Materials for Spinning.
Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 4th June, 1886.
Complete Left, 4th Mar., 1887.
Complete Accepted, 19th Apr., 1887.
Materials for Spinning.
I JOHN CLAYTON MEWBURN, of 169 Fleet Street, in the City of London, Fellow
of the Institute of Patent Agents do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows:-
This invention relates to machinery for preparing flax or other fibrous materials for
spinning and has special reference to the arrangements whereby the fibrous material
is submitted to the action of piercing pins which disaggregate the straw or boon and,
after disaggregation, to the action of beating or scutching devices which remove the
boon and render the fibre fit for the subsequent operations of hackling, combing, &c.
which precede spinning.
The arrangements hitherto employed for piercing the flax or other fibrous materials
have consisted of fixed gratings through which have moved the pins or piercers for
penetrating the fibrous materials so as to separate the textile fibre from the straw or
boon. The distance which it has been necessary to leave between the gratings for the
free passage of the fibrous material and the requisite thickness of the bars of these
gratings have necessitated the employment of long pins or piercers which had conso-
quently to be thick and comparatively far apart.
I have observed that flax is much better cleaned when pierced by combs having pins
very close together than when pierced by combs with pins more apart because in the
latter case there remains between the consecutive piercings a portion incompletely
acted upon
which has then not sufficient rigidity to be taken hold of by the pins and
which thus escapes the ulterior piercings by slipping between the pins instead of being
pierced by them. It is therefore very important to employ combs with pins or
piercers as close together as possible.
I have also noticed that while the stalk of flax can be pierced by combs having
from top to bottom the same number of pins per unit of surface it is not the same
with the top or head of the stalk for which is required, for perfect piercing, a comb
having more and more pins in proportion as the lower end is approached, because the
tops being much finer and less rigid are more difficult to attack.
In order to obviate the inconveniences above referred to and to effect a piercing of
the fibrous material in a practical or rational manner I employ an arrangement which
I will now proceed to describe.

page_text: The flax or other fibrous material is locked in a holler which is movable in a slide
as usual. Plates at opposite sides of the machine and armed with pins or piercers
alternately recede from and approach each other, the pins or piercers entering between
each other and piercing the fibrous material so as to disaggregate the straw or boon.
The plates are lodged in frames. Movable laths are placed horizontally between the
rows of piercers; these laths are very thin and are guided in vertical grooves in the
sides of the frames. They are thus free in the vertical sense while they are held in
the horizontal sense by the grooves. Springs keep the laths slightly beyond the
piercers. When the piercing movement begins the lath frames, laths, piercers
and piercer plates first move inwards together until the frames come against stops;
then the piercer plates move further inwards so that the piercers are carried beyond
the laths and penetrate the fibrous material through and through, the piercers at
the one side entering between those at the other. As soon as the piercers, in
separating, leave the pierced material, the laths, owing to the action of the springs
above referred to, again take up their position slightly beyond the piercers so that
the fibre becomes disengaged therefrom. The to and fro motion of the piercer plates
may be given by any suitable mechanism.
With the above arrangement I can employ fine piercers near together and short
because the moveable laths travel with the piercers, and I can readily graduate or
regulate the number of piercers per unit of surface according to need. Further, the
two piercer plates move apart as far as is necessary without requiring increased length
of piercers because the laths move apart with the piercer plates. The reason for
providing for this movement is this:-As the machine is composed of successive and
independent piercer plates or combs each having its own movable frame I employ
combs which have the more pins or piercers the nearer they are to the outlet end of the
machine. Again, as the material is harder to pierce at the beginning than towards
the end, I impart to the various successive combs or piercer plates a movement which
is the more rapid the nearer they are to the outlet end of the machine. The parts
may be arranged so that the piercers will act vertically instead of horizontally as
described. The laths placed between the rows of piercers may be of flat or other
form and have heels or enlargements at their rear end.
After the piercing operation has been completed the fibre locked in its holder is
carried along the slide to be submitted to the beating or scutching devices for remov-
ing the boon or woody fibre that has been loosened by the piercing. These devices
consist, according to this invention, of two rotating axles, one at each side of the
machine, each axle having radial arms at the ends of which are the beaters. Some of
the arms or beaters on each axle are longer than the others, the length of the longer
beaters depends upon the length of the fibre to be acted upon; they beat throughout
its length the material suspended from the holder, while the shorter beaters whose
length is adjustable effect a supplementary cleaning of the fibre at the ends and at the
same time hold it so as to render the work of the longer beaters more efficient, the
beaters on the one axle overlap and work between those on the other. The beaters
are of special form; a portion, say about a third of their acting face is smooth, the
next portion is formed with notches cut at about right angles and of about 5 milli-
metres deep and the remainder is formed with similar but deeper notches. These
notched heaters clean the fibre on all sides because at the time that friction is taking
place at the bottom of the notch the fihre rubs with all its sides and becomes thus
deprived of its straw or woody fibre. The rubbing or frictional movement is rendered
more vigorous by the pushing of the fibre in between the beaters, and the ordinary up
and down movement of the fibre holder may be dispensed with. Reduced to the
most simple forin there may be only two beaters on each axle the beaters on the one
overlapping and working between those on the other as already described.
D
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page_text: A communication from abroad by JEAN BAPTISTE AUGUSTE LEMAIRE-DESTOMBES, of
Tourcoing, Nord, France, Flax Spinner.
I JOHN CLAYTON MEWBURN, of 169 Fleet Street, in the City of London, Fellow
of the Institute of Patent Agents do hereby declare the nature of this invention and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to machinery for preparing flax or other fibrous materials for
spinning and has special reference to the arrangements whereby the fibrous material
is submitted to the action of piercing pins which disaggregate the straw or boon and
after disaggregation to the action of beating or scutching devices which remove the
boon and render the fibre fit for the subsequent operations of hackling, combing, &c.
which precede spinning.
The arrangements hitherto employed for piercing the flax or other fibrous materials
have consisted of fixed gratings through which have moved the pins or piercers for
penetrating the fibrous materials so as to separate the textile fibre from the straw or
boon. The distance which it has been necessary to leave between the gratings for
the free passage of the fibrous material and the requisite thickness of the bars of these
gratings have necessitated the employment of long pins or piercers which had con-
sequently to be thick and comparatively far apart.
But flax is much better cleaned when pierced by combs having pins very close
together than when pierced by combs with pins more apart because in the latter case
there remains between the consecutive piercings a portion incompletely acted upon
which has then not sufficient rigidity to be taken hold of by the pins and which thus
escapes the ulterior piercing by slipping between the pins instead of being pierced by
them. It is therefore very important to employ combs with pins or piercers as close
together as possible.
Further while the stalk of flax can be pierced by combs having from top to bottom
the same number of pins per unit of surface it is not the same with the top or head
of the stalk for which is required for perfect piercing a comb having more and more
pins in proportion as the lower end is approached because the tops being much finer
and less rigid are more difficult to attack.
In order to obviate the inconveniences above referred to and to effect a piercing of
the fibrous material in a practical or rational manner I employ an arrangement which
I will now proceed to describe and which is represented in Figures 1 to 4 of the
annexed drawings.
The flax or other fibrous material Z is locked in a holder C which is movable in a
slide K as usual. Plates P P at opposite sides of the machine and armed with pins

page_text: or piercers a, a alternately recede from and approach each other, the pins or piercers
entering between each other and piercing the fibrous material so as to disaggregate
the straw or boon. The plates P P are lodged in frames E E. Movable laths b, b
are placed horizontally between the rows of piercers; these laths are thin and are
guided in vertical grooves e, e in the sides of the frames E E. They are thus free in the
vertical sense while they are held in the horizontal sense by the grooves. Springs r, r
keep the laths slightly beyond the piercers. When the piercing movement begins
the lath frames E, E, laths b, b, piercers a, a and piercer plates P P first move
inwards together from the position seen in Figure 1 until the frames EE come
against stops m, m as seen in Figure 2; then the piercer plates P P move further
inwards so that the piercers a, a are carried beyond the laths b, b and penetrate the
fibrous material through and through, the piercers at the one side entering between
those at the other as seen in Figure 3. As soon as the piercers, in separating, leave
the pierced material the laths b, b, owing to the action of the springs rr, again tako
up their position slightly beyond the piercers so that the fibre becomes disengaged
thereform. The to and fro motion of the piercer plates may be given by any suitable
mochanism.
With the above arrangement I can employ fine piercers near together, and short,
because the movable laths travel with the piercers, and I can readily graduate or
regulate the number of piercers per unit of surface according to need. Further, the
two piercer plates move apart as far as is necessary without requiring increased length
of piercers because the laths move apart with the piercer plates. The reason for
providing for this movement is this:-As the machine is composed of successive and
independent piercer plates or combs each having its own movable frame I employ
combs which have the more pins or piercers the nearer they are to the outlet end of
the machine. Again as the material is harder to pierce at the beginning than
towards the end I impart to the various successive combs or piercer plates a movement
which is tho moro rapid the nearer they are to the outlet end of the machine. The
parts may be arranged so that the piercers will act vertically instead of horizontally
as described. The laths bb placed between the rows of piorcers may be of flat or other
form and have heels or enlargements at their rear end. Several forms are represented
in Figure 5; and are laths with heels at their rear end, is a lath with an
enlarged rear end and a lath of curved form.
In Figure 6 I show a plan of a modified arrangement in which there is a space or
opening behind the pins or piercers into which the dust or matter which is liable to
clog the piercers falls. The piercers are soldered or otherwise fixed to bars G G
which are united at their ends to the plate P but which for the greater part of their
length leave an opening X between themselves and the said plate. In other respects
the arrangement is the same as that shown in Figs. 1 to 4.
After the piercing operation has been completed the fibre, locked in its holder, is
carried along the slide to be submitted to the beating or scutching devices for remov-
ing the boon or woody fibre that has been loosened by the piercing. These devices
consists, according to this invention, of two rotating axles one at each side of the
machine each axle having radial arms at the ends of which are the beaters. Figure 7
represents the general construction of the apparatus. R Rare the rotating axles
A BA'B' the radial arms and M M' the beaters. The arms A A' are longer than
the arms B B', the length of the longer arms depends upon the length of the fibre to
be acted upon; the beaters M which they carry beat throughout its length the
material suspended from the holder while the beaters M on the shorter arms whose
length is adjustable effect a supplementary cleaning of the fibre at the ends and at
the same time hold it so as to render the work of the beaters on the longer arms more
efficient; the beaters on the one axle overlap and work between those on the other.
The beaters are of special form; one of them is shown in face view in Figure 8; a
portion say about a third of their acting face from a to bis smooth, the next portion
from b to c is formed with notches cut at about right angles and of about 5 milli-
meters deep and the remainder from c to d is formed with similar but deeper notches.
These notched heaters clean the fibre on all sides because at the time that friction is

page_text: taking place at the bottom of the notch the fibre rubs with all its sides and becomes
thus deprived of its straw or woody fibre. The rubbing or frictional movement is
rendered more vigorous by the pushing of the fibre in between the beaters; and the
ordinary up and down movement of the fibre holder may be dispensed with. Reduced
to the most simple form there may be only two beaters on each axle, as represented in
Figure 9, the beaters on the one overlapping and working between those on the other
as already described. The beaters M' on the shorter radial arms may be at an inclina-
tion to the axle R, as seen in Figure 10, so that the beating action may be in a manner
progressive.
Figure 11 represents an arrangement specially adapted for the lower portion of the
stalk of flax. There are main beaters M M at a certain distance from the axles R R¹
and supplementary beaters M' M at a less distance from the axles; the beaters on the
one axle overlap and work two together between those on the other. They may be
plain, undulating, or toothed, as in Figure 8, and may be either parallel with or
inclined to the axles. The space between the main beaters M M and the axles is fitted
with a grating K of thin plates set so as to present their edge to the line of travel;
the distance between the plates is such that the flax cannot twist round them.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me, I declare
that what I claim, in respect of machinery for preparing flax or other fibrous
materials for spinning, is :-
1. In machinery in which piercing F are employed for the purpose herein referred
to, the use between the rows of pins or movable laths which vel with tho pins
during the first portion of their forward movement and then ren. a stationary during
the further or continued movement of the pins in which they pass beyond the laths
and pierce the fibre, while in their return movement the pins recede within the laths
and then move back with them substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
2. In combination with the arrangement claimed in claim 1, the provision of a
space or opening between the pins and the plates that carry them substantially as
herein before described with reference to Figure 6.
3. Constructing machinery substantially as hereinbefore described and represented
in Figures 1 to 4.
4. In machinery for beating or scutching fibres, the employment of beaters some of
which are at a greater distance than the others from the axles which carry them sub-
stantially as set forth and shown.
5. In machinery for beating or scutching fibres, the employment of beaters having
notches of progressive depth substantially as set forth and shown.
6. In machinery for boating or scutching fibres, the employment of two sets of
beaters carried respectively by two rotating axles the beaters on the one axle over-
lapping and working between those on the other substantially as set forth and shown.
7. The arrangement shown in Figure 11 in which the beaters on the one axle
overlap and work two together between those on the other.
8. Constructing machinery for beating or scutching fibrous materials substantially
as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 7 to 11.
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