IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WASHING WOOL AND OTHER SIMILAR FIBRE
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Phillips Thompson, of the Office for Patents,
6, Lord Street, Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Consulting Engineer,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WASHING WOOL
AND OTHER SIMILAR FIBRE," A communication from abroad from Frederick
G. Sargent, of Graniteville, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.
ealed the 11th August 1876, and dated the 31st May 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Phillips Thompson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 31st May 1876.
WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, of the Office for Patents, 6, Lord Street, Liverpool,
in the County of Lancaster, Consulting Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR WASHING WOOL AND OTHER SIMILAR FIBRE." A communication from abroad by
Frederick G. Sargent, of Graniteville, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.
This Invention relates to that class of machines in which a vat or tank con-
taining the liquor is provided with squeezing or wringing rolls at one end, and with
mechanism for feeding the fibre through the liquor and to the rolls.
In carrying out my Invention,-
1st. I construct a tank or vat provided with an internal perforated false bottom;
this tank is mounted on legs. At the end of the vat I mount two squeezing rolls,
preferably one vertically above the other from the junction of the rolls backward,
and downward to the false bottom I construct an inclined curved table; the lower
part is concave upward, sometimes forming nearly a quadrant of a circle tangential
to the false bottom or nearly so, the upper part is convex, and is armed with rows
of rigid teeth, so shaped that while they allow the fibre to pass readily forward
toward the rolls they effectually prevent it from moving backward. Above the
upper toothed end of the curved table there is mounted a reciprocating frame, here-
after called the third carrier; this frame is provided with teeth pivotted thereto in
such manner that as the frame moves forward they lock fast, pointing in a
direction nearly perpendicular to the table, but yield as they pass over the fibre in
a backward direction from the rolls. This third carrier is supported by two arms
from below working on a counterbalanced transverse rocking shaft situated at the
centre of the circular curve of the upper portion of the table, so that the teeth of
the carrier in their forward motion traverse in a circular arc, their teeth being
always close to and at a uniform distance from the table.

page_text: 2nd. The third carrier receives its reciprocating motion through a link (hereafter
called the pitman) from a crank on the main shaft mounted on standards on the
sides of the tank. To the rear of the third carrier is a similar frame, the second
carrier provided with similar pivotted or with fixed teeth and with a link, the upper
end of which is slotted and mounted loosely on a stud in the pitman, and provided
with a vertical screw entering the upper portion of the slot from above. As the
pitman draws the two carriers backward from the rolls it raises the link of the
second carrier till it lifts the latter, so that its teeth pass over and clear of the fibre
below, and then as the carriers start forward toward the rolls the pitman lowers
the said link and second carrier, so that the teeth of the latter enter the fibre, and
carry a large mass of the same forward. By arranging the second carrier to rise
and fall in the manner described the fibre floating in the liquor is caught and fed
forward with certainty, uniformity, and rapidity. The second carrier has its
hinge or joint, whereby it is jointed to the third carrier, so constructed as to limit
its descent, and prevent its teeth from coming in contact with the table.
For the purpose of feeding the fibre to the second and third carrier I employ a
swinging carrier (hereafter called the first carrier) provided with an arm or rod, the
upper end of which slides in a pivotted bearing or box, while its lower ond is
mounted on and carried by the crank on the main shaft; the movement of the
crank causes the first carrier to descend into the outer end of the tank, and move
forward the fibre before it, and then risc and move back in the air to its first
position. The lower concave end of the table is given a curvature corresponding
to the path of the first carrier. The first carrier feeds to the second, the second to
the third. I place a screen in the tank below the table to hold such fibre as may
pass round the rolls into the tank again.
For the purpose of washing and rinsing the fibre more effectually I mount on the
side of the tank a steam injector or pump with two pipes, through which a stream
of water or other fluid is sprayed on to the fibre from one pipe just as the fibre
enters the tank through the other just as the fibre is leaving it through the rolls.
A third pipe may be employed to dip into the tank, and deliver water at the end
furthest from the rolls.
Sometimes, instead of swinging the third carrier from below, I swing it from
abovo, and arrange the curve of the table to suit. I much prefer however the
concave portion.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Phillips Thompson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 4th
September 1876.
WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, of the Office for Patents, 6, Lord Street, Liver-
pool, in the County of Lancaster, Consulting Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR WASHING WOOL AND OTHER SIMILAR FIBRE." A communication
from abroad by Frederick G. Sargent, of Graniteville, Middlesex County, Massa-
chusetts.
The Invention consists in the construction and arrangement of the mechanism
for feeding the fibre to the rolls, in the peculiar arrangement of a screen below the
rolls, and in the employment of an injector and perforated pipes for spraying water
upon the fibre, all as heroin-after fully described.
Figure 1 represents a longitudinal vertical section of my machine; Fig. 2, a top
plan view of the same.
Fig. 3, a side view of the injector.
Fig. 4, a longitudinal central section of a modified form of the machine.
A represents the vat or body of the machine mounted upon legs, and supporting
all the working parts, and provided with an internal perforated false bottom a;
B, B, are the two squeezing or wringing rolls mounted at one end of the body; C
is my inclined table extending from the false bottom upwards to the rolls, as shown

page_text: in Fig. 1. The lower end of the table O is concave, and its upper end convex, and
the
upper end provided with rows of rigid teeth b, which arc shaped so that while
they permit the fibre to pass readily forward towards the rolls they effectually
prevent it from moving backwards. Above the upper toothed end of the table C
there is mounted a reciprocating frame E provided with teeth C pivoted thereto in
such a
manner that as the frame they yield and pass over the fibre, and
that as the frame moves forward they lock fast in the frame, and carry the fibre
before them towards the rolls. The frame E is supported by two arms F extending
down outside of the body, and attached at their lower ends to a transverse rock
shaft G, which is provided with a weighted arin H, which latter serves to counter-
balance the swinging frame, and render the action of the machine smooth and easy.
The frame E receives its reciprocating motion through a pitman I from a crank K,
which latter is secured upon a shaft L mounted in a standard on the side of the
body, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. To the rear end of the frame E there is hinged
another and similar frame M provided with similar pivoted teeth or with fixed
ones, and with a link N, which has its upper end sletted, mounted loosely on a
stud on the pitman I, and provided with a vertical screw e entering the upper
end of the slot, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4. As the pitman draws the frames back-
ward from the rolls it raises the link N, and lifts the rear end of the frame M, as
shown in Fig. 1, so that its teeth pass back over and clear of the fibre below, and then
as the frames starts forward towards the rolls the pitman lowers the link and the
frame M, so that the teeth of the latter enter the fibre, and carry a large mass of the
samme forward. By arrangeing the frame to rise and fall in the manner described the
fibre floating in the liquor is caught and fed forward with certainty, uniformity, and
rapidity. The reciprocating frames having the pivoted teeth would carry the fibro
forward without having the rear frame arranged to rise and fall; but by giving
frame said movement the action of the machine is improved, and rendered more
satisfactory. The frame E is attached rigidly to the upper ends of its supporting
arms F, and the face of the table is curved in the arc of a circle described from tho
axis of the arms as a center, so that the frame moves in a path parallel with the
face of the table, this arrangement permitting the teeth or fingers of the frame to
travel very near the face of the table during their entire movement. The rear
frame M will have the hinge or joint, by which it is connected to the frame E con-
structed in such manner as to limit its descent, and prevent its teeth from coming
in contact with the face of the table.
For the purpose of feeding the fibre to the frames M, E, I employ a swinging
carrier O provided with an arm or rod g, the upper end of which slides through a
pivoted box h, while its lower end is mounted on and carried by the crank K, which
drives the reciprocating frames, as before explained. The movement of the crank
causes the carrier O to descend into the outer end of the body, and move forward
the fibre before it, and then rise and move back in the air to its first position.
The lower concave end of the table is given a curvature corresponding to the path
of the carrier, so that the latter will travel close thereto during its forward move-
ment. The fibre, being introduced at the end of the body, is carried through the
liquor and forward upon the rear teeth of the table by the carrier O, then
advanced still farther by by the frame M, and finally carried between tho rolls by
the frame E.
In order to prevent the fibre, which may adhere to the rolls and be carried back
into the body below the rolls from falling into the liquor again, I arrange in the
body below the table a screen p, as clearly shown in Fig. 1, upon which the fibro
will be collected and retained.
For the purpose of washing and rinsing the fibre the more effectually I mount on
the side of the body a steam injector S provided with perforated pipes T and U,
through which the injector forces a stream of water or other desired fluid, the
pipe T delivering a spray upon the fibre when it first enters the machine, and the
pipe U delivering a spray upon it just previous to its entering between the rolls.

page_text: This injector may be of any of the common and well-known forms to be found in
the market, or if preferred a pump may be used in its place.
In addition to the spraying pipes T, U, a third pipe W may be arranged to
dip into the body, as shown, and the parts so arranged that fresh water or other
fluid may be delivered through said pipe W into the body, or the fluid in the body 5
drawn out through said pipe, and delivered through the spraying pipes into the
body again.
It obvious that in constructing the machine different devices may be used
for feeding the fibre to the toothed frames, and that instead of swinging the said
frames from a point below the body, as shown in Fig. 1, they may be suspended by 1
an arm or arms swinging from a point above the table, as shown in Fig. 4, in in
which case the face of the table will be made concave instead of convex, as in
the machine first described, the action of the two arrangements being essentially
alikc.
It is preferred however to construct the machine, as in Fig. 1, with the table of 1
the convex forin at its upper end, for the reason that I find in practice that when
the retaining teeth are full of fibre the suplus fibre will roll back into the liquor
more readily on the convex table then on one of any other form. It will of caurse
be understood that although the form of table represented in Fig. 1 is the equivalent
of that represented in Fig. 4, so far as upholding the fibre to the feeding machanism
is concerned, it is not an equivalent in other respects, as the table with the convex
upper end facilitates the return of the surplus fibre to the bath, while the concave
table, on the contrary, prevents such return.
I am aware that the tables having concave upper ends are old, and in common
use; and it is to overcome the difficulties incidents to that use that my convex
table is disigned. The concave table, as shown in Fig. 4, not as a full equivalent
of the convex table, but simply to illustrate the application of my feeling
mechanism thereto, and to show the applicabilty of said mechanism to both forms
of table.
In operating the machines thus constructed I find that as a large mass of fibre is :
carried up
at each movement of the carrier, and only a portion of the same retained
upon the table, every portion is carried out of the liquor, and then dropped into the
same again one or more times before it is carried to the squeezing rolls, the result
being a much more thorough and effective cleansing of the fibre than could otherwise
be attained.
In place of the crank, pitman, and link other devises may be employed for
operating the toothed franes, and instead of using both pipes T and U, either one
may be omitted without affecting the other.
Having thus fully described my Invention what I claim is,-
1st. In combination with the curved table C, provided with the rigid teeth b, the
frame E supported by a pivoted arm or arms F, and provided with the pivoted
tecth C, substantially as shown and described.
2nd. In combination with tho table C, and the reciprocating toothed frame E, the
toothed frame M hinged to the frame E, and arranged to rise and fall, substantially
as shown and described.
3rd. The combination of the frames E and M, pitman I, crank K, and link N,
substantially as shown.
4th. In combination with the pitman I and link N, arranged and operating as
described, the screw c
5th. The combination of the frame E, armis F, rock shaft G, and the weighted
arm H, as shown.
6th. In combination with a wool-washing machine the injector S or its
equivalent, provided with the perforated pipes T and U, or either of them, arranged
to deliver a spray upon top of the fibro, as shown and described.
7th. In combination with the injector S, or its equivalent, the pipes T and U,
or either of them, and the pipe W, arranged as shown, whereby the water may

page_text: be withdrawn from the bottom of the tank and delivered upon the fibre, as
described.
Sth. In combination with the body A and rolls B the screen P, arranged in
the body below the rolls, but above the liquor level, as and for the purpose
described.
9th. In combination with the body A and rolls B the inclined table C, having
the concave lower and convex upper ends and devices, substantially such as shown
for feeding the fibre from the body upon the table to the rolls.
10th. In a wool washing machine a table C, having its upper end made of a
convex form, substantially as and for the purpose described.
11th. The reciprocating carrier or carriers M, M, and E, provided with yielding
teeth, constructed and arranged to operate substantially as shown and described.
12th. The combination of the stationary teeth b and the reciprocating carrier or
carriers, provided with yielding or (stationary and yielding) teeth C, substantially
as shown and described.
13. In a wool washing machine the combination of the following clements,
namely A tank or bowl to contain the liquid and the fibre, an inclined surface
upon which the fibre may be carried from the fluid, and a series of reciprocating
carrier teeth, arranged to engage with the fibre as they advance, and to pass freely
over the same as they recede.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Phillips Thompson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Second day of August, in the year of our Lord
1974
Witness,
E. GARDNER COLTON,
Patent Office,
6, Lord Street,
Liverpool.
WM. P. THOMPSON. (L.S.)