IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING AND SPINNING FLAX, HEMP, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Lowry, of the City of Manchester, Machinist,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING AND
SPINNING FLAX, HEMP, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS."
Scaled the 28th August 1855, and dated the 2nd March 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Lowry at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 2nd
March 1855.
J, GEORGE LOWRY, of the City of Manchester, Machinist, do hereby declaro
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
PREPARING AND SPINNING FLAX, HEMP, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," to bo
as follows:-
The nature of my Invention consists in certain improved combinations of
parts for combing and drawing fibrous materials to be used in lieu of the
ordinary screw gills or other combing machinery hitherto employed. When
my improvements are used in the place of screw gills, the feeding rollers and
the delivery roller remain as before, but the fallers are dispensed with, and a
comb or gill or a series of combs or gills of any convenient length are made
to strike into the fibrous material and drop out of it in rapid succession.
Guards are placed at intervals above and below the fibrous material to prevent

page_text: it rising when the combs or gills strike into it, and following the pins when
they drop out. I prefer to make the pins of the combs or gills fine or close
together near the delivery roller, and further apart near the feed rollers. The
combs or gills are made to move up and down by a tappet wheel on the
delivery roller, or by other suitable mechanism; and by increasing or dimi-
nishing the length of the combs or gills, and mounting the feed rollers in
adjustable bearings, the same machine may be adapted to comb or prepare
long or short stapled fibrous material. By means of the above improved
mode of applying the combs or gills, I am enabled to reduce very considerably
the distance between the comb or gill and the nip of the delivery roller.
This is of the greatest importance in preparing short stapled fibrous material.
My improvements are also applicable to carding engines and other machines
used in preparing and spinning tow and other fibrous materials.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Lowry in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
31st August 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
LOWRY, of the City of Manchester, Machinist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said George Lowry, Her special license that I, the said George Lowry,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
George Lowry, my executors, administrators, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR PREPARING AND SPINNING FLAX, HEMP, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Lowry, by an instru-
ment 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Lowry, 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): -
The nature of my said Invention of Improvements in Machinery for Pre-
paring and Spinning Flax, Hemp, and other Fibrous Materials, consists in
causing a comb or combs to strike into and leave the fibrous material when in
a state of tension, or being elongated, such combs having only an up and down
motion, but no travelling motion, as in the ordinary screw gills; also in making
combs with pins closer together near the delivery roller and further apart
near the feed roller, whereby the combing and drawing of the fibrous material
is more effectually performed than by the screw gills or other machinery
hitherto employed.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me,
reference being had to the accompanying Drawing and to the letters and
figures marked thereon.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of part of a drawing frame suitable for
drawing flax, to which my improvements are applied; Figure 2 is a plan of the
same. a is the guide plate, over which the slivers are conducted; b, c, and d
are the feed rollers, and e and ƒ are the delivery rollers. These and all the
other parts of the machine which are not shewn in the Drawing are made in
the usual manner. Between the feed roller d and delivery roller e, or in the
space usually occupied by the gill combs or heckles, or other combing appa-
ratus, is placed my improved machinery for combing the fibrous material.
This machinery consists of the combs or gills g, four of which are shewn in
the plan view, but a greater or less number may be used if required. The
pins of these combs or gills I prefer to make close together near the delivery
roller, and further apart near the feed roller, but ordinary combs may be used.
They are fixed to a cross plate h, supported by the springs i, i, which are
attached to the guide plate a, or to any other fixed part of the machine. The
combs or gills are made to strike into and drop out of the fibrous material in
rapid succession in the following manner:-They are drawn down out of the
slivers by the ratchet wheel c', fixed to the delivery roller e, acting on the small
anti-friction roller j, supported in the bracket k, projecting from the plate h,
and they are raised again to strike into the slivers by the springs i. The

page_text: The
combs or gills may also be moved in any other convenient manner.
slivers in their passage from the feed roller & to the delivery roller e are con-
ducted between two sets of guard wires, I and m. The object of these guards
is to prevent the fibrous material rising when the combs or gills strike into the
slivers from below, and from descending when the combs or gills are drawn
out. The mode of operation is as follows:-The relative velocities of the
rollers & and e having been determined according to the draught to be given to
the slivers, the machine is set in motion; the combs or gills g, which are shewn
in Figure 1 below the fibrous material, are raised by the springs i as soon as the
ratchet wheel e¹ has moved sufficiently to allow the roller j to enter between
the teeth, thereby causing the pins of the combs or gills to penetrate through
the slivers, or into the position shown by dotted lines in Figure 1, the guards t
preventing the slivers rising. When the next tooth of the ratchet wheel
comes against the roller j, the pins of the combs or gills are drawn out of the
slivers, and the guards m prevent the slivers going down with the combs or
gills. By increasing or diminishing the number of teeth in the ratchet wheel
e', a quicker or slower up and down motion may be given to the combs or
gills. This striking of the combs or gills into the slivers and the dropping out
thercof, combined with the drawing or elongation of the slivers, which is
effected in the ordinary manner by making the delivery roller revolve faster
than the feed roller, produce the desired effect of combing and drawing the
slivers, and of removing dirt or other impurities from the fibrous material.
After the slivers have passed between the delivery rollers e and f, they are
conveyed to the cans in the usual manner. These improvements are par-
ticularly beneficial in preparing short stapled fibrous material, owing to the
great reduction in the space between the nip of the delivery rollers and the
last row of pins in the combs or gills. I also propose to make the gills or
combs g in two or more parts, and to give up and down motion to each part
in succession, so that when parts of the gills or combs are in the fibrous
material the other parts are drawn down. It will be apparent, that by
mounting the feeding or delivery rollers in adjustable bearings, the distance
between them can be increased or diminished, thereby rendering the same
machine capable of being used for long or short stapled fibrous material.
My improvements are also applicable to the drawing heads of carding
engines, and to other machines used in preparing and spinning fibrous
materials. When my improvements are applied to such machinery, a short
comb is made to rise and drop between the front roller and the one behind it;
but such a comb may be applied between the front roller and the callender

page_text: rollers, or in any other convenient position. By this means the pins of the
comb are made to enter and leave the fibrous material in its passage from one
roller to another.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described the manner
of performing the same, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself
to the details herein set forth, as the same may be varied without departing
from the peculiar character of my Invention; and that what I do claim is, the
improvements in machinery shewn and described, whereby a comb or combs
is made to strike into and leave fibrous material when in a state of tension;
also making the pins of combs nearer together near the delivery roller, and
further apart near the feed roller.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Lowry, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Thirtieth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
H. B. BARLOW,
Manchester.
GEO. LOWRY.