IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF GRINDING AND SHARPENING WIRE CARDS FOR CARDING ENGINES AND IN APPARATUS TO BE USED FOR THAT PURPOSE
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Arthur William Lovell Reddie, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for an Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF GRINDING AND SHARPENING
WIRE CARDS FOR CARDING ENGINES AND IN APPARATUS TO BE USED FOR
THAT PURPOSE." A communication from abroad by Wilhelm Decker, of
Mittweida, in the Kingdom of Saxony, German Empire.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Arthur William Lovell
Reddie at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 15th December
1881.
"
ARTHUR WILLIAM LOVELL REDDIE of the Office for Patents 66 Chancery Lane
in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent. IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD Of
GRINDING AND SHARPENING WIRE CARDS FOR CARDING ENGINES AND
APPARATUS TO BE USED FOR THAT PURPOSE." [A communication from abroad by
Wilhelm Decker, of Mittweida, in the Kingdom of Saxony, German Empire.]
IN
The object of the present improvements is to provide for a more perfect grinding
of ready made wire cards or strips to be used in carding engines so as to form the
end of each wire or tooth into a long and sharp point, instead of a short and
somewhat blunt point as heretofore.
In carrying out this Invention an emery disc or roller of suitable width and
diameter rotating at a suitable surface speed, is employed. This roller may have
imparted to it for some purposes as will be more fully described hereafter in
addition to its rotary motion, a slight reciprocating motion in the direction of its
axis. The strip or card is drawn in any suitable manner over a rest of peculiar
form, and underneath this emery roller or disc; and while passing underneath the
said roller or disc, the strip suddenly and at the proper moment loses its support in
consequence of the abrupt form of the rest and thus drops clear of the emery roller
only receiving support on arriving at a roller driven in the direction of the travel
of the strip. This arrangement is made to allow the wires or teeth, after having

page_text: passed the first operation of grinding at their back, by means of the emery roller, to
be pushed by the pressure of that roller a certain distance downwards through the
strip, so that the succeeding row of wire teeth will present its upper part in a
superior manner to the grinding action of the emery roller to that which could
have been attained if the preceding rows had remained in their normal position.
The rows thus ground at their backs, and pushed through the strip in a downward
direction, are restored to their normal position by the supporting roller above
referred to which as it rotates, presses the rows upward through the strip. This
supporting roller may revolve by mere friction with the strip, or may be driven by
a suitable arrangement of gearing from any rotating part of the machinery. The
emery roller or disc may be provided with fine grooves at its surface; such grooves
running around its circumference in planes at right angles to its axis. In order to
regulate the position of the wires or teeth while passing over the rest and under-
neath the emery disc, the rest is mounted on, or forms part of a supporting table of
T shape pivotted at its forward end. The vertical portion of the said supporting
table is formed at its lower part with a diagonal slot, within which slot is placed
an excentric disc which may be turned by means of a worm and worm wheel, the
latter being keyed on the same axis or pivot with the excentric disc. This device
allows of the exact adjustment of the rest, and consequently of the strip running
over it. The rear part of the supporting table carries the bearings of the sup-
porting roller, which is also capable of adjustinent in its position either in a vertical
or in a horizontal direction. It being-necessary-to-provide-for-means-for-adjusting
the emery roller or disc in a horizontal position, so as to bring the working part
of its surface in proper position with respect to the edge of the rest, the bracket
which carries the bearings of the grinding roller is made adjustable on the frame
of the machinery in a horizontal direction. In grinding the wire or teeth of card
strips it may be found advantageous to pass the strip first underneath a grinding
roller or disc having a smooth surface, in order to grind down all the wires or teeth
to one uniform length. Thence the strip would pass underneath a second grinding
roller in order to grind the teeth or wires at their back surfaces in the manner
above described.
Now in order to complete the points of the wire or teeth by grinding them on
their two sides, so that the grinding of the back and of the two sides may result
in a long and sharp point (whereas the front side is not ground), the grinding
roller or disc may be replaced by, or exchanged for other grinding rollers or discs
hereafter to be described; or preferably two further devices of rests and supporting
rollers, with the appliances above described for regulating their positions, should
be arranged, or in other words the entire arrangement should be repeated twice;
with only this difference that 2 additional grinding rollers or discs should be
provided with spiral grooves at their surface the grooves of the one additional
roller running from right to left and the others running from left to right. It is
preferred to give rotary motion only to these rollers, and no endway motion. The
effect of these rollers on the wires or teeth, while the strip is passing underneath
them, will be to bend the wires or teeth somewhat sideways owing to the spiral
form of the grooves. At the same time the teeth will be ground on one side by
the one roller, and on the other side by the other roller; thereby sharpening or
completing the points of the teeth.
In order to more perfectly expose each following row of teeth to the grinding
action of the spirally grooved rollers, the preceding rows of teeth are pressed partly
through the strip, after having undergone the grinding action as explained above.
These long pointed wires or teeth of the strip for carding engines will be found to
be highly advantageous in carding cotton, as they will enter more perfectly into
the mass of fibres, and will lay the fibres more strictly parallel to each other.
Again the fibrous material will be far more preserved, by slipping more readily
over the pointed ends of the teeth, than over the blunt end of the carding strips
bitherto in use. In using wires which end in a blunt oval surface, instead of a
sharp point the fibres are carried away by the sharp edges of the surfaces of the

page_text: adjacent wires, by which action the fibres are liable to be shortened; but such action
is entirely prevented by the use of teeth sharpened by the method above described.
The spiral grooves in the grinding rollers may be produced in several ways.
For manufacturing wire strips for carding engines, these grooves are preferably
produced by pressing or cutting them into the solid surface of emery or other
grinding material, but when these rollers are intended to be used to regrind the
strips of cards already in use in carding engines, it is proposed to make theso
rollers in the following manner:-A roller of the proper size of any suitable
material is provided and covered with a band coated on one side with emery.
Into the emery surface of this band the fine grooves are pressed or cut (prior to
winding the band round the roller) in lines parallel to the edges of the band.
Then by winding the band in a spiral form upon the surface of the roller, the
parallel grooves will also run in spiral directions, and parallel to each other.
In some cases the partial thrusting of the wires or teeth through the strip,
immediately after the grinding action as above explained, is assisted by a magnet
or magnets (either a permanent or an electro magnet) which is placed in the space
formed between the rest and the supporting roller.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Arthur William Lovell Reddie in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 15th June 1882.
IN
ARTHUR WILLIAM LOVELL REDDIE of the Office for Patents 66 Chancery Lane
in the County of Middlesex Patent Agent. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF
GRINDING AND SHARPENING WIRE CARDS FOR CARDING ENGINES AND
APPARATUS TO BE USED FOR THAT PURPOSE." A communication from abroad
by Wilhelin Decker of Mittweida in the Kingdom of Saxony German Empire.
The object of the present improvements is to provide for a more perfect grinding
of ready made wire cards or strips to be used in carding engines, so as to form the
end of each wire or tooth into a long and sharp point instead of a short and
somewhat blunt oval surface as heretofore.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 represents the somewhat blunt ended wire
or tooth produced by the ordinary method, and Fig. 2 the long and sharp pointed
form of wire or tooth-produced-by-the-new-method-of-grinding. In-these-Figures-
the teeth are shown on an enlarged scale. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of part of the
machinery used in carrying this Invention into effect.
In this Figure d is an einery disc or roller of suitable width and diameter
This roller may
rotating at a suitable surface speed in the direction of the arrow.
have imparted to it for some purposes, as will be more fully described hereafter, a
slight reciprocating or endway motion in the direction of its axis in addition to
its rotary motion.
a is a metal block or rest the top of which is of peculiar form, and slightly
overhangs its base on the rear side; b is a supporting roller.
c is the strip or card which is drawn in any suitable manner over the rest block a,
and beneath the emery disc or roller d, in the direction of the arrows. While passing
underneath the said disc or roller & the strip or card e suddenly and at the proper
moment looses its support, in consequence of the abrupt form of the rest block a,
and only again receives support on arriving at the roller b which rotates in the
direction of travel of the strip. By this arrangement the wires or teeth, having
undergone the first grinding operation at their back by the emery disc or roller d
are pushed by that roller a certain distance downwards through the strip, as seen
at c², so that the next succeeding row of teeth or wires will present its upper part
in a superior manner to the grinding action of the emery disc or roller, than
would have been possible if the preceding rows bad retained their normal
position.
The teeth thus ground at their backs and pushed through the strip in a
downward direction are restored to their normal position by the supporting roller b
above referred to, which as it rotates in the direction of the arrow presses the teeth
upward through the strip. This supporting roller b may rotate by mere friction of
contact with the strip, or may be driven by suitable gearing from any convenient
rotating part of the machinery.
The emery disc or roller d may be provided on its periphery with fine grooves
running around its circumference in planes at right angles to its axis.
In order to regulate the position of the wires or teeth while passing over the
rest block a and beneath the emery disc & the rest block is mounted on, or formed
in one with, a supporting table e of T-shape having its forward end pivotted at f.
The vertical portion e' of the said supporting table is formed at its lower part with
a diagonal slot or its equivalent, within which works an excentric h or its equivalent,
turned by means of the worm i and worm wheel g, the latter being keyed on the

page_text: same axis or pivot as the excentric disc h. This device allows of the exact
adjustment of the rest block a and strip c passing over it, with respect to the emery
wheel d. The rear part of the supporting table e carries the bearings of the
supporting roller b, which is also made capable of adjustment either in a vertical or
a horizontal direction.
As it is necessary to provide means for adjusting the emery roller or disc d in a
horizontal direction so as to bring the working part of its surface in proper relation
to the edge of the rest block a the bracket which carries the bearings of the
grinding roller d is made adjustable on the frame of the machine in a horizontal
direction.
In grinding the wire or teeth of card strips it may be found advantageous first
to pass the strip beneath a grinding roller or disc having a plain or ungrooved
surface, in order to reduce all the wires or teeth to one uniform length, and next to
pass the strip beneath a second grinding roller or disc, grooved on its periphery as
described with reference to d in order to grind the back surfaces of the teeth or
wires in the manner above described.
Now in order to complete the pointing of the wires or teeth by grinding them
on their two sides so that the grinding of the back and the two sides may result in
a long and sharp point (as at Fig. 2) the front side not being ground, the grinding
roller or disc d may be replaced by or exchanged for other grinding rollers or discs
to be hereafter described, or preferably two further devices of rests a and supporting
rollers b with the means above described for regulating their position should be
arranged, or in other words the entire arrangement should be repeated twice with
only this difference that two additional grinding rollers or discs similar to those
shown at Figures 4 and 5, should be substituted for that described with reference
to Fig. 3. These additional grinding rollers m and n should be provided on their
peripheries with spiral grooves, the grooves of the one additional roller ruuning
from right to left and the grooves of the other from left to right. It is preferred
to give rotary motion only to these rollers and no end way motion. The effect of
these rollers on the wires or teeth while the strip is passing beneath them will be
to bend the wires or teeth somewhat sideways, owing to the spiral trend of the
grooves. At the same time the teeth will be ground on one side by the one roller,
and on their other side by the other roller, thereby sharpening or completing the
points of the teeth. In order to more perfectly expose each succeeding row of
teeth to the grinding action of the spirally grooved rollers, such as m and n, the
preceding rows of teeth are pressed partly through the strip after having undergone
the grinding action in the manner explained above.
The long pointed wires or teeth of the strips for carding engines thus produced
will be found to be highly advantageous in carding cotton as they will penetrate
better into the mass of fibres, and will lay them more strictly parallel to each other.
Again, the fibrous material will be far better preserved by slipping more readily
over the long sharp pointed ends of the teeth than over the short blunt oval ends
of the carding strips hitherto in use.
In using wires which end in a blunt oval surface instead of a sharp point, the
fibres are carried away by the sharp edges of the surfaces of adjacent wires, by
which action the fibres are liable to be shortened, but such action is entirely
prevented by the use of the teeth sharpened by the method above described and
represented in Fig. 2.
The spiral grooves in the grinding rollers m and n (Figures 4 and 5) may be
produced in several ways.
In manufacturing wire strips for carding engines these grooved emery wheels or
rollers are preferably produced by pressing or cutting them into the solid surface of
emery or other grinding material, but when these rollers are intended to be used
for regrinding the strips of cards already in use in carding engines, it is proposed to
make these rollers in the following manner:-A roller of any suitable size and
material is provided and covered with a band coated on one side with emery.-
Into the emery surface of this band the fine grooves are pressed or cut (prior to

page_text: winding the band round the roller) in lines parallel to the edges of the band.
Then by winding the band in a spiral form upon the surface of the roller the
parallel grooves will also run in a spiral direction and parallel to one another.
The use of grooved rollers thus constructed is not, however, necessarily restricted to
the regrinding of card strips after use but may be employed in the manufacture of
card strips, if desired.
In Sheet II. Figure 7 is a plan, and Figure 6 a side view of that part of the
machine for grinding and sharpening fine wire cards which comprises two rollers such
as m and n (Figures 4 and 5 Sheet I.) These Figures 6 and 7 shew the following
modifications. In this instance the rest blocks a are not made adjustable in a
vertical direction, but the bearings of the rollers m and n may be adjusted vertically
by the hand wheels xx in the well known manner by screw spindles and nuts,
which latter with the bearings slide within guides in a vertical direction. Again, in
this instance the roller b is made independent of the rest block a, and is so situated
that it pushes back the wires which have been pushed partly through the strip by
the rollers m and n, into their normal position when this strip is moving upward
again. To ensure the proper action of these two rollers bit is preferred to give
them rotary motion from any suitable part of the machine, and not to let the
rotary movement of such rollers depend on mere friction. These two rollers are
preferably connected by a chain y which runs over two chain wheels keyed
respectively on the axles of the said rollers b, b.
The strip with the wires or teeth in travelling through the machine is guided by
the rollers o. 0. These guide rollers o. o. whether working against the back of the
strip or against the upper or teeth side of the same, are preferably mounted in
adjustable-bearings such-bearings-forming-the-end-of-one arm-of-a-bell-crank-lever
while the end of the other arm of this lever is connected to a spring as at p or to
a screw as at q, in order to provide for the proper adjustment of such rollers o.
A similar adjustable device is also provided at r for the roller b, and at 8 for a
large roller t which turns underneath à drum u upon which the ready ground wire
cardis wound up; the roller t presses against the back of the strip by means of the
coiled spring in the device 8. In Fig. 7 the rest block a is shewn to be adjustable
endways in order that the two guides vv fastened to it by screws may coincide
with the edges of the strip and protect the latter against any endway strain
exerted upon the strip by the action of the spiral grooves on the rollers m and n
against the wires or teeth of the strip.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention of "Improvements in the
Method of Grinding and Sharpening Wire Cards for Carding Engines and in
Apparatus to be Used for that Purpose, as communicated to me by my foreign
correspondent and having explained in what manner the same may be carried into
practical effect, I wish it to be understood that I claim
First The method of grinding into points the wires or teeth of ready made
card strips, consisting essentially in subjecting the teeth or wires to the action of a
grinding disc or roller, which disc or roller presses the teeth or wires after they
have been ground partly through the strip, whereby the succeeding rows of teeth
or wires are so exposed as to present their upper parts in a superior manner to the
grinding action of the disc or roller.
Secondly The method of subjecting ready made card strips, first to the grinding
action of a plain surfaced grinding disc or roller in order to reduce all the teeth or
wires to a uniform length; secondly to the grinding action of other rollers one of
which rollers, with rotating and endway motion and with fine parallel grooves at
right angles to its axis, will grind the backs of the teeth or wires in the manner
described, while the following two rollers baving their peripheries grooved spirally
in respectively opposite directions will grind the two sides of the wires or teeth,
by which successive grindings conducted in the manner and with the apparatus
described, the formation of long and sharp pointed ends to the said wires will be
effected.
Thirdly-The arrangement of parts described with reference to Fig. 3 of the

page_text: Drawings consisting essentially of a grinding disc or roller, such as d m or n
adjustable horizontally and having either a simple rotary motion or a rotary and
an endway reciprocating motion, in combination with a rest block such as a
adjustable in a vertical direction, and an adjustable supporting roller such as b
substantially as and for the purpose specified.
Fourthly The use of grinding discs or rollers having spirally grooved surfaces
as and for the purpose above set forth.
Fifthly The use for the purpose specified of discs or rollers having on their
surfaces spiral grooves formed either by cutting or pressing the said grooves in
the solid emery surfaces of the disc or roller, or by covering the disc or roller with
a spirally wound band in the emery surface of which grooves, parallel with the
edges of the band, have been formed by cutting or pressing previous to winding the
band round the roller.
Sixthly The modification of the machine for the purpose above set forth
substantially as specified and illustrated in Figures 6 and 7 of the Drawings.
In witness whereof I the said Arthur William Lovell Reddie have hereunto set
my hand and seal the Fourteenth day of June in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty two.
ARTHUR W. L. REDDIE. (L.S.)