IMPROVE- MENTS IN OR CONNECTED WITH CONDENSING CARDING ENGINES OR MACHINES
Year: 1881

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Ramage at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 19th May 1881.
JOHN RAMAGE, of Alva, in the County of Stirling, North Britain. "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN OR CONNECTED WITH CONDENSING CARDING ENGINES OR MACHINES."
This Invention relates to certain improvements in or connected with "carder
condensers" or condensing carding engines or machines, designed particularly to
enable streaked, mottled, or spotted yarns or slobbing to be produced from the
carded wool or other fibre, while also admitting of the production of ordinary plain
yarns when desired.
In carrying out the Invention the ordinary "doffer" which takes off the wool or
fibre from the revolving cylinder or "swift," is replaced by a novel construction or
arrangement of carding or doffing straps formed of narrow bands of carding cloth
or wire. These carding straps or bands are mounted in longitudinal parallel rows
on transverse revolving rollers mounted in bearings on the side frames at the rear
of the carding cylinder; and the rollers are formed with circumferential narrow
dividing rings placed between each strap of the series to leave a clear space between
then. The front and larger roller revolves with the surface of the carding straps
acting as the "doffer" for the carding cylinder; and the rear roller, which is placed
as far back as possible, is in contact with a stripper, which delivers the yarn to the
"condenser." The front roller carrying the carding straps has a rapid traversing
or reciprocating, vibratory, or intermittent motion imparted to it in a transverse
direction (or at right angles to the revolving motion of the straps), either by means
of an eccentric, to which one end of the roller shaft is connected by a ball-and-
socket joint and connecting rod, or by an equivalent cam action to give the desired
quick intermittent traversing motion. The effect of this transverse reciprocating
or vibrating motion is to cause the carding or doffing straps to take off the wool
from the surface of the carding cylinder at varying positions on the circumference;
and when strips of different colours of wool are opposite the different doffing straps
the straps take part of this wool from one coloured strip, and part from the strip
on either side or both alternately, thereby producing a variegated, streaked, or
mottled yarn.
For this purpose the sliver is led from a bank or row of spools or
balls of two or more colours (arranged alternately across the front of the machine)
into the feeding in rollers, and on to the carding cylinder, where it is acted on as a

page_text: series of strips of coloured wool or fibre by the usual "workers" and "strippers,"
partially raised by a "fancy" roller, and then lifted from the cylinder by the new
doffing straps, which in traversing or vibrating from side to side take portions of
the different coloured strips alternately, and thus uniformly mix the fibre to be
carried along by the motion of the doffing straps. From these doffing straps the
wool or fibre is taken off by a "stripper," which delivers it to the usual "<
denser," by which it is rolled into yarn, slobbing, or condensed sliver. This yarn
will thus be made up of the differently coloured wool or fibre, either in alternate
short streaks or lengths or in longer streaks and spots, or mottled according to
the extent and period of traverse given to the doffing straps over the cylinder
surface.
con-
When plain yarns are to be produced it will only be necessary to disconnect or
put out of action the eccentric or cam which traverses the roller and doffing or
carding straps. These straps will then act as an ordinary doffer or doffers, and
carry the wool or other fibre from the cylinder to the condenser.