IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY USED FOR PREPARING FOR SPINNING SILK, WOOL, OR OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1859

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 USED FOR PREPARING FOR
SPINNING SILK, WOOL, OR OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES." -A communication
from abroad by Charles de Iongh, of Guebwiller, in the Empire of
France.
Sealed the 20th January 1860, and dated the 18th October 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 18th October 1859.
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 USED FOR PRE-
PARING FOR SPINNING SILK, WOOL, OR OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," to be as
follows:-
This Invention of improvements in machinery used for preparing for spin-
ning silk, wool, or other fibrous substances, relates, in the first place, to an
improved method of feeding rolls of fibres ou to combs or gills. The improve-
ment consists in rolling the fibres between two tapes or bands, and when these
rolls of fibres are being unrolled or unwound to feed the fibres on to the points
of the combs or gills, the said two tapes or bands are wound or rolled up on to

page_text: two separate bobbins, thereby perfectly detaching all the fibres which were
between the tapes or bands from the other fibres still on the roll.
The Invention relates, secondly, to an improved method of preventing the
fibres from lapping or coiling round the drawing rollers or the top rollers of
preparing machinery. To effect this, a roller armed with flexible flaps or fans, of
parchment or other suitable material, is applied in a position parallel and close
to any drawing or top roller, and this roller, armed with flaps, is made to
revolve in the same direction as the roller close to which it is placed, and its
circumference is caused to move at the same speed as, or very little faster than,
the circumference of the said roller close to which it is placed. The flaps or
fans of the said roller will thus wipe against the circumference of the other
roller, and detach from it any fibres adhering thereto, and will carry forwards
such fibres and unite them to the sliver of fibres delivered by the drawing roller,
which sliver passes over or under the roller armed with flaps, and slightly
touches the flaps.
The Invention relates, thirdly, to improved methods for obtaining good
borders or edges to slivers drawn from passing or travelling combs, and thereby
preventing waste. The improvement consists in the application of two slivers
of the same material as that under operation on the machine, which are passed
round two rollers armed with flaps, as before described; one of these rollers
being placed close to and to act upon the top roller, and the other close to and
to act upon the bottom or fluted drawing roller. The two slivers are passed
through trumpet-mouthed guiders, so as to be opposite to the edge or border
of the main sliver, or to that part of the rollers to which the points of the fibres
are first-presented by the travelling combs, as these slivers are passed one over
the top and the other under the bottom roller armed with flaps or fans, and
thus move with the main sliver delivered by the drawing-off rollers, they will
catch between them and carry forward with them any detached fibres on the
edge or border of the main sliver; and as these two slivers are then united to
and form part of the main sliver with which they are carried forward, and
received in a can or other receptacle, they thus form the edge or border of such
main sliver, and prevent any waste. And in order to obtain a good edge or
border on the other side of the main sliver, two fluted rollers are employed
-instead of only one; one of these fluted rollers being longer than the other, that
is, than the one nearest to the combs, and a top roller pressing on both the fluted
rollers, and reaching to near the end of the longest, a little beyond the end of
the shortest roller, and not so far as the end of the longest, a guider is placed,
so that any fibres of which the points are laid hold of or nipped between the
top and the second or longest roller, must be carried forward by that roller, the

page_text: guider preventing them from being carried laterally by the motion of the travel-
ling comb from out of the gripe or hold of the rollers, and these fibres are thus
collected by the guider, and form the other edge or border of the main,
sliver.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 18th April 1860.
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 Eighteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third 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 USED FOR PREPARING
FOR SPINNING SILK, WOOL, OR OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," being a communication
from abroad by Charles de Iongh, of Guebwiller, in the Empire of France, 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.
. NOW KNOW YE, that J, the said William Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates chiefly to improvements on the machinery for assort-
:

page_text: ing and preparing fibres for spinning, for which my correspondent obtained
Letters Patent bearing date May Twenty-first, One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-six (No. 1211), and August Third, One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-eight (No. 1765) respectively, the object being to increase the efficiency
of such machinery, and thereby to obtain a superior quality and better yield of
sliver therefrom. In this improved assorting machine a taper chain of combs
is used for taking up the fibre supplied to the feed apron, and delivering it to
the drawing-off rollers on either side of the chain of combs, in such a manner
as to allow of the longer fibres being first selected and formed into a sliver,
then fibres of less length, and so on, according to the number of gradations of
length into which it is deemed desirable to divide the fibres.
In the Specification of the Patent of August, One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-eight, there is described a mode of delivering stricks of fibres to the
feeding cloth, so that they shall lie parallel to each other across the cloth, and
be presented to the chain of combs to ensure the middle lines of comb teeth
striking into the fibres at about the middle of their length. This end is attained
by the use of a long cloth and a tape, which are wound up on to a common
roller as the stricks are laid by hand on to the cloth, until a lap or roll of suffi-.
cient size is obtained. The lap or roll is then taken to the assorting machine,
which is provided with a feeding apron divided down the middle to form a
passage for the tape when the roll is unwound, to deliver the fibres on to the
apron. As the roll is unwound, the lapping cloth falls away and the fibres are
supported by the tape until they are delivered on to the apron. It has, how-
ever, been found in practice, particularly when silk is the fibre under operation,
that a tendency exists for the lapped fibres to adhere together, and instead of
passing forward with the tape to cling to the roll. To avoid this, it is now
proposed to introduce into the roll a second tape, which, as the roll is unwound,
will cause the stricks of fibres to leave the roll and fall upon the feed apron.
In the accompanying Drawings, I have shewn at Fig. 1, Sheet I., the
manner of carrying out this part of the Invention, wherein a is the long cloth
for receiving the parallel stricks of fibres, and wrapping them up into a roll;
b is the tape over which the stricks are laid, and which is intended to support
the fibres as the lapping cloth leaves the roll; and c is the additional tape
which is drawn from the roller c*, and laid over the fibres, and is intended to
ensure the separation of the fibres from the roll formed by winding up the
cloth and tapes together with the enclosed fibres on to the roller d. When
the two tapes are used, the cloth a may be dispensed with, if thought desirable.
Figures 2 and 3 illustrate in plan and elevation the unwinding of a roll formed
without the use of the wrapping cloth; the tape b, it will be seen, is con-

page_text: ducted down through the opening in the feeding apron to a roller 6¹ below,
and the tape c is carried upwards to a roller c¹ suspended over the apron; as,
therefore, rotary motion is communicated to the feeding apron and the rollers
b and c, the stricks will be deposited upon the apron, and carried forward to
the taper combs. This mode of detaching the fibres of rolls or laps it is
proposed also to apply to the feeding of passing combs in preparing machinery
generally.
The Figures in Sheet II. represent some improvements in the drawing
heads of the assorting machine above referred to, by means of which the
lapping of the fibres, round the drawing-off rollers is prevented, and good
borders or edges are also ensured to the slivers drawn from the travelling or
passing combs. This part of the Invention applies also to all preparing
machines.in which passing combs are employed.
Fig. 4 shews in plan view, and Fig. 5 in vertical section, the means for
effecting the above-named objects. In these Figures the drawing-off rollers
are shewn at a, a¹, a², as set diagonally to the passing comb, which is shewn
at b. In the rear of these rollers a pair of rollers c, c, is provided, armed
with flaps or wings d, d, which are formed of some thin flexible material such
as parchment, and are intended to act as wipers, and detach from the surfaces
of the rollers a', a, with which they are brought in contact, any fibres that
may adhere thereto, and deliver such fibres to the passing sliver. The wipers
may be conveniently attached to their rollers by forming equidistant from each
other longitudinal undercut parallel grooves in the periphery of the rollers,
and passing a folded or rolled-up edge of the slips of parchment longitudinally
into the grooves. These wipers will then, by the natural elasticity of the
parchment, have a tendency to stand up from the periphery of their rollers,
and when, therefore, the rollers are rotated (which must be at a surface speed
about equal to, or a little faster than that of the drawing-off rollers, and in the
same direction as the rollers against which they are working,) they will wipe
off the adhering fibres, and effectually prevent them from lapping or coiling
round the drawing-off rollers. The sliver, as it leaves the drawing-off rollers,
passes between the wipers, thence through a guide e, which condenses it, and
conducts it between pressing rollers f,f,f, which serve further to condense it.
For the purpose of ensuring good borders or edges to the sliver, and preventing
the doubling up and knotting of the filaments on the edges of the flat or
uncondensed sliver, two drawn slivers, g, g¹, are conducted from cams through
a pair of trumpet-mouth guides h, h¹, and thence over the wiper rollers, where
they come into contact with one edge of the loose sliver, passing onward from
the drawing-off rollers, and combine therewith, taking up and drawing into

page_text: the sliver all the fibres projecting from that edge. To secure a good edge for
the other side of the sliver, a peculiar construction of guide is employed,
which forms also a cap to that bearing of the lower drawing rollers which is
nearest the passing comb. The lower drawing rollers a, a', it will be seen at
Fig. 4, are of different lengths, the hinder roller a' being longer than the
forward roller a, the object being that those fibres which have been drawn by
the nip of the lower roller a with the top roller a³, and are carried out of the
nip of that roller by the traverse of the passing comb, shall be taken up by
the roller a¹ (upon which the top roller a² also presses), and drawn out of the
comb teeth.
"
This arrangement of rollers is precisely similar to that shewn in the
Specification of the Patent of One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight,
above referred to, but when worked as there shewn, a portion of the fibres
escaped from the nip of the second roller as from the first, and produced
waste. To avoid this the cap i is provided, which has a slot in front parallel
to the passing comb to allow of the forward progress of the fibres, but it is also
provided with a shoulder which forms a stop, and is so situate in front of the
roller a as to arrest or retain the fibres that have come into the nip of the
drawing-off rollers a' and a sufficiently long in front of those rollers to allow
of their being drawn off the comb pins. This will be best understood by
inspecting the detached views of the cap at Figures 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, which
shew it in plan and edge views, and in vertical and horizontal section. At
Fig. 6 the relative position of the cap and drawing-off rollers is shewn, the
roller a fitting into a rebated portion of the cap; Figures 7 and 10 shew the
form of the guide through which the fibres pass in their forward course, and
at Fig. 10 the shoulder or stop is represented which arrests those fibres which
are in the nip of the rollers a¹ and a³, and retains them in the line of draught.
By this means a good edge or border is ensured on the opposite side of the
loose sliver to that which was perfected by receiving the drawn slivers.
Figures 11 and 12 shew, in plan and elevation, a drawing head provided with
two top rollers and an apron for conducting the sliver to the trumpet-mouth
guide. In this instance a somewhat modified form of cap is used, as shewn
best in the detached views, Figures 13 and 14. The shoulder or stop is placed,
as in the former instance, in front of the rear drawing-off roller, and an
inclined edge projects from the cap in front of the forward roller to raise the
fibres into a line with the guide in the cap. I may here remark, that when
two top rollers are used, as in this example, a pin projecting from the cap of
either the top or lower rollers into the space between these rollers, will suffice
to retain the fibres within the grip of the hinder rollers.

page_text: Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of improvements in
machinery used for preparing for spinning silk, wool, and other fibrous
substances, as communicated to me from abroad, I wish it to be understood
that, under the above in part recited Letters Patent, I claim the means herein
described for detaching the fibres of rolls or laps for delivery to the passing
combs of preparing machines; and I also claim the means above described
for preventing the lapping of fibres round the drawing-off rollers of preparing
machines, and securing good borders or edges to the loose sliver delivered
from such rollers.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Eighteenth day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)