IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING TO BE SPUN WOOL, COTTON, HAIR, TOW, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Robert Ramsbotham, of Bradford, in the
County of York, Worsted Spinner, and William Brown, of the same
Place, Mechanic, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING TO BE
SPUN WOOL, COTTON, HAIR, TOW, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS."
Sealed the 14th November 1854, and dated the 8th September 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Robert Ramsbotham
and William Brown at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 8th September 1854.
We, HENRY ROBERT RAMSBOTHAN, of Bradford, in the County of York,
Worsted Spinner, & WILLIAM BROWN, of the same Place, Mechanic, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRE-
PARING TO BE SPUN WOOL, COTTON, HAIR, Tow, & OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS,"
to be as follows:-
The improvements relate, first, to arranging receiving combs used in combing
fibrous substances, so that the back row or rows of teeth extend above the
other rows with their points inclining forwards over the rows of teeth in front
of them, and we prefer that such back row or rows extend their points for-
wards to about a line with the frontermost row of teeth. By this arrangement,
we are enabled, when feeding fibre on to such comb teeth, to take the noil at

page_text: once on to the back row or rows of teeth. We also prefer that such back row
or rows of teeth be finer and closer together than the fronter rows, in order
more effectually to intercept the noil; and sometimes, in order to give additional
strength to such back row or rows of teeth, we make them in their cross
section of a flattened, in place of a round, figure. And for the convenience of
making repairs to the fronter rows, we prefer to attach such back row or
rows to the circle in segments, and raise the head of such row or rows
higher than the rest, in order more effectually to lock the noil in the back of
the comb.
Secondly, the improvements relate to arrangement of machinery for which
Letters Patents were granted to Mr. Henry Ross, on or about the 6th day of
May 1837, and the 18th day of July 1838, in which porcupine or card rollers
were proposed to be employed in series in a rotating frame, to supply fibrous
matters to comb surfaces, and in so doing to separate and straighten them.
And our improvement consists in applying plates between the surfaces of such
porcupine, or card, or other point rollers & the receiving comb, to prevent the
fibre when fed on to the receiving comb from being further worked by such
or succeeding porcupine or card surfaces. Also, in the application of a rotating
brush, or a "fancy," acting to lift the fibre out of such percupine card or other
point surfaces into a position ready for being filled on to the receiving comb,
one end of the fibres being cleansed or combed by being drawn through the
porcupine, card, or other point surfaces employed in the act of feeding the fibre
on to the receiving comb, and the other end being combed by the act of
drawing off by suitable drawing-off' rollers from such receiving combs, as is
well understood. Also this part of the improvements apply, when using
other endless sheets of card or comb teeth, as the feeding means, in place of
the rotating surfaces of points referred to.
Thirdly, to the application to ordinary receiving combs of an additional
comb, which we call a catch comb, and which, when fibre is being laid on to
the receiving comb, is made to stand above the level of the points of the teeth
of the receiving comb & behind it, so that when the fibre is coming into posi-
tion to be filled on to the receiving comb, this catch comb cafches hold of it
first, and then descends with it till the fibre is taken hold cf, or just before it
is taken hold of, by the receiving comb, when this catch comb retires out of
the way, by which the noil will be taken to the back of the combs.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Robert Ramsbotham and William Brown in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 7th March 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, wc, HENRY
ROBERT RAMSBOTHAM, of Bradford, in the County of York, Worsted Spinner,
and WILLIAM BROWN, of the same Place, Mechanic, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
Henry Robert Ramsbothamn and William Brown, Her special licence that we,
the said Henry Robert Ramsbotham and William Brown, our executors.
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Henry Robert
Ramsbotham and William Brown, our 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN PREPARING TO BE SPUN WOOL, COTTON, HAIR, TOW, AND OTHER
FIBROUS MATERIALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
Henry Robert Ramsbotham and William Brown, by an instrument in writing
under our hands and scals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Henry Robert Ramsbotham and
William Brown, 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 thereof, that is to say:-
The improvements relate, first, to arranging receiving combs used in
combing fibrous substances so that the back row or rows of teeth extend
above the other rows with their points inclining forwards over the rows of
teeth in front of them, and we prefer that such back row or rows extend
their points forwards to about a line with the frontermost row of teeth. By
this arrangement, we are enabled, when feeding fibre on to such comb teeth,
to take the noil at once on to the back row or rows of teeth. We also

page_text: prefer that such back row or rows of teeth be finer and closer together than
the fronter rows, in order more effectually to intercept the noil; and some-
times, in order to give additional strength to such back row or rows of teeth,
we make them in their cross section of a flattened, in place of a round,
figure.
Secondly, the improvements relate to arrangement of machinery for which
Letters Patents were granted to Mr. Henry Ross, on or about the Sixth day
of May, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven, and the Eighteenth
day of July, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight, in which porcupine
or card rollers were proposed to be employed in series in a rotating frame to
supply fibrous matters to comb surfaces, and in so doing to separate and
straighten them. And our improvement consists in applying plates between
the surfaces of such porcupine, or card, or other point rollers and the
receiving comb, to prevent the fibre when fed on to the receiving comb
from being further worked by such or succeeding porcupine or card surfaces.
Also in the application of a rotating brush, or a "fancy," acting to lift the
fibre out of such porcupine, card, or other point surfaces into a position ready
for being filled on to the receiving comb, one end of the fibres being cleansed
or combed by being drawn through the porcupine, card, or other point surfaces
employed in the act of feeding the fibre on to the receiving comb, and the
other end being combed by the act of drawing off by suitable drawing-off
rollers from such receiving combs, as is well understood. Also this part
of the improvements apply, when using other endless sheets of card or
comb teeth, as the feeding means, in place of the rotating surfaces of points
referred to.
And, thirdly, our improvements relate to the application to ordinary re-
ceiving combs of an additional comb, which we call a "catch comb," and which,
when fibre is being laid on to the receiving comb, is made to stand above the
level of the points of the teeth of the receiving comb and behind it, so that
when the fibre is coming into position to be filled on to the receiving comb, this
"catch comb" catches hold of it first, and then descends with it till the fibre
is taken hold of or just before it is taken hold of by the receiving comb, when
this "catch comb "retires out of the way, by which the noil will be taken to
the back of the combs.
But that our Invention may be fully understood and readily carried into
effect, we will proceed to describe the Drawing annexed.

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 shows a section of a receiving comb with a back row of teeth
arranged according to the first part of these improvements. a, a, are comb
teeth such as are ordinarily employed; and we would remark, that although
we have shown four rows of such teeth in the comb, that number may be
varied, according to the class of fibre to be treated, or the judgment of the
user; as may also the length of such teeth and the number thereof to the inch.
b shows a back row of teeth according to our Invention, extending upwards
above the teeth a, with their points inclining forwards over such teeth a.
In some cases two or more rows of such bent teeth 6 may be employed, and
although we have shewn them extending upwards to a distance which, com-
pared with the length of the teeth a, we have found to answer well, their length
inay be varied.
We have not thought it necessary to show any means for
feeding fibre into such receiving combs, as there are various means adopted
for feeding wool and other fibres into teeth of receiving combs in order to
such fibres being combed, and such are well known and form no part of our
present improvements.
The fibre as fed on to these receiving combs will be taken first upon the
points of the back row of comb teeth 6, and by them it will be conducted over
the points of the teeth a, so as to take the noil to the back, by which, in the
drawing off through the teeth a, b, the fibre will be more effectually cleared
by the noil being left at the back of the combs. For the convenience of
making repairs to the fronter rows, we prefer to attach such back row or
rows to the circle in segments, and to raise the head of such row or rows
higher than the rest, in order more effectually to lock the noil in the back of
the comb.
Figures 2 and 3 show two sectional views of the working parts of apparatus
arranged according to the second and third heads of our improvements. But
as the class of machinery to which these improvements in part especially apply
was fully described and shown in the Specifications of Patents granted to
Henry Ross, before referred to, we have not thought it necessary to repeat
the details of working of such machinery here, and have only shewn in each
case one of the rollers of the series of point rollers used to conduct the wool
or other fibres to the receiving combs; and in each case it will be understood
that whilst the direction of rotation of each point roller employed will be that
indicated by the arrow, the rollers of the series will rotate in an orbit around
Figure 2 shows the arrangement of the points when
a common centre.

page_text: supplying the fibres to the point rollers from bobbins, as described in the first
of the before-referred-to Specifications; and Figure 3, that which we prefer
to adopt with arrangements, such as described in the Specification of the
latter of those Patents, by supplying those point rollers from separate feeding
means. c in each case indicates one of the rollers of porcupine or other points;
and in Figure 2 we have shewn two plates d, e, according to our improvements,
for partly enclosing the surface of such point rollers, and thereby protecting
the points of the teeth used. In Figure 3 we have only shown one of such
plates to be used with each roller e; they are in each case affixed to the frame
carrying such rollers, in order to their keeping the same relative position.
These point rollers in their combined movements when they have received
the fibre, lay that fibre on to the passing comb. When the rollers c have
given off a portion of fibre to suitable receiving combs, these plates prevent
the points of the rollers c from further acting upon the fibre delivered, and it
is the application of such plates d, e, which we have found to be an important
improvement when employing porcupine or gill feed rollers in the manner
explained, which constitutes one peculiarity of the Invention. is a brush, or
"fancy," applied to the surface of the roller g', which is caused to rotate so
that, the brush or "fancy" may act upon the fibre projecting from cach roller c
just as that roller is about to deliver its fibre and aid in laying it in position to
be taken by the receiving combs employed.
And we would only further state, that we do not confine ourselves to the
number of point rollers used, as that number may be varied, and that a work-
man, from the description given of these parts, will readily make such variations
as may be necessary to apply these improvements, when using other endless
sheets of card or comb teeth, as the feeding means to carrying combs, in place
of rotating surfaces of points c. is the receiving comb, which may be of the
ordinary kind, and the teeth thereof may be of such length and fineness or
number to the inch, and there may be such number of rows of them, as the
character of fibre being treated may require, or the judgment of the user may
determine; but such forms no part of our present improvements. And although
we have shewn this part of our improvements working with a "catch comb)"
arranged according to the third part of our Invention, which we are now about
to describe, we do not confine ourselves to that arrangement, as the series of
point rollers c or other endless sheets of points used may at once lay their
fibre on the receiving comb without the aid of such "catch comb," though we
prefer to use it. i is the "catch comb," which consists of one or more rows
of teeth fixed in a bar i, to which, according to the arrangement shown, but

page_text: this may be varied, an up and down motion is given; the arms, thereto
affixed, being actuated by lever arms, one on each side of the apparatus, in
order that the "catch comb" may move from one to the other position
indicated. The levers are supported on axes i', and carry at their other ends
trucks or rollers, which are acted upon in the rotation of the frame, carrying
the roller c by the cam surface iº. The bar also carries trucks or rollers 17,
which in the up and down movement of that bar move in the slotted openings
formed in the standards j, by which the bar of points i will have given to it a
combined movement, so as at one time to be in position to take into the fibre
projecting from the point rollers c, and thence to travel down with that point
roller, at the same time drawing the fibre somewhat backwards, so as to lay it
fully over the receiving combs h, by which, when the fibre is drawn off* from
the front of such receiving combs, the noil will be found for the most part
at the back of those combs h. is a plate, extending beyond the width of the
combi behind, and below which that comb i passes, in order that the fibro
taken by this "catch comb," so soon as it is fairly on the points of the teeth h,
may be released from the teeth i.
We would remark, in respect of such row or rows of teeth forming an
additional comb to act as explained, that is, to take into and conduct the fibres
fully on to the receiving comb employed, in order to the noil being taken to
the back of such receiving combs, that although we have shewn such in con-
nection with feeding means arranged according to other parts of our present
improvements, we do not limit ourselves to such use, as this part of our
improvements is equally applicable when other feeding means are employed.
Having thus described the nature of our said Invention, and the means
pursued by us in carrying the same into effect, we would have it understood
that we do not confine ourselves to the precise details herein shewn and
described, so long as the peculiar character of either part of our Invention be
retained; but what we do claim is,―
Firstly, the so arranging receiving combs used in preparing to be spun
wool, cotton, hair, tow, and other fibrous materials, that the back row or rows
of teeth extend above the other rows with their points inclining forwards over
the rows of teeth in front of them, as explained.
Secondly, we claim the application of plates d and e to rollers or endless
sheets of porcupine or card points employed, as the feeding means to
receiving combs employed in preparing to be spun wool, cotton, hair, tow, and
other fibrous materials. Also, we claim the application of a rotating brush, or
"fancy," in connection with such rollers or endless sheets of porcupine, card,

page_text: or other points, for the purpose explained, when preparing to be spun wool,
cotton, hair, tow, and other fibrous materials.
And, thirdly, we claim the application, in connection with receiving combs
used in preparing to be spun wool, cotton, hair, tow, and other fibrous
materials, of a supplemental or "catch comb" acting in manner and for
the purpose explained.
In witness whereof, we, the suid Henry Robert Ramsbotham and William
Brown, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Third day of
March, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-five.
Witness,
GEORGE HARROWBY,
Bradford.
HENRY ROBERT RAMSBOTHAM (L.B.)
WILLIAM BROWN.
(L.B.)