Improvements in Hackling Machines for Flax, Hemp, and other Fibrous Materials.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Sept., 1888
Complete Specification Left, 5th June, 1889-Accepted, 20th July, 1889
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Hackling Machines for Flax, Hemp, and other
Fibrous Materials.
I DAVID REED of Byron Street Mill, Byron Street, Leeds, in the County of York,
millmanager do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to machines for combing or hackling flax, hemp or other
fibrous materials and consists in improved arrangements for moving and transporting
the hackles so that the pins enter the flax or other material at right angles to the
same and close to the nip of the holders and for cleaning the hackle pins on both
sides. Ordinarily the hackle bars are fastened to endless leather sheets or otherwise
combined into sheets passing round rollers at the top and bottom in consequence of
which they enter the material to be combed in a slanting direction and cannot
pass through the same except at some distance from the nip of the hollers. My
improvement consists in making the hackle bars unconnected with each other and
moving them from the top to the bottom by means of screws at each end of the bars
into the thread of which screws the ends of the bars enter and are carried down by
the rotation of the screws, which are driven at uniform speeds through gearing from
the driving shaft of the machine. I use two set of hackle bars one on each side
of the fibrous material to be combed and connect the screws carrying the bars so that
the bars on each side are opposite to the intervals between the bars on the other side.
During their traverse the hackle bars are guided by slides on the frame by preference
so set that the pins enter deeper into the material at the top and are gradually drawn
back during the descent of the bars. At the bottom the hackle bars are taken out of
the screws by cams fixed on the screws similarly as in the gillboxes of drawing or
spinning frames and may be returned to the top by other screws similarly to those
used for returning the needle bars in said gillboxes. By preference however I use
two or more spiders or bosses with radial straight or curved arms rotated by means
of wormwheels attached to them and worms on vertical shafts driven by gearing from
the traversing screws. The cams on the screws in this case deliver the hackle bars
on a slide where they are seized by the arms of the lowest spider and carried
forward in suitable guides and lifted to the second spider which carries them forward
to the next and so on, the last spider carrying the bars over the top of it into slides
where they are acted upon by cams on the vertical wormshafts and pushed again into
the vertical screws and the fibrous material. During the transport of the bars by the
spiders they are cleaned from the tow and dirt. Where the cam and spider moves
the bar out of the screw-I fix a plate or doctor and a fixed brush under which the
bars pass the former stripping the tow off the pins and the latter cleaning the top of
the pins. A short distance beyond these 1 fix another plate or doctor over which the
bars pass and which strips the tow that may remain on the pins and behind it a
revolving brush which cleans the bottom of the pins, so that both sides of the pins
are kept clean and the tow can be easily stripped off them.
By preference I arrange the slides which guide the hackle bars in such a manner
that they are moved farther apart at the top as the holders for the flax rise so that the
pins will only enter the flax slightly when the holder begins to descend and thus
comb the ends out gently, and at or before the time the holders are at the bottom of
their descent the slides are brought close and the pins enter to their full depth into
the material. This I effect by attaching to the bearers which lift the holder rail or
trough a plate or its equivalent tapering towards the top and arrange the slide for the
hackle bars and the vertical wormshaft at each side on a frame that can swivel at the
bottoin and carries a bowl at the top which is drawn against the tapering plate by a
weight spring or equivalent device. As the plate rises it pushes frames on each side

page_text: apart and moves the hackle bars outwards and as it descends the weights springs or
equivalent devices draw them nearer to each other. This closing and opening may
be gradual during the entire lift or be effected more or less suddenly at a certain
part of the lift as the nature of the material may require by shaping the edges of the
plate acting on the bowls accordingly. This arrangement for opening and closing
the hackles may be applied to one end of the frame only, where the flax or other
material first enters the machine.
The machine may be made only with one head and one set of hackle bars
extending the whole length of the machine, or two or more heads or sets of hackle
bars may be arranged in the length of the machine, each set being in that case
moved by separate screws and lifting mechanism at each end. The screws for the
succeeding set are in this case made of finer pitch and revolved at a greater speed
than those for the preceeding set.
By preference I place the intermediate bearers or frames for each two set some
distance apart and arrange on them in suitable bearings circular brushes on each side
of the machine and drive the brushes by straps and pulleys from the driving shaft
of the machine. By these brushes the flax or other material is brushed on both
sides while passing from one set of hackles to the other and cleaned from loose dirt
and straightened for the finer hackles.
Dated this 4th day of September 1888.
EMMOTT & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Hackling Machines for Flax, Hemp, and other
Fibrous Materials.
1, DAVID REED, of Byrom Street Mill, Byrom Street, Leeds, in the County of
York, Mill Manager, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
:-
My invention relates to machines for combing or hackling flax, hemp or other
fibrous materials and consists in improved arrangements for moving and transporting
the hackles so that the pins enter the flax or other material at right angles to the
same and close to the nip of the holders and for cleaning the hackle pins on both
sides.
On the two sheets of drawings appended hereunto,
Fig. 1 shows a sideview of a hackling machine with my improvements.
Fig. 2 a crosssection of the same.
Fig. 3 a partial crosssection, showing a modification of my arrangements.
Fig. 4 an end view.
Fig. 5 a sketch of a machine with two heads.
The arrangements for holding the flax, hemp or other material in clips in a trough,
and traversing them horizontally and lowering or raising them vertically are
indicated only in the drawings and of the usual kind and form no part of this
invention.
Ordinarily the hacklebars are fastened to endless leather sheets or otherwise
combined into sheets passing round rollers at the top and bottom, in consequence of
which they enter the material to be combed in a slanting direction and do not pass
through the same except at some distance-from the nip of the holders. My improve-
ments consists in making the hackle bars unconnected with each other and moving
them from the top to the bottom by means of screws at each end of the bars, into
the thread of which screws the bars enter. On Fig. 1 and 2 a a¹ are the hackle
bars, the ends of which enter into the threads of the screws bb' in a similar manner
as the gill or needle bars of the gillboxes of flax drawing frames. Two sets of
bars a and a¹ are used, one on each side of the material c to be combed. There is

page_text: one bar in each thread of the screw, but for the sake of clearness of the-drawings
only some of these bars are shewn at the top of the screws. The screws at each end
of the bars are driven at a uniform speed from a longitudinal shaft d through bevil
wheels dd. One of such shafts may be arranged on each side of the machine, or a
shaft may be placed at one side only as shewn on the drawings and the screws on
the other side driven through spurwheels e, e¹, e, e as shewn. The screws on
opposite sides of the machine are so connected by the wheels that the bars on one
side are opposite to the intervals between the bars on the other side.
During their
downward traverse the hacklebars a al are guided by slides ii between which they
pass and which are by preference so set that the pins enter deeper into the material at
the top and are gradually drawn back during the descent of the bars, as shewn on
fig. 2. At the bottom the hacklebars are taken out of the screws by cams f fixed on
the screws similarly as in the gillboxes of flax drawing or spinning frames and may
be returned to the top by screws arranged similarly to those used for returning the
needlebars in said gillboxes. By preference I use two or more spiders or bosses with
radial curved or straight arms for returning them. Figs. 1 and 2 show an arrange-
ment of three spiders with curved arms for this purpose, and fig. 3 an arrangement
with straight arms. Three shafts g, h, and k, on each side of the machine rotating
in bearings in the frame sides or the spring frames hereinafter described carry each at
each end a spider g¹ g², l¹² h², k¹ k. The shafts g and k are rotated by worms and m
gearing into wormwheels I'm formed on the bosses of the spiders g¹¹ and the
shaft h by a worm n and worm wheel n¹ keyed upon the shaft / either at the other end
of the shaft as shewn or at the same end. The worins I m and n are fixed upon or
formed on the upright shafts o o¹ driven through the wheels d d and e e¹ e e³ from
the driving shaft d. The cams f on the screws deliver the hacklebars on to curved
slidebars where they are seized by the arms of the lowest spiders g¹ g² and
carried forward in the positions shewn on fig. 2. When reaching the position & fig. 2
the bars slide down the curved arms of the spider against its boss and are carried on
their sides on the boss till they are taken up by the arms of the spiders ¹². By
this means they are turned over so that while they travel with the spiders g¹ g² with
their pins backmost, they are forwarded by the spiders with their pins foremost.
The spiders take them off the spiders h¹² and push them into the horizontal
top part of the slidebars, where they are seized by cams 02 03 fixed on the
shafts oo and pushed into the screws and the fibrous material again;
the arrange-
ment of the cains being similar to that used with the return screws of gillboxes for
flax drawing and spinning frames. By this arrangement the hacklebars are pushed
into the material to be combed close to the nip of the holders q and at right angles to
the same.
Where the cams fand spiders g² g² move the hacklebars out of the screw, I fix a
plate or doctor p and a brush p¹ under which the hacklebars pass, the former stripping
the tow off the pins, and the latter cleaning the top of the pins. A short distance
beyond these I fix another plate or doctor p² over which the bars pass and which
strips the tow that may remain on the pins off the other side, and behind it a revolving
brush protated by a strap or band and pulleys from the driving shaft, which clears
the bottom ends of the pins, so that both sides of the pins are kept clean and the tow
can be easily stripped off them.
Fig. shows an arrangement with spiders having straight arms and differently
curved slidebars. The hacklebars are delivered by the cams upon one of the arms,
passing under the brush pt. They travel with their pins downwards past the
revolving brush p³ and are cleaned on the other side, and slide along the arm of the
bottom spider and are turned by a quarter turn on being taken up by the second
spider.
The hacklebars may be formed with shoulders to hold them between the slidebars
at each end of the machine, or the slidebars may be formed with projecting ledges
next to the frame ends to hold the hacklebars in position in their longitudinal
directions. The slidebars may be attached by means of studs the end frames of
the machine as indicated on fig. 2, these studs being omitted in fig. 1 for the sake of

page_text: shewing the transversing screws and other parts more clearly, or they may form part
of the swing frames hereinafter described.
Instead of the brushes for cleaning the pins, pipes with nozzles may be arranged
where the bars travel on the hottom of the slidebars, as indicated on fig. 3. and
connected to a blowing fan driven from a shaft of the machine or independently for the
purpose of blowing the tow off the hacklebars.
By preference I arrange the slidebars which guide the hacklebars in such
a manuer that they are moved farther apart at the top as the holders or clips for the
fibrous material rise, so that the pins will only enter the material slightly when the
holder begins to descend and thus comb the ends out gently, and at or before the
time the holders are at the bottom of their descent the slides are brought closer
together and the pins enter to their full depth into the material. This may be
effected as shewn by fig. 4. The slidebars together with the bearings for the
screw, the wormshaft and the spider shafts on each side of the machine are formed
into a connected swing frame having a pivot s fixed to it which can swivel in a boss
of the frame end. The swing frames are held in their places by collars & fixed upon
the pivots outside the frame bosses, and at the top by brackets * (fig. 1 and 4) or
by equivalent means. To the bearers t which lift the clip or holder rail or trough t¹,
I attach on each side a plate 2 tapering towards the top. On each swing frame Í
fix a stud with a roller t³, and a hook t to which a spring to is attached, which draws
the rollers against the tapering plates 2. In the position shown on the drawing,
the bearer and trough are near to the lower end of their downward traverse and the
swing frames with their slidebars drawn together into the position similar to that
shewn by figs. 2 and 3, when the hacklepins enter to their full depth into the material.
When the bearers t and trough t¹ rise, the tapering plates 2 press the bowls and
swing frames farther apart so that in the highest position of the trough, when fresh
material is introduced, the points of the pin only enter the outside of the material
and comb out its ends gently, and enter deeper into it as the trough t¹ descends.
This closing and opening may be gradual during the entire lift by means of a
gradual taper of the plates as shewn by fig. 4, or it may be effected more or less
suddenly at a certain part of the lift, as the nature of the material may require, by
shaping the edges of the plates t² accordingly.
This arrangement for opening and closing the hackles may be applied at one end
of the machine only, where the flax or other material first enters the machine, or at
both ends of the first head, where the machine is made with several heads.
The machine may be made with one head or one ct of hacklebars on each side
extending for the whole length of the machine, or two or more heads or lengths of
hacklebars may be arranged in the length of the machine, each set of bars being
in that case moved by separate screws and lifting mechanism at each of its ends, as
indicated by the outline sketch (fig. 5) of a frame with two heads.
The screws for the succeeding set are in this case made of finer pitch and revolved
at a greater speed than those for the preceeding set, so that more of the finer bars
are acting while the speed of the pins in combing the material may remain
approximately the same." By preference I place the intermediate bearers or
frames for each two sets some distance apart and arrange on them in suitable
bearings circular brushes ², one on each side of the machine, and drive the brushes
by straps and pulleys from the driving shaft of the machine, as indicated on fig. 5.
By these brushes the flax or other material is brushed on both sides while passing
from one set of hackles to the other and cleansed from loose dirt and straightened for
the finer hackles of the succeeding set.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
clain is in hackling machines for flax, hemp or other fibrous materials:
Firstly, the arrangement of screws and slide bars for traversing the hacklebars
while combing or hackling fibrous materials, substantially as herein described and-
illustrated by the drawings.

page_text: Secondly, the combination with screws for traversing the hacklebars while combing
or backling, of spiders rotated by worms and worm wheels for lifting the hacklebars,
slidebars for guiding them and cams on the wormshafts for putting them again into
the traversing screws, substantially as herein described and illustrated by the
drawings.
Thirdly, the arrangement of spiders with curved arms and of slide bars for lifting
and turning the hacklebars substantially as shewn by and described with reference to
figure 2 of the drawings.
Fourthly, the arrangement of spiders with straight arms and of curved slidebars
for lifting and turning the hacklebars substantially as shewn by and described with
reference to fig. 3 of the drawings.
Fifthly, in combination with spiders for lifting the hacklebars, doctor plates or
fixed or revolving brushes or any two or all of them for cleaning the hacklebars
substantially as herein described.
Sixthly, in hackling machines composed of two or more separate heads, the
arrangement of traversing screws in each succeeding head of finer pitch and run at a
higher speed than in the preceeding head.
Seventhly, in hackling machines composed of two or more heads the arrangement
of revolving brushes between the heads substantially as herein described and for the
purpose set forth.
Dated this 4th day of June 1980
EMMOTT & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.