IMPROVE- MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR COMBING COTTON OR OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Kochs, of Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR COMBING COTTON OR OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS."
Sealed the 10th May 1872, and dated the 15th November 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward
Kochs at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 15th November 1871.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD KOCHS, of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR COMBING COTTON OR OTHER
FIBROUS MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to the combing machinery constructed on the
now well-known principal of Heilmann, and has for its object to simplify
and improve the action of the said machinery. To this end I in the
first place employ a combing cylinder of such a diameter as will admit

page_text: of two or more sets of "combs" being fitted to the said cylinder, so that
for example a cylinder having four sets of combs will during a single
revolution comb four lengths of staple.
My Invention relates in the second place to the holding clip. Below
the feed rollers I fix a strong plate or table, the front edge of which is
rounded and covered with leather. A clipping plate is fitted to slide in
an inclined direction to and from the said edge of the table, and the
lower edge of the said plate is grooved, so that when the said plate is
pressed against the said edge of the table the cotton or other material
will be firmly held. The said plate is raised at intervals by means of
cams fixed or formed on the main shaft upon which the combing
cylinder is fixed, and is pressed towards the front edge of the aforesaid
table by means of weights at the times when the cotton or other material
has to be held. This arrangement enables me to obtain a firm hold
upon the fibres close to the point of entry of the gills or combs.
A further part of my Invention consists of an improved method of
actuating the "piecing roller" and upper comb. The said roller and
comb by preference move together when raised and lowered, and are
mounted in end frames or bars, from which are suspended weights,
which tend to press the said roller and comb towards the combing
cylinder. The raising of the said roller and comb is effected by cams
fixed or formed on the aforesaid main shaft, the said cams acting on
bowls carried by the said frames, so as to raise the said roller and comb
out of the way of the gills on the main cylinder. Immediately after
the said gills have passed out of the strick of fibre the cams permit the
said frames to be lowered until the said upper comb enters the said
strick. The continued rotation of the combing cylinder presents the
grooved part or one of the grooved parts of the said cylinder below the
said strick and the end of the combed sliver, and the aforesaid cams
permitting the piecing roller to be lowered the piecing is effected and
the sliver is fed forwards.
If it be required to comb both ends of the strick I apply a swivelling
guide bar between the drawing rollers and the piecing roller, the said
bar having an inclined face up which the pieced cotton or other material
is drawn until the uncombed end of the strick projects sufficiently
beyond the edge of the bar. The bar is then slightly swivelled, so as
to press the cotton or other material against the piecing roller, the

page_text: strick being thus firmly held whilst being combed. The said bar or the
bar and the drawing rollers is or are then slightly moved to permit the
piecing roller to descend.
A remaining part of my Invention consists of a novel method of
imparting motion to the feeding and the drawing or calendering rollers.
On the aforesaid main shaft I fix a stud wheel, which imparts an inter-
mittent motion to a notch wheel or lock wheel which is fixed to a spur
wheel, which is in gear with a spur pinion fixed on the axle of one of
the feeding rollers. An intermittent revolving motion for feeding
forward the cotton or other material is thus obtained. The aforesaid
stud wheel or a second stud wheel imparts an intermittent revolving
motion to a second "lock wheel" which is loosely mounted on a second
shaft, and gives motion to a spur wheel which gears with a pinion
mounted on the axle of one of the drawing or calendering rollers, the
motion for drawing forward the combed fibres: being thus obtained. A
spur wheel fixed on the aforesaid main shaft gears with a spur wheel
fixed on the aforesaid second shaft, and on the said shaft is fixed a stud
wheel which imparts an intermittent revolving motion to a third lock
wheel which is mounted on an intermediate shaft, and gives motion to
an intermediate spur wheel which gears with a second pinion mounted
on the aforesaid axle of the drawing roller, the reverse or backing-off
motion of the drawing rollers for the piecing being thus obtained. The
said two pinions are loosely mounted on the said axle of the drawing
roller, and are alternately connected with the said axle by means of a
sliding clutch. In place of the said stud wheels and notch or look
wheels I may employ equivalent means acting in a similar manner for
imparting the intermittent revolving motion to the spur wheels, as for
example I may employ wheels having projections which act upon the
teeth of ratchet wheels, the said ratchet wheels taking the place of the
aforesaid lock wheels. In such a case I should employ detents to hold
the said ratchet wheels during the intervals between their periods of
revolution.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Kochs in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 15th May 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD KOCHS, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the
thirty-fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said William Edward Kochs,
Her special license that I, the said William Edward Kochs, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Edward Kochs, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle
of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR COMBING
Соттон ов OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," upon the condition, amongst
others, that I, the said William Edward Kochs, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Kochs, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement and accompanying Drawings (that is
to say) :-
My Invention relates to the combing machinery constructed on the
now well-known principle of Heilman, and has for its object to simplify

page_text: first place employ a "combing cylinder" of such a diameter as will admit
of two or more sets of "gills" or combs being fitted to the said cylinder,
so that for example a cylinder having four sets of gills will during a
single revolution comb four lengths of staple.
My Invention relates in the second place to the holding clip. Below
the feed rollers I fix a strong plate or table, the front edge of which is
rounded and is covered with leather. A clipping plate is fitted to slide
to and from the said edge of the table, and the lower edge of the said
plate is grooved, so that when the said plate is pressed against the said
edge of the table the cotton or other material will be firmly held. The
said plate is raised at intervals by means of cams fixed or formed on the
main shaft upon which the combing cylinder is fixed, and is pressed
towards the front edge of the aforesaid table by means of weights or
springs at the times when the cotton or other material has to be held.
A further part of my Invention consists of an improved method of
actuating the piecing roller and upper comb. The said roller and comb
by preference move together when raised and lowered, and are mounted
in end frames or bars, from which are suspended weights which tend to
press the said roller and comb towards the combing cylinder. The
raising of the said roller and comb is effected by cams fixed or formed
on the aforesaid main shaft, the said cams acting on bowls carried by
the said frames, so as to raise the said roller and comb out of the way of
the gills on the main cylinder.
If it be required to comb both ends of the strick I employ a bar to
press the cotton or other material against the piecing roller, the strick
being thus firmly held whilst being combed.
A remaining part of my Invention consists of a novel method of
imparting motion to the feeding and the drawing or calendering rollers.
On the aforesaid main shaft I fix a stud wheel which imparts an inter-
mittent motion to a notch wheel or lock wheel which is fixed to a spur
wheel which is in gear with a spur pinion fixed on the axle of one
of the feeding rollers. An intermittent revolving motion for feeding
forward the cotton or other material is thus obtained. The aforesaid
stud wheel or a second stud wheel imparts an intermittent revolving
motion to a second lock wheel which is mounted on a second shaft, and
gives motion to a spur wheel which gears with a wheel or pinion
loosely mounted on the axle of one of the drawing rollers, the motion

page_text: for drawing forward the combed fibres being thus obtained. On the
said main shaft is fixed a stud wheel which imparts an intermittent
revolving motion to a third lock wheel, which is loosely mounted on and
gives motion to the aforesaid axle of the drawing roller, the reverse or
"backing-on" motion of the drawing rollers for the piecing being thus
obtained. The said wheels or wheel and pinion loosely mounted on the
said axle of the drawing roller are alternately connected with the said
axle by means of a sliding clutch. This arrangement may be modified,

page_text: plate b, drawn to an enlarged scale in Fig. 8, is fitted to slide up and
down, and is raised at intervals by means of the cams k, k, fixed on the
shaft and acting on bowls mounted on levers which are connected by
means of links to the ends of the said plate, one of the said levers being
shewn at 7 and a link at m in Fig. 5. When the said plate is lowered
the lower end thereof bears against the edge of the table or ** cushion
plate" n, which edge is covered with leather, as is usual. The said
table is so arranged as that the distance between the front edge thereof
and the "piecing roller" c may be made to suit the length of staple of
the cotton or material to be combed. The cheeks o, o, between which
each end of the clipping plate 6 is fitted to slide, are mounted to slide
on the inclined sides of an opening formed in each end frame, and if
required in the case of longer machines in an intermediate frame, the
arrangement being such as that by raising one cheek and lowering
the other cheek by means of the nuts p, p, the position of the plate b
with respect to the edge of the table » may be adjusted.
"
This arrangement may be considerably modified. The lower one of
the feeding rollers d, d, receives an intermittent rotatory motion from
the shaft by means of the arrangement shown most clearly in Figs. 6
and 7, which latter Figure is an enlarged view of the parts to the
extreme right in Figure 2. A stud wheel q furnished with three studs
3, 3, 3, and otherwise suitably formed to act on the "lock wheel or
star wheel r, is fixed on the shaft f, and thus revolves at the same speed
on the combing cylinders. The said star wheel is formed with four
grooves into which the studs on the wheel q enter, and with four faces
curved to the same radius as that of a turned portion of the wheel q,
as is usual in gearing of this class, the said turned portion being
indicated by dotted lines in the Figure. The said star wheel is fitted to
revolve on a short shaft which is carried by the links 8, 8, one of which
is mounted on the shaft and the other one on the axle of the said
roller d, or on a shaft coupled thereto, and the said wheel is connected
by the gearing or "change wheels t with the said axle or shaft. As
the said stud wheel revolves it causes the star wheel to revolve to the
extent of one quarter of a revolution three times during the revolution
of the said stud wheel, the turned surface of the said stud wheel locking
the said star wheel during the intervals between its movements in
manner as will be readily understood. The feeding rollers are thus
"
.

page_text: caused to revolve at the times when the fleece is to be fed forward, the
proportions of gearing being made suitable to the length of the staple.
The method of actuating the drawing rollers is illustrated by Figures
4 and 5. Two stud wheels u and similar to the one last described are
mounted on the shaft ƒ, and impart an intermittent revolving motion to
the star wheels w and x. The wheel x is mounted on the shaft y, which
is coupled with the axle of the lower one of the rollers e, and the
wheel wo is mounted or fixed on an intermediate shaft, and is connected
by the spur wheel z with the spur wheel a', which is also mounted on
the shaft y. The said wheels x and a¹ are both formed to engage with a
sliding clutch b¹ which is mounted on the shaft y, and as the said
wheels revolve in opposite directions the rollers e, e, are caused to
revolve in one direction or the other, according as the said clutch is
caused to engage with the wheel x or with the wheel a¹. A cam c¹
fixed on the shaft f is suitably formed to impart the necessary move-
ments to the said clutch, and causes it to engage with the spur wheel a¹
when the fleece is drawn forward for the straightening and calendering
operation, and to engage with the star wheel a for the "backing-on"
motion, that is to say, when the end of the fleece is returned preparatory
to the piecing operation. The lower roller e is connected by the inter-
mediate spur wheel d³, shown in Fig. 8, with the calendering roller f¹,
and the roller f¹ is also geared with the piecing roller c, so that the four
rollers revolve in unison and at an uniform surface speed. The rollers f¹
and c are coupled together at e¹, e¹, in Fig. 2, in manner indicated by
Fig. 11, so that the said rollers are pressed together with sufficient force
throughout the length of the machine, and at the same time the roller o
is permitted to rise and fall. The last-named roller is mounted at the
upper ends of the frames g¹, one of which is shown at Fig. 9, the said
frames being fitted to rise and fall. Cams h¹ fixed on the shaft fact.on
the bowls (there being one bowl on each frame) to raise the said
frames, the parts marked 4 raising the said frames, and as a consequence
the roller c, preparatory to the feeding forward of the fleece, and the
parts marked 5 raising the said frames preparatory to the combing
operation. Weights suspended to the said frames draw down the roller c
when permitted by the said cam, that is to say, when the fleece is to be
held for the combing operation and when the piecing is to be effected.
The upper or dividing comb is attached to a bar which is fixed to the

page_text: drawn back by the spring p¹. The cam c' will now have caused the
clutch 6¹ to engage with the spur wheel a¹, and the stud wheel v acting
on the star wheel w the four rollers e, e, f, and c are caused to revolve
to draw the combed fibres away from the bar and to straighten and
calender the fibres which immediately before projected beyond the edge
of the said bar. The cam c¹ now disengages the clutch from the spur
wheel a¹ and causes it to engage with the star wheel x, and the stud
wheel u now commencing to act on the said star wheel the direction
of motion of the aforesaid four rollers is reversed, whereby the ends of
the combed fibres are superimposed on the strick of fibres projecting
from the edge of the table n. The continued revolution of the combing
cylinder has by this time presented one of the fluted surfaces 2 below
the piecing roller c, and the cams h¹ now permitting the said roller to
descend the combined fibres are firmly pressed between the said roller
and the said fluted surface. The descent of the roller c causes the
upper comb g¹ to enter the combed strick in order to keep back the
uncombed fibres, as is usual. The cam o having now moved the clutch
into an intermediate position between the star wheel and the spur wheel
the rollers e, e, f¹, and c are free to revolve, and therefore receive motion
from the surface 2 through the roller c, the united fibres being thereby
drawn forward and calendered, the plate 6 having been raised by the
cams to permit the ends of the fibres to be drawn through the upper
comb. One of the projections 4 on each cam h¹ now acts to raise the
roller c, and the feeding rollers d, d, are again actuated, the foregoing
movements being repeated three times during one revolution of the
combing cylinder. A revolving brush s³ working in connection with a
card roller f¹ is employed to remove the short fibres from the combs, the
said fibres being removed from the roller by the doffing knife u³, as is
usual.
b

page_text: so as to make less or more than a quarter of a revolution at each
movement.
When the machine is required to operate upon various lengths of
staple the star wheels w and x must be connected with the shaft y by
means of gearing which can be changed. Such an arrangement is
indicated by Fig. 13, wherein the said star wheels are mounted on studs,
and spur wheels which can be changed are mounted on the bosses of
the said star wheels, the spur wheel on the wheel w gearing directly
with a spur wheel on the shaft y, the spur wheel on the wheel ☛ being
O connected by the intermediate wheel w' with a second spur wheel on
the said shaft. If preferred intermediate wheels may be employed to
transmit motion from both of the said star wheels to the spur wheels on
the shaft y, or from the shaft f to any one of the said "stud wheels."
Having now fully described and illustrated the nature of my
5 Invention, and the manner in which I carry the same into practical
effect, I would in conclusion have it to be distinctly understood that
I claim,―
First. The employment of combing cylinders formed to comb two or
more "stricks" of fibre during a single revolution, substantially in
O manner as herein-before set forth and indicated.
Secondly. The "
clipping plate" 6 formed, arranged, and actuated
substantially as and for the purpose described, set forth, and indicated
herein-before and by the accompanying Drawings.
Thirdly. The method of mounting and actuating the piecing roller
5 and upper comb, substantially as and for the purpose described, set
forth, and indicated.
Fourthly. The method of imparting the intermittent rotatory move-
ments to the feeding rollers, and the method of imparting the inter-
mittent rotatory movements to the drawing and calendering rollers for
O the operations herein-before described as drawing off" and "backing
on," substantially as described, set forth, and indicated, the important
features being the stud and star wheels.
66
Fifthly. The bar / acting substantially as and for the purpose herein-
South and indicated

page_text: And, lastly. The general arrangement and combination of parts
forming a combing machine, substantially as herein-before described and
as illustrated in and by the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Kochs, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
Signed and sealed by the said
William Edward Kochs, in
the presence of
EDWARD K. DUTTON,
Agent for the Patentee,
3, Smithy Door,
Manchester.
W*. EDWARD KOCHS. (L.S.)