IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR PICKING OR GATHERING COTTON
Year: 1862

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 "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR PICKING OR GATHERING COTTON."
-A communication from abroad by John Jordan Eckel, of New York
City, United States of America.
Sealed the 11th November 1862, and dated the 30th June 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 30th June 1862.
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 "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR PICKING OR GATHERING COTTON,"
to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to pick or gather the cotton wool from the
plant on which it is grown, by mechanical means, instead of by the fingers of
a labourer. The apparatus consists of a pair of endless belts which are con-
tained or enclosed in a case, and are passed round rollers so arranged that one

page_text: end, that is, the front end of the apparatus, the belts are brought nearly in
contact, whereas at the other end they are made to diverge from each other.
This arrangement will leave a shallow wedge-formed space between the belts.
This space is embossed at the side so as to prevent the cotton from escaping
laterally, the belts are also supported from behind by boards or plates which
will prevent them from being forced out of their places by the pressure of the
cotton as it passes through the machine. The axles of two of the rollers
which carry the belts are geared together by wheels of the same diameter, so
that upon communicating motion to one or other of them both the belts may
be driven sumultaneously in the same direction. The machine or apparatus is
used in the following manner :-The front rollers are placed in contact with
the cotton pod, and upon actuating the rollers by means of the winch handle,
the belts will run off the cotton and carry it back and discharge it at the
other end. In order to prevent the cotton from getting round the axles of the
front rollers, protecting lips are adapted thereto, and the hinder rollers are
provided with guard plates or wipers to prevent the cotton_from lapping round
them.
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 30th December 1862.
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 June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of Her reign.
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said William Edward
Newton, my executors, administrators, 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 "IN-

page_text: PROVED APPARATUS FOR PICKING OR GATHERING COTTON," being a communication
from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Edward Newton, 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 imme-
diately 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 Drawings hereunto annexed,.
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
ત
"The object of this Invention of "Improved Apparatus for Picking or
Gathering Cottou" is to obtain a simple and portable implement, which
may be employed for expeditiously picking or harvesting cotton by manual
labor. The Invention consists in the employment or use of two endless belts
placed within a suitable case and arranged as herein-after described, to effect
the desired result.
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of
the implement or apparatus taken in the line x, x of Fig. 2, which is a trans-
verse vertical section of the same taken in the line y, y of Fig. 1.
A represents a case which may be of wood or metal, the latter would
probably be preferable. This case is of taper form at its front part, as shown
at a, and is curved at its back part, as shown at b, so as to project down at
right angles to a. Within the case A there are placed two endless belts B
and C, which may be of leather or other suitable material, one being directly
over the other, and passing around rollers c, as shown in Fig. 1. The upper
belt B is rather larger than the lower one C, and the front part of B projects
in front of C and downwards, so that where it passes underneath its front
roller c, it will be about in line with C at a corresponding point on the latter,
as seen in Fig. 1. The belts B, C, are not parallel with each other, but have
an oblique position, their front parts being in contact just over the front
roller c of the lower belt C, as shown at d, and a space e allowed between the
belts which gradually increases in width from d. to the back parts of the belts.
The front end of the case at its under side is open, as shewn at f, so as to
expose the front parts of the two belts directly underneath the two front rollers.
c, c, as shown in Fig. 1: Within the case A there are placed two partitions
gig, which have an oblique position relatively with each other, and are placed

page_text: within the belts B, C, so as to serve as supports for the inner parts of the
belts, and to the inner surface of each side of the case A there is secured a
taper plate h, which corresponds in shape to that of the space e between the
inner parts of the belts B, C. These plates h, however, are not as deep as the
space e, and grooves i are therefore formed between the upper and lower edges
of these plates and the partitions 9, 9, and in these grooves the edges of the
belts B, C, fit, as shewn in Fig. 2. D, D, represent two guard plates, which
are secured in the larger end of the case A, and have their upper ends nearly
or quite in contact with the belts where they pass over the back rollers c, as
seen in Fig. 1. The axes of the back rollers c, c, pass through the case A at
one side, and are provided with toothed wheels j, which gear into each other.
On the under side of the case A there is secured a shaft k, having a crank lat
one end of it, and a toothed wheel m at its opposite end, which gears into the
lower wheel j. The ends of the front rollers c of the belts B, C, are covered.
by lips n on the inner surfaces of the sides of the case, as shown in Fig. 1.
The operation is as follows: The operator grasps the implement with his
left hand, and turns the crank with his right, thereby giving motion to the
belts B, C, in the direction indicated by the arrows in Fig. 1. The end of the
case A, as the belts are thus moved, is adjusted over the balls of cotton on the
standing stalks, and the cotton is drawn from the balls between the belts B, C,
into the space e, and is forced back into and through this space, and is dis-.
charged at the back open end of the case as indicated in red. The partitions
9, 9, prevent the belts B, C, from being forced apart by the pressure of the
cotton in e, and the lips n at the front of the case prevent the cotton from
being drawn around the axles of the front rollers c, between the ends of the
same and the sides of the case A. The guard plates D, D, prevent the cotton
from being carried forward by the belts to the front end of the case; they
serve as scrapers to detach the cotton from the belts.
Having now described the Invention of "Improved Apparatus for Picking
or Gathering Cotton," as communicated to me by ny foreign correspondent,
and having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I claim
as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent,—
First, the combination of two endless belts B, C, placed within a suitable
case A, and arranged for joint operation for the purpose herein set forth.
Second, the use of the partitions 9, 9, and plates h, h, arranged within the
case A, and in relation with the endless belts B, C, for the purpose set forth.
Third, the lips n placed in the front part of the case A, and arranged
in relation with the front rollers c, c, in connection with the guard plates

page_text: D, D, placed in the back or discharge end of the case, and in relation with
the back rollers c, c, for the purpose specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-seventh day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane..
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)