AN IMPROVED COTTON GIN
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to François Durand, of Paris, France, Mechanical
Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED COTTON GIN."
Sealed the 28th April 1863, and dated the 4th November 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said François Durand at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 4th
November 1862.
I, FRANÇOIS DURAND, of Paris, France, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED COTTON GIN," to
be as follows:-
The Invention relates to an improved cotton gin or apparatus for cleansing
cotton of its seeds, of which apparatus the annexed Drawing represents a
longitudinal sectional view. A is an endless travelling apron caused to
advance step by step by means of a ratchet wheel and pawl suitable connected
to the main arbor D of the machine; by means of the apron A the cotton Z
is carried between a pair of yielding india-rubber rollers B, and advances
towards a pair of smooth metal rollers C, obtaining a revolving and at the
same time a circular to-and-fro motion so as to move from C to C¹ (marked
in red ink) and back for imparting this two-fold motion to the rollers C. A
pinion is fixed to the arbor of each of them, which pinion is in gear with an
intended sector fixed excentrically with the main arbor D, the rollers C, and a
cover E, to which they are connected receive their circular to-and-fro motion

page_text: round the arbor D by means of a crank arm G situated on the main arbor D,
and receiving a circular to-and-fro motion by means of a connecting rod H
fixed to the wheel I, the arbor J of which latter receives a revolving motion
from the main arbor D by means of suitable gearing, which main arbor is
provided with fast and loose pulley for allowing to be driven by any suitable
prime mover. The roller C in drawing the cotton Z from between the
rollers B prevent the seeds from passing between them, which seeds in the
position of the said rollers are removed by a revolving brush K and fall
on the inclined board L, whereas the cotton in passing between the rollers C
is further cleaned by being struck by a series of blunt knives M inserted in the
periphery of a roller N fixed to the main arbor D, and revolving with this
latter, by which means the cotton fibres are projected forward underneath the
board L
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said François Durand in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
4th May 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANÇOIS
DURAND, of Paris, France, Mechanical Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said François Durand, Her special licence that I, the said François
Durand, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others, as I, the
said François Durand, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "AN
IMPROVED COTTON GIN," upon, the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said François Durand, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said François Durand, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
The Invention relates to an improved cotton gin or apparatus for cleansing
raw cotton of the seeds. In the annexed Drawings, Figs. 1 and 3 respec-
tively represent a side elevation and a plan view of my improved cotton gin,
whilst Fig. 2 shows a longitudinal sectional view of some of its principal
parts; and Fig. 4, a similar view of a modification thereof; Fig. 5 represents
a cross sectional view of the feed roller u¹ of Fig. 4. In all these Figures
corresponding parts are indicated by the same letters of reference.
The apparatus consists of a strong frame of wood, cast iron, or other
suitable material, formed of two side parts or cheeks a and a', kept parallel
to each other by suitable cross stays; b is the main arbor or driving shaft,
receiving motion from any suitable prime mover, and provided for this purpose
at one end with a fly wheel c, and at the opposite end with loose and fast
pulleys d and d; e is an endless cloth or feed apron on which is laid the raw
cotton or cotton bolls from which the seeds are to be separated, the feeding
or delivery of the bolls or raw cotton from this apron taking place by means
of the revolution of two feed rollers f and f¹, covered with india-rubber or
other suitable elastic material, which rollers in rotating suitably press the
cotton for drawing the same forward, whilst the india-rubber or other suitable
coating allows the said rollers to yield sufficiently for the seeds to pass between
them. towards the two crushing rollers i and . The endless apron e is
stretched over the revolving roller e', and the lower feed roller f¹; and its
advancing motion takes place by the effect of a ratchet wheel g fixed round
the axis f of the roller f¹ and of the bell crank lever 91, 92, turning freely on
this axis f; the curved or short arm g' of which lever is at regular intervals
depressed by the effect of a pin h (projecting from the outside of an arm j
turning freely on the main arbor 6), thereby lifting the opposite arm g³ causes
a curved click or pawl g³, one end of which is connected to the arm g³ to take
with its opposite end into the teeth of the ratchet wheel g, thus causing this
latter to advance for one step; after which the counterweight h¹ carries the
arm 9 down to its original position, the ratchet wheel 9 and consequently the
feed rollers fixed on the same axis fs, are thus caused to rotate with a step-
by-step motion commanded by that of the pin h, whilst by the effect of friction
or by means of suitable gearing, the upper feed roller f is caused to revolve
in the opposite direction of that of the lower one f', as shown by the arrows
4 and 5, in Fig 2. The cotton after having passed between the rollers fand f',

page_text: is taken hold of by the revolving rollers i and 2, which latter should be made
of metal or any other suitable hard resisting material as these rollers are
intended to crush between them the cotton seeds, the journals or ends of these
feed and other rollers f, f¹, and i, i, turn in suitable brackets, those for the
rollers i, , situated in two cast-iron arms j turning freely round the main
arbor b, and serving at the same time as bearers for a sheet metal drum k
fixed thereon, so as to cause this drum to follow the circular to-and-fro or
reciprocating motion of the said arms j, in the manner as indicated by the
arrows marked 1 and 2, in Fig, 2, the said reciprocating motion being com-
municated to the arms j, by means of two rods and connected to the
pins m projecting from the lower end of these arms j, the opposite end of the
rod being connected to the pin m³ of a wheel q, and that of the rod to the
pin m³ of the disc q', both wheel and disc, being fixed to the same revolving
arbor q³, the wheel 9 receiving motion (by means of the connecting wheel p³)
from the wheel p¹ fixed on the main arbor b. The reciprocating motion im-
parted to the arms ; will thus be communicated to the drum.k and to the
rollers and revolving in a corresponding slit in this drum so as to cause
these rollers to be moved to-and-fro from their original position position opposite
the feed rollers fand f¹, to that shown in red ink in Fig. 2 opposite the helicoidal
revolving brush n, the latter receiving its revolving motion from the wheel p
of the main arbor by means of the connecting wheel p', and the pinion p² fixed
on the arbor of the brush n. In order to allow of better observing the internal
parts of the machine, and avoid compulsion, the wheels p, p, p, as also those p³
and are indicated in red ink in Fig. 1 by their circles of revolution. On
the arbor 6 is fixed cencentrically with the drum k, another drum r of cast iron
or other suitable resisting material provided at one end with a flanchs and
round its outer surface with a series of radial equidistant metal blades t, which
latter during the revolution of the drum r in the direction indicated by the
arrow 3, will in rapid succession strike or beat the cotton protruding from
between the rollers i and , and thus cleanse the same entirely from the seeds,
whilst when finally the cotton is in this manner arrived opposite the brush n,
the revolution of this latter will cause the cleansed cotton to be projected on
the inclined board o, whereas the seeds will during the advancing motion of
the rollers i and escape through the open or lower part k of the drum k.
The rollers i and i' whilst participating of the circular reciprocating motion of
the drum k receive at the same time a suitable revolving motion by the
following means, the spindle of the roller is provided with a pinion & and
that of the roller with another pinion ¹ in gear with that x; these pinions
are of the same diameter, but of different width, the widest one x is also in

page_text: gear with an indented sector v securely fixed against the inside of the cheek a
of the frame of the machine, by which means when the rollers i and are
.ádvancing towards the brush n, the roller i will be caused to revolve in one
direction, and when retrograding towards the feed rollers f and f¹, in the
opposite direction, whereas the roller i will constantly turn in the opposite
direction of that of the roller ¹ consequently when advancing towards the
brush the rollers i and will carry towards this latter a suitable quantity of
cotton taken from the feed rollers f and f', and allow this cotton to be taken
off by the said brush, whilst during the progress of the rollers i and the
cotton seeds having already been crushed in passing through these rollers
will be easily removed or expelled from the cotton by the incessant beating
of the blades t, after which the cleansed cotton will be caused to fall on the
inclined delivery board o, whereas the seeds will fall through the open or lower
part of the drum k. Instead of one pair of rollers i and ¹, two or more pairs
might be provided round the periphery of the drum k, or this druni instead of a
circular to-and-fro motion might have a suitable revolving motion imparted to
it and receive the cotton bolls from a suitable hopper, whilst the cleansed cotton
might be delivered at one end of the drum by a helical screw or other suitable
means. In Fig. 4 is shown a longitudinal vertical sectional view of the
principal working parts of a modification of the above described arrangement.
In this modification the cotton is drawn from between the rollers, and ",
instead of by the drum r by a pair of rollers u and u¹ made to revolve with
different speed by suitable gearing or other suitable, means, thus for instance
a wheel v may be provided on the main arbor b, driving the wheel v² fixed on
the arbor of the roller u¹ which wheel v is in gear with a smaller wheel v³,
fixed on the arbor of the roller u, a leather strap or other suitable endless
band w' is slung over this roller u, and the roller u³ revolving on a spindle in
the forked end of the projecting arm j¹, the latter forming a continuation of
the arm ; by the effect of the difference in speed of the rollers u and u³, and
by means of the endless band u the cotton will be suitably drawn from
between the rollers i and i.
In order to obtain the better cleansing of the cotton, the roller u¹ is provided
round its periphery (in the manner as shown in cross sectional view in Fig. 5)
with a slip of parchment z fixed thereto with one of its ends, whereas the
opposite end remaining free will at each revolution of the roller beat against
the cotton sliver and thus effectually separate therefrom any dust, adhering
earth, or other similar impurities.
Having thus described and particularly ascertained the nature of my In-
vention and the mode in which the same is put into effect, I would observe

page_text: in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict myself to the precise details of
the above described and illustrated mechanical arrangements as many varia-
tions may be made therefrom without deviating from the principles or main
features of the Invention, but what I consider to be novel and original, and
therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent, is,-
Firstly, in combination with the feeding rollers and brush, the carrying
.and crushing rollers i and for taking cotton from the feed rollers to the
brush and at the same time crushing the seeds therein, substantially as
.described.
; Secondly, in combination with the traversing and rotating carrying rollers
'and, the intermittently feeding rollers f and f¹, so that whilst the rollers
i and are not receiving cotton the feed rollers shall be in a state of rest,
substantially as described.
Thirdly, in combination with the traversing and rotating rollers i and i the
drum k and revolving blades or beaters t.
Fourthly, in combination with the traversing and rotating rollers i, ¹, the
arrangement illustrated in Fig. 4 for drawing the cotton from between the
said rollers i, , by means of the rollers u, u¹, revolving with different speed
in combination with the endless band w substantially as described.
Fifthly, providing the roller u¹ with a slip of parchment in the manner
shown in Fig. 5 and for the purpose described.
In witness whereof, I, the said François Durand, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
Witness,
DREYFOUS,
Ing. Civil.
FC018 DURAND. (L.S.)