Improvements in Rollers for Cotton Gins and the like.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Nov., 1899-Accepted, 28th Nov., 1900
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Rollers for Cotton Gins and the like.
I, THOMAS HENRY PEARSE, of No. 89, State Street, in the City of Boston, State
of Massachusetts, United States of America, Lawyer, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particu-
larly described and ascertained, in and by the following statement:-
ور
In the practice of the art of ginning. cotton it has been ascertained to be an
indisputable fact that the so-called roller" gin is preferable to the so-called
saw gin, for the reason (inter alia) that the latter damages the staple to an
almost ruinous extent, while the former does not injure it to an appreciable
degree.
The principal reason why the roller gin has not been universally adopted has
been its relative uncertainty and slowness of action; this and other objections
have resulted for the most part, if not entirely, from the imperfections of the
roller which carries the fibre into the machine to have the seeds and substances
foreign to the fiber separated therefrom. It is essential to a perfectly-operating
roller that it shall possess structural characteristics in virtue of which it will
readily and with certainty catch or take hold of the fibres when the latter come
into contact with the roller but without injury to the staple, so that the roller
may carry the stock into the machine to be acted upon by the seed-removing
means.
Among the qualities of a perfect roller are durability and firmness to a degree
that will enable it to maintain a regular surface, and at the same time possess
features or means which will enable it to immediately and certainly take hold of
the fibres coming into contact with it and hold them with a degree of tenacity
requisite to properly convey them through the gin, and yet without injury to
the stock.
In order that my invention may be more readily understood I have appended
hereto a sheet of drawings illustrating in what manner my invention is to be or
may be carried into effect. In the said sheet of drawings,
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a roller constructed under my invention.
Figures 2 and 3 are views showing discs in position.
In each of these figures the spindle of the roller is shown in cross section and
the annular discs are shown in face view. The annular disc shown in Figure 2
is what I shall hereinafter term for the purposes of this specification a spacing
disc whilst the annular disc shown in Figure 3 is what I shall hereinafter for
the purposes of this specification term an operative disc.
Referring to Figure 1, a is the spindle of the roller having at one end a fixed
The
head and at the other end an adjustable and replaceable head or nut c.
body of the said roller is built up of annular discs of two kinds constructed and
arranged as I shall now proceed to describe. To form the said annular discs I
take sheets or plates of any convenient material such for example as woven cotton
duck and I stamp or cut these out in the form of annular discs or flat rings.
In doing so I take care that the discs (in this case true discs) cut from the centre
are of a size to correspond as closely as possible with the size of the spindle upon
1:

page_text: which they are to be threaded so that when the said annular discs are placed upon
the spindle
a of the roller they shall fit tightly thereon without any burring or
pressing aside of the material of the said discs. By this means it is possible to
obtain a roller of truly cylindrical shape for it will be obvious that if the annular
discs did not fit well upon the spindle certain of them would project further from
the geometric axis of the spindle than others and the action of the roller would
be defective. This applies particularly in the case where the discs are made of
woven material and not of material (such as vulcanised fibre) which can be
turned down (as on a lathe for example) after the discs are mounted on the
spindle.
I have herein before spoken of a truly cylindrical body being obtained but I
make a reservation in this respect that certain of the discs have parts or devices
which extend beyond the normal cylindrical surface of the roller. Such parts or
devices are those which I shall hereinafter refer to in my description as
catching means."
"fibre-
Having stamped or cut out rings (hereinafter termed discs) as aforesaid I
separate these into two groups. One group I treat for the purpose of making
the discs operative discs (see g Figure 3) in contradistinction to the other discs
termed spacing discs f Figure 2. I now take those discs intended to constitute
operative discs and I smear one side thereof with mucilage of any convenient
kind such for example as shellac varnish. I then lay upon the sticky surface
thus obtained and in a radial direction short lengths h of fibre or wire of any
convenient kind but preferably short lengths of horse-hair. These lengths h
of horse-hair are arranged so. that their outer ends project slightly (say to a
distance of from a thirty-second to a sixteenth part of an inch) beyond the
periphery of the disc, whilst care is taken that their inner extremities shall not
project into the open space within the annulus. In practice I generally place
about two layers of these fibres upon the sticky surface taking care not to employ
too much mucilage and I then allow the disc to dry. In some cases before drying
I take another disc without the horse hairs or other fibre-catching means and
press upon the sticky surface of the disc on which the said radially arranged
fibre-catching means have been mounted. In this case I obtain a compound disc
in which the bristles or hairs are held sandwich fashion between two annular
discs of duck or other material. In another form of operative discs I put lengths
of horse-hair or other bristles on both sides of the disc of cotton duck after the
manner herein before mentioned.
.
I now have two sets of discs, spacing discs f and operative discs g, and I proceed
to string these upon the spindle a so that operative discs and spacing discs shall
alternate with one another. In practice when I use discs of cotton duck and
lengths of horse-hair I find it convenient to separate each operative disc by
from two to four spacing discs depending upon the thickness of the duck employed.
A distance of about one-sixteenth of an inch between each operative disc gives
good results in most cases. Having now strung a sufficient number of discs,
spacing and operative, upon the spindle a I place this in an upright position and
I then subject the discs to a heavy pressure, preferably of several tons, as for
example by means of a hollow ram or plunger operated hydraulically in a well
known manner, the ram or plunger being hollow for the passage of the spindle.
If the pressure be too great for the head 6 or if the shape of the head be incon-
venient for resisting the pressure applied then it is more convenient instead of
having a fixed head and an adjustable head to have two adjustable heads. These
heads are removed when the hydraulic or other heavy pressure is put on and one
end of the spindle is sunk in a recess in the anvil or resisting block of the press
so that the full pressure exerted is taken up by the pile of discs strung on the
spindle. I then withdraw the pressure and screw on the replaceable head or
replaceable heads as the case may be so as to maintain the discs in position upon
the spindle. A metal washer i (see Figure 1) may conveniently be placed under
each replaceable head.

page_text: By the means I have specified a very efficient roller for my purposes is
obtained.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
1 claim is:-
A roller for the purposes described comprising in its construction round disks
or layers of suitable substance, as explained, compressed to render them compact
or solid, provided at intervals with substantially radially-arranged fibre-catching
means, and means for maintaining the layers in compressed condition, all as
hereinbefore explained.