IMPROVE- MENTS IN CARDING MACHINES
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Fairfax Foss, of Lowell, Massachusetts, United States
45
of America, Carding Machine Manufacturer, for the Invention of IMPROVE-
MENTS IN CARDING MACHINES."
Sealed the 1st September 1876, and dated the 15th March 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Fairfax Foss at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 15th March 1876.
JOHN FAIRFAX Foss, of Lowell, Massachusetts, United States of America, Carding
Machine Manufacturer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN CARDING MACHINES."
My Invention relates to the class of carding machines in which stationary
working cards or flats are employed in connection with the revolving card cylinder.
And the main feature of the said Invention consists in combining in one frame, and
with the use of one card cylinder, one doffer, one lap feed, and the ordinary adjuncts
thereof, substantially two machines, by the introduction of a set of under flaps,
that is, flats situated mostly or wholly below the central axial horizontal plane of
the main cylinder, and having their own separate stripper, while the usual, top
flats are retained having their own stripper. Thus these additional under flats
in connection with the main cylinder do the work of the usual "breaker" card
machine, and the top flats with the same card cylinder do the work of the usual
"finisher"card_machine. The laps from the cotton opener are fed to this machine
the same as to the breaker machine, and the machine produces a sliver substantially
equal in quality to that produced by the finisher machine, there being no doubler
laps formed as ordinarily intermediate between the breaker and finisher to feed
to the latter. The strippings from the under flats are similar to those produced by
the breaker, and the strippings from the top flats are similar to those of the ordinary
finisher. This machine therefore does fully the work of the two ordinary carding
machines of like dimensions, and by this Invention is saved one half of the card
room required for the ordinary machines, the doubler and its attendants are
dispensed with, and the room required therefor, and the power required to drive
it, are saved and since it requires but little more power to drive this machine
than to drive either a breaker or finisher, and the attendance of the breaker
machines is dispensed with, in addition to saving more than half of the usual room,
nearly or quite one half of the entire power, cost of attendance, and oil for lubricating
is saved, with better results in a stronger yarn from the less working of the
[Price 6d.]

page_text: material, and consequent weakening and breaking of its fibres, besides other minor
advantages which it is not necessary here to specify.
The machine is so constructed that one mechanism serves to operate both
strippers, respectively for the top flats and under flats, the top flats being stripped
twice as often as the under flats.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by the
said John Fairfax Foss in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 14th September
1876.
JOHN FAIRFAX Foss, of Lowell, Massachusetts, United Sates of America, Carding
Machine Manufacturer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN CARDING MACHINES."
My Invention belongs to the class of carding machines in which stationary
working cards or flats are employed in connection with the rotary card cylinder;
and its main feature consists in combining in one frame, and with the use of one
card cylinder, one doffer, one lap feeding device and the ordinary adjuncts thereof,
substantially two machines, by the introduction of a set of under flats, that is, flats
wholly or mostly below the central axial horizontal plane of the card cylinder and
having their own stripper. Thus these additional under flats in connection with
the card cylinder do the work of the usual "breaker" card machine, and the top
flats, with the same card cylinder do the work of the usual "finisher" card machine.
The laps from the cotton opener are fed to this machine the same as the breaker
machine, and the machine produces a sliver substantially equal in quality to that
produced by the finisher machine, there being no doubler laps formed as ordinarily
required between the breaker and finisher. The strippings from the under flats
aro similar to those produced by the breaker; and the strippings from the top flat
are similar to those of the finisher.. This Invention therefore does fully the work
of two ordinary carding machines of like dimensions, and by it is saved one half of
the card room required for the ordinary machines, the doubler and its attendance
are dispensed with, and the room occupied thereby, and the power required to
drive it, are saved; and since it requires but little if any more power to drive this
machine than to drive either a breaker or finisher, and the attendance of the breaker
machine is dispensed with, in addition to the saving of more than half of the room,
nearly or quite one half of the entire power, cost of attendance, and oil for lubri-
cating are dispensed with, with better results in a stronger yarn from the less
working of the material, and consequent less weakening and breaking of its fibres,
besides other minor advantages.
The machine is so constructed that one mechanism serves to operate two strippers
respectively for the top and under flats, the under flats being preferably stripped
twice as often as the top flats.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my improved carding
machine, Fig. 2 a view of the doffer trumpet and calendar rolls in relative
position, showing the mode of conveying the sliver to one side of the machine for
clearing the lap, which is placed and fed into the machine below the doffer and
comb. Fig. 3 a view of the inner side of one end of one of the under flats. Fig. 4
an edge view of the same. Fig. 5 a radial section of the lower card arch, by the
side of one of the guide rods of the under flats. In these figures, A represents one
side of the frame or case of the machine, B the lap roll, C the card cylinder, partly
uncovered to indicate the direction of its motion; D the doffer; E a roll to guide
the sliver to one side of the machine; F, F, delivery or calendar rolls; G, G, the top
flats, and H the top flat stripping mechanism.
Instead of applying the lap roll and feed apparatus on the side opposite to the
doffer side of the machine, as with ordinary beater and finisher machines, they are
located on the same side as and below the doffer comb and trumpet, in order that
cotton may be worked both under and over the card cylinder, the sliver being

page_text: delivered near one end of the doffer, as indicated in Fig. 2, to allow free room for
putting the lap roll in place. The gearing for communicating motion to these
parts; may be as represented in Fig. 1, or otherwise conveniently combined and
arranged.
The under flats, 1, 2, 3, &c. up to a number generally equal to that of the top flats,
are arranged on the case below and back of the card cylinder, beginning at a point
about vertically under the cylinder shaft or as far forward as convenient, and extend-
ing backward and upward to a point about on a level with or a little above a horizontal
plane, cutting the axis or central line of the card cylinder, substantially as shown,
leaving sufficient room between them and the top flats to allow the operation thereof
to be separate and unimpeded by each other. The position of these under flats being
such that after each one is moved outward from its operative position to be stripped
it cannot return to position by its own gravity as do the top flats, it is necessary to
apply a positive device for effecting this movement, I employ retracting springs for
this purpose; and for a convenient and practical means I use a series of spiral springs
on guide rods, a spring a and guide rod b being applied at each end of the machine
to each under flat. Each guide rod b is attached to its flat so that it moves out and
in therewith. Each flat is made detachable from its guide rods so that it may be re-
moved from the machine without disturbing the guide rods and their springs. This de-
tachable coupling is represented in Figs. 3 and 4. The guide rod has at its outer end a
head with abrupt shoulders at the inner end as represented. This head enters
through a hole c in a longitudinally sliding plate & on the inside of the flat, the latter
being cut away beneath the plate to receive the said head of the guide rod. At the
outermost edge of the plate hole is a notch, as shown in Fig. 3, wide enough to admit
the diameter of the guide rod. The plate d is held drawn inward toward the middle
of the flat by a spring f. When the head of the guide rod is inserted into the plate
by its conical or wedge acting form, it forces the plate outward somewhat against the
action of the spring f, but as soon as it passes through the plate the spring again
draws the plate inward, thereby causing the notch at the side of the plate hole C to
embrace the guide rod just below the head thereof, and thus prevent the withdrawal
of the guide rod from the flat. To detach the flat from the guide rod the sliding
plate is drawn outward by hand by means of a lip g (Fig. 4) or its equivalent until
the hole c is concentric with the head of the guide rod, when the latter is in position
to be drawn out of the plate without obstruction. The guide rods are mounted and
slide longitudinally in two arch flanges k, i, on each end of the case of the machine,
as shown in Fig. 1, and by section in Fig. 5. The outer arch his preferably double
as shown with a space between the two parts to receive a strip of wood or some
other comparatively soft material to act as a bushing for the guide rods to slide in.
The inner ends of the spiral springs a, a, press against stops L, L, on the guide
rods, and these stops are made adjustable on the guide rods as they bear against
the inner flanges i, for the purpose of gradually adjusting the flats inward as the
teeth of the card clothing on their inner surfaces and upon the card cylinder wear
shorter.
The stripping mechanism H for the top flats may be of ordinary construction, being
mounted on radial arms I, one at each end of the machine, which have a vibratory
movement on the axis of the card cylinder effected by a mangle rack J and pinion
K in a well-known manner or by other suitable mechanism. Two other radial arms
L, one at each end of the machine, are employed to carry the stripping mechanism
for the under flats, and these arms are connected with the arms I, I, so as to be
moved by the same or simultaneously therewith and by the same means. The flats
are successively lifted by slides m on the arms I, moved out and in radially as to
the machine by a cam or cams on the inside of the revolving cam wheel M; and
the under flats are moved outward successively for stripping by slides n on the arms
L,the said slides being connected by rods p respectively with the slides m so that the
motions of the latter produce the motions of the former without the use of any other
operative mechanism. If it is desired to strip the under flats twice as often as the
top flats the slides m on the arms I are distinct and separate from the slides which

page_text: lift the flats, and the latter are operated once by the cam wheel at each revolution
while the slides m which operate the flat moving slides n are moved twice at each
revolution of the cam wheel. The strippers N for the top flats are vibrated by two
cam grooves 1, 2, in the face of each respective cam wheel, (when the flats are raised
twice at each revolution of the can wheel), and the strippers o are vibrated by being
connected with the strippers N through incans of connecting rods 8.
There is a special advantage incidental to the main improvement of this Invention
which gives it superiority even in the matter of cleaning cotton and freeing it from
motes over the ordinary breaker and finisher machines. It is this, that while in those
machines the card cylinder first carries the cotton upward from the feed mechanism;
and during the whole operation of working the same in connection with top flats,
the seeds, leaves, motes, and other impurities which may be found in the cotton laps
as they fall from the fibres of the cotton lodge upon the card cylinder and stay there
or tend continually to work back into the cotton. In this improved machine the
card cylinder first carries the cotton downward from the feed, causing some of the
impurities to fall through a grated bottom in front of the under flats, without evon
reaching the under flats, and the remainder of the impurities to be worked out
while the cylinder is passing over the under flats, they falling either between the
clothing strips of the flats or into the same, to finally fall out of the machine as
often as the flats are moved outward and stripped. The spaces between these flats
drop the impurities below the machine at once where they no longer interfere with
the carding. It results from this construction and operation of the machine that
the strippings from the top flats are worked over again just as the strippings from
the ordinary finisher are saved, and the strippings from the under flats have the
qualities and usos of the strippings from the ordinary breaker machine.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
it is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I claim-
First. A carding machine provided with under flats, substantially as and for the
purpose herein specified.
Second. In a carding machine the combination of under flats, and a separate
stripper with top flats and top flat stripper, substantially as and for the purpose
herein specified.
Third. The combination of under flats and guide-rods bearing them, substantially
as and for the the purpose herein specified.
Fourth. The combination of under flats and inwardly retracting springs, substan-
tially as and for the purpose herein specified.
Fifth. The attaching plates d, d, provided with springs f. f, on the under flats
in combination with the shouldered guide rods b, b, substantially as and for the
purpose herein specified.
Sixth. The stripping mechanism of the under flats operated by or from the
stripping mechanism of the top flats, substantially as and for the purpose horein
specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Fairfax Foss, have hereunto set my hand
and seal this Fourteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord One thousand
Witness,
EDWARD W. THOMAS.
FAY RICHARDSON.
JOHN FAIRFAX FOSS. (L. S.)