IMPROVEMENTS IN COMBING WOOL, HAIR, COTTON, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS."
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel C. Lister, of Bradford, in the County
of York, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
COMBING WOOL, HAIR, COTTON, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel C. Lister at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 2nd December 1853.
I, SAMUEL C. LISTER, of Bradford, in the County of York, Manufac-
turer, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN COMBING WOOL, HAIR, COTTON, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS" to be
as follows:-
My improvements consist in filling combs with fibrous material, and
at the same time working it; and the plan which I adopt is to have an
oscillating arm travelling in the segment of a circle, and at the ex-
tremity of this arm is fixed a comb or porcupine card or other pointed
surface. This arm, when extended on one side, receives fibrous material
from a carding engine or other feeder, which it places, when extended
in the opposite direction, on to a stationary or travelling comb; but

page_text: for very short fibre I prefer placing the carding engine in direct
contact with a comb, or it may be teeth fixed in'a flexible belt, but in
that case it is important that only a narrow space of teeth should
receive the fibrous material from the carding engine, so as to approxi-
mate to a comb, but it is important that the fibre should be first well
carded. The comb takes the fibre from the card in the place of the
ordinary doffer, and it is then drawn from the comb in the usual
manner; and when the fibrous material is filled on to a comb, I find it
advantageous to work it with a card roller, working in the direction of
the length of the teeth of the comb with which it is combined; and I
have also discovered that when working fibrous material which has
been first filled on to a comb with a card roller, that it is important to
clear the working roller with another card roller or cylinder; this is
to be afterwards stripped by a doffer in the ordinary way..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Samuel C. Lister in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 2nd June 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
SAMUEL C. LISTER, of Bradford, in the County of York, Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the seven-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Samuel C. Lister, Her special
licence that I, the said Samuel C. Lister, my executors, administra-
tors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Samuel C. Lister, 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

page_text: IN COMBING WOOL, HAIR, COTTON, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Samuel C. Lister, by
an instrument 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
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Samuel C. Lister, 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 thereof (that is to say) :-
My improvements consist in filling combs with fibrous material, and
at the same time working it; and the plan which I adopt is to have an
oscillating arm travelling in the segment of a circle, and at the extremity
of this arm is fixed a comb or porcupine card or other pointed surface.
This arm, when extended on one side, receives fibrous material from n
carding engine or other feeder, which it places, when extended in the
opposite direction, on to a stationary or travelling comb; but for very
short fibre, I prefer placing the carding engine in direct contact, with a
comb, or it may be better fixed in a flexible belt, but in that case it is
important that only a narrow space of teeth should receive the fibrous
material from the carding engine, so as to approximate to a comb, but
it is important that the fibre should be first well carded. The comb
takes the fibre from the card in the place of the ordinary doffer, and
it is then drawn from the comb in the usual manner; and when the
fibrous material is filled on to a comb, I find it advantageous to
work it with a card roller, working in the direction of the length of
the teeth of the comb with which it is combined; and I have also
discovered that when working fibrous material which has been first
filled on to a comb with a card roller, that it is important to clear
the, working roller with another card roller or cylinder; this to be
afterwards stripped by a doffer in the ordinary way.
I will now proceed more particularly to describe the plan which, I
adopt for filling combs with fibre, and at the same time working it.
Fig. 1 is a section of so much of a machine as is necessary to explain

page_text: this part of my Invention. A, are feed rollers to a carding eylender;
B, and D', D, are workers and strippers, such as are commonly
used in carding engines. The wool or other fibre being fed in at
A, is carded by the eylender B and the workers and strippers in the
ordinary manner; it is then taken by the roller C, which has a surfaco
speed of about three for the cylender two, thus enabling it to strip the
cylender of the fibre which it delivers to the comb E', which places it
upon the comb E in the following manner:-G, is a rod or arm to
which the comb E' is fixed, oscillating betwixt the card roller C and
the comb E, receives the carded fibre from the roller C, and places it
upon the comb E³, the wool being forced into the teeth of the comb E
by the brush II, which works in a slide at the back of the comb E;
the action of this brush has been before described by me when working
under simelar circumstances in former Patents, and therefore need not
be further explained. I would remark that although the oscillating
arm may be moved to and fro by a crank motion, yet an excentric will
do as well, or better, as the comb E may be made to stop for an
instant to receive the wool from the roller C, so that it may work it at
the same time, and also to stop a little whilst the fibre is being forced
by the brush H into the comb E. Sometimes when the fibre is very
short, I place a straight comb, slowly moving in front of a card cylender,
as shown in Figure 2. A, is a carding engine, with workers and
strippers, such as is commonly used; B, is a passing travelling comb
which receives fibre from the card cylender, and is afterwards drawn
off in the ordinary manner. This machine is, in many respects, simila
to a machine patented by Baring, somo years ago, the difference
being that in this machine the wool is well carded before being
delivered to the comb B, which was not the case in Baring's
Also another important point is, the wool or other fibre is sup
ported by a brush D, so as to enable the card teeth to enter the woo
or fibre properly. Also, it is important not to feed up to the entir
width of the card, which should be on that side next to the drawing of
rollers, so that the comb in passing that part of the card will have th
fibrous material worked, without receiving additional quantities of fibre
or at least, very little. If teeth be placed in a flexible belt to receiv

page_text: fibre from a card, it is important that the rows of teeth should be placed
near together, so that the chamber of the flexible comb should not
exceed half an inch in width; the teeth may be fixed in the flexible
belt either in staples, like card teeth, or otherwise, but the chamber of
the comb should not exceed half an inch, as I find that the card, when
lashing on the fibre, is very apt to throw it too much to the back of the
comb, and the broader and the worse it is. Another improvement con-
sists in working fibre, after being filled on to a comb in the ordinary
manner, or otherwise, with a card roller in the direction of the length of
the teeth, that is, from the point to the head of the comb, or vice versa.
Fig. 3 is a section of so much of a machine as is necessary to describe
this part of my Invention. A is a carrying comb filled with fibre, which
is worked by the card roller B, in the following manner:-The roller
B is mounted on a crank, as is shown in the Drawing, and has a to and
fro motion given to it, and at the same time it travels a little down the
face of the comb, as will be scen upon looking at the Drawing, and the
fibre that it takes from the comb A is delivered to the card roller C,
which is afterwards doffed by a crank doffer at D, in the ordinary
manner of doffing wool from carding engines. The card roller B
should have a slow motion in the direction of the arrow of about one
quarter of an inch for each blow, that is, for each to and fro motion of
the crank; and the doffing roller C should have a slow motion in pro-
portion to the quantity of fibre delivered to it, so as always to be
delivering a continuous sliver; so that it will be seen that the card
roller B is always presenting a clean surface to work the fibro, the card
roller C being so placed that the working roller B shall pass close to it
when coming away from the comb A, and thus deliver any fibre taken
by the roller B from the comb A to the roller C. Unless the two card
surfaces work close together, the roller C will not take the fibre
from B. Fig. 4 is a section of a machine, with the working roller so
placed as to comb the under side of the sliver working from head to
point of the comb; A is a circular or other comb filled with fibre; Bis
a working card roller, having a movement to and fro similar to B in
Fig. 8; the roller B has a slow motion in the direction of the arrow,
and is doffed by an ordinary crank doffer, such as is used in almost all

page_text: wool. carding engines, at E, and is delivered into, a can C. The can
should be attached to the frame work which carries the working
roller B, and should be made of small dimensions and as light as pos-
sible, so as not in any way to impede the working of the card roller B.
The only advantage of fixing the can to the frame work which carries
the working roller B is, that the sliver doffed at E would be liable to
be broken were the can stationary and the working roller in motion;
but by having them connected together in the same frame, and travel-
ling to and fro together, that inconvenience is avoided. Whatever fibre
is taken by the roller B from the comb A, is doffed by the crank doffer
at E, so that the working roller B is always kept clear of fibre.
Mess" Ross; in a recent Patent, have shown a simelar plan, but, in
their machine the card roller is made to work across the teeth of tho
comb on to which the fibre has been filled, and on that account can
never properly comb the fibre. Whereas.by working the upper or the
under side, or both, that is, in the direction of the length of the teeth,
an important improvement is made in the work produced; and it is
the working in the derection of the length of the comb teeth, as
described, which I claim. And I would remark that I do not confine
myself to the. particular motions and plans herein described, as they
may be varied without departing from my Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this First day of June, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
ISAAC HOLDEN.
S. C. LISTER. (L.S.)