IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING AND COMBING WOOL, FLAX, SILK, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Cunliffe Lister, of Manningham, and James
Warburton, of Addingham,Spinners, for the Invention of" IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING AND COMBING WOOL, FLAX, SILK, AND OTHER
FIBROUS MATERIALS."
Sealed the 13th March 1860, and dated the 13th December 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister
and James Warburton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 13th December 1859.
We, SAMUEL CUNLIFFE LISTER, of Manningham, and JAMES WARBURTON,
of Addingham, Spinners, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING AND COMBING WOOL, FLAX,
SILK, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
Our improvements consist, firstly, in anew combination of mechanical parts
which work as follows:-The fibrous material is first formed into suitable
slivers either by carding or other well known means, and then fed into a screw
gill nipping head such as was patented on February 24th, 1851, No. 13,532,
by one of us, namely, the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister; the tufts of fibre are
then drawn out (as described in the Specification of the said Letters Patent)
and placed upon a comb, and as the comb travels along the ends of the fibres
in the comb pass under a nipping plate and are pressed against the head of the
comb, and are held whilst the ends standing out from the comb are combed,
dressed, or hackled. The ends of the fibrous materials standing out of the

page_text: comb are then taken hold of by a nipping instrument (which we prefer to be
circular), and the other ends of the fibre (those in the comb) are either drawn
out through the teeth of the comb or lifted out by a circular brush or other
instrument; if a brush be used it should be placed within the comb and
against the back of the teeth, and caused to revolve in the direction of the
head to the points of the teeth so as to lift the fibre out of the teeth. The
ends of the fibre which were in the comb will now be standing out of the
nipper and carried forward by the nipper as it travels round and presented to
toothed surfaces to be dressed, combed, or hackled. The ends of the fibre
standing out of the nipper, when sufficiently combed, are then placed upon a
comb to be drawn into a sliver or slivers, or the fibre may be taken from the
nipper in any suitable manner without being placed upon a comb. We would
remark that instead of the fibrous material being fed into the machine by screw
gills and nipping instruments it may be lashed into the comb and then treated
as described, or it may be fed in by other means.
The instrument that we find to answer best for cleaning, combing, dressing,
or hackling the ends of the fibres consists of an endless strap of card teeth
running round a small roller at the end that combs the fibre so as to work close
up to the nip. The card teeth are kept clear by a fancy card which raises the
fibre in the teeth of the card in a similar manner to a common carding engine,
the loose fibres are then removed by a brush and deposited on to a doffer to
be doffed in the ordinary manner of carding engines.
Another form of cleaning instrument which answers well, for long silk
especially, is to place bars of card teeth upon an endless strapsimilar to what is
now used in silk dressing machines, and whenthetecth becomeloaded with fibre
the machine is stopped and the tufts of fibre are removed by the workman in
books or similar holders, to be again dressed in any suitable machine; the
common dressing frame will, we believe, answer the purpose best.
Secondly, our improvement consists in applying cleaning instruments such
as above described, or other toothed surfaces, to clean the ends of the fibre
after being drawn through the teeth of combs by nippers, as described in a
Patent granted to one of us, namely, the said James Warburton, dated 6th
October 1857, No. 2566.
Thirdly, in making the nipping surfaces both of metal in nippers con-
structed as described in James Warburton's said Patent, dated October 6th,
1857, No. 2566.
Fourthly, instead of placing the fibrous material drawn out by the nipper
as described by James Warburton in his said Patent, dated October 6th, 1857,
upon a comb we take the fibre from the first nipper by another, so that the

page_text: ends of the fibre which were in the first nipper will be standing out of the
second to be dressed, combed, or hackled, and then placed upon a comb to be
drawn into a sliver or slivers or otherwise.
Fifthly, in so constructing machines, such as described in the said Patent
granted to James Warburton, dated 6th October 1857, No. 2566, that instead
of the fibre being drawn through the teeth of the comb through which it has
been fed into the machine by a circular nipper a nipping plate is placed within
the front row of teeth or otherwise, and the ends of the fibre are pinched,
nipped, or held whilst being combed, hackled, or dressed by suitable toothed
instruments; then as the comb travels round, the ends of the fibre are
released from the nipper, and the uncombed ends are drawn into a
sliver through the teeth of the comb through which it has been fed into the
machine.
Sixthly, when fibrous material has been dressed or hackled in the ordinary
dressing frame, that is, by being held in books or holders, instead of removing
it from such holders we place the ends of the fibres standing out of the holders
into the teeth of gills or porcupine rollers, the holders are then opened by the
workman and the tuft left in the teeth of the gills or other instruments, and a
succession of tufts are placed tail to tail in the teeth of the gills so that a
comparatively even sliver may be drawn with little expense and trouble; a
brush may be used to press the fibres into the teeth.
Seventhly, when it is desirable to separate fibres into lengths and to further
clean them from noil after being dressed in the ordinary machines now used
for dressing or hackling silk or flax, we place the ends of the fibres that stand
out of the holders or books upon a comb, but we prefer three combs so
arranged that they travel together, and the fibrous material being placed
across them so that one end shall stand out of the teeth to be first drawn into
a sliver; the comb then on the opposite side is caused gradually to separate
from the other combs leaving the other end of the fibre projecting, which
is drawn into a sliver, then the two combs separate from each other, and the
ends of the fibres standing out of the two combs may be then taken hold of
by drawing rollers and the fibrous material drawn out of the teeth of the comb
in the ordinary manner. Two combs may be used in like manner, the ends of
the fibrous material standing out of the holders being placed across the teeth
of the two combs leaving the other ends standing out of the combs, which are
then drawn into a sliver in the usual way. The two combs then separate
so as to leave the other ends of the fibrous material projecting, which are then
taken hold of and drawn into a sliver by drawing rollers. In order to assist
the workman in placing the tail end of the tuft upon the comb or combs and

page_text: also to enable him to place the ends of the fibres into the comb or combs as
far as he may think desirable, we have one row of teeth considerably longer
than the others, upon which the tail end of the tuft is first placed, and then
it is pressed into the teeth of the comb or combs in any suitable manner.
As will be readily understood we have the long row of pins placed to suit
the fibrous material under operation. When placing the tuft upon the
long teeth the workman should insert the teeth close up to the nipof the book
or holder so as to insure the tufts of fibrous material being firmly fixed upon
the long teeth before being released from the holders; it is then pressed into
the teeth of the comb by a brush. When the combs are separating from each
other, if it be desirable to retain the fibre in one comb whilst being combed by
the separation of the combs or otherwise, we insert a nipping plate to press
upon the fibres, and thus prevent them being taken away by the other comb.
Sometimes, more particularly when combing short fibres, we find one comb to
answer by placing the ends projecting from the book or holder upon the comb
as above described, and then drawing the fibrous material into a sliver, the
ends of the fibrous material upon the combs should be immersed in teeth so
as to keep the fibres straight when being drawn off. Sometimes when using
only one comb we dress only one end of the fibrous material, and then place the
dirty end into the comb so that the drawing rollers taking hold of the clean
end by drawing the dirty end through the teeth of the comb clean it also.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister and James Warburton in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 13th June 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, SAMUEL
CUNLIFFE LISTER, of Manningham, and JAMES WARBURTON, of Addingham,
Spinners, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister and James Warburton, Her special licence that
we, the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister and James Warburton, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister
and James Warburton, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times

page_text: 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 PREPARING AND COMBING WOOL, FLAX,
SILK, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that we, the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister and James Warburton, our
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our or
their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, or them,
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 Samuel Cunliffe Lister, on behalf of
myself and the said James Warburton, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention, and in what the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, that is
to say-
Our improvements consist, firstly, in a new combination of mechanical parts
which work as follows:-The fibrous material is first formed into suitable
slivers either by carding or other well known means, and then fed into a screw
gill nipping head, such as was patented on February 24th, 1851, by one of us,
namely, the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister; the tufts of fibre are then drawn out
(as described in the Specification of the said Letters Patent) and placed upon
a comb, and as the comb travels along the ends of the fibres in the comb, pass
under a nipping plate, and are pressed against the head of the comb, and are
held whilst the ends standing out from the comb are combed, dressed, or
hackled. The ends of the fibrous materials standing out of the comb are then
taken hold of by a nipping instrument (which we prefer to be circular), and
the other ends of the fibre (those in the comb) are either drawn out through
the teeth of the comb, or lifted out by a circular brush or other instrument;
if a brush be used it should be placed within the comb and against the back
of the teeth, and caused to revolve in the direction of the head to the points of
the teeth, so as to lift the fibre out of the teeth. The ends of the fibre which
were in the comb will now be standing out of the nipper, and carried forward
by the nipper as it travels round and presented to toothed surfaces to be
dressed, combed, or hackled. The ends of the fibre standing out of the nipper
when sufficiently combed, are then placed upon a comb to be drawn into a
sliver or slivers, or the fibre may be taken from the nipper in any suitable
manner without being placed upon a comb.

page_text: We would remark that instead of the fibrous material being fed into the
machine by screw gills and nipping instruments, it may be lashed into the
comb, and then treated as described; or it may be fed in by other means.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS A.
Figure 1 is a plan, and Figure 2 a vertical section, of so much of a machine
constructed according to this part of our Invention as will enable us to explain
the same. The slivers of fibrous material suitably prepared are fed through
the rollers a, a, and into the screw gill 6; and as each of the fallers & drops
out of the slivers, the ends thus protruded are taken hold of by the oscillating
nipper c, and detached through the teeth of the fallers b, the tuft held by the
nipper being delivered to a transferring comb d, which carries the detached
tuft forward, and leaves it on the teeth of the travelling combe, while the
nipper c returns to lay hold of and detach a fresh portion of fibrous material,
the tuft left by the oscillating carrying comb d on the combe being pressed
into that comb by the dabbing brush f, or a plate may be used for this
purpose. And we would here remark that a more full and particular
description of this apparatus may be found in a Patent granted to Samuel
Cunliffe Lister, dated the Twenty-fourth day of February, in the year
of our
Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, and that in place of a filling
head similar to that above described, an ordinary excentric filling head, such as
is well known and in use may be employed, or other means may be adopted to
detach and deposit tufts of fibrous material upon the travelling combe without
departing from the principle of this part of our Invention. g is a nipper
attached to and travelling with the comb e, and grooved and serrated in the
manner shewn at Figure 3, Drawing B, and by the movement of the combe
and nipper g in the direction of the arrow, the tufts of fibrous material
accumulated upon the comb e are carried under the fixed nipper h, and while
held between the nippers g and h the projecting ends of the fibres are carried
past, and acted upon by the card sheets i, k, l, m, n, each succeeding sheet to
which the fibres are presented being finer than the one preceeding it. And
we would here remark that in place of the nipper g, as shewn in the Drawing,
the plate h may be arranged to work between the rows of pins forming the
comb e, so as to form a nipper. By the further movement of the combe and
nipper g the projecting cleaned ends of the fibres are presented to and laid hold
of by the travelling nipper o, the ends of the fibres held in the nipper g and
comb e being then released and ploughed out of the comb e, or the ends
of the fibres immersed in the comb e may be drawn through it by the
separation of the combe and nipper o, the noil left in the comb e after the

page_text: fibres held by the nipper o have been drawn through it being removed by any
well known means before any fresh tufts of fibrous material are deposited upon
the comb e. The ends of the fibres projecting from the nipper o are by the
movement of the nipper o carried in the direction of the arrow past the card
sheets p, q, which remove the noil and dross from the fibres, the card sheet p
to which the fringe of fibres is first presented being more open than the card
sheet 2, to which it is afterwards presented. It will now be understood that
when the fringe of fibrous material has been carried past the card sheets p, q,
by the nipper o, the said fibres will have been operated upon from end to end
by cleaning, splitting, or combing instruments first at one end by the card
sheets i, k, l, m, n, and then at the other by the card sheets p, q. The fringe
of fibrous material is now carried forward by the nipper o to be deposited upon
the circular travelling comb r by the dabbing brush 8, the cleaned fibres being
released from the nippero at the point the dabbing brush s deposits the fringe
on to the travelling comb r. The fringe of fibres when deposited upon the
comb is carried in the direction of the arrow to the Drawing rollers t, u, the
rollers u being placed nearer tothe comb r than the rollers t, so as to sort the
various lengths of fibres into separate slivers; or in place of the fibres being
deposited upon the comb r, they may be removed from the nipper o in the
form of a sliver by means of a revolving funnel, or by drawing rollers, or by
the two in combination, as will be easily understood and applied by a person
acquainted with this description of machinery. The card sheets i, k, l, m, n, P,Q,
may all be allowed to accumulate the fibres which they detach until they are
filled, and then be stopped and stripped by hand, but we prefer that the
sheets n, p, q, should be stripped and kept constantly clean for their work by
the fancy and brush, as shewn at Figure 2, Drawing B, and that the card
sheets i, l, m, should be allowed to accumulate, and when filled, stopped and
stripped by hand, and this we accomplish without stopping the machine in the
following manner :- is a belt, by which motion is communicated to the card
sheet m; vis a loose pulley on the shaft z, which the belt v¹ can drive without
communicating motion to the card sheet m; there is also a pulley fastened
upon the same shaft z, which carries the drum m¹, arround which the card
sheet m passes, and when the belt e¹, by means of the fork w is thrown on the
pulley fastened upon the shafts, motion is communicated to the card sheet m.
is a catch, which holds the arms m³, and with them the card sheet m, to its
work, and when the sheet m has accumulated a sufficient quantity of fibrous
material, the catch ³ is thrown back and the card sheet falls into the position
shewn by the red lines; the belt v' is then thrown on to the loose pulley v;
the sheet m stops, and it may then be stripped by hand, and afterwards

page_text: returned to its position. x is a brush, which by its revolution presses the
fibrous material into the sheet m. And we would here remark that in the
place of card sheets porcupine or other combing, splitting, or cleaning instru-
ments may be employed to act upon the fibres, and that the arrangement of
the mechanical parts may be greatly varied; we would also remark that in
place of first cleaning the long end of the tuft, as described, and shewn in the
Drawing, the machine may be so arranged as to operate first on the short end
of the tuft, and afterwards on the long end without departing from the nature
of this part of our Invention, which consists in so arranging a machine that a
travelling fringe of fibrous material, formed by the accumulation of tufts of
fibrous material, which we prefer to be detached from the ends of slivers
immersed in teeth, is taken hold of by a travelling nipper, and which whilst
being held by such nipper is carried past and acted upon by endless card
sheets or other instruments, the end so cleaned being afterwards delivered to
another travelling nipper, which holds the cleaned end of the fringe of fibres
while the end which was formerly held by the first nipper is carried past and
acted upon by card sheets or other cleaning instruments; the fringe of fibres
so cleaned is removed from the nipper in the form of a sliver, or otherwise
dealt with, or it is as described deposited upon a travelling comb, and drawn
from such a comb into a sliver or slivers.
Theinstrument that we find to answer best for cleaning, combing, dressing,
or hackling the ends of the fibres consists of an endless strap of card teeth
running round a small roller at the end that combs the fibre so as to work
close up to the nip. The card teeth are kept clear by a fancy card, which
raises the fibre in the teeth of the card in a similar manner to a common
carding engine; the loose fibres are then removed by a brush and deposited on
to a doffer to be doffed in the ordinary manner of carding engines.
Another form of cleaning instrument which answers well for long silk
especially is to place bars of card teeth upon an endless strap similar to what
is now used in silk dressing machines, and when the teeth become loaded with
fibre the machine is stopped, and the tufts of fibre are removed by the work-
man in books or similar holders to be again dressed in any suitable machine.
The common dressing frame will, we believe, answer the purpose best.
Our improvements also consist in applying cleaning instruments, such as
above described, or other toothed surfaces, to clean the cuds of the fibre a
after being drawn through the teeth of combs by nippers, as described in a
Patent granted to one of us, namely, the said James Warburton, dated 6th
October 1857.
Also in making the nipping surfaces both of metal in nippers constructed

page_text: as described in James Warburton's said Patent dated October 6th, 1857.
This part of our Invention consists of improvements on a machine for
combing fibrous material, for which Letters Patent were obtained in the name
of James Warburton, on the 6th day of October,in the year of our Lord 1857,
in which an endless series of slivers is pressed into a travelling comb, the
whole or a considerable portion of the average length of the fibres being im-
mersed in the comb, and the ends of the slivers projecting in a continuous
fringe from the face of the comb. This fringe is by the motion of the comb
continually presented to and taken hold of and drawn out by a travelling
nipper, the fringe of fibres so detached being by the further motion of the
nipper continually delivered to and deposited upon and within a travelling
combs, o that the end which was immersed in and drawn through the teeth of
the first mentioned comb projects from the second comb in such a manner
that it may be taken hold of by a pair of drawing rollers and drawn into a
sliver, leaving the noil and dross in the second comb to be removed by any
suitable means.
Now one of our improvements consists in applying a splitting, cleaning, or
combing instrument (by preference a card sheet) so that it acts on the end of
the fringe projecting from the above-mentioned nipper after it is detached
from the ends of the slivers and is being carried forward to be deposited upon
the comb, from which it is to be drawn off in the form of a sliver.
Figure 1, Drawing B, shews a plan, and Figure 2, Drawing B, a section of
so much of a combing machine constructed according to this part of our Inven
tion as will enable us to explain the same. a is a cylinder having compart-
ments at b, b, down which slivers are fed from above; c is a circular comb
into which the ends of the slivers are pressed by the dabbing brush d, the
comb c being made of such a width that the whole or a considerable portion
of the average length of the fibres to be combed will be immersed in it, the
projecting ends of the slivers are by the movement of the comb as shown by
the arrow presented to and laid hold of by the circular frictional nipper e
which is constructed upon the principle for which Letters Patent were obtained
by Charles Cowper, on the 23rd day of February 1852, and by the further
movement of the combc and nippere (as shewn by the arrows), the fibres taken
hold of by thenippere are drawn from the ends of the slivers and out of the comb
c in the form of a continuous fringe. The further movement of the nippere pre-
sents the fringe which it carries to the endless travelling card sheet f, passing
round a small roller close to the nipper, and so arranged, as will be seen ou
reference to the Drawing, that the teeth in endless sheet travel through the
fibre in a straight line. In place of the card f, a porcupine or any other instru-
B

page_text: ment for combing the projecting fibres may be applied. After the tuft held by
the nipper chas been sufficiently operated upon, the end held within the nippere
is deposited upon the travelling comb g by the dabbing brush h, and the pro-
jecting fibres are carried forward in the direction of the arrow to be drawn into
a sliver by the drawing rollers at i. After the ends of the slivers projecting
beyond the comb c have been removed by the nipper e, the comb c carries the
slivers under the feeding instrument 6, the slivers being raised out of the
comb c by the knives m,and pressed against the edge of the revolving serrated
disc, which by reason of the angle at which it is placed draws out a fresh
por-
tion of the sliver so as to project beyond the comb c. The endless card sheet f
may be either allowed to accumulate the fibres it detaches during its opera
tion, and then be stopped and stripped by hand, or it may be continually
stripped and kept clean for its work by means of the fancy n (Figure 2), which
by revolving in the direction of the arrow at a speed slightly in advance of
the card sheet raises the fibrous material to the surface of the card sheet f,
and it can then be removed by a brush o revolving in the direction of
the arrow at a higher speed than the card sheet f, the brush o being
stripped by the doffing roller p, from which the fibres are removed by a
doffing knife at q, in the manner of an ordinary carding engine.
And we would here remark, than the fancy n can be dispensed with if the
card fbe of a very open description, and also that two card sheets, similar to that
shewn, may be employed of different degrees of fineness, so that the tuft may
be more gradually acted upon, the coarser card acting upon the tuft first, and
the finer one afterwards; or, the sheet may, at the edge which acts first upon
the tuft, be open and may gradually increase in fineness and closeness towards
the opposite edge of the sheet. And we would also remark, that the machine
shewn may be greatly varied in the general arrangement of its parts without
interfering with the principle of this part of our Invention, which consists in
applying a cleaning instrument, whatever it may be, in the manner and for the
purpose previously described; also, in combining and arranging an endless
card, sheet, or other tuckling or splitting instrument with a travelling self-
acting nipper, as above described, so that the fibre held in the aforesaid nipper
will be held and acted upon in a straight line, or nearly so, as described and
shewn in the Drawing. The fibre being fed into the machinein detached tufts
through teeth, or otherwise, as described in the first part of the Invention, or
continuously from the ends of slivers, as above described.
This part of our Invention also consists in an improvement on a peculiar
description of nipper, for which Letters Patent were granted to Charles Cowper
on the 23rd day of February 1852. This nipper is formed of a stationary and

page_text: a moving surface, the moving surface having a greater frictional power than
the fixed surface, and by that means carrying along with it any fibrous material
that may be introduced between the two nippers; and in the Patent above
mentioned it is proposed to form the moving nipper of leather or some similar
flexible material, and the other nipper of metal. Now, we find that nippers
constructed upon this principle may both be formed advantageously of metal,
the one being made to take into the other, so as to securely wedge any ma.
terial introduced between them, as shewn at Figures 3 and 4 (Dawing B),
the moving nips r, s, being notched or serrated, as shewn in the Drawing, so
as to carry the fibrous material along with them; and we would here state,
that we prefer to make the nips t, s, which dovetail into the grooved nips 1, u,
of brass or a lubricating metal, while the nips r, u, we prefer to make of iron
or steel, or they may be both made of hardened steel, and two or more grooves
may be formed in one nipper.
We will now proceed to describe another part of our Invention. Instead of
placing the fibrous material drawn out by the nipper, as described by James
Warburton in his said Patent, dated October 6th, 1857, upon a comb, we take
the fibre from the first nipper by another, so that the ends of the fibre which
were in the first nipper will be standing out of the second to be dressed,
combed, or hackled, and then placed upon a comb to be drawn into a sliver or
slivers, or otherwise.
In carrying out this part of our Invention, the ends of a continuous series of
slivers are pressed into a comb of such a width that the whole or a consider-
able portion of the average length of the fibres to be combed will be immersed
in the comb. The ends of these slivers are presented to and laid hold of and
detached by a travelling nipper; such nipper by its further movement carries
the detached fringe to be operated upon by one or more card sheets or other
cleaning instruments; and when, by the continued movement of the nipper,
the projecting fringe has been carried past the cleaning instruments, it is pre-
sented to and taken hold of by another travelling nipper, when the end held
within the first nipper is released and is carried by the second nipper pastone
or more card sheets or other cleaning instruments, which, acting on the end
previously held within the first nipper, remove the remaining portion of the
dross and complete the combing of the fibres, so that when the second nipper
has carried the fringe of fibrous material past the cleaning instruments the
fibres held in the second nipper will have been acted upon from end to end by
splitting, combing, or cleaning instruments. The travelling fringe of cleaned
fibres, after being released from the second nipper, is deposited upon a travel-

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING C.
Figure 1 is a plan, Figure 2 a vertical section, and Figure 3 an elevation
of so much of a machine constructed according to this part of our Invention as
will suffice to explain the same; a is a cylinder having compartments at b
down which the slivers c, c, are fed from balls at d, d, these slivers are pressed
into the comb e, by the dabbing brush f, the comb e, being made of such
a width that the whole or a considerable portion of the average length of the
fibres to be combed will be immersed in it; the projecting fringe formed by
the end of the slivers c, c, is by the revolution of the comb e, and cylinder a,
(as shewn by the arrow) continually presented to the nipper g, travelling in
the direction of the arrow. The nipper g, lays hold of the fringe of fibrous
material projecting from the combe, and by reason of the revolution of
the comb e, and nipper g, the fringe of fibre is detached from the ends of the
slivers c, c, through the comb e, and is carried in the form of a fringe past
the cleaning card sheets h, i; the sheets being similar to those shown at
Figure 2, Drawing B, the sheet 7, to which the tuft is first presented being
more open than the sheet i, to which the fringe is afterwards presented.
When the fringe of fibrous material projecting from the nipper g has been
carried past the cleaning instruments h, i, the cleaned projecting end of the
fringe is presented to the nipper k, travelling in the direction of the arrow;
the nipper, lays hold of the fibres so presented, the end of the fringe held
within the nipper g being at the same time released so that the part of the
fringe previously held within the nipper g, is by the revolution of the nipper l,
carried past the endless cleaning card sheets l, m, the sheet l, to which the
fringe is first presented being more open than the card sheet m, to which it is
afterwards presented. It will now be understood that when the fringe of fibres
has been carried past the card sheets l, m, by the nipper k, the said fibres
will have been operated upon from end to end by cleaning, combing, or splitting
instruments, first at one end by the card sheets h, i, and then at the other by
the card sheets l, m. The fringe of cleaned fibres is now carried forward by
the nipper, to be deposited upon the circular travelling comb a, by the
dabbing brush o, the cleaned fibres being released from the nipper at the point
at which the dabbing brush o deposits the fringe on the travelling comb n; the
fringe of fibres when deposited upon the comb n is carried in the direction of
the arrow to the drawing rollers, p, by which the fringe is drawn into a sliver

page_text: 9:
and delivered out of the machine, and when it is desirable two or more pairs
of rollers may be applied, each successive pair being arranged nearer to the comb
n, so as to sort the various lengths of fibres into separate slivers, or in place of
the fringe of fibrous material being deposited upon the combn, it may be removed
from the nipper l, in the form of a sliver by a revolving funnel or by drawing
rollers, or by both in combination, as will be readily understood by a person
acquainted with this description of machinery. After the ends of the slivers
projecting from the comb e have been detached by the nipper g, the slivers
c, c, are by the further movement of the cylinder a, and comb e, carried to the
feeding instrument q, the fixed knives 7, 7, raising the slivers out of the comb
e, and pressing them against the edge of the revolving conical serrated discs
2,2, which lift the slivers from the comb e, and deliver them to the edge of
revolving serrated disc t which pressing on the fixed plate 21,carries the slivers
down again to the comb e, and at the same time, by reason of the angle at
which it is placed, draws the slivers forward so as to project beyond the combe.
And we would here remark that porcupines, or other combing, splitting,
or cleaning instruments may be used in place of the card sheets shewn, and
that in place of two cleaning instruments, as shewn in the Drawing, acting on
both ends of the fibres, two for one end and two for the other, it may be desi-
rable in some cases to employ but one, and the endless card sheets shewn and
described above may be made so as to be more open at the edge to which the
fringe of fibres is first presented, and to increase in fineness and closeness
towards the opposite edge so as to deal more gradually with the fringe of
fibres carried past them. The endless card sheets h, i, l, m, may be allowed
toaccumulate the fibres and dross which they detach from the fringe of fibrous
material until they are filled, and then stopped and stripped by hand, but we
prefer to remove the dross, and keep the card constantly clean for its work by
means of the fancy and brush shewn at Figure 2, Drawing B. We would
also remark that the general arrangement of the machine above described may
be greatly varied without departing from the nature of this part of our Inven-
tion, which consists in acting successively on both ends of a fringe of fibrous
material by combing, splitting, or cleaning instruments, while held in travelling
nippers, the fringe of fibrous material having been detached thro' a comb
from the ends of a continuous series of slivers bya nipper, and then one end is
cleaned, and then delivered to another to have the other end cleaned, and
then delivered from the machine in the form of a sliver in the manner above
described.
Another part of our Invention consists in so constructing machines, suchas
described in the said Patent granted to James Warburton, dated 6th October

page_text: 1857, that instead of the fibre being drawn through the teeth of the comb
through which it has been fed into the machine by a circular nipper, a nipping
plate is placed within the front row of teeth or otherwise, and the ends of the
fibre are pinched, nipped, or held, whilst being combed, hackled, or dressed
by suitable toothed instruments; then as the comb travels round, the ends
of the fibre are released from the nipper, and the uncombed ends are drawn
into a sliver through the teeth of the comb through which it has been fed into
the machine.
In carrying out this part of our Invention an endless series of slivers is
pressed into a travelling comb, the slivers forming a continuous fringe pro-
jecting from the face of the comb, this comb being of such a width that the
whole or a considerable portion of the average length of the fibre to be combed
will be immersed in it. The slivers of fibrous material are by the motion of
the comb carried under a fixed knife working in the comb, and acting as a
nipper so as to hold the slivers, while the ends of the slivers projecting through
and beyond the travelling comb are carried past and acted upon by a card,
sheet, or other splitting, combing, or cleaning instrument, the ends of the
slivers of fibrous material so cleaned being by the further movement of the.
travelling comb presented to a pair of drawing rollers, which lay hold of
the projecting fringe of fibres, and draw out the ends of the fibres immersed
in the comb in the form of a sliver, thus cleaning both ends of the fibres, the
slivers left in the comb being afterwards lifted out of the comb, drawn forward,
and again pressed into the comb so as to present a fresh portion of fibrous
material to be operated upon by the cleaning instrument and so on.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING D.
The Drawing shews a plan of so much of a combing machine, constructed
according to this part of our Invention, as will, with the assistance of Drawing
C, serve to explain the manner in which we carry out this portion of our In-
vention. a is a cylinder having compartments at b, down which slivers are
fed from above; these slivers are pressed into the comb e by the dabbing
brush f, the comb e being made of such a width that the average length of the
fibres to be combed will be immersed in it. The projecting fringe formed by
the ends of the slivers is by the revolution of the combe in the direction of
the arrow carried under the fixed knife e', which working in the comb e acts
so as to form a nipper; the ends of the slivers of fibrous material, while so
held, are carried past and acted upon by the endless card sheet e², and by the
further movement of the combe the cleaned fringe of fibres is presented by
he drawing rollers e³, which lay hold of the projecting fibres, and draw them

page_text: outof and through the comb e in the form of a sliver, thus cleaning the ends of
the fibres previously immersed in the comb e. When the projecting portions
of the fibres have been removed from the face of the comb e by the rollers e³
the slivers are by the further movement of the comb e carried to the feeding
instrument, the knives 7, 7, raising the slivers out of the combe and pressing
them against the edges of the revolving serrated discs q, q, which lift the slivers
from the comb e, and deliver them to the revolving serrated disc t, which
pressing against the plate r¹ carries the sliver down again to the combe, and
at the same time, by reason of the angle at which it is placed, draws the slivers
forward, so as to project a fresh portion of the slivers beyond the combe; the
card sheet e² may be allowed to accumulate the dross which it detaches from
the fringe of fibrous material until it is filled, and then stopped and stripped
by hand, but we prefer to remove the dross and keep the card constantly clean
for its work, by means of the fancy and brush, as shown at Figure 2, Drawing
B; and we would here remark that porcupines or other cleaning, combing, or
splitting instruments may be used in place of the card sheet shewn in the
Drawing, and that a series of cleaning instruments of successive degrees of
fineness, or a cleaning instrument coarse at one edge and fine at the other may
be applied to act upon the projecting fringe of fibres without departing from
the nature of this part of our Invention, which consists in so arranging an
endless series of slivers of fibrous material immersed in a comb for the whole
ora considerable portion of the length of the staple of the fibres, that the ends
of such slivers after being acted upon by cleaning,combing, or splittinginstru-
ments while held by a nipper, may be presented to drawing rollers so that the
ends of the fibres immersed in the comb may be drawn through such comb in
the form of a sliver, and thus both ends be cleaned as above described.
Another part of our Invention consists in so working that when fibrous
material has been dressed or hackled in the ordinary dressing frame, that is,
by being held in books or holders instead of removing it from such holders, we
place the ends of the fibres standing out of the holders into the teeth of gills
or porcupine rollers; the holders are then opened by the workman and the
tuft left in the teeth of the gills or other instruments,and a succession of tufts
are placed tail to tail in the teeth of the gills, so that a comparatively even
sliver may be drawn with little expense and trouble; a brush may be used to
press the fibres into the teeth.
Another part of our Invention consists in so working, that when it is de-
sirable to separate fibres into lengths, and to further clean them from noil after
being dressed in the ordinarymachines,now used for dressing or hackling silk
or flax, we place the ends of the fibres that stand out of the holders or books

page_text: upon a comb; but we prefer three combs so arranged that they travel toge-
ther, and the fibrous material being placed across them so that one end shall
stand out of the teeth to be first drawn into a sliver; the comb then on the
opposite side is caused gradually to separate from the other combs, leaving the
other end of the fibre projecting, which is drawn into a sliver; then the two
combs separate from each other, and the ends of the fibres standing out of
the two combs may be then taken hold of by drawing rollers and the fibrous
material drawn out of the teeth of the comb in the ordinary manner. Twe
combs may be used in like manner, the ends of the fibrous material standing
out of the holders being placed across the teeth of the two combs, leaving the
other ends standing out of the combs, which are then drawn into a sliver in
the usual way. The two combs then separate so as to leave the other ends of
the fibrous material projecting, which are then taken hold of and drawn into
a sliver by drawing rollers. In order to assist the workman in placing the
tail end of the tuft upon the comb or combs, and also to enable him to place
the ends of the fibres into the comb or combs as far as he may think desirable,
we have one row of teeth considerably longer than the others, upon which the
tail end of the tuft is first placed, and then it is pressed into the teeth of the
comb or combs in any suitable manner.
As will be readily understood, we have the long row of pins placed to suit
the fibrous material under operation. When placing the tuft upon the long
teeth, the workman should insert the teeth close up to the nip of the book or
holder so as to insure the tufts of fibrous material being firmly fixed upon the
long teeth before being released from the holders; it is then pressed into the
teeth of the comb by a brush. When the combs are separating from each
other, if it be desirable to retain the fibre in one comb whilst being combed
by the separation of the combs or otherwise, we insert a nipping plate topress
upon the fibres, and thus prevent them being taken away by the other comb.
Sometimes, more particularly when combing short fibres, we find ono comb to
answer by placing the ends projecting from the book or holder upon the
comb, as above described, and then drawing the fibrous material into a sliver.
The ends of the fibrous material upon the comb should be immersed in teeth
so as to keep the fibres straight when being drawn off; sometimes, when using
ouly one comb, we dress only one end of the fibrous material, and then place
the dirty end into the comb, so that the drawing rollers taking hold of the
clean end by drawing the dirty end through the teeth of the comb, clean it
also.
In carrying out this part of our Invention, the tufts of fibrous material,
after they have been removed from the filling engines by the books or holders

page_text: used by silk dressers, the short end of the tuft projecting from the book or
holder is taken hold of by another book or holder, which will then have the
long ends of the tuft projecting from it. The books or holders, with the fibres
arranged in this manner, are then placed in an ordinary silk dressing frame
or flax-hackling machine, and the projecting end cleaned in the usual manner.
The books or holders are then removed from the dressing machine, and the
end held in the book placed by it within an ordinary travelling chain of
combs 0, shewn at Figure 1, Drawing E, having a row of pins 6 in the front
projecting some distance above the rest of the pins forming the comb, so that
when the end of the tuft projecting from the holder is placed upon this long
row and the holder removed, the unworked end of the tuft will be held
suspended by this long row above the comb, and by the further movement
of the comb is carried under a dabbing brush c, which deposits the unworked
end of the tuft formerly within the book or holder into the chamber of the
travelling comba, which then presents the end already cleaned in the dressing
frame to drawing rollers d, which draw out these fibres from the travelling
comb in the form of a sliver; the ends of the fibres which are immersed in and
drawn through the travelling comb being thus cleaned, the noil and short
fibres being left in the comb a to be afterwards removed, and when desirable
two or more pairs of drawing rollers may be applied, each successive pair,
being arranged nearer to the comb than the preceding one, so that the various
lengths of fibres may be sorted into separate slivers; and in some cases we
prefer to clean the short end of the tuft which is immersed in the comb by
means of a heckling or dressing frame before placing it in the comb a, in
such case the chain of combs a acting only as a means whereby to obtain a
sliver.
In carrying out this part of our Invention, we also in some cases place the
tuft of clean silk as removed from the dressing frame on two chains of combs
e, f, travelling together, shown at Figure 3, Drawing E; these chains of
combs being in contact at that part where the tuft of fibre is placed upon
them, and the chain e having a long row of pins in it, as shewn at Figure 1,
set in the centre of the comb e, so that when a tuft of cleaned fibre removed
from the dressing frame in the books or holders employed in dressing is placed
by the workmen upon the long row of pins in the centre of the comb 6, and
the book opened, so as to leave the tuft upon such pins, the chain e by its
further movement will carry the tuft so deposited under the dabbing brush g,
which presses the tuft into the teeth of the travelling chain of combs e, f, so
that a portion projects from the face of the combe, and by placing a series of
tufts end to end on the chain e, a continuous fringe will be formed; the

page_text: fibres prejecting from the chain of combs e are taken hold of and drawn into
a sliver by the drawing rollers h, the further movement of the chain e carries
the fibres under the fixed knife el which holds the fibres in the combs e, while
the combs separate from the combs e, and the fibres projecting from the
combe which have been drawn through the comb fare taken hold of and
drawn into a sliver by the drawing rollers A, the short fibres being left in the
combe to be afterwards removed.
In some cases we prefer to employ the arrangement shown at Figure 4,
Drawing E. Here the tufts of dressed fibre are placed upon a long row of
pins in the outer edge of travelling chain of combs i, in the manner described
in reference to Figure 3, so that centre of the tuft of fibres will be between
the two combs i, . The three chains of combs i, k, l, are caused to travel
together, and by their movement carry the tuft deposited upon the long row of
pins in the comb i under the dabbing brush m, which presses the fibres into
the teeth of the combs i, k, l, which at that point are travelling in parallel
lines, the tuft being so placed upon those combs that a portion of the fibres
will project from the comb i; these projecting fibres are taken hold of and
drawn into a sliver by the drawing rollers n; the fibres are then by the further
movement of the chains of combs i, k, l, carried under the fixed knife o
working in the chamber of the comb k, which holds the fibres in the combk,
while the comb separates from the comb, at the same time straightening
the fibres which were immersed in the comb ; these fibres will now project
from the comb k, and they are taken hold of and drawn into a sliver by the
drawing rollers p, the two combs i, k, are, by their further movement, caused
to separate from one another, leaving a fringe of cleaned fibres projecting
from them, which are drawn out of the combs i, k, by the drawing rollers q, r.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
JAMES HAMILTON,
of Bradford, County of York.
S. C. LISTER. (L.S.)