and Cleaning Cotton and other Fibre.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd May, 1887
Complete Left, 3rd Feb., 1888
Complete Accepted, 23rd Mar., 1888
and Cleaning Cotton and other Fibre.
1. JOHN ELCE of 9 Hopwood Avenue Manchester in the County of Lancaster Machine
Maker, do hereby declare the nature of said Invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN THE feed
MECHANISM OF MACHINES FOR OPENING AND CLEANING COTTON AND OTHER FIBRE to be
as follows:
My invention relates principally to improvements in the feed regulating motion of
opening and cleaning machines.
The chief object of my Invention is to ensure the necessary regulation of the feed
mechanism without interfering with the driving of the cones so as to enable the latter
to run at or about a constant speed without regard to the quantity of fibre to be passed
through the machine.
To accomplish this object instead of mounting the cones vertically or placing them
horizontally one above the other I propose to mount the cones horizontally and in the
same plane or thereabouts and I employ change wheels for driving the worm shaft and
feed roller from the second cone. I arrange the bearings of the first cone in a slide or
otherwise that they and the cone may be moved preferably automatically by a weight
or springs or otherwise to compensate for the stretching of the cone belt.
One mode of driving the first cone shaft according to my Invention is by means of
a rope from a grooved pulley on the usual countershaft which passes over a pair of
grooved carrier pulleys placed between it and the cone in such position that a slight
movement of the cone shaft will not affect the tension of the driving rope; if desirable
the grooved carrier pulleys may be adjustably secured in guides on the machine
frame.
In an alternative mode of driving the first cone shaft I dispense with the carrier
pulley and employ a pair of expanding pulleys one on the counter and the other on
the cone shaft.
My improved expanding pulley is made in halves one half with a long boss is
secured to the shaft and the other half is fitted on this boss a spiral spring being

page_text: placed on the long boss between the two halves. The extreme end of the boss has a
thread on which is fitted a nut for the purpose of moving the loose half of the pulley
toward the other one and expanding the diameter of the pulley when required and
vice versa when the nut is slackened the spring forces back the loose half and contracts
the diameter of the pulley in this way the diameter of the pulley can be readily
adjusted or varied to take up any slack in the rope or to compensate for the movement
of the first cone shaft.
The second or driven cone shaft is geared to the usual upright worm shaft for
driving the feed roller by means of a pair of bevel wheels which can be changed at
will to give any desired speed to the feed roller in this manner I am enabled to vary
the quantity of fibre to the machine without changing the speed of the cones.
My improved regulating mechanism may also be applied to the feed mechanism of
those machines in which a porcupine or beater and cleaning trunks are employed in
combination with a main opening or beating cylinder.
When pedal levers with pendants are employed 1 propose to use two separate anti-
friction rollers between each adjoining pair of pendants each pair of rollers is mounted
so that they do not touch one another in a pair of links free to slide in the box or
frame when the pendants rise or fall.

page_text: Improvements in the Feed Mechanism of Machines for Opening
and Cleaning Cotton and other Fibre.
I JOHN ELCE of 9 Hopwood Avenue Manchester in the County of Lancaster
Machine Maker 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:—
My invention relates principally to improvements in the feed regulating motion of
opening and cleaning machines.
The chief object of my Invention is to insure the necessary regulation of the feed
mechanism without interfering with the driving of the cones so as to enable the latter
to run at or about a constant speed without regard to the quantity of fibre to be passed
through the machine.
To accomplish this object instead of mounting the cones vertically or placing them
horizontally one above the other I propose to mount the cones horizontally and in the
same plane or thereabouts and I employ change wheels in the gearing for driving the
feed roller from the second cone.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried into
effect I will describe the accompanying three sheets of Drawings reference being had
to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Figure 1 is a plan Fig. 2 a side elevation and Fig. 3 an end elevation of so much
of an opening and cleaning machine as is sufficient for the proper illustration of my
Invention and Fig. 4 is a detail view of two antifriction rollers mounted in a pair of
links.
In these views. a designates the framing of the machine and 6 6 the pair of cones
which I mount horizontally and in the same plane. A convenient mode of driving
the cones consists in the arrangement illustrated by the Drawings but any other suitable
arrangement for the purpose might be employed. In the Drawings c designates the
heater cylinder shaft shown only in Fig. 2 and d the usual countershaft driven from
the shaft e by means of the pulley c¹; rope e, and pulley d'; on the shaft d is mounted
a grooved pulley f from which a rope g passes to one of a pair of guide and tightening
pulleys h which are supported in a bracket i secured adjustably to the framing a; from
the guide pulley h the rope g passes round a grooved pulley fixed on the shaft of the
first cone and thence back over the second pulley h to the pulley f. The first cone b
drives the second cone b¹ by means of the belt k and the shaft 1 of the second cone has a
worm fixed thereon which gears into a worm wheel m mounted loosely on a stud n
supported by the framing a. The worm wheel on is connected by a boss m¹ to a spur
wheel m' which transmits motion by means of a carrier or change wheel o to the
wheel p mounted loosely on the shaft p¹ of the feed roller. The spur wheel P has
teeth on its side face into which gear similar teeth on a sliding clutch p* which
transmits motion to the feed roller shaft p². The clutch p² is moved out of gear with the
wheel p by an arrangement of levers to stop the feed roller shaft p¹ when the

page_text: lap is completed. The carrier wheel o is supported in a hanging bracket & free to
swivel on the shaft p¹ so that by changing the wheel p and adjusting the position of
the carrier wheel o I am able to give any required speed to the feed roller shaft and
thus to vary the quantity of fibre fed to the machine without changing the speed of the
cones. It is evident that instead of making the wheel p the change wheel that the
wheel m² might be changed and the same result obtained also that instead of the arrange-
ment of gearing shown I might retain the usual vertical worm shaft for driving a
worm wheel fixed on the feed roller shaft and drive the said worm shaft by means of
change gearing from the second cone shaft 1.
To regulate the driving of the cone 6¹ I prefer to employ Lord's Patented system of
balanced strap fork guide levers t operated to adjust the position of the belt k by means
of a strap t¹ connected to the end pendant u¹ when a pedal feed is employed. Any
other suitable arrangement of belt shifting mechanism however may be used.
In opening and cleaning machines with pedal levers and pendants as herein shown
1 propose to use between each pair of pendants u two separate antifriction rollers was
best shown in the detail view Fig. 4 each pair of rollers w being mounted in a pair of
links so that they do not touch one another and are free to slide in the box or frame y
when the pendants rise or fall.
I propose to arrange the bearings of the first cone b in a slide or swivel bracket so
that they and the said cone 6 can be moved automatically by a weight or springs or by
means of a hand wheel z and a worm and worm wheel to compensate for the stretching
of the cone belt k.
My improved regulating mechanism as herein described may be also applied to the
feed mechanism of those machines in which a porcupine or beater and cleaning trunk
are employed in combination with a main opening or beating cylinder.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is.-
1. The use and application of change gearing between the second cone and the
feed roller of an opening and cleaning machine for the purpose of enabling the speed
at which the said feed roller is driven to be varied independently of the speed of the
cones.
2. The combination and arrangement of parts substantially as shown and described
whereby the speed of the feed roller of an opening and cleaning machine may be
adjusted without changing the speed of the cones.
3.-The combination with the arrangement of rope driving herein shown and
described or an equivalent system for driving the first cone of an opening and cleaning
machine, of means for moving the said cone and its bearings either automatically or
by hand to take up the slack in the belt which connects the two cones.
4. In an opening and cleaning machine the combination with the pendants of a
pedal feed motion, of pairs of antifriction rollers mounted in links substantially as
herein shown and described for the purpose specified.
Dated this Second day of February 1888.-
H. B. BARLOW,
17, St. Ann's Square, Manchester,
Agent for Applicant.