Improvements in the Method of Driving Carding Engine Cylinders.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 5th May, 1887
Complete Left, 4th Feb., 1888
Complete Accepted, 16th Mar., 1888
Improvements in the Method of Driving Carding Engine Cylinders.
We GEORGE ASHWORTH and ELIJAH ASHWORTH of the firm of Ashworth Brothers
of the Moss Brook Works, Collyhurst, Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this Invention to be as follows:-
Our Invention rolates principally to the driving of the main cylinders of carding
engines but is also applicable in the driving of the licker in and if considered to bo
desirable of the doffer. It has become a necessity to obtain a very great amount of
truth and steadiness in the revolutions of the main cylinder especially since by
former inventions we increased the accuracy of the working relations of the said
cylinder and of the flats in the engines which are provided with travelling flats.
In a former invention for which Letters Patent No. 243283, have been granted to us
we provided for the vertical adjustment of the bearings of the cylinder shaft so that as
the said bearings became worn they could be raised in order to keep the axis of
the cylinder in the centre of the arcs upon which the flats travelled. To render
vertical adjustment sufficient for the requirements for a lengthened period it is
important that the reduction of the bearings through wear should also be in a vertical
direction, but this is not the case owing principally or entirely to the pull of the
driving belt.
As in ordinary practice the engines are arranged in two rows and
are driven by a common line shaft the strain of the driving belts tends to make the
journals of the cylinder shafts bear forcibly upon the sides of the bearings whereby
the said bearings become reduced at the sides. To remedy this defect is the principal
object of our invention and to this end we so arrange the driving apparatus as that the
pull of the belt shall be vertical or shall be in such a direction as that the strains or
combined disturbing influences shall result as nearly as may be in a vertical and
preferably in a downward acting pressure upon the cylinder shaft. We pass the
driving belt or band over or partly around carrier pullies so that the direction of
travel of the belt is deflected to the required extent according to the position of the
driving shaft and to other disturbing influences such for example as the transmitting
of notion from the cylinder shaft to the licker in or other parts of the engine or we
transmit the motion through an intermediate pulley or set of pulleys so situated as

page_text: that the strain upon the cylinder shaft is exerted as nearly as may be in a vertical
direction. To remove or neutralise as much as possible the disturbing effect of the
driving of the licker in we may employ carrier pullies to deflect the strain of the belt
or band into a vertical direction in the case of the main cylinder only or in the case of
both cylinders as preferred or we may transmit motion from the other end of the
shaft that is to say not from the end which directly receives motion from the line or
counter shaft which drives the main cylinder. In the last named arrangement we
may make use of the ordinary pulley which is provided for the driving of the doffer
during the grinding operation or we may provide a special pulley. In either case the
transmission of motion to the flats and the comb to some extent neutralises the
disturbing effect of the transmission of motion to the licker in. An advantage arising
from the utilising of the said ordinary pulley is that the extreme width of the engine
is reduced.
Data in til
1007

page_text: We GEORGE ASHWORTH and ELIJAH ASHWORTH of the firm of Ashworth Brothers
of the Moss Brook Works, Collyhurst, Manchester in the County of Lancaster,
Engineers, 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 drawings:-
--
Our Invention relates principally to the driving of the main cylinders of carding
engines but is also applicable in the driving of the "licker in" and if considered to
be desirable of the doffer. It has become a necessity to obtain a very great amount
of truth and steadiness in the revolutions of the main cylinder especially since by
former inventions we increased the accuracy of the working relations of the said
cylinder and of the flats in the engines which are provided with travelling flats. In
a former invention for which Letters Patent have been granted to us we provided for
the vertical adjustment of the bearings of the cylinder shaft so that as the said
bearings became worn they could be raised in order to keep the axis of the cylinder
in the centre of the arcs upon which the flats travelled. To render vertical adjust-
ment sufficient for the requirements for a lengthened period it is important that the
reduction of the bearings through wear should also be in a vertical direction, but this
is not the case owing principally or entirely to the pull of the driving belt. As in
ordinary practice the engines are arranged in two rows and are driven by a common
line shaft, the strain of the driving belts tends to make the journals of the cylinder
shafts bear forcibly upon the sides of the bearings whereby the said bearings become
reduced at the sides. To remedy this defect is the principal object of our invention
and to this end we so arrange the driving apparatus as that the pull of the belt shall
be vertical or shall be in such a direction as that the strains or combined disturbing
influences shall result as nearly as may be in a vertical and preferably in a downward
acting pressure upon the cylinder shaft. We pass the driving belt or band over or
partly around carrier pullies so that the direction of travel of the belt is deflected to
the required extent according to the position of the driving shaft and to other dis-
turbing influences such for example as the transmitting of motion from the cylinder
shaft to the "licker in " or other parts of the engine. To remove or neutralise as
much as possible the disturbing effect of the driving of the "licker in "
employ carrier pullies to deflect the strain of the belt or band into a vertical direction
in the case of the main cylinder only or in the case of both cylinders as preferred or
we may transmit motion from the other end of the shaft-that is to say not from the
end which directly receives motion from the line or counter shaft, which drives the
main cylinder. In the last named arrangement we may make use of the ordinary
pulley which is provided for the driving of the doffer during the grinding operation
or we may provide a special pulley. In either case the transmission of motion to
the flats and the comb to some extent neutralises the disturbing effect of the trans-
mission of motion to the "licker in." An advantage arising from the utilising of
the said ordinary pulley is that the extreme width of the engine is reduced.
we may
In order that our said invention may be made more clear we will now proceed to
describe the same particularly with the assistance of the accompanying sheet of
drawings which is intended to illustrate our invention. It will be understood that
we have shown only those parts of the carding engine which are necessary to render
our description perfectly intelligible.

page_text: Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a carding engine of our own now well known make,
viewed from the driven end of the main cylinder.
Fig. 2 is a plan view broken in the centre so as to economise space in the
drawing.
The dotted line marked a represents the circumference of the main cylinder; 6 is
the turned side or bend; and c is the side frame. The driving belt d coming from an
overhead driving pulley on the line shaft not shown in the drawing, is passed under
the carrier pullies. è and f by which it is directed to the fast and loose pullies g. gon
the shaft of the main cylinder a. By this arrangement the pull of the driving belt d
is caused to act upon the pulley in a vertical direction so that the chief wear of the
bearings of the shaft is in a downward direction. When the said wear of the
bearings and shaft has taken place to a certain extent and it becomes necessary to
re-adjust the cylinder this can be done by slightly raising the bearings of the shaft h.
The means for thus raising the bearings are not indicated in the drawing as a full
description and illustration of the said means will be found in the specification attached
to our Letters Patent No. 2432 of 1883. It will of course be evident that instead of
placing the carrier pullies beneath the shaft h they might be placed above it so as to
deflect the belt downward instead of upward and so as to exercise an upward pull
instead of a downward in which caso the chief wear of the bearings would fall upon
the upper side. We however consider the arrangement shown to be the most
practical.
In carding engines generally and particularly in engines of our manufacture it is
the custom to drive the "licker in" (that is to say the cylinder which feeds the
fibre from the lap to the main cylinder) by means of a belt from a pulley on the
driven end of the main cylinder shaft and situated between the side frame and
the pulley g' which necessitates a prolongation of the overhanging end of the shaft
and a consequent increase of the hurtful leverage exerted by the pull of the driving
belt d on the cylinder shaft. At the other end of the shaft h-that is to say at the
non-driven end, there is under existing arrangements a fast pulley marked j in
the plan view Fig. 2 which is used only on the occasions when it is desired
to turn the doffer cylinder k during the grinding operations. During the ordinary
working of the engine this pulley fulfils no useful function. Under our prosent
invention we dispense with the aforesaid "licker in " driving pulley on the
driven end of the cylinder shaft hand bring the fast and loose pullies g. g
close up to the bearing of the shaft, so that the strain of the driving belt
has not such a hurtful and disturbing influence on the shaft or disturbing
influence on the cylinder. To drive the "licker in" i we make use of the aforesaid
fast pulley at the other end of the shaft h and transmit motion therefrom by
means of a belt during the working of the engine to a pulley m on the end of
the "licker in" shaft. We thus do away altogether with the pulley formerly
employed at the driven end of the shaft to drive the "licker in." During the
grinding operations the doffing cylinder k can be driven as formerly from the pulley j
by removing the belt and connecting the pulley ; by means of the same or by
another belt to the pulley n on the end of the doffer cylinder shaft. Side by side
with the pulley or formed in one therewith is a driving pulley o which drives the
flats by means of a belt p and the pull of this belt p neutralises the pull of the belt /
during the working of the engine so that the bearing of the shaft h at that end is
not more rapidly worn away at one side than at the other. The grooves seen between
the pullies and o are for the driving of the flat grinding roller and the comb as is
well understood. By thus dispensing with a pulley on the cylinder shaft, the shaft
is shortened to the extent of about 4 inches, which entails considerable economy of
space where engines are arranged closely together or otherwise enables the attendants
to pass between the engines in situations where such a passage was formerly
impossible.
Under the arrangement shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the doffer cylinder is driven
during the working of the engine by a rope or narrow band q which extends between
the grooved pulley on the end of the "licker in" shaft to an intermediate pulley

page_text: carried on a stud from the side of the frame. A rope is preferred to effect this driving
as it is sufficiently narrow to go between the driving belt d and the side frame of the
engine. A belt t extends from a pulley u which may be formed in one with and
partakes of the motion of the intermediate pulleys, to a pulley which carries a
pinion to which drives the spur wheel on the axis of the doffer cylinder k. As
before stated "the licker in " is actuated from the pulley ; and the motion so obtained
is transferred by the described means to the doffer. By these arrangements the
driving of the various parts of the engine is provided for.
Fig. 3 shows the application of part of our improvements, that is to say that part
which enables us to dispense with the "licker in driving pulley at the driven end
of the cylinder shaft, to a carding engine which is not provided with the herein-
before described deflecting carrier pullies for causing the driving belt to exert a
downward pull on the shaft; or it might be to a carding engine in which the said
deflecting carrier pullies are arranged above the axis of the cylinder instead of below;
or to a carding engine the cylinder shaft of which is otherwise protected from sidelong
pull. In either of the three foregoing instances the driving belt d is not in the way
of the belt or band for driving the doffer cylinder from the "licker in" so that wo
are enabled to dispense with the intermediate pullies s and u and drive the pulley v
directly from the pulley "on the "licker in" shaft by means of a belt
The same
arrangement with the use of a rope instead of a belt might also be adopted in
engines driven as in Figs. 1 and 2 instead of the intermediate pulley arrangement
shown and described.
y.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :-
(1) The general arrangements and combinations of driving mechanism in carding
engines substantially as hereinbefore described and as illustrated in the accompanying
sheet of drawings.
(2) In driving the main cylinders of carding engines, passing the driving belt
under or over intermediate carrier pullies so as to cause the pull of the belt to act in
a vertical direction upon the shaft and bearings, means being provided to adjust the
said bearings vertically in order to take up the wear of the shaft and bearings from
time to time so as to preserve concentricity of the main cylinder with the bends of the
carding engine, substantially as hereinbefore described and shown.
(3) In carding engines dispensing with the pulley ordinarily situated at the driven
end of the main cylinder shaft and usually employed to drive the "licker in" and
utilizing the pulley ; (hitherto employed to drive the doffer cylinder during the
grinding operations only) to drive the "licker in" during the working of the engine
whereby we are enabled inter alia to shorten the main cylinder shaft substantially as
described and shown.
(4) In carding engines the arrangements for driving the "licker in " and comb,
flat grinding roller and flats from the main cylinder shaft in opposite directions so as
to divide and neutralize the pull of the belts on the shaft and thus prevent the bearings
from being worn more on one side than on the other, substantially as described and
shown.
(5) The arrangement for driving the "licker in" from the pulley j in combination
with the means for driving the doffer cylinder from the "licker in" with an
intermediate pulleys substantially as described and shown at Fig. 1 of the drawings.
Dated this 3rd day of February 1888.
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James Square, Manchester,
Agents.