IMPROVEMENTS IN. APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED IN THE FEEDING OF SCRIBBLING AND CARDING
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Wailes, of Stroud, in the County of
Gloucester, Engineer, and Benjamin Cooper, of Frome, in the County
of Somerset, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN.
APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED IN THE FEEDING OF SCRIBBLING AND CARDING
Sealed the 30th May, 1865, and dated the 2nd December 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Wailes and
Benjamin Cooper at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 2nd December 1864.
We, GEORGE WAILES, of Stroud, in the County of Gloucester, Engineer,
and BENJAMIN COOPER, of Frome, in the County of Somerset, Manufacturer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED IN THE FEEDING OF SCRIBBLING AND CARDING ENGINES,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to that class of machinery which accomplishes the
mechanical feeding of wool or other fibrous substances to scribbling and
carding engines, and consists in the combination with such machinery of
an opener consisting of an open box provided internally with spikes and a
spiked roller, or with two or more spiked rollers, the object of which is
to open out or loosen the wool or other material which is thrown into the
box, and which after being opened out by the action of the spikes, falls

page_text: into the hopper of the mechanical feeder. The entrance mouth of the box
may be regulated by a sliding shutter, so as to regulate the quantity of wool
or other material supplied to the hopper below.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Wailes and Benjamin Cooper in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 2nd June 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, GEORGE
WAILES, of Stroud, in the County of Gloucester, Engineer, and BENJAMIN
COOPER, of Frome, in the County of Somerset, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said George Wailes and. Benjamin Cooper, Her special license that we, the
said George Wailes and Benjamin Cooper, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said George Wailes and Benjamin
Cooper, our executors, administrators, or 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS TO
BE EMPLOYED IN THE FEEDING OF SCRIBBLING AND CARDING ENGINES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said George Wailes and Benjamin
Cooper, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us or them, 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 we, the said George Wailes and Benjamin Cooper,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:―
Our said Invention relates to that class of machinery which accomplishes
the mechanical feeding of wool or other fibrous substances to scribbling and

page_text: carding engines, and consists in the combination with such machinery of an
"opener," consisting of an open box provided internally with spikes and a
spiked roller, or with two or more spiked rollers, the object of which is to
open out or loosen the wool or other material which is thrown into the box;
and which after being opened out by the action of the spikes falls into the
hopper of the mechanical feeder. The entrance mouth of the box may be
regulated by a sliding shutter, so as to regulate the quantity of wool or other
material supplied to the hopper below.
And in order that our said Invention may be fully understood, we shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose wė
shall refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,
the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the Figures.
Fig. 1 of our Drawings represents a portion of what is known as Cooper's
self-acting mechanical feeder having our "opener." adapted to the hopper of
such feeder, but we propose to adapt this opener to the feed boxes or hoppers
of other self-acting mechanical feeders employed in the feeding of wool or
other fibrous substances to scribbling and carding engines, with a view to the
opening out or loosening of the wool before it enters the feed box of such
feeders; Fig. 2 is an end elevation, detached, of the "opener;" Fig. 3 is a
corresponding plan of the same; Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical section, show-
ing the internal construction and arrangement of the "opener," and Fig. 5
is a corresponding sectional plan of the same, taken along the line 1-2 in
Fig. 4.
In these Figures A represents a box or hopper, which is open at the top
and bottom, and is fixed, as shown in Fig. 1, above the main feed box B of
the self-acting mechanical feeder. On the interior of each side of the hopper
A are fitted a number of stationary spikes C, C, which may be either straight,
as shown in the Drawings, or more or less curved or bent, as found most
suitable for the material to be operated upon. Between these two rows of
stationary spikes revolves a spiked roller D, fixed on the axis or shaft E, which
is driven by a band or by gearing from any convenient part of the mechanical
feeder. The spikes in this roller are of sufficient length and are so situate on
the roller as to work between the stationary spikes in the manner shown, and
may be either straight or curved. The positions of the several spikes illus-
trated by the Drawings has been found to give the best results as regards the
preventing of the roller from clogging, but we do not confine ourselves strictly
to this position. Immediately above the spiked roller there is fitted a board F,
which partly closes the mouth of the hopper A, and may be either horizontal,

page_text: as shown, or slightly inclined, or made adjustable, so as to be capable of being
set at any desired angle.
The wool or fibrous material is first thrown into the hopper A, the object
being to open or lighten it before it falls or enters into the feed box B of the
mechanical feeder, so that the material is not clotted or matted, but is pre-
sented to the cards or hooks or teeth of the feeding apparatus in an uniform
state. Previously, when the wool was thrown direct into the feed box, lumps
of matted material were apt to be introduced, and the card teeth were conse-
'quently unevenly covered, and of course fed the material in an irregular and
imperfect manner, which objections are entirely obviated by the use of the
opener" herein-before described. The box or hopper A of the "opener" may
be made of any convenient shape, and may be constructed of wood, metal,
or other suitable material.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of our said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, we would observe in conclusion that what we consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to us by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
First, the lightening or opening of the wool or other fibrous material before
it enters the feed box of a self-acting mechanical feeder for scribbling and
carding engines by means of a revolving spiked roller in combination with
stationary spikes contained in a box or hopper situate above the feeding box
of the mechanical feeder substantially as herein-before described.
Second, the peculiar construction and arrangement of "opener" intended
to be used substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George. Wailes, on behalf of myself and
the said Benjamin Cooper, have hereunto set my hand and seal, the
Thirty-first day of May, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
GEORGE WAILES. (L.S.)