IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR BREAKING AND BEATING HEMP FLAX AND OTHER TEXTILE MATERIALS
Year: 1883

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Clayton Mewburn at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 10th September 1883. Commu-
nicated to him from abroad by Emedio Corazza of Paris, France
JOHN CLAYTON MEWBURN of 169 Fleet Street in the City of London, Patent
Agent and Consulting Engineer, "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR BREAKING
AND BEATING HEMP FLAX AND OTHER TEXTILE MATERIALS "
[communicated to
him from abroad by Emedio Corazza of Paris, France]
This invention relates to machinery for breaking or bruising and for beating
hemp, flax or other textile materials. The improved machinery is composed of a
strong body enclosed at the top and sides and mounted on wheels so as to be
transportable. It is divided into 5 compartments. The first compartment contains an
apparatus hereinafter described for breaking or bruising the hemp or other material
and also an apparatus of reduced dimensions for beating the hemp. The other 4
compartments each contain an apparatus of ordinary dimensions for beating and
cleaning the hemp.
A horizontal shaft driven by means of a pulley passes through all the compart-
ments. The first compartment which is narrower than the others contains as
already stated an apparatus for breaking the hemp, that is to say, bruising or
crushing the stems so as to separate the ligneous matter therefrom This apparatus
is composed of two toothed or fluted rollers the lower of which is fixed on the main
shaft and transmits the motion to the upper by toothed gearing. This gearing
serves to keep uniform the distance between the teeth or flutes of the roller so
that the hemp is broken uniformly throughout its length. The rollers work
parallel to each other and their distance can be regulated by a screw which allows
of the bearings of the upper roller being raised or lowered. There is a feed mouth
with inclined sides to guide the hemp to the rollers, and an outlet for the hemp
after leaving the rollers. In the lower portion of this first compartment is the
small beating or cleaning apparatus already referred to and which is described
further on.
The 4 beating apparatus which are
compartments are all constructed alike.
parts:
contained respectively in the other 4
Each of them comprises the following
(1) A wheel with 4 mails or beaters carried by a like number of arms radiating
from a nave; this wheel turns between two discs; the arms and the mails or

page_text: beaters are as wide as the length of the nave and to obtain greater solidity the
whole is fixed by screws to two end discs.
(2) A grating formed of two sides connected together by cross bars of hard wood
and placed below the wheel. The sides embrace the end discs of the wheel without
touching them and its internal superficies formed of the cross-bars is identical and
corresponds exactly with the surface engendered by the rotation of the mails or
beaters. This grating is suspended by elastic cords or bands so that it can oscillate;
it is guided by iron straps or rods so that it can never touch the wheel and can
never move more than 5 or 6 centimetres from it and so that it is kept in its
oscillations as much as possible normal with the axis of rotation of the mails or
beaters. The elastic cords are carried by upper arms and their tension can be
regulated by screws; lower arms carry the gnides for the grating consisting of rods
with blocks to form fixed upper and lower points. On these rods slide the eyes of
bars to which the grating is fitted. To the under side of the grating is attached
a small chain which by pressure on a sliding rod and by pulleys round which the
chain passes serves to move the grating away from the wheel in case of need.
(3) A feed mouth for introducing the hemp to the beating apparatus.
The wheels of all the 4 beating apparatus are mounted on the main shaft. As
already stated there is another beating apparatus but of smaller dimensions in the
- lower part of the first compartment. This small beating apparatus is for short and
low quality fibre and its feed mouth is under that of the breaking apparatus. Its
action is rendered powerful by an increase of speed, its mails or beaters being fixed
on a shaft driven at a greater speed from the main shaft.
The machine should have a speed of about 225 turns a minute. The operation
is as follows:-
The stems of hemp already retted and dried are introduced into the breaking
compartment and are withdrawn in a broken or crushed state at the other
side by the workmen who shake it vigorously so as to remove the greater
part of the ligneous matter. The fibres of good quality and ordinary length are
then submitted to the 4 large beating apparatus. Before the feed mouth of each
of the beating compartments is a workman with his foot so placed that he can
He takes
readily press with his knee against the sliding rod above described.
hold of each bundle or handful of fibre which is passed to him, holds it tightly in
his hands at about two thirds of its length and introduces its free or loose part
between the grating and the mails or beaters so that one half is acted upon; this is
done in a few seconds. He then turns the bundle and submits the other half to the
action of the beaters. This operation takes place at each of the large beating
apparatus.
Although I have described that there are 4 of the large beating apparatus this
number can be more or less but 4 will generally be found the most suitable for
effecting the beating of hemp from one breaking apparatus.
The small beating apparatus for the short and low quality fibre requires no
regulator under the grating as it always has to act very energetically and it often
has to act upon fibres which have already been submitted to the action of the large
beating apparatus.