IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR PREPARING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS FOR SPINNING.
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Higgins, of Salford, in the County of Lan-
caster, Machine Maker, and Thomas Schofield Whitworth, of the same
Place, Manager, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS FOR PREPARING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS FOR
SPINNING.'
.
Sealed the 3rd October 1861, and dated the 9th April 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Higgins and Thomas
Schofield Whitworth at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 9th April 1861.
We, JAMES HIGGINS, of Salford, in the County of Lancaster, Machine
Maker, and THOMAS SCHOFIELD WHITWORTH, of the same Place, Manager,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMIROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR PREPARING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
FOR SPINNING," to be as follows:-
Our Invention refers, firstly, to the carding engine, and consists, firstly, in
mounting the shaft which carries the doffer comb in bearings, which are
capable of swivelling, and the same arrangement we also apply to the crank
shaft of the doffing apparatus.
Secondly, we provide the crank shaft with a conical part as a bearing, such
part being capable of adjustment in order to compensate for wear.

page_text: Thirdly, we obtain two motions of the doffer comb for one revolution of the
crank or equivalent apparatus, and this we accomplish by attaching the
connecting rod between two levers, which are jointed together as a "toggle
joint," and carrying at one end a bell crank, which works the comb.
Another improvement in the carding engine consists in the employment of
the apparatus usually called an excentric, in place of the crank for causing the
doffer comb to vibrate.
Another improvement in the carding engine consists in giving motion to the
doffer comb by a cam, against which a part connected with the said comb is
drawn by means of a spring or equivalent apparatus. This cam we cause to
act direct, that is, without the intervention of a connecting rod.
Another part of our Invention refers to the slubbing or roving frame, and
consists in a method of mounting tubes or bolsters by which the spindles, are
supported, and consists in adapting them to compound bearings, which are
capable of turning at right angles to each other, so that the said tubes or
bolsters may swivel in similar directions.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Higgins and Thomas Schofield Whitworth in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 9th October 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JAMES
HIGGINS, of Salford, in the County of Lancaster, Machine Maker, and
THOMAS SCHOFIELD WHITWORTH, of the same Place, Manager, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, and in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said James Higgins and Thomas Schofield Whitworth, Her special license
that we, the said James Higgins and Thomas Schofield Whitworth, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such other persons as we, the said
James Higgins and Thomas Schofield Whitworth, our executors, administrators,
and assigns should 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 OR APPARATUS FOR PREPARING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS

page_text: FOR SPINNING," upon the condition, amongst others, that we, the said James
Higgins and Thomas Schofield Whitworth, by an instrument in writing under
our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, 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
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 Thomas Schofield Whitworth, 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 and accompanying Drawings, that is
to say:-
Our Invention refers, firstly, to the carding engine, and consists in mounting
the shaft which carries the doffer comb in bearings, which are capable of
swivelling, and the same arrangement we also apply to the crank shaft of the
doffing apparatus. The former of these is represented at Figs. 1 and 2, Fig. 1
being a plan view of the doffer comb and its shaft and bearings; and Fig. 2, a
section of the fixing which carries the said shaft, and shewing the parts which
swivel. The doffer comb is at a, mounted upon the shaft b, which shaft is carried
by blocks, as at c; these blocks are provided with pins d, which are capable of
turning in a second pair of blocks e, furnished with pins f, capable of turning
in the fixing g. The pins d and f are capable of being held firmly in their
respective blocks c, e, by means of screws h, i. Supposing the said screws,
however, to be loosened, it is obvious that the shaft 6 may be swivelled in two
directions at right angles to each other until a correct position has been
attained, which position may then be rendered permanent by tightening the
screws h, i.
Fig. 3 represents a portion of a carding engine, and showing the method of
applying the above-described swivelling to the crank shaft of the doffing
apparatus. The shaft is shewn at k, mounted in a block 1, which, by means of
a pin m, is capable of swivelling in a block n, which block is also capable of
swivelling by means of a pin q, precisely after the manner described in
reference to the doffer comb shaft, and there are in this instance also tightening
screws o, p, by which the blocks I, n, and consequently the shaft k, may be
retained in a certain position when the necessary adjustment 'has been
effected.
'
The next part of our Invention consists in providing the crank shaft of the
doffer comb with conical parts as bearings, such parts being capable of adjust-
ment, in order to compensate for wear. This arrangement is shewn at Fig. 1,

page_text: before referred to. To the shaft 6 are adapted bosses r, secured thereto by
means of screws s; these bosses are provided with conical parts t, mounted in
the bearings u. As the said conical parts become worn they may be loosened
upon the shaft b by turning the screws s, and pushed forward, within their
bearings, when the screws being again tightened, the said bearings will be
exactly fitted.
Another part of our Invention consists in attaining two motions of the doffer
comb for one revolution of the crank or equivalent apparatus, and this we
accomplish by attaching the connecting rod between two levers, which are
jointed together as a toggle joint. This arrangement is shewn at Fig. 3, before
referred to, and also at Fig. 4, in which the crank is at v, and the connecting
rod thereof at w. This rod is jointed to two levers x, y, which are themselves
jointed together at the same point. The lever a turns upon a fixed centre at =,
and the outward end of the other lever is jointed to one part of a bell crank 1,
the other part 2 thereof carrying the doffer comb. 3. Supposing the crank to
be revolving in the direction of the arrow, the levers x, y, will be drawn down-
ward, so as to move the comb in the direction of its arrow, and this will
continue through one half of a revolution of the crank, but upon the second
half of the revolution being commenced the comb will be moved in the other
direction.
Another part of our Invention, according to our Provisional Specification,
consisted in the employment of the apparatus usually called the excentric, in
place of the crank used for causing the doffer comb to vibrate; also, according
to our Provisional Specification, we proposed giving motion to the doffer comb
by means of a cam, against which a part connected with the said comb was
drawn by means of a spring or equivalent apparatus, and this cam was proposed
to act direct, that is to say, without the intervention of a connecting rod, but
since the filing of the said Provisional Specification, we have found that the
said arrangements were not new, and lay no claim thereto.
Another part of our Invention, according to our Provisional Specification,
referred to the slubbing and roving frame, and consisted in a method of
mounting tubes or bolsters for the support of the spindles, and consisted in
adapting them to compound bearings, capable of turning at right angles to
each other, but the said arrangement was inserted in error, it having been
previously patented by us, and is now described in the Specification of the said
Patent, dated the Ninth day of February, One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-one, No. 381.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of our said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, we desire it to be

page_text: understood that we claim as secured to us under the above in part recited
Letters Patent,-
Firstly, mounting the shaft which carries the doffer comb in bearings, which
are capable of swivelling.
Secondly, mounting the crank shaft after the same manner.
Thirdly, providing the crank shaft with conical parts, which may be adjusted
in the bearings when desired.
Fourthly, the arrangement for working the doffer comb, whereby two
motions thereof are obtained for one revolution of the crank or equivalent
apparatus.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Schofield Whitworth, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Eighth day of October, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-one.
THOMAS SCHOFIELD WHITWORTH. (L.S.)