CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CARDING AND HACKLING FLAX, TOW, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Lowry, of Salford, in the County of Lancaster,
Machinist, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR CARDING AND HACKLING FLAX, TOW, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES,"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Lowry at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 25th
November 1861.
I, GEORGE LOWRY, of Salford,in, the County of Lancaster, Machinist, do
5 hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR CARDING AND HACKLING FLAX, Tow, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUB-
STANCES," to be as follows:
The first part of my: Invention.is, applicable to carding engines having
working and stripping rollers, and it consists in an improved combination
10 and arrangement of parts for removing the impurities from the fibres and for
*. collecting them in-suitable receptacles. In performing my Invention I apply
to each stripping roller a trough, one edge of which comes close to the surface of
the working roller and the side is made with an opening or a series of louvre
openings for allowing the impurities which are struck out of the fibrous
15 substances to enter the trough. The trough is provided with a revolving spiral
blade, which gradually traverses the impurities to one end thereof, where they
are discharged into a suitable receptacle; an endless chain or creeper may
substituted for the spiral blade above referred to.
be
The second part of my Invention is applicable to sheet hackling machines,
20-and it consists in certain improved arrangements and combinations of parts
for-stripping the tow from the hackles. To the hackle bars are connected
stripping rods, which drop by their own gravity when the bars are turning
Price 8d.1

page_text: under the lower drums, and in so dropping they strip the tow off the points
of the hackles. These stripping rods deposit the tow adhering to them ou
a comb the teeth of which pass through a stationary plate, and this comb is
drawn by self-acting machinery through the plate at intervals, whereby the
tow is stripped off the comb and drops on to the floor or into a suitable re-
ceptacle.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,filed
by the said George Lowry in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 23rd
May 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
LOWRY, of Salford, in the County of Lancaster, Machinist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her Most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said George Lowry, Her special license that I, the said George Lowry,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
George Lowry, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR CARDING AND HACKLING FLAX, Tow, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUB-
STANCES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Lowry,
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 per
formed, 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 I, the said George Lowry, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manuer the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the follow.
ing statement, that is to say):-
The first part of my Invention is applicable to carding engines having
working and stripper rollers, or carding rollers, and it consists in a peculiar

page_text: combination, application, and adaptation of parts for removing the fibrous and
other impurities from the rollers, for collecting them in suitable receptacles,
and for removing them therefrom.
The second part of my Invention is applicable to sheet hackling machines,
and it consists of certain improved arrangements and combinations of parts for
stripping the loose tow from the hackles and from the stripping rods.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect, I will proceed.to.describe.the.accompanying Sheets of Drawings,-
reference being had to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Figure 1 is an elevation of the principal parts of a carding engine for tow,
to which one mode of constructing my improvements is applied; and Figure 2
is a side view of part of the same. a is the main cylinder; b, b, the work-
ing rollers; and c, c, the stripper rollers, which are constructed in the
Lusual manner, and are supported in the adjustable bearings shewn in
Figures 7 and 8, which will be described, hereafter. Near each stripping
roller is placed a trough d, one edge of which is provided with an adjustable
blade e¹, which comes nearly close to the surface of the said roller, and the
other edge is bent downwards, to prevent the dirt and other impurities from
collecting on the top of the knife or other instrument by which the impurities
are removed. The side of the trough is provided with a louvre opening or a
series of louvre openings or adjustable stripping blades, as shewn at e; when
these stripping blades are applied to a carding engine for cotton, one of them
has an upward to-and-fro motion imparted to it, for stripping the roller against
which it acts; the impurities thus stripped from the roller are collected in the
trough d, from which they are removed by either of the apparatus shewn in
Figures 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. A prelongation of the box or trough d may be
brought over the stripping roller c to near the nip of the rollers b and c, as
shown at d², to hold the fibres more effectually during the operation of carding.
Within each trough d is a thin blade of metal or other material, marked f
the lower edge of which is dentated, as shewn in Figure 2; this blade has a
vibrating motion imparted to it in the following manner for the purpose of
removing the dirt and other impurities from the trough. The blade is hinged
at each end to an upright g; this upright has angle slots in it fitting on studs
fixed in brackets d¹, secured to the ends of the trough d, and to one end of
the bladef is jointed the slotted bracket h, which has a slow to-and-fro motion
imparted to it by an excentric or elbow lever, actuated from the stripping
roller or other convenient part of the machine. When the blade fis moving
in the direction of the arrow, the teeth on its lower edge push the impurities
in the trough towards the end marked A. During the traversing of the blade

page_text: in this direction the uprights g assume a diagonal position until the bentends
of the slots take on to the studs in the brackets d', so that at the return stroke
of the blade it is raised over the impurities in the trough, and only drops upon
them again when the uprights 9 are vertical, at which time the side of the
upright at the end of the trough, marked B, comes against the pin i, which
liberates the angle part of the slots from the studs in the brackets d¹, thereby
allowing the blade f to descend; these alternate to-and-fro motions of the
blade continue as long as the machine is at work, consequently the impurities
deposited in the trough are continually moved towards the end A, from which
they drop into a can or other receptacle, or are carried away by a creeper.
Figure 3 represents a modification of my Invention; and Figure 4 is an
end view of the same. In these views j, j, are two rollers, supported in
bearings fixed to the ends of a trough similar to d in the preceding Figures;
around these rollers passes the endless band or strap k, to which the scrapers
are connected. The endless band has a slow motion imparted to it from the
working roller or other convenient part of the machine; and the impurities
deposited in the troughare continuously removed by the action of the scrapers 1,
which move in the direction of the arrow.
Figure 5 represents another modification of my Invention. In this case a
to-and-fro motion is imparted to the bar m, by a lever partly shewn at m¹, or
in any other convenient manner; to the bar m are hinged the catches m²,
which are made by preference of gradually increasing lengths, and bear on the
bottom of the trough, which is stepped as shewn in the Drawing. When the
bar is in motion in the direction of the arrow, the catches push the impurities
towards the end A of the trough; but at the return stroke of the bar the
catches ride over the impurities.
Figure 6 represents another modification of my Invention. In this case n
is a spiral blade fitting in the bottom of the trough, which is made concave to
receive it; this blade is made to revolve slowly by the stripping roller or
otherwise, and in revolving the impurities are traversed to the end A of the
trough from whence they dron into a can or other receptacle as above
bearings for the working and stripping rollers band c; the axle of the roller
revolves in the bush c¹, which is cast with the plate c² fitting in the plate c³ ;
to the back of this latter plate is cast a projection fitting on the outer
bead c of the bend, forming part of the framing; to the plate c² is cast a
projection, through which the regulating screw c¹ passes; this screw fits
between the centre bead c5 and the inner bead co of the bend; the plate c¹² for

page_text: the same.
the stud of the carrier pinion also fits between the beads c³ and cº. The plates
c² and care secured together and to the bend by the bolt c', which passes
through a segmental slot in the bend, through a round or square hole in the
plate c³, and through a radial slot in the plate c²; to the back of the plate c³
is cast a boss for the eye in the regulating screw c8 to fit upon; this screw
passes through the bracket or snug c fixed to the bend, and has a lock nut at
each-side thereof. When the stripping roller c has to be set to the working
roller b, and to the main cylinder a; the bolt c' is slackened, the regulating
screw c¹ is turned round to set the roller c with the main cylinder, and the
lock nuts of the screw c³ are turned round to set the roller c to the working
roller b; the bolt e' is then again tightened to hold the parts secure. The
ends d' of the trough d are hinged to the bushes c¹, and the plates c³ have
projections for the set stud co, which take into slots in the ends d'; by this
means the position of the trough d is regulated at the same time as that of
the roller c. Figure 9 is an end elevation; and Figure 10 a front view of
part of a sheet-hackling machine, to which my improvements in stripping the
tow from the hackles are applied; Figures 11 and 12 are detached views.of
In these views o, o, are the hackle bars, to which are fixed at
intervals the brackets 2, supporting the stripping rods 7, which are free to
move in the brackets, but are retained within them by the shoulders q'. When
the machine is at work and the hackle bars are carried under the lower drum 1,
the stripping rods drop by their own gravity, and in so doing they strip the
tow off the points of the hackles; the stripping rods drop into their original
position again in rising up at the back of the drun 7, so as to be in readiness
for the succeeding operation. Figures 13 and 14 are two views of part of
a sheet hackling machine, illustrating the last part of my Invention, the
object of which is to strip any loose tow still adhering to the hackles or
stripper rods after they have passed round the bottom centre of the drum r,
as shewn and described in reference to Figures 9, 10, 11, and 12, or by
other means; s is a comb connected to the levers, t, mounted on the
shaft น. , which is supported in bearings placed near the lower drum marked 1,
shewn in Figure 9, but at such a distance from it that the points of the
hackles in passing upwards from the lower drum shall clear the points of the
comb s, when its teeth are in the position indicated by the dotted lines iu
Figure 13. The teeth of the combs pass through holes in the stationary
plate v, and the comb has a to-and-fro motion imparted to it at intervals by
the lever w, fixed on the shaft u, which lever is acted upon by projections on
the rod x, by which the opening and closing motion is given to the upper
drums 7, see Figure 9 of the sheet hackling machine, or in any other con-
any

page_text: venient manner. When the machine is at work the comb s being in the
position indicated by dotted lines in Figure 13, catches the tow still adhering
to the stripping rods and hackles, and when the combs is drawn through the
plate v the tow is stripped off the comb s, and drops on to the floor or into a
suitable receptacle.
Having thus described the nature and particulars of my Invention, I declare
that I claim-
First, the application and adaptation of louvre openings and adjustable
stripping blades to the troughs used for receiving the impurities from the
working and stripping rollers of carding engines, as shewn and described in
reference to Figure 1.
Secondly, the improved forms of trough for running the impurities from
the stripping and working rollers, as shewn and described in reference to
Figure 1.
Thirdly, theapplicationand adaptation of self-acting machinery forremoving
the impurities gathered in the troughs, as shewn and described in reference to
Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, or any modified appliances thereof.
Fourthly, the improved construction of parts for adjusting the positions of
the bearings and the working of stripping rollers of carding engines, as shewn
and described in reference to Figures 7 and 8.
Fifthly, in the application of my improvements to carding. cotton; and in
conjunction with the third claim I wish it to be understood that I give an
upward to-and-fro motion to the stripping blades at the point of contact with
the roller.
In the second part of my Invention I claim--
Sixthly, the improved self-acting apparatus for stripping the tow from the
hackles, as shewn and described in reference to Figures 9, 10, 11, and 12.
And lastly, the improved self-acting apparatus, shewn and described in
reference to Figures 13 and 14, for taking the loose fibres from the stripping
rods and hackles.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Lowry, have hereunto set my
hand-and-seal, this Twenty-second day of May, in the year of our
+
GEO. LOWRY. (L.S.)