IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR REMOVING BURRS AND OTHER EXTRANEOUS SUBSTANCES PROM WOOL OR SKINS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,.Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR REMOVING BURRS AND OTHER
EXTRANEOUS SUBSTANCES PROM WOOL OR SKINS."-A communication.
Scaled the 21st April 1858, and dated the 1st March 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st March 1858.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,'
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR REMOVING BURRS AND OTHER
-EXTRANEOUS SUBSTANCES FROM WOOL OR SKINS," to be as follows:-
This Invention of improved machinery for removing burrs and other
extraneous substances from wool or skins, relates to a machine for burring
and cleaning wool in the pelts or skins, which is effected by clamping the said
skins or pelts between feeding rollers and presenting them thus held by the
feed rollers to the action of a revolving cylinder armed with teeth and beaters,.
so arranged and combined as to enable the teeth to comb or straighten out the
fibre, whilst the beaters knock off the burrs and other extraneous matter, the
pelt being held by the feeding rollers so as to prevent all danger of being
drawn into, torn, or injured by the cylinder.
It is a fact well known to those in the trade that the wool on pelts as they

page_text: are found in the market, whether of home or foreign growth, are not unfre-
quently so thickly matted with burrs and other substances, that many of them
are from that cause nearly worthless, or at least to remove the burrs and other
substances from them by any of the modes hitherto known costs nearly as
much as the wool would be worth when thoroughly freed from such extraneous
substances.
The improved machine which forms the subject of the present Invention is
capable, with the assistance of two workmen, of cleaning twelve hundred and
fifty pelts in eleven hours, and of removing from them most perfectly, except
at the extreme edges and ends, burrs and all other extraneous substances, so
that by a simple washing the wool is perfectly cleaned. Pelts thus treated
are increased in their average values. This machine, although primarily
adapted to the removing of burrs and other substances from wool when on the
pelts, may be applied to the removing of any extraneous substance contained
in hair or fur when on the pelts or skins.
Machines for cleaning wool while on the pelts have been constructed, in
which cylinders have been arranged, with bars or beaters, to be used without
teeth, and also bars or beaters arranged with teeth on their periphery, but in
the improved machinery the teeth and bars are used in combination upon the
same cylinder, which arrangement is essential to the practical and successful
use of a machine for the purposes claimed.
The principal features of novelty in the machine are the adaptation to the
cleaning cylinder of teeth and beaters, also the combination with a feeding
apparatus which holds and controls the pelt of a cleaning cylinder, constructed
and operating as above mentioned.
Second, the employment of a pair of holding rollers, one being elastic and
the other non-elastic for holding and presenting the pelt in. a curved or bent
form to the action of the cleaning cylinder.
Third, in combination with the holding and presenting rollers, the employ
ment of grooved or indented feeding rollers, one of the said rollers being
elastic, and the other non-elastic.
Another novel feature consists in mounting one of the feed rolls and one of
the holding and presenting rolls on the main frame, while their fellows are
mounted upon a travelling carriage for the purpose of facilitating the intro
duction, turning, and-removal-of-the pelt when required.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 31st August 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM.
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me;
the said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said
William Edward Newton, my executors, adñññors, and assigns, or such.
others as I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR REMOVING BURRS AND OTHER
EXTRANEOUS SUBSTANCES PROM WOOL OR SKINS," being a communication
from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Edward Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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 William Edward Newton, do, hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention of improved machinery for removing burrs and other extra-
neous substances from wool or skins relates to a machine for burring and
cleaning wool in the pelts or skins, which is effected by clamping the said
skins or pelts between feeding rollers, and presenting them thus held by the
feed rollers to the action of a revolving cylinder armed with teeth and beaters
so arranged and combined as to enable the teeth to comb or straighten out the
fibre whilst the beaters knock off the burrs and other extraneous matters, the

page_text: pelt being held by the feeding rollers so as to prevent all danger of the pelt
or skin being drawn into or torn or injured by the cleaning cylinder.
It is a fact well known to those in the trade that the wool on pelts or skins
as they are found in the market, whether of home or foreign growth, are not
unfrequently so thickly matted with burrs and other substances that many of
them are from that cause nearly worthless, or at least to remove the burrs and
other substances from them by any of the modes hitherto known would cost nearly
as much as the wool would be worth when thoroughly freed from such extraneous
substances. It is also known to those in the trade that wool of a very superior
quality is grown in the South American states, and that from those states or
countries large amounts of pelts are annually shipped to other countries; but
there has not been any method of thoroughly removing the burrs with
which they are thickly matted, except by hand labor, which is too expensive.
The improved machine which forms the subject of the present Invention
is capable, with the assistance of two workmen, of cleaning one thousand two
hundred and fifty pelts or skins in eleven hours, and of removing from them
most perfectly, except at the extreme edges and ends, burrs and all other
extraneous substances, so that by a simple washing operation the wool may
be perfectly cleaned. Pelts or skins thus treated will be increased in their
average value,.
This machine, although primarily adapted for removing burrs and other
substances from wool when on the pelts or skins, may be applied for removing
any extraneous substance contained in hair or fur when on the pelts or skins.
Machines for cleaning wool while on the pelts have been constructed, in
which cylinders have been arranged with bars or beaters to be used without
teeth, and also bars or beaters arranged with teeth on their periphery; but in
the improved machinery forming the subject of the present Invention the
,teeth and bars are used in combination upon the same cylinder, which
arrangement is essential to the practical and successful use of a machine for
the intended purposes.
Machines have been constructed for similar purposes wherein the material
_to_be_acted_upon-was-presented-to-the-action-of-the-teeth-or-bars-by-being
stretched upon flat surfaces, but it has been found that such mode of presentation
is not practically successful, as the pelts are liable to be drawn into and around
the cleaning cylinder, and thereby incur the risk of being torn or damaged by
. the teeth of the cleaning cylinder.
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 is a plan view of the improved
machine, Fig. 2 is a front elevation, and Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view

page_text: of the machine. In the construction of the machine the frame N, N, may be
made of wood or metal (but the latter is preferred). Upon this frame all the
other parts of the machine are mounted. The picking or cleaning cylinder
A, A, should be made of metal, of any suitable length required for the par
5 ticular kind of work to be done, and about eight inches in diameter from point
to point of the teeth for four bars and four sets of teeth, as shewn in the
Drawing, and a proportionate increased diameter should be given to the clean-
ing cylinder if.a larger number of bars or teeth be used. The speed of an
cight-inch cylinder should be from eight to twelve hundred revolutions per
Ominute, and this cylinder may be driven by bands and pullies, or in any other
convenient manner. The bars B, B, of the cylinder A may be placed either
before or after the teeth C, C, and they may be made of wood or metal, and
firmly bolted to the cylinder and faced with metal, and should extend slightly
beyond the circle described by the teeth. The teeth C, C, are made crooked
or hook shaped, and are firmly fastened into bars which are bolted upon the
cylinder A, and may also be confined by rings to insure their attachment to
the cylinder. They may also be made adjustable so as to admit of their being
adapted to fibres of different length; or, the beaters B may be made adjust
able, which would effect the same object. The cylinder A must be well
balanced and made perfectly true, and the teeth C should not be placed
immediately behind each other, but arranged around the cylinder, so that they
would not follow in each other's track. This combination of bars and teeth.
upon the same cylinder produces upon the material to be operated upon results
not hitherto attained by any other arrangement of parts.
While the teeth comb and open the fibre, and at the same time separate
from it any substance that is to be removed, the bars or beaters remove
the substance thus separated and smooth down the fibres by their action, and
thereby present the fibres in a proper position to be opened or separated again.
This combination of bars or beaters with teeth upon the same cylinder also
prevents the material from being drawn into and around the cleaning cylinder
by the teeth taking too deep or firm hold of the wool on the pelt or skin.
G, G, is a hinged case or cap so arranged as to cover the cylinder A when in
operation, and to direct the substances (when removed from the wool) to some
place or receptacle beneath the machine. If desired, water may be discharged
beneath the cover upon the cleaning cylinder, or water may be brought in
contact with the cylinder in any other manner for the purpose of cleaning
it, and of being discharged upon the matérial that is being acted upon, and
also upon that which is removed and discharged beneath the machine.
The presenting roller D, D, is made either of wood or metal or of an elastic

page_text: substance depending upon the purpose for which the machine is used. It may
be from four to five inches in diameter, and is actuated by the friction of the
material when drawn over it by the grooved rollers F, F.
The roller D is mounted upon the reciprocating carriage P, and is moved
back and forth by the same. The elastic or yielding roller E is attached to
the main frame, and rests in elastic bearings which are acted upon by the
springs R, R, or weighted levers may be employed in place of the springs R.
This roller E seizes the material to be acted upon (as the reciprocating carriage
is moved forward), and confines it in close contact with the presenting roller
D, D. The lower grooved roller F has its bearings in boxes resting upon
the reciprocating carriage P, and should be deeply grooved and made of metal,
and be from three to four inches in diameter. This roller F, together with
the presenting roller D, are moved back and forth by the workman by means
of the hand wheel L, (Figures 1 and 2,) operating the pinion shaft K, K,
which works the pinion in the racks on the under side of the frame P, P.
When the frame is drawn back, the workman places the material J to be
operated upon over the lower grooved roller F and the presenting roller D.
The carriage P is then moved forward to its proper position (which is regulated
by an adjustable stop or guard). By this means the material is brought
forward to be acted upon, and at the same time the material is brought in
contact with and is clamped by the upper grooved elastic or yielding roller F
(which is supported by standards upon the main frame, in which elastic
bearings are placed.) The roller F is rotated by the worm gear I, and is
held down by the springs or weights O. The dividing board M, M, (Fig. 3)
separates the substances that are removed from the wool on the pelt or skin;
the least foul being discharged behind it, while that which is more foul is
deposited in front of it.
:
I have described one of each of the pairs of rolls F, F, and D, E, as being
elastic or yielding, and the other as non-elastic or mounted in rigid bearings
I do not, however, mean to confine myself to either one of the pairs or set
being so made, the object being to feed, hold, and control the pelt or flecc
-between-a-yielding-and-a-non-yielding-surface,-so-that-it-may-be-properl
presented and at the same time held away from the cleaning cylinder A
so as to prevent it from being caught or wound on the said cylinder, an
thereby damaged.
In the practical operation of this improved machine in removing from wo
on pelts or fleeces, burrs and other extraneous substances, but a very sma
portion of the good fibres are removed, but that which is injured and worthles
from any cause is entirely separated, and it has been found (the pelts havin

page_text: been first soaked in warm water) that after having been passed through the
machine the dirt and other foul substances contained in the wool can be much
more effectually removed by washing than could be done without being first
acted upon by the machine; and, in fact, the machine is of great utility in
treating pelts or fleeces with it even when it would not be necessary to pass
them through the machine simply for the purpose of removing burrs, as the
operation of the machine leaves the wool in a much better condition for
spinning or felting than can possibly be attained by any other known process.
Having thus fully described the Invention of "Improved Machinery for
removing Burrs and other Extraneous Substances from Wool or Skins," as
communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and having described the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I would observe that the principal
features of novelty in the machine which I desire to secure under the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent are,-
First, the adaptation to the cleaning cylinder of a combination of teeth and
beaters, and the employment of such a cylinder in combination with a feeding
apparatus which holds and controls the pelt or skin.
Second, the employment of a pair of holding rollers (one being elastic. or
yielding and the other non-elastic), whereby the pelt, skin, or fleece is held and
presented in a curved or bent form to the action of the cleaning cylinder.
Third, in combination with the holding and presenting rollers, I claim the
employment of grooved or indented feeding rollers, one of the said rollers being
elastic or yielding, and the other non-elastic or non-yielding.
Fourth, I claim mounting one of the feed rolls and one of the holding and
presenting rolls on the main frame, while their fellows are mounted upon a
travelling carriage for the purpose of facilitating the introduction, turning, and
removal of the pelt or fleece when required.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hercunto
set my hand and seal, the Thirtieth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)