Improvements in or connected with Combing Machines.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Nov., 1892—Accepted, 31st Dec., 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by JOSEPH IMBS, of 58b, Rue de la Chaussée d'Antin,
Paris, France, Engineer.]
Improvements in or connected with Combing Machines.
I, ERNEST DE PASS, of 78, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Fellow of the
Chartered Institute of Patent Agents, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement, reference being had to the
accompanying drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is
to say:
This invention relates to improvements in the combing machine forming the
subject of the Letters Patents Nos. 2761 dated 4th June 1883, and 7734 dated
26th May 1888, and granted to me as a communication from the said Joseph Imbs.
The accompanying drawings represent this combing machine, and the mechanical
improvements about to be described.
Fig. 1 is a vertical section of the general arrangement, on an approximate scale
of , and
Fig. 1 a front view, on the same scale, and in the same direction, of a contrivance
which is placed outside the framework, for instance in front of the vertical section
Fig. 1.
Fig. 2 is a full size section of the feed nipper.
a
The most economical arrangement or manner of manipulation for feeding
combing machine of great width, like an Imbs' comber, consists in supplying it with
lap, from a single large roll, of the entire width of the comber. This roll will be
made, in this case, on a large lap frame of corresponding width, as for instance,
upon one of the kind known as a Derby doubler.
Moreover, the lap itself will be in the best condition for the accurate working of
the comber, if, on this lap-frame, it be composed of a very large number of fine
slivers, and not of a very small number of coarse ones. For this purpose, by feeding
the lap frame, above mentioned, from cans of rubbing apparatus (rota frotteurs)
(which are composed of several conjoined slivers), the division of the slivers of each
can, and their exact juxtaposition, can readily be obtained by means of a plate
having holes, or division fingers, at the entrance to the lap-frame. For instance,
with 30 cans of 4 slivers each, an excellent lap composed of 120 fine and compact
slivers will thus be obtained.
But whatever may be the manner in which the laps have been made on this
large lap frame, a serious difficulty presents itself when it is desired to feed the
comber with a lap in a single large roll. This difficulty arises when a roll is
finishing, that is to say, in piecing the new lap onto the end of the previous one,
and in making this piecing along the whole of this great width without creases or
folds, or lumps, and with the necessary exactness and strength, so that the piecing
shall pass freely into the nippers, and be unable, in any wise, to inconvenience the
working of the machine. For this purpose I have devised special arrangements
to be applied to the comber, and these are shown in Figs. 1 and 1x of the
drawings.
Instead of placing, as is usual, the unwinding rollers behind and somewhat
elevated above the level of the entry of the lap, I place them at about the level S, S,
(in suitable bearings) and quite above the machine, which latter moreover, gains
thereby, by reason of a considerable decrease in space or total length. These
rollers S, S, do not revolve, in the usual way, towards the feeding nipper, but in
the opposite direction, viz., towards the back, or away from the feeding nipper.
The unwound lap on leaving these rollers descends, almost vertically, along a

page_text: plate Q and passes and enters at the back under a sufficiently heavy fluted roller R,
revolving upon the polished cross rail T which is suitably hollowed out to form a
trough under this roller.
The said roller R therefore draws and pushes the lap evenly towards the feed
nipper, and with the requisite development or unwinding for the feeding which the
setting of the nipper has determined. A small vertical shaft A, actuated from the
general gearing, or any other suitable mechanism, drives the wheel 1, through a
worm B, and the wheel 4 through the wheels 2 and 3, the said wheel 4 being keyed
to the fluted roller R at one of its ends. At its other end the roller R carries, for
instance, a chain-wheel K (Fig. 1×), which, by the chain C passing over the
stretcher K (Fig. 1) drives the wheels keyed on the rollers S, S. The wheel K is
loose on the roller R but is provided with a clutch arrangement D, and a hand
lever L, for enabling the clutch to be operated and the wheel K to be brought into
connection with, or be rendered independent of, the roller R, at will, so that this
roller R continues to revolve without stopping, while the rollers S can be stopped,
or set in motion as required. By these arrangements, when a roller is coming to
an end the work girl allows the finishing lap to fall and to hang down at M, she
then disengages the clutch D to render the rollers S and the large new roll N that
she now puts on stationary or independent; she then unwinds, by hand, the com-
mencement of the fresh lap until it comes behind the roller R and arranges the
head thereof, as well as the tail of the finishing lap M, whilst this latter is
ascending little by little."
When the end M is reduced to the proper length, the lever L is operated and
the clutch D and wheel K are caused to engage, and the rollers S, S, and the upper
lap N, are set in motion, the head of the lap feeding itself accurately along the
entire width of the machine, upon the tail M, and is firmly and automatically con-
solidated thereon in making its passage under the roller R. It is evident that the
clutch arrangement, instead of being placed upon the axis R, may be placed upon
the axes of the rollers S.
Fig. 2 shews the upper jaws of the feed nipper.
In all combing machines it is always difficult during the combing of the head, to
properly hold fibres of imperfect length which the material contains, because these
fibres have only a few millimetres engaged in the nipper. For this reason
I construct the under nipper Y, and the front rail Z, in a special manner.
I furnish the front of the nipper Y, near the comb, with a nose y which descends
and projects under Z, so that I can apply, at this point, the greatest amount of
pressure, and I provide few sharp flutings immediately behind the nose y. Up to
the back edge form a hollow space, and right at the edge a fluting to ensure the
steadiness and perpendicularity of the entire under-nipper. The front rail Z is
formed with a deep chamfer 3, so that, on closing completely, its pressure is applied
to the front of the under nipper Y. By these arrangements I can attain, with
moderate pressures, a complete effect or action and also avoid straining the machine
under more powerful pressures.
For the combing of cottons in general, I obtain particularly advantageous yields
or workings by the following combination of the variable elements of the machine.
Diameter of the comb 35 to 45 / (1 to 13 inch).
Speed of the comb 7 to 12 revolutions per operation.
Feed 6 to 10 m (to inch), (length of lap fed per operation).
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In au Imbs or other analogous combing machine, the employment of the
unwinding rollers S arranged above the machine and revolving towards the back
thereof, in combination with the fluted feed roller R behind which the lap enters
in descending, substantially as described.
2. In an Imbs or other analogous combing machine, the employment, with a

page_text: single broad lap descending behind the roller R of a clutch arrangement whereby
the rollers S may be stopped independently of the roller R, and, at the suitable
moment, again put into gear with the roller R, substantially as described.
3. The making and use of laps in a single large roll of the entire width of the
machine, made from cans containing multiple slivers coming from rubbing apparatus
(rota frotteurs), substantially as described.
4. The special construction or make of nipper Y, and rail Z, as described and
shown.
5. The hereinabove described ratio existing between the values given to the
diameter of the comb, to its relative speed, and to the length of lap fed.
Dated this 28th day of November 1892.
ERNEST DE PASS.