Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Mar., 1887.
Specification Accepted, 14th June, 1887,
I, WILLIAM RONALD HAMILTON, of Newton in the County of Middlesex, and State
of Massachusetts, United States of America, Wool Comber, do hereby declare the
nature of my invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to improvements on wool combing machines and particularly
to devices for pressing down the wool into the combs of the large and small circles
and to hold it in said circles while the noils, or short wool is pulled out.
Heretofore vertically reciprocating brushes have been used for this purpose, but
they are objectionable for the reason that they require a great deal of power to
operate them; they are very noisy and cause a great deal of wear of the machine and
to obviate such difficulties I construct my invention as follows, reference being had
to the accompanying drawings where Fig. 1 represents a plan view of the improve-
ment showing one of the small circles and a portion of the large one; Fig. 2
represents a vertical section on the line A-B shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 represents a
cross section on the line C-D shown in Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 represents a cross-
section on the line E-F also shown in Fig. 1.
Similar letters refer to similar parts wherever they occur on the different parts of
the drawings.
c³
a represents the stationary base plate of an ordinary Noble wool combing machine
and b represents the frame or support of it as usual; c represents what is termed the
large circle to which the boxes c c are pivoted as usual and through which boxes the
wool is fed to the combs; b¹ represents one of the wheels or rollers for supporting
the outwardly projecting portion of the large circle c in the usual manner as shown
in Fig. 2. is the annular large comb plate secured to the large circle c and c³,
are the annular and concentric rows of teeth projecting upwards from the comb plate cl
as usual;d represents one of what is termed the small circles, and d'is the comb-
plate secured to it and provided with the upwardly projecting annular or concentric
rows of teeth ", d", d¹f as is common in wool combing machines of this class. The
large and small circles c, d, are rotated in the directions shown by arrows in Fig. 1,
by the usual mechanism, such mechanism being, however, not shown in the drawings
as it forms no part of the present invention; e represents one of the pillars secured to

page_text: the stationary base plate a, as usual, and e¹ represents the vertical shaft within it by
means of which the motion is conveyed as usual from above to the gears below for
operating the large circle c and small circle d. f represents one of the divider wheels
as usual, for combing out the long wool from the large circle. in Fig. 1 represents
the conveyor or shute for delivering the noils or short wool from the small circle
during the operation of the machine. ; h, represent the plows pivoted to the bolt /¹
and arranged between the concentric rows of teeth c³, c³ on the large circle for the
purpose of raising the wool above the said teeth in the large circle previous to the
separation of the noils from the long wool as is usual in machines of this kind and i
represents the stationary plate above which the wool is fed back again to the combs.
The devices as above described are common to what are termed Noble wool combing
machines and form no part of the present invention. The improved device for
pressing the wool between the teeth of the large and small circles after it has been
raised by the plows h, h and the plate i, is carried out as follows: To any stationary
part of the machine, preferably to the pillar e, I secure the horizontal shaft or pin k
as shown and on this is journalled the gear having the sleeve made in one piece
or secured to it, as shown in Fig. 2. To said sleeve I secure a
grooved roller
preferably composed of a series of large cylindrical disks 1, 1, 1, and intermediate
smaller cylindrical disks , l, l, for the pressers on the large circle, and a similar
series of large cylindrical disks m, m, m, and intermediate smaller cylindrical
disks m¹, m³, m', for the small circle as shown in Figs. 1 and 2; said series of disks
being secured to the wheel ¹ and sleeve ¹¹ by means of the nut and washer kª on
the outer end of the shaft or pin k as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.
n, n, are the improved presser blades having perforated hubs surrounding the smaller
cylindrical disks between the larger disks 1, 1; said presser blades are curved
to correspond with the curvatures of the teeth on the large circle as shown in Fig. 1,
the free ends of said presser blades projecting between the rows of teeth of the large
circle as shown in Fig. 1, and the said presser blades are held in their respective
positions between the rows of teeth on the large comb or circle by means of the
bolt secured stationary to any desired part of the machine, and their free ends are
prevented from spreading apart by means of the notched plate or rest 1³, shown in
Figs. 1, 3 and 4.
A similar set of presser blades o, o having perforated hubs surrounding the smaller
cylindrical disks m³, m³, between the larger disks m, m, are used for the smaller circle,
said presser blades o, o, being curved to correspond with the respective spaces between
the rows of teeth in the small circle as shown in Fig. 1, and they are prevented from
rising upwards by means of the stationary bolt m passing through them in the same
manner as above described relative to the presser blades n, n; 'I also use in connection
with the smaller presser blades o, o, a notched guide plate m³, similar in construction
to the notched plate 3 on the presser blades n, n, and for the same purpose. The
underside of the respective presser blades may be inclined, tapering or curved. as
shown in Fig. 3, to obtain the best results.
The gear wheel meshes into the teeth of the pinion p, which is secured in a
suitable manner to the hub of the pulley p¹ loosely mounted on the stud p₁ secured
to the block q that is secured in a vertically adjustable manner preferably to the
pillar e by means of set screws q', q' passing through slots q, q" in the block gas
shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 2, by which arrangement the stud pu may be adjusted up
or down and a larger or smaller pinion p secured to the pulley p₁ according to the
speed desired to be given to the gear wheel and its grooved roller. The pulley p
is set in a rotary motion by means of a strap or belt or cord p³ leading from another
pulley above or in any other suitable manner.
I do not wish to confine myself to any particular manner of rotating the pinion p
as this may be done by means of belts or gears in any suitable or well known
manner.
By means of the presser blades on the large and small circles, and their respective
rollers, as above described, the wool is automatically and easily pressed between the
rows of teeth on the large and small circles without the noise, shake and wear

page_text: incident to the employment of vertically reciprocating brushes as ordinarily
employed.
In other respects the operation of the machine is similar to the ordinary wool
combing machines.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of said invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is
1. In a wool combing machine the large and small comb circles in combination
with the presser blades n, n, o, o, o, projecting between the circular rows of the teeth
in the large and small comb circles, as and for the purpose set forth.
2. In a wool-combing machine the large and small comb circles, in combination
with the rotary rollers, and m, m, and the curved presser blades n, n, o, o, mounted
in grooves between said rollers and held in position by means of bolts ", mas and
for the purpose set forth.
3. In a wool-combing machine, the large and small comb-circles in combination
with the rotary rollers 1, 1, and m, m, the curved presser blades n, n, o, o, mounted in
grooves on said rollers, and having the stay bolts ", m" and notched guides 13, m³,
as and for the purpose set forth.
4. In a wool combing machine the large and small comb circles in combination
with the rollers 1, l, m, m, the presser blades n, n, o, o, mounted in grooves on said
rollers, the gear wheel secured to said rollers l, m, and the interchangeable and
vertically adjustable pinion gearing into the teeth of the gear wheel k¹, as and for
the purpose set forth.
5. In a wool combing machine the large and small comb circles, combined with the
rollers l, m, and their intermediate disks or washers l, m, and the presser blades n, o,
arranged in connection with said rollers and disks as set forth.