IMPROVE- MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE PREPARATION OR TREATMENT OF HEMP AND OTHER TEXTILE MATERIALS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE PREPARATION OR
TREATMENT OF HEMP AND OTHER TEXTILE MATERIALS."-A communication
from abroad by François Jules Vignaud, of Paris, in the Empire of
France, Manufacturer.
Sealed the 10th August 1863, and dated the 27th February 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th February 1863.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE PREPARATION
OB TREATMENT OF HEMP AND OTHER TEXTILE MATERIALS," a communication from
abroad by Francois Jules Vignaud, of Paris, in the Empire of France,
Manufacturer, to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery or apparatus
employed in the preparation or treatment of hemp and other textile materials,
and consists of a peculiar construction and arrangement of feeding apparatus
for feeding the various machines employed in rendering the fibres of hemp
and other textile materials fine and supple. According to this Invention it is
proposed to construct the feeding apparatus in such a manner that tufts or

page_text: handsful of the fibrous material will be introduced between and amongst the
layers or lap already formed upon the feeding table or endless cloth, with a
view to the formation of a fluce or lap. This lap is thus composed of several
successive layers so disposed that each fresh layer, as fast as it is introduced
into the main lap at a certain point, will be covered both above and below by
the layers already introduced, and forming the feeding lap or principal layer
of the machine.
The improved feeding apparatus consists essentially of two open frames,
hinged freely upon the axis of the fluted feeding roller, which presses upon the
lap contained on the feeding surface or table. One of these frames is rather
shorter than and works within the other, but on the same centre of motion.
By successively lowering and raising these frames the handsful or tufts will
be deposited in regular order in the layer on the table. After placing a
certain quantity of the fibrous material to be operated upon under the cross
bar of the longer frame, which is turned down for that purpose, the shorter
frame is elevated in order to divide the layer which is about to pass under the
grooved feeding roller. Another handful of the fibre is now interposed by
placing it over the cross bar of the longer frame, when it is presently drawn
in under the roller along with the rest of the layer. By this mode of feeding,
whereby the handsful are introduced into the middle of the lap or layer,
greater regularity of feed is obtained, and the clogging or choking of the
machine is prevented.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 27th August 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said John
Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and

page_text: 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 EMPLOYED IN THE PREPARATION
OR TREATMENT OF HEMP AND OTHER TEXTILE MATERIALS," a communication to
me from abroad by François Jules Vignaud, of Paris, in the Empire of
France, Manufacturer, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
John Henry Johnson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, or under the hand and seal of one of them,
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 John Henry Johnson, 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 accompanying Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:―
The said Invention has for its object improvements in machinery or
apparatus employed in the preparation or treatment of hemp and other textile
materials, and consists in a peculiar construction and arrangement of feeding
apparatus for feeding the various machines employed in rendering the fibres
of hemp and other textile materials fine and supple. According to this Inven-
tion it is proposed to construct the feeding apparatus in such a manner that
tufts or handfuls of the fibrous material will be introduced between and
amongst the layers or lap already formed upon the feeding table or endless
cloth, with a view to the formation of a fleece or lap. This lap is thus com-
posed of several successive layers so disposed that each fresh layer, as fast as
it is introduced into the main lap at a certain point, will be covered both
above and below by the layers already introduced, and forming the feeding lap
or principal layer of the machine.
The improved feeding apparatus consists essentially of two open frames
hinged upon the axis of the fluted feeding roller, which presses upon the
lap contained on the feeding surface or table. One of these frames is
rather shorter than and works within the other, but on the same centre of
motion. By successively lowering and raising these frames the handfuls or
tufts will be deposited in regular order in the layer on the table. After
placing a certain quantity of the fibrous material to be operated upon under
the cross bar of the longer frame, which is turned down for that
the
purpose,

page_text: shorter frame is elevated in order to divide the layer which is about to pass
under the grooved feeding roller. Another handful of the fibre is now inter-
posed by placing it over the cross bar of the longer frame, when it is presently
drawn in under the roller along with the rest of the layer. By this mode of
feeding, whereby the handfuls are introduced into the middle of the lap or
layer, greater regularity of feed is obtained, and the clogging or choking of
the machine is prevented.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all the
Figures.
Figure 1 of the Drawings represents a side elevation of the machine
herein-before referred to, a portion of the feeding device being shown in
section in order to show the arrangement of the fibres in forming the con-
tinuous lap; Figure 2 is a plan of the same; Figure 3 is a longitudinal section
of another part of the machine where the fibres are worked or softened.
In order that the general construction of the machine may be better under-
stood, I shall describe successively the working organs which act directly upon
the fibrous material, the mechanism which drives or actuates the same, and,
lastly, the arrangement for feeding or supplying the fibrous material to the
machine, which portion constitutes the chief feature of the said Invention.
The parts which act directly upon the fibres consist of two plates A, A',
grooved horizontally, perforated by a rectangular hole a or a', and situate in
the centre of the machine. These plates are held in position by the lugs
8, 81, cast on the framing or standard B, which supports all the principal parts
of the machine. Four lugs O, cast on the grooved plates A, A¹, receive the
pins or rods S, which are encircled by a helical spring S', intended to bring the
plates nearer together in proportion as the hemp under treatment causes them
to separate more or less. The tension of these springs is adjusted by means
of the thumb nuts D. A cross arm c admits of each rod or pin S being
turned upon itself in order to engage or disengage a small pin o in a notch or
slot formed in the corresponding lug O. It is between these plates A, A¹,
that the "guillotine" G works, in order to raise and depress alternately the
hemp which passes through a rectangular opening g, and so subject it to a
rubbing action against the grooved surfaces of the plates A, A¹.
Figure 5 is a detail of the "guillotine" and grooved plates in section,
showing the hemp depressed between the plates, the "guillotine" G being in
its lowest position. This "guillotine" is represented as being smooth on each

page_text: side, but it may be grooved similar to the plates A, A', when required for
working other kinds of fibres of a more stubborn nature. It is actuated by
the cross head T, guided in the slots 6, its ends being connected to the rods E'
of the eccentrics E, keyed on the shaft v. This shaft, which also carries a
small eccentric e, the use of which I shall herein-after refer to, is provided
with a fly wheel V and fast-and-loose driving pullies P, P¹, driven from any
convenient prime mover. In front of and behind the plates A, A¹, are
disposed the fluted feeding rollers K, J, L, and K', J, L', between which
passes the hemp to be operated upon. The rollers J, L, and J', L', are driven
one from the other by the pinions j, l, and j', ', whilst those marked K and K'
are driven by the worm wheels H, H³, in gear with the endless screws h and h¹,
keyed on to a small shaft I, placed parallel to the framing B. On the end of
the shaft I is keyed a ratchet wheel r, in the teeth of which engages a pall
carried by the vertical sliding rod (Figure 1); this rod is moved at each
revolution of the shaft by means of the levers e³ and e¹, actuated by the small
eccentric e. The amount of oscillation of the levers e³, e³, is regulated at
pleasure, so that the pall will take a greater or smaller number of teeth in the
wheel r, and thereby impart a greater or less speed of rotation to the circum-
ference of the fluted rollers J, K, L, and J, K, L. The counterweights p²,
mounted on the ends of the lever p, exert a downward pressure upon the
upper rollers J, J', under which the hemp or other fibrous material passes.
I shall now proceed to describe the apparatus for feeding the machine con-
tinuously with hemp or other fibres in the form of a lap or layer. The
material to be operated upon is delivered to the fluted rollers by the endless
web t, driven by the roller M; this web, which rests on its upper side upon the
table t¹, may be more or less inclined according as the adjustable supports
which carry the second roller m are raised or lowered. These supports are
fixed to two bars R, forming the rails, upon which runs the carriage C, carrying
the hemp previously spread thereon. The rails are steadied and secured by
cross pieces, placed at the ends and at the parts where the vertical supports
are joined. Near the longitudinal centre of the table t¹ there is a fluted
roller U, which serves to compress the layers of hemp and unite them
together. At each side of this roller are fitted the bars x, x¹, which being
united by round bars of wrought iron at their extremities form two frames,
which are capable of oscillating upon the axis of the fluted pressing roller;
these frames serve as separators or dividers for all the layers placed over
them, and prevent their mingling with each other till they are finally united
in one lap under the compressing roller. Each lateral bar of the frames is
formed with a notch f, f', in which enters the fixed stop y when either of

page_text: the frames is turned up, the stop y being adjustable by means of the slot at its
lower extremity, where it is secured to one of the rails R. The layers or
handfuls of hemp or other fibrous material are first spread in the carriage C,
so as to divide and smooth the same into the form of a regular lap before it is
introduced into the centre of the lap or layer already upon the endless, band t.
The yellow lines in Figures 1, 3, and 5 represent the fibres already regularly
engaged in the working or dressing parts of the machine, whilst the red lines
indicate the tufts or handfuls to be successively interposed as the feeding
proceeds. The operation of the machine is as follows:-The fibrous material,
such as hemp, flax, jute, and similar substances brought forward by the
carriage C, are laid upon the endless web t, which conducts them direct
between the fluted rollers J, K, L, whence they pass through the aperture in
the grooved plate A, that in the "guillotine "G, and finally through the
aperture in the second plate A¹, to be caught by the rollers K', J', L', which
draw them along. During their traverse along, the fibres are drawn up and
forced down alternately between the plates A, A¹, by the "guillotine " G,
which receives its vertical reciprocating motion from the eccentrics E; they
are thus subjected to a certain amount of rubbing or friction against the
roughened or grooved faces of the plates A, A³, which imparts the desired
softness of texture and removes any gummy or woody matters adhering to the
fibres. The springs S admit of the plates A, A¹, opening more or less, accord-
ing to the bulk of the fibres contained between them. The fibrous substances
having been thus operated upon are guided by the roller M', and slide over a
metallic plate or other surface n, which conducts them out of the machine.
The introduction of the fibres into the lap already extended upon the endless
web is effected in the following manner:-When the carriage C is near the
endless web the frame a¹ is elevated, then, after having divided the lap in two
equal parts, one of them is raised and supported by the round cross bar of the
frame a¹, as shown in yellow lines in Figure 1. The other frame x is lowered
so as to hold down the second half of the lap. The tufts or handfuls on the
carriage next the web are now taken and so placed in the lap that on bringing
down the frame a³, and with it the fibres it maintained elevated, these handfuls
of fresh fibres just introduced (shown in red lines in the Drawing, Figure 1)
will be covered below and above by the fibres already engaged in the feeding
rollers of the machine. The lap thus continues without interruption, and is
supplied in a regular manner to the machine without risk of choking or
clogging the rollers.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried

page_text: into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
First, the peculiar mode of feeding machines for the softening or dressing
of flax, hemp, jute, and similar fibrous materials by placing the newly supplied
fibres in the midst of those already engaged in the machine, so that they will
be covered both above and below by the fibres already fed in, as herein-before
described.
Second, the peculiar construction and arrangement of feeding apparatus as
and for the purpose herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of August, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-three.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.B.)