IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CARDING AND ROVING TOW AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS IS APPLICABLE FOR TRANSMITTING MOTION IN OTHER MECHANISM
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Combe, of Belfast, in the Kingdom of Ireland,
Machine Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR CARDING AND ROVING TOW AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES, PART OF
WHICH IMPROVEMENTS IS APPLICABLE FOR TRANSMITTING MOTION IN OTHER
MECHANISM,"
Sealed the 12th August 1856, and dated the 11th June 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Combe at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, ou the
11th June 1856.
1, JAMES COMBE, of Belfast, in the Kingdom of Ireland, Machine Maker
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR CARDING AND ROVING TOW AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES, PART
OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS IS APPLICABLE FOR TRANSMITTING MOTION IN OTHER
MECHANISM," to be as follows:-
The improvements in machinery for carding relate, first, to the application
to carding engines of one or more transverse travelling sheets of gills or similar
contrivances, by means of which the material which is being carded, after it has
been taken from the cylinder of the card by the doffer, is stripped from it, and
delivered in one or more continuous slivers, the fibres being thereby laid more
parallel than has been done hitherto, while at the same time the teeth of the.
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR CARDING AND ROVING Tow AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES, PART
OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS IS APPLICABLE FOR TRANSMITTING MOTION IN OTHER
MECHANISM," to be as follows:-
The improvements in machinery for carding relate, first, to the application
to carding engines of one or more transverse travelling sheets of gills or similar
contrivances, by means of which the material which is being carded, after it has
been taken from the cylinder of the card by the doffer, is stripped from it, and
delivered in one or more continuous slivers, the fibres being thereby laid more
parallel than has been done hitherto, while at the same time the teeth of the.

page_text: doffer clothing can be set so as to retain any knots left in the material, which
may thereby be separated from the good fibres by means of a brush or similar
contrivance.
Secondly, to the covering of the wood staves in which the card teeth are
sometimes set, with sheet iron or other metal, whereby they are made stronger,
less liable to warp, more capable of holding the teeth, and also more smooth,
and less liable to retain the dirt and fibre. This, in most cases, will give
sufficient strength and rigidity to permit of the substitution of rings for a
continuous roller or cylinder, such rings being set at suitable intervals for
supporting the staves in their places..
The improvements in roving relate, first, to an arrangement of mechanism
for communicating the proper take-up motion to the bobbins. For this
purpose I employ a disc or friction plate,actuated by two friction runners, and
I thus greatly simplify the construction, and at the same time increase the
efficiency of these machines, by making them take up more correctly.
Second, to the use of an expanding pulley, which supplies the place of the
discs, friction plates, or cones hitherto used in such machines,and makes a still
more simple and efficient arrangement.
Third, to the introduction of one or more screws to give the necessary
traverse to the runners or friction or expanding pulleys, by means of which
the usual weights and uncertainty connected therewith are got rid of.
Fourth, to an improved arrangement for transmitting the motion from the
differential wheel to the bobbins, which makes the motion more regular, and
in an improved form of bobbin lifter. For transmitting the motion, I attach a
spur wheel to the socket of the usual differential box wheel, which com-
municates the take-up motion to the bobbins, and I suspend on a socket
attached to the framing, concentric with the back or pulley shaft on which the
differential wheels are placed, a radius lever, at the lower end of which is fixed
a stud with a hole through the length of it, or, more properly, a socket which
carries a spur wheel gearing into the before-named spur wheel on the back
shaft. This spur wheel on the socket has cast along with it, or attached to it,
a bevel wheel. Through the hole in this socket is passed a stud, the end of
which has a bored head, which forms a bearing to support the end of a small
shaft which extends to underneath the bobbin lifter. At one end of this shaft
is fixed a bevel wheel, which gears into the one attached to the spur wheel on
the socket before mentioned, and is driven by it. At the other end of this
shaft is fixed another bevel wheel, which gears into another similar double
bevel spur wheel, which works on another hollow stud or socket attached to
the bobbin lifter unterneath the shaft, which passes along inside of it, and

page_text: which communicates motion to the bobbins. The small shaft is supported in
the head of a stud resting in the bobbin lifter socket, similar to the one at the
end of the radius lever. The spur wheel attached to the bevel wheel last
mentioned gears into and communicates motion to a spur wheel fixed on the
shaft inside the bobbin lifter. As the bobbin lifter moves up and down, the
small shaft is less or more inclined, and the radius lever accommodates its
position to these inclinations, and the stud supports for the small shaft, by
moving round in the sockets along with this, communicate motion to the
bobbin lifter shaft, whatever position it is in as to height. The improved
bobbin lifter is made of cast iron, with two slides, connected with light cross
bars, which support the spindles and the studs which carry the wheels for
communicating motion to the bobbin sockets. This form of lifter is strong
and light, and the sides are made deep enough to enclose, by means of a flat
cover, all the gearing for driving the bobbins and the collars in which the
spindles work. The expanding pulley above referred to I propose to employ
for transmitting motion in other arrangements of machinery.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Combe in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
11th December 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
COMBE, of Belfast, in the Kingdom of Ireland, Machine Maker, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said James Combe, Her special license that I, the said James Combe, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
Combe, 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 of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR CARDING AND ROVING TOW AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES. PART OF WHICH
IMPROVEMENTS IS APPLICABLE FOR TRANSMITTING MOTION IN OTHER MECHANISM,"

page_text: upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Combe, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 James Combe, do hereby declare the
nature of my 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 Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and
figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
These improvements consist, first, in the application of a transverse travelling
sheet of gills to the doffers of carding engines, by means of which the fibres of
the material which is being carded, after they have been conveyed to the doffing
cylinder (or doffer) by the action of the machine, are delivered more parallel in
the sliver than byany of the processes hitherto used, and at the same time any
knots which may be left by the card can be separated from the good fibre.
These improvements are carried into effect in the manner which I now proceed
to describe. In all the Figures referred to the same letters and numbers refer
to the same parts of the mechanism.
Fig. 1 is a bird's-eye view of the doffer and part of the cylinder of a card,
with the sheet attached to it; Fig. 2 is an end view, and Fig. 3 a front view
of the same; Fig. 4 is a detached view, shewing the parts on a larger scale;
Figures 5 and 6 are sections, looking in the same direction, and showing the
position of the sheet at the opposite ends of the doffer; and Fig. 7 is a front
view of a doffer, showing the arrangement for separating the knots, &c. from
the good fibres.
a is the doffer, clothed as usual, and driven in the ordinary manner; a¹ is
part of the card cylinder; a² is a transverse sheet of leather, or other suitable
material, with gills a³ fixed on it. This sheet passes over two rollers a' and a
set one at each side of the card cylinder, and supported in suitable bearings
attached to the framing a of the carding engine. a (Fig. 4) is a roller,
and a, a pressing roller above it; as is a slide for supporting the sheet a
The gills a³ are attached to the sheet by rivets or screws which pass through
both. At intervals corresponding with grooves a' in the pulleys at the ends o
the sheets these rivets also pass through bars a¹0, which fit the grooves and
bear on the slide a³, so as to prevent the sheet from wearing, and allow of its
moving more freely. The use of the slide as is to keep the upper or acting
part of the sheet of gills straight, and at a uniform distance from the under

page_text: side of the doffer. In some cases a pair of delivering rollers all may be required
in front of the drawing rollers a" and a, which may be attached and driven in
the usual way. The card cylinder, doffer, and rollers revolve in the directions
indicated by the arrows, and the rollers carry the gill sheet with them in the
direction of their rotation. Motion is communicated to the roller a from one
of the rollers of the carding engine by a belt a12, which passes over and drives
the pulley a¹. This pulley has attached to it, by a socket, the bevel toothed
wheel a, which takes into and drives the wheel a¹5, fixed on the end of
roller a, to which it communicates motion. On the other end of the roller a"
is fixed a pinion a¹, which takes into and drives a wheel a¹, which revolves
on a stud, and carries with it the pinion a¹8. This pinion a¹8 gears into aud
gives motion to the wheel a¹º on the end of the sheet roller a*, and thus gives
motion to the sheet.
.Having described the different parts of this head of my Invention, it now
remains to describe their action. The cylinder of the carding engine (the
other parts of which may be arranged as usual) deposits the carded material
on to the doffer a, which passes it downwards on its clothed surface towards
the sheet of gills a². The points of the pins of the gills are placed so near the
points of those of the clothing of the doffer that they take the tow or other
material from the doffer as it passes round. The sheet of gills has such a
speed of surface given to it that it passes through a distance equal to the
length of the doffer, while the surface of the doffer moves through a space
about equal to the breadth of the gills. The sheet of gills a² is placed in a
line so much off being parallel with the axis of the doffer that the under
surface of the doffer crosses the sheet of gills diagonally (as shown by the
dotted line as in Fig. 1), the effect of which is to deposit the carded fibres
across the whole breadth of the gills. As the fibres hang out or project some
distance from the surface of the clothing of the doffer, it will be evident that
the gill pins will take hold of their projecting ends first, and the sheet moves
so much faster than thedoffer that they will be turned to point in the direction
of the motion of the sheet. By giving the pins or the teeth in the clothing of
the doffer, besides the usual bend or set backwards, a slight bend sideways, as
shewn at Fig. 7, in the opposite direction to the motion of the gills, the knots,
if any are left by the card, will be retained on the doffer, from which they will
be removed by the brush a (Fig. 2), which is usually applied thereto. The
carded fibres being deposited in the gills, are by them carried along to the
drawing rollers a and a'; these are made to revolve with a speed of surface
rather greater than that of the sheet, so that a slight drawing or stretching
of the sliver takes place there, which has an additional effect in straightening

page_text: the fibres. From the rollers a, a, or from the delivering rollers all, all, if
these are used, the sliver is delivered in the usual manner into the proper
receptacle a, and is then taken and worked as usual. For some materials
which do not come freely out of the gills, it may be necessary to apply the
provision shown in Figures 5 and 6 detached. This consists of small rods of
wood a23, or other material, between each row of pins or gills, which are kept in
their places by the small slots a², attached to the gill stocks; these fall down
by their own weight on the upper part of the sheet; but when they come to the
end near the drawing rollers their ends come into contact with the excentric
plates or slides a", placed at each side of the sheet roller at, and are thereby
pushed up as they pass, which lifts the fibre or sliver out of the gills and
allows it to pass in between the rollers a &a. The gills are made by setting
pins of suitable fineness in a stock, and at such distance apart as will ensure
the proper stripping of the fibres from the doffer, and permit of the ready
discharge of the fibres from the gills.
The second part of these improvements consists in covering the wood staves
in which card teeth are sometimes set, with sheet iron or other metal, for the
purpose of strengthening them, removing their liability to warp, increasing
their capability of holding the teeth firmly, and making the surface smoother,
so as to keep clean in working. Sufficient strength and security from getting
untrue may be attained in this way to allow of the use of bearing rings, instead
of continuous, cylinders for carrying the staves. Figures 8 and 9 are sections
of different modes of forming the covered staves.. The metal covering passing
all round in Fig. S is shown lapped over and tucked. In Fig. 9 the edges of
the staves are made to fit into each other, and the metal covering is joined
at b, so as to hook itself in. Fig. 10 shews a state covered on the under side
only, the metal being attached with screws to the wood; this may be used with
or without the other covering, to prevent the teeth being pushed in. These
staves are made as usual, in lengths to suit the breadth of the cylinder.
The third part of these improvements consists in a more simple arrangement
of mechanism for communicating a proper take-up motion to the bobbins in
roving frames, by means of which a more regular winding on of the rove,
without straining or stretching it, is attained than by any previous arrangement
for the same purpose. The mode of carrying out this part of my Invention is
shewn in Figures 11, 12, and 13, in all of which the same letters and numbers
refer to the same parts.
Fig. 11 is a front view, Fig 12 is an end view, and Fig. 13 is a bird's-eye
view of a part of this arrangement. bis the front cr drawing roller of the
roving frame, on which, near the end of the machine, is fixed a-bevil wheel 1,

page_text: which gears into and drives another wheel 62, fixed on the end of the slanting
shaft 63, which is supported in suitable bearings 64 and 64, attached to the
framing 65 of the machine. On the shaft 3 is fixed a toothed wheel 66, which
gears into and drives a wheel 67, affixed to the shaft 68 (Fig. 13), which is
supported in bearings parallel to the shaft 63. The two shafts 63 and 68 have
each a key groove cut in their lower part, on which slide the runners 69 and 610
These runners are covered at their periphery with leather or other suitable
material, and they have each a key fixed in their eyes, so that they slide freely
on, but are driven round by the rotation of their respective shafts. They have
also each a flanged socket 611 attached to their upper side, by which they are
moved up or down on their shafts by the spring bar band frame 613, the
bearings attached to which are made to clasp these sockets and fit between
their flanges. Parallel to the shafts 6 and 63, but to one side a little, is placed
a screw 614, which is supported on suitable bearings attached to the framing.
The frame 613, which regulates the height of the runners 60 and 610, has fixed in
it anut, through which the screw passes, and by means of this arrangement
the screw, when turned round one way or other, raises or depresses the
runners and 10 simultaneously. The centrelines of the two shafts b3 and s
point straight to the centre line of the shaft 615, and on it is fixed firmly the
disc or flat plate 616, which the runners 9 and 10 clasp between them, a
sufficient pressure for this purpose being given by the spring bar 6¹², which
forms one side of the frame . The effect of this is, that the runners drive
the disc and shaft at a speed inversely in proportion to the diameter
of the circle on the disc on which they act. The shaft 6 communicates
motion by means of the pinion to the wheel 6s, which carries with it the
pinion
in gear with the differential motion wheel 20, and through it motion
is communicated in the usual manner to the bobbins. On the screw" is fixed
a bevil wheel 2, which is geared into and driven by another wheel 6º, on the
small horizontal shaft 63, which has motion communicated to it by the bobbin
lifter (by preference in a similar manner to that described under the next head
of the Invention), for the purpose of keeping the runners 60 and 60 in such a
position on the disc as will give (through the differential motion wheel) the
proper take-up motion to the bobbins.
The fourth part of these improvements consists in another mode of giving
the take-up motion to the bobbins of roving frames by means of an expanding
pulley of a new construction, which is used instead of the cones or discs which
have been hitherto applied for the same purpose, and which is still more
simple and efficient for many purposes than the arrangement just described.
I may here remark that this peculiar expanding pulley is applicable to a

page_text: variety of purposes where a variable motion is required to be maintained. It
will make this arrangement more easily understood if the construction of the
expanding pulley be described before proceeding to shew the manner of
applying it to roving frames.
Fig. 14 is a side view of one of these pulleys; Fig. 15, a section of the
same; Fig. 16 is a side view, Fig. 17 a front view, and Fig. 18 a section,
of one of the sides detached. The same letters and numbers in all these
Figures apply to the same parts. It will be seen by examining these Figures,
viz', 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18, that the pulley is formed of two hollow cones
provided with radial spaces c, which alternate with solid parts c¹. These
cones are mounted on a common shaft, and are caused to interlock with each
other in such a manner that the pulley may be compressed or expanded as
required, so as to increase or diminish the diameter of the part that receives
the driving band. In Fig. 14 the two cones are shewn as kept together by
nuts c², put on each end of the axle or shaft c³. This is the arrangement used
where it is not required to vary the size when the pulley is working. When
it is necessary to vary the size while the pulley is revolving, an arrangement
with two arms d' and d (Fig. 20), and a right and left hand screw d³ and d+,
to move these arms out or in simultaneously, is used, substituting a handle
or key (if this is to be done by hand) in place of the wheel do. This pulley
is used with a round gut or other band, the pressure of which keeps the two
sides of the pulley always out, and pressing against the nuts or arms d¹
and d. It will be obvious how the angle of the sides of the cone, and the
breadth of the spaces and solid parts, may be varied to suit the different
purposes for which the pulley is required. The edges of the radial slots may
be rounded, if required, to prevent the cutting of the driving band. A key
bed is cut in the axle, and a key fixed in the eye of the conical sides, which
admits of their sliding freely into and out of each other, and which, at the
same time, communicates their rotation to the shaft.
Having described the expanding pulley, I will now proceed to explain the
application of it to the take-up motion of the roving frame.
Fig. 19 is an end view; Fig. 20, a top or bird's-eye view of this me.
chanism; and Fig. 21 is a detached front view of part of the bobbin lifter
and the apparatus for changing the size of the expanding pulley. In these
Figures the same letters and numbers indicate the same parts. is the front
or drawing roller of the frame, on which, near the end, is fixed a grooved
pulley do, over which an endless cord or band d passes down round the
expanding pulleys, and gives motion to it. The expanding pulleys gives
motion to the shaft d, which passes through it, and which is supported. (but

page_text: с
allowed to revolve in its bearings) on two arms d10,connected together by the
bar d, which causes them to keep the axis of the pulley shaft do always
parallel to the screws d³ and d. The arms do and bar d¹ form a frame, in
which the expanding pulley works. The frame is carried by plain bearings
on the screw shaft d; and they are made so that they allow the pulley
shaft do and pulley d to move in a curve round the centre of the screw
shaft of which curve the arms.d10 are the radius. The object of this is to
allow the expanding pulley de to assume such a position as will always keep
the band d' at a proper driving tension, whatever the working diameter of the
pulley may be. The pulley shaft has fixed on its end the pinion d's, which
takes into and drives the wheel 14, which runs loose on the screw shaft d¹²,
and serves as an intermediate-wheel between the pinion d¹³ and the wheel dis
on the counter shaft d. This allows of the expanding pulley as assuming
any required position round the centre of the screw shaft d12, while it still
has its pinion in gear with the wheel d¹+, round the centre of which the
arms d¹º cause it to move as the pulley is altered in size. The wheel (+
gears into and drives the wheel d, fixed on the counter shaft d'o, which is
supported in suitablo bearings on the framing 617 at its two ends, as is also.
the screw shaft d¹. The counter shaft de carries at one end a pinion dis,
which,throughthe intermediate wheeld19,drives the differential boxwheel (20,.
and by it gives the take-up motion to the bobbins in the usual manner, or
in the manner which will hereinafter be described. At its other end the
shaft de carries a pinion 21, which works the traverse for the bobbins in any
of the usual well-known ways. The expanding pulley is made to give the
varying motion to the bobbins by the following means:-The bobbin lifter d
has attached to it.a plate 23, in which are fixed two pins 24 and 25. The
pin d25, when the lifter comes to the highest part of its movement, acts against.
the left-hand end of the lever d26, which carries on an arm the catch d27, which
takes into the ratchet wheelsd?"(see Fig. 21), and moves it round a little.
In the same way, when the. liftér da comes down to its lowest position, the
pin 24 comes in contact with the right-hand side of the lever d20, and moves
the ratchet wheel d28 a little in the same direction. Thus, as each layer of
rove is laid on the bobbins 20, by the ascent and descent of the lifter (12³, the
ratchet wheel 28 is moved round a little without the use of the usual weights.
which have hitherto been employed for regulating the take. The ratchet
wheel 28 revolves on a stud 30, and has attached to it the cogged wheel d³1,
which gears into and drives. the intermediate wheel d32, which again gears.
into and drives the change wheel 33, fixed on the small shaft d34, which is.
supported on bearings (35, attached to the framing of the machine 30. On the
7
B

page_text: opposite end of this small shaft 4 is fixed a bevil toothed wheel (37, which
takes into and drives another similar wheel d fixed on the end of the screw
shaft d2, which, as before stated, has a right-hand thread d³ cut on one end
of it, and a left-hand thread d' on the other. On these screws and are
placed the arms d¹ and d², which have screwed holes to fit the screws d³ and
d at one end, and a flat part, with a hole to fit freely on the pulley shaft 2,
on the other end. These flat parts act against and press in the bosses of the
expanding pulley d. It will be apparent from this description that the rising
and falling of the bobbin lifter will have the effect of moving towards each
other the two sides or conical portions of the expanding pulley, and of in-
creasing proportionably the dianieter of the part where the cord runs as the
bobbins fill with rove.. The pinion 133 can be changed, the intermediate
wheel 3 being supported on a stud fixed in a slot, so as to allow of its being
brought into proper gear with any required size of change pinion. In this
way the rate at which the expanding pulley increases in size can be regu-
lated to suit different finenesses of rove. It is obvious that by the action of
these right and left hand screws (3 and ', the middle of the groove, where the
band acts in the expanding pulley, is always kept in the same plane with the
middle of the grooved pulley do, which drives it, also that no weights are
required to give the necessary take-up. The pitch of the screws d³ and d
and the size of the wheel d33, are regulated so as to keep the size of the
expanding pulley de proportional to the increasing diameter of the bobbin as
it fills.
As the construction of the expanding pulley forms, irrespective of its
application, a distinct feature of my Invention, I have thought it desirable to
shew the mode of adapting the principle of expansion to extreme cases.
Fig. 24 shews, in cross section, a pulley adapted to cases where a small degree
of change only in speed is required; and Fig. 25 shews a modified form of
the pulley (also in section), which admits of great variation in the diameter of
the portion which receives the driving band. In both these examples the
same principle of interlocking, as explained with reference to Figures 14 to 18
inclusive, is retained.
The fifth part of these improvements consists in an improved mode of trans-
mitting motion from the differential wheel to the bobbins, and in an improved
form of bobbin lifter. The manner in which I carry out these improvements
is shown in Figures 19 and 20, as they appear in the machine, and
detached in Fig. 22 (which is a side view), and in Fig. 23 (which is an
end view). In all these Figures the same letters and numbers refer to the
same parts.

page_text: °
I attach a spur wheel e to the socket of the usual differential box wheel el,
which communicates the take-up motion to the bobbins; and I suspend on a
socket e², attached to the framing d30, and concentric with the back or pulley
shaft, on which the differential box wheels e¹ and d20 are placed, a radius
lever et, at the lower end of which is fixed a hollow stud e, which carries a
spur wheel e, in gear with the wheel e, on the back shaft e. This spur wheel
e, on the hollow stud es, has cast along with it, or attached to it, a bevil wheel
e. Through the hole in the hollow stud e5 is passed a stud e³, the end of
which has a bored head e9, which forms.a bearing to support the end of a small
shaft eo, which extends to the bobbin lifter d. At one end of this shaft e¹ is
fixed a bevil wheel e¹¹, which gears into and is driven by the bevil wheel ei,
attached to the spur wheel e, and to the other end of this shaft e¹ is fixed
another bevil wheel e12, which gears into and drives the connected bevil and
spur wheel e, which revolves on another hollow stud e14, attached to the under
side of the bobbin lifter; el is a shaft which passes along inside of the bobbin
lifter, its office to communicate motion to the bobbins. The small shafte¹0
is supported in the head of the stud e14, which rests in another hollow stude15,
similar to that in the end of the radius lever et. The spur wheel e¹³, attached
to the bevil wheel, gears into and communicates motion to the wheel e, fixed
on the shaft el, inside the bobbin lifter, and through this shaft to the bobbins.
As the bobbin lifter moves up and down, the small shaft e10 is more or less
inclined, and the radius lever et, which moves freely on its support on the
framing, accommodates its position to these inclinations. The stud supports
e and elt for the small shaft e¹0 move round in the hollow studs e5 and e15, in
accordance with the inclinations of the shaft e¹0, and thus motion is commu-
nicated to the bobbin lifter shaft e¹, whatever may be its elevation. The
improved form of bobbin lifter is shewn by d; it is made of cast iron, with
two sides, connected by light cross bars f, which support the spindles f¹ in
collars, and the studs which carry the wheels, which communicates motion to
the bobbin sockets. This form makes the bobbin lifter strong and light,
and the sides are made of suitable depth to enclose, by means of a flat cover,
all the gearing for driving the bobbins, and also the collars in which the
spindles work.
Having now set forth the nature and object of my Invention of "Improve-
ments in Machinery for Carding and Roving Tow and other Fibrous Sub-
stances, Part of which Improvements is applicable for Transmitting Motion in
other Mechanism," 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

page_text: First, the application to carding engines of transverse sheets of gills or their
equivalent, for the purpose of delivering the material from the doffer, with the
fibres arranged in a more perfect state for undergoing the subsequent operation
of roving than is now commonly attained.
Second, covering the wood staves in which the card teeth are fixed, with
metal, for the purpose of giving to the wood stave, more strength, smoothness,
and power of retaining the teeth than they would otherwise possess.
Thirdly, the two arrangements above described for simplifyingand improving
the take-up motion in roving frames.
Fourthly, I claim constructing expanding pullies with interlocking parts, as
explained, and the application of the same to roving frames, and. to other
mechanism where a variable driving motion is required to be transmitted or
maintained.
Fifthly, the improved mode, above described, for communicating the motion
from the differential wheel to the bobbins.
Lastly, I claim constructing the bobbin lifter, in the manner above set
forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Combe, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, the Eighth day of December, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
JAMES COMBE.
(L.S.)