IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING AND COMBING WASTE SILK AND WOOL OR HAIR, AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR.
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Cunliffe Lister, of Manningham, in tho
County of York, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING
AND COMBING WASTE SILK AND WOOL OR HAIR, AND IN APPARATUS
THEREFOR.
"
Sealed the 14th July 1874, and dated the 23rd January 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 23rd January 1874.
I, SAMUEL CUNLIFFE LISTER, of Manningham, in the County of
York, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PREPARING AND COMBING WASTE SILK AND WOOL OR HAIR, AND IN
APPARATUS THEREFOR," to be as follows:-
In a Patent granted to me dated June 28th 1866, No. 1727, among
other things I describe a roller working with a concave feed plate.
In practice I find that it does not sufficiently retain the fibres of the
silk, but allows the teeth of the drum to pluck out a considerable
portion without properly working it. This I prevent by having another

page_text: roller pressing against it just at the point where the silk passes under
the concave feed plate.
66
When preparing the waste known as "China curly," or "Japan
curly," or other like material, I first steep it four or five days in
water, or soap and water to soften it; it is then dried and prepared
upon gills or drums, and then rough combed (called technically
jigging") to separate the long fibres from the short and noil.
When this is accomplished the "jiggings" are boiled to remove the gum,
or they may be further softened for that purpose; they are then gilled
and combed a second time. The noils made in jigging are carded and
combed. Canton and other gum waste can be treated with advantage
in the same manner.
After many years spent in experiments I have discovered that the
present plan of preparing waste silk for combing is exceedingly objection-
able and very injurious to the fibres of the silk.
At the present time knubs or waste silk after the gum has been
removed by boiling or partially so by softening is gilled and then
drummed, and the drum laps are again gilled into slivers suitable
for combing. The fibres of the silk are much broken by undergoing
these processes, consequently the quantity and quality of the "top" "
or combed silk is much diminished. Now instead of preparing and
drumming waste silk as heretofore I only prepare it. This I accomplish
by using fine gills combined with a low draft of from one to two or
two-and-a-half at the most. It is first prepared upon coarse gills
such as have hitherto been used; I then pass it through finer and
finer gills, say from 15 to 30 teeth to the linear inch. Much also
depends upon the draft; I prefer a draft one from the gill, but about
two may be used.
The principle of low draft combined with fine teeth may be used
with great advantage in preparing knubs, chassum, tama, punjum,
and other descriptions of waste silk; some of the lower descriptions
are better prepared and drummed as heretofore, but when silk waste
is so treated I find it a great improvement to gill it upon fine gills,
say from 15 to 30 per inch, combined with a low draft of from one to
two or two-and-a-half.
In a Patent granted to me dated 23rd October 1872, No. 3139,
under the fourth head or claim I describe a machine where the fibrous

page_text: material under process is fed forward through a circular feed comb,
and the end is then cleaned by card surfaces, and the segmental combs
are caused to enter into the cleaned fringe; the fringe is then taken
hold of by a nipper, and the whole of the projecting fibre is drawn out
by a nipper, or nipper and comb combined.
My improvements under this head consist in having a nipping plate
placed in the feed comb which prevents the long fibres being drawn
out with the short, and so enables me to separate the long from the
short, which is of great consequence. When the fibres in the working
of the machine pass under the nipping plate in the feed comb they
pass from under the nipper in the other comb, and are thus set at
liberty, so that the long fibres are retained in the feed comb, and
the shorter fibres only are taken by the other comb working with it.
The long fibres are then drawn from the feed comb by drawing
rollers into a sliver, and the shorter ones into a sliver from the other
comb, thus separating the lengths. But I would remark that after
the ends of the fibre protruding from the feed comb have been cleaned
the segmental combs are inserted into the cleaned fringe of fibre, and
a nipper then takes hold of it and pulls it out through the teeth of
the segmental combs a short distance, say about an inch, before the
end is taken hold of by the comb and nipper before described, when
the long and short fibres are separated from each other.
A nipper working in the manner above described can be used with
advantage for pulling the fibrous material a short distance before being
drawn from combs by drawing rollers, but more especially after tho
long top has been first drawn.
Another improvement consists in using a circular comb to partially
clean the projecting end before it is cleaned by the card surfaces.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister, Her
special license, that I, the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Samuel Cunliffe
Lister, 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING AND COMBING WASTE SILK AND WOOL OR HAIR,
AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister, my executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, 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 I, the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister, 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 :-
In a Patent granted to me dated June 28th 1866, No. 1727, among
other things I described apparatus for preparing waste silk in which
a roller clothed with points or with teeth and working with a stationary
concave plate is employed for feeding forward waste silk to a drum.
In practice I find that the spiked roller does not sufficiently retain
the fibres of the silk, but allows the teeth of the drum to pluck out
a considerable portion without properly working it. This I prevent
by having another roller pressing against the spiked roller just at the
point where the silk passes under the concave feed plate.
A feeding apparatus constructed as above described is shewn at
Diagram 1 of the Drawings hereunto annexed. a is the drum; b, the
spiked roller; c, the concave plate; and d, the roller which presses
against the teeth or points of the roller 6 just in rear of the plate c.

page_text: "
When preparing the waste known as "China curly" or Japan
curly" or other like material I first steep it four or five days in
water, or soap and water to soften it; it is then dried and prepared
upon gills or drums and then rough combed (called technically
jigging) to separate the long fibres from the short and noil.
When this is accomplished the "jiggings" are boiled to remove the
gum, or they may be further softened for that purpose; they are then
gilled and combed a second time. The noils made in jiggings are carded
and combed. Canton and other gum waste can be treated with advan-
tage in the same manner.
After many years spent in experiments I have discovered that the
present plan of preparing waste silk for combing is exceedingly objection-
able and very injurious to the fibres of the silk.
At the present time knubs or waste silk after the gum has been
removed by boiling, or partially so by softening, is gilled and then
drummed, and the drum laps are again gilled into slivers suitable
for combing. The fibres of the silk are much broken by undergoing
these processes, consequently the quantity and quality of the "top"
or combed silk is much diminished. Now instead of preparing and
drumming waste silk as heretofore I only prepare it. This I accomplish
by using fine gills combined with a low draft of from one to two or
two-and-a-half at the most. It is first prepared upon coarse gills
such as have hitherto been used; I then pass it through finer and
finer gills, say from 15 to 30 teeth to the linear inch. Much also
depends upon the draft; I prefer a draft of one, when drawing the
silk from the gill, but about two may be used.
The principle of low draft combined with fine teeth can be used
with great advantage in preparing knubs, chassum, tama, punjum,
and other descriptions of waste silk; some of the lower descriptions
are better prepared and drummed as heretofore, but when silk waste
is so treated I find it a great improvement to gill it upon fine gills,
say from 15 to 30 per inch, combined with a low draft of from one to
two or two-and-a-half.
.
A. draft of one to two from the gill may be used with advantage with
coarser gills, but I prefer from 15 to 30 per linear inch.
In a Patent granted to me dated 23rd October 1872, No. 3139;
under the fourth head or claim I describe a machine where the fibrous.

page_text: material under process is fed forward through a circular feed comb,
and the end is then cleaned by card surfaces, and segmental combs
are caused to enter into the cleaned fringe; the fringe is then taken
hold of by a nipper, and the whole of the projecting fibre is drawn out
by a nipper, or nipper and comb combined.
My improvements under this head consists in having a nipping plate
placed in the feed comb which, when the fibres in the working of
the machine pass from under the nipper in the other comb and are
thus set at liberty, prevents the long fibres being drawn out from the
feed comb with the short, and so I am enabled to separate the long
from the short, which is of great consequence, the long fibre being
retained in the feed comb, and the shorter fibres only being taken
by the other comb working with it. The long fibres are then drawn
from the feed comb by drawing rollers into a sliver, and the shorter
ones into a sliver from the other comb, thus separating the lengths.
In this machine also after the ends of the fibre protruding from the
feed comb have been cleaned the segmental combs are inserted into
the cleaned fringe of fibre, and a nipper then takes hold of it and
pulls it out through the teeth of the segmental combs a short distance,
say about an inch, before the end is taken hold of by the comb and
nipper before described, when the long and short fibres are separated
from each other.
Diagram 2 shews a machine arranged in the manner above described.
a is the revolving feed comb which as usual carries above it a number
of bobbins carrying the slivers to be combed, and the ends of slivers
are laid into the comb and project outwards from it; b is the endless
revolving card surface for cleaning the projecting fringe; o are the
segment combs which rise up into the fringe after it has been combed;
d is a circular nipper for drawing the fringe forward a short distance
after the segment combs have been inserted into it; e is the comb
working with the feed comb, and into which the cleaned fringe is
laid where the combs meet together; f is a nipping plate for holding
the fibres into the comb e. When however they have been carried
by the revolution of the comb e past the end of the nipper f and
are no longer retained by it, the longer fibres which still remain
partly in the feed comb pass under a nipping plate g working with
this comb, and being held by it are, as the combs continue to revolve,
drawn away from the comb e, thus the shorter fibres only remain

page_text: in the comb e, and are drawn off by the drawing rollers h, whilst
the longer fibres are retained in the feed comb, and are drawn off
separately by drawing rollers k. The slivers are then again fed forwards
in the feed comb, as is well understood, and the projecting fringe is
again cleaned and again drawn off, as above described.
Another improvement in machines such as are above described, where
the ends of slivers protrude from a revolving feed comb, and are cleaned
by revolving card surfaces, consists in using a circular comb to partially
clean the projecting end before it is cleaned by such card surfaces.
This improvement is illustrated by diagram 3 of the Drawings annexed,
in which a is the feed comb; b, the comb for partially cleaning the
fringe projecting from it; c, a nipping plate for retaining the fibres
in the feed comb whilst their projecting ends are being cleaned by the
comb b; and d, the revolving card for further cleaning the fringe.
The longer fibres of the noil will be taken away by the comb 6, whilst
the noil removed by the endless card will be short and of little value.
In combing machines where the cleaned fibre is carried by revolving
comb to drawing rollers to be drawn off therefrom, a nipper working
in the manner above described can be used with advantage for pulling
the fibrous material a short distance before being drawn from combs
by drawing rollers, but more especially after the long top has been first
drawn.
Figure 4 shews a diagram view of a revolving circular comb having
a circular nipper thus working with it to draw forward the shorter
fibres to enable them to be seized by drawing-off rollers after the long
top has been previously drawn off. a is the revolving comb; b, the
rollers for drawing off the long top; c, the circular nipper for drawing
forward the shorter fibres a distance to enable them to be drawn away
by the drawing rollers d.
In witness whoreof, I, the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister, have
hereunto set my hand and scal, this Twenty-first day of July,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-