IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF LINT OR SIMILAR SUBSTANCES."
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert William Waithman, of Bentham House, in
the County of York, and Joseph Waithman, of Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF LINT OR SIMILAR SUBSTANCES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert William Waithman
and Joseph Waithman at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with his Petition, on the 26th May 1855.
We, ROBERT WILLIAM WAITHMAN, of Bentham House, in the County of
York, and JOSEPH WAITHMAN, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
OB APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF LINT OR SIMILAR SUBSTANCES " to be as
follows:-
Our improvements consist, firstly, in a method of giving an elasticity or an
evenness of the pressure of the bed or beds against the knives, by means of
adjustable springs or levers and weights.
Secondly, in methods of causing to cease at the required point or points
during the revolution of the rotary knives upon their axes, the linting,
scraping, or abrasing effect of the knife, knives, or other apparatus upon the
material being linted, by which Invention we prevent it or them from scraping

page_text: away or injuring as soon as produced the linted or raised surface of the
material operated upon. We accomplish this purpose in one case by imparting
separately to the knife, knives, or other abrasing instruments, such a suitable
moveable motion or motions, either up and down, to and fro, vibratory or
revolving upon their centres, sliding in slots or cams, or other suitable
motions, which are caused as required by means of cams, tappets, eccentrics,
cranks, levers, or other suitable contrivances. We also in another case effect
the same object by imparting as required a vibrating, sliding, up and down, to
and fro, or other suitable motion to the bed or beds, by means of cams, tappets,
eccentrics, cranks, levers, or other suitable methods. In another case we
cause a to and fro, vibratory, or sliding motion to the axis upon which the
rotary knives revolve, which motion removes from the bed or beds, as required,
the knife or knives or apparatus which scrape the lint; this we effect by means
of cams, tappets, eccentrics, cranks, levers, and other suitable contrivances.
In another case we form the bed in such a manner that the operation of the
knife, knives, or other apparatus shall terminate their abrasing operation at
the extreme point of an acute angle, around which the material shall bo
carried. We also use, when desired, a revolving bed, with the surface indented,
corrugated, or broken, at any required intervals.
Thirdly, in a manner of attaching a whetstone or rotary grindstone to the
machine, that whenever the knives or scrapers require sharpening, it may be
speedily slided across the machine, thus saving much time.
Fourthly, our Invention consists in the adaptation of two or more beds to a
machine in such manner that two or more picces of material may be working
simultaneously around the same rotating knives.
Fifthly, our improvement consists in the adaptation to a lint machine, where
the knife falls upon the bed or cushion, of two or more knives instead of one,
these knives being placed parallel to each other, and the cutting edges placed
at such distances that the fall of the front knife will take up or continue the
cut or scrape of the second knife, and so on.
be inch, the knives should be placed about
Sixthly, we take the required width of sliver of a carded material and place
it upon a piece of cloth, which we roll upon a roller, and then introduce the
roller in a machine, which gives it a to and fro motion, thus thoroughly
pressing or incorporating it together.
Thus, if the length of the scrape
of an inch asunder.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert William Waithman and Joseph Waithman in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 19th September 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ROBERT
WILLIAM WAITHMAN, of Bentham House, in the County of York, and
JOSEPH WAITHMAN, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Royal
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Robert William Waithman and Joseph Waithman, Her special
licence that we, the said Robert William Waithman and Joseph Waithman,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as wo, the said
Robert William Waithman and Joseph Waithman, our exccutors, adminis-
trators, 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 OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANU-
FACTURE OF LINT OR SIMILAR SUBSTANCES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that we, the said Robert William Waithman and Joseph Waithman, by an
instrument in writing under our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal
of one of us, 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 Royal Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robert William Waithman, for and on
behalf of myself and the said Joseph Waithman, 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
(that is to say)-
Our improvements consist, firstly, in a method of giving an elasticity or an
evenness of the pressure of the bed or beds against the knives, by means of
adjustable springs, or levers and weights.
Secondly, in methods of causing to cease at the required point or points
during the revolution of the rotary knives upon their axes, the linting,
scraping, or abrasing effect of the knife, knives, or other apparatus upon the
material being linted, by which Invention we prevent it or them from scraping

page_text: away or injuring as soon as produced the linted or raised surface of the
material operated upon. We accomplish this purpose in one case by impart-
ing separately to the knife, knives, or other abrasing instruments, such a suit-
able moveable motion or motions, either up and down, to and fro, vibratory or
revolving upon their centres, sliding in slots or cams, or other suitable motions,
which are caused, as required, by means of cams, tappets, eccentrics, cranks,
levers, or other suitable contrivances. We also in another case effect the
same object by imparting, as required, a vibrating, sliding, up and down, to and
fro, or other suitable motion to the bed or beds, by means of cams, tappets,
eccentrics, cranks, levers, or other suitable methods. In another case we
cause a to and fro, vibratory, or sliding motion to the axis upon which the
rotary knives revolve, which motion removes from the bed or beds, as
required, the knife or knives or apparatus which scrape the lint; this we
effect by means of cams, tappets, eccentrics, cranks, levers, and other suitable
contrivances. In another case we form the bed in such a manner that the
operation of the knife, knives, or other apparatus shall terminate their abrasing
operation at the extreme point of an acute angle, around which the material
shall be carried. We also use, when desired, a revolving bed, with the
surface indented, corrugated, or broken at any required intervals.
Thirdly, in a manner of attaching a whetstone or rotary grindstone to the
machine, that whenever the knives or scrapers require sharpening, it may be
speedily slided across the machine, thus saving much time.
Fourthly, our Invention consists in the adaptation of two or more beds to a
machine, in such manner that two or more pieces of material may be working
simultaneously around the same rotating knives.
Fifthly, our improvement consists in the adaptation to a lint machine, where
the knife falls across the bed or cushion, of two or more knives instead of one,
these knives being placed parallel to each other, and the cutting edges placed
at such distances that the fall of the front knife will take up or continue the
cut or scrape of the second knife, and so on. Thus, if the length of the scrape
be inch, the knives should be placed about of an inch asunder.
Sixthly, we take the required width of sliver of a carded material and placo
it upon a piece of cloth, which we roll upon a roller, and then introduce the
roller in a machine which gives it a to and fro motion, thus thoroughly pressing
or incorporating it together.
The nature of our said improvements will be clearly understood by reference
to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, in which Figs. 1 and 2 represent
elevations of rotary lint machines with one of the outer frames removed, in
which the knives are placed around the rotating cylinder, and have a vibratory

page_text: or up and down motion given to them, by which the act of abrasing or cutting
is caused suddenly to cease; Fig. 3 is an elevation of a rotary lint machine
with one of the outer frames removed, in which a vibrating or up and down
motion is given to the beds or cushions over which the cloth passes, by
which the act of abrasing or cutting is caused suddenly to cease; Fig. 4
represents on an enlarged scale part of the machine shewn at Fig. 3; Fig. 5
exhibits the cushion or bed and knife frame of a machine, where the knife falls
upon a cushion or bed, and shows the application of two knives instead of one.
The letters of reference refer to each Figure separately.
In Fig. 1, a is the driving shaft of the machine, attached to which is a
cylinder b, having connected to it a series of frames c, having affixed thereto the
knives d, which with the frames can be of any desired length. The frames c
vibrate upon pivots or centres e placed at each end of the cylinder b. There
are two cams or tappets, one of which is shewn at f, which tappets are fixed to
the main framing of the machine, causing by the rotation of the cylinder the
frames c and knives & to move on the centres to the position of the frame
marked c', the return position as seen at being caused by the spring i. The
cushion or bed is shewn at k, over which passes the cloth to be linted; shews
the coil of cloth to be linted, which passes over the pin roller m, the speed of
which is adjusted by wheels; from thence the cloth passes under the guide
roller m over the bed k to the lap roller o. When the machine is in motion
the cloth is regularly given off at the required speed, and the cylinder 6 in its
revolution causes the knives to cut or abrase the same. Immediate upon the
removal of the frame c from the pressing action of the point of the tappet f,
the spring draws both frames and knife backwards, thus preventing the
knives from removing in their rotation, the lint already formed upon the surface
of the cloth.
Fig. 2 is a modification of the same, shewing a mode of giving to the knives
and frames an up and down motion additional to the rotatory motion of the
cylinder to which they are attached.
In the plan we shew simply the cylinder and its knives with the cushions or
beds, the other parts being the same as in Fig. 1. a is the driving shaft,
attached to which is a cylinder b, to which are connected a series of frames c,
having fixed thereto knives d, which with their frames can be of any desired
length. The frames c slide between the guides e, e, placed at the ends of the
cylinder, being pressed inwards by the spring f. There are two cams or
tappets, one of which is shewn at 9, which tappets are fixed to the main
frame of the machine, causing by the rotation of the cylinder b, in con-
nection with the spring f, an up and down or to and fro motion to the

page_text: knives d. The cushions or beds are shewn at k, over which the cloth passes
to be linted. The determinate up and down or to and fro motion of the knives
prevents them from removing by the rotation of the cylinder the lint already
formed upon the surface of the cloth.
In Fig. 3 is a section of a linting rotary machine, in which the knives are
fixed to the cylinder, and the beds or cushions against which they act have given
to them a vibratory motion. a is the driving shaft of the machine, attached to
which is a cylinder 6 (shewn broken for the convenience of shewing the tappet
wheel behind), affixed to which is a series of frames c, having knives d secured
thereto, which with the frames can be of any desired length. Also fixed to the
shaft a is a tappet wheel e. The beds or cushions aro shewn at f connected
to levers g vibrating upon their centres h; this vibratory motion being caused
by the combined action of the projections k of the tappet wheel e, and springs
i, upon the point marked g¹ of the lever g. Ench bed or cushion is supplied
with cloth to be linted in a similar manner to the description given of Fig. 1.
The lever 9 and part of the tappet is shewn enlarged at Fig. 4.
When the machine is in motion the cloth is regularly given off at the
required speed, and the cylinder 6 in its revolution causes the knives d to cut
or abrase the same. Immediately that the point g' of the lever g is removed
from the pressing action of the projection k of the tappet wheel e, the spring i
forces out the bed f, thus preventing the knives from removing by their
rotation the lint already formed upon the surfaces of the pieces of cloth. The
adjustable springs to produce an evenness of the pressure of the beds against
the knives are shewn at n, Figs. 3 and 4. The sharpening of the knives is
accomplished in a very speedy manner by means of a grindstonee p, having
a rotary and transverso motion; q is a slotted shaft to which the grindstone
is connected by a pin working in tho slot; r is a guide connected with the
grindstone, to the lower end of which the rack s is attached, having a trans-
verse motion given to it by the handle shaft and wheel t. We may also some-
times use, for the purpose of causing the knife suddenly to cease its cutting
or abrasing effect, an apparatus similar in its principle to the cams and screw's
upon the fallers of a flax drawing frame, or sometimes an apparatus similar in
principle to the chain gills and guides of a flax drawing frame.
In Fig. 5, the knife frame is shewn at a, having fixed thereto knives b' and
3, of any desired length, and the bed or cushion upon which they fall at c, the
other part of the machine not being required to explain this improvement;
the knives,, are fixed to the frame a parallel to each other, at such
distance that the fall of the front knife will take up or continue the cut or
scrape of the second knife b², and so on.

page_text: Having thus fully described the nature and particulars of our said Invention,
and the manner of carrying the same into practical effect, I desire it to be
distinctly understood that we do not confine ourselves to the exact details
herein set forth, as such may be varied or modified without departing from
the principle thereof; but we claim as our Invention,―
Firstly, the method of giving an elasticity or evenness of the pressure of the
bed or beds against the knives, by adjustable springs or levers and weights.
Secondly, the methods of causing to cease at the required point or points
during the revolutions of the rotary knives upon their axes, the linting,
scraping, or abrasing effect of the knives or other apparatus upon the material
being linted.
Thirdly, the method of attaching a whetsone or rotary grindstone to tho
machine.
Fourthly, the adaptation of two or more beds to the machine.
Fifthly, the adaptation to a lint machine, where the knife falls upon the bed
or cushion, of two or more knives instead of one, the said knives being placed
parallel to each other, and the cutting edges placed at such distances that
the fall of the front knife will take up or continue the cut or scrape of the
second knife, and so on.
And, sixthly, the method of pressing or incorporating the material together,
as all such improvements are herein described and illustrated in the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert William Waithman, for and on
behalf of myself and the said Joseph Waithman, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this First day of September, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-five.
ROB. WM WAITHMAN. (L.B.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the within-named
Robert William Waithman, in the presence of
WH YOUNG, Patent Agent,
London.