IMPROVE- MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR GINNING COTTON, AND FOR OPENING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Dobson and Edward Barlow, both of
Bolton, in the County of Lancaster, Machine Makers, and Peter
Knowles, of the same Place, Foreman, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR GINNING COTTON, AND FOR OPENING COTTON AND
OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES."
Sealed the 13th May 1864, and dated the 20th November 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin Dobson, Edward
Barlow, and Peter Knowles at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 20th November 1863.
We, BENJAMIN DOBSON and EDWARD BARLOW, both of Bolton, in the
County of Lancaster, Machine Makers, and PETER KNOWLES, of the same
Place, Foreman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR GINNING COTTON, AND FOR OPENING COTTON
AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
Our Invention is applicable to those machines for ginning cotton in which
a vibrating blade is employed, and it consists in giving the requisite vibrating
motion to the blade by means of a cylinder or disc set diagonally on a shaft

page_text: the cylinder or disc, in revolving, acts on a swivel frame and shaft to which
the vibrating arms and blade are attached.
Our improvements in machinery for opening cotton and other fibrous
substances consist in the application of two sets of arms or beaters mounted
on axles which revolve at different velocities; the arms intersect each other,
and the fibrous substances are supplied to the slower set of arms by a feeding
apparatus consisting of an apron and feed rollers or other equivalents. The
two sets of arms are enclosed in a case in which a partial vacuum is produced
by a fan to remove the dust and light impurities.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Benjamin Dobson, Edward Barlow, and Peter Knowles in
the Great Seal Patent Office on the 19th May 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, BENJAMIN
DOBSON and EDWARD BARLOW, both of Bolton, in the County of Lancaster,
Machine Makers, and PETER KNOWLES, of the same Place, Foreman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
us, the said Benjamin Dobson, Edward Barlow, and Peter Knowles, Her
special license that we, the said Benjamin Dobson, Edward Barlow, and
Peter Knowles, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
we, the said Benjamin Dobson, Edward Barlow, and Peter Knowles, our
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 IN MACHINERY FOR GINNING
COTTON, AND FOR OPENING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said Benjamin Dobson, Edward
Barlow, and Peter Knowles, our executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under our, or their, or one of our or their hands and seals,
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

page_text: 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 we, the said Benjamin Dobson, Edward Barlow,
and Peter Knowles, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement (that is to say) :-
Our Invention is applicable to those machines for ginning cotton in which
a vibrating blade is employed, and it consists in giving the requisite vibrating
motion to the blade by means of a cylinder or disc set diagonally on a shaft
which in revolving acts on a swivel frame and shaft to which the vibrating
arms and blade are attached or connected.
Our improvements in machinery for opening cotton and other fibrous
substances consist in the appplication of two sets of arms or beaters mounted
on axles which revolve at different velocities; the arms intersect each other,
and the fibrous substances are supplied to the slower set of arms by a feeding
apparatus consisting of an apron and feed rollers or other equivalents. The
two sets of arms are enclosed in a case in which a partial vacuum is produced
by a fan to remove the dust and light impurities.
And in order that our Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into operation, we will proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings, reference being had to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Fig. 1 is an end elevation, and Fig. 2 a front view of the principal parts of a
Macarthy cotton gin of the usual construction, to which our improvements
are applied; Figs. 3 and 4 are detached portions of the same.
a is the usual grooved roller; b, the top bar to which the doctor or thin
blade of steel c is attached; d is the vibrating blade fixed to the usual
adjustable radius rods e, passing through the cross rail f. The requisite
vibrating motion is given to the blade d in the following manner :-To the
axle of the roller a is fixed the grooved pulley a', driving by means of a band
and guide pulleys the pulley y on the upright shaft h; this shaft revolves in
the frame h, and to it is fixed the cylinder or disc i, set diagonally on the
shaft h, as shewn in Fig. 3. The cylinder i in revolving acts on the swivel
frame j, fixed on the shaft k, to which are fixed the vibrating arms t, each
of which contains a spring acting on a bush connected to the under side of
the angle rail d¹ fixed to the vibrating blade d. The object of these springs
in the vibrating arms is to modify the force of the upward stroke given to
the blade & by the rapid vibration of the shaft k; and in order to prevent the
blade d rising too high, and to draw it down, the angle rail d' is connected
by the springs m to the uuder side of the vibrating arms. The cylinder or

page_text: disc is made, by preference, of steel or wrought iron hardened, and it acts on
adjustable steel plates fastened to the swivel frame j. We wish to observe,
that the above combination of parts has before been used for actuating the
doffing combs of carding engines; our Invention is therefore limited to the
application thereof to machinery for ginning cotton.
Fig. 5 represents in section part of a cotton gin, to which a modification of
our Invention is applied; in this case the shaft n has a rapid revolving motion
given to it in any convenient manner. To it are fixed the eccentrics o acting
on the blocks p sliding up and down in the bushes q, which are fixed to the
side frames of the machine or to a cross rail. The blocks p transmit their
motion to the vibrating blade d by the springs r and blocks s, the upper ends
of which fit in recesses in the angle rail d¹; in lubricating these parts, the oil
or other lubricant passes through holes in the rail d¹ and through the blocks 8
into the bushes q, as shewn by dotted lines.
In Figs. 6 and 7 we have shewn our improved combination of machinery
t and u are two sets of arms
for opening cotton and other fibrous substances.
or beaters mounted on axles which revolve at different velocities, being driven
by a strap passing partly around the pulleys t¹ and u¹; the arms intersect each
other, and the fibrous substances to be opened are supplied to the arms t,
which revolve slower than the arms ų. The parts above enumerated have
before been used in a similar manner.
Our improvements consist in supplying the cotton or other fibres con-
tinuously to the arms t by the endless feeding apron a passing over guide
rollers, to one of which a slow rotary motion is given by the bands and pulleys,
shewn by dotted lines in Fig. 6, or the fibres may be supplied by feed rollers
in any other convenient manner. Our improvements consist, also, in enclosing
the two sets of arms with the case and grids v', in which case a partial
vacuum is formed by the fan w; the current of air thus produced draws off
the dust and loose impurities liberated from the fibres by the action of the
arms t and u, and convey them away through passages z and trunks z¹, or in
any other convenient manner. The opened fibres are thrown out of the
machine by the arms & through the spout y.
Having thus stated the nature of our Invention, and described the manner
of performing the same, we wish to observe, that we do not limit ourselves to
the details herein set forth; and we declare that we claim,-
First, the application of the machinery shewn and described in reference to
Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4 for giving motion to the vibrating blade of cotton guns.
Secondly, the modification of the same shewn in Fig. 5.
And, thirdly, the application of an endless feeding apron or feeding

page_text: apparatus, and a fan for producing a partial vacuum to opening machines with
two sets of revolving arms or beaters, as shewn and described.
In witness whereof, J, the said Benjamin Dobson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Eighteenth day of May, One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-four.
BENJN. DOBSON. (L.B.)