AN IMPROVED METHOD OF MAKING COMBS OR GILLS LS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for
the Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF MAKING COMBS OR GILLS
LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for
the Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF MAKING COMBS OR GILLS
EMPLOYED IN THE PREPARATION OF FIBROUS SUBSTANCES."-A communication:
from abrood by Charles de Tonch of Gueluveller in the Empire of
Sealed the 20th January 1860, and dated the 18th October 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, 'on.
the 18th October 1859.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF MAKING COMBS OR GILLS'
EMPLOYED IN THE PREPARATION OF FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
This Invention of an improved method of making combs or gills em-'
ployed in the preparation of fibrous substances relates to a novel mode of
securing the gill pins in their plates or bars. Instead of making combs or'
gills by boring holes in their plates or bars, and inserting therein the needles
or pins which form the combs, the plates or bars are hollowed out into the
form of troughs, into which is poured in a liquid state a metal or alloy, or any
substance such as sealing wax, or any other composition which when cold
becomes hard, having previously inserted the points of the needles into a mould,
or holder, so divided in grooves and arranged as to hold all the needles
required for the comb in the proper direction, the bats or thick ends of the
needles which project beyond the mould are inserted into the liquid metal

page_text: or alloy in the trough, and when the metal is cold the mould is taken from the
points of the needles, and a perfect comb or gill is thus obtained at little
expense.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 18th April 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
.EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said William Edward Newton, 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
"AN IMPROVED METHOD OF MAKING COMBS OR GILLS EMPLOYED IN THE PREPARATION
OF FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," being a communication from abroad, by Charles de
Iongh, of Guebweller, in the Empire of France, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Edward Newton, by an instrument 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Newton, 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 Drawing hercunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
The object of this Invention, as communicated to me from abroad, is to
economise the manufacture of gills or combs, and at the same time more
effectually to secure the pins or teeth in their scats, so that they shall not

page_text: work loose. An incidental advantage of this Invention is that when the gills
or combs are damaged, they may be repaired at small cost, the undamaged
portions being applicable for their reconstruction. Hitherto in manufacturing
gills it has been customary to insert the pins in lines of holes drilled in the gill
bar, but this is a very expensive and tedious process. It has also been
proposed to notch the face of the gill bar, and to solder pins into these notches,
but this latter method is open to many obvious objections. In order, however,
to secure the pins firmly in position, and ensure perfect regularity in their
arrangement, the following method is adopted. A trough of iron or other
suitable hard metal similar to that shewn in plan and end views at Figs. 1
of the accompanying Drawing, is first provided, the same being found either
by planing down a solid bar or otherwise. This trough is to constitute the
back of the gill, and it is therefore made of any suitable width, according to
the number of rows of pins the gill is intended to possess, and also of any
convenient length. The trough, shewn at Figs. 1, is made to receive six rows
of pins. For constructing a gill of six rows of pins, three gauge plates, made
by preference of bell metal are provided, which plates are grooved on their
opposite faces, as shewn at a, a, Fig. 2, to form recesses for the insertion
therein of the six rows of pins to be employed in making the gill. To the
opposite faces of these bell metal plates stop pieces b, b, are applied, which
extend across the extremities of the grooves, and are intended to gauge the
distance that the pins shall enter the grooves.
When using these plates, they
are clamped together by means of cheeks c, c, and clamping screws d, d, (see
Figs. 3 and 4), filling pieces of metal e, e, being inserted between them near
their upper edges, and filling pieces of leather or other yielding material f,f,.near
their lower edges. Before tightening the lower clamping screws the pins are
inserted in the grooves as shewn at 9, 9, the same being pushed down until
their points are arrested by the stops b, b. The clamp is now tightened up,
and the pins are ready for insertion into the metal back, Figs. 1. In order to
transfer the pins from the clamp to the metal back or trough which is to form
the gill bar, the ends of the trough are temporarily closed by a strip of tin or
otherwise, and easily fusible metal or other suitable cementing material is
poured therein, and kept in a molten state by the application of heat thereto
in any convenient way. The charged clamp is now placed over the trough,
and the roots of the pins inserted in the molten metal, the inner surfaces of
the trough having previously been wetted with, and the roots of the pins
dipped into, a solution of muriate or nitro-muriate of zinc, to ensure the
adhesion of the molten metal thereto. By withdrawing the heat or applying
water to the side of the trough, the metal will quickly set, and when this has

page_text: taken place the clamping screws are slackened, when the clamp will come
away, leaving the pins firmly fixed in the gill bar, as shewn at Figs. 5, which
represent a gill bar with two rows of pins made according to this Invention.
It will now be obvious that the utmost regularity will be ensured in the
setting of the pins in the bar, as their relative positions must correspond with
the grooves made in the gauge plates, and the tendency of the soft metal
which holds the pins in position to yield and allow the pins to work loose
when great strain is put upon them will be completely neutralized by the
supporting wall of hard metal on either side of the gill bar and by the
adhesion of the soft metal to the pins and the surrounding hard metal.
In order to repair gills or combs made according to this Invention, the bent
or injured pins of the gill or comb are first broken off close to the bar, and the
clamp used in making such gill or combs is applied to the remaining pins so
as to embrace them, the clamping screws being slackened for that purpose.
When the pins are inserted in their respective grooves, the clamp is tightened
up and the ends of the trough or back of the gill bar being closed, heat is
applied to the gill or comb to fuse the soft metal. The pins held by the clamp
are now withdrawn, and any deficiency of pins in the clamp are made good;
they may then be re-inserted in the gill bar, as before, and the setting of the
metal will effectually unite the pins to the bar, and form a strong and
solid gill.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "An Improved
Method of Making Combs or Gills employed in the Preparation of Fibrous
Substances," as communicated to me from abroad, and explained the manner
of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that, under the
above in part recited Letters Patent, I claim the manufacture of gills or combs
as above described..
In witness whereof, I, the said. William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)