IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING AND STRAIGHTENING WOOL AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1852

page_text: RAWSON, of Leicester, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Nineteenth day of
August, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the sixteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs, and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Henry Rawson, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, Her special
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Henry
Rawson, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry
Rawson, my exors, adñiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING AND STRAIGHTENING WOOL AND OTHER FIBROUS
MATERIALS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the
said Henry Rawson, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large.
appear.

page_text: The compnance with the said proviso, 1, the said
Henry Rawson, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascertained
in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shows a side view of a machine constructed and combined ac-
cording to my Invention; Figure 2 shows the other side view of the machine;
Figure 3 shows a longitudinal elevation of the machine, partly in section;
Figure 4 shows some of the details separately; and Figure 5 shows part of a
similar machine, the mode of feeding the fibres into it being somewhat different
to that shown by the other Figures. In each of these Figures the same letters
are used to indicate the same parts. a, a is the framing of the machine, the
nature of which is clearly shown by the Drawings; b is the main or driving
shaft, which receives motion from a steam engine or other power by means of
a strap acting on the drum or pulley c. On the shaft or axis bis affixed the
cog wheel d, which takes into and drives the cog wheel e, fixed on the shaft or
axis f, on which is fixed the cog wheel g, which takes into and drives the cog
wheel h, on the axis of the drum or cylinder i, and thus is rotatory motion
communicated to this drum or cylinder. The drum or cylinder i has several
plates fastened thereon, and such plates j have fixed therein pointed teeth,
the guage of which I vary, according to the length of wool or fibre which is to
be prepared and straightened by the machine, and I have found that teeth
about twelve to fourteen guage, and about an inch long, are those which I
believe to be best suited for long wool and other fibre, and that for fine wool
and short fibre, that from sixteen to eighteen guage and three quarters of an
inch long, are the best; but I do not confine myself to these guages or lengths,
as coarser or finer and different lengths of teeth in each case may be employed.
Between each two neighbouring plates j is placed a clearing bar k, which
has a tendency at all times, by reason of springs k¹, to stand off as far as it can
move out from the centre, but by reason of the fixed guides, these bars can
only pass out as far as they can go, when the plates of teeth which they are
intended to clear arrive at the part of the machine where the wool or fibre is
to be delivered from the teeth, as is clearly shewn by the Drawings, and these
guides cause the bars & to come in towards the centre as far as they can move
in that direction, in order that the fibres may be fed into the teeth, as hereafter
described. On the axis of the drum or cylinder i is fixed the cog wheel m,
which gives motion to the cog wheel m', and this cog wheel m' gives motion

page_text: to the coog wheel m, which takes into and gives motion to the. cog wheel fixed
on the axis of one of the feed rollers n, which have inclined teeth thereon, as
shewn, and they are geared and revolve together, and they take the wool or
fibre as it is brought up to them by the endless apron o, and the wool or other
fibre is then penetrated and taken by the teeth of the cylinder i, and the wool
or other fibre is pressed into such teeth by means of a revolving or other
brush p, as shown. Motion is communicated to the endless apron o and to
the brush pin the following manner:-On the axis of one of the feed rollers n
is fixed a cogwheel n', which takes into and drives the cog wheel n², (fixed on
the axis n³), which gives motion to the cog wheel o¹, on the axis of one of the
rollers of the endless apron o, as shown by the Drawings, and motion is com-
municated to the brush by means of the cog wheel taking. into the cog
T
The wool or fibre,.by.being taken by
drawn from amongst.the.teeth of the
wheel p on the axis of the brush p.
the teeth on the drum i, and by them
feed, rollers, and then by the wool or fibre being drawn out of the teeth
of the cylinder i by the rolers q, will be prepared and straightened, aided, as
these processes are, by the cylinder or drum i being heated by steam, as here-
after explained. The rollers q receive..motion in the following manner:-On
the main shaft,, or axis, is fixed a cog wheel q, which takes into.and.drives, the
cog wheel q, fixed on the.axis of one of the rollers q, and. from this.axis, by
the cog wheel r, motion is communicated to the cog wheel, fixed on-the
axis of one of the rollers s, by which the prepared wool or fibre.is drawn from
the rollers 7 through the revolving bell-mouth tube t, which receives a rotatory
motion by a band in any convenient manner, as is well understood; but it is
not shewn in the Drawings. v is an endless apron on one of the rollers q.
The upper of the rollers 7 is kept down on the lower one by means of springs,
as shown, and the outermost of the rollers s is kept up to the other roller s
by springs, as shewn. Steam is supplied to the cylinder or drum i by means
of a steam pipe u through the hollow axis thereof as shewn, and in order
that the condensed steam may be forced out from the drum or cylinder i, a
bent tube wis used, which passes through the steam pipes u into the dis-
charge pipe a, as is clearly shewn in the detail Figures of the Drawings. By
this combination of machinery, wool and other fibres may with great advantage
be prepared and straightened. Or in place of feeding the wool or other fibre
direct from the feed rollers a screw gill may be interposed between the feed
rollers and the roller i, as shewn in section at Figure 5. The gill comb teeth
should be inclined, as shewn, and I prefer that the gill combs should move at
a somewhat greater speed than the surface of the feed rollers. The other

page_text: parts of this Figure are the same as those previously described, and they are
to have similar motions communicated thereto.
I would remark that I have been particular, in the above description, to
show the machinery as I construct and employ it, and the relative speeds, of
the parts will be readily traced by examining the Drawings. I do not,
however, confine myself thereto, nor to the exact details of the construction
and combination, so long as the peculiar character of the machinery as herein
shown and described are generally retained, and I would wish it to be
understood that I do not claim the mechanical parts separately; but what I
claim is, the mode herein described of combining mechanical parts into a
machine for preparing and straightening wool and other fibres.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Rawson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of February, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.