IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN PREPARING AND COMBING WOOL AND OTHER FIBRES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Isaac Holden, of St. Denis, near Paris, in the
Empire of France, and Angus Holden, of Bradford, in the County of
York, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS OR APPARATUS
13
Sealed the 5th July 1859, and dated the 7th January 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Isaac Holden and Angus
Holden at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition,
on the 7th January 1859.
We, ISAAC HOLDEN, of St. Denis, near Paris, in the Empire of France,
and ANGUS HOLDEN, of Bradford, in the County of York, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS OR APPARATUS
EMPLOYED IN PREPARING AND COMBING WOOL AND OTHER FIBRES," to be as
follows:-
In preparing wool by means of screw gill apparatus, it has been usual to
give considerably increased speed, or what is called "draft," to the. taking
gills, over that to the feeding rollers, and this increase of speed has usually
been at the rate of three to one at the least, and generally considerably more.
And one part of our present improvements consists in reducing the speed
of the taking gills to about that of the feeding means, so as to have no
"draft," or scarcely any between then, by which, we find considerable
advantage to arise in the treatment of wool and other fibre. And when the
fibre is passed through a preparer with two sets of gill teeth in succession,
we also find it very useful to fill the raw fibre into the first set of gill teeth by
hand, aided by brushes, and to have no increased speed or "draft" between

page_text: the last set of gill combs and the drawing-off means, or between the gill bars
and the drawing-off means when using ordinary preparing gills. We also find
it useful to have the one set of gill teeth in the aforesaid preparer pointing in
the opposite direction to the teeth of the other set.
Another improvement relates to means of treating wool and other fibres in
the process of combing or clearing. For this purpose we employ as the
feeding means, nipping apparatus and a porter comb, to accumulate tufts of
fibre upon a carrying comb, but in place of drawing the fibre by such nippers
through the teeth of gill combs, the nippers we employ draw the fibre from a
compressing tube supplied by suitable rollers, or from gill teeth set much
coarser than generally used, in order that the effect of them upon the wool
may be simply to straighten the fibre without much combing in the process
of detaching by the nipper, and we then work the fibre by gill or other working
combs whilst it is being held by a pressing plate on the carrying combs, and
before being drawn off' them.
We do not confine ourselves to the above combination of nipper and porter
comb, as it would be easy to substitute other modes to produce the same effect,
e.g., the carrying comb may serve as one jaw of the nipper, whilst another jaw
is made to descend and press upon it. We also employ a series of teeth in
segments, moving with but concentric to those of the carrying combs, and
pointing in an opposite direction to them, capable of descending into the
fibre between the carrying combs and the drawing-off means at the point of
drawing off, and then of rising out of the way at other parts, to admit of the
feed and working of the fibre.
Also the improvements relate to means of transferring tufts of fibre from
feeding means, and depositing the tufts cleaned at one end upon a travelling
comb. For this purpose the wool or other fibre fed by rollers or other feeding
means is taken by combs, which by preference traverse in a circle, and are so
arranged that in their motion they come into a position to deliver their fibre
to the carrying or receiving comb, at which time the transferring combs point
in an opposite direction to those of the receiving comb, and in such motion
they are caused to stop opposite or immediately over those of the receiving
comb, when the wool or other fibre carried by such transferring comb will, by
the aid of a brush, or other suitable means, be pushed off into the teeth of the
receiving or carrying comb, on which successive tufts will be. accumulated,
and from which the long fibres shall be drawn off in the form of a sliver of
combed wool. The transferring comb. may then either go away from the
receiving comb horizontally or upwards, and then horizontally or otherwise, so
as to pass the receiving comb. Or the transferring.comb may move in the arc

page_text: of a circle from the point at which it takes the tuft from the feeding means to
the point at which it deposits the tuft on the travelling comb, and when the tuft
is transferred from it to the carrying comb, the transferring comb may return,
and in an arc of a circle back to the feeding means, in order to take another tuft..
But we do not confine ourselves to these details.
SPECIFICATION in. pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Isaac Holden and Angus Holden in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 7th July 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ISAAC
HOLDEN, of St. Denis, near Paris, in the Empire of France, and ANGUS.
HOLDEN, of Bradford, in the County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
us, the said Isaac Holden and Angus Holden, Her special licence that we;.
the said Isaac Holden and Angus Holden, our executors, administrators,.
and assigns, or such others as we, the said Isaac Holden' and Angus Holden,
our 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MEANS OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN PREPARING AND COMBING WOOL AND OTHER
FIBRES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Isaac
Holden and Angus Holden, our executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under our or their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of
one of us or them, 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 we, the said Isaac Holden and Angus Holden, 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 thereof, that is to say:
The improvements in preparing wool and other fibres relate more particu

page_text: larly to where the fibre is passed through two sets of gill combs. In preparing
wool by means of screw gill apparatus, generally it has been usual to give
considerably increased speed, or what is called "draft," to the taking gills;
over that to the feeding rollers, and this increase of speed has usually been at
the rate of three to one at the least, and generally considerably more.
And one part of our present improvements consists, when preparing wool
and other fibres, by passing it in succession through two sets of gill combs, in
reducing the speed of the taking gills to about that of the feeding rollers, so as
to have no "draft," or scarcely any between them, by which we find considerable
advantage to arise in the treatment of wool and other fibre. And when the
fibre is passed through a preparer with two sets of gill teeth in succession, we
also find it very useful to fill the raw fibre into the first set of gill teeth by
hand or by apparatus, acting. in manner substantially as the hand; aided by
brushes, and to have no increased speed or "draft" between the second or
last set of gill combs and the drawing-off rollers, or between the gill bars and
the drawing-off rollers. This part of the improvements is also applicable when
using ordinary, preparing gills, that is, when the fibre is passed through only
one set of gill combs. We also find it useful to have the one set of gill teeth
in the aforesaid preparer pointing in the opposite direction to the teeth of the
other set, thus the first set of gills may have their teeth pointing downwards,
whilst the teeth of the second set point upwards, or vice versa.
Another improvement relates to means of treating wool and other fibres in
the process of combing or clearing. For this purpose we employ as the
feeding means, nipping apparatus and a porter comb, to accumulate tufts of
fibre upon a carrying comb, but in place of drawing the fibre by such nippers
through the teeth of gill combs sufficiently fine to completely cleanse the fibre
drawn through them, the nippers we employ draw the fibre from a com-
pressing tube supplied by suitable rollers, or from gill teeth set much coarser
than generally used, in order that the effect of them upon the wool may be
simply to straighten the fibre without much combing in the process of
detaching by the nipper; and we then work the fibre by gill, or other working
combs, whilst it is being held by a pressing plate on the carrying combs, and
before being drawn off them. We do not confine ourselves to the con-
struction of nipper and porter comb usually employed, as it would be easy to
substitute other modes to produce the same effect, e.g., the carrying comb
may serve as oně jaw of the nipper, whilst another jaw is made to descend
and press upon it. We also employ a series of teeth in segments, moving
with but concentric to those of the carrying combs, and pointing in an opposite
direction to them, capable of descending into the fibre between the carrying

page_text: combs and the drawing off means at the point of drawing off, and then
of rising out of the way at other parts, to admit of the feed and working
of the fibre.
'
This part of the improvements is represented by the Drawing accompanying
this Specification. Figure 1 is a plan of a circle of receiving combs with this
part of our Invention applied thereto; Figure 2 represents a vertical section
of the same, taken through the line A, A, Figure 1. Tufts of fibre are
represented at a, a, as being fed into the circle of combs 6, and the fibre may
be fed therein by any suitable means. The combs are supported on the
fixed table c, with a capability of motion thereon by means of a toothed pinion
taking into the teeth b¹ formed on the inside of the circle b, but as such means
of giving motion to circles of carrying combs is well understood by persons
acquainted with wool-combing machinery, and to avoid complexity, we have
not thought it necessary to show the same here. d, d, d, show segments of
teeth, according to our improvements, pointing in a direction opposite to those
in the carrying comb b. In the plan view, only three of these segmental
combs d are shown, but they are continued in like manner all round, and
they are caused to travel with the circle 6 by there being affixed to that
circle series of guides e, e, e, corresponding in number with the number of
segments employed, each of such guides e being formed with dovetailed
recesses adapted to receive the upright dovetail-formed part d' of the segment
d acting therewith, by which means, whilst such segments will be permitted
to move vertically, they will be kept correctly in position in relation to the
circle b. And the vertical motion to those segments is obtained by there being
a stud d² projecting from the part d' of each segment d, carrying a truck or
bowl g, which rests on the continuous guiding bar f, wbilst, at the point of
drawing off, there is another bar / parallel to the bar f, thereby embracing the
rollers g at such time in succession to hold the segments & more firmly at the
time of drawing off the fibre by means of the drawing-off rollers i, i.
Also the improvements relate to means of transferring tufts of fibre from
feeding means, and depositing the tufts cleaned at one end upon a travelling
comb. For this purpose the wool or other fibre fed by rollers or other feeding
means is taken by combs, which, by preference, traverse in a circle, and are so
arranged that in their motion they come into a position to deliver their fibre
to the carrying or receiving comb, at which time the transferring combs point
in an opposite direction to those of the receiving comb, and in such motion
they are caused to stop opposite or immediately over those of the receiving
comb, when the wool or other fibre carried by such transferring comb will, by
the aid of a brush or other suitable means, be pushed off into the teeth of the

page_text: receiving or carrying comb on which successive tufts will be accumulated, and
from which the long fibres will be drawn off in the form of a sliver of combed
wool. The transferring comb may then either go away from the receiving
comb horizontally or upwards, and then horizontally or otherwise, so as to pass
the receiving comb; or the transferring comb may move in the arc of a
circle from the point at which it takes the tuft from the feeding means to the
point at which it deposits the tuft on the travelling comb, and when the tuft
is transferred from it to the carrying comb, the transferring comb may return
and in an arc of a circle back to the feeding means, in order to take another
tuft. An arrangement for carrying out this part of the improvements is
represented by Figure 3 of the Drawings. a represents the fibre being fed by
means of the feed rollers k, k, on to combs l, affixed to an arm from the axis
, by which the combs 7 will be controlled to travel in a circle or part of a
circle, as indicated by the dotted line m, and having taken their portion of fibre
from the feed rollers k, the comb 7 comes into position indicated by the dotted
lines to deliver such fibre to the carrying or receiving comb n. In this
transference of the fibre from the comb to the comb n, assistance is given by
the brush or comb o, which has a motion given to it in a direction to and from
the comb n. And having delivered its tuft, the comb 7 returns for a fresh
supply from the rollers k, k.
Having thus described the nature of our said Invention, we would have it
understood that we do not confine ourselves to the precise details referred to,
as these may be varied, so long as the peculiar character of any part thereof be
retained substantially as described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Isaac Holden and Angus Holden, have
hereunto set our hands and seals, this Fifth day of July, in the
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
year
Witness,
GEORGE W. DALE,
of Bradford.
(L.S.)
ISAAC HOLDEN.
ANGUS HOLDEN. (L.S.)