IMPROVEMENTS IN CARDING ENGINES FOR CARDING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn
Fields, in the County of Middlesex, and of Glasgow, North Bri-
tain, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CARDING
ENGINES FOR CARDING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS." - A
communication from George Wellman, -of Lowell, in the United
States of America.
Sealed the 16th January 1854, and dated the 25th November 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry
Johnson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 25th November 1853.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County
of Middlesex, and of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CARDING
ENGINES FOR CARDING COTTON AND OTHER FEROUS MATEEJALS" (being a
communication) to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the cleaning and elevating of the top cards
of a carding engine, sucli operátions being performed by certain

page_text: mechanism attached to and worked by the carding engine itself. The
movement for successively raising the top cards and cleaning the same
is obtained from the shaft of the doffing cylinder, and is transmitted to
a pair of cams which act upon levers, such levers giving motion to a
vertical slide attached to a moveable frame. This frame works on the
centre or axis of the main carding cylinder, and its mechanism is suc-
cessively brought to act upon the top cards in rotation or any other
order. By the revolution of one of the cams before mentioned, a card
is lifted up from its bed a certain distance, and the second cam then
coming into action, brings a cleaning or stripper card beneath the
elevated top card, and strips off the waste from its card surface; when so
cleaned, the card is replaced, and the next succeeding or alternate one
acted upon in a similar manner. The frame carrying the mechanism
before described is actuated by a toothed wheel which gears into a
segment attached to the lower portion of such frame; by this means the
whole of the top cards, from the feeding rollers to the doffing cylinder,
may be operated upon either successively or in any other order, and
replaced on the supporting bed in the position they originally
occupied.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 23rd May 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her
special license that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Henry

page_text: Johnson, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CARDING ENGINES FOR CARDING COTTON
AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," communciated to me by George Well-
man, of Lowell, in the United States of America, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Henry Johnson, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, 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 I, the said John Henry Johnson, 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, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that
is to say:-
This Invention consists in constructing a carding engine with such
apparatus attached as shall effect the elevation of each and every one
of its top cards in succession from their beds or frame on which they
are supported, the cleansing of such top cards and their return to their
respective beds after being so cleansed, each and every of which opera-
tions shall be the effect of the same power that is used in giving
motion to the other parts of the same carding engine, thus producing
by mechanism what is now generally accomplished by hand labor.
And in order that my said Invention may be more fully understood
and readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the construc-
tion and operation of its several parts, as shewn and illustrated in the
annexed Drawings.
Sheet 1, Fig. 1, represents an end elevation of a carding engine, so
constructed as to become self top-stripping by means of Invention.
Sheet 2, Fig. 2, represents a view of the doffer side of said engine.
my

page_text: Other Figures will be explained as occasion requires: similar letters o
reference indicate corresponding parts in each of the several Figures
A, represents the main frame or support to the working parts of a
carding engine; B, is the arch frame or bed upon which rest all the
top cards C, C, C, and c; D, is the driving pulley fixed to the end of
the main shaft that carries the main carding cylinder; E, is the lap or
roll of cotton or other material to be carded, which first passes between
the feed rolls F, F; it is then taken by the licker-in or leader cylinder
at G, which carries it to the main carding cylinder, and from this,
after it has passed in contact with the card tops C, C, C, and c, it is
taken by the doffer cylinder H; from the doffer cylinder it is taken
by the vibrating comb I, and passes off through the draw rolls J, J,
in the form of a sliver, in the usual manner. This part of the con-
struction and operation of the engine is similar to those now in
general use. On the end of the shaft of the doffer cylinder H, is a
pulley K, Fig. 2, that by means of a belt drives the pulley L; on the
same stud with this pulley L, is 'a geer M, that engages with and turns
the geer N, on the end of the shaft O. This shaft O communicates
motion' alternately to the shaft P below and the shaft Q above. The
shaft P below drives the apparatus for raising and stripping the
tops, and the shaft Q above drives the gearing that moves the raising
and stripping apparatus from one top to the next or to the next but
one, &c. I will first describe the method of raising and stripping the
tops. On the shaft' O (which it will be borne in mind is in constant
motion) is a quarter gear R, Figs. 2 and 4, which during a portion
of each revolution of the shaft O, engagés with and turns the pinion
S on the shaft P, so that it (P) makes one revolution. This being
done and the quarter geer R being disengaged from the pinion S, the
semicircular rim T; on the side of the quarter geer R, immediately
engages in the circular arc of the plate-wheel U. This arc is con-
centric with the semicircular rim T, so that when the rim T is
engaged in it, it prevents the plate-wheel U from turning, and
consequently as the plate-wheel Uis fastened firmly to the shaft P,
the shaft P cannot turn. But when the first tooth of the quarter geer
comes round again so as to strike into the pinion S; the semicircular

page_text: rim T disengages from the circular arc in the plate-wheel R, at the
same moment, and allows the shaft P to make its revolution. On the
end of the shaft P is a rag-wheel V, which by means of the endless
chain W, turns the double pinion X. From this double pinion another
endless chain Y, communicates motion to the rag-wheel Z, on the end
of the cam shaft A'. On each end of the cam shaft A¹ are two cams,
B', and C. The cams B', B', operate the rocker levers D', D', which
are connected to the sliding jaws E', E', by the connecting links F, F¹,
and thus the top card C' is raised from its bed and held up while the
cams C, C, operate the rocker levers G¹, G', which through the con-
necting links H, H', cause the card arms I'; I', that carry the stripper
card, to move underneath the uplifted top card and against it, and then
back again to its place, whereby the stripper card will be made to
remove from the top card the surplus waste or matter to be taken from
it; as soon as the stripper card resumes its position, the cams B', B',
complete their revolution, and in so doing bring the top card down-to
its seat or bed again. The stripper card J' consists of a thin bar of
wood or other material about five inches wide, and covered on its pper
surface with card clothing or other material that will answer for a
brush. The two ends of this are fastened one to each of the two
levers or card arms I, I¹. These card arms are hung from the two
bent posts K', K', that project upwards from and are fastened to the
frame M¹, connected with the segment Q.
!.
.
In order that the method of holding the uplifted top may be more
readily seen, I have drawn the Fig. 8, which is a longitudinal and
vertical section through the top and through such parts as are imme-
diately connected with it. G', is the top; E', are the sliding jaws which
move up and down on the rod or slide bar L'. Each end of the slide
bar L', is fixed in the stands N¹, Ni, which 'are attached to the frame
M. The upper stand N' also carries the rod or dagger O'. This dagger
penetrates a hole made for the purpose in that upper part of the jaw
E', that projects over the top card, shewn in the Fig. 3, at c, and it is
also intended to penetrate a hole made in the top card when such top
card shall be lifted up from its bed, and thus it serves to pin the top
card to the jaws so that it (the top card) shall be firmly fixed while the

page_text: process of stripping it is going on. P1, is the lower part of the jaw to
which the connecting link F1, is attached.
When the lever D', is operated by the cam it raises P', and the top
part of this projecting under the top card, strikes it, and raises it until
its top bears against the upper part of the jaw, and thus being firmly
gripped between the two parts of the jaws, is raised and held in its
position as aforenamed. Having thus described the apparatus for
raising and holding the top card, and for cleansing such top card after
it is raised, and lowering it after it is cleansed, and which I call the
stripping apparatus," I will now proceed to describe the means by
which the "stripping apparatus" is moved from one top card to another.
And, first, I would remark that this moving apparatus is such, that by
altering the size of the geering used I can cause the stripping apparatus
to make its changes from the first top card to the second, thence to the
third, and so on, each one successively, until it reaches the last, and then
return in the opposite order; or I can so arrange it as to cause it to
change from the first to the third, thence to the fifth, and so through
with each of the odd numbers, and returning to take all the even num-
bers or those it did not take before, or to take them in any other order
that may be desired. The geering, as shewn in the Drawings, is
arranged so as to change the "apparatus" from the first to the third,
then to the fifth, and so on, which changes I deem to be most desirable.
A rocker frame M', Figs. 1 and 2, composed of 2 bars a, Figs. 1 and 2,
b, Fig. 2, (one on each side of the engine,) with a cross connection bar d,
Fig. 2, is made to extend upwards from the main shaft. Each of the
two bars a, b, have a bearing around one of the two boxes that carry the
ends of the main shaft, so that the top part of the frame, with the strip-
ping apparatus attached, may be easily moved from the feed-rolls over
all the top cards to the doffer cylinder and back again, as may be
required. An arc or sector Q', of teeth is made to extend downwards
from the bar a, and to engage the geer R', fixed to another geer S', by
its side, which has a bearing upon a stud fastened to the frame. The
geer S, engages and is turned by a geer T', Fig. 2, fixed to the shaft
U', on the end of which shaft is fixed the pin-wheel V₁ (sometimes
called a "mangle-wheel "). The pins that extend from the periphery

page_text: of the wheel V', are not set entirely around its circumference, there
being a space or interval to which a metallic guide piece or block W',
is fastened, the same being formed with two semicircular forked ends,
as seen in the edge view of said wheel in Fig. 2. The termination of
each end of the arc of periphery of the pin-wheel is formed semi-
circular, and concentric with its adjacent forked end of the block W',
as seen at c, f, Fig. 2. The said pin-wheel V' is set in motion by the
pinion X', which is fastened to the lower end of the upright shaft Y¹.
This shaft is sustained at its lower end by a box Z', such as will allow
it to move laterally so as to carry the beveled pinion X, from one side
of the pin-wheel to the other, and vice versa. The upper end of the
shaft has a journal supported in the upper part A", of a turning
post E, that extends from the side of the frame. Another bevelled
pinion C", is fixed to the shaft Y', and is engaged with and turned by
a larger bevelled geer D", which is fixed on the horizontal shaft Q.
There is also on the shaft Q, a plate or block E", that has four grooves
g, h, i, j, formed in it in radial directions, and at right angles to-one
another, as seen at Fig. 5, Sheet 2, which is an inner side view of such
plate E. Between the outer ends of each two grooves the plate is
cut or notched inwards in the form of a circular are, as seen at k, k, k, k,
which arc is of the same radius as the circular wheel F, that is
arranged directly below it, and fixed on the horizontal shaft O. An
arm G", projected from the shaft O, carries a pin or stud H", that
during each revolution of the shaft O works into and out of one of the
grooves g, h, i, j. A curved notch i is made in the wheel F", so that
as the pin H passes into and out of one of the grooves g, h, i, j, the
extremity of such groove may be brought down into and carried out of
the curved notch 7, and thus at each revolution of the shaft O, the
arm G causes one fourth of a revolution in the shaft Q. While the
circular are of the periphery of the wheel F" is in any one of the notches
k, k, k, k, the shaft Q is prevented from being revolved, but as soon as
the pin or stud H", enters into one of the grooves g, h, i, j, the shaft Q
is made to turn as aforesaid. And I would observe here, as before,
that the shafts O, P, and Q, are so arranged in relation to each other
that while the shaft O is moving the shaft P, that sets in motion the

page_text: stripping apparatus, the shaft Q is held by it stationary, and vice
versâ; when the shaft Q, which sets in motion the geering for moving
the stripping apparatus, is in motion, the shaft P is held still. Now,
when the shaft Q is revolved, the bevel geer D" on its end will be
rotated with it, and consequently cause the pinion C", the shaft Y¹, the
pinion X, the pin-wheel V¹, the geers T', S', and R', and the arc Q
to be put in motion, so as to turn the frame M' on its. bearings. By
the above described machinery this frame is alternately moved from
the first lag or top card to the third, thence to the fifth, and so on
through the series, and then moved back again in the opposite
direction, taking in course the even numbers or those it did not take
before.
It is a common custom in cleaning the top cards to a carding engine
to move or lift up every other one instead of every one in succession,
leaving the intermediate top card down, and taking it up the next time
going through the series.
The next point to be considered is the manner of disposing of the
strippings or waste that is collected by the strip card J' from the
several top cards. This may be done by providing a receptacle made
of wire cloth or other material which shall be fastened to the engine
near the feed-rolls, as represented at I", and directly over this recep-
tacle is hung a narrow strip, having upon its lower surface a comb or
card clothing or other suitable material that shall rake or comb from
the strip card, when it comes in contact with it, all the strippings that
shall have been collected upon it in going from the first top card to the
last, and back again to the first. At J, Fig. 1, is the card or comb
fastened to the end of the lever K", there being another lever of the
same kind on the opposite side of the frame to support the opposite
end of the comb J. This lever is hung on the post L", and has an
arm M" extending downwards, with a weight N" upon the end of it,
which is for the purpose of keeping the comb Ju" suspended in its
position over I; it also has a fork or branch O", which when the
stripping apparatus approaches it, is struck by it, and causes the comb
J to be borne down, so that the teeth of it (J") engage in the teeth
of the strip card containing the strippings (this position is shown by the

page_text: red lines in the Drawings Fig. 1). This it does while the stripping
apparatus is being moved over that top card nearest to the receptacle.
Now after this top card is raised to position, the strip card moves
forward to clean it, and in moving forward the comb J" combs off all
the strippings that have collected upon the strip card, drops them into
the receptacle I, and then the weight N, upon the opposite end of
the lever, causes that end to fall and brings the comb J" up into its
former position. A front view of one end of the comb J", with
the lever for holding it, and the receptacle beneath it, may be seen at
Fig. 6.
Carding, engines with such an improvement attached as I have just
described, may be so constructed as to perform two or three times the
amount of work which is done by the carding engines now in common
use, because they will admit of having a very large carding cylinder
with two or three times the number of card tops generally used, con-
sequently they will cause a saving of room, of manual labor, and of
expense. This Invention is also applicable to some forms of the
carding engines now in general use, with a slight alteration in a few of
their parts.
Having thus described my Invention, and the mode of its operation,
I do not claim the mechanism used for the mere purpose of carding
the cotton or other similar fibrous material, but what I do claim as
new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is as follows, that is to
say-I claim in combination with a series of top cards of a carding
engine not only a mechanism for raising one or more of such top cards
and holding the same upwards, and afterwards depressing the same
back into place, but a mechanism for acting on and cleansing such top
card or cards when or while so elevated, not meaning in the above to
claim either the mechanism for moving the top card or cards, or that
for cleansing it or them in their separate combination with the series of
top cards, but to lay claim to both in their joint combination together,
and with the series of top cards.
And in combination with the series of top cards and mechanism for
raising and cleansing a top card and restoring it to its seat, I claim
mechanism for moving the raising and cleansing mechanism in succes-

page_text: sion from one top card to another, and whether from one top card to
the next one, and so throughout the series, or from one of them to the
next but one, and so on, or in any other order, not intending by these
claims to limit myself to the precise form of the parts herein described
and represented, but to vary them as I may think proper while I attain
the same ends by means substantially the same.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of
May, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-four.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)