A New or Improved Apparatus for Breaking up or Cutting Wool Burs.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Sept., 1888
Complete Specification Left, 25th June, 1889-Accepted, 7th Sept., 1889
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
A New or Improved Apparatus for Breaking up or Cutting Wool
Burs.
I, HUBERT LEOPOLD OFFERMANN Director of the Leipziger Wollkämmerei, Leipzic,
in the Kingdom of Saxony German Empire do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
Apparatus have been constructed heretofore for the purpose of effecting the cutting
or breaking up of the burs in wool by crushing in such manner that they are not
any more grasped or laid hold of by the drawing rollers of the combing machine,
that is to say, the burs do not get into the "tops" or sliver but into the waste wool
ог "noils"; but such apparatus have the disadvantage that although the more brittle
burs are broken under the pressure of the blunt cutting edges and sharp edged
groovings of the rolls a great number of the softer ones are only "nicked
they remain whole and get into the sliver.
so that
According to this invention these disadvantages are obviated in such manner, that
the cutting or breaking up of the burs is attained by means of tearing so that not
only the harder or more brittle burs, but also the soft ones and small pieces of grass
or straw contained in the wool, are torn up into such small pieces that they cannot
again be seized by the tearing up roller of the combing machine, but are separated
with the waste wool. If a bur contained in a fleece to be carded be then seized
between two pairs of tongs or pincers, so that one pair of tongs grasps one end of the
bur and the other pair the other end of the bur, the bur can be held fast without
exerting any particular pressure on the fibres or filaments of the fleece because the
bur is thicker than the fleece. Supposing that the tongs are withdrawn or removed
one from the other, the bur will at first be stretched and ultimately breaks, without
the wool-filaments breaking as well, as the tongs do not exert any pressure on the
filaments or in any case only a trifling pressure, so that these latter come out of the
tongs undamaged. Should however some filaments be fixed tight so that they cannot
come out of the tongs, they are not torn but their inherent tendency to curl and their
elasticity permit of their following withont damage the slight motion of the tongs
necessary for the breaking up of the bur. In this manner the fleece may be seized
in two places very close together by means of tongs or other suitable appliances, and
the tongs are moved away from each other a short distance whereby the burs held
therein are torn or broken without damaging the wool filaments. If this procedure
be extended all over the whole of the fleece, all the burs contained in the fleece are
broken up into such short pieces that they cannot be grasped by the tongs of the
combing machine, and therefore go into the waste wool and by this means a sliver or
top is obtained perfectly free from burs.
An unburring apparatus working on the just described principle may suitably be
constructed as follows :-
:-
Two rollers are mounted parallel to each other and provided on the peripheries with
longitudinal or other conveniently shaped grooves a bar of steel or other suitable metal
is nounted between them and the two sides thereof parallel to the rollers are cut away
concentric or approximately so with the rollers. The rollers both run in the same
direction but at different speeds, the one nearest the doffer running at the same speed
as the fleece whilst the other or further may revolve two or three times quicker.
The first or slowly revolving roller revolves against one of the cut away parts of sides
of the before mentioned steel bar whilst the quickly revolving one is so mounted
that there is room between it and the steel bar for the wool fibres or filaments to pass
unhindered whilst a burr passing through is stopped.

page_text: The fleece coming from the doffer comes under the slowly revolving roller goes
over the top of the steel bar under the other or quickly revolving roller and a guide
bar and is led to the funnel in the usual manner and then wound up. In this way
the fleece is pressed by the first or slowly revolving roller against the cut out surface of
the steel bar. As soon as the fleece goes over the top of this bar it is seized by the
second or quickly revolving roller and this roller seizes the burs therein and presses
them against the other cut-out surface of the bar. As the back end of the bur is held
by the first roller, the other quickly revolving roller takes away small pieces there-
from according as the fleece with the bur is pushed forward by the first roller.
Therefore the narrower the top of the bar is, the closer together will be the rollers
and the shorter will be the last piece of the bur released by the first roller.
"
The rollers run in bearings which are held together by means of a cross piece
carrying the before mentioned har. The whole is mounted in a framework. The
first roller is pressed against the hollow part of the bar by a helical spring pressed by
means of a weighted lever. The other or second roller is held in the desired position
or distance from the bar by means of an adjustable wedge shaped key against which
its journal bearing is pressed by means of a helical spring acted upon by a weighted
lever. The second roller is pressed against the hollow of the bar in such manner
that it (the roller) can be withdrawn to some distance from the said hollow in the
bar for the purpose of allowing the weighted lever to come into action only when the
burs are passing with the fleece. In order that the fleece should not remain longer
in contact with the roller than necessary thus possibly producing tangles the before-
mentioned curved guide bar is arranged underneath the second roller and the fleece
is led underneath to the funnel. Motion is transmitted by a shaft which is run from
the carding machine by means of belts and pulleys and tooth wheels.
The described arrangement may also be applied to the drawing frame following the
carding machine, in which case the same is arranged between the tension roller and
the winding arrangement.
Dated this 27th day of September 1888.
HUBERT LEOPOLD OFFERMANN.
By Jensen & Son,
77, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Patent Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
A New or Improved Apparatus for Breaking up or Cutting Wool
Burs.
I, HUBERT LEOPOLD OFFERMANN, Director of the Leipziger Wollkämmerei, Leipsic,
in the Kingdom of Saxony, German Empire, 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 :-
Apparatus have been constructed heretofore for the purpose of effecting the cutting
or breaking up of the burs in wool by crushing in such manner that they are not
any more grasped or laid hold of by the drawing rollers of the combing machine, that
is to say the burs do not get into the " tops or sliver but into the waste wool or
noils ; but such apparatus have the disadvantage that although the more brittle
burs are broken under the pressure of the blunt cutting edges and sharp edged
groovings of the rolls a great number of the softer ones are only "nicked" so that
they remain whole and get into the sliver.
According to this invention these disadvantages are obviated in such manner that
the cutting or breaking up of the burs is attained by means of tearing so that not
only the harder or more brittle burs, but also the soft ones and small pieces of grass
or straw contained in the wool, are torn up into such small pieces that they cannot
again be seized by the tearing up roller of the combing machine but are separated
with the waste wool. If a bur contained in a fleece to be carded be then seized

page_text: between two pairs of tongs or pincers or appliances working in an equivalent manner
so that one pair of tongs grasps one end of the bur and the other pair the other
end of the bur, the bur can be held fast without exerting any, particular pressure on
the fibres or filaments of the fleece because the bur is thicker than the fleece.
Supposing that the tongs are withdrawn or removed one from the other, the bur will
at first be stretched and ultimately breaks, without the wool filaments breaking as well,
as the tongs do not exert any pressure on the filaments or in any case only a trifling
pressure, so that these latter come out of the tongs undamaged. Should, however,
soine filaments be fixed tight so that they cannot come out of the tongs, they are not
torn but their inherent tendency to curl and their elasticity permit of their following
without damage the slight motion of the tongs necessary for the breaking of the bur.
In this manner the fleece may be seized in two places very close together by means
of tongs or other suitable equivalent appliances, and the tongs are moved away from
each other a short distance whereby the burs held therein are torn or broken without
damaging the wool filaments. If this procedure be extended all over the whole of
the fleece, all the burs contained in the fleece are broken up into such short pieces
that they cannot be grasped by the tongs of the combing machine, and therefore go
into the waste wool and by this means a sliver or top is obtained perfectly free
from burs.
An unburring apparatus working on the just described principle is shown on the
accompanying drawings of which Figure 1-shews the apparatus in cross section,
Figure 2 shows the appliance on a smaller scale applied to a carding machine in cross
section and Figure 3a is plan of the appliance.
Referring to the drawings it will be seen that there is a hardened steel bar c
between two round-sharpened grooved rolls A and B. Two of the sides x and y of
the steel bar c are cut away concentric or approximately concentric with the rolls.
The rolls A and B run in the same direction and the former runs at the same speed
as the fleece when taken off the offer a whilst the other roll B runs two or
three times quicker. One of the rolls A revolves against the cut away part a of the steel
bar and the other roll B is so mounted that there is room for the wool filaments
to pass unhindered whilst a bur passing through is stopped.
C,
The fleece coming from the doffer comes under the slowly revolving roller A,
goes over the top of the steel bar c under the other or quickly revolving roller B and
a guide bar n and is led to the funnel b in the usual manner and then wound up. In
this way the fleece is pressed by the first or slowly revolving roller A against the cut out
surface of the steel bar c. As soon as the fleece goes over the top of this bar cit
is seized by the second or quickly revolving roller B and this roller seizes the burs
therein and presses them against the other cut out surface of the bar c. As the
back end of the bur is held by the first roller A, the other quickly revolving roller B
takes away small pieces therefrom according as the fleece with the bur is pushed
forward by the first roller A. Therefore the narrower the top of the bar is, the closer
together will be the rollers A and B and the shorter will be the last piece of the bur
released by the first roller A.
The rollers A and B run in bearings which are held together by means of a cross
piece carrying the before mentioned bar c. The whole is mounted in a frame-
work d. The first roller A is forced against the hollow part x of the bar c by a
helical spring pressed by means of a weighted lever mounted on a pivot f. The
other or second roller B is held in the desired position or distance from the bar c by
means of an adjustable wedge shaped key i, against which the journal bearing k is
pressed by means of a helical spring m acted upon by a weighted lever 1. The
second roller is pressed against the hollow of the bar c in such manner that it (the
roller) can be withdrawn to some distance from the said hollow y in the bar с
for the purpose of allowing the weighted lever to come into action only when the burs
are passing with the fleece.
In order that the fleece should not remain longer in contact with the roller than
necessary thus possibly producing tangles the before mentioned curved guide bar n
is arranged underneath the second roller and the fleece is led underneath to the

page_text: funnel. Motion is transmitted by a shaft o which is run from the carding machine by
means of belts and pullies and tooth wheels. The shaft o turns the first roller A by
means of tooth wheels p q and the second roller B by means of wheels r s.
The described arrangement may also be applied in the drawing frame following
.the carding machine, in which case the same is arranged between the tension roller and
the winding arrangement.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is-
First. Apparatus for breaking up or cutting the burs in wool in the fleece operating
substantially as set forth.
Second. In apparatus for breaking up or cutting the burs in wool in the fleece
the rollers A and B rotating at different speeds and the intermediate bar c substan-
tially as set forth.
Third. The apparatus shown on the drawing.
0th day of June 1889.
JENSEN & SON,
77, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Patent Agents.