Improvements in Scutchers or Lap Machines.
Year: 1893

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Scutchers or Lap Machines.
We, ASA LEES AND COMPANY LIMITED, of Soho Iron Works, Oldham, in the
County of Lancaster, Machine Makers, and THOMAS BROOKS, of 77 Stamford
Road, Waterhead, Oldham aforesaid, Mill Manager, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
Our invention relates to improvements in scutchers or lap machines and our
improvements consist essentially in so connecting or combining the brake of the
lapping apparatus with the mechanism for stopping the feed and delivery of such
machines that when the stop motion is actuated the brake is taken off automatically
and simultaneously.
And in order that our invention may be fully understood and readily carried into
effect we will describe the accompanying two sheets of drawings reference being
had to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Figure 1 is a side elevation and Fig. 2 a plan of part of a lap machine to which
our improvements have been applied.
Figures 3 and 4 are similar views to Figs. 1 and 2 respectively, but omitting
some of the parts, of an alternative arrangement according to our invention.
In the arrangement illustrated by Figs. 1 and 2,-a a designate the pair of
calender rollers, bb the lap rollers c the lap, d the catch pivoted on the stop motion
lever e and held latched on a projection by a spring g until knocked off by the
projection h¹ on the ratchet wheel when the lap c has attained the desired size;
is the driving gear carried by the stop motion lever e and by means of which the
feed and delivery motions are driven; jis the weighted brake lever fulcrumed
at and the brake, k the brake pulley which controls the train of gears actuated
by the rack m (of which there is one on each side of the machine) as the lap fills
in the usual way.
All the foregoing parts are of the ordinary construction and operate in the usual
way so that when the lap c attains the desired size the catch d is forced off the
projection which allows the lever e to fall by its own weight assisted by the
spring and withdraw the driving gear i from the wheel o on the axle of
the calender roller thereby stopping the feed and delivery of material.
According to this invention we arrange that the lever e on falling raises the
weighted end of the lever ; and so takes the brake off the brake pulley k.
In the arrangement Figs. 1 and 2 we accomplish this by means of a lever p
fulcrumed at g on a bracket q' secured to the framing g. One end of the lever p
lies under a projecting arm e¹ on the stop motion lever e, and the other extremity
lies under the brake lever ; and is in contact therewith through an adjusting
screw ŕ.
When the stop motion lever e falls it depresses one end of the lever p and raises
the other end thereby lifting up the weighted end of the brake lever j and relieving
the pressure of the brake on the brake pulley k so that the train of gears being
released the rack m is then forced up by the expansion of the lap c and is prevented
from coming down again after the withdrawal of the lap c and roller by the
catch which is pivoted on an arm of the stop motion lever e and engages the
teeth of the wheel t thereby locking the train of gears. The catch might be.
arranged to engage the rack m instead of engaging one of the train of gears in
connection with the said rack as shown and described.
To re-start the feed and delivery of material the stop motion lever e is lifted
thus putting the toothed wheel i in gear with the wheel o in the usual way and at.
the same time automatically putting on the brake by allowing the weighted end of

page_text: the brake lever to fall and the brake to come in contact with the brake pulley k.
The action of raising the stop motion lever e also lifts the catch e clear of the
wheelt so that the rack m on each side of the machine may be lowered in the
ordinary way.
In the alternative arrangement illustrated by Figs. 3 and 4 when the stop motion
lever e falls it pushes down a lever u which is fulcrumed at u¹ and near the other
extremity is connected to one arm of a bell crank lever v fulcrumed on a stud v
carried by a bracket w secured to the framing; the other arm of the lever vis
connected to the end of a clutch lever which is fulcrumed at x' to the bracket w
and controls the sliding part of a clutch or catch box y which is mounted on a
feather key in the shaft 1 and engages as shown in Fig. 4 with teeth on the side of
one of the train of gears before mentioned. In this case we have shown it applied
to a wheel t' which is loose on the shaft 1 and which gears with a wheel marked 4
in Fig. 2 which is fixed on the shaft 2 on which the pinions which gear with the
racks are also fixed. The shaft 1 has fixed on it a wheel t which drives a gear 3
fixed on the boss of the brake pulley k, and therefore the shaft 1 cannot turn without
the brake pulley revolving with it. It will thus be readily understood that when
the stop motion lever e falls it moves the sliding part of the catch box y out of
gear with the teeth on the wheel t¹ and thus automatically releases a portion of the
train of gears from the control of the brake pulley k and allows the rack m at each
side of the machine to rise in the manner hereinbefore described; then the catch e³
engages the teeth of the wheel t and prevents the descent of the rack m until the
stop motion lever e is again raised and the sliding part of the catch box y put
into gear.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is:
:-
In a scutcher or lap machine-
1. Connecting or combining the brake of the lapping apparatus with the
mechanism for stopping and starting the feed and delivery in such a manner that
when the machine is stopped the brake is automatically and simultaneously taken
off, and vice versa when the machine is re-started the brake is by the same action
again put on.
2. The combination with the stop motion lever, of a catch box or friction clutch
in the connections between the brake pulley and the rack for the purpose of auto-
matically disengaging the brake pulley and enabling the rack on each side of the
machine to rise freely, substantially as herein set forth.
3. The combination with the stop motion lever, of a catch engaging automatically
the rack or a toothed wheel in connection therewith in order to prevent the rack
on either side of the machine from being lowered until the catch has been disengaged
substantially as herein set forth.
4. The combination and arrangement of parts for automatically relieving the
brake substantially as herein described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2.
5. The combination and arrangement of parts for automatically relieving the
brake substantially as herein described with reference to Figs. 3 and 4.
Dated this 23rd day of March 1893.
H. B. BARLOW & GILLETT,
17, St. Ann's Square, Manchester, Agents for Applicants.