IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SCUTCHING FLAX AND OTHER FIBRES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Coles, Chemist, of Castle Cary, and
William Henderson, of Clanville, Castle Cary, both in the County
of Somerset, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
SCUTCHING FLAX AND OTHER FIBRES.”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Coles and
William Henderson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 13th May 1870.
We, THOMAS COLES, Chemist, of Castle Cary, and WILLIAM HENDER-
SON, of Clanville, Castle Cary, both in the County of Somerset, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR SCUTCHING FLAX AND OTHER FIBRES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery for
scutching flax and other fibres.
For scutching flax we take the flax suitably prepared by retting, as is
well understood, but by preference without breaking, and clamp it in a
holder. The holder may consist of a frame in which are two boards

page_text: with grooved edges, which can be pressed together by a screw. The
holder with the flax in it is placed in the machine on horizontal sup-
porting bars, to which a rising and falling motion is given. The fibre
which hangs down from the holders, several of which are in the machine
at one time, is, when the holders are in their lowest position, seized
between two rubbers, which as the holders rise rub the fibre whilst it
is drawn up between them. As soon as the fibre has escaped from the
rubbers and when the holders are in or near their highest position, the
rubbers separate, and the fibre as the holders again descend passes down
freely between them; this is repeated until the fibre is clean. Imme-
diately below the rubbers are two revolving shakers, they carry bars,
which as they revolve strike the fibre, and they are so arranged as to
strike it first on one side and then on the other. The shakers violently
shake the fibre, particularly during the descent of the holders, so that
the woody particles detached by the rubbers may fall away. As soon as
the fibre in any holder is sufficiently scutched, this holder is lifted out
of the machine and a holder with unwrought fibre in it is substituted.
The holders are for convenience placed on the supporting bars at one
end of the bars, and they are slidden along as other holders are removed,
and when the supporting bars are in their highest position the holders
can be taken off the machine from any part of the supporting bars, as
the fibre in one holder may require to be worked longer than that in
another. The rubbers consist of boards, the edges of which are the
rubbing surfaces; they are grooved longitudinally so as to interlock the
one with the other, and they are also grooved vertically to give them a
better hold of the fibre. The pressure of the rubbers the one towards
the other is given by means of adjustable springs. After the fibre has
been scrutched at one end the holder is unclamped and the fibre drawn
through a short distance, so that the whole of the unscutched part may
hang down from the holder; this part is then similarly operated-upon ;
but by preference not by the same rubbers, for the root end of the
flax requires somewhat coarser rubbers, and more pressure than the
other end. We usually make the machines double with on one side
rubbers suitable for the root, and on the other rubbers suitable for the
upper end of the flax. Other fibres, such as hemp and jute, may be
similarly treated.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Coles and William Henderson in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 12th November 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, THOMAS
3 COLES, Chemist, of Castle Cary, and WILLIAM HENDERSON, of Clanville,
Castle Cary, both in the County of Somerset, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said Thomas Coles and William Henderson,
Her special licence that we, the said Thomas Coles and William
Henderson, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as we, the said Thomas Coles and William Henderson, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR SCUTCHING FLAX AND OTHER FIBRES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said Thomas Coles and William Hender-
son, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
our or their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us
or them, 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 Henderson, on behalf of
myself and the said Thomas Coles, 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 (thereof, that is to say) :—
-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery for
scutching flax and other fibres.

page_text: For soutching flax we take the flax suitably prepared by retting,
as is well understood, and clamp it in a holder, the holder may consist
of a frame in which are two boards with grooved edges which can be
pressed together by a screw. The holder with the flax in it is placed in
the machine on horizontal supporting bars to which a rising and falling
motion is given. The fibre which hangs down from the holders, several
of which are in the machine at one time, is when the holders are in their
lowest position seized between two rubbers, which as the holders rise rub
the fibre whilst it is drawn up between them. As soon as the fibre has
escaped from the rubbers, and when the holders are in or near their
highest position, the rubbers separate and the fibre as the holders again
descend passes down freely between them. This is repeated until the
fibre is clean. Immediately below the rubbers are two revolving shakers,
they carry bars, which as they revolve strike the fibre and they are so
arranged as to strike it first on one side and then on the other. The
shakers violently shake the fibre, particularly during the descent of the
holders, so that the woody particles detached by the rubbers may fall
away. As soon as the fibre in any holder is sufficiently scutched this
holder is lifted out of the machine and a holder with unwrought fibre in
it is substituted. The holders are for convenience placed on the supporting
bars at one end of the bars, and they are slidden along as other holders
are removed, and when the supporting bars are in their highest position
the holders might, if desired, be taken off the machine from any part of
the supporting bars as the fibre in one holder may in some cases
require to be worked longer that that in another. The rubbers consist
of boards, the edges of which are the rubbing surfaces; they are grooved
longitudinally so as to interlock the one with the other, and they are
also grooved vertically to give them a better hold of the fibre. The
pressure of the rubbers the one towards the other may be given by
means of adjustable springs. After the fibre has been scutched at one
end the holder is unclamped and the fibre drawn through a short
distance, so that the whole of the unscutched part may hang down
from the holder; this part is then similarly operated upon, but by pre-
ference not by the same rubbers, for the root end of the flax requires
somewhat coarser rubbers, and more pressure than the other end. We
usually make the machines double with on one side rubbers suitable
for the root, and on the other rubbers suitable for the upper end of the
flax, other fibres such as hemp and jute may be similarly treated.

page_text: MOSCHINO My maer of performing the summe,
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
In the Drawings hereunto annexed we have shewn a machine
3 constructed in the manner we prefer for carrying out our Invention.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine, and Figure 2 a plan view
of the same.
In these Figures A are the supporting bars to receive the clamps or
holders in which the flax or other fibre is held. These supporting bars
have a rising and falling motion given to them as herein-after explained;
B, B, are breaking wheels or arcs between which the flax is passed
previous to its being acted on by the rubbers, one half of each arc is
formed with coarse corrugations and the other with fine corrugations.
The flax is first passed between the coarse ends of the arcs, and then
between the finer ends; C, O, are the rubbers which have a quick hori-
zontal to-and-fro motion given to them. The number of longitudinal
grooves in the rubbers may be varied.
At Figure 3 is shown a transverse section of a pair of rubbers made of
iron, one rubber has a longitudinal groove formed in it, and the other
rubber enters this groove. A front view of the grooved rubber is shewn
at Figure 5.
At Figure 4 is shewn a transverse section of a pair of rubbers formed
of wood, and with a greater number of corrugations; the acting surfaces
of the rubbers are also grooved vertically as shewn at Figures 3, 4, and 5.
D, D, are the revolving shakers which beat off the woody particles from
the flax; E, E, are moveable arms which carry the guides or supports of
the outer rubbers, they take the outer rubbers out of action when the flax
is descending, and bring them into action when the flax. is ascending.
Motion is given to the several parts of the machine in the following
manner: The supports A, A, work up and down against the vertical
ends of the frame which are of an H form in section, as shewn at
Figure 2, and friction rollers carried from the back of the supports are
received between the flanges of the frame. Rods pass downwards from
the supports, and at their lower ends are jointed to the lower ends of
connecting rods F¹, which are carried from the ends of an oscillating
bcam F, there being one such beam on each side of the machine, this
-

page_text: beam has motion given to it by a connecting rod F³ passing down to a
crank pin G* on the axis G, which is driven by preference at about fifty
to sixty revolutions a minute. We have not thought it necessary to
shew in the Drawing the gearing for giving motion to this axis. On
the axis of one of each pair of the arcs B, which turns in fixed bearings, i
is a toothed arc B¹ gearing into a toothed are on a lever H, and this
lever has a to-and-fro motion given to it by a connecting rod passing
down from the beam F. The axis of the other are of each pair of arcs B
is carried by weighted levers K, the weight on these levers can be
adjusted to give the amount of pressure required. In order to move each
of the outer rubbers to and from the rubber with which it works the
arms E may, as shewn on the left hand side of the machine, be formed
with other arms E¹ projecting from the opposite side of the axis which
is at their lower end, and each arm E¹ may carry a roller to work in a
grooved cam carried by the axis G; or the arms E¹ may be drawn 1
downwards by a spring against the periphery of a cam, as shewn on the
right hand side of the machine, in this case the force with which the
outer rubber is pressed towards the rubber with which it works by the
cam acting upon a lever arm G³ which at its end is connected by a spring
with the lever arm G², and by adjusting the spring the force with which 2
the lever arm is drawn downwards can be adjusted, the arm G* may at its
end turn on a fixed centre, or this centre may be carried by the arm G¹
as shewn. The horizontal to-and-fro motion is given to each of the
rubbers by levers L, L, which at their lower ends are formed with forks
to embrace eccentrics carried by an axis M, which has a quick revolving 2
motion given to it by a band passing over the driving pulley Mr. The
revolving beaters D may be driven in any suitable manner. The action
of the machine is as follows:-The clamps or holders in which the fibre
is held are fed in at one end of the supports A, and they are moved
along towards the opposite end of these supports either by hand, or self- 3
acting mechanism may be employed for the purpose. As the clamps or
holders are fed in one by one into the rising and falling supports A tho
flax held in the clamp last inserted is first acted on by the coarse ends
of the breaking arcs B, and afterwards by the finer ends of these arcs.
As the holders are still further slid along the supports A, the flax held in 3
them is next acted upon by the ends of the rubbers which have the coarser
corrugations formed in them, and as they approach the opposite ends of
the supports A they are acted upon by the ends of the rubbers which

page_text: have smaller corrugations formed in them. When the holders have
passed beyond the rubbers the holders are removed from the ends of the
supports. Afterwards the opposite end of the flax is similarly scutched
on the opposite side of the machine where the rubbers and beaters are
suitably adjusted for acting upon it. The rubbers and beaters at one
end of the machine being made and adjusted for acting on the root
end of the flax, whilst the rubbers and beaters at the opposite end are
for acting on the opposite end of the flax as herein-before described.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, we would have it understood that what we claim
is,-
1. The combined arrangement of machinery for scutching flax and
other fibre substantially as herein described.
2. The combined arrangement of rubbers to act upon flax or other
fibre, substantially as herein described, together with apparatus for
drawing the fibre endwise between the rubbers.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henderson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.