IMPROVE-. MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR COMBING COTTON, WOOL, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1870

page_text: .
LETTERS PATENT to George Little, of Oldham, in the County of
L Lancaster, Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-.
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR COMBING COTTON, WOOL, AND OTHER FIBROUS
MATERIALS."
Sealed the 18th October 1870, and dated; the 22nd April 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Little at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd April 187,0.
I, GEORGE LITTLE, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Iμ-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR COMBING COTTON, WOOL, AND OTHER FIBROUS
MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to combing machines of that construction
commonly known as Heilmann's, and consists in the use of certain
apparatus for keeping the front bottom roller and rocking shaft clear of
dirt and other refuse matters. For this purpose I propose to employ a
travelling band moving in contact with or in proximity to the said roller
and shaft, and upon this the said refuse matters accumulate.
The.

page_text: aforesaid band may be of any suitable material, but I propose to con-
struct it of a substance similar to "clearer cloth," and to clear it
occasionally or continuously with wire cards or brushes. For the
purpose of driving the said band I propose to use a shaft furnished with
teeth or wire cards, which shaft is driven by a ratchet wheel acted on t
by a click carried by the lever of the rocking shaft. Or in place of the
travelling band I employ a revolving roller situate between the aforesaid
front roller and rocking shaft.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Little in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 22nd October 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
LITTLE, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical Engineers,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said George Little, Her special licence that I, the
said George Little, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said George Little, 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 MACHINERY FOR COMBING
COTTON, WOOL, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said George Little, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, 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 George Little, do hereby declare

page_text: be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement and accompanying Drawing, that is to say :-
My Invention relates to combing machines of that construction
commonly known as Heilmann's, and consists in the use of certain
apparatus for keeping the cotton detaching roller and the rocking shaft
clear of dirt and other refuse matters.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 represents certain parts of a
combing machine of the above named construction in section with my
Invention applied thereto, and Fig. 2 is a longitudinal view. A portion
of the frame of the machine is shewn at a carrying the usual shaft b,
to which the lever c is attached, and to this is connected the arm d
jointed at its other end to a lever e which is attached to the rocking
shaft, and thus the said shaft is caused to vibrate in the usual manner
and communicate motion to the detaching rollers g, h, through inter-
vention of the short levers i. Upon these short levers are projecting
parts formed as hooks for the reception of the axis of a roller / which
bears by its shoulders against the said projecting parts.
At m is an
endless band which proceeds from the aforesaid roller over a second
roller n and a third roller o. The roller is carried by brackets p
attached to the frame a and carries a ratchet wheel q, in gear with
which is a driving click mounted loosely upon the joint s. The roller o
hangs by its own weight in the endless band m, which it thus keeps
distended, and it is prevented from moving in the direction of its length
by its ends being situate between the portions a of the frame, its motion
in the other direction being prevented by its bearing against the flanges t
of the said frame. It will be seen by the Drawing that the roller or
shaft is broken off at each end as it extends across the whole breadtli
of the machine, but the other rollers 1, o, extend across one head only,
as is also the case with the endless band m. Upon motion being com-
municated to the shaft b the lever c will carry upward the arm d and
consequently joints in order to effect the usual rocking of the shaft ƒ, and
this motion of the said joints will cause the driving click r to act upon the
ratchet wheel g, thereby imparting a partial rotation to the roller n so as
to cause the endless band m to move forward a certain distance, and as
this band runs in contact with the bottom detaching roller g and rocking
shaft f, it sweeps over the surfaces and removes dirt or extraneous matter
therefrom. This operation of course takes place every time the lever c
moves the joint s upward, and the aforesaid roller and shaft are therefore
kept clean by the removal of dirt or other extraneous matters which are

page_text: gradually carried off by the band m, and. from this they may be
occasionally removed when found necessary by the use of a land card or
other suitable means, as for instance, by a roller which occasionally or
constantly revolves. It will of course be understood that when the
rocking of the shaft is reversed the driver slips over the teeth of the
ratchet wheel q. The endless band m, may be made of any material of
a suitable surface for the intended object; in practice I have found that
fabric commonly known as clearer cloth to answer the purpose, and in
order to secure its being driven I roughen the roller n after the manner
of a file, but wire card or other surface which will afford a sufficient
bite may be employed. The motion of the band m as above described is
intermittent, but it may be caused to travel continuously if desired, and
it will be observed that as the rollers g, 1, turn upon the same centre of
imotion their relative positions will be maintained, the distension of the
band m being secured by the weight of the roller o.
At Fig. 3 I have shewn a modification of my Invention, the bottom
detaching roller is as before at g, and the rocking shaft at f, between
which and in contact with both surfaces is a roller u covered with clearer
cloth or other such suitable material as aforesaid. This roller is carried
as in the former instance by the lever i, and is caused to revolve either
by friction of contact with the roller f, or is driven after the manner of
the endless band above described, and the extraneous matters which it
accumulates may be removed as desired.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I
desire it to be understood that I claim as secured to me under the
above in part recited Letters Patent and for the purpose above set forth,
the use of a travelling or rotating surface running in contact with the
roller and shaft illustrated at f. 9.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Little, have hercunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.