IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING HEMP AND SIMILAR FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING HEMP AND
SIMILAR FIBROUS MATERIALS."-A communication from abroad by Joseph
Compton Todd and Philip Rafferty, of Paterson, County of Passaic and
State of New Jersey in the United States of America.
Sealed the 5th July 1861, and dated the 11th February 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
on the 11th February 1861.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING HEMP AND
SIMILAR FIBROUS MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the machinery for heckling or preparing hemp or
other fibrous materials before they are delivered to the spinning frames. For
effecting these operations of preparing these materials two separate machines
are required. The first machine is an improved scutcher or heckling
machine, and the Invention consists in the adaptation of an adjustable apron or
concave envelope in close proximity to the points of the knives or teeth
attached to the surface of a rotary cylinder in such a manner that by means
of this apron or concave envelope the fibres of the hemp or other material

page_text: are kept down in the knives or teeth and the operation of heckling is performed
in a shorter time and inore perfectly than with ordinary rotary scutchers.
The second part of the Invention relates to an improved lapper and consists
in the employment of an endless toothed apron provided with feeding teeth
which are attached to bars so arranged that they are drawn in on approaching
the main cylinder and are moved out ready to take in a fresh supply of
hemp or other material on passing the feed rollers thereby enabling the operator
to deliver a much larger quantity of hemp or other material to the main
cylinder than with ordinary lappers in which the hemp or other material is
'delivered to the main cylinder by means of a secondary cylinder with or with-
out moveable teeth.
OF
pursuance the condition
Le
ent, med
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Offico
on the 10th August 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said William Edward Newton, 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 PREPARING HEMP AND SIMILAR FIBROUS
MATERIALS," being a communication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Edward Newton, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, 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.

page_text: '
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Newton, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention relates to the machinery for heckling or preparing hemp or
other fibrous materials before they are delivered to the spinning frames. For
effecting the operations of preparing these materials two separate machines
aro required.
The first machine is an improved scutcher or heckling machine, and the
Invention consists in the adaptation of an adjustable apron or concave envelope
in close proximity to the points of the knives or teeth attached to the surface
of a rotary cylinder in such a manner that by means of this, apron or concave
envelope the fibres of the hemp or other material are kept down in the knives
or teeth, and the operation of heckling is performed in a shorter time and
more perfectly than with ordinary rotary scutchers.
The second part of the Invention relates to an improved lapper, and consists
in the employment of an endless toothed apron provided with feeding teeth
which are attached to bars so arranged that they are drawn in on approaching
the main cylinder, and are moved out ready to take in a fresh supply of hemp
or other material on passing the feed rollers, thereby enabling the operator to
deliver a much larger quantity of hemp or other material to the main cylinder
than with ordinary lappers in which the hemp or other material is delivered
to the main cylinder by means of a secondary cylinder with or without
movable teeth.
These machines are represented in the accompanying Drawing, in which
Figure 1 represents a vertical section of the scutcher taken in the plane
indicated by the line a, a, in Figure 2; Figure 2 is a similar section of the
same, the plane of section being indicated by the line y, y, in Figure 1 ;
Figure 3 is a plan or top view of the lapper; and Figure 4 is a longitudinal
vertical section thereof.
The scutcher consists of a drum A made of wood or iron, and secured to a
shaft B to which a rotary motion can be imparted by a pulley C. The drum A
is provided with side flanges a which project beyond its face on both sides, and
between these flanges, and secured to the face of the drum at regular intervals,
are the knives or teeth D. The shape of these teeth may be round, as shown
in Figure 1 in the Drawing, or it may be altered to suit circumstances. The
shaft B has its bearings on a frame E, and this frame supports the cap F
which covers the upper half of the dram A; an aperture b in this cap enables

page_text: the operator to introduce the hemp. Suspended from the upper part of the
cap F, by means of screws c, is the apron G, the width of which is such that
it passes between the side flanges a of the drum, and it can be lowered down
close to the points of the teeth D; by means of this apron the hemp is kept
down into the teeth, and it is cleaned quicker and more perfectly than with
ordinary scutchers which have no such apron, and where the hemp is liable to
pass up beyond the teeth so that the same end of the bunch has to be passed
through the machine several times until it is perfectly clean, when the apron
is used each end of the bunch is cleaned perfectly by passing it once through
the machine.
The improved lapper is represented in Figures 3 and 4. The main cylinder
His constructed in the ordinary manner with a number of stationary teeth d,
and it is inclosed in the case e which is supported by the frame I. This
frame extends beyond the main cylinder, and it also supports the journal
boxes f which form the bearings for two arbors g to which the chain wheels J
are firmly attached. The journal boxes f are so arranged that they can be
forced apart by means of screws h, and the chains K which run on the chain
wheels J can therefore be stretched at pleasure. The chains are constructed
out of a series of links i each of which is provided with a slotted sturdard j,
and are so arranged that the slots in the standards of one chain are exactly
opposite those of the other. The standards are connected by rods k' which
extend from one chain to the other paralled to the bars G and serve to keep
the standards steady. These slots form the guides for the bars G which
carry the teeth or pins thus forming an endless toothed apron around the
pulleys or chain wheels J. The ends of the bars G are rounded and work
in cam grooves that are firmly attached to the frame on both sides of the
chains. These cam grooves serve to throw the teeth k attached to the bars G
out as they pass the feed rollers L through the action of which the hemp is
fed from the feed table M to the endless toothed apron N, and on passing
the main cylinder H the teeth are drawn in again and the hemp is thereby
delivered to the teeth d of the cylinder. By substituting the endless apron
for the secondary cylinder which is generally used with lappers, the operator
is enabled to feed a much larger quantity of hemp to the main cylinder than
he can do with ordinary lappers, and it takes less time to disentangle a
certain quantity of hemp than it does with the old machines for the same
purpose.
N
Having now described this Invention of improvements in machinery for
preparing hemp and similar fibrous materials, and having explained the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I claim as the Invention secured to

page_text: me by Letters Patent as aforesaid, 1st, the employment of the adjustable
apron G in combination with the scutching drum A as and for the purpose
described.
2nd, the employment of an endless toothed apron N with movable teeth or
pins in combination with the main cylinder H of a lapper constructed and
operating in the manner and for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Second day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.B.)