AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR SPREADING AND DRAWING INTO SLIVERS, FLAX, HEMP, JUTE, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Combe, of Leeds, in the County of York,
Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR SPREADING
AND DRAWING INTO SLIVERS, FLAX, HEMP, JUTE, AND OTHER FIBROUS
SUBSTANCES."
Sealed the 31st October 1862, and dated the 7th May 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Combe at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th May 1862.
I, JOHN COMBE, of Leeds, in the County of York, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of the Invention for "AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR SPREADING
AND DRAWING INTO SLIVERS, FLAX, HEMP, JUTE, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES,"
to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in a machine for preparing flax and other fibrous
substances, to be used instead of what is generally known as a spreading
frame, and my Invention differs from the spreading frames which are already
in use in causing the fibrous substances to be fed into the machine in a
direction transverse to the fibres, and parallel to the axes of the drawing
rollers, and so that the fibres are taken hold of by the drawing rollers side-
ways and produce a more equal and uniform sliver than is effected by the old
machine. For such purpose I propose to employ various arrangements of
travelling sheets or belts, and toothed rollers, known as porcupine rollers, and
drawing and delivering rollers may be used; but that the nature of my
Invention may be more clearly understood, I now state that I propose to

page_text: Above
employ a broad leather sheet stretched over two rollers, and so placed that one
edge of the sheet travels across, and immediately behind the nip of a pair
of drawing rollers and along side of this sheet, and stretched over one of its
rollers and another roller at the side of the drawing rollers are placed a series
of narrow straps, which travel between the bars of a grate, the end of which
is level with and immediately adjoins the nip of the drawing rollers.
the grate a plate is placed sloping slightly downwards towards the nip of the
drawing rollers, and cut out in a series of contiguous slots, through which the
pins of a roller with teeth, technically called a porcupine roller, pass clear
in their circuit, so that their points nearly touch the upper surface of the grate
below. Above the broad leather sheet where it crosses behind the nip of the
drawing rollers, another sheet is stretched on two rollers, the axis of one of
which coincides with the axis of the porcupine roller, while the other is on the
opposite side of the drawing rollers and immediately above the roller over
which the broad leather sheet is stretched, and this sheet is furnished with
lines of steel pins set in a slanting direction towards the nip of the drawing
rollers, the points of which nearly touch the broad leather sheet with a space of
about a quarter of an inch between the surfaces of the two sheets. By this
arrangement, when strips of fibrous materials are laid with their fibres trans-
versely across the broad sheets and narrow straps, they will be carried forward,
and by the action of the two sheets, and the porcupine roller passing into the nip
of the drawing rollers, successive fibres will be seized and drawn into a regular
and continuous sliver. In order to keep the fibres clear and straight where
the sliver is separating from the sheet of fibrous material, the points of a
single circle of flattened steel pius are caused to traverse the plane of the sheet
of fibrous material, just at the nip of the drawing rollers, at a speed con-
siderably greater than these rollers are going at, while the latter ends of the
fibres deposited on the broad leather sheet are prevented from being entangled
or disarranged by the lines of slanting pins, through which they are drawn by
the drawing rollers. In order to insure uniformity of sliver, in case of any
variation of thickness or quantity of material laid on the travelling sheet by
hand, I communicate motion to the travelling sheet and porcupine roller, by
such an arrangement of friction pullies as would give them an excess of speed
over what is necessary to feed the drawing and pressing rollers, whereby any
slackness in the quantity of material fed in may be made up, and uniformity
in the weight of the sliver maintained. In front of the drawing rollers,
I place the usual delivering rollers with diagonal or other conductors as may
be required.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Combe in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 7tli
November 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
COMBE, of Leeds, in the County of York, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord Ono
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Combe, Her special licence that I, the said John Combe, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Combe, 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 "AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR SPREADING AND DRAWING
INTO SLIVERS, FLAX, HEMP, JUTE, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Combe, 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
mouths next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Jolm Combe, do hereby declare the
nature of the 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 thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in arranging mechanism in such manner as to.
cause the fibrous substances to be fed into the machine in a direction
transverse to the fibres parallel to the axes of the drawing rollers, and so
that the fibres are taken hold of by the drawing rollers sideways, by which a
more equal and uniformn sliver is produced than is effected by the old
machine.

page_text: parts of the machine shewn in Figure 5, shewing details of gearing and
straps; Figure 7 is an end view of Figure 5, parts of the machine being
supposed to be removed; Figure 8 is a full sized view of a part of the
series of pairs of rollers employed in the machine shewn in Figure 5.
It should be stated that Figures 1, 2, and 3 shew an arrangement in which
a pair of leather travelling sheets are used, but in the Figures 4, 5, 6, 7.
and 8 the leather travelling sheets shewn in Figures 1, 2, and 3 are not used,
but an arrangement of rollers, one pair of which is shewn in Figure 8, is
substituted. All parts shewn in the before-mentioned Figures are designed to
a scale of three inches to the foot, except Figure 8, which is full size. I do not
consider such scale absolutely necessary, but it is a convenient size for the
machine. In Figures 1, 2, and 3, representing a side view, end view, and
plan a, a, represent the rollers carrying the broad leather sheet b, b; c, c, are
the drawing rollers placed near the edge or side of the leather sheet b, b, so
as not to touch the said sheet, and so that the line of contact of the rollers
technically called the "nip" is so placed as to take up the fibres of the flax
or other fibrous material spread thereon and slightly overhanging the edge of
such sheet. The drawing rollers c, c, are cut in on the side next the feed
like saw teeth, so that, as the fibrous material laid across the sheet is fed in by
its motion, each pair of teeth, as they close on each other by the revolution
of the rollers, seize in their nip a breadth of fibrous material equal to their
depth, and pull it in a direction transverse to the motion of the sheet from
the advancing layer of fibrous material. Above the broad sheet b, b, is a
narrower sheet 6*, carried on rollers d, d, and this sheet is furnished with
rows of steel pins slanting in the direction of the drawing rollers c, c, as shown'
in Figure 2, and placed in close proximity sideways all round the sheet, as
shewn on each side of the drawing rollers c, c, in Figure 1. The shafts of
the two driving rollers, to the right hand of Figure 1, are geared together, so
that the surfaces of the sheets travel at equal rates of speed, and the effect of
the rows of slanting pins, as represented, is to prevent the fibres, which are
pulled away by the drawing rollers, from disarranging and entangling with
the fibres which are not yet seized by the nip of the drawing rollers. The
two rollers on the left hand of Figure 1 are so arranged that the bearings in
which they rotate are moveable by means of set screws, by which the sheets
may be kept in a proper state of tension, as represented in Figures 1 and 2.
Both of the upper pair of rollers d, d, are fast on their respective shafts which
revolve in long sockets, as shewn in Figures 1 and 2, in which e, e, represents
the socket with its two set screws for regulating the tension of the sheet.
A
bearing plate ff, Figures 3 and 1, is used, over which the fibrous material

page_text: is passed in a continuous layer on to the sheet 6, b, by an apparatus to
be described hereafter, the arrangement of which is represented in
Figures 4 and 5. In these Figures f. f, is a prolongation from the
drawing rollers of the bearing plate f, f, in Figures 1 and 3, in which
f. f, is broken off. The end of f, f, next the feeding sheet is formed
in notches, as represented in a detached sketch over Figure 4, and these
notches are hollowed under so as to lap over the driving roller 9, 9,
Figures 4 and 5.
Opposite the driving roller 9, 9, is placed a tension
roller , h, divided in spaces to receive a narrow strap. Between and a
little below the rollers g, g, and h, h, a rectangular casting is placed which
is bored out to receive the pivots of sixteen vertical rollers i, i, and two
canted rollers j, j, Figures 5 and 4. An endless narrow strap m, m, m, passes
round the rollers g, g, and h, h, and in passing from 9, 9, to h, h, is guided
by a pair of vertical rollers i, i, as shewn in dotted lines in Figure 5, and in
full view in Figure 4, so as to lead into the next space in h, h, and so on, till
in passing round the extreme right-hand end of g, g, it is led up and round one
of the canted rollers j j, from which it traverses in a transverse direction to
its fellow canted roller on the opposite side, round which it passes on and
re-enters the extreme left hand space under the tension roller h, h, and so on.
The upper surface of the strap m, m, m, the strap m passing in a spiral
direction round the rollers g, h, gives the effect of a continuous broad sheet
which carries forward the fibres which are placed transversely thereon till the
fibres are received by the pins of the porcupine roller k, k, and passed on
between the bearing plate f, f, and the grating n, n, Figure 4, through the
open slots in which the pins of the porcupines k, k, and 1, 1, pass freely
in their rotation just clear of the surface of the bearing plate f, f.
I would remark that although this arrangement of an endless spirally wound
belt may appear somewhat complicated, I prefer this to a simple sheet, as
permitting the parts of the bearing plate marked f to pass between such band
as though it formed a travelling grating, and that I prefer using such endless
band in preference to a series of separate bands, as producing greater uni-
formity of tension, and avoiding the objection of having to oil a number of
separate pulleys liable to contaminate the strap with oil. The porcupine roller
1, 1, is turned by a train of toothed gearing connecting it with the driving
pulley o, o, as represented in Figures 5 and 6, in which p is the change wheel
by which the speed of the porcupine 7, 1, may be varied as required. The
porcupine roller k, k, and along with it the feeding sheet m, m, m, is worked
by a combination of gearing and a pulley 9, Figures 5,, 6, and 7, turned by a
drum and strap, as represented, and the tension on this strap is maintained

page_text: by a cord and weight acting over a pulley, as represented in Figure 6, so as
to pull the link r, r, Figures 5, 6, and 7, which swings freely on the shaft u
of the roller g, g, in a direction which keeps a tension on the strap. The
speed given to the porcupine h, k, is considerably in excess of the speed of the
porcupine 1, 1, and consequently the layer of fibrous material spread on the
feed sheet m, m, m, is delivered by the porcupine k, k, between the bearing
plate ff, and the grating n, n, faster than it is allowed to pass by the porcu-
pine 1, 1, but as soon as the space between these two porcupines is filled up, so
as to offer sufficient resistance to the feeding porcupine k, k, the increasing
tension of the strap turning the pulley 2 will cause the weight on the tension
cord to rise and allow the strap to slip on the pulley 9, and thus according to
the amount of weight suspended to the tension cord tend to produce a uni-
form density on the layer of fibrous material delivered by the porcupine 1, 1,
irrespective of any variation of the quantity of such material spread on the
feed sheet m, m, m. When the layer of fibrous material arrives at the ends
of the bearing plate f, f, and grating n, n, Figure 4, it is received between the
endless sheets if the arrangement be as in Figures 1, 2, 3, or between pairs of
rollers s, s, Figure 5, if the arrangement shewn therein be used in place of
the endless sheets. By these pairs of rollers s, s, Figure 5, the successive
fibres as they are taken hold of are passed along in succession in the direction
of their lengths towards the nip of the rollers c, c, from which they are delivered
in a continuous sliver. The letters w, w, w, represent, in Figures 5 and 7,
the form and arrangement of the cast-iron bearings which carry the six pairs
of rollers, five of which respective pairs are geared together by wheels v, v,
and are driven by the train of wheels y, y, y; the sixth pair next to the
drawing rollers c, c, are geared together by pinions u, Figure 5, and the shaft
end of the lower roller carries a pinion t with teeth cut askew, so that it takes
into the wheel a, Figures 5 and 7, on the socket of the driving pulley o, o,
and by which motion is given to the train of pinions and rollers; x, x, is a
separate casting screwed on to the casting w, w, w, in order to form bearings
for the roller shafts between the pinions y and u in order to steady the
driving shaft carrying the skew pinion t. In case of any tendency of the fore
ends of the fibres to ruffle out as they are taken hold of by the nip of the
drawing rollers, an arrangement of parts is represented in Figures 2 and 3,
with a view to correct this tendency; is a circular disc furnished with
flattened steel pins, the points of which traverse the plane of the sheet of
fibrous material just at the nip of the drawing rollers c, c, and consequently
by their rotation are continually separating the fore ends of the fibres seized
by the drawing rollers from the end of the fibres not yet taken hold of, the pin

page_text: points revolving at a considerably greater speed than the peripheries of the
drawing rollers by means of the two wheels c¹ and d', Figures 2 and 3, by
which motion is communicated to the disc b'. That the mode of action of the
machine may be more fully understood, I will, in reference to Figures 4 and
5, state that hackled flax being spread across on the feeding sheet m, and at
right angles to its motion, will be carried on to the bearing plate f, and then
seized by the porcupine rollers and will be passed on to the rollers s, and by
then carried forwards within the nip of the drawing rollers c, by which it will
be passed in a continuous sliver from the side of the machine, so that the fibre
being fed into the machine transversely, will be passed out from the machine
in the direction of its length.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I make no claim to any
of the mechanical parts separately, but what I claim, is the mode herein
described of feeding fibrous substances to the drawing rollers of spreading
machines.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Combe, have hereunto set my band
and seal, this Sixth day of November, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
JOHN COMBE. (L.S.)