IMPROVEMENTS IN COTTON GINS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Theodore Bourne, of the City and County of New
York, State of New York, United States of America, residing at 16,
Charlotte Street, Bedford Square, W.C., London, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN COTTON GINS."-A communication from abroad by
Hiram Wilson Brown, of Millville, Cumberland County, State of New
Jersey. United States of America.
Sealed the 20th May 1862, and dated the. 19th December 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Theodore Bourne at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 19th
December 1861.
I, THEODORE BOURNE, of the City and County of New York, State of New
York, United States of America, residing at 16, Charlotte Street, Bedford
Square, W.C., London, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN COTTON GINS," to be as follows:-
This cotton gin is designed to clean all varieties of cotton by separating the
seed from the fibre without breaking the seed or injury to the staple.
In order to accomplish the above design, this Invention employs a roller in
combination with an adjustable stripping plate, an adjustable breast plate, a
screen or grating formed of rods, a chute, a feed board, a stationary brush, and
cams and springs arranged as will be hereafter more fully described.

page_text: It is operated by placing the seed cotton on a feed box provided with rods,
upon which, when motion is given to the machine, the cotton passes up and
over the edge of a breast plate, and is drawn downward by a roller, which is
placed contiguous to the breast plate until it strikes a brush placed underneath
a cover, from whence it falls into a screen, thus passing off free from seeds or
other impediments which may be lodged in the fibrous substance. Whilst the
cotton is thus passing over the edge of the breast plate a vibrating plate placed
nearly perpendicular to the breast plate, which receives motion from cams
placed on the shaft, strips the seeds from the fibre, from whence they pass
through and between the rods before mentioned, falling at the back of the
screen which divides and keeps them separate from the clean cotton.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Theodore Bourne in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
9th June 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THEODORE
BOURNE, of the City and County of New York, State of New York, United
States of America, residing at 16, Charlotte Street, Bedford Square, W.C.,
London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Theodore Bourne, Her special license that I, the said Theodore
Bourne, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Theodore Bourne, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN COTTON GINS," a communication to me from Hiram Wilson Brown, of
Millville, Cumberland County, State of New Jersey, United States of America,
the Inventor, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Theodore
Bourne, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe

page_text: 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 Theodore Bourne, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, that is to say:-
This cotton gin is designed to clean all varieties of cotton by separating the
seed from the fibre without breaking the seed or injury to the staple.
In order to accomplish the above design, this Invention employs a roller in
combination with an adjustable stripping plate, an adjustable breast plate, a
screen or grating formed of rods, a chute, a feed board, a stationary brush,
and cams and springs, arranged as will be hereafter more fully described.
It is operated by placing the seed cotton on a feed box provided with rods,
upon which, when motion is given to the machine, the cotton passes up and
over the edge of a breast plate, and is drawn downward by a roller which is
placed contiguous to the breast plate until it strikes a brush placed under-
neath a cover, from whence it falls into a chute, thus passing off free from
seeds or other impediments which may be lodged in the fibrous substance.
Whilst the cotton is thus passing over the edge of the breast plate, a vibrating
plate placed nearly perpendicular to the breast plate, which receives motion
from cams placed on the shaft, strips the seeds from the fibre, from whence
they pass through and between the rods before mentioned back of the chute,
which divides and keeps them separate from the clean cotton.
And in order that this Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into operation, I will proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings, reference being had to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Figure 1 is a side view, partly in section, of my improved cotton gin;
Figure 2, a plan or top view of the same.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several
Figures.
A represents a framing which may be of metal or wood, and constructed in
any proper way to support the working parts. On the upper part of the
framing there is placed transversely a shaft B, on which a roller C is placed.
This roller may be of wood or any suitable material covered with leather, the
latter being creased or grooved in a diagonal or V form, as shewn clearly in
Figure 2, or curved; D is a brush which is constructed of bristles fitted in a

page_text: suitable block, attached to the upper part of the framing, and in such a position
that the bristles will be in contact with the periphery of the roller C, and
extend entirely across it in a horizontal plane; at one end of the shaft B of
the roller C, there is a fly wheel E, and at the opposite end there is a pinion F
driven by the wheel F' and a handle F, by which the driving power is applied
to the gin. G represents a feed board, which is placed horizontally on the
upper part of the framing, and in the plane with the shaft B and the brush D.
The feed board G is provided with a side piece at each side, and to its front
end there are attached a series of rods e, which are parallel with each other,
and incline slightly downward in an oblique direction towards the roller C, see
Figures 1 and 2. The rods e form a screen or grating, the use of which will
be presently explained. H is a metal breast plate, the lower edge of which
rests in brackets or horizontal plates I, I, which project from the end of a
bar a.
The brackets are secured to the under side of a cross bar J, in the
upper part of the framing A. The plates I, I, are slotted longitudinally, and
screws g pass through the said slots into the cross bar J. This arrangement,
it will be seen, admits of an adjustment of the brackets I in a horizontal
direction towards and from the roller C. The outer ends of the brackets
project upwards or are provided with lips h, which serve as bearings for the
front of the lower part of the plate H, see Figure 1. The plate H is made
to bear with a greater or less pressure against the roller C, by means
of set screws 6, which pass through the cross bar J. K is a stripping plate,
which is attached to the ends of the springs M, M, (or which may be attached
to a cross bar, the ends of which are attached to the ends of the springs M, M,)
which extend back one at each side of the feed board G, and are attached to
plates N, N, which are slotted, as shewn at i, and are secured to the framing A
by screws j, j, passing through the slots i into the framing. The front end of
each spring M is bent downward, as shewn at k. The lower edge of the
stripping plate K may be plain or serrated for ginning tough fibred cotton.
On the shaft B there are placed two cams 0, 0, one at each side of the
roller C; these cams are formed with arms, which project radially from the
centre, the arms being in line with the projections k of the spring M, and
acting against them as the shaft B rotates. The springs M, M, have a
tendency to keep the stripping plate K elevated to its fullest extent. P is a
chute, which is placed in the framing A, and has its upper end in contact
with the lower end of the plate H, as shewn in Figure 1. R is a guard placed
above the roller C to prevent the seeds rising over the roller and dropping
among the cotton.

page_text: The operation is as follows:-The cotton to be ginned is placed in the feed
board G, and the roller C is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow
upon it, and draws the cotton down between it and the upper edge of plate H.
The cams O, O, at the same time act against the projections of the
springs M, M, and force down the plate K, so that the latter will knock the
seeds from the cotton, the seeds falling through the screen or grating formed
by the rods e, while the ginned cotton passes down the chute P. The stationary
brush D strips any cotton from the roller C, which may adhere to it.
The breast plate H may be adjusted by means of the screws b, so as to bear
with a greater or less degree of pressure against the roller C, and this is an
important feature, as the feed is regulated by the pressure; with but a trifling
pressure of the plate H against the roller C, there could be but little feed.
The plate H may also be adjusted at its lower part by adjusting the brackets I, I,
and the stripping plate K may also be adjusted nearer to or further from the
roller C by adjusting the plates N, N, to which the springs M, M, are attached.
This adjusting of the stripping plate K and the breast plate H is essential, as
the feed of the cotton between the roller C and plate H may be regulated as
desired, or as occasion may require, and the stripping plate K be made to act
upon the cotton at the most favorable point for stripping the seed therefrom.
Figure 3 represents part of a cotton gin, which may be of larger dimensions
than the one above described, and which is intended to be driven also by steam
or water power; in this view the shaft B and the roller C are driven by the
strap pulley, to which is fixed the pinion gearing into the wheel B' on the
shaft B. The pulley & and pinion ¹ are fixed on the shaft y, which extends
from one side of the machine to the other; near each end of the shaft y is
fixed an eccentric y', which by means of the links y2 give the requisite vibratory
motion to the descending stripping plate K; this plate is adjustable and may
be cast with a flange which acts as a guard in lieu of the guard R, shewn in
Fig. 1. I wish to remark that the feed board G may be made to vibrate by
means of a crank or eccentrics on the shaft y connected by links to the under
side of the feed board.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention (as communicated
to me), and the mode of operation, I declare that I claim,-
First, the roller C grooved in a V or curved form, with the adjustable
stripping plate K descending from above, the brush D, the adjustable breast
plate H, the chute P, and the screen formed of the rods e, the whole combined
and arranged substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Secondly, I claim imparting a descending motion from above to the stripping

page_text: plate K by means of the cams O, O, and springs M, M, or other equivalents,
as described.
Thirdly, the application of V-shaped or curved grooves to the surface of the
roller C, as shewn and described.
And, fourthly, the application of a stationary brush D to the surface of the
roller C, in the manner and for the purpose described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Theodore Bourne, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
THEODORE BOURNE. (L.S.)