IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR DRESSING SILK WASTE
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Greenwood, of Leeds, in the County of
York, Machine Maker, and Herbert Hadley, of Long Close Lane,
Leeds, in the County of York, Silk Dresser, for the Invention of
"IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR DRESSING SILK WASTE."
Sealed the 16th August 1864, and dated the 9th March 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Greenwood
and Herbert Hadley at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
: with their Petition, on the 9th March 1864.
We, THOMAS GREENWOOD, of Leeds, in the County of York, Machine
Maker, and HERBERT HADLEY, of Long Close Lane, Leeds, in the County
of York, Silk Dresser, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR DRESSING SILK WASTE," to be as follows :-
The object of this Invention is to effect an economy in the operation of
dressing silk waste, which economy is produced mainly by the introduction of
a novel arrangement of mechanism for presenting the "books" of silk to the
combing surfaces. The books or clamps holding the stricks of silk to be
operated upon are mounted upon the periphery of a drum, which slowly
rotates in a vertical plane. These books lie transversely of the drum between

page_text: side Hanges or in lines parallel to its axis, and at given distances apart there
are fixed transverse bars for dividing up the space around the periphery
and between the flanges of the drum into sections. In these sections or
divisions clamping bars are placed for the purpose of tightening or wedging
fast the books and holding them firmly in the drum, which is done either by
screws, wedges, or other similar contrivance. The mode we prefer is as
follows:-The side faces of the clamping bars, which in this case are placed in
the middle of the sections, carry wedge-shaped projections, and these clamping
bars are capable of receiving an endway motion by means of screws or other-
wise, thus tightening up the books of silk laid in the spaces on the periphery
of the drum. Between adjacent books packing blocks are inserted to keep
them apart, and the blocks which lie against the clamping bars are formed to
correspond to those bars. When therefore a section of the drum formed
by the fixed transverse bars is filled with books and packings, it is only
necessary in order to secure them in position to give the clamping bars an
endway motion, and the books will then be held firmly in the drum. In this
way the drum is filled with books of silk. The silk thus secured is carried
forward under a segmental combing surface formed by an endless band, to
which combs with backs are attached. The ends of the combs travel between
adjustable fixed segment guides the adjustment of which determines the degree
of penetration of the combs into the fibres under treatment. The silk having
passed under the action of this combing surface next encounters a rotary brush
which turns it over and exposes the uncombed side of the strick to the action
of a second and similar combing surface, which runs in an opposite direction
to the first-mentioned one, and is kept to its work also by adjustable segment-
shaped guides. After passing from under the action of these combs the silk
is exposed successively to two or more card or gill rollers or endless bands of
combs, which rotate in opposite directions, and severally complete the combing
of one end of the strick of silk. The books of silk then pass round to the
feeding side of the machine, where the clamping bar is released and the books
of dressed silk are removed by the attendant, and replaced with others without
stopping the action of the machine.
The combing operation is therefore, according to our Invention, made con-
tinuous instead of intermittent as in the ordinary dressing frame, the slow
speed of rotation of the drum allowing ample time for changing the books
while the machine is running.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Greenwood and Herbert Hadley in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 9th September 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, THOMAS
GREENWOOD, of Leeds, in the County of York, Machine Maker, and
HERBERT HADLEY, of Long Close Lane, Leeds, in the County of York, Silk
Dresser, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Thomas Greenwood and Herbert Hadley, Her special license that we, the
said Thomas Greenwood and Herbert Hadley, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said Thomas Greenwood and Herbert
Hadley, 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 "IMPROVED MACHINERY
FOR DRESSING SILK WASTE," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the
said Thomas Greenwood and Herbert Hadley, by an instrument in writing
under our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, 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 Thomas Greenwood, on behalf of
myself and of the said Herbert Hadley, do hereby declare the nature of our
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) :-
This object of this Invention is to effect an economy in the operation of
dressing silk waste, which economy is produced mainly by the introduction of
a novel arrangement of mechanism for presenting the "books" of silk to the
combing surfaces. The books or clamps within which the stricks of silk to be
operated upon are held, we mount upon the periphery of a drum, which

page_text: slowly rotates in a vertical plane. These books lie transversely between side
flanges of the drum or in lines parallel to its axis, and at given distances
apart there are fixed transverse bars for dividing up into sections the space
around the periphery and between the flanges of the drum. In these sections
or divisions, clamping bars are placed for the purpose of tightening or wedging
fast the books or clamps and holding them firmly in the drum. The stricks
of silk thus clamped are presented to an arrangement of endless card surfaces
which dress or comb them on their opposite sides, and the pendent ends
thus acted upon are then finished by passing under the action of a pair of
rollers fitted with card or comb teeth. While the drum charged with the
books of silk is still rotating the attendant is enabled to remove the books of
dressed silk in order that its position in the clamps may be reversed (to bring
the other or uncombed end next under the action of the machine), and to
replace them with fresh books or clamps.
In the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the improved
machine, shewing the arrangement for holding and carrying the books or
clamps which contain the silk; also the sheets of combs or cards and card
rollers for operating on the silk, and the driving, pulleys and gearing used for
imparting motion to the various operating parts of the machine. Fig. 2 is a
back elevation, shewing the gearing, the combs, and the platform provided for
the attendant. Fig. 3 shews in vertical section a portion of the large drum
which carries the books, and the clamping apparatus for holding the silk; and
Fig. 4 is a front view, shewing the means for tightening up the books which
hold the silk.
A, A, is the cast-iron framework of the machine, consisting of two side
frames, which carry the driving pulleys, spur gearing, rollers, and sheets of
cards or combs. These side frames are held together by longitudinal cast-iron
stretchers, also marked A, A. B, B, are the driving pulleys, one of which
carries a spur pinion C, which drives a spur wheel D, keyed on the shaft of
the comb sheet roller D. This spur wheel D transmits motion through two
intermediate wheels E, E, to a spur wheel F on the shaft of a second comb
sheet roller G. A pinion H on the shaft of this roller takes into a stud
wheel I, which carries a pinion J on its boss, which pinion gears into the stud
wheel K, also carrying a pinion L on its boss. The pinion L gears into and
drives the wheel M, which is keyed upon the axle of the large drum N around
the periphery of which the books or clamps for holding the silk to be dressed
are secured by the tightening apparatus to be presently described. The comb
sheet rollers D and G have corresponding tightening rollers 0, 0, around
which the sheets P, P, pass. These sheets carry sets of ordinary dressing

page_text: combs Q, Q, Q, mounted upon wooden bars in the usual manner. These bars
are governed by their ends working in curved slides R, R, which are secured
to the framing A, and by means of adjusting screws are capable of being
adjusted so as to bring the combs in contact with the silk held in the books
carried by the drum N. S and S* are two rollers mounted in suitable
journals shewn in the framework. These rollers carry combs or cards of
suitable fineness to finish the combing of the silk after it has passed from under
the action of the comb sheets. The rollers S, S*, are driven by a train of
spur wheels from the roller G (as indicated by the blue pitch lines of Fig. 1)
with arrangements for varying the speed of the rollers S, S*, to suit the special
work under operation. The roller S is driven somewhat slower than the
roller S in order that the combs upon the roller S may strip the combs on the
roller S, and in order to clear the combs of the roller S without stopping the
machine a rotary brush V is employed. This brush is driven in the direction
of the arrow by a train of gearing set in motion by a spur wheel on the shaft
of the roller S, and as it rotates it strikes into the teeth of a fixed comb W,
which serves to clear it in its turn. When this comb is filled with silk fibre
it is removed and replaced by a clean comb. The comb is held in position
simply by its ends dropping into forked bearing pieces provided to receive it.
T is a brush roller driven from the roller O* by means of the train of spur
gear U. This brush roller is for the purpose of throwing over the stricks of
silk after they have passed the first set of combs driven by the roller D in
order that their opposite sides may be presented to the second set of combs
carried by the roller G to be operated upon by that sheet of combs, the space
between the flanges of the drum N being divided into compartments by means
of transverse bars or fixed pieces of cast iron (see Fig. 3). Each compart-
ment is fitted with tightening apparatus for the purpose of holding the books
of silk securely while the dressing operation is proceeding. The tightening
apparatus consists of three bars a, b, and c, which are provided with a number
of inclined planes, shaped similarly to a saw tooth. The middle bar 6 has
inclined planes on each side which take into corresponding notches in the
bars a and c. The bar 6 is provided at one end with a screw, upon which is
fitted a nut d; one part of this nut is made conical, and upon this conical
part is fitted a spur pinion d. The cylindrical part carries two washers e and f,
which can move upon a key let into the cylindrical part of the nut, and between
these washers is placed a vulcanized india-rubber ring. By means of a nut g
which is tapped to fit a screw thread upon the cylindrical part of the nut d*
(as best seen in detached sectional view Fig. 4*). The washers are pressed
forward and made to bind the pinion d fast to the nut d*, so that when the

page_text: pinion is driven the two will revolve together. The spur pinion & takes into
the external segmental rack X (see Fig. 1), which is fixed in the frame A,
and as the drum N rotates the rack X gives motion to the pinion d, and
allows the centre bar 6 to move in the direction of the arrow, thereby removing
the pressure upon the books and packings. Higher up the frame A, in the
direction of the arrow, is placed the internal segmental rack Y; this rack also
takes into the spur pinion d, and as the drum N rotates in the direction of the
arrow the rack Y turns that pinion in the opposite direction, thereby, drawing
the bar 6 in the contrary direction to the arrow, and tightening up the books
and packings so as to clamp the silk to be dressed firmly previously to its being
brought under the operation of the first sheet of combs. To prevent an undue
amount of pressure being put on the books or clamps of silk is the office of
the india-rubber ring, which so soon as a given pressure is imparted by the
tightening-up apparatus will yield and allow the pinion d to slip upon the
nut d*. Z is a segmental guard for pressing the books home into the recesses
of the drum N as they are supplied to the machine by the attendant prepara-.
tory to the commencement of the automatic tightening operation just described.
U* are guards for holding the books in position ou the drum N during the
time that the tightening apparatus is being released by the means above
explained after the combing of the silk has been effected. h, h, h, is a table,
stage and steps, for the attendant to enable him to strip the combs driven by
the roller D*.
It will now be understood that the drum having been charged with books or
clamps of silk, and motion having been applied to the driving pulleys B, the
endless sheets of combs will move in the direction of their respective arrows;.
and comb the silk on its opposite sides, the brush T effecting the turning over
of the silk for the second sheet after it has undergone the action of the first
sheet of combs. The rollers S and S* will also be driven in the direction
indicated by the arrows, and thus operate upon opposite sides of the stricks of
silk presented to their action.
The feeding of the silk up to the combing surfaces will be due to the slow
axial motion of the drum N, which moves in the direction of the arrow.
When the tightening apparatus reaches the point Z* the clamping of the
books will be slackened to allow the attendant to take out the several books
of dressed silk as they come round and replace them with books of undressed
silk. As the drum continues its rotation the tightening apparatus is again
put in action by the rack Y, and the fresh books or clamps of uncombed silk
are tightened up and firmly held on the drum.
By the use, therefore, of this novel arrangement of machinery the combing

page_text: or dressing operation is made continuous instead of intermittent as in the
ordinary dressing frame, the slow speed of rotation of the drum allowing the
attendant ample time to change the books without stopping the machine.
Having now set forth the nature of our Invention of improved machinery
for dressing silk waste, and explained the manner of carrying the same
into effect, we wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited
Letters Patent we claim the means above described for presenting silk waste
to combing surfaces.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Greenwood, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Eighth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
FRED. WALKDEN,
66, Chancery Lane.
THOMAS GREENWOOD. (L.S.)