IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR ASSORTING THE FIBRES OF DRESSED SILK
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Greenwood, of Leeds, in the County of
York, Machinist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR ASSORTING THE FIBRES OF DRESSED SILK."-Partly a communication
from abroad by Auguste Veillon, of Grellingen, in Switzerland.
Sealed the 28th July 1868, and dated the 28th May 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Greenwood,
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 28th May 1868.
I, THOMAS GREENWOOD, of Leeds, in the County of York, Machinist,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR ASSORTING THE FIBRES OF DRESSED SILK," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to the assorting of the fibres of dressed silk,
the object being to select the longest fibres from the stricks of silk and.
form them into a lap or sliver ready for the next operation. To this
end I use a novel arrangement of machinery, which may be thus

page_text: described. Upon the surface of a many sided, say an hexagonal plate, I
fix a set of combs (say six) which are of sufficient capacity to hold such
a quantity of the dressed silk as it is convenient or desirable to operate
upon at once. The plate carrying these combs I mount upon a vertical
spindle carried by .a saddle or sliding piece, which is made to move to
and fro upon the upper part of the framework of the machine. The
spindle has also an intermittent axial motion for the purpose of bringing
round the combs placed on the surface of the plate, so as to present each
comb in succession to the bite of a pair of drawing-off rollers; the
combs being fed with dressed silk by the attendant preparatory to being
brought in front of the drawing-off rollers. These rollers commence to
draw off the fibres which first reach the bite of the rollers, and as these
are being drawn off the saddle carrying the plate and combs is made
gradually to approach the rollers until the desired quantity of fibres is
taken from the strick. The saddle then moves away from the drawing-
off rollers, and so much of a rotary motion is imparted to the plate as to
present the next comb and its strick of silk to the action of the rollers,
and so on in succession. The silk left in the combs after the long fibres
are drawn off is taken out by the attendant and a fresh strick of silk
put in its place. Between the drawing off rollers passes an endless sheet,
which is held at tension by a carrying pulley in front of the machine
and a carrying roller placed below the lower drawing off roller. This
carrying roller by its position causes the sheet to approach the lower
drawing-off roller at a steep incline. It will therefore in passing beneath
the combs as they are presented to the rollers carry up the pendant ends
of the fibres and thus conduct them to the bite of the drawing-off rollers.
A plate partially surrounding the rotating comb plate is provided for
the purpose of supporting the ends of the fibres which project beyond
the teeth in the combs. Between the combs and the drawing-off rollers
is placed a movable plate, which is carried on the ends of a pair of
rocking levers. The office of this plate is to hold the fibres up to the
bite of the rolls, but when the comb plate approaches near the rolls
this plate will drop to prevent its forming an obstruction to the further
advance of the comb plate. By continuing the assorting operation a lap
is formed on the endless sheet, and when a sufficient accumulation of
the fibres is obtained the lap is removed to be operated upon in the
usual manner.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Greenwood in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 28th November 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
GREENWOOD, of Leeds, in the County of York, Machinist, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Thomas Greenwood, Her special
licence that I, the said Thomas Greenwood, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas Greenwood,
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 ASSORTING THE FIBRES OF DRESSED SILK,"
being partly a communication to me from abroad and partly my own
Invention, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Thomas Greenwood, 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 the said Thomas Greenwood, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and.
by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that
is to say):-
The object of this Invention is to select the long fibres from the
stricks of dressed silk and to form them into a lap or sliver ready
for the next succeeding operation. To this end I use the novel arrange-

page_text: ment of machinery shewn in the accompanying Drawings wherein.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation; Fig. 2 a plan view; and Fig. 3 a vertical
section (taken in the line 1, 2, of Fig. 1, and looking towards the
drawing rollers). In this machine a rotating comb table is used to
present the silk (by the aid of an endless sheet) to a pair of drawing-
off rollers, the comb table receives also a reciprocating motion to and
from the rollers for the purpose of advancing the silk to the bite of
the rollers, and withdrawing the comb therefrom preparatory to bringing
round a filled comb into line to take the place of the stripped comb.
A is the framework of the machine; B, B, are the fast and loose
driving band pulleys mounted on one end of the lower drawing-off
roller; C, C, is the weighted top drawing-off roller mounted in suitable
journals in the framework A. The lower roller C carries a spur
pinion c which takes into a spur wheel d mounted on a stud axle D
fixed in the frame A. Pendent from this stud axle is a rocking arm E
the lower end of which is jointed by a pin e to a rocking arm E¹
which has for its fulcrum the shaft F. On the joint pin e of the rocking
arms E and E¹ the spur wheel a and pinion are mounted, the
former of which takes into the spur wheel d, and the latter into a
spur wheel
keyed on the end of the shaft F, which shaft is fitted
with a cam. The cam shaft F is mounted in journals formed in pendent
brackets forming part of a moveable saddle H which has a traverse
motion on guides on the frame A; g is a friction bowle mounted in
an adjustable bracket bolted to the frame A. The cam G is held in
contact with this bowle by means of a weighted chain I attached to
the saddle H, and passing over a guide pulley carried by the framing.
On the opposite end of the cam shaft F to that with which the rocking
motion E, E', is connected a star pinion or driver K is mounted.
This pinion or driver takes into a star wheel L keyed upon a horizontal
shaft L', which is carried by suitable bearings in the saddle H. On
this shaft is also keyed a bevil wheel. which takes into a corresponding
bevil wheel h keyed on the lower end of a vertical shaft H', also mounted
in the saddle H (see Fig. 3) keyed to the upper end of this shaft. H¹
is the hexagon comb plate M which carries on its upper surface six
combs m, m, m, (see Fig. 1) for receiving the dressed silk and pre-
senting the same to the drawing-off rollers. N is a plate partially
surrounding the rotating comb plate M for the purpose of supporting
the ends of the fibres which project beyond the teeth in the combs m.

page_text: Between the comb table and the drawing-off roller C is placed a
moveable plate O, which is carried on the ends of a pair of rocking
levers O'. These levers are carried by studs mounted in stud plates n, n,
made fast by bolts to the frame A. The levers O' are held horizontally
by means of the friction bowles o near their centre. These bowles
rest upon flat cams o' carried by and adjustable on the levers O¹. As
therefore the saddle H moves to-and-fro the plate O will be caused to
rise and fall dropping out of the way as the combs are advanced to
the drawing-off rollers, and rising to support the ends of the fresh
stricks as they are brought round into line with the rollers. P is an
endless leather band which passes between the bite of the drawing-
off rollers C and C* over the wood roller p, and the adjustable
pulley P. q, q', are loose rollers mounted parallel to the rollers C, C¹,
and between which the sheet P also passes. The lower roller serves
to support the upper one which is provided for the purpose of pre-
venting the fibres getting round the upper or pressing roller C*. Q
is a wooden table which receives and facilitates the laying on of the
stricks of silk. R is the hanger, and S the weighted lever for giving
pressure to the roller C*.
It will now be understood that on motion being communicated to
the machine through the driving pulley B the drawing-off rollers will
be rotated in the direction of the arrows, Fig. 1, and through the train
of gearing c, d, a, b, f, rotary motion will be given to the cam shaft F.
This shaft being carried by brackets on the sliding saddle H, and its
cam G being held by the weighted chain I in contact with the bowle g,
it follows, that the sliding saddle H will advance and retire according
as the shorter or longer radii of the cam G are presented to the fixed
bowle g, and that in whatever position the saddle may be the driving
gear will continue in action, the rocking arms E, E' compensating for
the varying distances apart of the fixed and moving centres of motion.
The vertical shaft H carrying the comb plate M receives through the
bevil gearing and h and the star pinion or driver and star wheel K, L,
an intermittent axial motion for the purpose of bringing round the
combs m affixed to the plate, so as to present in succession the several
combs as they are charged with the stricks of dressed silk to the bite
of the drawing-off rollers C, C¹. The combs being of sufficient capacity
to hold such a quantity of the dressed silk as it is convenient or
desirable to operate upon at once are fed with dressed silk by the

page_text: attendant preparatory to being brought in front of the drawing-off
rollers, and these rollers having a continuous rotary motion commence
to draw off the fibres as soon as they are advanced within reach of
the bite of the rollers,, the plate O meanwhile falling down to make
way for the advancing comb table. As the fibres are being drawn
off the combs are caused gradually to approach so near to the rollers
that all the long and useful fibres will be taken from the strick, the
cam G for this purpose presenting its decreasing radii to the bowle
9,
and the weighted chain I causing the saddle carrying the comb plate
to advance. The continued rotation of the cam G causes the saddle
with its stripped comb to move away from the drawing-off rollers, and
at this time so much of a rotary motion is imparted to the plate M
as will enable it to bring round the strick of silk on the next comb
in front of and offer it in succession to the action of the rollers, and
in this way the motion will be repeated until a sufficient supply of
silk has been taken up by the drawing-off rollers. The silk left in
the combs after the long fibres are drawn off is removed by the
attendant as the stripped combs are brought round and a fresh strick
of silk is put in its place. As the combs advance to the drawing off
rollers the endless sheet P, which has a continuous travelling motion
in the direction of the arrow Fig. 1, and which is held at tension
by the adjustable carrying pulley P¹ in front of the machine will come
into action. This endless sheet by reason of the position of the carrying
roller p will be caused to approach the lower drawing-off roller C at
a steep incline. It will, therefore, in passing beneath the combs as they
are severally presented to the rollers carry up the pendent ends of the
fibres of dressed silk and thus conduct them into the bite of the drawing-
off rollers. The moveable plate O which is carried on the ends of the
pair of rocking levers O' serves to hold up the fibres when the comb
is first brought opposite the drawing-off rollers, and it is only when
this plate has been depressed by reason of the advance of the comb
plate, as already explained, that the endless sheet P comes into action
and leads the fibres into the bite of the rolls. As the operation of
drawing the long and useful fibres out of the combs is continued and
the fibres (being prevented as before said from lapping round the top
roller) are retained on the endless sheet P a lap will be formed on
that sheet, and when a sufficient accumulation of the fibres is obtained
the lap may be removed to be subsequently operated upon in the
usual manner to convert it into yarn.

page_text: Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of improvements
in machinery for assorting the fibres of dressed silk, and explained
the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood
that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim, the arrange-
ment of machinery above described for removing the long and useful
fibres from stricks of dressed silk.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Greenwood, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-fifth day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
eight