IMPROVEMENTS IN OR APPLICABLE TO MACHINERY FOR PREPARING WOOL OR OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES FOR COMBING OR SPINNING
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Shaw, of the Firm of John Shaw and
Sons, of Stainland, in the County of York, Manufacturers, Joseph
Shaw Sleath, Manufacturer, and John Holt, Mechanic, both of
the same Place, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN OR APPLICABLE
TO MACHINERY FOR PREPARING WOOL OR OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES FOR
COMBING OR SPINNING."
lealed the 30th January 1874, and dated the 31st July 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Shaw, Joseph
Shaw Sleath, and John Holt at the Office of the Commissioners
of Patents, with their Petition, on the 81st July 1878.
We, SAMUEL SHAW, of the Firm of John Shaw and Sons, of Stainland,
in the County of York, Manufacturers, JOSEPH SHAW SLEATH, Manu-
facturer, and JOHN HOLT, Mechanic, both of the same Place, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN OR
APPLICABLE TO MACHINERY FOR PREPARING WOOL OR OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
FOR COMBING OR SPprise," to be as follows :—
"
This Invention relates to mechanical means of transferring or
removing the wool or other fibrous substance (under process of

page_text: -
preparing from one "preparer to the next, in the series of machines
required for the purpose of "preparing" or forming wool or other
fibres into slivers ready for combing or spinning. Hitherto this operation
has usually been performed by the attendant breaking open the "lap"
when formed on the "lap sheet" at the delivery end of the "preparer" 5
or machine, and removing the same by hand to and placing it about the
feed brat or apron of the next in succession, and so on from one to
another in the series of machines.
Now our improvements consist in constructing and applying a pair of
nippers or jaws, capable of opening and closing at proper times, 1
mounted on a vibratory or oscillatory frame operated in such manner as
to seize the lap of wool or other fibres when formed on the usual “
"lap
sheet" at the delivery end of the first machine and carry or transfer it
to the next or second machine, and lay it upon the feed apron thereof,
an oscillatory knife or divider being also applied and operated so as to 1
divide or sever the lap at the proper time for the transfer.
We also employ tubes or pipes suitably arranged and placed to convey
a current of air from a fan to assist in severing the lap and in laying the
same upon the feed apron.
Motion to this apparatus may be communicated by gearing cranks 2
and levers from the driving shaft or other moving part of the preparer,
and the apparatus may be placed betwixt each two of the series of
preparers employed in succession.
By means of this Invention the continual attention of the attendant
is dispensed with, and the transfer or removal of the laps from one 2
machine to another is more regular, consequently the slivers formed
thereby are more uniform in thickness than heretofore by the employ-
ment of hand labour.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Samuel Shaw, Joseph Shaw Sleath, and John 8
Holt in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 31st January 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, SAMUEL
SHAW, of the Firm of John Shaw and Sons, of Stainland, in the County

page_text: it is drawn forward, and by the motion of the oscillatory or swing knife H
it is completely severed from the accumulating fibre on the lap sheet B,
the lap is thereby laid upon the creeper G, which carries the same
forward by the oscillatory motion of the arms in the direction of the
dotted lines J, as indicated by the arrow, to the position shewn by dotted
lines, when by the travelling motion of the creeper G the lap is deposited
upon the feed apron K of the succeeding preparer.
Motion is communicated from the main shaft L of the first preparer
by a connecting rod M to the oscillatory frame D, which also .gives
motion by the rod N to the arms I carrying the creeper sheet G, the
rod N being provided with a slot hole N¹ to produce a dwell at each end
of its stroke to receive the lap from the nippers and to deliver it to the
creeper.
Motion is communicated also from the main shaft L by shaft O and
3 bevil gearing P and P¹ to the shaft Q, thence by belt R to a friction box
pulley S, which by belt T gives motion to the creeper sheet G. This
friction box is thrown out of gear by a cam U acting on a combination
of levers V., V', and V³, so as to stop the motion of the said creeper G at
the time of receiving the lap.
Motion is given to the dividing knife H by means of a spring W,
when the lever W₁ is liberated from a catch lever W³, which holds it in
the position shown, when the frame D comes into contact with the said
lever in its oscillatory motion towards the end for the delivery of the
lap. The said knife H is fixed to a pair of levers H³ hinged on the
5 framework at H, and connected by a rod H³ to the lever W¹, and
the inverted position after severing the lap is shewn by the dotted
lines.
The closing of the nipping jaws is effected by means of springs a
operating upon levers b, which are attached to slide plates o carried in
O the framework & fixed on the first preparer, and to which plates are fixed
arms e bearing on the ends of the slide rods f, which carry the nipping
jaws when the said jaws are at liberty to move, but they are held in the
open position shewn by the catches g, entering notches in the slide
plates until required to be closed, when tappets or cams h, on the
5 perhiphery of the circular plates i, operate on the ends of the rods ; and
lift the catches out of the notches, and thereby liberate the nipping

page_text: jaws, allowing them to be closed, and they are held closed by catches
k entering notches in the slide rods f until the lap is broken and
transferred to the creeper G, when the said catches / coming into contact
with arms are lifted out of the notches, and the jaws are opened by
the flat springs m; the levers 6 meanwhile during the transfer having t
been operated upon by cams n on the plates i to move the slide plates c
and the propelling arms e back to the open position ready for the next
stroke or closing of the said jaws; p and q are tubes to convey currents
of air from a fan placed in any convenient position, which forces the
said current through a series of tubes or jets upon the lap sheet B to 1
assist in dividing the lap, and also upon the lap when placed upon the
creeper G to assist in causing it to lay evenly thereon.
We may also employ apparatus as shewn in dotted lines attached to
the lever H¹ and to the frame A to lay the remaining fibre on the lap
sheet; and we may also employ apparatus as shewn by dotted lines 1
connected by brackets to the slide frame d operated by a rod from the
rod M to assist in laying the fibre properly on the sheet G.
The knife H is brought back to its normal position by means of an
arm R fixed on the shaft Q, which operates upon a lever s, to which is
attached a chain & passing around the axis of the lever H³, so that when 2
the said lever & is forced down the chain draws the knife into the
position shewn ready for the next dividing of a lap thereby. Thus the
operations of this apparatus are continued at suitable intervals of time.
When a lap of sufficient thickness or quantity of fibre is formed on the
lap sheet of one preparer or machine it is broken and transferred to the 2
feed apron of the next preparer or machine without the aid or attention
of an attendant, and the slivers produced thereby are of a more uniform
thickness than when hand labour is employed in the breaking and
transferring the lap from one machine to another.
Having thus fully described the nature of our Invention, and shewn 3
by Drawings how the same is to be or may be performed or carried into
practical operation, we would have it distinctly understood that we do
not confine ourselves to the precise details of construction or arrangement
above described, nor do we claim any of the parts separately considered,
but what we do claim as our Invention is, the construction and com- 3
bination of mechanism for the purpose of transferring slivers of wool or

page_text: other fibrous substances from one preparing machine to another, sub-
stantially as herein shewn and described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Samuel Shaw, Joseph Shaw
Sleath, and John Holt, have hereunto set our hands and seals,
this Thirtieth day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.