IMPROVEMENTS IN WILLOWING AND OPENING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Holt, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster,
Machinist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WILLOWING AND
OPENING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES."
Sealed the 30th June 1863, and dated the 21st January 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Holt at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st January 1863.
J, JAMES HOLT, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Machinist, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WIL-
LOWING AND OPENING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," to be as
follows:-
The nature of my Invention consists in admitting steam to the cotton or
other fibrous substance during the time that it is being operated upon by the
willow or opener. In performing my Invention I make use of a willow or
opener of the ordinary construction, and I introduce a jet of steam between
the inside of the casing and the exterior of the drum or beater, or in any other
convenient situation. The pipe for supplying the steam is furnished with a
tap, which is closed when the door in the casing through which the cotton or
other fibrous substance is removed has been opened to discharge the cotton or
other fibrous substance, or at any other convenient time. By the introduction
of steam the fibrous substances are opened and cleansed more effectually than
beretofore.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Holt in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 20th
July 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
HOLT, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Machinist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her möst Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said James Holt, Her special license, that I, the said James
Holt, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said James Holt, 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, exer-
cise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
WILLOWING AND OPENING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Holt, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their
lands 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Holt, 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 (that is to say) :-
The nature of my Invention consists in admitting steam to the cotton or
other fibrous substances during the time that it is being operated upon by the
willow'or opener. In performing my Invention I make use of a willow or
opener of the ordinary construction, and I introduce a jet of steam between
the inside of the casing 'and the exterior of the drum or beater, or in any other
convenient situation. The pipe for supplying the steam is furnished with a
tap, which is closed when the door in the casing has been opened to discharge
the cotton or other fibrous substances. By the introduction of steam during
the operation of willowing or opening, the fibrous substances are opened and
cleansed more effectually than heretofore.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried

page_text: into operation, I will proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet of Drawings,
reference being had to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a willow of the ordinary construction, to
which my improvements are applied; Figure 2 is a front view of the same,
shewn partly in section; Figures 3 and 4 are detached views, on an enlarged
scale, of parts of the same.
a is the framing of the machine; b, the drum or beater, which is provided
below with a grid c, part of which is formed by the door c'; d is a fan for
removing the dust from the interior of the case in which the drum revolves;
the parts above enumerated are made in the usual manner. To the axle of
the drum b is fixed a pulley 6', which by means of a strap gives motion to the
speed pulleys.e; to the axle e¹ of the pulleys e is fixed a worm gearing into the
worm wheelf, fixed to the shaft f¹; to the right-hand end of this shaft is fixed
the cam.g, seen best in Figure 4, which acts on a stud in the lever h, to which
is jointed the lower end of the link, the upper end of which is jointed to the
lever j of the valve k, which admits steam to the double perforated pipe l
shewn in Figure 2. The pipe is made double to prevent the escape of con-
densed steam or water on to the fibrous substances; the perforations in the
outer pipe are at the opposite side to the perforations in the inner pipe, there-
fore the steam has to go round the inner pipe while the water is collected
within the outer pipe. The shaft off is held horizontal by the stud m in the
lever m²,
whose fulcrum is at m³, see Figure 3, and by 'the disc f acting on
the stud n projecting from a bracket fixed to the frame side. To the left-
hand end' of the shaft f¹ is fixed the crank f³, which acts on the adjustable
piece o fixed to the catch bar o, by which the grid door c¹ is held up, as shewn
in Figure 2.
The mode of operation is as follows:-The Drawing represents the various
parts in the positions they occupy when the grid door c² is closed, and when
the steam is being admitted through the pipe to the space between the
casing and the drum; the worm wheel,f is now in gear with the worm on the
axle e', and 'it 'continues to revolve until the highest point of the cam g has
passed beyond the stud in the lever h, which then drops and shuts the valve k,
thus shutting off the steam in the pipe ; immediately after this the crank f³,
acting on the piece o, unlatches the catch bar o', and liberates the grid door c¹,
which then descends into the position shewn by dots in Figure 1. While the
grid door is descending the notch in the disc f³ comes opposite the stud n,
and allows that end of the shaft f¹ to drop until the worm wheel f is out of
gear with the worm on the axle e³, the shaft f¹ then ceases to revolve. The
fibrous material that has been willowed is then taken from the machine, and

page_text: a fresh supply is introduced through the grid door c', which in closing raises
the end of the lever m', thus causing the stud m to raise the shaft f¹, until it
is again in a horizontal position; the worm wheel f is thus brought into gear
with the worm on the axle e', the shaft-f is thus again set in motion, and the
operations are then repeated as before. When the shaft f' has performed part
of its revolution, the cam 9 acting on the lever h gradually opens the tap k to
'admit steam.
Having thus stated the nature of my improvements, and described a con-
venient mode of carrying the same into operation, I wish it to be understood
that I do not limit myself to the details given, as they must be modified to
suit the peculiar construction of the willow or opener to which they are
applied; I would also remark that the steam pipe 1, instead of being placed
above the drum of the willow or opener, may be placed at the side or under-
neath it, and when the action of the machine is continuous the supply of
steam, instead of being intermittent, as in the willow above described, is or
may be continuous also.
In all the modifications of my Invention the steam acts on the fibrous
material as soon as or immediately after the machine commences its work,
whereas in other apparatus for steaming fibrous materials, the process is per-
formed either before or after the fibrous material has passed through the
machine. I therefore claim as my Invention the application of steam to
fibrous substances while passing around or being operated upon by the drums,
cylinders, or beaters of willows and openers.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Holt, have hereto set my hand
and seal, the Eighteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.