IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR OPENING AND CLEANING COTTON AND OTHER FIRDOUS MATERIALS"
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Peter Knowles, Foreman in the employ of Messieurs
Dobson and Barlow, of Bolton-le-Moors, in the County of Lancaster,
Machine Makers, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR OPENING AND CLEANING COTTON AND OTHER FIRDOUS MATERIALS"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter Knowles at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 4th
October 1861.
I, PETER KNOWLES, Foreman in the employ of Messieurs Dobson and
Barlow, of Bolton-le-Moors, in the County of Lancaster, Machine Makers,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR OPENING AND CLEANING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS,"
to be as follows:-
The first part of this Invention consists in an improved arrangement of parts
forming an opening machine, to which lapping rollers are applied or not.
The cotton or other fibrous materials are first acted upon by a cylinder or
drum with teeth, which are constructed so as to act in both directions, and
beneath this is a toothed cylinder, which operates upon the fibres after they
have been partially opened by the first cylinder, both these cylinders are
partially surrounded by grids, and a partial vacuum is formed in the space
behind the grids to assist in removing the light impurities from the fibres.

page_text: The first cylinder may be driven in either direction, and swivel bars are
applied for diverting the current towards the second cylinder. In some cases
one toothed cylinder alone may be used, working in either direction, in the
same manner as the first cylinder above referred to.
The second part of my Invention is applicable to openers, blowers, scutchers,
or other machines for opening and cleaning fibrous materials, and it consists
in an improved feeding apparatus for supplying cotton and other fibrous
materials to such machines. I employ two pair of feed rollers, one fluted, as
usual, and the other with annular grooves and ribs, either square or diagonal,
and fluted or plain; under the second pair of fluted rollers is a pair of serrated
blades of metal, one of which has a slight lateral to-and-fro motion. When
the fibres are supplied to the machine, the second pair of feed rollers deliver
them to the cylinder or beater, which carries them over the edges of the
serrated blades, the action of which loosens the dirt and other impurities, and
assists in laying the fibres parallel.
The last part of my Invention consists in applying a toothed roller between
the beaters or cylinders in those openers in which two or more beaters or
cylinders are used; these toothed rollers act against stationery toothed ribs,
or against moveable serrated blades, as described in the second part of my
Invention.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Peter Knowles in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
4th April 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PETER
KNOWLES, Foreman in the employ of Messieurs Dobson and Barlow, of
Bolton-le-Moors, in the County of Lancaster, Machine Makers, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for. Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Peter Knowles, Her special license that I, the said Peter Knowles,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Peter Knowles, 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,.

page_text: 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 OPENING AND CLEANING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Peter Knowles, 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 tho 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 Peter Knowles, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say):-
The first part of this Invention consists in an improved arrangement of
parts forming an opening machine, to which lapping rollers are applied or not.
The cotton or other fibrous materials are first acted upon by a cylinder or
drum with teeth, which are constructed so as to act in both directions, and
beneath this is a toothed cylinder, which operates upon the fibres after they
have been partially opened by the first cylinder; both these cylinders are
partly surrounded by grids, and a partial vacuum is formed in the space
behind one or more of the grids, to assist in removing the light impurities
from the fibres. The first or upper cylinder may be driven in either direction,
and a swivel bar is applied for diverting the current of the fibres towards the
second cylinder.
The second part of my Invention is applicable to openers, blowers, scutchers,
or other machines for opening and cleaning fibrous materials, and it consists
in an improved feeding apparatus for supplying cotton and other fibrous
materials to such machines. I employ two pairs of feed rollers, one fluted,
as usual, and the other with annular grooves and ribs, either square or
diagonal, and fluted or plain; under the second pair of fluted rollers is a pair
of serrated blades of metal, one of which has a slight lateral to-and-fro motion.
When the fibres are supplied to the machine, the second pair of feed rollers
deliver them to the cylinder or beater, which carries them over the edges of
the serrated blades, the action of which loosens the dirt and other impurities,.
and assists in laying the fibres parallel.
The last part of my Invention consists in applying toothed rollers between
the beaters or cylinders in those openers in which two or more beaters or
cylinders are used. These toothed rollers act against stationery toothed ribs,

page_text: or against moveable serrated blades, as described in the second part of my
Invention.
And in order that my Invention may be better understood, I will proceed
to describe the two accompanying Sheets of Drawings, reference being had to
the figures and letters marked thereon.
Fig. 1 is an elevation, partly in section, of a machine for opening and
cleaning cotton and other fibrous materials, constructed according to my
improvements; Fig. 2 is a plan, and Fig. 3 a side view of part of the same.
a is a feeding apron passing around the rollers b and c, the latter of which
has a top fluted roller c'; the fibrous material after passing between the
rollers c and c' is delivered to the feeding rollers d, d, the peculiar construction
of which is shewn best in Fig. 3; each roller is made with a series of annular
grooves and ribs fitting into each other, the surface of the ribs being either
plain or fluted; the grooves and ribs are made by preference slightly tapered,
but they may be square; the requisite pressure is given to the top roller d by
the weighted lever d¹; the fibrous material in passing between these feeding
rollers is securely held when being delivered to the toothed cylinder or drum e,
under or near to which is the toothed cylinder or drum f. These drums
revolve in contrary directions, as indicated by the arrows, and the drum f
delivers the fibrous materials on to the grid g, from which it is conveyed
between the ordinary cages h and i, and delivered on to the apron j, or it is
carried forward to a lap machine, as may be found most convenient. The
teeth of the drum e are so shaped that they act with the same effect on the
fibrous materials in whichever direction the drum may be revolving. I prefer
to place the teeth in alternate rows, as shewn in Fig. 1. The drum e is
partly surrounded by the casing k, furnished with ribs , and partly by the
grids and m. The teeth of the drum f are only intended to act in one
direction, and this drum is partly surrounded by the grid n. A partial
vacuum is formed in the space behind the grid l, to assist in removing the
light impurities struck out of the fibrous materials, and which pass between
the grid bars; this partial vacuum is formed by a fan on the axle o, which
draws the air from the space behind the grid through the pipe p and side
trunks p', or in any other convenient manner. In order to regulate with
facility the quantity of air to be admitted to the machine, I apply a small
throttle valve to the casing k, which valve is opened or closed by a lever, or
other convenient means. Between the toothed drums e and f is placed the
swivel bar r, which is mounted on a shaft passing through the frame sides;
the upper part of the swivel bar is provided with two upright pieces of leather,
the edges of which are brought alternately in contact with the teeth of the

page_text: drum e; to one end of the shaft is fixed the handle r', shewn by dotted lines
in Fig. 1; this handle has a segmental slot fitting on a stud; the object of the
swivel bar is to divert the current of fibres from the drum e to the drum f,
and the slot in the handle r¹ is to hold the swivel bar in the required position.
When the drums e and f rotate in the directions indicated by the arrows, the
swivel bar is held in the position shewn in full lines, the left-hand piece of
leather is then brought in contact with the teeth of the drum e, thereby
closing the passage between the points of the said teeth and the swivel bar r;
and when the drum e rotates in the contrary direction, the fibrous material is
struck down on leaving the feed rollers d, and then the swivel bar is held in
the position shown by dotted lines, thus leaving a channel for the passage of
the fibrous materials between the swivel bar and the casing m'; when the
bar is in this position, the opposite piece of leather closes the passage of the
fibres on the drum e. In order to increase the opening and cleaning action of
the toothed. drums e and f, I apply to either or both of them a pair of serrated
blades of metal or other material. In the accompanying Drawing I have
shewn these blades marked s and s at the right-hand side of the toothed
drum f, but the position may be varied, and in some cases I place them
directly under the feed rollers d. The lower blade s is stationary, and it is
made by preference of hardened or tempered steel secured to a wrought-iron
bar; the upper blade s¹ is made in the same manner, but it has a slight lateral
to-and-fro motion imparted to it in the following manner:-To the roller c is
fixed a pinion geering into the carrier pinion s², which drives the pinion s³,
indicated by dotted circles in Fig. 1; the pinion s revolves on a stud, and in
its boss is turned a diagonal.groove, shewn best in Fig. 3; in this groove the
end of the lever s enters; this lever vibrates on a fixed studis, and its lower
end is connected to the upper bar s¹; this lateral motion of the upper serrated
bar serves to loosen any dirt that may be adhering to the fibrous material, and
by separating the fibres assists in opening them before they are thrown on the
grid g, which extends from the under side of the drum f to the cages h and i.
I wish it to be understood that the improved feeding rollers marked d are also
applicable to openers, blowers, scutchers, and other machines of the usual
construction for opening and cleaning fibrous materials.
On Sheet 2, Fig. 4 represents in section the principal parts of a machine
for opening and cleaning fibrous materials, constructed according to my
improvements. The feeding apparatus consists of the feeding apron a,
roller c, top roller c¹, and rollers d, d, which are constructed as shewn in
Fig. 1, 2, and 3, or in any other convenient manner. The feeding rollers
deliver the fibrous materials to the toothed drum t, which carries them over

page_text: the grid x, through which the loosened impurities drop, the fibres are then
delivered to the toothed roller v, above which is the plate with spikes or
blades w, and under which is the grid a'; the fibres are then delivered to the
toothed drum t', from whence they pass in like manner over the roller v¹,
thence to the drum t, and then over the roller v2, which presents them to the
beater u; the fibrous materials then drop on the grid g, and pass between the
cages h and i, which are of the usual construction; above the rollers v" and va
are the spiked or ribbed plates w¹ and w³. When the fibres have been acted
upon by the drums t, t', and t, they are to a great extent prevented from being
carried round with the drums by the straight edges y, y, y, and a similar
straight edge y¹ is placed near the circumference of the beater u. The grids a¹
under the toothed rollers v, v¹, and 2, are made of alternate rows of spikes
and round rods, as shewn under the roller v, or in any other convenient
manner. I wish to observe that instead of the stationary plates with teeth or
ribs w, w¹, and w shewn, I also in some cases apply moveable serrated blades,
as shewn at s, s', in Fig. 1. When the fibres have been carried over the
rollers v, v¹, and v³, they pass over the rulers x², over which they are struck by
the toothed drums t and t, and by the blades of the beater u. I wish to
observe, that although I have shewn three toothed drums and one beater
acting in combination with three intermediate toothed rollers, I do not intend
to limit myself to this number of drums, beaters, and intermediate rollers, as
in some cases two drums or beaters with one intermediate roller may be
sufficient, and in other cases a greater number may be employed; it may also
be sufficient for some purposes to employ only one toothed roller v in the
machine shewn, and the machine may be modified by dispensing with the
toothed or ribbed plates w, w³, and w², and reversing the direction of motion
of the rollers v, v¹, and v², which would then carry the fibres over the grids a¹,
and present them over the rulers. x² to the action of the drums t¹ and t², and
to the beater u. The fibrous materials after passing between the cages h
and i are effectually opened, and to a great extent freed from loose impurities.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described the manner
of performing the same, I declare that I claim,-
First, the general arrangement and combination of the various parts forming
the opening and cleaning machine shewn in Sheet 1.
Secondly, I claim the swivel bar r, or any equivalent therefor, by which the
current of the fibres may be diverted between the toothed drums or cylinders
of machines for for opening and cleaning fibrous materials.
Thirdly, I claim the improved mode of constructing feed rollers, as shewn
and described in reference to Figs. 1, 2, and 3.

page_text: Fourthly, I claim the application of the stationary and moveable serrated
blades s and s¹, as shewn and described in reference to Figs. 1 and 2.
Fifthly, I claim the general arrangement of the parts forming a machine
for opening and cleaning fibrous materials, as shewn and described in reference
to Fig. 4.
And, lastly, I claim the combination of a toothed roller applied between
two toothed drums or beaters, acting in conjunction with stationary or
moveable toothed bars or blades, as shewn and described in reference to
Fig. 4.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Knowles, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of March, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-two.
PETER KNOWLES. (L.S.)