IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR HECKLING HEMP, FLAX, AND OTHER SIMILAR FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of
** IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR HECKLING HEMP, FLAX, AND OTHER
SIMILAR FIBROUS SUBSTANCES."-A communication from abroad by
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 17th September 1873. >
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the
County of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR HECKLING HEMP, FLAX, AND
OTHER SIMILAR FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," a communication to me from abroad
by John Rinek, of Easton, Pennsylvania, United States of America, to
be as follows :—
This Invention consists of a peculiar combination of mechanism
for drawing out and straightening the fibres of hemp, flax, and the

page_text: like, and for forming the same into a sliver suitable for spinning, the
mechanism being especially applicable to the preparation of fibres for
rope making.
Between the side frames of the machine is hung a large drawing
cylinder armed with advancing and retreating teeth as will be fully
described hereafter. The shaft of this cylinder drives a train of wheels,
and thus transmits motion to a drawing cylinder smaller than the first
cylinder and to geared feed rolls arranged at a point adjacent to the
smaller cylinder, and at the end of a trough through which the crude
material is fed to the machine.
The surface of the larger cylinder is composed of a number of narrow
wooden slats,. secured at their opposite ends to the flanged plates
which form the ends of the cylinder, the said slats being separated from
cach other sufficiently to form parallel slots at equal distances apart,
through which extend rows of heckling teeth, there being one row of
teeth for each slot.
Each row of teeth is secured to a bar contained within the cylinder,
and guided at its opposite ends by oblique slots formed in the ends of
the said cylinder, the extreme outer ends of each bar being also adapted
to cam like grooves formed in fixed plates secured to the side frames,
so that as the cylinder revolves the bars shall in following the course
of the cam grooves be caused to slide to and fro in their guiding
slots which will cause the rows of teeth to project from between
the slats of the cylinder during a portion of the revolution of the
same, and to be retracted during the remaining portion of such
revolution.
The rows of teeth do not radiate from the centre of the cylinder
shaft, but are inclined forward in the direction of the rotation of the
cylinder to an extent coinciding with the obliquity of the guiding
slots.
The smaller cylinder before referred to is arranged as close as possible
to the larger cylinder and is similar to the latter, being composed of
slats and end plates, and having advancing and retracting teeth con-
trolled by fixed cam grooves in plates secured to the frame of the machine.
The teeth however are somewhat shorter, and in the present instance
further apart than the teeth of the larger cylinder, and they radiate from

page_text: the centre of the cylinder shaft instead of being arranged obliquely as
on the larger cylinder.
The cam groves of the plates are so arranged that as the smaller
cylinder rotates its teeth shall be drawn back in passing the pro-
jecting teeth of the larger cylinder and shall be projected and held out-.
ward during the remaining portion of the revolution of the cylinder,
so as to seize and draw the crude material from between the feed
rollers.
A single head carrying two sets of drawing rollers is secured to the
top of the frame of the machine adjacent to the larger cylinder, and to
the said head are also secured two funnel shaped conductors, the first
occupying a portion of the space between the cylinder and the first set
of rollers, and the second being arranged between the two sets of rollers.
Both of these conductors are made adjustable upon the head.
The second conductor is of less capacity than and forms a continuation
of the first and serves to reduce the width and thickness of the sliver
which is considerably reduced in the first instance in passing through
the first conductor from the larger cylinder to the first set of drawing
rolls.
The hemp, flax, or other crude fibrous material to be treated, for the
purpose of straightening out the fibres and reducing the whole to a
uniform sliver suitable for rope making or other purposes is introduced
to the machine through the trough, is passed between the feed rolls,
thence beneath the smaller cylinder, then over the larger cylinder, and
finally through the conductors and between the two sets of drawing
rolls.
The whole of the cylinders and rolls rotate at a certain determined and
positive speed, the feed rolls first drawing the material into the machine,
the smaller toothed cylinder receiving it from between the said rolls
and carrying it around to the larger cylinder, the latter drawing it from
the smaller cylinder and the two sets of rolls finally drawing it from the
said larger cylinder.
The teeth of the smaller cylinder seize the fibrous material as it is
delivered from the feed rolls, and by carrying and slightly drawing the
same serve to partially straighten the fibres. They also serve to retain
the material upon the cylinder in carrying it around to the larger

page_text: cylinder, but before reaching the latter the said teeth are retracted so
that the material may be released and at once seized by the teeth of the
larger cylinder and carried over on to the latter without risk of carrying
the fibre around the smaller cylinder, or of breaking or tangling the said
fibres, which would be apt to be the case if both sets of teeth moving
at different rates of speed were acting upon the same portion of the
material simultaneously.
The teeth of the larger cylinder owing to the manner in which they are
inclined enter the material gradually, or in other words pierce the same,
so as to obtain at once a firm hold and draw it away from the smaller
cylinder, whereas if they were arranged radially they would strike the
material with their sides instead of with their points, and would there-
fore have a tendency to push the material away from the cylinder
instead of at once taking hold of the same. As the surface of the
larger cylinder moves at a greater speed than that of the smaller ]
cylinder the fibres will be still further drawn out and straightened in
being carried over the same, and the straightening process is com-
pleted by the first set of drawing rolls which drag the material from
the larger cylinder, the teeth of the latter being retracted at a point
opposite the said rolls, as before described, so as to offer no undue 2
resistance to this final drawing operation.
The first set of rolls and conductor form the material into a flat sliver
which is further reduced in both width and thickness by passing through
the second conductor and between the second set of rolls.
The surfaces of the two sets of rolls move at the same speed so 2
that there is no further drawing in the conductor between the same,
the said second set of rollers being merely intended to act as condensers
for the sliver.
From the machine the sliver is conducted into and coiled within the
usual cans to be afterwards spun into strands or yarn for rope making or 3

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 14th March 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of September, in the year of.
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
37th year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license
that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors,
administrators, or 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 HECKLING HEMP, FLAX, AND OTHER SIMILAR FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," a com-
munication to me from abroad by John Rinek, of Easton, Pennsylvania,
United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said John Henry Johnson, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 John Henry Johnson, 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 accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to
say:-
Between the side frames of the machine is hung a large drawing
cylinder armed with advancing and retreating teeth as will be fully
.

page_text: and thus transmits motion to a drawing cylinder smaller than the first
cylinder and to geared feed rolls arranged at a point adjacent to the
smaller cylinder, and at the end of a trough through which the crude
material is fed to the machine.
The surface of the larger cylinder is composed of a number of narrow
wooden slats, secured at their opposite ends to the flanged plates
which form the ends of the cylinder, the said slats being separated from
each other sufficiently to form parallel slots at equal distances apart,
through which extend rows of hackling teeth, there being one row of
teeth for each slot.
Each row of teeth is secured to a bar contained within the cylinder,
and guided at its opposite ends by oblique slots formed in the ends of
the said cylinder, the extreme outer ends of each bar being also adapted
to cam like grooves formed in fixed plates secured to the side frames,
so that as the cylinder revolves the bars shall in following the course
of the cam grooves be caused to slide to and fro in their guiding
slots which will cause the rows of teeth to project from between
the slats of the cylinder during a portion of the revolution of the
same, and to be retracted during the remaining portion of such
revolution.
A single head carrying two sets of drawing rollers is secured to the
top of the frame of the machine adjacent to the larger cylinder, and to
the said head are also secured two funnel shaped conductors, the first
occupying a portion of the space between the cylinder and the first set
of rollers, and the second being arranged between the two sets of rollers.
Both of these conductors are made adjustable upon the head.
The second conductor is of less capacity than and forms a continuation
of the first and serves to reduce the width and thickness of the sliver
which is considerably reduced in the first instance in passing through
the first conductor from the larger cylinder to the first set of drawing
rolls.
The hemp, flax, or other crude fibrous material to be treated for the
purpose of straightening out the fibres and reducing the whole to a
uniform sliver suitable for rope making is introduced to the machine
through the trough, is passed between the feed rolls, thence beneath the
smaller cylinder, then over the larger cylinder, and finally through the
conductors and between the two sets of drawing rolls.

page_text: From the machine the sliver is conducted into and coiled within the
usual cans to be afterward spun into strands or yarn for rope making
or other purposes.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that
purpose shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of
Drawings, the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts
in all the Figures:-
Figure 1 on the Drawing represents a vertical section of my improved
drawing or hackling machine; Figure 2, a transverse section on the
line 1, 2, Figure 1; and Figure 3, a plan view of one end of the machine.
+
A and A¹ represent the opposite side frames of the machine secured
together by cross pieces B, and in bearings a, a, on the said side frames
runs the main driving shaft D furnished at one end with a driving
pulley, and with a pulley 6¹ hereafter referred to, and at its opposite
end with a cog wheel c which gears into a larger cog wheel d on a
shaft E to which between the side frames is hung a large drawing
cylinder G armed with advancing and retreating teeth as will be fully
described hereafter. The shaft E is also provided with a smaller cog
wheel d¹ which drives a train of wheels e, e¹, e³; and e³, and thus
transmits motion to a drawing cylinder F smaller than the cylinder G,
and to geared feed rolls f and f¹ arranged at a point adjacent to the
cylinder F, and at the end of a trough ÿ through which the crude.
material is fed to the machine.
The surface of the cylinder G is composed of a number of narrow
wooden slats / secured at their opposite ends to the flanged plates i
which form the ends of the cylinder, the said slats being separated from
each other sufficiently to form parallel slots ; at equal distances apart
through which extend the rows of hackling teeth / (see Figure 1), there
being one row of teeth for each slot.
Each row of teeth is secured to a bar H contained within the cylinder
and guided at its opposite ends by oblique slots m formed in the ends i, i,
of the said cylinder, the extreme outer ends of each bar being also
adapted to cam like groves n formed in fixed plates I, I, secured to the
side frames so that as the cylinder revolves the bars shall in following
the course of the cam grooves be caused to slide to and fro in their
guiding slots m which will cause the rows of teeth k to project from

page_text: between the slats of the cylinder during a portion of the revolution of
the same, and to be retracted during the remaining portion of such revo-
lution, see Figures 1 and 2.
The cam grooves are so arranged in the present instance that as the
cylinder revolves in the direction of its arrow the teeth shall project
from the surface of the same from the point x to the point y, and be
retracted at the latter point to again emerge at x (see Figure 1).
1
The rows of teeth k do not radiate from the centre of the cylinder
shaft E, but are inclined forward in the direction of the rotation of the
cylinder to an extent coinciding with the obliquity of the guiding slots m
(see Figure 1).
The cylinder F before referred to is secured to the same shaft J to
which the gear wheel e³ from which it derives its motion is attached.
It is arranged as close as possible to the larger cylinder G and is similar
to the latter, being composed of slats and end plates, and having ad-
vancing and retracting teeth p controlled by fixed cam grooves in plates
k, k, secured to the frame of the machine. The teeth p however are
somewhat shorter, and in the present instance further apart than the
teeth k and they radiate from the centre of the cylinder shaft J instead
of being arranged obliquely as on the cylinder G.
The cam groves of the plates k, k, are so arranged that as the cylinder
Frotates in the direction of its arrow its teeth p shall be drawn back
from the point to the point in passing the projecting teeth of the
cylinder G, and shall be projected and held outward during the remaining
portion of the revolution of the cylinder so as to seize and draw the
crude material from between the feed rollers ƒ and ƒ¹.
The grooved guiding plates I, I, at either side of the cylinder G are
connected together at the top and thus prevented from yielding to the
strains to which they are subjected by a brace L, Figure 2, extending
over the top of the cylinder and secured to the said plates by rods q, q,
projecting upward from the same. The guiding plates K, K, of the
cylinder F might also be braced in the same manner.
A single head M carrying two sets of drawing rollers 7, ¹, and s, s¹,
secured to the top of the frame of the machine adjacent to the
cylinder G, and to the said head are also secured two funnel shaped
cunductors t and u, the former occupying a portion of the space between

page_text: the cylinder G and the rollers r, r¹, and the latter being arranged
between the two sets of rollers. Both of these conductors are made
adjustable upon the head in the manner which will be readily under-
stood on reference to Figure 1, and the conductor u is of less capacity
than and forms a continuation of the conductor t, and serves to reduce
the width and thickness of the sliver which is considerably reduced in
the first instance in passing through the conductor t from the cylinder G
to the first set of drawing rolls (see Figure 3).
The rolls of each set have moveable bearings and can be adjusted
toward and from each other by means of screws v, and they are geared
together by toothed wheels, as shewn at v¹, Figure 3, and all receive their
motion from a pulley 6' on the driving shaft connected to pulleys 6², 6³,
and on the spindles of the lower rolls by belts w and w¹.
The rolls r, r³, are longer and of larger diameter than the rolls 8, 8¹,
and are fluted or corrugated, as best observed in Figure 1, and the upper
rolls of the second set is overlapped by flanges of the lower roll (see
Figure 3).
In this machine all the pulleys and belts are arranged at one side A
of the machine, and all the cog gearing at the other side A¹. 'This
enables the parts to be economically disposed and access to be readily
obtained to the cog wheels when it becomes necessary to change them
for the purpose of altering the relative rates of speed of the several
cylinders and rolls.
The hemp, flax, or other crude fibrous material to be treated for the
purpose of straightening out the fibres and reducing the whole to a
uniform sliver suitable for rope making, &c., is introduced to the machine
through the trough g, is passed between the feed rolls f and f¹, thence
beneath the cylinder F, then over the cylinder G, and finally through
the conductors t and u, and between the two sets of drawing rolls r, r,
and 8, 8¹.
The whole of the cylinders and rolls rotate at a certain determined
and positive speed, the feed rolls and f¹ first drawing the material
into the machine, the toothed cylinder F receiving it from between the
said rolls and carrying it around to the cylinder G, the latter drawing it
from the cylinder F and the two sets of rolls 1º, r¹, and 8, §¹, finally
drawing it from the said cylinder G.

page_text: The teeth p of the cylinder F seize the fibrous material as it is
delivered from the feed rolls, and by carrying and slightly drawing the
same serve to partially straighten the fibers. They also serve to retain
the material upon the cylinder in carrying it around to the cylinder G,
but before reaching the latter the said teeth are retracted, as shewn in
Figure 1, so that the material may be released and at once seized by the
teeth of the cylinder G and carried over on to the latter without risk
of carrying the fibre around the cylinder F, or of breaking or tangling
the said fibres which would be apt to be the case if both sets of teeth
moving at different rates of speed were acting upon the same portion of
the material simultaneously.
The teeth % of the cylinder G owing to the manner in which they are
inclined enter the material gradually, or in other words pierce the same
so as to obtain at once a firm hold and draw it away from the cylinder
F, whereas if they were arranged radially they would strike the material
with their sides instead of with their points, and would therefore have
a tendency to push the material away from the cylinder instead of at
once taking hold of the same. As the surface of the cylinder G moves at
a greater speed than that of the cylinder F, the fibres will be still further
drawn out and straightened in being carried over the same, and the
straightening process is completed by the drawing rolls and ¹ which
drag the material from the cylinder G, the teeth % of the latter being
retracted at a point opposite the said rolls, as before described, so as to
offer no undue resistance to this final drawing operation.
The rolls and ³ and conductor t form the material into a flat sliver
which is further reduced in both width and thickness by passing through
the conductor u and between the rolls 8, 8¹.
The surfaces of the two sets of rolls move at the same speed, so that
there is no further drawing in the conductor u between the same, the
· said rollers 8, 8¹, being merely intended to act as condensers for the
sliver. From the machine the sliver is conducted into and coiled within
the usual cans to be afterward spun into strands or yarn for rope
making, &c.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used
or carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I
consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention

page_text: secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,
the combination of a revolving cylinder having radial advancing and
retracting teeth, with another or second revolving cylinder having
oblique advancing and retracting teeth, the latter operating in respect
to the teeth of the first cylinder and to the drawing rolls, in a drawing
or hackling machine, substantially as and for the purpose herein-before
described.
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,
the combination of a revolving cylinder having radial advancing and
retracting teeth, with another or second revolving cylinder having
oblique advancing and retracting teeth, the latter operating in respect
to the teeth of the first cylinder and to the drawing rolls, in a drawing
or hackling machine, substantially as and for the purpose herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to this
my Specification set my hand and seal, the Thirteenth day of
March, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.