CERTAIN IMPROVE- MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR OPENING AND SCUTCHING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Noton, of Oldham, in the County of
Lancaster, Cotton Spinner, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR OPENING AND SCUTCHING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS
Sealed the 10th June 1864, and dated the 19th December 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Noton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 19th
December 1863.
I, WILLIAM NOTON, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Cotton Spinner,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR OPENING AND SCUTCHING COTTON AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES,"
to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of a self-regulating feeding apparatus, applicable to
openers, scutchers, and other machines of the like naturo for cleaning cotton
and other fibrous substances.
To the ordinary levers, which are influenced by the weight or thickness of
cotton or other fibrous substance passing between the feed rollers or otherwise,
a differential or other motion is applied or connected, which throws a friction
apparatus or toothed wheels in or out of contact or gear to impart motion to
or arrest the motion of a screw rack and pinion or band, by which a strap is
moved to and fro along a cone or pair of cones, for varying the speed of the
feeding roller according to the thickness of the feed. One of the wheels of
the differential motion above referred to is fixed to a shaft, to which is also
fixed a lever actuated by the lever which is raised or lowered according to the
thickness of the feed; as this wheel is turned partly round either in one

page_text: direction or the other, it acts upon the intermediate wheel of the differential
motion, which imparts by the means above described the requisite traverse to
the cone strap; or the same effect may be produced by means of a cam or
bar with an inclined surface, acted upon by the levers above referred to, and
acting on the friction apparatus or toothed wheels or pulleys by which the
cone strap is moved.
By means of the improved machinery above described, the levers influenced
by the thickness of the feed instead of traversing the cone strap by direct
action, are only required to set in motion other machinery by which the work
is done.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Noton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
15th June 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
NOTON, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Cotton Spinner, send
greeting.
any
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Noton, Her special license that I, the said William
Noton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Noton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 " CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR OPENING AND SCUTCHING COTTON AND OTHER
FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Noton, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 William Noton, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and what manner the same is to be-per-

page_text: formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say) :-
My. Invention consists of a self-regulating feeding. apparatus applicable to
openers, scutchers, and other machines of the like nature for cleaning cotton
and other fibrous substances: To the ordinary levers, which are influenced
by the weight or thickness of the cotton or other fibrous substance passing
between feed rollers or otherwise, a differential or other motion is applied
or connected, which throws a friction apparatus or toothed wheels in or
out of contact or gear to impart. motion to or arrest the motion of a screw;
rack, and pinion; or band, by which a strap is moved to and fro along a cone
or a pair of cones for varying the speed of the feeding roller according to
the thickness of the feed.
'
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to describe
the manner of performing the same, reference being. had to the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings.
.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of part of a scutcher of the usual construction to
which my improvements are applied; Fig. 2 is a front view of the same;
Fig. 3 is a plan of part of my improved machinery; and Figs. 4 and 5 are
modifications of the same.
In Fig. 1, a represents part of the usual feeding apron; b, b, are the
feeding rollers; and c the beater of the seutcher; d are weight hooks con-
necting the bearings of the top feed rollers with the side levers e, through the
outer ends of which levers pass set screws supporting the cross bar f, see
Fig: 2; g is the lower cone which is driven at an uniform speed by a strap
passing around the pulley g', and the cone g imparts a varying motion to the
upper cone h by the strap i, which is traversed along the cones by, the strap
fork j and screw k. The cone h imparts motion to the lower feed roller b by
the worm h¹ gearing into the wheel on the diagonal shaft , to which is also.
fixed the bevel pinion 12 gearing into the wheel 61 on the axle of the lower
feed roller:
My improvements consist in the following combination of parts for. varying
the position of the strap i on the cones, and consequently the speed of the
feed rollers b, according to the thickness of the cotton or other fibrous sub-
stance passing between the feed rollers b, b, or between a single feed roller
and moveable trough or plates. To the cross bar f is jointed the link f, the
upper end of which is connected to the end of the lever m, see Figs. 2 and 3 ;
the fulcrum of this lever is the stud m¹ fixed to the framing of the machine.
The adjustable stud m³ fits in a slot in the lever m, and this stud fits in a slot
in the lever n fixed to the shaft n', to which is also fixed the toothed bevel

page_text: segment or wheel n³ gearing into a bevel pinion o, which is mounted on a stud.
projecting from the lever p, which vibrates on the shaft n¹; the pinion o also
gears into the toothed bevel segment or wheel q, which is also loose on the
shaft n', but fast to the lever q', the outer end of which is connected. to the
strap fork j by the cord-q passing over the guide roller . At the lower end
of the lever p is a stud p¹ taking into a slot in the swivel bearing r which
supports the shaft r; to the upper end of this shaft is fixed the mitré. pinion r
gearing into a similar pinion on the screw k, which takes into a nut pro-
jecting from the strap fork j. To the lower end of the shaft is fixed the
friction wheel, which is driven alternately in contrary. directions by the
friction wheels 9 and g³ fixed on the shaft of the lower cone g.
The mode of operation is as follows, and the Drawing represents the parts
in the positions they occupy when the feed is regular and of the requisite
thickness; as soon, however, as too much cotton or other fibrous substance is
passing between the feed rollers b, the side hooks d raise the levers e and
bar f, thus raising the end of the levers m and n, and moving the bevel
segment n partly round in the direction of the arrows in Figs. 2 and 3; the
pinion o by this means is also turned partly round, and moves the lower end
of the lever p in the direction of the arrow shewn in Fig. 2, thus moving the
swivel bearing r so as to bring the friction wheel in contact. with the
wheel g³, which gives motion to the screw k in the proper direction for moving
the strap fork j and strap in the direction of the arrow, thus bringing the
strap on the smaller end of the driving cone g, and reducing the speed of the
upper cone hand the speed of the feed rollers. In order to stop the strap i
in its proper position according to the thickness of the feed, the cord lowers
the end of the lever q', and in lowering the bevel segment 9 gearing into the
pinion o, restores this pinion to its vertical position, thus throwing the friction
wheels and g³ out of contact. The contrary action takes place when the
feed is too thin, or the strap i may be stopped in its proper position by the
toothed segment n³, shewn by dotted lines in Fig. 2, which is supposed to be
cast with the segment 9; the segment n³ gears into the pinion s cast or fixed
to the pulley s', around which passes a band s³, both ends of which are fixed
at 83 to the strap fork j.
In Fig. 4 I have shewn a modification of my Invention; in this view the
lever n and shaft n¹ are similar to those shewn and previously described. t is
a cam fast on the shaft n', and t¹ is a disc with a projection t loose on the
shaft n', but connected to it by the stud v projecting from the lever q¹; wis
an elbow lever for the same purpose as the lever p, in Figs. 1 and 2. As the
lever n is raised or lowered, in the manner before described, the cam t, acting

page_text: on the projection t by means of the elbow lever w, throws the friction wheel
in or out of gear. The spring t³ is to hold the projection ts against the incline
of the cam t.
In Fig. 5 I have shewn another modification of my Invention; in this
case n' is a pinion fast on the shaft n'; this pinion gears in a rack on the
plate x. x is another plate with a rack gearing into the pinion y cast or fixed
to the boss of the lever q¹. The projection a² is fixed to the plate a¹, and it is
held in contact with the incline on the plate by the spring t³. The action
of this arrangement is similar to that of Fig. 4.
By means of the improved machinery, above described, the levers influenced
by the thickness of the feed instead of traversing the cone strap by direct
action, as heretofore customary, are only required to set in motion other
machinery by which the work is done, consequently the mechanism is more
sensitive, and the laps produced on the lap machine of the opener, scutcher,
or beater are more uniform in weight than those produced by the machinery
now known and in use.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I declare that I claim,-
First, the application of differential wheels or other equivalent motion for
governing and regulating the position of the driving strap on the cones according
to the thickness of the feed, as shewn and described.
Secondly, the application of friction surfaces or wheels which by being
thrown in or out of gear or contact move or arrest the motion of the strap guide.
Thirdly, the application of a screw for the purpose of traversing the strap
guide to and fro.
And, fourthly, the general combination and arrangement of the parts as
shewn and described, or any modification of the same, by which the indicating
levers, instead of moving the strap to and fro by the direct action of levers as
now customary, only set in motion other apparatus for accomplishing the same,
so that when the cone strap is in its right position the indicating lever is at
liberty.
T the
Williams Noton have hereto set my
liberty.
In witness whereof, I, the said Williams Noton, have hereto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of June, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-four.
W NOTON. (L.B.)