IMPROVEMENTS. IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CLEANING COTTON FROM SEEDS, AND FOR CARDING SUCH MATERIAL
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Higgins, of Salford, in the County of Lan-
caster, Machine Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS. IN MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS FOR CLEANING COTTON FROM SEEDS, AND FOR CARDING SUCH
MATERIAL."
Sealed the 7th October 1864, and dated the 14th April 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Higgins at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th April 1864.
I, HENRY HIGGINS, of Salford, in the County of Lancaster, Machine Maker,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CLEANING COTTON FROM SEEDS, AND FOR CARDING
SUCH MATERIAL," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates, firstly, to that machine for cleaning cotton from seeds
known as the MacCarthay gin, and consists, firstly, in a method of giving
motion to the reciprocating blade thereof. For this purpose I employ a pair of
toggle-jointed". levers, the one turning upon a fixed centre, and the other
connected to the blade, which is thus caused to reciprocate and operate in the
usual manner. The blade I mount upon a centre by which the vibratory.
motion is imparted. The grid through which the detached seeds pass I connect
to the moveable blade, and it consequently partakes of the vibratory motion

page_text: thereof. I dispose the fixed blade and the grid, or other part which carries
the reciprocating blade, at an angle to each other, so that they form a trough,
into which the material is fed vertically; or I form a trough after the same
manner, but independant of the blades. The reciprocating blade I propose to
drive through the medium of. a clutch box kept in gear by a spring, so that
upon any undue obstruction taking place the said clutch box passes out of
gear, and being connected to the driving strap shifts it on to the loose
pulley.
Secondly, my Invention relates to the carding engine, and consists in the
application to the rollers thereof of a fixed plate provided with an annular
flange, which extends inward to the card clothing, the object of which
arrangement is to prevent the material from passing off the said rollers.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Higgins in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
14th October 1864. ..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
HIGGINS, of Salford, in the County of Lancaster, Machine Maker, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of April, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-four, and in the twenty-seventh year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Henry Higgins, Her special license that I, the said Henry Higgins,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Henry Higgins, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CLEANING COTTON FROM SEEDS, AND FOR CARDING
SUCH MATERIAL," upon the condition, amongst others, that I, the said Henry
Higgins, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly 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...

page_text: ... NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Higgins, 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) -
My Invention relates, firstly, to that machine for cleaning cotton from seeds
known as the Macarthy gin, and is shown at Figs. 1 and 2 of the accom-
panying Drawings.
.
The driving shaft is shown at a, upon one end of which is a disc b provided
with a crank pin'c actuating a connecting rod d: This rod is jointed at e to
two levers f, g, the former of which' turns 'at its lower end upon a fixed centre
at h, and the latter at its upper end is connected to a short lever i capable of
vibrating loosely upon a shaft k. The lever i is formed úpon a boss / provided
with one half m of a clutch box, the other half n of which is mounted upon
the shaft k with a groove and feather, so as to turn that shaft' when caused to
vibrate. The usual vibrating blade is shown at o, carried by arms, which are
formed upon the shaft k, and these arms also support the grid p, through
which the detached seeds fall. It therefore follows that the blade o and grid p
vibrate together during the operation of the machine. The fixed blade is
at q, carried as usual by a stationary part of the framing, but which is not
shown in the Drawing, and the roller is at r, driven by gearing from the
shaft a.
In contact with the half n of the clutch box is one end of a lever's,
turning upon a fixed centre at t, and continually pressed towards the said
clutch by a spring u.
This lever s.is furnished with an arm v turned upward,
and extending into a slot formed in the rod w, which at its other end is
provided with a. fork embracing the driving strap. On motion being com-
municated to, the driving strap a, the crank pin c will force the connecting
rod d to and fro, and will thus, by acting on the toggle joint levers f, g, cause
the lever i to vibrate; and this lever being connected to the shaft k, through
the medium of the clutch box m, n, will impart the required motion to the
reciprocating blade o. Should, however, any undue obstruction to the action
of the machine take place, then the half m of the clutch will force back the '
other half n against the resistance of the spring u, and in so doing will cause
the lever s to turn upon its centre, and carry forward the rod w, which by
means of the fork thereon will shift the driving shaft on to the loose pulley.
By the employment of the toggle joints f and 9, and connecting rod d, the
joint e is caused by the crank c to pass to and fro on each side of the centre
line, and there will therefore be two vibrations of the lever i and blade o for
each revolution of the shaft a. It will be observed that the relative positions
of the fixed and reciprocating blades, and the movable grid from a trough or

page_text: hopper, and the material being thrown into this falls, by reason of the dis-
position of parts shown, into a favorable situation for being immediately
.operated upon.
The second part of my Invention is shown at Figs. 3, 4, and 5; in which a
is a roller of a carding engine, the clothing of which, as usual, does not
extend to the ends of the said roller. At c.is a disc provided with a boss,
through which the axis of the roller passes, and this boss is made fast to the
filbow, or such other part of the framework so as to render the disc c sta-
tionary. At d is an annular flange, extending from the disc c, surrounding
the roller a, and extending inward to the termination of the card clothing.
As the roller a revolves the flange d remains stationary, and forms a shield for
preventing the material under operation from passing off endways.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be understood
that I claim as secured to me under the 'above in part recited Letters
-Patent,
Firstly, as applied to Macarthy gins the employment of the toggle joints f, g,
for causing the reciprocating motion of the blade; also driving the said blade
through the medium of two parts, held together by a spring or other such
yielding power capable when separated of arresting the motion of the machine;
also the relative dispositions shown of the fixed and reciprocating blades and
vibrating grid.
Secondly, as applied to the rollers of carding engines, I claim the use of
annular flanges for the purpose above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Higgins, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
HENRY HIGGINS. (L.s.)