IMPROVEMENTS IN COLLIER'S COMBING MACHINE IN COMBING WOOL, HAIR, COTTON, SILK, FLAX, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Hargreaves, of Bradford, in the County of
York, Machine Wool Comber, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
COLLIER'S COMBING MACHINE IN COMBING WOOL, HAIR, COTTON, SILK, FLAX, AND
OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES."
Sealed the 18th February 1857, and dated the 16th August 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Hargreaves at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th August 1856.
I, WILLIAM HARGREAVES, of Bradford, in the County of York, Machine
Wool Comber, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN COLLIER'S COMBING MACHINE IN COMBING WOOL, HAIR, COTTON,
SILK, FLAX, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
By means of sliding guards or shields to prevent the wool from getting on
the back side of the comb while in the process of lashing or combing. By
the use of the above guards or shields I produce more top and less noil or
short wool.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Hargreaves in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
16th February 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HARGREAVES, of Bradford, in the County of York, Machine Wool Comber,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria; by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her beirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Hargreaves, Her special licence that I, the said William Hargreaves,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Hargreaves, 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 COLLIER'S
COMBING MACHINE IN COMBING WOOL, HAIR, COTTON, SILK, FLAX, AND OTHER
FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Hargreaves, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same was to be performed, and cause 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 William Hargreaves, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My Invention consists, by means of sliding guards or shields attached to a
pair of screw clamps, the clamps to have a joint in them to allow the guards
or shields to throw back or open by means of a stop, with a regulating screw
in it, fixed to the framework of the machine. The clamps are fixed to a rod
that draws the comb together, as shewn in the Drawings, and the guards or
shields are set to throw back or open as soon as they approach the stop or
regulating screw.
When the combs are worked nearly close up to the heads, or just before
the finishing of the process of lashing or combing, so as to allow the wool or

page_text: other fibrous substances to pass freely through the broaches of the combs
while the guards or shields are open. These guards or shields are fixed at
the back of the broaches close to the lashing or combing parts of the machine;
so as to prevent the wool or other fibrous substances from getting on the back
side of the comb or broaches while in the process of lashing or combing, and
by these means I produce more top and less noils or short wool. The above
guards or shields after being thrown back or opened, are drawn back into their
position again by means of a spring or weight. After the lashing or combing
process is over, the above guards, or shields, or screw clamps, can be fixed to
a slide or other rods fixed to the machine for that purpose; but I prefer them
being fixed to the rods that draws the combs together, as shown in the
Drawings (just for simplicity only), and to allow them to slide backwards and
forwards with the combs, as shown in the annexed Drawings, marked A, of
which there are three views, all marked A. The above guards or shields can
be made of iron, tin, or copper, brass, or other metals; but I prefer them
being made of wood. The above guards or shields may be applied to the
machine, either to slide and open, or to remain stationary; but I prefer them
to slide with the machine, as shewn in the Drawings.
Having thus described and set forth the nature and object of my said
invention of improvements in Collier's combing machine for combing wool,
hair, cotton, silk, flax, and other fibrous substances, together with the
manner in which the same is to be and may be carried into practical effect,
I would remark, in conclusion, that I claim as my Invention the general
arrangement of the sliding guards or shields above described, and shewn in
the Drawings annexed, constituting my improvements in Collier's combing
machine for combing wool, bair, cotton, silk, flax, and other fibrous substances,
and more especially the combination of the sliding guards or shields, as shewn
and above described, marked on the Drawings A.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Hargreaves, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twelveth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
WILLIAM HARGREAVES. (L.S.)