CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARING AND SPINNING OF CASHMERE WOOL
Year: 1830

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
STUART COCHRANE, of Great George Street, in the City of Westminster,
Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS I did, by Petition, represent to His most Excellent
Majesty King William the Fourth, that in consequence of a communication
made to me by a certain Foreigner residing abroad, I was in possession of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARING AND SPINNING OF CASHMERE WOOL,"
and His said Majesty was graciously pleased to issue His Royal Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at Westminster,
the Thirteenth day of November, One thousand eight hundred and thirty,
in the first year of His reign, by which said Letters Patent His said
Majesty did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Charles Stuart Cochrane, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
Charles Stuart Cochrane, my executors, administrators, or assigns, and
every of them, and such others as I, the said Charles Stuart Cochrane, my
executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times during the term of fourteen years
from and after the date of the said Letters Patent, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in all His Majesty's Colonies and
Plantations abroad, the said Invention; in which said Letters Patent there is
contained a proviso obliging me, the said Charles Stuart Cochrane, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and

page_text: ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in His
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in and by
the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Charles Stuart Cochrane, do hereby declare that the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is par-
ticularly described and ascertained in manner following (that is to say) :-
The said Invention consists in the preparing and spinning of the wool of
the Asiatic or Thibet or shawl goat, commonly called Cashmere or Indian
wool, into yarn and thread proper for weaving imitation India shawls, or
cashmere shawls and cashmere stuffs, or other fine fabrics, for ladies' dresses,
by the series of operations and machines herein-after particularly described
(and which machines are represented in the four Sheets of Drawings hereunto
annexed, and which machines I caused to be made at Paris, in France, at
great expence, after the construction of those which have been for some years
past secretly used in the manufactory of Monsieur Hindenlang at Paris,
Rue de Vindigriers, Number 12, for preparing and spinning cashmere wool
into the yarn and thread whereof cashmere shawls and cashmere fine stuffs
are made by him and by others at Paris, and of which yarn or thread so spun
and prepared in Paris, great quantities have been imported from thence into
Great Britain for weaving into shawls.
And whereas cashmere wool has not hitherto been prepared or spun in
Great Britain into yarn or thread of a proper quality to be used for weaving
cashmere shawls, in place of the said yarn and thread imported as aforesaid
from France, nor have the series of operations and machinery by which the
said preparing and spinning is performed been made generally known in
France, except to the individuals actually employed about the machinery, (but
every precaution has been taken to keep the same secret). I found my claim
to the exclusive privilege which is granted to me by the said Letters Patent,
upon the circumstance that I am the first person introducing from France the
real machinery whereby the said yarn and thread so imported from France
into Great Britain is prepared and spun from cashmere wool; and also that
I shall, by this Specification, have been the first person who has made known
the improvements in preparing and spinning of cashmere wool by the series
of operations and machines herein-after described, and that I shall have
thereby been the first person who has put English manufacturers in possession
of the knowledge of the means whereby they may prepare and spin cashmere

page_text: 66
wool into yarn and thread of the same quality with that which they have
been accustomed to import from France. And although the greater part of
the said operations and machines are very similar to other operations and
machines which are in common use in England for preparing and spinning
wool, cotton, or flax, and although it is probable that attempts may have been
made to prepare and spin cashmere wool by submitting the same to certain
common preparing and spinning machines having a general resemblance to those
herein-after described, nevertheless it is certain that no trade or manufacture
has been established in Britain in consequence of such attempts (if any such
have been made), and that British manufacturers have not hitherto known
the proper series of operations and machines whereby they could prepare
and spin cashmere wool into yarn and thread capable of being used in
place of that commonly imported from France. And in consequence of that
deficiency, the Board of Trustees for the Encouragement of Manufactures in
Scotland were induced to offer a premium of three hundred pounds in the
year One thousand eight hundred and thirty, "to any person who should first
"succeed in introducing into Scotland the spinning of the wool of the Thibet
goat (commonly called Cashmere or Indian wool) into yarn, such as is at
ແ present imported from the Continent, and suitable for the mannfacture of
"imitation India shawls, and other fine fabrics for ladies' dresses, the yarn
being spun from pure cashmere wool without mixture, and upon the same
principle as that imported, and not upon the worsted principles." And in
the report of the Committee of the said Board of Trustees, wherein the said
premium is recommended to be so offered, it is stated as the ground of the
recommendation, "that while by far the greater part of the Cashmere or
"Thibet wool (which alone is used in the manufacture of shawls made in
"imitation of India shawls) is imported into Europe by the British East
"India Company, and that while fifty thousand individuals are engaged
(in Scotland) in that branch of manufacture, the whole of such wool as is
"consumed in the course of it is actually converted into yarn in France, our
"artizans being entirely ignorant of the principle on which the spinning of
"this material is conducted so as to be fit for the purposes in question. The
"introduction of this branch of skill into Great Britain is, therefore, one of
"much national importance, whether with a view to the immediate employ-
ment of our artizans, or to the risks inseparably connected in all such
"matters, with an entire dependance upon a foreign State for the supply of
"an article for which the demand is necessarily so great." The yarn and
thread which is made of cashmere wool at Paris as aforesaid by the
machinery herein-after described, is reckoned, as to its fineness or coarseness,
66
66
"

page_text: by numbers. The reel whereon it is wound is fifty-two pouces.or French
inches (of the ancient measure called pied du roi) in circumference, which
is equal to fifty-five and a half English inches, and four hundred and eighty
circumvolutions of the yarn or thread about that reel makes a hank, which
contains seven hundred and forty English yards, and the number by which the
thread or yarn is denominated is the number of such hanks, which will
weigh one livre or French pound (of the ancient weight called poid de Marc),
and which is equal to 18 pound avoirdupois. For preparing and spinning
one pound of yarn or thread of different numbers as aforesaid, from No. 50-to
No. 100 or 120, about 3 pounds of cashmere wool in the state in which it
comes from abroad to. Europe will be required, two thirds of the weight of
that raw wool being lost by the coarse hairs which must be taken out from it,
and by the waste in preparing and spinning. The first preparation of the raw
cashmere wool, after it is taken out of the bags in which it comes from
abroad, is to beat the wool with sticks by women or boys, when it is spread
out upon a surface composed of parallel cords stretched tight across a frame
side by side, and having thus beaten out the loose dirt, and loosened the
bunches of the wool, if it is of the finest quality for spinning, from numbers 50
to number 120, the wool is picked by women and children to take out the
coarse hairs of the goats, which are intermixed with the wool, and they also
open the wool with their fingers. After the wool is completely picked and
opened by hand, it is given to the combers to be combed a first time, in the
same manner as wool is combed by hand, except that the combing is performed
without oil, with two wool combs of the same kind as those commonly used for
wool, but having only two parallel rows of teeth, with thirty-two teeth in each
row projecting out from a stock or haudle; the comb, with the wool upon
them, being heated in the usual manner. The wool is washed with soft soap and
hot water, after being combed the first time; and after being well wrung to
squeeze on the water (but without being otherwise dried), it is completely
combed a second time in the same manner as the first time, and the good
wool, which is drawn off from the teeth of the comb in a long sliver in the
usual manner of wool combers, is then thoroughly washed with soft soap:
about two ounces of soap is allowed to every pound of the combed wool in
slivers for each time of washing. Being washed thoroughly free from grease
and the water well wrung out 'from it, without being otherwise dried, the
wool in slivers is whitened by the fumes of burning sulphur (provided that i
is intended to make yarn which is to be used in a white state in the shawls
or yarn which is to be dyed of light and bright colours). Note, in drawing
off the good wool from the teeth of the combs, a portion of refuse wool is lef

page_text: in the teeth, which is called blouses in France, and which is not. used for
spinning cashmere, but is sold to hat makers along with the coarse hairs which
have been previously picked out as aforesaid. The quantity of refuse so sold
to hat makers is often as much as one third of the weight of the raw wool
which is taken out of the bags which come from abroad. Note.-For pre-
paring raw cashmere wool for spinning the second quality of yarn, from
number 30 to number 40, a machine, represented in Sheet I. of the Drawings,
is used for separating the coarse hairs and opening the wool, and supersedes
the necessity of combing, as will be herein-after explained. The blanching
with fumes of burning sulphur is performed in a small chamber or apartment
of about 12 feet square by eight feet high, in which about thirty pounds
weight. The slivers of combed wool in a damp state are spread out on rods,
the slivers being one apart from the other, and about 12 pounds weight of
flour of sulphur is burned on a dish on the floor in the middle of the apart-
ment, the windows and doors being shut very close to prevent the escape of
the vapour; after remaining exposed to the vapour of the sulphur during
about eight hours, the doors and windows are opened, and in four hours more
the slivers are removed to a drying room adjoining, where the wool is' perfectly
dried, and is then ready to be carded by the carding machine represented in
Sheet II., of the Drawings. The slivers of wool are all made of an equal
weight, and about one ounce each, by weighing them separately, and are
spread evenly on the endless feeding cloth A, B, of the carding machine, in
two parallel lines, side by side on the breadth of the cloth, leaving an interval
between the two in the middle of the breath of the cloth, as is represented at A, B,
in the Plan. The slivers are laid on one after another, according to marks which
are made across the cloth at intervals of nearly three feet apart, the aforesaid '
uniform weight of sliver, of about one ounce, being spread out to make that
quantity of wool reach out along the cloth from one mark to the next, the
ends of the slivers which succeed each other being neatly tapered away in thick-
ness, and joined with an overlap so as to make as uniform a continuous sliver
as can be made, by rendering all the joinings of equal substance with the
middle parts of the slivers. And note, the said marks, which are made as
aforesaid at about three feet apart across the feeding cloth at one half of the
breadth thereof, are disposed opposite to the intervals between the correspond-
ing marks across the other half of the breadth, in order that the joining
places in the two continuous slivers A, B, which are formed side by side by
the aforesaid manner of spreading, may not fall opposite one to the other.
The feeding rollers, which take the wool between them from the feeding cloth,
are cylindrical iron spindles D, Figure 2, on which a series of round rings of

page_text: pewter E, are placed in a row side by side, and each ring having a set of
needle points radiating out from its outer circumference, the series of rings
from a roller studded with projecting needle points. The row of the said
pewter rings is fastened on the spindle by a collar d and nut e, screwed on
cach end of the spindle D, to bind all the rings close side by side. There
are two pairs of such feeding rollers disposed at a small distance from cach
other, the first pair taking the wool from the endless feeding cloth and giving
it to the second pair, which deliver the wool to the cards upon the large
cylinder F of the carding machine. The upper and lower roller of each pair
are so near together, that the circular row of projecting needle points of one
roller enter between the intervals of the circular rows of points in the other
roller, but the rollers of different pairs are far enough apart to run clear one of
the other. The great cylinder F is covered with a fillet of leather, studded with
fine card wires wound spirally around it, the fillets being about two inches
wide in the wire, and the fineness of about number 26 of the denomination
by which the card makers in Paris take their orders from the manufacturers.
The construction of the carding machine is in most respects the same as those
used for carding wool for making woollen cloth, having four pairs of top
workers G, and clearers H, the former, G, being turned slowly round by an
endless chain at one side of the machine, in order to work the wool against
the card teeth of the great cylinder, and also to take the wool therefrom,
and the clearers H, which are of a smaller size, being turned round quickly
by an endless strap at the opposite side of the machine, take the wool from
the workers G, and then give the same back to the great cylinder, because
the cards on the surfaces of the clearers G do not move so fast as the cards
on the surface of the great cylinder. After being thus carded over and over
again by the said four top workers and their clearers, the wool, which passes
on with the cards of the large cylinder beyond the part where the said workers
act, is raised in the usual manner of woollen carding machines, and loosened
from the teeth of the card by the fly I, which is turned round very rapidly
by the aforesaid endless strap, with the points of its card teeth backwards;
and the wool, after being so raised, is gathered by the card teeth of the
doffer K, which is turned slowly round by toothed wheelwork. And the
wool so gathered on the doffer K is stripped off' therefrom by the comb, which
moves rapidly up and down by cranks in the usual manner; and the wool
so stripped off is drawn away in a similar manner to the carding machines
for cotton, but in two parallel continuous slivers, side by side, through a
double pair of compressing rollers, at L and M in the Plan, and those two
slivers thus obtained are afterwards gathered together into one single sliver,

page_text: which passes through a single pair of compressing rollers N, which move with
the same rapidity as the preceding pairs move, so as to occasion no draft of
the sliver, and the rollers N deliver the combined sliver into a suitable can.
Note. The workers G, and the clearers H, and the doffer K, are covered
with fillets of card wound spirally around them, but the cards are rather finer
than those of the great cylinder, being about number 28. The fly I is also
covered with fillet card, but of a coarser sort, being about number 22. The
card's teeth on the large cylinder are prepared for use by filling in flocks (or
the shearings of woollen cloth) mixed with oil amongst the teeth, according
to the usual practice in woollen carding. The remaining particulars of the
construction of the carding machine are sufficiently explained by the Drawing.
The continuous slivers of wool thus obtained from the card are then doubled,
and drawn in a drawing frame having four pairs of drawing rollers, each
successive pair between which the wool passes moving faster then the pre-
ceding pair, in order to extend and draw out the fibres of the wool, and
dispose them uniformly in the sliver. The first pair of rollers through which
the wool passes receives four slivers from as many cans, which are brought
from the carding machine, and all the four slivers go through the rollers
together like one. The distance between the said first pair of rollers and the
second pair is greater than the distance between the said second pair and
the third pair, or between that third pair and the fourth pair, all which cir-
cumstance is the same as is represented in Figure 3, of Sheet III. The
actual distance between the several pairs of rollers admits of adjustment
(as is there represented) according to the length of the fibres of the wool.
After passing through the said fourth pair of drawing rollers, the sliver
passes through a pair of plain compressing rollers of brass, which deliver it
into a can.
Note. The lower roller of each pair of drawing rollers are made
of iron fluted, and the top roller are of iron covered with woollen cloth and
parchment, and the top rollers to the second and fourth pairs are loaded with
weights applied to levers, in order to make those rollers punch the wool
between them. The top rollers of the first and third pair are only loaded
with their own weight, but that of the first pair is made large and heavy.
The draft or extension which the sliver undergoes in passing through the
drawing rollers or first drawing frame is about six times in length. The slivers
which have thus passed through the first drawing are then put four together
through the drawing roller of a second drawing frame, which give an extension
of about six times in length, and then four of the slivers from the second frame
are put together through the drawing rollers of the third drawing frame,
which extend with a draft of about six times in length; but that draft should

page_text: be made greater or less according to the fineness of sliver required; and for
the last drawing four slivers from the third drawing frame are put together
through the drawing rollers of the fourth drawing frame, which is represented
in Figure 3, of Sheet III. and which is the same as the preceding drawing
frames, only with the addition of a second pair of plain compressing rollers w,
which deliver the drawn sliver into a revolving can Q, which is mounted in a
revolving skeleton frame, supported on a pivot at the lower end, and retained
in an upright position by a tabular axis at the upper end, which is fitted into
a suitable fixed bearing, and through the hollow of which tubular axis the
sliver passes, in lieu of a stationary can like the three preceding drawing
frames, in order that the sliver may receive a slight twist of about one turn in
three inches in length as it falls into the can; and to draw the sliver down
with certainty into the can, a pair of rollers P, P, are applied at the upper
part of the revolving skeleton frame R, into which the can is mounted above
the mouth of the can, to draw the sliver between them. The rollers P, P, are
turned round by a wheel and pinion O, the axis of which is mounted in
supports fixed to the revolving skeleton frame of the can, and on which axis
another pinion is fixed, and circulates round about a ring of teeth which is
fixed to the under side of the frame concentrically around the socket which
contains the tubular revolving axis at the upper end of the skeleton frame in
which the revolving can is placed, and through the hollow of which revolving
tube the sliver is conducted, and by the turning motion thereof the twist is
given to the sliver, the twisting action being aided by the rollers P, P, which
turn round in a horizontal plane at the same time that they turn on their own
axes to draw the sliver between them. The construction of the said skeleton
and turning can is similar to those which were formerly commonly used by
cotton spinners. The skeleton and can is turned round by a spur wheel S,
at the lower part of the frame, and a pinion, which is fixed on an upright
axis V, turned by bevilled wheels from the train of wheelwork by which the
rollers are turned. Three of the cans which are taken out of the skeleton
frames of the last drawing machine are next put together through the rollers
of the drawing and roving frame represented in Sheet IV., and which has
three pairs of drawing rollers D, E, and F, to draw out and form the roving,
and then it is gathered on a bobbin W. After the three slivers have passed
together like one sliver between the first of those. pairs of rollers D, it is
carried over the circumference of a large roller G, 'which is studded with
sharp points projecting out, and then the sliver passes between the second pair
of drawing rollers E, which draw forwards much quicker than the first pair D
give it out. The sliver is transfixed at every part by those sharp points, and

page_text: their motion (which they derive from the turning of the large roller G) being
only a little quicker than delivery of the sliver from the first pair of rollers D,
the fibres of wool draw through amongst the said points during the drawing or
extension which the sliver undergoes on passing from the first pair of rollers D,
to the second pair E, and after passing between the second pair of drawing
rollers E, and before the sliver reaches the third pair of drawing rollers F, it
passes between two straight rulers of wood Y, Z, which are placed one above
the other, and are moved horizontally endways, backwards and forwards, with
an alternating motion in contrary directions, that is, when one ruler is moving
endways from right to left, the other will be moving endways from left to
right, and vice versa. The adjacent surfaces of the two rulers between which
the sliver passes are covered with buff leather, and they are kept at such
distance apart as not to pinch the roving tight between the said leather
surfaces; but nevertheless the same act above and below the sliver, with con-
trary transverse motions, so as to roll the sliver between them and form it into
a round sliver, gathering up the fibres of the wool into a compact round roving
or sliver before it passes between the third pair of drawing rollers F. The
said roving or sliver undergoes but little draft or extension in length during
the time that it is subjected to the said rolling action of the two leather sur-
faces, and whilst it is passing from the second pair of rollers E to the third
pair F, and having passed between the third pair F, the roving or sliver is
gathered upon a bobbin which is turned round by resting upon a revolving
wooden roller K, which also moves slowly horizontally endways, backwards
and forwards alternately; and the bobbin moving endways with it at the same
time that it turns round, gathers the roving or sliver on every part of its
length in progressive coils, which wind spirally around the bobbin from one
end to the other, forming a cylindrical layer, and when one such layer is
finished another is begun by the return of the endway motion, causing a con-
trary obliquity of the spiral coils which overlay and cross the coils of the pre-
ceding cylindrical layer. The machine contains eight bobbins in a row, which are
all filling at once by the lapping of the successive cylindrical layers, and when
filled they are removed and replaced by eight empty bobbins. The construction
of this drawing and roving machine is sufficiently explained in the Drawing.
The fast and loose pulley R, by which the whole machine is turned, is applied
upon the end of the axis of the second pair of drawing rollers E. A pinion
is fixed on that axis at d, to turn the large roller G, with the pins, by a wheel
and pinion, and which are mounted on a fixed stud pin, and the pinion turns
a wheel fixed on the end of the axis of the pin roller G. The first pair of
rollers D are turned by a pinion on the end of their axes, and a wheel on the

page_text: end of the axis of the large roller G, with an intermediate wheel mounted on
a fixed stud pin. The third pair of rollers F are turned by a pin r on the
axis of the second pair of rollers, and an intermediate wheel mounted on a
stud to turn a wheel fixed on the axis of the third pair of rollers F. The
roller K, on which bobbins rest, are turned by a pinion h on the axis of the
third pair of rollers, and an intermediate wheel and a pinion i on the axis of
the roller K, which pinion is mounted between the prongs of a forked bracket
fixed to the frame, in order to retain the pinion in its proper place, although
the axis of the rollers K moves endways backwards and forwards through the
central hole in the pinion, and that part of the axis is square (or else it has a
projecting blade fixed to it) to compel the axis and the rollers K to turn
round along with the pinion. The axes of the rollers K, (as well as the eight
bobbins I), is mounted in standards erected in a row upon a strong horizontal
rail L, which is placed on rollers, so as to be capable of moving endways,
backwards and forwards, in order to give a similar endway motion to the
bobbins I, that motion being produced by a small pinion of twelve teeth
working into a rack which is fixed to the inside upright face of the rail L,
that pinion being at the extreme end of a horizontal axis k, which is turned
by a pair of bevil wheels N at the opposite end, form a large spur wheel M,
which receives motion from a pinion m, fixed on the axis of the fast and loose
pullies R. The said rack on the rail L is made with teeth like pins project-
ing out from it, which teeth will admit the small pinion to work alternately
above or beneath the rack, and the axis of the pinion being mounted in an
upright groove, in which it can rise and fall, the pinion changes from the top
of the rack, and vice versa, so as to move the rack and the rail L alternately,
backwards and forwards, through a space equal to the length of the bobbin I,
in the manner of what is commonly called a mangle motion. The alternate
motion of the two rulers Y, Z, is produced by double cranks formed on a
horizontal axis y, at the lower part of the machine, and turned rapidly round
by a pulley on one end of it, with an endless cord and a large fixed pulley to
the first pulley R. A strap z, z, is applied to each crank, and the straps are
conducted over pullies x, x, and fastened to the two rulers Y, Z, one to the upper
ruler, and the other to the lower one, and the cranks being formed opposite ways
on the axes, they draw the straps, and consequently the two rulers, with opposite
alternating motions. The two rulers Y, Z, are united at the far end by one
strap, which passes over a pulley, and each ruler is thus compelled to move in the
opposite direction to the other; the said pulley is mounted on a forked stump
which can be drawn endways by a thumb screw to make the straps tight.
The lower ruler Z is supported on rollers mounted in standards erected on the

page_text: frame, and the upper ruler Y has small wheels to rest on plates of iron which
project out at each side of the lower ruler Z. The axles of the said small
wheels are adjustable by screws to regulate the distance between the leather
on the adjacent surfaces of the two rulers between which surfaces the wool is
rolled. Note. The large rollers G are 4 inches diameter, and the needle
points with which they are studded are cast in plates of pewter, which are
fastened to the wood by screws, twenty of those plates completing the circle.
The needles are five eights of an inch long, and are sloped forwards at an
angle of twenty-two degrees to the radius of the roller G. The bobbins I,
which are removed from the machine, Sheet IV., they are carried to the creel
at the back of a stretching frame, and two of the rovings from those bobbins
are put together through the drawing rollers of the stretching frame so as to
be drawn into one roving, with an extension of about four times in length in
passing between the five pairs of drawing rollers, and after coming out through
those rollers the stretched rovings are very slightly twisted by the motion of
the spindles, and are then wound up around the spindles in cops in the usual
manner of stretching the rovings of cotton, the only differences being in the
rate of twist given to the rovings by the spindles, which is much less than
that usually given to cotton rovings on stretching, being only one twist to
about an inch and a half in length, and also the drawing rollers, which are
five in number, and capable of being placed at different distances suitable to
the length of the fibres of the wool. The construction of the stretching in
other respects is the same as those commonly used for cotton, and is explained
by Sheet V., which represent the mule which is used for spinning the rovings
which are taken from the stretching frame; two of those rovings are put
together through the five pair of drawing rulers of the mule, with an extension
of about four times in length, and as fast as the wool comes out through the
rollers the fibres are twisted with yarn by the revolving motion of the spindles
as they retreat from rollers by the motion of the carriage, in the usual manner
of the spinning cotton by mules, oxcept that the less twist is given to the yarn
as the carriage comes out, and but very little twist is given after the carriage
is got quite out, also the draft by the rollers is less than usual for spiuning
cotton. The five pairs of drawing rollers of the mule are represented in the
section of their full size; the distance of the different pairs of rollers can be
adjusted to suit the different lengths of the wool which is to be spun. The
top rollers of the first pair and the third pair and the fifth or last pair are
loaded by the loaded lever to cause them to hold the wool fast between them,
but the top rollers of the second and the fourth pairs are only borne down by
their own weight. For spinning cashmere wool of the second quality into

page_text: yarn of numbers 35 to 40 of the denomination aforesaid, the picking and
combing of the wool is rendered unnecessary by the use of a machine repre-
sented in Sheet I. It is composed of a series of horizontal rollers of two
kinds, placed alternately, one kind being studded with needle points and the
other with brushes of hogs' bristles, the rollers all turning round in the
same direction, but the brush rollers moving much quicker than the roller
with needle points. The wool is spread out evenly upon an endless feeding
cloth R, from which it is taken by a series consisting of nine small feeding
rollers studded with needle points, the same as the feeding rollers of the
carding before described, and which is represented the full size in Figure 2,
Sheet 2. The said rollers are arranged in two sets; the first set, which are
nearest to the feeding cloth, being close together, so that the needle points
of each roller interlock with those of the next above it, and the other set of
rollers, which are farthest from the feeding cloth, are also close together, one
over the other, but are quite clear of the rollers of the front set. After
passing between the rollers of the front set the wool enters between the rollers
of the second set, and those deliver it to the first roller with needle points,
which work and open the wool, and the wool which is carried round with those
points is worked therein by the brush of bristles on the second roller B, and
thereby the coarse hairs, which are intermixed in the wool, are separated and
shaken out, and fall on the floor under the machine. The wool is worked
over and over again in that manner between the needle points of the first
cylinder A and those of the second set of small feeding rollers as the wool is
carried round and round with the first cylinder A, but by degrees as the wool
becomes more free from the coarse hairs, it is carried forwards by the brush
roller B to the second cylinder D with needle points, and thence through a
second pair R, E, to the third brush roller F, from the opposite side of which
it is gathered by the doffing cylinder H, which is turned round slowly by
wheelwork, and the wool is stripped off therefrom by a comb moved by a
crank movement like that of a carding machine, and the wool so detached
is wound up around a drum K in the same manner as in the carding machines
for cotton called breaking cards. The three rollers with brushes are all turned
rapidly round by endless straps from a large drum which is fixed on the first
motion axis N beneath the frame, on the end of which are the fast and loose
pullies. The three intermediate rollers with needle points are turned by a
train of wheelwork from the extreme end of the said first motion axis. The
rollers being turned one from another by pinions on the end of their axes and
intermediate wheels, they turn with a slower motion than the brush rollers,
but in the same direction. The three large rollers A, D, E, with needle

page_text: points, are constructed in the same manner as those before described, but the
pewter rings are of larger diameter suitable to the rollers on which they are
fixed. When a sufficient quantity of wool is accumulated in successive layers
around the drum K, the fleece of wool is broken off therefrom and taken away
to be washed, and then it is submitted to the carding machine like the wool
for fine spinning before described. The thread which is used for the warp
the best shawls is composed of two yarns of number 118 to 120 twisted
together to make one thread of number 55 to 58. To twist the said yarns
together the mule is used with all its top rollers removed, except those of the
front roller nearest to the spindles.
of
Having now described the series of operations and machines which con-
stitutes the said improvements in preparing and spinning cashmere wool, I do
hereby declare that I make no claim of new Invention to any of the particular
machines herein-before described (except to that represented in Sheet I.),
unless when the same are used in the series herein-before described in the
manner and for the purposes herein-before set forth, because the said series
of machines and operations when used in the aforesaid manner and for the
aforesaid purposes of preparing and spinning cashmere wool have not here-
tofore been used in Britain.
And I also claim the machine represented in Sheet I. as a new improve-
ment in the preparing of cashmere wool for spinning coarse numbers of
cashmere yarn up to number 45.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Stuart Cochrane, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of May, One thousand
ht hundred and thirty-one.