CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CARDING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Cedric Rivett, of Prestolee New Mills,
Farnworth, near the City of Manchester, Cotton Spinner, for the Inven-
tion of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CARDING COTTON AND
OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS."
Sealed the 12th September 1861, and dated the 13th April 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Cedric Rivett
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th April 1861.
I, JOSEPH CEDRIC RIVETT, of Prestolee New Mills, Farnworth, near the
City of Manchester, Cotton Spinner, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CARDING COTTON AND
OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to remove the motes and other impurities
from the fibrous material under operation, and to collect them in the form of
a fleece or sliver. My Invention also consists in improved arrangements of
self-acting machinery for stripping and clearing the main cylinder, and the
working rollers of carding engines.
In performing my Invention, the working rollers are placed by preference
near to each other, and each roller is provided with a stationary knife or comb,
by which the loose fibres, motes, and other impurities are doffed, these loose

page_text: fibres and impurities are carried forward from one working roller to the other
until they arrive over the feeding apparatus, where they are doffed by the last
stationary knife or comb, or by a roller or otherwise, and formed into a lap, or
collected in a can after passing through drawing or other rollers.
may
The working rollers are moved partly round alternately in contrary direc-
tions, but the forward motion must be greater than the retrograde motion; this
be effected by an eccentric on the doffer shaft acting on a lever and bar,
which bar is connected by links to two levers of unequal lengths. To these
levers are connected the pulleys for the chain by which the rollers are turned,
or the same result may be attained by the use of a grooved cam acting on
levers of unequal lengths, to which are jointed catches working in ratchet
wheels for giving motion to the pulleys for the driving chain or band, other
combinations of parts may be used for the same purpose.
The main cylinder is stripped periodically by means of a card roller or other
equivalent, which is brought occasionally into contact with the main cylinder,
and which is itself stripped by a roller or comb; while the main cylinder is
being stripped, it is made to revolve in the contrary direction to that in which
it revolves when working, this retrograde motion of the main cylinder may be
effected by means of a set of differential wheels placed within the driving
pulleys, or otherwise, and the strap guide is acted upon to move the driving.
strap from one pulley to the other by means of a cam which performs one
revolution every hour, or at other fixed periods, the groove in this cam moves
a lever connected to the strap guide, and the cam has a projection which acts
also on the frame supporting the stripping roller to bring it in contact with
the main cylinder; to the same frame are. also connected the segments, fur-
nished with inclined planes acting on the working rollers to raise them out of
contact with the periphery of the main cylinder while it is being stripped.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Cedric Rivett in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 12th October 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
CEDRIC RIVETT, of Prestolee New Mills, Farnworth, near the City of Man-
chester, Cotton Spinner, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her

page_text: reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Joseph Cedric Rivett, Her special licence that I, the said Joseph Cedric
Rivett, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Joseph Cedric Rivett, 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
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CARDING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS
MATERIALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Joseph
Cedric Rivett, 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 Joseph Cedric Rivett, 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 thereof, that is to say:-
The nature of my Invention consists of certain improved combinations
and arrangements of machinery applicable to carding engines for removing
the motes and other impurities from the fibrous materials, and for collecting
them with the flyings or loose fibres in the form of a fleece or sliver; my:
Invention also consists in certain improved arrangements and combinitions
of self-acting machinery, for stripping and cleaning the main cylinder and
working rollers of carding engines.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me
reference being had to the two accompanying Sheets of Drawings and to
the figures and letters marked thereon.
On Sheet 1, Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a carding
engine of the usual construction to which my improvements are applied;
Figures 2 and 3 are end views of parts of the same; Figure 4 is a detached
view of two of the working rollers with my improvements applied thereto.
The dotted circle a, in Figure 1, represents the fleece of fibrous material
with which the carding engine is fed in the usual manner; b, b, are the feed
rollers; c, the licker-in; d, the main cylinder; e, e, the working rollers; f, the
doffer; and g, g, the calendar rollers; these parts and the others not particu

page_text: larily referred to hereafter are made as usual. On referring to Figure 1
it will be seen that the working rollers e, e, are placed by preference near
to each other, and that the stripping rollers which are very generally used
are dispensed with, I would however state that it is not new to dispense with
the use of stripping rollers. Each working roller is furnished with a stationary
knife or comb h, shewn best in Figure 4, on to which it deposits the impurities
and fibre it takes from the main cylinder d. The comb h is made of a thin
blade of steel attached to a rod, the ends of which pass through a bracket h¹
fixed to the bend or that part of the framing to which the adjustable bearings
for the working rollers are usually attached, each comb is capable of being
adjusted laterally by set screws passing through the brackets h¹. The knives
or combs are serrated or made with teeth on the edge that is set to the
surface of the working roller the space between the working rollers and
the main cylinder is filled by a piece of wood 2 to prevent the accumulation
of fly, these pieces of wood are also supported by the brackets h¹ and are
capable of being adjusted by set screws. The loose fibres, motes, and other
impurities that are doffed as hereafter explained from the surfaces of the
working rollers by the knives or combs h are carried forward from one working
roller to the next, and so on from roller to roller as shewn by the dotted lines
in Figure 1, and they are collected in the form of a fleece on the lap roller
i which is placed by preference over the feeding lap a, the lap roller i is
turned round, slowly by the roller the surface of which is made rough to
impart the requisite friction; the lap i is pressed against the roller j by. the
springs acting on the sockets in which the necks of the lap revolve.
In the arrangement shewn in the Drawings the fleece is transferred from
roller to roller till it arrives at the first working roller, and is then conveyed
away to the lap roller, but if desired the fleece from several of the back
working rollers may in like manner be carried off to a lap roller separate
from the fleece from the front working rollers, and the fleece of the front
working rollers may be similarly carried off from the front roller to the lap
roller as shewn.
The requisite rotary motion is imparted to the roller j by a pinion on the
end of the lower feed roller b, gearing into the pinion ; to this pinion is
fixed the pinion j', gearing in the pinion, which is fixed on a short shaft
having a mitre pinion j gearing into a similar pinion fixed to the lower end of
an upright shaft k, to the upper end of which is attached the worm ki, gearing
into a pinion on the end of the rollerj; by this means the loose fibres, motes,
and other impurities from the surfaces of all the working rollers are collected
and formed into a lap, which, when full, is removed from the carding engine,

page_text: or they may be passed through drawing rollers, and collected in a can, or
otherwise disposed of.
The working rollers e, e, are moved partly round alternately in contrary
directions (but the forward motion is greater than the retrogade motion) in
the following manner:-On the shaft of the doffer f is mounted the pinion f',
which by means of the carrier f gives a slow rotary motion to the wheel 1; to
this wheel is fixed the cam m with an internal groove m³, in which a bowl on
the lever m¹ enters. The cam m has four elevations and four depressions,
consequently each revolution of the cam gives four to-and-fro motions to the
lever m', which is connected to the horizontal bar n by the bracket n', a stud
in which passes through the lever m¹; to the bar n is also fixed the bracket n².
To the bracket n² is jointed the catch o, taking into the ratchet wheel p, and
to the bracket n³ is jointed the catch o', taking into the ratchet wheel p¹; both
these wheels are fixed together, and to them is also fixed the chain pulley 9,
from wbich a chain q', shewn by dotted lines, is taken over pulleys fixed to the
axles of all the working rollers e.
The four elevations in the cam m are to be of different heights from the
centre, the one shewn in contact with the bowl in the lever m' being higher
than the next, gives a greater lateral motion to the bar n, and causes the
catch o to move the ratchet wheel p one tooth in the direction of the arrow.
When the next depression in the cam m acts on the bowl on the lever m², the
catch o' acting on the ratchet wheel p¹, (the teeth of which are partly shewn
by dots in Figure 1) moves it partly round in the contrary direction to the
arrow, but to a less extent. These motions being transmitted by the chain q'
to the working rollers move them alternately in opposite directións, the object
and effect of which is to cause the loose fibres and other impurities to be
stripped off on to the stationary combs. The elevation in the cam m, marked
m³, is the lowest of the four, and the other two are divided between the highest
and lowest; from this peculiar construction of the cam m it will be apparent
that each revolution of the cam imparts four different lengths of traverse to the
bar n. When the stripping of the working rollers according to my Invention
is combined with the stripping, the main cylinder according to my Invention
as hereafter described in reference to Sheet 2, the pinion f is mounted loose on
the doffer shaft, and to this pinion is fixed or cast the ratchet wheel f³, which.
5 is taken round in the direction of the arrow with the doffer by the catch f*,
connected to the face of the wheel, by which the doffer is driven, but when the
main cylinder is being stripped, the doffer and main cylinder rotate in the
contrary directions to the arrows, and during the retrograde motion of the

page_text: doffer the catch frides over the teeth of the ratchet wheel f³, without
imparting the retrograde motion to the working rollers.
I wish to remark that the to-and-fro motion given to the working rollers
may be obtained by an eccentric on the doffer shaft acting on a lever and bar,
which bar is connected by levers of unequal lengths to the pulley 7 and chain q',
or by other combinations of machinery, but the arrangement shewn I believe
to be preferable, I however make no claim to the mechanism by which such
to-and-fro motion of the working rollers are obtained.
In the accompanying Drawing I have shewn my improvements applied to a
carding engine, having working rollers without top flats; it is, however, evident
that my improvements are equally applicable to those engines in which the
carding is performed partly by working rollers and partly by top flats, or to
engines having only one working roller and a series of top flats.
On Sheet 2, Figure 5 is an elevation of the carding engine shewn in
Figure 1, to which my improvements in machinery for stripping the main
cylinder are applied; Figures 6 and 7 are end views of parts of the same, and
Figure 8 a plan. In these views, r is a diagonal shaft, which communicates
the motion from the doffer f to the lower feed roller 6 by the pinion ¹ and
wheel 6', in the usual manner; to the shaft is fixed the worm gearing into
the worm wheel s¹ fixed to the short shaft s, on which is a worm s, gearing
into the worm wheel t; this worm wheel and the ratchet wheel t¹ are fixed
together, but are loose on the stud t, on which is also mounted the disc t³ loose
on the stud ; to the disc t are jointed the catches t, which take into the
ratchet wheel t¹, and are held in gear by springs and the incline t', which acts
on the bowl u¹ mounted on the lever connected by an adjustable fixing to
the shaft u; to this shaft is also fixed the slot lever u³ for actuating the strap
fork w and the lever u' for moving the stripping roller x to and fro, as will be.
explained hereafter; to the opposite side of the disc t³ is fixed the incline t",
see Figure 7, which acts on a bowl mounted on a lever , which is fixed to
the shaft u in the same manner, and immediately behind the lever ², shewn in
Figure 5. To the diagonal shaft are fixed the conical worm 13, and the
grooved bush ; this latter is connected to the shaft by a key and groove, so
that it always revolves with the shaft, but it is capable of sliding to and fro
upon it; the coiled spring presses the bush towards the conical worm r³;
to the face of the disc t is fixed a pin to, which takes into the worm r³, and
into the groove of the bush 7, as will be described hereafter. The stripping
roller x revolves in the bearings ', only one of which is shewn in Figures 7
and 8, each bearing is bolted to a plate a, in which is a diagonal slot to receive

page_text: the inclined planes formed near each end of the bar ; this bar is moved to
and fro in the direction of its length by the lever u above referred to, the
distance between the roller and the main cylinder d can be regulated by the
screws, and the motes or other impurities are removed from the stripping
roller by the comb or straight-edge x. To the axle of the main cylinder d is
fixed the driving pulley d to which motion is communicated by the driving
strap d, as usual; to the pulley d¹ is fixed or cast the bevel wheel d³ forming
part of the differential motion; y is the loose pulley, to which is fixed the
grooved pulley y for driving the stripping roller x and the bevel wheel y³, the
bevel pinions 2 gear into both the wheels d³ and y', and revolve on shafts
or studs connected to the plates ¹, fixed to the brake pulley 3, which is
loose on the axle of the main cylinder. The strap fork w is fixed to the
sliding plate w¹, which is guided in the bracket fixed to the side
frame, as shewn in Figure 6, and by the stud w³, the plate w¹ is moved
to and fro by the lever u³ acting on. a stud in the lever us, the upper end of
which is slotted and takes on a stud, projecting from the plate w¹; to this
plate is also fixed a stud taking into a slot of the lever w, the fulcrum of which
is the stud above referred to; the eye of this slot lever is screwed and fits on
the screw formed on the stud w³, as shown by dots in Figures 5 and 8, con-
sequently, when the lever w' is moved on its centre by the lateral motion of
the plate w', the lever w has a slight to-and-fro motion on its stud; this
motion is imparted to the bush, through which the ends of the brake strap **
are passed, and in which they are secured by adjusting screws and nuts. The
bush 23 is retained in a vertical position by a key on the stud taking into a
groove in the bush, the grooved pulley y' imparts motion by an open band to
the pulley 2, which, with the pulley ³, are loose on the axle of the feed roller b,
and the pulley 3 by a crossed band gives motion to the pulley 2 fixed to the
axle of the stripping roller x.
The mode of operation is as follows:-The Drawing represents the various
parts in the positions they occupy when the carding engine is performing its
regular work, the driving strap d being on the driving pulley d', as shown in
Figure 8. The worm is now gradually turning the worm wheels s' and t
round, and the ratchet wheel t' acting against the catches t' causes the disc t³
to revolve in the direction of the arrow upon it; as soon as the pin to comes
into gear with the worm, the disc t³ is moved faster than it was before by
the said worm acting on the pin to, and the catches t' ride over the teeth of
the ratchet wheel t'. When the pin to arrives near the larger diameter of the
worm, the worm acting on the shoulder of the pin t forces the end of the

page_text: shaft towards the frame side sufficiently to throw the pinion out of gear
with the wheel b', thereby arresting the motion of the feed rollers, and con-
sequently the supply of cotton or other fibrous materials previous to and during
the stripping of the main cylinder. The incline t now comes in contact with
the bowl on the lever u², thus moving the shaft u partly round in the
direction of the arrow in Figure 6; the lever u³ now acts on the lever u³, and
moves the plate w' and strap guide w, so as to bring. the driving strap (7² on
to the loose pulley y.. This motion of the plate w' brings the slot lever w
from the diagonal position, shown in Figure 6, into a horizontal position, thus
moving the bush on the stud w³, and tightening the brake on to the
brake pulley, as above described. During the moving of the driving
strap from the fast to the loose pulley, the lever u, acting on the bar a³,
causes the inclines formed on it to move the stripping roller towards and
into contact with the inain cylinder. When the driving strap is on the loose
pulley y, and the brake is tightened, the pinions act as carriers, and transmit
the motion from the wheel y to the wheel d³ fast to the axle of the main
cylinder, thereby causing it to rotate in the contrary direction to that in which
it revolves when working; this retrograde motion of the main cylinder is
imparted by the usual gearing to the doffer, and by it to the shaft r. At this
time the groove in the bush comes into operation, and takes hold of the
pin to, which after leaving the worm pushes the bush a little way up the
shaft.r. When the pin te is in the groove of the bush r, the disc t is again
moved in the direction of the arrow upon it until the pin to passes beyond the
bush. During this motion of the disc t the incline t' comes in contact
with the bowl on the lever u, thereby moving the shaft u, and with it the
strap guide w, and slot lever w* into their original positions, thus slackening
the break; shifting the .driving strap from the loose to the fast pulley, and
causing the main cylinder to revolve again in the direction of the arrow; the
stripping roller is also at the same time drawn back or out of contact with
the main cylinder by the inclines on the rod a. When the pin to has passed
beyond the bush 2, the disc t is carried round as before by the catches + and
ratchet wheel until the pin & again comes in gear with the worm³, when
the operations above described are repeated. I wish to remark here, that
the differential wheels may be dispensed with, and the retrograde motion can
be given to the main cylinder during the stripping by means of a friction clip
acting in combination with a ratchet wheel, to which motion is given by an
excentric fast to the boss of the loose pulley, or otherwise.
The machinery above described for stripping the main cylinder comes into

page_text: operation about twice a day, but by varying the number of teeth in the
wheels s and t the operation of stripping can be performed oftener or at greater
intervals, the space of time between each stripping depending upon the quality
of the cotton or other fibrous material under operation.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described the manner
of performing the same, I would have it understood that I make no claim to
any of the mechanical parts separately, nor do I intend to limit myself to the
precise details given, as the same may be considerably varied and modified;
but what I claim is,-
First; the combination of machinery applicable to carding engines, for
removing the motes and other impurities from the fibrous materials, and
collecting them with the "flyings" or loose fibres, as described in reference to
Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4.
Secondly, the combining the mechanism of a carding engine in such manner
that by the self-action of the machinery the carding process shall be stayed,
the main cylinder caused to retrograde, and the impurities stripped or removed
periodically as herein explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Cedric Rivett, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
JOSEPH CEDRIC RIVETT.
(L.B.)