IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR FEEDING CARDING ENGINES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Ferrabee, of Brimscombe Port Mills,
near Stroud, in the County of Gloucester, Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR FEEDING CARDING ENGINES."
Sealed the 17th November 1868, and dated the 26th May 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Ferrabee at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th May 1868.
I, JAMES FERRABEE, of Brimscombe Port Mills, near Stroud, in the
County of Gloucester, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR FEEDING CARDING ENGINES,".
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements upon the Inventions for
which I obtained Provisional Protection, dated October 4th, 1866,
No. 2562, and Feb. 15th, 1867, No. 428, and consists in taking
a sliver and laying it uniformly and without tension on a feed, known
as the "Apperly feed," or on an ordinary feed apron of another carding.
engine in succession. This end I attain on the "Apperly feed " by.

page_text: using a folding apparatus or a modification of it as described in my
Specification No. 2562, dated October 4th, 1866, and which consists of
a compound vibrating frame provided with rollers for carrying an endless
apron for supporting the sliver (or a series of rollers properly speeded
may be used instead of an apron for the same purpose), and also a
pair of laying rollers running on a fixed rail laid across the apron,
and which are traversed to and fro over the same apron by the "traveller "
of the "Apperly feed." To secure a uniform delivery of sliver to the
feed apron of a carding engine following another, I drive the "traveller"
which carries the vibrating frame to and fro, and the endless apron
(or rollers) used for supporting and carrying forwards the sliver
from the same motion as that which drives the slivering apparatus of
a preceding carding engine, and in order to more readily and accurately
adjust the delivery of the sliver from a carding engine to the feed
apron of a succeeding carding engine so as to avoid all stretching I
use a pair of conical pulleys connected by a strap passing through
an adjustable guide for regulating the speed of the "traveller" together
with the endless apron or its substitute mounted in the vibrating frame
at the same time.
By this combination of parts and mode of driving I am enabled,
notwithstanding any variation of speed that may exist between carding
engines working in succession, to lay on an "Apperly feed" or any.
other feed apron a soft and open sliver which might be incapable of
supporting its own weight, thereby greatly facilitating the operation of
carding and producing more even threads from the condensor whether
the. material be either of long or short staple.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Ferrabee in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 25th November 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES 3
FERRABEE, of Brimscombe Port, Mills, near Stroud, in the County of
Gloucester, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in 3

page_text: the thirty-first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said James Ferrabee, Her special
licence that I, the said James Ferrabee, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said James Ferrabee, my 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, usc, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVED
MACHINERY FOR FEEDING CARDING ENGINES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said James Ferrabec, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands
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 I, the said James Ferrabec, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same. is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, reference being had to the Drawings here-
unto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is
to say:-
My said Invention relates to certain improvements upon two several
Inventions for which I obtained Provisional Protection bearing date
respectively the Fourth day of October 1866, No. 2562, and the
Fifteenth day of February 1867, No. 428, and consists in taking a sliver
and laying it uniformly and without tension on a feed called and
known as the "Apperly feed," or on an ordinary feed apron of another
carding engine in succession. In order to attain the desired object
in connection with the " Apperly feed" I use a folding apparatus,
or a modification thereof, as described in my Provisional Specification
of the Fourth day of October 1866, No. 2562, and which consists of
a compound vibrating frame provided with rollers for carrying an
endless apron for supporting the sliver (or a series of rollers properly
speeded may be used instead of an apron for the same purpose), and
also a pair of laying rollers running on a fixed rail laid across the
apron and which are traversed to and fro over the same apron by the

page_text: "traveller" of the "Apperly feed." In order to secure a uniform
delivery of sliver to the feed apron of a carding engine when forming
one of a series I drive the "traveller" which carries the vibrating
frame to and fro, and the endless apron (or rollers) used for supporting
and carrying forwards the sliver from the same motion as that which
drives the slivering apparatus of a preceding carding engine; and in
order that the delivery of the sliver from a carding engine to the feed
apron of a succeeding carding engine may be more readily and
accurately adjusted so as to avoid all stretching I use a pair of conical
pulleys connected by a strap which passes through an adjustable guide
for regulating the speed of the "traveller together with the endless
apron or its substitute mounted in the vibrating frame at the same
time.
66
:
By this combination of parts and mode of driving I am enabled,
notwithstanding any variation of speed that may exist between carding
engines working in succession, to lay on an Apperly feed" or any
other feed apron a soft and open sliver which might be incapable of
supporting its own weight, thereby greatly facilitating the operation
of carding and producing more threads from the condensor whether
the materials be either of long or short staple.
I will now proceed to refer to the annexed Drawings, from which
the nature of my said Invention will be more clearly understood.
Figure 1 in Sheet 1 is a plan view, and Figure 2 in Sheet 2 is, a front
elevation of the mechanism whereby a condensed sliver composed of
thin "fleece" stripped from the doffer of a carder is delivered on a feed
apron of another carder in layers, one overlapping the other in a zig-zag
direction.
A is the doffer of a carder; B, being "fleece" stripped from it in
the usual way by the doffing combing C; D is a cross apron which
receives the "fleece " B and carries it to the condensing rolls a, a¹, a¹¹;
E is a spur wheel on the axis of the doffer A; b, the pinion working
into it; c, bevil wheel fixed on the same spindle as the pinion b;
c', bevil pinion fixed on the spindle d of the roll a. The rolls a, a', all, a¹¹¹,
are geared together by spur wheels. F, F, is the vibrating frame having
its fixed fulcrum in standards G, G', the travelling end of which is
connected to a carriage I having guide wheels e, e, e, which travel
over guide rods h, h, supported on the feed H. The vibrating
frame F, F, carries an apron K which receives the sliver L from the

page_text: cross apron D at an uniform speed and conducts it to the laying
rolls m, m. The carriage I and laying rolls m, m', are moved to and
fro by the endless travelling strap N, a pin affixed to which strap enters
into a vertical slot in the carriage I. This pin through the constant
rotary motion of the strap N imparts the necessary reciprocating
motion to the carriage I and laying rolls m, m', which rest on a rail f
causing them to revolve as they move to and fro across the feed H. M is
a toothed quadrant weighted at n; is a pinion working into M; q is a
pulley attached to the pinion 1; o is a rope connected to the carriage I
and pulley q. This portion of the mechanism serves to balance the
vibrating frame F, F, in any position as it moves to and fro across the
feed apron H; P is a cone pulley fixed on the spindle d; Q is another
cone pulley fixed on the spindle g; R is a strap working through a
guide i held in position by the screw k; r, r, a pair of angular wheels;
8 is the roll which drives the endless apron K; t, t, are the chain and
chain wheels which give motion to the travelling strap N through
the bevil wheels w, w, and pulley x; y is the sliding roll kept up by
springs,, to take up the slack of the endless apron K as the vibrating
frame F, F, opens and closes. On motion being given to the doffer A,
the cross apron D, the vibrating frame F, F, with its endless apron K,
the laying rolls m, m³, and travelling strap N will be put into motion
simultaneously delivering the sliver L uniformly and without tension in
layers, one overlapping the other in a zig-zag direction on the feed H.
In order to regulate the delivery of the sliver L to the feed H the strap
may be traversed on the reversed conc pulleys P, Q, by means of the
guide i and screw k. Provision is also made for regulating the relative
speed of the travelling strap N and the apron K by change wheels
according to the nature of the material undergoing the carding
process.
Figures 1 and 2 shew my improved machinery for feeding carding
engines as applied to an Apperly feed," but by a slight modification
it can be adapted to the laving of sliver on an ordinary feed apron of a

page_text: endless apron K receives the sliver L, and is carried forwards by it and
laid on the feed H in the same way as already described.
Having thus declared and ascertained the nature of the said Inven-
tion and the manner in which it is to be performed, I would observe in
conclusion that what I consider novel and original, and therefore claim
as constituting the Invention secured to me by the said herein-before in
part recited Letters Patent are,-.
First. The application of the before-mentioned vibrating frame with
its apron, laying rollers, and rail to an "Apperly feed," as herein-before
described, for the purpose of supporting and laying the sliver without
stretching in diagonal layers, one overlapping the other in a zig-zag
direction.
And, secondly. The arrangement of parts and mechanism, as herein-
before described, for giving motion simultaneously to a cross apron of a
carder, and to the rolls or apron which receive the sliver and the
"traveller" of the feed of another carder, together with the mode of
varying the speed by means of cone pulleys whether used in connection
with an "Apperly feed" or otherwise, or any mere modifications thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Ferrabee, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of November,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
eight.
JAMES FERRABEE. (L.S.)