MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR FEEDING WOOL, COTTON, OR OTHER FIBROUS .
Year: 1874

page_text: IMPROVE-
LETTERS PATENT to Andrew Hislop Maclean of Greenwood, in the
County of Argyll, North Britain, for the Invention of "
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR FEEDING WOOL, COTTON, OR OTHER FIBROUS
.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Andrew Hislop Maclean
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 24th September 1874.
I, ANDREW HISLOP MACLEAN, of Greenwood, in the County of
Argyll, North Britain, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR FEEDING WOOL, COTTON, OR OTHER
FIBROUS MATERIALS TO CARDING OR OTHER MACHINES," to be as follows, that is
to say:
This Invention has chiefly for its object to overcome certain
difficulties that have been met with in feeding wool, cotton, or other,
fibrous materials by mechanical means to carding and other machines,

page_text: difficulties arising from the various natures and qualities of the different
fibres, and from the different conditions in which the materials present
themselves for treatment.
The Invention may be applied in combination with weighing
mechanism such as that of the well known Evans and King's "first 5
feed," or such weighing may in some cases be dispensed with.
In one modification of the improved apparatus designed, more
particularly for "long wool" or similar fibrous materials, a gripping
action is employed, a series of pairs of fingers being first thrust into
the mass of wool, secondly, closed together, thirdly, withdrawn, and 1
fourthly, opened to deposit the portions of wool separated by them
on an endless apron or on a weighing scale.
In one convenient arrangement for obtaining these actions two sets of
the gripping fingers are combined so as to project in nearly opposite
directions from a horizontal bar carried by means of arms fixed on a ]
shaft situated centrally beneath a hopper containing the wool in a loose
state. The shaft is made to rock or oscillate, and causes the two sets of
fingers to be alternately thrust upwards into openings along cach side of
the bottom of the hopper. When one set of fingers is entered into the
hopper the other set is down in the position for depositing its extracted :
fibres, and one movement makes the upper set of fingers close and the
lower ones open. The fingers may close by angular or parallel move-
ments, one half of the fingers, comprising one of each pair, being fixed
on the carrying bar, and the other half on a subsidiary bar to which the
requisite movements are imparted by rods communicating with the
rocking shaft and acted on by means of a piston impelled by compressed
air, or in any other convenient way. The fingers are made slender and
spring-like, and their gripping parts are by preference gloved with
rubber, leather, or similar material. The openings in the bottom of the
hopper are fitted with hinged doors which open to allow the fingers to
enter, but which tend to close as the wool is being withdrawn and
thereby prevent too large portions from getting out. To insure the
complete separation of the wool from the fingers when being deposited
blasts of air may be directed upon them.
In a second modification a horizontal cylinder placed at one side of a
hopper is made to pick up and carry over cotton or other fibrous
material by a sucking action. The cylinder is perforated or made of

page_text: wire gauze, but with holes or meshes too small for the entrance of the
fibres, and a partial vacuum is maintained inside of it by pumps or
otherwise. The sucking action is limited by an internal partition upon
which the cylinder revolves, and any fibres that are carried over pass
this partition and then drop off, or if they do not readily drop off may
be made to do so by forcing air into the cylinder at that side of the
partition. When the fibrous materials are to be weighed they are
dropped upon a nicely balanced scale, and on this scale being full and
descending a short distance, it causes a stream of air to be liberated
which blows the fibrous materials off the scale against a board from
which they fall on an endless apron beneath.
In a third modification small continuous streams of the fibrous
materials are withdrawn from a heap by a series of revolving helices or
hollow screws. These screws are held and turned by means of tubes
cncasing certain portions of their lengths, but do not move longitudinally,
so that instead of screwing themselves into the wool they cause portions
of it to move along them and be finally delivered from their outer
ends.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
-
filed by the said Andrew Hislop Maclean in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 23rd March 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ANDREW
HISLOP MACLEAN, of Greenwood, in the County of Argyll, North Britain,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Andrew Hislop Maclean, Her
special licence that I, the said Andrew Hislop Maclean, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Andrew Hislop
Maclean, 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,

page_text: 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 FOR FEEDING WOOL, COTTON, OR OTHER FIBROUS
MATERIALS TO CARDING OR OTHER MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Andrew Hislop Maclean, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or
one of their hands 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 1
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Andrew Hislop Maclean, 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 in writing, reference being had to the 1
accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
My said Invention has chiefly for its object to overcome certain
difficulties that have been met with in feeding wool, cotton, or other
fibrous materials by mechanical means to carding and other machines,
difficulties arising from the various natures and peculiarities of the
different fibres, and from the different conditions in which the materials
present themselves for treatment.
My Invention may be applied in combination with weighing
mechanism such as that of the well known Evans' and King's “first
feed," or such weighing may in some cases be dispensed with.
And in order that my said Invention and the manner of performing
the same may be properly understood, I hereunto append a Sheet of
Diagrams to be herein-after referred to, and explanatory of the essential
features of my various improved arrangements or contrivances. In these
Diagrams the same reference numerals are used to mark the same or
like parts wherever they are repeated.
In one modification of my improved apparatus designed more
particularly for "long wool" or similar fibrous materials, a gripping
action is employed, a series of pairs of fingers being first thrust into the
mass of wool, secondly, closed together, thirdly, withdrawn, and fourthly,
opened to deposit the portions of wool separated by them on an endless
forwarding apron or on a weighing scale.

page_text: One convenient arrangement for obtaining these actions is partly
shown in Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying Diagrams; Figure 1
being a transverse section of a hopper 1 with a curved bottom 2, and two
outlets 3, 4, made through the bottom close to the sides 5; Figure 2 is
an enlarged view showing a few pairs of the gripping fingers, of which
fingers there are two sets combined, so as to project in nearly opposite
directions from a horizontal bar 6 carried by means of arms at the ends,
and of which only one 7 is shown, partly indicated by dotted lines, these
arms being fixed on a horizontal shaft 8 situated centrally beneath the
hopper 1 containing the wool in a loose state. The shaft 8 is made to
rock or oscillate by means, for example, of a revolving eccentric 9, con-
nected by a rod 10 (partly indicated by dotted lines) to a lever 11, fixed
on one end of it, and causes the bar 6 to thrust the two sets of fingers
alternately into the openings 3, 4, in the bottom of the hopper 1. When
one set of fingers is being entered into one opening 3, as shown in
Figure 1, the other set is inverted and in a position for depositing its
extracted fibres, and one movement closes the fingers then upermost
and opens the others. The fingers may close by angular or parallel
movements, one half of the fingers comprising one 12 of each pair being
fixed on the carrying bar 6 and the others 13 on a subsidiary bar 14, to
which the requisite movements are imparted. In Figure 2 the sub-
sidiary bar 14 is shown as fitted to slide in a dovetail groove in the main
bar 6, and as having fixed to it an oblique sided stud 15 projecting into
a helical groove in a boss 16 fitted to turn on the bar 6 between collars,
and having fixed to it a weighted lever 17. When the bar 6 by the
action of the rocking shaft 8 reaches one end of its traverse the
momentum of the weighted lever 17, causes this lever to tend to move
further than or overrun the bar 6, and in doing this it turns the boss 16,
and by the oblique action of the groove on the stud 15 of the subsidiary
bar 14 moves the last along the bar 6 so as to close the upper movable
fingers 13 against the fixed fingers 12, the same action opening the
lower fingers. On the bar 6 reaching the other end of its traverse
the weighted lever 17 acts in the same manner but in the reverse
direction.

page_text: if the friction of the parts is not sufficient to prevent shifting of the
subsidiary bar 14, except at the ends of the traverse, the friction may be
increased by screws. The fingers 12, 13, and particularly the movable
ones, are made slender and spring like, and their gripping parts may be
gloved with rubber, leather, or similar material.
Instead of the fingers being in pairs they may be formed of hollow
rubber strengthened with metal, and their interiors may be made to
communicate through the bar 6 and other parts made hollow for the
purpose with an air cylinder. On the air in such cylinder being com-
pressed by the piston it will cause the fingers to swell until they touch
cach other, and so take hold of any wool or other fibres which get
between them on their being thrust into the mass of wool; then on the
fingers being moved to the position for depositing the wool, the piston of
the air cylinder is withdrawn and the fingers consequently collapse and
drop the wool from between them.
To insure the complete separation of the wool from the fingers (of
any of the kinds herein-before described) when being deposited, blasts of
air may be directed upon them from a suitably placed pipe with
perforations or jet nozzles. The openings 3, 4, in the bottom of the
hopper 1 are fitted with hinged doors 18 which open inwards to allow
the fingers to enter but which tend to close by springs as the wool is
being withdrawn, and thereby prevent portions that are too large from
getting out.
Instead of there being only a single row of fingers to penetrate the
hopper at once, there may be two or more rows all held by the one
carrying bar or frame, and they may enter the hopper through a grating
having an opening for each pair of fingers, such grating preventing each
pair from drawing out too much of the fibrous materials.
By another modification four or more rows of fingers are carried
radially by a revolving frame, and at a part of the revolution each row of
fingers in turn enters between vertical bars of a grating forming tho
outlet from the hopper. When the points of the fingers project within
the grating each pair is closed so as to take hold of any wool or fibrous
materials between them, and as the revolution of the frame continues
the closed fingers draw out the materials which they let drop on
reaching a part of the revolution where they are opened.

page_text: In a second modification, shown in section in Figure 3, a horizontal
cylinder 19 placed at one side of a hopper 1 is made to pick up and
carry over cotton or other fibrous material by a sucking action. The
cylinder 19 is made with a shell of perforated sheet metal or wire gauze
of the finest or nearly the finest kinds made, or in other words, with
holes or meshes too small for the entrance of the fibres, and a partial
vacuum is maintained inside a part of the cylinder by pumps or
otherwise. The sucking action is limited by an internal partition 20,
upon which the cylinder revolves, and the fibres taken up are carried
over the top of the cylinder, and after passing the upper edge of the
partition at 21 they drop off, or if they do not readily drop off may be
made to do so by forcing air into the cylinder at that side of the
partition 20. The cylinder 19 may be arranged to revolve in the reverse
direction to that indicated in Figure 3, and the internal compartments
for the exhausted and compressed air may be made to occupy smaller
portions of the cylinder than as shown in that figure.
When the fibrous materials are to be weighed they are droped upon
a nicely balanced scale, and on this scale being full and descending a
short distance, it causes a stream of air to be liberated which blows the
fibrous materials off the scale against a board from which they fall on
an endless forwarding apron beneath.
In a third modification small continuous streams of the fibrous
materials are withdrawn from a heap by a series of revolving helices or
hollow screws. One of these screws is shown in end view in Figure 4,
and in sectional side view in Figure 5. The screw 22, consisting of a
helically bended wire is held and turned by three rollers, 23, 24, 25,
one of which is supposed to be removed in Figure 5. The rollers are
carried by a bracket 26 fixed to the hopper 1 and may be driven by a
belt 27. The screw 22 penetrates into the hopper through a hole 28,
and to prevent it from being moved longitudinally, it is made to gear
like a screw worm with a worm wheel 29 which is fast on a spindle,
having also on it a small worm wheel 30 driven by a worm 31 on the
spindle of one of the rollers.
The small worm wheel 30 and worm 31 are indicated by dotted lines
in Figure 5. If necessary two or more worm wheels like the one 29

page_text: With these arrangements the screw 22 is in a sense entirely floating,
and any fibres that may get on the outside of it will be gradually
propelled along it without impediment from the driving rollers 23, 24, 25,
which have a rolling movement relative to the screw or from the worm
wheel 29 of which the part that is in gear moves in the direction the
fibres have to travel. A number of the rollers (23, 24, 25,) may be
combined in two horizontal rows so as to drive a slightly zig-zag row of
hollow screws (22) as indicated by the dotted circles in Figure 4.
Hollow screws arranged as described instead of screwing themselves into
the wool in the hopper 1 will cause portions of it to move outwards along 1
them and be finally delivered from their outer ends so as to fall upon a
weighing scale or upon an endless forwarding apron.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, I have to state that I do not restrict
myself to the precise details herein described or delineated, but that 1
what I believe to be novel and original and claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
1. The applying of pairs or sets of mechanical fingers for separating
or feeding portions of wool, cotton, or other fibrous materials from a
loose mass to be conveyed to carding or other machines, such fingers 2
being thrust or moved into the loose mass in an open state, then closed
and withdrawn, and afterwards opened to drop the materials taken hold
of and detached, substantially as herein-before described.
2. The employing of blasts or jets of air to blow the fibrous materials
off the fingers as herein-before described.
3. The separating of portions of wool, cotton, or other fibrous
materials from a loose mass for feeding carding or other machines, by
a sucking action applied by means of a cylinder having a perforated or
permeable shell, and from a part of the interior of which air is cxhausted,
substantially as herein-before described.
4. The transferring of fibrous materials from the weighing scale of
first feed apparatus to the endless forwarding apron by means of a blast
of air set in action through the descent of the scale on becoming full, as
herein-before described.
2
3

page_text: 5. The separating of portions or streams of wool, cotton, or other
fibrous materials from a loose mass by means of hollow revolving screws
or helices arranged and operating as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Andrew Hislop Maclean, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of March,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
A. H. MACLEAN. (L.S.)