IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING WOOL
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Leach, of Leeds, in the County of York,
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
PREPARING WOOL."
Scaled the 27th May 1873, and dated the 29th January 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Leach at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th January 1873.
I, GEORGE LEACH, of Leeds, in the County of York, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING WOOL," to be as follows :—
'
This Invention relates to improvements in the machinery used in
preparing wool after it has been opened in the willow, and converting it
into laps ready for the carding engine. The wool as it leaves the willow
is received on to an endless apron which delivers it to an endless lattice
feed sheet mounted on a traversing carriage. This carriage is set upon

page_text: rails forming part of a weighing machine. The fibre is here accumu-
lated to a certain given weight and the carriage is then run with its
load on to what I term the preparer; there the carriage while in the act
of running back to the weighing machine will by the traverse of its
lattice feed sheet deliver its load on to a similar sheet of the preparer,
which sheet carries the wool first under an oiling apparatus similar to
that for which I obtained Letters Patent bearing date December 14th
1859, No. 2839. In its passage under this apparatus the wool receives
the desired quantity of oil spray and thence enters the preparing
machine, plucker, or teazer, to be acted upon by the spikes or teeth
contained in the rapidly rotating barrel of these machines. This barrel
throws the wool forward into a chamber with panelled top and sides
and with a bottom formed by a lattice feed sheet which travels under a
cylinder formed of picrced metal, which cylinder closes the end of the
chamber. This cylinder is fitted at its ends with a rim of spur teeth
into which gear pinions for imparting rotary motion to the cylinder.
The cylinder is also supported by means of flanged guide pullies; this
cylinder and the lattice sheet which passes below it travel together and
take up the wool as it is delivered to the chamber, and pass it out of the
machine in the form of a sheet where it is received on to canvas and
rolled up in the form of a lap.
To keep open the holes in the cylinder and thereby to allow of dust
and seeds passing through into a box placed in the interior of the
cylinder to receive it, I use two rotating brushes, one to clean the inner
and the other the outer periphery, and I also provide a dabbing brush
for entering the holes and clearing them of oil and dirt.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,.
filed by the said George Leach in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 29th July 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE 30
LEACH, of Leeds, in the County of York, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of January, in the

page_text: year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said George Leach, Her special licence
that I, the said George Leach, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said George Leach, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING WOOL," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said George Leach, 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 Lettors
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Leach, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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 Drawing here-
unto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that
is to say) :-
This Invention relates to improvements in the machinery used in
preparing wool after it has been opened in the willow, the object being
to convert it into laps ready for the carding engine. The wool as it
leaves the willow is received on to an endless apron which delivers it to
an endless lattice feed sheet mounted on a traversing carriage. This
carriage is set upon rails forming part of a weighing machine. The
fibre is here accumulated to a certain given weight and the carriage is
then run with its load on to what I term the preparer; there the
carriage while in the act of running back to the weighing machine, will
by the traverse of its lattice feed sheet deliver its load on to a similar
sheet of the preparer, which sheet carries the wool first under an oiling
apparatus similar to that for which I obtained Letters Patent bearing
dato December Fourteenth One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine,

page_text: No. 2839. In its passage under this apparatus the wool receives the
desired quantity of oil spray, and thence enters the preparing machine,
plucker or teazer, to be acted upon by the spikes or teeth contained in the
rapidly rotating barrel of these machines. This barrel throws the wool
forward into a chamber with panelled top and sides and with a bottom
formed by a lattice feed sheet which travels under a cylinder formed of
pierced metal, which cylinder closes the end of the chamber. This
cylinder and the lattice sheet which passes below it travel together and
take up the wool as it is delivered to the chamber and pass it in the
form of a sheet out of the machine, where it is received on to canvas
and rolled up in the form of a lap.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 shews a side elevation of the
oiling and preparing machine, and Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same.
The wool on leaving the willow above described is received on to an
endless apron, shewn at A, Fig. 1; this apron delivers it on to an endless
lattice feed sheet B mounted on a traversing carriage B'; this carriage
is set upon rails forming part of a weighing machine C. The fibre is here
accumulated to a certain given weight and the carriage is then run
with its load, as shewn by dots in Fig. 1, on to the framing D of the
preparer. I now connect the carriage wheels with one of the rollers of
the lattice feed sheet, so that the wheels when next in motion may
give a traverse motion to the feed sheet B; this being done I run back
the carriage on to the weighing machine C, and I thereby cause the
lattice feed sheet B to deliver its load on to a similar sheet D' of the
preparer, which sheet carries the wool first under my well known oiling
apparatus E, (by which oil is sprinkled upon it in an even and uniform
manner) and then to the preparing machine plucker or teazer situate
below the framing D of the preparer; this teazer consists as usual of a
rapidly rotating barrel F which is armed with spikes or teeth and is
enclosed in a casing composed of a fixed and moveable portion F¹, F³,
the moveable portion F' being furnished at its upper end with a pair of
antifriction rollers which rises on horizontal flanges or rails projecting
from the framing D. This arrangement is intended to facilitate access
to the interior of the casing, the part Fº being drawn back when
required to the position shewn at Fig. 1, openings are made in the
sides of the casing to admit air to the centre of the barrel F which in
its rapid rotation acts as a fan or blower; G is an endless apron which

page_text: guides down the wool to the barrel F as it leaves the lattice sheet D',
and G¹ is a feed roller for delivering the wool to the spikes or teeth of the
barrel, which teeth carry it round in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 1,
and throw it forward into a chamber H which is brought into com-
5 munication with the casing F¹; this chamber H constitutes the receiver
of the lap forming portion of the preparing machine, a longitudinal
section of which is given at Fig. 3. The chamber H is made with a
panelled top and sides, and its bottom is formed by a lattice feed sheet I
which travels under a cylinder K formed of pierced metal, which
cylinder closes the end of the chamber and is itself made with open
ends; the sides of the chamber H are cast with annular extensions H¹,
which are intended to receive the cylinder K; this cylinder is fitted at
its ends with a rim of spur teeth into which gear pinions K¹ for
imparting rotary motion thereto. The cylinder is also supported in its
frame by means of flanged guide pulleys K2, and set within it and so as
to be free of the cylinder is a case L for receiving the dust which may
be blown out of the wool. The cylinder K and the lattice sheet I
which passes below it and in close proximity thereto travel together
and take up the wool as it is delivered into the chamber H. The wool
in passing between the cylinder K and the lattice sheet I becomes
compressed, and it is delivered out of the machine in the form of a
sheet; as it leaves the machine it is received on to a lap carriage M
which is provided with rollers M³, M³, for supporting the lap, and a
roller M³ containing a length of canvas which is rolled up with the wool
and keeps the coils of the lap separate.
While the preparing machine is in work there is a strong tendency for
the holes of the cylinder K to become clogged with dust and oil from the
wool. In order to avoid this and to allow of dust and seeds passing
through into the case L provided to receive the same, I use two rotating
brushes N, N¹, to clean the inner and the outer periphery of the
cylinder, and I also provide a dabbing brush O for entering the holes
and clearing them of oil and dirt. The axle of the brush N is carried
by pendent brackets bolted to the side framing H³, and bearings are
provided on the framing H¹ for the axle of the brush N¹. The dabbing
brush O is pendent from a crank shaft O¹, the rotation of which imparts
to it a rapid reciprocating motion. This brush is guided by means of a
pair of radius rods O2 pivotted to the framing H¹.

page_text: I will now describe the means of communicating motion to the
various parts of the machine:-On the shaft of the barrel F are the
band pulleys a which receive motion from any prime mover; the
opposite end of this shaft is furnished with a pulley a' from which a
band passes to a pulley 6 carrying at its boss a pinion ¹ in gear with the
wheel c on the axle of the feed roller G¹; rotary motion is thus imparted
to the feed roller. A spur pinion on the axle of this roller com-
municates through spur gearing, shewn by dots in Fig. 1, motion to the
endless feed apron G; a second band a³ passes up from the pulley a¹ to
a pulley on the oiling apparatus and round the pulley b, and thus serves
to transmit motion to the oiling apparatus; a³ is a band pulley for
transmitting motion from the axle of the barrel F to the pulley c*
through the cross belt a*; this pulley runs loosely on the transverso
shaft c¹ which has its bearings in the framing of the lap forming
machine, and which carries the spur pinions K¹ for driving the
cylinder K. The boss of the pulley c* carries a pinion which gears into
a spur wheel d that runs loosely on a stud axle projecting from the
framing of the lap forming machine; a pinion on the boss of this
wheel d gears into a wheel c³ on the shaft c¹, and through this gearing
the rotary motion of the pulley c is transmitted at a reduced speed to
the shaft c¹, and consequently to the pinions K' which are made fast
thereon. The rotary brushes N, N¹, are connected together by a crossed
band e which passes round pulleys on their respective axles, and they
are driven through a pulley at the opposite end of the axle of the
brush N¹, which pulley receives a band ƒ from a pulley c made fast
to the boss of the pulley c*.
Rotary motion is communicated to the crank shaft of the dabbing
brush O by a band g which passes round a pulley on that shaft, and
round a pulley carried by the axle of the brush N.
The lap as it is received on to the canvas from the roller M³ of the lap
carriage, is coiled up upon the lap roller M' round which the end of the
canvas is laid. This roller when commencing to coil up the lap bears
upon the rollers M', M², the former of which is driven by gearing
from the adjacent tension roller of the endless apron I, as indicated by
the dotted circles, Fig. 1..
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of " Improvements
in Machinery for Preparing Wool," I wish it to be understood that

page_text: under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim, the com-
bination of mechanism constituting my improved preparing machine
for forming the wool into laps, as described with reference to the accom-
panying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Leach, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-second day of July, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.