IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR BREAKING, SOFTENING, AND PREPARING FLAX AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Hanham Collyer, of Lille, in the Empire
of France, Doctor of Medicine, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR BREAKING, SOFTENING, AND PREPARING FLAX AND OTHER
FIBROUS MATERIALS."
Sealed the 4th October 1870, and dated the 29th April 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Hanham Collyer
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 29th April 1870.
I, ROBERT HANHAM COLLYER, of Lille, in the Empire of France,
Doctor of Medicine, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR BREAKING, SOFTENING, AND PREPARING
FLAX AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to machinery for breaking and softening fibrous
materials so as to separate the fibre from the corse or woody matter
adhering thereto, and to prepare it for the subsequent process of
scutching.

page_text: According to this Invention the flax or fibrous material is fed on to
the surface of a revolving toothed or fluted drum, the axis of which
drum is mounted in bearings in a suitable frame. The said drum carries
the fibrous material from the feed end to the delivery end of the
machine. In its passage on the said drum the fibrous material receives
the rubbing or disintegrating action of two or more toothed or fluted
rollers set round a part of the periphery of the said drum, and which are
caused to gear with the said drum, and to roll to and fro in the teeth of
the said drum, the said rollers being carried by a separate frame mounted
on the axis of the revolving drum, and capable of oscillating motion
thereupon. The said oscillating frame is composed of two suitably
shaped metal side plates firmly stayed together, and mounted on the
axis of the large drum, one on each side of the machine, and the axes
of the said smaller rollers turn in bearings capable of motion up and
down in slides formed to receive them in the said side plates, and the
smaller rollers are pressed on to the surface of the larger drum, and held
in gear with the flutes or teeth thereof by springs which allow of the
rollers rising to let pass any hard substance fed into the machine with
the fibrous material. The said oscillating frame is formed with projecting
arms connected with a crank or eccentric or other suitable mechanism
for communicating a reciprocating motion to the said oscillating frame.
The form and size of the teeth or flutes of the drum and rollers are a
very essential feature of my Invention, as in them consists the executive
action of the machine. If the said teeth or flutes be made of a square
or angular shape the fibres will be cut, and if the said teeth or flutes be
made too small they will have scarcely any effective action on the
fibre, merely crimping its surface, for the fibre between the rollers and
drum forms a cushion on which teeth or flutes if too small cannot act
efficiently. I have found that to obtain satisfactory action on the fibre the
said teeth or flutes should have at least five-eights of an inch pitch, and
I prefer a pitch of one inch or even more, the depth of the said flutes or-
teeth being about equal to three-quarters of the pitch. The said teeth
or flutes are rounded so as not to cut the fibre. The oscillating motion
communicated, as above described, to the oscillating frame of the smaller
rollers gives an equal speed of oscillating motion to the said frame in
both directions, and consequently the relative speed of the rollers on
the drum is not equal in both directions, for in their forward movement
the rollers and drum move in the same direction, and in the backward

page_text: motion of the said rollers they move in a contrary direction to that of
the drum. Their rubbing and disintegrating action on the fibre is there-
fore much more violent in the backward motion of the rollers than in
their forward motion. To obviate this and to insure to the rollers an
equal action in either direction I use in place of an ordinary crank or
eccentric motion a differential crank motion, causing the forward motion
of the oscillating rollers to be quicker than their backward motion; and
to produce the said differential motion I apply any of the well-known
mechanical arrangements used in self-acting tools for planing metal
surfaces in which the return motion of the tool is quicker than its
advance motion.
I prefer the following arrangements for the purpose:- An adjustable
crank pin on a revolving plate or disc engages and works in a slot
formed in a link piece jointed at its lower end to an axis upon which the
said link is capable of oscillating motion. At its upper end the said
link is jointed to one end of a connecting rod, the other end of which
connecting rod is jointed to the oscillating frame. When rotary motion
is communicated to the said crank plate its crank pin will cause the said
link to oscillate on its axis, the oscillation produced by the said crank
pin in describing its lower half circle being at a quicker speed than the
oscillation produced by the said crank pin when describing its upper
half circle; and in order to the relative speeds of the forward and back-
ward oscillation being properly adjusted I mount the axis of the said
oscillating link in an adjustable frame, which may be raised or lowered
so as to increase or decrease the angle of oscillation, and consequently
the relative speeds of the forward and backward oscillations. Rotary
motion is communicated to the drum and crank plate shaft by suitable
gearing, an intermediate toothed wheel being used to cause the drum
and crank shaft to revolve in the same direction. I prefer that the
oscillating frame should perform fifteen oscillations to one revolution of
the revolving drum, but greater or less relative speed may be given to
suit the nature of the fibre to be operated upon.
I sometimes construct my improved machinery for breaking and
softening fibrous materials with two revolving drums placed side by
side, and gearing one with the other, the first of the said drums being
provided with oscillating rollers, as herein-before described, acting on
the upper surface of the said drum, and the second drum having one or
more oscillating rollers of like character acting upon its lower surface.

page_text: The fibre having been operated by the first drum and rollers passes down
between the said drums, and is acted upon by the lower roller or rollers,
oscillating on the lower surface of the second drum; and in order to
prevent the fibre in its passage from the first drum to under the second
drum from falling to the ground a guide board or plate is fixed to the
frame of the machine, and a second guide board or plate to the oscillating
frame of the lower oscillating roller or rollers, the two guide boards or
plates being situated one just above the other. The notion of the said
oscillating frame causes its guide board or plate to move in and out
under the fixed guide board or plate, and thus always to form a con-
tinuous and suitable support to guide the fibre.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Hanham Collyer in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 5th October 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
HANHAM COLLYER, of Lille, in the Empire of France, Doctor of Medicine,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her.
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Robert Hanham Collyer, Her special licence
that I, the said Robert Hanham Collyer, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert Hanham Collyer, 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 for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR BREAKING, SOFTENING, AND PREPARING FLAX AND OTHER
FIBROUS MATERIALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Robert Hanham Collyer, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause

page_text: 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 Robert Hanham Collyer, 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:
-
This Invention relates to machinery for breaking and softening fibrous
materials so as to separate the corse, woody, or other matters adhering to
the fibre. According to my Invention the flax or other fibrous material
is fed on to the surface of a revolving, toothed, or fluted drum, the axis
of which drum is mounted in bearings in a suitable frame. The said'
drum carries the fibrous material from the feed end of the machine to
the delivery end thereof. In its passage on the said drum the fibrous
material receives the disintegrating action of two or more fluted or
toothed rollers set round a part of the periphery of the said drum, and
which are caused to gear with the flutes or teeth of the said drum, and
to roll, rock, or oscillate in the teeth of the said drum, the said rollers
being carried by a separate frame mounted on the axis of the revolving
drum and capable of oscillating motion thereupon. The said oscillating
frame is composed of two suitably shaped side plates, firmly stayed
together and mounted on the axis of the large drum one on each side of
the machine and the axis of the said smaller rollers turn in bearings
capable of motion up and down in slides formed to receive them in the
said side plates, and the smaller rollers are pressed downwards toward
the surface of the larger drum and held in gear with the flutes or teeth
thereof by strong springs which allow of the rollers rising or being
elevated to let pass any foreign substance which might be fed into the
machine with the fibrous material. There are also elevating pins or
rods attached to the bearings of the upper rollers which, by means
of the screws in the pins or rods at the top of the oscillating frame
admit of the upper rollers being raised out of deep gear; when
thus raised to the extent of about from one-quarter to one-half
of an inch the upper rollers in the rocking or oscillating motion
exercise a beetling, beating, or percussive action which effectually
removes the silica, resinous, glutinous, or other matters attached to the
fibre. The object of the springs being made strong is not so much to
keep the upper rollers on the surface of the large drum, but to keep
them firm and rigid when elevated so as to admit of the beetling action.

page_text: If the rollers are in deep gear there is merely a rubbing, crushing, and
crimping action. The oscillating frame is formed with projecting arms
connected with a crank or eccentric or other suitable mechanism for
communicating a reciprocating motion to the said oscillating frame.
The form and size of the teeth or flutes of the drum and rollers are a
very essential feature of my Invention, as in them consists the executive
action of the machine. If the said teeth or flutes be made of a square
or angular shape, the fibre will be cut, and if the said teeth or flutes are
made too small, that is, less than half inch pitch, they will scarcely have
any effective action on the fibre, merely crimping and rubbing its upper
surface, for the fibres between the rollers and drum forms a cushion on
which teeth or flutes if too small cannot act efficiently. I have found that
to obtain satisfactory action on the fibre and to ensure the most effective
beetling action the said teeth or flutes should have at least five-eighths of
an inch pitch for fine and delicate fibres, but I prefer a pitch of one inch
or even sometimes two inches or more, the depth of said flutes being
about equal to three-quarters of the pitch, the size and depth must
depend on the nature of the fibre to be acted upon, the said teeth or
flutes are rounded so as not to cut the fibres. Coarse fibres, as hemp,
China grass, New Zealand flax, require a large pitch of tooth, if too
small no beetling or percussive action can take place. The oscillating
motion communicated as above described to the oscillating frame of the
smaller rollers gives an equal speed of oscillating motion to the said framo
in both directions, and consequently the relative speed of the rollers on
the drum is not equal in both directions, for in their forward movement
the drum and rollers move in the same direction, and in the backward
motion of said rollers they move in a contrary direction to that of the
drum, their disintegrating action on the fibre is therefore much more
violent in the backward motion of the rollers than in their forward
motion. To obviate this and to ensure to the rollers an equal action in
either direction I use in place of an ordinary crank or eccentric motion
a differential crank motion, causing the forward motion of the oscillating
rollers to be quicker than their backward motion, and to produce the
said differential motion I apply any of the well known mechanical
arrangements used in self-acting tools for planing metal surfaces, in
which the return motion of the tool is quicker than its advanced motion.
I prefer the following arrangements for the purpose:—An adjustable
crank pin on a revolving plate or die, which engages and works in a

page_text: slot of a link jointed at its lower end to a frame which can be raised or
lowered so as to bring it nearer to or farther from the said crank pin,
the upper end of the link is jointed to one end of a connecting rod, the
other end connecting rod is jointed to the oscillating frame; when rotary
motion is communicated to the said crank plate its crank pin will cause
the said link to oscillate on its axis, the oscillation produced by the said
crank pin in describing its lower half circle being at a quicker speed
than the oscillations produced by the said crank pin when describing its
upper half circle, and in order to ensure the relative speeds of the
forward and backward oscillations being properly adjusted I mount the
axis of the said oscillating link in an adjustable frame, which may be
raised or lowered so as to increase or decrease the angle of oscillation
and consequently the relative speeds of the forward and backward
oscillations. The rotary motion is communicaied to the drum and crank
shaft by suitable gearing, an intermediate toothed wheel being used to
cause the drum and crank shaft to revolve in the same direction. I
prefer that the oscillating frame should perform about from 15 to 20
oscillations to one revolution of the revolving drum, but greater or less
relative speed may be given to suit the nature of the fibre to be operated
on, and also in accordance with the pitch of the flutes.
I sometimes construct my improved machinery for softening and pre-
paring fibrous materials with two revolving drums placed side by side
and gearing one with the other, the first of the said drums being pro-
vided with oscillating rollers as herein-before described acting on the
upper surface of the said drum, and the second drum having one or
more oscillating rollers of like character acting on its lower surface, the
fibre having been operated on by the first drum and rollers passes down
between the said drums, and is acted upon by the lower roller or rollers
oscillating on the lower surface of the second drum. And in order to
prevent the fibre in its fibre from the first drum to under the second
drum from falling to the ground a guide board or plate is fixed to the
frame of the machine, and the second guide board or plate to the
oscillating of the lower oscillating roller or rollers, the two guide boards
or plates being situated one just above the other, the motion of the
oscillating frame causes its guide board or plate to move in and out
under the fixed guide board, and thus always to form a continuous and
suitable support to guide the fibre. The softening of flax and the
removal of the corse or shive demands a machine with a pitch of flute

page_text: or tooth of about one inch, and the flax straw should not be fed in too
thick a layer. With fibres like hemp a much coarser tooth or flute is
demanded, I prefer from one and a half to two inches, and that the
elevation of the upper or oscillating rollers out of deep gear should be
about half an inch; this sized tooth and elevation out of deep gear
admits of the maximum bectling, percussive, or beating action of
the upper rollers. When the machine is required to treat New Zealand
flax or China grass in the green or natural state, so as to remove the
glutinous and pulpy matters from the fibre, the upper rollers may be
used in deep gear with the whole force of the springs, thereby ensuring
a rubbing and squeezing action. In order more clearly to illustrate
the nature of my Invention I will describe the manner of its execution
by the aid of the annexed Drawings.
Fig. 1 represents a longitudinal section of a machine for softening
and treatment of flax and other similar fibrous materials constructed
according to my Invention. Fig. 2 front view of the drum a mounted
on suitable frame, moved by continuous rotary action; b, b, are two
fluted cylinders which gear by their flutes or teeth in the drum a and
are supported by their moveable bearings c, c, in slides in the oscilla-
ting frame d, d, which moves freely on the axis a¹ of the large drum,
the bearings are moved up and down by the springs e, e, and the eleva-
ting pins cand screws c³ on top of said oscillating frame, the pressure
of the springs can be regulated by the covers ff, the frame d, d, is
composed of two plates, firmly bound together by bolts g, g, the shaft g¹
or bar serves also to give the oscillating movement to the frame d, the
'disc h attached to the shaft which turns in the supports i and j;
h is the button or pin of the crank which is moveable in tlie slot, the
pin in the disc h³ and by the screw * is fixed in position in the slot of
said disc. The shaft pin passes in the link jointed at its lower end
to the support m by the pin 12 supported by the cross piece o of
the frame. The support m is fixed to plates n, n, by the pins and
screws m', m³, m³, m², the said support m, can be regulated, that is by
raising or lowering the screws m¹ in the slots of the plates n, n. The
connecting rod p is joined to the upper end of the link 7, and the other
end to the oscillating frame g¹, g¹. The fixed and loose pullies 9, I,
the fixed pulley communicates a rotary movement to the shaft r and
the gearing wheels 7, and 8, the wheel gives the movement to
wheels fixed on shaft of the drum a, and the wheel gives the move-

page_text: ment to the shaft by the intermediate wheel ♬¹. The fly wheel u
is on shaft ².
In Fig. 1 the gearing wheels 1, 2, s, and t are indicated by the
red lines. The machine works as follows:-The fibrous matter is fed
on the drum a in the direction of the arrow. The continuous rotary
movement of the drum a carries the fibrous matter to the delivery end v;
during its passage it is subjected to the beetling, percussive beating
and rubbing action of the cylinders b, b, which have an oscillating, alter-
native, differential action more rapid in advancing than on returning;
Fig. 3 is a diagram shewing the arrangement of a machine of two.
revolving fluted drums, which are provided with oscillating rollers; a, a',
are the two fluted revolving drums indicated by the red lines, so that the
oscillating rollers b, b, b', which work upon the surface of these drums b, b,
upon the upper surface of a and b upon the surface of a¹; c is the rod
which gives the movement to the oscillating frame d and by the double
armed lever e mounted upon the axis f and from the rod g to the.
oscillating frame of the roller b. I employ this lever e so that the
quick movement of the roller is in the direction of the motion of the
drum a¹; i, j, are the guiding boards or plates for the fibres, which.
conducts them from the roller a² to the roller b³. This table or support.
is composed of two parts, the fixed one i attached to the frame A, the
other I attach to the oscillating frame h, it being able to slide under
the fixed plate i in a manner to lengthen or shorten the guide following
the position of the oscillating frame h. The roller is held in position
by springs and rods attached to the bearings as shewn in Figs. 1 and 2.
The movement of the drum and rollers b, b, is similar to that repre-
sented by the Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 4 shews upon a larger scale one of
the drums and two of the oscillating rollers of my machines representing
the form and the dimensions of the teeth or flutes such as I prefer to
use them. Figs. 5 and 6 represent the natural size of the rounded
teeth, and large and deep enough to exercise a quick and gentle beetling
action on the fibres without merely crimping them as is the case with
small flutes or teeth.
Having thus declared the nature of my Invention, what I claim and
desire to secure by the aforesaid Letters Patent is,―
First. The application to machines for softening and preparing fibrous
materials, as before described, a differential compensating movement
to oscillating fluted cylinders on a fluted drum, a movement more rapid

page_text: in the direction of rotation of said drum than in the opposite direction,
substantially as represented and described.
Second. The employment of two fluted drums each furnished with
oscillating cylinders, substantially as described and represented in
Fig. 3.
Third. The application of rotatory drums and oscillating cylinders
having teeth or flutes of the size and form as represented in the Drawings
with elevating rods attached to the bearings of the oscillating rollers,
so as to produce when elevated a beetling, percussive, or beating action
on the fibrous material submitted to the action of the machine, in the
manner and for the purposes as described.
Fourth. The combination and arrangement of parts for the purposes
substantially as described. I do not confine myself rigidly to the
manner herein described as the same may be effected by modifications
of machinery, without departing from the nature of my Invention, but
what I claim is, the combination of flutes or teeth on a continuous
revolving drum with oscillating rollers, having corresponding flutes or
teeth of the dimensions and form described, in combination with the
means of removing the upper rollers from deep gear so as to admit of
the beetling or percussive action of the said upper rollers. I also in
this combination claim the differential compensating arrangement as
described, or any other means of effecting the same.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Hanham Collyer, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this 5th day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.