Improvements in Carding Engines or Machines.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Aug., 1897-Accepted, 23rd Oct., 1897
.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Carding Engines or Machines.
I, RICHARD GRIFFIN, of No. 569 Summer Street, in the City of Holyoke, County
of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, United States of America, Mechanical
Engineer, 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:-
This invention relates to carding engines and has for its object the prevention
of the accumulation of waste fiber between the ends of the main cylinder and
its "lining," and in the space between the under side of the "tops" and the
periphery of said lining and between the ends of the "licker-in-roll" and its
guard or cap and between the said roll and its bonnet.
And the invention consists of devices applied to the ends of the "licker-in-
roll," for the purpose above named, all as hereinafter described and pointed out
in the claims.
In the drawings forming part of this specification,-
Figure 1 is an elevation, partly in section, of one end of the main cylinder
and licker-in-roll of a carding engine.
Figure 2 is a perspective view of a ring adapted to be fitted over each end
of the licker-in-roll.
Figure 3 is a plan view of one end of a licker-in-roll having said ring applied
thereto and showing also a portion of the main cylinder.
Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 showing the relation of the end of the
licker-in-roll to the main cylinder before the application of my improvement
to said roll.
Figure 5 is a perspective view of the top of the main cylinder and showing
the position of the "tops" relative to said cylinder "lining."
Figure 6 is a section through the licker-in-roll and its bonnet.
Referring to the drawings, A represents the main cylinder of a carding engine;
A represents a portion of the frame of the machine; B represents the licker-in-
roll; 8, its bonnet; C represents a ring applied to each end of the licker-in-roll;
D represents the wooden "lining" so called, fitted in between the ends of the
main cylinder and the frame A; and E represents the "tops" of the carding
engine.
The drawings represent portions of a cotton carding engine, and in this Specifi-
cation the description of the invention will apply more particularly to this class
of machines, but the invention is equally applicable to machines used for carding
other fibers, as wool, hemp, ramic and the like. In a cotton card the "lap" of
cotton is not as wide as the licker-in-roll B, under which it passes and by which
it is fed into the card to the main cylinder A.
It follows that the teeth of the licker-in-roll, for a certain distance from each
end thereof, (say from line 2, to the end of the roll,) are free from fiber and by
the much greater speed of rotation of the main cylinder, as compared to the speed
of the licker-in-roll, a draft of air is generated which passes through the vacant
spaces between the teeth on the ends of the said roll and is directed against the

page_text: ends of said main cylinder, which are approximately opposite or in the same
plane with the ends of said licker-in-roll.
Said draft or current of air draws in with it into the space 4, between the
ends of the main cylinder A, and its lining D, and into the space 6, under the
ends 5, of the tops E, which pass close to the periphery of said lining, the loose
floating fibers always present near a carding engine, and also draws loose fibers
from the edges of the lap near the ends of the licker-in-roll, which fibers accumu-
late in said spaces above named in quantities sometimes sufficient to clog the
main cylinder.
Such accumulations of waste are a serious source of annoyance and loss not only
on account of the loss of material, but also because by the rotary motion of the
cylinder in close proximity to the fixed parts, said waste is rolled up into balls
or tufts which frequently pass through the card and become part of the finished
roving, thus making an imperfect yarn.
The device forming the subject of this invention obviates all of the abovo
objections and the application thereof to a card results in a very considerable
saving of fiber, and in the production of a roving free from the balls or tufts
above mentioned, and is constructed and applied as follows:-
In applying this device to a carding machine, the licker-in-roll is removed
and the teeth thereof cut off flush with the face of the roll from each end thereof
towards the center for a sufficient distance, say from the end of the roll to about
the line 2, Figures 3 and 4, to permit of the placing, on each end of the said roll,
a ring C, such as is illustrated in Figure 2 of the drawing, and shown in its
proper position on one end of said roll in Figures 1 and 3.
This ring may be made of any material of suitable hardness, but preferably of
metal, and is turned to such internal diameter as to make it fit snugly on the
ends of said licker-in-roll, and the thickness of the walls of said ring is substan-
tially equal to the height of the teeth of said roll from the face thereof to the
points of the said teeth, whereby, when the roll is placed in its position in the
card, the exterior surface of the ring C, and the points of the teeth will be in
the same plane and will lie in close proximity to the points of the teeth of the
card clothing with which the main cylinder is covered.
In Figures 3 and 4, it is seen that said ring occupies the space on said roll
formerly occupied by the teeth thereof which received no cotton, owing to the
impracticability of applying said lap to the full width of said roll.
It is thus seen that the space through which the current of air is drawn into
the main cylinder is entirely stopped off by the application of the said ring C,
to the ends of the roll B, and loose fibers can not be drawn into said card, and
all of the parts thereof are kept substantially free from accumulations of waste,
as described.
A further advantage resulting from the application of the said rings C, to the
roll B, is the prevention of the accumulation of waste in the space 7, between
the end of the roll B, and its guard or cap H, as the fiber cannot work over the
end of the roll and roll up between the fixed guard and the end of said roll.
It has been found that in running a card having the rings on the end of the
licker-in-roll, as described, that waste accumulates under the bonnet or guard 8,
(Figures 1 and 6) where it will not accumulate if the rings C, are not applied
on said roll, for if the said rings are not there the waste passes into the main
cylinder as above set forth. To stop this accumulation which occasionally will
get through the card in tufts, it has been found necessary to close up the space
between the inner surface of the bonnet 8, and the exterior surface of the said
rings contiguous thereto from the point 9, where the said bonnet rests on the
bar 10, between the main cylinder and the licker-in-roll, to the opposite side or
edge of the bonnet which covers about as much of the surface of said roll, as
shown in Figure 6.
The means preferably used in closing this space is one or more strips of leather 12,
or some similar material, riveted or otherwise secured to the inside surface of

page_text: the said bonnet so that said material will bear lightly on the rings C, when the
bonnet is set down in position.
In Figure 1 said bonnet is shown in longitudinal section, and in Figure 6 in
cross section, through one of said rings C. Said bonnet rests on the caps H,
(Figure 1), as is customary in cards of this class, and said strips 12, do not. bear
with any appreciable weight on said rings.
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 licker-in-roll for carding engines havings rings on each end thereof, as
described, combined with the bonnet for said roll having strips, as 12, secured to
the inner surface thereof, above and in close proximity to said rings, substantially
as set forth.
2. In a carding engine, in combination, a licker-in-roll having a ring on each
end thereof between the teeth thereon and the end of the roll, said rings having
a circumferential surface substantially in plane with the extremities of said teeth
thereon, and the main cylinder of said engine having clothing thereon whose
borders, adjoining the ends of the said cylinder, extend over the surfaces of said
licker-in-roll rings, substantially as set forth.
Dated this Tenth day or
RICHARD GRIFFIN.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.