IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY POR COMBING WOOL, HAIR, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES."
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Crabtree, of Bradford, in the County of
York, Manager, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY POR
COMBING WOOL, HAIR, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Crabtree at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th September 1854.
I, SAMUEL CRABTREE, of Bradford, in the County of York, Manager, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY POR COMBING WOOL, HAIR, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," to be as
follows:-
My Invention consists in a new mode of discharging the wool or other
substance from combs revolving on a swift or cylinder by mechanical means,
without the aid of the hand or stopping the machine.
For this purpose I propose to place one or more combs on a swift or
cylinder, and feed them with wool or other substance from feed rollers or a
porcupine, or both. After the combs have taken a feed of wool or other sub-
stance, they proceed for a portion of the revolution of the swift, and then
severally turn half round upon an axis or stud or axes or studs fixed on to the
comb, by which means the comb is reversed, and tho points of the pins are
placed in a contrary direction to that they would take without such turning

page_text: motion of the comb. Thus, when the combs come in contact with the chain
or circular comb on to which they have to deliver the wool or other substance,
they have the points of the pins in the same direction as those of the chain or
circular comb. By this means, when the wool or other substance comes in
contact with such chain or circular comb, it would be easily discharged on to
it without the aid of the hand or stopping the machine. After delivering the
wool or other substance, the combs again turn on their axis, so as to be in the
most suitable position for receiving the wool or other substance, when they
again reach the porcupine or feed roller from which they are fed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Crabtree in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th March 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
CRABTREE, of Bradford, in the County of York, Manager, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Samuel Crabtree, Her special license that I, the said Samuel
Crabtree, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Samuel Crabtree, 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 "In-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR COMBING WOOL, HAIR, AND OTHER FIBROUS
SUBSTANCES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Samuel
Crabtree, 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 immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Samuel Crabtree, 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

page_text: statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention relates to a novel mode of effecting the discharge or transfer
of wool or other fibrous substance from revolving taking combs to the ordi-
nary chain or circular comb, from which it is removed by drawing-off rollers.
In carrying out my Invention, I mount one or more combs on a swift or
cylinder, in such a manner as to permit of their receiving an independent
axial motion, and I feed the wool or other fibrous substance thereto from a
porcupine or feed rollers. The combs, when they have taken a feed of wool,
and (by the revolution of the swift) have been carried forward free of the
porcupine or feed rollers, are then severally turned half round upon a stud or
axle, by which they are supported at the middle of their length, and thus the
position of the combs is reversed, the pins pointing in a contrary direction to
that they formerly held. Thus, when the combs come in contact with the
chain or circular comb on to which they have to deliver the wool or other
fibrous substance, the points of their teeth are in the same direction as those
of the chain or circular comb, and they will, therefore, while passing, be
enabled to discharge the wool which they carry on to the circular comb, with-
out the aid of the attendant, or without the necessity for stopping the machine.
After delivering the wool the combs severally return to their former position
on the swift or cylinder, and they are then in the most suitable position for
receiving a fresh supply of wool from the porcupine or feed rollers.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 represents in side elevation so much
of my improved combing machine as will serve to explain the nature of my
Invention. A is the framing; B, B, are toothed pinions to drive the feed
rollers which supply the machine with the prepared wool or other fibrous
substance for combing. The prepared wool may, after having passed between
the feed rollers, be either pushed forward to meet the combs over a plate and
presser, or may be drawn from them by a porcupine, whichever be
may pre-
ferred. C, C, C, are a set of card rollers, over which the wool, as it is taken
up by the combs hereafter mentioned, is drawn, in order to clear or remove
the knots and short fibres therefrom. D is the travelling chain or circular
comb, which receives the wool from the taking combs, and carries it to the
drawing-off rollers. E is a cylinder or swift, in the interior of which aro
fitted four sets of bevil wheels, one set of bevils being employed for the
working of each of the combs.
Fig. 2 shews, on an enlarged scale, the mode of fitting the interior of the
cylinder, one set only of bevil wheels and parts in connection therewith being
shewn in detail. F is a radial shaft, which carries a bevil wheel G, and is

page_text: continued from the circumference to the centre of the swift or cylinder. The
inner end of this shaft F rests upon a boss formed upon the shaft H, which
carries the cylinder E, and the outer end of the shaft F is continued a little
above the periphery of the cylinder, to receive a taking comb I, which is firmly
secured thereto. Keyed to the shaft F, beyond the bevil wheel G, (and in
the interior of the cylinder) is an arm K, which projects for the purpose of
striking against a stop L, bolted one on either side of the cylinder, and thereby
preventing the shaft F, and consequently the taking comb which it carries,
from making more than a half turn in either direction. In gear with the
pinion G, and on either side of the shaft F, is a bevil wheel M, for communi-
cating an axial motion alternately and in opposite directions to the shaft F.
These bevil wheels are each carried by a stud axle N or N*, which have
their bearing in the side plates of the swift or cylinder, and project beyond
the cylinder to receive respectively an arm O or O*, which is firmly secured
thereto. Affixed to the framing of the machine, one on either side of the
cylinder, are curved guide bars P, P*. The position of the guide bar P*.
which is on the opposite side of the cylinder to that shewn in Fig. 1, is
represented in the detached view, Fig. 3. These guide bars are made con-
centric or nearly so with the cylinder E, and their radius being less than the
distance from the axis of the cylinder to the extremity of the arm 0, 0°,
when standing radially from the cylinder shaft, these arms will, as the cylinder
rotates, be brought into contact with the guide bars, and be thereby forced
out of their radial position into an inclined position, which they will preserve
until they have escaped past the guide bars. By this movement of the arms
an axial motion will be imparted to the bevil wheels M, MS, and through
those wheels and the bevil pinions G, with which they are respectively in
gear, a half turn will be given to the shafts F, and the combs I which they
respectively carry.
It will be understood that by reason of the relative positions of the two
guide bars, the arms O* on the one side of the cylinder E will not act or come
into contact with the guide bar P, to produce the reverse axial motion of the
combs, until their corresponding arms on the other side of the cylinder
E have escaped passed their guide bar P, and vice versa. An axial motion
alternately to the right and left will therefore be imparted to the taking
combs as they are severally brought into the proper position for receiving such
motion.
The action of the machine is as follows:-Rotary motion having been
imparted thereto, the wool or other prepared fibrous material is fed up to the
cylinder E, and the rotation of the cylinder in the direction of the arrow will

page_text: cause the taking combs I successively to strike into and take up a portion of
the fibre. At this part of their rotation the comb teeth will point in the
direction of their progress, in order to permit of their taking up the fibre from
the feed or porcupine roller. By the continued rotation of the cylinder E, the
fibre thus disengaged from the feed roller will be brought into contact with
the card surface of the rollers C, C, which receive a slow rotary motion in the
opposite direction to that of the taking combs, and thus the knots and short
fibres are cleared or removed therefrom. When the ascending taking comb
has passed the set of card rollers, the arm O, which transmits an axial motion
to that comb, will be free of the guide bar P; but the corresponding arm 0*
of the comb will now come in contact with and be acted upon by the guide
bar P on the other side of the machine. This will cause the bevil wheel M*
on the axle N to impart a semi-revolution to the bevil pinion G, and conse-
quently through the axle F to the taking comb I, whereby the teeth of that
comb will be made to point in the same direction as those of the chain or
circular comb D, just prior to discharging the fibrous material on to the chain
or circular comb. In this position the taking comb will be retained until it
has deposited the wool or other fibre on the comb D. The arm O* will then
pass out of contact with the guide bar P, and its corresponding arm O will
again be brought into contact with the guide bar P, and the axial motion of
the taking comb in the reverse direction will then take place, to bring the
teeth into a proper position for taking up a fresh feed. As the portions of
wool or other fibrous material are deposited on to the comb D by the taking
combs as they successively come round, the fibres are pressed down between
the teeth of the comb by means of the ordinary brush Q. The rod R, con-
nected by a crank fixed to the driving pulley S, raises and lowers the balance
rod T, which is connected by a link to the arm of a rock shaft U, supported
by a bracket from the framing. This rock shaft carries the brush Q,
and by means of the crank S, causes it to follow the movement of each
taking comb, and press down the combed end of the fibres between the teeth
of the comb D.
Having now set forth the nature of my "Improvements in Machinery for
Combing Wool, Hair, and other Fibrous Substances," I would here remark,
that although I have shewn and minutely described a particular arrangement
of mechanism for effecting the turning of the taking combs upon the swift or
cylinder, yet I do not confine myself to the use of that arrangement, as other
mechanical contrivances might be adopted for reversing the position of the
taking combs during their rotation round a common axis, and thus bringing
them first into the proper position for taking up the fibrous material as it is

page_text: fed into the machine, and afterwards for discharging it on to the chain or
circular comb; but I claim under the above in part recited Letters Patent,
imparting to the rotating taking combs of combing machinery an independent
axial motion for the purpose above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Crabtree, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twelfth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
SAMUEL CRABTREE. (L.s.)
Signed and sealed by the said Samuel Crabtree,
in the presence of
RICHARD Moore.