IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR COMBING FLAX AND OTHER SIMILAR FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jules Laleman, of Lille, in the Empire of France,
one of the Members of the firm of Canyn and Company, which consists
of Victor Canyn, Crispin Lenty, William Lenty, and Jules Laleman, all
of Lille aforesaid, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR COMBING
FLAX AND OTHER SIMILAR FIBROUS MATERIALS."-A cominunication.
Scaled the 25th September 1855, and dated the 12th April 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jules Laleman at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
12th April 1855.
I, JULES LALEMAN, of Lille, in the Empire of France, one of the Members
of the firm Canyn & Company, which consists of Victor Canyn, Crispin
Lenty, William Lenty, and Jules Laleman, all of Lille aforesaid, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR COMBING
FLAX AND OTHER SIMILAR FIBROUS MATERIALS" to be as follows:-
This improved machinery for combing flax and other similar fibrous materials
is composed principally of six drums or cylinders, furnished with comb teeth,
and mounted horizontally in suitable bearings and revolving in opposite
directions.
The flax holders have a horizontal traversing movement communicated to
them, and they are mounted in guides immediately above the centres of the

page_text: drums, and are made to rise and fall somewhat in the usual manner by means
of an excentric, or other suitable mechanical contrivance. This movement
takes place vertically above two iron rollers covered with caoutchouc, and to
which a sufficient degree of pressure is given by means of weighted levers
to prevent the fibres from slipping when passing between the rollers. These
two rollers, which may be called the holding rollers, will thus be caused
to take hold of the flax on the descent of the holders, and only release their
hold of it when the holders have risen again and arrived at their starting point.
These holding rollers are caused to rotate at such a speed that their surface
speed may be about equal to the speed at which the holders are made to rise and
fall. By this arrangement of parts, the flax is gradually delivered to the comb
'cylinders by the rollers with a considerable degree of pressure, and in conse-
quence of the resistance thereby offered by the fibres on being presented to
the teeth of the drums or comb cylinders, the. combed product will be of a
quality much superior to that heretofore produced, and less tow will be produced
than by the machinery hitherto employed.
Another improvement consists in substituting for the flax holders of the
ordinary construction an endless band or apron, upon which the flax is spread,
and which receives a reciprocating motion from the rollers above mentioned.
The flax is placed upon the travelling endless belt or apron, and a nipping
roller being adapted at one end of the endless belt, the flax will be fed forward
to the holding rollers above mentioned, the speed of the holding rollers and
the travelling band being regulated to each other. When one end of the
strick of flax has been combed, the motion of the endless feeding band is
reversed, and the strick is drawn back again from between the holding rollers,
when it may be turned end for end, so that the other end may be operated
upon, and when this has been done and the strick drawn up again on to the
endless band, it will be ready for the spreader.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Jules Laleman in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
12th October 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JULES
LALEMAN, of Lille, in the Empire of France, one of the Members of the
firm of Canyn and Company, which consists of Victor Canyn, Crispin Lenty,
William Lenty, and Jules Laleman, all of Lille aforesaid, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Jules Laleman, Her special licence that I, the said Jules Laleman, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Jules
Laleman, 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 "IMPROVED MACHINERY
FOR COMBING FLAX AND OTHER SIMILAR FIBROUS MATERIALS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Jules Laleman, by an instrument in writing
under my band and scal, 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 Jules Laleman, 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates to a novel arrangement of mechanism for combing
flax and other fibrous materials, the object being to simplify the operation of
feeding of such machines with fibrous materials, and to get a greater yield
of combed fibre than is ordinarily obtained from a given amount of material.
For this purpose I employ a pair of nipping or holding rollers, which, as the
stricks of flax are brought down to be acted upon by the comb cylinder or
cylinders, will feed it gradually thereto, and at the same time hold it so firmly
as to prevent the comb cylinder from drawing the fibres out of the grip of the
holding rollers. By the use of these rollers I am enabled to employ a chain
of pendent combs in lieu of the ordinary clamp holders or even endless bands
or aprons for traversing the stricks of flax through the machine, and thereby
to avoid the necessity for clamping up the stricks and unclamping the
holders in order to "turn ends," which operations require (as is well-known)
a great expenditure of labor.
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 represents a front elevation of my
improved combing machinery; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same; and

page_text: Fig. 3 is a vertical section, taken in the line A, B, of Fig. 1. A, A, represent
a chain of combs upon which the attendant hangs the flax which is to be
submitted to the combing operation; B, B, Figures 1 and 3, are two rollers
extending from end to end of the machine inmediately above the centre of the
comb cylinder. These rollers B, B, are covered with india-rubber, leather, or
cloth, and serve to take hold of the flax, and present it to the action of the
comb cylinder below them, thus performing in fact the office of the ordinary
flax holders. C, C, Fig. 2, is an arrangement of gearing for operating the
various working parts of the machine; this gearing by means of suitable
mechanism causes the chain of combs A, A, on which the flax is hung, to descend,
and also imparts rotary motion to the holding rollers B, B, which are thereby
made to seize the flax as it descends, and feed it to the large comb cylinder D,
the pins upon which are graduated, so as to present to the flax finer teeth as
the combing operation proceeds. When the flax holders or combs A, A, have
descended to their lowest position there is then a moment's stoppage, in order
to allow of the flax remaining upon the comb cylinder until it has been
sufficiently operated upon on one side by the comb teeth to which it has been
submitted. The action of the machine is then reversed, and the rollers B, B,
made to revolve in the opposite direction, and the chain of combs A to rise
until they reach their highest elevation. E, E', E, are three bevil wheels
(of a pitch of 45 degrees), which work together. On the boss of the wheels
E', E2, ratchet teeth are formed, to receive alternately a clutch box G, which
slides between them, and is carried by a shaft I, which also carries the bevil
wheels E', E. The wheel E is keyed to the axle of the comb cylinder D.
The clutch box G, which slides over a feather on the shaft I, is worked by a
weighted lever, which throws it alternately into contact with the bevil wheels
E' and E², and thereby changes the direction of rotation of the various parts
as desired.
Motion is communicated to the machine by means of a band or strap
passing round a driving pulley on the main shaft, on which is mounted the
comb cylinder D, and from the bevil wheel E at the opposite end of this
shaft the other parts are driven by means of the intermediate gearing, which
actuates the holding rollers B, B, and also the chain of combs A, for the
purpose of raising the flax from the comb cylinder.
These motions are effected in the following manner:-It will be understood
that the bevil wheels E' and E, which are driven by the wheel E on the main
shaft, are mounted loosely on the shaft I, and that the direction of rotation of
this latter depends upon which of these two wheels E and E is in gear with
the clutch G. The clutch being moveable laterally on the shaft I may be

page_text: shogged in either direction, as above mentioned, and this operation is effected
by means of the weighted tumbling lever K, which is worked by a T lever L
below. This T lever is mounted on the shaft or stud of the toothed wheel O,
and moves with it. The lever L is provided at its upper end with two pins or
studs 1, 1, between which is placed the tail of the lever K, and as the T lever
L is moved to and fro by the wheel O, the pins or studs 1, 1, come against the
lower part or tail of the lever K, and cause the same to move on its stud or pin
and shog the clutch G on the shaft I, so as to draw it out of gear with one of
the wheels E and put it in gear with the other, for the purpose of changing
the direction of rotation of the shaft I and the intermediate gearing, as above
mentioned. A slow motion for the above purpose is communicated to the
wheel by means of the intermediate gearing 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, the first wheel
which is a bevil wheel being driven by a bevil pinion 3 on the shaft I, see
Fig. 2.
On the axle of one of the rollers B is a toothed wheel 4, whereby motion
is communicated to it from the shaft I by means of the intermediate gearing
M, N, P, driven by the bevil pinion 3 on the shaft I. The other roller B is
kept in contact with its fellow roller by means of the weighted levers Q, and
thereby is made to rotate in either direction by friction of contact. P is
a helical toothed wheel, having for its object to effect the stop motion of
the rollers B and holders or combs A. This wheel P slides upon a shaft (see
Figures 1 and 2), and gears into the wheels N and 4, it being kept in position
by means of the flanges on those wheels, which run in a helical groove formed
in the periphery of the wheel P, as seen in Fig. 1. When the combs A have
descended to the rollers B, B, the wheel P will have worked out of contact
with the wheel N, and will thereby allow the necessary stoppage of the feed or
holding rollers B, and other parts in connexion therewith, so as to permit the
combing operation to be completed; the motion of the gearing is then reversed
by means of the tumbling lever K, as above explained, and the helical wheel P
is again brought into gear with the wheel N, and communicates motion
thereto until the combs have reached their highest point above, when they
immediately again begin to descend. The ascending and descending motion
of the combs A is effected by means of a pinion on the shaft c gearing into
the rack R.
Figure 4 shews another mode of supplying the fibrous material to be
operated upon to the holding rollers B, B, by which the holding combs A are
dispensed with.
The fibrous material, instead of being hung upon these
combs, is placed upon an endless apron H, mounted upon rollers F, F, which

page_text: being set in motion will deliver the fibrous material between the rollers F
and I down to the holding rollers B, B.
Having now set forth the nature and object of my Invention of improved
machinery for combing flax and other fibrous substances, and described the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that
under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim, the modes of feeding
the flax to the comb cylinder, and also the employment of holding or nipping
rollers, as above explained, for the purpose of feeding up the material to be
operated upon to the rotating comb cylinder or cylinders, and withdrawing it
therefrom after it has been combed, whereby I am enabled to simplify the
operation of feeding such machines, and at the same time increase the yield of
combed fibres.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jules Laleman, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Ninth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
J. LALEMAN. (L.8.)