IMPROVE- MENTS IN DRAWING OR PREPARING FRAMES."
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Andrews, of Bessbrook, in the County of
Armagh, in Ireland, Flax Preparing Master, for an Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN DRAWING OR PREPARING FRAMES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Andrews at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 26th November 1881.
ROBERT ANDREWS, of Bessbrook, in the County of Armagh, in Ireland, Flax
Preparing Master. "IMPROVEMENTS IN DRAWING OR PREPARING FRAMES."
The said Invention has reference to the process of drawing or preparing flax
hemp, jute, and other fibrous substances, and consists in an arrangement whereby
the fallers of a frame used in such process are thrown on their sides and carried
back in a horizontal position in order that a brush may be applied to the gill pins
for the removal of waste and dirt, and that they may be thoroughly cleaned without
stoppage.
For this purpose I substitute for the ordinary lower revolving screw or spiral by
which the fallers and gills are returned below the upper spiral to the feed end of
the frame a revolving screw or spiral having the intermediate threads widened or
enlarged so as to allow the fallers and gills to move horizontally; and I employ a
slide or slides having an elevated plane, so as to preserve the centre line of the
faller in a corresponding position with regard to the lower screw or spiral. The
fallers and gills are raised to the elevated plane by means of a tappet or lever
attached to the frame, and actuated by a cam fixed to the screw or spiral, and the
thread at the end of the screw or spiral restores them to the ordinary position, from
which they are raised to the upper spiral, as heretofore practised.
The cleaning brush revolves beneath the fallers so as to act upon the gill pins.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Robert Andrews in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 24th May
1882.
ROBERT ANDREWS, of Bessbrook, in the County of Armagh, in Ireland, Flax
Preparing Master. "IMPROVEMENTS IN DRAWING OR PREPARING FRAMES."
My said Invention has reference to the process of drawing or preparing flax,
hemp, jute, and other fibrous substances, and consists in an arrangement whereby
the fallers of a frame used in such process are thrown on their sides and carried
back or along in a horizontal position in order that a brush or rubber, or both
brush and rubber, may be applied to the gill pins for the removal of waste and
dirt, and that the fallers may be thoroughly cleaned without any stoppage of the
frame.
For this purpose I dispense with the ordinary lower revolving screw or spiral by
which the fallers and gills are returned below the upper screw or spiral to the feed
end of the frame, and I substitute therefor a revolving screw or spiral having a
slightly inclined and narrow groove or thread, such as is commonly used at each
end, but with the intermediate grooves or threads widened or enlarged so as to
allow the fallers and gills to lie horizontally on their sides therein, and to move in
that position along the frame.
The fallers and gills are thrown out of their normal inclination upon their sides
by means of a tappet or lever acting upon each end of the faller, and made to
traverse or rock on a pivot or stud centre which attaches it to the frame; and
instead of the ordinary bottom slide I employ a slide having an elevated plane,
upon which by the same action of the tappets or levers the fallers and gills are
raised in order to preserve the centre line of the fallers when thus lying sideways
or horizontally in a corresponding or relative position with regard to the lower
screw or spiral. The upper slide has a similar plane projected downwards which
maintains the fallers in their horizontal position while being cleaned.
The tappets or levers are placed between the lower screw or spiral and the lower
slide, and are attached to the frame and actuated by a cam or projecting scroll
fixed to the top of the thread of the screw or spiral, and causing the tappets or
levers to rock on their pivots or stud contres sufficiently to raise the bottom edge of
the fallers so as to place them on the elevated plane of the lower slide, and throw
them on their sides.
The fallers and gills move or pass sideways or horizontally along the elevated
plane of the lower slide and between the upper and lower slides until they reach
the narrow part of the groove or thread at the opposite end of the screw or spiral,
on entering which they become restored to the ordinary slightly inclined position,
and from it are raised to the upper screw or spiral, as heretofore practised.
A faller is received and discharged at each revolution of the lower screw or
spiral, and the tappets or levers after each operation are by means of springs or
weights restored or brought into position, and ready to lift the succeeding faller
and gills.
The cleaning brush is placed below the fallers, and is made to revolve slowly in
the direction opposite to that in which the fallers move, so as to subject the fallers
and gills to its action, and to remove any waste or loose fibres or dust that may be
adhering to them.
I also employ a rubber or roller clothed with flannel or other suitable material to
remove at the same time any waste or loose fibres or dust that may fall or rest
upon the
upper surface of the fallers and gills; this rubber or roller is placed above
the fallers in the lower screw or spiral, and is borne or swung upon centres or
pivots in the upper slide, and it deposits the refuse collected by it upon the before

page_text: mentioned brush, which is immediately below it. Thus both sides of the fallers
and gills are simultaneously cleaned without their removal from or any stoppage of
the frame.
And in order that my said Invention may be more fully understood
shall now
proceed to refer to the Drawings on the Sheet hereto annexed, the same letters of
reference being used throughout all the Figures thereon to indicate the saine or
corresponding parts of my apparatus.
Fig. I. is a sectional elevation of part of an ordinary screw gill drawing or
preparing frame having my apparatus substituted for the lower screw or spiral and
slides hitherto employed.
Fig. II. is a plan or top view of part of the lower screw or spiral employed by
me, and shewing the fallers and gills as affected and carried by it.
Fig. III. is a cross section detail of the screws or spirals, slides, cam or projecting
scroll, tappet or lever, and fallers as employed by me.
And Fig. IV. is a sectional elevation of the upper and lower slides employed
by me.
a is the lower screw or spiral, and a' is the upper screw or spiral; 6 and 6' are
the fallers and gills respectively; cand c¹ are the lower slide with elevated plane
and the upper slide with a similar plane projected downwards respectively; dis
the tappet or lever, and e is the cam or projecting scroll; f is the spring or weight
by which the tappet or lever d is restored to position; y is the revolving brush;
and is the rubber or clothed roller.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I would have it to be understood that I do not claim the
exclusive use of grooved or threaded screws or spirals, horizontally moving fallers
and gills, slides with elevated or projected planes, revolving brushes or rubbers,
tappets or levers, and cams or projecting scrolls, except when the same are con-
structed and arranged specially and employed in the manner hereinbefore described;
nor do I claim the use of any of the separate mechanical parts which form the
compound automatic apparatus employed by me, but I claim,-
1st. The use in drawing or preparing frames of a screw or spiral, constructed
and employed substantially in the manner and for the purposes hereinbefore
described and shewn on the Drawings hereunto annexed.
2ndly. The use in drawing or preparing frames of a slide or slides having the
elevated or projected plane, constructed and employed substantially in the manner
and for the purposes hereinbefore described and shewn on the Drawings hereunto
annexed.
3rdly. The use in drawing or preparing frames of fallers and gills turned hori-
zontally, substantially in the manner and for the purposes hereinbefore described
and shewn on the Drawings hereunto annexed.
4thly. The use in drawing or preparing frames of revolving brushes, constructed
and employed substantially in the manner and for the purposes hereinbefore
described and shown on the Drawings hereunto annexed.
5thly. The combination and arrangement of parts constituting the compound
automatic apparatus above mentioned, constructed and applied substantially in the
manner and for the purposes hereinbefore described and illustrated by the Drawings
on the Sheet hereunto annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Andrews, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty second day of May, in the year of our Lord One