Year: 1849

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we
SAMUEL CUNLIFFE LISTER, of Bradford, in the County of York, Esquire;
and GEORGE EDMOND DONISTHORPE, of Leeds, in the same County,
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria,
by Her Royal Letters Patent, under the Great Seal of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster
the Eighteenth day of July, One thousand eight hundred and forty-
nine, in the thirteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs
and successors, give and grant unto us, the said Samuel Cunliffe
Lister and George Edmond Donisthorpe, our exors, adñiors, and
assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege, and authority
that we, the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister and George Edmond
Donisthorpe, our exors, adññiors, and assigns, and such others as we,
the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister and George Edmond Donisthorpe,
our exors, adñiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and
no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of
years therein expressed, should and lawfully, might make, use, exercise,

page_text: and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING, COMBING, AND
SPINNING WOOL," communicated to us from abroad, in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso, that we, the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister
and George Edmond Donisthorpe, or one of us, should cause a par-
ticular description of the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing
under our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one us, to
be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being there-
unto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso we,
the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister and George Edmond Donisthorpe, do
hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascertained
in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say:
The first part of the Invention relates to preparing wool, and such
improvements consist of applying several feeding apparatus in order to
obtain uniformity. Heretofore, when wool has been fed on to the
surface of a cylinder or other form of apparatus closely studded with
points or teeth, it has been usual to employ only one feeding apparatus,
and to obtain a comparatively even accumulation by a succession of
layers, which being broken across, the accumulation has then been
removed from the teeth. Now, according to this part of the Invention,
we cause two, but by preference more than two, feeders simultaneously
to deliver wool on to a cylinder or other suitable surface, and thus to
accumulate a series of layers on such surface, by which a more even
accumulation of wool may be obtained, and may then be removed as
heretofore; but when several feeding apparatus are applied, and simul-
taneously supply wool in layers one over the other, the same may be
continuously doffed or removed, in place of making a continuous band
of wool around the cylinder or surface used. The construction of this
description of apparatus being well understood, and as the improve-
ments consist simply of increasing the number of feeding apparatuses,

page_text: a workman will not require further directions in order to carry this
part of the Invention into practice.
The second part of the Invention consists of a mode of feeding wool
on to a porcupine cylinder or surface moving past a feeding apparatus,
so as to obtain an accumulation of wool in the teeth thereof, in place of
simply drawing off continuously wool from the feeding apparatus by
the teeth of the passing surface simply drawing off wool from the
feeding apparatus, as has heretofore been the practice when preparing
wool by this description of machinery. And this improvement consists
of causing the porcupine cylinder or moving surface of teeth to progress
slowly before the feeding apparatus, which is to have a lashing move-
inent in like manner to those used for lashing wool into combs, and
such lashing action is to be such as to lash the wool repeatedly on to
the same passing surface, so that there will be an accumulation of wool
delivered on to each portion of the moving surface; thus, supposing the
lashing to take place five or more times for each inch of movement of
the porcupine surface or surface of teeth, but such layers will not be
concentric or parallel with the porcupine surface or nearly so as here-
tofore, but at an angle thereto, because the receiving surface continually
departs from the point where the lashing is taking place; hence, when
a fresh surface receives a quantity of wool thereon, as it recedes the
accumulation to the upper and the more and more distant point
will be less and less, till such surface gets beyond the range of the
lashing of the feeding apparatus, whilst the parts for the time being
near the feeding apparatus will receive a repeated and comparatively
large supply of wool, layer on layer, in an inclined position or direction,
decreasing in quantity, as before stated, the more and more distant
each succeeding part (of the receiving surface) gets from the feeding
apparatus. And I would remark that I only claim for feeding wool in
the manner above described when drawn or taken from the pointed
surfaces by rollers.
We will now describe the third part of the Invention. The object
of this part of the Invention is to place wool upon combs with less stress
and injury to the teeth than by the ordinary methods of filling, and at
the same time to prevent the wool from curling and looping round the

page_text: teeth, which causes the fibres to be much broken when drawn from the
comb. Various plans have been proposed to attain this desirable object;
among others, Mr. Durham has, in the Specification of a Patent,
described a mode of taking hold of the fibres of the wool by an instru-
ment pressing against the backs of the back rows of teeth of combs
every time the wool is lashed or filled on to them. It is evident that
by this arrangement only such portions of the wool as reach beyond the
back of the comb can be held by the pressing instrument, and those
parts only very partially, and the stress upon the teeth and the looping
of the wool are scarcely, if at all, prevented. Now, according to this
part of the Invention, we apply a plate or plates, which, every time the
wool is lashed on to a comb, descends between the rows of teeth, and
presses the wool against the head of the comb, by which the 'wool will
be more effectually retained than when the pressure is applied to the
back teeth. The plate or plates remain in that position until, by the
recession of the feeding apparatus, the wool on the combs being held by
the plate or plates is separated from the wool in the feeding rollers;
the pressing plate or plates then ascends, so as to allow the comb to
receive another portion of wool; the plate or plates then again descend,
and so on continuously. If a plate is only placed so as to work between
the front and second rows of teeth, which will generally be found to be
sufficient, it is clear that the pressing plate will hold and press on nearly
every fibre of wool, and, as the filling head recedes from the comb or
the comb from the feeding apparatus, will relieve the teeth of the comb
from the stress caused by the separation, which has hitherto been a
great evil, by damaging the teeth of the combs, and looping and fasten-
ing the wool upon them; hence this mode of feeding combs, amongst
other advantages, will admit of the use of finer combs without the
hazard of injuring the teeth.
The fourth part of the Invention consists in holding the wool upon.
combs whilst being worked. When wool is placed upon combs without
being looped, the wool is then so loose upon the combs that a working
comb will be liable to take more than is desirable, but this will be
readily and efficiently prevented by inserting a plate or plates between
the rows of teeth of the combs, and applying sufficient pressure to the

page_text: plate so as to hold the wool between the plate and the head of the comb;
this will allow of the end of the fibres being combed out by the working
comb without robbing the holding comb.
We will now describe the fifth part of the Invention. This portion
of our Patent refers to a process known and practised by the French
spinners, that of first stretching the fibres of wool, and then fixing them
by steam. Simple as the process may appear, yet the results are such
as to have given them a marked superiority in spinning fine numbers,
and to have enabled them to produce the unrivalled cloth known as
the French merino. We are aware that in this country, as well as in
France, jets of steam have been caused to act upon slivers of wool
whilst being placed upon bobbins, but the action of the steam in such
cases was only momentary, and not sufficiently intense or prolonged as
to kill or set the fibre. In carrying out this part of the Invention it is
of great importance that the wool should be scoured and perfectly
cleansed from oil, one of the chief objects of killing or fixing the fibre
being to enable the spinner to spin further without oil than with it,
as it is exceedingly detrimental to the after process of dyeing. After
the wool has been scoured (it might be steamed with the oil, but not so
well,) it is then drawn into a sliver and tightly wound on to a bobbin,
the barrel being perforated with holes so to allow of the steam act-
ing from the outside as well as the inside of the bobbin. It is then
placed in a steam chamber or upon a steam tap, and allowed to remain
subject to the action of steam from one to twelve hours, a little more or
less not being of consequence; if the steam be at a very high tempera-
ture, then care should be taken not to allow it to remain too long or
the fibres will be made tender. Some parties prefer twisting the wool
into short ropes and then steaming it. Various methods may be used,
but it is of no consequence if the fibre is only sufficiently extended or
elongated and then fixed by the action of steam. This process will be
found of great value in assisting wool combed by machinery to spin;
and we particularly claim for steaming and fixing the fibres of wool
after being combed and extended by mechanical means.
We will now describe the sixth part of the Invention, which consists
of causing what are called dyers tubes to be employed in wool-spinning-

page_text: frames intermediate of the drawing rollers and the spinning flyers or
instruments; and we prefer that in spinning each yarn that several
rovings (that is, two or more,) should be employed, conducted from
bobbins up to the first or delivery pair of rollers, and that they should
procced, separate from each other, through the drawing process, and to
be received into separate dyer's tubes, so that each drawn out roving
should be condensed, and then be conducted from the tubes so as to
pass between two pressing rollers, and thence to the flyer or spinning
instrument, and several drawn out and condensed rovings spun into a
single yarn or thread. The number of rovings thus drawn out, condensed,
doubled, and spun may be varied.
We have not thought it necessary to show Drawings, or further to
shew spinning machinery, as the same is well understood, and requires
no change, excepting so far as the introduction of dyer's tubes between
the drawing process and the flyers or spinning instruments; and where
several rovings are to be spun into the same yarn or thread we prefer
to employ longer drawing rollers, and to place the bobbins and spindles
further apart.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister, have here-
unto set hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty.
SAMUEL CUNLIFFE (L.S.) LISTER.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Eighteenth day of January,
in the year of our Lord 1850, the aforesaid Samuel Cunliffe Lister
came before our said Lady the Queen, in Her Chancery, and acknow-
ledged the Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein
contained and specified in form above written; and also the Specification
aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the statute made for
that purpose
Enrolled the Eighteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty.