A NEW APPARATUS FOR COMBING AND STRAIGHTENING WOOL, COTTON, AND OTHER THE LIKE FIBROUS SUB- STANCES
Year: 1825

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JESSE
Ross, of the Town and County of Leicester, Hosier, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent, under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Nineteenth day of February, in the sixth year of His
reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Jesse Ross, His especial licence that I, the said Jesse Ross, my exors,
adñiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Jesse Ross, my exors,
admors, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times during the term of years herein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales,
and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in His said Majesty's
Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "A NEW APPARATUS FOR
COMBING AND STRAIGHTENING WOOL, COTTON, AND OTHER THE LIKE FIBROUS SUB-
STANCES;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging
me, the said Jesse Ross, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be
inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters
Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more
fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Jesse Ross do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by the Drawing hereunto annexed, and the following
description thereof (that is to say):-
These pullies
On the other
In the said Drawing, Fig. 1 is a side view or elevation of my said new
apparatus or machine for combing and straightening wool, cotton, and other
fibrous substances. Fig. 2, a back view of the same. Fig. 3, a front view
thereof, with the drum, &c. in front of it removed, for the sake of shewing the
other parts more distinctly. Fig. 4, a plan thereof, taken below the dotted
line A, A, in Fig. 1; and Fig. 5 a view of the internal parts of the machine;
the frame and toothed wheelwork being omitted. In all of these Figures, as
well as in the others hereafter to be described, the same letters and figures of
reference indicate the similar parts of the machine. B, B, the machine frame;
C, a fast pulley or rigger, and D, a loose one upon the axis E.
or riggers receive motion from the first mover of the machinery.
end of the axis E is a pinion F, which drives the toothed wheel G, having a
'socket in its centre, upon which the toothed wheel H is also fitted, and both
turn upon an adjusting stud or arbour fixed in the sliding arm or bracket I,
moving in a slide or groove made in the machine frame B, B, and is fixed or
retained therein in its proper situation by means of screws and nuts. The
toothed wheel H works into another toothed wheel J, which is affixed upon the
end of the axis K of the grooved or furrowed iron feeding rollers L. Upon the
same axis is also affixed another toothed wheel M, which actuates the toothed
wheel N upon the axis of the porcupine or spiked combing roller O, hereafter
to be described. By this train of wheelwork a slow movement is communi-
cated to the porcupine, as compared with that of the pinion F. The iron fluted
feeding roller L works in contact with a plain wooden roller P, the necks or
pivots of the axis of which, as well as those of the roller L, turn in brasses.
The brasses of the roller L are fitted by dovetails into the ends of grooves Q, Q,
in the forks R, R., which are affixed to the cross bar S, which extends across
the machine frame. The brasses of the wooden roller P are affixed in two
hooks T, T, Figs. 1 and 2, which are jointed to the adjusting levers U, U, the
axes or fulcrums of which turn in holes made in the arms V, V, which have
slits or grooves in them, and, by means of screws and nuts, are affixed in other g
slits or grooves made in the sides of the machine frame B, B, to receive them,
and by means of which they can be adjusted and secured in their places. The
necks or pivots of the wooden roller P are retained in their positions by lying
in the same grooves Q, Q, which contain the necks of the axis of the roller L.

page_text: The wooden roller P is kept in contact with the fluted roller L by the weights
W, W, which are hung upon the longer arms of the levers U, U. Fig. 8
represents the end of one of the hooks T, T, with a brass X in its place in the
hook. The wool, cotton, and other fibrous substances, either single or com-
bined, and previously made into a sliver or roving by any of the usual methods,
are received from the can or cans Y, Y, &c. between the rollers Land P, passing
through the slit in the wooden guider Z (lined with tin, and affixed by screws
to the machine frame). They then pass through another guider a, and are
seized or taken in by the porcupine or spiked roller O, the rows of spikes or
points in which, c, c, act against the iron flutes or furrowed roller b (shewn
separately on a larger scale in Fig. 9), so as to fall into the furrows d, d, &c.
made along the roller, and turn it in the manner of a wheel and pinion. The
necks or pivots of the fluted roller 6 turn in half holes e, which are affixed by
the screws and nuts f, f, to the long forks 9, 9, which are secured to the cross
bar h, which extends across the machine frame. The intent of the fluted roller
6 is to keep the wool, &c. from rising or passing over the ends of the points
c, c, and escape being combed and straightened by passing through them in
their way to the metal fluted drawing and delivering rollers i and j. In order
to prevent the wool, &c. from wrapping around the rollers i & j, and for the
better delivery thereof, I have introduced the endless bands or webs k and I,
one of which passes around each roller and over the drums m & n, the pivots
or necks on the axes of which turn in pivot holes made in the adjusting car-
riages o and P, affixed by screws and nuts to the machine frame B, B. The
wool, &c. is received in the cans q, q, &c. in the combed and straightened
state, they being subjected to a second repetition of the process, if necessary.
The second guider a is supported by the adjusting arms r, r, which are screwed
to the cross bars extending across and affixed to the machine frame B, B.
This is shewn separately in Fig. 10. The necks or pivots of the porcupine or
spiked combing roller O turn in holes made in two brackets t, t, screwed to
the machine frame B, B. u, u, are two friction wheels with holes in their
centres, turning upon two studs v, v, which are screwed to the forks g, g,
already described. The axis E of the roller i is kept up in contact with the
peripheries of these friction wheels u, u, by the lower friction wheels w, w,
acting upon the axis of the roller j, and the necks or pivots of which said
friction wheels u, u, hang and turn in brasses, which are affixed in the longer
hooks x, x, and which said hooks are jointed to the levers y, y, the axes or
fulcrums of which turn in holes made in the adjusting arms, c, affixed to the
machine frame, and having weights 1, 1, hung upon the longer arms of the
levers. The friction wheels w, w, acting against the axis of the roller j, press

page_text: it by the action of the weights 1, 1, into contact with the upper roller i, and
the axis of this again rests against the friction rollers u, u, as before described,
the axes of all the three lower rollers being kept in a right line by being lodged
within the grooves of the two forks 9, 9, which, as before said, are affixed to
the machine frame.
The construction of my improved porcupine or spiked combing roller O
being peculiar, and essential to the due success of my Invention, I have
added several explanatory Figures to the Drawings made on a larger scale,
in order to elucidate it. O, in Fig. 9, is part of the spiked roller, being
one of a series of similar parts having holes in their centres, which are fitted
upon a cylindrical axis 2, Fig. 11, and bound closely together by means
of a screwed nut fitting upon a screw made near one end of the axis.
The part O, Fig. 9, consists of a flat ring of tin (or, still better, of a more
fusible metallic mixture) enclosing the stems of the spikes or needles c, c, &c.,
and retaining them in their exact positions around it. In order to accomplish
this object, I have contrived moulds of cast iron or other proper metal, and
which are shewn in detail in Figs. 12, 18, and 14, the first, Fig. 12, being a
plan of the bottom portion of the mould, with grooves made around it to re-
ceive the needles, and retain them in their proper positions. Fig. 18, an inside
view of the top part of the mould; and Fig. 14 a section of the two parts, laid
together and bound close by the screws and nuts. The part O receives the
metal through the' two gaps or notches 2, 2, made in the tube or socket 3,
which fits into the central hole in the mould 4, and retains the two parts of the
mould in their exact positions. Each needle being previously wrapped around
with thread or cotton yarn, as shewn in Fig. 15, at 5, they are laid in the
grooves 6, 6, &c. prepared for their reception around the mould, the thread,
&c. preventing the passage or escape of the metal through the grooves, and
retaining the needles centrally therein when pressed down by the top part of
the mould. The needles are regulated in their central positions by the instru-
ment shewn in Fig. 16, it having a tongue 7 affixed to its handle 8, which may
be lengthened or shortened according to the distances of the points of the
needles from the centre of the circle, the end 9 of the handle of the instrument
being lodged in succession in each of the gaps 10, 10, &c., made around the
mould to receive it, and the tongue 7, pressing against the points of the needles
when the handle is brought parallel to the bottoms of the gaps 10, 10, &c.,
brings them into their exact positions. Their effect is shewn in Fig. 12. In
order to clothe the central part of my improved porcupine more closely with
spikes or needles, I occasionally reduce the thickness of the flat circular me-
tallic rings O, O, by filing them or turning them in the lathe, and I enlarge or

page_text: diminish their diameters, and alter the inclination of the needles, according to
the lengths of the fibres of the materials to be operated upon. The shorter the
staple is, the nearer must the rollers be brought together, the diameter of the
porcupine be lessened, and the inclination of the needles be encreased, and they
must also be reduced in their thickness.
I do not mean or intend hereby to claim as my Invention any of the various
parts of which my said apparatus or machine is composed, which are already
known or in use. But I do hereby claim my said improved porcupine or
spiked combing roller, and the manner of constructing it, and also its applica-
tion in connexion with a grooved or furrowed roller for preventing the wool,
cotton, and other fibrous substances, from escaping the combing and straighten-
ing action of my said apparatus for this purpose.
I also claim the introduction of the two endless bands or webs passing
between the grooved or fluted metal rollers, for the better delivery of the
wool, cotton, &c., after undergoing the said combing or straightening action
of the machine.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jesse Ross, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Eighteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand night hundred and m