IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING OLD ROPES, ALSO OLD CANVAS AND GUNNY BAGS, AND SIMILAR MATERIALS, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO HEMP, FLAX, RHEA, AND OTHER SIMILAR FIBRE, TO RENDER PARTS OF THE FIBRE SUITABLE TO BE SDIN
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Cunliffe Lister, of Bradford, in the County
of York, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING
OLD ROPES, ALSO OLD CANVAS AND GUNNY BAGS, AND SIMILAR MATERIALS,
PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO HEMP, FLAX, RHEA,
AND OTHER SIMILAR FIBRE, TO RENDER PARTS OF THE FIBRE SUITABLE TO BE
SDIN
"
Sealed the 10th August 1855, and dated the 9th May 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th May 1855.
I, SAMUEL CUNLIFFE LISTER, of Bradford, in the County of York, Manu-
facturer, do hereby declaro the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN TREATING OLD ROPES, ALSO OLD CANVAS AND GUNNY BAGS, AND SIMILAR
MATERIALS, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO HEUP, FLAX,
RHEA, AND OTHER SIMILAR FIBRE, TO RENDER PARTS OF THE FIBRES SUITABLE TO BE
SPUR," that is to say:-
My improvements in treating ropes, cordage, canvas, and other fibrous sub-
stances consist in feeding them through rollers, either with teeth or otherwise,
and opening and tearing in pieces the ends of the old ropes or canvas as it
comes through the rollers by means of a spiked drum. In front of the rollers

page_text: I place a cutter, which cuts off the ends of the rope or other material in suit-
able lengths when sufficiently opened out and worked by the spiked drum.
The produce of the old ropes or canvas is then taken to a carding engine, to
have the fibres more perfectly worked and separated, and then spun into low
yarns. But when the fibre is sufficiently fine to admit of its being made into
better qualities of yarn, then I prefer to hackle or comb it. Another plan
which I adopt is, when the fibre, whether new or old, and is suitable for such
process, to reduce it to a state of flax cotton, either chemically or mechanically,
and afterwards to comb or hackle it.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 9th November 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
CUNLIPFE LISTER, of Bradford, in the County of York, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Samuel Cunliffe Lister, Her special licence 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN TREATING OLD ROPES, ALSO OLD CANVAS AND GUNNY BAGS, AND
SIMILAR MATERIALS, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO
HEMP, FLAX, RHEA, AND OTHER SIMILAR FIBRE, TO RENDER PARTS OF THE FIBRE
SUITABLE TO BE SPUN," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Samuel Cunliffe Lister, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
scal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the
saine to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: 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 tho
following statement thereof (that is to say) :-
-
My improvements in treating ropes, cordage, canvas, and other fibrous sub-
stances consist in feeding them through rollers either with teeth or otherwise,
and opening and tearing in pieces the ends of the old ropes or canvas as it
comes through the rollers by means of a spiked drum. In front of the rollers I
place a cutter, which cuts off the ends of the rope or other material in suitable
lengths when sufficiently opened out and worked by the spiked drum. The
produce of the old ropes or canvas is then taken to a carding engine, to have
the fibres more perfectly worked and separated, and then spun into low yarns.
But when the fibre is sufficiently fine to admit of its being made into better
qualities of yarn, then I prefer to hackle or comb it. Another plan which I
adopt is, when the fibre, whether new or old, and is suitable for such process,
to reduce it to a state of flax cotton, either chemically or mechanically, and
afterwards to comb or hackle it.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, I will now proceed to
describe the best manner I am acquainted with for performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 shows a longitudinal section, and Figure 2 a side view, of a
machine constructed for tearing up or devilling old ropes, and worn out and
otherwise useless textile fabrics, having the improvements which constitute this
part of my Invention applied thereto. The other Figures shew some of the
parts separately, and as the nature of such is written thereon it will not be
necessary to repeat the same here. And it will readily be understood, that a
competent mechanic, with the assistance of the Drawing, together with this
description, will be able without difficulty to apply the cutting apparatus, in
which this part of my Invention consists, with such modifications as he may
consider desirable, for preparing and tearing machines of different construction
from and for different purposes than the one shown in the Drawing. I would
here observe that I am well aware a great variety of machines of similar and
different constructions from the one shewn in the Drawing have been and are
employed for the tearing and re-converting into detached fibres of old ropes and
used-up fabrics of various descriptions, and also for preparing and separating
unmanufactured fibrous substances; and I make this remark in order that I
may have it particularly understood that I make no claim to the tearing and
operating upon the materials in the manner above mentioned, nor to the con-

page_text: struction of the machine shown, except so far as it relates to the application
of the apparatus, by which a suitable length of fibrous material, after having
been opened and cleaned, is cut from the unprepared fibre, or the old textile
fabric, or other material under operation, which is retained by the feed rollers,
the object of the contrivance being that none of the fibres delivered from the
machine may exceed a certain predetermined length.
a, a, are the feed rollers, having spikes fixed around them; and b is the
working cylinder, which tears and operates upon the fibres as they are pro-
truded from between the rollers a, a. The rollers a, a, together with the feed-
ing cloth a', and the spiked roller a², which cleans the upper feed roller,
are carried by a sliding frame a³, which is always pressed in the direction of
the working cylinder 6 by the springs a. Motion is communicated to the
cylinder b by a band passing around the pulley d on the axis d' of the cylin-
der b, and from this axis motion is communicated to the feed rollers a, a
the cloth a', and spiked roller a³, in the following manner-c is a pulley on
the axis d', which gives motion by means of the belt e¹ to the pulley f¹ on the
axis f, and from the axis f the motion is transferred by the bevilled wheels h, h',
to the axis g, moving in bearings attached to the sliding frame a³, the wheel h
allowing the axis g to slide through it; but by reason of a feather communi-
cating its motion to the axis g, which, by the gearing marked i, causes the feed
rollers a, a, the cloth a', and the spiked roller a to revolve. 61, 62, are two
working rollers, which also receive the fibre from the clearing roller a³, and
deliver it to the cylinder b. The roller is caused to revolve by the endless
chain from the wheel f" to the wheel b' on the axis of the roller 6', and the
roller communicates its motion by the toothed wheels b, b, to the roller b².
k is a cleaning fan, which separates the fibre from the cylinder b, and throws
it out of the machine; and the fan k is caused to revolve by an endless band d
from the pulley d on the axis d', giving motion to the pulley do on the axis d',
and the motion is transmitted from the axis & by an endless band & from the
pulley d on the axis to the pulley on the axis of the fan k. n is the
cutting knife; and o is a bar, having soft metal attached to its under surface.
The bar o is brought down when the cutting takes place for the cutting knife
to act against, and as the bar o descends the feed rollers a, a, are forced back
by reason of the surfaces p attached to such bar; the bar o is caused to descend
from time to time by the cam o', which is caused to revolve by a feather on
the axis r, to which motion is communicated from the axis d' by the toothed
wheels r, r; and the cams o¹, n', are caused to slide backward and forward on
the axis by reason of the projection o³ from the cam n' taking into the cross
cut right and left handed hollow screw t, fixed to the stationary frame t'; and it

page_text: will be seen, that by reason of this traversing motion of the cams o¹, n', they
are only brought into operation at intervals of time, and that the uninterrupted
portion of the surface of the cams usually allows the cutting apparatus to remain
stationary. The cam o' acts on a truck on the lever o², fixed on the axis o',
which has at its other end the lever 03, and the levers 0, 0, by means of the
connecting rods o, give motion to the levers o', to which the bar o is attached,
and which are always drawn in one direction by the springs 08, so as to cause
the bar o to rise when the cam allows it to do so. The cutting blade n is
caused to operate by the cam n' acting on a truck on the toothed lever
quadrant n², which gives motion by means of the toothed wheel n³ to the hollow
axis n*, turning on the axis o*; the hollow axis n' gives motion to the cranked
axes n³, n³, by means of the bevilled wheels n; and the cranked axes n³, n³,
operate by means of their cranks, so as to raise and at the same time give an
edgewise movement to the cutting blade n. After the fibrous material has
been operated upon by this machine, it may be taken to a carding engine to
be further prepared and worked, and then spun into yarn; or it may, if of
a sufficient degree of fineness, be hackled or combed, and by that means
rendered suitable for spinning into the better qualities of yarn.
And I would remark that I make no claim to any of the mechanical parts
separately, and that the details and working of the cutting apparatus may be
greatly varied without departing from the nature of this part of my Invention;
but what I claim is, the combination of cutting apparatus with preparing
machinery, as herein described.
The other part of my present Invention relates to the preparing for spinning
of flax cotton and other similar fibres, whether reduced to that state by
chemical or mechanical means, or whether previous to such reduction the fibres
were in a manufactured or unmanufactured state. Heretofore it has been
customary to card and otherwise prepare for spinning the before-mentioned
fibres without submitting them to a combing or hackling process, and I have
found by experience that, mixed with the available fibres, there are a great
number of short and unsuitable fibres for spinning, and that by submitting
the previously mentioned ultimate fibres to a combing or hackling process
such short and unsuitable fibres may be separated, and much better results in
spinning be thereby produced. I would here state, that this part of my
Invention is confined to the treating of what is known as cotton "obtained
by chemical or solvent matters alone, or by such matters aided by mecha-
nical pressing, crushing, or bruising, from flax, hemp, rhea, and other similar
fibrous substances; and the Invention consists of subjecting such "cottons,"
after they have been obtained in a state of sliver by carding or otherwise,

page_text: "
to a process of combing or hackling. For this purpose, when the "cotton"
of flax, or hemp, or rhea, or other fibrous substances, has been obtained by any
of the processes above mentioned, to which I make no claim, such "cotton
is then, by preference, to be carded, by which a sliver will be obtained;
or a sliver may be otherwise produced, as is well understood; and in this
state it is to be combed or hackled, by preference, by successively detaching
tufts or quantities, and combing or hackling the two ends of each tuft or quan-
tity by combing or hackling machines, such as are now well known. By
thus subjecting the "cotton" of flax, hemp, rhea, and other fibrous substances,
after getting the same into a state of sliver to the subsequent process of
combing or hackling, very superior yarns may be spun therefrom than when
spinning from a sliver of such "cotton " not so treated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Cunliffe Lister, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Ninth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
FRED HARRIS.
S. C. LISTER. (L.S.)