AN IMPROVEMENT IN COTTON GINS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Charles Ollerenshaw, of Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Merchant, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT
IN COTTON GINS."-A communication from Lewis S. Chichester, of New
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Charles Ollerenshaw
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 14th October 1858.
I, JOHN CHARLES OLLERENSHAW, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention which has
been communicated to me by Lewis S. Chichester, of New York, U. S. A., for
"AN IMPROVEMENT IN COTTON GINS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements in a particular description
of machine called the "roller gin" for ginning long staple cotton. The roller
gins now in use are formed of two wooden rollers of small diameter, one inch
or less, and eight or ten inches long, placed in contact one above the other
in the same plane, and revolved with equal speed in opposite directions. The
rollers are worked in single pairs by the foot, or a number of pairs are con-
nected together and driven by horse or other power. The diameter of these
rollers being small, the curves or the angle formed at their line of contact is
sufficiently obtuse to detain or press off the seeds, preventing them passing
between the rollers, if the cotton is fed to them in small quantities, while the

page_text: bite of the rollers in motion draws off the cotton which passes between the
rollers. The process of ginning by these machines is a very slow one, as the
cotton must necessarily be fed evenly and in small quantities to the rollers, in
order to prevent an accumulation of seed near the bite of the rollers, and con-
sequently the crushing of the seed. The object of this improvement is to
increase the capacity of the roller gin, and the Invention consists in the
employment or use of a feeder plate of suitable width, bearing and working in
centres below, and extending upward nearly to the line of contact of the two
rollers, the upper end of the plate having a small curved ledge upon it armed
at its front edge with teeth, and having a vibrating motion towards and from
the bite of the rollers, for the purpose of detaching the seeds from the cotton,
and also assisting or feeding the cotton to the bite of the rollers.
This Invention further consists in using, in connection with the feeder plate,
a plate or comb provided with teeth, and having an endwise or lateral motion
outside of and just below the bite of the rollers, together with the motion
forward and back in common with the feeder plate, by which the seeds are
rippled out and thrown off from the cotton as fast as the cotton is stripped
from them by the action of the rollers and ledge on the feeder plate.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Charles Ollerenshaw in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 14th April 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
CHARLES OLLERENSHAW, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Merchant,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said John Charles Ollerenshaw, Her special license that I,
the said John Charles Ollerenshaw, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said John Charles Ollerenshaw, 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, exercise, and vend, within
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED COTTON GIN," being a
-

page_text: communication from Lewiss Chichester, of New York, in the United States of
America, upon the condition, amongst others, that I, the said John Charles
Ollerenshaw, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Charles Ollerenshaw, do hereby
declare the nature of my said 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, that is to say:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements in a particular description
of machine called the "roller gin," for ginning long staple cotton. The roller
gins now in use are formed of two wooden rollers of small diameter, one inch
or less, and eight or ten inches long, placed in contact one above the other in
the same plane, and revolved with equal speed in opposite directions. The
rollers are worked in single pairs by the foot, or a number of pairs are
connected together and driven by horse or other power. The diameter of
these rollers being small, the curves or the angles formed at their line of contact
is sufficiently obtuse to detain or press off the seeds, preventing them passing
between the rollers if the cotton is fed them in small quantities, while the bite
of the rollers in motion draws off the cotton which passes between the rollers.
The process of ginning by these machines is a very slow one, as the cotton
must necessarily be fed evenly and in small quantities to the rollers, in order
to prevent an accumulation of the seed near the bite of the rollers, and con-
sequently the crusting of the seed. The object of this present Invention is to
increase the capacity of the "roller gin," and the improvement consists in the
employment or use of a feeder or plate of suitable width, bearing and working
on centres below, and extending upward nearly to the line of contact of the
two rollers, the upper end of the plate having a small curved ledge upon it,
armed at its front edge with teeth, and having a vibrating motion towards and
from the bite of the rollers, for the purpose of detaching the seeds from the
cotton, and also assisting or feeding the cotton to the bite of the rollers.
This Invention further consists in using, in connection with the feeder plate,
a plate or comb provided with teeth, and having an endwise or lateral motion
outside of and just below the bite of the rollers, together with the motion
forward and back in common with the feed plate, by which the seeds are
rippled out and thrown off from the cotton as fast as the cotton is stripped
from them by them by the action of the rollers and ledge on the feeder plate.

page_text: In order that the Invention may be better understood and explained, I
have hereunto annexed a Sheet of Drawings illustrative of the same, having
similar letters of reference marked upon corresponding parts of the apparatus.
Fig. 1 is a sectional view taken through in line A, B, and Fig. 2 is a plan
view of the same. In Figs. 1 and 2, A, A, represents the framing, which
may be constructed either of wood or metal, and of any required form; B, B,
represent two rollers placed in the framing A, one above the other and in the
same plane, the two rollers being in contact, the upper one B receiving its
motion from the lower one B', and consequently they rotate in a reverse
direction; C represents a plate, the lower end of which rests on centres a, a,
fitted in bearings in the frame A below the rollers. The upper edge of this
plate has a narrow ledge formed upon it, on the lower or under surface of
which is of concave form, and is placed near or at the bite formed by the
point of contact of the two rollers as is plainly shewn in Fig. 3. The outer
or front edge of the ledge is serrated or armed with five teeth, as clearly
shewn in Fig. 2. The centres a, a, of the plate C are so placed on the frame
that the plate has an inclined position as shewn in Fig. 1.
The upper
surface of the ledge b is of convex form, as seen in Figs. 1 and 3, and in each
journal of the lower roller B', a cam D is placed, these cams as the rollers
rotate, act against the plate C, the upper end of which rests upon them, and
are so formed that they give, in connection with a spring g, which is at the
lower end of the said plate, a vibrating motion to the plate, the ledge b being
moved towards and from the bite of the two rollers. To the upper part of
the plate C on its outer edge, and just below the ledge b, a plate c is attached
by the screws d, d, which pass through oblong slots e in the plate. The inner
side e of rack cam D, is made with an irregular surface or of cam form, the
said surfaces acting against the ends of the plate c, and imparting thereto a
lateral reciprocating motion. The upper end of the plate c is provided with
teeth f, which project upwards and terminate in points; D represents the feed
board of usual construction. The outer end of this board bears on centres
i, i, which are fitted in the upper end of the frame A, and at or about its
centre bears upon springs j, attached to the plate C; the front end of the
board D is serrated or armed with teeth K. The operation of the machine is
as follows:-Motion is imparted to the lower roller B in any required
manner, and the upper roller B in consequence of being in contact with the
lower one and receiving motion from it, rotates in a reverse direction. The
cotton is placed on the feed board D, and fed by hand towards the roller
B, B. The ledge b as it moves outward or back from the bite, pinches or
compresses the seeds (shewn in red) between its upper surface and the force

page_text: of the upper roller B, and the seeds are thereby detached or separated from
the fibre, and as the ledge moves towards the bite, its teeth catch or grasp
the fibres, and carry them to the bite of the rollers after the seeds are detached
from them. The ledge 6 extending along the bite of the rollers forms such
an obtuse angle with the upper roller as entirely to prevent the crushing of
the seeds, and the endwise or lateral motion of the plate C, together with the
backward and forward motion of both the plate C and the ledge b, effectually
ripple out and throw off the seeds from the cotton as fast as the cotton is
stripped from them by the action of the rollers and ledge.
In conclusion I would remark that in the union roller gin stand, we prefer
to use one sinall steel roller with a perforated surface highly polished, and one
larger roller of rubber or gutta percha, the guard plate protecting the soft
roller, so that the hard seeds are detained upon metal surfaces, whilst the
cotton is grasped and carried forward by the bite of the elastic and polished
steel surfaces, but when employing the gin without a guard plate, the rollers
must necessarily be of small diameter to prevent the crushing of the seeds.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, together with the
method of performing the same, I wish it to be distinctly understood that I
claim,―
First, the novel employment or use of the vibrating feeder plate C, having
a reciprocating movement towards and from the bite of the rollers, and
provided with a suitably curved ledge b at its upper end, the said ledge being
serrated or provided with teeth, and placed at or near the bite of the rollers,
substantially as described for the purpose set forth.
And, secondly, I claim the use of the said feeder plate with its curved
ledge as employed in connection with the plate or comb c, the above parts
being arranged and operating conjointly as herein-before described and set
forth and fully illustrated in the Drawings attached.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Charles Ollerenshaw, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Thirteenth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
JOHN CHARLES OLLERENSHAW. (L.S.)