Im- PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR BURRING AND CLEANING OR OPENING WOOL, COTTON, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Richardson, of Oldham, in the County
of Lancaster, Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR BURRING AND CLEANING OR OPENING WOOL,
COTTON, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Richardson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 13th February 1872.
I, WILLIAM RICHARDSON, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster,
Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR BURRING AND CLEANING OR OPENING
WOOL, COTTON, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to those machines in which what are commonly
called fine comb cylinders are employed, whether there be one or more of
such cylinders, and consists, firstly, in an arrangement for transferring or
conveying back the material which has been stripped from the cylinder

page_text: to the operating parts. For this purpose I employ an endless travelling
belt or other such apparatus armed with spikes or teeth or other pro-
jecting parts upon which the discharged material falls, and which carry
the said material backward to be returned by rollers or other such
apparatus to the cylinder. The use of the aforesaid travelling belt
avoids certain evils arising from the employment of a grid, for the
material lies upon the spikes or other projecting parts from which it is
stripped by suitable ordinary means, while the refuse particles drop down
to the belt or travelling surface, and are subsequently removed by a
revolving brush.
Secondly. My Invention refers to the brush or other such stripper
which is now used for removing the material from the fine comb
cylinder or cylinders, and for transferring it to that part of the machine
which forms a lap, and is designed to effect a greater equality in the said
lap. For this purpose I use streams of air contiguous to that part of the
said stripper which throws the material forward; and I propose to effect
this by a series of small fans placed across the machine, the united
action of which carries forward the fibres, and deposits them in an equal
layer.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Richardson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 13th August 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
RICHARDSON, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said William Richardson,
Her special license that I, the said William Richardson, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Richardson, my executors, administrators, and assigns,

page_text: 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 King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of
5 Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR BURRING AND
CLEANING OR OPENING WOOL, COTTON, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," upon the
condition, amongst others, that I, the said William Richardson, by
an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particu-
larly 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 William Richardson, 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 and accompanying Drawings, that is to
say :-
My Invention relates to those machines for burring and cleaning or
opening wool, cotton, and other fibrous materials in which what are
commonly called fine comb cylinders are employed, whether there be
one or more of such cylinders, and consists, firstly, in an arrangement
for transferring or conveying back material which has been stripped from
the cylinder to the operating parts, so that it may again be worked by
the machine.
Secondly. My Invention refers to the brush or other such stripper
which is now used for removing the cleaned material from the fine comb
cylinder or cylinders, and transferring it to that part of the machine
which forms the lap, and is designed to effect a greater equality in the
said lap.
The first part of my Invention is shewn in section at Fig. 1, which
represents a machine with some slight modifications, for which Letters
Patent were granted to me bearing date Fifth October One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-nine, No. 2895.
My present Invention does not refer to the main operating parts of
this machine; but in order that the application thereof may be well
understood, and the description rendered complete, I will here refer to

page_text: the general operation of the machine. At 1 is the feed apron or lattice,
upon which the material to be burred, cleaned, or opened is placed, and
by which it is delivered to the toothed roller and dish 2, 3, which
transfer it to the action of the blades 4 mounted upon the revolving
cylinder 5, the lower part of which moves in a trough 6 formed as a grid,
through which dirt and other impurities fall. These revolving blades
deliver the material to toothed and spiked rollers 7, 8, from whence it is
taken by the blades of the fine comb cylinder 9, and at 10, 11, 12, are
rollers and a brush whose office it is to distribute the material and charge
the combs of the cylinder 9. At 13 is a guard roller which strikes the burrs
or other impurities together with some fibrous material from the combs,
and throws them upon a roller 14 which charges the second comb
cylinder 9ª, such operation being also performed by the rollers 15, 16, and
brush 17. At 18 is the guard roller for the second fine comb cylinder, and
at 19 is the revolving brush for stripping the material from both
cylinders, as described in the Specification of my former Patent aforesaid.
Having thus pointed out the general construction and operation of the
machine I will proceed to describe the arrangements which constitute
my present Invention. At 20, 20, are two rollers driven from any con-
venient moving part, and carrying a belt 21 extending across the width
of the working parts of the machine, which belt is provided with rows
of spikes 22 placed (as I now use them) about three-eighths of an inch
apart each way, and projecting from the belt about the same distance.
At 23 is a revolving roller furnished with teeth which act so as to project
slightly into the spikes 22; and at 24 is a revolving brush, the bristles
thereof entering deeper into the said spikes. The guard roller 18 strips
the burs and other impurities together with some fibrous material from
the fine comb cylinder 9ª, and throws them upon the spikes 22, which
move in the direction of the arrow, and the burs or other impurities
being heavier and more finely divided than the fibres fall below the
surface, and rest upou the belt 21. The fibrous material is now stripped
from the spikes 22 by the roller 23, which in its turn is stripped by the
revolving brush 17, and such strippings are thus delivered again to the
The fibrous
action of the fine comb cylinder 9* to be treated as before.
material having been thus removed from the spikes 22, the revolving
brush 24 by penetrating the spaces between the said spikes cleans
away the burs or other adhering impurities, and thus the operation
continues.

page_text: Another form of my improved apparatus is shewn at Fig. 2, which
so far as the operating parts for burring and cleaning are concerned
is the same as that above described; it contains however the appli-
cation of the second part of my Invention to be hereafter described.
At 21 is a drum covered with leather or similar substance, which is
furnished with a number of spikes 22 similar to those denoted by the
same number of reference in Fig. 1, and at 23 is the roller corre-
sponding to that shewn in the said Fig. 1. The burrs and other
impurities being stripped from the fine comb cylinder by the guard
roller 18 are thrown upon the spikes 22, which in this instance con-
stitute the travelling surface; and as it moves in the direction of the
arrow the fibres are presented to the roller 23, by which they are stripped
and transferred as before to the comb cylinder by the brush 17, after
which the burrs and other such matters are removed from the travelling
surface by the brush 24.
So far my Invention has been described in reference to wool or other
such fibres which are not required to be made into a lap, the material
being stripped by the brush 19 and deposited in any convenient manner
in a loose form; my next improvement however relates to the treatment
of cotton or other fibres of which it is desired to form a lap, and is shewn
in Figures 2 and 3. Above the casing 27, which encloses the stripping
brush 19, I adapt a shaft 28 provided with a series of fans 29 extending
transversely; for a machine of the ordinary size I have found four to
answer. Each of the fans has its own separate case, the inlets being as
usual on the sides at 30 and the outlets 31 being flattened and widened at
their outward ends so as to meet each other, as seen in the detached plan
view, Fig. 3. As the fibrous material is removed from the fine comb
cylinder by the brush 19 a stream of air generated by the combined
operations of the fans 29 carries it forward and distributes it in an equal
layer upon the ordinary cages 32, from whence it is conducted as usual
by the rollers 33.
I have above described my Invention as applied to a burring, cleaning,
or opening machine provided with two fine comb cylinders according
to my former Patent aforesaid, but if desired both portions of my said
Invention may be used in conjunction with one of such cylinders, only
the travelling surface 21 being used to take the place of that trans-

page_text: WILLIAM RICHARDSON. (L.S.)