CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MAKING CARDS FOR CARDING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS SUB- STANCES
Year: 1841

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CURR THORNTON, of Cleckheaton, in the County of York, Machine Maker,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at Westminster,
the Twenty-first day of December, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and forty-one, in the fifth year of Her reign, did give and grant unto
me, the said William Carr Thornton, my executors, administrators, and assigns.
Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that 1, the said
William Carr Thornton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and such
others as I, the said William Carr Thornton, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times hereafter during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS FOR MAKING CARDS FOR CARDING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS SUB-
STANCES;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso, that I, the
said William Carr Thornton, shall cause a particular description of the nature
of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and

page_text: immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference' being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Carr Thornton, do hereby declare the nature of my Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had
to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention consists, first, in a combination of machinery (herein described)
for the purpose of giving motion to the carriage or headwork of a machine used
in the setting of wire cards in sheets, called a "sheet card setting machine."
The second part of my Invention consists in the described mode of tra-
versing or changing the motion of the said carriage or headwork.
The third part of my Invention consists in the described method of
taking up the sheet immediately after it has received each and every row
of teeth.
The fourth part of my Invention consists in the mode of suspending the jaw
frame upon centres, which enables the operator to place the "sheet" at any
required angle.
The fifth part of my Invention consists in giving to the carriage or head-
work an extended bearing on the slide and V groove (G), thereby rendering its
action firm and accurate.
The sixth part of my Invention consists in simply mounting the "crown
head" upon a metallic spring.
The advantages derived from my mode of propelling the carriage (instead
of the ordinary mode of propelling the "jaw frame," will be obvious, in the
saving of room and in the accuracy of the work performed.
As the method of "feeding," "piercing," &c., form no part of my Invention,
I have not thought it necessary to describe them, they being already in
extensive use, and well understood.
Figure 1 front view, 2 end view, 3 horizontal plan, of rack or notch bar, with
lifter, groove, &c. &c.; 4, front view of lifter, notch bar, and traveller; 5 and
6, horizontal plans of the double incline and the traveller; 7, horizontal plan of
the change lever, and sections of the two springs 8 and 9; 8, horizontal plan
of the change shaft, &c; Figure 9, elevation of the jigger and the taking-up
shaft; Figures 10 and 11, section of the groove frame G, upon which are fixed
the change stops k, one at each end of the frames; Figure 12, section of the
tappet shaft F, with the change tappet No. 3, &c. No. 1, the lifter tappet; 2,

page_text: the tappet for working the double incline; 3, the change tappet; 4, the
taking-up tappet; 5, the slot in which the double incline moves; 6 and 7,
the taking-up levers; 8 and 9, two metallic springs; 6, 6, a coiled wire spring
which keeps the double incline f up to the tappet shaft E. N.B.-The same
marks of reference lead to the corresponding part in each Figure.
A is the framework of cast iron; B, the carriage or headwork; C, the jaw
frame; D, the jaws; E, a long driving drum; F, the tappet shaft; G, the V
groove and slide on which the carriage or headwork moves; H, bent lever for
reversing the motion of the carriage or headwork when arrived at the end
I, driving pulley or first motion; K, sheet card in a state of tension; a, draw-
ing strap; b, driving straps which gives motion to the tappet shaft F; c, the
rack or notch bar, which is firmly attached to the V groove and slide g; d,
the lifter; e, the traveller; f, the double incline; g, the change spring; h, the
change lever; i, the change shaft; j, the pin attached to the traveller; 1,
the change stops; l, the jigger lever for taking up; m, the taking-up shaft;
n, the taking-up palls; o, the pall wheel for taking up; p, the taking-up
wheels; q, the suspension chains; r, the notch in the change shaft i, Figure 8;
s, the two tension screws; t, the two centres on which the jaw frame hangs;
u, the setting screws which hold the jaw frame in the required position; v, the
stopper on the large wheel p, which, upon coming in contact with the lever to
and strap lever z, arrests the progress of the machine so soon as the card sheet
is finished; w, lever for stopping the machine, as above; a, a short lever fixed
to the change shaft; y, coiled wire spring for moving the change shaft end-
ways in the direction
;z, strap lever. Supposing the carriage or head-
dart, the mode of
work to be travelling in the direction of the single
operation will be as follows, namely:-Power having first been given to the
'drum E, the same will commmunicate motion by the strap 6 to the tappet
shaft F, causing the said tappet shaft F to revolve in the direction shewn
by the dart. I now suppose the double incline f to be in the position as seen
at Figure 6. The tappet No. 2 being brought to act upon the said double
incline, will cause it to be forced into the V opening of the traveller e, as
shewn at Figure 5, and consequently to move the carriage or headwork the
required distance in the direction shewn by the single dart, the lifter d (to
which is held the traveller e) is then raised by its tappet not, for the purpose
of liberating the traveller e from the fixed notch bar or rack c. This being
done, the metallic spring 9 (which takes hold of the aforesaid traveller by the
pin j, causes the traveller e to slide upon the face of the lifter d) the exact

page_text: distance required in the direction of the single dart. The tappet shaft.not.
then allows the lifter (d) and the traveller (e) to fall, and consequently the
traveller (e) becomes again firmly embedded in the teeth of the notch bar or,
rack: e, as seen at Figure 8, and is again operated upon by the double incline fr
When that the carriage or headwork has been propelled to the required
distance in the direction of the single dart, a change is given to the action of
the metallic spring (9), which causes the said carriage or headwork to be
propelled (by the same means as before described) in a, contrary direction.
The aforesaid change in the action of the metallic spring g is accomplished as
follows, namely:-The short end of the change lever (h) is acted upon by a
push the moment it comes into contact with the change stop (k), the other end
of the said lever immediately causes both the springs (8 and 9) to move in one
and the same direction, that is, outwards. The spring (8) being' then forced
out of the notch (r) in the end of the change shaft (i), the said change shaft
is brought into another position by the action endways of the coiled spring (y).
The lever (H) is also at the same time set at liberty by the spring (No. 9) from
the tappet (3), as shewn by the dotted line (Fig. 12.) The metallic spring g
being firmly attached to the change shaft (h), will now assume a position which
will enable it to move the traveller (e) in a contrary direction to the single dart;
namely
N.B. The natural position of the metallic spring' (g) is shewn
1
at Figure 8; the dotted lines shew the unnatural position which the double
incline (F) compels it to take when the carriage or headwork is travelling in the
direction of the single dart
Be it always understood that the metallic
spring (9), in assuming its natural position, takes along with it the traveller (e),
which slides upon the face of the lifter (d). In order to again reverse the
motion of the carriage or headwork, the long end of the change lever (h) is
brought into contact with the change stop (k), Figure 11; the short lever a
which is fixed to the change shaft (i), is then raised by the action of the
spring (No. 9), which causes the bent lever (H) (Figure 12) to fall upon
the tappet (No. 8). The said tappet then draws the change shaft (1) endways
in the direction of the dart until the spring 8 shall have fallen into the
notch (r) at the end of said shaft, as seen at Figure 8. The taking up the sheet
after it has received each and every row of teeth is performed in the manner
as follows, that is to say-The jigger lever 1 (Figure 9.) is constantly kept in
motion by the small tappet. No. 4, and when that the lower end of the said
jigger comes in contact with either of the levers marked 6,. it will cause; the
lever (7) to raise the pall (n), which must move the pall wheel (o), thence
communicating motion (by pinions) to the large wheel (p), which takes up a

page_text: portion of the chains (9), and consequently raises the jaws (D), in which is the
sheet card being set. The jaw frame Cis suspended upon the two centres 6,t,
and held in the required position by the setting screws u. This arrangement
of the jaw frame will enable the operator to place the sheet at any angle
required with the greatest ease and accuracy.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, this Twenty-first day
of June One thousand eight hundred and forte torn

page_text: commonly called the Specification, and did cause the same to be enrolled in
Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery on the Twenty-first day of June,.
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-two:
And whereas since the enrolment of the said Specification doubts have
arisen as to the Invention which I have claimed or intended to claim therein,
that is to say, I have been understood as claiming to have discovered the
principle of the carriage or headwork instead of the leather or jaw frame
moving in sheet card machinery, and as claiming the Invention and exclusive
use of all and every sheet card setting machinery, and apparatus in which
the carriage or headwork moves, and the sheet or jaw frame is stationary (as
in the screw sheet machine), as contradistinguished from the case in which the
sheet or jaw frame moves, and the headwork is stationary (as in Dyer's
machine):
And further, I have been understood as claiming all sheet card setting
machinery of the kind represented in the Drawing annexed to the Speci-
fication in which any one of the six several heads of Invention or improve-
ments, as specifically enumerated in the descriptive part of the Specification,
is contained, in addition to and as well as the six several heads of Invention
in combination:
And whereas doubts have arisen whether certain of such several parts or
heads of Invention and improvements were new at the time of the grant of
the said Letters Patent:
And whereas I am desirous, as well for the better protection of the rights
intended to be secured by the said Letters Patent, as for the more ample
benefit of the public from the same, and for the reasons aforesaid, to enter a
Disclaimer:
And whereas I have obtained leave of Sir Frederick Thesiger, Her Majesty's
Solicitor-General, certified by his fiat and signature, to enter with the Clerk of
the Patents of England, pursuant to the Statute in that behalf made and
provided, a Disclaimer, not being such Disclaimer as will extend the exclusive
right granted by the said Letters Patent:
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Carr Thornton, do hereby
disclaim to have discovered the principle of the headwork moving or traversing
in sheet card machines. And I also hereby disclaim, for the reasons aforesaid,
the following parts of the said Invention or improvements, that is to say :-
I disclaim the mounting the crown head upon a metallic spring; but at the
same time I wish it to be understood that I consider the mounting the crown
head on a metallic spring preferable to the ordinary mode as used in Dyer's

page_text: machine, the screw sheet machine, and in Walton's fillet machine, of mounting
the crown head with a lever and a small spiral check spring.
And I also disclaim the giving an extended bearing to the headwork on the
slide and V groove; but I wish it to be understood that I consider that, or some
mode of steadying the carriage, of great importance in practice.
And I also disclaim the described mode of traversing or changing the
motion of the carriage or headwork, and the method of taking up the sheet.
immediately after it has received each and every row of teeth; but I wish it
to be understood that the motion of the carriage must be traversed or changed
and the sheet must be taken up by suitable arrangements, and that the
described modes answer extremely well in practice.
And I further declare, that I not only disclaim as of my Invention the
principle of causing the carriage or headwork to move instead of the jaw
frame or apparatus holding the sheet in which the teeth are to be inserted,
but I hereby limit my Invention in respect thereof to the particular mode of
causing the said carriage or headwork to be propelled by the combination in
the said Specification particularly described, that is to say, the combination of
the fixed and travelling notch bar, and an incline or wedge regulating the
space through which the carriage moves at each operation.
And I hereby further declare, that I limit and confine my claim, firstly, to
sheet card setting machines of the kind shewn in the Drawing, in which the
carriage or headwork is propelled along by a combination of machinery, con-
sisting of the fixed and travelling notch bär, and an incline, regulating by the
angle and length of its face the space travelled over.
And, secondly, to sheet card setting machines of the kind shewn in the
Drawing, in which the jaw frame is suspended on centres.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Carr Thornton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this First day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-five.
WILLIAM CARR THORNTON. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the above-named
William Carr Thornton, in the presence of (the
same being first duly stamped, and the words
and "immediately" having been pre-
viously interlined,)

page_text: Taken and acknowledged by William Carr
Thornton, party hereto, at the Public Office,
Southampton Buildings, this First day of
February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-five,
Feb 1st, 1845.
FRED. THESIGER.
Inrolled the Twelfth day of June, in the year above written.