IMPROVE- MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR OPENING, CLEANING, AND PREPARING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS."
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Andrew and Stephen Hornby, of Staley Bridge,
in the County of Lancaster,. Machinists, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR OPENING, CLEANING, AND PREPARING
COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Andrew and
Stephen Hornby at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 13th August 1861.
We, SAMUEL ANDREW and STEPHEN HORNBY, of Staley Bridge, in the County
of Lancaster, Machinists, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR OPENING, CLEANING, AND
PREPARING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
First, we employ one or more large cylinders, from eighteen inches and
upwards, as required, and adapt them for up or down draught, by giving them
a reverse motion to that hitherto used, so that they strike downwards instead
of upwards, by which means we obtain a large and improved surface of grate
bars for extracting the dirt and refuse matter.
Secondly, we employ two or more wire or perforated metal cylinders for
extracting dust or light leafy substances.
Thirdly, the adaptation of a side shaft for driving the feed rollers, and

page_text: delivering by gear or band, and causing the macbine to deliver at the opposite
end to the feeder, instead of delivering underneath the feeder, as heretofore.
And, fourthly, the application of the aforesaid large cylinders to lap
machines having one or more beaters.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Andrew and Stephen Hornby in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 13th February 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, SAMUEL
ANDREW and STEPHEN HORNBY, of Staley Bridge, in the County of Lancaster,
Machinists, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Samuel Andrew and Stephen Hornby, Her especial licence that we,
the said Samuel Andrew and Stephen Hornby, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said Samuel Andrew and Stephen
Hornby, 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR OPENING, CLEANING, AND PREPARING
COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that we, the said Samuel Andrew and Stephen Hornby, our executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or their, or one of our
or their bands 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 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 Samuel Andrew and Stephen Hornby,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement (that is to say) :-
First, we employ one or more large cylinders, from eighteen inches and

page_text: upwards in diameter, as may be required, and adapt them for up and down
draughts by giving them a reverse motion to that hitherto used, so that
they strike downwards instead of upwards, by which means we obtain a larger
and improved surface of grate bars in connection with a perforated plate or
sieve placed in a diagonal position for xetracting the dirt and refuse matter.
Secondly, we employ two or more wire or perforated metal cylinders or
cages for extracting dust or light leafy substances.
Thirdly, we adapt a side shaft for driving the feeder and delivery rollers by
means of bands or gearing, and cause the machine to deliver the opened and
cleaned material at the opposite end to the feeder, instead of delivering under-
neath it, as heretofore.
Fourthly, we apply the aforesaid large cylinders to lap machines having one
or more beaters.
This Invention will be clearly understood by referring to the figures and
letters on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a longi-
tudinal section of one arrangement of our improved machinery for opening,
cleaning, and preparing cotton and other fibrous materials, and Fig. 2 is a
detached view of part of the same.
The material is supplied by a travelling lattice or apron to the feed rollers a,
between which it passes to the large toothed cylinder b, which turns in a
reverse direction to that. hitherto used, as shewn by the arrow, so as to strike
the material downwards and force it over the grate bars c and over the diagonal
sieve d, shewn detached in Fig. 2, from whence it passes between the two per-
forated metal cylinders or cages e, f. In many cases these operations are
sufficient, and the material may at once be delivered from the machine; but
in others it is advisable to submit it to the action of another series of similar
operations, in which case the said material passes from the perforated cylinders
e, f, to the travelling lattice or apron g, which leads it to the feed rollers h,
between which it passes through the second tootbed cylinder i, turning in the
same direction and operating in the same manner as the toothed cylinder b, so
as to strike the material downwards and force it over another set of grate
bars k, and over another diagonal sieve 1, from whence it passes between another
pair of perforated metal cylinders or cages m, n, and is then delivered from
the machine by a travelling lattice or apron at the opposite end to that at
which it was supplied.
In order to give simultaneous motion to the feed and delivery rollers, we
employ a side shaft, shewn by the dotted lines o; it is placed outside the
framework, and is mounted with pulleys or toothed wheels for giving motion
to the rollers, either by bands or gearing.

page_text: It will be perceived that by the employment of our improved large cylinders,
and giving them motion the reverse way, that a greatly extended surface of
grate bars is obtained, through which the groser particles of dirt or refuse
matter rapidly escape, and also that our diagonal sieves in connection with the
perforated metal cylinders afford ample means for the removal of the remainder
of the dirt, dust, or leafy substance. Two large toothed cylinders with their
grates, diagonal sieves, and perforated large cylinders, are generally found
sufficient, but-as-many may be employed as the material requires.
The Figures in the Drawing represent our improved opener and cleaner
only, but it may be used in connection with lap machines having one or more
beaters.
Having now described the nature and particulars of our said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, we desire it to be under-
stood that we claim as our Invention the improvements in machinery or appa-
ratus for opening, cleaning, and preparing cotton and other fibrous materials,
as such improvements are herein described and illustrated in the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Stephen Hornby, for and on behalf of
myself and the said Samuel Andrew, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Twelfth day of February, in the year of our Lord One thou-
sand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named Stephen Hornby, in the
.presence of
G. SEPTIMUS HUGHES,
STEPHEN HORNBY. (L.S.)
17, Cross Street,
Manchester.