CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1847

page_text: FONTAINE MOREAU'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PIERRE
ARMAND LE COMTE DE FONTAINE MOREAU, of 4, South Street, Finsbury,
London, English and Foreign Patent Agent for Inventions, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, under
the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
bearing date at Westminster, the Seventeenth day of July, in the eleventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Pierre Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I, the said Pierre Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Pierre
Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau, my executors, administrators, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times thereafter during the term of years therein mentioned, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales,
and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in the Islands of Jersey,
Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and also in all Her said Majesty's
Colonies and Plantations abroad, the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," com-
municated to me from abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained a
proviso that I; the said Pierre Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau, shall
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing

page_text: under my
hand and seal, and cause the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by
the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the
said Pierre Armand-le.. Comte-de-Fontaine- Moreau, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention communicated to me, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, to 'be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, and to the different Figures marked thereon, in which the
same letters of reference refer to the same parts, that is to say:-
The Invention communicated to me consists in certain new and improved
arrangements of certain apparatus for unravelling, disentangling, and laying
parallelly the fibres of cotton, and some other similar fibrous substances, for
extracting from them the filth, dust, and hiterogenous matters, and forming
these fibres into perfect sheets or fleeces; and for the better comprehension
of the said Invention; before entering upon a detailed description of the manner
of carrying it into effect, it will be well to premise by an exposée of the
present state of this most important branch of the manufacture. Notwith-
standing the very great ameliorations which are made every day in spinning,
owing to the several improvements, incessantly discovered and chiefly applied
to the machines intended for preparing fibrous substances, and especially
cotton, it is generally acknowledged that at the present moment those known
under the names of devilling, scutching, and spreading or lapping machines, are
still very defective, and leave much to be desired, because they have to subject
the substances worked upon to an abrupt and intermittent movement in order to
separate from the fibres the hiterogenous or foreign matters which they contain,
and which result they do not always succeed in completely achieving. The two
first of these machines are more or less faulty and defective, and present very
grave inconvenience; they fatigue, weaken, and break the nips of cotton, they
curl up and twist the fibres in such a manner that they very often reduce a
large quantity of them into down, or waste; these defects are the result of the
violent and abruptly repeated motions of the iron spikes or blades which are
disposed around the central shaft, turning at a speed not less than from nine
hundred to one thousand rotations, which is sometimes carried as far as
one thousand six hundred a minute, and even much more. The present
process of carding is also far from being perfect; its object as it is well known
is to open and unravel the fibres of the cotton irregularly twisted and formed

page_text: into sheets commonly called breaker lap, which is done by means of 'the
scutching and lapping machines. The carding serves to disentangle the fibres,
to raise them one by one as much as possible, to draw, put, and lay them
parallelly to each other, and; lastly, ito dispose them conveniently in a wide
and uniform sheet or fleece, which is submitted, afterwards to the drawing,
doubling, and roving, and; lastly, spinning engines. These cotton sheets or
fleeces ought to be transparent' in appearance, regular and free from all kind of
impurity, such as lumps and breaks and ought not at the same time to give
out much waste. But products so desirable are far. fromirbeing obtained
generally in manufacturing, notwithstanding all the attention applied to the
different parts of the carding system: To approach more nearly such a result,
in most of the largest and most improved cotton factories a the fleece is
submitted to a second carding which is called the finishing:::But it is evident
in that case, that if on one side better work is obtained by that second
operation, on the other there is necessarily much more waste,, more. motive
power employed, more expence, and more wear and tear of machinery.
According to this said process, the. main drum or 'cylinder of the carding
engine is covered on its entire external circumference with. sheet. cards.
These cards are a species of brush formed of curved, and more or less, sepa
rated short and sharp iron wire teeth passing through.pieces of leather, and all
pointing in one direction. They tear out the fibres of cotton from the feeding
cylinders with very great velocity; and, consequently, considerable energy.
These fibres, arranged in a breaker lap by the scutching and lapping machines,
as herein-before stated, being still more or less, irregularly curled up, are
rapidly and immediately drawn between the teeth of the main, drum of the
carding engine and those of the top cards or concave frame.placed over it.
The teeth of the latter are necessarily bent in a contrary direction to those of
the main drum. The fibres are therefore. divided between the opposite teeth,
which having a tendency to retain them by incessant' pullings, cause them to
be twisted round the wires. It results from the continuous movement that a
certain quantity of good and available cotton is separated; and penetrates,
with the dirt or other heterogenous matter it may still contain between
the teeth of the large drum. and those of the concave frame. These top
boards, being set permanently, receive the greatest part of the foreign
matters from the main drum itself; over which they are very closely.
placed, and these heterogenous bodies are ejected into this top frame by.
the effect of the centrifugal force caused by the said; main cylinder. It
is obvious that it is, important not to let these foreign matters heap up and.
accumulate within the cards, and to prevent their unavoidable layers the

page_text: workman is obliged very frequently to clean and unclog the wires, which is
generally done by means of a small hand card and without stopping the
machine. The cards of the main drum are likewise cleansed from time to
time, but then to effect that cleaning of its wires it is necessary to interrupt
the work of the carding engine. In order to lessen that loss of time, there is
generally in the well regulated cotton mills a ready change carding machine
for each set of carding engines at work. This mode of cleansing cards,
besides being rather expensive, has evidently the inconvenience of producing
an irregular carding, as the results of the working following immediately after
cleansing are certainly more regular and perfect than those obtained when
the teeth of the cards are again clogged up by the fresh working of the carding
machine. Hand cleansing is dangerous, painful, fatiguing, and hurtful to the
health of the workman, on account of the atmosphere in which in which he
remains the greatest part of the time being continually loaded with the cotton dust.
The disadvantages of that mode of working are therefore very evident, since a
long while such imperfect system requires to be replaced by a more faultless
mechanical or self-unclogging machine. It is well known that several
attempts have been made from time to time to obtain such results, and many
systems have been laid down for cleaning the top cards, which is, however, less
important than those of the main cylinder, but all endeavours to obviate such
defects have until now proved nearly a failure. To resume, the disadvantages
which are presented by the use of hand cards for cleaning the teeth of the wires
are, firstly, that they cause a great quantity of waste cotton by turning it into a
state of down; and, secondly, because they require unclogging continually, which
operation leaves much to be wished for, both in respect to result as in respect to
economy. The best carding machine will be consequently that which will offer
the most suitable mechanical arrangements for reaching very regularly all the
cotton fibres, in order to cleanse them properly; to lay them longitudinally in
an uniform and parallel direction within the shortest time and with the least
possible exertion, so as not to weaken the fibres; and, finally, to preserve all
their natural strength and elasticity. The solution of that important question,
which, for the spinning as well as for weaving operations, interests greatly the
working classes, and, perhaps, still more, the manufacturers, must necessarily
arise from the intelligence as well as from the ability and ingenuity of man,
in order to succeed in producing more and better work, with less labor, time,
and expense. Every one at the present moment is aware that the transforma-
tion of cotton into yarn and other tissues of all kinds constitutes one of the
most valuable sources of revenue of the modern societies, and that such pro-
duce by its own importance is placed in the first rank of commercial trans-:

page_text: actions, as it gives a fruitful and incessant employment to the largest amount
of capital; it is therefore understood, that any improvement made in such a
manufacture cannot fail to be of the greatest interest to all mechanics and
manufacturers. It has been thought necessary to enter into these details
before describing the improvements communicated to me, in order to establish
more easily their advantages, and, above all, to demonstrate their novelty, to
illustrate the principle upon which they repose, to shew their applications, and,
finally, the facility with which they are put into operation.
The improved machine herein-before alluded to, and herein-after described,
avoids in the most perfect and complete manner the defects which have
been herein-before described and pointed out relatively to most of the
preparatory machines and hand cleansing. It reposes on an entirely new
principle, which remedies all the defects and disadvantages of most of
these preparatory machines, and in many instances it may supersede the use
of them. The object of the apparatus, as herein-before stated, is to open
the nips of cotton, to unravel, disentangle, cleanse, separate, and straighten
the fibres of the substances with a great deal of care, caution, and economy,
finally, to draw them out and dispose always parallelly to each other. The
principle of its construction is very simple and easy to comprehend. It con-
sists in surrounding the greatest part of the circumference of the main drum
(clothed alternately with sheet cards and narrow plate brushes) with a set of
feeding rollers, having the faculty of holding like pincers the fibres of cotton
during a long while, in order that the projecting parts of the main drum when
turning round should brush successively each part of the fibres. The clothing
of the drum is of a particular disposition; instead of being entirely covered
with sheet cards, it leaves, on the contrary, some spaces empty, and correspond-
ing to the width of the cotton to be worked. Between these sheets of cards
are set as many brushes, which it has been before stated are not very wide,
but extend over all the length of the main cylinder. Under this latter, one
or more metallic gratings of a particular form are placed; they serve to give
a constant egress to all the dirt and filth contained in the worked substance.
The main cylinder at each of its revolutions passes over these gratings
before presenting the well-cleaned cotton fibres, with which it is loaded, to
the small stripping drum or doffer.

page_text: Drawing II. Figure 1 is a vertical section drawn through the middle of
the apparatus, according to the line 1, 2, of the Plan.
Drawing III. Figure 1 is a transversal section drawn through the axis of the
main cylinder, according to the line 3, 4. Figures 1 and 2, Drawing 1; Figure 1,
Drawing II., and Figure 1, Drawing III, represent the main cylinder O, con-
structed similarly to the main cylinders of the ordinary carding engines. But
it has already herein been stated that the clothing of its external surrounding
surface is quite different to the clothing of all other main drums of the usual
carding engines: Thus, instead of having all its external surface - entirely
enveloped with sheet cards, it is 'on the contrary covered in such manner that
each sheet card O' is separated by a plate brush O", and is provided with
teeth at intervals only, in order to facilitate the passage of the air between the
teeth, and consequently the disengagement of the cotton which may still be
adhering to them, by that means the necessity of unclogging this main cylinder
is obviated.
Figures 3 and 4, Drawing III., shew the construction of a portion of these
sheet cards. They are covered over their breadth with five or six sets of
curbed teeth, set closely together, but the series are placed at a distance from
each other, proportionated to the work to be done or to the nature of the cotton
which is to be worked: "It is evidently understood' that the number of series
of plates, and the space between them, may be varied at will; it is likewise
understood that the mode itself of disposing the teeth may also be changed.
Instead of setting the wires or teeth in parallel lines to the generators of the
main cylinder, as it is shewn by the Figure I., Drawing II., and Figures 3
and 10, Drawing III., they can follow other directions, such as a diagonal, for
instance, as it is represented in Figure 5 of the same last Drawing. It is also
possible to replace sheet cards by two other 'blades as represented by the
Figure 12 of the same Drawing. s
.1
The chief idea consists not only in the separation of the series of teeth, and
sheets O containing them, but also in the application of a similar number of
narrow brushes O", as shewn in Figures 6 and 11, Drawing III, with teeth
made of metallic wire, horsehair, felt, cloth, leather, and of any other substance
capableof producing the same effect, that is to say, of causing during the rotative
motion of the main drum the brushing of the fibres of cotton which are brought
on the circumference of the main cylinder by the feeding rollers c, c. These
brushes are of the saine length as the sheet cards, and consequently extend
the same length of the main cylinder. To operate with more certainty, these
brushes are made of such a thickness that their acting parts, made of metallic
wire, horsehair, or any other suitable substance, jut out only about three fifths

page_text: of an inch, and extending one fifth of an inch beyond the ends of the teeth of
the sheet cards, in order that they alone may brush and clean the cotton fibres,
and transfer them to the small stripping cylinders or doffers Q and Q¹, Figures 1,
Drawings I., II., and IV., so that really the sheet cards serve only to keep the
fibres parallel to themselves until taken off by the before-mentioned doffer Q
and Q. The sheet cards vary in length and width according to the
dimensions of the main drum O; if, for instance, its diameter be about three
feet one inch, it is divided then into twelve parts, containing twenty-four sheet
cards, and as many plate brushes. I do not, however, confine myself to the
above-stated dimensions, nor to the exact mode herein-before described of
constructing the sheet cards and brushes, as they can be modified according
to circumstances.
The main cylinder O is constructed of cast-iron segments, firmly secured
upon two cast-iron crossbars. These crossbars are jointed together by means
of the iron pieces a¹, Figure 1, Drawing IV.; each of the segments is provided
with the part b', twice folded at right angles, so as to form a groove for the
reception of the wooden bands or stocks for holding the brushes. These bands
are fixed by means of setting screws, serving to raise or lower them according
to the height which the jutting-out parts of the brushes are to have, and conse-
quently to determine the roundness of the main drum. Around the latter are
properly set five or six pairs, or even a larger number, of fluted rollers c, c,
called feeding rollers, of the same length-as that said drum, and being from
one inch and a quarter to one inch and a half in diameter. These rollers are
intended to bring up each of them a certain quantity of cotton fibres; by
compressing them rather strongly between them, as if they were doing the duty
of pincers. The axes of these rollers are placed in cast-iron supporters c¹, c¹,
which, by means of setting screws, are made to approach more or less the main
drum, taking care, however, that the distance of one of these' small rollers,
relatively to the main drum O, be a little larger than the distance of the other,
in order that the fibres of the cotton should be supported on the side where
they are met and struck by the, brushes which clean them; that condition is
rigorously necessary to obtain from the apparatus a good result, and is of the
utmost importance. The flutings or channellings of the rollers c, c, are very
fine, close, and project very little, but I can vary them, and employ other
kinds of rollers obtaining the same end, such as those having the form
represented in Figure 7, Drawing III: One of these feeding rollers c, c (the
upper one), presses on the first roller, not only on account of its own weight,
but also by the action of spiral springs inserted in the supporters c¹, c¹³,
or by any other means equally applicable. I will, hereafter, describe the

page_text: nature of the movement which I have combined in order to transmit to those
rollers c, c, as well as to the other moving organs of the machine, the necessary
speed of rotation. I must first of all begin by describing the most essential
working parts of the apparatus, those which relate most directly to the Inven-
tion communicated to me. On the right and left sides, or over the feeding
rollers c, c, are set as many sheet-iron rollers A, A, Figures 1, Drawings I., II.,
and IV., which I call the alimentary rollers. Their dimensions may vary, but
in the machine represented by the Drawings they are supposed. to be about six
inches and three quarters in diameter. They are provided with an iron axis,
having at one of its extremities a straight cog wheel, which serves to give them
the suitable rotative motion. Above them are placed the cotton rollers L,. L,
set on their external circumference, and which are placed in the same vertical
direction, so that during the very slow rotary motion of these alimentary rollers
A, A, the fibres of cotton placed on the rollers are naturally unwound of a
quantity proportionated to the speed of the circumference of the said rollers
A, A, and are conducted by the cast-iron tables, or inclined plates N, N, down
to the feeding rollers c, c.. Some iron vertical check plates or casings K, K,
Figure 1, Drawings I. and II., adapted on each side of the machine with a
vertical slip, serve as shoulders to the rollers L, L (which are merely wooden
rollers provided at each end with an iron axis), in order to prevent the layers
of cotton which surround these rollers L, L, from sliding off at the two ex-
tremities. These casings k, k, are provided at their lower ends with slides,
and are bolted on iron supporters V¹, V", which are likewise made as slides,
and are also fixed by means of bolts to the circular parts of the cast-iron frame
of the machine. The inclined plates N, N, which conduct the fibres of cotton
to the feeding rollers c, c, have a polished surface, so that the cotton may always
slide off with great facility. Some wooden rails of a small elevation are set on
their lateral edges, in order that the fibres may not escape from the sides of
the above-mentioned plates N, N, and should be obliged as much as possible to
move in a direct line. These inclined plates are fixed through slides with which
they are provided to the cast iron supporters by means of screws, which serve
to regulate their position or inclination relative to the cylinders c, c, with all
the desirable exactitude. It has been. herein-before stated, that underneath
the main cylinder O is properly set an open railing P, Figure I., Drawing II.,
the bars of which have a particular form, as represented in a vertical section by
the same Figure. That railing is placed only at a distance of about one third
of an inch from the lowest extremities of the brushes O", O". It serves to
give egress to the filth and dust which are disengaged from the cotton during
the working of the main cylinder O. The bars are made of metal, having the

page_text: shape of a triangular section, and leave between them rather a small space,
from one third to one half of an inch and more when necessary. In the
greatest part of them the largest side of the triangle is directed towards the
centre; but some of these bars, principally those which are near the right side
and at the upper part, have that front more erect, and more vertical than the
radii of the circle; however, it is to easy to understand that for that part of the
apparatus, as well as for the others already herein described, the dispositions
may be varied. These bars are supported at their extremities by two semi-
circular cast-iron sheets, or by any other convenient means. Some wooden
boards or bands having a semi-circular shape, are placed between each of the
sets of rollers c, c, and serve to cover the main cylinder in the empty spaces
existing between them, so that the dirt as well as the filth which are disen-
gaged during the working of the machine may not be ejected from it. These
boards may be provided at their edges with leather or skin, which will fall down
freely upon the feeding rollers c, c, and brush lightly their surface. The lateral
sides of the machine, and the bases of the drum, are shut with light wooden
casings. These casings are provided at the same time with some doors, so as
to permit the cleansing of the interior, as it is done in other preparatory ma-
chines usually employed. When necessary, a ventilator communicating with
the openings or doors of these casings may be likewise employed to expel the
dirt and filth by means of exhaustion and aspiration. The herein-before
described mode of constructing the lower grate is represented in the two
Figures 1 of Drawing II. and III. But it may also be constructed as is shewn
by Figure 1 of Drawing IV., and Figure 4 of Drawing V. Immediately
between each set of feeding rollers c, c, Figure 1, Drawing IV, are set three
iron bands of a triangular shape, P, P, shewn in a large scale in Figure 4,
Drawing V. These bands P, P, serve to give egress to the heterogenous bodies
which the main drum O ejects from the substance worked upon. Between
each series of these bands P, P, the wooden or iron covering c¹, c³, are properly
adjusted; they have their upper parts folded in the form of a trough, which
serves to receive the bodies. issuing from the rail or bands P, P, and their
lower extremities reach nearly over the following or next set of feeding rollers
c, c, leaving, however, empty spaces d', d, of about one third of an inch
between them and the rollers c, c. These apertures serve as a passage to the
fibres of cotton separated from the first set of feeding rollers c, c, and which
should not have been kept back by the main cylinder O. The fibres being
forced to pass through the empty spaces d', d', above the feeding rollers c, c,
will be naturally laid upon and amalgamated with the following layer of
cotton, and will receive with it a new preparation, being made to progress

page_text: (if not kept back by the main drum) during the successive similar
operations up to the last set of feeding rollers c, c. Such a contrivance
lessens the waste, because it causes the fibres of the substances which
evolve in a state of down, to follow a traced passage which forces them
to get into the apparatus, and consequently to be worked and cleansed
again. Close to the last set of feeding rollers c, c, are a properly dis-
posed three or a larger number of bands H, H, immediately. followed by a
wooden or iron leader H', serving to conduct the fibres which leave the main
drum O upon the wooden drums B¹, B'. These rollers are provided with
strong channellings, in order that all the cotton presented by the leaders H', H;
be again delivered to the main drum O, in the state of very thin fleece, by
which it is repeatedly cleaned.. That operation is repeated as many times as
the room between the last set of feeding cylinders'c, c, and the small. doffer Q¹
permits to place those additional apparatus. One or two small doffers or
drums Q, Q, shewn by Figures 1, Drawings I., II., IV, are set parallelly to
the main drum O. They serve to strip off from that main drum all the cleansed
and straightened cotton, which its external surface presents. For this purpose
these doffers Q, Q',.are provided with fillet cards, the teeth of which are more
or less wide apart, according to the work that the machine has to produce, as
represented in Figures. 2. and 10,, Drawing III. The cotton is taken off those
small drums by means of a comb or pair of cylinders, as in the ordinary
carding engines. The diameter of the small doffer Q is about from one foot
to one foot nine inches, and it. receives a rotary motion varying at discretion
from four to ten rotations per minute. Its position in respect to: that of the
large drum O may be regulated with the greatest precision by means of
bearings, provided with setting screws, which support its axis, and which can
be made to slide on the sides of the frame of the machine.. As in the ordinary
carding engines, the metallic plate toothed at the edge,,, or comb.9, Figure 1,
Drawing. II., is placed before the doffer Q, and receives s an alternate perpen-
dicular movement of ascent and, descent, so as to remain very near the teeth of
this doffer or cylinder. Q, in order to strip off the cotton in an uniform fleece
from the latter as soon as this doffer, or cylinder is loaded with it. The cotton
stripped off the doffer Q, by the operation of the comb 9, egresses in a state of
fleece with all the fibres perfectly straight and parallel, and falls directly in the
conduct which leads it to the doubling apparatus, when it is desired to use it
for spinning, without submitting it to the carding engine, which operation can
easily be dispensed with in a great number of cases. When, on the contrary,
after the cotton has been prepared by that part of the apparatus herein-before
described, it is required to submit it to the carding operation, the fleece, is

page_text: conducted from the doffer plate 9 to the two rollers t, t, Figure 1, Drawing I.,
and Figure 1, Drawing II., which are disposed like a pair of drawing rollers,
and which conduct the fleece or sliver towards the small metallic rollers U, U.
These cause the cotton to be wound upon a wooden drum V, placed immediately
over the two metallic rollers U, U. Some cast-iron checks or casings Y, Y,
Figure 1, Drawing II., split vertically in the middle, and similar to those of the
herein-before described rollers L, L, of the same Figure, are adapted on the
frame of the machine. And in order to maintain the cotton roller V, and to force
it to be constantly in contact with the two cylinders, U, U, some hooks, rods, and
weights are suspended towards the extremities of its axis. This roller V can
be easily removed by means of a band lever, and be replaced by another empty
one. In the machine represented in Drawing IV.. the fleece taken off the small
drums Q, Q, is drawn in by the two pressing rollers, and delivered to the
ordinary doubling machine. It is so very easy to understand the modus operandi
of such an engine, that it will suffice to describe it in a few words. The cotton
taken from the bales having passed through the preliminary machine which
prepares it into the rolls, I place on the apparatus as many rollers of cotton
L, L, as there are pairs of feeding. rollers c, c, and consequently of alimentary
rollers A, A. The breaker laps, which are developed from the cotton rollers
L, L, by the contact of the moveable and alimentary rollers A, A, are at the
same time taken off by each pair of feeding rollers c, c, which make little more
than two or four revolutions per minute, and are immediately and successively
submitted by small quantities to the action of the main cylinder O, which works
with considerable speed, not less than from four hundred to five hundred, and
even more revolutions per minute. The plates, brushes, and sheet cards, which
cover the external surface of that large cylinder O, take up and cleanse with a
very great regularity all the fibres of cotton which, as it has herein-before said,
are kept between each set of the feeding cylinders c, c, as if they were detained
in a kind of pincers. Though these feeding rollers c, c, have a very slow
motion; as they make little more than from two or four rotations per minute,
they can, nevertheless, on account of, their number, produce as great a quantity
of work as the machines generally employed for similar purposes, at the same
time that their speed is considerably less. It is evident that if six or seven
pairs of these feeding rollers c, c, are placed around the main cylinder O instead
of a single pair, they can be made to: turn, with a speed six times less, and
present, nevertheless, to the main drum. O the same quantity of cotton within
the same specified period. The very slow. speed of these feeding rollers is to
be so regulated that all the fibres of cotton should be brushed. in very small
quantities at the same time, in order that every part of them may be well

page_text: acted upon by the brushes and cards, and that all the heterogenous matters
contained in the cotton may be separated and thrown off, and pass through
the metallic grating which surrounds the main drum O. The plate brushes
and sheet cards really take up but the good cotton, which they present to the
small stripping drums or doffers Q, Q', at the same time as they straighten all
the fibres, which are then perfectly parallel in their entire length. That
operation is represented in Figures 1, Drawings II. and IV. The doffer plates
9,9 (one of which is shewn in Figure 1, Drawings I. and II.), strip off the
cotton from the drums or doffers Q. Q¹, in a state of unbroken sheets
or fleeces, and transfer them to the apparatus, which forms them into rolls
then, replacing exactly those which proceed from the use of the usual pre-
liminary machines to which they are evidently preferable, the cotton
being much better prepared. The sheets or fleeces of cotton thus made
with that new machine facilitate considerably the carding, because all the
fibres are well cleansed, completely unravelled, and rendered parallel without
having been fatigued, knotted, or unnerved during the working of the
apparatus. It is easy to be convinced of the reality of such a result by com-
paring these fleeces with those which leave the ordinary preparatory machines.
As to the movements of the herein-before mentioned different organs of the
machine, it is easily understood that they may be combined in various ways,
but their simplicity is such that it would not be necessary to describe them
were it not to complete the full description herein-before given; and to make
understood the two modes of transmission which have been preferably adopted,
as it has been herein-before stated, it is the shaft itself of the main drum O,
Figure 1 and 2, Drawings II. and IV., which is the propeller of all the appa-
ratus; it is simply under the command of a pulley p, set on one of its extre-
mities; a fly pulley p' is placed close to the pulley p in order to interrupt its
motion at discretion. Such is the speed of this main drum O that it amounts
from four hundred to five hundred rotations, and even more, per minute.
the other extremity of its axis, Figure 2, Drawing II., there is placed a
straight pinion D, having twenty teeth, which catches at the same time with
the intermediate straight wheels E and R. The first of these two wheels is
provided with one hundred and eighty cogs; it is set freely on a pin, and
adjusted in a shoulder, and carries on its prolonged axis the pinion F, having
eighteen teeth, which is in communication with another intermediate wheel G,
provided with one hundred and twenty teeth, and disposed in the same way as
the precedent wheel E so as to carry a larger pinion H, having thirty-two
cogs; this pinion H, catching with the wheel I, provided with one hundred
teeth, communicates its motion to the first feeding cylinder c, set on the right
On

page_text: side of the apparatus, at the extremity of which that wheel 1 is fixed. That
combination of catchings is made to slacken considerably rotative speed of the
feeding rollers c, c, relatively to that of the large drum O; in fact it has been
already shewn that whilst the main drum O makes five hundred rotations per
minute, the feeding rollers c, c, do not make more than four or five rotations
during the same period. This herein-before described mode of transmitting
the movement to the apparatus can be modified, and this modification is
represented in Figure 1, Drawing IV. Close to the side of the herein-before
mentioned pullies p, p', there is a smaller one of about eight and a half inches in
diameter, which puts in motion, by means of a strap, the large pulley B, which
is about seventeen inches in diameter. That wheel B is fixed on an inter-
mediate shaft, giving the motion to all that part of the engine serving to
prepare the slivers. A fly wheel is placed close to the pulley B for the
purpose of stopping all the system of slivers. That axis of the wheel B
carries on the opposite side a pinion having twenty-five teeth, which gives
the motion to a wheel provided with one hundred and ninety-five teeth,
fixed on the pressing roller of the sliver-making apparatus. Another pinion
having twenty-five teeth, and likewise fixed on that roller, but at the other
extremity, communicates the motion by means of an intermediate wheel to the
small upper doffer Q, on which there is fixed a wheel having one hundred and
twenty-five teeth; and this wheel, in succession, communicates the motion to
the small doffer Q, fixed at the lower part of the apparatus, by means of
another intermediate pinion. The wheel of the doffer O at the lower part
of the apparatus is provided with one hundred and twenty-five teeth, and
gives the motion to a pinion provided with sixty teeth, fixed on an inter-
mediate shaft B', which carries the exchange pinion of all the feeding rollers;
one roller of each pair of these feeding rollers c, c, is furnished with a wheel
having eighty teeth, and the movement is communicated from one to the
other by means of an intermediate wheel. But for either of the two modes
herein-before described for giving the movement to the principal organs of the
apparatus, the system for the putting in motion the feeding rollers c, c, is
of the utmost simplicity, and is represented by Figures 1 and 2, Drawing I.
The wheel I catches with the intermediate pinion J, provided with forty teeth,
which is in communication with a similar wheel I¹ set on at the extremity of
the axle of the lower feeding roller of the second series of the said cylinders c, c.
That second wheel I' cogs with a second pinion J¹ in the same manner as the
first, and this last pinion J¹ catches with the third wheel I², and so on up to
the last pair of rollers c, c. Each of the pinions, as well as of the intermediate
wheels which have been herein-before described, have their axes on iron pins

page_text: each of
set in slide supporters, which may be regulated according to necessity so as to
give to all of them the exact position they are to occupy. The axis of each pair
of rollers are provided at one end with a small right pinion b; provided with ten
teeth, in order to be worked one by the other. These pinions have the same dia-
meter in order that their speed should be the same. At the extremity of one
of them is also placed a straight pinion d, serving to communicate the move-
ment of the alimentary rollers A, A, by means of the wheels and g, having
them one hundred and twenty teeth.." This movement is such that the
speed on the circumference of these alimentary rollers A, A, 'is equal to that of
the feeding rollers c, c. In order to transmit the movement to the small drum
or doffer Q set at the left side of the machine, Figures 1 and 2, Drawing 'I.
it has been lierein-before 'shewn that the first motive pinion D'catches also with
the intermediate wheel R, 'provided with one hundred and seventy-six teeth;
and having on its axis the small pinion 'r, provided with only twenty cogs. This
pinion catches with another intermediate wheel R', having one hundred and
twenty teeth, and communicating directly with another wheel S, which is pro-
vided, similarly to the first wheel R, with one hundred and seventy-six cogs.
That wheel S is in communication with the axis of the doffer. or drum Q
which by that means receives only a motion equal to six and a half turns per
minute. The alternate movement of the doffer knife q is transmitted to it, as
in the ordinary carding engines, by means of a pulley S, set on the axis of the
main drum O, and communicating by the agency of a strap with another
smaller pulley S. On that pulley S¹ is set excentrically a pin, 'adjusted to the
rod x, in order to cause the lever x¹, and consequently those which support
the 'doffer knife q, to describe very short but quickly repeated arcs of a circle:
The pressing rollers t, t, which form a part of the sliver apparatus placed on
the prolongation of the machine, are also put in motion by means of straight
catchings, which are seen in Figures 1 and 2, Drawing I. These catchings
consist in the first herein-before described for giving motion, and represented
by Figure 2, Drawing I., of an intermediate wheel S', having one hundred
and twenty cogs, and receiving its motion from the straight wheel S, having
one hundred and twenty cogs, and receiving its motion from the straight
wheel S. The wheel S¹ catches with the pinion t, having fifty teeth, and
which is set on the axle of the lower pressing roller. The pressing rollers t, t,
communicate their motion to the drums U, U by means of a pinion y, pro-
vided with thirty teeth, and the intermediate pinion y' communicates it to the
smaller wheels u, u, having fifty-six teeth set on the corresponding extremity
of 'the 'axes' of those pressing rollers t; t; so as to cause these last to receive
a convenient speed proportioned to that of the doffer or drum Q.
i,

page_text: "In the second apparatus, represented by Figure 1, Drawing IV.,
the pressing
rollers t, t, communicate the motion to the roller or drums U, U, by the same
means as those herein-before stated when speaking of the first apparatus, as
represented by Figures 1 and 2, Drawing I., with the exception of the inter-
mediate pinion y being suppressed, and of the pinion y¹ being provided with
forty teeth; and also of the small wheels u, u, having eighty-four teeth instead
of fifty-six, as stated in this first apparatus. But that combination of move-
ments may be modified at will according to circumstances, as indeed may be
all the general construction of the machine. It is therefore evident and easy
to, comprehend, from the two last herein-before described operations for trans-
mitting motion, that it will be sufficient to alter the speed of the catchings
and the shape of the teeth of the clothing of the main drum according to the
length of the fibres, to render the machines herein-before; described available
for the preparation of, wool, silk, and other similar fibrous substances.
And having now described the nature of the Invention communicated to me,
and the manner of performing and carrying the same into effect, I wish it to
be understood that I do not claim as the Invention. aforesaid all the different
parts of the machinery or apparatus herein mentioned taken separately and
singly, nor the movements which put them in motion, nor do
confine myself
to: the precise details, proportions; or combinations of the several parts or
organs of the apparatus as laid down in the description herein-before given for
carrying the Invention into execution, provided the general features be similar
to those herein-before given. But what I claim as the Invention communicated
to me, and intended to be protected by Letters Patent, is,―
Firstly, the mode of clothing the main drum or cylinder alternately with a
series of sheet cards and plate brushes, and its application to preparing cotton
and other fibrous substances, as herein-before described in reference to
Drawings I., II., III., IV., V.
Secondly, the combination of a certain number of feeding and alimentary
rollers around the main drum or cylinder, and their application to preparing
cotton and other fibrous substances, as herein-before described in reference to
Drawing I., II., IV., V.
Thirdly, the mode of producing a space or vacuum close to each pair of
feeding rollers, and its application in facilitating the perfect preparation of
cotton and other fibrous substances, as herein-before described in reference to
Drawings IV.
Fourthly, the construction of a grating, either separately or conjointly with
a covering, and its separate or combined application, to facilitate the perfect

page_text: preparation of cotton and other fibrous substances, as herein-before described
in reference to Drawings II., III., IV., V.
And such the said Invention communicated to me being, to the best of my
knowledge and belief, new, and never before used within that par of Her
Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, I do
hereby declare this to be the Specification of the same, and that I do verily
believe the said Specification doth comply in all respects with the proviso in
the said herein-before in part recited Letters Patent; wherefore I do hereby
claim to maintain exclusive right, sole privilege to the said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said Pierre Armand le Comte de Fontaine
Moreau, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of
January, in the year of our Lord One thousand One thousand eight
hundred and forty-eight.
P. DE FON (L.S.) TAINE MOREAU.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Seventeenth day of January,
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid Pierre Armand le Comte de Fontaine
Moreau came before our Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged
the Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute in that case made and provided.