AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND MACHINERY FOR HECKLING, COMBING, DRAWING. AND PREPARING FIBROUS SUBSTANCES FOR SPINNING
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William King Westly, of Leeds, in the County of
York, Flax Machiuist, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND
MACHINERY FOR HECKLING, COMBING, DRAWING. AND PREPARING FIBROUS
SUBSTANCES FOR SPINNING"
Sealed the 6th March 1857, and dated the 3rd November 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William King Westly at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
3rd November 1856.
I, WILLIAM KING WESTLY, of Leeds, in the County of York, Flax
Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVED METHOD OF AND MACHINERY FOR HECKLING. COMBING, DRAWING, AND
PREPARING FIBROUS SUBSTANCES FOR SPINNING," to be as follows:-
This improved method of heckling, combing, brushing, drawing, and pre-
paring fibrous substances is applicable to substances in a tangled state, such
as tow, woul, silk, and also to such as are naturally in a straight condition,
such as flax.
Fibrous matters in a tangled state require the use of two machines, the
first machine to straighten the fibres and make them into a sliver (unless they
are made into a sliver by carding or any other well-known means), and the
second machine to heckle or comb them,

page_text: Substances already straight require of course only the second machine.
The first machine I call a gill card. It consists of two cylinders grooved
lengthways all round, and each cylinder revolves within a spiral scroll, which
is a fixture. The combs revolve with the cylinders, and at the same time slide
along the dovetailed grooves, impelled by the pressure oftheir ends against the
fixed spiral scrolls. The two cylinders are connected together at each end
by two chains, furnished with grooves, to correspond with the grooves of the
cylinders, therefore when a comb has reached the end of one cylinder,it passes
into the chain which conveys it to the other cylinder, where it revolves for
some time, carding and collecting the material from any sort of feeder till it is
pressed by the scroll into the other chain, which 'takes it back to the first
cylinder. While the combs loaded with comb material are in the chains, the
fibrous matter is drawn off by rollers in the usual way of drawing. The
machine combines the actions of the card-and-gill.
The sliver, either produced by the gill card, or by any other means, or in a.
naturally straight state like flax, is then taken to the second machine, which is
properly the heckling or combing machine.
This machine consists of four principal parts:-1st, the stricking movement;
2nd, the holder; 3rd, the combs; 4th, the slivering or drawing movement.
The stricking movement consists of two pairs of rollers, one pair of which
stops at intervals, while the other is continuously revolving. These rollers
separate the aforesaid sliver into stricks or small portions, and deposit them
on a belt or creeping sheet to be conveyed into the holder. Flax and matters
already in stricks will not require this portion of the machine.
The holder is formed of two revolving chains pressed together by friction
rollers. There are two holders, the first holder receives the strick from the
stricking movement when that is used, or from the hand or otherwise when,
it is not used; and after working one-balf or end of the strick upon the combs
it delivers the strick to the other holder, which works the other half or end of
the strick upon similar or dissimilar combs or brushes.
The combs upon which the fibrous substances are worked may be of any
sort best suited to the material; I use, however, as occasion requires, two kinds,
which I distinguish by the names of the "gridiron comb," and the "bell
crank comb." In the gridiron comb, two sets of bars, each like a gridiron, with
combs upon them, are worked by a combination of crank and cam alternately
and down and backwards and forwards. In the bell crank comb, two
endless chains carry the combs upon their bars, which bars are furnished with
arms fixed at right angles to the combs, like a bell crank or the letter L. The
ends of these arms are attached to two other chains outside and excentric to
up

page_text: the former,and the four chains move simultaneously and in the samedirection;
this arrangement preserves the pins of the combs ina vertical positionthrough-
out their circuit.
The slivering movement is to unite the separate stricks into a sliver, when
required; it is effected in three different ways:-The belt that brings them out
of the holder drops them upon a creeping sheet, which conveys them into a
comb,from which they are drawn by rollers into a sliver; or, secondly, the belt
may be in two parts, one of which moving faster than the other turns the
ends of the stricks into the holding rollers of a comb from which it is drawn ;
or, lastly, the belt or belts themselves may be combs from which the material
may be drawn. In drawing the sliver, I use either of the above said combs
or any other,
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William King Westly in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
2nd May 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
KING WESTLY, of Leeds, in the County of York, Flax Machinist, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of November, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,did
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William King Westly, Her special license that I, the said William King
Westly, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William King Westly, 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
METHOD OF AND MACHINERY FOR HECKLING, COMBING, DRAWING, AND PREPARING
FIBROUS SUBSTANCES FOR SPINNING," upon the condition (amongst others) that!,
hand
the said William King Westly, by an instrument in writing under my
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 immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent,

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William King Westly, 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):-
My Invention of "An Improved Method of and Machinery for Heckling,
Combing, Drawing, and Preparing Fibrous Substances for Spinning," is appli-
cable as well to fibrous substances in a tangled condition, such as tow, waste
silk, or wool, as to such as may naturally be found in a straight condition, as
flax and other analogous fibres.
Tangled fibrous substances will require the use of two machines, the first of
which must be employed to open out and straighten the fibres and bringthem
parallel to each other, and the second-machine.is. iutended to heckle or comb
them. Fibres already straight, like-flax, will only require to be operated upon
in the second machine.
Fibrous matters (that require it) may be brought into a fit state for heckling
or combing by carding and drawing,or other means; but I use the following
machine, which I call the gill card, since it combines the actions of the card
and the gill.
Fig. 1 is an end elevation of the gill card; Fig. 2 is a bird's-eye or plan-
view; and Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the same. A, A, is the main framing;
B, B, arc bars stretching across the frame and supporting the spiral scroll D
hereafter referred to; C, C, are two cylinders, which carry the heckles or
combs, and byrevolving with them card the fibrous matter, which is suppliedto
themfromanyappropriatefeeder. Inpractice, both cylinders are entirely covered
with combs, and also one-half of each chain; but in the Drawing only a few
are shewn,in order to display more clearly the construction of the cylinders
and chains. The cylinders are composed of ribs of cast iron planed to the
figure of a T, and let into circular plates cut to receive them, with a small
interval between each rib. These intervals form dovetailed grooves all round
the cylinders, and extending their whole length parallel to their axes. Each
heckle has two mushroom-headed screws fixed to its sole,and the screw heads
fit into the dovetailed grooves of the cylinders,thereby connecting the heckle
to the cylinder effectually as regards its rotatory motion, yet leaving the comb
at full liberty to slide along the groove from one end of the cylinder to
the other.
D, D, are two spiral scrolls fixed to the bars B, B; each scroll surrounds a
cylinder without touching it, and the scroll is placed on a level with the stocks
of the combs, allowing the points to project beyond. By the rotation of the

page_text: cylinder the heckle stocks are pressed forward against thevolutes ofthescrolls,
and they are thus forced from one end of the cylinder to the other along the
grooves, from right to left, or the contrary. In this machine one scroll is right-
handed and the other left-handed, and the combs are made to move accordingly.
The pitch of the scroll or obliquity of one convolution is equal to the length of
the heckle stock along the cylinder, but it is double that obliquity at each end,
where it has to move the heckle from the cylinder to the chain, and the
contrary, since this removal must be effected in one-half of a revolution.
E, E, are two endless chains, one being placed at each end of each cylinder,
and revolvingalong with them. The links of these chains have grooves formed
in them, to correspond exactly to the grooves of the cylinders, and for half a
circumference of the cylinders, and where the chains lap round them they
form in fact a prolongation of the cylinders; but in passing from one cylinder
to another the links constitute a sheet gill, and at that point the rollers F, F,
draw off into a sliver the material with which the heckles are loaded.
At one end of each cylinder, and while it is making one-half of a revolution,
the combs are moved by the scroll from the cylinder to the chain, and are
passed by the chain to the other cylinder, on to which, while the cylinder is
making half of a revolution, they are removed by the scroll from the chain. The
combs will then revolve with the cylinder as many times as there may be
volutes of scroll, and when they reach the end of that cylinder they will, while
it is making one-half of a rovolution, be transferred to the other chain, and
returned thereby to the cylinder they set out from, thus travelling in a con-
tinued circuit. At each revolution of the cylinder the heckles in their turn,
by coming in contiguity with the feeder, comb out and collect an additional
portion of fibrous substance, till, when loaded, they become a chain gill, and
then it is drawn from them and slivered, while they proceed to recommence
their course.
G, G, is a trundle to press the fibrous substance into the pius of the
cylinder; H, H. are two creeping sheets, one for each cylinder, to supply
material to the feeders, which may be either simple rollers or rollers covered
with card filleting, or any kind of gill. The first motion is given to one of the
cylinders, and from thence cominunicated to the drawing rollers F, F, and to
the feeding mechanism, by trains of simple spur gearing, not shewn in the
Drawing, in order to avoid confusion, the arrangement being too well known
to need description. The fibrous substance, either in a sliver produced by the
gill card, or by any other means, or in natural stricks like flax, is taken to the
second machine, which may be described as consisting of five principal parts
(viz): First,the stricking movement, which is intended to separate the sliver

page_text: into stricks, and consequently is not required when the material is already in
that state, as is the case with flax; second, the transferring movement; third,
the holders, which retain the stricks by one end whilethe other is being heckled
or combed; fourth, the combs in front of the holders, and which either heckle
or comb the material; and, fifth, the slivering or drawing movement, which
reunites the stricks into a sliver after they have been heckled or combed.
Fig. 4 is a plan or bird's-eye view of the stricking machine, and Fig. 5 is a
side elevation or front view thereof. A,A,is the main framing; B,B,the driving
pullies, mounted on the main shaft B*, which runs along the whole machine,
and by means of suitable gearing actuates the various parts; C, C, are a pair
of rollers, driven by a train of spur wheels from the main shaft B. These
rollers drive by wheels the rollers C¹, C¹, and G, G, G, at a surface velocity
equal to their own. They also drive the pair-of-rollers D, D, by means of a
double stud wheel E, E', (Fig. 4). One of these wheels E' has a portion of its
teeth cut away, so that while the rollers C, C, revolve continuously, the rollers
D, D, stand still at intervals. The rollers C, C, and D, D, are both weighted
and fluted, but the rollers C₁, C', and G, G, are merely carrying rollers. The
sliver enters between the rollers D, D, from the conductor F (Fig. 4), and
passes on to the bite of the rollers C, C. By the stopping the rollers D, D,
while the rollers C, C, continue to rotate, the flax will be drawn from the bite
of the rollers D, D, and separated into stricks, which are carried forwards by
the rollers C', C', to the rollers G, G, G; at the opposite end of the series H
is a cam on the double stud wheel, which raises a detent or catch I into the
teeth of the wheel on the roller D, so as to enable it to resist the pull of the
fibrous substance in the act of being parted by the rollers C, C, in front. If
desired, the rollers D, 1), may be replaced by a gill, which may be caused to
stop like the rollers D, D, after delivering a certain length of sliver, and in
this case, as one end of the strick is, by being drawn from the pius, cleared of
its neil only, the other end will need clearing without requiring a second
holder.
The transferring movement which forms the second feature of this machine
removes the stricks in succession from the rollers G, G, G, as the stricks
arrive at that end of the series. The stricks are removed to the endless
bands N, N, and the transferring movement is effected by means of the
rocking shafts a, a, on which the transferring blades b,b, b, are mounted. c,c,
is the swinging carriage that supports the shafts a, a. These parts are shewu
detached, and drawn to an enlarged scale in Figures 6 and 7. Fig. 6 is an
end view of the transferring blades b, b, and Fig. 7 is a side view of the
gearing that produces the peculiar motion. u, a, are two rocking shafts,

page_text: carrying the blades b,b,b; c is the swinging carriage, in which the shafts a,a,
are mounted, and f is the central shaft, on which the carriage of the trans-
ferring apparatus rotates; d is a pinion fixed to the shaft e, and is made to
continuously revolve in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 6, being driven by a
train of wheels from the side shaft T (Fig. 5); g, g, (Figures 7 and 8,) are
two discs, one fixed on the shaft e, and the other on the shaft of the
swinging carriage c. Fig. 8 is a front view of these discs detached, by which
it will be seen that at each half revolution they lock into each other. The
shaft f, and with it the swinging carriage c, becomes stationary during half a
revolution of the shaft c, which revolves continuously. At the end of that
half of a revolution the shaft f becomes unlocked, and free to revolve along
with the shaft e. h is a pinion, fixed on the shaft e, and having one-half of
its teeth cut away, but gearing into an entire pinion i of equal size, fixed on
the shaft of the swinging carriage c.
The teeth of the wheel / come into
gear with those of the pinion i, at the moment when the disc g on the shaft e
unlocks the disc g on the shaft. f. and therefore the swinging carriage c,
and along with it the blades b, b, make half a revolution, and then the
wheel or pinion leaves the pinion i, and by the discs g. 9, locking together
the swinging carriage becomes again a fixture, but not so the blades.
(Fig. 7) is a pinion mounted loosely upon the shaft e, but revolving con-
stantly along with it, being driven by a ratchet wheel k fixed to it, and into
the teeth of which takes the detent l, fixed to the pinion ; the pinion; is
therefore active when it has anything to drive, but it is passive to any
extraneous force applied to its teeth in the same direction, and offers no
impediment to the rotation of the swinging carriage c by the pinion h. m, n,
are two pinions similar to j, fixed respectively on the shafts a, a.
moment that the wheel leaves the pinion i,and the carriage c becomes fixed;
the pinion begins to drive the pinions m and n, and thus opens out the
blades b, b, for half a revolution, till they assume the position shewn by the
dotted lines in Fig. 6, and then the wheel coming into gear with the teeth
of the pinion i, causes the carriage c, and with it both sets of blades, to make
half a revolution, when they again open and go back for another strick.
A strick of fibrous substance being brought upon the carrying rollers G, G, G,
is thus gripped between the two sets of blades b, b, b, as they pass between the
rollers G, G, G, and by a half revolution of these blades the strick is trans-"
ferred to the band N, N. To prevent the self-opening of the blades white
out of gear, and revolving with the carriage c, they are made very light, of
metal, wood, or horr, and they move under friction caused by the shafts that
carry them, being provided with pullics which are embraced by a ring of
At the

page_text: vulcanized caoutchouc. This transferring movement may likewise be used
to turn over the stricks that have been heckled on one side, so as to heckle
the other side, instead of using combs on both sides at once. Where it is
unnecessary to turn over the stricks at the same time, they may be simply
transferred from the rollers G, G, G, to the bands N, N', by an ellipsograph
movement, shown detached in Fig. 9. a, a, a, are three equal spur wheels,
gearing together, and placed either vertically or horizontally. Each wheel
carries a crank b, b, b, the middle one being set at right angles to the two
others, and the stroke of one crank being equal to the conjugate, and that
of the other two crauks equal to the transverse diameter of the required
ellipse. The rotation of the crank pins, working in the mortices of the cross c,
causes it to describe an ellipse of any proportions. The cross carries three
or more thin combs, which move in an ellipse from between the rollers G,G,G,
to-the-bands-N,-N, and in their movement they enter, prick into, raise, and
transfer the stricks as they arrive on the rollers G, G, over to the transferring
combs. The ellipsograph is driven by spur wheels from the side-shaft-T
The stricks of flax having been transferred either by the transferring
blades b, b, of Figs. 6, 7, and 8, or by the ellipsograph, shewn in Fig. 9, to
the bands N, N, (Figs. 4 and 5,) they are conveyed into the first holder, the
bands N, N¹, being provided with a few card fillet pins pricked through the
leather to prevent any accidental slipping of the strick. The band N goes
right into the first holder, and forms a portion of its lower half, but the other
band N stops short in order to expose the end of the strick to the action of
the combs. These bands, of which there may be any number to suit the
length of the stuff worked, are all moved at the same speed by lapping
round the roller u (Fig. 5), which carries a spur wheel gearing into another
spur wheel on the lower chain roller V, having a stud wheel between.
K, K, K, K, (Figs. 4 and 5,) are the holders. They consist of endless
chains, flexible on one side, to go round and gear with the pinions L, L,
which drive them; but from the form of the links these chains are quite
rigid on the other side, by which they retain or hold the fibrous substance.
They are also pressed together opposite to the combs by the friction pullies
M, M, and the screws O, O. The strick brought by the band N is thus
taken by the first holder, with rather more than half its length hanging out,
to be worked by the combs, and carried along to the end of the first holder
where the combed end of the strick enters into, and is in like manner taken
and held by the second holder at the same time that the uncombed half of
the strick is released from the first holder. The second holder, after combing
the other end, carries and deposits the strick upon the endless bands P, P.

page_text: The distance between the holders determines the portion of strick, oxceeding
half its length, which is necessary to comb to ensure complete action.
Another form of holder which constitutes a part of my Invention is shewn
in plan at Fig. 15, and in sectional elevation at Fig. 16. a, a, are circular
or polygonal plates, wheels, or frames revolving horizontally upon vertical
shafts b, b, in the direction of the arrows, with a continuous or intermittent
rotation. These plates or frames form the lower jaws of the holders. The
upper jaws c, c, c, c, are plates hinged by the loops d, d, to the main wheel a,
and they are each furnished with a stem or handle e, by pressing which
inwards towards the central shaft b, the upper jaws c will be raised from the
lower jaw, and the jaws of the holder thereby opened, as shewn in Fig. 10.
f is a plate fixed to the main framing. An opening is made in it round the
shaft b, and this allows the stems of the upper jaws c to rotate freely till
they arrive at the inclined plaue g (Fig. 15), which will press them towards
the central shaft b, and release them again when they arrive at h. The
holders are in this way opened and shut at the proper times. i, i, are pressing
pullies or rollers, which are supportod and pressed in the same way from the
plate f. These pullies or rollers are placed opposite to each comb, and made
to press on the upper jaw of each holder as it arrives opposite the comb, and
by this means they prevent the escape of any fibre. The action of this
arrangement is as follows :-The strick, as aforesaid, being brought on to the
rollers G, G, G, is by them pushed into the open holder opposite to them,
which then closes upon the strick, and carries it over one or any number of
combsjjj, which, if acting in a direction tangential to the circular path
of the holder, as shewn at N, will begin to heckle or comb it at its point, and
gradually work it up to the holder, and when the one end of the strick has been
combed or heckled the combed strick is delivered at L (Fig. 15) to an open
holder M, in a second plate or wheel precisely similar to the first. When the
strick is firmly held in the second holder it is heckled or combed at the other
end of the strick, and then finally delivered to the combing or slivering
machine at K (Fig. 15), which also may have a continuous or intermittent
motion. The pressing pullies in both kinds of holder may or may not be
geared, and may either move or be moved by the main plate wheel or frame.
A machine may contain one or more main plates, and each plate may carry
one or more holders.
In the combing machine, shewn in Fig, 4, Q, Q, are the combs, and R, R,
are rollers, either with plain surfaces or clothed with card fillets to clear the
combs of tow or noil. The combs that may be used are of various forms or
constructions, and for some purposes simple porcupine cylinders may suffice,

page_text: In the accompanying Drawings I have shewn two kinds of combs, the
gridiron comb and the excentric sheet or bell-crank comb. Fig. 10 is a front
view; Fig. 11 is a side elevation; and Fig. 12 a bird's-eye or plan view of
the gridiron comb. a, a, are two similar plates, which carry the combs b, b.
These plates and combs are worked horizontally backwards and forwards by
the cranks c, c, and at the same time vertically up and down by the cams d, d.
The cams and cranks working one plate with its set of combs are set exactly
opposite to those working the other plate, therefore as one set of combs is
moving forwards horizontally and combing the fibrous substance, the other set
is going below the first and backwards to take its place and comb in its turn.
The number of comb bars must of course depend upon the length of fibrous
matter operated upon.
to turn.
Fig. 13 represents a front view, and Fig. 14 a side view of the bell-crank
comb. a, a, a, are the comb bearing bars, which are drawn curved.or.cranked;
this is for the purpose of causing the combs to-begin-to comb or heckle the
strick at its point and gradually work up to the holder; but when the bell-
crank comb is used for the general purpose of drawing, or for heckling with
common holders in the usual way, the comb bars may be straight. They are
connected together and carried round the pullies b, b, by the leather belts,
chains, or steel bands c in the loops or links d, of which their ends are free
Each comb bar carries at one end or both an arm e, e.
Each arm
at its extremity carries a stud f, f, which works freely in the loops or links
of an outer leather belt, chain, or steel band g, g, running over pullies like
the first belt and in the same plane, but excentrically to that belt by as much
as is equal to the length of the arnis e, e. The two belts or chains c, c, and
9, 9, at both ends of the comb bars, move simultaneously, being geared
together as at h, h, (Fig. 4), and derive their motion by spur wheels from
the main shaft B (Figs. 4 and 5). Instead of the outer chains g, g, acting
as a guide for the studs f, f, they may run in a groove and be carried over
the centres at each end by pinions geared to receive them.
By both
these arrangements the pins enter the body of fibrous substance at right
angles to its course and close up to the holder, leaving it in the same
direction, or they may be set to enter at any angle desired. Both these
combs, the gridiron and the bell-crank combs, may be cleared of tow and
noil by rollers, plain or covered with card fillets, but they may be made
to clear themselves. In Figs. 13 and 14, h, h, are brushes, screwed to
the bottom of every comb bar in the bell-crank comb, but only to the
last bars in the gridiron comb. These brushes project forwards horizontally,
and as each comb bar descends the brush behind it removes the tow or noil

page_text: and deposits it on the roller i, which is clothed with card fillets, and from
which the tow is removed by a doffing knife, as usual. For simply combing
a material it may be sufficient to place combs only on one side of the stuff
but for heckling they should be used on both, that is, above and below the
strick, unless the stricks are turned between two set of holders, as before
described. Both these combs, the gridiron and the bell-crank, I apply generally
to the drawing of fibrous substances, as well as for heckling, in conjunction or
not with common holders. In drawing fibrous substances by the bell-crank
comb, I prefer to move it contrary to the direction of the arrow marked
on the Drawing, as by this means the pins are brought close up to the drawing
rollers.
In Figs. 4 and 5, S is an endless sheet, that removes the stricks as they
are dropped upon it from the endless bands P, P1, and conveys them to any
appropriate drawing mechanism, to be thereby united into a sliver. The
stricks may also be re-united by causing the band P to travel quicker than
the band P¹, and thus turn the points of the stricks to a pair of rollers to
supply the drawing mechanism, or otherwise the bands P, P', may be furnished
with pins, and the stricks in succession may be drawn from them by rollers.
The gearing has partly been described, and the remainder may be under-
stood by referring to Figs. 4 and 5. 1 is a pinion on the main shaft B,
which, by an intermediate spur wheel, drives the countershaft 5, this carries
an endless worm, gearing into a worm wheel 6 on the lower chain pinion,
which is connected by spur wheels with the upper chain pinion, and drives
both the holders. The countershaft 5 carries another pinion 7, which by
spur wheels drives the rollers C, C, and by them the first of the rollers C', C¹,
which drives the rest by the side shaft T. 2 and 3 are pinions to drive the
combs in front of the holders; and 4 is a pinion to drive the slivering gill
head. To give more or less work to the fibrous substance it is only necessary
to change a single pinion on the wheel intermediate between the shafts B
and 5.
Having now described my invention of an improved method of and
machinery for heckling, combing, drawing, and preparing fibrous substances
for spinning, and the best means with which I am acquainted for carrying
the same into effect, I would observe, that I am aware that certain of the
parts of the machinery herein-before described have been heretofore used for
similar purposes; I do not therefore mean or intend to claim such parts as
forming part of my present improvements; but I claim as the Invention
secured to me by Letters Patent, as aforesaid, the general arrangement and
combination of mechanism berein shewn and described, and constituting my

page_text: improved method of heckling, combing, drawing, and preparing fibrous sub-
stances for spinning.
I claim particularly the gill card, either with one, two, or more cylinders,
placed vertically or horizontally, as described; also the use and application
of the transferring blade movement, both for transferring and turning over
stricks, and the ellipsograph movement, shown in the Drawings..
I further claim the holders, and the method of transferring the stricks
from one holder to another, as shewn in Figures 15 and 16.
I also claim the use and application of both the gridiron comb and the
bell-crank comb for heckling and for drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said William King Westly, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Thirtieth day of April, in the year of our
-Lord-One-thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.