AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR REDUCING OR EQUALIZING THE LENGTH OF ANIMAL OR VEGETABLE FIBRES
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Robert Breach and Edward Baines Pye
Smith, of Leeds, in the County of York, Manufacturers, for the Invention
of "AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR REDUCING OR EQUALIZING THE LENGTH OF
ANIMAL OR VEGETABLE FIBRES."
Sealed the 20th March 1863, and dated the 25th September 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Robert Breach and
Edward Baines Pye Smith at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 25th September 1862.
We, JOHN ROBERT BREACH and EDWARD BAINES PYE SMITH, of Leeds,
in the County of York, Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of the.
said Invention for "AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR. REDUCING OR EQUALIZING THE
LENGTH OF ANIMAL OR VEGETABLE FIBRES;" to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the reduction or equalization of the length of..
animal or vegetable fibres, so as to render them more uniform and suitable
for textile or manufacturing purposes.
The machine consists principally of the following parts:-Firstly, an endless

page_text: travelling cloth or apron upon which the fibres to be operated on are placed.
This cloth or apron carries the fibres forward, and delivers them on to rollers,
discs, or wheels made of metal, wood, or other suitable material, over which
are placed other rollers or wheels held down by means of springs or weights.
so as to compress and hold the fibres. These rollers or wheels are actuated
by suitable gearing so as to advance the mass of fibres, and present them
continuously to the edges of circular saws, breakers, or tearers, one of which
revolves between each pair of rollers or wheels. These saws or breakers are
formed with projections so constructed as to break or tear the fibres asunder
(without cutting them) which then fall down into a receptacle beneath. The
wheels or rollers, and also the saws or breakers, are placed at suitable dis-
tances apart according to the length of fibre desired, and are capable of being
adjusted nearer to or further from each other, so as to produce fibres of the
exact lengths required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Robert Breach and Edward Baines Pye Smith, in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 25th March 1863.
TO. ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL. COME, we, JOHN
ROBERT BREACH and EDWARD BAINES PYE SMITH, of Leeds, in the County
of York, Manufacturers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year
of Her, reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
us, the said John Robert Breach and Edward Baines Pye Smith, Her
special licence that we, the said John Robert Breach and Edward Baines
Pye Smith, our executors, administrators,, and assigns, or such others as we,
the said John Robert Breach and Edward. Baines Pye Smith, our 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 REDUCING OR
EQUALIZING THE LENGTH OF ANIMAL OR VEGETABLE FIBRES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said John Robert Breach and Edward Baines

page_text: Pye Smith, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
our, or one of our, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 John Robert Breach and Edward
Baines Pye Smith, 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 in writing, and on reference to
the accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to the reduction or equalization of the length of
animal or vegetable fibres, so as to render them more uniform and suitable
for textile or manufacturing purposes.
The machine consists principally of the following parts:-Firstly, an endless
travelling cloth or apron upon which the fibres to be operated on are placed:
This cloth or apron carries the fibres forward, and delivers them on to rollers,
discs, or wheels made of metal, wood, or other suitable material, over which
are placed other rollers or wheels held down by means of springs or weights
so as to compress and hold the fibres; these rollers or wheels are actuated by
suitable gearing so as to advance the mass of fibres, and present them con-
tinuously to the. edges of circular saws, breakers, or tearers, one of which
revolves between each pair of rollers or wheels. These saws or breakers are
formed with projections so constructed as to break or tear the fibres asunder
(without cutting them) which then fall down into a receptacle beneath. The
wheels or rollers, and also the saws or breakers are placed at suitable dis-
tances apart, according to the length of fibre desired, and are capable of being
adjusted near to or further from each other so as to produce fibres of the
exact length required.
Such being the nature and object of our said Invention for "An Improved
Machine for Reducing or Equalizing the Length of Animal or Vegetable
Fibres," we will now proceed to describe more in detail the manner in which
the same is to be or may be performed or carried into practical effect; and in
order that the same may be distinctly understood, we have annexed hereunto
a Sheet of Drawings illustrative thereof, and have marked the same with
figures and letters of reference corresponding with those in the following
explanation thereof, that is to say:-
In the annexed Drawing, Figure 1 is a front view, and Figure 2 a section.

page_text: of our improved machine, which we prefer to make double, that is to say,
feeding at both sides, as shown in the Drawings, but it may also be made
single if desired.
A, A, is the framework of the machine, and B, B, are small rollers or
spindles carrying endless travelling feeding cloths C, C; upon which the fibres
to be operated upon are placed by hand in a transverse position. These
endless travelling cloths C, C, carry the fibres to a series of rollers D, D,
(revolving in the direction shown by the arrows in Figure 2), which compress
the fibres, and present them in that state to the series of circular saws;
breakers, or tearers E, E, to be broken, torn, or reduced to equal lengths.
It will be seen, on referring to Figure 1, that each of the rollers D, D, is
composed of a series of discs or wheels, and that one of the circular saws or
breakers runs in the groove between each two discs; and on referring to
Figure 2, it will be observed that the saws or breakers and rollers are so
arranged with respect to each other, that the saws or breakers operate upon
the fibres at the precise spot where they are nipped or compressed by the rollers,
and break or tear the fibres asunder (without cutting them) at the same time
equalizing their length.
The lower rollers D, D, are supported in fixed bearings in the frame A, A,
and the upper rollers D, D, are mounted in bearings which are pressed down
by springs, and their pressure regulated by adjusting screws F, F, or the
rollers may be weighted (if preferred.)
The endless feeding cloths C, C, rollers D, D, and circular saws or tearers
E, E, are all respectively driven by means of spur gearing G, G, rotary motion
being communicated in the first instance to one of the rollers D by means of
a strap passing round the driving pulley H keyed on the end of its journal or.
axle.
It will be evident that by removing the rollers D, D, and substituting others
with the grooves and discs of different widths, and by setting the circular saws
or tearers E, E, a corresponding distance apart by washers of suitable
thickness placed between them, the fibres may be reduced to any desired
length.
Having now described the nature of our said Invention for "An Improved
Machine for Reducing or Equalizing the Length of Animal or Vegetable
Fibres," together with the manner in which the same is to be or may be per-
formed or carried into practical effect, we would remark in conclusion, that
we claim as our Invention the construction and application, for the pur-
poses above specified, of a machine constructed, arranged, and operating,

page_text: substantially as herein-before set forth and shown in the accompanying
Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Robert Breach and Edward
Baines Pye Smith, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this
Twenty-fourth day of March, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-three.
Witness,
BRISTOW HUNT,
JOHN ROBERT BREACH.
(L.S.).
EDWARD BAINES PYE SMITH. (L.S.)
Sol & Patent Agent,
1, Serle Street,
Lincoln's Inn.