IMPROVEMENTS IN CARDING, COMBING, AND SPINNING WOOL
Year: 1845

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
CUNLIFFE LISTER, of Manningham, near Bradford, in the County of York,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Twelfth day of December, in the ninth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Samuel Cunliffe Lister, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Samuel Cunliffe
Lister, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, or such others as I; the said Samuel
Cunliffe Lister, my exors, adñiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of
years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CARDING, COMBING, AND SPINNING WOOL;" in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said Samuel
Cunliffe Lister, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in
Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date. of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as
in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at
large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Samuel Cunliffe Lister, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully
described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference

page_text: being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters
marked thereon, that is to say
The first part of my Invention consists in preparing short fine wool upon
cylindrical drums or surfaces filled with teeth, not less than nine to the
square inch, and I prefer that these teeth should stand above the surface of
the drum about three quarters of an inch, the wool being fed on by suitable
feeding rollers, and when the spaces between the teeth become filled
with wool it must be removed from time to time either by hand or some
suitable method. Hitherto, fine short wool has been prepared upon drums
filled with teeth so coarse that the wool has not been sufficiently opened
and teased out, and when carded.and.combed..the yarn has been found for
some purposes too much of the nature of woollen yarn, in contradistinction
to worsted. The novelty of this part of my Invention consists in using
machines as preparers with teeth set so fine that the wool shall be well
opened out before being filled on to combs, and afterwards worked by combs,
and yet at the same time the yarn shall have less of the character of woollen
yarn than when it has been carded before being combed.
The second part of my Invention consists in arranging machinery so that
card, or what are known in the trade as "porcupine teeth," are caused to
operate upon wool to comb the same, and such card or porcupine teeth I
cause to operate first upon the point of the wool and gradually to work
up to the head of combs filled with fine short wool. Figure 1 represents
a plan and Figure 2 a section of so much of a machine, according to this
part of my Invention, as will enable me to explain this part of the Invention.
But, at the same time, I would have it, understood that I. do not confine
myself thereto. This Drawing shows only a part of a curved or endless
comb "," which is to have motion communicated to it,.
and have suitable
feeding and drawing apparatus applied thereto. The wool is operated upon
by means of an endless sheet filled with teeth, which I prefer should be an
inch long, the sheet travelling over two rollers "d" and "e": the roller "d"
being the larger (say ten inches in. diameter), and the endless sheet being
driven by means of friction'of the surface of the roller d (there being motion
communicated to the axis of the roller d) will cause the sheet filled with
teeth to revolve, and thus lash out the wool. When the spaces between the
teeth of the endless sheet become filled with wool it must be removed by
the workman, and refilled on to the comb by suitable means.
The same
result may be obtained by a circular drum filled with teeth, but I prefer an
endless sheet; but I do not confine myself thereto, so long as the wool is
first operated upon at the point and is gradually worked up to the head of the

page_text: comb, or works head and head with the comb that holds the wool (short
fine wool), or when the combs filled with such wool are drawn off, after
being worked by card or porcupine teeth; but if the wool is slipped from
or put on one comb to another, after being worked, in order to be drawn off,
then I claim for slipping the wool on to combs of a larger size than seven
inches, as it will be found that a larger quantity of work may be done and
with greater ease than by using smaller sized combs.
The third part of my Invention consists in combing short fine wool in a
dry state after being carded, as the wool may then be drawn from the combs
with much less heat than when combed in a moist or damp state. I would
remark, that I am well aware that fine short wool has been worked by a
card cylinder in connection with a comb, that is to say, the comb holding the
wool whilst the card cylinder worked it.
But what I claim is, combing such wool whilst in a dry state when worked
by combs. It will be found that if the wool be carded and then combed
in a dry state, that such wool will be a bad color. And I claim for washing
such wool, either before being prepared for spinning or after being spun.
And lastly, my Invention consists in spinning short fine wool upon mules
after being carded and combed. It is found that shorter wool may be combed
after being carded, but the difficulty is to spin such wool, but by using the
mule its spinning is much facilitated. And I claim for spinning short fine
wool upon mules after being carded and combed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister, have hereunto
my hand and seal, this Ninth day of June, in the year of our Lord