Dressing Flax and other Fibres.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 14th May, 1887
Complete Left, 10th Feb., 1888
Complete Accepted, 29th Mar., 1888
or Dressing Flax and other Fibres.
I, THOMAS ROBINSON of 14 Hall Lane, Armley, near Leeds in the County of York
Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
In machines known as vertical sheet hackling machines the hackle pins or teeth
are mounted on endless travelling sheets which are set face to face so that on the
descending sides of the two opposite endless sheets the pins or teeth come into close
proximity. The strick or bundle of flax or fibre to be treated is clamped in holders
and these holders are placed in a trough to which a rising and falling movement is
imparted.
When the trough descends the fibres depending from the holder enter between the
hackle sheets; first the lower ends of the fibres come within range of the teeth and
afterwards as the movement of the trough continues the action of the teeth extends
progressively along the strick towards the holder.
When the trough ascends the fibre is in like manner withdrawn from the teeth,
then the holder is moved on along the trough and when this next descends the
fibre is acted upon in a similar manner but by finer teeth set more closely together.
So the operation goes on until the dressing of the fibre so submitted to the teeth
is complete.
When operating in this manner it is found that the ends of the strick are exposed
to the action of the teeth longer than is necessary and waste of fibre consequently
occurs.
According to my present invention I avoid this overdressing of the ends of the
stricks and obtain other advantages as follows:-I dispense with the rising and falling
movement of the trough and in lieu thereof I impart to the hackle sheets movements
to and from each other both at their upper and lower ends. Whilst the hackle sheets
are widely separated the lateral movement of the holder carries the strick between
them, then the sheets are made to close together at the bottom so that the teeth
may operate first on the lower end only of the strick; then the upper ends of the
hackle sheets are made to approach so that the action of the teeth may extend

page_text: progressively up the strick, next the hackle sheets are caused to separate at the bottom
to avoid overdressing of the end of the strick and finally the tops of the hackle sheets
are again separated to permit the holder to move on and carry the strick to finer
teeth. Ultimately the holder with the strick it contains is delivered out of the
machine.
I impart these movements to the travelling sheets by causing the bearings of the
axes carrying the rollers around which the sheets pass to slide along guide surfaces
on the frame. I connect the bearings by links to arms on opposite sides of a rock
shaft to which movement is imparted by a crank pin and a connecting rod which is
slotted to receive the crank pin so as to allow it a certain amount of free play.
I set the hackle pins or teeth into backs cr holders having lugs at their ends by
which they are attached to the endless sheet. These lugs are so arranged that the
teeth may meet the fibre in an horizontal position close up to the nip of the holder.
The holders for the stricks I construct in the following improved manner :-I form
the holder of three principle parts, a back covered with vulcanised india rubber on
which the strick is laid; a front hinged to the back at one end, it is also covered with
vulcanised india rubber and folds down on to the strick; and a lever hinged to the
other end of the back, it folds down over the front forcing inwards the free edge
thereof against which it closes so as to compress the fibre.. A bolt on the lever shoots
into a recess on the front and retains the parts. Suitable pins or projections are
provided upon the holder to support it in the trough of the machine.
These holders are suitable for use also in other hackling machines.
In order to remove the tow froin the hackle pins or teeth I make use of drums
carrying radial flaps of leather serrated at the edge and so set that as the endless sheet
passes beneath the roller at its lower end the flaps come into contact with the pins or
teeth and so throw off the tow. The tow is thus projected against a grating which
retains it whilst allowing dust and other refuse to pass through.
This appliance is applicable to my improved vertical sheet machine and also to
other machines-my improved machine may however be provided with ordinary
appliances for the removal of the tow.
Dated this 14th day of May 1887.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machinery and Apparatus Employed in Hackling
or Dressing Flax and other Fibres.
1, THOMAS ROBINSON of 14 Hall Lane, Armley, near Leeds, in the County of York,
Manufacturer 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 :-
In machines known as vertical sheet hackling machines the hackle pins or teeth
are mounted on endless travelling sheets which are set face to face so that on the
descending sides of the two opposite endless sheets the pins or teeth come into close
proximity. The strick or bundle of flax or fibre to be treated is clamped in holders
and these holders are placed in a trough to which a rising and falling movement is
imparted.
When the trough descends the fibres depending from the holder enter between the
hackle sheets; first the lower ends of the fibres come within range of the teeth and
afterwards as the movement of the trough continues the action of the teeth extends
progressively along the strick towards the holder.
When the trough ascends the fibre is in like manner withdrawn from the teeth,
then the holder is moved on along the trough and when this next descends the fibre
is acted upon in a similar manner but by finer toeth set more closely together.
So the operation goes on until the dressing of the fibre so submitted to the teeth is
complete.
When operating in this manner it is found that the ends of the strick are exposed
to the action of the teeth longer than is necessary and waste of fibre consequently
occurs.
According to my present invention I avoid this overdressing of the ends of the
stricks and obtain other advantages as follows:-I dispense with the rising and falling
movement of the trough and in lieu thereof 1 impart to the operative surfaces of the
hackle sheets movements to and from each other both at their upper and lower ends.
Whilst the hackle sheets are separated the lateral movement of the holder carries the
strick between them, then the sheets are made to close together at the bottom so that
the teeth may operate first on the lower end only of the strick; then the upper ends
of the hackle sheets are made to approach so that the action of the teeth may extend
progressively up the strick, next the hackle sheets are caused to separate at the
bottom to avoid overdressing of the end of the strick and finally the tops of the
hackle sheets are again separated to permit the holder to move on and carry the strick
to finer teeth. Ultimately the holder with the strick it contains is delivered out of
the machine.
I impart these movements to the travelling sheets by causing the bearings of the
axes carrying the rollers around which the sheets pass to slide along guide surfaces
on the frame. I connect the bearings by links to arms on opposite sides of a rock

page_text: shaft to which movement is imparted by a crank pin and a connecting rod which is
slotted to receive the crank pin so as to allow it a certain amount of free play.
Figure 1 is an end elevation of a machine constructed in this way.
Figures 2, 3, 4 and 5 are detached views of the hackle sheets in their various
positions. a is the strick of flax which is retained in the holder b. This holder can
be moved in its trough in a line at right angles to the plane of the paper but it
does not have a rising and falling motion given to it in the ordinary way.
Figure 2 shows the position of the hackle sheets after the strick has been introduced
between them. The upper ends of the sheets then approach each other assuming the
position shown in figure 3, the action of the teeth extending progressively up the
strick to the nip of the holder. The bottoms of the sheets then separate from each
other, as shown in figure 4 so as to avoid over-dressing the end of the strick-and
when the hackling is completed by the series of hackles in action. The tops also of
the sheets separate, as shown in figure 5 to allow of the strick being passed on to the
next gradation of hackles on the sheets. In order to give these motions to the sheets
I mount the bearings of the lower rollers c c in a slot in the frame as shown in
figure 1, and I connect these bearings together by parallel links d d whose ends are
connected to the ends of the arm e e on the opposite sides of the rock shaft e¹. Motion
is given to these parts by the crank pin fand the connecting rod The connecting
rod is slotted so as to allow the sheets to remain in the position shown in figure 3, for
a certain length of time. The crank pin fis adjustable to and from the centre along
the slot so that the length of dwell can be varied. The upper rollers hh are
connected to the lower rollers by the frames i i, movement is given to the upper ends
of these frames by means of the levers kk and links. The levers are con-
nected by rods m m to the ends of the arms o at the opposite sides of the rock shaft o¹.
This rock shaft receives its motion from the crank pin f through the rod p and
chain y.
g.
1 set the hackle pins or teeth into backs or holders having lugs at their ends by
which they are attached to the endless sheet. These lugs are so arranged that the
teeth may meet the fibre in a horizontal position close up to the nip of the holder.
Figure 6 is a plan of one of these backs or holders, and
Figure 7 is a transverse section of the same to a larger scale.
is a back or holder with lugs
at its ends. s are the hackle teeth. The lugs
are provided with holos as shown. t is the sheet. u is a bolt passing through the lug
and entering a bar at the other side. These bars enter the recesses in the rollers c c
and has shown in figures 1 to 5.
The holders for the stricks I construct in the following improved manner:-
I form the holder of three principle parts, a back covered with vulcanised india
rubber on which the strick is laid; a front hinged to the back at one end, it is also
covered with vulcanised india rubber and folds down on to the strick; and a lever
hinged to the other end of the back, it folds down over the front forcing inwards the
free edge thereof against which it closes so as to compress the fibre. A bolt on the
lever shoots into a recess on the front and retains the parts. Suitable pins or
projections are provided upon the holder to support it in the trough of the machine.
These holders are suitable for use also in other hackling machines.
Figure 8 is a side view, and
Figure is an end view of a holder closed upon a strick.
Figure 10 is an edge view of the same holder. It consists of three parts a, b and c.
The parts a and c are hinged to the part 6; to close the holder the part a is first shut
down upon and then the part e is shut down upon a, a spring bolt c¹ being provided
which enters the catch a¹; by this means the stricks can be taken in and out with
great rapidity.
In order to remove the tow from the hackle pins or teeth I make use of drums
carrying radial flaps of leather serrated at the edge and so set that as the endless
sheet passes beneath the roller at its lower end the flaps come into contact with the
pins or teeth and so throw off the tow. The tow is thus projected against a grating
Which retains it whilst allowing dust and other refuse to pass through.

page_text: This appliance is applicable to my improved vertical sheet machine and also to other
machines my improved machine may however be provided with ordinary appliances
for the removal of the tow.
This device is shown at Figure 1 where w ware sheets of leather serrated at their
edges, as shown in figure 11, which is a detached view of one of them. These flaps
are mounted upon the drums cx and the tow as it is taken off the teeth falls on to
the grating y.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
1. A machine having a pair of hackle sheets which are so mounted and actuated
that the ends of their acting surfaces approach towards and recede from each other
substantially as described.
2. A machine having a pair of hackle sheets which are so mounted and actuated
that they first act only on the end of the strick which then approach each other until
their surfaces are parallel whose lower ends next separate and finally whose upper
ends also separate leaving the strick free to be passed on to the next gradation of
hackles substantially as described.
3. Mounting hackle pins or teeth in backs or holders provided with lugs at their
ends which are attached to the sheets and bars substantially as described.
4. In folding strick holders the use of a spring bolt or catch to secure the holder
when closed substantially as described.
5. The use of serrated flaps of leather or similar material mounted radially on an
axis for the purpose of clearing the hackle teeth substantially as described.
6. The apparatus substantially as described in reference to Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
and 11 of the drawings.
7. The improvements substantially as described in reference to Figures 6 and of
the drawings.
8. The improvements substantially as described in reference to Figures 8, 9 and 10
of the drawings.
Dated this 3rd day of February 1888.