IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR OPENING AND CLEANING COTTON OR OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR OPENING AND
CLEANING COTTON OR OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES."-A communication
from abroad by Richard Kitson, of Lowell, in the State of Massa-
chusetts. United States of America.
Sealed the 4th May 1869, and dated the 30th November 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 30th November 1868.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR OPENING
AND CLEANING COTTON OR OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists of a seed chamber combined with a leaf chamber
under the slatted rack or other similar device arranged beneath and
forward of the beater or other working cylinder which acts upon the

page_text: cotton or other fibrous substance as it passes between suitable feed rolls
to open the cotton and liberate the seed leaf and other refuse matter
from the perfect fibre and force the former through the rack or racks
into the seed and leaf chambers below.
The Invention also consists in the use of a fender placed between the
seed rack and the throat, or beneath the seed rack, and in contact with
the lower slat thereof, so as to prevent the seeds (which have been forced
through the sced rack or between the slats) from being drawn back again
by the strong current of air generated by the draught fan which draws
the dust out of the machine.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 28th May 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Edward Newton, Her special
licence that I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Edward Newton,
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 "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINES FOR OPENING AND CLEANING COTTON OR OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES,"
being a communication to me from abroad, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Edward Newton, 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

page_text: 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 Edward Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawing here-
unto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say):
The machine, which forms the subject of the present Invention, consists
of a seed chamber combined with a leaf chamber under the slatted rack.
or other similar device arranged beneath and forward of the beater or
other working cylinder, which acts upon the cotton or other fibrous
substance as it passes between suitable feed rolls to open the cotton and
liberate the seed, leaf, and other refuse matter from the perfect fibre,
and force the former through the rack or racks into the seed and leaf
chambers below.
The Invention also consists in the use of a fender placed so as to
intervene between the seed rack and the throat, or beneath the seed rack
and in contact with the lower slat thereof, so as to prevent the seeds
(which have been forced through the seed rack or between the slats)
from being drawn back again by the strong current of air generated by
the draught fan, which draws the dust out of the machine.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 represents a longitudinal vertical
section of a machine for opening and cleaning cotton, constructed in
accordance with these improvements; Fig. 2 is a sectional plan of the
same taken on the line x, x, in Fig. 1.
In this machine the beater A or other working cylinder is constructed
and arranged in the usual manner, and rotates in bearings B at each end,
and may be driven by a belt as usual. Feed rollers a are also employed,
between which and the beater or other working cylinder the cotton is
opened. A rack c composed of triangular slats extends from the bottom
feed roll a downward in a circular groove to nearly under the centre of
the beater A. Nearly all the seeds and coarse heavy matter separated
from the perfect fibre of the cotton pass between the triangular slats c, c,
into the seed chamber C bencath with considerable force, and in so doing
they strike the fender D and fall into the space below, whereas if the
fender D were not used a large portion of the seed that passes through

page_text: the rack would be thrown forward into the throat E, and by the strong
draught of air generated by the draught fan would be drawn upward
through the spaces 1, 2, 3, 4, between the curve-topped slats through
the space or throat E, or directly back between the slats e, and be carried
out with the cotton. All the air forced into the seed chamber C may
pass readily upward between the fender D and the vertical partition F
over the edge of the inclined hinged bottom G through the perforated
or wire-clad cylinders I and J and dust trunks K to any place of deposit.
Certain of the curve-topped slats e are deeper than the others and extend
downward to the hinged or pivotted bottom &, and form compartments
or leaf chambers L, into which a large portion of the leaf and trashy
matter falls. This refuse matter may be removed by liberating the
bottom Gatf and allowing it to swing on the hinge or pivot g. The
refuse matter will thus fall into the compartment below. The cylinders
I and J may be made of thin metal, such as sheet zinc, and perforated
as at M, Fig. 2, or they may be covered with woven wire with meshes fine
enough to allow the dust and fine dirt to pass through, but to keep the
cotton on the outside. Openings h, Fig. 1, through the ends of the
cylinders I and J, provide for the easy passage of the air dust and fine.
dirt into the dust trunks K, from which it is removed by a proper
draught fan or other suitable device connected with the dust trunks at
any point thereof. The cotton passes between the cylinders I and J,
and may fall on the floor or be delivered to some other machine, there
to be formed into a lap or otherwise.
Having now described the Invention for opening and cleaning cotton
and other fibrous substances as communicated to me by my foreign
correspondent, and having explained the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent
as aforesaid,-
The general arrangement and construction of parts herein set forth,
or any mere modification thereof for effecting the desired object.
I claim particularly the use of the fender D arranged so as to
intervene between the seed rack and throat E for the purposes sct
forth.
And also forming the communication between the sced chamber C
and throat E, so as to allow the air to pass from the seed chamber
to the dust trunks K, so as to give vent to the seed chamber C and

page_text: prevent the seed from being sucked back again with the cotton, as set
forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Twenty-eighth day of May,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.s.)