Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Nov., 1886.
Complete Left, 6th Aug., 1887.
Complete Accepted, 9th Sept., 1887.
I JOSEPH STANDRING DRONSFIELD, of the Atlas Works, Park Street, Oldham,
in the County of Lancaster, machine maker, do hereby declare the nature of this
Invention to be as follows:-
:―
My Invention relates to the grinding of the flats used in carding engines and more
particularly to the flats which are connected together so as to form an endless chain
in accordance with modern practice. Upon the ends of the bars of such flats are cut
faces which slide upon the bends of the carding engines and which keep the carding
faces of the flats in their working positions relative to the main cylinder surface
as is well understood. In my improved apparatus two sliding carriages to carry
by preference three or more flats are cut with faces which bear such a relation to the
aforesaid faces which are cut upon the flat bar ends as that when the flat is secured
to such carriages with the said faces on the flat and the carriages in contact the
carding surface of the flat is caused to be parallel with the line of sliding movement
of the carriages. I consider that three flats can be conveniently ground at one time
but I do not confine myself to this number. The two carriages are mounted to slide
in or upon planed ways formed with vee slide guides or suitably shaped and the two
carriages are acted upon by parts which cause the two carriages to have a concerted
action of movement so that they act as if they formed parts of one carriage, and pass
each flat to and fro over the axis of a revolving grinding roller or the two carriages
may be permanently attached. For imparting movement to the carriages 1 employ
a revolving shaft provided with two face plate cranks or with suitable cranks
or excentrics and I connect each carriage by means of a link with one of the crank
pins. I connect this shaft with the first driving shaft by means of a vertical shaft
and of bevel and worm and wheel gearing so as to obtain a steady movement of the
carriages but I do not confine myself to this method of driving the said crank shaft.
The ways upon which the carriages slide are each hinged by one end to the framing
and by the other end to a link which is acted upon by an excentric or by a crank
fixed or formed upon a horizontal adjusting shaft. This shaft is acted upon by means
of a worm and quadrant or wheel as in the ordinary and now well known Dronsfield
card roller grinder but I employ an improved adjusting arrangement. A pinion
upon the worm shaft gears with a spur wheel which revolves upon a stud and

page_text: is formed with an annular undercut groove in which an adjustable stop is fitted
to slide and is provided with a screw and wing or suitable nut whereby the said stop
can be fixed in any required part of the annular groove. The stud upon which
the said wheel revolves provided with a fixed stop or finger. The adjustable stop
being fixed so as to come against the fixed stop when a flat or set of three flats
is sufficiently ground a great number of flats may be subsequently ground to the
same extent by turning the hand wheel until the two stops are in contact. To secure
the flats to the carriages I prefer to employ dogs or clamps which are mounted
to slide in straight lines to and from the flat when the same is in position. When
moved into position to project over the flat ends the dogs are tightened by means of
wing nuts or of nuts formed with handles or suitably shaped. When moved back
they are kept up by means of springs or by their own gravity or each dog is formed
with an incline which bears upon a shoulder upon the screw bolt as the dog is pushed
back.
L 11. El 1
זג
1000
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James Square, Manchester,
Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machinery for Grinding Carding Engine Flats.
I, JOSEPH STANDRING DRONSFIELD of the Atlas Works, Park Street, Oldham in
the County of Lancaster Machine Maker, do hereby declare the nature of this
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement and accompanying
drawings:-
My Invention relates to the grinding of the flats used in carding engines and more
particularly to the flats which are connected together so as to form an endless chain
in accordance with modern practice. Upon the ends of the bars of such flats are cut
faces which slide upon the bends of the carding engines and which keep the carding
faces of the flats in their working positions relative to the main cylinder surface as
is well understood. In my improved apparatus two sliding carriages to carry by
preference three or more flats are provided with faces which bear such a relation to
the aforesaid faces which are cut upon the flat bar ends as that when the flat is secured
to such carriages with the said faces on the flat and the carriages in contact the
carding surface of the flat is caused to be parallel with the line of sliding movement
of the carriages. The two carriages have a concerted action of movement so that
they act as if they formed parts of one carriage and pass each flat to and fro over the
axis of a revolving grinding roller or the two carriages may be permanently attached.
The parts upon which the carriages slide are each hinged by one end to the framing
and by the other end to a link which is acted upon by an excentric or by a crank
fixed or formed upon a horizontal adjusting shaft. An adjustable stop is employed to
govern the action of the apparatus,

page_text: My Invention will be best understood when described with reference to the
accompanying drawings which represent so much of the complete machine as is
necessary to the proper illustration of my invention. In the said drawings Fig. 1
represents a Vertical Cross Section of the machine. Fig. 2 represents a Front
Elevation of parts of the machine and Fig. 3 represents an upper end view of the
same parts. In the said Figs. a is the grinding roller, b. b. are two sliding carriages
carrying three flats c. c. c. which are supposed to be in process of being ground.
Each carriage is prepared to slide in a vee way which is formed in a supporting guide
bar d and the planed slides in the two guide bars are arranged to be parallel with
each other. Each carriage is connected by means of a link e with a crank pin f
which is fixed upon a crank plate g there being one such crank plate fixed upon each
end of a shaft h which extends from end to end of the machine and is mounted to
revolve in bearings. Upon the said shaft is fixed a worm wheel i seen only in
Fig. 1 and with this wheel gears a worm j which is fixed upon a shaft k which is
mounted to revolve in bearings. Upon the lower end of the last named shaft is fixed
a second worm wheel with which gears a worm which is fixed upon a shaft m.
The said shaft m is the first motion shaft which receives motion from the mill shafting
and which drives the grinder a by means of a pulley and belt n as in the cases of
ordinary roller grinding machines. It will be seen that as the grinder revolves
rapidly the two carriages will be slowly traversed to and fro at an equal speed so
that the flats are passed to and fro over the top of the grinder. Upon each carriage
fixed a bed o which is specially prepared to receive the flat bars. A side view of
one of these beds appears at Fig. 4. It will be seen that the bed is formed with
three recesses having inclined bottoms. In practice I make the inclination of the
bottoms of these recesses to correspond with the faces which are formed upon the
flat bars and are prepared to slide upon the flexible bends or curved guides of
the carding engine as aforesaid. When the bars are placed with their ends resting
within the said recesses the bars sit snugly upon the carriages and the carding
surfaces are all brought into a straight line which is parallel with the line of traverse
of the carriages. It will be readily understood that the bed o may be formed in one
piece with the carriage if preferred. Each flat is clamped down upon its seatings in
the beds o. o
by means of two dogs which are screwed down so as to hold the flat
firmly. Any suitable clamp may be used for the purpose but I prefer to use a sliding
dog p which appears in Figs. 2 and 3. and is separately illustrated by Fig. 5. The
said dog is formed with a foot which slides in a cross groove which is formed in the
guide bar so that the dog can be slid in a straight line, toward and from the flat.
This prevents the twisting or turning of the dog out of the straight line and saves
much time in the adjustment of the dogs. The flat end is clamped down by turning
a nut p¹. The rear end of the dog is made heavy and the foot whereby the dog rests
upon the carriage is situated near to the screw. The effect of this is that when the
screw nut is slackened the clamping end of the dog rises away from the flat by the
gravity of its heavier end so that the dogs have not to be lifted when a fresh Hat is
introduced or otherwise the lifting of the clamp is obtained without the use of a
spring. When a bar is to be removed the two nuts are slackened and the dogs are
slid back right and left. The flat can then be lifted out and a fresh flat put in its
place the dogs being then slid back and tightened, these operations being rapidly
effected. Each guide bar is hinged at q to a fixture and is jointed by the other
end to an excentric links which is mounted upon an excentric t which is fixed upon
a rocking shaft u. This shaft is acted upon by means of a worm and quadrant or
wheel as in the ordinary and now well known Dronsfield card roller grinder, but to
the old parts I add means for regulating the action of the machine. In Fig. 2 the
rocking shaft u is broken in order that the actuating parts which are in the centre of
the length of the machine may appear. The ordinary worm shaft appears at v and
the worm quadrant at v. Upon the shaft v I fix a spur pinion w which gears with a
spur wheel which is mounted to revolve upon a fixed stud which carries a stationary
stop finger y. In the body of the wheel is turned an annular undercut
which an adjustable stop is fitted to slide. This stop can be moved into any
groove in

page_text: required position around the centre of the wheel and be fixed by means of a winged
nut or by suitable means. This apparatus is used in manner as follows:-When the
first three flats of a series of corresponding flats have been fixed to the carriages and
the apparatus been set in motion the flats will be moved to and fro. The hand wheel
on the shaft vis now turned in the direction which will cause the ends r of the two
guide bars d to be drawn downward until the card surfaces of the flats come into
contact with the grinding roller as the flats move to and fro. The carriages bare
thus lowered gradually or at intervals until the operator considers that the flats have
been sufficiently ground. He then moves the stop into contact with the finger y
and firmly fixes the said stop in position. He then turns back the hand wheel so as
to raise the carriages and flats and the latter are removed. In the grinding of
successive flats the shaft is turned until the stop comes into contact with the
finger y when the operator will know that the flats have been ground to the same
extent as the preceding flats. By these means uniformity of result throughout a series
of flats is readily obtained. I do not confine myself to the worm and worm wheel
gearing for imparting motion to the shaft although I consider 'such gearing to be
very suitable as it ensures a steady motion of the carriages without jerking or vibration.
The details of other parts of the apparatus may be modified so long as the most
important features are retained such for example as the two carriages or a carriage
carrying the flats and sliding in guides which are adjusted by the rocking shaft which
acts simultaneously and uniformly upon the two guides, which sustain the carriages.
The machine might be modified to grind a single flat or any suitable number other
than three.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said Invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is
--
(1) The combination of parts constituting the apparatus substantially as and for
the purpose set forth and indicated hereinbefore and in and by the accompanying
drawings.
(2) In a machine for grinding card flats two sliding and reciprocating carriages
adapted to carry a flat or two or more flats and sliding in hinged guides which are
jointed to the links of excentrics which are fixed upon a common shaft which can be
turned by the operator substantially as set forth and indicated.
(3) In a machine for grinding card flats two sliding carriages adapted according to
the indication in Fig. 4 to receive a flat or two or more flats and connected by links
with two cranks which are upon a common shaft in combination with a grinding
roller and with means for simultaneously and uniformly moving the guides in which
the said carriages travel nearer to or further from the grinder by the turning of a
shaft which acts upon such guides simultaneously substantially as set forth and
indicated.
(4) In a machine for grinding card flats the pinion w the wheel x formed with an
annular groove and the stops y and z substantially as and for the purpose set forth
and indicated.
(5) As means for holding card flats during the grinding operation the sliding
dogs p. formed and operated with substantially as set forth and indicated.
Dated thin 5th day of dunnat 1987
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James Square, Manchester,
Agents.