IMPROVE- MENTS IN COMBING WOOL AND OTHER FIBRE
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Tomlinson Bousfield, of Loughborough
Park, Brixton, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN COMBING WOOL AND OTHER FIBRE."-A communication from
abroad by Cullen Whipple, of Cranston, in the County of Providence,
Rhode Island, and Elisha Johnson, of Wethersfield, in the County of
State of Connecticut United States of America.
Sealed the 15th February 1867, and dated the 25th August 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Tomlinson
Bousfield at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 25th August 1866.
I, GEORGE TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Loughborough Park, Brixton, in the
County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN COMBING WOOL AND OTHER FIBRE," to be as follows:-
The machine herein-after described is especially designed for combing
wool, but it can also be employed for combing any fibrous material, whether
of long or short staple. The advantages which it proposes to accomplish are
increased capacity of production over other machines of its class as measured.
by the quantity and quality of the finished product, and greater economy in the.
manufacture by the reduction of the per-centage of noils in the course of the

page_text: "
combing process. These results are effected by causing the material to be
treated by the machine in a manner as nearly like as possible to the manner
in which it would be treated if combed by hand. The wool or other material
to be combed is fed to the machine through an open trough, at the inner end
of which is placed a pair of feeding rollers which draw in the material
between their surfaces in the well understood way. The wool as it comes
through the feeding rollers is immediately taken up by a set of endless screw
gill combs acting upon the principle exhibited in the well-known "Lister
combing machine, and which perform upon it the work of disentangling and
straightening the fibres preparatory to its being subjected to the operations
which it is to undergo in its further progress through the machine; a tuft of
wool so straightened by the gill combs is seized by a pair of nipping jaws
which are affixed to a frame which depends from a rocker shaft hung in
elevated bearings, and whose lower end, to which the nipping jaws are
attached, vibrates to and fro between the edge of the set of gill combs and an
intermittently revolving cylinder, whose surface is made up of sets of nipping
jaws presently to be described. The sliver of wool being held between the
jaws of the vibrating nippers is carried towards the revolving nippers above
mentioned, and as the said vibrating jaws are about to reach the end of the
are in which they move a blast of wind is applied upon the back side of the
sliver of wool so as to cause the end which is free to be blown within reach
of one of the sets of jaws upon the revolving cylinder, said cylinder being for
the time at rest, and that one of its jaws being wide open the blast of wind
may be variously applied, and a convenient way is to affix a box to the back
side of vibrating jaws, which box has a long narrow opening on one side near
the bottom so as to direct the blast against the sliver, compressed air being
introduced into such box at the right moment by means of a flexible tube
connecting with an air cylinder, the piston of which is allowed to fall suddenly
by the shaft of a cam on which the lever which controls such piston rides; or
instead of this arrangement air kept under pressure in a reservoir by a pump
may be admitted to such box by the action of the vibrating nippers opening
a cock in the pipe connecting with such air reservoir. It will be understood
now that the free end of the sliver has been blown into the open mouth of
that set of jaws upon the revolving cylinder which are at the extremity of
the arc of movement of the vibrating frame. At this moment the vibrating
jaws will relax their hold, and the set of jaws upon the revolving cylinder
will close upon the sliver and hold it by the end which was before free, and
thus the sliver will be held by the tail instead of by the head.
The revolving nipping cylinder referred to consists of a series of jaws,

page_text: arranged cylindrically in pairs, one of the jaws of each set being moveable,
and the other stationary, the moveable jaw being operated by a cam or other
means so as to close rapidly upon the stationary jaw at the right moment;
this revolving nipping cylinder turns upon its axis a space equal to the
distance between any two sets of jaws at each complete forward and backward
movement of the vibrating frame by means of a click or driver pin-jointed to
a bar which has a to-and-fro motion, the said driver riding freely upon the
rim of the 'head of the cylinder when travelling in one direction, but engaging
with an appropriate notch cut in the same when travelling in the opposite
direction, so as to impart an intermittent rotary movement to the cylinder.
Each of the jaws of the revolving cylinder after a tuft has been taken will
continue its hold upon the same while it is combed as follows:- Underneath
the revolving nippers is placed a combing cylinder which is provided with gill
combs, which combs are set in frames fitting into mortises in the surface of
the cylinder of the full length of the cylinder between the heads, and so
arranged in combination with a cam surface on which the backs of such
frames rest that the teeth will protrude beyond the surface of the cylinder at
all times except when in the course of the revolution of the cylinder they are
brought upon the lower side, when they will be sheathed within the mortises
in which they work by the action of a counter cam surface or other means.
It is quite evident that the tufts of wool or other material will while held by
the jaws and as they are successively brought over the combing cylinder, which
is in constant rotation, be thoroughly combed, and that the noils will be carried
around by the teeth of the comb until such teeth are sheathed as above
described, when they will be stripped off by the edges of plates set close to
the teeth and be allowed to fall to the floor. In the meantime the combed
tuft is carried by the jaws which hold it to a point where it can be deposited
upon a toothed apron in the form of a lap made up of successive shingling
courses, the jaws being made by the shape of the cam which governs them to
relax their hold to permit this to be done. From this point the lap is collected
and delivered in the common way. By a machine arranged to operate as
described the process is conducted very nearly in the same manner that it
would be if the work were performed by hand, that is to say, the wool will be
first pulled from the mass and heckled by the gill combs, then turned end for
end and combed, then deposited in a shingle to form a part of a lap, the noils
being separated from the lap.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Tomlinson Bousfield in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 25th February 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Loughborough Park, in the County of Surrey, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
George Tomlinson Bousfield, Her special licence that I, the said George
Tomlinson Bousfield, my executors, administrators; and assigns, or such
others as I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, 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, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN COMBING WOOL AND OTHER FIBRE," (a com-
munication to me from abroad by Cullen Whipple, of Cranston, in the
County of Providence, Rhode Island, and Elisha Johnson, of Wethersfield,
in the County of Hartford, State of Connecticut, United States of America,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Tomlinson
Bousfield, 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 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 George Tomlinson Bousfield, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say :-
Sheet 1 is a side elevation of the machine; Sheet 2 is a plan of the same;
Sheet 8, Figure 1, is an end elevation, Figure 2 is a sectional view of the
nipping cylinder, and Figure 3 is a plan of the same.
The machine herein-after described is especially designed for combing wool,
but it can also be employed for combing any fibrous material, whether of long

page_text: or short staple. The advantages which it proposes to accomplish are increased
capacity of production over other machines of its class as measured by the
quantity and quality of the finished product, and greater economy in the
manufacture by the reduction of the per-centage of noils in the course of the
combing process; these results are effected by causing the material to be
treated by the machine in a manner as nearly like as possible to the manner
in which it would be treated if combed by hand. The wool or other material
to be combed is fed to the machine through an open trough A, Sheet 1, at
the inner end of which is placed a pair of feeding rollers B which draw in
the material between their surfaces in the well understood way. The woo!
as it comes through the feeding rollers is immediately taken up by a set
of endless screw gill combs C acting upon the principle exhibited in the
well-known "Lester" combing machine, and which performs upon it the
work of disentangling and straightening the fibres preparatory to its being
subjected to the operations which it is to undergo in its further progress
through the machine. A tuft of wool so straightened by the gill combs is
seized by a pair of nipping jaws D which are affixed to a frame which
depends from a rocker shaft a hung in elevated bearings, and whose lower
end, to which the nipping jaws are attached, vibrates to and fro between the
edge of the set of gill combs and an intermittently revolving cylinder E
whose surface is made up of sets of nipping jaws presently to be described.
A vibrating movement is given to the nipping jaws D by means of the bell
crank lever F acting through the connecting link F¹, such bell crank being
made to oscillate by the action of a cam surface upon its shorter arm, as
shown, or in any other convenient way. The jaws of the nippers are made
to open and close at the proper times by arrangement of mechanism for that
purpose familiar to all acquainted with this class of machinery. The sliver
of wool being held between the jaws of the vibrating nippers is carried
toward the revolving nippers above mentioned, and as the said vibrating jaws
are about to reach the end of the arc in which they move a blast of wind is
applied upon the back side of the sliver of wool so as to cause the end which
is free to be blown within reach of the sets of jaws upon the revolving
cylinder, the said cylinder being for the time at rest, and that one of its jaws
being wide open. The blast of wind may be variously applied, and a convenient
is to affix a box G to the back side of the vibrating jaws, which box has
a long narrow opening at one side near the bottom so as to direct the blast.
against the sliver, compressed air being introduced into such box at the right
moment by means of a flexible tube connecting with an air cylinder G¹, the
piston of which is allowed to fall suddenly by the shaft of a cam on the lever
way

page_text: which controls such piston rides; or instead of this arrangement air kept under
pressure in a reservoir by a pump may be admitted to such box by the action of
the vibrating nippers opening a cock in the pipe connecting with such air
reservoir. It will be understood now that the free end of the sliver has been
blown into the open mouth of that set of jaws upon the revolving cylinder
which are at the extremity of the arc of movement of the vibrating frame.
At this moment the vibrating jaws will be made by the shape of the cam which
controls them to relax their hold, and the set of jaws upon the revolving
cylinder will close upon the sliver and hold it by the end which was before
free, and thus the sliver will be held by the "tail" instead of by the head.
This revolving nipping cylinder referred to consists of a series of jaws H,
shown clearly in Sheet 3, Figure 2, arranged cylindrically in pairs, one of
the jaws of each set being moveable, and the other stationary; the moveable
jaw being operated by a cam plate or other means so as to close rapidly
upon the stationary jaw at the right moment. This revolving Dipping
cylinder turns upon its axis a space equal to the distance between any two
sets of jaws at each complete forward and backward movement of the
vibrating frame by means of a click or driver 6 pin-jointed to a bar J which
has a to-and-fro motion, the said driver riding freely upon the rim of the head f
the cylinder when travelling in one direction, but engaging with an appropriate
notch c cut in the same when travelling in the opposite direction so as to
impart an intermittent rotary movement to the cylinder. Each of the jaws
of the revolving cylinder after a tuft has been taken will continue its hold
upon the same while it is combed as follows :-Underneath the revolving
nippers is placed a combing cylinder J which is provided with gill combs,
which combs are set in frames fitting into mortises in the surface of the
cylinder of the full length of the cylinder between the heads, and so arranged
in combination with a stationary cam surface in which the backs of such
frames rest that the teeth will protrude beyond the surface of the cylinder
at all times except when in the course of the revolution of the cylinder they
are brought upon the lower side, when they will be sheathed within the
mortises in which they work by the action of a counter cam surface d or
other means. It is quite evident that the tufts of wool or other material
will while held by the jaws and as they are successively brought over the
combing cylinder, which is in constant rotation, be thoroughly combed, and
that the noils will be carried around by the teeth of the comb until such
teeth are sheathed as above described, when they will be shipped off by the
edges of plates set close to the teeth, and be allowed to fall to the floor. In
the meantime the combed tuft is carried by the jaws H which hold it to a

page_text: point where it can be deposited upon a toothed apron K in the form of a
lap made up of successive shingling courses, the jaws being made by the
shape of the cam which governs them to relax their hold to permit this to be
done. From this point the lap is collected and delivered in the common way.
By a machine arranged to operate as described the process is conducted
very nearly in the same manner that it would be if the work were to be
performed by hand, that is to say, the wool will be first pulled from the mass
and heckled by the gill combs, then turned end for end and combed, and
finally deposited in a shingle to form a part of a lap, the noils and waste
being discharged during the operation.
What is claimed as the Invention is,
First, the combination of a set or sets of screw gill combs with vibrating
nipper jaws, as described.
Second, the use of an air blast in combination with vibrating nippers,
substantially as described, for the purposes specified.
Third, the combination of vibrating nippers with a series of revolving
nipping jaws, substantially as described, for the purposes specified.
Fourth, the combination of a combing cylinder constructed as described,
with the series of revolving nipping jaws above described.
Fifth, the combination and arrangement of the several instrumentalities
described, when combined operation and effect is to take a sliver from the
mass which has been operated upon by the gill combs C, transferring such
sliver end for end to a revolving nipper, combing such sliver while so held
by the "tail," rejecting the noils, and delivering the finished product in the
form of a lap.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
GEO. T. BOUSFIELD.
(L.8.)