IMPROVEMENTS IN CARDING ENGINES
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Platt, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster,
Mechanical Engineer, and William Richardson, of the same Place,
Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CARDING
ENGINES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Platt and William
Richardson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 29th March 1862.
We, JOHN PLATT, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical
Engineer, and WILLIAM RICHARDSON, of the same Place, Mechanical Engi-
neer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN CARDING ENGINES," to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists, firstly, in employing two doffer combs acting alter-
nately upon the surface of the doffer; secondly, in adapting to the doffer
comb a second crank and connecting rod not concerned in imparting motion
to the comb, but acting as a balance only.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Platt and William Richardson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 29th September 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
PLATT, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical Engineer, and
WILLIAM RICHARDSON, of the same Place, Mechanical Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said John Platt and William Richardson, Her special license that we, the
said John Platt and William Richardson, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said John Platt and William Richardson,
our 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN CARDING
ENGINES," upon the condition, amongst others, that we, the said John Platt
and William Richardson, 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 Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Richardson, do hereby declare
the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
"statement and accompanying Drawings (that is to say) :-
Our Invention, according to our Provisional Specification, consisted, firstly,
in employing two doffer combs acting alternately upon the surface of the
doffer, but since the filing thereof we have found that such arrangement
cannot be carried into practical effect with advantage, and we consequently
lay no claim thereto.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 represents in front view a portion of
a carding engine, constructed according to our Invention, which we now claim,
and Fig. 2 is an end view thereof.

page_text: Part of the framework is at a, and the doffer at b; at c is the crank shaft
driven by a pulley'd, upon which shaft are two cranks e for actuating the
comb f. The connecting rods for the comb are at g, jointed at their upper
ends to studs h, which move in parallel guides i; as these rods differ some-
what from those in common use, we will point out their construction. At k
are tapered strips of wood connected to the cranks e by metal straps l. These
strips are embraced by forked bars of metal m, which then extend upward
at g to the above-mentioned studs h. Upon the shaft c is a second pair of
cranks n, to which are adapted rods 9*, k*, *, m*, constructed as above
described. These rods carry weights o at their upper ends connected to
studs p.
which move in the parallel guides i. The cranks n are so formed
upon the shaft c, as to be ascending when the other cranks e are descending,
and the rods g therefore act as a counterbalance to the doffer comb and its
connecting rods, and are not concerned in actuating the said comb.
We have in the foregoing described certain constructions of parts, but we
desire it to be understood that we do not limit ourselves thereto; we would
also observe that one crank only may be used for actuating the doffer comb,
and that one balance rod only may be used, if desired; that which we claim
as secured to us under the above in part recited Letters Patent being the
use of a second crank or cranks, and balancing apparatus for the purpose
aforesaid.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Richardson, have bereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
WILLIAM RICHARDSON. (L.S.)