IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SOFTENING JUTE, HEMP, AND SIMILAR FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Parell Butchart, Spinner, and James Skinner,
Mill Manager, both of Dundee, in the County of Forfar, North Britain, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SOFTENING JUTE,
HEMP, AND SIMILAR FIBROUS MATERIALS."
Sealed the 16th September 1879, and dated the 19th March 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Parell Butchart
and James Skinner at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the
19th March 1879.
WILLIAM PARELL BUTCHART, Spinner, and JAMES SKINNER, Mill Manager, both
of Dundee, in the County of Forfar, North Britain. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR SOFTENING JUTE, HEMP, AND SIMILAR FIBROUS MATERIALS."
This Invention has for its object to improve the action of machinery used for
softening jute, hemp, and similar fibrous materials.
The softening operation has been commonly effected by means of rollers formed
with flutes or ribs, either parallel to their axes or having a slight helical twist, and
the present Invention consists in forming the rollers or some of them with discon-
tinuous projections, such for example as might be formed by making notches or
grooves across the ordinary flutes or ribs whether these are of one or other of the
kinds mentioned. The Invention may be conveniently carried out by turning or
otherwise forming circular grooves or helical grooves of small pitch, either upon
the patterns from which the rollers are to be cast, or upon rollers which have been
previously cast with the ordinary flutes or ribs, such circular or helical grooves
having the effect of as it were cutting the ribs into discontinuous projections. If
the flutes and superadded grooves are angular the discontinuous projections will
be pyramidal in form, and will present a regular surface of a "diamond, "-like
character. The points of the projections are by preference rounded, and the pyra-
midal edges may also be rounded, or the projections may be conical in form; these are
not however essential features, and it is not essential for the projections to be regularly
arranged. In general the projections on one roller will gear with the flutes or
projections of the other roller, between which and it the jute or other fibrous

page_text: material passes, so that as in existing machines only one of the two rollers will
require to be driven by external gearing; but in some cases it may be found better
for both rollers to be driven by external gearing. The discontinuous-projection
rollers may be combined with each other or with rollers having straight or helical
flutes in various ways, thus for example all the rollers in a machine may be of the
improved discontinuous-projection kind, or some pairs may be of the improved
discontinuous-projection kind and other pairs of the fluted kind; or again some
or all of the pairs of rollers may consist each of a discontinuous-projection roller
and a fluted roller.
A better and more complete softening action is obtained by using the improved
dircontinuous-projection rollers, and it is expected that fewer rollers will in con-
sequence be required in each machine, so that the cost of the machines will probably
be reduced.
'
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Parell Butchart and James Skinner in the Great Seal.. Patent
Office on the 18th September 1879.
WILLIAM PARELL BUTCHART, Spinner, and JAMES SKINNER, Mill Manager, both
of Dundee, in the County of Forfar, North Britain. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR SOFTENING JUTE, HEMP, AND SIMILAR FIBROUS MATERIALS."
Our said Invention has for its object to improve the action of machinery used for
softening jute, hemp, and similar fibrous materials.
The softening operation has been commonly effected by means of rollers formed
with flutes or ribs, either parallel to their axes or having a slight helical twist, and
our present Invention consists in forming the rollers or some of them with discon-
'tinuous projections, such for example as might be formed by making notches or
grooves across the ordinary flutes or ribs, whether these are of one or other of the
kinds mentioned.
Our Invention may be conveniently carried out by turning or otherwise forming
circular grooves or helical grooves of small pitch, either upon the patterns from
which the rollers are to be cast, or upon rollers which have been previously cast
with the ordinary flutes or ribs, such circular or belical grooves having the effect
of as it were cutting the ribs into discontinuous projections. If the flutes and
superadded grooves are angular, as will generally be the case, the discontinuous
projections will be pyramidal in form and will present a regular surface of a
diamond-like character. The points of the projections are by preference rounded,
and the pyramidal edges may also be rounded, or the projections may be conical in
form; these are not however essential features and it is not essential for the
projections to be regularly arranged.
.
In some cases our improved rollers will be formed and arranged so that the
discontinuous projections on one roller of a pair will gear with the flutes or projec-
tions of the other roller, between which and it the jute or other fibrous material.
passes, so that as in existing machines only one of the two rollers will require to be.

page_text: driven by external gearing; but in some cases it may be found better for both rollers
to be driven by external gearing, or as in an example hereinafter described, one
roller of a pair may be made to drive the other although the discontinuous projec-
tions do not gear together.
Our discontinuous-projection rollers may be combined with each other or with
rollers having straight or helical flutes in various ways, thus for example all the
rollers in a machine may be of our improved discontinuous-projection kind, or some
pairs may be of our improved discontinuous-projection kind and the other pairs of
the fluted kind; or some or all of the pairs of rollers may consist each of a discon-
tinuous-projection roller and a fluted roller; or again the rollers or some of them
may be fluted for a part of their length the remaining part being made with
discontinuous projections.
A better and more complete softening action is obtained by using our improved
discontinuous-projection rollers, and fewer rollers are in consequence required in each
machine so that the cost of the machines is reduced.
And in order that our said Invention, and the manner of performing the same
may be properly understood, we hereunto append a Sheet of explanatory
Drawings, to be hereinafter referred to, and representing various examples of
our improved rollers and of combinations of such rollers with each other and with
ordinary fluted rollers.
Figure 1 on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings is an elevation, and Figure 2
is a transverse vertical section of a pair of our improved rollers, both rollers having
discontinuous projections such as may be forined by longitudinal grooves parallel to
the axes of the rollers combined with circular grooves. In this example the dis-
continuous projections gear together, the section, Figure 2, being as taken through
the middles of a a set of the projections.
Figures 3 and 4 are front and end elevations of a pair of discontinuous-projection
rollers, the projections of which are formed by the combination of a helical groove
of small pitch with parallel flutes or longitudinal grooves.
Figures 5 and 6 are an elevatiou and a transverse vertical section of a pair of
rollers, one of which is of the ordinary fluted kind, the other having discontinuous
projections formed by the combination of circular grooves with flutes.
Figures 7 and 8 are an elevation and a transverse vertical section of a pair of our
improved rollers both made with discontinuous projections, but with the projections
of one roller not gearing with those of the other. Both rollers of this pair require
to be driven by external gearing.
Figures 9 and 10 are front and end elevations of a pair of rollers one of which is
of the ordinary fluted kind, the other having discontinuous projections formed by
the combination of a lielical groove with flutes.
Figures 11 and 12 are front and end elevations of a pair of rollers both having
discontinuous projections formed by the combination of flutes with circular grooves
in one case and with a helical groove in the other case.
We
Our improved rollers or combinations of rollers may be arranged in a machiné
in the manner commonly practised with ordinary fluted rollers, that is, so as to
form a horizontal series of pairs of rollers driven so as to carry the fibrous materials
horizontally between the upper and lower rollers of each pair in succession, or the
rollers may be arranged in any other convenient and practicable manner.
believe that very satisfactory results will be obtained by causing the fibrous
materials to pass between a pair of discontinuous-projection rollers and a pair of
ordinary fluted rollers alternately, and for this purpose rollers made as shown
in elevation and transverse vertical section in Figures 13 and 14 will be very
suitable, as all the rollers of a machine may be similar, whilst the alternate action
of the discontinuous projections and of the plain flutes can be obtained by arranging
the rollers in a particular way in the machine. Each roller. (Figures 13, 14,) is
made with simple flutes for part of its length, the remainder of its length being
formed with discontinuous projections. We prefer that the simple flutes should
extend over a little more than half the total length of the roller, and we also prefer

page_text: to have the discontinuous projections of the two rollers of a pair not gearing
together and with the projections of one roller in line with the flutes, but with
those of the other roller in line with the grooves of the fluted part. In the
machine the successive pairs of rollers are arranged with the simple flutes
alternately at opposite sides of the machine so as to obtain an alternate action at
both sides of the machine on the fibrous materials passing through. Only one
of each pair of these rollers requires to be driven by external gearing as the simple
fluted part of the driven roller drives the other roller.
Figures 15 and 16 are a side view and a transverse vertical section of a
modification of our improved rollers designed for treating jute and other fibrous
materials with a preparatory softening action before putting the materials through
the main softening machine. In this modification a single larger upper roller has
combined with, it two smaller lower rollers forming what we term a
triplet. The
two lower rollers are driven by external gearing, the large upper roller being driven
by friction, and either by the contact of collars on the ends of the rollers or by
means of the fibrous materials passing through. The discontinuous projections are
in this example formed by deep circular grooves made round the rollers and having
annular or circular ridges between them, which ridges are made discontinuous by
indentations made so that the projections of each ridge are opposite the indentations
of the ridges next to it. These rollers act very beneficially on hard matted fibrous
materials opening or separating them longitudinally, and exerting on them a
preliminary softening action. One, two, or more triplets or sets of three of these
rollers may be mounted in a single framing, but which is by preference separate
from the framing of the main softening machine, as it is better for the fibrous
materials to be rearranged after passing the preparatory softening rollers and before
passing through the main softening machine.
Having thus particularly described our said Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, we have to state that we do not restrict ourselves to the precise
details herein described or delineated, but that what we believe to be novel and
original, and claim as the Invention secured to us by and in terms of the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
The forming of the rollers or some of the rollers of machines for softening jute,
hemp, and similar fibrous materials, with discontinuous projections substantially in
the manner and for the purposes hereinbefore described.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Parell Butchart and James Skinner,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Sixteenth day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine.