IMPROVEMENTS MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR OPENING AND CLEANING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Greenhalgh, of Oldham, in the County of
Lancaster, Machinist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR OPENING AND CLEANING COTTON AND OTHER
FIBROUS MATERIALS."
Sealed the 23rd January 1869, and dated the 25th July 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Greenhalgh at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th July 1868.
I, JOHN GREENHALGH, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster,
Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR OPENING AND CLEANING COTTON
AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to improvements in machines for opening and
cleaning cotton and other fibrous materials of the class commonly known
as willows.
My first improvement consists in a new mode of supplying the cotton
or other material to the machine. This I effect by means of a creeper

page_text: so on.
and pair of fluted rollers which are combined with a third roller, which
last is placed in front of the pair and over the creeper. This creeper and
rollers have not however a continuous motion as in other machines, but
have an intermittent motion given to them, that is, they stand still a
certain time, then move on a certain quantity, and again stand still, and
This intermittent motion I effect by means of a toothed sector
fixed on the face of a large spur wheel, which at each revolution acts
upon a pinion, from which motion is communicated to the creeper and
feed rollers. Motion is given to the large spur wheel from the first
motion of the machine by means of a strap or band or wheels and
pinions, by which a proper speed is given to it, which speed is varied by
means of change wheels and pinions as may be required.
My second improvement consists in the application of a door or slide
placed at the top of the machine, which is opened and closed at proper
times by means of friction bowls fixed also on the large spur wheel
before mentioned. These friction bowls by acting on a lever open and
close the door or slide at alternate intervals; that is, the door or slide
is closed whilst the operation of feeding is going on, & opened a part
of the time that the creeper and feed rollers are standing still. I usually
combine a fan and revolving cage with this part of the apparatus to
remove the extra dust, and draw forward the cleaned material, which is
delivered on to another creeper, which carries and delivers it at a place
prepared to receive it.
My third improvement consists in varying the mode of feeding the
material to the machine. In this case I dispense with the creeper and
feed rollers, and in place thereof I use a flake of the usual construction,
but which is opened and closed at proper intervals by the action of the
large spur wheel before mentioned.
My first and second improvements I use combined together, or I use
only one of them in the same machine; and I also use my third improve-
ment (combined with my second improvement or not) in the same
manner.
I do not confine myself to the above arrangement and disposition of
my Invention, but vary the details as may be required.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Greenhalgh in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 25th January 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
GREENHALGH, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Machinist, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said John Greenhalgh, Her special license that
I, the said John Greenhalgh, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said John Greenhalgh, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times thereafter during the time 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
OR APPARATUS FOR OPENING AND CLEANING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS
MATERIALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
John Greenhalgh, 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 John Greenhalgh, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement and the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings (that is to say) :-
:-
My Invention relates to improvements in machines for opening and
cleaning cotton and other fibrous materials of the class commonly known
as willows.

page_text: The annexed Drawings represent various views of a willow and parts
of the same constructed according to my Invention, in all of which the
same letters and figures of reference indicate the same parts.
My first improvement consists in a new mode of supplying the cotton
or other material to the machine by means of a creeper and pair of
fluted rollers which are combined with a third roller, which last is
placed in front of the pair and over the creeper. The creeper and
rollers have not, however, a continuous motion given to them as in
other machines, but have an intermittent motion, that is, they stand
still a certain time, then move on a certain quantity, and again stand
still, and so on. This intermittent motion I effect by means of a
toothed sector fixed on a large spur wheel, at every revolution of which
it acts upon a pinion, from which motion is communicated to the creeper
and feed rollers.
Another part of my present improvement consists in the mode of
communicating motion to the large spur wheel from the first motion
of the machine.
Different qualities of cotton or other material require to be a longer
or shorter time in the machine according to the cleanness or other
qualities of the same. This circumstance requires that the feeding of
the material to the machine and the discharging of it should be under
immediate and complete control; this I effect by a system of change
wheels and pinions or a system of speed pulleys (or the two combined)
which receive motion from the first motion of the machine, and which
last I prefer as being the most eligible and convenient.
In the annexed Sheet of Drawings Fig. 1 represents a right-hand
elevation; Fig. 2, a left-hand elevation; and Fig. 3, a plan.
A, A, A, framework of the machine; B, B, first motion shaft, on
which is the large revolving cylinder; B 1, B 1, fast and loose
pulleys; B 2, speed pulley, which gives motion to the counter speed
pulley C by means of the strap or band C1 (shewn in an enlarged
scale in Fig. 5). The speed pulley C turns on a stud on bracket
attached to the framework A, and gives motion to the shaft C5
(which extends across the machine) by means of the pinion C2, which
drives the toothed wheel C 4 (keyed on to the shaft C 5) by means of the
adjustable carrier wheel C3. At the other end of the shaft C5 (see
Fig. 2) is the pinion C6, which drives the wheel C7, which turns
on a stud on a bracket attached to the framework A, A; on the boss of

page_text: this wheel C7 is the pinion C 8, which geers into the large spur
wheel D (shewn in an enlarged scale in Fig. 6). Attached to the
rim of the wheel D is the internal toothed sector D1, which geers
into the pinion D 2 on the lowermost feed roller (see Fig. 7, in which
these parts are shewn on an enlarged scale). From this pinion the
uppermost feed roller is put in motion by means of its pinion D 5,
and the carrier wheels D 3 and D 4. From this pinion D 2 motion is
also communicated to the shaft and pulleys, which actuate the creeper
by means of a carrier, which communicates motion to the pinion D 6 on
the creeper shafts D7; D 8, the creeper on which the material is
placed; D 9, the extra or third roller, which receives its motion from
the lowermost feed roller by means of a pair of toothed wheels, one
being at the end of the lowermost feed roller, and the other at the
corresponding end of the roller D9. By this arrangement the inter-
mittent motion is communicated to the feed rollers and creeper; but
I do not confine myself to a single toothed sector (D 1), but use two,
three, or more, attached to the large spur wheel D in the same manner
according as the economy of working may require. The speed of the
large spur wheel D being also varied by moving the strap or band on
the speed pulleys B 2 and C, so as to further regulate the supply of the
cotton or other material according to its quality or cleanness.
My second improvement consists in the application of a flap, door,
or slide placed at the top of the machine, which is opened at proper
intervals by means of antifriction bowls turning on studs on the large
spur wheel D. These antifriction bowls by acting on a lever open or
close the flap, door, or slide at alternate intervals, that is, the flap, door,
or slide is closed whilst the operation of feeding is going on, and opened a
part of the time the creeper and feed rollers are standing still. The flap,
door, or slide is enclosed in a cowl, into which the cleaned material is
discharged on the flap, door, or slide being opened. From the cowl the
cleaned material is carried away to a receptacle prepared for it either by
a current of air or by another creeper, as may be convenient.
D10,
antifriction bowl, which acts on the lever E; this lever E turns loose
on the projecting end of the shaft C 5 as a centre, and from its other end
proceeds a strap, band, or chain E1 to the pulley E 2 turning on a stud
supported from the cowl E 6. Attached to the pulley E2 is another
pulley, from which proceeds a strap, band, or chain E3 to the lever E 4,
which is keyed on a shaft or axis E 5, which extends across the machine
and has at its opposite end a lever and counterweight E7; on this

page_text: shaft E5 is fixed the flap or door (not shewn in the Figure) which
by this arrangement is alternately opened and closed, as before
mentioned. If a slide is used it is actuated by the lever E in a similar
manner; E 8, a creeper actuated from the first motion by means of a
worm, worm wheel, and shaft and pinions E 9; F, fan, which by means
of the dust pipes F 1 removes the dust from the cowl E6, as well as from
the chamber under the grid.
My third improvement consists in varying the mode of feeding the
material to the machine. In this case I dispense with the creeper and
feed rollers, and in place thereof I use a flake of the usual construction,
but which is opened and closed by the action of the large spur wheel D.
The flake is held closed in its working position by a latch or catch;
this latch or catch is withdrawn on the closing of the flap or door before
mentioned by means of a connexion from the lever E; the flake then
falls, and a quantity of the cotton or other material is placed upon it;
G (see Fig. 4) another lever turning also on the projecting end of the
shaft C5; it is acted upon by an antifriction bowl G1 turning on a
stud fixed on the inside face of the large spur wheel D; from the other
end of the lever G proceeds the strap, band, or chain G2 to the
pulley G 3, from whence proceeds the other strap, band, or chain G 4, to
the flake at G 5. The large spur wheel D in its revolution by this means
closes the flake, which is then retained in that position by the latch or
catch until the latch or catch is again withdrawn by the action of the
lever E, as before.
My first and second improvements I use combined together, or I
use only one of them in the same machine. I also use my third
improvement combined with my second improvement or alone in the
same machine.
I do not confine myself to the above arrangement and disposition of
my Invention, but vary the details and construction as may be required.
It must be observed that those parts of the machine not particularly
described herein are of the usual and ordinary construction.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I hereby declare that what I
claim as new and of my Invention is as follows:-
First. Under the head of my first improvement I claim the
combination, application, and adaptation of the following parts,
namely, the large spur wheel D with its toothed sector or sectors,

page_text: the feed rollers and creeper, and the third or extra roller D9, as herein
set forth and described.
Second. Under the head of the same improvement I claim the
application and adaptation of the speed pulleys (shewn separately in
Fig. 5) or variations of the same to the purpose of conveying motion
to the large spur wheel D and its appurtenances or mechanism for
effecting the same purpose in a similar manner as herein set forth and
described.
Third. Under the head of my second improvement I claim the
application and combination of the large spur wheel D with the anti-
friction bowl or bowls D 10, the lever E, and its appurtenances for
actuating and in combination with the flap, door, or slide in the interior
of the cowl E 6, for the purpose of evacuating the cleaned and opened
material from the machine, as herein set forth and described.
Fourth. Under the head of my third improvement I claim the
application and combination of the large spur wheel D with the lever G
and its appurtenances, and with the latch or catch and mechanism
connected therewith, for the purpose of actuating the flake, as herein set
forth and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Greenhalgh, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of January, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.
Signed by the within-named
John Greenhalgh, in the
presence of
JOHN POTTER,
JOHN GREENHALGH. (L.S.)
Engineer & Patent Agent,
59, Corporation Street,
Manchester.