IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR BURRING AND CLEANSING WOOL AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR BURRING AND
CLEANSING WOOL AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES."-A communication from
abroad by Calvin Luther Goddard, of the City of New York, in tho
United States of America.
Sealed the 3rd August 1866, and dated the 1st June 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st June 1866.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR BURRING
AND CLEANSING WOOL AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates, firstly, to the structure of the surface of the cylinder
of machines for separating the fibres of wool from the burrs and other foreign
substances which adhere to the fibres, which said Invention is also applicable
to the separation of cotton and other fibres from the seeds and foreign sub-
stances; and, secondly, to the construction of the inner or core cylinder on
which the burring rings are mounted.
The object of the first part of the Invention is to admit of making the
gullets sufficiently close to exclude the burrs and other extraneous matters,

page_text: and allow them to be removed by the beater, and at the same time to enable
all the gullet rings which are of equal diameter to take each an equal quantity
of wool from the feed rollers at each rotation of the cylinder. The working
surface of the burring cylinder is composed of rings having gullet teeth
along about one-half their circumference, and so mounted on the cylinder
that that half of its circumference which has gullet teeth shall be by the side
of that half of the next nearest ring which has no gullet teeth, smooth
rings of less diameter being interposed to form narrow spaces between
the burring rings. In this way a burring cylinder will be produced with
a much greater number of gullets in a given diameter than when all
the rings have gullets at equal distances apart all around, whilst at the
same time the wool will be taken from the feed rollers equally by all the
rings instead of being taken by alternate rings. In constructing the inner or
core cylinder on which the rings are to be packed it is important that the same
should run and continue to run true, and that it should not be unnecessarily
heavy. To ensure the cylinders running true, and to remove all tendency
to spring which exists when they are made comparatively light it is now
proposed to form the core or skeleton cylinder for the reception of the rings
of a series of longitudinal strips connected with the shaft, the outer edges of
the said strips forming segments of a cylinder to receive the inner periphery
of the rings. The shaft is first turned perfectly. true, and near one end it is
formed with or has a metallic head secured to it, while near the opposite end
it is suitably formed to receive another head by which the series of rings are
clamped. A block of wood which has been thoroughly steamed and kiln
dried is bored in the centre to receive the shaft, aud its ends are turned to
bring it to the required length for holding the rings when clamped. When
the block has been put on the shaft its periphery is turned true to receive
and fit the inner periphery of the rings, but before putting on the rings
adial grooves or saw cuts are made in this wooden cylinder to within a short
distance of the shaft, and into these grooves strips of metal are inserted so
that their outer edges shall form part of the surface of the cylinder. These
cuts are made diagonally from end to end to sever the fibres of the wood, so that
in no part shall any of the fibres of the wood between the metal strips extend
from end to end of the cylinder. This will effectually prevent the wood from
working if by accident the steaming and kiln drying failed to kill the wood;
or the cylinder may be formed of numerous pieces of wood cut diagonally
and united with glue or other cement. The inner edge of the metallic strips
may carry projections which will extend at given intervals through to the shaft
in corresponding parts of the length and rest on the shaft. After the inner

page_text: cylinder has been thus prepared the rings are slipped on and clamped
between the heads, and the outer periphery finished in the usual way.
As an alternative and equivalent mode the core or skeleton cylinder may be
constructed of bars driven into radial slots cut in the periphery of metal
heads secured to a central shaft. The bars may be set obliquely or other-
wise.
Another alternative or equivalent mode of constructing the core or skeleton
cylinder is to insert the bars in segment pieces of wood secured to the metal
heads attached to the central shaft. These segment pieces will extend all
around to constitute a hollow cylinder.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vinceut Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 1st December 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Iler special licence that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 "Ix-.
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR BURRING AND CLEANSING WOOL AND OTHER FIBROUS
SUBSTANCES," being a communication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and sea's,
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 I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates, firstly, to the structure of the surface of the cylinder
of machines for separating the fibres of wool from the burrs and other foreign
substances which adhere to the fibres, which said Invention is also applicable
to the separation of cotton and other fibres from the seeds and foreign substances;
and, secondly, to the construction of the inner or core cylinder on which the
burring rings are mounted.
Machines for separating the fibres of wool from burrs or other foreign
substances have heretofore been composed of a series of thin metallic rings
with gullets cut into their peripheries and with interposed rings of less diameter,
and all mounted on an inner or core cylinder. The teeth formed by cutting
gullets into the peripheries of the rings catch the fibres and draw them into
the gullets, and into the spaces between the rings formed by the interposed
rings, while the burrs and other foreign substances which adhere to the fibres,
and which are too large to enter the gullets and the spaces between the rings,
are thereby retained on the periphery of the cylinder so that they can be
knocked off by the blades or wings of a rotating beater. The toothed rings
are so mounted on the inner cylinder that the gullets of any one ring will be
placed midway between tho gullets of the two adjacent rings. The burrs
attached to some kinds of wool are of considerable length when opened out, and
unless the gullets are formed in the rings at a considerable distance apart
open spaces will be formed of sufficient size to receive the burrs so that they
will escape the beater, and as the quantity of wool which can be burred in a
given time by a cylinder of given diameter and length depends in a great
measure on the number of gullets in the periphery of the rings it follows that
as heretofore, and now generally constructed, the capacity of such machines is
limited. To avoid the difficulty above pointed out, and to admit of making the
gullets much closer, it has been proposed to make the alternate rings without
gullets, all the rings being of equal diameter, and with spaces between them,
formed by interposed rings of less diameter, and although such construction
admits of making the gullets sufficiently close for the reason that any burr
of sufficient length to reach from the gullet of one ring to the gullet of another
ring must have some portion of its length resting on the interposed ring which
has no gullets, and hence within the reach of the beaters by which it will be
knocked off, nevertheless such mode of construction is defective because the
rings that have no gullets do not take the fibres from the feed rollers and that
is found in practice to be objectionable.

page_text: The object of the first part of the Invention is to admit of making the
gullets sufficiently close and at the same time to enable all the rings which
are of equal diameter to take each an equal quantity of wool from the feed
rollers at each rotation of the cylinder. And this part of the Invention
consists in composing the working surface of burring cylinders of rings having
gullet teeth along about one-half their circumference, and so mounted on
the cylinder that that half of its circumference which has gullet teeth shall
be by the side of that balf of the next nearest ring which has no gullet teeth,
smooth rings of less diameter being interposed to form narrow spaces between
the burring rings. In this way a burring cylinder may be produced with a
much greater number of gullets in a given diameter than when all the rings
bave gullets at equal distances apart all round, whilst at the same time the
wool will be taken from the feed rollers equally by all the rings instead of
being taken by alternate rings.
And the second part of the Invention consists in a method of constructing
the inner or core cylinder on which the rings are packed so that they shall run
and continue to run true. When made of solid metal they are too heavy.
To avoid the weight they have in general been made hollow either of sheet
metal wrought to the required form or of metal cast of the required form.
When made of metal much skill and experience are required to make the
surface cylindrical and connect it with the shaft in order that it may run true,
but even when inade accurately it was found that they were liable to spring,
and it soon became necessary to make them of two thicknesses of sheet metal,
a mode of construction which requires more skill and labor, and which there-
fore imaterially increases the cost, and even when so made they are liable to
spring out of truth. When made of cast metal much skill is required to get
the metal of uniform thickness and density all around, otherwise by centrifugal
force when rotated at a high velocity they will spring out of truth and,
thereby become injured and worthless. All the above difficulties are avoided
by the improved mode of construction, which consists in composing the
core or skeleton cylinder for the reception of the rings of a series of
longitudinal strips connected with the shaft, the outer edges of the said
strips forming segments of a cylinder to receive the inner periphery of the
rings.
In the accompanying Drawings, Figure 1 is a view of the surface of the
burring cylinder; Figures 2, separate views of the rings which
compose the
surface of the burring cylinder; Figure 3, a cross section of the cylinder to
represent the structure of the inner cylinder on which the rings are mounted;
Figure 4, a view of the surface of the said inner cylinder; Figure 5, a soparato

page_text: view of one of the metallic bars employed in the structure of the inner
cylinder; Figures 6 and 7, surface view and cross section of a modifica-
tion of the mode of constructing the inner cylinder; and Figures 8 and 9,
like views of another modification; and Figure 10, a longitudinal section
thereof.
A, Figure 2, represents a circular ring made of thin sheet steel with gullets
a or recesses cut into its periphery along one-half of its circumference and at
equal distances apart, and in directions tangential to a circle of about one-
third less diameter than the outer periphery, thus forming a series of pointed
teeth with the back 6 of each tooth, a segment of the circle extending to the
next gullet, and B represents a similar ring made of the same diameter and
thickness as the ring A, and with gullets cut in like mauner along about one-
half of its circumference. Two series of rings, like A and B, are mounted on a
core or a skeleton cylinder (see Figure 3) having a shaft B. The two series
of rings are alternated, first one ring A, and then one ring B, and so on from
one end of the cylinder to the other, taking care to place the toothed half of
the rings A in line with the non-toothed half of the rings B, and between
the rings A and B are interposed other thin rings E of less diameter, so
that at the periphery of the cylinder there shall be narrow grooves between
the rings A and B of about the depth of the gullets or a little deeper.
These rings are firmly clamped between two flanches e, f, on the ends of the
cylinder.
The core or skeleton cylinder is constructed as follows, referring to Figures
8, 4, and 5 of the accompanying Drawings. The shaft D is turned perfectly
true, particularly along that part of its length which is to be within the length
of the cylinder. Near one end it is formed with or has a metallic head e
secured to it, and near the opposite end it is suitably formed to receive the
other head f, by which the series of rings are clamped. A block of wood g
which has been thoroughly steamed and kiln dried has a central hole bored
through it of such a size that the block when driven on to the shaft will not
turn thereon, care must, however, be taken not to spring the shaft in driving;
before driving on the block the ends are turned true, and the block must be
of the required length to hold the rings when clamped. When the block has
been put on the shaft its periphery is turned to the required size to receive
and fit the inner periphery of the rings, but before putting on the rings radial
grooves or saw cuts are made in this wooden cylinder to within a short distance
of the shaft, and into these grooves strips of metal h are inserted, by preference
iron or steel, so that the outer edges of these strips shall form part of the
surface of the cylinder. The grooves are made diagonally from end to end

page_text: of the cylindrical block, in order to cut the fibres of the wood, so that in no
part shall any of the fibres of the wood between the metal strips extend from
end to end of the cylinder. This will effectually prevent the wood from working
if by accident the steaming and kiln drying failed to kill the wood; or instead
of cutting the grooves diagonally, the cylinder may be formed of numerous
pieces of wood cut diagonally and united with glue or other cement. It is pre-
ferred to make the inner edge of the metallic strips h with projections i at given
intervals, and extend the grooves through to the shaft in corresponding parts
of the length, so that the projections i shall extend to and rest on the shaft.
After the inner cylinder has been thus prepared the rings are slipped
on and clamped between the heads, and the outer periphery finished in
the usual way. As an alternative and equivalent mode the core or skeleton
cylinder may be constructed as in Figures 6 and 7 of the accompanying
Drawing, in which j represents a shaft with heads k, k, secured thereon or
cast therewith as may be desired, the heads being by preference made of
openwork, as represented, into the periphery of these heads, which are
properly turned to the required diameter, a series of slots are cut at equal
distances apart and to a depth radially of about one-fifth the radius, and
into these slots are inserted and secured a series of bars made of strips
of sheet metal; they will hold sufficiently by being driven into the slots.
These bars should be at equal distances apart and parallel, and it is
preferred to have them oblique to the axis of the shaft, as represented,
although they may be parallel with the axis. After the bars have been inserted
their outer edges are reduced in a lathe, so that all of them shall be segments
of one and the same cylinder and form a skeleton for the reception of the
burring rings.
Another alternative or equivalent mode of constructing the core or skeleton
cylinder is shewn in Figures 8, 9, and 10 of the accompanying Drawing, in
which m represents a shaft with two heads n, n. To the outer periphery of
these are secured by screws or equivalent means lags of wood o extending all
around to constitute a hollow cylinder. It is preferred to glue the several lags
together. Radial grooves are cut into this wooden cylinder and extending the
whole length of it to receive a series of thin plates p; these are by preference
placed diagonal so that the grain of the wood of the cylinder shall not extend
from end to end, but they may be placed parallel with the axis of the shaft,
and when the latter mode is adopted it will be best to make the lags of pieces
glued together so as to prevent the wood from working. The outer surface is
to be turned true to receive the burring rings; moveable metallic heads 7, 9,
are then slipped on to the shaft and there fastened, and the inner face of these

page_text: heads is formed to extend for a short distance over the ends of the wooden
cylinder to hold the plates or bars p.
Having now set forth the nature of this Invention of "Improvements in
Machinery for Burring and Cleansing Wool and other Fibrous Materials, and
explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be under-
stood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent, I claim constructing
the working surface of burring cylinders of rings with gullets cut into their
peripheries along about one-half of the circumference and with the rings
mounted, so that the half of the circumference of each ring that has gullets
shall be in line with that half of the circumference of the adjacent rings that
has no gullets, as and for the purpose described.
And I also claim constructing the core or skeleton cylinder for the reception
of burring rings, substantially as herein described.
of our
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand aud seal, the Thirtieth day of November, in the
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
year
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.B.)