IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CONDENSING SLIVERS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for
Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Me-
chanical Draughtsman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR CONDENSING SLIVERS."-A communication from abroad
by Célestin Martin, of Verviers, in the Kingdom of Belgium.
Sealed the 20th July 1869, and dated the 1st February 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 1st February 1869.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR CONDENSING SLiVERS," to be as follows :-
The object of this Invention is to render condensing engines of a given
width more efficient in the production of ribbons of sliver than heretofore
by increasing the working surface of the doffer cylinder, which is
ordinarily eut up into bands to reduce the sliver into ribbons. To this

page_text: end the doffer cylinder is formed with a continuous card surface, and the
sliver as it is taken off by the doffer comb is taken up by endless bands, or
their equivalents, whose office is to divide the sliver into ribbons and to
deliver the ribbons to condensing rollers, which will give them a proper
amount of consistency to allow of their being wound into a roll ready
for transmission to the roving frame. The width of the bands will be
equal to the width of the ribbons of sliver required to be formed for
conversion into rovings, and they may be brought near enough to the
doffer to take up the sliver directly therefrom, or a take-up roller may
be interposed between them to deliver the sliver into the bite of the
bands. These bands may be arranged to work in pairs, each pair
crossing its neighbour at a given point, so that at the point of divergence
the sliver is separated into ribbons, one series being led upwards to
undergo the action of condensing rollers, and the other series of ribbons
passing downwards to a similar set of condensing rollers, from which the
ribbons pass to a lapping roll which carries and gives motion to the
bobbins that are to wind or lap up the condensed ribbon slivers on their
periphery. Instead of arranging the endless bands in pairs the bands
may be led over guide rollers so situate that the bands from the lower
band roller will be led upwards and held in contact with the upper
band roller, and the upper bands will be led down (so as to cross the
lower bands) and held in contact with the lower band roller. If now
sheet sliver is delivered to these band rollers it will be divided into
ribbons of the width of the bands, one series passing up to the upper
condensing rollers between the upper band roller and the lower bands,
and the other series passing down between the nip of the lower band
roller and the upper bands.
A further modification of the Invention is to separate the sheet sliver
by means of two lines of discs armed with pins near their edges, and so
arranged that the discs of the one line will project into the spaces
between the discs of the other line, and thus effect the severance of the
sheet sliver as above explained. In this case guides should be provided
for leading the sliver as it leaves the doffer to the bite of the rotating
discs.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 31st July 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Ohancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of February, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special
licence, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton,
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 MACHINERY FOR CONDENSING SLIVERS," being a commu-
nication to me from Celestin Martin, of Verviers, in the Kingdom of
Belgium, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawing.here-
unto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say):
--
This Invention consists in rendering condensing engines of a given
width more efficient in the production of ribbons of sliver than hereto-
fore. In attaining this end the working surface of the doffer cylinder
instead of being (as is ordinarily the case) cut up into bands to reduce

page_text: the sliver into ribbons is formed with a continuous card surface, and the
sliver as it is taken off by the doffer comb is taken up by endless bands,
or their equivalents, whose office is to divide up the sliver into ribbons
and deliver the ribbons to condensing rollers, which will give to the
ribbons a proper amount of consistency to allow of their being wound
into a roll ready for transmission to the roving frame. The width of the
bands will depend on the width of the ribbons of sliver required to be
formed for conversion into rovings. The bands may be brought near
enough to the doffer to take up the sliver directly therefrom, or a take-
up roller may be interposed between them to deliver the sliver into the
bite of the bands,
'
In the accompanying Drawings I have shown three arrangements of
condensing engines for carrying out the objects of the present Invention.
Fig. 1, Sheet I., is a partial longitudinal section of an engine in which
endless bands arranged in pairs are used to take up the sliver as it leaves
the doffer roller in the form of a sheet and divide it up into ribbons
and deliver it to the condensing rollers. A is the doffer roller of an
ordinary carding engine, which is converted into a condensing engine
by the application thereto of the apparatus to be presently described.
The doffer cylinder receives from the large card cylinder B the carded
wool which is to be divided for the formation of ribbons. The card
covering of the doffer cylinder is without intervals (that is to say), it is
not arranged in rings as is usual in condensing engines. C is the doffer
comb, which is operated as usual and serves to remove the sliver from
the doffer cylinder in the form of a sheet or bat which is divided into
ribbons by means of the following apparatus :-D, E, F, G, H, I, are
a series of tension rollers carrying respectively endless narrow bands
1, 1, 2, 2*, of leather, cloth, cards, or metal, armed or not with card teeth.
The small bands are intended to take up the bat or sheet sliver as it
leaves the doffer cylinder and conduct it to the condensing rollers, The
rollers D and E are therefore mounted near the doffer cylinder that the
sliver may be led into the bite of the conducting bands. The bands 1, 2,
pass from the rollers F and H respectively to and around the roller D,
where they run side by side in contact with each other, and the
bands 1, 2, pass from the rollers G and I respectively to and around
the roller E, running in like manner side by side thereon and in contact
with each other. I have not shown the gearing for giving the rotary
motion to the rollers and the travelling motion to the bands, as its
construction will be readily understood by any competent workman, but

page_text: the course of the bands is clearly indicated by the arrows. Fig. 2 shews
the manner of arranging the bands on their respective rollers F, G, H, I.
The bands it will be seen are arranged in two sets of pairs, which sets
cross each other at points coinciding with the line of nip of a pair of
pressing guide rollers K, K. The sliver entering between the bands at
the nip of the rollers D, E, is compressed between them, and passing
forward when it comes to the nip of the rollers K. The sliver is divided
by the divergence of the sets of bands at this point into ribbons of the
same width as the bands, one-half of the ribbons of wool passing off
in the direction of the rollers F, G, and the other half in the direction
of the rollers H, I. The ribbons are at these points taken up and
formed into threads by their respective condensing rollers L, which
operate in the well known manner to form the ribbon slivers into
roping. M, M, are lapping rolls which serve to wind up the roping onto
bobbins N as it is delivered from the condensing rollers.
The small bands shewn in the Drawing, and which work upon the
tension rollers, may be made of very thin steel or of leather, caoutchouc,
or other suitable fabric. Instead of arranging the endless dividing
bands in pairs as above described the bands may be led over guide
rollers so situated that the bands from the lower band roller will be led
upwards and held in contact with the upper band roller, and the upper
bands will be led down (so as to cross the lower bands) and held in
contact with the lower band roller.
This arrangement is shewn in longitudinal elevation at Fig. 3, Sheet
II., and in partial front elevation at Fig. 4. The two sets of bands 1, 2,
which take up the sheet sliver (in this case from a delivery roller O)
travel each in contact with an upper and a lower nipping roller A, B,
being held thereto by means of the guide and tension rollers a, a, b, b.
It will now be understood that the sliver as it is delivered to these
band rollers A, B, will be divided into ribbons of the width of the bands,
one series passing up to the upper set of condensing rollers between the
band roller B and the bands 1, and the other series passing down
between the nip of the hand roller A and the bands 2.
This arrangement very much simplifies the apparatus, and the wool
is moreover more strongly held by the bands than in the first-described
arrangement, thus allowing of the sliver being more regularly divided.
A further modification of the Invention is to separate the sheet sliver

page_text: by means of two lines of discs armed with pins near their edges, and so
arranged that the discs of the one line will project into the spaces
between the discs of the other line, and thus effect the severance of the
sheet sliver, as above explained.
Figures 5 and 6, Sheet II., shew this arrangement of dividing
apparatus, the separation of the sliver being effected (instead of as in
the two preceding arrangements by means of small bands) by means
of two sets of discs P, P*. These discs are so arranged that they will
work the one set in the spaces of the other set; they may be made of
any suitable metal and either provided with pins at the edges of their
periphery, as in the Drawing, or clothed with cards, leather, or other
suitable fabric. The separation of the sheet sliver or bat by this latter
apparatus, although very well effected, is nevertheless inferior to the
two preceding dividing apparatus, and especially to that represented at
Figures 3 and 4. For leading the sliver to the discs guides are
provided, as shewn at Fig. 5.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "Improvements
in Machinery for Condensing Slivers," as communicated to me from
abroad, and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I
wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters
Patent I claim, converting sheet sliver into ribbons or ropings of
condensed sliver, in the manner and for the purpose above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Thirty-first day of July, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.s.)