Improvements in Driving Apparatus to the Revolving Flats of Carding Engines.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Mar., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 12th Dec., 1892-Accepted, 14th Jan., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Driving Apparatus to the Revolving Flats of
Carding Engines.
ALFRED HITCHON Machine Salesman Globe Iron Works Accrington I do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows :-
This invention relates to the gearing mechanism of revolving flat carding
engines, for the carding of textile fibres, more particularly at the parts where
the driving mechanism is betwixt the quick running cylinder shaft and the driven
star wheels which give the slow travelling motion to the flats that are made to
travel over the card cylinder surface.
This is generally accomplished by a compound of worm and wheel gearing.
By this method there is a considerable loss of power by the friction, betwixt
the worms and their wheel teeth and require careful attention in the lubrication
of same to mitigate as much as possible the grinding or wearing out of each other.
In this my invention I get the necessary slow movement to the star wheels on
which the flats are mounted without the use of worm wheel gearing, I make use
of a combination of spur gearing driven by one or more eccentrics; on each
separate eccentric I mount what I will call a planet wheel which engages its teeth
partly in an internal toothed revolving wheel and partly into a stationary internal
tooth circular rack, either of which may contain one or more teeth than the
other (the planet wheel may also vary in number of teeth in the form of a double
wheel one to gear with the internal tooth revolving wheel & the other with the
internal circular rack aforesaid). These internal wheels & internal tooth racks
are mounted in same like positions side by side, and preferable within a circular
shell bearing which may also form bearing for shaft to be driven this mechanism.
The action is as follows, by turning round the first driving eccentric on which a
planet wheel is mounted one side of same gearing into stationary circular rack
and the other side gearing into one of the aforesaid internal wheels the ratio of
speed of the later will be in proportion to the difference of teeth in the racks &
wheels. I make the eccentrics carrying the planet wheels in single motion as
described, or compound in sets to drive each other, thus ;-a second eccentric is
mounted or cast as a boss to the first driven internal revolving wheel, which in turn
carries a second planet wheel thereby driving in combination to a second revolving
internal toothed wheel, and its corresponding stationary toothed rack, so that the
last driven wheel made use of, is made secure to the shaft for driving same at the
Recessary slow speed as required, or through additional wheel gearing to same.
Dated 12th day of March 1892.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Driving Apparatus to the Revolving Flats of
Carding Engines.
I, ALFRED HITOHON, of Globe Works, Accrington in the County of Lancaster,
Machine Salesman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention 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 the gearing mechanism of revolving flat carding
engines, for the carding of textile fibres, more particularly at the parts where the

page_text: driving mechanism is between the quick running cylinder shaft and the driven star
wheels which give the slow travelling motion to the flats that are made to travel
over the card cylinder surface. The slow travelling of the flats is generally
accomplished by means of a.compound of worm and wheel gearing.
By this method there is a considerable loss of power by friction, between the
worm and the worm wheel teeth, and requires careful attention in the lubrication
of same to mitigate as much as possible the grinding or wearing out of one
another.
By this invention I give the necessary slow movement to the star wheels on
,which the flats are mounted without the use of worm wheel gearing.
According to this invention I make use of a combination of spur gearing driven
by one or more eccentrics. On each separate eccentric I mount a planet wheel,
the teeth of which engage partly with an internal toothed revolving wheel and
partly with a stationary internal toothed circular rack either of which may contain
one or more teeth than the other. (The planet wheel may also vary in number
of teeth in the form of a double wheel one to gear with the internal toothed
revolving wheel and the other with the internal circular rack aforesaid.) These
internal wheels and internal toothed racks are mounted in like positions side by
side, and preferably within a circular shell bearing which may also form a bearing
for the shaft to be driven by this mechanism. I make the eccentrics carrying the
planet wheels single motion as described or compound in sets to drive each other
thus a second eccentric is mounted or cast as a boss to the first driven.internal
revolving wheel which in turn carries a second planet wheel thereby driving in
combination to a second revolving internal toothed wheel and its corresponding
stationary toothed rack, so that the last driven wheel made use of is made secure
to shaft for driving same at the necessary slow speed as required, or through
additional wheel gearing to same, or carried to this shaft by additional. wheel
gearing.
Such being the nature and object of my said invention the following is a
complete description of same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings
in which :-
Sheet 1. Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a revolving flat carding engine shewing the
ordinary slow driving apparatus as now commonly used.
Sheet 2. Fig. 2 is a similar view to Fig. 1 but the carding engine has the
improved slow driving apparatus applied to it.
Sheet 3. Fig. 3 is a sectional front elevation of the improved driving apparatus
drawn detached from the machine in order more clearly to illustrate its con-
struction.
Fig. 4 is a sectional side or longitudinal view in elevation of the improved
driving apparatus drawn detached in order more clearly to illustrate its con-
struction.
According to this invention 1 is a pulley keyed on the bush.2 which has an
eccentric 3 formed at its inner end, the bush 2 and its eccentric 3 being loosely
mounted on the shaft 4. 5 is a stationary ring-fixed' by set screw 6 to the circular
shell bearing 7 which may also form a bearing for the shaft to be driven by this
mechanism, the circular shell 7 being fixed by bracket 8, cast to it, being bolted to
the side of the carding engine (see Fig. 2). The interior of the stationary ring 5
has teeth formed in it and this constitutes the circular rack 9 having say 27 teeth.
On the eccentric bush 3 is mounted a broad planet wheel 10 having say 22 teeth
which engage partly with the teeth in the stationary internal toothed rack 9
and partly with the teeth of an internal toothed revolving wheel 11 with
say 26 teeth to which is cast the second eccentric boss 12 and mounted on this
boss 12 is the broad planet wheel 13 which gears partly with the second stationary
internal toothed circular rack 14 of 27 teeth said rack being fixed by set screws '14*
to the circular shell 7. The broad planet wheel 13 also engages partly with the
internal say 26 toothed revolving wheel 15 which. is secured by screw 16 onto: the
flat driving shaft.4.

page_text: The broad planet wheels 10. 13 are preferably made in two parts, as one wheel
in order to obtain greater accuracy in the gearing (but secured together as one
wheel).
The pulley 1 is driven direct by belt 17 from the cylinder shaft 18 shewn on
Sheet 2.
The action is as follows:-The pulley 1 turns the first driving eccentric 3 and
also the broad planet wheel 10 one side or edge of this wheel gearing into the
circular stationary rack 9 the other side or edge gearing with the internal toothed
wheel 11. The planet wheel 13 on the eccentric boss 12 of the wheel 11 gearing
partly with the fixed circular rack 14 and partly with the internal toothed wheel 15
fast on the shaft 4 so that the speed of the latter will be in ratio to the speed of the
pulley 1 in proportion to the difference in the number of teeth in the racks and
wheels thus reducing the speed as follows:-676 revolutions of the pulley 1 will
cause the flat driving shaft 4 to make only one revolution.
By the use of the above described apparatus it will be seen that the carding
engine is more compact, less complicated in its parts, and more effective than
heretofore.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
1. The general construction, arrangement and combination of parts, as and for
the purpose herein described and substantially as illustrated by Sheet 3 of the
accompanying drawings.
2. The combination of the eccentric 3 and 12 broad planet wheel 10 and 13,
stationary circular racks 9 and 14 and revolving wheel 11 and 15 as and for the
purpose herein described and substantially as illustrated by the annexed drawings.
Dated this 16th day of November 1892.
ALFRED HITCHON,
By his Agent, Walter Brierley,
Penny Bank Chambers, Halifax.
ALFRED HITCHON,
By his Agent, Walter Brierley,
Penny Bank Chambers, Halifax.