IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR COMBING WOOL, COTTON, SILK, AND OTHER FIBRES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Cure, of Bradford, in the County of York,
Wool Comber, and Christopher Bradloy, of Bradford aforesaid,
Machine Wool Comb Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
Scaled the 21st September 1875, and dated the 13th April 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Cure and
Christopher Bradley at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 13th April 1875.
We, JOHN CURE, of Bradford, in the County of York, Wool Comber,
and CHRISTOPHER BRADLEY, of Bradford, aforesaid, Machine Wool
Comb Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR COMBING WOOL, COTTON, SILK, AND OTHER
FIBRES," to be as follows, that is to say:
-
Our Invention relates to improvements in circular rotary combs,
whereby the whole length of the wool or other fibre is doubly operated
upon before being drawn into a sliver, thoroughly cleansing and cleaning
the fibres from noil and other impurities, preserving the fibres, and

page_text: effecting a great saving in time and labour. For this purpose we employ
an ordinary feeding head or any other suitable feeding apparatus, which
deposits tufts of wool or fibre on the teeth of an outside circular rotary
comb, leaving the noil ends overhanging the inner diameter.
The deposited fibres are held securely in the teeth of the outside
circular comb by means of a nipping or holding down plate until the
noil ends are combed or partly cleaned from the tufts of wool or fibre,
which is effected by means of a revolving "porcupine comb," or by an
oscillating fork or comb actuated by gear and fitted within the inner
circle of the outside circular comb The tufts of wool or fibre thus
partly cleaned or combed from the noil ends are carried on the teeth of
the revolving outside circular comb until they come nearly in contact
with a small inner circular rotary comb fitted in the inside of the outer
or larger circular comb. The two combs are so arranged as to meet or
come together at one point or nearly touch; the tufts of wool or fibre
are raised up by a ploughing knife and thrown over on to the teeth of
the two combs and pressed by a dabbing brush or other means into the
teeth thereon, subjecting the fibres to a second operation, and any noil
or nibs left in the tufts of wool or fibres are removed, leaving clean
fringes, which are drawn off by drawing rollers in the usual manner,
giving continuous slivers free from noil or other impurities.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Cure and Christopher Bradley in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 12th October 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, wc, JoшN 2
CURE, of Bradford, in the County of York, Wool Comber, and
CHRISTOPHER BRADLEY, of Bradford, aforesaid, Machine Wool Comb
Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of April, in the year 3
of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said John Cure and Christopher Bradley,
Her special licence that we, the said John Cure and Christopher Bradley,

page_text: •
our exccutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as wc, the
said John Cure and Christopher Bradley, 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, excrcise, and vend, within the
United Kingdom of Great Britam and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
COMBING WOOL, COTTON, SILK, AND OTHER FIBRES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said John Cure and Christopher Bradley,
our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our,
or their, or one of their hands and scals, 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
Scal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said John Cure and Christopher
Bradley, do hereby declare the nature of our 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 Drawing hereto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say :-
The said Invention relates to improvments in circular rotary combs,
whereby the whole length of the wool or other fibre is doubly operated
on before being drawn into a sliver, thoroughly cleansing and cleaning
the fibres from noil and other impurities, preserving the fibres, and pro-
ducing a great saving in time and labour. For this purpose we employ
an ordinary feeding head or other suitable feeding apparatus, which
deposits tufts of wool or fibre on the teeth of an outside circular rotary
comb, leaving the noil ends overhanging the inner diameter.
The deposited fibres are held securely in the teeth of the outside
circular comb by means of a nipping or holding down plate until the
noil ends are combed or partly cleaned from the tufts of wool or fibre.
This is effected by means of a revolving "porcupine comb," or by an
oscillating fork or comb actuated by gear and fitted within the inner
circle of the outside circular comb. The tufts of wool or fibre thus
partly cleaned or combed from the noil ends are carried on the teeth of
the revolving outside circular comb until they come nearly in contact

page_text: with a small inner circular rotary comb fitted in the inside of the outside
or larger circular comb The two combs are arranged so as to meet or
come together at one point, or nearly touch; the tufts of wool or fibres
are raised up by ploughing knives and thrown over on to the teeth of
the two combs, and pressed by a dabbing brush or other means into the
teeth thereon, subjecting the fibres to a second operation, and any noil
or nibs left in the tufts of wool or fibres are removed leaving clean
fringes, which are drawn off by drawing rollers in the usual manner,
giving continuous shivers free from noil or other impurities
But in order to enable our improvements to be better understood we
will proceed to describe the same by reference to the accompanying
Drawing, in which Figure 1 represents a plan of a circular rotary comb
with improved ascending and descending working combs and inner
circular comb; Figure 2 represents a side elevation of the ascending
working comb, and Figure 3, front elevation of the same; Figure 4
represents a front elevation of the descending working comb, and
Figure 5, side elevation of the same Similar letters of reference are
used in all the Figures to represent similar parts
We employ an ordinary feeding head or other suitable feeding
apparatus, which deposits tufts of wool or fibres on the teeth A of an
outside circular rotary comb, leaving the noil ends overhanging the
inner diameter, the deposited fibres are pressed in the teeth A by a
dabbing brush The ascending comb B is actuated by a connecting
rod C worked by a crank D fitted on a shaft E working in plummer
blocks F cast on a bearer G fitted to the framework of the comb, the
shaft E is actuated by a bevil wheel I worked by another bevil wheel
fixed on a shaft of the comb. The ascending comb B is fitted on a head I
formed on the connecting rod C, this rod is passed through an opening
in a boss J fitted between the head K of the rocking lever L, set
screws M keep the connecting rod O secured to the boss J and regulates
the position of the comb B, the end of the connecting rod C fits on a
bearer N of the link O, which is fitted on the crank pin, an opening P
is made in the circular comb plate Q to allow the working of the comb
and connecting rod C. The rocking lever L fits in a head R formed on
a screwed rod S having nuts T to regulate the required working position
of the comb B, the screwed rod S is fitted in a bearer U bolted to the
cross piece V of the comb.

page_text: The rotary motion given to the shaft E actuates the crank D, [giving
an ascending motion to the connecting rod C and comb B, this comb B
regulates the feed of the tufts of the wool or fibres on to the teeth A,
allowing the tufts to be thrown more or less over the teeth of the
comb.
The fibres pass on the outside circular comb to a nipping or holding
down plate W fitted in lugs B' of the standards X and X' of the
descending working comb Y, the nipping or holding down plate W
is fixed on a plate Z, to which are fitted two screwed rods A' working
through lugs B' cast on the standards X and X', on the screwed
rods are screwed nuts C', and between the nuts and the top lugs B¹
are fitted springs D' to keep the nipping or holding down plate to
the required prossure, the pressure being regulated by the nuts C';
a stay E' is bolted to the bottom lugs B'. On the standard X' is bolted
a bearing boss F', through which passes a shaft G³, and on which is fixed
a disk H¹ having a slide opening I', in which fits a sliding piece J¹ to
regulate the stroke of the descending comb Y. The shaft G' is actuated
by a bevil wheel K' worked by another bevil wheel L' keyed on a
shaft M¹ working in a plummer block N' bolted to the standard X' and
through a bearer O¹ fitted on the comb plate Q; on the shaft M' is fitted
a pinion P¹ worked by a small spur wheel Q¹ fitted on a shaft R¹., on
this shaft is also fitted a pinion S¹ worked by the comb rack T¹ of the
outside circular comb A, the pinion S³ actuates the gear and descending
comb Y. The connecting rod U¹ is fitted on a pin fixed to the sliding
piece J¹ and is actuated by it; the connecting rod works through a
guide V¹ fitted in a bearer W' bolted to a bracket Y' fitted to the
standard X', the descending comb Y is fitted on a bearer Z¹ bolted to
the connecting rod U' We may use instead of the descending comb
a revolving "porcupine comb "
The fibres being held securely by the nipping or holding down plate
are combed or partly cleaned from the noil end or other impurities by
the working descending comb Y, and are then carried on the teeth of
the revolving outside circular comb until they come nearly in contact
with a small inner circular comb A³ fitted in the inside of the larger
or outside circular comb, the two combs are arranged so as to come
together at a point or nearly touch; the tufts of wool or fibres are raised
up by ploughing knives and thrown over on to the teeth of the two
combs and pressed by a dabbing brush or other means into the teeth

page_text: thereon, thus subjecting the fibres to a second operation, whereby any
noil or nibs left in the tufts of wool or fibres are removed, leaving clean
fringes, which are drawn off by drawing rollers in the usual manner,
giving continuous slivers free from noil or other impurities.
Having thus described our Invention, and the manner of performing &
the same, we would have it understood that we do not claim any of the
parts separately, nor do we confine ourselves to the details shewn and
described, provided that in any variation which may be made the
peculiar character of our Invention be retained, but what we do claim
is, the combination and arrangement of machinery for double combing 1
wool and other fibres, substantially as hercin-before described and
represented in the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Cure and Christopher
Bradley, have hereto set our hands and scals, this Eleventh day
of October, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred 1
and seventy-five.
Witness,
JOHN CURE
(L.S.)
CHRISTOPHER BRADLEY. (L.S.)
WALTER JAS. Turner, C.E.,
Patent Agent,
Bradford.