IMPROVE- MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR COMBING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Little, of Oldham, in the County of
Lancaster, Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR COMBING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS."
Sealed the 30th May 1871, and dated the 2nd December 1870...
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Little at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd December 1870.
IM-
I, GEORGE LITTLE, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR COMBING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS,"
to be as follows:-
My Invention relates, firstly, to those combing machines which are
constructed upon that principle for which Letters Patent were granted
to George Tomlinson Bousfield, dated Sept. 20th, 1861, No. 2358, and "
consists, firstly, in a method of feeding the material.. For this purpose
I employ a dish, within which is placed a roller to which rotary motion
is imparted. The material passes between the two surfaces, and is
-
•

page_text: carried forward by the roller.
I propose to groove the roller in one
or more directions, but preferably to apply a series of combs, and a
method of constructing the same constitutes another part of my Inven-
tion. The needles constituting the combs I solder or otherwise attach
to metal bars, which are bent to the required angle, and extend length- |
wise of the roller. At one or both ends of the roller are adjustable cap
pieces grooved out, and which when forced against the ends of the bars
confine them in their proper positions; but I also propose in some cases
to provide them with intermediate supports by rings, against which
dovetailed parts of the bars are pressed. This method of constructing
comb rollers is applicable to other combing machines in which similar
apparatus is required.
Another part of my Invention consists in the use of nippers placed
beneath the ordinary feed rollers. These nippers I propose to construct
of two bars grooved by preference. in two. directions. They open to 1
allow the material to pass between them and then close thereon, after
which they rise with the usual motion of the rollers.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George. Little in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 1st June 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
LITTLE, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of December, on the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said George Little, Her special license
that I, the said George Little, my executors, administrators, and, assigns,
or such others. as. I, the said, George Little, 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 "ImPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR

page_text: COMBING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS,” upon the condition,
amongst others, that I, the said George Little, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain 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 George Little, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement and accompanying Drawings (that is to say)
My Invention relates, firstly, to such combing machines as are con
structed upon that principle for which Letters Patent were granted to
George Tomlinson Bousfield; dated September Twentieth, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-one, No. 2358, and consist, firstly, in a method
of feeding the material and in a peculiar construction of comb roller
to be employed therein; secondly, in the use of nippers placed beneath
the ordinary feed rollers.
My first improvement is shewn at Figs. 1, 2, 3, of the accompanying
Drawings; Fig. 1 being a cross section; Fig. 2 an end, view; and
Fig. 3 a plan view of a portion of a combing machine on the aforesaid
principle. The circles a, b, represent the peripheries of the two nipper
cylinders, and at c is the frame turning upon a centre d, and which in
the usual arrangement carries the two feed rollers. At e is a traverse
plate extending from side to side of the machine, carried by the
vibrating frame c. An extension of this plate is curved downward at
f, so as to form a dish, its outward point being nearly in contact with
the nipper cylinder a, and within this dish is placed a roller g the
axis of which is mounted in bearings carried by the vibrating
frame c. Figs. 4, 5, shew in two views a method I adopt of forming
the surface of this roller g, the said surface being represented as a plane.
It is formed by cutting the periphery of the cylinder in two directions,
so as to leave diamond-shaped or pyramidical projections, but it may be
of other forms, and I shall hereafter describe a peculiar construction of
roller constituting a separate part of my Invention. Upon the axis of
the roller ŋ is a worm ħ taking into a worm wheel i mounted on a
short shaft j, which is carried by a bracket & attached to the vibrating
frame Cj and upon the said shaft is a ratchet wheel & Loose upon the

page_text: shaft is a bell-crank lever m, one end of which carries a driver n, and
the other end a pin o, which rests upon a stationary part p, this end of
the lever being the heavier. Upon the shaft g is also a spur pinion q,
which gives motion to a train of gearing r, s, t, the last-mentioned of
which is on the centre of motion of the vibrating frame c, and is in gear
with a carrier u taking into a pinion upon the axis of the unlapping
roller w, the other w* being caused to revolve by an intermediate x.
According to the positions of the parts shewn in the Drawing the
feed has taken place, and the material has been seized by the nipper
cylinder a. The vibrating frame will now rise upon its centre d as
usual, leaving a tuft to be carried forward by the said cylinder, and in
so rising will carry upward with it the ratchet wheel and bell-crank
lever m, m*, but as the end m* thereof is the heavier the pin o will
remain upon the stationary part p, and will cause the driver n to slip
over the teeth of the ratchet wheel 1; when however the vibrating
frame c moves downward, the pin o not being able to descend with it
will cause the bell-crank lever m, m*, to turn in the opposite direction
and the driver n acting upon a tooth of the ratchet wheel / will impart
a partial rotary motion to the shaft j, and will through the medium of
the worm and worm wheel h drive the roller g, at the same time the
ratchet wheel / gives motion through the medium of the pinion q and
train of gearing above described to the unlapping rollers w, w*, and as
the pinion t is on the centre of motion of the vibrating frame c its
The lap
position in reference to the carrier will remain the same.
of material to be combed is placed upon the rollers w, w*, and is
conducted therefrom along the plate e and between the dish f and
roller g; as, therefore, the said roller is caused to revolve by the means
above described it presses the material between its periphery and the
dish fand delivers it to the nipping cylinder a. The plate e is formed
with side parts or guards y, which also extend along the dish f.
I will now proceed to describe a peculiar construction I employ for
the roller g. Fig. 6 is a longitudinal view of this roller, partly in
At 1 is the axis of the
section; and Fig. 7 a cross section of the same.
roller cut at each end with screw threads 2, 3, upon which are lock
nuts 4, 5, capable of thrusting forward cap pieces 6, 7, placed loosely
upon the axis 1.
These cap pieces are formed with hollow cones,
within which there is a series of strips of metal 8, the ends thereof being
formed angular, so as to correspond to the conical recesses of the cap
pieces 6, 7, and turned over at their outward ends to any desired angle..

page_text: Against the faces of these strips are soldered or otherwise attached comb
teeth or needles 9; and the lock nuts 4; 5; being turned so as to tighten
the cap pieces 6, 7, upon the strips 8, the whole is bound firmly together
and may be used as the roller g, of Figs. 1, 2, 3. If from the width of
the roller it is necessary to afford a support for the strips 8, between
the cap pieces 6, 7, I adopt the following arrangement:-Upon the
axis 1 is formed a projecting ring 10, constructed with a wedge-shaped
part 11, situate within a similarly formed cavity made in the strips 8.
On tightening the cap piece 6.the strips 8 will be forced against wedge
formed part of the ring 10 so as to form an intermediate support, and
the cap piece 7 will confine the other ends as in the first instance.
The Drawing shews but one ring 10 only, but if desired two or more
may be adapted to the axis 1. In constructing the strips 8 I prefer to
make them of sheet brass, cut into widths as seen at Fig. 8, then to bend
them over as at Fig. 9, and subsequently to solder the comb points on
to them as at Fig. 10.
My next improvement is shewn at Fig. 11, 12; the former representing
a partial section of the combing machine, and the latter a view taken
at right angles to Fig. 11. One of the nipper cylinders is represented
by the circle a, and the usual pair of feed rollers at 12, 13. These
rollers are mounted upon a frame 14 capable of turning upon a centre
at 15 and carrying an arm 16, the lower end of which is provided with
a bowl 17 situate against the periphery of a cam 18 mounted upon the
cam shaft 19. To the frame 14 is attached a bar 20 extending upward
nearly to the bite of the rollers 12, 13, and constituting one part of the
nippers which form this part of my Invention. At 21 is another bar
constituting the second portion of the nippers, and this bar is carried by
a frame 22 capable of turning upon a centre 23 but drawn towards the
bar 20 by a spring 24. At 25 is the usual comb bar mounted upon a
frame 26 which is capable of turning upon the aforesaid centre of motion
23. At 27 is a pin attached to the frame 22 and passing freely through
the frame 26, a head 28 being formed thereon which according to the
position shewn is free of the frame 26. Upon the shaft 19 is a cam 29
acting against a bowlon one end of a crank lever 30 capable of turning
upon a centre at 31 and connected to a rod 32 which is provided with a
recess 33 taking on to a pin '34 projecting from the frame 26, by which
means therefore the comb bar 25 is drawn inward. The outward motion
of the said comb bar is effected by a spring 35 drawing the lever 30
downward when the cam 29 permits it to do so. The centre of motion 23
F

page_text: is carried by bars 36 which are attached to brackets 37 fixed upon the
frame 14. According to the positions of the parts shewn the rollers 12,
13, have as usual fed a certain quantity of material, the nippers 20, 21,
have closed thereon, and the comb 25 is thrust through the fibres. The
nipper cylinder a now moving in the direction of the arrow marked a
thereon will clip the projecting material; at the same time the revolution
of the shaft 19 will bring the cam 18 to act upon the lever 16, by which
means the frame 14 will be caused to turn upward, carrying with it the
rollers 12, 13, and nippers 20, 21, and as the comb bar 25 is also carried
by the frame 14 through the medium of the brackets 37 the whole of the 1
above-mentioned working parts will move upward bodily together, thus
detaching a tuft of material to be carried forward by the nipper cylinder.
During these movements the bowl of the lever 30 has been on a dead run
of the cam 29, but when they have been accomplished the revolution of
the shaft 19 will have brought the cam into such a position as to allow 1
the spring 35 to draw the lever 30 downward, thus causing it to turn
upon its centre 31 and push forward the rod 32, by which means the
frame 26 will be caused to turn upon its centre 23 and carry the comb
bar backward so that the comb thereon will be beyond the parting of
the nippers. After the frame 26 has thus moved a certain distance it :
arrives against the head of the pin 28, which it pushes forward, and
with it the frame 22, whereby the bar 21 is caused to recede from
the other bar 20, and the nipper 21 becomes opened. The usual
revolution of the rollers 12, 13, then passes forward a fresh quantity of
material, and the revolution of the shaft 19 causes the cams thereon to
bring the rollers 12, 13, and comb bar 25 into the positions shewn. As
the comb bar 25 thus moves back again the frame 26 leaves the head of
the pin 27, and the spring 24 acting upon the frame 22 closes the
nipper 21.

page_text: Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be
understood that I claim as secured to me under the above in part recited
Letters Patent, and as applied to combing machines on the above-
mentioned principle,―
Firstly. The use of a dish and roller as illustrated at f, g, for conveying
the material to the revolving nipping cylinder.
Secondly. The method of constructing the said roller g as illustrated
at Figs. 6, 7.
Thirdly. The use of nippers as at 20, 21, placed beneath the feed
rollers.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Little, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
GEORGE LITTLE. (L.B.)