AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR OPENING AND CLEANING COTTON, APPLICABLE ALSO FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Tasker, of "The West Riding Patent
Offices," Halifax and Bradford, in the County of York, Consulting
Engineer and Patent Agent, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
MACHINE FOR OPENING AND CLEANING COTTON, APPLICABLE ALSO FOR OTHER
PURPOSES." A communication from abroad by Samuel Fay, of
Lowel, Massachusetts, in the United States of America.
Sealed the 28th July 1868, and dated the 29th January 1868.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Tasker at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 29th January 1868, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
TASKER, of "The West Riding Patent Offices," Halifax and Bradford,
in the County of York, Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent, send
greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "AN IMPROVED
MACHINE FOR OPENING AND CLEANING COTTON, APPLICABLE ALSO FOR OTHER
PURPOSES," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my

page_text: executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for
the same, and have made solemn Declaration that it has been com-
municated to me from abroad by Samuel Fay, of Lowel, Massachusetts,
in the United States of America.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Tasker, do hereby declare
that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and seal, fully
describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following statement
(that is to say) a
This Invention is designed to furnish an improved machine for
opening and cleaning cotton and other fibrous substances in a thorough
manner without injury to the fibre or rolling or curling it, as is the
case when opened by ordinary means, and which shall be equally
applicable to other uses, and it consists in the combination of two
beaters arranged the one within the other, and revolved with the same
or different velocities in the same or opposite directions, as herein-after
more fully described and illustrated by Drawings.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 is a plan or top view of this improved machine, partly in
section through the line a, a, Fig. 2; Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section
of the same taken through the line y, y, Fig. 1. Similar letters of
reference indicate like parts.
A is the frame of the machine, in which are formed the bearings B
of the shafts C and D; E and F are pulleys attached to the shafts
C and D for the reception of the belts, by means of which motion is
communicated to the machine. To the end of the shaft C is attached
a disc G, from the face of which projects a series of wings or arms H.
When the disc G is made about eighteen inches in diameter, the
wings H should be about six inches long. The wings or beaters H
may be made in the forms shown in Figs. 1 and 2, or they may be
made wider or narrower according to the work to be done.
of the wings H may also be varied as desired. To the end of the
shaft D is attached a disc I, in such a position as to be parallel with and
close to the disc G. The disc I may or should be about twenty-nine
inches in diameter. From the part of the disc I extending beyond the
disc G project arms or beaters J of about the same length as the
wings H as shewn in Fig. 1. Any desired number of arms J may be
The number

page_text: employed according to the character of the work to be done. If desired
the wings H may be attached to the outer or larger disc; K is a
cover which may be placed over the operating part of the machine
when desired, and which should have an opening formed through it
for the admission of the cotton or other substance to be operated upon.
The material may be fed to the machine through trunks, or it may
be placed by hand upon an apron or fed from a table L, as shewn in
Fig. 1; M is a screen placed beneath the beaters through which the
dirt escapes, and the cotton or other substance passes out through the
spout N, or any other desired arrangement may be made for separating
the dirt.
It should be observed that the dimensions herein given are merely
suggested, and that the relative dimensions of the parts may be varied
indefinitely without departing from this Invention.
This machine has been described as applied to opening and cleaning
cotton and other fibrous substances, but it is equally applicable to
various other uses, such as threshing and cleaning grain.
Having thus fully described the nature of the said Invention, and
shewn the manner in which the same is to be or may be performed, I
would have it understood that I do not confine myself to the precise
details of construction, combination, or arrangement, as herein set forth;
but what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,
the combination of the beaters G, H, and I, J, arranged the one
within the other, and revolved with the same or different velocities, and
in the same or opposite directions, substantially as herein shewn and
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Tasker, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of January One thousand
eight hundred and sixte sight
Witness,
ARTHUR B. CROSSLEY,
Clerk to W. Tasker,
Halifax & Bradford.
W. TASKER. (L.S.)