IMPROVED MACHINERY IN PREPARING WOOL, AND ALSO IN PREPARING THE WASTE OF COTTON WOOL FOR SPINNING
Year: 1837

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
SHAW, of. Rishworth, in the Parish of Halifax, in the County of York, Book-
keeper, send greeting.
WHEREAS I did by Petition humbly represent unto His late most Excellent
Majesty King William the Fourth that, after considerable application and
expence, I had invented "IMPROVED MACHINERY IN PREPARING WOOL, AND ALSO IN
PREPARING THE WASTE OF COTTON WOOL FOR SPINNING ;" and His said Majesty
being willing to give encouragement to all arts and inventions which may be
for the public good, was graciously pleased, by His Royal Letters Patent
under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
bearing date at Westminster, the Seventh day of March, One thousand eight
hundred and thirty-seven, in the seventh year of His reign, for Himself, His
heirs and successors, to give and grant unto me, the said John Shaw, my
exors, admiors, and assigns, His especial license, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I or they, by myself or themselves, or by my or their deputies,
servants or agents, or such others as I or they should agree with, and (no
others) during the term of fourteen years from the date of the said Letters Patent,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend my said Invention
within that part of His said Majesty's Dominions called England, His Dominion
of Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, in such manner as to me, my
exors, adiñors, and assigns, shall seem meet, and as that I or they shall enjoy
the whole profit and advantage arising by reason of the said Invention during

page_text: the said term of fourteen years; and for that end His said Majesty requires
and strictly commands all His subjects whatsoever that they shall not, either
directly or indirectly, make, use, or put in practice my said Invention, or any
part thereof, nor in anywise counterfeit, imitate, or resemble the same, nor
make any addition thereto, or substraction therefrom, whereby to pretend
himself or themselves to be the inventor or inventors thereof; and whereas
the said Letters Patent contain a proviso obliging me, the said John Shaw,
particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, and to cause the same to be enrolled in His Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent, as in and by the same (reference
being thereunto had) will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Shaw, do hereby declare that my said Invention is described and
ascertained in manner following, and by the aid of the two Sheets of Drawings
hereunto annexed (that is to say) :-
My said improved machinery is to be added to a particular kind of carding
machinery now in common use for preparing wool and the waste of cotton
wool for spinning, the said kind of carding machinery being that which
delivers out the wool (or waste of cotton wool) which it has carded in the
state of what are called cardings, and which are small slender rolls of carded
wool or (of waste of cotton wool) detached one from another, and being in
lengths equal to the width of cards on the carding engine or machine,
measuring that width in a direction parallel to the axes of the several revolving
cylinders of the carding engine, the said width of cards, and consequent length
of cardings, being usually about thirty inches, but they may be more or less
than that. Such detached cardings require to be pieced or joined together, end
to end, in order to form them into a long continued succession of conjoined
cardings, in preparation for spinning the wool or waste of cotton wool con-
tained in such continuous cardings into the first rudiment or coarse stage of
yarn, which first or preparatory spinning is called slubbing, and the machine
by which the said preparatory spinning is performed is termed a slubbing
machine or billy, and the slubbings produced by operation thereof are only
in preparation for the ultimate spinning into yarn by other spinning machinery
called jennies or mules.
The above statement will sufficiently explain to persons conversant with
carding machinery the particular kind thereof in which my said improved
machinery is to be added; and the object of so adding the same is, that it may

page_text: perform the requisite piccing or joining together of the ends of the detached
cardings, which are delivered out by the carding machinery, in order to form
long continued successions of conjoined cardings by self-action of my improved
machinery without any handling of the several detached cardings, as is the
usual practice; but the said long continued successions of cardings are deposited
by my said improved machinery in suitable cans, which are carried to the
slubbing machine or billy for the continual supply thereof with a succession of
conjoined cardings, which it can draw up (as fast as it requires supply) out of
such cans in their conjoined state.
And whereas machinery having the same object as my said improved ma-
chinery has been heretofore proposed by others, and Patents have been granted
therefor, my Invention consists in the combination and arrangement of the
parts of my said improved machinery one with another, as herein-after
described, and also in certain integral portions of that combination, although
other parts thereof are not claimed by me, as I shall point out at the con-
clusion of this Specification, after having fully described my said improved
machinery with the aid of Drawings representing the same in the manner in
which I have constructed and used it with advantage.
The carding engine or machine to which my said improved machinery is to
be added may be made according to any of the usual constructions of such
engines or machines, either with two large revolving cylinders or swifts or
only one, cach such swift being cloathed or covered with cards, that is, sheets
of leather having wire teeth projecting out therefrom, and each such swift
having its own series of smaller revolving cylinders disposed over it in parts
called workers and clearers, which are also clothed with cards for carding the
wool (or waste of cotton wool) by action of the said cards against those of the
swift, and having also its quick revolving cylinder, called a fancy roller,
for raising the fibres of carded wool (or waste of cotton wool) amongst the
teeth of the cards of the swift, and having also its revolving cylinder, called
doffer, to collect or receive the carded and raised wool (or waste of cotton
wool) from the cards with which the swift is covered. The wool (or waste of
cotton wool) by being passed through the carding engine becomes carded, and
its fibres are disentangled or separated from each other, and in that state those
fibres are collected evenly in a thin film amongst the teeth of the cards on the
doffer cylinder, and by rapid strokes of what is called the comb the wool (or
waste of cotton wool) is combed out from amongst the said teeth and attached
in a thin film, but which film is not continuous for any considerable distance;
because the sheets of cards are applied on the doffer cylinder in stripes or sheets
extending along the lengthway of the doffer cylinder parallel to its axes, but

page_text: leaving vacancies between the stripes or sheets, which vacancies interrupt the
continuity of the clothing of cards around the doffer cylinder, and consequently
the coutinuity of the film of carded wool (or waste of cotton wool), which is
stripped off by action of the comb, will also be interrupted, and the carded
wool (or waste of cotton wool) will be let fall in detached portions, each of
which is derived from one of the sheets of cards on the doffer cylinder, and
each of which detached portions is afterwards to be rolled up into the form of
a.slender cylindrical roll called a carding, which is done by action of a revolv-
ing cylinder called a carding roller, and whereof the lowermost half (or-nearly
half) revolves within a hollow shell or nearly half cylinder of a. concavity
corresponding to the cylindrical concavity of the carding roller, that shell being
so fixed beneath the roller as to leave a vacant space between the moving
surface of the roller and the fixed surface of the shell, equal to the size or
diameter to which the intended cardings are required to be rolled up by action
of the carding. roller within its said shell, for the successive detached
portions of carded wool, or waste of cotton wool, which are stripped off as
aforesaid from the doffer by action of the comb, are dropped one after another
into the vacant space between the carding roller and its shell, and by the
motion of the roller within the fixed shell each such portion of film of carded
wool (or waste of cotton wool) becomes rolled up into a slender cylindrical
roll called a carding, and which, after being rolled throughout the extent of the
shell, is delivered out therefrom and let fall on a low table covered with a slow
moving endless cloth called a creeper, on which a succession of such cardings are
dropped as they come out one after another from the shell, and they become
deposited side by side in consequence of their being moved sideways by the
motion of the creeper, and from thence they are taken up one at a time by
children with their fingers and carried to the slubbing machine or billy, where
the end of each such carding is joined to the end of a preceding carding which is
laying upon
the inclining surface of a slow moving endless cloth or sheet, and
on which sheet as many such carding as. the billy requires to be supplied with
are laying side by side, and are all carried endway foremost into the billey as
fast as it requires supply from them; and each of the cardings, when it has
been carried forwards nearly all its length into the billy by motion of the
sheet, is renewed by joining to its hindmost end the foremost end of a fresh
carding, which is brought in one time by a child from the creeper of the
carding engine and laid on the moving sheet of the billy, the junction being
made by rolling the conjoined and overlapping ends of the two cardings one
over the other with the fingers; and thus, by piecing every carding in its turn,
a perpetual supply of them to the billy is kept up. The above is the ordinary

page_text: routine of carding engines and billies; and when my improved machinery
is to be added to a carding engine, no alteration will be required in any part
thereof, except that the endless cloth called the creeper, together with the
table or frame on which it is supported, and containing the rollers over which
it is to circulate, is to be wholly removed, and my improved machinery, which
is put into its place, contains an endless cloth for receiving the cardings, and
serves as a substitute for the creeper. Note, many carding engines are
made of great width in order that they may do more work, but the cards with
which their several cylinders are cloathed do not continue all the length
thereof, but are interrupted in the middle of that length with a vacant space,
so as to form two separate clothings of cards around the same cylinders,
leaving a ring or vacant space around each cylinder between the two cloath-
ings, and each cloathing being about twenty-eight or thirty inches wide;
consequently, such wide carding engines produce and deliver two cardings at a
time, one at the end of the other, with just so much interval between the
adjacent ends of the two cardings as will keep them detached from each other.
This is done because it would not be convenient for the children to handle the
cardings if they were much more than thirty inches in length. When my
improved machinery is to be applied to such wide carding engines, their
cloathing of cards is to be made continuous all the length of each cylinder,
from end to end thereof, without leaving any rings of vacant space at the
middle of that length, in order that the engine may produce and deliver one
long carding at a time instead of two short disconnected cardings at a time, as
before mentioned. The requisite alteration in the cloathing of the engine
may be made either by filling up the aforesaid rings of vacant spaces around
the several cylinders with suitable cards, so as to connect both the aforesaid
cloathings into one, or else by cloathing the engine anew with one cloathing.
Figure 1, in Sheet I. of the Drawings hereunto annexed, is a horizontal
plan of any said improved machinery, together with so much of the carding
engine to which it is added as will serve to shew the connexion between
the two.
Figure 2 is a lateral elevation of my improved machinery, with an end
elevation of part of the carding engine.
Figure 3 is an end elevation of my improved machinery with a lateral
elevation of part of one end of the carding engine.
Figure 4 is a transverse section of my improved machinery, with a longi-
tudinal section of part of one end of the carding engine.
Figure 5, Sheet II., is a similar transverse section to Figure 4.
And Figure 6 is a perspective view of the improved machinery and carding
engine as they appear when at work together:

page_text: The same letters and numeral characters of reference denote the same
parts in all the Figures.
The length of the frame containing my new machinery is placed across one end
of the carding engine. A, A, is the fixed frame of the carding engine; B, part
of its swift or large revolving cylinder; a, b, a pair of the workers and clearers
belonging thereto; and C, its fancy roller; D, the doffer cylinder, with its cloath-
ing of seven detached sheets of cards around its circumference; d, the comb which
is moved rapidly up and down by means of the revolving crank e, in order to
strip the wool (or waste of cotton wool) from the detached sheets of cards around
the doffer; and as the wool (or waste of cotton wool) is so stripped, it falls in
successive detached portions into the space between the fixed concave semi-
cylindrical shell E, and the revolving carding roller F (which has no cards upon
it); and the motion of that roller F within its shell E rolls each successive
detached portion of the wool (or waste of cotton wool) into a distinct cylindrical
roll or carding, which, after it is delivered out from the space between the
rollers F and its shell E, descends down the inclined shoot f, and drops
therefrom into my improved machinery. H is a small revolving roller, to
throw down any cardings which may be disposed to adhere to the carding
roller, so as to go round therewith.
The above references and representations of some of the parts of the
carding engine are sufficient to shew how my new, machinery is to be added
thereto, in the place where the usual frame or table with rollers for the endless
cloth called the creeper is commonly situated, but which is to be removed, as
before stated. 1, 1, are the side rails of the fixed framing of my improved ma-
chinery, supported on short upright legs at each end of each rail, with middle
legs 2, 2, affixed to those rails by screws at such place in the length thereof as
will suit the width of the frame of the particular carding engine to which my
improved machinery is to be added, so that when the latter is in its intended place,
the supporting legs at one end of the frame 1, 1, and the said middle legs 2, 2,
thereof will stand opposite (or nearly opposite) to the ends of the main sides of the
frames A, A, of the carding engine, the lengthway of the frame 1, 1, being across
the lengthway of the frame A, A; and the frame 1, 1, reaching so much in
beneath the carding roller F as that the cardings, when they drop down from
the inclined shoot f, will descend nearly over the middle of the space between
the sides 1, 1. Those two sides are united into a frame by suitable cross pieces,
extended from one to the other, and they support a horizontal boarding, which
fills up the space between the two sides 1, 1, forming a long narrow and low.
table. There are also horizontal cross rails 3, 3, fixed at some height over
the said table, at the upper ends of the end legs and middle legs 2, 2. The
surface of the said table is covered all its length with a moving enless cloth 7,

page_text: which is extended between two horizontal rollers 4 and 5, one situated at
each end of the frame 1, 1, and the under part of the said cloth 7 is sus-
tained by small bearing rollers 6, 6. The largest roller 4 is turned round
occasionally, by action of the machinery, and then it moves the endless cloth 7
rapidly along its table, carrying with it all the cardings, which have been
previously deposited upon its upper surface 7, by action of the machinery, the
order of that deposition being four cardings laid on the cloth 7, beneath
the inclined shoot f of the carding roller F, lengthways of the cloth, and
side by side, parallel to each other at suitable distances apart; and the
ends of those four cardings apply (with a suitable overlap) to four like
cardings, which extend further along the cloth 7, having been deposited
thereon at a preceding time of deposition, and having been since carried along,
endways foremost, by the last advancing motion of the cloth 7. The
cloth 7 stands still whilst the. deposition of every four new cardings takes
place, side by side, 'upon that part of its length which is at the time
beneath the shoot f of the carding roller F; and then as soon as the
said four cardings are so deposited, the cloth 7 begins to move, aud
carry them away endway foremost, the extent of the motion being only
as much less than the full length of the cardings as is requisite for
causing an underlap of the hindmost end of the said four cardings so carried
forwards beyond the foremost ends of the next four cardings, which are to be
deposited on the cloth after its motion ceases, and during the pause which it
makes, as aforesaid, for the purpose of the deposition being made; and during
every such pause in the motion of the cloth 7 the overlapping foremost ends of
the said four carried forwards cardings, and the underlapping hindmost ends of
their four preceding cardings, will be beneath a moving cross board 8 which,
by bearing gently down on the said overlapping ends as they lay in contact
with each other on the cloth 7, and the board 8 being at the same time moved
backwards and forwards with an alternating motion, it will roll the overlapping
ends together and join them into one, so as to form four continuous lengths of
cardings on the cloth 7, in consequence of thus uniting the foremost over-
lapping ends of every four cardings (which have been deposited on the cloth,
and then carried once forwards by one motion thereof) to the hindmost under-
lapping ends of the four preceding cardings; and at every advancing motion
of the endless cloth 7, it delivers a corresponding length of each of the four
continuous cardings into four cans 9, 9, 9, 9, which are suitably placed beneath
the roller 4 to receive them; and each of which cans, when it becomes filled
with a long length of continuous carding, is removed (in order that it may be
taken to the billy for the supply thereof, and an empty can, which has been

page_text: previously brought back from the billy, is put into its place under the roller 4
the instant after a full can has been removed. Note, a pit or depression is
sunk in the floor to admit the four cans which are to receive the continuous
"cardings, to stand in a proper relative situation beneath the roller 4, the cans
being of such height as will be most suitable for supplying the billy out of
them. The legs of the carding engine may be raised up a little from the floor
upon blocks, in order that the carding roller F may stand at a suitable height
above the cloth 7; and the said pit or depression in which the four cans
9, 9, 9, 9, are placed must be deep enough to allow of the proper height of
those cans without any necessity for the endless cloth 7 being inclined upwards
at the end 4, and therefore the table and the cloth 7 may be horizontal or
nearly so. The manner whereby the endless cloth 7 is put in motion occa-
sionally, and then left motionless during a pause as before mentioned, is as
follows: A spur wheel K is fixed on the end of the axis of the doffer cylinder
D, and the same wheel may serve to turn the doffer cylinder slowly round in
the usual manner of carding engines from a pinion k, which receives motion by
a large pulley fixed on its axis and an endless strap from a smaller pulley fixed
on the axis of the swift. The said spur wheel K may therefore be considered
to be a part of the ordinary carding engine, and it turns a pinion 10, which
may be considered to be a part of my improved machinery, and which pinion 10
is fixed on a short horizontal axis 11, supported in suitable brackets affixed to
the frame. 12 is a mitre cog wheel fixed on the axis 11, and turning an
equal and similar mitre wlieel 13, which is mounted on a horizontal axle or
stud pin, fixed horizontally into the upper end of a fixed upright standard,
erected from the floor and connected with the frame 1. The mitre wheel 13
has a revolving crank pin fixed to it, in order, by a connecting rod 14,. to give
a reciprocating motion to a lever 15, the centre of motion of which lever is a
fixed pin near the floor; and the rod 14 is jointed to it near to its middle, so
that it is caused, by action of the crank and rod 14, to vibrate with the motion
of a pendulum, but inverted. The extreme end of the lever 15 is forked to
receive a small pulley, around which a cord 16 is passed, one end thereof being
tied fast to a fixed support 17, and the other being wrapped more than half
round the circumference of a pulley wheel 18, the extremity is made fast
thereto. Another cord 19 is fastened to the pulley wheel 18, and after
wrapping round more than half the circumference thereof, the cord 19 is
conducted up over a pulley at the ceiling, and a sufficient weight 20 is
appended to the end to pull the pulley wheel 18 round as far as the other
cord 16 will permit, and thus keep that cord 16 always tight. The pulley
wheel 18 is fitted loosely on the extremity of a horizontal axis 21, which is

page_text: supported in bearings at the upper ends of the legs of the frame 1, 1, and a
spur wheel 22 is fixed on one end of the axis 21 to turn a pinion 23 on the end
of the axis of the roller 4 of the endess cloth 7. A ratchet wheel 24, with
serrated teeth, is also fixed on the axis 21 close to its spur wheel 22, being
made fast thereto, and being included between the spur wheel and the pulley
wheel 18, so as to be partly contained within the hollowness of the spur wheel
and of the pulley wheel; and two clicks are applied on stud pins fixed into two
opposite arms of the pulley wheel 18, with a spring to cause each click to act
in the teeth of the ratchet wheel, so as to catch the same whenever the pulley
wheel 18 is pulled round by the cord 16, and thereby transmit the motion to
the ratchet wheel and spur wheel 22; but the same clicks slip over the sloping
sides of the teeth of the ratchet wheel without communicating any motion
thereto, whenever the pulley wheel 18 is turned round the contrary way by
action of the cord 19 and its weight 20. The arrangement of the spur wheel
22 and ratchet wheel 24, with its clicks and springs, and the pulley wheel 18,
is very similar to the great cog wheel, ratchet wheel, and barrel of a clock, ör.
fusee of a watch; but the two clicks are adapted to subdivide the teeth of the
ratchet wheel, one click holding one tooth whilst the other click is at half way
between two teeth. The pinion 10 before mentioned must be so proportioned
to the spur wheel K as to cause the pinion to make exactly one turn for every
four cardings that are formed, wherefore in case the doffer cylinder has seven
sheets of cards around its circumference, the number of teeth in the pinion
10 must be proportioned to the number of teeth in the wheel K as 4 is to 7;
and the mitre wheels 12 and 13, having an equal number of teeth, the crank
pin in the wheel 13 will go once round in its circular orbit for every four
cardings that are produced during one half of its revolution; its connecting rod
14 will draw the lever 15 towards it, and the pulley at the upper end of the
lever will pull the cord 16, whereof one end being tied fast, the other which
winds round the pulley wheel 18 will be pulled with double speed, so as to
turn the pulley wheel round, thereby winding up the cord 19 and raising its
weight 20, and one or other of its clicks catching one of the teeth of the
ratchet wheel 24, will turn the same round, together with the spur wheel 22,
and the teeth thereof will turn the pinion 23, together with the roller 4, in
such manner as to advance the endless cloth 7 forwards on its table and with
the cardings upon it, as before mentioned. But when the crank pin has com-
pleted half its revolution, it begins to push back its connecting rod 14 and to
return the lever 15, during all which return the weight 20, by its cord 19,
pulls the pulley wheel 18 round backwards, and keeps the cord 16 tight; but
in thus turning back, its clicks slip over the sloping sides of the teeth of the

page_text: ratchet wheel 24, and communicate no motion thereto or to the endless cloth 7
which therefore remains at rest in order that four fresh cardings may be
deposited upon it, as before mentioned. And note, the several parts are so
proportioned that each such half revolution of the crank pin in the mitre
wheel 13 will advance the endless cloth 7 and the cardings upon it, exactly
a proper distance, as already stated; that is, as much less than the whole
length of the cardings as the ends are required to overlap for piercing o
joining them one to another. And in order exactly to regulate the said
distance, the joint pin by which the connecting rod 14 is united to the
lever 15, is fitted into an oblong slot in the lever 15, and fastened therein by
a nut, so as to admit of placing that joint nearer to or farther from the centre
of motion of the lever 15, or otherwise the crank pin can be fixed at a
greater or lesser distance from the centre of the mitre wheel 13. The manner
of depositing four cardings side by side in due order upon the endless cloth 7
during the said pause in its motion, is as follows:-The cardings are delivered
by action of the carding roller F, and they drop down from the inclined shoot
at regular intervals without intermission, and always at the same place, which
is nearly (but not exactly) over the middle of the width of the endless cloth 7.
And in order to convey the four cardings sideways to their proper distances
asunder for depositing them on the cloth 7, a moving frame, containing four
parallel troughs 25, 26, 27, 28, is applied beneath the inclined shoot f in a
suitable position for receiving the cardings as they drop (one after another)
down therefrom; and the said frame is moveable horizontally in the manner of
a sliding drawer, so that, after it has received a carding in one of its troughs 25,
it will then move so far sideways as to receive the next carding in its trough 26,
and then the next in its trough 27, and then the next in its trough 28. The
cardings being extremely tender and delicate, particularly in fine wool, they
are liable to more or less injury and derangement by very slight causes, but
the above mode of dropping them from the shoot f into the four troughs 25, 26,
27, and 28, occasions no derangement of the most tender cardings. When
the moving frame reaches the extent of its motion outwards from under the
shoot, and is in the act of receiving a carding into its trough 28, as before
mentioned, its two troughs 25 and 27 are suddenly opened at the bottom of
cach, and they let the two cardings which they contain drop down into two other
similar troughs 30, 31, which latter are in a fixed frame disposed beneath
the moving frame of the four troughs 25, 26, 27, 28, and immediately over
the endless cloth 7. There are also two other like troughs 32, 33, making
four troughs side by side, 30, 31, 32, 33, in the said fixed frame, which are at
the same distances asunder as those at which the four cardings are to be

page_text: deposited on the endless cloth 7. The moving frame, having thus discharged
its two troughs 25 and 27, is returned inwards beneath the shoot f with
an almost instantaneous motion, during which the bottoms of the troughs 25
and 27 close, and its trough 25 is again brought under the shoot f in
readiness to receive the next carding therefrom; and whilst it is receiving
the same, the other two moving troughs 26 and 28 are suddenly opened at
the bottom of each, and they let the two cardings which they contain drop
down into the two lower fixed troughs 32 and 33, and the four fixed
troughs 30, 31, 32, and 33, having thus become regularly filled with four
cardings, are then all four suddenly opened at the bottom of each, and thereby
they let the said four cardings which they contain drop down into their proper
places side by side upon the endless cloth 7, which is at the time standing
motionless beneath in readiness to receive them, and immediately after the
four cardings have been so deposited side by side upon the endless cloth 7, it
commences its advancing motion in order to carry them forwards, as before
described; hence, by the aforesaid action of the moving frame with four
troughs, two cardings are carried sideways outwards from under the shoot f
by the troughs 25 and 27, so as to be deposited in the two fixed
troughs 30, 31, and then two other cardings are carried sideways inwards
under the shoot f, so as to be deposited in the other two fixed troughs 32, 33
after which all the four fixed troughs 30, 31, 32, 33, which have thus become
filled, deposit their four contained cardings all at once on the endless cloth 7.
in due place side by side thereon, and are then carried away therewitli. The
moving frame containing the four troughs 25, 26, 27, 28, is composed of two
horizontal cross pieces for ends, and they are united by four longitudinal pieces
forming one of the inclined sides of each of those four troughs, the other:
inclined side of each of the said troughs being mounted on a pivot at each end.
of it, which pivots are lodged in suitable pivot holes in the end cross pieces ;;
and by a tilting motion of the said inclined sides about their said pivots the:
troughs are opened at the bottom of each one sufficiently to let the cardings
which they contain drop down, and then by a returning motion of the inclined:
sides about their pivots the troughs become closed in readiness to receive other
cardings. And in order thus to open and shut the several troughs, the said
pivot at one end of each inclined side is prolonged through the end cross piece,.
and has a short lever arm fixed fast upon its end nearly in a vertical position;:
and the ends of two of those lever arms being connected by a horizontal link,
the two troughs whereof the lever arms are thus connected will always open
or shut together like one. See Figure 5, Sheet II. The said lever arms of
the two troughs 25 and 27 point upwards, and are connected together at their
upper ends by a horizontal link, as aforesaid, which link is intercepted by a

page_text: fixed stop piece when the moving frame comes forward nearly to its full extent
from the shoot f, and thereby those two troughs are opened together as before
mentioned, and they are closed again as soon as the moving frame returns by
reaction of a weight at the end of a short lever arm affixed to the inclined
side of the trough 25, and projecting out forwards therefrom; and in like man-
ner the said lever arms of the other two troughs 26 and 28 point downwards,
and their lower ends are connected by a horizontal link, the end of which is
intercepted by a fixed stop piece when the moving frame has moved inwards
nearly to its full extent beneath the shoot f, and thereby those two troughs are
opened together as before mentioned, and they are closed again when the
moving frame comes forwards by the reaction of a weight suspended by a cord
which passes over a pulley, and is tied to the said horizontal link so as to urge
the same always backwards with a tendency to close the troughs 26 and 28.
The inclined sides of the said troughs, if made of wood, may be covered with
thin brass or tinned plate, in order that the cardings may not adhere to them.
The fixed frame containing the four lower troughs 30, 31, 32, 33, is con-
structed in the same manner as that for the four upper moving troughs, except
that the lower troughs are of a greater width or almost double width. The
distance between the centres of the two moving troughs 25 and 27 is equal
to (or only a little more than) the distance between the centres of the two
fixed troughs 30 and 31; and in like manner the distance between the centres
of the moving troughs 26 and 28 is equal (or only a little more than equal)
to the distance between the centres of the fixed troughs 32 and 33. Also the
several inclined sides of all the four lower troughs are connected together so
as to open and close all the four troughs together by one movement. The
short lever arms, like those before mentioned, which are fixed on the end pivots
of the several inclined sides of the four lower troughs, all point downwards,
and their lower ends are all jointed to one horizontal link, which connects them
all four together, as is shewn in Figure 6, Sheet II.; and the requisite motion
is given to them by means of an elbow lever 34, which is fixed on the extreme
end of the prolonged pivot of the inclined side to the trough 33; one arm of
that lever reaches out to a revolving camm 35, or portion of a circular rim
which is affixed to the pinion 10 before mentioned, and which camm or rim
as it revolves depresses the extreme end of the said arm of the elbow lever 34,
so as to open all the four troughs 30, 31, 32, and 33, at the proper time, as
before mentioned; and, after having kept them open as long as is requisite
for the cardings to drop out, the camm 25 passes away from the said
end of the elbow lever 34; all the four troughs to be closed at once by reaction
of a weight 36, which is suspended to a cord passing over a pulley, and tied
to the upper end of the upright arm of the elbow lever 34, so as to pull the

page_text: same with a constant tendency to close all the four troughs 30, 31, 32, and
33. The frame of the four lower troughs 30, 31, 32, 33, is fixed fast by
four short supporting legs to the two end cross pieces of that frame, which
legs are fastened to the side frames 1, 1,.of my improved machinery, and are
capable of adjustment by screws to fix the four lower troughs properly, that
is, at a suitable height beneath the four moving troughs, and at a proper
height above the endless cloth 7, for the cardings to drop down clear from
one to the other, without risk of entanglement with the inclined sides of the.
troughs when. they are opened. And note, also the frame, of the four
lower troughs is fixed a little out of parallel with the length of the endless
cloth 7, in order that the said troughs may deposit the cardings a little.
obliquely on the cloth, but only just so much so as will cause the overlapping
ends of the several cardings which are deposited in succession to be laid close
together, side by side, on the cloth, in the most favorable position for effecting
their intended junction and union, by means of the rolling action of the moving
cross board 8. The moving frame containing the four troughs 25, 26, 27, 28,
is sustained by two horizontal cylindrical steel bearing rods 37, which are
held by their ends in small brackets affixed to the cross rails 3, 3, as to be.
parallel thereto, or crossways to the length of the carding roller F; and the
end cross pieces of the moving frame have sockets fixed to their under sides,
which fit truly upon the fixed cylindrical steel bearing rods 37, so that the
frame can slide freely thereon, with a sideway horizontal motion of the moving
frame, as already explained; and to communicate such motion, a straight toothed
rack 38 is fixed to the upper side of each of the said end cross pieces of the
moving frame, and the teeth of those racks are engaged in the teeth of two
equal spur wheels 39, which are fixed at the two ends of a horizontal axis 40,
which extends over the moving frame, and is supported on pivots at each.
end, in suitable bearing brackets, which are erected upon the fixed cross pieces
3, 3, of the framing. By these means the moving frame is caused to move
with equal motion at each of its ends with a sideway motion in respect of its own
length, and the requisite motion is derived from a constantly revolving pinion
41, see Figure 5, Sheet II., which is mounted on a horizontal fixed stud pin
at the top of a bracket fixed to the framing 3, and has a portion of its teeth.
cut away; but the teeth which it has act when required in the teeth of one
of the spur wheels 39, so as to turn the same round in such manner as will
(by aid of the racks 38) carry the moving frame sideways in a direction
outwards from the carding roller F, as fast and as far as is required for
enabling its four troughs 25, 26, 27, and 28, to receive four successive cardings,
as the same are dropped down from the inclined shoot f, in manner already:

page_text: stated; and by the time that the teeth of the pinion 41 have thus carried
the moving frame to the required extent of its motion outwards, then, the
rest of the teeth of the pinion 41 being wanting, the spur wheel 39 is left at
liberty, and the moving trough is returned inwards with an almost instan-
taneous motion, by the reaction of a weight 42, which is suspended to a cord
passing over a pulley, and tied to the moving frame, and pulling the same
continually inwards, see Figure 5, Sheet II. The moving frame is thus
carried inwards as far as allowed by steps, which are fixed to the framing,
and which intercept the ends of its end cross pieces. The moving frame must
complete its said returning motion in the interval between the dropping of one
carding from the shoot finto its innermost trough 28, and the dropping of
the next succeeding carding from the same shoot f into its outermost trough
25. And note, the pinion 41, being originally made with twenty-eight teeth,
eight of those teeth may be cut away, leaving twenty of its teeth. The
pinion 41 must be turned regularly round at the same rate as the pinion 10
and its horizontal axis 11, which is done by two pairs of mitre or equal bevil
wheels 43, 44, and 45, 46, and an oblique inclining axis 47. That is to say,
a bevil wheel 48 is fixed on the axis 11, to turn au equal bevil wheel 44 on
the lower end of the axis 47, which has a bevil wheel 45 at its opposite end
to turn an equal bevil wheel 46, to the centre boss of which the said pinion 41
is fixed, so that both go round together on the same horizontal fixed stud
pin before mentioned. It only remains now to explain the manner of actuating
the moving cross board 8, by which, as before stated, the overlapping ends of
the cardings are rolled one over another on the endless cloth 7, in order that
they may become pieced or joined together. The under side of the board 8
is covered either with leather or with any suitable kind of cloth, such as the
cardings will not adhere to, and the endless cloth 7 must have the same
qualification. The board 8 is sustained by sockets fixed to the back of it, and
fitted to slide upon two parallel steel rods 48, 48, which are fixed at their ends
between a pair of lever arms 49. 49, so as to be held thereby in a horizontal
direction across the endless cloth 7; and the board 8 is moved endways back-
wards and forwards, when required, upon the rods 48, 48, by action of a
connecting link 50, which is jointed at one end to the board 8, and at the
other end to the upper end of a lever 51, which is poised by its middle on a
horizontal axis or stud fixed fast to the framing, and the lower end of
the same lever 51 has an opening in it, like a stirrup, to admit a revolving
excentric circle 52, which is fixed on the extreme end of a horizontal
axis 53; and the latter, being prolonged beneath or across the carding engine,
is turned round (when required) by a pulley 54, at the opposite end of it,

page_text: and an endless strap proceeding from another pulley of about double the
diameter, fixed on the axis of the swift B. When the axis 53 is by these
means turned round, its excentric circle 52 gives an alternating or vibrating
motion to the lever 51, and that is transmitted by the connecting link 50
to the board 8, so as to move the same endways backwards and forwards upon
the two rods 48, 48, the extent of its motion being rather less than two thirds
of the distance between the several continuous cardings which lie side by side
on the endless cloth 7. The board 8 is let down towards the cloth 7 whenever
it is required to act on the cardings for piecing or joining their overlapping
ends, that being during the pause in the motion of the cloth, whilst it remains
motionless. The lever arms 49, 49, then rest upon stops 55, 55, which
are fixed to the side rails 1, 1, and the board 8 is then kept suspended
over the cloth 7, with its under surface parallel thereto, and at such distance
therefrom as to leave a suitable space between the two surfaces for the
cardings to be rolled properly between them, in order to piece or join their
ends together; which being accomplished, then the board 8 is lifted up so
much as to be quite clear of the cardings by action of a camm 56 fixed on
the inclined and oblique axis 47, and which camm being a portion of a
circular rim, it depresses the tail end of one of the levers 49, so as to lift up
the board 8, and holds it up clear of the cardings, which are beneath it all
the time, whilst the endless cloth 7 is moving for advancing the cardings,
as before explained; but the instant after the endless cloth 7 is come quite
to rest, then the camm 56, having by that time brought round the part of
its rim which is cut away, allows the board 8 to descend as far as the stops
55, 55, will allow, and in that condition it is prepared for acting on the
cardings to piece their ends, as before described. And note, whereas it is
unnecessary for the board 8 to continue moving backwards and forwards
whilst it is raised up so as to be out of action, the horizontal axis 53
may be made in two distinct lengths or portious, which are united by a
sliding coupling box 57; and that box 57, being disconnected by sliding it
endways along the axes 53, will leave the portion of that axes on which
the excentric circle 52 is fixed without motion, although the other portion
of the axis 53 continues to revolve, consequently the board 8 will remain
without any of its backward and forward motion, until the coupling box 57
is re-engaged, by sliding it along its axis 53, in order to begin turning the
excentric circle 52, which is not done until the board 8 has been let down,
so as to come in contact with the overlapping ends of the cardings on the
endless cloth 7, as before described. The board 8 is thereby moved backwards
and forwards until it has effected the joinings, and then the coupling box 57

page_text: is disconnected by sliding it along its axis 53, nearly at the same time when
the board 8 is lifted up out of action by its camm 56.. The requisite connect
ing and disconnecting of the said coupling box 57 is performed at the proper
times by a revolving plate 58, fixed on the horizontal axis 11, and which has
a. prominence on cach side of its plane to operate by turns on the prongs of a
fork at the upper end of a lever 59, which is suspended by the middle of its
length on a horizontal fixed stud pin, and the lower end, is forked to embrace
the boss, of the sliding coupling box 57 in a suitable manner for sliding the
same one way along the axis 53, so as to connect the two parts of that axis
when one of the prominences on the revolving plate 58 comes to act against
one prong of the fork at the upper end of the lever 59;, but the coupling box
57 is slided the other way along the axis 53, so as to disconnect, the two
parts thereof when the other prominence of the plate 58 comes round, to act
against the other prong of the said fork of the lever 59. And note, the before
mentioned camm 35, or portion of a circular rim which is fixed to the pinion
10, comes into action on the end of the arm of the elbow lever 34, an instant
after the moving frame has returned inwards, and its trough 25 has received a
carding from the shoof f, so that the camm 35 will open all the four fixed
troughs 30, 31, 32, 33, immediately after four cardings have been deposited
therein, in order by so opening to let those four cardings drop down on the
endless cloth 7, which is then motionless. But that cloth begins to move by
action of the crank pin in. the mitre wheel 13, immediately after the four
cardings are so deposited upon it, and the rim or camm 35 is formed so as to
keep the four lower troughs 30, 31, 32, 33, open for a very little time after
the cloth 7 has commenced its motion, in order that the cardings may be
more certain to, drop out, and then all the said four fixed troughs are
allowed to become closed at once by action of their weight 36,, so as to get
quite closed previous to the time when the moving frame has become moved
sideways so far outwards that its troughs 25 and 27 begin to be opened in
order to let down two cardings into the lower fixed troughs 30, 31, as before
explained. Note, the endless cloth 7 requires to be of a strong fabric, which
will keep well in shape. I have found a piece of what is called cord du roi
to be a very suitable material for piecing woollen çardings upon, but any other
stout cloth will do.
Having now described my said improved machinery, I, the said John Shaw,
do hereby declare that the new Invention, whereof the exclusive use is granted
to me by the said Letters Patent, consists in the combination and arrange-
ments of the parts thereof one with another, as herein-before described, by
virtue of which combination and arrangement all those parts are qualified to

page_text: perform their respective functions in due concert, order, and succession; and
also consists in the application of a revolving crank with a ratchet wheel, as
herein-before described, and referred to by Numbers 13 to 24 in the Drawings
hereunto annexed, that application being for the purpose of moving the endless
cloth on which the cardings are deposited, and of leaving the same motionless
when requisite. But note, I make no claim to the use or application of such an
endless cloth for receiving and carrying forwards the cardings, nor to any other
mode of giving occasional motion thereto, and leaving the same occasionally
without motion, except by application of a revolving crank and ratchet wheel,
as aforesaid. And also consists in the application of a horizontally moving
frame containing four narrow parallel troughs, as herein-before described, and
referred to by Numbers 25 to 28 and by Numbers 37 to 47 in the Drawings
hereunto annexed, that application being for the purpose of receiving four
successive cardings as they are regularly delivered one after another from the
carding engine, and of distributing the same in due order into four other wide
parallel troughs, which are fixed beneath the said moving frame and immediately
over the endless cloth. But note, I make no claim to the use or application
of the last-mentioned four wide fixed troughs for receiving the cardings for
the purpose of depositing them on the endless cloth, nor to any other mode
of receiving four successive cardings and distributing them in due order into
such four wide fixed troughs, except by application of a horizontally moving
frame containing four narrow parallel troughs, as aforesaid, and I make no
claim to any other portions of my said improved machinery, except when the
same are combined and arranged one with another in manner herein-before
described. And lastly, I make no claim to any particular mode of combining
my said improved machinery with the ordinary carding engine or machine.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Shaw, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, the Twenty-fifth day of July, One thousand eight hundred
and thirty-seven.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-fifth day of July, in the
year of our Lord 1837, the aforesaid John Shaw came before our said Lady
the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification 'aforesaid,
and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the 'tenor of
the Statute made for that purpose.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-fifth day of July, in the
year of our Lord 1837, the aforesaid John Shaw came before our said Lady
the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid,
and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of
the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Fourth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven.
Inrolled the Fourth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven.