CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR HECKLING, OR COMBING, AND PREPARING, AND ROVING HEMP, FLAX, TOW, AND SUCH OTHER VEGETABLE FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1837

page_text: DENNIS
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MILES
BERRY, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the Parish of St
Andrew, Holborn, and County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, and Mechanical
Draftsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain; bearing date
at Westminster, the Twenty-sixth day of October, in the first year of Her
reign, and in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-
seven, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Miles Berry, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Miles Berry, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and
such others as I, the said Miles Berry, my executors, admors, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations.
abroad, an Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR HECKLING,
OR COMBING, AND PREPARING, AND ROVING HEMP, FLAX, TOW, AND SUCH OTHER
VEGETABLE FIBROUS MATERIALS," "being a communication from a foreigner
residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, obliging
me, the said Miles Berry, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,

page_text: and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to
be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited
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
Miles Berry, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained, in and by the following description thereof, reference being had
to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thercon (that is to say) :-
:
These improvements in machinery for heckling, or combing. preparing,
and roving hemp, flax, tow, and such other vegetable fibrous materials,
consist in certain novel constructions and arrangements of machinery or
apparatus for performing the different operations of combing or straighten-
ing and separating the fibres of hemp and flax, and other such like fibrous
materials, and forming the same into rovings so as to prepare them for the
after processes of spinning or twisting into yarn for various purposes. The
fibrous substances are supplied or fed into this improved machinery by placing
the rough materials upon heckle teeth or points, set or fixed in an endless
belt travelling around pulleys or drums in a horizontal direction, the heckle
belt and drums being placed in a vertical position; and the hecklo teeth as
they travel along carry the fibrous materials past a revolving cylinder or drum
placed in a horizontal position opposite one end of the heckle belt. The
cylinder is furnished or armed with comb teeth upon its periphery, which, as
they are carried round in the vertical direction, enter into the fibrous materials
hanging in the heckle teeth, and open, separate, and comb or straighten the
fibres thereof. The materials are afterwards taken from off the heckle belt by
the receiving rollers in the form of separate rovings, slivers, or filaments, and
are thus prepared ready for the after processes of twisting and spinning. And I
will now proceed to explain more fully the nature, construction, and operation
of this improved machinery for heckling, combing, preparing, and roving
fibrous materials, reference being had to the Drawings hereto annexed, which
are to be taken and considered as part of this Specification.
Fig. 1 is a front view or elevation of the machine; Fig. 2 is a back view
of the same; Fig. 3 is a side view; and Fig. 4 is a vertical plan or hori-
zontal view of the same machinery. The several Figures are drawn on a
scalo of two inches to the foot, which will give the different sizes and pro-
portions of the different parts of the machine which are deemed best for

page_text: operating with it upon fibres of ordinary length to the greatest advantage,
although I do not intend to confine myself to these particular sizes, as different
substances will require machinery of different strength and dimensions.
A, A, is the framework or standards of the machine; B, B, is the fringe
table, upon which the fibres of material under operation, as they hang from the
teeth of the heckle belt in the form of a fringe, rest while the wipers herein-
after named act upon them; a is the driving rigger or pulley to the main
shaft 6; c is an endless screw upon the main shaft, which acts on the toothed
wheel d, moving horizontally, its vertical shaft e turning in proper bearings,
and carrying a rigger or pulley at its upper end, which revolving horizontally
gives motion to an endless belt g, which is called the fringe belt (shewn
detached in perspective at Fig. 5). This belt passes around another pulley f
(Fig. 4) of the same diameter at the opposite end of the frame, and on the
same level, and also moving horizontally by means of the friction of the belt.
In this belt (at the edges) pointed steel or other heckle or comb teeth are set
or fixed standing out vertically, and are all of such size and at such distances
from each other as the quality of the fibrous materials to be combed may, in
the discretion of the operator, require. For flax (the fibres of which are of
ordinary length) it is preferred that they should be about one-eighth of an inch
in diameter at the lower end, and taper to a point, in the form of ordinary
heckle teeth, and to project about one inch and a half above the edge of the
heckle belt g, and to be placed about one-fourth of an inch apart. For
common or Manilla hemp, or other coarser or harsher materials, the teeth
should be larger and a greater distance apart, say about three-eighths of an
inch from each other; those first mentioned will, however, serve for hemp,
but larger teeth are better; and when the fibres are brittle, or of different
qualities, heckle belts with teeth of different sizes may be changed in the
machine, one for the other, according to the different kind of fibres to be
operated upon. This heckle belt g is formed of two thicknesses of stout harness
leather, between which the teeth are inserted, and held there by the leather
being glued and sewn together between them; this is deemed the most con-
venient and best way of making the fringe belt with teeth. But the heckle
may be made of various other materials, and the teeth may be secured
therein by other means. At the opposite end of the main shaft to the driving
pulley is mounted a rigger or pulley, around which an endless band i passes,
which gives motion to another pulley & (Fig. 3) on the shaft of the large
cylinder 2, which is denominated the combing cylinder; this cylinder 2 revolvos
with its horizontal axis in the direction of the arrow, or towards the heckle belt.
Upon the combing cylinder are set or fixed steel or metallic comb teeth, which
belt

page_text: are placed across the cylinder or drum in rows in right lines with its shaft;
these teeth are fixed in pieces of wood m, which extend across the cylinder,
and are firmly attached to it; the teeth project from these pieces of wood
about one-half of an inch, and are about the same size as those in the heckle
belt g, and about the same distance apart, regard being had to the length or
quality of the fibres to be operated upon, as before mentioned. There are
about six of those rows of upright teeth, being placed about a foot and a half
from each other, upon a cylinder of three feet in diameter, intended for
operating upon flax, but the diameter of the cylinder may be larger, and the
rows of teeth farther apart for longer fibres, although the above dimensions
will answer for hemp and Manilla of ordinary length. The diameter of the
cylinder and distance of these teeth from each other should in all cases be
adapted to the length of the fibre to be operated upon and the roving to
be produced. For combing flax or hemp for fine thread these teeth should be
fixed gradually nearer together from the outer edge of the cylinder 7, (where
they should be farthest apart,) to the inner end where they should be nearest
together, so as to have them about three-eighths of an inch at one end, and one-
eighth of an inch at the other, in order that the fibres of materials, after they
are lodged upon the heckle belt g as they travel past the cylinder 1, may be
first combed by the coarser set of teeth on the cylinder, and then the finer set
teeth may act next upon the fibres on the heckle belt upon which the coarser
set teeth have already acted; by this means the longer fibres are more
easily separated from the shorter fibres, and the fibres are more effectually
separated from each other, and rendered more even and equal in size. But in
combing hemp and other like fibrous substances for rope yarn, and such like
purposes, it is better to have these teeth farther apart, so that the fibres may
not be too much cut up and broken; these teeth may be fixed in the cylinder
or drum, instead of being fixed into separate pieces of wood or metal, and
afterwards attached to the cylinder, but it is more convenient to have them fixed
in such separate parts, in order that they may be removed from the cylinder
whenever occasion may require, and other coarser or finer sets of teeth placed in
their stead, according to the length and kind of fibre to be operated upon, and
the kind of roving intended to be made. n, n, are wire brushes, or small wire
teeth fixed on leather, and attached close to pieces of wood or metal; these
pieces of wood or metal carrying the comb teeth. The inner end of the pieces
of wood or metal on which the brushes are placed project about two inches
beyond the edge of the cylinder 2, so that as it revolves they come in con-
tact with and are operated upon by a comb. The teeth of these brushes are
about the same size as ordinary card teeth, and fixed in the leather in the same

page_text: way, but the teeth are bent to an angle of about forty-five degrees, opposite to
the directions of the motion of the cylinder 1. The number of these brushes is
equal to the number of rows of comb teeth, near to which they are respectively
placed. The surface or tops of these brushes are (excepting when acted upon
and moved up by the cam p, as herein-after mentioned,) on a level with the top
of the pieces of wood or metal carrying the comb teeth. The pieces of wood to
which the brushes are attached have slots made diagonally or in an inclined posi-
tion, one near each end, through which slots are passed screws or pins with large
heads; these screws are fastened into the other pieces of wood or metal in which
are the comb teeth, so that when the projecting ends o pass by the stationary
inclined cam p, each brush is acted upon by this cam, and thereby raised a
little above the top of the comb teeth, and so remains until it passes down by
and near to the points of the teeth on the endless belt g, when having passed
the cam it returns to its former position, being drawn down by means of a
spring q. The points of the comb teeth and surface of the card brushes pass
as near as may be (but so as not to touch) the heckel teeth on the revolving
fringe or heckle belt g, so as to lodge the fibres upon its teeth, and comb them
when lodged there. Those that are not lodged at first pass around with the
cylinder, and are afterwards lodged on the heckle parts at succeeding revólutions.
Underneath the combining cylinder is placed a covering of wood or metal k³
(Figure 3), following the same course as the comb teeth; this covering is put
as near as may be (but not in contact with the teeth, and is of the width of the
frame, thereby covering nearly the whole of the lower half of the cylinder, for
the purpose of preventing the fibres from falling out of the teeth when they
come underneath as the cylinder revolves. The pulley or rigger r, placed on
the outer end of the main shaft 6, has a band passing over it, and also the
pulley & fixed upon the end of the shaft t of the metallic fluted drawing roller,
and by this means motion is given to that roller, which turns in plummer boxes
or bearings fixed in the framework. Immediately above this fluted drawing
roller is placed another roller covered with leather, adjusted so as to press
close upon the fluted roller, and be turned by it when it revolves. Against the
inside of the pulleys (upon the shaft t) is fixed a small pinion which acts upon
a wheel u, upon the axle of which is placed another pinion, taking into a third
pinion on the axle of the pulley v, around which an endless band a passes,
and over the pulley w. This arrangement of bands and pullies is for giving
motion to the feeding cloth herein-after described. The gearing is only used
when it is required to produce a slow motion in the pulley w; in ordinary cases,
to give motion to the pulley w, a band is passed from the shaft t to the pulley
winstead. The pulley w is fixed upon the shaft y of a cylindrical roller inside the

page_text: frame, over which passes the feeding belt of leather, which also passes over
another cylindrical roller of the same size and on the same level, placed at the
reverse end and inside of the frame, and is turned by the friction of the feeding
belt, which is operated upon by the motion of the other roller. Across this
feeding belt there are placed rows of teeth about two inches apart, and of
about the same size as those in the endless fringe belt g, and about half an
inch from each other. The teeth may be fixed in this belt, or, which is better, in
pieces of wood attached to it, so that they may be changed for others, larger or
smaller, and further apart or nearer together, so as to be adapted to the kind
of fibres to be operated upon. The cylinders or rollers over which this endless
feeding belt z passes, are so placed that the feeding belt in travelling brings
the teeth so that they may just pass by the fluted roller as near as may be, and
not touch it. The points of these teeth should be bent on a curve a little
backward from the drawing rollers. The upper surface of the feeding bolt,
when the machine is in motion, of course travels towards the fluted drawing
roller. Lanthorn cylinders a³, as they are called, (formed of discs at the ends,
with rods connecting them together,) are fixed to their shafts and revolve in
boxes or bearings in the frame, are so placed above the feeding belt and
adjusted as to be moved by the rows of teeth placed across the belt, the
rows of teeth successively coming between the rods while the belt is travelling;
these rols or lanthorn cylinders serve to keep the fibrous substance about to
be operated upon from rising out of the teeth of the feeding belt too soon
while they are being drawn by the teeth towards the drawing rollers. Large
wires or rods C³, C, are placed between the teeth of the feed belt, and are
fixed at one end on the frame, and their other ends placed on the fluted draw-
ing roller for the purpose of conducting the ends of the fibres gradually up an
inclined plane from the teeth to the drawing rollers. A revolving brush roller
63 is moved by a belt from a groove on the inner side of the pulley w, for the pur-
pose of keeping the covered upper drawing roller from being clogged by the
fibrous substance wrapping around it. A pulley is fixed on the main shaft b,
over which a band passes to and over a pulley c, upon a perpendicular shaft f",
giving motion thereto; upon the upper end of this shaft is mounted the first
drawing off roller g, Fig. 4, against which the other drawing-off roller h² is
pressed by a spring. Another pulley on the main shaft carries an endless band
which passes over and gives motion to the pulley fixed on the perpendicular
shaft of the second drawing-off roller, which has a like roller pressed against
it by a spring. On the shaft of the second drawing-off roller, below the pulley
before mentioned, is fixed another pulley m, over which passes a band to a
pulley n³, fixed on a perpendicular shaft o³, and giving motion thereto, which

page_text: shaft carries a pulley p³ at its upper end. A band passes around the pulley
and gives motion to another pulley of the same size as the pulleys around which
the heckle belt g passes. On the band g' are fixed metallic wires s³, for the
purpose of bringing the fibres of the material into such position (while passing
along the fringe table during the time they are lodged in the teeth of the heckle
belt g) as to direct the ends of them forward towards the drawing-off rollers,
so that they may be seized and drawn out by these rollers. A plate of iron
is put upon the frame at the part where the fibrous material is made to pass at
the time it approaches near to the drawing-off rollers; this plate of iron has
slots u, u, through which the wipers pass for the purpose of directing the ends of
the fibres just as they are coming up to the rollers, and are so made and adjusted
as that the wipers may be raised by and pass over the metallic plate, and be
thereby prevented from acting upon the fibres just at the time when the fibres
come to the drawing-off rollers, so as to prevent their brushing the fibres away
from those rollers. Inclined planes or clearing pieces of thin smooth metal v³,
are placed on the frame one on each side of the heckle teeth, the lower end being
at the base of the teeth near to the last drawing-off roller, and inclined up-
wards in the direction of the motion of the belt, until they rise above the heckle
teeth. These inclined planes of metal are fixed so as to take off and receive
the short fibres of the material or tow not taken off by the drawing-off rollers,
and still remaining on the heckle teeth, the inclined planes clearing the teeth as
they pass along between them. On the main shaft is another pulley w³, over
which a band passes to give motion to the shaft a³, by means of a pulley y'.
Upon the opposite end of this shaft, outside the frame, is a pulleys, over which
a band a³ passes to and over the pulley b, giving motion thereto in order to
give motion to the leading or driving roller c. To draw off and bring the
roving through the revolving tubes, two rollers d³ are adjusted to bear upon
the leading roller, and to revolve by friction for the purpose of drawing and
leading the roving through, and from the revolving tubes into the can.
the opposite end of the shaft is a pulley &, over which a band passes
to give motion to the pulley f, giving motion to another driving or
leading roller g, which has two rollers n³ pressing upon it for the like
purpose of drawing, leading, and conducting the second roving into the can.
,, (Fig. 4) are the revolving tubes with hooked guides for the purpose
of condensing the roving into a more compact form, which revolving tubes
are moved by bands passing over the pulleys 1, 1, on the shaft a
When the machine, has been adjusted and adapted to the particular fibrous
substance to be operated upon, it is to be put into motion, and the fibrous
substance or materials may either be laid on the feeding belt by hand, or
On

page_text: may be more conveniently formed into a bat, or layer, or sliver, and wound
upon a reel, and fed therefrom on to the feeding belt, the materials being
placed upon the wires or rods c, occupying in ordinary cases about one-third
of its width. The feeding belt is calculated for receiving the fibrous substance
on its entire width when it is intended to make coarse threads for bag yarn
and other coarse purposes, in which case the rods must be laid over the
whole width of the belt. The fibrous substances when fed upon the belt
(while the machine is in motion) first come in contact with the teeth in the
feeding belt, and are taken hold of thereby, and the fibrous materials are
carried along under the rod or lanthorn cylinders a³, which are put in motion
by the teeth, the cylinders serving to keep the substances down upon the
belt, by which means the materials are carried along the rods, and up between
the drawing-in or feeding rollers, which draw them from out of the teeth of
the feeding belt in a thinner or finer filament or sliver, and conduct them to the
combing cylinder l, by which they are received and carried round in its comb
teeth as it revolves, and lodging the fibrous materials between the teeth of the
travelling heckle belt g, the card teeth n being raised in manner aforesaid
to the level of the points of the comb teeth of the cylinder 1, and when the
fibres of material are hanging on the teeth of the heckle belt they are
combed, as before stated, as they travel past the cylinder 1. After having past
the cylinder the materials are carried along hanging on the teeth of the
heckle belt g, and appearing like a fringe, and are wiped or conducted by
the wipers s', so as to present the ends of the fibres foremost, and bring them
within the reach of the drawing-off rollers 9 and h, and ; the wipers
being raised from the fringe table successively by the metallic plate under
which the fibres pass just before the wipers reach the drawing-off rollers, so
that the wipers may not brush away the fibres from the drawing off rollers.
It will be seen by the Drawings that the drawing-off rollers are placed at
different distances from the travelling heckle belt g; the first being farthest,
and the other or others (if it be thought proper to have more than two pairs of
drawing-off rollers) being placed successively nearer to the belt, so that the
longest fibres of material may be taken into the first pair of drawing-off
rollers, which are situated farthest from the belt, and the shorter or remaining
fibres, which do not reach the first pair of drawing-off rollers, be taken into
the next pair, and the still shorter fibres, which do not reach the latter, passing 8
into the next pair of drawing-off' rollers, and so on, if more than two sets are
used, each set of drawing-off rollers taking all the fibres which reach them.
As many sets of drawing-off rollers may be used for this purpose as may be
requisite. From the pairs of drawing-off rollers g³ and h, and 2, the fibres

page_text: are conducted through the revolving tubes *,, into the cans. The short
fibres, and those entangled with the heckle teeth, are carried to the inclined
metallic planes or clearers, and thereby taken from the teeth, which are thus
cleared, and pass around to the cylinder 4, to receive more fibres therefrom, to
be combed and brought around in manner before described to the drawing-off
rollers to be formed into roving. It will be as well to have each set or pair
of drawing-off rollers successively smaller, or if of the same size, to have them
revolve more slowly, as they are respectively nearer to the fringe belt, in
order to make the roving as near as may be of the same size.
What I claim as these improvements are, first, the combing cylinder above
described in connection with the revolving toothed heckle belt aforesaid, for
the purposes herein-before mentioned; and, secondly, the inclined plane clearers
placed on both sides of the teeth of the travelling heckle belt, in connection
and combination with such heckle belt, for the purpose aforesaid.
In witness whereof, I, the said Miles Berry, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of April, in the year of our
Land One thousand
sundred and thirt
MILES (L.B.) BERRY.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-sixth day of April,
in the first year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said Miles
Berry came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknow-
ledged the Instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained
and specified, in form above written. And also the Instrument aforesaid was
stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the fifty fifth year of
the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.