AN IMPROVED MACHINE AND PROCESS FOR PICKING, BURRING, AND CLEANING COTTON WOOL, AND FOR TEARING UP AND REDUCING OLD FABRICS TO BE RE-SPUN
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Julius C. Hurd, of Medway, in the County of
Worcester and State of Massachusetts, United States of America, for
the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MACHINE AND PROCESS FOR PICKING,
BURRING, AND CLEANING COTTON WOOL, AND FOR TEARING UP AND REDUCING
OLD FABRICS TO BE RE-SPUN."
Sealed the 26th September 1854, and dated the 25th July 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Julius C. Hurd at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 25th
July 1854.
I, JULIUS C. HURD, of Medway, in the County of Worcester and State of
Massachusetts, United States of America, do hereby declare the nature of the
Invention for "AN IMPROVED MACHINE AND PROCESS FOR PICKING, BURRING, AND
CLEANING COTTON WOOL, AND FOR TEARING UP AND REDUCING OLD FABRICS TO BE.
RE-SPUN," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists of a peculiar construction of blades and apparatus
in combination with the beating cylinders of machinery for picking cotton, and
also for tearing and picking woollen and other fabrics. For this purpose, the
blades or beaters of the cylinders are made with teeth of a peculiar form,
which are cut from the bar itself, and not inserted therein, as has heretofore
been the case in machines of this character; they are also flat and broad at

page_text: the base, where they meet the straight portion of the blade or beater, and are
so curved as to lie nearly in the surface of the cylinder generated by the revo-
lution of their points. The object of this peculiar construction is as follows:-
Heretofore, where teeth have been employed in the beaters of picking cylinders,
they have been long round-pointed wire teeth, nearly as distant from each
other at the base as they are at the point, and in consequence the beater or
blade which holds the teeth was thrown to such a distance from the feed
rollers that it entirely lost its character as a beater or blower; while the smaller
motes and extraneous matter pass between the teeth and are not combed out in
this machine, owing to the peculiar curve of the teeth. The beater is brought
immediately up to the feed rollers, and has all the useful properties of an
ordinary beater, while the teeth cause its action upon the fibres to be far
more gentle than in the latter case, also owing to the fact that they are made
to unite with each other at the base, like the teeth of a saw; the motes and
smaller impurities (when acting on cotton) slide up to the point of intersection
of the bases of the teeth, where they are inevitably combed out. This cannot
take place where pointed wire teeth are made use of, in which case all im-
purities of a size less than the distance of the teeth from each other are not
separated from the fibres.
In order to cause the slats, constituting the grating against which the cotton or
materials are carried by the teeth or blades of the beating cylinder, to act more
favorably, springs are applied thereto, so that each slat has its own elastic action,
and can give way and resume its place by reason of the spring applied at the
back thereof; and it is found advantageous that streams of heated air should
be supplied to such machinery, which is done by introducing it into the cover
of the beating cylinder by a suitable pipe or pipes. The fibres having been
thus treated are thrown upon willow cylinders combined with the previously
described machinery.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Julius C. Hurd in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 8
3rd January 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JULIUS
C. HURD, of Medway, in the County of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts,
United States of America, Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters 8
Patent, bearing date the 25 day of July, in the year of our Lord 1854, in

page_text: the 18th year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Julius C. Hurd, Her special license that I, the said
Julius C. Hurd, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I; the said Julius C. Hurd, 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 "AN IMPROVED
MACHINE AND PROCESS FOR PICKING, SEEDING, BURRING, AND CLEANING COTTON
WOOL, AND FOR TEARING UP AND REDUCING OLD FABRICS TO BE RE-SPUN," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Julius C. Hurd, 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 per-
formed, 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 Julius C. Hurd; do hereby declare
the nature of the said. Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
Fig. 1 is a side view of my machine with the improvements attached;
Fig. 2 is a plan of the same; Fig. 8, a section on the line A', A', of Fig. 2.
Fig. 4 is a full-sized view of a portion of the combing beater, showing the
form of the tooth.
Fig. 5, a section through one of the bars of the grating beneath the combing.
beaters, showing the springs upon which the bars rest.
..
My machine differs in several respects from all others heretofore in use.
The picker is composed of two or more heads fastened upon a steel or iron
shaft, to which heads the beaters are attached, or a suitable number of arms
may be fastened upon the shaft to receive them. These beaters differ essentially
from those commonly in use, being furnished with teeth of a peculiar form
upon their front edge, of a size adapted to the work which they are. to perform.
These teeth are concave upon their under side and convex upon the outer
surface, and as they are brought into contact with the material, they open or
comb it out and straighten out the fibers, which are thus far less liable to be
injured than where they are struck by the ordinary beaters as heretofore
constructed.
:
The grating is set upon spiral or other springs, which enables them to act in

page_text: a manner something similar to a guard, and to remove effectually the burrs,
seeds, and motes without injury to the staple, whilst the springs move with
sufficient case to prevent the grating or beaters from being broken should any
hard substance be accidentally introduced. The material, having been loosened
and separated by the action of this combing beater, is then thrown upon a
willow cylinder, the pins of which, passing through stationary pins in the grating,
whip out the finer particles of dust, in a manner far superior to what can be
effected when the raw material is subjected in bunches as it comes from the
ball to the action of the whipper. The material is then blown upon a wire
cylinder, from which it is separated and taken off by rolls, or it is thrown out
upon the floor of the mill, as desired.
The revolution of the combing beater produces, like all other revolving fans,
a great current centrifugally. This current is ordinarily supplied from the
room in which the picker works, and as the weight of the cotton varies with
the hygrometic changes of the atmosphere, a variation in the weight of the
numbers of the yarn is the result. To obviate this difficulty, I introduce from
a furnace chamber in the vicinity of the picker a current of air, heated to
90° Fah., or upwards, for the purpose of drying the cotton uniformly as it
passes through the machine. A further result of this operation is, that the
cotton is more thoroughly and regularly dusted and cleaned when it is thus
uniformly dried than when it is sometimes damp and sometimes dry.
To enable others skilled in the art to understand and apply my improvements,
I will proceed to describe their nature and operation.
A is the framework of the machine; B, the ordinary willow cylinder. The
various parts of the machine are set in motion by appropriate contrivances,
which need not be here described, as they form no part of my Invention.
C is the boxing or covering, within which the operating parts of the machine
are enclosed. D is a cylinder, consisting of two heads d, d', united and con-
nected together near their periphery by plates of steel a. These plates are
furnished upon their outer edges with teeth of the form represented at a',
Fig. 4, the teeth being cut from the bar itself and not inserted therein, as has
beretofore been the case in machines of this character. They are also flat and
broad at the base, where they meet the straight portion of the beater, and are
so curved as to lie nearly in the surface of the cylinder generated by the revo-
lution of their points. The object of this peculiar construction is as follows:-
Heretofore, where teeth have been employed in the beaters of picking cylinders,
they have been long round-pointed wire teeth, nearly as distant from each
other at the base as they are at the point, and in consequence the beater or
blade which holds the teeth was thrown to such a distance from the feed rollers

page_text: that it entirely lost its character as a beater or blower, while the smaller motes
and extraneous matter pass between the teeth and aro not combed out. In my
machine, owing to the peculiar curve of the tooth, the beater is brought imme-
diately up to the feed rollers, and has all the useful properties of an ordinary
beater, while the teeth cause its action upon the fibers to be far more gentle
than in the latter case; also, owing to the fact that they are made to unite with
each other at the base, like the teeth of a saw, the motes and smaller impurities
slide up to the point of intersection of the bases of the teeth, where they are
inevitably combed out. This cannot take place where pointed wire teeth are
made use of, in which case all impurities of a size less than the distance of the
teeth from cach other are not separated from the fibers. When the machine
is operating upon cotton, the fibers being loosened and separated from the
bunches, are blown by the action of the blades a against the willowing cylinder
B, by which it is beaten as usual against the stationary pins e and grating ƒ,
and again blown upon the wire cylinder E, from which it is taken upon rolls,
or it may be thrown upon the floor of the picker room in the ordinary manner.
h, Figs. 3 & 5, are the spiral or other springs beneath the ends of the slats
under the picking cylinder D, each slat having independent springs; by which
arrangement, as the impurities and motes fall upon the grating, after being sepa-
rated by the combing beaters, they are instantly driven out between the slats
by the revolving beaters, and they are thus prevented from being carried round
by the cylinder and again entangled with the material. Furthermore, should
coarser impurities be introduced with the material, they are in like manner
discarded from the machine before the latter has been injured thereby. k is a
revolving guard, having a surface revolution in a direction contrary to that of
the combing beaters, or it may have a surface revolution in the same direction
with them, but much faster. The object of this guard is to remove any motes,
seeds, or burrs which may have escaped the action of the spring grating.
For the purpose of introducing the heated air to the machine, I adopt the
following plan:-The air of a room of suitable size near to the picker is heated
to a temperature of 90° or upwards, and from this chamber a pipe L is passed
to the casing around the operating parts of the machine, as seen in Figs. 1
& 3. The blades of the combing cylinder D operating like a fan, the heated
air is drawn in and blown with the material through to the wire cylinder.
The advantages which my machine possesses over all others heretofore in
use for performing the first operation in the treatment of cotton are many.
The principal of these, however, are, first, the staple is far less injured than it
is in those machines in which the material is submitted immediately to the
action of flat beaters, as heretofore constructed; secondly, the cotton is much

page_text: more thoroughly cleaned and dusted than when it is passed through the
machine in bunches; thirdly, it is found that a machine of this character is
capable of operating upon a much greater quantity of material than the old
machines in a given space of time. Besides opening and picking raw material,
the machine, as above described, is furthermore most perfectly adapted to the
performance of other operations, such as tearing to pieces old woolen rags, and
even ropes, where the material of the same is required to be re-spun, or for
other purposes. In all these cases the peculiar form of the teeth of my picking
cylinder is essential to the perfect operation of the machine..
I do not claim the use of teeth made of pointed wire and secured to the beaters
of cotton pickers, neither do I claim the application of springs to the concave
of machines for operating upon fibrous materials; but what I do claim as my
Invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent in machines for picking
cotton and other fibrous materials, is, the use of the peculiar combing beater,
herein described, the teeth being so curved as to bring the beater very near to
the feed rollers, and united with each other at their bases, in the manner of
saw teeth, for the purpose set forth.
2d, I claim the peculiar method, herein described, of applying springs to
the slats of the grating beneath the beaters, each slat being furnished with
independent springs, whereby the motes as they fall upon the grating are
instantly knocked through the spaces between the slats, and are not carried
round by the beaters to be again entangled with the material, the slats yielding
to permit the impurities to pass between them.
3d, I claim the introduction of heated air into machines for picking and
dusting cotton, by which a greater uniformity of the numbers of the yarn is
obtained, and the material is more thoroughly and readily cleansed.
In witness whereof; I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twentieth
day of December, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-four.
SAM. COOPER,
JOHN S. CLOW,
Witnesses.
JULIUS C. HURD. (L.S.)