Improvements in and applicable to Carding Engines.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 9th July, 1891
Complete Specification Left, 9th Apr., 1892-Accepted, 14th May, 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and applicable to Carding Engines.
We, GEORGE ASHWORTH and ELIJAH ASHWORTH, of the firm of Ashworth
Brothers, of the Moss Brook Works, Collyhurst, Manchester in the County of
Lancaster, Machine Makere, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be
as follows:-
Our invention relates to the means employed to remove waste fibres from the
flats and cylinders of carding engines. Previously to our invention revolving
brushes have been used such brushes being in some cases made of bristles and in
other cases made of wire straight or hooked according to the requirements. One of
these brushes is usually mounted upon the carding engine in position to brush each
flat after it has been stripped. Removable brushes or stripping cylinders are also
applied at intervals of time and act to brush out the dust and fibres from the cards
upon the flats or cylinders as the case may be or by means of the hooked wires of
the stripping cylinders to remove accumulation of fibre. There is a tendency for
the fibres so removed to accumulate upon the brush or clearing cylinder and it has
been necessary to remove such accumulation at intervals and in some cases fixed
combs have been used to clear the revolving brushes. There has however in all
cases been a tendency for fibrous fluff and knots to return to the cards either by
renson of the fibres being thrown off the brush or cylinder owing to its rapid revolu-
tion or being taken directly from the brush or being taken or escaping from the
clearing comb or combs. To obviate this defect is the principal object of our
invention. In combination with the brush or clearing cylinder we employ a fluff
cylinder adapted to receive the fibres from the said brush or clearing cylinder.
This fluff cylinder is provided with hooked wires and is either positively rotated or
is slightly turned at intervals or is so mounted as that there shall be a frictional
resistance to rotation as for example one of the bearings for the roller shaft or each
bearing may be so constructed as that an adjustable pressure may be exerted upon
the roller shaft or any suitable form of friction brake may be employed. As the
fibres accumulate upon the fluff cylinder there is a tendency for the cylinder to be
slightly turned by contact with the.revolving brush or clearing cylinder so as to
bring a fresh part into use until the fluff cylinder would be fully charged when the
accumulation would be removed or the fluff cylinder may be turned at intervals by
the attendant. When the fluff cylinder would be positively driven and be used in
connection with a revolving brush the fluff cylinder might revolve more slowly
than the brush and receive motion from the same-through chain or other gearing or
might be otherwise driven and might impart motion to the brush. In the case of
the brush which acts upon the flats after stripping as aforesaid we propose in some
cases to drive the fluff cylinder directly from the inclined worm shaft which forms
part of the flat driving motion and to drive the brush from the fluff cylinder. By
this method we obtain a slower motion for the brush which we consider to be
important and we dispense with the ordinary band motion which is a source of
trouble. In the cases of removable brushes and clearing cylinders used at intervals
we extend the brackets and adapt them to carry a fluff cylinder in addition to the
ordinary brush or clearing cylinder so that the combination forms a self contained
apparatus the shafts of the two cylinders being connected so that one drives the
other. In the case of a clearing cylinder provided with hooked wires the fluff
cylinder may revolve faster than the clearing.cylinder and in a contrary direction
and may have its wires bent so as to take off the fibres from the clearing cylinder but
if preferred for any reason the fluff cylinder may revolve more slowly than the
clearing cylinder. The brushes may be boxed in by means of covers hinged so as

page_text: to open and expose the rollers when required or the covers may be otherwise so
mounted that they can be easily removed and replaced.
Dated this 8th day of July 1891.
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James' Square, Manchester, Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and applicable to Carding Engines.
We, GEORGE ASHWORTH and ELIJAH ASHWORTH, of the firm of Ashworth
Brothers, of the Moss Brook Works, Collyhurst, Manchester, in the County, of
Lancaster, Machine Makers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement and accompanying drawings:-
Our invention relates to the means employed to remove waste fibres from the
flats and cylinders of carding engines. Previously to our invention revolving
brushes have been used' such brushes being in some cases made of bristles and in
other cases made of wire straight or hooked according to the requirements. One
of these brushes is usually mounted upon the carding engine in position to brush
each flat after it has been stripped. Removable brushes or stripping oylinders are
also applied at intervals of time and act to brush out the dust and fibres from the
cards upon the flats or cylinders as the case may he or by means of the hooked
wires of the stripping cylinders to remove accumulations of fibre. There is a
tendency for the fibres so removed to accumulate upon the brush or clearing cylinder
and it has been necessary to remove such accumulations at intervals and in some
cases fixed combs have been used to clear the revolving brushes.
There has however in all cases been a tendency for fibrous fluff and knots to
return to the cards either by reason of the fibres being thrown off the brush or
cylinder owing to its rapid revolution or being taken directly from the brush or
being taken or escaping from the clearing comb or combs. To obviate this defect
is the principal object of our invention.
:
In combination with the brush or clearing cylinder we employ a fluff cylinder
adapted to receive the fibres from the said brush or clearing cylinder. The fluff
cylinder is provided with hooked wires and is positively or otherwise rotated
continuously or at intervals.
In order that our invention may be clearly understood we will describe the same
with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In the said drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevation of our improved flat brushing
apparatus.
Fig. 2 is a plan view of the parts at one side of the engine the line * in Fig. 1
being supposed to be horizontal in Fig. 2.
Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate the application of our invention to the removable stripping
cylinder or brush.
In Figs. 1 and 2 a portion of the fixed bend of a carding engine is represented
by a one end of the ordinary revolving brush being represented by b. The journal
end of the shaft of the said brush mounted in a bearing piece c which is adjust-
able upon the bracket which carries the shaft and wheels e e' over which the
flats pass after leaving the bends. It will be understood that there are similar
parts at the other side of the engine as is usual such parts not appearing in Fig. 2
for want of room in the drawings. The shaft e is driven by means of an inclined
worm shaft this being an ordinary method of driving but in the present instance
the said shaft is made long enough to give motion to the fluff cylinder G which we
apply in accordance with our invention. This fluff cylinder is carried by bearing
pieces which are adjustable upon the parts e on the two sides of the engine and
the shaft of the fluff cylinder is connected by bevel gearing with the worm
shaft whereby the fluff cylinder is caused to revolve in the indicated direction,

page_text: Upon the end of the shaft g' is fixed a chain wheel i which is connected by means
of a pitch chain with a second wheel which revolves upon a stud and is attached
to a spur pinion which gears with a spiir wheel j. The said spur wheel is fixed
upon the shaft of the brush the effect of the arrangement being that the brush is
caused to revolve in the indicated direction. One result of this method of actuating
the brush is that the brush is caused to revolve more slowly than is usual and this
we consider to be an advantage partly for the reason that there is less tendency
for the fluff to be thrown off by the brush. We are also enabled to dispense with
the ordinary band motion which is a source of trouble. The fluff cylinder is
furnished with hooked wires which penetrate to some extent between the bristles
or wires of the brash. As the fluff cylinder has a greater surface speed than the
brush the hooked wires "over run "the bristles or wires of the brush and remove
the fluff-from the brush. The brush re-acts upon the fluff cylinder and tends to
press the accumulated fluff down the wires of the cylinder so that the fluff is not
thrown off but accumulates and can be stripped off at suitable intervals in the form
of a fleece.
We have shown and described what we consider to be the best method of
actuating the cylinder and brush but we do not intend to confine ourselves in
this respect. The fluff cylinder might be revolved slowly in the direction opposite
to the indication the bend of the wires being reversed. Fig. 5 illustrates an
arrangement whereby the fluff cylinder would be caused to revolve in a direction.
the same as that of the brush and at a slower speed. In such a case the brush might
be driven in the ordinary manner. In the example the brush is driven by means
of a small band pulley which would be fixed upon the shaft which appears at u
in Figs. 1 and 2. The shaft of the brush would be connected by the chain
gearing with the shaft of the fluff cylinder G. This method of actuating the
fluff cylinder may be conveniently adopted when altering engines but we prefer the
method illustrated by Figs. 1 and 2. The arrangement in Fig. 5 could be modified
by driving the brush 6 directly from the shaft which appears in Fig. 1. The
gearing in Figs. 1 and 2 could be arranged to drive the fluff cylinder in the
contrary direction if preferred and the gearing i might be of any suitable
proportions and be applied at either side of the engine. The fluff cylinder might
be arranged to be slightly turned by hand at intervals or the cylinder might be so
mounted as that there would be frictional resistance to rotation as for example one
of the bearings for the roller shaft or each bearing might be so constructed as that
an adjustable pressure would be exerted upon the roller shaft or any suitable form
of friction brake might be employed. As the fibres would accumulate upon the
fluff cylinder there would be a tendency for the cylinder to be slightly turned by
contact with the revolving brush or clearing cylinder so as to bring a fresh part
into use until the fluff cylinder would be fully charged when the accumulation
should be removed.
In Figs. 3 and 4 the fluff cylinder G is used in connection with a clearing
cylinder which is applied to the carding engine occasionally to act upon the flats
or the main or doffing cylinder as the case may be as is well understood, the said
clearing cylinder being represented as mounted in the "grinder brackets "
as is
usual. The journal ends of the clearing cylinder shaft are fitted to revolve in
bearing pieces which rest in seatings in brush brackets which can be secured to the
ordinary grinder brackets. One of these bearing pieces appears at in Fig. 3 one
of the brush brackets being represented by mn and one of the grinder brackets by n.
Each bearing piece is formed with an arm to which is adjustably secured the
bearing piece o of the fluff cylinder shaft. Upon one end of the fluff cylinder shaft
is fixed a chain wheel p which is connected by means of a pitch chain with a second.
chain wheel pl which is mounted to revolve upon a spur and is attached to a stud
pinion which gears with a spur wheel which is fixed upon the shaft of the
cylinder k. It will be seen that the driving connection of the parts G and kis
similar to that of the parts G and b in Figs. 1 and 2. The fluff cylinder Gis
rotated by means of a band and by reason of its driving connection with the

page_text: clearing cylinder shaft causes the said cylinder to revolve in the indicated direction
the surface speed of the cylinder & being less than that of the cylinder G as in the
case of the example first described. If preferred the clearing cylinder may be
rotated in the usual manner or be suitably driven and the fluff cylinder may receive
motion from the clearing cylinder shaft or be arranged to be turned at intervals or
otherwise as hereinbefore mentioned when referring to Figs. 1 and 2..
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :-
.
1. The fluff cylinder G driven by the worm shaft and giving motion to the
brush the cylinder G being arranged to remove fibres from the brush
stantially as set forth and indicated.
sub-
2. The fluff cylinder G rotated to "over run "the brush or the cylinder k and
applied so as to clear the same substantially as set forth and indicated,
3. The fluff cylinder G. having its sliaft connected by gearing with the shaft of
the clearing cylinder & and arranged to remove fluff or fibres from such cylinder
substantially as set forth and indicated.
4. The combination of the fluff and clearing cylinders Gk with their bearings
brackets and gearing constituting an apparatus for attachment to the grinder
brackets of a carding engine substantially as and for the purpose sot forth and
indicated.
5. The fluff cylinder mounted to be rotated continuously or at intervals or
to be capable of being rotated and applied so as to receive or withdraw fluff or
fibres from a clearing or stripping brush used in connection with a carding engine
ns set forth.
6. In a carding engine actuating the parts and G by means of the shaft.
Dated this 8th day of Anvil 19
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James' Square, Manchester, Agents.