IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Walton Whitehead, of Holbeck, in the
Parish of Leeds, in the County of York, a Partner in the Firm of
Taylor, Wordsworth, & Co., of the same Place, Machine and Tool
Makers, and Frederick Henry Wright, of Halifax, in the same
County, Wool Comber, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Walton
Whitehead and Frederick Henry Wright at the Office of the Com-
missioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 4th November
1875.
We, HENRY WALTON WHITEHEAD, of Holbeck, in the Parish of
Leeds, in the County of York, a Partner in the Firm of Taylor,
Wordsworth, & Co., of the same Place, Machine and Tool Makers, and
FREDERICK HENRY WRIGHT, of Halifax, in the same County, Wool
Comber, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for “Im-

page_text: PROVEMENTS IN MEANS OR APPARATUS USED IN WASHING OR SCOURING WOOL AND
OTHER FIBRES," to be as follows:-
In carrying out our improvements the fibre or material after being
agitated by means of forks or other suitable mechanism and cleansed in
the wash liquid is taken out of the trough or bowl by means of an
endless delivery apron composed of a series of bars linked together. On
the top of every second or third bar is fitted a peculiar shaped carrier or
elevator formed or placed in a position so as to act upon the fibre and
prevent it slipping backwards when being drawn from the trough and
carried along the incline formed by the endless apron; when however
the fibre approaches the point of delivery from the apron the carrier or
clevator leaves the fibre free to be taken by the squeezing rollers. This
carrier or elevator is of an angular shape, the front and bottom parts
being at right angles to each other and the back segment shaped.
The second part of our Invention is an improvement on the class of
chain that was in use before the existing style of self-acting forks came
into operation for carrying the wool or fibre from the feed end of the
trough to the endless sheet previous to being delivered to the squeezing
rollers, and consists of one or more endless chains, ropes, or belts, to
which are attached at intervals forks or rakes supported by bearers,
slots, or ledges along the inside of the wash bowl or trough and on the
tops of same. The forks are arranged so as to enter the washing
liquid at the beginning of the bowl, and are by means of the chains
drawn through the water till they get to the elevating sheet where the
forks are gradually raised by means of the slots in which they run, and
at the same time are by catches or other contrivance allowed to fall
back as they turn in order the more easily to leave the wool on the
sheet, thereby preventing the wool or fibre from becoming "stringy
or "felted," which is the case with the usual style of self-acting
forks.
"
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Walton Whitehead and Frederick Henry
Wright in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 4th May 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, HENRY
WALTON WHITEHEAD, of Holbeck, in the Parish of Leeds, in the 3

page_text: County of York, a Partner in the Firm of Taylor, Wordsworth, &
Co., of the same Place, Machine and Tool Makers, and FREDERICK
HENRY WRIGHT, of Halifax, in the same County, Wool Comber, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Henry Walton Whitehead and
Frederick Henry Wright, Her special licence that we, the said Henry
Walton Whitehead and Frederick Henry Wright, our executors, ad-
ministrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Henry
Walton Whitehead and Frederick Henry Wright, our executors, ad-
ministrators, 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, exercisc,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MEANS OR APPARATUS USED IN WASHING OR SCOURING WOOL AND OTHER
FIBRES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Henry
Walton Whitehead and Frederick Henry Wright, our executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or their, or
or one of their bands and seals, 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
Scal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Walton Whitehead, on
behalf of myself and the said Frederick Henry Wright, do hereby
declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing
hereunto annexed and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say) :-
The object of this Invention is to increase the efficiency of the
apparatus used in the washing and scouring of wool and to avoid the
liability of matting the fibres together in the act of transferring them
from the trough to the elevating sheet or delivery apron.

page_text: In the accompanying Drawing Figure 1 is a side elevation of the
washing apparatus, the feed apron, trough, and the endless chain of
rollers being broken away near their middle to contract the length of
the Figure.
Figure 2 is a plan view of Figure 1; and Figures 3, 4, and 5 are
detached views to be hereafter more particularly referred to.
A, A, is the trough or "bowl" containing the wash liquor; and B is
an endless apron for feeding the wool to be washed to the trough A;
C, C, is an endless chain of rakes mounted on tension rollers C', the
axles of which have their bearings in the sides of the trough. By
means of this chain of rakes the wool is taken from the feeding apron
and carried down into and through the liquor in the trough until it meets
with the endless elevating sheet or apron D. This sheet is mounted
on tension rollers D', and its office is to deliver the washed or scoured
wool into the bite of a pair of squeezing rollers E which are mounted in
standards F and receive rotary motion through suitable gearing from
the main driving shaft G. The elevating sheet or apron D runs in an
inclined gutter A' forming an end extension of the trough A and
reaching to the standards F, its object being to return to the trough the
liquor taken up by and discharged from the washed wool.
Our improvements relate, firstly, to the means whereby the wool is
transferred from the trough to the clevating apron without risk of
entangling or matting the fibres; and, secondly, to the construction of
an elevating sheet or apron whereby the wool on its passage to the
squeezing rollers is prevented from slipping back into the trough.
The endless chain C, which at suitable intervals carries a transverse
row of tines constituting a rake of a width nearly equal to that of the
trough, is fitted with dogs or tappets which by means of fixed guides
attached to the trough sides control the action of the rakes and cause
them to move (as the chain rotates) in such manner as to take down the
wool from the feed apron, traverse it along the whole length of the
trough, and then as the elevating apron is approached inclined backwards
so as to pass clear of the apron while delivering the wool thereon; then
as the apron is cleared to rock into an advanced position so as to be
ready on the completion of their back traverse to bring down a fresh
supply of wool into the trough.
The transverse rods c which carry the tines c¹ constituting a rake serve

page_text: the purpose of joint pins and assist in connecting the links of the chains
together. Keyed to the opposite ends of these transverse rods are two
dogs or tappets c³, c³, for controlling the rakes by the aid of the guides
before mentioned, and which are clearly shewn in Figures 1 and 3, the
latter Figure being a side view of the forward end of the chain with the
fixed guides shewn in place. The dogs or tappets c³ of the rake rods c,
besides having a pin projecting laterally from their extremities, are
furnished with a transverse rib or flange which enters a straight hori-
zontal race formed in the guide plates c* for the purpose of returning
the rake tines throughout their horizontal course in an inclined position.
As the ribs or flanges of the tappets c³ leave their guides at the feeding
end of the trough the pins of the tappets c³ fall on to segment guides c³
and thereby bring the tines of their rakes into such position that they
will carry down the wool brought forward by the feeding apron and
submerge it in the liquor in the trough. As the tappets c³ leave these
segment guides the ribs or flanges of the tappets center the lower
horizontal guides c' and thus maintain the tines of their respective rakes
in the proper position for propelling forward the wool through tho
trough. As however the rakes by the continued rotation of the chain
approach the clevating apron the ribs or flanges pass out of the horizontal
guides, as shown in the elevation, Figure 3, at which time the pins of the
tappets encounter the inner face of the curved fixed guides c³. Tho
result of this contact of the tappets with the fixed guides is the tipping
back of the rakes (as the chain advances) from the colored position to
the dotted position. This change of position of the rakes serves to clear
the tines from the elevating apron as they rise out of the liquor, and to
free them from the wool which they have brought on to the apron. As
the tappets cleave the guides c³ they are caught by the external face of
short curved guides c which further assist in ensuring a clearance by the
ascending rakes of the wool on the elevating apron. On the tappets c³
of the ascending rake leaving the guides c' the tappets c³ of that rake
will be caught by short guides c³, the action of which will be (as the
chain still advances) to tip the rake over into an inclined position and
to bring the ribs or flanges of the tappets c³ into line with the upper
horizontal guides c*. The continued rotation of the chain will take back
the rakes (as their tappets leave the guides c³) to the feeding end of the
trough, and the rakes will then in turn repeat their action on the wool
supplied to the apparatus by the apron B.

page_text: It now remains to explain the construction of the elevating sheet or
apron D which delivers the washed wool to the squeezing rollers, and
also the mechanism for actuating the various parts of the apparatus.
The apron D consists of a series of metal bars or laths & which are
connected together by lines of open links d, the construction of which is
clearly shewn in edge view at Figure 4, and plan view at Figure 5. The
latlis daro slotted to permit of the insertion of the open ends of the
links d, which when in place overlap the edges of the slots of two
adjacent links and thus form a flexible connection with the laths.
Fitted to every third or fourth lath of the apron and in line therewith
is a carrier d', which is secured in place by rivets or otherwise, and
forms a kind of back board for retaining the wool as it is delivered by
the rakes on the inclined surface of the travelling apron and preventing
its dropping back into the trough. In cross section the front face and
base of this carrier represent a right angle, and the back a segment
struck from the point of intersection forming the lines of the angle.
As these carriers reach the highest point of their traverse they tip the
wool which they have carried forward into the bite of the squeezing
rollers E, the action of which will be to discharge the washing liquor
from the wool and deliver the cleaned wool comparatively free of
moisture out of the apparatus. In the washing of long fibred wool we
find it advantageous to indent or tooth the carrier d.
Rotary motion is communicated to the squeezing rollers from the
main driving shaft G by means of a spur pinion 1 on that shaft gearing
into a spur wheel 2 keyed on to the axle of the lower squeezing roller.
On the opposite end of the axle of the lower roller is a spur pinion 3
which gears into a ring of spur teeth cast on a ring 4 which surrounds
a ratchet wheel 5 keyed on the axle of the upper or weighted squeezing
roller. This ring 4 is furnished with pawles which take into the teeth
of the ratchet wheel and thus drive the top roller. The elevating {
apron D receives motion through the spur gearing 6 from the axle of
the lower squeezing roller.
For transmitting motion to the rake chains C a cross belt 7 is
employed which passes from a belt pulley 8 keyed on the axle G to a
belt pulley 9 mounted on the side of the trough. A pinion 10 cast on 3
the boss of this pulley gears into a spur wheel 11 keyed on the axle of
the forward chain wheels C', and thus a traverse motion is communi-

page_text: cated to the chain of rakes. The feed apron B receives a traverse motion
in the direction of the arrow, Figure 1, through the gearing 12 from
the axle of the back chain wheels C¹.
Having now set forth the nature of our Invention of "Improvements
in Means or Apparatus used in Washing or Scouring Wool and other
Fibres," and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, we
wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters
Patent we claim,-
First. The arrangement of mechanism above described for controlling
the motions of the rakes as they enter and leave the trough.
Second. In combination with an endless chain of rakes acting as
above set forth, the arrangement of elevating apron with the carrier or
elevator, as described, for carrying the washed wool up to and delivering
it into the bite of the squeezing rollers.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Walton Whitehead, for
and on behalf of myself and the said Frederick Henry Wright,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this First day of May,
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
HENRY WALTON WHITEHEAD. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
said Henry Walton Whitehead,
in the presence of
GEO. BENTLEY,
Draughtsman to the Firm of Taylor. Wordsworth. & Co.
HENRY WALTON WHITEHEAD. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
said Henry Walton Whitehead,
in the presence of
GEO. BENTLEY,
Draughtsman to the Firm of Taylor. Wordsworth, & Co.
EDWARD WHITELEY,
Clerk to M². Tho'. Turner, Sol'.,
Leeds.