IMPROVEMENTS IN SELF-STRIPPING CARDING ENGINES FOR PREPARING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES OR MATERIALS
Year: 1862

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Slater and William
Randall Harris at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 5th September 1862.
We, WILLIAM SLATER, of Little Bolton, in the County of Lancaster,
Manager, and WILLIAM RANDALL HARRIS, of Salford, in the County of Lan-
caster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SELF-STRIPPING CARDING ENGINES FOR PREPARING COTTON AND
OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES OR MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
Our Invention relates to those machines known as "self-stripping carding
engines," and consists in the employment of a combination of mechanism for
the purpose of raising and lowering the top flats of carding engines at a varying
rate or speed, namely, to raise and lower, and strip or clean, those which aro
nearest to the "licker-in" or feed rollers at a quicker rate than those which
are nearest to the "doffer." For this purpose we employ two conical pulleys
or drums, one of them fixed on the axis of the main cylinder, and the other
on the top "cross shaft" of such carding engines as are known by the name
of "Wellman's self-stripping carding engines." At the time the last top
flat (next to the doffer) is being cleaned, the strap which drives the stripping
apparatus is on the smallest end of the cone which is on the main cylinder,
and on the largest end of the cone on the top cross shaft, thus driving the
stripping apparatus at its lowest speed; but when the last top flat (next to
to the feed rollers) is being cleaned, the said strap is on the largest end of the

page_text: cone on the main cylinder, and on the smallest end of the cone on the top
cross shaft. The above-named strap we cause to be traversed from one end
of the cones to the other by means of a strap guide or fork acted upon by an
inclined piece of metal connected with the vibrating arm which carries the
stripping apparatus; this incline acts upon the strap guide, and traverses tho
strap in one direction, whilst a spiral spring or weight traverses the strap in
the contrary direction when the incline leaves the strap guide. When the
flats are required to be cleaned at a gradually increasing rate from the doffer
to the licker-in, we cause the inclined piece to be so shaped as to commence
acting upon the strap guide when the stripping apparatus is leaving the first
flat nearest to the doffer, and to continue to act upon it, so that when the
stripping apparatus has arrived at the last flat nearest to the licker-in, the
strap guide will have traversed the strap from one end of the cones to the
other end, and drive the stripping apparatus at its quickest speed. This
traversing of the strap can be moved by other mechanical arrangements; the
cones may also be placed at the top of the rocking frame, or at the sides, as
previously described, and stationary or fixed guides so placed as to accomplish
the traversing of the strap from end to end of the cones by the to-and-fro
motion of the rocking frame.
Another part of our Invention consists in having one part of the inclined
piece with a true plane surface, so that any number of the flats may be
stripped in equal times as may be found most suitable, say, half of the flats be
stripped at the rate of one per minute, and the other half. at the rate of one
in each half minute; this we accomplish by allowing the plane surface to be in.
contact with the strap guide for such period of time as we require any number
of the flats to be stripped slowly, and bringing the inclined part into action
when any of the flats have to be stripped quicker, or vice versa, as may be
found most convenient.