IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR FEEDING WOOL AND OTHER FIBRES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clissold, of Dudbridge Works, near
Stroud, in the County of Gloucester, Engineer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR FEEDING WOOL AND OTHER FIBRES TO
Scaled the 19th January 1869, and dated the 17th September 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clissold at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 17th September 1868.
I, WILLIAM CLISSOLD, of Dudbridge Works, near Stroud, in the
County of Gloucester, Engincer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR FEEDING WOOL AND OTHER
FIBRES TO PREPARING AND CARDING MACHINES," to be as follows :=
This Invention relates to improvements on a Patent granted to me,
and bearing date April 7th, 1866 (No. 1000), for an automatic feed for
carding and preparing machines.
The feeding apparatus consists of a box (for receiving the fibres to be
fed) fitted with a bottom formed of reciprocating bars which move.

page_text: forward the fibres to the front end of the box Over the discharging mouth
of the box works a pair of inclined reciprocating combs or toothed bars
which mass the fibre as it is discharged into a loose thick sheet or bat.
In order to remove all liability of the fibre accumulating at the
mouth of the box, and effecting a stoppage, I have introduced the
following modifications:-The reciprocating bars forming the bottom
of the box I place horizontally, and I give them an alternating
and parallel vertical motion; I also arm them at their forward
ends with saw teeth that they may the better take hold of the fibres.
When they have moved forward to the mouth they will drop clear
of the fibres and then retire. Near the mouth of the box I mount
a. rotary comb having, say, two rows of teeth fixed on an oval drum
coincident with its largest radius. Behind this rotary comb I set a
grid transversely to the box and with its spaces in the planes of motion
of the comb teeth. These teeth as they rotate will take hold of the
fibres at the back of the grid and draw them down past a rotary gill,
which is set below the grid and a little above the traversing bars and
assists in carrying the fibres forward while it prevents an undue quantity
passing from the rear of the box. The fibres carried forward by the
rotary comb are taken up by the saw teeth of the reciprocating bars
and delivered to the reciprocating combs before mentioned. Any fibres
that may adhere to the comb teeth are taken off by a stripper situate
at the top of the box and thrown on to a shield, from which they fall
on to the mass behind the grid.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Olissold in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 15th March 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CLISSOLD, of Dudbridge Works, near Stroud, in the County of Gloucester,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Vietoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Clissold, Her special licence. that

page_text: "
I, the said William Clissold, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said William Clissold, my executors, adminis
trators, 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, usc, exercise, and vend,
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR
FEEDING WOOL AND OTHER FIBRES TO PREPARING AND CARDING MACHINES,'
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Clissold,
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 performed, and cause the same to bo
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 William Clissold, 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 hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thercon (that is
to say):
This Invention relates to improvements on a Patent granted to
me, and bearing date April Seventh, One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-six (No. 1000), for an automatic feed for carding and preparing
machines.
The object of the original Invention was to provide a means of feeding
wool, cotton, or other fibrous substances to preparing or carding
machines without separating the long from the short fibres. Thus when
operating with wool it was proposed to make a bat or sheet with the
long and short wool or shoddy well mixed, and of the same consistence
throughout its breadth and length.
The feeding apparatus consists of a box (for receiving the fibres to
be fed) fitted with a bottom formed of reciprocating bars which move
forward the fibres to the discharging mouth at the front end of the
box. Over the discharging mouth works a pair of inclined reciprocating
transverse comb plates, which slide in vertical guides and mass the fibre
as it passes from the box into a loose thick sheet or bat.

page_text: Now in order to remove all liability of the fibre accumulating at the
mouth of the box and effecting a stoppage I propose to introduce into
the original machine the following modifications:-The bars forming
the bottom of the box I place horizontally, and I give them an alter-
nating endway and parallel vertical motion. I also arm them at their
forward ends with saw teeth that they may the better take hold of the
advancing fibres. When they have moved forward to the mouth they
will drop clear of the fibres, and then retire. Near the mouth of the
box I mount a rotary comb, which consists of an oval drum carrying
two rows of teeth fixed in lines coincident with its largest radius.
Behind this rotary comb I set a grid transversely to the box, and with
its spaces in the planes of motion of the comb teeth. These teeth as
they rotate will take hold of the fibres at the back of the grid, and draw
them down past a rotary gill which is set below the grid and a little
above the traversing bars, and assists in carrying the fibres forward
while it prevents an undue quantity passing from the rear of the box.
The fibres carried forward by the rotary comb are taken up by the saw
teeth of the reciprocating bars, and delivered to the reciprocating combs
before mentioned. Any fibres that may adhere to the teeth of the
rotary comb are taken off by a stripper situate at the top of the box,
and thrown on to a shield, from which they fall on to the mass behind
the grid. Immediately in rear of the upper comb plate is mounted a
transverse sliding toothed blade, which receives a short endway motion,
and serves to disturb the advanced fibre, and enable the comb plates
more effectually to take hold of the same.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 is a side clevation of the feed
box fitted according to my improvements; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal
section of the machine; and Fig. 3 is a partial plan view of the
same.
A is a rectangular open box for receiving the wool or other fibrous
material to be delivered to the preparing or carding machine to be fed.
The bottom of this box is formed of parallel bars B, B, which are armed
at their forward ends with saw blade extensions B*, for the purpose of
propelling the wool or other fibre forwards. These bars are supported
at their rear ends on a transverse bar C having an inclined face, over
which they slide, and towards their front ends they bear upon a tappet
cam D keyed to a transverse shaft E. The box A has a horizontal
opening A' at the level of the bars, through which the fibrous material

page_text: is discharged. A forward endway motion is given alternately to every
other of the bars by means of coiled springs F which connect them with
a fixed cross bar F, and the return or back motion is produced by means
of tappets D' on the cam shaft E striking against bracket projections B³
on the under side of the bars B. The object of this endway motion of the
inclined bars is to feed the overlying fibre towards the horizontal opening
in the front of the box, and bring it under the operation of a pair of
horizontal reciprocating comb plates G, G¹, which are intended to mass
it as it is discharged from the box into a loose thick sheet or bat. The
bars as they advance to the mouth A¹ are supported on a concentric
portion of their respective cams, and as they complete their stroke a
smaller radius of the cams is presented to the bars, which then fall by
their own weight clear of the fibre which they have assisted to propel
towards the mouth A. The falling and rising of the bars is so arranged
that every alternate bar will rise and fall. Immediately above the bars
and near their forward end is mounted a rotary comb H formed of an
oval drum, with two rows of comb teeth fixed parallel to its axis, and at
opposite sides thereof in the line of the largest diameter of the drum.
The teeth of this comb work through a fixed transverse vertical grid I
and undor a curved shield I* extending upwards from the grid.
Between the grid I and the bars Ba gill roller K is mounted; and
above the rotary comb H is situated a rotary stripper L, having its
bearings in brackets attached to the sides of the box A. M are loose
rods pendent (by reason of their ends being hooked) from a sliding cross
bar M, and intended to press down and condense the fibres as they are
advanced to the comb plates G, G. N is a transverse blade formed
with saw teeth, as shewn in the detached view, Fig. 4. This blade is
carried by rocking arms N₁ pivotted to the front end of the box A, and
they are connected to the blade N by pins which pass through slots
made in the upper comb plate G. O, O, are card rolls for taking
up the fibres as they leave the combs G, G', and transferring them
to the aprons, feed rolls, or cylinders of the preparing or other
machines.
Having pointed out the nature and use of the various operating parts
of the machine I will proceed to explain the means of setting them in
action.
P is the main driving shaft fitted at one end with a band pulley p,
and at the other end with a spur wheel p'. A strap from the pulley p

page_text: passes over a pulley on the axle of the rotary comb H, and gives
motion thereto in the direction of the arrow, and a crossed band from
a second pulley on the comb axle H passing over a pulley 2 on the
axle of one of the stripper rollers serves to drive the stripper in the
direction indicated by the arrow. The spur wheel p¹ gears into a
pinion 9 on a transverse shaft Q, which shaft is also fitted with a pair
of excentrics q¹. These excentrics work in straps carried by connecting
rods R, and through those rods give a reciprocating motion to bell
cranks R¹ to which the rods are respectively jointed. The bell cranks R'
are pivotted to the sides of the box A, and fitted with segment racks
which gear into the teeth of racks made fast to the ends of the comb
plates. As therefore the segment racks are vibrated by the rotation of
the excentrics the comb plates will be alternately brought into action
upon the fibres fed to the mouth of the box A. The pinion 9 on the
transverse shalf Q gears into and drives a spur wheel e on the cam and
tappet shaft E, and thus the longitudinal and vertical motions are com-
municated to the bars B. From this shaft E are also derived the motions
for actuating the gill roller K, the pendent rods M, and the transverse
blade N. The shaft E is fitted with a pulley e', from which a strap e³
passes to a pulley k on a stud axle, and thence to a pulley
transverse shaft S mounted in brackets at the front end of the box A.
Pendant from disc plates on the opposite ends of this shaft are rods m, m,
which connect with the cross bar M³, and as the shaft is rotated by the
strape these rods give an up-and-down motion to the cross bar, and
consequently to the loose rods hanging upon the cross bar. Thus the
rods M are continually being lifted from and let fall upon the fibres fed
up to the mouth of the box. Keyed to the shaft 8 is a grooved cam T
(see Figures 3 and 4), into which enters a pin projecting from the upper
end of the rocking arm N'. The rotation therefore of this çam imparts
The rotation
the required reciprocating motion to the saw blade N.
8 on a
imparted to the pulley k by the strap is transmitted by pinions k¹, k³,
to the gill roller K, which revolving in the direction of the arrow,
Fig. 2, will serve to regulate the supply of fibre to the mouth of the feed
box.
From the above explanation it will be understood that the machine
will deliver a feed of uniform quantity so long as the box A is kept
properly supplied with fibre, thereby ensuring good and uniform work
in the machines to which the feed is transferred.

page_text: Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improved
Machinery for Feeding Wool and other Fibres to Preparing and Carding
Machines," and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I
wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters
Patent, I claim, the arrangement of parts above described for trans-
mitting and presenting a regulated supply of wool or other fibrous
material to the reciprocating comb plates.
In witness whercof, I, the said William Clissold, have hereunto
set my hand and scal, the Thirteenth day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-ninc.
Witness,
ALFRED SMITII,
Dudbridge,
Nr. Stroud.
WILLIAM CLISSOLD. (L.s.)