IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING THE FIBRES OF SILK RAGS
Year: 1874

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by Charles Denton Abel at the Office.
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and Declaration,
on the 9th May 1874, pursuant to the 9th Section of the Patent Law
Amendment Act, 1852.-A communication from abroad by Philipp
Ernst Mueller, of Dresden, in the Kingdom of Saxony.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
DENTON ABEL, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING THE FIBRES OF SILK RAGS," and have petitioned
Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made solemn
Declaration that it has been communicated to me from abroad by Philipp
Ernst Mueller, of Dresden, in the Kingdom of Saxony.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Denton Abel, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and
seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and

page_text: statement thereof, that is to say :—
This Invention relates to apparatus for disintegrating silk rags so as to
obtain fibre available for being again spun or otherwise manufactured.
The construction and operation of the improved apparatus for this
purpose will be explained with reference to the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Fig. 1 represents a plan, Fig. 2 a side view, and Fig. 3 an end view of
the teasing machine, and Figs. 4 to 8 represent separate views of parts
thereof, which will hereafter be referred to.
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a is the framing of the machine; b, the drum by which it is driven
from any convenient prime mover; c and d, a pair of drums with a
strap giving motion to. a countershaft g, on which there is a worm h
gearing into a wheel i on an inclined shaft k. This shaft by means of
bevil gear e gives slow motion to a countershaft 7, from which by means
of spur gear motion is communicated in the directions indicated by the
arrows to a feed roller m, to a comb drum r, and to the roller f, round
which and round another roller f¹ passes a travelling web ƒ³, which may
consist of a number of transverse bars jointed together, as shewn in
Fig. 6. From the countershaft g is also driven by a crossed band a
brushing roller t. On the shaft g are two eccentrics h¹ connected by
upright rods p to levers o, connected at their opposite ends by a cross
bar n, which by the action of the eccentrics is made to oscillate vertically
near the circumference of the feed roller m. The barn is furnished
with a comb or row of needles along its lower edge, as indicated at n¹ in
the enlarged transverse section, Fig. 8. The feed roller m is enclosed,
as shewn in the same Figure, within a casing made in halves m², m³,
with a little space. between their edges at x and x¹ on each side of the
roller. The casings may have their sides flatted, as shewn in the enlarged
transverse section, Fig. 7, so as to permit the needles.n¹ to work closer
to the roller in. The comb drum r is furnished with a number of
combs & spaced equally round its periphery. These combs may be of
any known construction, as for example, made of steel plates with the
comb teeth cut in them. It is preferred however to construct them of a
number of separate needles secured in their places, in the manner shewn
in Fig. 5ª, which is an enlarged transverse section of one of the combs,
a front view of which is represented to a smaller scale at Fig. 5. As

page_text: will be seen by reference to Fig. 5ª each of the needles s¹ of the comb is
bent twice at right angles to a staple form, and the row of needles so
bent is held in place by screwing a bar 82 against the bar ss, the needles
being held firmly between the two bars. The bars. with the needles
fixed thereon are secured to the periphery of the drum 1. The brushing
roller t, of which a longitudinal section is shewn in Fig. 4, has six
brushes fixed on its periphery, and the gearing which drives it is
arranged so that it revolves with considerably greater speed than the
comb drum r.
The operation of the machine is as follows:- The silk rags being
carefully placed on the travelling web f are carried forward to the
gap of the casing of the feeding roller m. Entering this gap they are
carried round the space between the roller and its under casing, and
protruded through the opening xl. The needles of the bar n are caused
by the reciprocating vertical movement of that bar to penetrate the
protruded fabric, and by their drag to separate the weft threads. The
fabric thus partly opened is caught by the combs s, which have the
effect of drawing out the fibres, and the fibres clinging to the combs are
brushed off by the brushes of the roller t.
For the efficient working of the machine as above described, the rags
to be treated have to be carefully assorted and flatted by calendering or
otherwise, so that portions of greater or less thickness may not have to
pass through the gap between the roller m and its lower casing.
In order to render the apparatus applicable without such careful
assorting of the rags, instead of a stationary lower casing 'm² a con-
struction is employed such as is shewn in the part tranverse section,
Fig. 6 and plan Fig. 6. In Fig. 6 m is the feeding roller, and f² is part
of the travelling web, shewn in position inverted from that in which the
same parts appear in Fig. 2, as if it were looked at from the opposite
side of the machine. A number of separate pressers w are arranged
closely, side by side, in a row under the roller m, so as to form a con-
tinuous under casing. They are guided by two rails w', w², so that they.
can move only vertically. These pressers rest on the ends of the
levers, the opposite ends of which are drawn down by helical springs v.
The up stroke of the pressers w is limited by the ends of the levers u
being stopped by the rail w², which can be adjusted to a greater or less
height by settting screws. A piece of angle iron y is fixed between the

page_text: travelling web f and the roller m, so that the rags pass over it from the
former to the space between the roller and the pressers w. By this
arrangement, when any thicker portion of rag reaches the roller m, one
or more of the pressers to yields to let it pass, the others not being
interfered with. By adjusting the roller m a little nearer the comb |
drum, that is to say, towards the left in Fig. 6, the part of its periphery
at which the rags are delivered to the action of the needle barn is
brought somewhat nearer to the upper edges of the pressers, so that the
passage between the roller and the pressers is thus made gradually con-
tracted from the receiving mouth next f².
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, I claim,—..
First. The use for separating the fibres of silk rags of apparatus
wherein the rags after passing through a feeding roller are penetrated, 1
and the filaments thereof partly separated by a row of reciprocating
needles, and are farther separated into fibres by rotating combs, substan-
tially as herein described.
Second. The method of constructing the rotating combs above referred
to by clamping needles bent into staple form between two bars, sub- 2
stantially as herein described in reference to Fig. 5ª of the accompanying
Drawings.
Third. The use for the lower casing of the feeding roller of apparatus,
such as is above referred to, of a number of separate presses, operated
on by springs, substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein 2
set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Denton Abel, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
CHAS. D. ABEL. (L.S.)