IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR GINNING COTTON
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Horace Leeman Emery, of Albany, State of New
York, United States of America, but now residing at Foulis Terrace,
Brompton, in the County of Middlesex, Agricultural Implement Maker,
for the Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR GINNING COTTON."
Sealed the 27th February 1863, and dated the 4th September 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Horace Leeman Emery
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th September 1862.
I, HORACE LEEMAN EMERY, of Albany, State of New York, United States
of America, but now residing at Foulis Terrace, Brompton, in the County of
Middlesex, Agricultural Implement Maker, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR GINNING COTTON," to be as
follows:-
The object of this Invention is so to improve the saw gin as to offect tho
ginning of long and short staple cotton in a more efficient and economical
manner than heretofore, and effectually to remove the sand and dust from
the cotton. At the front part of the machine the hopper is mounted on a
hinged joint, as usual, to allow of its position being adjusted by the attendant
for the purpose of regulating the action of the saws upon the staple. Within
the hopper is mounted a spiked roller, its use being to lap around it the cotton
as it is fed into the hopper, and thereby to present the staple in the form of a
roll to the action of the saws. This roll may receive motion through gearing
from the saw strap, but it is preferred to mount it loosely in bearings formed

page_text: by elongated holes in the ends of the hopper. The inner side or breast of the
hopper is formed as usual of upright bars which constitute a grid. Between
these bars the saws (set at equal distances apart on a common shaft) project
to take hold of the roll of cotton, and detach the fibres from the cotton seed.
As the saws revolve they give rotary motion to the roll of cotton in the act of
drawing out the fibres therefrom, and as the cotton is withdrawn from the
hopper by the saw teeth, the cotton seeds are discharged through the bottom
of the hopper. The saw teeth, as fast as they become charged with cotton
fibres, are stripped by a rapidly revolving brush cylinder, which is mounted
in a chamber in the rear of the line of saws. This brush cylinder, by
its rapid rotation, creates a blast of air that passes up between the cylinder
and an inclined conducting board, on to which the cotton is delivered; from
this board the ginned cotton passes (assisted by the blast) into a taper-
mouthed air trunk connected with the air chamber. In this air trunk a
drum of wire gauze is mounted horizontally. The cotton, as it enters the
air trunk, is taken up by the drum, which receives a slow axial motion. The
drum, in its rotation, carries the cotton upwards in the form of a thin sheet,
and presents it to the action of the blast, so that the sand and dust contained
in the cotton is discharged therefrom, and falls through the wire gauze drum
to the ground. The cotton, as it passes round, is stripped from the drum by
a stripping roller, and passed between a pair of smooth rollers, which deliver
it in a condensed form, and in a continuous length out of the machine. To
adapt the machine when set for short staple to act on long staplo cotton,
every alternate saw is removed and replaced by plain discs of the same
diameter. By thus increasing the distance between the saws, no two sets of
teeth can by any chance act upon the same individual fibres.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Horace Leeman Emery in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 4th March 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HORACE 3
LEEMAN EMERY, of Albany, State of New York, United States of America,
but now residing at Foulis Terrace, Brompton, in the County of Middlesex,
Agricultural Implement Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of September, in the year of our Lord 3
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of Her

page_text: reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Horace Leeman Emery, Her special license that I, the said Horace
Leeman Emery, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Horace Leeman Emery, my 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 "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR GINNING COTTON," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Horace Leeman Emery, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, 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 Horace Leeman Emery, 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 tho
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say): :-
The object of this Invention is so to improve tho construction of saw gins
as to effect the ginning of long and short staple cotton in a more officient
and economical manner than heretofore, and effectually to remove the sand
and dust from the cotton.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my improved
saw gin; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section
taken in the line 1, 2, of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a transverse section taken in the
line 3, 4, of Fig. 8; and Fig. 5 is a similar view taken in the line 5, 6, of
Fig. 3.
A, A, is the main framing of the machine, at the front of which is a
hopper B; this hopper is mounted on a hinged joint b, capable of receiving
an endway movement to allow of the position of the hopper being adjusted by
the attendant for the purpose of regulating the action of the saws upon the
staple. Within the hopper is mounted loosely a spiked roller C, its use
being to lap around it the cotton as it is fed into the hopper, and thereby to
present the staple in the form of a roll to the action of the saws. This roll
may, if desired, receive motion through gearing from the saw shaft, but it is
preferred to mount it loosely in the hopper, and make it dependent for its
rotation on the contact of the saws with the roll of staple.

page_text: The bearings of the spiked roller consists of elongated holes in tho ends
of the hopper, as shewn at Fig. 1, the lower edge of the holes being of a
segmental form struck from the axis of the saws, and the upper part being
sufficiently concave to allow the roll of cotton to rise, and thereby escape a too-
severe action of the saws. The inner side or breast of the hopper is formed as
usual of a series of upright curved bars 6', which are set parallel to each other,
and constitute a grid. Between these bars the saws D (set at equal distances
apart on a square shaft d) project to take hold of the roll of cotton, and detach
the fibres from the cotton seeds. As the saws revolve they give rotary motion
to the roll of cotton in the act of drawing out the fibres therefrom, and as the
cotton seeds are stripped of the cotton by its withdrawal from the hopper by
the saw teeth, the seeds fall out from the roll, and are discharged through
the bottom of the hopper.
The saws are made of thoroughly hammered sheet steel, and their teeth I
prefer to form as shewn at Fig. 6, that is, they should be round and pointed
somewhat like a thorn, and rounded and smooth at the bottom angle. Their
position is nearly tangential, and they severally lap over the one in advance to
the extent of about one-half their length. As fast as the teeth become
charged with cotton fibres they are stripped by a rapidly-revolving brush
cylinder E, which is mounted in a chamber F in the rear of the line of saws.
This brush cylinder, which is intended also to act as a blower, is closed at its
ends by annular trough-shaped end plates (see Fig. 5,) and segmental
openings are made in the sides of the chamber F opposite the upper half of
the annular trough to allow of an indraught of air to the chamber. The rapid
rotation of the brush cylinder also draws air between the cylinder and a con-
ducting board f, forming the bottom of the chamber, against which the cotton
is thrown by centrifugal force. From this board the ginned cotton is carried
by the action of the blast into an air trunk G connected with the air chamber F.
In this air trunk a drum of wire gauze H is mounted horizontally for the
purpose of receiving the cotton on its surface in the form of a batt. To this
drum a slow axial motion is imparted for the purpose of conveying the cotton
as it is deposited upon the upper part of its periphery to a pair of stripping
rollers I, I, and presenting a fresh surface to be coated by the cotton dis-
charged into the air trunk. The drum in its rotation carries forward the
cotton in the form of a thin sheet, and presents it to the action of the blast,
the only vent for which is through the wire gauze drum; the sand and dust
contained in the cotton is therefore carried away by the blast, and falling
through the drum H, is deposited on the ground. An endless belt which
passes around the stripping rollars I, I, strips the cotton from the drum, and

page_text: passes it under a smooth pressing roller K mounted above the stripping rollers,
by which means it is delivered in a condensed form, and in a continuous
length out of the machine, as shewn at Fig. 3.
When the machine is driven by hand, as indicated in the Drawing, I
mount in bracket bearings at the top of the frame A a transverse shaft L, to
one end of which I attach a winch, and to the other a spur wheel M, with a
set of inner and outer teeth. The inner teeth I put into gear with a small
pinion N keyed on to the axle of the brush cylinder, by which a rapid rotary
motion is imparted to that cylinder. The outer teeth serve to drive a spur
wheel O on the saw shaft, the opposite end of which shaft carries a small
pulley o. A belt from this pulley passes round a pulley P on the axle of the
upper stripper roller I, and thereby imparts rotary motion to those rollers.
Keyed to the opposite end of the axle of this roller is a small pulley p, from
which a belt passes to a large pulley on the shaft of the drum H, and thereby
imparts a slow rotary motion to the drum. The direction of rotation of the
several acting parts of the mechanism is clearly indicated by the arrows.
I would here remark that the use of the spiked roller is to support the
feed of cotton in such a manner that it will ensure an equable rolling motion
of the mass of cotton in the hopper, and thus prevent the unequal drag of the
saw teeth upon different parts of the feed, which inequality of drag occasions
the formation of twists and knots, and the consequent cutting and destruction
of the staple.
A further important advantage incidental to the use of the spiked roller
which forms a supporting core to the roll of feed cotton is, that it enables the
machine to be driven either at high, low, or variable speeds without injury to
the staple, and that with a considerably reduced expenditure of motive power
as compared with saw gins fed in the ordinary manner. I have stated that
the ends of the brush cylinder are closed, and that air enters the machine past
the closed ends of the cylinder. By this arrangement, the liability of the
cotton to accumulate about the axle of the cylinder is removed, and the
cominon danger of fire resulting from the friction on such accumulation of
cotton is also removed.
In order to adapt the machine when set for short staple to act on long
staple cotton, every alternate saw is removed and replaced by plain discs of
the same diameter. By thus increasing the distance between the saws no
two sets of teeth can by any chanco act upon the same individual fibres,
and therefore the cutting of the long fibres by the saws will be effectually
prevented.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of Improved Machinery

page_text: for Ginning Cotton, and explained the manner of carrying the same into
effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not claim the forming of ginned
cotton into a bat or lap by the deposition of the same on a wire drum or
cylinder; but I claim the general arrangement of machinery, above described,
for effecting the ginning of long and short staple cotton, and particularly
the means, above described, for presenting the feed cotton to the action of
the saws.
In witness whereof, I, the said Horace Leeman Emery, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.