IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR BALLING WOOL OB OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Swain and Peter Oldfield, both of Laister
Dyke, near Bradford, in the County of York, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR BALLING WOOL OB OTHER FIBROUS
MATERIALS."
Sealed the 14th September 1866, and dated the 20th March 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin Swain and
Peter Oldfield at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 20th March 1866.
We, BENJAMIN SWAIN and PETER OLDFIELD, both of Laister Dyke, near
Bradford, in the County of York, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR BALLING WOOL OR OTHER
FIBROUS MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
The primary object of our Invention is to prevent the "drag" upon the
sliver which is caused by the present method of balling, where the ball (or
balls, where two ballers are used) is or are caused to have a transverse or
lateral motion in addition to the rotary one; the funnel or funnels resting in a
fixed frame when not revolving by means of the usual gear.
By our method we key the funnel to a vertical rod, through the upper end
of which it passes, the lower end of the rod resting in a step, and by means of
a small lever secured to such lower end and an ordinary mechanical com-

page_text: bination of levers and eccentric motion the funnel and the rod to which it is
attached are caused to rotate over any desired arc of a circle (the funnel being
made telescopic, and that end of its tube nearer the ball resting on a swivel
support, the lower or stud end of which it is free to move) dependant upon
the width of the ball, the frame carrying which is stationary, the fluted rollers
bearing the ball being geared. We find this arrangement to produce superior
results.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Benjamin Swain and Peter Oldfield in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 19th September 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, BENJAMIN
SWAIN and PETER OLDFIELD, both of Laister Dyke, near Bradford, in the
County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Benjamin Swain and Peter Oldfield, Her special licence that we,
the said Benjamin Swain and Peter Oldfield, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said Benjamin Swain and Peter
Oldfield, our 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR BALLING WOOL OR OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that we, the said Benjamin Swain and Peter Oldfield,
our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our or
their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us or them,
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 Peter Oldfield, on behalf of myself
and the said Benjamin Swain, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be par-

page_text: ticularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof,
that is to say:-
The primary object of our Invention is to prevent the "drag" upon the
sliver which is caused by the present method of balling, where the ball (or
balls, where two ballers are used) is or are caused to have a transverse or
lateral motion in addition to the rotary one; the funnel or funnels resting in a
6ixed frame when not revolving by means of the usual gear,
By our method we key or otherwise connect the funnel to a vertical rod;
through the upper end of which it passes, the lower end of the rod resting in à
step, and by means of a small lever secured to such lower end and an ordinary
mechanical combination of levers and eccentric motion, the funnel and the
rod to which it is attached are caused to rotate over any desired arc of a circle
(the funnel being-made telescopic, and that end of its tube nearer the ball
resting on a.swivel support the lower or stud end of which works in a groove
or slide in which it is free to move) dependent upon the width of the ball, the
frame carrying which is stationary, the fluted rollers bearing the ball being
geared and having simply a revolving motion. We find this arrangement to
produce superior results. To effect the same result, if desired, an arm having
a fulcrum near the side of the apparatus may be used, such arin being placed
so that it may receive the sliver after it leaves the funnel, that is, between the
funnel and the receiving roller.
In order, however, that our Invention may be the better understood,
reference is made to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, and to the letters
and figures marked thereon, similar letters representing similar parts in the
different views, that is to say:-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
:
Figure 1 is a front elevation of a balling apparatus with our arrangement
attached; Figure 2 is a plan of the same; Figure 8 is a side elevation.
Letters A show the supports of the balling motion; letter B shows the
funnel through which the sliver passes to the baller b, indicating the telescopic
arrangement before named; C is the arm connected to the lever keyed or
secured to the vertical shaft D, which rests in a step on the bracket E. It
will be seen that the arm C receives motion from the eccentric c on the
shaft x.
Letter F represents a bracket having a slot f transversely, in which
the pin supporting the part 6 is free to move in a parallel line, and so neu-
tralize the curvilinear action of the funnel B; d is a clip on the funnel B,
and secured to the shaft D. The brackets E and A are both secured to cross
bar a. The apparatus being put in motion it will be seen that the funnel B

page_text: receives from the eccentric c, arm C, and lever c¹ a motion in the arc of a
circle, and consequently by means of the telescopic slide and the slot in the
bracket F accommodates the part 6 to the position of the ball, that is, the
friction or drag at the exit of the funnel is diminished, the lever C being
secured at the proper angle to impart the motion at the required time. The
other parts of the balling apparatus are as usual.
Having now fully disclosed the nature of our Invention, and in what manner
the same may be performed, we wish it to be understood that we do not con-
fine ourselves to the precise details shown, as the same result may be attained
by other equivalents; the funnel, for instance, may have no other motion
except a rotary one, and the sliver may be passed from it on to the ball by an
arm swinging transversely in the arc of a circlo vertically; but what we claim
is, the reduction of friction in the machine and to the sliver by accommodating
the funnel motion to the ball motion in the manner shown, or by any
mechanical equivalent thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Oldfield, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Eighteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
P. H. SHARP,
Patent Agent,
Leeds.
PETER OLDFIELD. (L.B.)