IMPROVE- MENTS IN MACHINERY TO BE USED IN THE TREATMENT OF WOOL, FLAX, SILK, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Varley and Sam Warburton Varley, both
of Leeds, in the County of York, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY TO BE USED IN THE TREATMENT OF WOOL, FLAX,
SILK, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS."
Sealed the 9th October 1869, and dated the 5th June 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Varley and
Sam Warburton Varley at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patenta, with their Petition, on the 5th June 1869.
We, JAMES VARLEY and SAM WARBURTON VARLEY, both of Leeds,
in the County of York, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY TO BE USED IN THE TREATMENT
OF WOOL, FLAX, SILK, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists, firstly, of the improvements herein-after
described in strick-making machines.
According to this part of our Invention opened out and straightened
material to be converted into stricks for the subsequent cleaning
operation is delivered in slivers through and between feed rollers having

page_text: an intermittent motion on to a straight feeding comb pinned with
suitable teeth, and of a breadth suited to the length of the longest fibres
to be contained therein, into the rows of which teeth the said slivers are
pressed by means of a brush in such a manner as to leave a fringe of
fibres projecting from the front row of pins in the feeding comb. The
said feeding comb is caused by means of cranks and tappets to slide
forward and to fall a certain distance, and thereby to deposit the
projecting fringe of fibres on to a receiving comb of like straight form.
The fringe of fibres thus deposited is pressed into and between the rows
of pins of the said receiving comb and held therein by means of a brush
and nipping plate. The said feeding comb is now caused to slide
backwards from the receiving and through the slivers of fibrous material
whereby a střick of fibres is. formed. A pair of cutting knives is.
arranged in front of the said feeding comb at that position of the same
which it takes upon the completion of its backward sliding motion,
which said knives sever the strick of fibre formed by the feeding comb
in its backward motion,
The construction and action of these knives is similar to that of the
knives described in the Specification of Letters Patent granted. to us in
1868, No. 3093, with reference to Figures 5, 6, and 7 of the Drawings
annexed to the said Specification. The length of the fibres to be cut is
regulated according to the quality of the material. The slivers of fibrous.
material contained in the feeding comb are now raised out of it by
means of bars of metal sliding in transverse grooves between and parallel
to the rows of pins in the said comb, whereupon the delivering rollers
deliver another portion of the slivers forward, the feeding comb rises
up; and the slivers are again pressed into its teeth, and the operation
is repeated as described. The receiving comb containing the cut
fibre is removed by hand or by mechanical means, and an empty
one is substituted to receive the next strick on the return of the feeding
comb.
Our Invention consists further of an improved machine for filling or
feeding and strick-making, which can be used so as to feed opened
out and straightened material to be cleaned continuously to cleaning
machines of like continuous action, or the said machine can be employed
so as to feed the said material intermittent, and thereby form tufts or
stricks of a certain length suitable for cleaning machines of the class
requiring the said material in that form.

page_text: Our said machine consists essentially of a cylindrical or wheel comb
mounted on a horizontal shaft which revolves in suitable bearings on the
frame of the machine. This comb is made of such a breadth that the
longest of the fibres to be filled or fed shall be retained within the pins
of the said comb. The material to be filled or fed is carried in slivers
wound on bobbins turning in a suitable creel which is mounted on and
travels with the shaft aforesaid. Each of the slivers is delivered into the
comb through longitudinal guides formed around the periphery of a
drum which is affixed to the shaft aforesaid between the bobbin creel
and the wheel comb, so that each of such slivers shall pass between the
partitions of the said guides of which there are as many on and around
the drum as there are slivers in the creel. The fibres are retained
in the teeth of the cylindrical comb aforesaid by means of curved
plates fixed around or partly around the said comb between each
of the rows of pins or between alternate rows of the pins except at
that part of the revolution of the comb where the feeding is effected,
at which part a number of stationary knives or ploughs working in
grooves between the rows of pins in the said comb raise the slivers out
of the teeth of the comb and thus liberate the said slivers, which are
thereupon drawn forward a certain requisite distance by means of an
endless toothed band or of endless toothed bands mounted on revolving
rollers and travelling in a direction oblique to the axis of the cylindrical
comb or by means of corrugated or toothed rollers or oscillating forks,
and are again pressed into and between the rows of pins of the comb by
the stationary curved plates aforesaid. A tuft or fringe of material is
thus caused to project from the edge of the said comb. In front of the
said comb a circular diso of metal is mounted. This disc is of the same
diameter as the said comb, and has on its periphery one or more rows of
pins. The said disc is affixed to a shaft turning in bearings in the frame
of the machine in the same direction and at the same speed as the
comb aforesaid. The circular disc is set at an angle to the comb so that
at a certain part of the comb's revolution the inner edge of the diso
shall at one portion continuously touch or nearly touch the outer edge
of the comb aforesaid in such a manner that the tuft or fringe of
material which by the action of the filling or feeding apparatus herein.
before described is left projecting shall by means of a curved plate or of
curved plates be pressed into the row or rows of pins in the periphery
of the said disc comb, and held in grooves in and around the same by
means of the said curved plates, such plate or plates being fitted in a

page_text: suitable frame around the said disc or any required portion of the same
and supplied with pressure by means of springs or levers and weights
separately applied to each plate. The said disc revolving at the same
speed as the comb aforesaid, and in the same direction gradually by its
divergence from the said comb draws the material, the fringe or
end of which it holds and carries forward through the teeth of the
said comb. A pair of cutting knives or shears or circular revolving
knives continually in motion are arranged at the required part of the
comb's and dise's revolution so as to sever the fringe of material which
has been drawn forward by the disc aforesaid to the required length,
and which is delivered continuously by means of endless toothed chains
or their equivalents into the holding surface of cleaning machines of
continuous action or on to an endless toothed chain or band in stricks
to be detached for machines requiring the said materials in that form, the
said stricks being measured or formed of the requisite breadth by leaving
out one or more slivers in the said cylindrical comb. Where "shorts,"
which come from the cleaning machine are to be filled for subsequent
cleaning the knives or shears herein-before referred to are not
required. In drawing the fibres continuously or intermittently forward
through the teeth of the comb aforesaid the shorter fibres are retained
in the front rows of pins of the comb, and consequently in the one end
of the stricks or tufts.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Varley and Sam Warburton Varley in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 3rd December 1869,
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JAMES.
VARLEY and SAM WARBURTON VARLEY, both of Leeds, in the County of
York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-second
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto us, the said James Varley and Sam Warburton Varley,
Her special licence that we, the said James Varley and Sam
Warburton Varley, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such.

page_text: others as we, the said James Varley and Sam Warburton Varley, 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 TO BE USED IN THE TREATMENT OF WOOL,
FLAX, SILK, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said James Varley and Sam Warburton Varley,
our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
our or their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us
or them, 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 I, the said Sam Warburton Varley, on behalf
of myself and the said James Varley, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
Our Invention consists of an improved machine for filling or feeding
and strick making, which can be used so as feed opened out and
straightened material to be cleaned continuously to cleaning machines
of like continuous action. Or the said machine can be employed so as
to feed the said material intermittently, and thereby form tufts or
stricks of a certain length suitable for cleaning machines of the class
requiring the said material in that form.
Our said machine consists essentially of a cylindrical or wheel comb
mounted on a horizontal shaft which revolves in suitable bearings on
the frame of the machine. This comb is made of such a breadth that
the longest of the fibres to be filled or fed shall be retained within the
pins of the said comb. The material to be filled or fed is carried in
slivers (wound on bobbins) turning in a suitable creel which is mounted
on and travels with the shaft aforesaid. Each of the slivers is delivered
into the comb through longitudinal guides formed around the periphery
of a drum which is affixed to the shaft aforesaid between the bobbin
creel and the wheel comb, so that each of such slivers shall pass between

page_text: the partitions of the said guides, of which there are as many on and
around the drum as there are slivers in the creel. The fibres are
retained in the teeth of the cylindrical comb aforesaid by means of
curved plates fixed around or partly around the said comb between each
of the rows of pins or between alternate rows of the pins except at that
part of the revolution of the comb where the feeding is effected, at
which part a number of stationary knives or ploughs working in grooves
between the rows of pins in the said comb raise the slivers of material
out of the teeth of the comb, and thus liberate the said slivers, which
are thereupon drawn forward a certain requisite distance by means of
an endless toothed band or of endless toothed bands mounted on re-
volving rollers and travelling in a direction oblique to the axis of the
cylindrical comb, or by means of corrugated or toothed rollers or os-
cillating forks, and are again pressed into and between the rows of pins
of the comb by the stationary curved plates aforesaid.
A tuft or fringe
of material is thus caused to project from the edge of the said comb.
In front of the said comb a circular disc of metal is mounted. This
disc is of the same diameter as the said comb, and has on its periphery
one or more rows of pins. The said disc is affixed to a shaft turning in
bearings in the frame of the machine in the same direction and at the
same speed as the comb aforesaid. The shaft carrying the circular disc
is set at an angle, so that at a certain part of the comb's revolution the
inner edge of the disc shall at one portion continuously touch or nearly
touch the outer edge of the comb aforesaid in such a manner that the tuft
or fringe of material which by the action of the filling or feeding
apparatus herein-before described is left projecting, shall by means of a
curved plate or of curved plates be pressed into the row or rows of pins
in the periphery of the said disc comb, and held in grooves in and
around the same by means of the said curved plate or plates, such plate
or plates being fitted in a suitable frame around the said disc, or any
required portion of the same and supplied with pressure by means of
springs or levers and weights separately applied to each plate, the said
disc revolving at the same speed as the comb aforesaid, and in the same
direction gradually by its divergence from the said comb draws the
material the fringe or end of which it holds, and carries it forward
through the teeth of the said comb. A pair of cutting knives or shears
or revolving knives or cutters continually in motion is or are arranged
at the required part of the comb's and disc's revolution so as to sever
the fringe of material which has been drawn forward by the disc afore-
0°

page_text: said to the required length, and which is delivered continuously by means
of endless toothed chains or their equivalents into the holding surface
of cleaning machines of continuous action, or on to an endless toothed
chain or band in stricks to be detached for machines requiring the same
material in that form, the said stricks being measured or formed of
the required breath by leaving out one or more slivers in the said
cylindrical comb. Where "shorts" which come from the cleaning
machine are to be filled for subsequent cleaning the knives or shears
herein-before referred to are not required. In drawing the fibres con-
tinuously or intermittently forward through the teeth of the comb
aforesaid the shorter fibres are retained in the front rows of pins of the
comb, and consequently in the one end of the stricks or tufts.
Having now described the nature of our Invention we will proceed to
describe the manner in which the same is to be performed, reference
being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the letters and
figures marked thereon.
Figure 1 is a side elevation (partly in section) of our improved
machine for filling or feeding and strick making, and Figure 2 is an
end elevation (partly in section) of the said machine. The holding and
drawing disc herein-after described is not shown in this Figure. The
same letters and figures of reference indicate the same parts in both
Figures.
A', A³, are fast and loose pulleys mounted on the shaft A; a', a³, a³, a',
are toothed wheels which communicate motion from the fast pulley A¹
to the shaft B; b, b, b, are toothed wheels which communicate motion
from the shaft B to the shaft O; D is the bobbin creel carrying
bobbins D', D', with sliver wound on them, which said creel is mounted
by preference on a boss d¹ which turns on a long neck or barrel d
affixed to the frame of the machine, in which neck or barrel the shaft O
also turns. Separate motion is given to the said creel by means of
toothed wheels b, b, which are driven by a toothed pinion 6ª on the
shaft B. E is a drum with longitudinal guides e, e, through which the
slivers pass to the comb. The said drum also is mounted on the boss d',
and turns with the same; F is the cylindrical or wheel comb, which is
affixed to and turns with the shaft C; G, G, are knives or ploughs fitted
between the rows of teeth in the comb F. The said knives or ploughs
raise the slivers of material out of the rows of pius in the comb, where-

page_text: upon the said slivers are fed forward by the toothed roller H, which
roller turns forward, (its axis being oblique to the comb aforesaid), and is
supported in suitable brackets or bearings affixed to an arched frame
over the said comb, and is driven by a train of toothed wheels which
receive motion from a toothed wheel I affixed to the shaft C. The
arched frame, brackets, and train of wheels aforesaid are omitted from
the Drawing in order to avoid confusion J are plates of metal which are
supported by the aforesaid arched frame, which plates press the slivers
again into the comb F. The said plates may be made of about the
length indicated in the Drawing, or a number of them may be arranged
when required around the said comb, and between every two rows or
between every other two rows of the pins (except at that part where the
roller H is arranged), so as the more effectually to retain the slivers
in the teeth of the said comb. K is the drawing and holding disc,
the periphery of which is furnished with one row or with several
rows of pins, which said disc is mounted on a shaft k', which shaft
turns in bearings, and receives motion through bevilled toothed
wheels k³, k*, k³, k, from the shaft B. The said disc is set at an angle
to the comb F, and the fringe of fibre fed forward by the roller H is
delivered on to the said disc and is held around it in grooves formed in
the periphery of the said disc or against an inclined band of elastic
material on the said periphery by means of plates, k, which are
affixed to levers k, s, which receive pressure from springs k", kº. The
said plates may be employed as described for pressing and holding the
fringe of fibre, or they may be used so as merely to retain the fibres
between the rows of pins in the said disc, in which case the pins
should be of greater fineness and the disc should be furnished with a
greater number of rows. L, L, are revolving knives or cutters which
sever or cut the tuft or strick of fibre which has been drawn forward by
the disc K through the teeth of of the comb F to the required length.
Instead of the said revolving cutters, knives or shears worked mechani-
cally may be employed. The revolving cutters are provided with a
grindstone or other grinding surface (not shown), so as to continually
grind and sharpen the cutting edges of the said cutters, which receive
motion through the pulleys, , and a driving band from the shaft B.
M is an endless toothed band on to which the cut stricks or tufts of fibre
are delivered by the disc K to be detached by hand or delivered con-
tinuously into the holding and cleaning surfaces of continuously acting

page_text: cleaning machines. The said endless band receives motion from the
shaft B through pulleys m', m³, and a driving band m³.
Having now described the nature of our Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood that
we do not limit ourselves to the precise details described and illustrated,
as the same may be modified without departing from the nature of our
Invention, neither do we claim as our Invention any of the parts
separately otherwise than as herein-after stated; but we claim as our said
Invention,―
Firstly. The general arrangement or combination of parts consti-
tuting the filling or feeding and strick-making machine herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
Secondly. The application to filling or feeding and strick-making
machines of revolving knives or of cutters, essentially as and for the
purpose herein-before described.
Thirdly. So arranging relatively to each other in filling or feeding and
strick-making machines a cylindrical or wheel comb and a circular
drawing or holding disc that as the said comb and disc revolve the
fibres shall be drawn forward through the teeth of the comb in a line.
parallel or nearly parallel to the outer surface or periphery of the said
comb, essentially in the manner and for the purpose herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Sam Warburton Varley, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this First day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
SAM WARBURTON VARLEY. (L.S.)