Improvements in the Method of and in Apparatus for Trueing Bars for Carding Engine Flats.
Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Apr., 1886.
Complete Left, 20th Jan., 1887.
Complete Accepted, 1st Mar., 1887.
Improvements in the Method of and in Apparatus for Trueing Bars
for Carding Engine Flats.
We GEORGE ASHWORTH and ELIJAH ASHWORTH of the firm of Ashworth Brothers
of the Moss Brook Works Collyhurst Manchester in the County of Lancaster
Engineers do hereby declare the nature of this Invention to be as follows:-
Our Invention relates to the metal bars to which the card clothing is attached to
form the travelling flats used in carding engines as is well understood. It is of great
importance that the surfaces which are in sliding contact with the curved guides when
the flats are at work shall be true in form and that the two surfaces at the ends of a
har shall truly correspond and bear a true relation to the finished surfaces on the back
of the flat and also that such surfaces shall correspond throughout the chain of flats.
To form or make true the aforesaid surfaces which slide upon the guides we employ
iwo grinding wheels which are carried by one shaft and are fixed or adjusted at such
a distance apart as that the two surfaces at the ends of a bar can be ground by the
same operation. We prefer that the radii of the two grinding wheels shall be the same
as those of the flexible bends or of the curved guides upon which the flats are to slide.
The bar is clamped or fixed to a sliding carriage which can be set up toward the
grinders or two carriages sliding upon parallel ways and actuated by means of screws
connected by means of bevel or worm gearing and a cross shaft may be used or racks
and pinions or other suitable means may be employed to effect the sliding of the
carriages. We also use the same or similar grinding wheels to make irue the faces on
the backs of the cards in order that the two faces at the ends of a bar may be in one
plane. In the cases wherein these faces are required to be flat as in ordinary cases we
arrange for the carriage or carriages upon which the bar is clamped to be traversed
in a straight line tangentially to the peripheries of the grinding wheels.
As it would be inconvenient to make the grinding part of each wheel in one piece
we prefer to employ segments or sections clamped or secured to a wheel or face
plate. These sections are made of consolidated emery and are arranged to be set up
or shifted outward from the centre of the wheel to compensate for wear.
In the con-

page_text: struction we prefer cach section is bolted to a metal holder which is guided to slide
radially upon the wheel. The said holder can be adjusted by means of a screw or of
screws or other suitable means and when adjusted be secured by means of bolis or
screws. When all the segments are adjusted the wheel consisting of the segments is
turned to the required diameter.
One advantage possessed by our method is that the bar when being operated upon
can be finished with a light contact of the grinder so that there is an absence of a
tendency for the bar to be distorted by the pressure of the tools as when mills or
cutters are used. We do not however confine ourselves to the use of consolidated
emery when operating upon the end surfaces so long as the two wheels formed or
provided to grind, lap, cut or file the metal and having the hereinbefore described
relation to the flexible bends or curved guides are used. When using grinding laps
fed with abrading powder instead of solid grinders we prefer to form each lap by
securing a strip or riband of copper or other suitably soft metal or alloy around the
periphery of a metal wheel of the proper diameter.
We may use grinders of smaller diameter by mounting the grinder spindle upon
arms or in or upon a vibrating frame which can be moved partly around a centre or
axis of movement by means of a rocking shaft and connecting links or by suitable
means the distance from such axis of movement to the furthest points in the
peripheries of the grinders being equal to the radius of each flexible bend or curved
guide on the Carding Engine. The grinder spindle may be driven by means of a
band or of two bands passing over carrier pullies having the same axis as the rocking
frame or intermediate driving pullies may be mounted to revolve upon the same axis
or the driving counter shaft may be mounted behind the said axis of movement.
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James Square, Manchester,
Agents.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION..
Improvements in the Method of and in Apparatus for Trueing Bars
for Carding Engine Flats.
We GEORGE ASHWORTH and ELIJAH ASHWORTH of the firm of Ashworth Brothers
of the Moss Brook Works, Collyhurst, Manchester in the County of Lancaster,
Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this 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
:-
Our Invention relates to the metal bars to which the card clothing is attached to
form the travelling flats used in carding engines as is well understood. It is of great
importance that the surfaces which are in sliding contact with the curved guides when
the flats are at work shall be true in form and that the two surfaces at the ends of a
bar shall truly correspond and bear a true relation to the finished surfaces on the
hack of the flat and also that such surfaces shall correspond throughout the chain of
flats. To form or make true the aforesaid surfaces which slide upon the guides we
employ two grinding wheels which are carried by one shaft and are fixed or adjusted
at such a distance apart as that the two surfaces at the ends of a bar can be ground by
the same operation.
In order that the nature of our invention and the manner in which we carry or
propose to carry the same into practical effect may be clearly understood we will
describe the same with reference to the accompanying three sheets of drawings. In
the said drawings Fig. 1 on sheet 1 represents a side elevation of a machine adapted
to the purposes of our invention. In sheet 2 Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same
machine Fig. 3 representing in plan the parts which carry the flat bar whilst being
operated upon. In Figs. 1 and 2 A A are two grinder discs which are secured upon
a spindle which is mounted to revolve in bearings which are formed in pedestals b
which are fixed upon the underframing of the machine. The radius of each of the
two grinders a is made to correspond with the radius of the flexible bends or curved
guides upon which the flats which have to be ground are to travel so that the said
grinders would produce curved surfaces which would correctly fit upon such bends or
guides. The grinder spindle is actuated by means of a driving belt acting upon a
pulley fixed upon the spindle as will be well understood. Upon the two side pieces
of the framing e are fixed two beds d which are planed to receive sliding carriages e
which appear also in plan in Fig. 3. These two carriages are connected together by
means of a cross piece which we will term the bar carriage and which is adapted to
carry the flat bar and to hold it in a correctly adjusted position during the grinding
operation. In Fig. 3 y represents a flat bar in such a position. The method we have
adopted for holding the bar is represented on a larger scale in Fig. 4 sheet 1. The flat
bar rests upon a planed surface on the bar carriage and bears at each end against a
back-rest consisting of a hardened steel plate which is fixed to a part which is
bolted to the top of the bar carriage. The back-rest is so shaped or fixed as that
the nearly vertical face is inclined from the true vertical to such an extent as that when

page_text: the prepared surfaces formed on the back of the flat bar at it ends are pressed against the
said plates the flat bar will be presented to the grinders in such a position as that
the face of the bar to which the cards are to be fixed will be inclined to a suitable
extent from what would be a right angle with a radial from the grinder axis in order
that the cards when at work may have their ordinary working relations with the main
cylinder as will be understood by the practical operator. The flat bar is pressed
against the two back-rest plates by means of springs k. One of these springs
clearly indicated in Fig. 4. The bar carriage is acted upon by means of two screws/
which engage with nuts which are attached to the parts e. Upon the outer end of each
screw is fixed a bevel wheel which gears with a bevel wheel upon a cross shaft m which
serves to connect together the two screws so that when the said shaft is turned by means
of a hand wheel or handle the two screws revolve in unison as is well understood.
The peripheries of the two.grinders consist of copper or soft metal ribands or rings to
which emery or grinding powder is applied or the said peripheries are otherwise
composed as will be mentioned hereinafter. The machine operates in the following
manner. The flat bar to be treated is dropped into place to rest upon the flat
carriage with its ends between the springs and the back rest as indicated in Fig. 1.
The shaft m is then turned in the direction which will move the flat bar into contact
with the grinders which then operate upon the bar to grind the required curved
surfaces. The forward movement of the bar carriage is continued until its motion
is arrested by adjustable stops. One of these, stops is seen at nn Fig. 1. and consists
of a screw which engages with a screw thread formed in a bracket which is cast upon
or fixed to the bed d. Such stops being correctly adjusted a number of bars can be
ground to be all equally acted upon. The bar carriage and the method of mounting
and actuating the same may be modified as for example the carriage may be mounted
upon a single bed and be acted upon by a single screw but we prefer the indicated
arrangement. In Fig. an arrangement is indicated in the left hand portion of the
drawing for grinding the back surfaces of the flat bars by means of the same grinders.
A bracket o is mounted to slide upon a bed fixed to the side e of the underframing on
each side of the machine. Each bracket is planed to receive a sliding bar carriage p
which is acted upon by two connected screws as in the case of the other bar carriage
but in the case of the carriage the sliding movement is at right-angles to a radial
from the grinder axis. The two brackets are also acted upon by means of connected
screws so that the bar carriage can be moved in a straight line parallel with a radial
from the grinder axis. It will be clearly seen that if a bar is clamped secured or held
in position upon the carriage and the latter is moved up and down to a suitable extent
with the parts to be ground in contact with the grinders true flat parallel surfaces can
be formed on the bars in the required places. In place of these parts just described
we might apply an arrangement corresponding with that to the right-hand so that two
bars could be operated upon to produce curved surfaces at the same time. Figs. 5
and 6 in sheet 3 illustrate the method we have adopted in the construction of the
grinders Fig. 5 being in the same plane as Fig. 1 and Fig. 6 at right-angles to
Fig. 5. To the grinder disc A we bolt metal holders which are each adapted to
hold a block or plates of consolidated emery. Each holder is secured to the face of
the disc by means of bolts which pass through slots in the said holders and the holder
is adapted to be adjustable radially within the limits of the said slots to compensate
for the wearing of the grinders. In the example this adjustment is effected by means
of screws which pass through a projecting ring formed upon the disc. Each block
or plate of emery is clamped or secured to the holder by means of bolts or of suitable
clamping parts and is moulded at both ends to a curved shape suitable to the require-
ments so that when one end has become worn down the blocks can be reversed so as to
bring the other end into use. We also in some or in all cases make the said blocks
adjustable in or upon the holders. It will be understood that the holders with the blocks
or plates of emery are arranged in close order entirely around the axis of the dise A
so as for all practical purposes to constitute a circular grinder. When we have
adjusted the holders so that the outer curved ends of the blocks project to about an
equal extent from the axis of the disc and a little beyond the radial length of the
"'

page_text: flexible bend hereinbefore referred to we revolve the disc and turn down the ends of
the blocks by means of a diamond tool until we have produced a grinder of the
required diameter. We have found it to be necessary to balance the weight of the
holders and grinding blocks by means of balance weights e bolted to the back of the dise
but the necessity for this might be obviated by varying the formation of the dic or
part carrying the holders. We do not confine ourselves to any particular formation of
grinder nor to the use of consolidated emery nor of the soft metal periphery or lap
surface hereinbefore mentioned so long as two circular discs or wheels proportioned
in diameter to the requirements as set forth are formed or adapted to grind lap
cut or file the metal at the two ends of the bars by simultaneous concerted action.
We may use grinders of smaller diameter by mounting the grinder spindle upon arms
in or upon a vibrating frame which can be moved partly around a centre or axis of
movement by means of a rocking shaft and connecting links or by suitable means the
distance from such axis of movement to the furthest points in the peripheries of the
grinders being equal to the radius of each flexible bend or curved guide on the
Carding Engine or thereabouts. Fig. 7 is illustrative of such an apparatus: Two
grinders which may be ordinary emery wheels or be suitable grinders or laps are
fixed upon a spindle which revolves in bearings on the outer end of a frame which is
mounted to swing around a centre of motion at y. Upon the same centre of motion is
mounted a pulley which drives the grinder spindle and a second pulley connected
with or formed in one piece with the pulley is driven in a suitabe manner. The flat
bar is mounted upon a carriage which may be actuated in the manner hereinbefore set
forth or in a suitable manner and the frame e is vibrated by means of a crank-shaft a'
or by suitable means so that the grinders move through the are of a circle and as they
pass the flat bar act upon it for the purpose of our invention.
=
心
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we claim is :-
(1) The combination of parts arranged and acting substantially as and for the purpose
set forth and indicated hereinbefore and in the accompanying drawings.
(2) Two grinders fixed at a suitable distance apart upon a spindle to operate
simultaneously upon the two ends of a carding engine flat bar such grinders having
the same or about the same radius as the flexible bends or curved guides upon which
such bars are to travel.
(3) In apparatus for acting upon carding engine flat bars to form or finish the curved
surfaces which slide upon the flexible bends or curved guides two revolving parts
provided with grinding or abrading blocks tools copper or metal bands or parts the
radius from the axis of motion to the grinding surfaces or the cutting or abrading
points or edges corresponding with the radius of the flexible bends or curved guides
of the carding engine in combination with parts for holding the flat bar and for
moving it toward the grinders so as to obtain uniformity at the two ends of the bar
substantially as set forth and indicated.
(4) In apparatus for forming curved surfaces on carding engine flat bars the
circular grinder formed by attaching grinding blocks or plates to revolvable discs or
parts substantially as set forth and indicated with reference to Figs. 4 and 5 of the
drawings.
(5) In apparatus for the purpose set forth the method of mounting the grinders or
revolving tools so that they shall move in a curved path partly around a fixed centre
of motion and form the said curved surfaces on the flat bars substantially as set forth
and indicated with reference to Fig. 7 of the drawings.
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James Square, Manchester,
Agents.