IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN PREPARING AND COMBING WOOL AND OTHER FIBRES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Holden, of the Firm of Isaac Holden
and Sons, of Bradford, in the County of York, for the Invention of
" IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN PREPARING AND COMBING
WOOL AND OTHER FIBRES."
Sealed the 31st December 1870, and dated the 5th July 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Holden at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th July 1870.
I, EDWARD HOLDEN, of the Firm of Isaac Holden and Sons, of
Bradford, in the County of York, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN PREPARING
AND COMBING WOOL AND OTHER FIBRES," to be as follows:-
:―
In preparing wool and other fibres according to the system described
in the Specification of Letters Patent granted to me, and bearing date
the 4th of November 1868, No. 3347, I find it an advantage to employ
only one row of teeth instead of two or more rows of teeth in each of
the gill comb bars, as thereby less damage is done to the fibre in the
entering and the leaving of the teeth. I also find it to be an advantage.

page_text: in such working to employ a fine pitch of gill screws for operating such
gill bars. A pitch of % of an inch to the screws of the gill combs
which first act on the fibre, and of 1 inch to the screws of the gill
or working combs which next act on the fibre answers well for "long
wool," and a still finer pitch of screw to the working combs with
narrower bars for shorter wools. This part of the improvements is also
applicable to other arrangements of preparing machinery than that
referred to used in acting upon the fibre before the combing process.
The improvements also relate in preparing fibres by the use of gill
comb bars to the use of a bar between the feed rollers and the gill
combs, so that the fibre may pass over such bar which is formed and
placed so as in part to pass up near to the nip of the feed rollers, and by
being covered with leather or other suitable material it acts to effect
a drag on the fibre passing over it. There is also a small covered roller
or bar, or a brush to rest on the fibre between the feed rollers and the
gill combs and borne towards the other bar by spring or other suitable
pressure to aid in keeping the fibre down from the points towards the
heads of the gill teeth. By these means the straightening of the fibre
is assisted.
The improvements also relate to means for cleansing the brushes
used in clearing the aprons to the drawing-off rollers of preparing and
combing machinery. For this purpose a blade or knife with a serrated
or comb edge has motion given to it, first to act against the brush to
clear it, and then to be itself cleansed by passing between a pair of
comb or clearing surfaces which, by preference, form part of a trough
or receiver to collect the fibre taken thereby. Motion is given to the
blade by tappet or other suitable means.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edward Holden in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 5th January 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
HOLDEN, of the Firm of Isaac Holden and Sons, of Bradford, in the
County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of July, in the year of

page_text: our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto I, the said Edward Holden, Her special licence,
that I, the said Edward Holden, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward Holden, 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 APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN PREPARING AND COMBING WOOL AND OTHER
FIBRES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edward
Holden, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 Edward Holden, 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, that is to say :-
In preparing wool and other fibres according to the system described
in the Specification of former Letters Patent granted to me and bearing
date the Fourth day of November 1868, No. 3347, I now find it to be
an advantage to employ only one row of teeth instead of two or more
rows of teeth in each of the gill comb bars, as thereby less damage is
done to the fibre by such teeth at the times of their entering and leaving
the fibre.
Figures 1, 2, of the Drawings show half size a transverse section
and a portion of a side view towards one end of a gill comb bar,
according to this part of the Invention. I also find it to be an
advantage in such working to employ a fine pitch of gill screws
for giving motion to such gill comb bars. A pitch of of an inch to
the screws for giving progressive motion to those gill combs, which
first operate on the fibre, and of one inch to the screws for giving
progressive motion to the gill or working combs which next operate on
the fibre answers well for "long wool," and I employ a still finer pitch

page_text: of screws for giving motion to the working combs and narrower bars
when operating on shorter wools. This part of the improvements is also
applicable to other arrangements of preparing machinery than that
referred to used in acting upon the fibre before the combing process.
The improvements relate, secondly, to preparing wool and other fibres
by the use of gill comb bars, and consist in the employment of a bar
between the feed rollers and the gill combs and capable of passing up
near to the nip of the feed rollers, and so that the fibre may pass over
and in contact with it; this bar is faced with leather or other suitable
material on that surface of it which comes in contact with the fibre in
order that it may thereby more readily operate to
fibre in its passage over and in contact with it.
roller, or it may be a bar or a brush applied to bear with clastic pressure
on the fibre between the feed rollers and the gill combs for the purpose
of aiding in keeping the fibre down from the points towards the heads
of the gill teeth.
effect a drag on such
There is also a small
In the accompanying Drawings Figure 3 shows a sectional view of so
much of parts of apparatus arranged for preparing wool and other fibres
as will serve to illustrate the application of the second part of the In-
vention. Figure 4 shows by a front view the principal parts separately.
These views are drawn to a scale of half the real size, and the same
letters of reference in these as in others of the Figures of the Drawings
apply to cach of them. a, a, are the gill combs which first operate
upon the fibre, and b, b, represent the gill or working combs which next
operate on the fibre. Between these combs the fibre passes between the
fluted roller c and the travelling apron d which is supported to travel
on the fluted roller e and guide roller e', as is well understood. fis
the bar by which, according to this part of my improvements, the fibro
is acted upon in its passage from the nip between the rollers c and e to
the gill combs b, b. This bar f is covered or faced on its surface to act
on the fibre with leather or other suitable material adapted by the
friction thereof to put a drag on such fibre. g is a bar which may be
formed as a roller and of iron or other suitable material which may, if
desired, be covered with leather or other suitable matter, or it may be
formed as a brush to bear on the surface of the fibre opposite to that
acted upon by the surface of the bar f, and thereby aid in keeping the
wool or other fibre well in the heads of the gill combs. The ends of
the bar or roller g are supported in bearings g', y', which bearings are

page_text: capable of sliding on the rods h, h, whilst they are acted upon by the
coiled springs i, i, for the purpose of effecting an elastic pressure on the
fibre as it passes between the surfaces of the two bars f and g. The
elastic pressure thus exerted is capable of being regulated by means of
the moveable abutments 7. By these means the straightening of the
fibres is assisted.
apron k serves to
The improvements relate, thirdly, to means for cleansing the brushes
used in clearing the aprons to the drawing-off rollers of preparing and
combing machinery. This part of the improvements is shown drawn
to a smaller scale by a sectional view Figure 5, and front view Figure 6,
j, j, are the drawing-off rollers, and k is the apron thereto, which also
passes over the supporting and guide rollers ³, 1.
7 is the brush, tho
surface of which by revolving in contact with the
clear it of the fibre, which in the course of working tends to adhere
thereto. m is a blade or knife formed with a serrated upper edge m', so
that when motion is given to it for that edge to pass through the surface
of the brush the tendency thereof will be to take from the brush any fibre
which has accumulated thereon, and then in the further progress of the
blade or knife m its serrated edge with the fibre thereon are received
between the pair of comb or clearing surfaces n, n, which, by preference,
form part of a trough or receiver n¹. Thus the surfaces n, n, will
operate to take the fibre from the edge m¹ of the blade or plate m when
that plate recedes back from between those surfaces n, n. The blade
or knife m is affixed to a rod p with capability of adjustment thereon
by means of a set screw p', and the rod p is capable of movement in
suitable guides which are supported from the main framing, but which
I have not thought it necessary to shew, and it has the necessary motion
imparted to it by means of an adjustable crank roller s applied in onc
of the arms of a tooth wheel q which has motion given to it by a
The roller s in the rotation of the
pinion or by other suitable means.
wheel q acts on the plate p* which is affixed to the rod p, also with
capability of adjustment as shown. The means of giving motion to the
blade or plate m may however be varied.
Having thus described my Invention and means which I adopt in
carrying the same into effect, I would have it understood that what I
claim is,―
First. The improvements as described under the first head of the

page_text: Secondly. I claim the employment of surfaces to act on the fibre as it
passes from between feed rollers to working gill combs, substantially as
described.
Thirdly. I claim the method of clearing the aprons to drawing-off
rollers of preparing and combing machinery, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Holden, have hereunto set
my
hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of December; in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
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