IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR HECKLING FLAX AND PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR HECKLING FLAX AND
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 7th
February 1854.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR HECKLING FLAX AND
OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS" to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a novel arrangement of heckling machinery
whereby the stricks of flax as they pass through the machine are subjected to
the action of several sets of heckle pins (of different degrees of fineness) which
work at varying speeds, and in opposite directions for the purpose of operating
alternately upon opposite sides of the strick. The heckle pins are carried
by a series of drums (say, for example, five in number,) having all the same
diameter.
These drums which range in the same axial line are mounted on independent
axles to allow of their being driven at varying speeds to suit the different

page_text: conditions of the fibre as the heckling operation proceeds, and to permit
of the first, third, and fifth drums rotating in an opposite direction to the
second and fourth, whereby the stricks as they are traversed through the
machine will be operated upon alternately on opposite sides, and (as they near
the end of their course) by pins of increased fineness, and working at a superior
speed.
conditions of the fibre as the heckling operation proceeds, and to permit
of the first, third, and fifth drums rotating in an opposite direction to the
second and fourth, whereby the stricks as they are traversed through the
machine will be operated upon alternately on opposite sides, and (as they near
the end of their course) by pins of increased fineness, and working at a superior
speed.
Instead of employing drums for carrying the pins, endless bands or belts
may be used and operated in like manner as regards their varying speeds and
the direction of their motion.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed by
the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
7th August 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 In-
vention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR HECKLING FLAX AND OTHER FIBROUS
MATERIALS," being a communication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is

page_text: to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention relates to a novel arrangement of heckling machinery
whereby the stricks of flax as they pass through the machine may be subjected
to the action of several sets of heckle pins (of different degrees of fineness),
which work at varying speeds and in opposite directions for the purpose of
operating alternately upon opposite sides of the strick. The heckle pins are
carried by a series of drums (say, for example, five in number,) having all the
same diameter. These drums, which range in the same axial line, are mounted
on independent axles to allow of their being driven at varying speeds to suit
the different conditions of the fibre as the heckling operation proceeds, and to
permit of the first, third, and fifth drums rotating in an opposite direction to
the second and fourth, whereby the stricks as they are traversed through the
machine will be operated upon alternately on opposite sides, and (as they near
the end of their course) by pins of increased fineness, and working at a superior
speed.
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. I is a longitudinal elevation of the
improved heckling machinery forming the subject of the present Patent ;
Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same; Fig. 3 is an elevation of the feeding end
of the machine; Fig. 4 is an elevation of the discharging end of the machine;
and Figs. 5 and 6 are partial elevations, shewing the arrangements of the
gearing for driving certain of the heckle drums or cylinders; A1, A2, A3, &c. are
the heckle drums or cylinders mounted on independent axles for the purpose
of being driven in opposite directions and at varying speeds.
The first and last drums of the series are of suitable width for operating
upon one strick of flax, and the intermediate drums are of double the width.
The machine, it will be seen, is provided with a double holder trough B, for
guiding the flax holders through the machine, and presenting the flax to the
action of the heckle pins. This trough and the flax holders are operated in
the usual manner, and so are also the rotating brushes, card cylinders, and
doffer blades for taking up the tow from the heckle pins and discharging it
from the machine. The action of the heckle drums upon the flax as it passes
through the machine is as follows:-Supposing a charged flax holder to be
passed into the machine as shewn in the Drawing, and the drum A¹ to be
rotating in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 1, that side of the flax which lies
in contact with the drum will be heckled. When it has been sufficiently
operated upon by, this drum, the holder C will be lifted by the trough B, and
pushed forward (in the usual way) a distance equal to its length, and its place..

page_text: will be taken by another flax holder. This holder C will now stand above the
heckle drum A2, and by the descent of the trough the strick of flax will be
brought under the action of the pins of that drum which rotates (as indicated
by the arrow) in the opposite direction to that of A, and thereby the opposite
side of the flax to that first operated upon will be heckled. After the next rise
and depression of the flax holder, the strick will again come under the operation
of the same drum A², and be operated upon by a finer gradation of heckle
pins, but at its next succeeding rise and depression the flax will come under
the action of the drum A³, when the opposite side of the strick to that last
heckled will lie against the drum and be heckled. In like manner the sides
of the strick will be alternately acted upon until the holder is passed out of the
machine, that is, one side will be acted upon by the drums A2, A3, and A³, and
the other side will be acted upon by the drums A2, and A, by which means
both sides will undergo the same amount of heckling. The pins of these
drums are to have gradations of fineness, the coarsest heckling surface being
presented to the flax as it enters the machine, then a finer heckling surface as
it is advanced; and a still finer surface to complete the heckling process.
This system of arranging the heckle pins being well known to flax machine
makers will require no further explanation. I have said that the drums are
driven at different speeds, this is to limit the production of tow or short fibre
as much as possible. The mode of driving the drums will be understood from
the following explanation:-a is the main driving shaft carrying fast and loose
pulleys which receive motion from a strap from a steam engine or other first
mover. On this shaft is a pinion b, with thirty-six teeth, which gears into a
wheel of one hundred and forty-four teeth, the axle of which carries
a pinion d, of fifty-four teeth, and through that pinion drives a wheel e, of
eighty-one teeth, keyed on the shaft (see the partial section, Fig. 7) of the
drum A¹. Into the wheel e, gears a wheel f, for communicating rotary
motion through a wheel g, of sixty teeth, to its shaft h, which extends from
end to end of the machine. This shaft h carries a second wheel g*, of sixty
teeth, which, through a train of wheels (shewn at Fig. 5) drives the drum A
at the same speed as the drum A. The shaft of the drum A5 is hollow, and
through it the continuation of the shaft of the drum A* passes, as shewn at
Fig. 7. Rotary motion is communicated from the shaft h to all the other
drums of the series. The drum A³ is driven by wheels k, of ninety teeth,
taking into wheels 1, on the drum shaft, of one hundred and sixty-two teeth.
So also the drum A² is driven by a pinion m, of thirty teeth, taking into an
intermediate wheel (see Fig. 3) which is in gear with a wheel n, of eighty-
one teeth, on the shaft of the drum A. The drum A' is (like A5) mounted
C,

page_text: on a hollow shaft which carries a wheel o, (Fig. 6) of eighty-one teeth. This
wheel is, through intermediate wheels, driven by a pinion p, of twenty-seven
teeth, on the shaft h. The intermediate pinions, it will be understood, are for
the purpose not merely of transmitting motion but of reversing the direction of
rotation of the drums, to effect, as before stated, the heckling of the flax on
both sides of the stricks without employing a reversing motion for turning the
holders or for giving the drums an intermittent motion in opposite directions.
The other parts of the machine being of the ordinary construction, no further
description is deemed necessary.
I would here remark that instead of employing drums for carrying the pins,
endless bands or belts may be used and operated in like manner as regards
their varying speeds and the direction of their motion.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "Improved Machinery
for Heckling Flax and other Fibrous Materials," as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent, and explained the best means with which I am
acquainted for carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that
under the above in part recited Letters Patent, I claim the combination in
one and the same machine of heckle drums, cylinders, or sheets running
independently of each other at varying speeds and in opposite directions, in the
manner, and for the purpose above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of August in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)