FOR PREPARING FIBRES FOR SPINNING
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical
IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
Draughtsman, for the Invention of
"
FOR PREPARING FIBRES FOR SPINNING." -A communication from abroad
by André Koechlin, of André Koechlin and Company, of Mulhouse,
in the Empire of France.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said. Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
9th
_ and Declaration, on the 12th January 1870, pursuant to the
Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COMF, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents; 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for
>
$ IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING FIBRES FOR SPINNING," being a communication
[Price 8d.]

page_text: to me from André Koechlin, of André Koechlin and Company, of
Mulhouse, in the Empire of France, 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
the same has been communicated to me from abroad as aforesaid.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and
seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
and
This Invention relates mainly to improvements in the combing
machine patented in England in the name of Charles Cowper, on the
Twenty-third day of February One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
two, No. 13,977, the same being a communication from Mr. Emile
Hubner.
The Invention which has been communicated to me embraces eight
improvements, which are severally set forth in the accompanying
Drawing.
The object of the first improvement is to enable the drawing off or
stripping rollers to work close up to the retaining comb, or that which
keeps back the noils. A difficulty has hitherto been experienced in
attaining this end, by reason of the necessity of having rollers of a
comparatively large diameter, as the reduction of their diameter involves
the springing of the rollers, the result of which springing of the rollers
was the imperfect stripping of the straightened fibres from the retaining
comb. In order to avoid the inconvenience attendant upon the use of
large drawing off or stripping rollers the contrivance shewn at Fig. 2 is
now proposed to be adopted.
a is the lower grooved stripping roller of sufficient diameter to resist
the pressure of the upper drawing or stripping roller b. The diameter
of the upper stripping roller is determined by the least distance required
to be maintained between it and the retaining comb. An endless apron c
carried by tension rollers runs parallel or nearly so with a receiving or
delivery apron and passes between the stripping rollers. Within this
apron is mounted a grooved roller d clothed with gutta percha or other
like yielding substance, which gears into the roller b, and is intended to

page_text: impart a downward pressure thereto. Both these rollers d and b. are
mounted in fixed guides, and by means of crank levers pressure is
imparted to the axle of the roller d, which in its turn holds down the
stripping roller b firmly to its work and effectually prevents it from
springing.
This arrangement may be modified by inverting the order of the
stripping and sustaining rollers.
I would here remark that the diminution of the distance between the
bite of the stripping rollers and the comb by reducing the diameter of
the pressing roller and sustaining it by means of a larger and sup-
plementary pressing roller I claim not only in its application to the
Hubner combing machine, but also to that class of machinery generally.
In the original Hubner machine the drawing off or stripping rollers
received pressure from a pair of levers, one of which is shewn in Fig. 1
of the accompanying Drawing at a, b, d. The part a, b, of the lever it
will be seen is short and cannot be lengthened, from which it results
that the levers are subject to abrupt oscillations.
The second improvement relates to an arrangement of apparatus
which gives to the pressing roller a regular and yielding pressure, and
at the same time allows of the endless apron c being dismounted without
the necessity of first removing the pressure levers.
Fig. 3 shews in longitudinal section the improved arrangement of
pressing apparatus; Fig. 4 is a transverse section, and Fig. 5 is a plan
view of the same. g is a central rock lever, the short limb of which is
held down by an adjustable spring e. Resting in a notch o is a bent
transverse bar i, which is connected at its extremities by joints to a
pair of pressing levers 1, 1, having their fulcra at 1*. These levers are
formed with collars m', from which project short limbs n, n', and pendent
from these are pieces p, which press on the brasses of the upper pressing
or stripping roller h. It will now be understood that the upward
tendency of the tail of the lever g imparted to it by the spring e will
be transmitted through the bar i to the levers 1, 1, and thence to the
roller, and that in order to lift the apron c out of action it will only
be necessary to disengage the bar i from the lever g, when the removal
of this prop or support will leave the pressing levers free to drop into
the position shown in red at Fig. 3. The roller h can then be lifted out.
of its bearings.

page_text: Under this head of the Invention I claim, the means above described
which facilitates the removal of the pressing roller and its apron, and
which gives to the pressing roller a regular and yielding pressure.
This
The third head of this Invention relates to a novel mode of driving
certain of the working parts of the Hubner combing machine.
arrangement is shown in sectional elevation at Fig. 7. The improvement
consists in suppressing the gearing used for transmitting rotary motion
to the various acting parts of the machine, and in substituting in lieu
thereof an endless driving band arranged in the following manner;-
On the motive shaft D is mounted a pulley E, from which proceeds an
endless belt R, first to a pulley on the shaft of the brush A; thence to a
pulley on the axle of the lower drawing roller B, then under a pulley
that transmits motion through suitable gearing to the feeding plate. F,
and, lastly, to a pulley on the shaft of the concave comb c, whence it
returns to the pulley D. The proper tension of this endless belt R is
adjustable pulley Q.
imaintained by means of an
Under this head of the Invention I claim the arrangement above
described for driving the feed plate, the comb c, and brush A, and the
drawing roller B.
In the original Hubner machine the retaining comb G (Figures 6
and 7) fixed upon a wheel H and turning freely upon a spherical bearing I
carried by a central vertical shaft is maintained in an inclined position
by three guides, which press upon the upper surface of the wheel H.
Under this fourth head of the Invention it is now proposed to
substitute for the three guides an inclined ring K, which fits into an
annular groove L formed in the upper face of the wheel H, and held in
a suitable position by means of lugs M, which drop over fixed rods (see
the plan view, Fig. 8) standing up from the table of the machine, and
are secured to the rods by clamping screws.
This modification possesses the following advantages, viz.:-The
adjustment of the ring to an inclination corresponding to the required
dip of the comb is easy, as is also the lubrication of the guiding face of
the ring, and the liability of contact between the fibres under treatment
and the lubricant is avoided.
Under this head of the Invention I claim the means above described
for guiding the retaining comb in its rotation.

page_text: The fifth head of this Invention relates to a novel construction of
frame for carrying the stripping rollers and the several parts acting in
concert therewith and forming the stripping apparatus.
This frame is
shewn detached in elevation, partly in section, at Fig. 9, which is a
transverse view of the same, and it is shewn in position and in side
elevation at Fig. 7. Figures 3 and 5 further serve to illustrate this
improvement, the frame being shewn on an enlarged scale. This
frame fitted with bracket bearings to carry the various acting parts of
the stripping apparatus rests on the table of the machine, and is capable
of being moved thereon to and from the retaining comb for the purpose
of adjusting the stripping rollers thereto. A screw bolt passing through
a slot in the bed of this frame and fitting into a square hole in the table
of the machine serves to clamp by means of nuts the frame to the table.
A tapped hole is made through this bolt to receive a horizontal adjusting
screw N pointed at its ends and mounted in lugs projecting from the bed
of the frame. By turning this screw (by means of a screw pin or
otherwise), when the nuts of the screw bolt are slackened, a slight
traverse motion may be imparted to the frame, and thus the stripping
rollers with their appendages may be simultaneously adjusted with
facility to their proper position with respect to the retaining comb.
Under this head of the Invention I claim the arrangement above
described, the effect of which is to substitute for the three supports in
the original machine a single adjustable support for all the parts which
serve to effect the stripping of the fibres and the conversion of the same
into a ribbon.
The sixth head of this Invention relates to an improvement in the
mode of mounting the rotary comb C and its accessories, so as to adjust
them simultaneously. This arrangement is shewn in plan view at
Fig. 10, and in sectional elevation at Fig. 11. In these Figures R is a
frame, in which are mounted the comb C, the brush A for cleaning the
same, and the clearing card roller T. This frame R rests in slides
formed on the table of the machine, and pendent from it is a screwed
lug S, which receives a horizontal regulating screw mounted in fixed
bearings on the table. By means of this screw the frame R may be
advanced to or drawn back from a rest plate P, and thereby made to
adjust the comb C with its appendages to the position required for
operating on the fibres according to the amount of combing desired.

page_text: t
remain unvaried.
The same remark applies to the guard O which
overlies the comb, and which is made fast to the frame R, and is used
for pressing the fibres into the teeth of the comb C.
Under this head of the Invention I claim the means above described
for effecting a simultaneous adjustment of the comb C and its accessories
A, T, and O.
The seventh head of this Invention relates to a means of converting
into a roping the short fibres and noils or waste by. the rotary comb C.
Fig. 12 shews in sectional elevation so much of the Hubner combing
machine with the improvements applied thereto as will serve to illustrate
this part of the Invention; and Fig. 13 is an elevation taken at right
angles to Fig. 12. The fibres combed out by the comb C are stripped
from the comb by the brush A, and transferred by the brush to the card
roller T. From this roller the fibres are removed by a doffer in the form
of a sliver, which is led into the bite of a small conical roller V and a
large cylindrical roller U, the former of which is driven from the latter
by friction of contact. The conical roller V is fitted loosely on a pin v
carried by a fixed bracket, and it is made by preference of polished
wood, which will offer but little friction to the passing fibres. The
cylindrical roller U is covered with leather or other suitable substance,
and by means of gearing it is driven at a surface speed about equal to
that of the roller T. In front of the apex or free end of the conical
roller V is placed a trumpet mouth X for guiding the fibres into the bite
of a pair of drawing rollers W, whence the fibres pass in the form of a
condensed roping into a box or receiver Y. The roller U in its rotation
draws the sliver under the conical roller: V and laps it round that roller
in a helical form, and the draught of the drawing rollers W will cause
the coiled sliver to slip off the end of the conical roller and enter the
trumpet mouth, where it will be condensed into a roping. The passage
of this roping between the drawing rollers will further condense it, and
it will then be delivered by them into the box or receiver, as above
stated. The helix formed by the sliver may be lengthened or shortened
at will, the formation of the coils and alternation of the sliver depending
on the relative surface speeds of the roller. U and the drawing rollers W,
variations in the speeds of which may be effected by means of change

page_text: wheels, as is well understood. The surface speed of the rollers W will
require to be much slower than that of the roller U.
I would here remark that this principle of forming roping from sliver
has been proposed to be used in. the working up of combed fibres, and
that it forms one head of the Invention, for which (concurrently with
this application) I have applied for Letters Patent; I limit therefore my
claim to the conversion of the waste fibres produced in the combing
machine into roping by the means above set forth.
The eighth head of the Invention relates to a means of facilitating
the discharge of the combed fibres from the combing machine. The
arrangement for effecting this object is shewn in sectional elevation at
Fig. 14, and in plan view at Fig. 15. a is a fan or blower which throws a
blast of air upon the endless apron which receives the combed fibres from
the stripping rollers in the form of a band. The blast delivered by this fan
strikes upon the apron in advance of the fibres, and thus causes the
same to be disengaged from the apron, and the more readily to lap round
a conical roller b provided to take up the band of fibres. In front of
this roller is a rotary condensing tube c, into which the band of fibres
is led, and in passing through this tube it is converted into a roping,
as shewn at Fig. 15. In some cases we charge the air drawn into the
fan with moisture, in order to neutralize the electricity which the fibres
have contracted during the operations to which they have been subjected
in the combing machine. The way in which it is preferred to employ.
this moisture is by discharging steam into the fan case through a
pipe d.
Under this head of the Invention I claim facilitating the disengage-
ment of the combed fibres from the receiving apron by means of a blast
of either dry or humid air produced in the manner above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have herë-
unto set my hand and seal, the Twelfth day of January, in the
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.).