IMPROVED MACHINERY OR APPARATUS BAD BOUATE OF TAN BAY ADM AD THEMI
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Davison, of Ballymena, in the County
of Antrim, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY OR APPARATUS
BAD BOUATE OF TAN BAY ADM
AD THEMI MA
Sealed the 4th April 1876, and dated the 7th October 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Davison at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th October 1875.
I, RICHARD DAVISON, of Ballymena, in the County of Antrim, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS FOR BREAKING OR TREATING FLAX AND SIMILAR TEXTILE MATERIALS,”
to be as follows, that is to
say:-
This Invention has for its object to substitute for the ordinary
scutching process, as applied to flax and similar textile materials, the
action of improved machinery or apparatus designed to secure the
desired result in a superior manner and without the great waste of fibre
which accompanies the scutching operation.

page_text: The improved machinery or apparatus comprises a horizontal table or
surface along which the flax is made to travel intermittently by pairs of
rollers which are suitably driven, the lower roller of each pair being
contained in a recess in the table. In the space between one pair of
rollers and the next there are placed two pairs of breaker bars parallel
to the rollers, these pairs of bars being arranged to grip the flax at one
time and to let it pass onwards at another. One pair of the breaker bars
does not move forwards or backwards but holds the flax, whilst the other
pair with the flax gripped between them at about an inch forward of the
first pair of bars is made to reciprocate rapidly backwards and forwards.
The effect of this action is first to "break" the flax midway between
the two pairs of breaker bars, and then with succeeding reciprocations
or blows to thoroughly loosen the shove or shive or even entirely separate
it. On the reciprocation of the breaker bars having been continued long
enough on the portion of flax temporarily held between them, the bars
are opened or separated sufficiently to allow the rollers to move the flax
far enough forward to bring the next part between the bars. In order
to complete the separation of the shove the flax is in its onward progress
after passing between a pair of rollers subjected to the action of a pair
of bars which may be termed "shears," their action being similar to
that of a pair of blunt shears, one bar being beneath the flax and the
other above it, and one or both bars being moved so as to bend or deflect
the flax over their edges, and thereby effect the desired separation.
The herein-before described operations will it is believed clean the flax
in a superior manner and without the loss of fibre inseparable from the
ordinary scutching process, the improved processes being such as to
remove nothing but the shove, and also having the further important
advantage of finally delivering the flax in a condition requiring less labor
in the subsequent manufacturing operations.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand 'eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors
give and grant unto me, the said Richard Davison, Her special licence
that I, the said Richard Davison, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Richard Davison, 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
"IMPROVED MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR BREAKING OR TREATING FLAX AND
SIMILAR TEXTILE MATERIALS,” upon the 'condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Richard Davison, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, 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 Richard Davison, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, in writing, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
'
My said Invention has for its object to substitute for the ordinary
scutching process, as applied to flax and similar textile materials, the
action of improved machinery or apparatus designed to secure tho desired
result in a superior manner, and without the great waste of fibro which
accompanies the soutching operation.
In a machine made according to my Invention the flax is made to
travel intermittently through by means of pairs of rollers, and in the
space between two pairs of rollers there are placed two pairs of breaker
bars parallel to the rollers, these pairs of bars being arranged to grip the
flax at one time, and to let it pass onwards at another. One pair of the
bars does not move forwards or backwards but holds the flax, whilst the

page_text: other pair with the flax gripped between them is made to reciprocate
rapidly backwards and forwards. The effect of this action is first to
"break" the flax midway between the two pairs of breaker bars, and
then with succeeding reciprocations or blows to thoroughly loosen the
shove or shive, or even entirely separate it. On the reciprocation of the
breaker bars having been continued long enough on the portion of the
flax temporarily held between them the bars are opened or separated
sufficiently to allow the rollers to move the flax a little forward, and
thereby bring a fresh part into the space between the two pairs of bars.
If the shove is not completely separated by the action of the breaker
bars it may be subsequently acted on by a pair of bars which may be
termed "shears," their action being similar to that of a pair of blunt
shears, as herein-after more fully described.
And in order that my said Invention, and the manner of performing
the same may be properly understood, I hereunto append a Sheet of 1
explanatory Drawings to be herein-after referred to, and representing
by way of example a small machine as made for breaking or treating
flax according to my improved method. In these Drawings the same
reference numerals are used for marking the same or like parts wherever
they are repeated.
Figures 1 and 2 on the Sheet of Drawings are respectively transverse
and longitudinal vertical sections of the machine, and the framing
consists mainly of two end plates 5 connected by two longitudinal
rails 6. The end plates 5 are formed with vertical slots for the bearings
of two pairs of iron rollers 7, 8, and the upper bearings are pressed
down by means of springs 9, the pressure of which can be adjusted by
screws 10 held in overhanging extensions of the end plates 5. In the
space between the two pairs of rollers 7, 8, there are four breaker bars
11, 12, 13, 14, arranged in two pairs. The bottom bar 11 of the first
pair is fixed to the end framo plates 5, and the upper bar 12 is pressed
down on it by springs 15 adjustably held by screws in straps 16 fixed to
the lower bar 11 and passing over the upper bar 12, being sunk into
grooves in the sides of the bars. Similar springs 17 and straps 18
press the second pair of bars 13, 14, together. These bars 13, 14, are
guided on pins 19 fixed to the other pair of bars 11, 12, and the bottom
bar 13 is at points near each end jointed to a pair of levers 20 centered
on downward extensions of the end frame plates 5. The levers 20
are jointed to the rods 21 of two eccentrics 22 on a horizontal shaft 23,

page_text: fitted with fast and loose pulleys 24 for a driving belt, and carried in
bearings formed or fixed on the frame. The levers 20 are formed with
curved slots to admit of the joint connecting them with the eccentric
rods 21 being fixed at different points so as to vary the effective stroke.
The action-of the-eccentrics-causes the pair of-breaker-bars 13,14,-to-reci-
procate rapidly in a horizontal or nearly horizontal direction in the space
between the other pair of bars 11, 12, and the rollers 8. At certain
intervals the upper bars 12, 14, are lifted by means of pins 25 fixed in
their ends, and entered through slots in the heads of lifting bars 26,
which lifting bars work in guides formed for them in the end frame
plates 5, and are at their lower ends attached to a longitudinal bar 27.
This bar 27 is lifted by a small cam 28 on a transverse shaft 29 driven
by means of a worm wheel 30 and worm 31 from the first motion
shaft 23. The same transverse shaft 29 has on it another cam. 32
which at each turn of the shaft depresses one arm of a lever 33, and
the other arm 34 of this lever in consequence lifts a vertically guided
bar 35, so as by a pawl 36 jointed to its upper end and acted on by a
spring to act on a ratchet wheel 37 fixed on the journal of one of the
rollers 8 and turn the roller round a short distance in the direction for
moving the flax through the machine. The ratchet wheel 37 is indicated
by dotted lines in Figure 1, in which Figure are also shown in
dotted red lines the pitch circles of three spur wheels 38, by which
motion is transmitted from the lower roller 8 to the lower roller of the
other pair 7.
The flax is laid on a board 39 and is entered first, between the pair of
rollers 8; secondly, between the pair of horizontally reciprocating
breaker bars 13, 14; thirdly, between the other pair of breaker bars 11,
12; and fourthly, between the rollers 7 which deliver it upon a board
40. The flax will it is expected be sufficiently cleaned by the action of
the apparatus shown in Figures 1 and 2, but if not it may be passed on
-through a third pair of rollers, and in the space between such rollers
and the rollers 7 it may be subjected to the action of a pair of "shears,"
which will remove whatever partially loosened shoves still remain on
the flax. The action of the shears will be understood from Figures
and 4, which are vertical sections parallel to the direction in which the
"flax 41 passes through the machine. One shear bar 42 is fixed beneath
the line of the flax and has no movement, but the other shear har 43.
has a reciprocating motion derived from an eccentric on a revolving
3
•

page_text: shaft or otherwise, and is shown in one extremo position in Figure 3,
and in the opposite on in Figure 4, from which its action will be casily
understood. The inclination of the shear bars 42, 43, may be varied,
also the direction and extent of movement of the reciprocating one 43,
the object being to cause the flax to bend round the blunt edges of the 8
bars so as to loosen any remaining shove.
The hercin-before described operations will I believe clean the flax in
a superior manner, and without the loss of fibre inseparable from the
ordinary scutching process, the improved processes being such as to
remove nothing but the shove, and also having the further important 1
advantage of finally delivering the flax in a condition requiring less
labor in the subsequent manufacturing operations.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and tho
manner of performing the same I have to state that I do not restrict
myself to the precise details herein described or delineated, but that what 1
I believe to be novel and original, and claim as the Invention sccured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
1. In machinery or apparatus for breaking or treating flax and
similar textile materials, and through which such materials are made to
travel intermittently, the arranging of two pairs of bars which grip the 20
materials at successive points, and by a reciprocating action separate or
loosen the shove, and thereby clean tho materials, substantially as
herein-before described.
2. The supplementary, application of the "shears," substantially as
and for the purposes herein-beforo described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Davison, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Third day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-six.
2
herein before described.
2. The supplementary, application of the "shears," substantially as
and for the purposes herein-beforo described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Davison, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Third day of April, in the year of our
· Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
2