Improvements in the Process of and Machinery or Apparatus for Decorticating, Preparing, Twisting, and Winding Peat Fibre or other Fibrous Material.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Mar., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 13th Dec., 1894-Accepted, 26th Jan.,
1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Process of and Machinery or Apparatus for
Decorticating, Preparing, Twisting, and Winding Peat Fibre or
other Fibrous Material.
I, GUSTAVE ADOLPHE CANNOT, of 20, Bucklersbury, in the City of London,
Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention has for its object improvements in the process of, and machinery
or apparatus for decorticating or removing the hard exterior of fibrous material,
but more especially fibrous peat, and of twisting such decorticated fibre after it has
been carded in the ordinary well known way, so as to form a roughly twisted cord
or yarn suitable for subsequently spinning into finer thread.
Supposing that my invention is to be applied to the treatment of suitable fibrous
peat, I clean such peat by passing it through beating engines in which the dust and
dirt are removed and after passing through a suitable screen or screens fall into
receptacles where they can be removed when necessary.
From the beating engine, the fibrous peat is delivered to an endless travelling
band along which it passes and is delivered to the decorticating machine. This
machine consists of two parallel cylinders of considerable diameter one of which is
arranged above the other so that the fibre passes between them, and their axles
which revolve in bearings in suitable frames, are provided with toothed wheels by
which they are geared together so that they revolve in opposite directions.
The lower cylinder is provided with a driving pulley by which it can be set in
revolution at the proper speed by steam or other convenient power.
The circumference of both cylinders is grooved with a large number of small
circumferential grooves of square or somewhat rounded section, and the axle of the
upper cylinder is so arranged that it is capable of moving endways backward and
forward in its bearings, and is provided with means by which it is caused to so
move backward and forward when revolving. For instance upon one end of its
axle an inclined disc may be fixed, the edge of which fits in a grooved pulley fixed
upon the axle of the lower cylinder, so that as the latter revolves the upper
cylinder is made not only to revolve but also to move backward and forward in its
bearings through a space dependent upon the amount of inclination of the inclined
disc.
Or, any other equivalent device of any of the ordinary well known kinds may be
used for the purpose of causing the movement end ways of the upper cylinder. Or,
both cylinders may be made to move endways simultaneously but in opposite
directions. One or both of the toothed wheels by which the cylinders are geared
together is of sufficient width to allow the reciprocating movement to take place
without the wheels coming out of gear.
By the action of the cylinders described, the fibrous material is not only pressed
forward between, but is squeezed and rolled sideways so that its outer cover is
effectually loosened and removed.
After leaving the cylinders described the fibrous material may be made to pass
between two cylinders similarly arranged and operated, and having grooves of the
same or different size to those of the first pair of cylinders, and after leaving them
it is preferably passed to another beating engine of the same kind as that first
described by which the fragments of the outer covering which have been taken off
as described, together with any further dust and dirt, are removed.

page_text: The cleaned fibre is then taken to a carding engine of the ordinary well known
kind used for treating fibrous material, by which the fibres are separated,
straightened, and rendered uniform, and are delivered in a web or fleece from
the doffing cylinder of the carding engine, by means of a reciprocating comb in the
usual way..
The fibrous fleece is delivered by the reciprocating comb, into a longitudinal
trough or receiver, fixed just below it in front of the doffing cylinder. The internal
section of this receiver is circular, but it has a longitudinal opening along the part
adjoining the cylinder, through which the fleece passes into its interior and is then
drawn away through the open end of the trough or receiver as hereinafter
explained. I prefer to make the cylinders of the carding engine of considerable
length, and to leave a circumferential space or band at the centre of the length of
the doffing cylinder, free from card teeth, so that the fibrous fleece is delivered into
the receivers in two separate sheets, one of which is withdrawn at one end, and the
other at the other end of the machine.
At some distance from the end of the trough or receiver described are arranged
two rollers, at right angles to the doffing cylinder and other cylinders of the carding
engine, and made to revolve at a suitable speed preferably by means of a bevelled
toothed wheel upon the axle of the doffing cylinder driving a corresponding bevelled
toothed pinion upon the axle of one of the rollers described.
The fibrous material is withdrawn from the end of the receiver into which it is
delivered as described from the comb, and is introduced between the two revolving
rollers, by which it is then continuously withdrawn from the receiver.
Between the end of the receiver and the rollers described, however, is arranged
a tubular or funnel shaped twisting device through which the fibrous untwisted
cord or band passes and is roughly twisted.
The funnel-shaped device revolves in bearings (preferably adjustable) carried
by the frame of the machine its axis being in a line with the fibrous cord
which is passing through it, and it is made to revolve at the required speed by
means of a pulley fixed upon it and driven by a cord or band from a pulley
upon the axis of one of the cylinders of the carding engine. The fibrous cord
enters at the larger end of the revolving funnel and passes out at the smaller
end whence it is carried in a somewhat upward direction to the rollers by which
it is drawn forward as already described, the fibrous cord as it passes being
sufficiently twisted by the revolving funnel-shaped device described.
From the rollers the twisted cord is led upward and over another roller of
considerable length, carried in bearings in a frame attached to the machine and
made to revolve at the proper speed by a cord or band driven by the cylinder
below. In the frame carrying the last described roller are two vertical slots
in which are guided the ends of the axle of a roller, of small diameter round
which the twisted fibrous cord is wound, the roll so formed resting by its own
weight upon the roller below and being driven by the friction against the latter,
until the roll of twist is of sufficient diameter when it can be removed and another
spindle substituted.
A guide or bar is arranged in front of the lower winding roller just d'escribed
and at or about the level of its upper edge. Along this guide can move from
end to end a sliding block having a suitable opening through which the twisted
cord is passed, and the sliding block is connected by a light connecting rod
with an adjustable crank upon a wheel driven at the desired speed by the
carding engine, so that the guide carrying the twisted cord is made to travel
slowly backward and forward, and the latter is accordingly wound uniformly
and evenly upon the winding spindle.
It is to be understood that similar twisting and winding apparatus to that
described, is arranged at the other end of the hollow trough or receiver, and treats
the other half of the divided fibrous fleece. It may be driven in the same way as
that already described, or by means of a band or cord driven by the twisting or
winding mechanism at the other end.

page_text: I do not confine myself to the precise details of the machinery or apparatus,
which may be varied more or less according to the circumstances in which it is to
be used, and the material which is to be operated upon.
Dated this 13th day of March 1894.
EDWARDS & Co.,
65 and 66, Chancery Lane, London, Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in the Process of and Machinery or Apparatus for
Decorticating, Preparing, Twisting, and Winding Peat Fibre or
other Fibrous Material.
I, GUSTAVE ADOLPHE CANNOT, of 20, Bucklersbury, in the City of London,
Merchant, 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, and accompanying drawing, that is to say :-
My invention has for its object improvements in the process of, and machinery
or apparatus for, decorticating or removing the hard exterior of fibrous material,
but more especially fibrous peat, and of twisting such decorticated fibre after it has
been carded in the ordinary well-known way, so as to form a roughly twisted cord
or yarn suitable for subsequently spinning into finer thread.
The accompanying drawings are in illustration of my invention.
Figure 1 is a side view, partly in section, of the improved machine for cleaning
and decorticating the fibre.
Figure 2 is an end view of the decorticating cylinders, and Figure 3 a slightly
modified detail of the machine.
Figure 4 is a side view of a carding engine with the novel twisting machinery
included, and Figure 5 is a view of the same machine from the opposite side.
Figure 6 is a front view of the same machine.
Figures 7 and 8 shew parts of the fibre collecting and twisting devices upon a
larger scale, and Figures 9 and 10 are separate views of some of the details.
Supposing that my invention is to be applied to the treatment of suitable fibrous
peat, I clean such peat by passing it through beating engines (illustrated in
Figure 1) in which the dust and dirt are removed by revolving beaters a, a, from
the fibrous peat, which is supplied to the machine at b, the dust and dirt after.
passing through a suitable screen or screens c, c¹, falling into receptacles d, d¹,
whence they can be removed when necessary.
From the beating engine described, the fibrous peat partially cleaned is delivered
to an endless travelling band e along which it passes and is delivered to the
decorticating machine. This machine consists of two parallel cylinders f,f¹, of
considerable diameter, one of which is arranged above the other so that the fibre
passes between them, and their axles which revolve in bearings in suitable frames,
are provided with toothed wheels (g, g Figure 2), by which they are geared
together so that they revolve in opposite directions.
The lower cylinder fis provided with a driving pulley by which it can be set in
revolution at the proper speed by steam or other convenient power.
The circumference of both cylinders is grooved with a large number of small
circumferential grooves, as shewn in Figure 2, of square or somewhat rounded
section, and the axle of the upper cylinder f¹ is so arranged that it is capable of
moving end ways backward and forward in its bearings, and is provided with means
by which it is caused to so move backward and forward when revolving. For
instance (as shewn in Figure 2) upon one end of its axle an inclined disc / may be
fixed, the edge of which fits in a grooved pulley i, fixed upon the axle of the lower:

page_text: cylinder so that as the latter revolves the upper cylinder is made not only to
revolve but also to move backward and forward in its bearings through a space
dependent upon the amount of inclination of the inclined disc h.
Or, any other equivalent device of any of the ordinary well-known kinds may
be used for the purpose of causing the movement end ways of the upper cylinder.
For instance, as illustrated in Figure 3, the axle of the cylinder f may be providedl
with a cylinder k having a helical groove or campath, which fits upon a stud or
roller fixed to the frame of the machine. Or, both cylinders may be made to
move endways simultaneously but in opposite directions. One or both of the
toothed wheels g, g, by which the cylinders are geared together is of sufficient
width to allow the reciprocating movement to take place without the wheels coming
out of gear, as illustrated in Figure 2.
By the action of the cylinders f, f1, described, the fibrous material is not only
pressed forward between them, but is squeezed and rolled sideways, so that its
outer covering is effectually loosened and removed.
After leaving the cylinders described the fibrous material may be made to pass
between two more cylinders m, m³ (Figure 1), similarly arranged and operated,
and having grooves of the same or different size to those of the first pair of
cylinders, and after leaving them it is preferably passed to another beating
engine at n, n, of the same kind as that first described, by which the fragments
of the outer covering which have been taken off as described, together with any
further dust and dirt, are removed, and the fibre delivered at o.
The cleaned fibre is then taken to a carding engine of the suitable ordinary well-
known kinds used for treating fibrous material, (as illustrated in Figures 4, 5
and 6), by which the fibres are separated, straightened, and rendered uniform, and
are delivered in a web or fleece from the doffing cylinder 1 of the carding engine,
by means of a reciprocating doffing comb in the usual way, (A, Figures 5 and 8).
The fibrous fleece is delivered by the reciprocating comb, into a longitudinal
trough or receiver 2, fixed just below it in front of the doffing cylinder 1. The
internal section of this receiver is circular, as shewn on a larger scale in Figures 8
and 9, but it has a longitudinal opening at 3 along the part adjoining the cylinder 1,
through which the fleece collected by the comb passes into its interior and is then
drawn away through the open end of the trough or receiver 2 as hereinafter
explained. I prefer to make the cylinders of the carding engine of considerable
length, and to leave a circumferential space or band in the position shewn in dotted
lines at 4, Figure 6, at the centre of the length of the dotting cylinder, free from
card teeth, so that the fibrous fleece is delivered into the receiver 2 in two separate
sheets, one of which is withdrawn at one end, and the other at the other end of the
machine.
At some distance from the end of the trough or receiver 2 described are arranged
two rollers 5 and 6, at right angles to the doffing cylinder 1 and the other cylinders
of the carding engine, and made to revolve at a suitable speed preferably by means
of a bevelled toothed wheel 7 upon the axle of the doffing cylinder 1 driving a
corresponding bevelled toothed pinion 8 upon the axle of the lower one 5, of the
two rollers described.
The fibrous material is withdrawn from the end of the receiver 2 into which it is
delivered as described from the comb, and is introduced between the two revolving
rollers 5 and 6, by which it is then continuously withdrawn from the receiver.
Between the end of the receiver 2 and the rollers 5 and 6, however, is arranged
a tubular or funnel-shaped twisting device 9, through which the fibrous untwisted
cord or band passes from the receiver 2, and is roughly twisted.
The funnel-shaped device 9, (shewn separately on a larger scale in Figure 10),
revolves in bearings 10, (preferably adjustable as shewn in Figure 7) carried by
the frame of the machine its axis being in a line with the fibrous cord which is
passing through it, and it is made to revolve at the required speed by means of a
pulley 11, fixed upon it and driven by a cord or band 12 from a pulley 13, upon the
axis of one of the cylinders of the carding engine (as shewn in Figures 4, 5 and 6).

page_text: The fibrous cord enters at the larger end of the revolving funnel 9, and passes out!
at the smaller end, whence it is carried in a somewhat upward direction to the
rollers 5 and 6 by which it is drawn forward as already described, the fibrous cord
as it passes being sufficiently twisted by the revolving funnel-shaped device 9
described.
From the rollers 5 and 6 the twisted cord is led upward and over another
roller 14, of considerable length carried in bearings in a frame 15 attached to
the machine, and made to revolve at the proper speed by a cord or band 16,
driven by a pulley on the axle of the cylinder 5 below. In the frame 15
carrying the last described roller 14, are vertical slots 17 in which are guided:
the ends of the axle of a roller of small diameter 18 round which the twisted
fibrous cord is wound, the roll so formed resting by its own weight upon the
roller 14 below and being driven by the friction against the latter, until the roll of
twist is of sufficient diameter, when it can. be removed and another spindle
substituted.
A guide or bar 19 is arranged in front of the lower winding roller 14 and at or
about the level of its upper edge. Along this guide can move from end to end a
sliding block 20 (Figures 4, 5 and 6) having a suitable opening through which the
twisted cord is passed and the sliding block 20 is connected by a light connecting
rod 21 with an adjustable crank 22 upon a wheel 23 driven at the desired speed by
the carding engine, so that the guide 20 carrying the twisted cord is made to travel
slowly backward and forward, and the twisted cord is accordingly wound uniformly
and evenly upon the winding spindle.
The length of stroke of the crank is made adjustable by any well-known means
(as for instance, as shewn in the drawings, by fixing the crankpin upon a separate
slotted arm which is bolted to the wheel in any desired position, with the
crankpin at a greater or less distance from the centre of the wheel, as may be
required).
It is to be understood that twisting and winding apparatus of the kind described,
is arranged (as shewn) at the other end of the hollow trough or receiver 2, half of
the divided fibrous fleece being operated upon at each end of the machine. The
second set may be driven in the same way as that already described, or by means
of a band or cord 24 driven by a pulley 25 upon the twisting or winding mechanism
at the other end.
I do not confine myself to the precise details of the machinery or apparatus,
which may be varied more or less according to the circumstances in which it is to
be used, and the material which is to be operated upon.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The combination of the revolving beaters a, a, and screens c, c, grooved
cylinders f, f, and m, m³, and revolving beaters n, n, all arranged and operating
substantially as set forth and illustrated.
2. The combination of the revolving beaters a, a, endless travelling band e, and
grooved rollers f, f', arranged and operating substantially as set forth and
illustrated.
3. The decorticating device, consisting of grooved cylinders f, f', made to
revolve in opposite directions, and a device by which one of the said cylinders
is made to reciprocate backward and forward endways whilst revolving,
substantially as set forth and shewn in Figures 2 and 3.
4. The decorticating device, consisting of grooved cylinders f, f', made to revolve
in opposite directions, and also both made to reciprocate backward and forward
eudways whilst revolving, substantially as set forth.
5. The combination with a carding engine, of the receiving trough 2, open at the
side adjoining the doffing cylinder of the carding engine, the revolving funnel-
shaped twisting device 9, the rollers 5 and 6, the revolving roller 14, the roller 18,

page_text: carried in slotted guides 15, the guiding bar 19, sliding block 20, connecting rod 21,
and adjustable crank 22, all substantially as set forth and shewn.
6. In combination with the carding engine, the hollow receiving trough 2,
revolving twisting device 9, and rollers 5 and 6, substantially as set forth and
shewn.
7. The combination of the rollers 14 and 18, slotted guides 15, guiding bar 19,
sliding block 20, connecting rod 21, and adjustable crank 22, substantially as set
forth.
8. The revolving tubular funnel-shaped twisting device 9, substantially as shewn,
for the purpose specified.
Dated this 12th day of December 1894
EDWARDS & Co.,
65 and 66, Chancery Lane, London, Agents for the Applicant.