AN IMPROVE- MENT IN MACHINERY USED FOR CARDING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1832

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS, SHALL COME, I, HUGH
BOLTON, of Sharples, in the Parish of Bolton-le-Moors, in the County of
Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Fifth day of June,, in the second year. of His reign,
did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Hugh Bolton, His especial licence that I, the said Hugh Bolton, my exors,
adiñors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Hugh Bolton, my exors,
adiiors, 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,.,and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "AN IMPROVE-
MENT IN MACHINERY USED FOR CARDING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS;"
in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said
Hugh Bolton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, par-
ticularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be
enrolled in His said Majesty's. High Court of Chancery within two calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said recited Letters Patent,
as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had,, will more fully and at
large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said.
Hugh Bolton, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention to consist

page_text: receives the said matter when so removed as aforesaid. And in further compli-
ance with the said proviso, I, the said Hugh Bolton, do hereby describe the
manner in which my said Invention is to be performed, by the following
description thereof, reference being had to the Drawing annexed, and to the
figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 represents an end view and Figure 2 a front view, of one descrip-
tion of an ordinary cotton carding engine with my Invention applied to it, and
it will be found that similar letters are used to denote similar parts in all the
Figures.
In Figures 1 and 2, A represents the main cylinder of a common carding
engine; B, the feeding rollers; and C, the doffing cylinder; all of which are
arranged in the ordinary manner of this description of carding machinery, and
my, improvement is shewn tinted red between the top cards marked e,
and the doffer cylinder C. D is a wooden trough or receptacle of a triangular
form, in order in some sort to fit the situation here assigned to it, the flat side
being uppermost, and the two concave sides placed one towards the main
cylinder, and the other towards the doffing cylinder. E, E, are ends or arms
projecting from the trough, by which it is fastened to the framing of the
machinery. F is the end of a metal knife-edged blade, also fastened to the
framing, and bent or cranked, as will be seen at G, G, Figure 2, in order to
bring it nearer than the trough to the material on the main cylinder of the
machine. The exact distance at which the knife-edged blade F should
be placed from the points of the wire of the main cylinder depends in
some measure on the nature of the material to be carded, and it will
be easily ascertained by experience. But in all cases I recommend to apply
the blades at a tangent to the circle or periphery of the carding cylinder, as
shewn at Figure 3, with the knife edge of the blade set to meet the motion of
the cylinder in cotton of the quality called Orleans. I have found about
one sixteenth of an inch distance from the wire points on the cylinder to
answer well. The blade should always be set parallel to the axis of the main
cylinder. The Drawing hereunto annexed, represents only one blade applied to
a carding engine, which is rather more convenient than a greater number, if
the cotton or other fibrous material is sufficiently cleaned by its action; but

page_text: where more blades are required I have found it convenient to remove two or
more of the top cards e, e, e, and place a succession of blades in that direction:
but this addition of a greater number of blades, together with their relative
position to one another on the cylinder, must depend on the construction of
the carding engine, and the nature of the material to be carded. The form
and size of the blades and troughs or receptacles used in my Invention, and
adapted to a carding engine of the ordinary construction, in which the main
cylinder is of a diameter of about thirty-six inches, is shewn in section at
Figures 3 and 4. The end view of the trough shews its triangular shape, with
the lid or flat side uppermost, and the two under sides circled out, the one to
correspond with the shape of the main cylinder, the other to that of the doffing
cylinder. During the process of carding, the trough D with the blade F is
covered up by means of the lid H, which is attached by hinges or otherwise
to the top rail of the trough J (as shewn in the Drawing), to prevent the escape
of the small portion of cotton or other fibrous material which may be struck off
by the knife edge of the blade; and it is the duty of the stripper, or person
employed to clear the top cards, in going his usual rounds, to open the lid H
and remove any cotton or other fibrous material which may have accumulated
as often as may be necessary, as also the seed, dirt, or other extraneous matter
which collects at the bottom of the trough or receptacle D. It will be
observed, by reference to Figure 3, that the knife-edged blade is screwed
to the front of the trough, besides being fastened at its ends to the framing of
the machine: this is necessary if the blade is not made very strong in the
back, as the more firmly it is, kept in a perfectly straight line across the
cylinder the better.
Now, though the situation of the blade which I have found by my present
experience best suited to the purposes of my Invention is that shewn in the
Drawing annexed, yet I am aware that it might be placed elsewhere on the
machine with very good effect. But whereas I claim as my Invention the
application of a knife-edged blade, furnished with a trough or receptacle, to the
machinery used for carding, for the purpose of removing and collecting seed, dirt,
and other extraneous matter from cotton and such other fibrous substances as
are subjected to the process of carding while they are undergoing that opera-
tion; and such my Invention being, to the best of my knowledge and belief,
entirely new, and never before used within that part of His said Majesty's
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, His said
Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, I do hereby declare
this to be my Specification of the same, and that I do verily this my said
Specification doth comply in all respects, fully and without reserve or disguise,

page_text: with the proviso in the said herein-before in part recited Letters Patent
contained. Wherefore I do hereby claim to maintain exclusive right and
privilege to my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said Hugh Bolton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Fifth day of July, in the year of our Lord One 5
thousand eight hundred and thirty-two.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fifth day of July, in the year
of our Lord 1832, the aforesaid Hugh Bolton came before our said Lord the
King in His Chancery, and acknowledged 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.
*Ex
Inrolled the Ninth day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and thirty-two.