Improvements in and in connection with the Flat Grinding Apparatus of Carding Engines.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Jan., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 6th Oct., 1892-Accepted, 12th Nov., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and in connection with the Flat Grinding
Apparatus of Carding Engines.
We GEORGE ASHWORTH and ELIJAH ASHWORTH of the firm of Ashworth
Brothers of Moss Brook Works, Collyhurst, Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Machine Makers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be
as follows:-
Our invention relates to the carding engines which are provided with endless
chains of flats. These flats are subjected successively to the operation of a grinding
roller during the slow travel of the chain. In apparatus for effecting and
controlling the grinding operation prior to our said invention each flat whilst being
ground has been held in contact with sliding carriages which have moved with the
Hat during the operation of the grinding roller. To keep the faces of the flat
ends in contact with the said carriages during the grinding it has been necessary
to exert pressure in an upward direction upon the flat being ground and for this
purpose loaded levers acting upon the swells on the back of the bar have been
employed.
As the lines of upward pressure are between the two points of support of
the flat there is a tendency to slightly bend the flat and this we wish to
a void.
the series.
We employ pressers adapted to move with the flat which is being ground and
to act with upward pressure exerted at points which coincide with or are
immediately below the points of support. These pressers may slide upon the
presser levers or may be acted upon by inclines or may be otherwise suitably
mounted so that they will travel with the. flat which is being ground. When the
grinding of the flat is completed the presser returns to act upon the next flat in
When an encline is employed the presser may be hinged or jointed
to enable it to return or the incline may be arranged to be moved sideways or
turned up out of the way a spring taking the presser back. When the presser is
mounted upon a lever arm such arm may be lowered to permit of the return
movement of the presser. We may mount a series of pressers to slide in or
upon a wheel the revolution of the wheel permitting the pressers to sucessively
act upon and travel with the flats. The upward pressure may be obtained by
means of a fixed part of suitable formation or by means of a lever acting
intermittingly. The intermittent action of the lever in any case may be obtained
by causing the chain of flats or a cam upon a carrier wheel or carrier wheel
shaft to act upon such lever. We may in some cases make each presser capable
of yielding elastically to some extent and we may form the pressers with rounded
tops so that they will touch only the concave parts of the flat ends.
The ordinary loaded levers which have acted upon the flats whilst being ground
as aforesaid have each been formed with a short arm to press upon the flat and
a long arm which has carried a metal weight and has projected considerably from
the grinding bracket.
When using such levers for the purpose we dispense with the longer loaded
arm of the lever which has been cumbersome and unsightly and we provide the
lever with a second short arm which extends down the side of the grinding bracket
and projects only slightly from the same. This short arm is acted upon by a
spring which crosses below the bracket. For the purpose we prefer to employ a
plate spring of a cee form one end of the spring bearing upon the bracket
and the other end upon the lever arm but we may employ a spiral spring one end.
"6
"

page_text: of such spring being hooked to the lever arm and the other end to a stud or
projection upon the bracket.
In practice we make the cee spring of a tapering formation so that its power
may be adjustable and we provide means for regulating the power of the spring
as for example we may make one end bear upon an adjustable abutment or we
may form a nut in or upon one end of each end of the spring such nut receiving an
adjustable screw.
As the flats pass between the grinder bracket and the carrier wheels they have
to cross an intervening space and being only supported by reason of their connection
one with another the part of the chain which extends from one support to another
tends to sag or bend downward. As one end of this part of the chain is only kept
from falling by its connection with the flat which is being ground such part tends
to drag away the said flat and to interfere with the proper working of parts .of
the grinding apparatus. To obviate this defect, we apply a supporting rail at each
side of the engine so that the flats can slide upon rails from the grinder bracket to
the carrier wheels. These rails are adapted to hook on to or to interlock with
parts of the bracket so as not to require bolts or similar attachments. If preferred
the rails might be hinged to or carried by the grinder bracket.
Dated this 5th day of January 1892.
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James Square, Manchester, Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and in connection with the Flat Grinding
Apparatus of Carding Engines.
We GEORGE ASHWORTH and ELIJAH ASHWORTH, of the firm of Ashworth
Brothers, of Moss Brook Works, Collyhurst, Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Machine Makers, 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 and accompanying drawings :-
Our invention relates to the carding engines which are provided with endless
chains of flats. These flats are subjected successively to the operation of a
grinding roller during the slow travel of the chain. In apparatus for effecting and
controlling the grinding operation prior to our said invention each flat whilst
being ground has been held in contact with sliding carriages which have moved
with the flat during the operation of the grinding roller. To keep the faces of
the flat ends in contact with the said carriages during the grinding it has been
necessary to exert pressure in an upward direction upon the flat being ground
and for this purpose loaded levers acting upon the swells on the back of the bar
nave been employed.
As the lines of upward pressure are between the two points of support of the
flat there is a tendency to slightly bend the flat and this we wish to avoid. We
employ pressers adapted to move with the flat which is being ground and to act
with upward pressure exerted at points which coincide with or are immediately
below the points of support. These pressers may slide upon the presser levers or
may be acted upon by inclines or may be otherwise suitably mounted so that
they will travel with the flat which is being ground. When the grinding of the
flat is completed the presser returns to act upon the next flat in the series. When
an incline is employed the presser may be hinged or jointed to enable it to return
or the incline may be arranged to be moved sideways or turned up out of the
way, a spring taking the presser back. When the presser is mounted upon a
lever arm such arm may be lowered to permit of the return movement of the
presser. We may mount a series of pressers to slide in or upon a wheel the
revolution of the wheel permitting the pressers to successively act upon and travel

page_text: with the flats. The upward pressure may be obtained by means of a fixed part
of suitable formation or by means of a lever acting intermittingly. The inter-
mittent action of the lever in any case may be obtained by causing the chain of
the flats or a cam upon a carrier wheel or carrier wheel shaft to act upon such
lever. We may in some cases make each presser capable of yielding elastically
to some extent and we may form the pressers with rounded tops so that they will
touch only the concave parts of the flat ends.
The ordinary loaded levers which have acted upon the flats whilst being ground
as aforesaid have each been formed with a short arm to press upon the flat and a
long arm which has carried a metal weight and has projected considerably from the
grinding bracket. When using such levers for the purpose, we dispense with the
longer loaded arm of the lever which has been cumbersome and unsightly and we
provide the lever with a second short arm which extends down the side of the
grinding bracket and projects only slightly from the same. This short arm is acted
upon by a spring which crosses below the bracket. For this purpose we prefer to
employ a plate spring of a
kr cee " form one end of the spring bearing upon the
bracket and the other end upon the lever arm, but we may employ a spiral spring
one end of such spiral spring being hooked to the lever arm and the other end to a
stud or projection upon the bracket. In practice we make the " cee" spring of a
tapering formation so that its power may be adjustable and we provide means for
regulating the power of the spring as for example we may make one end bear upon
an adjustable abutment or we may form a nut in or upon one end or each end of the
spring, such nut receiving an adjustable screw.
As the flats pass between the grinder bracket and the carrier wheels they have to
cross an intervening space and being only supported by reason of their connection
one with another, the part of the chain which extends from one support to another
tends to sag or bend downward. As one end of this part of the chain is only kept
from falling by its connection with the flat which is being ground such part tends to
drag away the said flat and to interfere with the proper working of the parts of the
grinding apparatus. To obviate this defect we apply a supporting rail at each side
of the engine so that the flats can slide upon rails from the grinder bracket to the
carrier wheels. These rails are adapted to hook on to or to interlock with parts of
the bracket so as not to require bolts or similar attachments. If preferred the rails
might be hinged to or carried by the grinder bracket.
To render our invention more easily understood we will now proceed to describe
the same in detail and with reference to the annexed three sheets of drawings.
In the said drawings:
Sheet 1 illustrates one form of our improved presser-substitute for the usual
loaded presser-lever.
Sheet 2 shows another form of the same portion of our invention.
Sheet 3 illustrates our improved spring presser-lever and also the bridge for carrying
the chain of flats over the space between the carrier wheels and the grinder
brackets.
Referring in the first instance to Sheet 1 of the drawings, Fig. 1 is a side
elevation of the grinder bracket A of a carding engine. Fig. 2 is a sectional view
at right angles to Fig. 1.
In describing our present invention we will not re-capitulate the construction
and working of the sliding carriage B as that is fully set forth in the Specifi-
cation attached to our Patent No. 6988 of 1891. Suffice it to say that the
carriage B is so formed as to present the whole of the surface of the flat C to
the action of the grinding roller D and is automatically drawn back by a spring
to its starting position as soon as the last flat has been ground and passed on.
Each flat engages with and takes the carriage B forward, until the flat_has
passed the grinding roller D when it falls away and leaves the carriage Bat
liberty to spring back and engage with the succeeding flat. To hold the flat C
up against the carriage B, it has hitherto been the custom to use double levers
or, arrangements of levers, the shorter arms of the said levers bearing upon the

page_text: It is
rounded ends C₁ of the flats. As will be seen from Fig. 2 these rounded ends C¹
are not opposite to the machined ends C on the other side of the flat.
these machined ends which rest against the carriages B consequently the pressure
of the usual loaded presser-levers is exerted at points which are not opposite
to the abutments afforded by the carriages, with the result that the flat is
slightly sprung upward and the grinding rendered unequal from end to end. To
obviate this defect our invention has for its object the employment of means
whereby the necessary pressure to hold the flats up against the carriages is exerted
at points exactly opposite to the contact faces of the carriages B and the said
pressing or supporting means are so arranged as to give an equal supporting
pressure during the whole time the flat is being ground. To attain our object
we are obliged to apply the pressure on the concave portions C of the flats
which come opposite to the portions C². On each side we employ a presser E
which consists of two parts, namely the hollow trunk E and a sliding ram F which
is inserted into the trunk E and rests on a spring G so as to give a certain
amount of elasticity to the presser. The pointed or sugar loaf head of the ram F
bears on the concave end C³ of the flat and exactly opposite to the carriage B.
The trunk E slides up and down in a boss H formed on a slide H' which slides in
a vee groove formed in the grinder bracket A. The slide H' is connected by a
spiral spring H2 to a stud H3 which projects from a strut H' bolted to the grinder
bracket. This spring draws back the slide H' and presser E as soon as the presser
.is relieved from the flat. The foot of the trunk E carries a pendant part E' which
is knuckle jointed to the trunk, so that it will yield or fold in the direction of the
curved dotted line Fig. 1, but not in the other direction. Beneath the presser E is a
.sliding wedge piece I which is carried in a groove as shown in Fig. 2 and is capable
of being slid to and fro at times by means of a rising and falling crooked bar J
which passes through a slot in the tail I' of the wedge I. This bar J slides in
brackets K K and is connected at the foot to a double rock lever L pivotted at M
to the grinder bracket. On each side of the pivot M the lever carries studs or it
might be bowls N N¹. These studs which are adjustable are acted upon by the
rounded ends or swells C¹ of the flats C as they traverse round the bend O in the
direction of the arrow Fig. 1. Thus when a flat strikes the stud N, that end of
the lever is raised and with it the crooked bar J whereby the wedge I is drawn in
the direction of the arrow Fig. 1. By a modification the studs N, N' might be
operated by the outer ends of the flats instead of by the swells and preferably
opposite to the machined faces which rest on the bend O.
Such being the construction and disposition of the parts we will now describe the
manner in which they operate when at work. Taking the parts in the position
shown in Fig. the flat C is moving in the direction of the arrow, taking with it
the carriage B and presser E the foot of which slides on the flat top of the wedge
piece I. As soon as the flat has passed the grinding roller D it drops and the
carriage B resiles to its starting point. At the same moment the knuckle-jointed
foot of the presser E passes the outer edge of the wedge I and drops down thus
freeing the ram head F from the flat.
slide H back to the starting point, the folding end E¹ allowing the presser to be
The spring H immediately draws the
drawn back over the wedge, as shown in Fig. 3 until in the position show in dotted
lines in the same fig.
The presser is thus brought immediately beneath the next succeeding flat of the
chain. It is now requisite to raise the presser up to press the flat against the
carriage and this is done by the operation of the lever L, the stud N of which is t
struck by the next advancing flat on the bed so as to rock the lever, lift the
bar J and so draw forward the wedge I, a movement which results in forcing up
the presser by means of the incline on the wedge as shown in Fig. 4.
The presser
being thus engaged with the flat, the further progress of the chain of flats carries
the presser and carriage forward. When the presser has properly mounted on the 5
wedge I, the latter is caused to accompany the presser for a short distance back by
the next flat on the bend, striking the stud N' on the lever L which moves the

page_text: lever so as to drop the bar J thus shifting the wedge back to the position shown in
Fig. 1. From this point the operation is as already described.
Another modification in the means for carrying the pressers is illustrated by
Figs. 5, 6 and 7 on Sheet 2 of the drawings. The pressers E are carried in a
wheel P which rotates upon a stud Q secured to the grinder bracket A by a nut R
as shown in Fig. 7. A turned collar S serves as a path for the pressers E as they
are carried round by the wheel P. Into this collar we insert a cam piece T of
hardened steel lying in the path of the pressere E which are therefore compelled
to surmount this cam piece T as each presser is carried over it by the carrier
wheel. The pressers are each composed as in the former instance of an outer
trunk E sliding in an aperture made to receive it in the wheel P. The trunks E
are reduced at the foot from front to back as shown in the drawings and a pin U
thrust through the carrier wheel P and past the side of the trunk E as shown in
Fig. 5, occupies a recess formed in the side of each trunk thus preventing the
trunks E from dropping out of the wheel as it revolves. The other portion of the
pressers consists as before of a sugar-loaf headed ram F which is inserted into
the hollow trunk E against the pressure of an internal spring G. A pin V serves
as a stop to keep the rams F in the presser trunks, the said pins occupying recesses
in the rams as clearly appears in Fig. 5. The pressers are thus elastic so as to
give and take within certain limits. The flats C forming the portion of the chain
of flats immediately approximate to the grinding roller D revolve the wheel P by
their contact with the sugar-loaf heads of the rams F and the said rams by the
combination of forces represented by the influence of the cam piece T and the
springs G exercise an equable pressure upon the concave portions Cs of the backs of
the flats immediately opposite to the part which is pressed against the sliding
carriage B as most clearly appears in Fig. 7. Thus the flat is nipped and held
by parts which are exactly opposite to each other and therefore the slight distortion
of the flat which formerly obtained is avoided. It will be noted that the face of
the cam piece T is concave, the sides being higher than the centre.
of this, and its corresponding action upon the pressers will be easily understood
from an inspection of Figs. 5 and 6. For example looking first at Fig. 5 it will be
noted that the presser E whose ram F is in contact with the flat, stands vertically
beneath the centre of the grinding roller D. That being so, the distance of the
flat from the centre of the carrier wheel P is at its minimum. Therefore the foot
of the presser E is standing on the lowest part of the cam surface T so as to
shorten the distance from the tip of the ram to the foot of the presser.
the flat advances it is evident that its distance from the centre of the wheel P
increases and to make up for that the presser foot rides up the upwardly curved
face of the cam T thus compensating for the retiring of the flat by practically
lengthening the presser. Thus with the assistance of the enclosed spring the
presser exerts an equal or almost equal pressure upon the flat during the whole of
the contact of the latter with the grinding roller. As soon as the presser leaves
the cam T it drops into the collar S, the flat falls away from the wedge-(which
flies back to meet the next flat) and at the same moment the next presser has
ridden up upon the cam surface so as to support the said next flat and so on from
flat to flat.
The reason
But as
Fig. 8 on Sheet 3 illustrates the two remaining features of our invention viz.: the
spring presser lever; and the bridge to support the chain of flats between the
grinder brackets and the carrier wheels.
Hitherto the levers which have supported the flats while being ground as afore-
said (and for which the two foregoing presser arrangements are intended to act as
substitutes) have been formed as double levers with a short arm to press upon the
flat and a longer arm which has carried a load, the said arm and weight projecting
considerably from the grinding bracket and forming cumbrous and unsightly
adjuncts to the carding engine. Referring to Fig. 8 our improved presser lever is
shown in position and is marked a. The lever is pivotted as usual at 6 upon the
grinder bracket A but instead of having the usual long loaded arm we form it

page_text: :
66
with a comparatively short second arm c which extends down the side of the
grinder bracket A and projects only slightly beyond it. The arm c is made
adjustable from the grinder bracket by means of an adjusting screw d as appears
in the drawing. The short arm is acted upon by a spring e which is in the form of
a flat
cee" spring. This spring extends beneath the lever to the other side of
the grinder bracket and is provided there with an adjustable abutment screwf
which can be set so as to regulate the pressure exerted by the spring. Any other
'means of adjustably varying the spring pressure might however be used. The
said cee spring is preferably made wider at the middle than at the two ends.
It will of course be evident that instead of the "cee" spring shown in the drawing
we might employ a spiral spring, one end of such spring being attached to the
lever arm c and the other end to a fixed or adjustable stud or projection upon the
bracket.
"
1
The last part of our invention, also illustrated in Fig. 8, refers to the means for
bridging over the space between the grinder brackets A and carrier wheels g.
At present the flats C forming the chain are supported while crossing the space,
only by reason of their connection one with another the chain thus tending to sag
or droop downwards.
As one end of this portion of the chain is only kept from falling away by its
connection with the flat which is being ground, there is always a drag upon the
said flat which tends to interfere with the proper working of the parts of the
grinding apparatus. In addition to this the presser levers sometimes nip and hold
the flat being ground so that it is held stationary until the slack in the front part
of the chain is taken up and the flat (sometimes with two or three of the succeeding
flats) is pulled through suddenly and by main force. To obviate these defects we
apply a supporting rail at each side of the engine so as to bridge over the space
so that the flats C can slide upon these rails from the carrier wheels g to the grinder
brackets A as clearly shown in the drawing.
These rails h being only required when the grinding is going on, we apply them
in such a manner that they can be easily placed in position and as easily removed.
With this object we form that end of the rail which is next to the carrier wheels
hook-shaped as at h¹ so as to rest upon and be supported by the bosses of the
carrier wheels. The other end of the rails is made with a flange as at which
flange rests upon the top of the grinder bracket A. The carriage rail k keeps the
rail from dropping off to the inside of the grinder bracket, while a stop h
prevents the rail from coming over the front of the grinder bracket.
No fastening is required and the rails are therefore very easily applied and
removed. If preferred the rails might be hinged to or carried by the grinder
brackets A or to the brackets i which support the carrier wheels. We do not
however confine ourselves to the special method of applying the rails so long as
means are used to bridge over the indicated space and carry, the flats across as set
forth. As a modification instead of placing the rails h between the top carrier
wheels and the grinder bracket as shown we might place the rails between the
grinder brackets and the front carrier wheels or we might bridge over both spaces.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. The general arrangement construction and combination of parts constituting
the improved means for supporting the ends of the flats of revolving flat carding
engines, during the operation of grinding, such support being applied at points
which are opposite or about opposite to the points of contact between the flats
and the sliding carriages employed to transport or guide the flats past the grinding
roller, for the purposes and substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated.
2. The general arrangement 'construction and combination of apparatus
constituting the improved means for supporting and pressing the ends of the flats
with an equable and elastic pressure against the sliding carriages which transport

page_text: the flats past the grinding roller, the said pressure being applied exactly opposite
to the points of contact between the ends of the flats and the said sliding carriages
with the objects and substantially as hereinbefore described and as shown on
Sheet 1 of the drawings.
3. In apparatus of the indicated description, the improved presser for supporting
the flats, said presser consisting of a hollow trunk carrying an elastic ram and
capable of moving with the flat while it is being ground, and of becoming detached
therefrom, returning and engaging with the next successive flat, in the manner and
by the means substantially as described and shown in Sheet 1.
4. The improved mechanism for supporting and pressing the flats during the
grinding operation against a sliding carriage or other guiding or transporting means
the said mechanism consisting of a revolving carrier wheel fitted with a series of
sliding pressers and rotating upon a fixed stud and collar which carries a cam
piece, over which the pressers are successively carried and by which they are
given the necessary movements so as to act with equable and continuous pressure
upon the flats which are being ground substantially as described and as illustrated
in Sheet 2 of the drawings.
5. The employment of cee or plate springs instead of weights to hold the presser
levers of revolving flat carding engines against the flats during the grinding
operation substantially as described and as shown in Sheet 3 of the drawings.
6. As means for holding the presser lever against the flats the combination of
the cee or plate springs with the short arm of the presser lever substantially as
hereinbefore described and shown.
7. In revolving flat carding engines, bridging the space between the carrier
wheels and the grinder brackets by means of rails or carriers so as to support the
flats in their passage from the carriers to the grinding roller during the grinding
operation substantially as described and as shown in Fig. 8 of the drawings.
Dated this 5th day of October 1892
E. K. DUTTON & Co.,
5, John Dalton Street, Manchester, Agents.