IMPROVEMENTS IN CARDING ENGINES FOR FLAX, Tow, HEMP, JUTE, WOOL, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Smith Meldrum, of Leeds, in the
County of York, Mill Manager, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN CARDING ENGINES FOR FLAX, Tow, HEMP, JUTE, WOOL, AND OTHER
FIBROUS SUBSTANCES."
Sealed the 31st Augnst 1869, and dated the 6th March 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Smith Meldrum
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 6th March 1869.
I, WILLIAM SMITH MELDRUM, of Leeds, in the County of York, Mill
Manager, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN CARDING ENGINES FOR FLAX, Tow, HEMP, JUTE, WOOL, AND
OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
My improvements consist in the application to carding engines of a
set of blades revolving on an axis working into the outer interval
between the two rollers commonly called workers and strippers. The
object of these is to carry forward the fibres which hang from the
workers, and to present the ends of such fibres to the clearing rollers or
strippers. In the ordinary system without this intermediate set of

page_text: revolving blades (or where an intermediate roller forming an unbroken
circle intervenes) the fibres are liable to be presented in a doubled con-
dition, whereby waste is made, and the fibres partially destroyed, which
objection is got rid of by my Invention.
I do not confine myself to any particular form of blades or projections.
They may be made either parallel with the axis or set spirally round the
body of it, and the number of blades or projections may be varied as is
found to be convenient or desirable.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Smith Meldrum in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 6th September 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
SMITH MELDRUM, of Leeds, in the County of York, Mill Manager,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Smith Meldrum, Her special licence
that I, the said William Smith Meldrum, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Smith Meldrum, 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 makė, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN CARDING ENGINES FOR FLAX, Tow, HEMP, JUTE, WOOL, AND OTHER FIBROUS
SUBSTANCES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Smith Meldrum, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
inent in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, 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

page_text: calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Smith Meldrum, 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 following statement, reference being had to the Drawing here-
unto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say) -
:-
My Invention of "Improvements in Carding Engines for Flax, Tow,
Hemp, Jute, and other Fibrous Substances," consists in the application
to carding engines of sets of rotating blades or beaters mounted on
axles, and made to work in the outer interval between the two rollers
commonly called the workers and the strippers. The object intended to
be attained by the use of the rotating blades or beaters is to carry forward
the fibres which hang from the workers, and present the ends of such
fibres to the clearing rollers or strippers. In the ordinary system
without this intermediate set of revolving blades or beaters (or where
any intermediate roller forming an unbroken circle intervenes) the
fibres are liable to be presented in a doubled or tangled condition, whereby
waste is made, and the fibres are partially destroyed.
The accompanying Drawing represents a section of a carding engine
having my improved revolving supporting blades applied thereto.
A is the main cylinder of the machine; B, B, are the workers; C, C,
the strippers or clearers; D, D, the doffers; and F, F, the feeders, all
of which revolve in the usual manner in the direction indicated by the
arrows; G, G, G, are shafts placed in the outer interval between the
workers B and strippers C. These shafts carry the projecting blades or
beaters b, b, b, which may be placed either parallel with their shaft G
or arranged round it in a helical direction. The shafts G receive their
motion by gearing from the workers B, and the blades b, b, b, as they
rotate towards the strippers C support the fibres of the material which
is being operated upon, and present the ends of such fibres so as to be
seized by the strippers.
I would remark that I do not intend to confine myself to any
particular form of blades or beaters, nor to the number which may be
mounted on each shaft, as these details may be varied as may be found
convenient.

page_text: Having now described my Invention of "Improvements in Carding
Engines for Flax, Tow, Hemp, Jute, Wool, and other Fibrous Sub-
stances," and having explained the manner of carrying the same into
effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as
aforesaid, the adaptation to carding engines of rotating blades or beaters
as and for the purpose herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Smith Meldrum, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Third day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.
Signed, sealed, and delivered
by the said William Smith
Meldrum, in the presence
W. S. MELDRUM. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered
by the said William Smith
Meldrum, in the presence
THOS. B. TURNER,
W. S. MELDRUM. (L.S.)
Clerk to Messrs. Richardson & Turner,
Sol™,
Leeds.