IMPROVEMENTS IN COTTON GINS
Year: 1871

page_text: 66
LETTERS PATENT to Charles Denton Abel, of No. 20, Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent
Agent, for the Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN COTTON GINS." -
communication from abroad by William Lindsay Henderson, of
Khan Gaun, the Berars, Western India.
-
A
Sealed the 18th July 1871, and dated the 17th May 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Denton Abel
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 17th May 1871.
I, CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN COTTON GINS,”
to be as follows:
This Invention has reference to cotton gins having a revolving leather
covered roller, in contact with which is a fixed blade or knife such as
are used in the "Macarthy" gin, and in gins similar in construction
thereto, and consists in combining with such roller and fixed blade
or knife a reciprocating blade or knife formed with alternate ribs or

page_text: bars and spaces, which ribs or bars and spaces have a more or less
Such
angular or oblique position relative to the axis of the roller.
blade or knife is arranged closely in front of the roller and the edge
of the fixed blade, and has a reciprocating motion imparted to it in a
direction at or about a right angle to the axis of the roller. The
"kuppas" or seed cotton being caught between the revolving roller and
fixed blade is drawn through the oblique openings of the reciprocating
knife until the seed touches the fixed blade, where it is held, while at
the same time the oblique ribs or bars of the reciprocating knife in
moving to and fro act on the seed, pushing it also to and fro and at
the same time giving it a revolving motion, thus presenting all sides of
the seed to the revolving roller and enabling it to seize the fibre most
effectually, thereby cleaning the seed thoroughly. The length of the
openings and bars of the reciprocating knife, and the length of the
travel or stroke thereof is such that the roller is always exposed to
the seed cotton.
The reciprocating knife may be made to work either vertically up
and down, or horizontally, or at an angle, according to the position which
is given to the fixed blade. When it works vertically it is connected
to a radius bar or bars turning on a fixed centre and receiving the
requisite reciprocating motion from a crank, excentric, or cam rotated
by the same mechanism that drives the roller. When the knife works
horizontally it is arranged to move between guides or other equi-
valents so as to keep it close to the fixed blade; in this case it may
be actuated by connecting rods from the aforesaid cranks, excentrics,
or cams.
The reciprocating knife with angular or oblique bars or ribs and
spaces may be variously constructed, thus it may be made by cutting the
angular or oblique openings out of a metal plate, so as to leave angular
or oblique bars between the openings, or oblique bars may be fixed at
the requisite angle and at certain distances apart across a rectangular
frame, or the bars may be made to project obliquely from a plate at one
end thereof.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Denton Abel in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 7th November 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
DENTON ABEL, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings, Ohancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Charles Denton Abel, Her special licence
that I, the said Charles Denton Abel, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Denton Abel, 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, 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
COTTON GINS," a communication to me from abroad by William Lindsay
Henderson, of Khan Gaun, the Berars, Western India, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Charles Denton Abel, 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 Charles Denton Abel, 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, reference being had to the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say :-
This Invention has reference to cotton gins having a revolving
leather covered roller, in contact with which is a fixed blade or knife such
as are used in the "Macarthy" gin and in gins similar in construction
thereto, and consists in combining with such roller and fixed blade or

page_text: "
knife a reciprocating blade or knife formed with alternate ribs or bars
and spaces, which ribs or bars and spaces have a more or less angular or
oblique position relative to the axis of the roller. Such blade or knife is
arranged closely in front of the roller and the edge of the fixed blade,
and has a reciprocating motion imparted to it in a direction at or about
a right angle to the axis of the roller. The "kuppas or seed cotton
being caught between the revolving roller and fixed blade is drawn
through the oblique openings of the reciprocating knife until the seed
touches the fixed blade where it is held, while at the same time the
oblique ribs or bars of the reciprocating knife in moving to and fro act
on the seed, pushing it also to and fro, and at the same time giving it
a revolving motion, thus presenting all sides of the seed to the revolving
roller, and enabling it to seize the fibre most effectually, thereby
cleaning the seed thoroughly. The length of the openings and bars of
the reciprocating knife and the length of the travel or stroke thereof
is such that the roller is always exposed to the sced cotton. The
reciprocating knife may be made to work either vertically up and down,
or horizontally, or at any angle according to the position which is
given to the fixed blade. When it works vertically it is connected to a
radius bar or bars turning on a fixed centre and receiving the requisite
reciprocating motion from a crank, excentric, or cam rotated by the same
mechanism that drives the roller. When the knife works horizontally
it is arranged to move between guides or other equivalents, so as to keep
it close to the fixed blade; in this case it may be actuated by connecting
rods from the aforesaid cranks, excentrics, or cams.
The reciprocating knife with angular or oblique bars or ribs and
spaces may be variously constructed, thus it may be made by cutting
the angular or oblique openings out of a metal plate, so as to leave
angular or oblique bars between the openings, or oblique bars may be
fixed at the requisite angle and at certain distances apart across an a
oblique frame, or the bars may be made to project obliquely from a
plate at one end thereof.
On the accompanying Drawings is shewn the construction of the
before described improved diagonal knife which is employed by preference
as applied to a Macarthy cotton gin.
Figure 1 shews a transverse section of the gin; Figure 2 shews a
back view of the machine with the leather roller and fixed knife

page_text: A is the leather roller, and B is the fixed knife, which together with
all other parts of the gin, with the exception of my improved diagonal
knife are constructed, as the ordinary Macarthy gin, and require no
further description.
In place of the ordinary reciprocating knife or beater of the Macarthy
gin is substituted the improved diagonal knife C connected to the radius
rods D working on centres at E and receiving a vertical reciprocating
motion close in front of the fixed knife by means of connecting
rods F actuated by cranks, cams, or excentrics in a similar manner to
the ordinary beater of the Macarthy gin. The diagonal knife C is
formed of a metal frame c with an opening in shape of a parallelogram,
as shewn, in which frame are fixed a number of diagonal or oblique ribs
or bars c¹, c³, leaving spaces c, c², between them. The width of the
openings and the angle of the ribs or bars may be varied to suit the
speed at which the gin is to be driven, and the nature of the kuppas or
seed cotton which has to be cleaned. The seed cotton being caught
between the revolving roller A and fixed knife B is drawn through the
oblique openings of the knife C until the seed touches the fixed knife B,
and is held there by the roller A, when by the reciprocating motion
imparted to the knife C at a tangent to the roller, the ribs, or bars c are
caused to act upon the seed, pushing it up and down, and at the same
time giving it a revolving motion, thus presenting all sides of the
seeds to the revolving roller and enabling it to seize the fibre most
effectually and clean the seed thoroughly. The length of the openings
in the knife and the length of its travel or stroke is so arranged
that the seed cotton can in all positions of the knife pass through its
openings to the roller.
By the employment of the said improved diagonal knife a considerably
greater quantity of cotton is delivered by the gin in a given time and
with a less expenditure of power than with the ordinary cotton gins of
this description.
Having thus described the nature of this Invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise construction of the improved diagonal knife shewn
on the accompanying Drawings, nor to any particular angle or width of
the opening or number of bars or ribs, as these may be variously
modified as herein-before mentioned, nor do I limit myself to the

page_text: application thereof to the construction of cotton gin shewn, but what I
claim is, combining with cotton gins having a revolving roller and
fixed knife a reciprocating knife having alternate diagonal or oblique
bars or ribs and openings operating substantially as and for the purposes
set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Denton Abel, have here-
unto set my hand and scal, this Seventh day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
one
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Denton Abel, have here-
unto set my hand and scal, this Seventh day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
one