IMPROVEMENTS IN CARDING ENGINES FOR. CARDING COTTON AND OTHER FIODANO MAMEDIATO
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Wellman, of Lowell, in the United States
of America, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CARDING ENGINES FOR.
CARDING COTTON AND OTHER FIODANO MAMEDIATO"
Sealed the 5th March 1861, and dated the 11th September 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Wellman at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th September 1860.
I, GEORGE WELLMAN, of Lowell, in the United States of America, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CARDING
ENGINES FOR CARDING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to certain modifications of and improvements in the
mechanical details for cleaning and elevating the top cards of a carding engine
described in the Specification of Letters Patent granted to John Henry John-
son, on or about the 25th day of November 1853, No. 2747, for "Improve-
ments in Carding Engines for Carding Cotton and other Fibrous Materials,".
whereby greater simplicity and efficiency of action are obtained.
According to this Invention it is proposed to employ two segmental mangle
racks, secured one to each side of the box or framing of the carding engine,
for obtaining the desired to-and-fro travelling motion of the rocker frame
which carries the "top" raising and stripping mechanism and driving gear for

page_text: actuating the same. This rocker frame works round the boxes which carry the
ends of the main shaft of the carding drum, and carries near its upper end a
double cam gear, which imparts all the motions requisite for raising and strip-
ping the top cards, as well as that for traversing the rocker frame from one
top card to another, the rotatory motion of this double cam gear being derived
either from the doffer shaft by means of driving bands and spur gearing or
bevel gearing and an endless screw, the latter working into the teeth of the
double cam gear or from the shaft of the main carding drum itself by means of
a small pulley carried by the latter and a band, which imparts motion to spur
gearing, from which the double cam gear receives its rotatory motion; or a
spur pinion may be fitted on to the carding drum shaft which gears into an
internal toothed driving pulley carried on the rocker frame, from which pulley a
band leads to the gearing which drives the double cam gear.. The motion of
one of the double cam gears is transmitted to the other on the opposite side of
the rocker frame by a transverse shaft and toothed pinions, so that they both.
rotate together. One portion of the periphery of each double cam gear is
provided with an extra segment of teeth which gear into and impart one rota-
tion to a pinion carried on the end of a swinging arm jointed to the rocker
frame, the axis of this pinion being provided with a set plate, which, by bear-
ing upon a set rim on the double cam gear, holds the pinion stationary after
each revolution. A second pinion is also fitted on to this axis, and gear into
the teeth of the mangle racks secured to the framing of the carding machine
hence it follows that at each revolution of the latter pinion a forward motion
will be imparted to the rocker frame, which motion enables it to pass from one
top card to another. One of the two cams contained in each of the double cam
gears actuates the slides for lifting or elevating the top card, whilst the other
cam imparts the requisite movement to the stripper lever for cleaning the
elevated top card; in some cases a peculiar compound cam may be employed
for elevating the top cards, by the aid of which the same amount of lift may
be obtained with a considerably smaller cam than would be required with a
cam of the ordinary construction. This peculiar compound cam is provided
with two or more cam 'surfaces, which successively operate upon pins on the
lifting slides, each cam surface as it comes into action imparting a further lift
to the slides. In order that the action of the stripper card on the face of the
top card may be more perfect or parallel thereto,. I propose to centre the
stripper lever on one side of the centre line of the rocker frame, and to connect
it thereto by a bolt passing through a slot in the frame, so as to admit of the
adjustment of the height of the stripper card.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Wellman in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
11th March 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
WELLMAN, of Lowell, in the United States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said George Wellman, Her special license that I, the said George
Wellman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said George Wellman, my executors, administrators, or 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN CARDING ENGINES FOR CARDING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Wellman, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, or under the hand and seal of one of them, 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 George Wellman, 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 fol-
lowing statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
.
My said Invention relates to certain modifications of and improvements upon
the mechanical details for cleaning and elevating the top cards of a carding
engine, described in the Specification of Letters Patent granted to John Henry'
Johnson, on or about the Twenty-fifth day of November, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-three, No. 2747, for "Improvements in Carding Engines for
Carding Cotton and other Fibrous Materials," whereby greater simplicity and
efficiency of action are obtained.
According to this Invention it is proposed to employ two segmental mangle
racks secured one to each side of the box or framing of the carding engine:

page_text: for obtaining the desired to-and-fro travelling motion of the rocker frame
which carries the "top" raising and stripping mechanism and driving gear for
actuating the same. This rocker frame works round the boxes which carry
the ends of the main shaft of the carding drum, and carries near its upper end
a double cam gear, which imparts all the motions requisite for raising and
stripping. the top cards, as well as that for traversing the rocker frame from
one top card to another; the rotatory motion of this double cam gear being
derived either from the daffer shaft by means of driving bands and spur gear-
ing or bevel gearing and an endless screw, the latter working into the teeth of
the double cam gear, or, which I most prefer, from the shaft of the main
carding drum itself, by means of a small pulley carried by the latter and a
band, which imparts motion to spur gearing, from which the double cam gear
receives its rotatory motion, or a spur pinion may be fitted on to the carding
drum shaft which gears into an internal toothed driving pully carried on the
rocker frame, from which pulley a band leads to the gearing which drives the
double cam gear. The motion of one of the double cam gears is transmitted
to the other on the opposite side of the rocker frame by a transverse shaft and
toothed pinions, so that they both rotate together. One portion of the peri-
phery of each double cam gear is provided with an extra segment of teeth,
which gear into and impart one rotation to a pinion carried on the end of a
swinging arm jointed to the rocker frame, the axis of this pinion being pro-
vided with a set plate, which, by bearing upon a set rim on the double cam
gear, holds the pinion stationary after each revolution. A second pinion is
also fitted on to this axis, and gears into the teeth of the mangle racks secured
to the framing of the carding machine; hence it follows that at each revolu-
tion of the latter pinion a forward motion will be imparted to the rocker frame,
which motion enables it to pass from one top card to another. One of the two
cams contained in each of the double cam gears actuates the slides for lifting
or elevating the top card, whilst the other cam imparts the requisite movement
to the stripper lever for cleaning the elevated top card. In some cases a pecu-
liar compound cam may be employed for elevating the top cards, by the aid of
which the same amount of lift may be obtained with a considerably smaller
cam than would be required with a cam of the ordinary construction. This
peculiar compound cam is provided with two or more cam surfaces, which suc-
cessively operate upon pins on the lifting slides, each cam surface as it comes
into action imparting a further lift to the slides. In order that the action of
the stripper card on the face of the top card may be more perfect or parallel
thereto, I propose to centre the stripper lever on one side of the centre line of
the rocking frame, and to connect it thereto by a bolt passing through a slot

page_text: in the arm E, so as to admit of the adjustment of the height of the stripper
card.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheets of Drawings hereunto annexed;
the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all
the corresponding Figures.
Figure 1, on Sheet 1 of my Drawings, represents an end or side elevation
of one form of my self top stripping carding engine.
Figure 2, on Sheet 2, is a front elevation of the same.
Figure 3, on Sheet 2, is a modified form of apparatus showing the applica-
eation of my peculiar compound cam, and the rest of the Figures are
detached details, which I shall hereinafter more particularly describe or
refer to.
A, A, represent the main framing of a carding engine, and B, B, are the
arches which support the series of top cards, and to which are secured, one at
each end or side of the engine, the double mangle pin segments or rims o, o;
C is the shaft of the main carding drum or cylinder, the two opposite projecting
ends of which support the rocker frame E, E', E", which is free to vibrate or
swing loosely upon the ends of the journal box of shaft, and carries with it the
whole of the "top" stripping apparatus herein-after fully described; D, D, D,
are the top cards which are numbered in the usual manner, beginning at the feed
rolls with No. 1, and ending the series in this case with No. 20. The rocker
frame itself is composed of the two arms E and E", (one of which is shewn in
detail at Figure 4 on Sheet 1), and the cross bar E', which connects such
arms firmly together near their upper ends. The lower ends of these arms
are provided with counterweight I, (Figure 5) capable of balancing the entire
frame with its appurtenances.
As the gearing and other mechanism is precisely similar on both sides of
the carding engine I will simply describe the apparatus as shewn on one side
of the engine, and then the mode of connecting it with and driving the
duplicate mechanism on the opposite side. L is my improved double cam gear
consisting of a "gear" or spur wheel provided with two separate cam grooves,
which piece of mechanism imparts all the requisite motions for elevating and
cleaning the top cards, as well as that for moving or traversing the rocker
frame from one top card to another. Figure 6 represents an edge view and
inside face view of this double cani wheel or gear detached, the latter view
shewing the two grooved cams and , one within the other; the inner cam
acts upon an antifriction roller a carried by a stud on the sliding lifting jaw X,.

page_text: of which three detailed views are given at Figure 7. This jaw slides in a
groove in the rocking arm E, and as it rises it takes with it the end of the top,
carries it up, holds it in its elevated position whilst the stripping is being per-
formed, and then carries it down again to its seat upon the arch. A perforation
or slot is made in the ends of each top card, which when the top begins to rise
is intended to receive a dagger or slide v fixed to each of the rocking arms
E, E, so that by the aid of these daggers and the lifting jaws, the top card
may be locked to the rocker frame as long as it is elevated in the lifting jaw.
One of these daggers is shewn in detail side and front elevation at Figure 8.
The outer grooved cam l acts upon an antifriction roller carried by a stud
fixed in the stripper or arm R, which arm in connection with its duplicate on
the opposite side of the machine holds and operates the stripping or cleaning
card S. At Figure 9 is a detail side elevation, edge view, and transverse section of
one of these arms detached; R' is the stud or working centre upon which the
stripper lever or arm R is pivotted, such stud being on one side of the centre line
of the arm of the rocker frame, and is connected thereto by an adjustable attach-
ment and slot for the purpose of adjusting the height of the stripper card, the
-inner grooved cam with its lifting jaws X, and the outer grooved cam / with
its stripper lever R are so proportioned and adjusted in relation to each other
that the lifting jaws elevate the top card to its full height and hold it there, whilst
the stripper levers R carry forward the stripping card fixed at S underneath
the elevated top card, hold it in this position, whilst the continued movement of
the inner cam depresses or lowers the top card slightly, so as to lock its teeth
and those of the stripper card well together, and holds it in that position whilst
the outer cam moves the stripper card back again to its first position, in doing
which the stripper card removes or strips from off the top card all the waste
and dirt collected upon it. After this operation the descent of the lifting jaws
causes the top card to be lowered into its place again on the arch. The rim
of the wheel or gear L contains upon one edge a complete circle of teeth by
which motion is communicated to the wheel, whether such motion be continu-
ous or intermittent. In addition to this set of teeth there is another set
forming a segment of the wheel and a set rim Q. This segmental gear (shewn
.clearly at Figure 10) contains according to my present arrangement 18 teeth;
it imparts an intermittent motion to the pinion M containing 20 teeth shown
in Figures 10, 11, and 12, there being a sufficient number of teeth in the
segment to give one complete' revolution to the pinion M by the passage or
rotation of the segmental gear, after which the pinion will be held stationary by its
'set plate P turning its concave rim upon the face of the set rim Q. The spindle
of the pinion M has a bearing in one end of the stud plate J, the other end of

page_text: such plate being supported by the same stud, which carries the double cam
gear L. On the same spindle as the pinion M is fitted a smaller pinion N
containing eight teeth, which smaller pinion gears with the teeth of the double
mangle pin segment O shewn.detached at Figure 13, and the spindle projects
through the pinion N, and is provided with an antifriction roller, which enters
a groove which entirely surrounds the series of teeth in the double mangle
pin segment, serving as a guide and partial support to the pinion N in
its course round both sides and ends of the series of teeth. The series of teeth
O and the pinion N are so proportioned that one revolution of the pinion N
is just sufficient to carry the rocker frame E, E¹, E", from one top card to
the next but one, so that starting with No. 1 of the series of top cards D the
rocker frame will stop at every odd number of the top cards until it arrives at
the last one near the doffer, and here a change is made by the pinion, which
as it turns on the last pin of the series O, loses one half of a revolution in
passing from the lower side of the pin round to the upper or vice versa, con-
sequently there is then left but one half of the revolution of the pinion to act
on the series of teeth, which is just sufficient to carry the rocker frame to the
immediately succeeding top instead of the next but one, and the direction
of motion of the rocker frame being changed at the same time, it will stop
at every even number on its return to the commencement of the series. The
teeth may be cast in one piece with the surrounding groove or channel as
represented, or they may be formed by a series of pins cast on or inserted
into the arch, or in a detached piece as may be found most suitable.. The
mechanism on the opposite side of the engine is exactly the duplicate of
that above described and is made to act in unison with it by the pinions T
and T', fast on the shaft U, (see Figure 14, Sheet 2, of my Drawings) which
pinions. both gear into the double cam wheels L and L. Any suitable
mechanical arrangement may be employed for driving the cam gears L, L', but
the arrangement which I have represented on my Drawings I have found to
answer well.
This arrangement consists of a small pulley c, (Figure 15, Sheet 1,) fast
on the end of the shaft C of the carding drum, and consequently.turning
therewith. A strap or band (shewn in red lines in the Drawing, Figure
1, Sheet 1) is passed round this pulley and round a larger pulley K,.shewn
in detail section at Figure 16, (Sheet 1,) this pulley carries a pinion H, and
revolves freely upon the stud.G, fixed in the rocker frame. The pinion H
gears into a spur, wheel W, fast on one end of the shaft U, (see Figure 14,
Sheet 2,) and as this shaft carries a pair of pinions T, T', in gear with the
wheels L, L,.it follows that a simultaneous and equal motion is, imparted to

page_text: both the double cam gears; Y is the main driving pulley from which motion
is imparted to the carding drum by a belt y; Q, (Figure 17, Sheet 1,) is a
collar fitting the ends of the main drum shaft for the purpose of keeping
the arms of the rocker frame in their places. Figure 18, (Sheet 1) is a
detail of the plate which serves to connect the stripper card to the stripper
levers R. The waste removed by the stripper card is contained in the waste
holder X, shewn in Figure 1, this holder consisting simply of a number of bent
and curved wires, one of which is shewn detached at Figure 19.
Although in my Drawings I have represented other parts of a carding
engine in order to render them more complete and intelligible, I do not con-
sider it requisite to enter into any description of these parts as they are well
known and understood by those acquainted with this class of machinery, and
taken separately or apart from my improvements, herein-before described, form
no portion of my present Invention.
Figure 3, on Sheet 2 of my Drawings, shows the application of my
peculiar compound cam for lifting the elevating jaws of the tops or for other
purposes where a sliding movement is to be imparted, and Figure 3" is a
detail of the cam shewing an inside face view thereof. The action of the
top raising and stripping mechanism is precisely similar to that illustrated on
Sheet 1 of my Drawings, but in place of elevating the jaws by an ordinary
cam groove as in Figure 1, Sheet 1, I propose to substitute therefore the pecu-
liar compound cam S, S, herein-after described. The essential feature of this
cam is the employment in one cam of two or more cam surfaces a, a', (Figure
3, Sheet 2) which operate successively upon pins b, b, in the sides of the lifting
slides of the jaws, each separate cam surface as it comes into action operating
upon one of the pins b, and imparting a further lift to the slide ; a, a, are
the depressing or lowering cam surfaces, and a', a', the lifters or elevators. By
the use of a cam of this construction and a series of pins in the slide a greater
amount of lift or motion is obtained with a given size of cam than can be
obtained with an ordinary cam of the same size. In order to fix the height
of the link plate J, on the arm of the rocking frame, and to determine the
length of the mangle rack, draw the two radii a, a', and a, a", (Figure 1, Sheet
1,) through the centres of the two extreme tops, numbered respectively 1 and
20. At a given point 6, in the radius a, a', draw a line b, c, at right angles
to the radius; the distance a, b, on the radius represents the radius of the
segmental mangle rack, the curve of which is of course struck from the
centre of the main shaft at a, and cuts the radius a, a", at d; b and d
represent the two end teeth or pins of the rack, and consequently fix
the length of the arc, to which the line b, c, is a tangent. From b, along

page_text: the tangent set off a distance b, c, equal to the length of the link plate J,
and draw a line parallel to the chord b, d, through the point c, the inter-
section of this line with the vertical centre line of the arm E_will give the
point of suspension of the link plate J. The length of rack having been
determined its position on the machine is fixed by slipping it down towards
the doffer a distance equal to the length of the link plate J, which may
vary at pleasure.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that what I consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is, the general construction, arrange-
ment, and combination of machinery or apparatus to be employed in the
carding of cotton and other fibrous substances as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Wellman, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of March, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-one.
GEORGE WELLMAN. (L.S.)