IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR CLEANING AND PREPARING FIBROUS SUBSTANCES, AND FOR OPENING TWISTED YARNS AND WOVEN FABRICS
Year: 1867

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LETTERS PATENT to Francis Alton Calvert, of the City of Manchester,
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND
APPARATUS FOR CLEANING AND PREPARING FIBROUS SUBSTANCES, AND FOR
OPENING TWISTED YARNS AND WOVEN FABRICS."
ا.
Sealed the 28th January, 1868; and dated the 1st August 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Francis Alton Calvert at
I the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his. Petition, on
the 1st August 1867.
I, FRANCIS: ALTON CALVERT, of the City of Manchester, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
AND APPARATUS FOR CLEANING AND PREPARING FIBROUS SUBSTANCES, AND FOR
OPENING TWISTED: YARNS AND WOVEN FABRICS," to be as follows:-
My present Invention consists of certain improvements upon the machinery
and apparatus for which Letters Patent were 'granted to me on the 24th day
of March 1866, No. 869.
In the Specification of the said Patent referring to the machine for
cleaning and preparing wool, cotton; and other fibrous substances, 'as shewn
in-Figures-1-and-2, 1-describeda-series-of-lifting bars and combs acting
in combination with the main toothed drum or fine comb cylinder. Now
my present improvement consists in dispensing with the lifting of the
said iconb bars, and employing in lieu thereof one, two, or more revolving

page_text: rollers to which the toothed combs are attached ; also referring to the machine
for preparing fibrous substances and for opening twisted yarns and woven
fabrics, as shewn in Figure 8 of the said Patent, I described a series of blades
and combs actuated by cams and guided in slots. Now my present improve-
ment consists in making the combs to vibrate on centres coinciding with the
points of the teeth.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Francis Alton Calvert in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 31st January 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANCIS
ALTON CALVERT, of the City of Manchester, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her reign
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,. the said
Francis Alton Calvert, Her special license that I, the said Francis Alton
Calvert, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Francis Alton Calvert, 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
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 MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR CLEANING AND PREPARING FIBROUS
SUBSTANCES, AND FOR OPENING TWISTED YARNS AND WOVEN FABRICS," upon the
condition (amongst others.) that I, the said Francis Alton Calvert, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument 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 per-
formed, 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 Francis Alton Calvert, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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) :-
My present Invention consists of certain improvements upon the machinery

page_text: and apparatus for which Letters. Patent were granted to me on the Twenty-
fourth day of March, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, Number 869.
In the. Specification of the said. Patent referring to the machine for
cleaning and preparing wool, cotton, and other fibrous substances, as
shewn in Figures 1 and. 2, I described a series of lifting bars and combs
acting in combination with the main toothed drum or fiue comb cylinder:
Now my present improvement. consists in dispensing with the lifting of the
said comb bars and employing in lieu thereof one or more swivel bars, or
revolving rollers to which the toothed combs are attached;, also referring to
the machine for: preparing fibrous substances and for opening twisted yarns
and woven fabrics, as shown in Fig. 8 of the said Patent, I described, a
series of blades.and combs actuated by cams and guided in slots. Now my
present improvement consists in making the combs to vibrate on centres instead
of lifting them as heretofore.
Having thus specified the nature of my Invention I will proceed now, to
the description in detail, reference being had to the accompanying two Sheets
of Drawings..
On Sheet 1, Figure 1 is a section of the burring machine. K is a creeper
or endless feed, aprou of ordinary construction, on which the materials are
spread; A is a feed roller working above the hollow, shell B, which forms a
reservoir for steam to moisten and heat the fibres. In front of the shell B
the comb n is screwed; C is the taker-in with a certain number of coarse
combs e, e, all round its circumference; D is the fine comb or burr cylinder
covered all round with a certain number of combs a, b, a, b, see Figure
and 3; these combs are concentric to the axle of the cylinder. There is
certain distance which may vary according to circumstances between the points
or teeth of each comb and the heel or back of the preceding comb. The
back of each comb is chamfered so as to allow the teeth of the comb which
follows to catch the fibres. E is a small fluted or channelled roller revolving
close to the cylinder D.; F is a circular brush, which brushes off the cleaned
fibres from the surface of the comb cylinder D; m, m, are a series of iron bars
on to which are screwed coarse toothed combs; these bars end in pivots, round
which they are made to swivel by arms on the axle of the cylinder D, or other
suitable mechanism, and the dotted lines show what movements they must
perform. But during most of the time these combs are directed with their
teeth towards the surface of the comb cylinder.
2
The action of this machine is as follows: The fibrous materials after having
been acted upon by-the-steam issuing out of the shell B are partially dis-
Centangled between the fixed comb n-and-the-combs on the taker-in C; 'the

page_text: fibres are next taken hold of by the burr cylinder D, which causes them to
pass underneath the combs m, m. It is evident now that any impurity
adhering to the fibres and projecting outside will not be able to pass under-
neath the comb bars m, 'm, but will be partially shaken out by the shock or
collision. On the other hand the fibres will easily pass underneath the combs,
but the impurities shaken out drop through the hollow taker-in. C, through
the grate G, shewn detached in Figures 4 and 5, and accumulate on the
board Q, Q, at the bottom of the machine. In case any burr or mote should
pass through the interstices of the comb bars m, m, there is the swiftly revolving
guard E to beat them back. The cleaned fibres which are brushed off by the
circular brush F drop in front of the machine, and are kept separate from the
impurities by the sheet iron casing H, H. If need be a fan can be applied
at U so as to suck down all the dirt and dust, and drive it out of the building:
This machine works intermittently, as it feeds during only half the time, and
quickly strips its combs before it begins to feed. again.
"
The above machinery may be applied to carding, engines, as shewn in
Figure 6, in which K is the feed apron; A, the feed roller; C, the taker-in;
D, the fine comb-cylinder.;, E, the guard or channelled roller; S, part of the
main cylinder of the carding engine; and T, the stripper roller, which..takes
the fibres from the cylinder D and delivers them to the main cylinder S.;
thiststripper is covered with card clothing or with bristles..
On Sheet 2, Figure 7 is an elevation, partly in section, of the waste machine;
this machine consists of the main-cylinder. T, covered all round with a certain
ber of combs.r, r, which are assisted in their work by a certain number of
xed combs s,s; the points or teeth of which are directed opposite to the motion of
the main cylinder T; the said combs s;-s, are screwed fast on iron-bars, which
cau turn round on their pivots. The other combs 1,r, are arranged in groups
all round the cylinder T, and in Figure 8 a group is shewn full size. In this
case the group consists of six combs but this number can vary according
to circumstances; each comb occupies the entire width of the machine, and
thej are maintained at the required distances from one another by the bars u, u.
The main advantage of this cylinder is that it is adapted to all kinds of fibrous
materials or waste without the necessity of changing the fineness of the combs.
It is sufficient to change the relative position of the combs to one another in
each group by simply shifting them in the direction of the width of the machine,
so that the interstices between the teeth follow one another in oblique lines!
With regard to the fixed combs s; s; there are nineteen shewn in the Drawing,
although this number may vary according to circumstances.
The way in which the combs s, s, describe at-intervals arcs of circles in order

page_text: to strip themselves is as follows: The pinion P on the axle of the main
cylinder T drives the large wheel Q, which carries the bowl v; this bowl in
passing underneath the lever y causes it to turn very little round its centre F¹
and as this lever is connected at-y with the toothed half circle'x¹ loose on the
axle of the main cylinder T it follows that the said half-circle-x" will describe
a small are of a circle. All the comb bars 5, s, carry pinions, see Figure 9',
which gear into the half circle a!, and cause the combs: 8, s, to swivel round
their centres.
:
The feed. motion of this machine is intermittent and similar to that described
in the burring machine. K is the feed apron; A, the feed roller; B, the
shell; C, the taker-in, exactly as in the burring machine. The fibres after
having been cleaned and disentangled by the main cylinder T working in con-
nection with the fixed combs s, s, are finally stripped off-by the circular wire
brush F, and drop on to the creeper. L, L; from whence they are formed into
a lap by the combined action of lap rollers, or the fibres may be disposed
of in any other suitable
way.
:
Figure 10 represents an end view of a cotton gin constructed according to
my improvements. a is the feeding apron which delivers the cotton and seeds
to the action of the comb toothed or other suitable cylinder d; fare the
holding bars; e is the guard or ribbed roller; and i; the brush for stripping
the cylinder d. The guard roller e is turned slowly round by the catch d
jointed to the adjustable crank pin d²; fixed to the axle of the cylinder d; the
catch d¹ gears into the pinion e¹, gearing.into the wheel d²; which is loose on
the bush of the axle of cylinder d; this wheel drives the pinion a¹ fixed to the
axle of the roller, around which the feeding apron a passes. The holding bars f
are provided with trunnions passing through holes in the frame sides; these
bars are placed tangentially to the surface of the cylinder d, and their lower
edges are bevelled so as to present the thin edge towards the teeth of the
cylinder d; the bars f are swivelled partly round in succession by the arms g
fixed to the wheel d²; acting against the projections f1 cast or fixed to the
bars; these projections rest against stop pins when the bars are down, and
these stop pins are so placed that the points of the bars are held the required
distance from the surface of the cylinder d. By this arrangement the seeds
are held in succession by the bars f, until all the fibres are completely stripped
off them, when they drop on the floor or into a suitable receptacle, and the
fibres are brushed off the cylinder by the revolving brush-i-in-the usual
manner.
Having thus stated the nature of my improvements, and described the manner
of performing the same, I wish to observe that I do not intend to limit myself

page_text: to the details given, as the comb bars or holders instead of being made to swive!
as described, may be fixed to a roller, which is turned round by continuous or
intermittent rotary motion. The number and position of the comb bars or
holders can also be varied; but what I claim,―
First, imparting a swivelling or rotary motion to the comb bars or holders
of the machines specified instead of a lifting motion, as heretofore.
Secondly, the improved combination of parts forming a burring machine,
as shewn and described.
Thirdly, the application of the burring machine to the carding engine, as
described.
Fourthly, the improved combination of parts forming a machine for cleaning
and preparing fibrous substances, and for opening twisted yarn and woven
fabrics, as described.
Fifthly, the improved combination of parts forming a machine for ginning
cotton, as described.
Sixthly, the mode of constructing the fine comb or burr cylinders, as
shewn and described.
Seventhly, the improved mode of constructing the drum or main cylinder
of the preparing and opening machine, as described..
Eighthly, the individual portions of the machinery which are new, and their
mode of action, as described.
And, lastly, the combination of the swivelling or rotating comb bars or holders
with machinery for cleaning and preparing fibrous substances, and for opening
twisted yarns and woven fabrics.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francis Alton Calvert, have hereunto-set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of January, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-eight.
F. A. CALVERT.
(L.S.)