IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING, HACKLING, AND COMBING WOOL, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1848

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
CUNLIFFE LISTER, of Manningham, in the County of York, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Nineteenth day of
October, One thousand eight, hundred and forty-eight, in the twelfth year of.
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, Her especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Samuel Cun-
liffe Lister, my exors, adñiors; and assigns, or such others as I, the said Samuel
Cunliffe Lister, my exors, adññiors, 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 PREPARING, HACKLING, AND COMBING WOOL, AND OTHER
FIBROUS SUBSTANCES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that
I, the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister, should cause a particular description of the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her

page_text: 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 being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:
My improvements in preparing wool, by washing it, consists in conveying
the wool through the soapsuds, or other scouring liquid, upon endless
sheets or aprons. A, Fig. 1, represents a trough about twelve feet long, by
a yard in width and depth, which is a very suitable size, but may be
varied. The line B shews the feed cloth, which, passing round the roller D,
and under the roller E, is carried forward through the rollers F, F, and
delivers the wool to the expressing rollers G, G. The upper line D¹ is a sheet
or net, which travels round the roller Dx, and under the roller E, and between
the rollers F, F, and is used to prevent the wool from falling off the lower
carrying sheet, and also to assist in carrying it through the sud. To ensure
the endless sheet moving correctly, I attach a chain to each side of the endless
sheet or apron; and as these chains are driven by pulleys (placed at the ends of
the rollers) having cogs that work into the links of the chain, the endless
sheet or apron is pulled along, and at the same time kept distended. I prefer
to have network for the endless sheet or apron, but other material may
be employed. The rollers F, F, are geared together and driven by the
expressing rollers G, G; and the other rollers D, D, E, by the friction of
the endless sheet or apron.
What I claim is,―
First, the carrying or supporting of wool through soapsuds, or washing
liquid, used by means of endless sheets or aprons.
I will now proceed to describe another of my improvements in preparing
wool or hair, shown at Fig. 2. A is the feed cloth, and C and B are the feed
rollers, about two or three inches in diameter, C being a wood-fluted roller,
working into the spaces left between the teeth in the porcupine roller B,
and assisting the teeth in penetrating the wool. D are lifting bars placed
between the teeth at intervals of about an inch apart. E is an excentric race
or guide (shown by red lines), in which the ends of the lifting bars slide (as
the roller moves round), and are raised or depressed as required. When

page_text: the teeth of the rollers aro intended to work the wool they are depressed, and,
on the contrary, when the wool is delivered either to the drawing rollers or to
the next porcupine roller, the wool is raised by the lifting bars to the points of
the teeth. F is a porcupine roller or drum, on which are placed bars con-
taining teeth about half an inch long, and about sixteen to the square inch for
coarse wool, and twice that number for fine. The teeth of this roller work the
the wool as it is delivered from the feed rollers, having a draft of about six or
seven; but it may be varied, and as the roller revolves, the lifting bars are
brought into action, and raise the wool to the point or rather above the points
of the teeth, so that the drawing rollers may readily take it; or I allow it to
accumulate on the surface of the drum, and remove it by hand or otherwise.
I run the drum at a very great velocity, so as to throw off the wool, after
being first lifted to the points by the bars. Sometimes, instead of raising the
wool to the points of the teeth, I withdraw the teeth altogether, and this I
accomplish by making recesses in the roller, and putting the bars into them,
with a suitable spring underneath them. The ends of the bars travel in a
slide or eccentric; and as a roller moves round the bars are raised or de-
pressed, and thus inserting or withdrawing the teeth, as required. The
springs placed under the bars are of use in forcing the teeth more rapidly into
the wool than could be done if the bars were only acted on by the race or
eccentric slide. Circular gills, such as are commonly used in the flax trade, are
very suitable machines for preparing wool for combing, and are very similar in
their mode of working to the porcupine roller just described. I would here
remark, that what I mean by preparing the wool for combing, under this head
of my Invention, is by the action of draft and points to open out the staples,
and to parallelise the fibres preparatory to combing it, and detaching the noil
from the long wool.
I will now describe another plan, which is very similar in its action to the
porcupine roller, only that instead of being a rigid surface, such as a roller, it
is a flexible porcupine sheet, travelling round friction rollers, and having lifting
bars placed at intervals between the teeth to raise the wool; or, as in the case
of the porcupine rollers, the teeth may be raised into or withdrawn from the
wool by placing bars, with suitable teeth in them, upon the leather belt (or an
endless chain will do equally well), in boxes or recesses, with a spring at the
bottom; and as the belt or chain moves round the friction rollers, the ends of
the bar containing the teeth travel in an excentric slide, and are raised or
depressed at pleasure, similar to the porcupine roller, the springs in the boxes
assisting them in penetrating the wool. Feeding and drawing-off rollers are
attached similar to the machine previously described. I would remar

page_text: this plan is very similar to the plan patented by Mr. Donisthorpe for backling
flax. When the teeth are fixed and used without lifting bars, I find no plan
answer so well as two porcupine sheets placed one above the other, and travel-
ling at the same speed, so as to take the wool between them from the feed
rollers with a draft of four, which may be varied, as in that case shorter teeth
may be used. Two porcupine rollers would also do, but not so well, and
would deliver the wool by using a brush. to clear the teeth, and assist the
drawing rollers in drawing the wool from the points.
Having thus particularly described my improvements in porcupine rollers, I
will now proceed to describe another class of machines, which are similar in
their mode of action to a screw gill, only the screw or worm is dispensed with.
The square motion, described in the present Patent for wool combing or
hackling, is very applicable to wool preparing. All that is required is to attach
a suitable pair of feed rollers, and also another pair of rollers to take the wool
from the bar combs, and in feeding the wool on to the combs to give a draft
of two or three, and the same in drawing it off. The teeth ought to be from
one to two inches in length. The plan patented by Mr. Perry, in 1844, for
wool combing, is equally applicable for wool preparing, as in the case of the
square motion. All that is required to attach a pair of feed rollers and
drawing-off rollers, and to give suitable draft in feeding and drawing off the
wool, and it at once becomes a simple and efficient preparing machine.
What I claim is,-
First, the lifting bars to assist the wool in drawing from porcupine drums,
rollers, or sheets, either in preparing wool for combing or after being combed.
Second, I claim for using porcupine sheets or chains, either with or without
the lifting bars, so long as the wool is not allowed to accumulate on such
sheets, but is taken away by rollers, or other suitable means.
Third, I claim the preparing of wool for combing upon machines such as
are shewn by the Drawings, where a similar motion to a screw gill is obtained
without a screw; that is to say, where the teeth enter and leave the wool at
right angles to the fibres of the wool, or nearly so..
I would remark, that all these plans are applicable to preparing wool, either
for combing by hand or by power; and I particularly claim for preparing
wool upon porcupine surfaces before being combed by hand. And I would
also remark, that I make no claim to Mr. Perry's plan of combing, or to the
plan patented by Mr. Donisthorpe for hackling flax, except when the wool or
hair is delivered or fed to such machines by suitable feed rollers, and after-
wards drawn off by other rollers, the object of Mr. Donisthorpe and
Mr. Perry's Patents being to hackle and comb the wool or flax, and to detach

page_text: a noil; mine being simply to open out the staples and straighten the fibres
without detaching a noil; and I make no claim to such machines, excepting
when used in the manner specified.
I will now describe another part of my Invention. Screw gills, employed
in treating wool, are usually constructed with the worm or screw all of one
pitch from end to end, so that the gill combs travel at the same speed through-
out the entire length of the screw. Now, my improvement consists in having
the screw finer at one end than the other, so that the gill comb, after
entering the wool, shall travel progressively quicker until it leaves the wool,
thereby causing a draft between the gill combs entering the wool and those
leaving. What I find to answer exceedingly well is to have the worm as
coarse again at one end as the other. I do not, however, confine myself
thereto. By giving a draft between one end of the gill and the other it greatly
straightens and assists the wool in drawing, so much so, that a gill, with a pro-
gressively increasing worm, will do much more work than one upon the old
plan. What I claim is, the constructing a screw gill with a varying pitch of
worm, so as to cause a draft between the gills entering the wool and those
leaving it.
I will now describe another part of my Invention. Combs with teeth of a
greater length at the back than the front have been used and patented; but
I find that by increasing the length, so as to have a difference of not less than
half an inch between some of the back and front rows, still more beneficial
results may be obtained. In filling the wool on to the combs, the back rows
of teeth, standing much more prominent than the front, receive the wool from
the feeding or filling apparatus first. As the filling rollers recede. the wool is
drawn through the teeth, and the noil and trash deposited in the back rows,
which is a great advantage, because when the wool is drawn from the combs
by the rollers, the noil cannot so readily leave and mix with the good wool as
if it were deposited in the front rows. I claim for constructing combs with
some of the back rows of teeth not less than half an inch longer than the
front, when filled by other means than by hand.
I will now proceed to describe my improvements in hackling or combing,
shown at Figs. 3, 4, & 5. The object of this part of my Invention is to save
the labor attendant upon moveable combs by substituting fixed combs, that is
to say, combs that deliver the wool which they rob from the carrying combs,
without the trouble and labor of being removed to have the wool drawn from
them. I would remark, than the plan adopted is very similar to a screw gill,
only much simpler, and the screws or worms are not required. The bar
combs B move in races A¹ and A³, and motion being given to the shafts c,

page_text: po which the cams D are placed, these cams D, as they revolve, lift the bar
combs from the lower races A¹ to the upper guides or races A, and at the same
time cause the combs so raised to penetrate through the wool as soon as the
combs B are lifted to the upper races. The inclines D' on the face of the
cams D, as the cams D move round, push against the side of the bar comb B,
which has just been raised, and force it, with all the other bar combs in the
races A, to travel a distance equal to the width of one of the bar combs. At
the other end of the races A² are similar cams D, which receive the combs as
they are pushed forward; and as these cams D2 revolve, they allow the bar
combs to descend again by their own gravity to the lower race A¹, when the
inclined surfaces D³ (in the revolution of the shafts c) push them forward in
the same manner as the bars in the upper race. The front cams D, being
under the combs so pushed forward as they revolve, again lift them into the
upper race, and force the teeth of the bar comb through the wool in the
holding comb, thereby combing and clearing it from trash and noil, which is
drawn from the bar combs by rollers or other suitable means. What I claim
is, the machine herein described for combing or hackling wool or hair, which is
similar in its mode of working to a screw gill (but without screws), the teeth
entering the fibrous material at right angles, and travelling through it in a
horizontal plane, or nearly so.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Cunliff Lister, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.