Improvements in Carding Engines.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 30th July, 1890
Complete Specification Left, 30th Apr., 1891-Accepted, 30th May, 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Carding Engines.
We, BENJAMIN ALFRED DOBSON, of the firmn of Dobson & Barlow, of Kay
Street Works, Bolton, in the County of Lancaster, Machine Makers, and WILLIAM
SHERWOOD BROMILEY of the same place, Foreman, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention to be as follows:-
Our improvements in carding engines relate first to devices for permitting
the piecing up of the broken or attenuated sliver to be accomplished quickly
and easily and secondly to the construction and setting of the undercasings and
Covers.
Our first improvement consists in the arrangement use and application of a
device which when a carding engine is at work and any breakage or failure of the
sliver between the doffer and the coiler takes place will cause the speed of the
doffer to be reduced automatically and sufficiently to enable the piccing up of
the broken sliver to be quickly and easily accomplished whereby waste is
prevented.
This improvement is particularly applicable to carding engines wherein the
doffer is run at high speeds in order to increase the production and where the
attendant has not time to effect the piecing on account of such high speed.
A convenient arrangement for carrying out this part of our improvements consists
in mounting on the barrow pulley lever a frame containing a shaft on which are
fixed two or preferably three pulleys, the one nearest the outside of the card being
fixed upon the aforesaid shaft which runs in bearings prepared for it in the frame.
On this shaft and nearest the card is fixed a small chain wheel which by means of
a chain drives a chain wheel on the doffer shaft this arrangement constituting
what is known as the "quick speed."
The centre pulley of the three pulleys is a loose pulley and is employed for the
purpose of allowing the driving strap to traverse from one driving pulley to the
other without unnecessary friction. The third pulley or that nearest the card
side has fixed on its boss a pinion which by means of a double carrier gears into
the ordinary doffer wheel and this arrangement constitutes what is known as the
"slow speed."
The three pulleys aforesaid are driven by a strap from a pulley on the end of
the cylinder shaft.
The driving strap is controlled by a strap fork with a weighted lever or spring
attached to a rod extended towards the front of. the card and provided with a handle
and catch. The weighted lever tends to pull the strap fork when relieved from
the catch to such a position that the strap is on the slow speed pulley. This catch
is connected with a stop motion as follows:-
Round a portion of the circumference of the top calender roller is a light metal
plate with one or both edges curved to assist in retaining the sliver going towards
the coiler. This metal plate is mounted on a centre and oscillates thereon and is
provided with a species of cam and a counter weight. in such a manner that a normal
weight of card sliver easily holds the metal plates against the top calender block.
The cam and counter weight are placed exactly opposite a vertical catch oscillating
on its lower end and so balanced as to lean towards the cam and counter weight.
This oscillating upright catch is also opposite the teeth of a catch wheel or wiper
which is fixed on the shaft driving the bottom calender roller, and the bottom end
of this catch is fixed on a lever pivoted on the front plate or other suitable part
of the carding engine and which has the other end in connection with the catch
holding the strap fork in position. There is, or may be, an alarm bell fixed in such
away as to give notice, when the apparatus is in operation and there is also a plate

page_text: fixed in front of the calender blocks for the purpose of assisting the stop motion in
its action.
When the carding engine is running at its full speed and through any action or
failure of the lap or any defect in the working of the card the sliver should break
or become attenuated so as to allow the stop motion to act, the pivoted metal plate
falls forward to the front and in so doing nips the sliver between a plate fixed in
front of its lower edge thus forming a sort of nipper which breaks off the sliver
and prevents the attenuated sliver running into the coiler. In falling forward the
cam and counter weight push the oscillating upright catch into contact with one
tooth of the wiper and this catch is pressed down thereby raising the other end of
the pivoted lever and releasing the catch which holds the strap fork in position.
The instant this is done the weight or spring pulls the strap lever over to the slow
speed pulley and the doffer is kept working at a very much reduced speed. As the
upright oscillating catch is pressed down by the wiper shaft it frees the action of
abell hammer pivoted to the cover of the wiper, and allows the hammer to go
against the side of the wiper where it is alternately lifted and freed by lugs
fixed on the side of the wiper thus striking the bell and calling the attention of the
work people to the fact that there is a breakage of the sliver in that particular
card.
The doffer may be stopped by dropping the barrow lever out of gear in the usual
or ordinary manner. The chain driving gear is slack enough to allow the wheels
to ungear.
This improvement may with slight modifications be applied to cards having
drawboxes instead of calender rollers.
The method of conveying the driving power may be varied with either strap
chain or wheel gearing as may be convenient.
The second part of our improvements relates to the construction and setting of
the undercasing and covers extending round and below the main cylinder from a
point immediately below the flats or rollers over the doffer to the underside of the
Hats or rollers over the licker-in and is a further development of the improvements
specified in our former Patent No. 18668 of 1888.
The chief object of this part of our invention is to so perfect and simplify the
construction and combined arrangement of the said casings and covers that they
may be adjusted and set simultaneously as one part to the wire of the main
cylinder.
In our said Patent we specify a mode of setting the said casings and covers as
regards the licker-in-end by a setting appliance on each side of the frame adjusting
segmental pieces with which are combined one part of the covers and undercasing
and similarly adjusting the segmental pieces and all the casings connected therewith
at the doffer end by means of separate setting appliances.
We now propose according to our present improvements to make an undercasing
extending nearly the entire distance below the main cylinder from the licker-in to
the doffer and made either in one piece of suitable yielding material or in any
number of parts connected or jointed together or otherwise arranged to move simul-
taneously or as one piece during adjustment. We have at each joint or elsewhere
according to the construction a stud or pin projecting from the undercasing on each
side of the card and each stud or pin is supported upon a curved or inclined
surface preferably formed in or upon an adjustable bracket secured to the frame of
the engine.
The curves of these surfaces are so regulated that as the setting appliances adjust
the position of the licker-in and its segmental pieces together with the parts com-
bined therewith or as the other setting appliances move the segmental pieces and
their attachments at the doffer end the studs or pins travel on the curved surfaces
and so adjust the position of the undercasing and maintain its concentricity with
the wire of the cylinder.
We may moreover by worm gearing or equivalent means so connect the setting
appliances at the licker-in and doffer ends respectively that we could with one

page_text: setting handle regulate simultaneously the adjustinent of the undercasing covers
and all the parts combined together and which require an equivalent amount of
adjustment consequent upon the wear of the cylinder wire.
يمم
T
1000
H. B. BARLOW,
Agent for Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Carding Engines.
We, BENJAMIN ALFRED DOBSON, of the firm of Dobson and Barlow, of Kay
Street Works, Bolton,, in the County of Lancaster, Machine Makers, and WILLIAM
ISHERWOOD BROMILEY of the same place, Foreman, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:—
Our improvements in carding engines relate first to devices for permitting the
piecing up of the broken or attenuated sliver to be accomplished quickly and easily
and secondly to the construction and setting of the undercasings and covers.
Our first improvement consists in the arrangement use and application of a device
which when a carding engine is at work and any breakage or failure of the sliver
between the doffer and the coiler takes place will cause the speed of the doffer to be
reduced automatically and sufficiently to enable the piecing up of the broken sliver
to be quickly and easily accomplished whereby waste is prevented.
This improvement is particularly applicable to carding engines wherein the
doffer is run at high speeds in order to increase the production and where the
attendant has not time to effect the piecing on account of such high speed.
A convenient arrangement for carrying out this part of our improvements is
shown in Figures 1 to 5 of the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 being a side eleva-
tion. Fig. 2 a front elevation. Fig. 3 a part plan of our mechanisin for driving
the doffer and reducing its speed from the quick to the slow motion as required and
Fig. 4 a sectional plan taken through the centre of the barrow pulleys and Fig. 5
is a detail view of the strap fork.
We mount on the barrow pulley lever a a frame & containing a shaft c which runs
in bearings prepared for it in the lever a and frame band on which shaft are
mounted two or preferably three pulleys; in this case three pulleys c' c² c³ are
shown;
the pulley nearest the outside of the card is fixed upon the aforesaid
shaft c the pulley is loose on the boss of the pulley
the shaft c. On this shaft c and nearest the card is
which by means of a chain e drives a chain wheel
arrangement constituting what is known as the "quick speed."
and the pulley c³ is loose on
fixed a small chain wheel d
on the doffer shaft this
The loose centre pulley c is employed for the purpose of allowing the driving
strap, not shown, to traverse from the one driving pulley c¹ to the other without
unnecessary friction. The third pulley c³ or that nearest the card side has fixed
on its boss a pinion which by means of a double carrier ' gears into the ordinary
doffer wheel and this arrangement constitutes what is known as the "slow
speed."
The three pulleys c¹² e aforesaid are driven by a strap from a pulley, not
shown, on the end of the cylinder shaft or licker-in shaft if more convenient.
This driving strap is controlled by a strap fork i shown detached in Fig. 5 and
the strap fork i is pivoted at i to the frame band is weighted on the outside, that
is to say, the side farthest from the side of the card. The strap fork i is held
normally in the position shown in full lines in Fig. 5 by means of a stud on an
arm j which is fixed on a rod k. This rod k extends towards the front of the card
and has fixed upon it a handle k¹. There is also fixed upon the rod ka snail or
catch piece k which engages the recessed end of a lever to prevent the rod k from

page_text: turning and to hold the strap fork in the position shown and above mentioned,
until the catch ² is relieved from the lever when the weight of the pivoted strap
fork i causes it to fall into the position indicated in dotted lines Fig. 5 and so to
shift the strap from the quick speed pulley c to the slow speed e³.
q
The lever is connected with a stop motion as follows:-Round a portion of the
circumference of the top calender roller m is a light metal plate n with one or both
edges curved to assist in retaining the sliver going upwards towards the coiler in
the direction indicated by the arrow, Fig. 1. This metal plate n is mounted on a
centre and oscillates thereon and is provided with a species of cam and a counter
weight in such a manner that a normal weight of card sliver passing over the
platen easily holds the said plate against the top.calender block m. The cam and
counter weight n are placed exactly opposite a vertical catch o oscillating on its
lower end and so balanced as to lean towards the said cam and counterweight. This
oscillating upright catch o is also opposite the teeth of a catch wheel or wiper p
which is fixed on the shaft ' driving the bottom calender roller and the bottom
end of this catch o is fixed on the lever which is pivoted at 1 on the front plate
or other suitable part of the carding engine and which has the other end in
connection with the catch holding the strap fork in position as already described.
There is (although this is not essential) an alarm bell fixed in such a way as to be
struck by a hammer pivoted to the cover of the wiper p and so give notice when
the stop motion is actuated and there is also asplate fixed in front of the.calender
blocks for the purpose of assisting the stop motion in its action that is to say, when
the carding engine is running at its full speed and through any action or failure of
the lap or any defect in the working of the card the sliver should break.or (become
attenuated so as to allow the stop motion to act, the pivoted metal plate n falls
forward to the front and in so doing nipsithe sliver against the plate s.thus forming
a sort of nipper which breaks off the sliver and prevents the attenuated sliver
running into the coiler. In falling forward the cam and counter weight,n² push the
oscillating upright catch o into contact with one tooth of the wiper.p and this catch o
is pressed down thereby raising the other end of the pivoted lever.l.and releasing
the catch which holds the strap fork i in position. The instant this is done,the
weight of the strap fork i or a separate weight or spring pulls the strap over to the
slow speed pulley and the doffer is kept working at a very much reduced speed.
As the upright oscillating catch is pressed down by the wiper p it frees the action
of the pivoted bell hammer and allows the hamnier to go against the side of the
wiper where it is alternately lifted and freed by lugs fixed on the side of the
wiper thus striking the bell and calling the attention of the work speople-to
the fact that there is a breakage of the sliver in that particular card.
The doffer may be stopped by dropping the barrow lever a actuated by the
handle about of gear in the usual or ordinary manner. The chain driving gear,is
slack enough to allow the wheels to ungear.
This improvement may with slight modifications be applied to cards having
draw boxes instead of calender rollers.
The method of conveying the driving power may be varied with either strap
chain or wheel gearing as may be convenient.
We are aware that prior to our present improvements attempts have been made
to arrange mechanism for reducing the speed of the doffer,when the sliver fails.or
becomes attenuated, and we wish it to be understood that we make no broad claim
to such mechanism, but only to our improved mechanism, as herein described and
as hereinafter defined by our claims.
The second part of our improvements relates to the construction and setting of
the undercasing and covers extending round and below the main cylinder.from.a
point immediately below the flats, or rollers over the doffer to the underside.of,the
Hats or rollers.over the licker-in and is a further development of the improvements
specified in our former Patent No. 18668 of 1888.
The chief object. of this part of our invention is to so perfect and simplify the
construction and.combined arrangement of the said casings and covers that they

page_text: may be adjusted and set simultaneously as one part to the wire of the main
cylinder.
In our said Patent we specify a mode of setting the said casings and covers as
regards the licker-in end by a setting appliance on each side of the frame adjusting
segmental pieces with which are combined one part of the covers and undercasing
and similarly adjusting the segmental pieces and all the casings connected therewith
at the doffer end by means of separate setting appliances.
We now propose according to our present improvements as illustrated by
Figures 6, 7 and 8 of the accompanying drawings to make an undercasing t
extending nearly the entire distance below the main cylinder from the licker-in v
to the doffer and made in any number of parts connected or jointed together or
otherwise arranged to move simultaneously or as one plece during adjustment.
In the arrangement Fig. 6 we have at each joint a stud or pin r projecting from
the undercasing on each side of the card, and each stud or pin is supported upon
a curved or inclined surface preferably formed in or upon an adjustable bracket y
secured to the frame of the engine.
2
In the arrangement Fig. 7 the undercasing is composed of a number of
segmental pieces jointed together as in the preceding arrangement but the projecting
studs or pins are carried in the lower ends of the radial brackets which are
fitted in radial slides 1 fixed to the engine frame, the upper ends of the brackets 2
being pivoted to the segmental pieces t. Also the curved or inclined surfaces upon
which the studs a bear are not formed in or upon brackets y but in this case an
adjustable bracket 2 with a suitably curved surface is provided for the support of
the studs a.
In the arrangement Fig. 8 we show a modification in which the projecting studs
or pins a are carried by the brackets and the curved or inclined surfaces are
formed in the segmental pieces of the undercasing t. In this case it will be noticed
that we combine half the undercasing t with the segmental pieces of the setting
appliance 3 at the licker-in end, and the other half of the undercasing with the
segmental pieces of the setting appliance 4 at the doffer end, leaving a slight
central space at 5 between the two parts of the undercasing to allow of
adjustment.
In Figs. 6 and 7 this space 5 for adjustment is provided at the doffer end of the
undercasing as shown between the end of the undercasing and the blades 6.
We have not shown the setting appliances 3 and 4 in Figs. 6 and 7 but in these
cases it will be readily understood that when the setting appliances 3 adjust the
position of the licker-in and its segmental pieces together with the parts combined
therewith in the manner set forth in our aforesaid Patent, that the studs or pins
travel on the curved surfaces of the brackets y (Fig. 6) or the bracket 2 (Fig. 7)
and so adjust the position of the undercasing and maintain its concentricity with
the wire of the cylinder u. Similarly in Fig. 8 the licker-in half of the
undercasing t is adjusted by means of the setting appliance 3 and the doffer half of
the undercasing t is adjusted by the setting appliance 4, the curved or inclined
surfaces for the one half being reversely set to those for the other half as shown.
We may moreover by worm gearing or equivalent means so connect the setting
appliances 3 and 4 at the licker-in and doffer ends respectively that we could with
one setting handle regulate simultaneously the adjustment of the undercasing
covers and all the parts combined together and which require an equivalent amount
of adjustment consequent upon the wear of the cylinder wire.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is—
1. The arrangement use and application, substantially as herein set forth, of two
or more pulleys with the necessary gearing for transmitting a quick and a slow
speed to the doffer.
2. The arrangement use and application, substantially as herein set forth, of two

page_text: or more pulleys, with the necessary gearing for transmitting a quick and a slow
speed to the doffer in combination with a stop motion released upon the failure or
attenuation of the sliver to operate the strap fork and reduce the speed of the
doffer.
3. The arrangement of parts substantially as herein set forth constituting our
improved stop motion for reducing the speed of the doffer from the quick to
the slow.
4: The combined arrangement of parts embodying the first part of our improve-
ments in carding engines substantially as and for the purposes specified with
reference to Figs. 1 to 5.
5. The combination with a setting appliance on each side of the carding engine
substantially as specified in our aforesaid Patent, of an undercasing extending
nearly the entire distance below the main cylinder from the licker-in to the doffer,
and constructed and arranged to move simultaneously or as one piece concentrically
to or from the wire of the main cylinder as herein set forth.
6. The several arrangements of parts embodying our improvements in under-
casings substantially as and for the purposes herein described and as illustrated by
Figs. 6, 7 and 8.
Dated this 29th day of April 1891
H. B. BARLOW,
17, St. Ann's Square, Manchester, Agent for Applicants.