IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING AND COMBING WOOL, HAIR, FLAX, SILK, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES."
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Willian Hargreaves, of Bradford, in the
County of York, Machine Wool Comber, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING AND COMBING WOOL,
HAIR, FLAX, SILK, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Hargreaves
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 27th August 1853.
I, WILLIAM HARGREAVES, do hereby declare the nature of the said
5 Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING AND COMBING
WOOL, HAIR, FLAX, SILK, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES" to be as
follows:-
This Invention consists in certain new mechanical arrangements and
combinations of parts constituting a machine for the above purposes,
O and having for its object a more simple and efficient mode of preparing
and combing wool, hair, silk, flax, and other fibrous substances than
the machines hitherto employed for those purposes. But in order to
explain and ascertain the nature of this Invention more completely

page_text: reference must be had to the illustrative Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the numeral figures and letters of reference marked thereon
respectively, as follows:-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1, exhibits a top plan view of a machine constructed according
to this Invention, shewing the general arrangement and disposition of
the mechanisın. Fig. 2, is a tranverse and vertical section of the
machine as it would appear if divided through the lines A, B, at
Fig. 1. Fig. 3, is a transverse and a vertical section through the line
C, D, at Fig. 1. At each of these Figures similar letters of reference
are employed to denote corresponding parts in so far as such parts
appear or can be seen at cach of the Figures respectively, as follows:
A, A, marks the end framing of the machine: B, B, the front and back
framings thereof; C, an endless cloth, upon which the wool is placed,
and passés between the feed rollers D, D; E, E, mark short shafts,
upon which cranks F, are securely fixed; the outer ends of these
cranks are connected together by a rod a, upon which a comb or
heckle is coupled, and to the under side of said coupling a connecting
rod G, is attached; the lower end of said connecting rod has a pin
passed through the same which works in a vertical slot or guide 1,
formed in the end framing A., H, H, mark a series of combs or
heckles, of about 2 feet in length, arranged and disposed end to end
upon horizontal guides b, affixed to the top framings B, B; the under
sides of each of the comb bars has a rack formed thereon, which takes
into a worm fixed upon a horizontal spindle c, which extends through-
out the whole or only a portion of the length of the back and front
framing, and there are two of these spindles and comb bars and combs
at each side of the machine; one end of each of the spindles c, has a
toothed wheel or pinion fixed thereon which gear into each other for
imparting motion to the comb bars in opposite directions. I, I, mark
fast and loose pullies upon the shaft E, around one of which a strap
or band is passed for imparting motion to the said shaft. And there is
another and similar mechanical arrangement of rotating comb at the
part Z, of the machine, the shafts E', E', whereof are arranged and

page_text: disposed lower than the shafts E, as exhibited at Fig. 3, for effecting
the following objects:-Suppose the machine to be in motion, and the
wool to be passing between the rollers D, as the shafts and cranks E,
and F, rotate in the direction of the arrows flight the combs or
heckles d, will take the wool therefrom, and don it on to the hori-
zontal combs or heckles at the side B, of the machine, and as these
combs are moved in the direction of the arrow's flight the wool is
drawn therefrom by the rotating comb e, which is caused to move in
an opposite direction to the comb d, by means of the wheels K, and the
wool thus drawn from the combs is donned on to the combs or heckles
at the opposite side E, of the machine, and as these last-mentioned
combs advance in the direction of the arrow's flight by the means
before described the wool thercon is taken therefrom by the doffing
rollers L, which are placed at an angle for the purpose of taking the
long wool first and the short wool afterwards, and the wool passes
from thence between other rollers M, in the form of a sliver, which is
deposited in a can in the usual way. And as the combs or heckles H,
at the side B, of the machine continue to advance the "noil" is taken
therefrom by the rollers N, O; the combs pass on to the end of the
machine, and coming into contact with an inclined plane or other
suitable contrivance are caused to move in the opposite direction at an
increased velocity, and coming into contact with another encline are
successively pushed forward for receiving the wool from the comb d,
and the same circulating movement of the combs occurs at the other
and opposite side of the machine, and, if necessary, these combs may be
removed in succession to the other side of the machine for the wool
thereon to be still further combed; and in this manner and by these
means this Invention may be effected, so as to constitute improvements
in machinery for preparing & combing wool, hair, silk, flax, and other
fibrous substances.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said William Hargreaves in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 27th February 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I
WILLIAM HARGREAVES, of Bradford, in the County of York, Machine
Wool Comber, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
seventeenth year of Her reign, lid, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto mic, the said William Hargreaves, Her
special licence that I, the said William Hargreaves, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Hargreaves, my executors, administrators, and 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 Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING AND COMBING WOOL, HAIR,
FLAX, SILK, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that 1, the said William Hargreaves, by an instrument in writing
under 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.
עננו
NOW KNOW YE, that T, the said William Hargreaves, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof (that is to say):
My Invention consists in certain new mechanical arrangements and
combinations of mechanism constituting and forming a machine adapted
for the above purposes, and having for its object a more simple and
efficient mode of preparing and combing wool, cotton, hair, flax, silk,

page_text: and other fibrous substances, than by the use of the machines hitherto
employed for such purposes. The wool or other fibrous material is fed
into the machine by means of an endless travelling cloth and a pair of
feeding rollers, which latter may be either plain, fluted, or what are
termed "porcupine rollers;" but I prefer the upper one to be plain, and
the lower one a "porcupine roller." The wool or other fibrous sub-
stance is taken from the feeding rollers, and partially drawn by means
of a revolving comb, which is mounted in a crank and revolves with it,
the teeth or "broaches" of the said comb being kept upwards and in
the required position by means of a tail pin working through a socket
attached to another crank below. As this said comb revolves it lays or
dons the wool or other fibrous material on to a series of straight travel-
ling combs, into the teeth or "broaches of which it is pressed by
means of a self-acting brush as soon as the revolving comb has left it.
The straight combs above mentioned are caused to travel in a longi-
tudinal direction by means of suitable gearing, and carry the wool
to another revolving "lashing" or "working" comb, which draws a
portion thereof through the "broaches" or teeth of the travelling
combs, and dons it on to a second series of straight travelling combs on
the opposite side of the machine, which carry it to the delivering rollers,
by means of which it is again drawn through the "broaches." The
wool or other fibrous material thus prepared and combed passes through
a revolving trumpet and a pair of calendering rollers into a can or other
suitable receptacle beneath. That portion of the fibre which remains
in the broaches of the first set of travelling combs is taken of by means
of a pair of delivering rollers, and also passes through a revolving
trumpet and pair of calendering rollers into a can or other suitable
receptacle. The travelling combs pass on to the end of their respective
frames, where they are thrown into gear with a quicker set of gearing,
by which means they are brought back at a double speed to the first
end of the frames, are then again thrown forward into gear with the
first set of wheels, and proceed as before. In order more clearly to
explain and more completely to ascertain the nature of my said Inven-
tion of improvements in machinery for preparing and combing wool,
hair, flax, silk, and other fibrous substances reference must be had to

page_text: and letters of reference marked thereon respectively, as follows:-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1, exhibits a top plan view of a machine constructed accor-
dding to my Invention, and adapted for the purposes of preparing and
combing wool, cotton, hair, flax, silk, and other fibrous materials,
shewing the general arrangement and disposition of the mechanism.
Figure 2, is a transverse and vertical section of the machine taken
through about the line A, B, in Figure 1; and Figure 3, is a similar
view taken through the line C, D, in Figure 1.
At each of these
Figures similar letters of reference are employed to point out corre-
sponding parts of the mechanism in so far as such parts appear or can
be seen at each of the said Figures respectively. The Drawing is
made to a scale of about one inch to a foot. a, a, marks the trans-
verse framing of the machine; and b, b, is an endless travelling feeding
cloth; c, c, are the feeding rollers, the upper one being plain and the
lower one a "porcupine roller;" d, d, is a revolving comb, mounted in
and revolving with a crank e, e, which crank is caused to revolve by
means of the spur gearing ff, being actuated by means of a strap or belt
passed around the main driving pulley g, g. The "broaches" of the
comb d, d, are kept in the required position by means of a tail pinh, h,
working through a socket attached to a crank i, i, below. This crank
i, i, is shorter than the crank e, e, and is so placed as to keep the
broaches almost perpendicular when striking into the wool or other
fibrous substance, and to incline them when drawing out of the same
on the other side of the machine. The crank i, i, is caused to revolve
by means of the gearing k, k, k. As the crank e, e, revolves it dons
the wool or other fibrous substance on to the straight travelling combs
1, 1. These combs 1, 1, are mounted in longitudinal guide rails m, m,
and are formed with a rack of teeth on the under side, by means of
which they are propelled slowly in the direction of the arrow's flight
through the agency of the gearing n, n, n, n. As the combs succes-
sively arrive at the end m*, of the guide rail they are thrown from the
front to the back of the guide rail by means of the wheel o, which is

page_text: actuated by means of a weight and cord passing over a pulley. The
racks on the under side of the combs then come into gear with the
gearing p, p, p, p, revolving at double speed, by means of which they
arc again brought to the first end of the machine, where they are
thrown into the front groove of the guide rail by a similar wheel and
weight. 7, is another revolving comb, which I call a "lashing" or
"working" comb, also mounted on a crank, ", similar to the former one,
excepting that the tail pins, s, is attached to a cross bar, which works
in vertical slides, t. It will be seen upon referring to Figure 1, that
this comb y, g, is mounted in a diagonal position as regards the combs
7,1, by which means it works the long fibre first. u, u, is a plate
fixed over the points of the "broaches" 1, 7, at this part, in order to
compel the comb 4, 9, as it revolves to draw the fibres through the
"broaches," instead of lifting it off the points. The comb is caused to
revolve by means of the gearing v. v, and dons the wool on to a
second set of travelling combs w, w, w, w, mounted in a guide rail ac, e,
placed in a position parallel to the comb g, g.
These combs are placed
rather lower than the combs 1, 1, and are actuated in a precisely similar
manner to them. y, y, are the doffing rollers for taking the wool or
fibre from the combs w, w, w, w; and,, are similar rollers for taking
the wool or fibre from the combs 1, 1. 1, 1, are brushes for pressing
the wool or other fibrous substance into the "broaches," and are actu-
ated by means of levers 2, 2, and links 3, 3, connected to a crank 4.
5, 5, are weights to counterbalance the weight of the revolving combs
d, d, and y, q. The operation of the machine is as follows:-The wool
or other fibrous substance to be prepared and combed being laid upon
the endless travelling feeding cloth b, b, passes between the rollers c, c.
As the comb d, d, revolves it takes hold of the fibre, draws it through
the teeth of the porcupine roller, and dons it on to the travelling
combs 7, 7. The combs 7, 1, travelling in the direction of the arrow's
flight take the wool or other fibrous substance to the revolving "lash-
ing" or "working" comb 9, 2, which draws a portion of the wool or
other fibrous substance through the broaches, the wool which remains
on the combs 1, 1, passing on to the delivering rollers z, z. The comb
9, 7, dons the fibrous material on to the combs w, w, which carry it

page_text: onwards until it is doffed by the delivering rollers y, y, from whence it
passes through the revolving trumpet 6, and calendering rollers 7, 7,
into a can or other suitable receptacle placed beneath. The "noil" or
short wool may be removed from the "broaches" by hand or by any
convenient mechanism. I would here observe, that the rollers =,=, are
also furnished with a similar revolving trumpet 6, and calendering
rollers 7, 7.
Having thus described and set forth the nature and object of my
said Invention of "Improvements in Machinery for Preparing and
Combing Wool, Hair, Flax, Silk, and other Fibrous Substances,"
together with the manner in which the same is to be and may be
carried into practical effect, I would remark, in conclusion, that I claim
as my Invention the general arrangement of the apparatus above
described and shewn in the Drawing annexed, constituting a machine
for preparing and combing wool, cotton, hair, flax, silk, and other
fibrous substances, and more especially the combination of the revolving
comb mounted in a crank with the travelling combs, constructed and
actuated as shewn and above described.
In witness whercof, I, the said William Hargreaves, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of February,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
four
WILLIAM HARGREAVES. (L.S.)
Witness,
RICHARD LORD,
No. 71, Belgrave Place,
Maningham,
near Bradford.