CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING AND CARDING FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1850

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY RITCHIE, of Kennington, in the County of Surrey, England, send greeting.
WHEREAS the Queen of England, by Letters Patent under the Great
Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at Westminster, the Tenth day of October,
of the year One thousand eight hundred and fifty, did give and grant unto me,
the said Ritchie, my exors, admors, and assigns, especial license, full power,
sole privilege, and authority, that I, the said Ritchie, my exors, aditiors, and
assigns, and such others as I, the said Ritchie, my exors, adññiors, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times thereafter during the term of years therein mentioned, should and '
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney,
Sark, and Man, and in all the Colonies and Plantations abroad belonging to
the Government of Great Britain, an Invention communicated to me by a
foreigner residing abroad, the said Invention being "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING AND CARDING FIBROUS SUBSTANCES;" in which
said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso, that I, the said Ritchie, shall
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument of writing

page_text: under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in the High Court of Chancery within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part
recited Letters Patent, as, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and
at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Henry Ritchie, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly
described and represented in the following instrument of writing, and in the
accompanying Drawings, letters, figures, and references thereof.
The nature of my first improvement consists in a combination with the
carding engine of a means of applying steam or heat and moisture to wool or
other fibrous material of like character previous to its being carded, and while
on the feeding apron of the carding engine, and this also in connection with
the means of applying an additional supply of heat to one or more of the feed
rollers, in order to restore any heat which might be lost or abstracted by them
under other circumstances. For this purpose, the feeding apron of the carding
engine may be made with open spaces or passages through it, so as to allow
steam to freely pass up, through such spaces, and into any wool or fibrous
WATER FORINGIN
material laid or spread upon the apron and over such open spaces. A steam
discharge pipe is to be extended directly underneath, or in some other proper
position with, respect to, the apron, and provided with suitable orifices of
discharge; such, as will allow the steam to pass out of the pipe, and impinge
against the wool upon the apron: Such steam is intended to be used instead
of oil for the purpose of softening the wool or other like fibrous material, and
generally, speaking it entirely dispenses with such an employment or application
of oiled
Figure of the Drawings above, referred to, denotes a sectional view of a
portion of a breaker, carding engine, in which the endless feeding apron is seen
at-A, and as composed of a series of parallel bars, arranged at short distances
apart from one another, and suitably hinged together, such apron being made
to work around and be supported on.horizontal rollers b, b: A horizontal steam
pipe C, connected to a conducting pipe D, is placed laterally within the endless
apron, and has many or a suitable number of perforations made through it for
the purpose of permitting steam when, let-into such pipe to escape therefrom, and
be discharged into the wool or fibrous material laid upon the feeding apron.
The heat and moisture of the steam combined produce a better effect on the
wool than the moisture alone would. The latter has pretty much the softening
effect of oil as usually applied to it; but the heat, in conjunction with the

page_text: moisture, much more effectually softens the fibres of the wool than either.öil
or moisture, alone. Wool, will not. card, to good advantage when:-it..is
cold; and the best degree, oftheat to be employed in-carding is that correspond
ing about with the ordinary naturaleheat of the body of the animal from which
the wool has been taken:. As this is too great a:heatsto, which to elevate the
temperature of the room in which, the carding engine may be, that is to say,
too great for the comfort or health of the operatives in such apartment, I. have
applied the heat and steam in the manner as:described; and in order that, the
feed rollers may not abstract the heat.before the fibrous material reaches the
card cylinders, either one or both of the feed rollers c, d, or theflicker in" e (see
Figures 1, and 2,) may be made: hollow, and so connected with either a.steam
pipe leading from a steam-generator, or a hot air pipe leading from an apparatus
for heating air, as to enable either such steam, or heated air to pass within the
body of such roller, rollers; or "licker in, and heat it or them to a degree'sufficient
to keep up the necessary heat of the wool, or to apply an increased degree of
heat thereto, as circumstances may require. Figure 2 of the Drawings denotes
the application of my: Improvements in part to. a condenser or finisher
carding engine. In this Figure the rollers which: receive the slivers between
them, before such slivers enter between the feed rollers cand d, are seen f
and g. A pipe for the discharge of steam upon and into the wool is represented
ath. A branch-piper may lead the steam into the body or interior of one of the
feed rollers,rif desirableAs the heat and moisture is applied to the wool
immediately before it passes through the feed rollers, the use of more or less
moisture under such circumstances, does not effect the size of the sliver as
the use of more or less oil: would, which oil is weighed with the wool
preparatory to its being placed on the feed apron:
3
Another improvement or part of my Invention consists in the manner of
making either or both the feed rollers or the "lickerin of the carding engine.
They are first made:'as metallic: cylinders, and each with a helical or screw
groove, triangular or approximately so in cross section, cut-around-or-into the
periphery from end to end of it, the turns of the helix being close together, and
so as to form a triangular thread or screw between them. The cylinder is
next fluted or grooved lengthwise: on its curved surface,so as either- to leave
the projections or teeth left. between the helical and other-grooves, angular, as
seen in Figure 3,. or slightly hooking, as seen in Figure 4 wherein the fluitings
are seen at a, a, a, and the projections or teeth at bb, b, the sail two Figures
3 and 4 being transverse sections of the rollers: The screw of one of the feed
rollers is a "right-handed" one, while that of the other is a "left-handled" onc.;

page_text: The feed rollers are made as represented in Figure 3, and with the helix groove
as above described, while the "licker in" is made with the helix groove, and as seen
in Figure 4. Figure 5 denotes a side view of a portion of one of the feed rollers,
while Figure 6 is a side view of a similar portion of the "licker in." Such
an improvement in the construction of the feed rollers and the "licker in" not
only causes them to require very much less cleaning, but renders them able to
deliver the wool more freely to the main cylinder than when made in the old
way, that is to say, with "card teeth."
My next improvement in machinery for preparing the wool is one wherein it is
prepared for mule spinning, and it consists of a series of draw rollers combined
with twisting machinery and with the condenser or finisher carding engine.
For this purpose I make use of a collection of draw rollers, made up of two or
more sets, and disposed with respect to the condenser or finisher so as to
receive the sliver or slivers as they emerge or are delivered therefrom, the slivers
being seen at k, l, in Figure 2. The several sets of two draw rollers are seen
at m, n, m, n, &, in the said Figure 2, there being five sets therein represented.
The axis of each set is arranged in a vertical plane, situated at a distance from
the vertical plane of the axis of the set next to it less than the general or
average length of the fibres of the wool to be operated upon, whereas as sets of
draw rollers for operating on cotton are arranged, they are generally or always
disposed so that the vertical planes of their axis, or, in other words, the "bites"
of the two sets of rollers, shall be at a distance apart greater than the length
of the staple or fibres of the cotton, and this in order to enable them to
readily draw closer, or cause the fibres to draw apart or slide over each other.
The upper draw rollers m, m, m, m, m, simply rest by their own weight upon
the sliver as it passes between them and those beneath them. In connection
with the collection of draw rollers a bobbin o, spindle p, and flyer q, are employed,
as seen in Figure 2, they being operated so as to twist the sliver after it has
been passed between and drawn by the said draw rollers, the said sliver between
the draw.rollers and the flyer of the twisting mechanism being shewn at rin
Figure 2.
In the ordinary process of spinning with the jack or mule, and after the
operations of the condenser or finisher card have been concluded, two drawings
and spinnings on the jack or mule are required in order to produce fine
spinning, whereas by the employment of my improved mechanism only one
drawing and spinning is necessary on the mule.
By means of my addition to the condenser, I put twist into the sliver
after it has been drawn to the extent required, previous to its introduction to

page_text: he mule, whereas by the old way on the mule, the twist is put in at the same
time the sliver is drawn or elongated.
:
The effect on wool, of my new mode of preparing the roving, compared with
the common way of making it on the condenser alone, or without the addition
of the drawing rollers and twisting mechanism, may be thus illustrated.. I would
remark, however, that my method of operating on machinery is confined to the
spinning of wool of the kind not denominated "worsted;" as there is a well-known
distinction in trade between ordinary or short wool and "worsted." In operating
under or with my improvement, I usually put up two slivers from the second
breaker carding engine to make one for the finisher or condensing carding engine,
and by means of such a doubling of the slivers I am enabled to get a much
more uniform sliver from the condenser than I could were I not to double the
the sliver as it enters the same. This doubled sliver is drawn and twisted
to suit the size of yarn to be ultimately made by the final operation of drawing
and spinning by the jack or mule, which latter, during such operation, takes
out the twist produced by the flyer at the finisher card previous to the further
drawing or elongating and twisting of the yarn. If the yarn required to be
produced by the mule is twenty thousand yards length to the pound in weight,
we make for the jack or mule a roving of seven thousand yards to the pound,
and we take this roving from the drawing and twisting machinery combined
with the condenser, the sliver, before being drawn by the drawing rollers, being
three thousand yards to the pound, the said rollers elongating it to seven thousand
yards to the pound, whereas in spinning the same quality of yarn in the old
way, the sliver would be taken from the condenser in the state of from nine
to ten thousand yards to the pound; such, therefore, lessening the quantity
from the yards and increasing the difficulty of making. even work; the smaller
the sliver from the cards the more difficult it is to get it perfect. In double
spinning for fine work, the same difficulty occurs; the sliver must be eight
thousand yards per pound from the card, to get warp of twenty thousand yards
to the pound, such warp being produced by my improvement, by taking the
sliver from the card three to four thousand yards to the pound, and re-
ducing it by the drawing rollers, and by so doing creating a saving of one
half the usual labor of spinning fine work on the jack or mule. The roving
prepared by my improvement will spin much farther than either ordinary
condensed roving or that made by drawing with twist, or in other words, that
wherein the draft and twist are simultaneously put into it. This is accounted
for in this way: by my improvement the sliver is drawn down by the rollers
before twist is put in, such being given to the roving, but not before it is drawn

page_text: down to the required size for introduction to the jack or mule. This latter has
a very different effect on the wool than would be produced were its.drawn
and simultaneously twisted as in the common way of double spinning by the
mule or jack The fibres of the wool; maintain their curl in the roving made
in my new way, such-being, the spinning qualities of the wool! Two and a half
feet of the improved roving will draw about as well and as far assthree,andione
half feet, of roving made in the old way. Iaccount for this by the following
hypothesis, viz. that a part of the spinning qualities of the wool is removed
by the first, spinning on the jacktor mules in the old way, whereas they remain
in the woolyby drawing; it by frollers without twistingeits until after it, has
passed the rollers, and the fibres of the sliver are leftain proper positions to.be
drawn when the final spinning takes placerat mi sar
Having, thus described niy Invention for improvement, what I claim is as
follows, vizclaim the application to or combination with the, carding
engine of machinery or means of applying steam or heat and moisture to wool
or other fibrous material of, like chiaracter just previous to its being .carded;
and while, on-the-feeding apron of the carding engine: andithis as a substituto
for the use of oil as applied to wool.previous to its being rearded. Andsin
combination with such means for the application of steam or heat and moisture;
I claim the application to one or more of thesfeed rollers or the licker in of
means for producing an additional supply of heat to them, in order to keep up or
maintain the heat in the wool, preparatory to its introduction to the carding
cylinders. I also claim the manner of making the teeth of either or both, the
feed rollers or the licker in essentially as herein before specified, or in other
words, the combination of the flutings with the screw or helical thread and groove
formed, on and-in-the surface of each of the rollers or licker in.. And in com-
bination with such mode of forming the teeth of the lickerzin,.I claim to.make
the teeth of it hooked or hooking substantially as herein-before described: "I
also claim my improvement for preparing the wool previous to its being finally
drawn and twisted-by: the jack or níule, the same consisting in the employment
of a collection of drawing rollers and a twisting mechanismi in combination with
the condenser or finisher carding engine,.substantially in manner and made to
operate, therewith as herein before described, the wool-being introduced Ito
and passed through the finisher card in the moderas herein before stated.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry-Ritchie, have hereunto
set my land and seal, this Eleventh day of February; A:D: 1851.
WHY (L.s.) RITCHIE.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Eleventh day of February, in
the year of our Lord 1851, the aforesaid William Henry Ritchie came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
-
Enrolled the Fourteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord One
Enrolled the Fourteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.