IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING WOOL, COTTON, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS FOR SPINNING
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Tatham, of Rochdale, in the County of
Lancaster, Machine Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR PREPARING WOOL, COTTON, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
FOR SPINNING.”
Sealed the 5th August 1873, and dated the 27th May 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Tatham at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th May 1873.
I, JOHN TATHAM, of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster, Machine
Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING WOOL, COTTON, AND OTHER FIBROUS
MATERIALS FOR SPINNING," to be as follows:-
:-
My Invention refers firstly to those machines in which the material
is placed in a hopper, from which it is delivered to the machine which
is to operate upon it, and consists in a method of regulating the
quantity of the said material fed to the machine, so that it may be

page_text: delivered at a constant rate. For this purpose I use a hopper furnished
with spiked travelling surfaces, as now in use, but instead of causing
the material to be delivered on to a scale pan, which at intervals turns
over, I deposit it on rollers, one or both of which are mounted so as
to be capable of moving from or towards each other. These rollers
are driven by friction surfaces, conical pullies, or other such apparatus,
whereby their rotation may be altered in speed. When a thick quantity
of material is delivered to these rollers they move from each other and
their speed is decreased, and when a thinner quantity is presented they
rotate quicker, thereby equalizing the feed. The material may delivered
to an ordinary lattice or other usual apparatus. The parting of the
rollers or their approach to each other may communicate differential
motion to the spike travelling surface, separately or in conjunction
with that of the said rollers.
When a scale pan is employed, as in such machines as that patented
by Philip Charles Evans and Henry James Hogg King, dated 20th
January 1869, No. 184, I apply an inclined plate or board over the
feeding creeper, between which and a revolving roller the material
proceeding from the hopper and scale pan falls, and is thereby delivered
to the said creeper. Or I dispense with the said additional roller and
use in place thereof the ordinary feed rollers, to which the material
proceeds direct; or two separate rollers may be used, with or without
the inclined board; or I extend the creeper of the hopper so as to
dispense with the inclined board and make it take the place of the feed
creeper.
I apply a fixed bar in the hopper having projecting teeth situate
between the spikes of the roller or creeper to prevent the beater
from taking off the material in lumps, and use a rake, moving with a
reciprocating motion, to draw back the materials. In order to allow
the attendant to ascertain the amount of material in the hopper I
provide it with a glass side or sides.
In adapting the hopper and its framework I connect one roller of the
lattice thereto, whereby the whole becomes one machine; and I also
propose to place the hopper on the feed boards, with the scale pan
towards the feed rollers.
Another part of my Invention relates to Letters Patent which were
granted to me, dated March 21st 1871, No. 768. According to the

page_text: arrangement therein described the material at certain intervals was
tipped from the scale pan on to the lattice direct. I now propose to
cause such tipping to take place into any apparatus which at stated
intervals is caused by the action of the lattice or part moving in relation
thereto to deliver the material.
the 27th November 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
TATHAM, of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster, Machino Maker,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of May, One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-seventh year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said John Tatham, Her special license that
I, the said John Tatham, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said John Tatham, my executors, admini-
strators, 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 MACHINERY
FOR PREPARING WOOL, COTTON, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS FOR SPINNING,"
upon on the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Tatham,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly 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 Tatham, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and

page_text: Wing Stat
say :—
accompany
My Invention refers firstly to those machines in which the material
is placed in a hopper, from which it is delivered to the machinc, such
as the scutcher or carding engine which is to operato upon it, and
consist in a method of regulating the quantity of the said material fed
to the machine, so that it may be delivered at a required constant rate
or approximately so. For this purpose I use a hopper furnished with
a spiked travelling surface, as now in use, but instead of causing the
material to be delivered to a scale pan, which at intervals turns over, as
now practised, I deliver the said material upon rollers, one or both of
which are mounted so as to be capable of moving from a towards each
other, which separation or drawing together is caused by the thickness
of the mass of material passing between them; and the said bodily
motion of the roller or rollers operates to modify their rotatory speed,
and also to regulate the quantity of material delivered to them.
In the accompanying Drawings Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, represent one
arrangement by which my Invention may be carried out; Fig. 1 being
a side elevation of the apparatus; Fig. 2, a plan view; and Figs. 3
and 4, detached views, to be hereafter referred to.
The apparatus now to be described may be placed upon any suitable
frame adapted to a scutcher, scribler, carding engine, or other such
machine, and to which it is desired to feed the material.
At 1 is a metal frame, filled in with boards, so as to constitute the
hopper 2, into which the material to be operated upon is placed; the
bottom of the said hopper being formed by an endless travelling apron 3
passing over rollers 4, 4*. At 5 is a spiked roller, situate within the
hopper 2, and at 6 is a revolving brush, fan, or beater, which strips the
material from the said spiked roller and casts it into a shute 7 extending
downward. Beneath this shute are two rollers 8, 9, mounted on shafts
10, 11, the former being stationary as regards bodily movement, and
the other being mounted in bearings which are capable of sliding a
short distance. Upon the axes 10, 11, of the rollers 8, 9, are worm
wheels in gear with worms 12, 13, upon a short shaft 14, which carries
at one end a wheel 15 in gear with a worm 16 upon an upright shaft 17
provided with a conical pulley 18, over which a strap 19 passes, and
from thence over a concave conical pulley 20; the surfaces of these

page_text: two pulleys being so formed that the diameter of the one decreases as
the other increases. Upon the shaft 21 of the pulley 20 is a pulley 22,
which carries a strap 23 passing over a pulley 24 upon the axis 25 of the
rotatory brush, fan, or beater 6.
The roller 8 is provided with a pitched wheel, over which a chain,
shewn by the blue line, passes, and from thence over a pitched wheel
on the axis of the pulley 4; after this it passes around a pulley on the
axis of the spiked roller 5 over a tightening pulley 26, and from thence
back to the pitched wheel on the axis 10 of the roller 8. Upon the
axis 11 of the roller 9 is a slotted lever 27 turning upon a fixed centre 28
and having an arm 28*, the same arrangement being adapted to the
axis 11 on the other side of the apparatus. The arms 28* are situate
beneath a bar 29, to which they are connected loosely by projecting
pins, as seen at Fig. 4, which represents a view of the arms 28* and
bar 29, looking at the left hand end of Fig. 1. To the bar 29 is jointed
a link 30 (see Fig. 4) connected to a lever 31 turning upon a fixed
centre 32 and provided with a projecting part 32*, as seen particularly
at Fig. 5, which is a detached view of the said lever, and this projecting
part is jointed to a lever 33 turning upon a centre 34, its other end
being connected to a lever 35 mounted on a centre 36; one end of this
lever 35 is furnished with a fork 37 embracing the strap 19, and the
other end has a toothed quadrant 38 in gear with another 39 on one
end of the lever 40, turning upon a centre 42, the other end of the said
lever being provided with a fork 41, which embraces the strap 49.
Motive power is communicated to the shaft 21 by any convenient
means, not shewn in the Drawing, and through the medium of the
strap 19 to the conical pulley 18, which by means of the wheel 15,
worm 16, and worms 12, 13, imparts rotatory motion to the rollers 8, 9,
and the former of these by means of the chain, shewn by the blue line
and above referred to, causes the creeper 3 to perform its travelling
motion, while at the same time it imparts rotatory motion to the spiked
roller 5. The rotatory brush, fan, or beater 6 is also caused to revolve
by means of the strap 23. The material to be operated upon being
placed in the hopper falls upon the apron 3, by which it is conveyed
towards the spiked roller 5, which by revolving in the direction of the
arrow carries it upward and submits it to the action of the revolving
brush, fan, or beater, which removing it from the spikes casts it
downward and causes it to fall upon the rollers 8, 9, and they deliver

page_text: it to a travelling apron or other ordinary apparatus, which conveys it.
to the scutcher, scribbler, carding engine, or other such machine, in any
well known means.
According to the position of the parts shewn in the Drawing the
rollers 8, 9, are separated by the latter sliding, in consequence of a thick
stratum of material passing between them; as the said material
becomes thinner between them the weight of the arms 28* and parts
resting thereon will cause the roller 9 to approach that shewn at 8, thus
allowing the said arms 28* to turn upon their centres and permit the
bar 29 to fall, and this by carrying upward the projecting part 32*
of the lever 31 will cause the lever 33 to turn upon its centre 34. This
motion of the lever 33 will cause the lever 35 to turn upon its centre
and move the fork 37 so as to traverse the strap 19 downward upon a
smaller diameter of the conical pulley 18; at the same time the
quadrant 38 will by means of the quadrant 39 cause the lever 40 to
turn upon its centre, thus bringing the fork 41 to act upon the strap
19 so as to cause it to pass on to a larger diameter of the conical
pulley 20. The effect then is that the conical pulley 20 by driving from
an increased diameter on to a smaller diameter will increase the
speed of the shaft 17, and consequently the worms 12, 13, and rollers
8, 9, will revolve more quickly, while at the same time the spiked
roller being driven from the roller 8 will also revolve more rapidly and
deliver a greater quantity of material; in like manner when the
quantity of material is becoming too small the operation is reversed
by the strap being caused to slide in the opposite direction on the
conical pullies. Figs. 6 and 7 represent a modification of this part of
my Invention.
The hopper, as before, is at 2, with the travelling
creeper 3 at its bottom, and at 5 is the spiked roller, to which the
material is conveyed by the said creeper. At 6 is the stripping brush,
fan, or beater, for casting the material upon the rollers 8, 9, that shewn
at 8 being capable of a sliding motion.
Upon the axis of the stripping brush 6 is a disc 50, situate between
two other discs 51, 52, which are mounted upon a stud 53 carried by
a sliding piece, and that shewn at 51 being capable of sliding and being
pressed forward by a spring 54, so that the disc 50 becomes clipped,
being the surfaces of 51 and 52. At 55 is another disc situated between
51 and 52, and mounted on a stud carried by the framework. On the
boss of the disc 55 is a bevel pinion 56 taking into a wheel on an upright

page_text: shaft 57, which is provided at its lower end with a worm 58 in gear
with a wheel 59 upon the axes of the roller 9, the two rollers 8, 9, being
geared together.
On the roller 9 is a second toothed wheel 60 in gear with a carrier 61,
which by means of a wheel 62 drives the spiked roller 5. The rollers
of the creeper 3 are driven by a chain 63 (shewn by the blue line)
which receives motion from a pitched wheel on the axis of the roller 9.
Adapted to the axis of the sliding roller 8 is a link 64, the other end
of which is connected to a lever 65 turning upon a centre 66, its upper
end being connected to the axis of the carrier disc 51, 52. The
operation is as follows:- It being understood that the driving pulley
is adapted to the shaft of the brush 6, that being the case, rotatory
motion will be imparted by the disc 50 to the carrier discs 51, 52, and
from thence to the disc 55, which through the medium of the bevil
wheel 56 and worm 58 will cause the roller 9 to rotate, and will turn
with it the other roller 8, the spiked roller 5 being caused to revolve
by the gearing 60, 61, 62, thereby carrying upward from the hopper
the material which is drawn towards it by the creeper 3, and the said
material is then cast upon the rollers 8, 9, to be delivered to any
conveying apparatus, as before described, when an extra thickness of
material is delivered to the rollers; that shewn at 8 will necessarily
move outward, and in doing so will by its link 64 cause the lever 65
to turn upon its centre, thereby moving the carrier disc 51, 52, nearer
to the axis of the disc 50 and further from the axis of the disc 55, by
which means a smaller radius of the disc 50 will drive a larger radius
of the disc 55 and the speed of the shaft 51, and consequently rollers
8, 9, will be diminished, and as the spiked roller 5 is driven from the
said roller 9 that also will be caused to rotate more slowly; on the other
hand when a thinner stratum of material is delivered to the rollers 8, 9,
the one shewn at 8 will move inward and turn the lever 65, so as to
move the carrier disc 51, 52, towards the axis of that shewn at 55, and
the above mentioned conditions will be reversed; the shaft 57 and
consequently rollers 8, 9, and spiked roller 5, being caused to revolve
at a quicker rate.
.
In the two arrangements above specified there is shewn a vibrating
rake 67, the office of which is to equalize the material on the spiked
roller. Fig. 8 shews an arrangement by which the callendar rollers
of a scutcher or carding engine other such machine. man ha medo

page_text: to take the place of the rollers 8, 9, before mentioned, and the material
delivered direct to the said callender rollers. At 18, 20, are the two
cones, before mentioned, that shewn at 20 being the driver, and com-
municating motion through the shaft 68 to the lower of the callender
rollers 69, 70, by means of a worm 71 and worm wheel 72. This
shaft 68 also drives the axis 25 of the rotatory brush, fan, or beater,
and the axis of the spiked roller 5. Connected to the step of the
upper callender roller is a rod 73 extending downward and connected
at its lower end to the arm 28*, which is the same as that denoted by
the same letter of reference in Fig. 1; and at 29 is the cross bar, also
the same as that previously described. The material in this case being
stopped by the brush, fan, or beater, is cast down the shute 7 to the
callender rollers 69, 70, and is by them delivered to the machine in
the ordinary manner. When a thick quantity of material is delivered
to the rollers the upper one rises, and and though the rod 73 moves the
arm 28* and raises the bar 29, whereby the strap is shifted on the
conical pullies so as to decrease the speed of the rollers 69, 70, and
spike roller 5, as before explained; and in like manner their speed is
increased when the top roller falls, owing to a diminution in the thick-
ness of the material.
In reference to my Invention already described I do not limit myself
to the use of a conveying apparatus in the form of a spiked roller, as
other travelling appliances, such as a spiked creeper, might be used
within the hopper, as is well known; nor do I bind myself to the exact
arrangement of parts shewn and described, and particularly in reference
to the rollers 8, 9; the well known equivalents of a dish and roller may
be employed.
Another part of my Invention consists in a modification of an
arrangement described in the Specification of a Patent granted to me,
dated Twenty-first March, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
one, No. 768, and which arrangement I stated in the said Specification to
be an improvement upon an arrangement for which Letters Patent
were granted to Philip Charles Evans and Henry James Hogg King,
dated Twentieth January, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine,
No. 184.
According to my Invention aforesaid I employed a scale pan, as
then in common use, but instead of allowing it to tip over by the

page_text: weight of material accumulated within it I caused it to deliver the said
material at intervals, regulated by the space through which the "lattice"
had passed. This delivery of the material governed by the motion of
the lattice I still retain, but instead of dispensing with scale pan,
which turns over by accumulated weight, I retain that element, but
cause it by such turning over to deliver the material into a receptacle,
which is opened at intervals, governed by the motion of the lattice.
This part of my Invention is shewn at Fig. 9, in which a is the
lattice, passing over rollers, one of which is shewn at b, and the axis
of which roller is provided with a tappet c. Within range of this tappet
is an upright rod d, mounted in guides e, within which it can slide,
but prevented from moving downward beyond a certain distance by a
stop. The upper end of this rod is jointed to a weighted lever f fast
upon an axis g, which also carries one side h of a conical trough i.
At k is the scale pan, which turns over by its accumulated weight, as
described by the said Philip Charles Evans and Henry James Hogg
King, and when such turning over takes place it deposits the material
in the trough i; but when according to the motion of the lattice
roller 6 the tappet o arrives in contact with the rod d the axis g is
turned and the side h opened, thus allowing the material to fall upon
the lattice; after which the continued motion of the tappet c allows the
rod d to fall and permit the weighted lever f to close the side h.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I
desire it to be understood that in reference to the first part of my
Invention I do not retain the use of the hopper arrangement described,
or the moveable roller or rollers for regulating the feed, when those
parts are taken separately; but I do claim, as secured to me under the
above in part recited Letters Patent, and for the purposes above set
forth,-
Firstly. The use of a hopper with a travelling conveying surface
therein, as illustrated by the spiked roller 5, in conjunction with a
roller or rollers, or their equivalents, which by moving bodily according
to the thickness of material passing through them regulate their own
speed and that of the delivery from the hopper.
Secondl T
L
Th
1

page_text: governed in its delivery of the material by the motion of the "lattice
or part connected therewith."
In witness whereof, I, the said John Tatham, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-sixth day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.
JOHN TATHAM. (L.S.)