Flax and other Fibrous Materials.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 9th May, 188"
Complete Left, 8th Feb., 1888
Complete Accepted, 9th Mar.. 1888
on Flax and other Fibrous Materials.
I JOHN CLAYTON MEWBURN, of 169 Fleet Strect, in the City of London, Fellow of
the Institute of Patent Agents, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention has reference to the breaking of and subsequent operations upon
flax and other fibrous materials.
For the purpose of my invention I secure the material to be operated on in a
holder such as is ordinarily employed in hackling flax by machinery and I place this
holder in a carriage or slide which has an up and down movement imparted to it by
means of an excentric or otherwise. I employ a pair of breaking wheels composed of
sets of four, six or other number of arms radiating from a horizontal shaft or axle,
the arms being connected in pairs by small horizontal cylinders or tubes which are
free to turn on their axes; these cylinders or tubes may be plain, grooved, undulating,
or provided with pins. The two wheels are placed opposite each other in the same
horizontal plane and receive a rapid rotary motion in opposite directions during
which the cylinders or tubes and arins of the one wheel take between the cylinders or
tubes and arms of the other wheel. The holder containing the flax or other fibrous
material is brought above the two wheels and the material engages between the
wheels. These in their rotation form undulations or bends in the material the effect
of which is to break the straw or woody part and to soften the fibre; the fibre
remains intact owing to the rotary movement of the small cylinders or tubes in the
contrary direction to the movement of the wheels, the cylinders or tubes rotating
under the friction or pressure of the fibrous material. This breaking operation
should be repeated twice, that is to say, the fibrous material should be submitted
successively to the action of two other similar breaking apparatus.

page_text: Following this breaking apparatus is a pair of rotating scutching wheels composed
of sets of four, six or other number of arms radiating from a horizontal shaft or axle
and carrying longitudinal bars or plates fitted with blades or pallets. These blades
are at right angles to the plane of the bars or plates and are placed obliquely to the
axis of the wheel. All the blades on the same bar or plate are oblique in the same
direction but two consecutive bars or plates have the blades oblique in opposite
directions so that the bars with their blades form as it were portions of an Archime-
dean screw of alternate right and left pitch. The wheel shafts at a suitable distance
between them and the bars are surrounded by a drum or circular casing to prevent
the fibres winding round the shafts. The holder with the fibres is brought above
these wheels, the fibres engage between them and are forcibly and repeatedly struck.
The operation is repeated by a similar apparatus to which the holder with the fibre is
moved.
The scutched fibre may now be moved from the machine but, if preferred. the
machine may include a set of hackling devices of any suitable construction to which
the holder with the fibre is next moved.
Instead of the breaking wheels before described being placed in the same horizontal
plane the fibre entering between them from a holder above, they may be placed one
above another and the fibre be supplied to them by one or two pairs of feed cylinders
having a reciprocating rotary motion suitable to the length of the fibre to be treated.
The scutching wheels may likewise be placed one above another.

page_text: Improvements in Machinery for Breaking.and otherwise Operating
on Flax and other Fibrous Materials.
A communication from abroad by EMILE GAVELLE, of Lille, France, Flax Spinner.
I, JOHN CLAYTON MEWBURN of 169 Fleet Street, in the City of London, Fellow of
the Institute of Patent Agents, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
This invention has reference to the breaking of and subsequent operations upon
flax and other fibrous materials.
For the purpose of the invention I secure the material to be operated on in a holder
such as is ordinarily employed in hackling flax by machinery, and I place this
holder in a carriage or slide which has an up and down movement imparted to it by
means of an excentric or otherwise. I employ a pair of breaking wheels composed of
sets of four, six or other number of arms radiating from a horizontal shaft or axle the
arms being connected in pairs by small horizontal cylinders or tubes which are free to
turn on their axes; these cylinders or tubes may be plain, grooved, undulating, or
provided with pins. The construction of these breaking wheels will be understood on
reference to Figure 1 of the annexed drawings. m, m' are horizontal shafts or axles
with two or more sets of radiating arms. These arms are connected in pairs by small
horizontal cylinders or tubes d'd which are free to turn on their axes. K represents
the holder for the flax or other material to be operated on. The two wheels are
placed opposite each other as shewn in the same horizontal plane and receive a rapid
rotary motion in opposite directions during which the cylinders or tubes and arms of
the one wheel take between the cylinders or tubes and arms of the other wheel as
seen in the figure. The holder K containing the flax or other fibrous material is
brought above the two wheels and the material engages between the wheels. These
in their rotation form undulations or bends in the material the effect of which is to
break the straw or woody part and to soften the fibre; the fibre remains intact
owing to the rotary movement of the small cylinders or tubes in the contrary
direction to the movement of the wheels, the cylinders or tubes rotating under the
friction or pressure of the fibrous material. This breaking operation should be
repeated twice, that is to say, the fibrous material should be submitted successively to
the action of two other similar breaking apparatus.
Following this breaking apparatus is a pair of rotating scutching wheels which are
represented in Figures 2 and 3. They are composed of sets of 4, 6 or other number
of arms 6 6 radiating from a horizontal shaft or axle a a¹ and carrying longitudinal
bars or plates CC fitted with blades or pallets pp'. These blades are at right angles
to the plane of the bars or plates CC, and are placed obliquely to the axis of the
wheel. All the blades on the same bar or plate are oblique in the same direction, but

page_text: two consecutive bars or plates have the blades oblique in opposite directions so that
the bars with their blades form as it were portions of an Archimedean screw of
alternate right and left pitch. The wheel shafts at a suitable distance between
themselves and the bars are surrounded by a drum or circular casing t t¹ to prevent
the fibres winding round the shafts. The holder K, with the fibres, is brought above
these wheels, the fibres engage between them and are forcibly and repeatedly struck.
The operation is repeated by a similar apparatus to which the holder with the fibre
is moved.
The scutched fibre may now be moved from the machine, but if preferred the
machine may include a set of hackling devices of any suitable construction to which
the holder with the fibre is next moved.
Instead of the breaking wheels before described being placed in the same horizontal
plane as shewn in Figure 1 the fibre entering between them from a holder above,
they may be placed one above another and the fibre be supplied to them by one or
two pairs of feed cylinders having a reciprocating rotary motion suitable to the
length of the fibre to be treated. The scutching wheels (Figures 2 and 3) may
likewise be placed one above another.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me, I declare
that what I claim is :-
1. In machinery for breaking or operating upon flax or other fibrous materials, a
pair of wheels the peripheries or operating portions of which are composed of
cylinders or tubes free to turn on their axes, substantially as hereinbefore described
and represented in Figure 1.
2. In machinery for scutching or operating upon flax or other fibrous materials,
a pair of wheels the peripheries or operating portions of which are composed of bars
or plates fitted with blades or pallets which are placed obliquely to the axis of the
wheel, substantially as hereinbefore described and represented in Figures 2 and 3.
1000