Improvements in Machinery for Combing Cotton or other Fibrous Materials.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Sept., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 13th Feb., 1892-4ccepted, 9th Apr., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machinery for Combing Cotton or other Fibrous
Materials.
JAMES MACQUEEN Atherton Birkdale Southport Lancashire Engineer do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to machinery used for the purpose of combing cotton or
other fibrous materials and consists
Firstly In constructing and operating a nipper for holding the fibre while being
combed by the combs on the cylinder I fix the cushion plate of said nipper to the
framing and above this plate I carry a shaft on which I place two levers free to
move thereon these levers carry the nipper knife proper to this knife I a attach a
plate free to move to or from the cylinder and to rest on two adjusting screws
when the nipper is closed. On the shaft which carries the knife levers I fix two
brackets with two tails on each one tail goes under the knife lever to the other I
attach a helical spring the other end of said spring 1 attach to the knife lever
when the shaft that carries the levers and brackets is turned by a cam in one
direction the tail of the bracket lifts the knife levers and knife and the spring
ceases to act when the shaft is reversed the knife descends on the cushion plate and
the loose plate rests on its screws which prevents it from going too near to the
cylinder combs a little further movement of the shaft puts the weight of the springs
on the knife for the purpose of holding the fibre when being combed.
Secondly-In constructing and operating a nipper to feed the lap forward to the
holding nipper instead of the usual feed rollers. On the cushion plate of the
holding nipper I place another cushion plate free to move to or from the holding
nipper knife this last cushion plate has two upright ears provided with a stud in
each on these studs I place two levers which carries a knife which rests on the
cushion plate when closed in these levers just above the studs which carries them are
fixed two more studs I carry a shaft below the cushion plates and on it I fix two
levers with slots in their upper ends which connects them to the knife levers by the
little studs which are fixed in them. When the last named shaft is moved in one
direction the levers thereon acting on the knife levers lift them up to the proper
height when they come into contact with a stop then the whole nipper is pulled
back by the remainder of the shafts movement when the motion of the shaft is
reversed the knife is brought into contact with its cushion plate and the further
movement of the shaft moves the whole nipper towards the holding nipper knife
and with it the lap of fibre to be combed. This nipper is connected to the lap
rollers by a connecting rod lever pull and ratchet wheel or other simple method.
Thirdly-In constructing and furnishing the cylinder. The body of the cylinder
consists of a tube with a flange at each end these flanges are turned to the proper
diameter and the half laps to which the combs are attached are bored or cut to suit
the flanges and are fixed to them by screws the combs are fixed to the half laps in
the usual manner. The spaces between the half laps are filled with sheet tin
fastened to the flanges similarly to the half laps and the cylinders fastened to their
shaft in the usual way.
Fourthly In constructing and operating a new detaching apparatus whereby
the tufts of fibre after being combed are taken from the holding nipper drawn
through a top comb pieced up and delivered in a continuous sheet. On any con-
venient part of the framing I carry a shaft and on it I fix two levers which carry
an upper fixed jaw of a nipper and also a loose lower jaw above this nipper I carry
a fluted roller with another fluted roller on top of it carried in two levers and free

page_text: to move round the centre of the bottom roller. When the tuft of fibre has been
combed and is held in the holding nipper motion is given to the detaching nipper
by a cam and it is moved towards the holding nipper with its jaws open until the
upper jaw is above the front end of the tuft when it stops and the bottom jaw is
closed by a cam then the top comb is dropped through the fibre the holding nipper
is opened and the detaching nipper pulled away drawing the fibres through the top
comb when the nipper reaches the bottom roller it lays the fibres against it and stops.
The top roller is moved by its levers on the top of the fibres the bottom jaw of the
nipper is opened and an intermitent forward motion is given to the rollers which
take the fibres from the nipper and stop leaving sufficient fibre to be pieced up to
the succeeding tuft. All the movements are repeated. The callender delivery and
the cleaning of the combs are performed in the usual way. Part of this invention
is applicable to other combing machines.
Dated this 2nd dar of Cantambru 1001
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machinery for Combing Cotton or other Fibrous
Materials.
I, JAMES MACQUEEN Atherton Birkdale Southport Lancashire Engineer 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 :-
This invention relates to machinery used for the purpose of combing cotton or
other fibrous materials and consists
Firstly In constructing and operating a nipper for holding the cotton or other
fibre when being combed by the combs on the cylinder.
Secondly-In constructing and operating a nipper to feed the lap forward to the
holding nipper instead of the usual feed rollers.
Thirdly In constructing and furnishing the cylinder.
Fourthly-In constructing a new detaching apparatus whereby the tufts of fibre
after being combed by the cylinder combs are taken from the holding nipper drawn
through a top comb and pieced up and delivered in a continuous sheet.
In order to clearly explain the main features of the invention are annexed one
sheet of drawings.
There Fig. is a detached end view in section of the holding nipper. Fig. 2 is
a detached end view in section of the feed nipper. Fig. 3 is a vertical section
across the machine shewing the several parts in combination. The framing and
some other parts are left out for the purpose of shewing the invention more clearly
said parts being no part of the invention. In all the figs. the same parts are
indicated by the same letters and figures of reference.
Referring to Fig. 1 a is the cushion plate which by preference is fixed to the
framing but may be made moveable if required. a is a shaft on which are placed
levers a² free to move thereon to these levers is attached the knife a³ and to this
knife is attached the setting knife a free to move to or from the cylinder this plate
rests on screws a. To the shaft a¹ are attached brackets a with tails a' and a
and between the lever a² and tail a' is stretched a spring a.
In Fig. 2 the cushion plate b is carried either on the cushion plate a or otherwise
the plate has ears in which studs 60 carry the levers 62 these carry the knife ³
which knife rests on the cushion plate when the nipper is closed the levers 62 are
also provided with studs 6 and on the shaft are fixed levers 6 with slots b' which
connects to the levers b².
Referring to Fig. 3 on the cylinder shaft c is fixed the body of the cylinder c¹ and
on this are fixed the half laps c² with combs c³ and between the sets of combs are
plates c*.

page_text: the
On the shaft d is carried a lever to the top end of which is fixed the top jaw
of the detaching nipper d2 and on a shaft d³ carried by the lever d' are carried
levers d loose on said shaft these levers carry the lower jaw of the nipper the
other end of these levers carry bowls d and beneath these is a lever
spring has one end attached to the lever d¹ and the other end to the lever d' on
the said shaft d³ are also carried levers do to one end of which is attached a strip
of metal 10 and its other end is shewn against a stop d above the nipper is shewn
two fluted rollers d and d¹³ which may be carried in any convenient way the
roller is weighted and rests on the lever d¹ and is free to move around the
roller (12.
Fig. 4 shews an alternative method by which in some cases I dispense with
the detaching nipper and employ the rollers d¹2 and 3 to detach piece up and
deliver. The top end of the lever d' is altered to carry said rollers the top one s
being weighted a little lever 69 carries under the cushion plate a a thin strip of
metal 68 shewn also in Figs. 1 and 3.
Having shewn the construction of the invention I will proceed to explain them
in combination and their mode of operation.
Referring to Fig. 3 the lap of material to be combed is placed on the rollers A A
in the usual manner and is conducted over the plate J and through the feed and
holding nippers which are then closed on it and held while the cylinder combs pass
through it in the drawing the jaws of the detaching nipper are shewn in dotted
lines as closing on the material and the top comb G has descended through it and
the holding nipper is open. The detaching nipper being moved backward
draws the tail of fibres through the top comb and as it advances towards the
rollers the tail of the little lever catching on the stop d" the strip do
ascends and lays the ends of the fibres up against the roller d the roller d¹³ is
lowered by the lever d¹ on top of the fibres the detaching nipper is opened by the
lever and motion being given to the rollers the fibres are taken from the nipper
and delivered sufficient length being left projecting from the rollers on which to
lay the next tuft brought by the nipper to which it is pieced up and delivered
meanwhile the feed nipper has fed sufficient length of material to the holding
nipper when it is closed ready for the cylinder combs.
To comb another tuft of material which when combed the operation of the
detaching motion is repeated as before. The feed nipper has opened moved backward
ready for the next forward movement and the top comb has been lifted out of the
way of the cylinder combs.
In Figure 4 when the cylinder combs have passed through the fibres the
rollers de d¹³ advance and as they approach near to the fibre they are made to
revolve and when they have caught the fibre are moved back to the dotted lines
having drawn the fibres through the top comb and lift sufficient length projecting
from the rollers on which to piece up the succeeding tuft and deliver it. The
little lever hung on any convenient stud and carrying the thin strip is moved
forward by the pin in lever a moving in the slot in the lever and lifts the fibres
up sufficiently to allow the nipper or rollers to lay hold of them as in Fig. 4 where
the line I represents the fibres. I do not bind myself to this combination as any
part of it may be easily adapted and applied to other machines.
The opening and closing of nipper Fig. 1 is as follows when the shaft a' is turned
in the direction of the arrow the screw in tail a8 of bracket a' comes into contact
with tail on the lever a² and lifts it and when the shaft is reversed the nipper is
closed and the spring a' is extended thereby putting pressure on the cushion plate a
for the purpose of holding the material when being combed. The loose setting
plate a is lifted and let down by the knife a³ but the screws a prevents it from
going too near to the cylinder combs.
The nipper Fig. 2 is opened and shut and moved backward and forward as
follows. When the lever 66 is moved to the left the tail acting on the stud lifts
the lever b till it comes against a stop then the cushion plate band levers 62 are
moved backward a distance equal to the required feed and when the motion of the

page_text: lever 66 is reversed the knife is closed on the cushion plate and both parts are moved
forward again.
The levers for giving motion to the several parts are shewn with bowls carried
in their ends and distributed around the shaft c on which may be placed cams
suited to produce the motions required and dispense with the usual cam shaft if
required.
The driving shaft B is shewn in the front geared to the cylinder shaft by
pinion D and wheel E but its position is no part of the invention and it may be
placed in any convenient place. The beam is shewn in section at H and K K are the
brush and doffer usually employed for cleaning the cylinder combs. The usual
delivery rollers are shewn at L L other parts not shown are all of the usual
order.
As I do not confine myself to any particular width of lap, nor to the number of
heads to be combined in one machine a front view or plan would only tend to make
the invention more difficult to understand.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
First. The combination of parts forming a nipper for holding the material
while being combed by the cylinder combs substantially as shewn and described.
Secondly. The combination of parts forming a feed nipper and its use substan-
tially as shewn and described.
Thirdly. The combing cylinder substantially as shewn and described.
Fourthly. The combination of parts forming a detaching piecing up and
delivering apparatus substantially as shewn and described.
Dated this 11th day of February 1892.
JAMES MACQUEEN.