& MENTS. IN MACHINERY FOR HECKLING AND CARDING FLAX, IN MACHINERY --FOR COMBING AND DRAWING WOOL AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS, AND IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING PARTS OF SUCH MACHINES; AND FOR A NEW ARRANGEMENT OF-THE STEAM ENGINE FOR DRIVING FLAX AND WOOLLEN MILLS, WHICH ARRANGEMENT.IS ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES WHERE MOTIVE POWER IS REQUIRED
Year: 1850

page_text: TO ALL-TO--WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
RICHARDS HARDING, of Lille, in-the-Republic of-France, Manufacturer, send
⚫ greeting!..>
--པཡ,;
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent-Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters-Patent- under the Great Seal of-Great-Britain, bearing date at
--Westminster, the Seventeenth day of October, in the fourteenth year of Her
reign, did, for. Herself,-Her.heirs and successors, give-and-grant unto me, the
said Thomas Richards Harding,-Her especial license, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I, the said Thomas Richards Harding, my exors; admors,
and assigns, and such others as I,- the said Thomas- Richards-Harding, my
exors, admors,. or assigns,-should- at-any-time-agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times. during the terin of years therein mentioned,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales; and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my-Invention of "IMPROVE-
& MENTS. IN MACHINERY FOR HECKLING AND CARDING FLAX, IN MACHINERY --FOR
COMBING AND DRAWING WOOL AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS, AND IN MACHINERY
FOR MAKING PARTS OF SUCH MACHINES; AND FOR A NEW ARRANGEMENT OF-THE
STEAM ENGINE FOR DRIVING FLAX AND WOOLLEN MILLS, WHICH ARRANGEMENT.IS
ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES WHERE MOTIVE POWER IS REQUIRED;" in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said Thomas
Richards Harding, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be
inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar

page_text: months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters
Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso,. I, the said
Thomas Richards Harding, do hereby declare that the nature of my said In-
vention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly
described and ascertained in and bythe followingdescription thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon (that is to say):-
The first head of my Invention consists in an arrangement of self-acting
machinery, whereby I am enabled to present both sides of the strick of flax to
the action of the heckles, and successively to pass the flax under the operation
of heckles of different degrees of fineness, and also to rid the heckles of the
tow and lap it upon a drum, from which it may be readily removed by hand.
In Sheet I. of the Drawings forming part of this my Specification, Fig. 1 is
a side elevation of the improved machine; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same;
Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section, taken through the line 1, 2, of Fig. 2; and
Fig. 4 is a view of the opposite side to that shewn at Fig. 1.
Fig. 5, Sheet II., is a view of the right-hand end of the machine; and
Fig. 6 is a transverse section, taken in the line 3, 4, of Fig. 2. A, A, is the
framing of the machine; B, B', are two heckle cylinders, of equal dimensions,
and capable of revolving in opposite directions. Their construction is as
follows-a, a are two cog wheels, mounted at either end of a hollow shaft b,
aflixed to the framing A. On the inner face of these wheels an annular-flange
is cast, and to these flanges the ends of the heckle bars are respectively bolted.
The wheels of the cylinder gear respectively into the wheels of the cylinder
B', and are thereby made to revolve in opposite directions. Immediately
above these cylinders a series of flax holder guides or carriers C, C, C, is pro-
vided for bringing the flax under the operation of the heckles. These carriers
swing from rods which extend the whole width of the machine, and are them-
selves supported at either end by a pair of endless chains c, c, which slide on
guides c*, and pass over the chain wheels d, d, on the shafts e, e, and are
actuated thereby. The holders of the stricks of flax are shewn at f, f, and may
be of any approved construction. They are fed into the travelling guides by
hand, and are supported therein by suitable projections on the sides of the
holders. The guides are of sufficient width to contain four holders, the machine
being what is termed a four-tool machine; that is, having heckles of four
different degrees of fineness, but longer or shorter guides or carriers may be
used, if thought desirable; and in that case a proportionate alteration in the

page_text: arrangement of the sets of heckles should, be made. The stricks of flax are
severally traversed over the heckle cylinders four times, and at each traverse
they are made to recede from the side of the machine at which they entered,
and are thereby brought into contact with a finer guage of heckle pins, and
after passing over the fourth or finest set of heckles they are discharged from
the machine. This is effected in the following manner :-Supposingthe holders
to be fed into the guides when they have come round to the position of the
guide C*, Fig. 2, the continuous revolution of the endless chains will carry
forward the holder last fed into that guide, and subject the strick of flax which
it contains to the action of the heckles. When the strick has passed over the
cylinders B and B', its holder will be carried upwards, and in passing again
to the, other end of the machine the holder will come in contact with a fixed
inclined plate D, whereby it will be pushed along its guide or carrier, aș
shewn at Fig. 2, and simultaneously the fourth holder in that guide will be
discharged from the machine.
"
I have stated that the guides for the holders swing from rods attached to
the endless chains c, but at certain parts of their traverse, vizt, when they are
carrying the flax holders over the inclined plate D, they should be made to
maintain their vertical position, in order that the resistance presented by the
plate D to the direct forward motion of the holder that is brought in contact
therewith may be rendered effectual. For this purpose the guides are pro-
vided with a flat piece at their head, which slides under a fixed horizontal
plate D* (see Fig. 3), which will prevent the oscillation of the guides as they
pass over the inclined plate D.
When the holders are passing over the heckle cylinders I find it advisable
that they should be made to "dwell," a short time, in order that the heckles
may have time to heckle the strick close up to the holders. This I effect
without stopping the traverse of the endless chains by fixing a projecting pin at
either end of the guides, and in such a position that during the forward move-
ment of the guides the pins shall meet with vertical studs affixed to the framing,
and be compelled to rock the guides on their centres before they can pass over
the projecting studs. The effect of this rocking of the guides will be readily
understood by referring to the Diagram, Fig. 7, where the line 1, 2, indicates
the vertical position of the guide and its holder, and the line, 1, 3, the incline
which it takes, by reason of the continued traverse of the chains and the
retarding action of the pins and fixed studs, before mentioned.
The mode of actuating the parts above described is as follows:-E, is the
main driving shaft, turning in suitable bearings in the side frames A, and upon
this shaft the fast and loose driving pullies F are mounted; G is a pinion

page_text: keyed to the shaft E, and gearing into the cog wheel H, which is mounted on
a stud projecting from the framing, and carries a pinion I on its boss; into this
pinion I a cog wheel K, mounted on the axle e of the chain wheels d, gears.
When, therefore, rotary motion is communicated from any first mover to the
fast pulley F, the chains e will be travelled forward in the direction of the
arrow, and with them the guides C, and flax holders f, whereby the stricks of
flax will be successively brought under the action of the heckles. Rotary
motion is communicated to the heckle cylinders through a pinion L, keyed to
the opposite end of the driving shaft E, to that which carries the driving
pullies. This pinion takes into a pinion M, which is one of two pinions that
are mounted on the extremities of the shaft N, and gear respectively into the
wheels forming the ends of the cylinder B'; and as the cog wheels of the two
cylinders gear into eachother, asbefore stated, their revolution is simultaneous,
and in opposite directions. In order to discharge the tow from the heckles, a
fan is provided at the centre of each heckle cylinder for creating a blast of air,
which will drive off the tow and allow of its being taken up and formed into a
bat or sheet by the means to be presently described. g, Fig. 6, iš a shaft,
running through the hollow shaft b of the heckle cylinder, and turning in suit-
able bearings formed for its reception. This shaft g carries at about the middle
of its length a fan h, which is enclosed in a cylindrical case i, having openings
at its sides for the admission of air, and a longitudinal vent, extending nearly
the whole length of the cylinder, is made for directing a blast of air to the
back of the heckle bars, by which means the tow is forced off the pins of the
heckle bars. The rotation of this fan is effected by means of a band passing
from a pulley on its shaft to a pulley j on the shaft E. Air is admitted to the
case i through an opening 1 in a cylindrical case 2, which surrounds the blast
apparatus. The object of causing the air to enter at the opening 1 is, that the
draft created by the rotation of the fan shall force the stricks of flax into close
contact with the heckles. Near the periphery of the cylinder B a lattice
cylinder is mounted. The bars of this cylinder are provided with pins, which
receive the tow as it is blown off from the heckle pins. On the shaft of the
cylinder k is a cog wheel Z, which gears into a wheel on the shaft of the sliver
drum m. In gear with this wheel is a pinion n, which takes into a pinion o on
the shaft p. This shaft p also carries a pulley 4, over which a band passes to a
pulley on the shaft e of the chain wheels d, by which means rotary motion is
communicated through the train of gearing just described to the lattice
cylinder, which takes the tow from the heckles. The tow is taken off this
cylinder by a stripper s, which revolves by friction of contact with the drum m,
and delivers the tow thereon in the form of a sheet, which may be taken off

page_text: by hand when required. It will be understood that both heckle cylinders are
similarly provided with a fan and tow stripping apparatus, but only one set of
apparatus is shewn in the Drawing, to prevent unnecessary complexity. The
rotary motion for the second fan may be taken from the shaft g by means of a
strap passing over pulleys on the respective shafts.
Under this head of the Invention, I claim, first, the general arrangement
of parts, whereby I am enabled to heckle both sides of a strick of flax
by passing it once through the machine, and without turning the strick";
secondly, I claim giving a continuous traverse motion to the guides or
carriers of the flax holders, whereby I am enabled to submit the flax to the
action of the heckles, without the necessity for any reverse or intermittent
motion to effect the proper heckling of the flax; thirdly, I claim the bringing
the flax into contact with the heckles by means of atmospheric pressure,
and causing a blast of air to impinge upon the back of the heckles, and
thereby force off the tow from the heckle pins.
The second head of my Invention consists in improvements in the con-
struction of card cylinders and porcupine rollers, and in machinery to be used
in the manufacture of the same. I construct the working surface of the
cylinders of carding engines of metal plates provided with steel teeth, and
instead of setting the plates around the cylinder in lines parallel with the
axis, or in slanting parallel lines, I fix them helically, by which means I am
enabled to prevent the buckling of the metal, and to restore the plates to a
proper degree of surface convexity, which they are liable to lose during the
operation of driving in the steel pins.
Another advantage peculiar to myimproved construction of cardcylinder is,
that the pins will be set with such uniformity as to be tangents of one and
the same circle. This will also be the case with the pins of the porcupine
rollers, which rollers, instead of constructing them of segments, as at present,
I propose to form of cylinders of brass or other suitable metal. The manner in
which I am enabled to set the pins at one common angle to the periphery of
the cylinder from which they project will be clearly understood when the
machinery used for drilling the holes for their insertion and for fixing them in
their sockets is described. The drilling machine, which greatly resembles a
slide rest lathe in construction, is shewn in Sheet III. of the Drawings;
Fig. 1 being a plan view, Fig. 2 an end elevation, and Fig. 3 a partial
front view of the same. The plates to cover the cylinder of a carding
engine are fixed temporarily upon a cylinder a mounted upon a mandril.
This cylinder is caused to move round at intervals, so as to allow the drill,
which has an intermittent lateral motion, to drill the holes in the plates, in

page_text: which the steel pins are inserted in helical lines, as shewn at Fig. 1. The
drill is mounted on a sliding bed b, actuated by a traverse screw c, and the
amount of each lateral movement of the drill is regulated in the ordinary
manner. Rotary motion is given to the drill by a band from any first mover
passing over the drill pulley, and rotary motion being given to the traverse
screw by hand, it is communicated through a train of gearing 1, 2, 3,4,5,6,7,
to a worm shaft d, the worm of which takes into and drives a worm wheel e
on the spindle f of the headstock. On the same spindle is a worm wheel g,
which carries a square socket to receive one end of the mandril. This wheel
g gears into a worm on a vertical shaft h, which carries at its upper, end a
pinion in gear with a pinion i. This pinion is provided. with a handle for
turning it, and when the motion obtained from the traverse screw chas
moved round the cylinder a the proper distance to give the required helical
direction to the row of drilled holes, the pinion i is turned round once,
whereby the cylinder a receives an axial motion of a determinate amount
equal to. the distance required between the rows of drilled holes. The action
of the machine then proceeds as before. It will now be seen that as the line
of traverse of the drill is parallel with the axis of the cylinder a, and as that
cylinder is moved round a certain determinate distance after the drilling of
every hole, each row of holes will form a portion of a helix, and the pins
when set in the pierced plates will all stand at the same relative angle to a
radius line drawn from the centre of the cylinder to the point of intersection
of the axis of the pins with the surface of the cylinder. The pins may be
fixed in the pierced plates after they are removed from the cylinder a by
means of the apparatus shewn at Figures 4 and 5; but the principal use of
this apparatus is to fix the pins of porcupine rollers or the smaller cylinders
of carding engines, and thereby allow of those rollers or cylinders being made
of drawn tubes instead of sectional pieces of metal. a (Figures 4 and 5) is
a hand lever, working on a fulcrum b, and jointed to a link piece c, which
connects it with a lever d, having its fulcrum at e. The outer extremity of
this lever carries a small hammer head, and the amount of oscillation of the
lever and consequent rise and fall of the hammer is determined by a set
screw f. The pierced cylinder is placed over the hammer end of the lever d,
and held there by hand, a row of pins having previously been inserted therein
from the inside by the workman. The cylinder is steadied by resting upon
the plate g, and the hand lever being worked by the attendant, the hammer is
made to fall and drive in the pins beneath it. A line is drawn on the plate g
to shew the proper distance that the points should protrude, and when the
points of the depressed pins cut this line the cylinder is drawn forward, and

page_text: other pins in the same line are in succession brought under the hammer until
the line is completed. The cylinder is then removed and another line of pins
is inserted, and so on, until the whole cylinder is completed.
Under this head of my Invention I claim, first, the peculiar construction of
card cylinders and porcupine cylinders or rollers as above set forth; secondly,
the arrangement of machinery for drilling helical lines of holes in the plates
and cylinders; and, thirdly, the mode of driving pins into card cylinder plates
and porcupine cylinders or rollers, as above explained.
The third head of my Invention refers to a novel construction of circular.
comb machine. In Sheet III., .Fig. 6 is a plan view of the machine; Fig. 7
is a partial sectional elevation; and Fig. 8 is a plan of the comb carrier frame
detached. A, A, is the main framing, provided with two standards A*, A*,
which are slotted at their upper ends to receive a rod B. From this rod the
frame C, which carries the comb, is pendent, and it is capable of oscillating
thereon. Mounted on a central boss of the frame C is a worm wheel D,
and to it the circular comb E is bolted. F is an endless feed apron pro-
vided at the front of the machine for conveying the material which is to be
operated upon to a porcupine roller G, which roller presents it to the comb
teeth. At the back of the machine the drawing-off rollers H are situated, the
same being mounted in bearings on the frame C, and therefore partaking of
the oscillating motion of the comb, and always being at a uniform distance
from the teeth thereof. The action of this machine is as follows:-Motion is
communicated through the pulley a on the driving shaft b to a shaft c, by
means of the pair of pinions d to the pinions e, which are mounted on studs
projecting from the framing. These pinions are connected together by an
excentric shaft c, which turns in bearings in the frame C, and carries a pinion f
in gear with a pinion h on the shaft i. This shaft i is provided with a worm k
(see Fig. 3), for actuating the worm wheel D, and thereby rotating the circular
comb E. 9 is another pinion on the shaft c, which takes into a pinion on the
axis of the top taking-off roller H, and thereby drives these rollers, which are
geared together, as usual. On the end of the shaft b is a pinion 2, which takes
into a wheel m, on the boss of which is a pinion in gear with a wheel n,
supported on a stud projecting from the framing. On the boss of this wheel n
is a pinion which takes into a wheel o on the axis of the porcupine roller G.
This axis o also carries a pinion, which takes into a pinion on the axis of the
near roller of the endless feed apron. By this train of gearing the several
parts of the machine are put in motion, and at the same time that a
comb rotates, an oscillating motion is given to the same by reason of the
excentric connection of the revolving pinions e, e, with the shaft c, which shaft,

page_text: as before stated, has its bearings in the frame C, which is pendent from the
shaft B. The comb will thus be made to approach to and recede from
the porcupine roller, and, thereby feed itself with the material to be operated
upon, whilst at the same time the material which has been opened by the comb
teeth will be taken off by the rollers H, which by being mounted on the frame
C, always follow the oscillating motions of the comb.
Under this head of the Invention I claim the arrangement of parts described,
or any mere modification thereof, for giving an oscillating motion to rotary
combs.
The last part of my Invention consists in an arrangement of steam engine,
particularly designed for driving flax and woollen mills, and for other uses
where smoothness of action is desirable.
.In Sheet IV., Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a pair of oscillating engines con-
structed according to my Invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view, with one engine in
section, the better to shew its construction; and Fig. 3 is a cross section,
..taken in the line 1, 2, of Fig. 2. The principal object of the improvements
is to render the action of the engines more smooth than heretofore, and
thereby to prevent the effect of the reciprocating motion of the pistons of
, the engines being communicated to the mill shafting and the machinery in
connection therewith. For this purpose I use two cylinders placed concen-
trically, the smaller cylinder B within the cylinder A. In the cylinder B,
I use high-pressure steam, and after it has forced the piston B* to the end
of its course the supply is cut off, and a communication is opened between
the two cylinders to allow the steam to escape into the cylinder A, and act
upon the annular piston A*. The piston rod of the cylinder B is connected.
by a crank arm to a shaft C, on which a large cog wheel D is mounted,
and the cross head of the rods of the annular piston A* is connected by
a crank arm with a shaft E, which carries a cog wheel F of similar pitch
to the wheel D. Into these wheels gears an intermediate pinion G, which,
receiving motion simultaneously from the two wheels D and F, transmits
the same through its shaft to the mill shafting. The valves used in this
engine are of the ordinary construction. Fig. 4 shews the form of steam
ways in the cylinder heads. The trunnions of the engine are made hollow,.
as usual in oscillating engines, for the purpose of supplying steam thereto
and exhausting it therefrom, which steam passes along the steam ways,
and first enters the small cylinder B; but simultaneously with the steam
that last entered the engine acting upon the piston of the cylinder B, the
steam on the other side of the piston will be escaping into the cylinder A,
and acting upon the annular piston A", by which means a smoothness and

page_text: uniformity of action will be attained in the engine, and the point of resistance
instead of being the trunnions, and thereby causing a large amount of friction,
will be transferred to the pistons, which, moving simultaneously in opposite
'directions, will neutralize that resistance, and leave the trunnions to sustain
merely the weight of the engine. It will be obvious, that if these engines are
constructed in pairs, 'as shewn, a uniformity of rotary motion will be given to
the pinion G, far exceeding that which is ordinarily transmitted from recipro-
cating engines.
If thought desirable the principle of construction of my improved engine
may be carried out by exhausting the cylinder which receives the steam direct
from the boiler into two small. cylinders instead of the annular cylinder, and
in this case the piston rods, of these two cylinders will be connected, like the
annular piston rods, by a cross head, and act in like manner on the central
driving shaft.
Under this head of the Invention I claim the so arranging the oscillating
steam engine that the steam, after being made to act upon the piston of one
cylinder, may be exhausted into another cylinder, or a pair of cylinders (in the
manner of the Woolf's engine), and thereby the piston of the high-pressure
cylinder and the piston of the low-pressure cylinder, or the pistons of the low-
pressure cylinders (as the case may be), will be caused to travel simultaneously
and in opposite directions, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Richards Harding, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one
Enrolled the Seventeenth day of April, in the year of our Lord One.
thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.