IMPROVE- MENTS IN MACHINERY TO BE USED IN CARDING COTTON, AND OTHER TEXTILE SUBSTANCES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Wright, of 42, Bridge Street, Blackfriars,
in the City of London, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY TO BE USED IN CARDING COTTON, AND OTHER TEXTILE
SUBSTANCES." A communication from abroad by Amand Wibaux,
of 333 Rue Saint Martin. Paris. Empire of France.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Wright at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 2nd
August 1861.
I, JAMES WRIGHT, of 42, Bridge Street, Blackfriars, in the City of London,
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY TO BE USED IN CARDING COTTON, AND OTHER TEXTILE
SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
By the present mode of carding cotton and any other textile substances, if
by any chance a few oily or greasy pieces are amongst the mass, the whole is
rendered "knotty;" this is especially the case when "cotton waste" has to
be carded, which always contains, more or less, some oily or greasy particles,
[Price 8d.1

page_text: which, when separated by the teeth of the card, spread over a great length.
In order to obviate this, I make use of an endless "spreading table," formed
of slight rods or staves, connected at their extremities with bands of leather or
other suitable material. This spreading table is mounted on two rollers, one
of which is capable of lateral adjustment, for the purpose of regulating the
tension of the said table. At the end of this table I place several rollers, the
bottom ones being fluted, and the top ones covered over, the pressure on them
being regulated by levers and weights. After these, I make use of another
set of rollers, placed and acting in the same manner as the first. The machine
is actuated through pullies-in-any-convenient way, the cotton or other fibrous
material being placed on the table, passes through the first set of rollers, then
through the second set, and falls into a funnel from whence it passes between
two rolling pins, and comes out in the shape of ribbon.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Wright in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
1st February 1862.
JAMES
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
WRIGHT, of 42, Bridge Street, Blackfriars, in the City of London, Civil
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Eler
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me the
said James Wright, Her special licence that I, the said James Wright, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
Wright, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at anytime 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
TO BE USED IN CARDING COTTON, AND OTHER TEXTILE SUBSTANCES," a com-
munication to me from abroad by Amand Wibaux, of 333, Rue Saint Martin,
Paris, Empire of France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said James Wright, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should

page_text: 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Wright, 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, that is to say :-
It is well known that in carding cotton or cotton waste with the ordinary
drum-carding machine, the introduction of a small piece or pieces of oily or
greasy cotton will cause a considerable portion of that operated upon to
become "knotted; " this is especially the case with cotton waste, in
consequence of the invariable presence of greasy pieces, which get torn by
the teeth of the comb and get distributed through the whole mass, producing
the knots before referred to.
The object of my Invention consists in the introduction of a machine, the
action and operation of which upon the cotton or cotton waste, although
essentially different from that of the ordinary drum-carding machine will not
only transform it into the required state,but will do this in a much more perfect
manner, producing not only a better fabric, but also effecting a greater saving
in the raw material.
In order more clearly to illustrate the nature of my Invention, I have
appended to this Specification the accompanying Drawings, which shew
the general principles of form of the different parts of the machine which
I adopt in producing the effects upon the cotton operated upon, and also the
combination of these parts, in order to produce the complete action, and the
best form of my machine.
mentioned, I
propose to substitute for the ordinarydrum-carding engine used in
carding cotton or cotton waste; Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section; and
Figure 3, a front view, shewing the drawing cylinder; Figure 4, another front
view, shewing the revolving spreading table, on which the cotton is placed and
spread.
It will be seen at once from the inspection of the Drawings,that the machine
in a great measure resembles an ordinary stretching table or bench,differing,
however, in several important details; on this account I call my machine a

page_text: stretching spreader from its combining the principles of action similar to both
of these machines. T, T, is a revolving endless table, turning upon and with
the grooved cylinders d, d, the latter of which is fixed, and the former
moveable, in order to increase or diminish the tension upon the endless
table T, which is composed of a series of split rushes or reeds a,, screwed
at their extremities into the binders b, b, which are arranged parallel to each
other.
The cotton or cotton waste is spread on the table, and by it carried forward
to the first group of cylinders or rollers G,composed of three pairs, the bottom
ones numbered 1,2,and 3 being fluted, and the upper ones covered with cloth
or leather, similar to the ordinary friction rollers, the pressure being given to
them by means of the counterpoise A, suspended at the end of the lever C;
these fluted cylinders are driven at such a rate as will produce the requisite
amount of stretching upon the cotton. The cotton having undergone the first
stretching operation on these rollers,passes on to the second group of stretching
rollers H,also composed of three pairs,shaped similarly to the former ones, the
pressure being obtained by the counterpoise B, suspended from the lever D.
After being again subjected to a stretching action in passing through the second
group of cylinders, the cotton proceeds through the funnel e, and is conducted
between the two drawing cylinders or rollers f and g, whose surfaces
are smooth, the lower cylinder g having a rotatory motion. On leaving these
cylinders in the shape of the ribbon, it is received into the ordinary collecting
vessel.
Motion may be given to the machine from any suitable source,and conveyed
to it from the pulley p; on its axle is a pinion h, which, by means of inter-
mediate gearing wheels, the dimensions of which are properly calculated, the
desired rapidity of rotation may be given to the various moveable parts of the
machine.
In practice, I find, that in some cases considerable advantage may be
obtained, by substituting for the upper leather covered rollers in the group G,
a set of fluted iron rollers, similar to those below; or, instead of that
arrangement, the group G may be retained, and preceded by an equal
group having both the upper and under rollers fluted, by means of
which a more perfect lamination of the cotton is produced upon its leaving
the revolving table T. This arrangement I have shown in Figure 5 of the
Drawings.
Having now described my Invention, and how the same is constructed,
formed, and acts, I wish it understood that what I claim, and desire secured
°

page_text: to me by the before in part recited Letters Patent, is, the use of a machine
similar in the principles of construction and action to that described in
this Specification and more fully illustrated in the accompanying Drawings,
to be applied as a substitute for the present drum carding machine, and
to effect a similar but improved result upon cotton or cotton waste.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Wright, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this First day of February, One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-two.
JAMES WRIGHT. (L.S.)