CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS TO CARDING ENOTNO
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Dobson, of the Firm of Messrs. Dobson
and Barlow, of Bolton, in the County of Lancaster, Machine
Makers, and James Eastham, of the same Place, Foreman, for the
Invention of " CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS TO CARDING ENOTNO"
Scaled the 20th August 1869, and dated the 31st March 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin Dobson and
James Eastham at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 31st March 1869.
We, BENJAMIN DOBSON, of the Firm of Messrs. Dobson and Barlow,
of Bolton, in the County of Lancaster, Machine Makers, and JAMES
EASTHAM, of the same Place, Foreman, do hereby declare the nature of.
the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN CARDING ENGINES," to be
as follows:-
Our Invention is applicable to carding engines in which self-acting
machinery is employed to raise and lower the top flats for stripping
them, the object being to simplify the construction of such machinery,
and to hold the top flat firm while being stripped.

page_text: In performing our Invention we make use of the usual radial arm
with a slot at the upper end; in this slot is a slide, which is raised by a
bowl or cam on the cam wheel, and it is drawn down by the cam or by
a spring; the upper end of the slide is provided with a serrated plate
which is acted upon by a spring, and a second serrated plate is fixed to
the slide. To the upper and lower sides of the ends of the top flats are
fixed serrated plates; when the top flat is to be raised the cam or bowl
raises the slide and brings the lower serrated plate against the serrated
plate at the lower side of the top flat, and when the top flat has been
raised sufficiently it brings the upper serrated plate of the top flat
against the upper serrated plate of the upper slide; the top flat is then
securely held between the two serrated plates of the slide, and remains
firmly fixed while the operation of stripping is performed. These
serrated plates dispense with the usual guide bar and slotted guides
in the ends of the top flats. We wish to observe that it may in some
cases be sufficient to use one serrated and one plain plate on each of
the slides and on each end of the top flats.
Our improvements are also applicable to carding engines in which the
top flats are raised and lowered by other self-acting machinery than that
above described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Benjamin Dobson and James Eastham in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 29th September 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, wc, BENJAMIN
DOBSON, of the Firm of Messieurs Dobson & Barlow, of Bolton, in the
County of Lancaster, Machine Makers, and JAMES EASTHAM, of the
same Place, Foreman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said Benjamin Dobson and James Eastham, Her
special license that we, the said Benjamin Dobson and James Eastham,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
Benjamin Dobson and James Eastham, our exccutors, administrators,

page_text: 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN CARDING
ENGINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Benjamin
Dobson and James Eastham, our executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under our, or their, or one of our or 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 we, the said Benjamin Dobson and James
Eastham, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement (that is to say) :-
Our Invention is applicable to carding engines in which self-acting
machinery is employed to raise and lower the top flats for stripping
them, the object being to simplify the construction of such machinery,
and to hold the top flat firm while being stripped.
In performing our Invention we make use of the usual radial arm
with a slot at the upper end; in this slot are two slides, which are raised
by a bowl or cam on the cam wheel, and drawn down by the cam or by
a spring; the upper end of the lower slide is provided with a serrated
plate, and a second serrated plate is fixed to the upper slide. To tho
upper and lower sides of the ends of the top flat are fixed serrated
plates; when the top flat is to be raised the cam or bowl raises the
lower slide and brings the lower serrated plate against the serrated plato
at the lower side of the top flat, and when the top flat has been raised
sufficiently it brings the upper serrated plate of the top flat against
the serrated plate of the upper slide; the top flat is thus securely held
between the two serrated plates of the slides, and remains firmly fixed
while the operation of stripping is performed. These serrated plates
dispense with the usual guide bar and slotted guides in the ends of tho
top flats. We wish to observe that it may in some cases be sufficient to
use one serrated and one plain plate on each of the slides and on each
end of the top flats.

page_text: Our improvements are also applicable to carding engines in which the
top flats are raised and lowered by other self-acting machinery than that
above described.
And in order that our Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into operation, we will proceed to describe the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, reference being had to the figures and letters marked
thereon.
Figure 1 is a front view, and Figure 2 an edge view, partly in section,
of one mode of constructing our improvements; Figure 3 is an end view
of one of the top flats to which our improvements are applied.
a represents the axle of the main cylinder of the carding engine;
b is the radial arm, very similar to that usually employed in carding
engines, provided with machinery for self-stripping the top flats; c is
the ordinary cross shaft for driving the cam wheel d as usual. The
radial arm b is provided on its upper end with a slot b', in which the
lower slide e is free to move up and down, being raised by the usual
bowl d¹ on the cam wheel d, and drawn down by the spring f, the lower
end of which is connected to a stud in the radial arm, and the upper end
to the upper slide g. To the slide e is fixed the serrated plate e. In
the slot b' is also fitted the upper slide y, which is provided with the
serrated plate g', and to which is jointed the catch i. To the upper and
lower sides of each end of the top flat h are also fixed serrated plates h¹,
as shewn best in Figure 3.
The mode of operation is as follows:-The Drawing represents the
slides e and g in the positions they occupy when the top flat is resting
on the bend. As the cam wheel d turns round the slide e is gradually
raised until the serrated plate e¹ comes in contact with the lower serrated
plate of the top flat h, the lifting action of the cam wheel continues
until the upper plate h' is brought against the serrated plate g'; the top
flat h is now securely held between the serrated plates e¹ and g', which
are locked together by the catch hooking on the under side of the
plate e¹; the rib 63 on the radial arm is to prevent the catch i springing
open when the slides are locked together. The top flat remains between
the serrated plates until the lifting action of the cam wheel has raised it
sufficiently high for the operation of stripping to be performed in the
ordinary manner. The top flat is brought down to its original position
by the spring, and as soon as the catch i in descending has passed
beyond the rib b³ and comes against the stud 6 the catch is unhooked,

page_text: and the top flat is then at liberty. The apparatus can then be moved.
forward in the ordinary manner.
Figures 4 and 5 are two views of a modification of our improvements.
In this arrangement the grooved cam d³ of the wheel d acts on an
antifriction bowl mounted on a stud projecting from the lower slide e,
the other parts of the machinery are similar to those above described in
reference to Figures 1 and 2, and they operate in precisely the same
manner, with the exception that in this instance the slides are partly
drawn down by the grooved cam de in the wheel d. The serrated plates
above described answer the purpose of the usual guide bars and slotted
guides in the ends of the top flats, thereby effecting a great saving in
the construction of the carding engine. We wish to observe that in
some cases it may be sufficient to use one serrated and one plain plate on
each of the slides and on each end of the top flats.
We have described our improvements as applied to carding engines in
which the top flats are raised by cam wheels, but they may be applied to
carding engines in which other self-acting machinery is employed for
that purpose.
Having thus stated the nature of our Invention, and described the
manner of performing the same, we declare that we claim, the improved
machinery for taking hold of and releasing the ends of the top flats,
and particularly the serrated or plain plates when used in the manner
and for the purposes described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Benjamin Dobson and James
Eastham, have hereto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-
eighth day of September One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
BEN. DOBSON.
(L.S.)
JAMES EASTHAM. (L.S.)