IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR BREAKING, HECKLING, STREAKING, AND CLEANING HEMP, CLEANING FLAX TOW, WASHING WOOL, AND HECKLING, CLEANING, OR WASHING OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Brasier, of New Cross, in the County of
Surrey, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR BREAKING, HECKLING, STREAKING, AND CLEANING HEMP, CLEANING
FLAX TOW, WASHING WOOL, AND HECKLING, CLEANING, OR WASHING OTHER
FIBROUS MATERIALS."
93.
Scaled the 26th July 1870, and duied the 31st January 1970.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Brasier at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 31st January 1870.
I, EDWARD BRASIER, of New Oross, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "In-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR BREAKING, HECKLING, STREAKING, AND CLEANING
HEMP, CLEANING FLAX TOW, WASHING WOOL, AND HECKLING, CLEANING, OR
WASHING OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
My said Invention relates to a machine wherein one or more endless
series of heckles or combs are arranged to travel continuously in an
end wise direction, while they are at the same time operated to move
to and fro transversely or laterally. The hemp tow or other fibrous

page_text: material is fed into the machine from a table, from which it is drawn
by a pair of suitable feed rollers which pass the fibres forward to the
heckles. The latter then carry it forward between them and comb or
streak it, while by their transverse or zig-zag motion all the woody
or worthless portion is effectually shaken out, leaving the fibro in the
desired condition. In treating hemp I prefer to use two sets or series
of the heckles or combs running one above the other and the fibre
passing between them, but for other materials, such as flax tow for
instance, and for washing wool, I may use one endless scries or set of
heckles or combs, and arrange them to travel over a wire web or
grid. For treating some kinds of fibres instead of using the ordinary
heckle teeth I prefer to employ parallel or cylindrical pins or scrrated
or toothed plates. The said endless scries of heckles are formed by
attaching heckles, combs, or plates of any suitable and convenient
length at proper intervals upon endless chains or belts, which pass over
pulleys or drums at the ends of the machine. In combination with the
endless series of heckles or combs, I arrange stripping plates which
clean the heckle pins or teeth from any adhering portions of fibre. The
two endless chains or belts are connected together at the desired intervals
by metal bars or rods, whercon the backs of the heckles or combs are
fitted to slide freely, but are kept in place thereon by clips which aro
attached to the heckles and embrace the sides of the bars. The trans-
verse or lateral motion of the heckles is produced by means of a light
framo, which is moved to and fro across the path of the heckles by
mcans of a rocking beam arranged at one side of the machine and
connected by a suitable rod to a crank, which is driven by means of
bevel pinions or other suitable mechanism from the main shaft of the
machine. The said frame is arranged to act upon pins or studs pro-
jecting from the backs or stock of the heckles or combs. The belts
or chains run over bearing plates which support and guide the heckles.
These plates are adjustable by means of screws, so that the two sets of
heckles or the heckles and the web or grid may be set closer together
or further apart according to the nature and quality of the fibres being
treated. The laterally moving frame is supported on guide bars attached
to hanging picces which support the bearing plates, so that the said
frame and plates are raised and lowered together. The strippers of
the heckles are fitted at their ends to slide upon pins or rods which
allow them to move out as far as the points of the teeth. To operate
these strippers I arrange at each end of tlic machine over the chain

page_text: drums or pulleys cast iron or other metal plates or bars, which are
curved or inclined and so arranged as to act as fixed cams and gradually
move the strippers outward to the points of the tecth as the heckles
pass around the pulley away from the central part of the machine, 'thó
said curved plates allowing the strippers to return as: they leave the
said pulleys. The inner corners of these fixed cam plates should bo
rounded to ensure the proper entrance of the heckles between tlicm;
and to prevent any liability of their being caught and stopped as they
might be by projecting square corners. To ensure the return of the
strippers to the back of the teeth or pins I arrange in combination with
the chains or belts inclined plates or bars, which press back the
strippers as they pass forward to their work. These inclined bars may
bo curved outward laterally at the ends, and serve as guides to keep
the series of heckles central with the machines. The shaft of one of
.
the chain or belt pulleys carries a toothed wheel which gears into a
pinion on the main or driving shaft. The upper pulleys at this end of
the machine have their shaft supported in bearings, which are adjustablo
vertically by means of screws at each side of the framing. At tho
other end of the said machine the pulley. shafts, are fitted in bearings,
which are made adjustable horizontally by means of screws to allow the
chains or belts to be tightened or slackened as required..
1
The feed rollers used in my improved machine may be of various kinds:
according to the nature of the material to be worked. I may use one
pair or several pairs of these rollers, which may be plain or fluted or
formed with blades or beaters. The upper one of cach pair of rollers,
is: made to act with a yielding pressure by means of springs above tho
bearings.. For hemp I use feed rollers, which also serve as breaking,
rollers and: which have their blades or beaters stronger and coarser than
for some other fibres. For treating fibres of a short staple I prefer to use:
two or more short bands or series of heckles; one set or series is arranged
to run faster than the feed rollers, and to draw the fibres therefrom; at!
the other end of this series of heckles is another pair of rollers running at,
:the same speed as the said heckles. These rollers deliver the fibres, tor
the next endless series or belt of heckles; which runs faster. than the first.
series, and so on. I thus obtain a drawing action upon the fibres which
ensures the thorough cleansing thereof by the heckles, stripping pins, or
serrated plates.
--

page_text: For washing wool and other materials I provide the machine with a
tank, at the bottom of which is a wood or metal grating. Above this
The chains or
grating I arrange one series or band of heckles or pins.
belts which carry the same are guided by means of pulleys or rollers so
that they descend and ascend at opposite ends of the tank. The fibres
are carried downward from the feed rollers to the grating, and there
subjected to the combined endwise and transverse motion hercin-before
described. The heckles or pins and the fibres being washed are thus
completely immersed in the liquid in the tank, and the said fibres are
thoroughly cleaned from all dirt or foreign particles which sink down
through the grating, while the cleansed fibre is carried up to the delivery
end of the tank, where it may be caused to pass through a pair of rollers
which press out the greater portion of the liquid.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edward Brasier in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 30th July 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
BRASIER, of New Cross, in the County of Surrey, Engineer, send
greeting.
: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Edward Brasier, Her special licence that I,
the said Edward Brasier, my exccutors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Edward Brasier, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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
FOR BREAKING, HECKLING, STREAKING, AND CLEANING HEMP, CLEANING FLAX TOW,
WASHING WOOL, AND HECKLING, CLEANING, OR WASHING OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edward Brasier, my

page_text: executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and scals, 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 Edward Brasier, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
bo performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings forming a part of this Specification.
My said Invention relates to a machine wherein one or more endless
series of leckles or combs are arranged to travel continuously in an
endwise direction, while they are at the same time operated to move to
and fro transversely or laterally. The hemp tow or other fibrous material
is fed into the machine from a table, from which it is drawn by a pair of
suitable feed rollers which pass the fibres forward to the heckles. The
latter then carry it forward between them and comb or streake it while
by their transverse or zig-zag motion all the woody or worthless portion
is effectually shaken out, leaving the fibre in the desired condition.
In treating hemp I prefer to use two sets or series of heckles or combs
running one above the other and the fibre passing between them, but
for other materials, such as flax tow for instance, and for washing wool,
I may use one endless series or set of heckles or combs and arrange
them to travel over a wire web or grid. For treating some kinds of fibres
instead of using the ordinary heckle teeth I prefer to employ paralel
or cylindrical pins or serrated or toothed plates. The said endless series
of heckles are formed by attaching heckles, combs, or plates of any
suitable and convenient length at proper intervals upon endless chains
or belts which pass over pulleys or drums at the ends of the machine.
In combination with the endless scries of heckles or combs I arrange
stripping plates, which cleans the heckle pins. or teeth from any adhering
portions of fibre.
In the accompanying Drawings I have shewn a machine constructed
in what I consider the most advantageous manner of. carrying my
Invention into practice, and I will now proceed by the aid of these
Drawings more fully to explain the said Invention."

page_text: Figure 1 is a plan of the said machine, Figure 2 is a side elevation,
and Figure 3 is an end elevation of the same.
Figure 4 shews part of one of the aforesaid heckles drawn to an
enlarged scale.
Figure 5 is a longitudinal vertical section of the said machine adapted
for washing wool and other fibres. Like letters indicate the same parts
throughout the Drawings.
A is the framing of the machine, which may be of cast iròn, wood, or
other suitable material. The two endless chains or belts & arc con-
nected together at the desired intervals or distance apart by metal bars
or rods whercon the backs of the heckles or combs c are placed; the
said heckles are fitted to slide freely on the bars b, but are kept in place
thereon by clips c' which are attached to the heckles and embrace the
sides of the bars b, as shewn in Figure 4. The transverse or lateral
motion of the heckles c, which is a very important feature of my Inven-
tion is produced by means of a light franie d which is moved to and fro
across the path of the heckles by means of a rocking beam e arranged
at one side of the machine and connected by a suitable rod e'to a crank f
which is driven by means of bevil piuions or other suitable mechanism
from the main shaft of the machine. In the arrangement illustrated in
Figures 1 and 3, g, h, are the bevilled wheels, which are fixed on the
shafts i and j herein-after described. The frame d is arranged to act upon
pins or studs c projecting from the backs or stocks of the heckles or
combs c. The belts or chains a run over bearing plates which support
and guide the heckles c. These plates are adjustable by means of
screws ¹, so that the two sets of heckles (or the heckles and the web or
grid when the latter is used in place of one set of heckles) may be sct
closer together or further apart according to the nature and quality of
the fibres being treated in the machine. The laterally moving frame d
is supported on guide bars attached to hanging pieces which
support the bearing plates k, so that the said frame and plates are
raised and lowered together by the aforesaid screws or by other means
of adjustment substituted for the same. The strippers of the hackles
are fitted upon pins or rods
as the points of the teeth.
which allow them to move out as far
To operate these strippers I arrange at
the end of the machine over the chain drums or pulleys cast iron
or other metal plates or bars m which, as shewn in Figure 2, are
curved or inclined at m² and so arranged as to act as fixed cams and

page_text: gradually move the strippers outward to the points of the teeth c³ as
the heckles pass around the pulleys outward or away from the central
part of the machine, the said curved plates allowing the strippers to
return as they leave the said pulleys and pass inward. The inner corners
of these fixed cam plates m should be rounded, as shewn in Figure 1,
to ensure the proper entrance of the heckles between them, and to
prevent any liability of their being caught and stopped as they might
be by projecting square corners at these points. To ensure the return of
the strippers to the bottom of the teeth or pins c³ I arrange in com-
bination with the chains or belts a inclined plates or bars o, which press
back the strippers as the heckles pass onward to their work. These
inclined bars may be curved outward laterally at the ends o³ to
prevent any possibility of their offering any obstruction to the belts, and
they serve as guides to keep the series of heckles longitudinally central
with the machine during the working of the same. The shaft n³ of the
chain or belt pulleys n² carries a toothed wheel p which gears into a
pinion on the main or driving shaft i: The upper pulleys n* at this
end of the machine have their shaft * supported in bearings which are
adjustable vertically by means of the screws r at each side of the framing.
At the other end of the machine the pulley shafts n³, nº, are fitted in
bearings which are made adjustable horizontally by means of screws 7
so that the pulleys ", n' may be moved further outward or inward and
the chains or belts a thereby tightened or slackened as required.
1
The feed rollers used in my improved machine may be of various kinds
according to the nature of the material to be worked. I may use one
pair or several pairs of these rollers, which may be plain or fluted, or as
shewn formed with blades or beaters. The upper one of cach pair of
rollers is made to act with a yielding pressure by means of springs
above the bearings . For hemp I use feed rollers which also serve as
breaking rollers, and which have their blades or beaters stronger and
courser than for some other fibres. For treating fibres of a short staple. I
prefer to use two or more short bands or series of heckles. One set or
series is arranged to run faster than the feed rollers and to draw the
fibres therefrom; at the other end of this serics of heckles is another
pair of rollers running at the same speed as the said heckles. These
rollers deliver the fibres to the next endless series or belt of heckles,
which runs faster than the first series, and so on. I thus obtain a driving
action upon the fibres which, ensures the thorough clearing thereof
by the heckles, stripping pins, or serrated plates.

page_text: 16
The machine when constructed for washing wool and other materials,
as shown in Figure 5 is provided with a tank which may be constructed
of iron, wood, or other suitable material. In this tank is a wood or
metal grating a¹; above this grating I arrange one series or band of
heckles c. The chains or belts a which carry the same are guided
by means of the pulleys or rollers 227, so that they descend and ascend at
opposite ends of the tank u as they travel onward in the direction
indicated by the arrow. By this means the fibres are carried downward
from the feed rollers to the grating u', and are there subjected to the
combined endwise and transverse motion herein-before described. The
licckles or pins and the fibres being washed are completely immersed in
the liquid in the tank a, and the said fibres are thoroughly cleaned from
all dirt or foreign particles which sink down through the grating while
the cleansed fibre is carried up to the delivery end of the tank, where it
may be caused to pass through a pair of rollers which press out the
greater portion of the liquid. The tank is provided at the bottom with
a valve through which the liquid may be quickly discharged. Bars 10
placed transversely across the grating serve to collect and retain the dirt
as the heckles pass onward.
Having thus fully described my said improved machinery, and shewn
how the same may be advantageously constructed and adopted to the
various uses for which it is designed, I wish it understood that I
claim,―
First. Giving to a series of heckles or combs attached to endless
belts or chains a lateral or zig-zag motion for the purpose set forth.
Second. The devices herein shown and described for imparting a zig-
zag motion to the said series of heckles or combs, substantially as set
forth.
Third. The strippers for removing the fibres from the teeth of the
licckles or combs in combination with the devices for moving such
strippers in and out upon the teeth of the said heckles or combs, sub-
stantially as set forth.
Fourth. The means for adjusting two endless series or belts of heckles
or combs nearer to or further from each other, substantially as set
forth.
Fifth. The combination of the endless series or belts of heckles with
the devices for adjusting the same, and with the vibrating frame and its
operative mechanism whereby the said series of heckles or combs and

page_text: the frame are-adjusted together without interfering with the action of
the said frame, substantially as set forth.
Sixth. The combination together of a number of short endless series
or belts of heckles and rollers, substantially as described for the purpose
specified.
Seventh. The arrangement of the endless series or belts of heckles
to travel in a tank containing a cleansing liquid for the purpose set
forth.
Eighth. Constructing the said tank with a grid or grating, and
placing the rollers and belts of heckles therein in combination with the
devices for giving the aforesaid zig-zag or lateral motion to the heckles,
substantially as set forth for the purposes specificd.
•
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Brasier, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirticth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
D. L. WAGNER.
EDWARD BRASIER. (L.S.)