Improvements in Certain Carding Engines in which what are known " as Revolving Flats" are Employed.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Sept., 1887
Complete Left, 18th June, 1888
Complete Accepted, 20th July, 1888
Improvements in Certain Carding Engines in which what are known
"
as Revolving Flats" are Employed.
1 THOMAS FORKNALL of Saint Ann's Wells Ashton Old Road, Fairfield near
Manchester in the county of Lancaster Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows :-
My invention consists in a method of and means for adjusting what are known as
"revolving flats" relatively to the "card" surface of the main cylinder of a carding
engine and relates to those carding engines in which discs, plates or wheels capable of
being revolved upon the axle of the main cylinder or upon the pedestal in which the
axle of the main cylinder revolves, are employed for the purpose of supporting the
ends of the revolving flats.
In carrying my invention into effect 1 place in the circumference of each of the
discs, plates or wheels employed for supporting the ends of the revolving flats of each
carding engine to which my invention is applied, a number of segments, arms studs
or blocks of any suitable form which by means of a spiral groove, rib or incline or a
number of screws geared together or arranged to act independently of each other,
may be drawn towards or moved away from the axis of the said disc, plate or wheel
or I provide the above mentioned disc, plate or wheel with a spiral ring or spiral rings
of metal which spiral ring or spiral rings of metal may be drawn towards or moved
away from the axis of the disc, plate or wheel before referred to by means of screws,
inclines or wedges or by any other suitable means.
By the above described arrangements I am enabled to vary the diameter of each of
the discs, plates or wheels to which my invention is applied and by so doing to adjust
the revolving flats relatively to the "card" surface of the main cylinder of the carding
engine to which each pair of such discs, plates or wheels is applied.
Dated this Sixteenth day of September 1887
W. T. CHEETHAM,
Carlton Chambers,
18, St. Ann's Street, Manchester,
Agent to the Applicant.

page_text: Improvements in Certain Carding-engines in which what are known
<<
as Revolving Flats" are Employed.
THOMAS FORKNALL of Saint Ann's Wells Ashton Old Road Fairfield near
Manchester in the County of Lancaster, Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My invention consists in a method of and means for adjusting what are known as
"revolving flats" relatively to the "card" surface of the main cylinder of a carding-
engine and relates to those carding-engines in which discs plates or wheels capable of
being revolved upon the axle of the main cylinder or upon the pedestal in which the
axle of the main cylinder revolves or upon a bracket secured to the side framing of
the carding-engine are employed for the purpose of supporting the ends of the
revolving flats.
In carrying my invention into effect 1 place in the circumference of each of the
dises, plates or wheels employed for supporting the ends of the revolving flats of each
carding-engine to which my invention is applied a number of segments arms studs or
blocks of any suitable form which by means of a spiral groove rib or incline may be
drawn towards or moved away from the axis of the said disc, plate or wheel.
By the above described arrangements I am enabled to vary the diameter of each of
the discs, plates or wheels to which my invention is applied and by so doing to adjust
the revolving flats relatively to the "card" surface of the main cylinder of the
carding-engine to which each pair of such discs, plates or wheels is applied.
In the drawings hereunto annexed Fig. 1 is a side elevation and Fig. 2 is an end
view of so much of a carding-engine as is requisite to illustrate my invention-Fig. 3
is a section taken on the line XX of Fig. 4 and Fig. 4 a front view of a portion of
that which is shown in Fig. 2-Fig. 5 is a plan and Fig. 6a vertical section showing
upon a larger scale portions of that which is shown in Figs. 1 and 2.
1 shall apply the same letters of reference to corresponding paris throughout the
whole series of figures.
As the apparatus at one side of the carding-engine is similar to the apparatus at the
other side of such carding-engine I shall describe the apparatus at one side of the
carding-engine and to corresponding parts situate at the other side of the carding-
engine shall affix the same letters of reference as I affix to the parts described-
a, a are the side framings of the carding-engine, to which side framings a a are
secured pedestals b, b in which so as to be capable of being rotated therein is mounted
the axle e upon which is mounted the main cylinder d of the carding-engine-Upon

page_text: the axle c or upon a bush formed upon or secured to one of the pedestals b, bor
formed upon or secured to a bracket secured to one of the side framings a a is
mounted the disc plate or wheel e for supporting one end of each of the revolving
flats -On one side of the wheel, disc or plate e I form or provide a flange e¹ and I
secure to the said disc, plate or wheel e by means of screws g' a ring g and to assist
in keeping the ring g in position upon the disc plate or wheel e 1 form upon such disc
plate or wheel e-a circular rim e-Between the flange e¹ and the ring g I place a
number of segments or blocks h shown more clearly in Figs. 5 and 6-Fig. 6 being
a vertical section taken on the line A B of Fig. 1-Each of the segments or blocks h
is formed with a projecting rib which passes into a recess g² formed to receive it, in the
ring g-Between the flange e¹ and the ring g I place a ring of metal the inner
circumference of such ring of metal being in contact with a circular surface e
formed upon the disc, plate or wheel e which surface e³ is concentric with the main
cylinder In the face of the ring I form a spiral groove into which-groove
project projections ² one of which projections h² is formed upon each of the segments
or blocks h.
The ring jis shewn by Figs. 3 and 4 separated from the disc plate or wheel e-
Around the circumference of the ring we form teeth j³. After the ring ; and seg-
ments or blocks are placed in position between the flange e¹ and the ring 9, the disc
plate or wheel e is placed in a lathe and the ends 3 of the segments or blocks / are
turned to a circle concentric with the disc plate or wheel e-After the segments or
blocks have been turned as above mentioned the discs plates or wheels e are placed
in position upon the axle c of the main cylinder d of the carding-engine or upon
bosses each secured to or formed upon one of the pedestals bor secured to or formed
upon a bracket secured to one of the side framings a, a-The flats when at work are
supported by their opposite ends resting upon the ends ³ of the segments or
blocks h.
I adjust such flats relatively to the card surface of the main cylinder d in the
manner now to be described-I provide a bracket & upon which is formed a boss k¹
and a projecting part 2 passing through which and capable of being screwed therein
is a set screw When the bracket & is placed upon the flange e¹ of the disc, plate, or
wheel e it may be secured thereon by means of the set screw the said set-screw drawing
the boss against the flange e-Through the boss ¹ passes a spindle m fast upon one
end of which is a handle and fast upon the other end of which is a toothed wheel o
the teeth of which gear into the teeth formed upon the circumference of the ring j.
Upon the handle n spindle m and wheel o being turned and the disc plate or wheel e
prevented from turning the ring ; will be caused to turn upon the disc plate or
wheel e.
22
The turning of the ring ; will by means of the spiral groove and projections h²
upon the segments or blocks h cause such segments or blocks to move nearer to or
further from the axis of the disc plate or wheel e according to the direction in which
such ring is turned-By turning the ring j upon the disc plate or wheel e the flats
resting upon the segments or blocks h may be adjusted relatively to the surface of the
wire d upon the main cylinder d of the carding-engine-After the ends of the
segments or blocks h have been adjusted so as to form a circle of the diameter
desired the set-screw is unscrewed and the bracket is removed from the disc, plate
or wheel e.
In some cases in order to prevent any difficulty arising from the spaces between
the segments or blocks being at right angles to the plane of revolution of the discs
plates or wheels I form the segments or blocks so that the adjacent segments or
blocks h may overlap as shewn in Figs. 7 and 8 in which figures each segment or
block his formed with a projecting part which passes into a recess h° formed in the
adjacent seginent or block h.
In the accompanying drawings I have shown the ring jas having a spiral groove j
formed therein and each of the segments or blocks has being provided with a pro-
jection but in some cases I form grooves in each of the segments or blocks h and
form a spiral projecting rib upon the ring j.

page_text: In some cases instead of forming a spiral groove or rib in or upon the ring j-I
form the said ring with a spiral incline which I cause to act in conjunction with each
of the segments or blocks.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
In a carding-engine of the kind above referred to the means hereinbefore described
by means of which the circumference of each of the discs, plates or wheels upon
which the flats are supported when at work may be adjusted in diameter relatively
to the card surface of the main cylinder of the carding-engine which means consist
in segments or blocks such as h operating in conjunction with a spiral groove rib or
incline, and constructed, arranged and employed substantially as hereinbefore described
and illustrated in and by the drawings hereunto annexed.
Dated thin Sintanuth das 1000