Vegetable Fibrous Materials.
Year: 1885

page_text: [Communicated from abroad by The Acme Manufacturing Company (a cor-
poration chartered by the Legislature of the State of North Carolina, United
States of America), of Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina
aforesaid, Manufacturers.]
Vegetable Fibrous Materials.
I ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK of the firm of A. M. & Wm Clark of
53 Chancery Lane in the County of Middlesex Fellow of the Institute of Patent
Agents do hereby declare the nature of this Invention (a communication to me
from abroad by The Acme Manufacturing Company (a corporation chartered by
the Legislature of the State of North Carolina United States of America) of
Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina aforesaid, Manufacturers)
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a machine for rubbing vegetable fibre especially pine
needles for the purpose of rendering the. fibre useful for upholstery purposes or for
spiuning.
The invention consists mainly in the combination with a series of spirally or
transversely fluted rollers of smaller spirally or transversely fluted rollers above
them, and of additional spirally or transversely fluted rollers which are moved in
the direction of their length while revolving. The fibrous material is passed in
between the several rollers which are revolved and jets of hot water are delivered
upon the rollers and the material between them, the water being then pressed
from the material by suitable wringer rollers after which the material is picked or
carded by a suitable picker or carder.
The invention also consists in various parts and details and combinations of the
same as will be fully described and set forth hereinafter.
The lowermost series of horizontal rollers are journaled and almost in contact
with each other, the said rollers being spirally fluted, one half of each being fluted
from right to left and the other from left to right.
Above each of these rollers another series of smaller rollers is mounted parallel
with and a short distance from the same this upper series of rollers being also
spirally fluted in opposite directions to the flutings of the lower series of rollers
and the flutings of the upper rollers being much smaller than the flutings of the
lower rollers.

page_text: Both series of rollers are driven by bevel gear from longitudinal shafts revolving
at different speeds.
Between the upper rollers a series of intermediate rollers are arranged which are
held close to the two adjoining lower rollers the said intermediate rollers being also
fluted spirally and in one direction, their flutings being about the same size as the
flutings of the lower rollers. The shafts,of the intermediate rollers each have one
end connected with the strap of an eccentric on a longitudinal shaft. The opposite
ends of the shafts are squared, and pass loosely through cog wheels revolving in
bearings in one of the side pieces of the frame and gearing with the shafts of the
lower rollers whereby the intermediate rollers are revolved.
At one end of the machine an endless belt or apron and presser roller are
arranged, between which and the first roller of the series of rollers above described
is a pair of longitudinally fluted rollers for the purpose of laying the fibres straight
and pressing them. At the other end of the machine is a pair of wringer rollers
for pressing the water out of the fibre, and adjoining these rollers two feed rollers
having prongs on their surfaces, are arranged for feeding the fibre to a picker
.cylinder.
Above the upper of these feed rollers a pronged or carded roller is arranged for
cleaning the feed rollers. The carding or picker cylinder has a very much greater
diameter than the feed rollers.
Above and below the above described fluted rollers two pipes are arranged so as
to deliver hot water upon the rollers and the material between them.

page_text: Improvements in Machines for Rubbing Pine Needles and other
Vegetable Fibrous Materials.
I, ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of the firm of A. M. and Wm. Clark, of
53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Fellow of the Institute of Patent
Agents, do hereby declare the nature of this Invention (a communication to me
from abroad by The Acme Manufacturing Company, a Corporation chartered
by the Legislature of the State of North Carolina United States of America,
Manufacturers, of Wilmington New Hanover County North Carolina aforesaid,)
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This Invention relates to a machine for rubbing vegetable fibre, especially pine-
needles, for the purpose of rendering the fibre useful for upholstering purposes or
for spinning.
The Invention consists in the combination with a series of spirally or trans-
versely fluted rollers, of smaller spirally or transversely fluted rollers above them,
and of additional spirally or transversely fluted rollers which are moved in the
direction of their length while revolving. The fibrous material is passed in
between the several rollers which are revolved, and jets of hot water are delivered
upon the rollers and the material between them, the water being then pressed from
the material by suitable wringer-rollers, after which the material is picked or
carded by a suitable picker or carder.
The Invention also consists in various parts, and details and combinations of
the same as will be fully described and set forth hereinafter.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this
Specification, in which figure 1 is a plan view of the improved fibre rubbing
machine; figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of the same, the frame of
the machine not being shown; figure 3 is a cross-sectional elevation of the same
on the line xx figure 1; figure 4 is an end elevation of the same.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.
In a frame A a series of horizontal rollers B are journaled parallel and almost in
contact with each other, the said rollers being spirally fluted, one half of each
being fluted from right to left and the other from left to right as shown. On the
ends of the shafts B¹ of the said rollers B bevel cog-wheels C are mounted which
engage with bevel cog wheels D on a shaft E at right angles to the several rollers B
Above each roller B a roller F is mounted parallel with and a short distance from
the same, the several rollers F being also spirally fluted in opposite directions at
parts in contact with the fibrous material to the flutings of the rollers B, and the
Hutings of the rollers F being much smaller than the flutings of the rollers B On
the ends of the shafts F¹ of the rollers F bevel cog-wheels G are mounted which
engage with bevel cog-wheels H on a shaft J parallel with and above the shaft E.
On the shaft J a bevel cog wheel I is mounted which engages with a bevel-pinion I¹
on a shaft I provided with a belt pulley I over which a belt K passes, which also
passes over a pulley K¹ on the main driving shaft L on which are mounted the
fixed and loose pulleys L' L². On the shaft J is mounted a pinion a engaging with

page_text: a cog wheel 6 on a shaft c on which is also mounted a pinion d engaging with a
cog-wheel e on the shaft E whereby the shaft E is operated from the shaft J but at
a much slower speed. Between the rollera F rollers M are arranged which are held
close to the two adjoining rollers B and are slightly lower than the rollers F, the
said rollers M being also fluted spirally and in one direction their flutings being
about the same size as the flutings of the rollers B. The shafts M¹ of the rollers M
each have one end connected with a ring or strap g surrounding an eccentric
disch on a shaft i provided at one end with a bevel cog wheel.j engaging with a
bevel cog wheel k on the main driving shaft L. The opposite ends of the shafts M¹
are squared and passed loosely through cog wheels N¹ revolving in bearings in one
of the side pieces of the frame A and engaging with cog-wheels N on the shafts B¹
of the rollers B whereby the said rollers M are revolved. At one end of the
machine an endless belt or apron O is arranged which passes over two rollers 01 01
and above the roller O¹a presser-roller P is arranged. Between the first roller B
and the rollers O and P is a pair of longitudinally fluted rollers Q for the purpose
of laying the fibres straight and pressing them. At the other end of the machine
is a pair of rubber, wringer-rollers R R for pressing the water out of the fibre, and
adjoining the rollers R two feed rollers S having prongs on their surfaces are
arranged for feeding the fibre to the picker roller T. Above the upper feed-roller S
a pronged or carded roller V is arranged for cleaning the feed rollers. The carding
or picker roller T has a very much greater diameter than the feed rollers S.
Above and below the above described fluted rollers two pipes U and W, are
arranged so as to deliver hot-water upon the rollers and the material between them.
Pine-needles or other fibrous material are delivered upon the apron O which
carries them up between the rollers P and O¹ and in between the fluted rollers Q
which soften the needles and lay them straight. The needles are then carried
over the rollers B and are pressed and rubbed between the rollers B and F and the
rollers B and M which rollers M also move transversely to the machine thereby
rubbing the needles and rendering them very fibrous. The hot-water delivered
from the pipes U and W softens the needles and also washes off any material that
has been loosened and disintegrated by the rollers. The wringer-rollers R press
out all the surplus water and then the pine needles are picked or carded by the
picker roller T. The feed rollers S hold the needles while the picker is picking
them, and the roller V cleans the feed rollers. The machine operates very rapidly
and by means of it a large quantity of pine needles or other fibrous material can
be treated in a very short time. The fibrous material that leaves the roller T is
baled in the usual manner, or recarded and dried according to the purpose for
which it may be used.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is;
1. In a fibre rubbing machine, the combination with two or more spirally or
transversely fluted rollers of smaller transversely or spirally fluted rollers adjacent
to them, and of additional transversely or spirally fluted rollers adjacent to the
lower rollers, substantially as herein shown and described.
2. In a fibre rubbing machine, the combination with two or more spirally or
transversely fluted rollers B of the smaller transversely or spirally fluted rollers F
adjacent to them, the spirally or transversely fluted rollers M adjacent to the
rollers B between the rollers F, and devices for reciprocating the rollers M at the
same time that they are being revolved; substantially as herein shown and
described.
2
3. In a fibre rubbing machine, the combination with a series of spirally or
transversely fluted rollers B of the transversely or spirally fluted rollers F
above the rollers B the spirally or transversely fluted rollers M above the
rollers B and between' the rollers F, the wringer-rollers R and the picker-roller T
'substantially as herein shown and described.

page_text: 4. In a fibre rubbing machine, the combination with a series of spirally. or
transversely fluted rollers B of the transversely or spirally fluted rollers F above
the rollers B, the spirally or transversely fluted rollers M above the rollers B and
between the rollers F, the wringer-rollers R, the feed-rollers S, and the picker
roller T substantially as herein shown and described.
5. In a fibre rubbing machine, the combination with a series of spirally or
transversely fluted rollers B of the transversely or spirally fluted rollers F above
the rollers B the spirally or transversely fluted rollers M above the rollers B and
between the rollers F the wringer rollers R, the feed rollers S, the cleaning
roller V, and the picker roller T substantially as herein shown and described.
6. In a fibre rubbing machine, the combination with the spirally or transversely
fluted rollers B of the smaller transversely or spirally fluted rollers F above
them, the transversely or spirally fluted rollers M between the rollers F, the
wringer rollers R the picker roller T the longitudinally fluted rollers Q and the
belt O substantially as herein shown and described.
7. In a fibre rubbing machine, the combination with the spirally or transversely
fluted rollers B of the smaller transversely or spirally fluted rollers F above them,
the transversely or spirally fluted rollers M between the rollers F, the wringer
rollers R, the picker-roller T the longitudinally fluted rollers Q the belt O, and the
pipes U W for delivering jets of hot water upon the several rollers and the
material between them, substantially as herein shown and described.
8. In a fibre rubbing machine, the combination with the rollers B. F and M of
the gearing for revolving the rollers, the shaft i the eccentric discs h on the same,
and the rings g surrounding the said discs, which rings are connected with the
shafts of the rollers M substantially as herein shown and described.
Dated this 9th d... of Tul., 1996
A. MELVILLE CLARK.
By A. M. & W Clark, Agents.