IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN FEEDING WOOL, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES TO SCRIBBLING AND CARDING MACHINES
Year: 1884

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
I, JOSEPH TAYLOR of Bowers Mills, Barkisland, near Halifax, Yorkshire
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN FEEDING WOOL, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES TO
SCRIBBLING AND CARDING MACHINES," to be as follows :—
The object of my Invention is to feed fibrous substances onto the aprons of
scribbling and carding machines in a regular and uniform manner by means of
self-acting apparatus.
According to my Invention I employ a spiked travelling apron placed in a
vertical, or nearly vertical position, and working within the ordinary hopper, which
is preferably made large enough to contain a pack of fibre.
The spiked apron lifts the fibre out of the hopper, but near the upper end
thereof is a vibrating comb employed to strip the superfluous fibro from the teeth
of the apron, whilst the fibre allowed to be carried forward is cleared off the apron,
and thrown into a scale pan by a revolving roller, which may be covered or
partially with card tecth, bristles, or other materials.
A horizontal lattice sheet which forms the bottom of the hopper is employed and
caused to travel slowly forward for the purpose of carrying the fibre, and keeping
it in close contact with the vertical apron.
The means I employ for travelling the horizontal apron consists of a ratchet
wheel fastened on the end of one of the apron rollers, and a lever arm carrying a
catch or pawl for taking onto the teeth of the ratchet wheel is also employed and
operated by studs, projecting from a toothed wheel which at each revolution thereof
lifts up the lever arm, and causes the catch to push forward the ratchet-wheel
consequently the horizontal apron is caused to travel and feed the fibre forward,
the speed at which the apron travels can be regulated by means of an adjustable
peg in a bracket.
In addition to the travelling apron at the bottom of the hopper for feeding the
fibre forward I place a board in the hopper, and cause it to travel slowly forward
so as to push the fibre up to the vertical creeper. The board is caused to move
backward and forward by means of screws actuated at the requisite speed from
any convenient rotary part of the machine.

page_text: After a given quantity of fibre has dropped from the vertical apron into the
weighing scale, the weight thereof causes it to descend, and in so doing a bell
crank lever attached to the lever of the scale forces a notched vertical bar off a
catch employed to support it allowing the said bar to descend which places a catch
into the teeth of a ratchet wheel on the end of the shaft employed in driving the
vertical apron, whereby the said shaft and apron are prevented from rotating,
consequently the feed of fibre is temporarily stopped.
Immediately after the scale has descended and the feed of fibre stopped, a pro-
jection on a rotary disc comes into contact with a cranked lever, which tipples or
upsets the contents of the scale onto the feeding apron of the carding machine, a
weighted cord attached to the cranked lever being employed to remove the pressure
thereon off the scale, so that it can get into its level position again, which when
done a projection on another disc comes into contact with the foot of the notched
vertical bar lifting it onto the catch again (from which it has been previously
pushed) whereby the catch which has been holding and preventing the rotation of
the vertical apron is removed from the teeth of the ratchet wheel allowing the
apron to travel, and the feed of fibre to commence again and so on each time the
studs on the disc come round, by which means the scale pan is upset and the fibre
deposited at regular intervals of time.
In order to spread the fibre after it has been placed on the feeding apron of the
carding machine I employ an oscillatory rake suspended on pivots, and caused to
rock backward and forward by means of a short arm attached to a crank pin on a
rotary face plate; and has the points of the rake enter the fibre, it is levelled and
spread on the feeding apron with great uniformity, and without any attention on
the part of the workman.
1

page_text: I, JOSEPH TAYLOR of Bowers Mills, Barkisland, near Halifax, Yorkshire
Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of my invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN FEEDING WOOL AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES TO
SCRIBBLING AND CARDING MACHINES" and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
The object of my Invention is to feed fibrous substances onto the aprons of
scribbling and carding machines in a regular and uniform manner by means of
self-acting apparatus.
In order that my invention may be better understood I herein give reference to
the accompanying sheets of drawings, wherein Fig 1 sheet 1 is elevation of driving
end of machine, Fig 2 (sheet 2) opposite end view and Fig 3 (sheet 3) cross section of
game. A is the ordinary lattice sheet for feeding fibre into a scribbling or carding
machine, and B is a hopper having a moveable bottom composed of an endless
lattice sheet C caused to travel-self-actingly by means of a catch or pawl D which
takes into the teeth of the wheel E fixed on the end of a roller over which the
lattice sheet passes and by which it is driven. The catch D is attached to and
operated by a bent lever F hinged at 3 the said bent lever being raised by means
of one or more studs a projecting from the side of the wheel G which is caused to
rotate at any suitable speed by means of wheels H and I from main driving shaft J.
After the bent lever F has been raised by the studs on the wheel G so as to cause
the catch D to push the ratchet wheel forward a tooth or so, the bent lever
descends again when liberated by its own weight, but the distance it descends can
be varied by an adjustable stud b in bracket c which is provided with, holes so as
to regulate the upward lift given to the catch D. The primary object of the
lattice sheet C is to carry the fibre to, and keep it in contact with the teeth on the
vertical endless lattice sheet K which is employed to lift the fibre from the hopper
for the purpose of being fed to the scale L..
A fly or doffing comb M driven by band from the grooved pulley N is employed
for stripping the superfluous fibre from the teeth of the lattice sheet K but the fibre
allowed to be carried forward is removed and thrown into the scale pan by a
revolving roller O, which is covered or partially covered with card teeth such
roller being driven by band from main driving shaft J. The weighing scale is
carried by a lever P working upon a centre d and balanced by adjustable weight Q
and when the said scale is full of fibre it descends and comes into contact with the
bell crank lever R causing a stud e at the bottom end thereof to force the notched
vertical bar S off a catch f which supports it (see detail Fig 4) by which means
the vertical rod drops as shewn in dotted line, in doing which it places a catch g
on the lever T into gear with a wheel T' whereby the said wheel is prevented from
rotating and as this wheel is fixed on the end of the roller h which drives the
spiked lattice sheet K, the said lattice sheet is also, temporarily stopped and the

page_text: feed of fibre for the time being ceases. On reference to Fig 2 it will be seen that
roller is driven by gear wheels T' and band pulley Ts from the main driving
shaft J and that when the catch g is holding the roller & the band j will be slipping
around the grooved pulley T³.
After the scale has descended and the feed of fibre stopped, a projection K
(see Fig 2) on the rotary disc U driven by lattice sheet A comes into contact with
a cranked lever U which lever is actuated so as to strike a stud Z on the scale
whereby it is upset, and its contents deposited onto the lattice sheet A but as soon as
the projection K has passed the lower extremity of the cranked lever U₁ the said
lever is liberated and brought back to its normal position again by a weight m and
cord n by which means the scale is allowed to ascend by the aid of the weighted
lever, and when this is done another projection o on the edge of another disc U² on
the opposite end of the lattice sheet A (see Fig 1) comes into contact with the
bottom of the vertical bar S which raises it to its original position again, whilst
the spring forces it onto the catch by which it is supported, such upward motion
of the said bar lifting the lever T and removing the catch g thereon out of contact
with the wheel T' which it has been holding, but as soon as it is liberated it is set
in motion again by the band j, which during this temporary stoppage has been
slipping around the band pulley T3 by this means the feed of fibre is restarted and
tho scale refilled again for another supply of fibre which in turn is again upset as
already described and thus the machine goes on self-actingly all the day through,
and as the hopper is made large enough to hold a pack of fibre the machine requires
very little attention.
In addition to the fibre in the hopper being carried forward against the vertical
creeper by the bottom lattice sheet Ca board V see Fig 3 hinged at p is employed
the weight thereof bearing upon the body of fibre in the hopper, and as the fibre is
removed therefrom the hinged board follows it, and assists in keeping the said
fibre up to the vertical lattice sheet, as will be well understood.
Instead however of employing the hinged board to keep the fibre in contact with
the vertical creeper I may employ a board W and place it in the hopper as shewn
in elevation Fig 5 sheet 4.
This board is caused to travel forward slowly by means of a screw W¹ which
passes through a nut W2 attached to the board W such screw being caused to
revolve by ratchet wheel rand catch a operated by lever and rod t from face
plate on the end of shaft wand when this board W has travelled far enough it is
caused to return by turning the screw W' in the opposite direction by handle W³.
As this board W is a broad one it is necessary for it to have a travelling motion
at the other end and to do this I fix a rack y at both sides of the machine in which
gears pinion y¹ the two pinions being connected together by a shaft going across
the machine.
In order to spread the fibre after it has been placed on the feeding apron of the
carding machine I employ an escillatory rake S₁ shewn in elevation Fig 6 sheet 5
such rake being suspended on pivots X and caused to rock backward and forward
by means of a short arm X¹ attached to a crank pin on a rotary face pulley y³
driven by band Z and as the points of the rake enter the fibre it is levelled and
spread on the feeding apron with great uniformity and without any attention on
the part of the workman.
The action of the machine is as follows.
On the hopper being filled with fibro and the machine set to work the hinged
board V or the travelling board W in combination with the horizontal lattice sheet C
causes the fibre to be forced into contact with the vertical lattico sheet K which in
its upward movement carries the fibre out of the hopper.
4
The superfluous fibre is knocked off by the fly comb M but a certain portion is
fed forward and beaten off by the rotary roller O and dropped into the scale pan.
When the scale is full the weight thereof causes it to descend, in doing which 5
the lever R is actuated and forces the vertical rod S off the catch f whereby the
motion of the vertical lattice shoet K is stopped and the feed of firbe suspended.

page_text: Simultaneously with this operation one of the projections on the rotary disc k
operates the cranked lever U₁ which tipples the scale so that the contents are upset
onto the travelling apron A. Immediately after the projection k has passed the
bottom of the lever U¹ the weighted cord n brings the lever back again and releases
the scale when the weight Q on the lever Praises the said scale to its position again
and simultaneously with such motion the projection o on the rotary disc O' comes
into contact with the bottom of the vertical rod S which is again raised and by
the action of the flat spring V it is forced onto the catch fand the vertical lattice
sheet restarted and the feed of fibre is re-commenced, and thus the machine goes
on, automatically filling the scale and repeating same all the day through, and as
the oscillating rake S' is always at work the fibro is continuously being spread upon
the feed apron A.
.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
Firstly The employment of the horizontal creeper C in combination with the
vertical creeper K operated in the manner and for the purpose substantially as
herein shewn and described.
Secondly. The employment of the travelling board W in combination with
vertical and horizontal creepers C and K for purpose set forth.
Thirdly. The means herein shewn and described for temporarily stopping the
feed of fibre.
Fourthly. The means herein shewn and described for upsetting the weighing
scale.
Fifthly. The employment of the roller ○ covered or partially covered with card
teeth for beating the fibre off the creeper K.
Sixthly. The employment of the oscillating fork S¹ for spreading the fibro upon
the travelling apron A.
Seventhly. The arrangement of driving the vertical spiked sheet K by the
band j which slips over the grooved pullies when the lattice sheet is stopped.
Dated this 6th day of March 1885.
TASKER & CROSSLEY,
Patent Agents,
Commercial Street, Halifax,
Agents for the Applicant..