motions so constructed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Bradbury and William Bradbury in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 6th April 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
BRADBURY, of Pendleton, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanic, and WILLIAM
BRADBURY, of Oldham, in the same County, Mechanic, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said John Bradbury and William Bradbury, Her special license that
we, the said John Bradbury and William Bradbury, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said John Bradbury and
William Bradbury, our 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 "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN CARDING ENGINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
we, the said John Bradbury and William Bradbury, our executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under our, 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 we, the said John Bradbury and William Bradbury
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement and accompanying Drawings (that is to
say):-
The Invention relates to that portion of the carding engine used for carding
cotton or other fibrous substances, known as the doffer, and consists in the
peculiar arrangement and combination of two grooved cams with double bell

page_text: crank levers for giving motion to the doffing comb which is secured at its
extremities to the levers, the grooved cams acting upon the extremity of the
vertical part of the levers, the third extremity opposite to the doffing comb
serving as a balance, the level being made adjustable (so as to set the comb)
in the middle of its horizontal length, that is, immediately beneath the vertical
part of the lever.
The chief feature in the Invention being the use of grooved cams having
antifrictional bowls running in them and combined with the double bell crank
levers in contradistinction to the use of face cams or eccentrics, and connecting
rods to connect the vibrating levers with them, our Invention effecting a con-
siderable improvement upon the doffing motion so constructed.
In order that the Invention may be better understood and explained in
detail we have hereunto attached a. Sheet of Drawings made upon a scale of
about three inches to the foot, similar letters of reference being marked upon
corresponding parts in all the Figures.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of that portion of the carding engine to which the
"doffing comb" is applied, and to which our Invention is shewn attached.
Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the same,
and Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the apparatus for actuating the "doffing comb "
drawn about half the real size.
In Fig. 1, a, a, is the framing of that portion of the carding engine where
the doffing cylinder b is applied to strip the fibrous material from the main
carding cylinder c by means of the "doffing comb" d, which is secured by the
"comb stock" e to the rocking shaft f, all of which arrangement is now well
known. To the rocking shaft f the link g is attached forming a description
of bell crank lever with the "comb stock" the opposite end of such link or
vertical portion of the bell crank lever g being attached by means of a conical
pin or taper to the piece h, which rotates within the grooved cam i, the piece h
having an exterior conical or wedge form, the groove being internally tapered
to correspond (or a taper bowl may be employed instead of the piece h), for
the purpose of diminishing friction. By the action of this eccentric groove
or cam upon the end of the link or lever g a vibratory motion is communicated
to the "comb" as required to strip the fibrous material from the cylinder.
The "comb" is adjusted to the surface of the "doffing cylinder" by means of
the adjusting screws k, k. In order to balance the weight of the "comb stock"
we increase the size of the opposite side of the boss through which the rocking
shaft passes, as seen in Fig. 5, which serves as a counterbalance weight, and
balances the "comb stock" upon the rocking shaft, by which means great
steadiness is effected in the motion. And we would remark that by supplying

page_text: or introducing oil or other suitable lubricant into the case a', in which the cam
rotates, the friction is considerably diminished, and the consequent heating to
which the frictional surfaces are subject is prevented.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, together with the
method of carrying the same into practical effect, we wish it to be distinctly
understood that we claim the novel combination, application, and use of a cam
or cams having a taper groove therein containing a tapered bowl or sliding
piece in connection with a link or lever attached to the "comb shaft," the said
sliding piece either fitting in the groove or being slightly rounded off at the
extremities, such combination of apparatus being employed to impart a rocking
motion to the said shaft and effect the stripping of the fibrous material, by
means of the comb upon such shaft as herein-before described, set forth, and
fully illustrated in the Drawings attached.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Bradbury and William Bradbury,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Second day of April,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
three.
Witnessed by,
JOHN L. DAVIES,
Office for Patents,
Manchester.
JOHN BRADBURY × his mark. (L.S.)
WILLIAM BRADBURY.
(LS.)