Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 26th Nov., 1886.
Specification Accepted, 11th Jan., 1887.
I JAMES YATE JOHNSON of 47 Lincolns Inn Fields in the County of Middlesex
Gentleman do hereby declare the nature of this Invention which Invention has been
communicated to me from abroad by Michel Descards of 48 rue de Bondy Paris in the
Republic of France Engineer and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to an improved arrangement of cards or machines for
carding fibres and it has for its object effecting the cleaning or clearing of the card
teeth of fibres automatically and in a more effectual manner than is possible with the
means heretofore employed. The apparatus heretofore employed for automatically
effecting the cleaning or clearing of the teeth of the cylinder or swift of cards have
failed to accomplish their purpose in a satisfactory manner and it is generally
preferred to perform the operation by hand. It is evident that a card wherein the
teeth of the swift or cylinder are constantly and effectually cleared of the fibres that
may have become entangled therewith will work much more efficiently than one in
which the said teeth are imperfectly cleared so that a suitable automatic clearing
apparatus which may be brought into operation several times per minute is much
preferable to hand clearing which cannot be conveniently performed more than say
or 6 times in a day but of course it is an indispensable condition that the automatic
clearing should be as thoroughly performed as if done by hand. This condition has
not heretofore been realised because firstly the teeth of ordinary cards are set too
closely together secondly the bend of the teeth forms an obstacle to the escape of the
fibres entangled with the base of the tooth and thirdly the sides of the iron or steel
wires forming the teeth are straight or parallel and of the same form in section from
the base to the point whether cylindrical triangular or rectangular. Under these
conditions the cotton or other fibre passes between the teeth becoming felted or
entangled therein so that it can only be removed by a clearing card operated by hand
so as to penetrate between the teeth and remove the adhering fibres.

page_text: According to this invention this disadvantage is obviated by providing the cylinder or
swift and the licker-in or breaker with straight, taper, needle pointed pins in place of
the wire teeth usually employed. The straight, and taper or conical form of these
pins enables them to be effectually cleared as frequently as may be desired by a
suitable clearing roller of any fibres or other matter that may be engaged therewith
and this result is obtained without the slightest prejudice to the condition of the
carded sliver. Hand clearing is thus entirely dispensed with. If it should be
desired to collect at intervals the clearings or fibres from the cylinder it is sufficient
to throw the lap or feed roller out of gear and let the card work for about
10 or 15 seconds the clearer being driven at its maximum speed as hereinafter
explained. The cylinder is immediately emptied and the clearings can then be
collected in front of the doffer in the form of a carded sliver having been removed
from the cylinder and carded in the usual manner before leaving the machine.
The feed roller is then put in gear again and the carded product is immediately
delivered to the doffer.
The perfection with which the desired result is obtained by means of this invention
is due firstly to the pins or teeth on the cylinder being much farther apart than in
ordinary cards secondly to the fact that they do not project more than about one fifth
of an inch and that they are simply set at an angle or inclined without being bent and
thirdly to the conical or taper form of the pins which enables the clearer to remove
the fibres without necessarily penetrating between the pins. In the case of these
improved teeth or pins the true points are not visible even with a strong magnifying
glass whereas in ordinary wire teeth the so called points are plainly visible to the naked
eye and in fact are merely elliptical or rectangular surfaces according as the wire is
cylindrical or flattened. This proves that the carding action of these pins is infinitely
superior to that of ordinary card teeth. These pins may be used for other parts of
the carding machine as well as for the luker in and cylinder. In this case the points
never requiro grinding the pins retain their fine points which are rather improved than
otherwise by working such pins will consequently last much longer than ordinary
card clothing. The chief advantages obtained by means of this invention are firstly
superior carding secondly a larger production, it not being necessary to stop the card
for cleaning and thirdly a saving of labour the card being rendered entirely
self-clearing.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall now proceed
more particularly to describe the same and for that purpose shall refer to the several
figures on the annexed sheets of drawings the same letters of reference indicating
corresponding parts in all the figures.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings represents in elevation the essential parts
of a Wellman card for example arranged according to this invention and figure 2 is a
corresponding plan. The Wellman card is merely taken to illustrate the practical
application of the invention which is evidently applicable generally to all descriptions
of carding machines.
In the annexed drawing A is the frame supporting the working parts a a¹ all are
lap rollers supplying the cotton to a feed roller B placed above a table C. The cotton
is nipped between the roller B and table C and is seized by the pins on the luker in D
which delivers it to the cylinder E. This luker in and cylinder are provided with
specially formed teeth or pins as hereinbefore described. These pins are preferably
fixed in supports or bars of lead or other suitable metal so as to form combs the teeth
of which are arranged at a suitable distance apart according to the nature of the
materials to be treated. The combs thus formed are fixed in suitable grooves in the
circumferences of the cylinder, luker in or other part of the card by imbedding
them in plaster or other suitable material as indicated in figure 3. The distance
between the rows of teeth is also regulated according to the materials to be carded
E represents the flats ordinarily employed and operated by any suitable mechanism
not shown in the drawing. The cotton from the cylinder is received by a doffer F
provided with a doffer comb G and is passed through compressers H in the usual
manner. A worker I and clearer I may be employed as indicated in the drawing in

page_text: combination with a bar Q set as closely as possible to the worker in order to render the
division of the filaments more complete.
In order to remove the fibres or other matter that become entangled about the
teeth of the cylinder a clearer L is employed being provided with ordinary card
clothing and set close to the cylinder upon a shaft driven at variable speeds by a cono
pulley K transmitting motion by a belt to a corresponding pulley K" on the shaft of
the clearer L. When employed in clearing the teeth or pins of the cylinder E the
circumferential speed of the clearer is at least about one fifth greater than that of the
cylinder. Under these conditions the fibres adhering to the cylinder are transferred
to the clearer after which, by shifting the belt, the circumferential speed of the clearer
being rendered less than that of the cylinder, the latter takes off from the clearer any
fibres which have not been previously removed by a roller L' placed in proximity to
the clearer L. The function of the said roller L' is to card the cotton on the clearer L
and transfer it to the cylinder. This arrangement may be simplified by placing the
clearer L in contact with the luker in as well as with the cylinder so that the luker
in receives the fibre from the clearer and transfers it to the cylinder.
.
The clearer is rendered automatic in its action by means of mechanism illustrated
in figure 1 and in end elevation in figure 4 and consisting of a lever M operating the
fork controlling the belt working on the cone pulleys K K" the said lever being
caused to turn on its centre at the proper times by a cam N on a shaft N¹. Continuous
rotary motion is imparted to this cam by bevel gear 0 0 from the shaft of the doffer.
By referring to the drawing it will be readily understood that the action of the
cam N causes the lever M to shift the belt intermittently to opposite ends of the conc
pulleys K K and thus vary the speed of the clearer L at suitable intervals in order
to effect the automatic clearing of the fibres adhering to the teeth or pins on the
cylinder. Motion is imparted to the licker in D by a pulley R' driven by a belt
passing over a pulley R on the cylinder shaft. The lower portions of the cylinders
or rollers D, E, L and L' should be enclosed in troughs or casings to prevent
evaporation.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said Invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is
First. In carding machines the employment in place of the card clothing ordinarily
employed of steel pins arranged and operating substantially as hereinbefore described
with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Second. A carding machine in which the cylinder or swift and the licker in are
provided with teeth constituted by steel pins arranged as hereinbefore described and
claimed and combined with means for automatically clearing the pins or teeth of the
cylinder substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
Third. A carding machine provided with teeth constituted by steel pins arranged as
hereinbefore described and claimed the said teeth being attached to the periphery of
the cylinder and other part or parts of the machine to which they are applied by fixing
the pins in a support so as to form a species of comb and securing the supports in
corresponding grooves formed for their reception substantially as hereinbefore
described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.