IMPROVEMENTS IN Carding Engines FOR CARDING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Bispham Kay, of Bolton, in the County
of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN Carding Engines
FOR CARDING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES."
Sealed the 5th July 1870, and da'ed the 31st January 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Bispham Kay
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 31st January 1870.
1, THOMAS BISPHAM KAY, of Bolton, in the County of Lancaster,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN CARDING ENGINES FOR CARDING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," to
be as follows :-
My Invention relates, firstly, to certain modifications of and improve-
ments in the mechanical details of "setting" or adjusting the top cards
or flats of a carding engine as described in Specification of Letters Patent
granted to me the said Thomas Bispham Kay on the Fourteenth day of
May, A.D. 1868, No. 1575, for "Curtain Improvoments in Carding
Price 8d.]

page_text: Engines to be Employed for Carding Cotton and other Fibrous Sub-
stances."
According to the Invention therein specified and to that part of it ·
relating to carding engines having revolving or travelling flats, the flats
are described and shown as sliding or traversing on the tops of sliding 5
guide rests, which are supported upon an inclined surface which may be
described as the segment of a frustrum of cone, one of which is
attached to each "bend" of the carding engine.
According to my present Invention I dispense with the sliding guide
rests and cause the flats to rest and traverse with their ends upon the 1
aforesaid conical or inclined surfaces, one upon each "bend," by the
adjustment of which they are "set" to the surface of the main carding
cylinder.
The second part of my Invention relates to the grinding of the flats,
by which I am enabled to grind them from and use them upon the 1
same engine instead of as heretofore grinding them from one surface
and using them upon another.
The third part of my Invention relates to modifications of and
improvements in the mechanical details for lifting, stripping; and
grinding flats as described in Specification of Letters Patent granted to 2
ine the said Thomas Bispham Kay, and Francis Hamilton, on the
Twenty-seventh day of February, A.D. 1867, No: 542, for "Certain
Improvements in Carding Engines to be 'Employed for Carding Cotton
and other Fibrous Substances."
According to the Invention therein specified and to that part of it
relating to the back stripping mechanism, the lifting; chains, are at
certain periods. thrown into and out of gear with the toothed chain
wheels that actuate the mangle_rack. motions, whereby-the stripping
apparatus when stripping the back flats is carried over every alternate
flat, but when stripping the front flats is carried over three instead of
over one flat only during one semi-revolution of the chain.
3
In my present-Invention-I-dispense with this arrangement, and in
lieu thereof I maintain the chains and toothed chain wheels in continual
contact, and cause the lifting, chains from time to time during the
stripping of the front flats, to avoid acting upon the Tshaped, lifting.3
brackets for raising the flats. By this arrangement I effect a simpli-
fication of mechanism and convenience of arrangement.

page_text: In carrying the first part of my Invention into effect I make that
part of the end of the flat upon which it rests and slides to be bevilled
or inclined at the same angle to the face of the flat as the inclined
surface of the segment forms with the horizontal surface upon which it
slides. The flats are kept from moving laterally by a flange or curved
guide fixed on each bend, between which the flats slide having their
ends in contact therewith. The segments may be regulated as described
in the before-mentioned Specification, or by having screws tapped into
them, on the outer ends of which screws chaius are fixed. The chain
wheels or the screws are provided with collars which clip stationary
brackets fixed firmly on to the bend in front of the segment, the said
wheels being connected together so as to turn simultaneously by an
endless chain.
"
In carrying the second part of my Invention into effect I affix to the
upper part of one of the brackets upon each "bend" for carrying the
return flats an inclined surface or "segment of a frustrum of a cone
similar in section to the segment upon which the flats slide when carding,
but in an inverted position, and having a curved guide affixed to prevent
lateral vibration against this inclined segment. Each flat is pressed in
turn by a weight or spring acting on a lever or sliding rod which carries
a toothed wheel gearing into and driven by the flats and provided with
cam surfaces capable of acting upon a second lever swung upon a stud,
which also carries a socket or bearing for the guiding roller, one end of
which rests upon a regulating screw carried by the said lever. These
cam-surfaces by causing the said lever to oscillate during the traverse-of
the flat put what is technically known as the "bevil" in the flat. If
what is known as the "flexible bend is used this grinding surface
instead of being a segment of a cone would be a segment of a cylinder,
i.c., instead of being inclined it would be a plane surface parallel to the
face of the flat.
1
In carrying the third part of my Invention into effect I make the
upper part of each T shaped lifting bracket capable of falling outwardly
and away from the lifting chain when acted upon by a lever or sliding
surface actuated through a rod by a cam wheel mounted loosely upon
the cylinder shaft and driven from the intermittent toothed chain wheel
which actuates the mangle ruck motion. The number of cam surfaces
is determined by the number of flats it is prepared to "back strip."

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Bispham Kay in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 30th July 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
BISPHAM KAY, of Bolton, in the County of Lancaster, send greeting.
..
.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and. seventy, in the thirty
third year of Her reign, did; for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Thomas Bispham Kay,. Her special license
that T, the said Thomas Bispham Kay, ny executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas Bispham Kay; 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 CARDING
ENGINES FOR CARDING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," upon the
condition (amongst others): that I,. the said Thomas Bispham Kay, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or 2
their, or one of their hands and scals, 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 Thomas Bispham Kay, do. heroby
declare.thic vature 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 and accompanying Drawings (that is to
say):-
My Invention relates, firstly, to certain modifications of and improve-
ments in the mechanical-details-of-"setting" or-adjusting the top cards
or flats of a carding engine as described in the Specification of Letters
Patent granted to me the said Thomas Bispham Kay on the Fourteenth
day of May, A.D. 1868, No. 1575, for "Certain Improvements in Card-
ing Engines to be Employed for Carding Cotton and other Fibrous
Substances."

page_text: According to the Invention there in specified and to that part of it
relating to carding engines having revolving or travelling flats, the flats
are described and shown as sliding or traversing on the tops of sliding
guide rests which are supported upon an inclined surface, which may be
described as the segment of a frustrum of a cone, one of which is attached
to each "bend" of the carding engine.
According to my present Invention I dispense with the sliding guide
rests and cause the flats to rest and traverse with their ends upon the
aforesaid conical or inclined surfaces, one upon each "bend," by the
adjustment of which they are "set" to the surface of the main carding
cylinder.
The second part of my Invention relates to the grinding of the flats
by which I am enabled to grind them from and use them upon the same
surface instead of as heretofore grinding them from one surface and
using them upon another.
The third part of my Invention relates to modifications of aud
improvements in the mechanical details for lifting, stripping, and grind-
ing flats as described in the Specification of Letters Patent granted to
me the said Thomas Bispham Kay and Francis Hamilton, on the Twenty-
seventh day of February, A.D. 1807, No. 542, for "Certain Improve-
ments in Carding Engines to be Employed for Carding Cotton and other
Fibrous Substances."
According to the Invention therein specified and to that part of it
relating to the back, stripping mechanism the lifting chains are at
certain periods thrown into and out of gear with the toothed chain
wheels that actuate the mangle rack motions, whereby the stripping
apparatus when stripping the back flats is carried over every alternate
flat, but when stripping the front flats is carried over three instead of over
one flat only during one semi-revolution of the chain.
In my present Invention I dispense with this arrangement, and in
lieu thereof I maintain the chains and toothed chain wheels in continual
contact, and I cause the lifting chains from time to time during the
stripping of the front flats to avoid acting upon the T shaped lifting
brackets for raising the flats. By this arrangement I effect a simplifica-
tion of mechanism and convenience of arrangement.
In carrying the first part of my Invention into effect I make that part
of the end of the flat upon which it rests and slides to be bevilled or

page_text: inclined at the same angle to the face of the flat as the inclined surface
of the segment forms with the horizontal surface upon which it slides.
The flats are kept from moving laterally by a flange or curved guide
fixed on each bend between which the flats slide, having their ends in
contact therewith. The segments may be regulated as described in the
before-mentioned Specification, or by having screws tapped into them, on
the outer ends of which chain wheels are fixed. The chain wheels or the
screws are provided with collars which clip stationary brackets fixed
firmly on to the bend in front of the segment, the said wheels being
connected together so as to turn simultaneously by an endless chain.
45
"
In carrying the second part of my Invention into effect 1 affix to the
upper part of one of the brackets upon each "bend" for carrying the
return flats an inclined surface or segment of a frustrum of a conc
similar in section to the segment upon which the flats slide when carding,
but in an inverted position and having a curved guide. affixed to prevent
lateral vibration. Against this inclined segment each flat is pressed in
turn by a weight or spring acting on a lever or sliding rod which carries
a toothed wheel gearing into and driven by the flats and provided with
cam surfaces capable of acting upon a second lever swung upon a stud,
which also carries a socket or bearing for the grinding roller, one end of
which rests upon a regulating screw carried by the said lever. These
cam surfaces by causing the said lever to oscillate during the traverse
of the flat put what is technically known as the "bevil" in the flat. If
what is known as the "flexible bend" is used this grinding surface
instead of being a segment of a cone would be a segment of a cylinder,
i.e., instead of being inclined it would be a plane--surface parallel to the
face of the flat.
In carrying the third part of my Invention into effect I make the
upper part of each T shaped-lifting bracket capable of falling outwardly
and away from the lifting chain when acted upon by a lever or sliding
surface actuated through a rod by a cam wheel mounted loosely upon
the cylinder shaft and driven from the intermittent toothed chain wheel
which actuates the mangle rack motion. -The number of cam surfaces
is determined by the number of flats it is proposed to "back strip."
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention for "Improve-
ments in Carding Engiues for Carding Cotton and other Fibrous
Substances," I will now proceed to describe more in detail the manner
in which the same is to be or may be performed or carried into practical

page_text: effect, and in order that the same may be clearly understood I have
annexed hereunto a Sheet of Drawings illustrative thereof, and have
marked the same with figures and letters of reference corresponding with
those in the following explanation thereof.
Fig. 1 in the annexed Drawing represents a side elevation of a portion
of a carding engine: having revolving or travelling flats, showing the
arrangement of mechanism for "bevilling." the flats during grinding and
the-position of the flats when at work; Fig. 2'is a front clevation, and
partial section of the same.
Fig. 3 is a side elevation of my improved arrangement for "" back
stripping" the flats of the carding engine described in the Specification
above referred to; Fig. 4 is a front clevation of the same, and Fig. 5
detailed front view showing the position of Ţ brackets when the bowl is.
not to act'thercou. All the Drawings are one-half the real size.
י
In Figs: 1 and 2, B represents a flange attached to the bend of the
carding engine, which is turned and fixed in a position concentric with
the cylinder and has its upper surface, as seen in séction 'in Fig. 2,
parallel to the axis of the cylinder. Upon this flange rests and slides the
segment of a frustrum of a cone (which I call hereafter the cone), and
a section of which is shown at A in Fig. 2. C, C, C, Figs. 1'and '2'
represent a number of the travelling flats in both working and grinding
position; D is a curved guide or flange to prevent the lateral vibration.
of the flats; E is one of the screws (of which three are necessary, one at
cach end and one in the middle) for regulating and adjusting the position
of the conc; F, in Figs. 1 and 2, is a wheel having in its circumference.
hollows or notches equidistant from the centre and from each other and
corresponding in, shape and size to the rounded projections upon the:
back of each flat end, and attached, to, it is G.a wheel having a number
of equal projections or cams equidistant from the centre. and from each
other and corresponding in number to the hollows in the wheel F.
These two wheels revolve together upon a stud fixed upon one end of:
the lever. H, the other end of which oscillates upon a stud-in-the-bracket L,
which is firmly fixed against the side of the "bend ".Figs. 1 and 2. K
represents a lever swung upon a stud fixed in the upper part of the
bracket L, and having a regulating screw N.upon which rests a socket M,
one end of which swings upon the same centre as the lever K, and the
other end carries the grinding, roller P. In the lower part of the lever K
is fixed a bowl O, which is acted upon by the projections or cams of the.
'

page_text: "
wheel G; I is a spring acting upon the lever H so as to raise the end
carrying the wheels G and F, and J is tho grinding surface fixed firmly
to the bracket T.. As both "bends are fitted up alike, so far as regards
the before-described mechanism, I have thought it suflicient to explain
the one only.
In Figs. 3 and 4, A represents the oscillating arm which carries the
mechanism for lifting, stripping, and grinding the flats; B is the
Tshaped lifting bracket hinged in the centre and kept in position by a
spring; and C the lever which is caused to oscillate by the action of the
rod D with which it is connected, and into the lower end of which is
fixed a bowl resting upon the cam wheel E, the said wheel revolving
upon the cylinder shaft or pedestal, and being driven by a pinion
attached to a chain wheel F which is driven by an endless chain or
other convenient gearing from a chain wheel fast to the disc chain
wheel G. There may be duplicate mechanism on the other side of the
carding engine, or instead thereof the shaft carrying the lever C may be
continued across the carding engine and a corresponding lever fixed to
the other end thereof, so that the two would act simultaneously upon
the shaped lifting brackets (one upon each arm), the shaft being
actuated by the cam wheel and connecting rod upon one side only,
Having thus described my improved arrangement of mechanism, I
shall now proceed to explain the action of the same. In Figs. 1 and 2
the endless chain of travelling flats being supposed to be sliding upon
the upper surface of the " cone A in the direction of the arrow and
having the ends thereof or the heads of the screws passing through
the connecting links, in contact with the curved guide J when
approaching the doller turn over in the usual manner and move in the
contrary direction, being supported by wheels revolving in fixed brackets.
As each flat approaches the grinding roller in turn its rounded end
falls into one of the hollows in the circumference of the wheel F (which
is being driven by the traverse of the preceeding flat) and which is
caused by the spring I to support and press each flat with which it is
in gear against the guiding surface J, which is a counterpart of the
upper surface of the cone A but fixed in an inverted position, as shown
in Fig. 2. As the wheel Frotates by the traverse of the flats, the cam
wheel G to which it is attached acts continuously upon the bowl O fixed
in the lever K, causing the said lever to oscillate and consequently to
alternately raise and depress the grinding roller P to the extent of the

page_text: bevil required. The regulating screw N is for lowering the grinding
roller P as the wire upon the flats wears down. It will be evident that
this system of grinding may be applied independently of the "cone,” i.e.,
if the flexible bend be used the grinding surface J instead of being
inclined would require to be parallel to the axis of the grinding roller P.
As the wire of the flats wears down the cone A is drawn out in the
direction of the arrow by the regulating screws cither separately or
collectively, which latter may be effected by fixing chain wheels on
their extremities and connecting them by an endless chain. A tie rod
across the carding engine between the two brackets (one of which is
shown at L) will keep them steady and firm.
The action of the back stripping mechanism (see Figs. 5, 4, and 5)
may be described as follows:-The bowl having released itself from
the Ţ shaped lifting bracket continues its revolution till it arrives at the
disc wheel chain G, upon which it acts, and the motion of which is con-
tinued by the action of the chain carrying the said bowl upon the teeth
thereof. As the wheel G revolves its motion is communicated through
the gearing chain to the wheel F, the pinion upon which gears into and
actuates the cam wheel E. Now the chain wheel attached to G contains
(in this instance) ten teeth driving the chain wheel F containing thirty
teeth, with its pinion I of twelve teeth, therefore one revolution of G
will cause one-third of a revolution of the pinion on F moving E through
four teeth corresponding to one cam surface, and will so raise or lower
the connecting rod D sufficiently to cause the lever C to press the upper
part of the T shaped bracket B outwardly (see Fig. 5), or allow the
spring to press it inwardly (see Fig. 4), and so to keep it clear of or
bring it into position for being acted upon by the bowl carried by the
lifting chain. Thus as the back flats are being stripped the bowl in the
rod D would be lying upon the plain portion of the circumference of the
wheel E and each alternate flat would be lifted, but when the front
flats are arrived at the cam surfaces on the wheel E have come up to
and commenced to act upon the connecting rod D, by which every
fourth flat only is raised and stripped. It will be evident that the
number of back stripped flats would be decided by the quality of the
cotton used and would be regulated by the number of cam surfaces upon
the wheel E. In the present case I have supposed the carding engine
to have twenty flats, ten of which are "back stripped." The order
would be as follows:—1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 13, 17, 20, 16, 12, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1, 3, 5,

page_text: 7, 9, 11, 15, 19, 18, 14, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1, &c. Of course by altering the
cam wheel, or by having three sets of cam surfaces instead of two, as
herein-before described, the flats of the carding engine may be divided
into three lots, the back lot being stripped three times as often as the
front, and the middle lot twice as often.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention,
together with the manner in which the same is to be or may be
performed or carried into practical effect, I wish it to be understood that
I claim as my Invention, the novel and peculiar arrangement of
mechanism for setting the top cards or flats, and for lifting, stripping,
and grinding the same as herein-before particularly described and
illustrated in the Drawings annexed, or any mere modification or
imitation thereof constructed and operating in substantially the same or
a similar manner.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Bispham Kay, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of July, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witnessed by
GEORGE DAVIES, C.E.,
Office for Patents,
Manchester.
THOS. B. KAY. (L.S.)