Improvements in Means for Regulating and Controlling the Feed of Textile Fibre to Openers, Scutchers, Carding Apparatus, and similar Opening, Breaking, and Carding Machinery.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Sept., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 14th June, 1895-Accepted, 10th Aug., 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Means for Regulating and Controlling the Feed
of Textile Fibre to Openers, Scutchers, Carding Apparatus, and
similar Opening, Breaking, and Carding Machinery.
I THOMAS RODGERSON MARSDEN of Bank View, Derker Street, Oldham, in
the County of Lancaster, Manager, in the employ of Messrs. Platt Brothers & Co.
Limited, of Oldham, Machinists, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
My said invention relates principally to means for regulating and controlling
the delivery or feed of textile fibre or material to the hoppers or feed boxes of
openers and scutchers, but is also applicable in regulating the feed of fibre to
carding engines, and to other opening, breaking and carding appliances.
In cases where the hopper of an opener or scutcher is fed by a travelling lattice
or by a shoot, which is kept supplied by an attendant, it frequently happens that
by carelessness or irregularity of feeding, the hopper becomes over-fed or at least
is fed so irregularly that the best results are not obtained.
My invention consists in placing a regulator at or near to the entrance to the
hopper which will interrupt the feed if too much fibre is thrown into the hopper,
and will set the feed again in motion when the hopper is sufficiently relieved.
The regulator which I have devised may assume more than one form but in the
arrangement which I have found most practically useful, I suspend a swinging
partition in the hopper with a sufficient space left between the said swinging
partition and the sloping front of the hopper to allow of the admission and passage
of material. The pivot shaft or pivots of the swinging partition is or are carried
in bearings on the top or sides of the hopper and au arm, preferably adjustable on
a disc at one end of the pivot shaft, hangs outside of the hopper, the lower end of
the arm being connected by an adjustable rod to convenient means for moving the
belt fork of the pullies which drive the travelling lattice where a lattice is used,
or the feed delivery rollers, where a shoot is employed. The suspended partition
extends across the interior of the hopper, a sufficient space being left between the
foot of the partition and the travelling lattice which forms the bottom of the
hopper. By slotting the lower end of the outer arm and by rendering
the connecting rod adjustable in length I can set the partition to any required
angle and make it more or less sensitive to the influence of the material being fed.
The action of the apparatus is as follows. If the attendant in filling the shoot
or laying the material on the lattice should so perform his work as to over-feed
the hopper, the material filling the space between the suspended partition and the
sloping front of the hopper, packs at the foot, and being carried forward by the
travelling floor of the hopper, the partition is moved forward with it and the outer
arm being thereby advanced, the connecting rod operates the belt fork and stops
the feed lattice or feed shoot rollers so that the supply of material to the hopper
is at once interrupted. But as soon as the surplus feed in the hopper has been
carried forward and the pressure on the foot of the partition is relieved, the
partition falls back, moving the arm and again putting the feed lattice or shoot
rollers in action. By these means the hopper is never overcharged or choked and
the delivery to the spiked lattice is always constant with the result that the lap
produced is of uniform thickness and quality.

page_text: As a modification of my invention, instead of suspending the partition or
regulator vertically in the hopper as described, I might pivot it horizontally so
that it would rest upon the top of the material in the hopper and be operated by
the rise and fall of the level of the material. To prevent any material which
might fall upon the regulator from resting there and so weighing it down, I would
prefer to form the top of the regulator of a double incline or roof shape so that
the material might fall off on either side. Practically such a contrivance would
act like a float and would govern the feed according to the level to which it might
be lifted by the material in the hopper. The said float regulator is connected by
suitable means to the belt fork which governs the movements of the travelling feed
lattice or the rollers in the feed shoot.
Although my invention is particularly applicable to cotton openers and scutchers
it might be employed in other apparatuses used for cognate purposes.
Further my improvement might be employed to regulate the delivery of material
from an auxiliary feed hopper placed in front of or beside the usual hopper. The
material might be fed from the said auxiliary hopper to the existing hopper by a
spiked apron or by other suitable means and the movements of the said spiked
apron or other feeding means might be controlled by the aforesaid swinging
partition or regulating float so as to prevent irregular delivery or over-feeding to
the hopper of the opener, scutcher or other apparatus.
Dated this 13th day of September 1894.
E. K. DUTTON & Co.,
5 John Dalton Street, Manchester, Agents.
Improvements in Means for Regulating and Controlling the Feed
of Textile Fibre to Openers, Scutchers, Carding Apparatus, and
similar Opening, Breaking, and Carding Machinery.
I THOMAS RODGERSON MARSDEN of Bank View, Derker Street, Oldham, in
the County of Lancaster, Manager, in the employ of Messrs. Platt Brothers & Co.
Limited, of Oldham, Machinists, do hereby declare the nature of this 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:-
My said invention relates principally to means for regulating and controlling
the delivery or feed of textile fibre or material to the hoppers or feed boxes of
openers and scutchers, but is also applicable in regulating the feed of fibre to
carding engines, and to other opening, breaking, and carding appliances.
In cases where the hopper of an opener or scutcher is fed by a travelling lattice,
which is kept supplied by an attendant, it frequently happens that by carelessness
or irregularity of feeding, the hopper becomes over-fed, or at least is fed so
irregularly that the best results are not obtained.
My invention consists in placing a regulator at or near to the entrance to the
hopper which will regulate the motion of the feeding lattice if too much fibre is
thrown into the hopper, and will set the feed lattice mechanism again in motion
when the hopper is sufficiently relieved.
To render my invention clearly understood I will now proceed to describe the
same more particularly with reference to the annexed three sheets of illustrative
drawings.
On Sheet 1.
Fig. 1 is a sectional view of a hopper with a portion of the creeper feed or
feeding lattice, the hopper containing my improved pivotted regulating partition
or board from which the movements of the creener feed are governed.

page_text: Un Sheet 2.
Fig. 2 is a general view in side elevation of a portion of the feeding lattice and
a portion of the front of the hopper, my improved means for automatically
regulating the movements of the feed lattice from the board or partition g in the
hopper being shown attached thereto.
On Sheet 3.
Fig. 3 is a side elevation to an enlarged scale of a portion of the hopper side A
with the delivery end of the creeper feed B the arrangement constituting my
invention being shown in conjunction therewith.
Fig. 4 is a plan of the side illustrated in Fig. 2.
Fig. 5 is an end elevation showing the pivotted board g and side lever, the hopper
side A appearing in section.
Fig. 6 shows the bracket supporting the bell-crank lever operated from the side
lever and operating the belt fork.
Fig. 7 is a plan of the bell-crank lever.
Referring to the said drawings, the sides
sides of the creeper feeder are marked B.
marked A¹.
of the hopper are marked A. The
The fixed front of the hopper is
In practice the sloping portion of the creeper feeder framework B joins a
horizontal portion B¹ (shown in Fig. 2) which extends along the floor of what
might be the mixing or store room, and the attendant lays the cotton upon this
horizontal portion so that it is carried forward to the sloping portion B of the
creeper up which it is carried and thrown into the hopper as plainly indicated in
Fig. 1. The lattice c at the foot of the hopper A takes the cotton forward to the
usual spiked sheet x. So far this is the ordinary creeper feed arrangement and
my invention is principally intended to regulate the movements of the creeper
feed apron d automatically in such a manner that any over or under feeding of the
hopper A is automatically corrected by the stopping or starting of the creeper
feed apron d. The length of creeper feed apron d appearing in the drawings
is carried by rollers e mounted upon sbafts ffl as clearly appears in Figs. 1
and 2. Within the hopper A I suspend a swinging partition or board g which
may be made of wood or metal a sufficient space being left between the said
swinging partition and the hopper front A¹ to allow of the admission and passage
of the cotton or other fibrous material. This swinging partition consists of a flat
or it might be slightly curved board or flap extending across the width of the
hopper, this flat or continuous board g being preferable to the separate fingers or
prongs which have heretofore been suspended in the hopper for feed equalizing or
regulating purposes such for example as are shown in the Specification of Ormerod
et al No. 12811 of 1893. Such prongs or fingers are apt to permit irregularity
of feeding by allowing masses or portions of cotton to pass unchecked between the
prongs while the continuous and blank board does not permit of this. The
board 9 is suspended from a pivot shaft g' carried in brackets g² fixed on the top
of the hopper sides, the board stopping short some distance above the bottom
lattice c to allow the cotton to pass beneath it. Upon the end of the shaft g' is
fixed a disc h and to this disc h I secure the disc i by means of bolts i¹ which pass
through curved slots in the disc i and enable it to be adjusted on the disc h so that
any desired inclination can be given to the board g. The disc i also carries a
lever which hangs outside of the hopper, the lower end of the lever being con-
Dected by a rod j with a bell-crank lever pivotted on a bracket which is bolted
to one of the creeper feed sides. The foot of the lever is slotted to receive the
stud which passes through the adjustable end of the rod j and these arrangements
afford further conveniences for adjustment. One arm of the bell-crank lever k is
slotted and receives the pendent tail of the belt fork which is centred at 12 on a
bracket 3 bolted to the creeper feed side.
The shaft of the carrying roller e has fixed upon it a toothed spur wheel m
(indicated diagramatically) which gears with a pinion m' rotating with the driving
pulley o which in common with the free pulley o' runs upon the stud p projecting

page_text: from the side of the creeper, feed frame. Thus when the belt runs on the pulley o
it drives the creeper feed apron d but when shifted upon the free pulley of the
creeper feed apron is at rest.
The operation of my invention will now be clearly understood. When at work
the creeper feed apron d carries the cotton or other textile material forward and
tumbles it into the space in the hopper which exists between the pivotted partition
or board g and the fixed front A¹ of the hopper. As shown at Fig. 1 the straight
and uninterrupted foot of the board g cuts off and presses down the cotton as it is
carried forward by the lattice c to the spiked sheet, so that the feed to the spiked
sheet is much more even, regular and homogeneous than is the case under existing
arrangements. If the hopper should become overfed, for example by the attendant
placing too much cotton upon the creeper feed apron d the cotton or other material
filling the space between the suspended partition or board g and the front A' of
the hopper, becomes packed at the foot and being carried forward by the travelling
floor c of the hopper, the foot of the partition g is swung or carried forward with
it in the direction indicated by the arrow, thereby turning the pivot shaft g' and
moving the lever so as to operate the bell-crank lever k and shift the belt fork l¹
the driving belt being thus moved from the driving pulley o to the free pulley o¹
so that the creeper feed is stopped. As soon however as the surplus feed in the
hopper has been carried forward and the pressure on the foot of the partition y
is relieved the partition returns to its normal position by its own weight, moving
the aforesaid connections so as to shift the belt g again from the free to the driving
pulley, thus putting the creeper again in action.
By these means the hopper is never unduly overcharged or choked and the
delivery to the spiked sheet is constant, with the result that the lap produced is of
uniform thickness and quality.
Although my invention is particularly applicable to cotton openers and scutchers
it might be employed in other apparatuses used for cognate purposes.
Further my improvements might be employed to regulate the delivery of
material from an auxiliary feed hopper placed in front of or beside the usual
hopper.
The material might be fed from the said auxiliary hopper to the existing hopper
by a spiked apron or by other suitable means and the movements of the said spiked
apron or other feeding means might be controlled by the aforesaid swinging
partition so as to prevent irregular delivery or over-feeding to the hopper of the
opener, scutcher or other apparatus.
In my Provisional Specification I proposed that instead of suspending the
partition or regulator vertically in the hopper as described, the same might be
pivotted horizontally so that it would rest upon the top of the material in the
hopper and be operated by the rise and fall of the level of the material, but I
have discarded and now disclaim such horizontally upheld partition or regulator.
I also suggested in my Provisional Specification the controlling of the feed
rollers of a shoot conveying the cotton or other material to the hopper, but this I
also now disclaim and adhere only to the regulation of the feed lattice which is in
my opinion the only practical arrangement.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is.
1. In hopper feeders and in apparatus of a cognate nature, automatically
regulating the motions of the creeper feed lattice from a swinging partition or
pivotted board suspended in the hopper or feed receiver and moving in accordance
with the amount of material fed to the hopper so as to prevent or remedy over-
feeding substantially as described and as illustrated.
2. As means for automatically regulating and controlling the movements of the
creeper or lattice feed for conveying cotton or other fibrous material to a hopper
feeder or cognate apparatus, the combination of a suspended board or partition' in

page_text: the hopper or feed receiver with the hereinbefore set forth or substantially
equivalent means for stopping and starting the said creeper feed lattice, substan-
tially as described and as illustrated.
3. In apparatus of the indicated nature and as means for automatically regulating
and controlling the movements of the creeper or lattice feed, the combination of
the pivotted board or swinging partition 9, the lever, the connecting rod j, the
bell-crank lever k and the belt fork ', in conjunction with suitable driving gear
such as the pullies o, o' and gear wheels m, m' all arranged and operating sub-
stantially as described and as illustrated on Sheets 1 and 2 of the drawings.
Dated this 13th day of June 1895.
E. K. DUTTON & Co.,
5 John Dalton Street, Manchester, Chartered Patent Agents,
For the Applicant.